How to do Disney in less than $1500

Ok full disclosure, the cost was probably closer to $1600 but this also included the most expensive ticket admissions: Harry Potter World. More on that later...

While we are still on the high from our joyous, childish adventures in the happiest place on earth, I wanted to share just how we did it on such a low budget. I tried multiple times in college to get a group of friends together to go to Disney for spring break, and of course the biggest obstacle was cost.

Disney is the epitome of cash cow organizations. I can't even be mad about this fact. It's like a children's Las Vegas - you pay tons of money to go there, only to spend even more money. So how did we do it? I think the first important point is why was this worth it?

Aside from the obvious reasons to go to Disney world, this trip was worth every minute because my opportunities for vacation are slim. We were so fortunate that Parker's summer break and my off-time coincided for once, so as they say - go big or go home.

Here are our 5 tips for an economically responsible trip to Disney World:

1. Go for 3 or more days. We spent one day at Universal for Harry Potter
   
   World prior to going to Disney itself, and I mentioned above that this was the most expensive part. Here's why: apparently if you choose to only buy tickets for 1 day of admission (to either Universal or Disney), prices can run you close to $200/person for the day. If you buy a stretch of at least 3 or more days suddenly your price per day drops to around $90/person/day. Crazy, right? They want to trap you there for longer so you spend more money. Makes sense. Additionally, it's ideal to pick low season times when ticket prices are cheaper (duh), but not everyone can control that so it's a minor point to be made.
2. Stay at an outside hotel. Though this saves you money on the up front cost, Parker and I debated the whole week whether or not staying outside of Disney was worthwhile. I say this because if you stay in a Disney resort, you have access to Magic Hours - aka extra time in the park when other people can't come in. More time = more time to spend waiting in line for the Avatar ride :) However, the outside hotel was pretty cheap. Most importantly, it came with a free hot breakfast. Breakfast is everything, and this leads perfectly into my next tip.
   
3. Snacks on snacks on snacks. The price of food was surprisingly less expensive than I originally expected. Most quick service restaurants ran adult meals around $12-20 and kid's meals at $7-10, but this is the kind of stuff that adds up quickly. Parker and I operated under the rule of "one treat per day" - meaning we could buy one food item in the park each day. Most of the time we spent that money on kids meals or splitting an adult meal, but at least once I treated myself to some ice cream, an ice cream sandwich to be specific. (It was amazing, they let me have two different flavors of ice cream. So. Worth it.) For snacks we brought a large variety of protein bars (we stick to Larabars and Rx bars only - old habits from Whole30 die hard, plus
   
   excess sugar and hot days don't mix well), beef jerky, trail mix, pretzels, and dried fruit. If you still feel like you'll be hungry, you'll either surprise yourself, or need to become comfortable with the fact that you're about to spend hella money on food at the park.
4. Bring a refillable water bottle. This seems like an obvious tip, but I saw tons of people at the park buying Dasani bottles of water for $4.00. Repeatedly. Disney is ok with you bringing in pre-filled water bottles. We personally brought a Camelback so it was easier to access and carry and filled this up a few times in the park. Fo free. 
5. Parking vs. hotel shuttle. So our hotel had a shuttle to and from Disney available at $5/person roundtrip. While this seemed like a good idea, we were pretty restricted on times that the shuttle would pick up and drop off. Parking is $20/day, and you can hop from one park to the next with this admission fee. Personally, this is worth it to me as someone who wants to be in the door right when the park opens. Just to do the calculation, we decided the extra $10 spent was worthwhile here. Ideally you find a hotel that has a complimentary shuttle service, or maybe this is a reason that makes staying on site in Disney more worthwhile. That being said - this is implying that you also chose to drive to Orlando in the first place (which I recommend as an obvious choice for saving money). Living 4 hours closer to Orlando now is really glorious for us.

   

   This one of multiple pictures a Disney photographer took for us with our own camera. For the win.

6. Have Disney photographers use your camera for photos. This is sort of a bonus tip. There were plenty of photographers working for Disney taking pictures of families in prime locations. They have a very convenient program where they scan your magic card or bracelet after taking the photos and you can access these things from the Disney World app. While this is awesome, I don't really care to pay for those photos. Luckily about 99% of the photographers were more than happy to snap pictures in the exact same spot with their same skill level with my own camera. Yes, they will even do this with an iPhone as well. 

