Opening Announcement And Setup

Intro 0:03

Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor, manténgase alejado

Intro 0:06

de las puertas please stand clear of the doors.

The Pressure To Win At Disney

Alicea 0:24

Hello everyone, I'm Alicea.

Nathan 0:26

And I'm Nathan.

Alicea 0:27

Welcome to episode 242 of Adventures and Mouscapades. Often you hear people talk about planning Disney trips with lists, priorities, and must-dos. Touring plans are built and rearranged to maximize rides and experiences in crowded Disney parks. Seemingly every hour is optimized to get the most out of the trip to win at Disney, as it were. And we get it. We've been there. You get to the park before it opens to rope drop popular rides, and then you crisscross the park throughout the day to take advantage of shorter lines over here and over there before they build up.

Nathan 1:02

Indeed, you stake out the perfect spot for fireworks or a parade sometimes hours before the event, sacrificing time spent on rides for guarding your four feet of curb to give your kids the most magical experience. At the end of the day, you've walked 25,000 steps, your feet are killing you, and the kids' favorite part of the day was blowing endless bubbles from the overpriced toy you bought them. Is that a win? Social media sure makes it seem like it.

Alicea 1:32

And Disney itself is in on the game too. Don't want to wait two hours to ride Peter Pan? Buy Lightning Lane multipass for between $15 to $40 per person per day. Oh, but you want to skip that long line for the most popular attraction? That's another $10 to $25 per person for a single ride.

Nathan 1:50

What's that? You don't want to be on your phone all day and fighting with the others for coveted and limited Lightning Lane return times? Well, then simply pay $150 to $450 per person per day per park, at least in Disney World, and you can skip every line you want at any point in the day, as long as you only want to ride that attraction once. Now, if you want the ultimate flexibility, now we're talking a private VIP tour that can easily top five to eight thousand dollars for a single day, plus park admission, of course.

Alicea 2:28

And that works because there's a market for it. Heck, we are admittedly part of the problem. We regularly buy multi-passes and single passes as a matter of course. We've even dipped our

The Price Of Skipping Lines

Alicea 2:40

toes in the Premier Pass pool and found the waters warm and inviting, albeit expensive.

Nathan 2:45

Yeah, but what if there was a different way? Can you have a magical Disney experience without joining the rat race or mouse race? Uh, or wearing out a pair of sneakers and coming home just from your supposed vacation, more tired and worn out than when you left? That's what we want to talk about today, because at least for us in our situation and chapter of life, the alternative is truly that less is more.

Alicea 3:14

Now, before we get started, it is worth calling out up front that what we're talking about here is not attainable for everybody. We are incredibly privileged to have successful, well-paying careers that afford us a good deal of luxury and disposable income. Our basics are well covered, and we've been able to take multiple Disney trips per year for most years. We've enjoyed over two dozen Disney park trips since our first in 2009, racking up over four months staying on property at a Disney resort on those adventures. All that is to say our point of view may be different from yours, and most assuredly will be different than a family that saved up for years to take their once-in-a-lifetime trip to

Privilege And Different Trip Realities

Alicea 3:54

Disney World. For them, cramming as much as possible into a Disney park day absolutely makes the most sense.

Nathan 4:00

But for us, we've found Disney Magic where we never thought we would. It's right there all around us. We just needed to stop running so hard to chase it. Slowing down, taking a resort day, going to the parks for the atmosphere and vibes instead of counting rides, leaving space for whatever will happen to happen. That's where we have found the most Disney magic these days. So we wanted to kind of have a conversation today about slowing down, about getting off of the merry-go-round that social media, and yes, we're part of that problem, pushes on everybody that you have to go, go, go, do, do, do, get all the things, buy all the merch, get all the on all the rides, do all the things, see all of the characters. It's just there is another way. And you can have a very fulfilling and absolutely wonderful Disney trip and have it be relaxing and truly have a vacation and not wipe yourself out.

Alicea 5:09

Yeah. And we definitely get caught up in that quite a bit when we go.

Nathan 5:13

Oh, yeah. We just did. When we were in Florida a month or so ago, we added a day on the end of our trip saying, we're gonna have a bungalow at the Polynesian, we're gonna take a resort day. It's gonna be glorious, we're gonna do nothing.

Alicea 5:29

It didn't happen.

Nathan 5:30

That does not happen. We hit two different parks and walked like nine miles. Yep. It was insane. Now, it was fun. It was also very much spur of the moment. Yeah. And sometimes that less planned thing turns out to be, you know, what you don't want it to be, which is a lot more walking. But sometimes it can be a lot more relaxing.

Resort Days As The Main Event

Alicea 5:52

So our first point is that resort days become the point, not the backup plan.

