Kristen with Wanderlust Adventures

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!

31/01/2024

Breaking Universal Epic Universe news 🎢
Five immersive worlds, one theme park 🌍
✨ The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic
🐉 How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
⚰️ Dark Universe
💫 Celestial Park

These areas will join the previously
announced Super Nintendo World ⭐

Coming to Orlando, Florida, in 2025!!!

Who's excited about this new theme park? 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♂️

21/01/2024

Disneyland Half Marathon ✅
Coast to Coast Challenge, Track 1 ✅

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of running the first half marathon on Disneyland property since 2017. It definitely had some bumps and kinks to work out before the next race, but it was a ton of fun running through Disneyland, California Adventure, and the streets of Anaheim. Going into the race I was a bit nervous about my knee - I’d been having some pain since the Marathon at Disney World - but during the race I felt great! The weather definitely helped. It was a cool 45 degrees for most of the race!

I am so excited and so proud to have completed the Coast to Coast challenge, running 61.7 miles (or really 55.7 miles when you account for the half marathon at WDW ). If someone had told me even 5 years ago that this was in my future, I would have scoffed. My thoughts on running before had always been, “I don’t run unless I’m being chased”, and now I’m a runner.

I have 4 more races to complete in my bid for the “perfect” runDisney 2024 Season! Even though I said I’d never do D***y again, registration is just a few weeks away for next year... who knows what’ll happen 🤪

10/01/2024

D***y Challenge: COMPLETE ✅🏅

This was my second year running the D***y Challenge and it was both easier and harder than last year. Easier since I knew what I was getting into, how to pace myself across all four races, and what mistakes to avoid this year. But also harder *because* I knew what I was headed into and had to share a room with three other people this year including two kids who thought my bedtime was too early 🙃. Plus, having to fly coast to coast to complete the Disneyland Half Marathon in just a few days adds a new dimension to the race and the pacing.

It was a ton of fun, despite all the rain - I ran 19 miles of the marathon with squishy, soaked shoes and wet clothes and hair ‼️- and I LOVED having my family there to support me. They were my favorite part of the 10k where they got to see me right outside our resort! They came to two spots in the marathon, including watching me cross the finish line. I even got to see friends from work!

The last picture is the card that Zoe made for me using what she had in the hotel room. She handed it to me after she saw me cross the final finish line, and those words meant the most to me out of everything ❤️❤️

Will I do this again? Probably not, but I said the same thing last year so who knows 🤪. For now, resting up for a few days before I’m headed to Disneyland for the final part of the Coast to Coast challenge!

04/01/2024

It’s here!! WDW Marathon Weekend has officially arrived, and first up was the expo. We spent a few hours at the expo shopping and getting my bibs. We hung out at the pool for a while where the kids played in the sand and the lazy river, and I stayed warm under some towels 😉

Headed to Disney Springs for dinner at the newest restaurant, Summer House on the Lake, and grabbed giant cookies from The Cookie Bar. Ended with more dessert in the club lounge before calling it an early night so I can get up at 2:30 tomorrow morning 🙃.

A great start to race weekend!

04/01/2024

Late flight in and arrival at Disney’s Beach Club resort for Marathon weekend! This is the first time the kids and Tom have seen me in a race since my first half marathon in 2019, I’m so excited for them to be here for the fun and craziness of the biggest race weekend at Disney!

I love Beach Club and it’s the kids’ first time staying here. We enjoyed some desserts in the Club Lounge before bed.

It’s a huge weekend - I’ll be running my second D***y Challenge (the 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon on consecutive days) and then headed to Disneyland to complete the half marathon there for the Coast to Coast challenge. Lots of running ahead!

14/12/2023

Last park day! Started the day at Animal Kingdom - I like starting here because the park opens super early and usually closes early, so it just makes sense to pair this with a park that closes late. We hit all of our favorite rides - Avatar Flight of Passage, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest - and even fit in a character lunch at Tusker House. We love Tusker House, and eat here nearly every visit.

We made our way over to Magic Kingdom and got a quick ride in before we watched the castle light up for the holidays, and then enjoyed a great Italian dinner at Tony's. Since Magic Kingdom closed early for the Christmas party, we headed over to Epcot to close out the night.

