Welcome And Guest Intro

Intro 0:03

Please stand clear of the doors. Please stand clear of the doors. Because this hear’s the wildest ride in the wilderness.

Alicea 0:23

Hello everyone. I'm Alicea.

Nathan 0:25

I'm Nathan.

McCayla 0:26

And I'm McCayla.

Alicea 0:27

Welcome to episode 231 of Adventures and Mouse Capades. This week we are welcoming back McCayla, former Plan Disney panelist and seasoned Disneyland expert, who decided to celebrate her Plan Disney graduation with a quick trip to Walt Disney World with her two kiddos who have never been to the Orlando parks before. Because nothing says thank you, like four parks, a massive property, and discovering in real time which plans were brilliant and which ones the Disney tiki room gods immediately laughed at.

Nathan 1:00

Well, welcome to the Five Timers Club, McCayla. Though just remember by DCL rules, you're not gold until after the completion of this recording session. So

McCayla 1:11

got it. I will stay till the end.

Nathan 1:13

Yeah. It's so great to have you back.

McCayla 1:17

Oh, it's so great to be back, you guys. I love time with you. I love chatting about all our favorite things. This is so great. I'm so honored to be back. Thank you.

Nathan 1:28

So, for our listeners who may be newer, remind us who you are and kind of your Disney background. I know you were a former Plan Disney panelist in 2025. And like, what how has that influenced your level of Disney experience and travel and all the rest of that stuff?

From Disneyland Fan To PlanDisney

McCayla 1:44

Yeah, well, um, well, I've known you guys for a very, very long time. We're friends outside of oh, okay.

Nathan 1:50

We won't do the math on that.

Alicea 1:53

Math doesn't bother me.

McCayla 1:54

I thought you said we're not gonna include that.

Nathan 1:56

No, I just don't want to think about how many years that is because it's made.

McCayla 1:59

It's been a long, it has been many, many years. Pre-kids. But that's really, I think, why I'm mostly here, I think, is because we're friends. Absolutely. Um, and and then our Venn diagram sort of mixed with this Disney stuff in our interests. And uh when I took my family to Disneyland for the first time um in 2019 is when sort of my enchantment with with Disneyland and all things Disney sort of blossomed. So since then, um yeah, been chatting about Disneyland whoever will listen. Um, and then that sort of turned into an Instagram account, the Mc and Mouse Club, um, where I get to chat about Disneyland more and get to know more friends in the in that corner pocket of the internet. And then that sort of turned into um Plan Disney, which actually was not really my Instagram, but was actually you guys on one on an episode. Um, I think it was the first episode, and I don't even know if it was recorded or if we had just talked about it offline before the recording, but you guys mentioned it, and I was like, hmm, yeah, maybe. So I have you guys to blame for that.

Nathan 3:20

Sorry.

McCayla 3:20

Um, thank, thank. Um, but yeah, that was an incredible experience. That was 2025. Um, met some of my bestie besties, really great community, loved my time, learned so much. And yeah, like you mentioned, Alicea, that being a part of the panel, my um compensation was a reward trip with my family. So we went to well, Disney World. Um, and I had been a uh few times, and my husband and I had gone to Disney World together right after we were first married. But this was our first time as a family, so it was it was a whole new adventure, a whole new world, and it felt similar to when we went to Tokyo Disney Resort um last year, where we felt it felt familiar, but wasn't it was it was new, it was brand new. Um, so that was fun and exciting, but also a little bit like off-putting, like I thought I would know more than this, but yeah, really fun, really special. I can't wait to talk about it with you guys.

Alicea 4:26

So, did you choose Disney World or did um the Plan Disney gods choose it for you?

McCayla 4:33

Well, um in in my particular contract, I was able to pick Disneyland or Disney World.

Alicea 4:40

Okay.

McCayla 4:41

For um, so your reward is is based um upon your specialty. Um so because I was a Disneyland specialist and this just happened to be that contract, it could change. Um, just speaking from my experience that um I could choose from Disneyland and Disney World. And since we had never been to Disney World, it felt like let's try that. Um that sounds fun. So we chose it, but also that's what our choice was. Or Disneyland.

Nathan 5:10

So where where did you stay uh in in Disney? I'm I'm assuming obviously you're gonna be on property since this was a hosted uh uh kind of thing.

Resorts Picked And Why They Worked

McCayla 5:19

Yeah, yeah. So um we actually stayed one night at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on our own, which we ended up renting DVC points from Pixie Points gals, and it was a it was like that resort was dreamy, it was so uh relaxing and quiet and sweet and beautiful, and the food was so good. So we were there one night before we started the hosted portion, which was at Beach Club. So Beach Club was where we were for five nights, which at first I was like, oh, I don't know, I kind of wanted like the Polynesian or like, you know, I sort of I actually didn't really know that much about all the different resorts. I only really knew about the Polynesian,

Nathan 6:10

right.

McCayla 6:11

But then being at the Beach Club actually was the best for our family because Epcot is our favorite and what and you know the thing that the boys were most looking forward to.

Nathan 6:20

Yeah.

McCayla 6:21

And what uh my husband and I love Epcot, and it's just like right there. I mean, it's like whoop whoop whoop whoop, and you're right in there. So that was super convenient, and the pool there was starting amazing. Yeah, it felt like a mini water park, and our boys love, love a pool. So that it so it made sense, and it was great for us.

Nathan 6:43

So remind me how old the boys are now.

McCayla 6:45

Yeah, great question. All your questions are great, but

Nathan 6:50

wow.

McCayla 6:51

We have an almost almost 12-year-old and a 10-year-old.

Nathan 6:56

Okay.

McCayla 6:57

It was actually this was just so magical because I'm one of those people who plan my um vacations like out a long ways. Like I kind of think, okay, the boys are gonna be this age, and at around that age, it would be really cool to go. This so like four years ago, I was like, spring break of 2026 would be so great to go to Disney World just to because I wanted to go in spring break and just like their ages, and I was like, how magical is that? That the lined up where I could take my reward trip on the year that we had planned to go to Disney World for the first time as a family. So they're great ages for it, I thought.

Nathan 7:41

10 and 12 are kind of great ages for any park almost.

Alicea 7:46

That's before they get jaded.

Nathan 7:49

Right.

McCayla 7:50

And it gets boring.

Alicea 7:51

It gets boring.

McCayla 7:54

No. No one would say that. Um yeah, I feel like they they can walk on their own. They're you know, they can they can get through a day, they can handle themselves for the most part, they can ride any ride that they would want to. Like they can have opinions about what they want to do. Like yeah, the ages were great.

Nathan 8:18

Yeah.

McCayla 8:19

Yeah. For Disney World because it's so huge.

Nathan 8:21

It is. Yes. Well, and you and John can like do something and chillax that you don't really necessarily want to do a ride with the kids, and the kids can go do a ride if you wanted to, and like they're gonna be okay. They're old enough to like you can wait for a half hour on your own. We're gonna be here getting a churro.

Alicea 8:39

If you’re okay with that.

Nathan 8:40

Nathan 8:40

Nathan 8:40

McCayla 8:55

We didn’t split up in the parks with them being by themselves, but for the first time, and we’ve never done this before, we left them in the hotel. Because Epcot and Beach Club were so close, yeah. We felt really comfortable just being like, you can just hang out in the hotel room, watch a movie. And we went into Epcot by ourselves. And that was really the first time at any Disney park, excuse me, that we had gone by ourselves with our kids like there.

Nathan 9:17

McCayla, and look me in the eyes. You survived, they survived. It's okay.

Alicea 9:22

First of many.

McCayla 9:23

First of many. Totally. Totally. Oh no, it was great. Yeah, it was great.

Expectations And First Time Nerves

Alicea 9:29

Well, as Disneyland veterans, uh, what expectations did you bring with you to Walt Disney World? And were you confident or a little nervous about taking your kiddos for their very first visit?

