Grand Californian Resort & Spa

As soon as Jewelscent announced their annual convention would be in Irvine in January, I knew Francis and Lilly were coming with me and we were going to Disneyland! I am working on a Disney Land & Sea vacation for a group right now, and one of the times I called to change a reservation, I asked to talk to Disneyland on a whim just to see what the military discount is like for the Grand Californian in January. They quoted me a price for 2 nights that was equal to one night in peak season, and Francis said, "oh, this is a once in a life time opportunity. We have to." Well... this was our second time staying in a Deluxe Disney resort, and I'm afraid now there is no going back.

Staying in a Disney Deluxe resort is an endorphin rush with no comparison. The more of them I stay at or visit, the more I am sure there is some kind of psychological trick to the grandiose scale and forced perspective of the lobbies. I asked on Facebook and a brainstorming session revealed that all Disney Deluxe hotel lobbies are built like cathedrals, where a vast, open space 8-10 stories tall says to your brain, "I belong here." The lobby has many intimate seating groups in a large space, there is huge fireplace, and there is also a seating area with tiny chairs for wee ones to watch cartoons. A cocktail bar completes the swanky but comfortable atmosphere. As soon as I walk in I know this is the lifestyle to which I am accustomed (it's not).

At the Grand Californian, you have several restaurants to choose from. We ate at Storyteller Cafe for lunch, which is off a menu, and dinner, which is both menu and buffet. They also have a Character Breakfast buffet. The food here was delicious! Before baby, our dinner choice would have been Napa Rose, the Signature Dining option, and maybe we will have the opportunity to check it out on a future visit. For all your Mickey Waffle and quick service breakfast and lunch needs, check out White Water Snacks.

The rooms at Grand Californian are spacious and clean, and our room had a balcony, and a shower that was like a full body massage. The H20 toiletries included a foot scrub and solar relief, and we had turndown service with chocolates in the evening. They even laid out Lilly's blanket every night, which melted my heart. One thing I always notice at Disney hotels: Housekeeping staff always smiles and says, "Hello, how are you today?" and when you need to call them for something, they greet you by name and know what room you are in.

The real key to staying in two different hotels two time zones away from home: Lilly slept in the Pack n Play in our room at home from the minute I learned about this trip. Voila! She slept "in her own bed" on vacation. We also brought our white noise machine/projector along. Our room connected to the neighboring room, which created a convenient spot to dump our luggage, and I do mean dump since we did a haphazard job of packing when we switched hotels. The room also had a table & chairs next to an outlet, which was nice for me since I was still pumping to supplement. If you need to pump or bottle feed while traveling, I cannot recommend this OXO Travel Bottle Drying Rack enough! The brush is so much better than the one we had at home that we are using it all the time now.

Whether you are at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, the proximity of Deluxe resorts to the Parks cannot be beat when you have a baby. I highly recommend treating yourself! Stay tuned for some baby tips inside the parks, and email me or join my Facebook group if you'd like help planning your next Disney Vacation!

10 Reasons Walt Disney World is For Everyone

The craziest thing people ever say to Francis and me is "meh, I'm not really into the Disney thing." If your idea of "the Disney thing" is amusement parks, costumed characters, and mediocre food, boy are you missing out. OUR Disney thing is luxury resorts, fancy dinners, beautiful scenery, and every type of recreation you can think of. You could easily spend a week at "Walt Disney World" without ever going to a park.

1. Show me another hotel in North America with a savanna outside your window! We had a savanna view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge on our honeymoon, and the giraffes showed up outside out room at 4pm every day. Check out the Wanyama Safari sunset tour of the grounds, followed by a chefs table dinner with South African wine pairings at Jiko: The Cooking Place. Also check out Sanaa restaurant  at Kidani Village for an excellent savanna view while you dine.

2. Boardwalk Inn & Villas - This Coney Island styled resort also features a chef's table wine dinner at Flying Fish Cafe, the Atlantic Dance Hall night club, and Jellyrolls piano bar. On the boardwalk, you can rent a surrey bike and check out street performers.

3. Walt Disney World has four gorgeous, award-winning golf courses managed by Arnold Palmer Golf Management. Magnolia is certified by Audobon International as a Cooperative Wildlife Sanctuary. Palm had a complete redesign in 2013 and is rated 4 stars by Golf Digest. Lake Buena Vista Golf Course has hosted the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour, and USGA events. Oak Trail is a 9 hole walking course that is also a Cooperative Wildlife Sanctuary. You can rent clubs and also get lessons from PGA pros.

4. Yes, you can watch a baseball game at Walt Disney World! ESPN World of Sports is the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves. This complex also hosts basketball, cheer and dance, cross-country, track & field, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, AND MORE. It's a sports lovers paradise.

5. Do you like camping? The campgrounds and cabins nestled in the cypress forest of Fort Wilderness are for you! Fort Wilderness has endless outdoor activities, including archery, horseback riding, boat, canoe, and kayak rentals, waterskiing, fishing, basketball, volleyball, and jogging trails. 

