Amanda Simko, Key to the World Travel

21/10/2024

If you love Nintendo you don’t want to miss Super Nintendo World opening at Universal Orlando Resort in May 2025! I had the opportunity to check out the Universal Studios Hollywood version last year and it was AMAZING. The theming is fantastic, there were mini games that can be played if you purchase the power up band (a fun option for families and adult fans!) and they have a cafe with Mario themed food. The ride is Mario kart in real life, which even includes Rainbow Road!

The Florida world is larger than the one in Hollywood and will contain an extended donkey Kong land with a mine cart ride and a family friendly yoshi ride as well! You won’t want to miss it! Booking opens tomorrow! Let me know if you have any questions or want to plan a trip for your family!

17/10/2024

Opening Memorial Day weekend 2025! A new Harry Potter Land, Super Nintendo, Monsters, How to Train your Dragon and more! Can’t wait to go to the extended Super Nintendo land, we loved it in Universal Studios Hollywood! Booking starts October 22nd!

Revealed! May 22, 2025 is the official Grand Opening of Universal Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort. Select multi-day tickets (and packages) will go on sale
October 22. Bookings for Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel, will also be available starting October 22.

14/06/2024

I know everyone’s excited about Epic Universe coming to Orlando in 2025, but did you know Dreamworks Land just opened in Universal Orlando this week! Featuring Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Trolls you will be able to meet Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona, ride the Trollercoaster, eat a Shrekzel and more! It looks so cute and I can’t wait to visit soon! This is a great addition for the smaller guests located in Universal Studios Park!

02/05/2024

I cannot wait for this to open in Orlando! The Hollywood location was amazing and this one has 2 ADDITIONAL RIDES! If you’ve been thinking about visiting Universal Orlando 2025 is the year with the all new Epic Universe theme park opening!

Get an inside look at all the ways to play with your favorite larger than life Nintendo characters in Super NIntendo World, coming to Universal Orlando's Epic Universe in 2025.

29/01/2024

Who’s ready to take a Universal Trip this year? Whether its Universal Orlando to take in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, the new Minionland or Jurassicoaster or Universal Hollywood to see Super Nintendo Land I have you covered with all the tips and tricks to make your trip easy, stress-free and memorable!

21/01/2024

If you’re a big boat person you’re going to love Royal Caribbeans newest (and largest) ship Icon of the Seas! Check out these rooms 😳

19/12/2023

Even if you aren’t doing a party the parks have lots of holiday offerings during the day and non party nights as well!

Animal kingdom has several beautiful trees and decor out, along with the Merry Menagerie (beautiful winter themed animal puppets!) out at the front of the park throughout the day. Mickey and Minnie also have fun holiday themed outfits at their meet and greet here as well!

We ended up doing the Safari around 11am and it was one of the best ones I’ve done in recent years! All of the animals were out eating and it was fantastic! I also tried the Fanta dole whip float and it was amazing!

Over in Epcot aside from the holiday decor there is also Fesitval of the Holidays with yummy holiday treats at booths around the world showcase! Living with the land is also all lit up with a Christmas light display!

If you haven’t been to Epcot recently you definitely need to check it out! Aside from the relatively new additions of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and the Guardians coaster, many of the walls have come down showing a new beautiful garden and Walt statue behind Spaceship Earth, a journey to water Moana interactive exhibit, as well as a new nighttime spectacular, Luminous! And I can’t forget my personal favorite, a Figment meet and greet!

16/12/2023

A new resort for me this trip, we got to finish out the trip at Boardwalk Resort! I will admit I have not stayed here before because I didn’t think I’d love the theming and I was SO wrong. I loved this resort. So much so that I booked another stay here in 2024!

Beach club can get pretty busy in the lobby as it’s the closest to Epcot’s back entrance but boardwalk being only slightly further gave it a more relaxed vibe that was less busy and more relaxing! The rooms were recently refurbished and are absolutely beautiful and our view of the boardwalk and crescent lake from the balcony didn’t hurt either.

The pool here is Mickey and Minnie themed and has a super cute slide! We also had breakfast one morning at Trattoria Al Forno and that was absolutely delicious too! Our final night they had an acapella group signing Christmas songs on the boardwalk below our balcony and it was amazing! Highly recommend this resort for anyone who loves a beautiful view of peaceful water and a quick walk or boat ride to Epcot and Hollywood studios!

14/12/2023

And if you are lover of the Classics- Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic kingdom kicks off in November and runs through December on select nights each year!