It is definitely possible to do more than one park in a day, just be prepared for lots of walking! Since it was the last night of our quick trip, we really tried to make the most of it.

Now the countdown is on until our next visit - just another 19 days! See ya real soon, Disney World!

13/12/2023

Park Day 2: Epcot and Hollywood Studios! We started out at Epcot, and since we were at a Skyliner resort, we took a nice breezy flight over to Epcot. I love entering Epcot through International Gateway since it drops you right in the middle of the action inside World Showcase! We made our way through World Showcase and the Festival of the Holidays, and stopped for lunch at Garden Grill. I was able to book this as a Candlelight Processional package, and it was completely worth it! The Candlelight Processional was the highlight of the entire trip for me. It was beautiful and enchanting, and gave me that special Christmas feeling. It is now a MUST DO for me during every Holiday Disney trip.

After a long day at Epcot, we made our way over to Hollywood Studios to close out the day with a few rides, and a (very) late night drink at Oga's - at the kids' request! Our reservation was 35 minutes AFTER park close, which meant that we were able to explore all of Galaxy's Edge and the rest of Hollywood Studios without any crowds at all - and got some amazing pictures.

Stay tuned for our day at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot!

12/12/2023

I'm back with more details from my Orlando trip earlier this month! For the first time, I took the kids to and we had a BLAST. We're annual passholders at SeaWorld San Antonio, but had so much to offer that was different! The shows were amazing - Dolphin Adventures and the Orca Encounter were my favorites, but the kids loved the Sea Lion & Otter Spotlight. We pet the stingrays, froze our 🍑s off in the Penguin exhibit, and tried out several of the coasters. We even got to see some favorite characters from the Christmas Specials! All in all a great day, and so happy that we got to explore more of what Orlando has to offer.

If you've got an extra day in Orlando, is a great addition to any trip!

02/12/2023

01/12/2023

New name, same great service!

You may have noticed a name change in your feed - that’s my new business name, since I’ve joined a new host! I’m excited to join Wanderlust Adventure Company, and become a part of the Wanderlust family!

The only thing for you that will change is my name in your feed. You can still find me using the shortcut on Facebook, and you can now find me at:

Kristen with Wanderlust Adventures on Facebook
on Instagram

Thank you to those who have followed my page and followed along in my Disney and Universal adventures! Here’s to many more to come 🥂🏰

01/12/2023

Fun first day! Spent most of the afternoon at the pool (it was a brisk 68 degrees out but we still got in!) and then headed to Disney Springs for some food and shopping. Hit all of our favorite shops and still made it back for a decent bedtime. Day one in the books!

30/11/2023

Mommy and kids Disney adventure! Just arriving at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and so excited to be here with my babies to see everything decked out for the holidays!

14/11/2023

Who’s ready to take their kids to Disney World for HALF PRICE?? 🙋🏻‍♀️🙌🏼

This is HUGE! Disney just released a HALF OFF discount for kids’ park tickets and dining packages!

Children’s (ages 3 to 9) theme park tickets and dining plans are half off with the purchase of a nondiscounted 4-night, 4-day Walt Disney package that includes a room at a select Disney Resort hotel, as well as theme park tickets and a dining plan.

Book now for arrivals most nights from:

✅ March 3, 2024 through March 24, 2024
✅ April 7, 2024 through June 30, 2024

It’s rare we see a deal this good, send me a message if you’re ready to start planning your trip!

05/11/2023

It’s been an amazing few days running all three races (the 5k, 10k, and the half marathon) at runDisney’s Wine & Dine weekend! Also had an incredible stay at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn. Off to eat and drink at Epcot’s Food & Wine festival during the after race party, but I’ll be back with a recap to share the details!

22/08/2023

Super excited to get into the runDisney Springtime Surprise 2024 race weekend! First time participating in this event, can't wait!

If you're traveling for any of the runDisney races and need help planning your trip, I'd love to help! I've done 10 races (so far) and have plenty of experience planning a runDisney trip - it's definitely a different kind of trip. Send me a DM or comment here if you want to get started planning your trip.

12/07/2022

Day 7: Magic Kingdom! It was our last day at the parks, and it was a hot one! We still got to enjoy two character motorcades, a castle show, lots of rides, some great meals (love Liberty Tree Tavern!), and the new Enchantment fireworks show. A magical way to end our family vacation ❤️