McCayla 9:41

Yeah, I I don't know if I was nervous, um, but I was wondering how they would be able to like quote unquote handle so many parks so spread out. You know, it's just so huge. And I we did talk about that a lot. Like it's way, way bigger than Disneyland. It's not just walk, walk, walk, and even the parks are big. So we tried to like, you know, set up the expectation that like it's different. It's very, very, it's huge, it's all spread out, you know, all of that. So we try, but I but I was really curious how they would be able to handle it and if they would like it and if or if they'd just it'd be too much, you know. Um, I think for sweet little Disneyland people, it Disney World feels very, very intimidating and daunting. Um, just so many parks so spread out, all of that. So maybe I was a little nervous in that and just like how we were gonna handle it, but but I think because we talked about it and sort of set them up for, and they're pretty, I don't know, they're pretty like they've had a lot of park experience. Like they're just they know that we're gonna be walking a lot, you know, going from ride to ride, um, that can be hot sometimes, you know. There's they so it's not like they've never done a park before. Yeah.

Nathan 11:03

Yeah.

McCayla 11:03

Um but my expectations of Disney World really were blown out of the water. Like we had so much fun. And I know this isn't your question, but I'll just segue into like the boys loved it. Like, I think they're well Disney World kids now. Like, yeah, it was like like their like favorite rides that have been their favorite rides their whole life, yeah, slowly got like bumped down, down, down. And like, oh, that was the my favorite ride that I've ever been on. It's like, oh, more than you know, rise of the resistance. Yes, yes, for sure. So it was just like it was, it was really, really fun to see them so excited and how much they loved it. Um so yeah, they're I guess Disney World kids now, I guess.

Nathan 11:52

Are you gonna be okay with that as the as the Disneyland person?

McCayla 11:56

Yeah, yeah, I'll be okay with that. I I was as I was sort of like thinking, you know, we've been back for a couple weeks now.

Nathan 12:04

Yeah.

McCayla 12:05

And I find myself, it's a very similar feeling to when we first came back from our first Disneyland trip where I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was, I was just kind of dream off dreaming about it, looking at pictures, you know, just being like, oh, it was so fun. And I had a very similar experience after coming back from Tokyo Disney Resort as well, where I'm just kind of like feeling very nostalgic about it. And I feel that way for sure about Disney World too. Like, and I was not expecting that. I was expecting it to be like, we went to Disney World, that was fun, cool. But it really like it's it's got its own magic there. Like it really, really does. It's it's not as much of a machine as I kind of, you know, thinking like Disneyland's the original, sweet, you know, it's it's got the magic where Disney World's the big, you know, business. I don't know what I but you know,

Nathan 13:04

you're not wrong though. I mean, the scale is different. The number of people, the number of meals they are serving each day, it is different. You know, one of my best friends used to be in Food and Bev in Florida and was on the purchasing side for a while. And I remember him telling me, I'm gonna get the exact numbers wrong. But like they have, I think it was like seven like full-size tractor trailer trucks of just refrigerated stuff comes into their distribution center, their uh behind Magic Kingdom, like every day. And I think that maybe it was just frozen stuff, like just frozen stuff. Yeah, and then like every restaurant like goes through about a truckload of stuff every day. It is a different scale from California.

McCayla 13:56

Yeah, that's it's it's a different, different scale for

The Disney Bubble And Service Debate

McCayla 14:00

sure. But it um, and I wanted to talk to you, and I'm sorry, uh, you guys have your own questions, but I have a question for you. Like, I something that I was like thinking through is that there's something about Disney World, I think that they just, I'm sorry, do better. And I wonder if it's because it's more of a tourist attraction. Then Disneyland to me feels maybe more quaint, more local, like a locals park, yeah, where Disney World is like a tourist destination, and I really feel like it requires them to be better at hospitality, better at um, you know, uh thinking about the tourist, really, uh, maybe more than Disneyland does. And I and I'm not saying this because I'm trying to dis on Disneyland, but they just their their um their level of hospitality was a lot greater. And I also wonder too if it has to do with the college program. I was thinking about that too. Like you've got a huge group of people who are

Alicea 15:07

fresh out of, yeah, they're and they're fresh out of the traditions and stuff, right? They just learned everything. Yeah.

McCayla 15:15

Yeah. And this is what they're passionate about. They're passionate about Disney, they're passionate about the, you know, the the corporation and being a part of it. And I don't know, like it had a different vibe there that I really liked. Yeah.

Nathan 15:30

I think you're nailing on all of the things. There are the what I boil it down to, at least for me, is Disney World has a more explicit bubble around it. And you like for us, when we cross under the Welcome to Disney World sign, the big huge arch across like four or five lanes of traffic, like our blood pressure drops by 20 points.

Alicea 15:55

We have a visceral reaction to that every single time. It's just like ahh

Nathan 16:01

and you don't you don't get that feeling in Anaheim. You are very much still in the city of Anaheim.

McCayla 16:08

Yeah, just walking back to your hotel. You're you leave the bubble the second you leave the esplanade. Yeah, totally.

Nathan 16:16

So you know, that's not something that's not a knock against um Disneyland, or it's not, you know, there are still opportunities for improvement for hospitality and things and and and all the rest of those things in Florida, but um, I had never thought about it. I think the Disney College program can be a game changer from a hospitality perspective. Now, there's a balance because you have a bunch of young kids. You know, you you go to a park after probably four or five o'clock in the afternoon, and pretty much everybody you're gonna interact with, you know, with it outside of some of the leads are DCP college age kids, and they've been there for maybe six months, if you're lucky. And and so there's there's challenges with that, but on the other hand, like all of those kids, yeah, they're kids, we're old. Um have they are passionate and have wanted to be there. And whether they're in uh a janitorial role or they're you know in merch or food or running a ride, they they're all living their dreams

Nathan 17:29

McCayla 17:29

friends with, Alicea. Friends with

Alicea 17:32

I know better.

McCayla 17:35

Yeah, you're right, they're living a their dream. Um versus I feel like it doesn't, and I I feel like you should cut all of this because I feel like I'm gonna regret it all. But I do feel like at Disneyland there it's it's uh more often than not, it's like it's somebody's job, and you can feel it. However, at Disneyland, you've got the people who've been there a long time who this is, you know, you might even see Bob Goff wandering around, you know, like and theirs that is very special, and they're that's unique to Disneyland.

Nathan 18:06

I will say that I think you know, we were we were you know joking about it, I think before we hit the record button. The pandemic, I actually think materially changed that vibe in Disneyland because I remember going to Disneyland pre-pandemic, and I I never really had the feeling of that difference in the bubble feeling. Like I could still get entrenched in the bubble and the the hospitality and every like it didn't feel like anybody who was there at Disney in California was just doing their job. And I think having those parks closed for what was it, 13, 15 months, like whatever it ended up being in California.

McCayla 18:49

Maybe yeah, a little hiccup.

Nathan 18:51

Like like in Florida, it was like a couple months. And yeah, but yeah. Two or three months, it wasn't significantly different. Florida was back open in June, if I remember correctly. Now it was limited capacity, and there's all the masking stuff, and like it wasn't. But they got to it a lot quicker.

Alicea 19:11

Because it was Florida.

Nathan 19:12

Yeah.

McCayla 19:13

You're right. And yeah, I just and that's true, that could have affected, you know, the that thread line of

Nathan 19:21

I think it I think it unfortunately, even for people who were Disney cast members before the pandemic and after in California, I think it drove a bit of a wedge in terms of saying, like, I am a Disney cast member, this is my identity, and like I love everything about the company and all the rest of that stuff. And I and I live this lifestyle, and this is you know really closely tied to who I am. To, frankly, this is a job. And I had to to have some other temporary job to make ends meet. I'm happy to be back, but you know, it's like we feel in big tech in corporate America these days, it's just a job. There's no loyalty from the company anymore.

McCayla 20:09

Totally, and it is just their job. And I'm not, and I again I will regret saying what I said, like they're acting like it's just their job. It's like, oh my God, well, it is just their job. Um, but I there I think it's just the vibe and the feeling that I could tell there was a difference.

Alicea 20:24

I'm gonna disagree a little bit here, um, just because we've also seen other theme parks and how team members are at other theme parks. I still think Disney has that on lock in a hundred percent parks. At both parks. Um I don't notice as much of a difference. Um maybe they're not as super enthusiastic as they are in Disney World, but I still get the the very much of the we're here to take care of you. Um I still get that at Disneyland. I I know not not everybody's gonna be like that, but yeah.

Nathan 21:00

I mean, and you're gonna again you're gonna find people in Florida who are having a bad day or you know, or whatever. Like it it happens when we were there a few weeks ago, because ironically, we were in California at the same time you guys were in Florida.

McCayla 21:14

No, that was so fun.

