Ohana

Sometimes I think I would be better off if I never knew that ‘Ohana existed.

But the fact of the matter is that I do know that ‘Ohana exists, and I know that it’s roughly 1000 miles away from my tummy in New Jersey. For the first few weeks after my first experience at ‘Ohana, a family-style restaurant serving up fresh, Polynesian inspired food which resides in the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World, I was experiencing withdrawal of the worst kind. I missed WDW, naturally, but I really, really missed ‘Ohana.

While getting my birthday trip together, I had finally snagged a reservation for ‘Ohana, which was no easy feat 50 days away. (Yeah, I know, you’re supposed to do it 180 days out, but this was a somewhat last minute trip. Always use a Disney travel agent, kids.)

When the evening arrived, my husband and I moseyed on over to the Polynesian Resort and waited for our names to be called. We sat in the bar area, mouths agape as we watched the skewers of pork, chicken, steak, and shrimp bask in the open flames that gave them their unique taste. Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, our first cousin (everyone there is your cousin – ‘Ohana means family, so everyone is family here) picked up a slab of bread and led us to our cozy table. I’m in love with this place already.

MickeyTravels, LLC

Planning a Disney vacation can be overwhelming and wearisome. There are plenty of things to consider; number of days needed to see all the parks, park hopper, meal plans, hotel/resort accommodations, rental cars, or if you plan to do some sightseeing outside Disney.

My husband and I tried to plan our Disney World vacation on own.  We spent two weeks planning our trip by visiting online travel websites such as Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia comparing prices, accommodations, and flights. The process was frustrating because the prices seem to change dramatically or our hotel preference would not be available just by changing the flight times.  We purchased a couple of Disney Travel books and still we felt at lost.  We want this trip to be memorable to us and out two children and want every aspect of our trip to be perfect.  We contacted Elyssa of MickeyTravels, LLC (elyssa@mickeytravels.com) to help us with our vacation plans.

Elyssa asked a few basic questions; when are we planning on taking the trip, how long we are staying, number of children and their ages, if we are planning on touring other theme parks other than Disney, our resort preference (value, moderate, or deluxe), and our dining plan. Based on our responses she was able to give us recommendations that same day! The price came out less than online travel sites.  Even better she explained the meal plan which can be confusing.  The meal plan we chose was the standard plan which includes one quick service, one snack, and one table service.  The meal plan would allow us to have the flexibility of different restaurant choices without having to worry about the prices of food because it is prepaid.  The price of food comes out 30% less because of the meal plan.

Disney Photo Pass

Do you know the Disneyland/ Walt Disney World special secret about taking pictures with your entire family? Well the special secret is the Disney Photo Pass. You can get a photo pass card from a Disneyland/WDW cast member that wears a vest that has photo pass photographer patch on it. If you are a annual pass member, there is a place on the back of the card that they can scan. The photo pass photographers are all over the park, even where you find characters too.  All you have to do is give the photographer your card before or after they take the picture and they will scan your card that will have the pictures that they took. If you have kids with you, there are some special effects that they can do. Like impose a character in it. You won’t see it till after you get home and sign into www.disneyphotopass.com.

Here is some general information that you would need to know about the photo pass.

• Make sure that you keep your photo pass card in a safe place. You also, might want to right the 16 digit number down, just in case that you may have lost it.
• If you get multiple cards, make sure that you have names on them. At the end, you can put them in the same account when you get home.
• The photographers will take multiple poses at each location to ensure that you get a variety of pictures.
• You will find the photographers at the entrance of every park. Also, you look for the icons on each park map and it will tell you where they are.
• Once you get home, you can alter then. You can add borders, autographs, and edit the pictures. You will always have the original picture.