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The Holiday Season has arrived at Icon Park!

The Holiday Season has arrived at Icon Park!

ICON Park’s 2021 Holiday Offerings: Santa, Deck the Seas, & More!

December 1, 2021

The Holidays have arrived at ICON Park! Yesterday we were invited to check out all the offerings from decorated attractions, fun food, and meeting Old St. Nick himself. Read on for all the details of these limited time offerings….

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In Things to Do Tags I Drive, Holiday, Attractions, ICON Park
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EPCOT Festival of the Holidays Cookie Stroll

Our 2021 EPCOT Cookie Stroll Review: A Look Back at the Festival of the Holidays!

November 29, 2021

The holidays are officially here! We love visiting the parks during this season and one of our favorites to see is Epcot for the International Festival of the Holidays. With festive decor, cultural entertainment, and lots of holiday goodies this festival always put us in the holiday spirit. A fun activity during this time is the Holiday Cookie Stroll. Read on to learn more about this fun tradition…

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In Foods & Drinks, Parks Tags Epcot, Festival, Holiday
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Magic Kingdom Christmas

Visiting Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day: 5 Lessons Learned from the Busiest Day of the Year

December 30, 2019

Christmas is magical. Disney is magical. So if you put the two together you should end up with something extra magical, right? But on the other hand we have heard Christmas Day can be one of the busiest days of the year, where the park can hit max capacity and close. Since this was our first holiday season in Orlando we decided now was a good a time as any to find out what it is really like to visit Walt Disney World on Christmas day. Read on to hear about our experience and some lessons learned for future Christmas Day adventurers.

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In Parks, Special Experience Tags Christmas, Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Holiday
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Mickey's Halloween Party

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party: Ultimate Tips for Candy, Rides & Shows!

October 14, 2019

Once again it is that spooky season at the parks, and it is time for another Disney Friends Blog Hop! Being October, what is more appropriate theme than Halloween? We will be discussing Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (if you are looking for a great overview of the party in general make sure to start with our article from last year first: “10 Tips for Adults to Enjoy Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.”) While every year many people report on what is new at the party, this year we wanted to dig in a little further… We were able to attend the party quite a few times and do some experimenting on different aspects of the party. Curious to learn more on what we discovered? Read on, if you dare… (then check out the end of this article for other fun Disney Halloween articles!)

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In Parks, Special Experience Tags Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Candy, Party, Halloween, Holiday
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Valentine's Day Stuff at Disney Store.

Remembering When: Our FREE Valentine's Day Fun at the Disney Store

February 15, 2019

Even though we love celebrating love and everyday life, we actually aren’t that big into Valentine’s Day. We typically will get cards for each other and then perhaps go out, or more than likely cook a dinner at home together, nothing too big. This year we heard that our local Disney Store was doing a holiday event especially for Disney loving pairs. We figured this free event could be a fun activity to do together. We decided to round out the budget friendly evening with a dinner deal at Qdoba first. Every Valentine’s Day they run a “Qdoba For a Kiss” promo where a smooch gets you a buy-one-get-one entree (Yum!). We enjoyed our burrito bowls and then headed off to the mall for some Disney fun…

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In Shopping Tags Disney Store, Valentine's Day, Holiday
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Our narrator for the evening was actor Alfonso Riberio.

Our narrator for the evening was actor Alfonso Riberio.

Epcot's Candlelight Processional Dining Package: Our San Angel Inn Review & What to Expect

December 28, 2018

Every year as part of the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, the American Gardens Theater hosts the traditional Candlelight Processional. On select nights, this hour long performance includes the telling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator, a 50 piece orchestra, and a full choir. This is a free event for anyone with park entrance, however the standby lines can get crazy long. This year we decided to book the Candlelight Processional Dining Package to avoid lines and get reserved seating to the show. Keep on reading for a review of our experience and our thoughts on if the package purchase was a good value.

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In Parks, Foods & Drinks, Special Experience Tags Christmas, Epcot, Dinner, Holiday, Show, Dining Package
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Our Favorite Reasons to Love Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (Plus 10 Timeless Tips!)

December 13, 2018

When we traveled to Walt Disney World a couple of years ago during the holiday season we had such a fantastic time that we decided to plan to visit again this year! One of the highlights for us during this time is attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). This is a an after hours special event (just like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party), and while a party like this may sound like it’s just for kids, we actually think it’s an even better event for adults with later hours (and the perfect way to kick off the holiday season!). So read on for our reasons MVMCP is a must do (and a few planning tips!).