6. A plane ticket to Orlando is way cheaper than any international airfare, and you can visit 11 countries at Epcot! This fountain in France is my favorite, and my daydreams always include sitting beside it with a Grand Marnier slush and a cheese plate from Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie.

7. Bora Bora? No, the new over-water bungalows of Polynesian Resort! These Villas are part of Disney Vacation Club, but you don't have to be a DVC owners to stay here. This is at the top of my WDW Bucket List! Also at the Polynesian resort, you can have a late dinner at Ohana, get a cocktail in a pineapple, and watch the fireworks. 

8. Right under Polynesian on my bucket list is the Yacht Club, ever since I found out their pool is waaaaay bigger than I thought. Stormalong Bay is 3 acres, and there are 3 other leisure pools in addition to that! Also at the Yacht Club is the Yachtsman Steak House. Swimming all day and then a ginormous steak? I can surely die happy after that.

9. Speaking of fine dining, the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is home to Victoria & Alberts, which has a Five Diamond rating from AAA, Four Stars from Forbes Travel Guide, and a Zagat score of 29. The Chef's Table dinner, pictured here, is a 13 course dinner that begins with a champagne toast, and is considered to be a once in a lifetime experience.

10. We had to throw this one in for fun. There are only two T-Rex restaurants in the United States - one at Walt Disney World and one in Kansas City. We always eat there when we go to WDW. The bar area pictured in the background is the coolest. It's like Rainforest Cafe, except instead of a thunderstorm, there's a meteor shower.

How to Have a Magical Time at Walt Disney World

I recently read a blog that was a list of "rookie mistakes" made by first timers visiting Walt Disney World. Besides being a lazy list stretching to fill itself out (what parent needs to be told that everyone needs to go potty when one has to go?), I don't like when a list of tips is couched in the smug terms of "rookie mistakes". Planning your first trip to Walt Disney World is already intimidating, right? I'd rather tell you how to add value than imply that you're going to make mistakes!

1. Obviously my first tip is to use a travel agent who is a Disney specialist! (That's me!) A great Disney specialist thinks the Disney travel agent training College of Knowledge test is too easy. They can help you book dining, Fast Pass +, special tours, and will have all kinds of extra tips. Most importantly, it shouldn't add any additional cost to your reservation! The travel agent is paid commission by Disney and the prices they see are the same ones you see if you do it yourself. You should DEFINITELY take advantage of this free service if it's your first trip. And even if you are a veteran of WDW, chat with a travel agent anyway! You might learn about something new!

2. Use My Disney Experience! Oh, I love this smart phone app so much that I keep it on my phone home screen even when our next trip isn't for 424 days. *cough* Sometimes I just like to put it up to see how long the line is for Toy Story Midway Mania right now, or if I could get a Be Our Guest reservation tonight. Whether you are using the browser version or the app, you can manage all your dining reservations and check menus, see ride wait times and manage Fast Passes, see character and entertainment schedules, and even see where all the PhotoPass photographers are, and you can do ALL of this in real time because the parks have free wifi. My Disney Experience is essential for making your vacation easier.

3. When it comes to rides, there are two things you should know about. First, FastPass+ (FP+) is Disney's pass for skipping the lines. Unlike Universal's Express Pass or Six Flags Flash Pass, the Disney FP+ is totally free. It's a good idea to get advice on booking FP+ if you don't visit WDW often, so you don't "waste" a FP+ reservation on a ride that is typically walk-on (5 min or less wait). Second, WDW has this cool feature called Rider Switch that will let both parents ride a ride a ride that their kids cannot (or will not) ride without having to stand in line twice. Click the link for detailed instructions on how to use Rider Switch.

4. Stay at a Walt Disney World Resort! I cannot stress this enough. So many people I talk to balk at the price of WDW lodging because it seems much more expensive than, say, a Holiday Inn. Here are just some of the things you get when you stay at a WDW resort: Magical Express picks you up at the airport AND takes your bags straight from the airplane to your room. No waiting at the baggage carousel! Extra Magic Hours get you an extra hour at the parks in the morning and two extra hours in the evenings. Resort transportation gets you anywhere you want to go so you don't need your car and don't have to pay parking fees at the parks. This is especially great if you decide to Drink Around the World at Epcot. You can have your park purchases delivered straight to your room, so you don't have to carry them around. You can charge to your room with Magic Bands. AND you get early access to dining reservations, which is a big deal if you are dying to eat at Beast's Castle. I could go on and on. I stayed off-property the last time we were in Orlando and I'll never do it again.

5. Splurge on something special. It's hard to know the value of an experience you haven't seen yet, so you will just have to take my word for it. Here are some suggestions that will be the highlight of your magical vacation: Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage, Keys to the Kingdom tour, Fantasmic Dining Package, Wishes or Illuminations Dessert Party, Wayama Safari (adults only).

Our Favorite D23 Expo Announcements!

What is D23, you ask? It's the official Disney fan club! D for Disney, 23 for the year (1923) Walt moved to Hollywood and founded the company. The D23 Expo is like Comic Con for Disney fans, with major announcements and panels and shopping all weekend. It's like Christmas for Disney nerds and we've been following the Expo news on social media all weekend. Here are the big announcements we're most excited about!