Nathan 5:59

Yeah. Unlike the story that I just relayed. Like our point was to have a resort day. Uh, it's not just like, oh, well, we're staying at this really nice place. And if it gets really rainy or if we're too exhausted, or the parks are too crowded, we'll have something else to do. Our challenge is actually plan a resort day. And it's more than just a consolation prize. I mean, these are fabulous resorts. Like even the value resorts have a ton to do on site. Yeah.

Alicea 6:33

So we're talking about on property in the bubble resorts.

Nathan 6:36

Right.

Alicea 6:36

Yeah.

Nathan 6:37

And there's so much to do, whether in Florida, whether even in California, you can just go to Disney Springs or downtown Disney. You can have a full day's experience of shopping and food and entertainment without a park ticket. And you're still in that Disney bubble.

Alicea 6:55

And yeah, most of these resorts have so much to do. There's a lot of actually activities that they offer. Most of the resorts will give you a little calendar or a planning piece of paper that says, here's the stuff that we're doing. Whether it's movies under the stars or doing s'mores or little like scavenger hunt type things or craft type stuff. There's always something available.

Nathan 7:20

Right. And I'll guarantee you a Disney resort hotel in that pool is probably going to be better than the Marriott or the Hilton or wherever else you're staying. Uh, wherever their pool is and however their setup is. Now, there may be some examples that uh don't meet that in the uh Florida resort area for sure. But in general, these aren't your average run-of-the-mill uh four points by Sheraton kind of hotel pool. These are fantastic places to go lounge and relax and enjoy a day.

Alicea 7:54

And they'll have pool games too for the kiddos.

Nathan 7:56

Absolutely. Other stuff that you can do, like some in some of these places, like the resort that you're staying at themselves can be a destination. Animal Kingdom Lodge, you have all sorts of trails, you have all sorts of viewing opportunities for the wildlife, you have all sorts of art exhibits and everything else, like that cultural, uh just leaning into Africa and all the rest of that in the lobby and around the main building. You know, go hunt for all of the details that imagineering put into these places. Uh, they're fantastic uh ways to spend your time. Uh Wilderness Lodge is another great example of that.

Alicea 8:40

And do take a second and talk to the concierge or the front desk folks and say, we're not going into the parks today. What's something around the resort that we can do? Like, what is something that you like best about the resort? Right. Pose a question to them and they they will let you know what there is.

Nathan 8:55

100%. Now, the interesting caveat with all of this right now, uh, one of the things that we were going to say is like resort hopping can be a thing too if you want to go see other resorts, especially like if you get on the monorail loop and stuff like that. Uh, Disney is clamping down on the ability to do some of that these days uh in terms of inter-resort transportation. So look before you leap there. Uh, you may need to make a uh a reservation for a quick dining restaurant to get yourself into a building or something like that. Look before you leap. But you know, especially around the holidays, the gingerbread houses, uh, there's lots of different hotels that you can go check out, the gingerbread houses around. Um there's there's there's so much to do around the Disney resorts.

Alicea 9:43

Now, unless you're on a monorail resort loop or on a skyliner loop, because then you can go easily to the other parks you don't have to or to the other resorts. You don't have to get a parking reservation or something like that.

Nathan 9:58

Right, right, right. Well, not

Finding Fun Without Park Tickets

Nathan 10:00

a parking reservation, it would be a food. A food reservation to place.

Alicea 10:03

Yeah.

Nathan 10:05

We experienced a lot of this in, I think it was 2021. We had a big trip to Aulani. Uh, we're gonna do uh wedding vowel vowel, a wedding vowel renewal uh with my parents uh and us. It was our 20th, it was their 50th. We were gonna go to Aulani. We had a three-bedroom grand villa reserved for like nine or 10 days or something like that, and it was gonna be fantastic. And then we couldn't use those points that became a use them or lose them situation, and it turned into over two weeks at Disney World the next summer, and it was like amazing. We had the three-bedroom grand villas uh at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Bay Lake Tower. We also spent uh, I think five nights at the Riviera in a fantastic two-bedroom uh villa. Like it was it was amazing, and we leaned into resort-only days. We had Disney Springs days, we took a trip to Kennedy Space Center. Remember, there's a lot more, especially if you're in Florida. Even in Anaheim, there's a lot more in the area that you can go do. Uh, there's a fantastic children's museum in downtown Anaheim that we've been to uh on a day that we were staying there, but didn't have a park ticket or wanted to do something else. Um, we have local friends in Florida that we'll uh go and hang out with. So there's so much else that you can do to have a wonderful time and a relaxing time without spending the dollars and getting in the middle of tens of thousands of your closest friends in the middle of a Disney park on a parks trip.