Alicea 21:15

We should have called each other from the castle.

Nathan 21:17

Right, we should have. Um I there were more instances where there was less magic coming off of I think most of it was was food and and beverage folks.

McCayla 21:32

That's what I was gonna say. I was gonna say we had so much more dining experiences at Disney World than we normally do at Disneyland. We don't and we're not usually in Disneyland for like a week.

Nathan 21:43

Right.

McCayla 21:43

So it so I I have to take that into consideration that we were just in Disney World for a significantly longer time than we usually are, and we had more dining experiences and like more elevated, nicer dining experiences than maybe we usually do. So I have to take that into consideration, but I I agree that it was. I saw it specifically in the dining, the hosts, the um that felt it felt very Disney cruise almost level of service in some places. Topolinos especially felt like we could customize our order and we could, you know, it felt very um guest friendly. Anyway, the so I have to admit there's probably a lot of factors in that that makes it feel that different, but it was dining, I think, specifically, that I was just like, they are taking this really seriously and just very honest.

Nathan 22:41

For for me, that level of interaction, that like DCL, like Palo, Remy level of like when when we were at Naparose, like it was there. Yeah. Like what's coming to mind is just some of the interactions and some of like the, you know, it's not like cast members aren't allowed to talk to each other, but like there were several times where cast members like at a bar, like a big service bar over in Pym's or like somewhere else, were

McCayla 23:07

just Pym.

Nathan 23:09

Sure, whatever. Tomato Tomato,

Alicea 23:11

Pym Kitchen, Pym Test Kitchen. No, it's the side one. Whatever's the side one.

McCayla 23:16

Sorry, go ahead, go ahead.

Nathan 23:17

I'm sorry.

McCayla 23:17

I'm never being invited back. That's fine.

Nathan 23:19

The drink lab, that one. Um you know, it just they were just going through the motions and and doing things.

Alicea 23:28

They were also slammed,

Nathan 23:30

Right know.

Alicea 23:30

They were slammed. There was no time, no time for them to chat with anybody. It was like, yeah, I could see the counters like 50 tickets in a row. Like, yeah, hi, bye. Yeah.

Nathan 23:43

But I had the but there were some other interactions that that I noticed over in um San Fransokyo that were just, did I pronounce that one right? Um, that were it just I don't know. It's just it's a different level from what I have experienced in the past.

McCayla 24:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's just there's more at Disney, there's just more elevated dining experiences at Disney World. So I think just mathematically, you're gonna be hitting a nicer. Yeah, there's just a lot of Napa Roses type things at Disney World. Where at Disneyland there's not a lot.

Nathan 24:18

Yeah, how many signature dining places are in California?

McCayla 24:21

Like none.

Nathan 24:23

You've got Napa Rose.

McCayla 24:24

Um is the steakhouse? I don't even think that's even that doesn't exist anymore. It's not even there anymore. Yeah. But there's is there a lounge? There is a lounge there.

Nathan 24:35

Um I think it's just Napa Rose, right?

McCayla 24:38

Blue Bayou could maybe be considered that, but I wouldn't, I but I probably wouldn't.

Alicea 24:42

I don't know if that's that's signature.

Nathan 24:44

It is it is no but there's one or two signature dining places in most all of the resorts, like every single deluxe resort has a signature dining restaurant, plus a regular restaurant, at least, plus a quick surf. There are signature dining places inside most of the parks in Florida, you know, Be Our Guest or Tiffins in Animal Kingdom, like there's a lot more stuff going on.

Alicea 25:09

Carthay Circle.

Nathan 25:10

Yeah.

McCayla 25:11

Oh, there you go.

Nathan 25:12

So it's to your point, it there are probably more opportunities for you to stumble into that elevated level of service in Florida than there are in California. And so maybe that's coloring our perceptions as well. Maybe.

McCayla 25:28

I think we got down to it.

Nathan 25:30

Yeah.

Alicea 25:30

I I wanna we figured it out. I do want to interject something about Topolinos, though, because we have had amazing experiences there. And there was one dinner where Sterling had said that they were interested in being a cast member, and I think Sterling was like maybe nine or ten at the time, and they literally took him aside, made a name tag for him. Yeah, and he took our order or something. He he did something. He either um gave us the plates and silverware, and like the head, the head of the restaurant came out and talked with him and all sorts of stuff. Like that was totally unexpected. It was an amazing experience.

McCayla 26:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There it is. There it is, right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We we picked that one specifically because my boys are a little bit out of the age of like character dining, you know. And they're like hit or miss where if they even want to take pictures with characters, you know. But I did want to have some sort of character experience, and I just heard that the food was really good and it was definitely delivered on the food. Um, but it felt more like just like a nicer character dining, like didn't feel as like in your face, like this is a character.

Nathan 26:44

Yeah, we've got to do that one again. The last time we did character dining there was during the pandemic, and it was the this the distance character interactions, and we were in a spot where they didn't really come to.

Alicea 26:57

Yeah. And when you when you go back, you have to try for dinner there.

Nathan 27:00

Oh, dinner is insane.

Alicea 27:02

Yes. Okay, I'm gonna reel us back in here off of our first tangent.

First Big Moments And Ride Highs

Alicea 27:09

Yeah. What was the first big Disney World moment for your kiddos? Ooh, great question. McCayla, they're all great questions.

McCayla 27:22

Yeah, you're right. You're right. It also just gives me a minute to think about it because well, I would say that Animal Kingdom was our first night. And so, but we weren't really on a in a at a park yet. But even just being at Animal Kingdom felt very special. I don't know if that was that was really the Disney World moment until um maybe like Expedition Everest, where like we went on the ride and the bo the boys came off, and that was the first time that they said that's my favorite ride.

Nathan 27:58

That was the first.

McCayla 28:00

Um, and then it was Tron, and then it was Cosmic Rewind. Um, but that was the first where it was like, that was my favorite ride. That was so so fun, and like wanting to do it again, and but that still didn't feel like a Walt Disney World moment. I think so. I guess maybe then jumping ahead, I'm kind of rambling because I'm just thinking it through, but Magic Kingdom for the our first time there when we came around and my youngest said, I'm getting goosebumps. Um, and then the other one was just like the castle's so big and just sort of just like this the scale of Magic Kingdom because it's it's probably the one that's most comparative to our experience in Disneyland, where Animal Kingdom is it felt like it didn't feel like Disney World only because it didn't feel like it was something completely new and different. But then going to Magic Kingdom felt like, oh, we're in an elevated Disney park, you know, and elevated in a different way. I don't mean better, but I just mean like just sort of elevated.

Nathan 29:06

It's a different vibe. It's a yeah, yeah.

McCayla 29:08

Yeah. So yeah, that might have been like our you know, first Disney World. Oh, oh, this is that castle is big.

Nathan 29:18

What surprised you most about their reactions, you know, for the week or so that you were there?

McCayla 29:24

I knew that they would like it. Um, I knew that they'd have fun, but I did I was surprised, and I and I'm sort of touched on this before. I was surprised how much they loved it. I was surprised how much they were like, like I said, like I they turned into like Disney World kids. Like that they loved the ride so much. Tron, they both really, really, really loved Tron. And for Tron, we we were told that it was not gonna open until like the official opening time. Um, so we were there for early entry, and we were just gonna go get in line during early entry, and then um because there wasn't there actually wasn't much in Magic Kingdom rides-wise that we're like we have to do because there was so much that's like a repeat. We're like, we don't have to do Pirates of the Caribbean, we don't have to, you know.

Nathan 30:18

No, in fact, a lot of those are the worst version of those two things. You got the better ones in California anyway.

McCayla 30:26

So yeah, yeah. So there was a lot we felt like we didn't have to do, so that helped sort of diminish the sort of like the stress of like we have to do so many rides. So we were like, we're fine to just like wait in line during early entry so that we can get on right when it opens. They started running that ride at like five minutes into early entry. So it was a huge surprise, it was very exciting. So we got on, you know, we only had to wait like 10 minutes, got on their minds were blown, and then we got out of the ride before um official opening had started, so that there wasn't really any lines up, and so we just went on again and had like a five-minute wait, and so got to do it two times. Those are the things that I feel like really excite my kids when they get to it's almost like they get us like secret access. Like we were not expecting we get to do it twice, and we get to do it twice. Um, and so that was probably the first time that was our second park day where it was just like we hit like a high, you know, like yeah, like it yeah, really felt so fun and exciting.

