The Canadian Cost of Travel to WDW

by Gaylin

A few years ago, the cost of exchanging Canadian currency for US currency was around par. This means that, as a Canadian, buying $1 US dollar would cost me $1 CDN. But not really, most currency exchange storefronts, tack 2 percent or more onto the cost of buying currency. If the dollars are at par, it is still going to cost $1.02 CDN or more to buy $1 US.

Right now the exchange rate is prohibitively high.

Yes, you are reading that correctly. 1 US dollar would cost me $1.30 cents to buy, oh wait, add on the 2-4 percent to actually buy the currency, this $1 US would cost me up to $1.34 CDN. 

Some people might think, that is not so bad, I would still go on vacation. And then there is the next surprise. Booking the vacation at Disney, means paying the US price for the vacation. Credit cards exchange rates will cost anywhere from 3-7% (ouch). This obviously varies widely depending on what credit card company you deal with.

Then there is booking the flight, again, if you are booking with a US based airlines, it will be US pricing on a credit card with a high exchange charge. If you are booking with a Canadian based airline, the cost could be significantly cheaper, only problem for me, here on the West Coast, flights via US airlines are usually much better routes and travel times.

On my last trip, the cost of the flights, after exchange was $773 US (Alaska Airlines). 

I went online and booked a pretend trip for the end of August, early September. One person, one week, Pop Century, 7 day park pass - no fancy options or food. The cost after credit card exchange would be about $1,922.68. Add to that the cost of the flights: $2,695 CDN. (please remember, this is with no food, souvenirs or mouse-keeping/restaurant tips)

I decided to check on the cost, adding the dining plan.

With the quick service plan, the cost after exchange would be $2,401.23 + airfare = $3,174.23 CDN.

With the table service plan, the cost after exchange would be $2,613.36 + airfare = $3,386.36 CDN. With the table service plans, there is the cost of tips as well.

What it comes down to, at the rate of exchange today, May 28, 2016. Every $1,000 US would cost me, $1,340 CDN. More or less depending on the exchange business or credit card you use.

This is why my next Walt Disney World vacation is . . .

I check the cost of exchange every day and someday soon (I hope) it will be good enough that I can justify booking a trip!

The Best Kind of Snowman

By: Gaylin

Every year I look forward to unpacking my Christmas decorations so I can enjoy the best (unmelting) snowman ever. He is about 10 inches tall and has a convenient bean bag base so he always stands up straight.

I bought this Mickey in 2009 and it makes me smile, I hope Mickey the Snowman makes you smile too!

Tigger Twins

By: Gaylin

In 2006 I got a great set of stuffed Tiggers for a Christmas present. They make great Christmas decorations and are so very cheerful. The one on the right has a bell in its hat, so if I happen to lift him up and shake him, he sounds all Christmasy. Very cute to see, one Tigger dressed in a Christmas sweater and the other as an elf. At about 12" tall and in a permanent seated position, they are easy to place about and enjoy some grrrrrreat holiday cheer.

Merry Christmas!
TTFN

Wordless Wednesday

by Gaylin

The subtitle to this photo could be "how to be a Disney Dork". No I didn't buy this ear hat but I did try it on for you all to laugh at me. The farce is strong in this one!

Is it a Disney Pillow? A Blanket? Both!

by Gaylin

In November 2006 I went to Disneyland Resort with a friend, it was my first trip there and I got to spend my birthday there as well as see all the Christmas decorations, shows and Christmas party.

The best souvenir I bought on this trip was this article, isn't it cute?

A red polar fleece pillow with Mickey and Pluto on it. It says "Disneyland Resort, Santa's Reindeer Round-up. You can see from the size against the chair back that it is about 13 x11 inches.

 

But wait! The pillow is actually a pouch and with one pull, you have a lovely polar fleece blanket to snuggle with on cold, wintery nights! Unfolded this blanket is 49x37 inches. A great addition to my Christmas every year.

Friends in Warm Places

by Gaylin

Since most of my vacations involve a Disney theme park, I have never been to Hawaii. Luckily for me, I have friends who went this winter. While they couldn't afford to stay at Aulani, they did go there to visit the resort and enjoy lunch and an afternoon surrounded by all things Disney.

Also lucky for me, they brought back presents! If I never go to see Aulani, I have a bit of Hawaii on my pin blanket.

