Many Ways to do Disney

In 2022 I was blessed to be able to visit Walt Disney World Resort, Aulani Resort, and Disneyland. I will be covering each in their own detailed blogs but I realized they kind of cover the many types of trips you can take to Disney.

WDW

First was our big family trip to Walt Disney

World. Being west coasters we were

Disneyland people. I was raised in California

and lived in So Cal in the 90s. I had an annual

pass and have been to Disneyland over 500

times. So Walt Disney World had always been

a dream trip of mine but nothing I was

familiar with. The trip would be me, my

husband, our two youngest (13 and 18 at the time), and one

of my brothers. To be clear my oldest was invited. They do not like theme parks or a lot of Disney. I think it is part of their rebellion. Ha! In all honesty we support our kids being true to who they are. My oldest is a home body who is happy not participating in this kind of thing.

We planned this trip for 18 months. I watched all the videos, created the first version of the Most Magical Fairy Quest Guide, had little gifts each day for everyone, and was determined to make it great. It was great! It was also a lot. We decided to make this the biggest and best family vacation. We stayed at the Poly, ate at all the special meals, and just said yes to it all! Some people say spending this kind of money or putting in this kind of effort isn't worth it but I disagree. It was the best way for our family to experience WDW Resort for the first time. We will probably never do it that way again, but just because we feel like we got our fill and now we can have smaller more focused trips.

Aulani

Next was my Aulani experience. At the time I

was a consultant with a direct sales company

and I had earned the incentive trip. It was to

Hawaii. I had been to Kauai but not Oahu,

which is where they were taking us. I didn't

do a ton of research just looked at the things

the company and other consultants where

sharing. I wanted to relax more than do

things, and to stay open to the magic.

See what I could just allow to happen. No expectation. Well I ended up at the end of the week at the Aulani resort with three great friends having a character breakfast. We spent the day at the resort. Since we weren't staying there we couldn't use the pools, slides, lounge chairs, or do the activities. We could use the beach, meet characters, eat at all the restaurants and shop in all the stores. Our impromptu girls trip was some of the most fun I have had. There is nothing like running to find Moana to take pictures with other women in their late 30s and early 40s, and then finish the day with Mickey shaved ice.

Disneyland

Later that year my husband and I decided to

celebrate our anniversary at Disneyland just

the two of us. We decided it just a few months

before we went. The last time we had gone

was 9 years before. So we had a couples only

trip with only some planning. We did some

dining reservations and had a few things we

knew we wanted to do, but also wanted to see

where the days took us. We stayed at a good

neighbor hotel to help keep the cost down.

We love going with our kids but it was so nice to just be silly and have fun together. I highly suggest a couples only trip for anyone considering it. They can be magical.

I hope this shows that there is no “correct” way to take a Disney trip. You just have to figure out what is best for you. It can be to WDW, Disneyland, or Aulani because all offer amazing experiences. It can be planned way in advance, close but with some time, or last minute. It can be for all your family, just some friends, you and your partner, or even a solo trip! It can be budget or break the bank. All trips are valid and fun. So please reach out to me and lets talk about what trip looks best for you. We can even talk via email or text, a phone call is not necessary. I would love to find out about you and your family and figure out the best trip for you.

Beignets from The Princess and the Frog

Beignets

• 1½ cups warm water

• ½ cup white sugar

• 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup evaporated milk

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon salt

•6½ cups bread flour, divided

• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

• ¼ cup confectioners' sugar (or more)

1. Stir together the warm water, sugar, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Let sit and dissolve for 5 to 10 minutes, until smooth.

2. Add the eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla extract, and salt, and mix on low with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer until combined.

3. Add 3 cups of the flour, one cup at a time. Add the butter and continue to mix on low until dough is sticky but smooth. Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight. The dough will rise slowly overnight.

5. Remove dough from refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

6. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to an inch thick, and slice into 2 inch squares or use a cookie cutter for fun shapes.

7. Heat vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or electric fryer until the temperature reaches 375°F.

8 Place a few of the uncooked beignets in the hot oil and fry them, turning once, until they are puffy and golden brown on both sides, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove the beignets from the oil and drain on paper towels or cooling rack.

9. Dust with a light layer of powdered sugar. I like the cooling rack with a pan under to make dusting them with powdered sugar easier. Repeat with remaining dough squares. Once all the beignets are done, add a generous dusting of powdered sugar on top of the pile and serve.

My daughter Tori decided she wanted to make food from different Disney movies and then eat the food while watching the movie, mainly because she wanted these beignets. We both love Princess and the Frog. I always say if I was a princess, I would be Tiana. Tori loves the music and the animation. So, when I agreed to do this project with her, this was our first choice. every princess week we make these now and have gotten better at it.

I had never made beignets before when we made these the first time. The dough was a little trickier and stickier than I thought it would be and it took a few times to perfect our technique. The best part was Tori and I had a great time making them. She will take a break break to play Roblox, Splatoon, or some other game while we waited for it to rise.

We use our deep fryer to cook them, just remove the baskets and use tongs. I use a small strainer and a slightly larger bowl to set it in to “sift” the powdered sugar on top of the beignets. Tori and i usually end up covered in powdered sugar no matter what we do.

Aristocats- Creme de la Creme ala Edgar

I made one up based on all he puts in the pot in the movie, excluding the sleeping pills of course!

Creme de la Creme ala Edgar

16 oz of milk

2 Tbls of sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Heat milk in pot on stove.

Whisk in sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Heat and whisk till all ingredients are well combined and milk is a little frothy. Though you may be tempted at times DO NOT add sleeping pills to the drink (hahaha)

Pour into two mugs and Enjoy!

I was actually surprised how much we enjoyed this drink. Tori asked that we make it again soon because it was so yummy! All my kids love this movie which is funny because I was never a big fan of it. The character Marie is adorable and has always been a favorite of my middle child Alex. Tori likes her too. This film is also filled with horrible racist stereotypes and some things that would be questionable now, but mostly is a fun romp with cats. We talked about France the different French artists who were represented or paid homage to in the film. All in all it was a nice relaxing evening.