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In Parks Tags Walt Disney World, Christmas, Magic Kingdom, Party, Holiday
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Animated photo of a gift.

Photo Credit: Disney Parks Blog

15 Christmas Gift Ideas for Adult Disney Fans (from our 2018 Holiday Guide!)

November 21, 2018

Looking for the perfect gift for an adult loving Disney fan in your life? We searched high and low for a variety of ideas (and price points) and have curated this ultimate shopping list.

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In Shopping Tags Gifts, Holiday
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Update: Why We Changed Our Name to The Orlando DINKs

Yup, you read that correctly, after 6 years of being known as The Disney DINKs, we are officially changing our name to The Orlando DINKs.

While changing one word doesn’t seem like a huge change, it feels pretty huge to us since this has been our identity for so long. There are a few reasons why we decided to make the change, some of which are directly related to Disney and some that aren’t. Before we really get into it, we want to be very clear that this article isn’t an intent to bash Disney by any means. We have had amazing experiences related to Disney, from our wedding, multiple Anniversary trips on both coasts, and Disneyland Paris. Being Disney Vacation Club members has allowed us to experience some amazing destinations including Hawaii, Hilton Head Island, and Vero Beach. None of these would have been possible without DVC. We have also had the pleasure of sharing these experiences with friends and family throughout the years. So while it may seem like we are quitting Disney, we certainly are not (and please note we are even keeping our fun mouse ear branding!) Read on to learn more…

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Moving Near the Mouse: Moving to Orlando to be a Disney Local
Moving Near the Mouse: Moving to Orlando to be a Disney Local

Everyone dreams about moving to their happy place whether it be the country, the mountains, or, in our case, near the house of the mouse. Last year we were able to make our dreams a reality and left Maryland to start a new chapter in Orlando. It’s hard to believe it, but we have now been Floridians for one year! We wanted to take a look back at this last year and chat about:

  • How we pulled off a big cross country move last year

  • What we are loving and missing now being in FL

  • A peek into our home (with several before and after projects!)

  • and finally, how our Disney habits have changed now being locals

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Setting Sail on a Disney Specialty Cruise with a Private Fireworks View

With the July 4th fireworks at Walt Disney World canceled this year, we figured it was the perfect time to reminisce about a special fireworks experience we had last fall. We are always amazed at the amount of special activities and tours available at Disney and booking a private specialty fireworks cruise was one awesome time. Technically our friends Max and Niki had booked the experience for their honeymoon, but they let us crash the party and come along (how nice are they right?). One night last fall our group of four enjoyed some drinks at the Top of the World then set sail on our private pontoon. Read on to hear all about our enchanted evening sailing.

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Is Disney Vacation Club Worth It? A DVC Review & Guide
Is Disney Vacation Club Worth It? A DVC Review & Guide

If you have read some of our resort reviews before, you may have figured out that we are Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members. We have been blue card holders since 2013 and have used our membership in various ways. We find that we get a lot of questions about DVC, with the most frequent being “Is DVC worth it?” It can be a bit confusing at first to figure out how the membership exactly works so we wanted to break it down for our readers. With this article we will be covering…

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Our Story: Why We Started The Disney DINKs Blog (Dual Income, No Kids & Disney Travel!)
Our Story: Why We Started The Disney DINKs Blog (Dual Income, No Kids & Disney Travel!)

We were recently asked to participate in a “Disney Friends Blog Hop” for people to discover other Disney blogs in the community. (You can learn a little more about that at the the bottom of this post!) We also realized with many new visitors recently it may be a good time to share a bit more about the two authors behind the posts. There are two things we tend to get asked pretty frequently. Many people are curious of how we decided to launch a Disney based blog geared towards an adult crowd. Many people are also curious about the term “DINKs” (Dual Income No Kids) and we wanted to touch a bit on our journey to decide to be childfree. So here is a little peek into the world of Julie and Andrew…

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🐾 Saying goodbye to our sweet little James… 

We brought James (and his brother Jesse) home as tiny kittens on Valentine’s weekend in 2010. We were lucky enough to raise both of them from playful little kittens into old, delicate gentle
I lava you… 🫶

Loved that @disneyphotopass was able to capture some beach photos for us on our recent trip to @disneyaulani. We always have such magical memories thanks to @disneyvacationclub, and Disney’s Aulani resort in Hawaii is one

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