Minnie Van Service

Hello and Happy Spring!


Here in Indiana, it’s currently snowing on this late-March day. Not very spring-like! Let’s hope that we see some sunshine and mild weather soon!

My family did get away for our Winter 2018 Babymoon last month, and we had a wonderful time. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge for the very first time, and I developed such an emotional attachment to this resort. This place is gorgeous, there are so many activities to enjoy, the pools (we checked out the pools at both Jambo House, the main resort, and Kidani Village, the Disney Vacation Club addition) are amazing, and of course the animals are beautiful and majestic. Both my husband and I agreed that will not be our last stay there!

(Enjoying the beautiful savanna at Animal Kingdom Lodge)

The one downfall to Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL) was that it is far out from many of the resorts we like to visit in the evenings, as it is close to, of course, Animal Kingdom Theme Park which is located in the southwest corner of Walt Disney World. My husband and I tend to favor the Magic Kingdom Resort Area restaurants, dining in these resorts 3 out of 4 nights that we were not eating at the theme parks. Luckily, we had the Minnie Van service activated on our phones back in November, so we were able to use this service several times on our trip. Let me explain to you how the Minnie Van service works!

(Enjoying dinner and a view of the fireworks at the Grand Floridian Cafe near the Magic Kingdom)

The first step in using this service is to get your phone activated from one of the resorts that officially offers this service. At this time, the Minnie Van service is still in a test phase, and every resort cannot unlock the service, but all of the deluxe resorts and several of the moderate and value resorts do. I believe that my husband and I both downloaded the ‘Lyft’ app on our iPhones prior to activating the Minnie Van.

EDIT: As of April 2019, the Minnie Van service is no longer in test phase, and you can view the Minnie Van as a vehicle type when you are on the Lyft app. It is typically the last vehicle type so you may have to scroll through a few options. If you’ve never used Lyft before, you will receive an offer for $15 off your first ride.

(Our Minnie Van picking us up at the Boardwalk one evening)

Once the service is unlocked, you simply go onto the ‘Lyft’ app, and once you are in, you will see several options of pick-up vehicles, one being the Minnie Van (available daily from 6:30am until 12:30am). You will choose this option, and verify your current location, and a short while later, a Minnie Van will be pulling up to you to whisk you away to the Walt Disney World location of your choice! Easy as that!

(Our Minnie Van whisked us away to our 'home' Animal Kingdom Lodge in February)

I am not one to use Uber or Lyft, because I have young children and I don’t like that I cannot verify the integrity of the car seats in these privately-owned vehicles. I also do not live in a big city, so there is no reason really for me to use these services. However, the Minnie Van service is operated by Disney Cast Members, and these Cast Members have been trained on car seat installation and safety. Since these vehicles are owned by Disney, I feel confident that these car seats are safe, not past their expiration dates, and have not been in a previous accident. Two car seats are loaded into the back of each Minnie Van, and it takes just moments for the Cast Member to install the seats for the children in your party.

(My husband getting into the Minnie Van after getting our son loaded into his car seat)

The Minnie Vans are all Chevy Traverses, which allow six passengers per ride. Back in November 2017 when we traveled with my parents and my Aunt, we were actually planning to eat dinner over at Animal Kingdom Lodge (we were staying at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa). We got a later start than we had planned, and my husband suggested we use the Minnie Van service, as all six of us could go together in one Minnie Van.

(Back in November when we were staying at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa- after we had dinner at Animal Kingdom Lodge, I grabbed some infamous Zebra Domes to take back to our resort for dessert!)

The price of the Minnie Van has gone up since our February 2018 visit, where we paid $25 per ride- now the price varies depending on the milage of your trip. I still recommend going this route if you are in a hurry, or you simply don't want to deal with switching transportation at a park when going from one resort to another and don't mind spending some cash.

(After a fun night at Top of the World Lounge, we shared a Minnie Van with friends back to our Disney Resorts)

We mostly used this service at night, when we were tired and didn’t want to deal with multiple transfers to get back to AKL. We also used this service one day back in November when we were having professional photographs taken by Disney Fine Art Photography- the temperature was in the high-80’s and we didn’t want to be sweaty messes by the time we arrived at the Grand Floridian for our session. We were able to wait in the shade for our Minnie Van to pull up to our resort, and it took us right to the lobby of the Grand Floridian, where we were meeting our photographer. This service is also nice if you have dining reservations at another resort- typically you must allow at least an hour-and-a-half to get from one resort to another, but using this service, it can take under half an hour!

