Kristen with Wanderlust Adventures

17/10/2024

📢🚨BIG NEWS Today!! Disney announced the introduction of the Lightning Lane Premier Pass. It’s a brand new way for guests to experience the Lightning Lane *without reserving a return window*

So what exactly does it mean?

✅ Works for all LL Mutlipass rides AND LL Single Pass rides
✅ No return times needed; walk up and use the LL queue
✅ Highly limited number available each day
✅ Available to purchase 7 days in advance
✅ Pricing will vary by day, by park
✅ Exclusively offered to guests staying at Disney Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, and Shades of Green (for WDW)

This is a pretty significant change! I’m excited to see how this works, and hoping that we can test it out on our trip in early November when we stay at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge! 🤞🏼

04/10/2024

Day 4 of our Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend: the half marathon, and more parks!

I’ll be honest, the Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon was brutally hot, and made me dig deep to finish. But it was such a fun course, especially getting to run through the parks with the in full force, and getting to run through Angels Stadium was a blast!

After the half marathon, we had a late breakfast at Storytellers Cafe, which was located at our resort, and I got some great post-race pictures with the characters! And the kids did too 😆. Because of the heat, we headed to the pool afterwards, where I got to unwind with a drink and a book (my favorite way to relax!) before we hit the parks in the evening when it cooled down. We even got to meet Black Widow, who is my daughter’s favorite Marvel Hero.

All in all, we had an amazing time at Disneyland, and I can’t wait to go back in January 2025!

22/09/2024

Day 3 of our Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend: the 10k, Kids Races, and Disneyland Park!

Started the day bright and early (3:30am 😳) for the Disneyland Halloween 10k. This was probably my favorite course for any 10k I’ve ever run. Almost all of the miles were inside both parks, and it was beautiful to see the parks mostly empty and run down Main Street and through Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

After the 10k, I joined the kids for the runDisney Kids Races 300 meter dash! It was such a cute race, with all of the kids running their little hearts out. 🏃🏽‍♀️‍➡️🏃🏽‍➡️

We had a fantastic breakfast at Goofy’s Kitchen at Disneyland Hotel, then walked over to Disneyland park to enjoy the day. We were able to join the Virtual Queue for the Nightmare Before Christmas holiday overlay at The Haunted Mansion, and even got to see Jack Sparrow hanging out at The Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a great dinner at Cafe Orleans and then called it an early night since I was running the Half Marathon the next morning.

Stay tuned for Day 4: the Half Marathon, more parks, and more character meals!

15/09/2024

Day 2 of our Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon weekend: Disney Princess Breakfast Adventure at Napa Rose 🌹 followed by California Adventure Park!

When we visited Disneyland in January, we were able to enjoy the Princess Breakfast at Napa Rose and it was one of the first things I reserved when I knew we were going back. It’s a beautiful restaurant and an incredible, 3-course experience, complete with Princess meet and and greets. We had a fantastic time, a filling meal, and a ton of fun as a family.

Since our hotel directly connected to Disney’s California Adventure Park, we made that our first park day. Since I was running early the next morning, we only stayed for a little bit. In just a few short hours, we were able to ride Soarin, Spiderman Web Slingers, Incredicoaster, the Little Mermaid, and Grizzly River Run, all thanks to the Lightning Lane Multipass. 👏🏼👏🏼

We had dinner at Naples Ristorante (the 🍕 was amazing!!), shopped Downtown Disney a bit, and then called it an early night.

Stay tuned for Day 3, the Halloween 10k and Kids Races!

06/09/2024

It’s here! It’s time for the Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend, and it’s an entire family event for us this weekend! The kids and I are all running and I can’t wait to see how they do in their first Kids Race 300 yard dash 🏃🏽‍♀️‍➡️🏃🏽‍➡️

We are staying at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, and it’s beautiful. It feels like being in the redwood forest 🌳, and it’s a nice respite from the crowds.

Today we went to the runDisney expo, had a fantastic dinner at Great Maple inside the newly redesigned Pixar Place Hotel, and indulged in their Tres Leches Donuts and they were 👌🏼👌🏼

Topped off our evening in the pool, and turned in for an earlier night so we can start bright and early at Napa Rose breakfast with the princesses tomorrow!