This party officially runs from 8-12 but you can enter the park at 4pm. Attractions are all low waits, some even have fun Christmas overlays (Jingle Cruise, Space Mountain has Christmas lights and music playing, and Tomorrowland Speedway has lots of lights decorated as you drive around!).

Multiple Christmas parades run throughout the evening as well as a Frozen theme stage show and Christmas fireworks! And included in your ticket- cookies, hot cocoa and cider at treat stops throughout the park (even allergy friendly options too!).

There are also many awesome characters in holiday costumes, Santa, fun photopass magic shots and snow on Main Street! This one is a do not miss for any age! So much fun and easily my favorite party of the year, every year!

13/12/2023

There are many great Holiday options at the Walt Disney World Resort in December but this year they added a great party option in Hollywood Studios! Jollywood Nights is a holiday party (separate ticket required) that celebrates the old Hollywood era holiday times! It runs select nights in December and all photopass photos are included. The party runs 830-1230 but you can get in at 7pm.

Included in the party are most rides (with very minimal wait times) 2 fun shows (a Christmas show and a nightmare before Christmas show), a projection and fireworks spectacular and many fun themed areas and character greets!

During the party I was able to ride Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania,and Runaway Railway waiting no more than 15 min for any ride!

I also attended the Christmas show which I absolutely loved! This was so cute lots of fun characters (muppets, princesses, and classic characters all in one show!). I also checked out the Tip Top Soirée at Tower of Terror courtyard and got a yummy themed drink while listening to some awesome live music!

There were plenty of snack options available for the night, but since I have an allergy I opted to eat before the party started (definitely recommend this if you want a full meal or have dietary limitations as most restaurants are close or only serving party specific treats during the party)! I did try the plant based gingerbread bites during the party though and those were great.

There was snow on Hollywood Boulevard and I headed out a bit early as I had to work the next morning. Overall a great party for teens and adults. I think I would personally skip with littles as it’s definitely more themed for older kids and adults!

13/12/2023

Recently I got to stay at the Beach Club Resort for all things Christmas at the Walt Disney World Resort! This resort is great if you are spending lots of time at Epcot and has one of the best pools on property!

I stayed in a standard resort view room and we had a partial view of the main pool and crescent lake! They have recently refurbished these rooms and put in all new flooring and bathroom upgrades!

During the holidays the lobby features a Gingerbread Carousel and fun decor and it’s only a 5 min walk to Epcot or quick boat ride to Hollywood Studios.

Also don’t miss Beaches and Cream restaurant! A delicious diner style restaurant with my favorite fully loaded tots (I get the vegan but they have non vegan options too!). You can make a reservation here whether you are staying at the property or not and it’s a fun meal with kids as well!

02/12/2023

Wrapping up our LA trip we headed to Rodeo drive in Beverly Hills for some lunch and shopping. A beautiful street and with the holiday decor it was a fun stroll!

For dinner I chose an Italian Vegan restaurant in West Hollywood that was fantastic! Pura Vita was fantastic and I highly recommend!

For the second leg of the trip we stayed at the Ritz Carlton Los Angeles and it was amazing! The service was incredible and the room was beautiful and modern with great views of Crypto Arena and downtown LA.

Finally we got a nice surprise on the flight home and were upgraded to Delta One! Definitely a dream flying experience. You get your own suite and a full meal. The seats recline and lay flat and make flying a very enjoyable experience!

30/11/2023

Day 2 in LA Proper started with Breakfast at the hotel follow by the Warner Brothers Studio Tour!

This tour was fantastic! We did the + tour which gave us an additional hour of tour guide time plus a walk through of the prop department on top of the basic tour.

We got to tour a lot of the popular sets on the backlot including Young Sheldon, Friends, Gilmore Girls and Shameless to name a few. The majority of the tour is on a golf cart but you do get to get off and walk through and into a lot of the sets as well as the prop department (more on those in the pictures!). After the tour they drop you at the biggest sound stage where friends was filmed to walk through that and they have a fun central perk cafe there as well as many costumes from your favorite tv and movies. Overall we really enjoyed this look at how the Hollywood action is made!

29/11/2023

After the Disneyland portion of our trip we spent two more days in LA. We visited the Getty Museum, which was absolutely stunning!

Admission is free (you do have to prebook times online ahead of time) and you take a trolley car up the mountain to the museum. The views are equally as stunning as the art. Definitely a do not miss for those who are art lovers! Lots of art from renaissance to modern photography and a hefty lot of impressionist art.