Nathan 31:32

We had something like that happen in one of our first Disney, I think it was our second Disney World trip with Kaitlyn. She must have been like five and a half or so. And there was a cold snap. We had just gotten off a cruise and and like there was nobody in the parks, and we ended up being able to like ride Big Thunder, I think like three times in a row, and I think two of them, they didn't even make us get out of the train.

McCayla 31:57

Nice,

Nathan 31:58

and then like after that, she's like, No, let's go do Space Mountain. And we did like Space Mountain twice in a row. We didn't have to get out of the train. And I was like, at the end of that, I was finally like, Kaitlyn, I'm I'm ready to be done with like

McCayla 32:12

nice. I love that when it feels like the park is all yours. Yeah that feels really special.

When Disneyland Instincts Mislead You

Alicea 32:19

Um, so did your Disneyland instincts help you or trip you up at all?

McCayla 32:24

I think they helped in a lot of the a lot of the general ways, like go in with, you know, a general plan, but don't plan down to the minute. You know, use the app and um and the app is pretty much you know very similar and like mobile ordering and um so going in with sort of general understandings of how a park works and strategies and um I think really helped, and like the managing expectation stuff, like we're not gonna do it all. What is it really that we want to do that we'll focus on? And I don't know if this is before we started recording or not, but mentioning that our family isn't really huge on like parades and fireworks and entertainment. I love it, but the family as a whole, it's not really a huge priority. So it's like if we catch it, great, if we don't. So I think that helps again, going into the day, sort of knowing what is it that's really important to us, and let's just focus on that and not worry about everything else. So that helped us a lot. I think where it does not help me is that Magic Kingdom, especially because it feels so much like Disneyland, but it's not, it gets me really turned around, just in especially in like Adventureland, Frontierland over in that area. I get so lost. And um, and Epcot too, where there's just all these little like um pathways.

Alicea 33:52

Yes,

McCayla 33:53

too many pathways, not like the world showcase that's pretty straightforward, but over in like near Spaceship Earth and like the Figment area, like all of that, I just like I don't know. There's too many pathways, and I get lost. And but I think especially in Magic Kingdom, I think I know where I'm going, and that's what sort of trips me. And like Tomorrowland is huge, yes. They have a superior tomorrowland, that's for sure. Um, but I just that kind of trips me up where I feel confident and then I'm not at all.

Nathan 34:23

Yeah. Tomorrow one's the one that always gets me because I'm always like, oh, it's right. Nope, that is that is not where that is.

McCayla 34:31

Yep, yep. Is that do you feel the opposite? Do you feel more comfortable in Disney World or Disneyland? Like which one is the one that you kind of default to, like just comfort wise?

Alicea 34:44

Our first day, no matter what park we're in, if it's Magic Kingdom or Disneyland, we get tripped up.

Nathan 34:50

Yep.

Alicea 34:51

It doesn't matter. It's just sort of the transit. Yeah, it's just a we have to remember which one we're at. Because I think we're comf we're comfortable in both of them, but our brain has to reset. And it doesn't do that until our first wait, no, it's the other way.

Nathan 35:07

Yeah.

McCayla 35:07

Yeah. Okay. All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then when you're back at the other one, then it's like a two.

Nathan 35:12

Yeah. So like June is gonna be horrible because we will have been in Disneyland like two months before, and then we'll walk into Magic Kingdom and go, like, I hey, what?

Alicea 35:21

Where are we even going to Magic Kingdom?

Nathan 35:24

I don't know.

Alicea 35:25

Maybe we have we haven't planned park days yet. No.

McCayla 35:31

Yeah. Which I'm curious to hear about how you guys plan your park days.

Park Day Pacing And Resort Day Reality

McCayla 35:36

Because when we're in Disneyland, three days is sort of our magic number for our family when we go to Disneyland, is three park days. And we had five park days to work with at Disney World, which is great because there's more, there's more parks and you need more time. But it was a lot of park days. Like just we went into it knowing we're not gonna be able to do early entry every day, you know, extended hours every time we can, you know, like we're gonna have to really pace ourselves, and we did, like we didn't, we did much shorter park days and kind of to help it make a little bit more chill, but it was still a lot of park days. So I'm curious, like when you're you're saying like you're planning for your Disney World trip, like, do you have sort of a set amount of park days that you're like to that you like to work with? Like, oh, we can do like about this many park days, and then we'll kind of see what parks we want to do in those days, or

Nathan 36:30

I think it's changed as we've gotten older and the kids have matured and what they're interested in has changed.

McCayla 36:38

Sure, sure, yeah.

Nathan 36:39

And we're in a very I think we were having a little bit of this conversation before we hit record, so I don't think I'm repeating myself, but like we've we we are in a uh a really privileged situation where we can go to the parks a lot, and so our level of need and desire to knock out like everything is just different from what I think a lot of families experience. When we first started going when Kaitlyn was young, like, yeah, we're gonna try to maximize how much time we're spending.

Alicea 37:11

It was open to close,

Nathan 37:12

yeah, absolutely.

Alicea 37:14

We did many of those.

Nathan 37:16

nowadays. Honestly, we Alicea and I have truly like become Disney adults. We're going for the vibes. And if we do a few rides in a day, great, but we're like just soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the details that imagineering has put into the parks and the decor and being exceptionally well taken care of by all the cast members in either park, in either resort, you know, whether we're in California or Florida. Uh it's it we're just there to enjoy, like it is our happy place. I view it as a you know, uh a rather expensive cover charge to get into a really amazing place and we'll jump around and do whatever we want. You know, we'll go do some stuff in the morning and then back to the resort or go somewhere else and do a meal and then back to maybe a different resort in the evening to do a few things. Like it we don't really have a huge agenda. Now for June, we have a couple things that we know we want to do. Yeah, biggest thing on the itinerary is uh spending the day at Epcot for Kaitlyn because her big ask when she turned 21, that's right, she's 21, mind blown. Um

McCayla 38:35

is she gonna drink around the world?

Nathan 38:38

She wants to go drinking around the world.

McCayla 38:39

Oh my gosh, baby Kaitlyn.

Nathan 38:43

Yes, yes,

McCayla 38:44

wow,

Nathan 38:45

the crab walk Kaitlyn in the back of the worship center. That's we're playing in the band is now yeah. She sent us a picture last night. I didn't even know she was in town from Bellingham. She and a couple of her friends drove down, went to the Mariners game, and she's like exercising my adult privilege and had like this big, like tall boy like cider can. I'm like, you go. She's like, but it's $15. I'm like, welcome to adulthood.

McCayla 39:13

Wow. Oh my gosh, she's grown. She was at the Mariners game last night. Oh.

Nathan 39:18

Yeah, I told her she didn't root hard enough.

McCayla 39:19

My youngest was there.

Nathan 39:20

Oh, cool.

McCayla 39:21

For birthday parties. Yeah.

Nathan 39:23

Yeah. So it's just Epcot's a priority. We know we're doing um, we have uh Moonlight Magic, DVC Moonlight Magic at

Alicea 39:32

Typhoon Lagoon. We've never been to a Disney water park before.

McCayla 39:35

Oh, that's cool

Nathan 39:37

so like that's like an evening. Um, what are we doing during? I don't know what we're doing that day. The cool thing is, is is we have APs again for Florida. So we just got those.

McCayla 39:49

I was curious about that. Yeah. So you you're not really too worried about like park tickets. Exactly.

Alicea 39:56

Yeah. We'll kind of figure it out as we go. Um when we do when we do trips, I think it's more important now to have a resort day in the middle of stuff.

Nathan 40:06

That's absolutely come into our planning is that we'll do a resort day and like we'll do a couple park days and then there's a resort day. Or we're gonna spend a day or two hanging out with our friends at their place that's off property, or we'll go down to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.

McCayla 40:28

And oh yeah, we did that.

Nathan 40:30

Yeah, so like there are so many other things to do in the area, especially for us because like our our predominant friend group is in the area, like that's factoring into it uh as well. Um, we have a super comfy and and great place to stay the evenings, and maybe we're in a park that day and maybe we're not. Um if we could get rid of the park reservation concept, like holistically, yeah, yeah. I'd be a lot happier. But even in Florida with an AP, I show up at two o'clock or after any park without a reservation and I'm good to go.