Overall take-home point: you can go to Disney on a budget. You just need a little planning and self-control (trust me I had moments of nearly snatching cotton candy right from a little kid standing near me). Trust me, it's so worth it. More to come eventually on our takes of each park!

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Keeping up with old friends.

Hi, everyone! It's August (I can't believe that time is flying so fast), and I'm finally beginning to feel adjusted to this new North Carolina life. We have some friends we regularly hang out with and are actually able to make at least one or two restaurant recommendations to others - but let's be honest we really just keep going back to Nanataco. With just a few more days off before I start the actually difficult stuff in residency (yes I know you're probably wondering if I am actually doing anything because all I've done is post pictures of vacation), I thought it would be a good time for some reflection blogging.

Real life pic of me actively writing this blog post.
I enjoy seeing authentic photos of bloggers, so
here's me.

Something that's been on my mind lately is friendship. Lots of people ask how we're doing out here, and while I'm sure they're curious if I like my job, if Parker is excited about his new job, etc., I think part of the question "how's NC?" is angled in the direction of friendship. Here's my go-to answer: We are starting to make new friends, and everyone is super nice. But there is always a sort of loneliness when everyone around you is a new friend. This is definitely not a knock on all our wonderful new friends, merely a shoutout to the ones who've stuck with us all this time.

Which brings me to the meat of this post - how to keep up with old friends.

I am really bad at keeping in touch. Period. I admittedly just don't consider that I should regularly call many people that I don't see much. I'm not even the person that frequently calls my own family. I apologize to any friend out there who feels hurt by my lack of contact, but I unfortunately am just not that good. That being said - I am really good at texting back haha.

We are living in an age with the beautiful technology of texting and social media. I recently stumbled upon some seriously old (and arguably embarrassing) photos of some of my oldest friends, which I have included for your entertainment as well. I'm talking 20 year friendship anniversaries. I haven't seen most of these people in years. It is so amazing that I can reach out to these friends now and easily feel in touch with them. Even better, I know these are the truest of friendships when I can reach out to them after long stretches of not speaking and still feel that same warmth and welcome from them.

Yes, I am the baby picture on the left. Yes, my hair was completely untamable.

I wish I could say it was Corinne's birthday in this picture, but I'm pretty sure she just thought she was (is) as princess. 

So sad I missed out on this reunion picture at our wedding. Still worth posting as a comment on everyone growing up so much.

So to all the friends who've stuck it out, thank you so much. I really love reminiscing about old times and looking back on pictures of past adventures (this is largely part of why I like taking pictures so much). To anyone who's drifted away, reach out. I'm always happy and excited to hear from old friends and hear how you're doing in your thriving life.

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Wilmington + Carolina Beach [Part 2]

Parker and I really enjoy balancing our beach vacations with a little "city" life. The most obvious solution on our most recent trip was to walk around quaint downtown Wilmington. I can't say I knew what to expect - typically everywhere we go we rate on a scale relative to how much we love Charleston. Wilmington did not disappoint.

Per the recommendations of our lovely AirBnB hosts, we started the night at Shuckin' Shack Oyster Bar. Again, I was somewhat skeptical as we were looking for authentic, local eats, and honestly my first assumption was that this restaurant would be reminiscent of a Joe's Crab Shack. I was wrong.

Though I can't necessarily say these were the best oysters I've ever tasted (and I don't mean that they gave us food poisoning or anything, but there's definitely better local actually-from-the-ocean oysters), they were definitely the cheapest. For around $20 we got 3 beers, a dozen oysters, and 6 hush puppies. And it was all so delicious. If you're not an oyster fan, I recommend giving it at least a few tries. The texture is strange, yes, but that salty brine flavor is just too good for me not to insist someone try them.

After our post-beach appetizer, we walked around downtown and the river walk for awhile. I've never seen so many restaurants lined up on the riverfront like that. I also can really appreciate historic towns that work hard to update the interior of their buildings while maintaining the classic appearance of storefronts. It certainly helps us that the weather was gorgeous and there was a refreshing breeze blowing off the river.

I couldn't resist this picture with a Henderson sign.

Behind the river-walk was a neighborhood of historic homes, complete with characteristic names and placards telling the tale of whatever family had owned and passed down the home. Again, feelings of walking through downtown Charleston come to mind here, and I'm so glad this travel spot is so close to home now.