Tour Guide: Story Behind the Photo

by Gaylin

On my first solo trip to Walt Disney World in 2008, I took the Keys To The Kingdom Tour at the Magic Kingdom. I have been on quite a few tours at WDW and all have been terrific, this one was great fun. Lots of information and facts to take in, did you know that since WDW opened, 42 prosthetic limbs have been turned into lost and found! I can understand losing a hat while touring the park, but an arm or leg?

What I can say has been consistent in all of the tours I have taken is the great tour guides, like Anna! She never faltered all through the tour and I have to admire anyone who can lead a tour while wearing high heels!

A Different Kind of Sidewalk Art! (From June 19th, 2013)

By: Gaylin

On different trips to Walt Disney World, I have had the pleasure of coming across these artists at both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Their art is simple, fun and not timeless. Really, not timeless, their art starts to evaporate as soon as it is finished! What always surprises me is the amount of people who walk by or walk over this art without ever stopping to notice it.

What art am I talking about! Mop art by cast members who work janitorial services at the parks. And yes, I did talk to more than one of these cast members and they are really janitors and not artists!

Came across this fellow at the Magic Kingdom one afternoon. Carl was a college student and this was his first day of doing sidewalk drawings, I think he did a wonderful job.

Wait, pay attention, don't walk on Mickey!

The beginning of Minnie.

Minnie all finished.

Loved this Stitch!

And Pluto.

And if you ask nicely, the artist will let you pretend you are the one who did the drawing! Minnie and me . . .

Floored at Walt Disney World: The Story Behind the Photo

by: Gaylin

I have often heard that people will take a photo of almost anything when they are at Walt Disney World.

To prove this point, here is a photo of a washroom floor! Yes, that is right, I took a photo of a bathroom floor. Why? (I know you are asking.) Because, this floor is awesome, talk about attention to detail. It is in a women's washroom at the Animal Kingdom and the whole floor is made up of 1 inch square tiles patterned to make frogs.

I love this floor . . . this is not the only time I have taken a photo of it. To me it shows the effort that Disney will go to to make something as utilitarian as a washroom floor interesting and fun. And yes, someone noticed I was taking this photo and looked at me like I was crazy!

Dinoland at Animal Kingdom . . . That flat car!

Dinoland at Animal Kingdom . . . That flat car!

By: Gaylin

I have a few places at Disney World where taking a photo is a must-do. One of them is in Dinoland in the Animal Kingdom. Every trip I say, "Time to take a photo in my new car!". Even if I am on a solo trip I get someone to take my photo, because it is "my car" . . . not yours!

I figured you didn't need to see all the flat car photos, 3 is plenty.
This first photo is from 2005, me and my shaved head again.

This photo is from 2006, we were on a tour at the Animal Kingdom and they all thought I was nuts to want the photo of the 4 of us and the tour guide (she is the one hanging off the back of the car). Then when it was time to take the photo, everyone hauled their cameras out.

This is from my first solo trip in April 20, 2008, taken by some random stranger! If you ever go on a solo trip, don't be afraid to ask cast members or strangers to take your photo. They will, can't say the photo will always work out but they will take one.

Disney Vacation Carry On: The Story Behind the Photo

Disney Vacation Carry On: The Story Behind the Photo

By: Gaylin

When I go to Walt Disney World, I only like to take carry-on luggage. The first time I ever flew to Florida, my luggage got lost, this must have been traumatic because I will cram every thing into carry-on, rather than take a bigger bag. Or it is because I am frugal and don't like paying for checked luggage. Either way, I can go to WDW for 9 nights with carry-on.

But . . . how many souvenirs can I bring home, if I am only taking carry-on? As it turns out, I can bring a lot! And yes, I did bring my clothes home.

 

Here is another photo of the loot, once I'd tidied up.

Vancouver to Alaska on the Disney Wonder, 8/26 - 9/2 2013 : Part 8

By: Gaylin 

September 2, 2013
Disney Cruise - docking in Vancouver

On the day you dock back in Vancouver, breakfast is early and in the restaurants. We were back in Parrot Cay, as evidenced by the colourful table setting!

And the breakfast menu!

In truth I don't remember what I had . . . totally forgot to take photos. We were all too busy talking to each other about the cruise about how long it would take us to get home. Life in general. We laughed a lot and at the end of it all, we hugged a lot as well. I think the best part of the cruise for me was the people we met. Our dinner 'ladies' were awesome as were Fitzroy and Megan our servers.