McCayla 41:04

So it's not a big deal. Yeah, that's the one thing that I did miss, and what we usually do is have a resort day or an off day. And you know, and that's something as you know, when people ask me about Disneyland planning, I'm always like, build in an off day, build it's so so important. And we didn't do that only because we didn't want to spend 12 days in Florida because of, I mean, if we have like five park days and we did want to do the Kennedy Space Center, we did want to go to the beach, those were priorities for us. So we just couldn't make the trip that long, but we felt it, we felt it for sure, and that's why we tried to just do like we're gonna do a little bit in the morning and a little bit at night, and like similar to what you're saying, I we felt really privileged because they were gifted tickets that it didn't it felt a little different because we didn't feel the highest pressure to maximize, and so that that was a privilege, so we could do that, but I missed those resort days are so nice.

Nathan 42:07

That's where Disney's hospitality really shines through, is if you're taking a resort day, like you're having a really good day.

McCayla 42:17

Yeah, you're having a great day, especially if you picked the beach club and you've got a little mini water park and and you could just like pop into Epcot for like we did that one day where we had very we had just did a few hours in Epcot, but most of the day was like we did Tapolinos that day and and pool, so it didn't it felt a little bit like a resort day, but yeah, yeah. I we felt it at the end. We're like, that was a lot of park. Yeah.

Alicea 42:47

I'll say we have not stayed at Beach Club before. We have stayed at Boardwalk just across the way. Um,

McCayla 42:55

we were very intrigued by Boardwalk.

Nathan 42:57

Well, we're very intrigued by Beach Club, so there.

McCayla 43:00

Okay, well, uh across the lake, being very envious of each other.

Alicea 43:06

And when we we stayed at Boardwalk, it was before the renovation, too. So I know it's changed a bit.

Nathan 43:12

Yeah. Oh no, we'll have to go back.

Alicea 43:14

Yeah, but jelly rolls isn't there anymore. So

McCayla 43:17

what is jelly rolls?

Nathan 43:20

It was R.I.P.

Alicea 43:22

It's a dueling piano bar.

McCayla 43:25

Oh fun. That's up your guys' alley.

Nathan 43:30

100%.

Alicea 43:32

Did your Disneyland strategies translate to Disney World or did they require adjustments at all?

McCayla 43:40

I think what was really um helpful is that we were not park naive, like Disney Park naive. And like I said before, like there was a lot we could just be like, we don't need to do all a whole bunch of stuff that maybe if you had never been to a Disney park before, you would want to do. Do you know some of those classic fantasy land rides, or um yeah, so there's just a lot of stuff that we were like, we're good, we don't need to do. So the strategy was really let's experience the things that we wouldn't be able to experience at Disneyland. And and that to us was like Animal Kingdom was a priority, Epcot was a priority. Um, and then we we really didn't spend as much time at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

Alicea 44:29

Okay.

McCayla 44:30

Um, a lot at Hollywood Studios, I thought, you know, we don't even need to go to Galaxy's Edge, we don't even need to go to like like Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. We ended up doing all of that because the park is very small and a lot of we had time to. Yeah. Yeah. And Aerosmith's closed. So there it it lent itself to that we ended up doing it, but it was not our priority.

Nathan 44:54

Yeah.

McCayla 44:55

So yeah, that it was a different strategy because we were just trying to hit the stuff that we don't have.

Nathan 45:02

Yeah.

Dining Plans And The Beacon Barrel Miss

Nathan 45:03

One of the things that that is kind of unique to Florida, at least more unique to Florida, there's a several of these in California, but at least when we're talking like Magic Kingdom versus Disneyland, like there's lounges in Florida now in Magic Kingdom. So like Beak and Barrel, like, did you get a chance to go there?

McCayla 45:21

We did. And we we went we went hard on our dining reservations. We don't really make as many dining reservations as we, you know, that we usually like we don't usually make this many dining reservations, but we went really hard only because there was so much that we wanted to try. There's just so much more dining, as we've discussed. Um, and so uh we were excited and um intrigued by the beak and barrel. It's fairly new. Um, the pirate theme, it's felt like, oh, that sounds like it's part of, you know, it's up our alley. Yeah when I made our reservation, the entertainment schedule hadn't been released yet. And so I made the reservation right at the same time that the parade was happening, the Starlight Parade, and I really kind of wanted to see the Starlight Parade.

Nathan 46:10

Yeah.

McCayla 46:10

Um, and my family would have come along too. Um, they're not they're not, like I said, huge parade people, but they would have come. Um and I tried to change the tune, they would have humored me.

Nathan 46:21

Yeah.

McCayla 46:21

We all get a say in our vacation. Um and I tried to change the reservation, but I couldn't. And so I was a little and I was, I think I was getting sick. I had a really bad sore throat. I thought it was because of cosmic rewind and me screaming on it, but I did just get sick. And so this I had a sore throat and I was feeling grumpy. So all of that to say I went in with very I was kind of grumpy, but I didn't love it. Um, it had a very like ogas cantina, um uh Trader Sam's vibe, and I like those places. Um, but I did we got we got crammed in a booth with like other people, and I don't love that. I'm kind of an introvert. I don't love just chatting with other people. Um, although one of the people at our tables worked on Righteous Gemstones. Have you ever have you guys watched that show on HBO?

Alicea 47:18

I've seen about it, but I haven't watched it.

McCayla 47:21

It's very funny. So we had a fun conversation about that. Um, but otherwise, I didn't really want to talk to people. Um, and and there was a lot of action, you know, like at Trader Sam's, there's like fun things that happen throughout your time there. We were at a place you couldn't really see any of the action. Like things were happening up at the bar, but we couldn't see it. I was a little cranky about it. So that was like the one thing that like we I would have not done. I would have probably picked the parade, but you don't know. You really don't know. And it could have, you know, we tried it and it was okay, it was fine. And so I think that's just one of those things that like with any trip, Disneyland, Disney World, anywhere you go on vacation, it's like things might not meet your expectations, and you just we moved on, and it was fine. I moved on. It was a personal problem, yeah. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, and some of those things were like there's a lot of hype. I think, especially, you know, when something's new and a lot of people are talking about it. I think maybe my expectations get too high.

Nathan 48:29

Yeah.

Assumptions That Fell Apart In Florida

Nathan 48:30

Did you have any assumptions about you know your reactions or your kids' reactions about Florida that were like spot on and that came true? And more interestingly, maybe any assumptions that you had going in that were just like absolutely wrong?

McCayla 48:47

Mm-hmm. Florida, like the state, or Disney World.

Nathan 48:51

We're not talking about Florida the state.

McCayla 48:56

We could go down that tangent. That would be fun. Okay. We didn't really spend too much time in like Florida proper.

Nathan 49:03

Yeah.

McCayla 49:04

Um, we were in the bubble most of the time. But yeah, I think both. Like I had an I mean, I assumed it was huge and it would be, you know, the transportation would take a long time to get one place to another place. That's true. Like it did. Um, we had to wait for a bus to go to Magic Kingdom in the morning for like a half an hour. And I had known that, so we had planned it was it worked out okay, but it did add a little bit of like, oh geez, I don't like just sitting around, you know, waiting to go to the park where for Disneyland we're used to just like when we're ready to go, we're there, you know, you're not waiting on anything. Yeah. The the other assumption that I had wrong was that it wasn't as magical. And I I feel I feel really um embarrassed to say that because it's the most magical place on earth. And I and and to all my friends who who love Disney World, who Disney World is their special place, like I feel a little bit snobby saying that. Um but I do have to be honest that I was like, it's not gonna be like Disneyland. Like Disneyland is magical, like you know, the roaming characters and like Walt walked there, you know, like just very snobby. But it was magical, like it really was like there were more characters than I thought that there would be, you know, roaming around in the wild. There really, I I didn't think there was gonna be that many, and there were, and it has its own unique magic, and it was really special, yeah. Um, and it is a special place in its own way, and like the rides are top tier, like that was so, so fun, um, and really excited our family, and like it's just yeah, it is a really special place, and I and I feel really embarrassed to say like that I wasn't expecting it to be so special. Like, that's I'm yeah, probably should cut all of that out. Um but I think I need to be honest, like that it is true that I kind of went in thinking it wasn't gonna be as good as Disneyland, and it's and it just it's different, it's its own different magic.

