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Universal Orlando’s Early Park Admission What It Is, How to Get It, and Why It’s Worth It!

April 1, 2019 By Marvelous Mouse Travels 2 Comments

A big thank you to Molly Davis for this great information on Universal Parks & Resorts!

Early Park Admission is a great benefit that Universal Orlando offers their hotel guests and other select groups. Early Park Admission allows guests to access one theme park each morning (either Universal Studios or Universal’s Islands of Adventure depending on the date) along with specific attractions an hour before the scheduled opening. Remember, valid theme park admission is required! This benefit can help you get a jump on the crowds, allowing you to experience specific attractions with little to no wait and see areas of the park with little to no guests in it.

For most of the year, Early Park Admission at Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure begins at 8:00 am, and the parks open to everyone else at 9:00 am. During busier seasons, this shifts up an hour, with Early Park Admission starting at 7:00 am while everyone else gets in at 8:00. (It is important to note that it is also possible for both theme parks to be open for early admission during busier seasons.)

Weather permitting, Universal Orlando hotel guests and other select groups can access Universal’s Volcano Bay with valid theme park admission every day. This Early Park Admission also starts an hour before the scheduled opening.

How to Get Early Park Admission

All of the Universal Orlando Resort hotels offer Early Park Admission, which is why staying on Universal property is a great convenience! Not only are you getting into the parks early, but you are steps from the parks.

A unique benefit to booking your next Universal Orlando trip through a Marvelous Mouse travel agent is that we have arranged for Early Park Admission for all of our clients, regardless of whether you stay in a Universal Orlando Resort or not! This is an exclusive and complimentary benefit for booking through Marvelous Mouse Travels.

How to Use Early Park Admission

To make the most of your extra hour in the park, we recommend you arrive 30-45 minutes before the start of Early Park Admission. This allows you to pick up your tickets from the ticket kiosk (which only needs to be done once on your first day at the park!). If you are staying on property, you will need your hotel room key and park tickets to enter the park. Getting to the parks early allows you to get through security and be ready to enter the parks right when the parks open.

Picking Up Park Tickets

There are 2 easy ways to pick up your Universal park tickets. You can pick them up at your Universal hotel, or you can go directly to the park entrance to the ticket kiosks. There is NO wait at the kiosks. You simply put in the credit card you used to purchase the tickets along with your ticket confirmation code, and out pop your tickets! These ticket kiosks are not to be confused with the guest services window. Now THAT will have a line. You don’t need to wait in this line if all you are doing is picking up your tickets with your credit card and ticket confirmation number. See below for picture reference on where you will go to pick up your tickets!

Park Ticket Pick Up Kiosks:

Guest Services Windows:

Ready to book your next trip to Universal Orlando? Make sure to e-mail Contactus@marvelousmousetravels.com for a free quote! Remember, Early Park Admission is just one of the many benefits of booking with one of our agents!

Walt Disney World with Special Needs: What You Need to Know

August 27, 2018 By Marvelous Mouse Travels

Thank you for joining me today as we discuss Special Needs, DAS, and Walt Disney World.

A little background about me: I have been with Marvelous Mouse Travels for 4 years this August. I have always loved Disney; loved so much that when I was given high school graduation gift of a choice of a trip to Paris or a week long trip to Disney staying at Yacht club ~~ I picked Disney! And I am a HUGE Stitch fan

Now you may be wondering how I know about special needs and what it takes to navigate WDW?

Meet Tommy and Abby!!

These two kids of mine SOMEHOW managed to gain the love for Disney also. My husband will tell you it’s genetic 😉 They both have Down Syndrome and both have their own personalities and things they like and don’t like so we have to navigate with those parameters.

This is a wonderful tool that is used to help decrease the time spent waiting in line. On the first day that you go

to the parks, go to guest services and ask for the DAS and explain why you need it. They will assign it to the one member of your party that needs it. Now in our case, we assign it to one child. It is good for that person and the others in the party up to 6. NOW, there have been cases they will allow more people on with the child. It is dependent on how busy the parks are.

Now.. how does DAS work??? So glad you asked. Say Tommy wants to go on Soarin. We get up to the line and the

wait is a L-O-N-G 60 minutes. Oh NO!! But, Tommy and I can walk up to the cast member with his magic band (or card if you are staying off-site or do not have a magic band). The Cast Member will then assign us a time to come back. Example: We walk up at 10am. The wait is 60 minutes. We are told to come back at 10:50 and go to the Fast Pass line. Easy! While we wait, we look at decorations, grab a snack or even catch a ride on something else! The big thing about DAS is that you are only allowed ONE AT A TIME! You cannot grab another ride until you have used the one on the Magic Band/Card.