We then went to the atrium and waited until the called group purple. The luggage tags are colour coded and you just wait for your colour to be called. We walked off the ship (so sad) and waded through a large room full of luggage to find ours and then walked out, easiest customs agents ever!

Right outside this dock area we got a cab back to my apartment. It was very anticlimactic having such a short ride home and 'what do you mean, no more Disney!'.

I thought you would all get a laugh out of the amount of toiletries the room host left for us! I will be Disney clean for a very long time to come. Well, I may be nice and give some of it away.

 

As always at the end of a vacation, I take a photo of all my souvenirs or as I like to call it - loot photos! As you can see, I didn't spend much money while on this cruise. The selection in the stores wasn't that great or I certainly would have. Disney shopping is the only kind of shopping I really like to do.

 
I hope you have all enjoyed my ramblings on our cruise! I know I have enjoyed sharing our trip with all of you.
See Ya Real Soon!

For previous installments, please type in Vancouver into the search bar to the right.

Vancouver to Alaska on the Disney Wonder, 8/26 - 9/2 2013 : Part 7

By: Gaylin 

September 1, 2013
Day at sea, Disney cruise to Alaska

We are motoring home to Vancouver! Another lovely day.

 We started out with breakfast at Tritons as I couldn't face another buffet. I started with fruit, yogurt and breakfast grits, yum!

And continued with bacon and a freshly made omelette. It was a nice way to start our day.

We had fully intended to go back to the room for a bit and then head to Studio Sea for the dessert making demonstration. I found out that as long as neither of us drinks and we both behave like adults (Tyler is 16) then we were allowed to the food demonstrations - if we sat in the back. As it turned out we didn't get to see the dessert making, we both fell asleep! Napping in the morning, must be on a cruise.

Even though it seemed like we had just had breakfast, off we went for lunch at the buffet. I admit, I couldn't get myself to eat the crawdad, maybe if it had been hot, since it was served cold, it was kind of icky.

Planes was showing that afternoon but neither of us was interested. We wanted to spend our time on the ship, since tomorrow it was home.
There is a small deck on the back of the ship where we had intended to spend some time but just after we got there, a couple of cast members showed up to power wash it! We then wandered the halls, peeking in rooms much more luxurious than ours while the cleaning staff had the doors propped open. Wow, some of those rooms are big! Beautifully panelled, large decks - if I ever do cruise again, I would hope to afford a bigger room.

After that, we had our last visit to the coffee shop. I have no idea what I was drinking, it was a cold coffee drink and was dessert in a cup.

Our last dinner was at Parrot Cay. We had a lot of fun again with our servers and the lovely ladies that were our dinner companions. It does show how big the ship is, we only saw the dinner ladies once outside of meal time! Mind you they had a room with a veranda and spent a lot of time there.

This turned out to be one of the best meals for me in the whole cruise. Red snapper with potatoes & veggies in a tomato sauce. It was divine! As you can see . . . I had started eating before I remembered to take a photo.

I was hoping to get an interesting dessert for the last meal but got a cup of chocolate mousse that was barely chocolate flavoured.
That was when we had the inspired idea to order a Mickey's Premium Ice Cream Bar!!! YUM. I love them. Ended my dinner quite well.

We then raced off to the Walt Disney Theatre for the live performance of Dreams. What an amazing show, all about reaching for your dreams.

The show ended at 9:30 and we had to get to our room to get our baggage out in the hall on time. They give you a full list of instructions on what to do with your baggage, you get baggage tags that are colour coded. Bags that you don't want to carry off ship yourself must be outside the stateroom between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30. We made it just in time!

One last walk around deck before bed, one last sit down and talk for awhile in 'our' chairs on the 10 floor landing. Soon it will all be a memory.

Please stop back tomorrow for the final part of Gaylin's Alaskan Cruise! 
For previous installments, please type in Vancouver into the search bar to the right.

Vancouver to Alaska on the Disney Wonder, 8/26 - 9/2 2013 : Part 6

By: Gaylin

August 31, 2013
Day 6, Ketchikan Alaska

This would be our last shore stop of the cruise and one of the nice things about it was that we didn't dock until after 10, which meant we slept in a bit!