I’ll be sharing more about Disneyland, the hotels, the parks, the food and the races, so feel free to follow along!

26/05/2024

First park of the trip was Disney’s Animal Kingdom! Gotta start at Tusker House for the character breakfast and POG juice, it’s tradition 😉

The kids got to try something new this trip and drew Nick Wilde from Zootopia during the Animation Experience at Conservation Station. They did a great job!

We had lunch reservations at Roundup Rodeo BBQ in Hollywood Studios so we park hopped over and had some amazing BBQ… and Zoe discovered she loved ribs! 😋

We hit some favorite rides and stopped for a ton of photo stops, before closing out the night at Oga’s Cantina in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. It was a short walk home to Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, which is my favorite part of staying in that area of the resort.

Then off to sleep so we could rest up for another park day!

25/05/2024

Stopped by the Travel Advisor Appreciation Station at Disney’s Animal Kingdom today! What a nice treat!! Ice cream bars, water, rice krispy treats, and a shaded place to sit! Thank you Disney!

Wanderlust Adventure Company Kristen with Wanderlust Adventures

25/05/2024

We are 🌟H O M E🌟

There is something about being on Disney property that just gives me allllllll the feels. There has been a LOT going on and it is so good to be back at our Happy Place, and especially to be back at our favorite resort: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn!!

It was the last day of school so we caught a late flight out and then spent the evening enjoying the Boardwalk food and entertainment before turning in for the night so we could start at Disney’s Animal Kingdom bright and early the next morning!

So happy to be here with my babies, but even more excited to be here with my mom and my sister too ❤️❤️

I’ll be posting about our adventures at Disney all week so follow along!

22/04/2024

This past weekend, I ran all three races at the Springtime Surprise Weekend, making this my first PERFECT runDisney race season!

After all of those early morning wakeups (2:30am 🤪), I think I’ll take a small break before my next runDisney race. But still feeling so blessed to be able to compete in all of the runDisney weekends this season 🏃🏽‍♀️‍➡️

So thankful to my momma who joined me to cheer me on at the races! ❤️

04/04/2024

Nothing beats the atmosphere of Diagon Alley at night. Even the moon cooperated and gave it that extra special moody vibe.

From Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, to the Leaky Cauldron, to the dragon perched atop Gringott’s Bank. It’s pure magic ⚡️

Wanderlust Adventure Company

24/03/2024

It’s been such a crazy few weeks I haven’t had time to share my travels to Universal Orlando and Disney World last month!

Quick rewind to February when I had the absolute pleasure of visiting Universal Orlando as part of an Orlando Informer Event. I had heard such great things about these events, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!

The best part was visiting Universal theme parks when there was hardly anyone in the parks, each ride was basically a walk on (Hagrid’s Motorbike included 🛵!!!), sampling free treats throughout both parks, and just generally having an all-around great time.

There was great signage throughout, including where to get checked in for the event. I probably spent more time in line waiting to check in than I did in any of the ride lines that evening. You can enter the parks early afternoon, and the event runs until midnight or later. I loved walking through and seeing Diagon Alley at night, and nothing beats hot, free popcorn 🍿

I had such a great time at Universal, and will be sharing some highlights over the coming days!

Wanderlust Adventure Company

27/02/2024

2025 is now available to book for Walt Disney World Resort! If you were thinking of visiting next year and want to get started planning early, now is the time! And starting next year, there is an added perk to staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel: all resort & ticket packages will now receive complimentary admission to Disney's Waterparks (Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach) on your arrival day!

Message me to get started, or send me an email at [email protected]

19/02/2024

Did you know I do more than just Disney and Universal? That’s right - I can help you plan your vacation anywhere in the world! In fact, I just booked an all-inclusive stay at the Royalton Punta Cana and I couldn’t be more excited! Part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, the Royalton has a waterpark, casino, spa, kids’ clubs, a concierge lounge, and includes all of our meals and beverages. But the best part is, it’s located on the beautiful beaches of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. My kids have never seen the ocean - and I can’t wait to experience this with them. 🏝️

Summer can’t come fast enough!