Our final destination for the evening was (of course) for more food. We had been given an enormous list of restaurant suggestions, which honestly was a good sign enough for me to even want to visit. What we landed on, though was Rx Restaurant and Bar, which featured a "farm-to-table" approach - our favorite! I was honestly still full from the oysters from earlier, but I couldn't say no to a fried green tomato appetizer. They also ran a deal on free beer with purchase on certain appetizers. Honestly who says no to that? Of course we obliged.

Buffalo Pig's Ears

The particular appetizer our waiter suggested was the "buffalo pig's ears". As a dog owner, my first thought when I hear pig ears are those rawhide dog chews. I was initially pretty turned off by this, but Parker is far too adventurous not to try something like this. They. Were. Amazing. Picture a buffalo chicken wing. Now remove the meat and just leave the crispiest part of the chicken skin when it's fresh out of the fryer. That's a buffalo pig ear. I swear I had more than one dream about eating these again after we got home.

Fried Green Tomato topped with Pimento Cheese and Bacon Jam

Fried green tomatoes did not disappoint either. They had the perfect amount of breading served on top of house-made pimento cheese and covered with bacon jam (because of course).

For our main course we shared the duck. Now normally, I'm fairly partial to Asian seasonings on duck, but this dish was, again, incredible. There was plenty of food to share, and the meat was tender and juicy.

I can confidently say this: we will be back, Wilmington. And we will likely be back to Rx Restaurant and Bar as well. And, if anyone does decide to go to Wilmington, let me know so I can recommend the best AirBnB we've stayed in yet.

More vacation posts to come eventually!

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Wilmington + Carolina Beach [Part 1]

"There are too many North Carolina beaches for you to see in your four years here."

I can't tell you how many times I'd heard such a phrase. As someone who was born and raised in the land-locked state of Kentucky I don't think my brain had really processed this thought. We now live in a state on the East Coast, and that's pretty dang cool. What better way to relish in our staycation than a quick trip to the beach!

Wilmington, NC was the closest beach destination, I'd been told, so this is where our beach journey begins. A quick 2.5 hr (or so) drive - which is ludicrous compared to the minimum 9 hours we previously experienced in Kentucky, and you're suddenly on a gorgeous beach in a quaint town with history.

We started our day at the Eternal Sunshine café. Keep in mind, this is one of the first big cheat meals we've had since starting Whole30, and breakfast is our favorite meal by a long shot. Eternal Sunshine had an entire menu for eggs Benedict (my favorite!!).

Parker got the Kickin' Benedict with jalapeño toast, house-made sausage, and chipotle hollandaise with a side of grits with pimento cheese. Grits and pimento cheese are not necessarily my favorite foods, but put them together and magic happens.

I got the Eternal Sunshine Benedict with a croissant, avocado, bacon, and classic hollandaise with a side of "home fries" that were really skillet potatoes. I think we can all agree that anything with bacon on it is only going to be better than the original (unless you don't eat pork, then I get that). Also I am officially an avocado fanatic thanks to Whole30.

After brunch, we changed into our swimsuits and took the 20 min drive to the Carolina Beach Fishing Pier. It. Was. Gorgeous. The pier reaches out about 700 ft into the Atlantic and is sturdy but just worn enough by storms to have some serious character. There were an impressive number of legitimate fishermen on the pier as well. I only wish we could've seen someone catch something really exciting.

I honestly wonder what these men behind me do for real life jobs as this was a casual Thursday morning and they were doing some serious fishing. 

This time a random stranger graciously offered to take our picture. 

But what I would've paid to see a shark come up on someone's fishing rod. Yikes.

Of course you can't go to the beach without some actual beach lazing. We went on a weekday, but with it being peak season, the beach was surprisingly empty and quiet in the best way. Further down from the pier were several cars, almost like a football tailgate, parked in the sand - something I had never seen before. Right in front of where we posted up, there was a nice handful of people surfing. I didn't think this was possible on the Atlantic side of things, but the waves were actually impressive and the current very strong. 

True life: eating Whole30 snacks on the beach. You can't go wrong with baked sweet potato cubes. 

We really got the perfect amount of R&R on the beach and with a drive equivalent to Louisville to Henderson (still blown away by this). After spending a few hours laying out, we headed back to our AirBnB much closer to downtown Wilmington. See more about our evening activities on my next post!

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