(Awaiting our Minnie Van to take us to the Grand Floridian for our photo session)

(When we got out of the Minnie Van for our photo session, we were greeted by Richard at the Grand Floridian!)

Two more things to mention- out of the six times that we have used this service, we’ve only had to wait more than 10 minutes once. This was just after 9pm one night, and so I think many people were probably using this service to leave the parks after the fireworks. The nights we used it closer to midnight, we probably only waited 2-3 minutes for a Minnie Van to show up.

EDIT: As of April 2019, we’ve now used this service at least a dozen times. It’s addicting! While it used to take at least an hour typically to transfer from, let’s say Port Orleans Riverside Resort to the Polynesian Village Resort, it now takes 10 minutes via Minnie Van. We LOVE chatting with the friendly cast members driving the Minnie Vans, they are always so professional and courteous, and they install the car seats correctly and efficiently (the seats are Grace Forever car seats, which will safely transport children of all ages, including infants). They play fun Disney-themed music in the vehicles, and you can control the climate. 

The final point is that this service now offers airport transfers as well as transfer to Port Canaveral for your Disney Cruise. It’s a much heftier price tag for the trip over to Orlando International Airport or to Port Canaveral. Since the Magical Express service to and from the airport is free, I don’t think my family would ever use this feature, but I could see us using it over to Port Canaveral at some point in time since those transfers are not free.

(Disney's Magical Express- photo from wdwinfo.com)

I hope you learned something about the Minnie Van service- as always, if you have any questions on the Minnie Van service or anything Disney-related, or are interested in using my complimentary services to help book your next Walt Disney World vacation, please feel free to email me at dana_w@wishingonastartravel.com. Happy Travels!

Walt Disney World while Pregnant

Hello and welcome to Dana’s Mouse Tails! First of all, I want to say a huge THANK YOU, as my blog has reached over 10k page views- this is huge for me, as I simply created this blog for fun at the request of family and friends. Again- thank you for reading, and I truly hope you enjoy what I create!!

(My son Camden at the runDisney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend Expo at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in November 2017)

I took a few months off from blog posting, but I am back and ready to share! We just returned last night from a wonderful stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was the perfect resort to stay at for a more relaxing Disney vacation. The reason we wanted a more relaxing vacation is that I was 30 weeks pregnant on this trip, and our main goal was simply to have some quality family time together. This was my third trip to WDW while pregnant- I went at about 24 weeks when I was pregnant with my now-four-year-old son, and we went several months ago, back in November 2017 when I was about 16 weeks pregnant.

(A beautiful February day at the Magic Kingdom)

If you travel to WDW early on, during your first and even second trimester, I don’t know that you need to take many precautions unless of course your doctor recommends you do so. In November, I was able to run the Wine and Dine 5k and 10k with absolutely no difficulties or modifications, but I was a runner long before I became pregnant. If I would have had to run a race this past vacation at 30 weeks, I am sure I would have been much slower, and I probably would have walked a lot of the races. The most difficult part of traveling in the beginning of the second trimester was the fact that I could not ride everything with the rest of my family- my son rode Test Track for the first time with my father and husband, and it made me sad that I was not there to experience his first ride! I also found it difficult- and disappointing- that I could not eat the same things that my family was eating. I LOVE shrimp, and the night we visited Cape May Café, a seafood buffet, for dinner, I was unable to enjoy the cold shrimp and cocktail sauce that the rest of my family enjoyed. And then there was the alcohol during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival- I certainly did miss the Grand Marnier slushie in France, the margaritas in Mexico, and the grapefruit beer in Germany!

('Eating For Two', as my shirt announces- 16 weeks pregnant at the Wine and Dine Fall Feast 5k in November 2017)

When I traveled to WDW back in 2013 at 24 weeks pregnant, I also did not make many modifications, except of course I couldn’t go on the roller coasters, and had the same food and beverage restrictions. This trip was nice because my husband and I had a king bed at Caribbean Beach Resort, and so there was plenty of room to spread out. Now that my son travels with us, we no longer are allowed to book a king-size bed room (in the standard WDW resorts, you can only request this room type if there are two in the room, or two plus an ‘infant’ under the age of three years old).  I will pass on that if you book a Deluxe Villa (one, two, or three-bedrooms), you are given a king-size bed in the master bedroom- if you are traveling pregnant, this may be worth it to you to spend the extra money for a Villa for this very reason!