We concluded our day with dinner at Nobu. One of our favorite spots for sushi and it did not disappoint!

29/11/2023

Our room at the Grand Californian was wonderful! I highly recommend this hotel for Disneyland. It’s a 5 min walk to Disneyland gate and there’s a side entrance into Grand Californian which is about a 2 min walk! You do get early park entry, although I found this most beneficial at California Adventure over Disneyland.

The rooms themselves are very nice. A wonderful rainfall shower and our room overlooked Downtown Disney.

Our checkout morning we had breakfast at Storytellers Cafe which is a character Breakfast! It is a buffet but with my allergy chef brought out the food directly to me to avoid cross contamination! The food was great and the characters were so fun!

I would definitely stay here again but there are two other Disney resorts here as well as other options as well as a host of good neighbor hotels across the street!

27/11/2023

Disneyland Day 3

Day 3 we started out doing early hours in California Adventure! Our hotel has a side entrance into that park which made it super quick and easy to enter. We did little mermaid, monsters inc and webslingers before we had breakfast at Pym Test Kitchen in Avengers Campus. This was a great breakfast and the food for lunch and dinner also looks great!

After that we took a bunch of pictures and rode Radiator Springs Racers again, Chris tried incredicoaster and we also did Toy Story mania before we capped off the morning on Grizzly River Rapids which the theming is beautiful on!

We took a break in the room before heading back to Disneyland park to ride a few of our favorite rides there again including Mr toad, haunted mansion, and space mountain before also trying out the Nemo submarine voyage and Winnie the Pooh. We ended the night back at California adventure in cars land eating at Flo v8 cafe and taking in the neon lights.

Overall I think we both preferred California Adventure to Disneyland (which I am shocked to say as I tend to be a lover of the park history) but the theming in California Adventure was absolutely our favorite!

27/11/2023

Disneyland Day 2

Day two we started out by doing early entry into Disneyland park again to try and do some of the rides that you cannot use Genie+ on (which is most of the original small rides to the park). We managed to do Storybook Canal boats, Pinocchio, Snow White and Matterhorn Bobsleds prior to our breakfast reservation.

Breakfast was at Carnation Cafe on Main Street and it was wonderful! Lots of amazing Walt history here and our server and busser were a delight giving us a lot of fun history of the restaurant and its unique menu items (most are Walt’s favorite foods!). I had the oatmeal and bacon. Chris tried Walt’s omelet (with chili) and the pancakes and he enjoyed both!

After breakfast we took some pictures and then rode Haunted Mansion (which has a nightmare before Christmas holiday overlay currently), Space mountain and the monorail before heading back the room for a break.

In the evening we headed into California Adventure park for our dinner reservation at Lamplight lounge! This was fantastic and tied as my favorite meal with Blue Bayou! After dinner we managed to ride Radiator Springs Racers (our favorite ride of the trip), Spider-Man webslingers and Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout before watching World of Color One nighttime show! This show was great as well although the viewing areas and queueing system was not great.

25/11/2023

Disneyland Day 1

My first ever trip to Disneyland. From Universal to Disneyland it took about an hour an 15 min drive in the early morning.

We stayed at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort which was lovely (room tour to come later) but the main perk is the 5 min walk to the parks which was wonderful!

The first day we only did Disneyland park and boy was it packed. The park is much smaller than the ones in Florida but jam packed with rides. We managed to ride quite a bit and did buy the genie+ to help us accomplish this.

My favorite ride of the day was Space Mountain (much better here than in WDW in my opinion!) and I also really enjoyed our lunch at Blue Bayou restaurant! This restaurant overlooks the pirates of the Caribbean ride and it’s so cute. The food was also super delicious!

22/11/2023

Universal Studios Hollywood was an awesome park and very different than Universal Orlando! It’s built on the side of a hill so the views are fantastic! Aside from that it’s smaller, but was very empty and that made it nice and enjoyable to explore!

Obviously the main attraction currently is Super Nintendo world. This was amazing! Felt exactly like you are in life size Mario kart! We did the early entry and got to ride the ride with minimal wait. The land itself is super neat to explore, I loved seeing it at night as well and meeting the characters was cute as well! We also really enjoyed the backlot studio tour where we got to see where back to the future was filmed along with other cool cars from the movie as well as Jurassic park and fast and furious!

We also enjoyed the differences of the Jurassic world ride and secret life of pets! The Waterworld show was also absolutely fantastic! Overall a super fun experience and if you love Nintendo it’s definitely a do not miss! Can’t wait until the Florida parks get Super Nintendo in a few years as well!