So another question we get often as agents is do we really need to book the Fast Passes because we have the DAS?!?

One word: YES! Combining these two together will help cut down on wait times. After using the first 3 fast pases, go into the app and grab the next ride. Use the DAS pass between Fast Pass rides/times! It’s a sanity saving, meltdown preventing trick to do while there and it works in all the parks!

Next thing to discuss is loud noise. It’s everywhere! Between the crowds, the parades, and let’s not forget the

fireworks, it can be very overwhelming!! So my suggestion is to look at getting noise reducing headphones! These can be purchased on Amazon for fairly reasonable costs.

Some kids and adults do not have capabilities to regulate their body temps.

There are great items out there to help with this! Cooling vest, cooling towels, cooling head wraps to name a few. They are very easy to use. Some you simply wet with water and they will work for hours. Some you have to bring ice packs to use. Something I want to mention is if you do have a child/adult who needs these and find them pricey — Check with your insurance to see if they can be covered under your policy as Durable Medical Equipment. The doctor may have to submit for Pre-Determination to see if it may be covered along with the medical notes stating the condition is there. I can tell you that Abby does not tolerate the heat well and we have used the cooling wraps. They are a God-send!

Now … the meltdowns.. they happen! I am not going to lie and tell you our trips have been meltdown free.

They haven’t!

Sometimes you need a place to go to get away from all the stimulation the kids/adults are getting from the sights and sounds around them. This is where finding quiet spots and knowing where they are can help and sometimes you only need a few minutes to do so. The Disney transportation is great if you want to chill for while. Hop on the Monorail! Grab a seat on a ferry. If you only need a few minutes one great one is the baby care center. They can go in, relax for a bit, and then head back to the park recharged! There is one in every park.

Walt Disney World on a Budget

August 1, 2018 By Marvelous Mouse Travels

Anyone who knows us knows that my husband and I are two of the most frugal people on the planet.
A lot of people assume that the words “frugal” and “Disney” can never go together, but that’s
not necessarily the case. Walt Disney World is one of our favorite places to travel as a family, so we’ve
come up with a system for making those priceless Disney memories on a budget.

Tip #1: Be on the lookout for discounts and promotions.

Disney does go “on sale” pretty regularly. Disney releases several promotions throughout the year
for either discounted rooms, packages, or free dining plans. There are also military and Florida resident
discounts. If you’re planning your own trip, you’ll need to check Disney’s website pretty regularly in order
to apply any applicable promotions to your reservation. If you’re working with a travel agent, your travel
agent will notify you when a new promotion is released and then apply it for you.

Tip #2: Bring your own food into the parks.

A lot of people don’t realize that you actually are allowed to bring your own food into Disney World.
Our family doesn’t like to have to spend time or money getting snacks in the parks every time one
of us is hungry, so we bring crackers, fruit snacks, and bottles of water to carry with us. It keeps
everybody happy and keeps a little extra money in my wallet!

Tip #3: Bring your own souvenirs.

This may seem like a contradiction in terms: isn’t a souvenir something you buy while you’re on a trip
and then bring home with you? In most cases, yes. There are certain items that our family likes to pick
up in the parks as a memory of our trip. However, there are also little things sold in the parks that catch
my children’s eyes, but aren’t the type of item that they will get a lot of use out of at home
(the glowing souvenirs sold during the fireworks are a good example of this). So, I bring those types of
souvenirs along with me. Before we left for our most recent Disney trip, I went to the dollar store and
picked up a pack of glow-in-the-dark bracelets for my kids to wear during the fireworks show. When the
show was over, we threw the bracelets away and that was one less thing I had to pack in my suitcase
for the trip home!

Tip #4: Visit the Disney outlet stores.

There are two amazing Disney outlet stores in Orlando that sell some of the same items that are in the
parks, but at much lower prices. For instance, I collect a particular style of Disney princess coffee mug.
The last time I was at Disney World, I bought one mug at Disney Springs at full price. I went to the outlet
store the next day and found the same style mug in perfect condition for 70% off. There is some great
merchandise to be found at the outlets and, if you visit the outlets before your first day in the parks, you
can stock up on t-shirts and other great items to wear during your trip!

You’d never know that one of these mugs cost 70% less than the other.

Tip #5: Use your park time wisely.