(In November, we shared a two-bedroom Villa at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa with my parents & aunt- this is the Master Bedroom with a King-Size bed that my husband and I shared)

Traveling in the third trimester at 30 weeks pregnant proved to be just a tad bit more difficult than my previous two trips I’ve mentioned. Besides having to stop at nearly every restroom we passed, I simply moved more slowly this trip. I also had more difficulty sleeping- for this reason, I would recommend bringing a tablet or something else to read in the dark room while the rest of your family sleeps. This had nothing to do with being on vacation, I simply am not sleeping very well in general this pregnancy- many nights I read while my family slept, and days that I woke before dawn, I would do the same. It was nice to be able to read while still keeping the room dark for my sleeping family.

I also would schedule plenty of time to relax, especially if you travel later on in your pregnancy. The day we arrived, we spent several hours in the pool at Jambo House at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the following day after our brunch reservations, we spent the majority of our day over at the other section of Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village, playing in their pool and utilizing the kids water play area, Uwanja Camp. We did a lot of activities outside of the theme parks, including bowling at Splitsville Luxury Lanes at Disney Springs, renting a Surrey Bike at the Boardwalk Resort (which my son had been asking to do for MONTHS), and walking around Art of Animation Resort checking out all of the Cars décor (Cars is my son’s favorite movie). These activities were enjoyed at a more relaxing pace than the theme parks, as we didn’t feel like we had to rush through to get our money’s worth as you often feel while in the theme parks. We also checked out many different restaurants at different Disney resorts, which we got to typically via monorail or boat (an enjoyable ride in itself!). Finally, Animal Kingdom Lodge had MANY different cultural activities to enjoy- we could have spent a week at the resort simply enjoying these amenities! I had good intentions to do the cookie-decorating, as well as a tour of one of the restaurants at Animal Kingdom Lodge, both of which were offered daily, but I never got the chance- guess I’ll have to go back! I was, however, able to try out the night-vision glasses, offered every evening for free at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Watching the giraffes roam the savannah at night through these glasses was just breathtaking!

(Playing at Uwanja Camp at Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge)

(Bowling for three at Splitsville Luxury Lanes)

(Checking out the Cars section of the resort at Art of Animation)

A few final tips would be to stay hydrated- this was the first trip I brought a large water bottle with me, which I kept filled at all times. Go at an easy pace, and don’t schedule too much- this was the first trip that the majority of our days had no set plans- we simply decided we’d see what the weather was, and go from there. We ate when we wanted to eat, rather than letting reservations dictate our plans, which was wonderful. I also took some time for myself while my husband and son rode the rides that I couldn’t when we were at the theme parks. I either wandered around and took photos, or I rode a few of my favorites. While they were off using their FastPass for the Tomorrowland Speedway, for example, I enjoyed a ride through the world of Ariel on Under the Sea- Journey of The Little Mermaid.

(Enjoying a solo spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority while my husband and son enjoyed a ride not suitable for pregnant women to ride)

(I DEVOURED this pineapple upside down cake at Aloha Isle in Adventureland- Hey, I'm eating for two!)

(I was still able to enjoy a few 'mocktails' when we visited a lounge at WDW)

I hope that some of these tips will help- if you have any questions, feel free to email me at dana_aimee@hotmail.com. Thanks for joining me, and Happy Travels!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Merry Christmastime, guys! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, fun and food, whether you celebrated early or late like I did (due to having to work on Thanksgiving day), or whether you were able to celebrate on Thursday!

(Running the 5k during Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend- the 5k was Thanksgiving-themed this year)

Our highly-anticipated November trip was spectacular! We spent three nights at Caribbean Beach Resort while I ran the Wine and Dine 5k and 10k, and then switched over to a 2-bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs Resort, which we shared with my parents and my mom’s sister for 6 nights. I had run the 2016 and 2017 Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend races, so I was excited to experience a new race weekend- and the Wine and Dine did not disappoint! I may cover these races in a future blog post, but for the time being, let me just say that the two races I ran were phenomenal!

(Posing with Chef Mickey and Minnie after the Wine and Dine 10k)

We also did a family photography session with a Disney Fine Art Photographer at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, and it exceeded my expectations- again, I will cover this session and share some of our gorgeous photos in a future blog post. I also treated my husband to a ‘Gentleman’s Retreat’ 4-hour package at Senses Spa at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, which he said he really enjoyed. This was his second time visiting the Spa at Saratoga- I am thinking that at some point, I may have him write a guest blog post about his experience, so be on the look-out for that in the future!