1. STAR WARS! There have been rumors for years about Star Wars Land at Hollywood Studios, especially this year as several attractions closed, and rumors about a major park expansion at Disneyland as the company has acquired land in Anaheim, but I don't recall anyone hypothesizing that BOTH PARKS would get a 14 acre Star Wars themed expansion, the largest single-theme expansion ever. Some new Star Wars experiences will be added as early as this year!

2. Francis's Star Wars pick is the cast announcement for Rogue One. Check out starwars.com for a photo and more details!

3. Toy Story Land - Also at Hollywood Studios, this seems to be a "quickie" expansion that will keep people happy while they build the Star Wars expansion. Toy Story Midway Mania is getting an additional track, which will hopefully reduce the 2 hour wait, and there will be a new ride based on the green aliens from the claw machine, and a family friendly roller coaster that takes you for a ride on the back of Slinky Dog.

4. The new Jungle Cruise themed restaurant, Skipper Canteen. We are huge fans of Adventureland in this house, as you can see from Lilly's room, and we always kick off visits to the Magic Kingdom with the Enchanted Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise. This new restaurant will be staffed by Jungle Cruise skippers and will have several themed rooms. The rumor is that it will be like Be Our Guest - quick service lunch and table service dinner.

5. Sunset Kilimajaro Safaris - Animal Kingdom has never been a big priority for us because we have a really amazing zoo here in St Louis, but I am excited about the park being open later! I hear my spirit animal, hyenas, will be a feature of the Sunset Kilimanjaro Safaris.

The Triumphant Return of Francis + Beth! Now With Lilly!

Welcome to Franceth Travels! Many of you may know Francis and me (Beth) from the blog I started in 2008, Craves, Caves, & Graves. In the 6 years of writing that blog, I met, married, and had a baby with Francis, and also learned a lot from him about photography, and changed a lot of my philosophies about writing a travel blog. I also became a travel agent just for the joy of helping people plan their Disney Vacations, and I started a home based business so that I could stay at home with Lilly, spend more time writing, and generally spend more time having fun. That's a lot of changes! There was so much I wanted to change about CC&G that it got overwhelming, so I decided to take a break when I was pregnant and see how things went when Lilly was born.

I am happy to report that at three weeks of age, Lilly seems to be fairly portable, happy in the car, and a great sleeper, so we have started venturing out of doors! Not only that, but we just booked our next Disney Land & Sea vacation for October 2016, so I feel like every excursion in the next 15 months will be practice for taking a baby on a major vacation. I'm hoping we can share lots of fun and funny tips for traveling with a new baby in the coming months!

Here's our first tip that Francis discovered when we went to WDW in December when I was pregnant, and we were just starting to scope out other people's strollers: The squirrels know where you are keeping the good snacks, man. Consider packing Tupperware! (This is not our video, but I was delighted that it came up when I Googled "squirrel bandit".)

Walt Disney World Wednesday - Pete's Silly Sideshow

I have to admit, up until this last trip, Storybook Circus was an area of WDW that we had mostly neglected. When we were there in December, we found ourselves at that end of the park after the fireworks, and after we had already done most everything we wanted to do that day (or could do - don't get me started on missing out on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train AGAIN). Finding a mostly empty Pete's Silly Sideshow late at night was like a magical mash-up of Disney and Carnivale. This is definitely my new favorite character greeting spot! PS: This is why you should always spring for Memory Maker. I can say it has been 100% worth it every single time.

* Originally published on francethmanor.com. I have permission from myself to repost. ;)

Disney Pirate Land & Sea Adventure

My Pandora Film Score station is HEAVILY slanted towards the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks, and every time I listen to it I want to plan a Disney trip, so I finally did it. I bring you a Walt Disney World vacation plan inspired by adventure movie soundtracks.

Stay at Caribbean Beach Resort, in the Pirate Story Rooms. Pirate rooms are awesome! They have two double beds with a pirate ship headboard, a pirate flag curtain to divide the bedroom from the vanity area (this is nice when you are sharing a room), night stands that look like barrels, an entertainment center that looks like a pile of crates, and lots of other pirate touches. The beds are AWESOME if you are fans of a firm mattress like we are. The pool at Caribbean Beach also has a Spanish fort and shipwreck theme.

Galactic Breakfast at Sci Fi Dine In

Blogging from a tablet while traveling did not go as planned. Frankly, the Blogger app is terrible. Now that I'm home, I've updated a post you may have seen a rough preview of last week: Galactic Breakfast at Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World!

One of my favorite things about planning Walt Disney World vacations is that just when you think you are "done" planning, something else comes along. This was announced a few weeks before our trip as an event for Star Wars Weekends and jammed the phone lines, but what most people didn't realize was that it started "May the Fourth" and is running EVERY DAY through Star Wars Weekends, even weekdays. So getting a reservation for May 5th was a cinch, even though I waited on hold for 45 minutes.