This tip may not seem like it belongs in a list of ways to save money at Disney World, but as the old
saying goes: time is money. I feel that I’m getting the most value out of my Disney vacation if I’m
maximizing the time that I’m spending in the parks. That means making effective use of the
fastpass+ system and advanced dining reservations and walking in with a plan for each day. I’ve
learned through experience that if I don’t map out a plan in advance, we don’t get to do a lot of the
things that we want to do in Disney World because we’re wasting our time waiting in lines. A good
plan and a thorough knowledge of how things work at Disney World can give you more quality time
in the parks. A qualified travel agent, like those of us at Marvelous Mouse Travels, can help you plan
your Disney vacation in such a way that you make the most of the time and money that you’re spending
at Disney World.
A special thanks to Ginger Pierce for these marvelous money saving tips!

Disney’s California Adventure Food & Wine Festival: Ride, Wine, and Dine!

March 27, 2018 By Marvelous Mouse Travels

The 2018 Food and Wine Festival is happening at Disney’s California Adventure from March 2 through April 12. Jaclyn paid a visit recently and gives us all of the delicious details on this Disney dining festival.

For the past few years I have been wanting to try The Food & Wine Festival at Disney’s California Adventure. I have heard great things and we decided to join in on the fun this year. The Food & Wine Festival is located inside Disney’s California Adventure Park. Every year, for 6 weeks, the Food & Wine festival hits with amazing culinary creations, family friendly seminars, live music, and special tastings with world famous chefs(at an additional cost). Basically take your favorite food festival, add a little music to it, and put it inside an amazing theme park for the perfect trifecta!

We arrived as the park opened at 8am and bought our theme park tickets, as theme park tickets are required to attend the Food & Wine festival. We went on a few rides and I scoped out the 14 different marketplaces you can choose from and I set my targets. The menus are listed outside so you can see what they have to offer. Once the marketplaces open lines start to form so it’s good to have a game plan.

One of the first things you should do is pick up a passport. Your passport will list all the marketplaces, where to find them, and the menus. You bring your passport to every stop and get stamped when you purchase. It’s a really fun way to keep track of your eating destinations! Reading through the passport I was blown away by the options! Avocado & Peer Jack Petite Guacamole Burger, Fried Artichoke Carbonara, Strawberry Frose, are just to name a few. It was hard to decide where to begin but I had a few good ideas…

My first stop was Eat Your Greens. I ordered the Grilled Asparagus Caesar salad and paired it with a LOLEA Sparkling Frizzante Sangria. The salad was delicious and a fun play on the traditional caesar. It was a great appetizer to start the day. The Frizzante came served with fresh blackberries! If you like sweet and sparkling then this drink is the one for you.

My next stop was Food at Citrus Grove. I ordered both the citrus brined pork roast with lemon pepper slaw and the crispy orange chicken and rice. Both were bursting with flavor and should not be missed. The portions are great for sharing between two.

After lunch the kids wanted to see Disney Junior Live which means waiting in line. Normally, waiting in line is not too enjoyable but it’s a different story during the Food & Wine festival. Waiting in line is the perfect time to pick up a flight of wine at Uncork California! You can decide between a red or white flight. I went with the white wine flight featuring wines from Napa, Santa Maria, and Monterey. The wine flight comes in a portable tray carrier with the wines listed on a business card so you know which one you are trying. Each wine had totally unique and different flavors. It was a great assortment and I have my eyes on the red wine flight for next time.

After a ride on Toy Story Mania it was time for my last stop, Off the Cob. The Shrimp Boil Tacos with sausage and corn were really speaking to me. I’m so glad I stopped here because this was by far my favorite tasting. The flavors were incredible and spicy. Genius move to put sausage in a taco, plus the shrimp were big and meaty. I was completely impressed.

Overall, I was really impressed with the quality of food at the Food & Wine festival. I can’t wait to go back to try more and it is something I will plan on doing every year. Here are a couple of tips I have:
Don’t judge a marketplace by the lines. There are kiosks that have been featured for years at the festival as well as new ones and both are equally delicious. I had my eyes, and nose, set on the Garlic Kissed kiosk but the line was insane! That’s when I decided to stop at Off the Cob, with a much shorter line, where I ended up finding my favorite dish from the entire festival.
I would also plan on doing the festival in a span of 2 days. There is so much to try and if you want to enjoy other park offerings like rides as well, two days would be perfect.

Make sure you pick up passports for your kids too. They will have fun trying new things or simply just getting stamped.
Lastly, don’t forget to enjoy the live demonstrations and music. It truly is a fun and magical time, but hey, isn’t that what Disney does best?!

Five Tips For Frugal Fun at Disneyland Paris

March 21, 2018 By Marvelous Mouse Travels

Try saying that three times fast! Thanks to Jessica for these great tips on how to get more bang for your buck at Disneyland Paris.