Nathan 51:10

Yeah, yeah.

Kid Favorites From Epcot To Tron

Alicea 51:11

We're gonna talk some of your kids' favorites.

McCayla 51:14

Okay.

Alicea 51:16

What was their favorite part? And I know it could be different for each one.

McCayla 51:21

Yeah, they both would say Epcot was their favorite. Cosmic Rewind was a huge highlight. Um, the first time we rode Cosmic Rewind, there was no music.

Alicea 51:33

Oh, weird.

McCayla 51:34

Oh there was no audio at all.

Alicea 51:36

Oh no.

McCayla 51:37

And it took me actually a couple of solid few seconds to be like, something's different. And it was silent. It was so weird. And it was their first time. So about like halfway through, I started panicking. I was like, this isn't how it is. And they were having fun and they were because they don't know any different. But then we we got off and um I was like, there wasn't a music, there wasn't music. There was supposed to be music, and I heard other people on the um the ride vehicle, yeah, tell the cast member and they're like, oh, you didn't get audio? Okay, well, come on, we'll take you, we'll get you on again. And they let us go right to the front and get right back on another ride. And we got um, and we got September. So it was, and and that's where I thought I got my sore throat at that exact because I was screaming, I was like, September's the best one. And I was just like screaming, and I was we were we were so happy. And my kids were so, and that was another thing where like when we were told you get to go again, my kids' faces just went like yes, yeah. So, so anyway, to answer your question, Epcot, they really loved the world showcase. They immediately thought, well, they immediately said we thought it was much smaller than we were imagining like a building for each country. Because we we explained you go through the countries, right? They were like, we didn't know it was like a land for each country, so they were really impressed that it was like, you know, and we have been to Japan and Italy and Mexico and so we've been to a few, so that was so fun to like be back, and Japan has like a store that has like magical things like that that felt like we just like went back to Japan. It was so fun. So, so yeah, they loved, they loved Epcot.

Nathan 53:32

What was their favorite ride? Was it Guardians? That's that's tough. So my oldest, his favorite of all time has been since he was rode it for the first time was Rise of the Resistance. Yeah,

McCayla 53:45

and then on our first day we did um Expedition Everest, and our youngest said that was my favorite. And then our oldest, whose Rise of the Resistance was his favorite, he said Flight of Passage was his favorite. So, so he's like, that was my fate, that's my favorite ride now to spy. And I actually cried on Flight of Passage. It's I was probably very tired, but I cried, I was it was like emotional. Like I was like, I'm one with nature, and like it was a beautiful, beautiful ride. Um, anyway, uh so Flight of Passage is up there, um, Cosmic Rewind is up there, but Tron is probably number one, I would say, for both.

Alicea 54:27

Okay.

McCayla 54:28

Surprisingly enough, though, my youngest, when we did Carousel of Progress, said he loved that more than Space Mountain, which I was like, I was shocked. I was like, okay.

Alicea 54:41

It's a great big beautiful tomorrow.

McCayla 54:43

Yes, it is. I was like, okay, and that's in his top five.

Alicea 54:47

Like that's awesome.

McCayla 54:50

Constantly surprising me. Yes.

Alicea 54:52

All right. Favorite overall moment for the kiddos?

McCayla 54:56

Hmm. Oh man, that's really tough. I mean, they have mentioned the cosmic rewind thing a couple of times where they've gotten to, you know, they got to go again. Yeah. Um, I've heard them talking about that to other people and and Tron, same thing, where you got to ride it two times. I don't know if they would they would articulate this, but we did laugh a lot, like as, you know, and like there were a lot of times where I just like, you know, laughed so hard that like my stomach hurt, my face hurt, like, and you know, when we're going through life as a family day to day, we're not belly laughing all that often, you know. I mean, we have a we have a good amount of joy in our family, but you know, we're not like hysterically laughing.

Nathan 55:43

Yeah.

McCayla 55:43

And so that was really fun to just and I've said this before where it's like sometimes it's not the place that I love the most. It's like the person I am when I'm there and the people that I am that I get to be there with. Like that's what makes it magical. And that's true. Like, I was there with my favorite people having so much fun. And we first got into this is became like a recurring joke with our family where we when we first got into Animal Kingdom, I said something like, Okay, guys, just to manage everybody's expectations, this is the very boring mom I am. Just to manage everybody's expectations, we're not gonna go hard on the sweets today. And my husband goes, Boo. I laughed so hard. I like like I had to stop and like I was like laughing so hard. And we so we did that throughout like a lot of the trip when somebody would say something and be like, We don't get to go on another ride, boo. So didn't really answer your question because I don't know if they would have articulated you know laughing with my family as my favorite part, but I know

Nathan 56:55

but that's a as a parent, you have that different perspective.

Disneyland Or Disney World For Families

Nathan 56:58

And yeah, like that's yeah, that's super important. Now I'm gonna pivot off of that. And like having you know, you are a Disneyland expert, uh, according to Disney at least. Um and uh, you know, you've done Disneyland with your family, you've done Disney World now with your family. Which one works better for families? Like, what are your thoughts?

McCayla 57:20

That's that's that's a tough one. And I I could never in a million years make a decision of that sweeping for families.

Nathan 57:31

Yeah.

McCayla 57:31

You know, like

Nathan 57:33

they're both for families.

McCayla 57:34

They're both for families. I think those who are on the east coast, like, because of just traveling, you know, traveling time, it's easiest to probably get to Disney World, or like if you're on the West Coast, it's easy. So it's like just the basic, like, what's more convenient to get to and to travel to. Like I I think the for for young kids, like babies, strollers, Disney World would be really tough. Like, I I was thinking through that as like you know, as I was m navigating Disney World, that I was just really grateful that I didn't have little kids.

Nathan 58:14

Right.

McCayla 58:14

Not that it could not be done, and not that it hasn't been done, and it's not great, and people do it all the time. But for me, and maybe it just is because I'm a Disneyland gal, um, and uh it was just much easier to navigate with strollers and stuff.

Nathan 58:29

Um Well, in Disneyland, you can pack your your stroller up in the morning in your room and have all your stuff ready ready to go. And other than getting through the security barrier, like you're good to go. Whereas in Florida, you're going to have to deal with transportation of some sort where you need to unload everything, fold the thing up, blah blah blah.

McCayla 58:48

And then it's just it's it's just I I was noticing like, oh, it's a it's a it's a thing here. Yep. And just like the going home for a nap and or going back to the hotel for a nap, or and things like that just feels like it would just be something you'd have to be a little bit more mindful of at Disney World. Again, not impossible, but I did really love the ages that we took to Disney World. It felt just it just felt just right.

Nathan 59:18

Yeah.

McCayla 59:19

But that's not to say like families should not go to Disney World, like little kids. Like, of course not.

Nathan 59:25

Like go where you can go.

McCayla 59:27

Yeah. That's right. That is right. Or what feels right to you, or what excites you, or you know, kind of make it whatever you want it.

Advice For Disneyland Families Visiting WDW

McCayla 59:35

You don't have to do all the parks or

Alicea 59:37

what's the number one thing that you would tell a Disneyland family planning for their very first Disney World trip?

McCayla 59:44

Oh, yeah. I was thinking about this a lot right at the end of our trip, that I wanted to bring in all my Disneyland friends in a big hug and be like, because I know a number of them that are, you know, very uh, you know, they're going to Disneyland often, you know, once a year with their family, but have never done Disney World. And I was thinking about those families specifically where I just wanted to bring them in into like a little huddle and be like, it's so fun there. It's so fun in Disney World. And you can do it. And just kind of like a, not not in like a, I'm sounding very snobby this whole time. Very snobby. Not in a way of like it's better than Disneyland, but like it's just different, and like you should just try it. Like a different adventure, another place to experience a magical place that's new and different, but not as like a yeah, you should definitely go to Disney World. Disneyland sucks. Of course not. Disneyland will always be my park, like it will always be. Um, but yeah, for those who are, you know, a Disneyland fam looking to go to Disney World, like definitely something to consider and for a new adventure. And to just keep in mind, and we mentioned this before, just to keep in mind it is just much, much bigger, and to just keep that in mind and either just focus on a couple of parks, and I think too, my biggest advice would be picking where you stay is maybe one of the biggest and best decisions you could. So if you like, if you know that, like for our example, like Epcot was our priority, or not our priority, but something that we knew that we were gonna spend a lot of time there. The hotel being next to Epcot is a makes a huge difference. So, like, kind of so because of the transportation stuff, that will help so much if you're just in the vicinity of like, you know, where you think you might spend the most time. Now it's not gonna work for everything because it's like, you know, Animal Kingdom is kind of out there and you know, Magic Kingdom is a little bit, you know, Hollywood Studios at Epcot are close together, so you can kind of but so you will have to travel at but just think about like where will you gonna spend the most time and that will help a lot. Yeah, yeah. A feeling less overwhelming.