(During our photography session at the Grand Floridian, we had two gender reveal photographs taken- this was the photo we posted on social media, as we are having a boy!)

The thing that I may have been looking forward to most about this trip, however, was Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I LOVE Christmas (my tree has already been up for well over a week), and of course I love Disney. The combination of Disney and Christmas just equal perfection in my world! Please come with me as I share with you our Christmas Party experience!

(Walking down Main Street USA with my hubby!)

I had told my family WEEKS in advance that we needed to be at the bus stop waiting for a Magic Kingdom bus on the day of the party by 3:15pm, no exceptions. I’m usually pretty lenient on time, but I wanted to get every second of party time that I could! The official party time is actually 7pm-12am, but you are allowed in at 4pm. We were at the front gates at 3:55pm, and so we only had to wait 5 minutes for cast members to begin giving us our party wristbands. Once we were inside the Magic Kingdom, we took a few minutes to enjoy the decorations on Main Street USA. There is a special area for party-goers where you can get family photographs taken, but we did not have the Memory Maker photography package, so we skipped this area. If you do have Memory Maker, or simply would like some nice family photos, I would definitely recommend entering this area- it is to the right before you begin your stroll down Main Street USA- there is a big sign that says Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, you can’t miss it!

(I bought tickets the week they became available, as I knew that the first Christmas Party of the year would likely sell out- I was correct!)

I had heard conflicting information regarding obtaining Fast Passes for the two hours that the park was open before the party’s official opening time, and so I didn’t know if we’d actually be able to use the Fast Passes that I had gotten- one from 4pm-5pm, and one from 5pm-6pm, but they did indeed work! Our first Fast Pass was for Pirates of the Caribbean, a family favorite, and so we headed off toward Adventureland, stopping to watch some of the afternoon Castle Stage Show on the way. After we used our Fast Passes for Pirates, we headed toward Aloha Isle for Dole Whip Floats- pineapple soft serve surrounded by Dole pineapple juice- these are my absolute favorite Walt Disney World treat! After we enjoyed our cool treat, we headed over to the Frontierland Railroad Station, as we had heard that the railroad would stop service at 5:30pm tonight. My son Camden LOVES trains, and we did not want to miss out on riding this! We took a complete loop around, then got off at Fantasyland to use our second Fast Pass, which was for Peter Pan’s Flight (one of my favorites- it’s such a Disney classic!). After flying through Never Land, my family debated what to do for a few minutes, and ultimately decided that my husband and son would go ride the Tomorrowland Speedway- my son’s absolute FAVORITE Walt Disney World attraction- and my parents, aunt and I (I am just about 20 weeks pregnant and so I had to sit out the Speedway this year) would take a boat ride through another Disney classic- It’s A Small World. After we rode It’s A Small World, we realized it was after 6pm, and the park was now officially closed to everyone except party-goers. My son Camden, husband Jeff, and eventually my dad rode the Speedway 3 or 4 times total before we headed off to experience some more rides before the party got into full-swing. On our way further into Tomorrowland, we discovered that the refreshment stations were already open! We decided to treat ourselves to some snickerdoodle cookies and hot cocoa (which are complimentary!) before heading off to ride Tomorrowland Transit Authority and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. On our way over to the Frozen Castle Lighting Show, we stopped for our next (complimentary) treat- Santa Claus cookies and snow cones!

(Happy to be at the Magic Kingdom for the party!)

(Riding the Walt Disney World Railroad with my little man)

(My son's absolute favorite ride- the Tomorrowland Speedway)

(Such a festive atmosphere- it even snowed on Main Street USA!)

(Handing out Santa Claus cookies)

I believe that the Castle Lighting show was at 8:15pm- so we had ridden 6 rides, plus enjoyed the afternoon Castle Stage show, multiple snacks, and were now waiting for another show- all in 4 hours! My son had actually ridden closer to 10 rides already, since he rode the Tomorrowland Speedway multiple times (I want to say he rode 4 times). The Frozen Castle Lighting Show- called ‘A Frozen Holiday Wish’- was spectacular! I got goosebumps watching! I have included a video at the end of this post which includes various clips throughout our night at the party, and I have included part of this show!

(In line for more treats!)

(What a beautiful sight!)

(My sweet little family after the Castle Lighting Show)

(Enjoying the party with my parents)

(This event truly did not disappoint!)

