Mama Monday : Do I need a passport for a Disney Cruise?

A question I get asked often is "Do I need a passport for a Disney cruise?".  The official answer is for any Disney cruise originating and returning in the United States, you do not need a passport. These are called closed loop itineraries. However, I think it is a good idea to obtain a passport for every person in your family. These are the reasons why:

1) For any air travel to the United States, a person must have a valid passport. I know what you are thinking, I am not traveling back to the US by air. While you may intend to return via the cruise ship, what about emergencies? As moms we tend to focus on all of the what ifs. In this case, I am definitely erring on the side of the what ifs. What if there was a medical emergency that required me or my child to return to the US faster than on the ship? What if there was a national security emergency? What if there was a weather emergency? There are a lot of what ifs. Of all the cruises I have booked, not one person has needed to return for any of these reasons but there is always a chance. I am not willing to take that chance with my family.

2) Passport requirements change from time to time. I would rather be prepared and know that my family has their passports in case the requirements change before our cruise. To expedite a passport is expensive. The average wait time for a passport to be completed is 8 weeks and during peak season it can take as long as 12 weeks.

3) While visiting another country I like having the security that my passport brings. What if something goes wrong(yes, I am back to the what ifs). I like being able to prove I am a US citizen if need be. A drivers license does not offer that level of security that a US passport brings with it. 

While you don't have to have the US passport to take a closed loop itinerary, I strongly recommend you do take passports for every member of your family for your own peace of mind. I will be doing so for my family's cruise. If you would like to learn more about obtaining a passport for your family members please visit http://travel.state.gov or call the US National Passport Information Center at 877-4USA-PPT.

Mama Monday : Walt Disney World Pools

Walt Disney World Resorts have incredible pools. Take a pool day to enjoy your resort's pool! You will not regret it. If you don't want to take an entire day, then take an afternoon or two to enjoy them. Here are a few of my favorites.

Which one is your favorite?

Mama Monday : To cook or not to cook?

Do you cook on vacation? If we are at the beach in a condo, we might cook once or twice. We might even make sandwiches for the beach. But I do not cook at Disney. This is why.

1)   The dining plan is a good deal and provides most of our meals. Not all, but most. I will touch on the dining plan on a future post. But the one our family chooses is the Plus Dining and it provides us with a quick service meal, a sit down meal, and a snack every night of our stay. We generally use those for lunch and dinner. We have breakfast either out on the go or in the room and thanks to the grocery delivery service We Go Shop, we have quick prep items for breakfast on hand for us.

2)   I don’t want to take the time away from the parks or my family in order to prepare a meal.  Let’s face it, we are already spending money to be in the parks or together at the pool and other resort areas. The last thing I want to do after walking all over the parks all day is to come back to the room and prepare a meal, plus clean up after that. No thank you! I want my break in the afternoon to be fun or nap time. I want to go back to the parks and enjoy the evenings there not cleaning up dishes.

3)   I am on vacation. I am a working mom and I deserve a break. I think all moms are working moms whether they are stay at home working moms or working outside of the home moms. Dads too. As parents we need deserve that break to let someone else wait on us (and our children) for a few days.

4)   It is a myth that it will save you money. Yes, cooking is cheaper than eating out. But once you factor in your time either grocery shopping for vacation, taking time away from family fun to actually cook, it isn’t cheaper. Your time is VALUABLE especially on vacation. You’ve already splurged by choosing Disney. Find other ways to save money and relax. I think as parents we tend to forget just how valuable our time is at times to just be present and in the moment with our families.

Even though I don’t cook at Disney, I do love it when we get to choose a villa that has the kitchen. I like being able to have breakfast in the room and this makes it easier.  All of the rooms at Disney have minifridges now though so every room has the option for you to do that.

Toss out the idea of cooking on vacation and enjoy your time away on break and letting someone else wait on you. You deserve it Mamas and Papas!

Mama Monday : Dole Whips Make Me Happy!

Mamas (and Daddies), I am craving a Dole Whip! If you have not had one before, add it to your must do list at Disney.  You can get them at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. 

There are variations on Dole Whip and how you can get one, but I am a purist and I like it not jazzed up. It is served like frozen yogurt.  It is actually Pineapple soft serve sorbet. It tastes like a fluffy pineapple pillow melting in your mouth.  If there was something that could taste like Hawaii, this would be it! It is divine and yummy and my mouth knows when I am at Disney and I must have one. When I was pregnant I had one every day of my trips. This is a treat that I will not share with anyone else in my family. They must get their very own.

At Walt Disney World you can get them at Aloha Isle which is in the Magic Kingdom in Adventureland.  You can also get them at Capt’ Cook’s in the Polynesian. The ones there are self serve. There’s something about them not turning out as pretty that affects the taste for me so at WDW, I opt for Aloha Isle.  And for a limited time during the months of March, April, and early May you will be able to get one with a little Spiced Rum added to it over at Epcot for the Flower & Garden Festival. Hopefully they will have a nonalcoholic option for the kids. That could get dangerous!

My favorite place to get a Dole Whip is at Disneyland. They have a Tiki Juice Bar that is part of the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland. If you are seeing the show, the line is shorter in the waiting area for the Tiki Juice Bar.  The Enchanted Tiki Room is one of my favorite attractions and it is even sweeter having a Dole Whip while you wait for the show to start. Delish!

At Aloha Isle you can also get a dole whip float, you can get dole whip swirled with other flavors, and you can add a pineapple spear.  At Capt Cook’s it’s just self serve Dole Whip or you can swirl it with vanilla. And at the Tiki Juice Bar in Disneyland, you can get the float, the plain Dole Whip, and a spear but no swirls either.  I don’t like the swirled options so that’s fine by me! I have no idea why anyone would want to alter the incredible taste of the Dole Whip by swirling it but many people love it that way. The floats are tasty. They are made with pineapple juice.  But I stand by that old fashioned Dole Whip.

If anyone wants to try to make it at home here’s a recipe I have found. I have yet to try this but am thinking about doing this over spring break with the kiddos for a special treat.

Ingredients

1.     2 20 ounce cans Dole crushed pineapple with juice

2.     2 tablespoons lemon juice

3.     2 tablespoons lime juice

4.     1/3 cup sugar

5.     1 and 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped

Directions

1.     Drain pineapple; reserve 2 tablespoons juice. Set aside.

2.     Place pineapple, lemon juice, lime juice, sugar and reserved pineapple juice in blender or food processor container; cover and blend until smooth.

3.     Pour into two 1-quart freezer zipped bags and store bags flat in freezer.

4.     Freeze 1-1/2 hours or until slushy.

5.     Stir pineapple slush gently into whipped cream until slightly blended, in large bowl.

6.     Return to freezer until completely frozen, about 1 hour.