Will Disney World Join The Rotation

Nathan 1:02:05

All right. So after this trip, especially given your boy's reaction, does Disney World feel like a sometimes trip or something that you're gonna add into the regular rotation?

McCayla 1:02:17

That's a great question. And this is probably the question for my husband, because my husband is the one who like he's like a Disney, you know, once a year Disney thing. You know, that's his sort of cadence. And so um I do have a Disney World trip planned for myself in November. We're having our Plan Disney reunion, which I'm very excited about. Um, so so I think all get to go, like, you know, maybe more often, which will be fun for me, and we'll scratch that itch um and we'll be really special. As a family, that's a really great question, and I don't know if we have the answers to that yet. Like in what sort of rotation are we now gonna be putting in Disney World and Disneyland? We don't have Disneyland on the docket right now of like you know, exactly when we would go, nor do we have Disney World as a family. So we have other things, but they're a surprise and there might be listening ears. And I don't want to say

Nathan 1:03:20

we're familiar with it.

McCayla 1:03:22

Um so yeah, I I'm excited to see. I don't know. Um, we'll we'll see. I I I don't foresee it being like we can we're only gonna do now one or the other. I could see it being like huh, I could see us working them both in somehow.

Nathan 1:03:41

I mean, we're proof positive it is possible to live in the Seattle area and be a bi-coastal Disney family.

Alicea 1:03:47

And cruise and Aulani.

Nathan 1:03:49

It's just all the things.

Alicea 1:03:51

We just haven't added international to our stuff yet.

McCayla 1:03:54

Oh

Nathan 1:03:55

yet.

Alicea 1:03:55

Yet.

Nathan 1:03:57

One of us has been to Paris.

Alicea 1:03:58

Yes, that's true.

McCayla 1:03:59

Yeah, that's true. We can't say we haven't been international.

Nathan 1:04:03

McCayla been to Tokyo. I'm the loser here. Think about me. I feel horrible.

Alicea 1:04:08

Couple years.

McCayla 1:04:09

I feel so sad for you. So sad. So sad.

Nathan 1:04:13

Somebody understands.

McCayla 1:04:14

on your bad life you have. Uh Japan is so easy to get to from Seattle.

Nathan 1:04:19

I yeah.

McCayla 1:04:20

Like it's so it's just like

Alicea 1:04:22

I think we're hitting we're hitting Paris before we hit Japan.

Nathan 1:04:25

I think so.

Alicea 1:04:26

Yeah.

McCayla 1:04:26

Oh, whoa. Okay. Well, well I mean I've never been to Disneyland Paris, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but uh Tokyo Disneyland is pretty sparkly.

Alicea 1:04:36

Yes. That'll be for Sterling's graduation.

McCayla 1:04:39

I think I think so it's on the horizon. It's on horizon.

Nathan 1:04:43

Yes. It's on the horizon. And then then we have we have big birthdays ending in zero coming up in the next couple years.

Alicea 1:04:48

So my 50th will be Paris.

Nathan 1:04:50

Yeah.

McCayla 1:04:51

Okay. All right. Yeah. So you have some people. We're like you.

Alicea 1:04:55

We plan out, we plan way out. Yes.

McCayla 1:04:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Same with us. We're well, me. I I like, you know, having sort of like what what's our next few years gonna look like? And I and I do think it actually probably has a lot to do with just my anxiety and my panic of my kids. Like, we only have like, I don't know, six more spring breaks with them until they go to college. And and you still vacation with Kaitlyn, so it's not like it's gonna be over with, but for some reason I feel like those are my years that I get.

Nathan 1:05:28

Yeah.

McCayla 1:05:28

And they're they're like disappearing.

Alicea 1:05:32

It's it was hard our first Disney trip without Kaitlyn and with Sterling. It was like sorry. I mean

Nathan 1:05:40

Yeah, it's it's a it's a different vibe. And then like you start depending on the situation and whether your kiddo says, like, you know, Disney's becoming boring because you guys take me too much. Now we're just like, I don't know. We only have a you know a handful of spring breaks left, and then we can do whatever the heck we want. And you don't have to come with us. Bye-bye.

McCayla 1:06:00

So yeah, that'll be a whole new world. Yeah. Whole different ball game. So I think that that's where I'm like thinking through, like, or I'm like looking at it through a lens of like, what do I want to experience with my kids?

Alicea 1:06:12

Yeah.

McCayla 1:06:13

Like not so much like what where do I need to go? What do I need to see in the world? Because there's so many places that I want to go and I want to see. But I really want to prioritize these next few years of what will be the places that as a family, as you know, them at different ages would appreciate, or and like that's what I want to prioritize the next few

Lightning Round And Rapid Picks

McCayla 1:06:35

years.

Nathan 1:06:35

So well, McCayla, we've already, you know, subjected you to Alicea’s patented Disney torture test, but we do have a lightning round for you.

Alicea 1:06:45

So it was your favorite. Nathan likes to call it torture.

McCayla 1:06:48

It is not oh, oh, okay, okay, got it. I lived through it, I guess.

Nathan 1:06:52

You did. All right. So a new lightning round. Here it is for you. Alicea, take it away.

Alicea 1:06:58

All right. Rope drop or late night?

McCayla 1:07:00

Ooh. Okay, so we've always been like a rope drop because my you know, kids waking up super, super early. But this trip actually they preferred to more, and it's probably just them getting older, but like sleeping in more and like taking advantage of those like extended hours, which are amazing at Disney World, like the uh Magic Kingdom and Epcot. We got to do extended hours, and that was so fun. Like, so I don't know, maybe we're a little bit of both.

Alicea 1:07:32

All right, Magic Kingdom or Disneyland.

McCayla 1:07:36

Stop.

Nathan 1:07:38

Maybe it is a little bit of a torture test.

McCayla 1:07:41

That is a torture test. I mean, I will always say Disneyland. I I just yeah, I'll always say Disneyland because that's where Walt walked.

Alicea 1:07:53

True.

McCayla 1:07:55

I just I just hearing me say that makes me cringe. It's true, it's true, but and I do feel that way, but it makes me cringe.

Alicea 1:08:06

Disney transportation or rental car?

McCayla 1:08:09

Oh, Disney transportation. So we didn't have a car, so I guess maybe I can't compare because we just didn't do a car. I could see how it could be really convenient, but we made the transportation work.

Nathan 1:08:21

Nice.

McCayla 1:08:22

And it was free.

Alicea 1:08:23

Yeah. Well, prepaid. Well, no. Yours was all included. Yours was included. Yeah. A snack that you are thinking about, still thinking about.

McCayla 1:08:34

Ooh. Um, the bread service at uh from Sanaa.

Alicea 1:08:40

Yeah.

McCayla 1:08:40

Uh, we got it uh for a takeout on the very, very first. It was the first meal, first night. I went over to get takeout and we brought it back to the pool. And that was probably that moment of like, we're here. I'm so excited. And it was so good, and all the little dips, and we just went hard on it. We were just like all in there, all our hands, and like just at the pool. It was a vibe. And like knowing we had a park reservation for Animal Kingdom the next day just felt so exciting. So, so yeah, but the bread service was so good.

Nathan 1:09:15

Nice.

Alicea 1:09:16

One moment that you wish you could relive.

McCayla 1:09:19

Oh, all of them, except for screaming at each other in the hotel room. I mean, we can um it's not all magic. But yeah, the the walking into Magic Kingdom for the first time was really sweet.

Nathan 1:09:34

Yeah.

McCayla 1:09:35

Um, and just that that Disney magic feeling of like, you know, my kid got goosebumps for heaven's sake. Like that's just like yeah, and those laughing moments, like just like belly laughs. We um we did Ohana for dinner, and we took the boat over to Magic Kingdom. Um, and being on the boat felt really just relaxing and peaceful, and like looking over at my boys with my husband and just being like, this is this is what it's all about. Yeah. Just like a real quiet, like moment of just like, yeah, this is good stuff.