If a trip to an international Disney park is on your bucket list but you think that you can’t afford it – I’m here to help! Disneyland Paris can fit in to just about any budget if you follow these simple tricks:
1. Go In The Off Season
If at all possible, travel in the shoulder season (April, May, October, November). The weather is quite nice – you may need to pack a sweater but you also won’t need to be concerned with overheating in the European lack of central air conditioning. Additionally, you won’t need to worry about the big summer crowds that can sometimes bring the wait times for certain attractions to over two hours both at Disneyland Park and many of the tourist sites in Paris.

The shoulder/off-season will also allow you to find the best deals for your airfare. Many airlines will run special fares and sales to get more people to book in this time. Affordable non-stop options are very frequently available from major cities such as New York, Boston and Ft. Lauderdale. Also of note: there are a few low-cost European carriers who operate non-stop flights from Orlando if you’d like to create an ultimate Disney park hopping experience!

Be sure to check to make sure your desired dates do not occur during a break period for UK schools, however, as our British pals do make up the largest group of guests who travel to Disneyland Paris!

2. Stay At A Partner Hotel
While the official Disneyland Paris hotels do sometimes provide great packages – do not shy away from staying in the Disneyland Paris partner hotels. Our last trip we stayed at the Vienna House Dream Castle – the cost was nearly half of what we would have paid for one of the “on site” hotels and we absolutely loved the theming and staff.

Please be aware that you will miss out on the Extra Magic Time provided by the primary Disney hotels (like Extra Magic Hours here in the States) but if you are going in the shoulder season it is absolutely not necessary. We were able to walk-on to several attractions in the early evening (Pirates three times in a row one night!) and still loop back around to catch a great spot to view Disney Illuminations at closing.

Dream Castle, B&B, Explorers and Magic Circus are all wonderful options for your vacation and provide free bus service to the parks every 15 minutes. At the end of the night, they will typically have 2-3 buses running between the partner hotels and the Disney Village stop simultaneously. If you’re a frequent Walt Disney World traveler, it is really not so different from staying at a Disney hotel off the monorail line. In fact, I feel like I spent less time waiting for the Dream Castle bus than I typically do for Caribbean Beach at Disney World!

3. Skip The Meal Plan
If you do stay at a partner hotel, you may not have the meal plan option for your vacation. That’s okay! Believe me – you really may not need it. Meal plan options at DLP hotels include: breakfast, half board (breakfast + one other meal) or full board (three meals). The parks often open a lot later than they do here in the states (10am or so) and the partner hotels often include breakfast buffet in their rates. The best strategy is to wake up, have a large and leisurely breakfast and then head to the parks. This way you can often get away with just one meal in the parks.

You can also find some cheaper food options in Disney Village such as the tried and true Earl of Sandwich and a great little Italian place called Vapiano. If you’re planning to spend one of your days hopping between Disney Studios and Disneyland Park, it isn’t difficult at all to pop in to one of these locations to save a few Euro.

It is important to remember that in Europe, meals typically take a lot longer than they do in the states. Do not expect to get in and out of a table service restaurant in just one hour – for a character dining experience you will need to give yourself at least two hours. You can save a lot of time and money by choosing just one or two table service meals during your trip.

Quick service restaurants are everywhere in the parks and usually have three set meal options with the ability to order a la carte as well. These meal sets will typically have a salad/appetizer, the main course and a dessert. A few times this trip we were able to split one meal set between two adults and still felt full! (Note: This was not possible at Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost because their pizzas are just way too delicious to share…or maybe we were just hungry that day.) If you are traveling with children especially this is a great strategy.

4. Shop Souvenirs in Disney Village
Surprisingly enough, we found a lot of our souvenirs at discount at World of Disney in the Disney Village. At least at the time of this writing, they have had an entire table out front regularly with up to 40% off some merchandise. Additionally, most stores in Disney Village have small souvenirs up near the register – these are typically very reasonably priced so you can get a lot of them for stocking stuffers, office gifts, etc.

Another great deal we found in Disney Village was in the Art of Disney store. We collect attraction posters and wanted at least one from Disneyland Paris. They had an option to create your own on either paper or canvas and have it shipped to your home (would definitely save luggage space) or, the option we went with, was a full 12 paper poster package! Fit easily in our suitcase and several of the attraction posters we will be framing here at home to give as gifts.

5. Use a Marvelous Mouse Travel Agent
Of course your best money-saving tip for any location is to use a Marvelous Mouse Travel Agent! They will always be up to date on all current promotions, time-saving tricks and money-saving tips! We are always happy to assist you in creating your dream vacation, no matter your budget or destination.