Are you dreaming of warmer weather? ☀️ Send me a message and let’s plan your vacation!

08/02/2024

Can't wait to try 1900 Park Fare this year! And even more exciting: they're bringing in new characters to this dining experience!

Aladdin!
Mirabel!
Tiana!
Cinderella!

Can't wait to try it out

🎠✨ 1900 Park Fare reopens at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on April 10! When this iconic restaurant reopens, it will feature returning guest favorites along with new character greetings, a refreshed dining room and other special touches. Reservations open on March 5: http://di.sn/6185VpUgz

08/02/2024

Moana 2, so excited!! 🐚🏝️🌊

07/02/2024

Disney California Adventure Park has so much to offer, and I could have spent several days there and STILL not seen everything! We ended up spending the most time in Avengers Campus (we are HUGE Marvel fans), and Radiator Springs. A few favorites from our day at DCA:

🛡️ The Warriors of Wakanda training show with the Dora Milaje was incredible, and the Avengers Assemble show was fun to watch. Could have stayed in Avengers Campus all day.

🎡 Pixar Pier is beautiful, and the Incredicoaster is my favorite coaster at DCA. Zoe redeemed herself this trip with the best smile in the ride photo 😁

🏎️ Radiator Springs Racers was SO FUN!! We almost missed this one since the ride broke down for a significant amount of time but we waited it out and I’m so glad we did.

I could go on, and we definitely need to spend more time at this park in the future. We need to go back soon!

03/02/2024

There is so much to love about Disneyland! I think my favorites are all the things that are DIFFERENT from Magic Kingdom - I know, I know, Disneyland came first. But I've visited MK way more often than DL so it's always the direct comparison for me. A few things that popped for me this trip at Disneyland Park:

🌊 The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride was a TREAT! This was a 12 minute ride in a submarine, going under the water to check out the sealife and explore along with some of Nemo's friends. It was one of our first rides of the day and I loved it!

🎢 ToonTown absolutely delivered. It was closed for refurbishment the last time we were here, but recently reopened. The theming is wonderful, and the whole area made me feel like walking into a cartoon. We even convinced my mom to go on Chip n Dale's GADGETcoaster with us, and we had a blast.

🏔️ The Matterhorn. Need I say more?

💀 Haunted Mansion Holiday - the ride was still fully decked out with Nightmare Before Christmas theming, which is my son's FAVORITE. It was such a joy watching him through this ride 🥰

🍕🚀 There's an actual Pizza Planet! We closed the night eating pizza at Pizza Planet, and enjoying the scenery.

We only got to spend a day here, and there was so much that we missed. We spent the following day at California Adventure, so I'll share more about that park soon. What's your favorite part of Disneyland Park?

02/02/2024

I had the absolute pleasure of visiting Disneyland a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, we had a BLAST!

Over the next few days I’ll share some tips for the parks, character dining, and more, but today I’m going to start with: the hotel.

Disneyland Resort is a bit different than Disney World when it comes to accommodations: there are only 3 Disney hotels in CA vs. 25 in FL 😳. Since we traveled during a race weekend to run in the Disneyland Half Marathon, the Disneyland Resort hotels were sold out. But not to worry, there are plenty of Good Neighbor hotels to choose from!

For this trip we stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center. I booked the Kids Suite and it was PERFECT 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼.

The kids suite had 2 bedrooms: one with two queens, one room with a twin bunk bed, two full bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. I loved having a separate space from the kids, so that my mom and I could hang out after they went to bed. The two bathrooms were key for allowing us to all get ready in the mornings without tripping over each other.

The hotel also offered a full, hot buffet breakfast, complete with Mickey waffles 🧇.

AND it was a quick walk to the park - it only took us about 10 minutes. 🙌🏼

The hotel was clean, the room was great and spacious, and the proximity to the parks was fantastic. Would absolutely stay here again.

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks for Disneyland Resort over the coming days!