Alicea 1:10:13

Not the ferry, the friendship boats, right?

McCayla 1:10:15

Yeah, the friendship boats, yeah. Not the ferry. I did not have a magical feeling.

Nathan 1:10:23

I have had a magical ferry ride before.

Alicea 1:10:25

You have.

Nathan 1:10:26

Because I was going back, I forget what I had to do. I think it was dropping dad off.

Alicea 1:10:30

Yeah, it was dropping your folks off or during the the the very merry month.

Nathan 1:10:34

Yes. And I came back and uh we had a rental car and I took the ferry back over from the the TTC, and I was the only person on board. I got a big shout out welcome from the captain. I got a personalized safety briefing. It was incredible.

McCayla 1:10:54

Your dream come true.

Nathan 1:10:56

It was fantastic.

McCayla 1:10:58

Passenger one.

Nathan 1:10:59

Yes, one of one.

Alicea 1:11:01

Passenger only. Yep, yep.

Nathan 1:11:03

It was great.

Alicea 1:11:04

All right. We may have touched on this already, but one thing your kids are still talking about.

McCayla 1:11:10

Um, yeah, Tron. That's kind of a broken record. I was not expecting them to like Tron so much. And I liked it when I wrote it for the first time. I wrote it last year for the first time, and I liked it, but I wasn't like, oh my gosh, blown away. And they were they were pretty blown away.

Alicea 1:11:29

Did you hit one of my favorite rides, the people mover?

McCayla 1:11:32

Yes. Yes. Love the people mover. I want that to come back to Disneyland so bad. It's a good one.

Nathan 1:11:41

I mean, it's still kind of there. They never really completely ripped it out. So

Alicea 1:11:45

well, they changed it to a couple other things, but yeah.

McCayla 1:11:48

I didn't know you'd go into Space Mountain. That was fun. Spoiler alert.

Alicea 1:11:52

Um we've gone in when the lights were on in Space Mountain before, too.

McCayla 1:11:57

Oh, cool.

Nathan 1:11:58

Yeah.

McCayla 1:11:59

I've never seen Space Mountain with the lights on ever.

Nathan 1:12:02

Uh it gives you a whole new appreciation for duck. Yes. Just like I never raise my hands on Space Mountain anymore.

McCayla 1:12:11

I'm just I know. I I do I do this. I'm like, what am I doing? Put your hands down.

Nathan 1:12:17

All right, last question. If you had 30 seconds to convince another Disneyland family to try Walt Disney World, what would you say?

McCayla 1:12:27

That if you love Disneyland and Disneyland is a special place, Disney World is gonna be its own special magical place. And it's like magic you haven't discovered yet. And what's what's better than that? You know, something something else to discover um with your loved ones that's what you love, but just in a different way.

Nathan 1:12:52

Yeah.

McCayla 1:12:53

It's exciting.

Nathan 1:12:54

I love that. Well said.

McCayla 1:12:56

Okay. Well, you didn't give me those questions ahead of time. I could have come up with a much better articulate.

Nathan 1:13:02

That's much less fun.

McCayla 1:13:05

Much less fun, okay. For for me.

Nathan 1:13:09

Well, yeah.

Michaela’s Substack And Where To Follow

Nathan 1:13:11

Well, you've started doing some new stuff online recently. You're you're kind of scratching that. I need to write about Disney more if. I do, yes. Uh, and I think I saw a podcast get spun up. You want to share a little bit more?

McCayla 1:13:24

We got a little competition and joke joke. Um uh yes, I'm very excited. I started um with with a with a racing heart and shaky hands, like for real. Like for real. Um that's not even just exaggerating. I was very anxious about starting it. Putting yourself out there is a is a big deal. Um, so I started a Substack because I just wanted to write more. And I wanted to write about, you know, a lot of what we've been talking about, like experiencing things with your family, you know, before they leave the nest, and like what does that look like and um the different places and things that to do um as a family from Disney parks to national parks. I wanted sort of expand, I mean it's it is mostly Disney related, um, the content, but just wanted to talk more about what else is out there and experience with with family. So, and just to inspire, like it's it's really I am not an expert, nor am I cool. So it's not like it's not a place to come to see a cool person doing cool things who knows a lot about a lot of things. I don't, but it's just a mom who wants to experience things with her family and share that with others and um encourage others to take maybe a step that maybe they hadn't th thought about taking. So yeah, it's the Mc and Mouse Club on Substack. And yeah, I would love to have anybody who wants to join. I kind of think of it as just like it's just a couple friends chatting and dreaming, you know? It's not me just telling anybody what to do or anything, it's just just picture it, just friends chatting.

Nathan 1:15:06

Cool.

Alicea 1:15:07

Well, McCayla, you're cool to us.

McCayla 1:15:10

Oh, thanks. Thanks.

Alicea 1:15:14

Yeah,

McCayla 1:15:14

thanks. That's very kind, but you know what I mean. Like on the internet, like there's so many cool people who know a lot about a lot of stuff. The imposter syndrome is so real. I mean, like, and yeah, you mentioned podcasts, like I definitely would not call it a podcast, but it's recording things and putting them online, um, but definitely not to the level of

Nathan 1:15:38

I think that's what a podcast is.

McCayla 1:15:41

I know, I know, but it feels like a very baby podcast because yeah, I don't I don't know what I'm doing.

Alicea 1:15:47

That's how it begins.

McCayla 1:15:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So just I love it. I love talking with people, I love chatting about stuff. So um, yeah, and thank you guys for being a part of it. I really appreciate your guys' support and you're the best. And yeah, it means a lot. So thank you.

Nathan 1:16:06

Oh shucks. Mc and Mouse Club. What's so is Mc and MouseClub.substack.com.

McCayla 1:16:12

Yeah, that's a great question. Um, I knew you were gonna ask me this, but uh you you had a great idea recently about just putting everything on Linktree.

Nathan 1:16:22

Yeah.

McCayla 1:16:22

So all of my, you know, my Instagram, my Substack is all on Linktree, which is um Linktree, you know, mc dot and dot mouse dot club.

Nathan 1:16:35

There you go. We'll link to all that stuff in the show notes too.

McCayla 1:16:38

Thanks, thanks. Yeah, I appreciate that. It's a lot of periods. I don't know why I had to have a lot, all those periods because then it makes it harder to share it audiobly.

Nathan 1:16:49

I'd love to talk to you about search engine optimization and uh I don't and I don't know about that. I just do a thing and then if people find it great. If they don't, the they're lost.

Disclaimers And Listener Callouts

Nathan 1:17:02

McCayla, thank you so much. I think at this point, your your gold jacket is in the mail.

McCayla 1:17:09

Thank you. I'm so glad. This is what I've been dreaming and waiting for. Really, the only reason why I'm doing this is I was hoping there's some sort of five-timers club gift would be happening.

Nathan 1:17:22

Love it.

McCayla 1:17:23

I love my time with you guys. Thank you.

Nathan 1:17:25

Well, thanks for joining us. It was so wonderful to reconnect with McCayla. She's good people, y'all. Yes. Linktree slash Mc.and dot mouse.club rolls right off the tongue. Third time trying to say that. Anyhow, Mc and Mouse Club. McCayla's awesome. Just give her a follow and uh you'll you'll learn some really, really good stuff. And with that, please do remember we are not affiliated with Disney or their subsidiaries. These are personal opinions and suggestions based on our and our guests' own experiences. But we are affiliated with fun, snacks, and questionable decisions.

Alicea 1:18:06

And bi coastal Disney visits. We recommend working with a travel advisor or contacting Disney directly to plan your own perfect vacation. And if you love this episode, please give us a rating and review. It really helps other Disney fans find us.

Nathan 1:18:20

If you have questions or suggestions, or would like to be interviewed on our show to share your Disney experiences, please send an email to podcast at our mousecapades.com.

Alicea 1:18:30

You can follow us. We are at Our Mouse Capades on Instagram, Facebook threads, and YouTube. And please do share us with your friends and family.

Nathan 1:18:39

Thanks for listening. We'll be in your ears next week.

Intro 1:18:42

Thank you for flying Star Tours. Bye bye.