19/11/2023

Recently we got to spend a week in the LA area being tourists! We started the day straight off the plane exploring Santa Monica pier before heading to our first hotel by Universal! We got to try out Mendocino Farms a few times during our trip and we really enjoyed their sandwich options!

For the Universal piece of the trip we stayed at Hilton Universal and I highly recommend if you are going to Universal Hollywood. The hotel is right on top of a hill so the views of the mountains and park are stunning. The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms were nice and updated. The hotel also offers a free shuttle bus to the park which was fast and efficient!

26/09/2023

Contemporary Resort Main Tower Lake View Room Tour

16/09/2023

The live music on the Wish was by far the best of any Disney cruise ship I’ve been on! So good across the board in all the lounges and main atrium!

16/09/2023

After Debarking we headed back to Walt Disney World spending the night at Animal Kingdom Lodge and visiting Epcot for the day!

We stayed in a nice room close to the lobby! I haven’t stayed here in a long time and I am happy to report all the rooms have been updated and are beautiful! We had a nice pool view! This resort is so unique and the lobby is one of a kind! We ate at the Mara quick service for a few meals and really enjoyed it! I highly recommend the falafel bowl and don’t miss the Simba waffles at breakfast!

Epcot is currently hosting the Food and Wine festival, so we enjoyed doing Remy’s scavenger hunt around the world showcase. We also managed to ride Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Figment, Remy, and Frozen before watching the fireworks show Epcot forever!

Since we were staying at a deluxe hotel we also got the extended evening hours from 9-11pm so we rode test track and Guardians of the Galaxy during that time as well!

Up Next for travel this year:
Nashville for a special concert, Universal Hollywood, Disneyland, and Laguna Beach and then back to Walt Disney World for Jollywood Nights and Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party in December!

15/09/2023

Night 2 ended with Fireworks at sea on the pool deck! The new Disneybands light up along with the show and Jack Sparrow makes an appearance! They also had a bunch of characters out like Mickey and Minnie in their pirate outfits, and even Hook and Smee!

We slept in a bit on Day 3 before having a sit down breakfast in 1923 prior to getting off the ship on Castaway Cay, Disneys private island. This is hands down my favorite part of any Disney cruise. Their island is fantastic! We spent some time at Serenity Bay, the adult only beach, before having lunch at Cookies. I preordered my lunch since I have an allergy and was given plenty of dairy free food!

After lunch we perused the shops, and then Chris did some snorkeling! They have a fun lagoon setup for snorkeling with some fun DISNEY surprises. We took some fun pictures as well!

We boarded back on the boat at tried out the Aqua Mouse water slide which is very cute and then had some more time in the rainforest room!

Dinner on night 3 was at World or Marvel! A super fun interactive dinner with a special guest! After dinner we enjoyed the Aladdin show before taking a few final pictures with characters! The 3 night cruise is a great intro to DISNEY cruising if you are unsure if you will like it! Personally I think we will stick sith 5-7 nights moving forward as there was still so much more we like to explore!

10/09/2023

After Dinner Night 1, Chris decided to go to bed early, so I explored the ship a bit. I popped into the Star Wars Hyperspace lounge which is an awesome bar with Star Wars themed drinks! I also walked by the Bayou, a princess and the frog themed bar which was beautiful! I took a walk around the deck and then decided to join in the drawing class to try my take on captain Minnie before I headed back to bed where I decided on watching Tarzan. Along with live tv channels they have a huge catalog of on demand movies you can watch as well!

Day 2 was Nassau but we decided to do a spa day instead on the boat! First up I had an early morning mani/pedi appointment in the Untangled Salon! This was wonderful! They use hot stones during the treatment and I would definitely do this again! We decided to have breakfast at the Buffet (Marceline Market) which is by far the best buffet on any of the Disney ships! Great views and lots of options for my allergy made fresh by a chef!

After that we moved on to the Rainforest room in the Spa! This is our favorite part of most of the cruises. We do the pass for length of cruise and get unlimited access. They have hot stone loungers, multiple showers, and sauna, fridgidarium, hot foot stone bath, and this ship has a large outdoor section with hot tubs and loungers and it’s all adult only so no children in sight! It’s fantastic and we highly recommend it! Chris also had a massage that he liked as well!

Dinner was in 1923 and was a more traditional meal / steakhouse experience and was lovely. After dinner chris got a shave at the barbery while I went and watched the Little Mermaid musical! A very relaxing day enjoying all the ship had to offer!