Alicea 11:48

Yeah. And there's a couple places where it kind of seems like slowing down is built into the vacation itself. Like Alani is one of them. Um you can spend the entire day at the pool or on the beach and just relax.

Nathan 12:04

Yep. You can spend an entire afternoon in the the uh lazy river there. Ask us how we know.

Alicea 12:10

Yes, because that is very we have.

Nathan 12:13

We have. Now, looking back on some of these, you may not remember every meal, but you'll remember, like we just talked about, floating in the Wekaloe stream and just having the best time doing absolutely nothing.

Alicea 12:30

And at Aul ani, we've noticed that character encounters feel a lot less rushed than they do in the parks. Of course, depending on how long the lines are, but usually they're a little bit shorter at Aulani. And we've had vacations where like we are literally the only people in line for Mickey.

Nathan 12:49

Yeah.

Alicea 12:49

And we've spent like a while talking with him and you know, trying to get him to show off his dance moves. Um, Nathan did a FaceTime call with his mom and Mickey, and that was pretty fun.

Nathan 13:03

Another place that relaxing is more of the intent, although it's becoming more and more less so, is Disney Cruise line. Like sea days are some of our absolute favorite days on a DCL ship. And it is completely okay to absolutely do nothing. Now, it's a Disney ship, especially on the Wish Class, especially on the treasure, and even more so on the Destiny. They are scheduling more and more things, and we are seeing more and more lines of people waiting to go do, you know, talk to Dr. Facillier,

Resort Hopping Tips And Limits

Nathan 13:40

go see Cruella Deville, go do this or that or the other thing. And it's not to say that all those things aren't wonderful, because they are, they're amazing, but there's something to be said of not planning and not doing anything, and just relaxing, just existing on your veranda or by the pool and just letting life float on by.

Alicea 14:07

Yeah. It's a little easier to do this on the original four ships, I think. They've made storytelling much more prevalent in the wish class, which is amazing. I absolutely love it. It just makes so there's a lot more to do, and there's a lot more stuff that I want to do.

Nathan 14:25

Yeah.

Alicea 14:26

Rather than just relax.

Nathan 14:28

Yes.

Alicea 14:29

That's okay. Because I I will I will choose going on a cruise ship anytime.

Nathan 14:33

100%. 100%. Let's talk about why doing less has actually kind of increased the magic for us to a certain degree. Now, this is a counterintuitive lesson. The less we try to accomplish, the more memorable our trips have become. I know it was math coming up on, you know, 17, 18 years ago when we first went with our daughter. And there are absolutely a few key moments that I remember from that trip. But I would say our early trips to the parks were so full of needing to go do this and that and the other thing, like it all just kind of melts together. And what I remember the most is being super tired and my legs killing me and all the rest of that stuff more than I remember the joy or any given particular experience. And so just because you're doing less things doesn't mean that it's as much of a memorable trip or a memorable experience. In some ways, giving the moments that you do have where you where that magic does happen, giving them the space to live and breathe actually makes them that much more special.

Alicea 15:57

When we slow down a little bit, we have a tendency to notice a little more things because you're not trying to go from thing to thing to thing. You can hear the background music a little more. There's each each area has its own background music. And there's like a loop that goes on. I'm not great at noticing music. I love music, but I don't really notice it. It's just maybe I always have my own little theme song going on in my head, so I d it doesn't pop out as much. Who knows? But where I really do notice this is at Christmas time during the winter holidays. There's a specific background loop when you walk into Main Street that like I know it every time. Like I made a playlist out of it because I love it so much. Um but the bat yeah, the music. Take a second and listen to the music. The only other place where it really stands out to me is Avengers Campus. But that's just me. Even though I love music, I don't really dive into the sound.

Nathan 16:58

Yeah. I think by also moving slower, you have an opportunity to notice more of what's

Aulani And Cruises Built For Rest

Nathan 17:05

around you, all of the little details that imagineering has put into the parks. And it's you notice, yeah, you notice the people that they are honoring in the windows on Main Street. You notice the little subtle hints to characters that they have uh put in various spots around the buildings. It almost becomes a scavenger hunt to figure out what references and other things you can do. Yeah. You know, when you're in a queue, look around you because so many of the queues these days, especially with the newer rides or the newer redeveloped queues, have so many details and Easter eggs referring to them. It's not just a bulletin board in a fake office in Luigi's car shop in uh in Carsland. Like every single thing that's on that bulletin board is a deep reference or an inside joke or something that's just spot on amazing and hilarious. And and it's those little details that when you slow down the parks really come to life. You get more out of it.

Alicea 18:18

Most every decoration is intentional. There's a reason behind it. They didn't just put that there to put that there. There's some other story to it. You may not know what it is, but it might be worth it to just take a look at it. Yeah. See what else is around there.