Dinnertime was now calling our name, but our original plan of Columbia Harbour House closed at 8pm, so we decided to go to our old standby, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. I believe Jeff took Camden for a spin on Mad Tea Party while I waited in line for our dinner (this is typically our plan- Jeff takes Camden on a nearby ride while I wait in line for dinner, and by the time I am through in line and have our food, they typically are just returning). Club Tinsel was in full swing in Cosmic Ray’s, and so we were treated to Christmas tunes being played by a DJ, as well as Christmas characters dancing with the crowd. After dinner, we headed to Dumbo, one of Camden’s favorites. I was really enjoying hearing the Christmas music throughout the park tonight! We headed to the next refreshment spot, which was serving up Nestle chocolate milk and gingerbread cookies. We had quite the stockpile of cookies already, as most of the stations were giving each person multiple cookies! My favorite so far was the gingerbread cookie, as these cookies were soft and just delicious. Before we headed towards the Castle to find a spot to watch the fireworks, we stopped for sparkling apple cider and Dove chocolates- yum!

(My son enjoying his dinner at Cosmic Ray's)

(Enjoying Club Tinsel)

(On my way to get a treat in New Fantasyland, I saw the 7 Dwarfs on their way to take a break from meeting guests)

(Sparkling apple cider)

This fireworks show was phenomenal- probably the best fireworks show I have ever seen! I have included a few clips of the show in the video at the end of this post. After the show, we found it interesting that we had to wait for the cast members to ‘clear’ the area near the Carousel- due to the fireworks, they have to make sure that the area is safe! After the Carousel, my mom and I noticed that there was another treat spot set up that hadn’t been advertised in our event guide, inside of Pinocchio’s Village Haus. Our curiosity got the best of us, and although our bellies were already full of treats, we decided to head in- we discovered that every cookie given out during the event was given out here in a bundle! We each happily took a bundle to add to our growing cookie collections. Our last ride before we went to find a spot for the 11pm parade was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which Camden loved. Unfortunately, the night got the best of him, and he fell asleep in the stroller right before the parade began- we’ll just have to go again, because I know he would have loved it! The parade music was catchy (wait until you watch my video- you won’t be able to get the song out of your head!), the characters were fun, and of course, Santa Claus himself made an appearance!

(The Christmas fireworks show- called Holiday Wishes- did not disappoint!)

(That giant candy cane pole in the back signifies that there are complimentary treats located here!)

(The 'bonus' treat stop at Pinocchio's Village Haus)

(Enjoying The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)

(Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade)

(Jolly old St. Nick!)

We did not catch several of the events offered during this party, including Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration castle show, A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas stage show, VoicePlay music in Tomorrowland, and the multiple rare character meets located throughout the park (my son does not enjoy meeting characters)- however, rides with little-to-no-wait were a big priority for us, as were the events that we did enjoy, plus the complimentary treats! Here is the order of our favorites from the night, ranked from favorite to not our favorite (but which we still loved):

     

     1) Holiday Wishes fireworks show

     2) A Frozen Holiday Wish castle lighting ceremony

     3) Once Upon A Christmastime Parade

     4) Short lines for rides and attractions (the longest wait was probably 10 minutes)

     5) The complementary treat locations

     6) Club Tinsel at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe

The atmosphere at this event was just amazing. I love Christmas music, and it was playing all throughout the park. Most of the cast members were wearing special holiday attire, which added to the festivity. The castle lit up with Christmas lights was truly breathtaking. This was such a special event, and I am so happy and grateful that I was able to experience it with my family.

(There is no better sight than Cinderella Castle lit up for the Holidays)

(Main Street USA, looking toward the train station)

We ended the night with a boat ride aboard the Jungle Cruise, yet another Disney classic, which was re themed for the holidays into the Jingle Cruise. I really enjoyed the holiday jokes and decorations worked into this ride for Christmas. Since we boarded our boat at about 11:58pm, the party was officially over when our cruise ended, and it was time to make our way back to Main Street USA. We had already split up from my parents and my aunt, and so we took our time, taking some photos and videos on the way out, before heading to our bus back to Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa.

(Enjoying our last ride of the night- a midnight boat ride aboard the Jingle Cruise)

(Main Street USA was still packed with folks at 12:30am)

(Good night, Magic Kingdom!)

I hope that you enjoy some of my video clips from the party, located HERE.


Please feel free to email me at dana_aimee@hotmail.com with any Disney questions. Thank you for reading, happy travels, and Merry Christmastime!