After a quick breakfast we were among the first off the ship at 10:30. The dock is very near the town of Ketchikan so there is no shuttle buses, just a quick walk and you are there! We both found the town to be quite welcoming, easy to see where we might want to walk to, so that is what we did.

Right on the dock area there are things to use as photo ops . . . While the skies look all cloudy and grey, it was actually quite warm and we didn't get rained on.

As you can see from this very large gauge, Ketchikan gets lots and lots of rain.

This was a great statue in the with the history of the area all in one statue. As you can see on the left, there were 2 other cruise ships in the port, making this small town very full of tourists!

We walked about for an hour and then a quick walk back to the Wonder. We made a fast trip to the buffet and then headed to the Buena Vista movie theatre for a showing of the Avengers! Nothing like some heroes to entertain us in the middle of the day.

Then we headed off ship again and back for more time in Ketchikan, we walked, shopped, had some treats. I noticed a disturbing lack of chocolates on board the ship, got myself some nice big dark chocolate salted caramels and all was well in my world again! There were no whales in this park at all, except for the one bench carved in the shape of a whale but can't miss an opportunity for a photo with a sign.

We strolled back on board in time to get changed for dinner. We were in Animator's Palate for the third time and we were both pretty excited because we knew that we were having Elk Tenderloin for dinner. Both of us are carnivores and this was yummy! Not the best photo of my dinner, as you can see the elk was perfect but another baked potato and barely cooked vegetables, very sad.

We went back to our room to change and this very cool guy was there to great us!

It turns out that neither of us are real joiners so we skipped the evenings entertainment offerings and spent another evening happily wandering around the deck. It was another lovely evening and once it got too dark, we headed back to the room for another movie from bed!

For previous installments, please type in Vancouver into the search bar to the right.

Vancouver to Alaska on the Disney Wonder, 8/26 - 9/2 2013 : Part 5

 Guest Writer Wednesday

By: Gaylin

August 30, 2013
Day 5, cruise to Alaska, Juneau

Woke up and we were in Juneau, another uninspiring breakfast buffet. Filling but meh. The cruise ship dock is just outside of Juneau and we decided to not get the shuttle bus and we walked into town. Juneau is quite big but very spread out. The boardwalk makes the walk into town quite obvious!

The centre of town is very easy to find as is the tram that goes up Mt. Roberts. This was our other excursion we had booked. When you book the tram, you can take it up the mountain anytime during the day. And your ticket is also a day pass, in case you wanted to ride the tram again.

The view from the tram is stunning. The man driving (guiding?) the tram gave a brief history of the area while we were on the way up.

See the ship on the left, that is the Wonder! I zoomed in a bit for this photo, it actually was a lot smaller from the top of the tram ride.

At the station the tram stops at, there is a visitor station with a historical movie (free), 18 minutes long. We both enjoyed it. There is a store, as well as a learning centre. On the way to the learning centre is an enclosure for this guy. You can't see in this photo but this bald eagle was shot by hunters, he is missing one eye and has a damaged beak. He cannot be returned to the wild because he can no longer hunt. He has a nice home and looks well fed and cared for.

We decided to use up some energy and instead of taking the tram down the mountain, we took the hiking trail! It is about 2.5 miles of switchback trail, fairly well marked. We were the only people going down the mountain but ran into a few people who were hiking UP the mountain. It is lovely, quiet and beautiful. We both enjoyed being off the ship and away from people, very refreshing.

The trail ends on a road that leads back into Juneau, we hiked down the mountain, back into Juneau and out the other side and walked to the ship. A very energetic afternoon.

We got back for a quick trip through the buffet, just before it closed. It had been misty raining while we were hiking so after our quick lunch we went and got changed into dry clothes and off to the Outlook Cafe for a hot drink.
Dinner was at Triton's and this was my meal, the steak was really good but the baked potato, very boring and barely cooked vegetables, eh.

Then it was off to the Walt Disney Theatre for the Toy Story Musical stage show. AWESOME! If you go to the stage shows, remember to get there a bit early, there was quite the line-up for the show.
After the show we went to the Atrium/Lobby to see the Pixar Pals show they put on. It is pretty fun, very loud and very well attended.
Then we called it a night and headed back to the room where we were met by this character, a towel dog? Whatever this is, we both had a good laugh.

For parts 1-4, please click here, here, here and here!