Nathan 18:35

And you can ask the cast members because a lot of the cast members know those stories. Yeah. And they will be more than happy to share with you what some of those stories are. Remember, imagineering and and everything that you see at the parks is all about storytelling. This is Disney's bread and butter is storytelling. And so lean into that. Don't skip those chapters because you want to get over to a ride or you want to go do a thing. Sometimes that's fine. Sometimes that's there's a there's a season for all of that stuff, but don't always do that. Don't be afraid to slow down, relax, chill, enjoy the vibes, soak in that atmosphere, and really take in all of the details that are around you.

Alicea 19:21

A lot of the best Disney moments are ones that you never planned, like finding a quiet spot in the world showcase at Epcot and just chilling and I don't know, unintentionally getting stuck there drinking um Limoncello margaritas.

Nathan 19:40

Who's done that? I mean I don't know. Yeah. No, but there's also hanging around and all of a sudden like a character comes around a corner and and it was something that you've never experienced or expected to experience because you just happen to be standing in the right place. Or you get lost in a world by uh uh, I don't know, doing a scavenger hunt in Galaxy's Edge or something like that. Like there's so much that you can do that you can that that opens up to you when you slow down to look for the stuff that you can do and experience that isn't waiting in a line to go ride a thing.

Alicea 20:24

And a lot of this is also going to depend on how many people you have with you. If you have little little kids with you, it may be more difficult to do some of this. Um, but you can always take a break in the middle of the day, and that helps.

Nathan 20:41

And I think, you know, to that example where you do have littles with you, that's where, and we've talked about this a lot on our show. When you create that long list of things to do and try to plan out your day, you know, minute by minute, moment by moment, that you get yourself into this set of expectations that I have to go do this, and then we have to go do this. And then by 11 o'clock, we should have done these 18 things and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you are missing the fact that, especially with a little, they're going to throw a wrench in that plan.

Alicea 21:18

Yeah, very much so.

Nathan 21:19

And it will go sideways. And so this is where you just want to say, hey, our goal for today are maybe these two rides, and we want to get this snack. And then we know we have, say, like a dinner reservation somewhere or a lunch

Why Doing Less Feels More Magical

Nathan 21:35

reservation or something like that. And then whatever else happens, happens. If there's a line that's low and it's something we want to do, great. If the kids really want to go see some show, go see Bluey or go see whatever it is, go see Cinderella or Snow White or or the retelling of Frozen, let's go sit down and do that. That may not have been. Our list as a parent of things that we wanted to have them experience at that moment in that time. But let the kids drive.

Alicea 22:09

Yeah.

Nathan 22:10

And it'll be magical. And then if they need a nap in the middle of the day or it's super hot and you need to go back to the resort and get some pool time and decompress and sit in some air conditioning, or maybe it's not even leaving the park. Maybe it's finding a sit-down restaurant that you didn't plan on going to, but it has air conditioning and good food. And you can go, you know, spend an hour or so in there and reset your whole day. Then your list of a million things that you were trying to get to doesn't feel like a missed opportunity of not doing things. You know, you're keep that list small of stuff that you need to do and super attainable. And then everything else is just icing on that cake.

Alicea 22:55

And this is kind of pulling into our main point like how do we recreate that feeling, even in the crowded parks. Like you said, Nathan, build white space into the day. One of the things that I think really helps for doing this is making making your day all about the shows rather than the rides. Because most of these parks have at least one or two shows.

Nathan 23:20

Absolutely. Yeah.

Alicea 23:22

And especially if it's a hot day outside, uh, it's great to get inside to the air conditioning and just reset. Um, but all of these shows are really good too. Like I think a lot of people don't think to go in. They're like, oh, we we've got to get on all these rides, but don't count these shows out. Um The Frozen Sing Long in Hollywood Studios is hands down one of our favorites.

Nathan 23:49

Yep.

Alicea 23:50

It is hilarious. The Arendelle historians there tell an amazing story, lots of laughs. And if you want to belt out let it go, you can belt out let it go.

Nathan 23:59

I would also say that one of the most memorable experiences that we have had in a Disney park came after going to the think of like the it was an art of animation movie that was in Hollywood Studios. And this was years ago when our daughter was about five. And it wasn't anything to do with that movie, but after that show, we walked through this space, and there are sometimes characters there, and sorcerer Mickey was there. And up until that point, Kaitlyn had been very tentative, if not afraid, especially younger scared, I would say, of costumed characters. And that was a moment between Kaitlyn and Sorcerer Mickey that I will remember forever. And it was just so special, and it never would have happened if we were chasing what rides we want to go do next.

Alicea 25:08

Yeah.

Nathan 25:09

We just said, oh, hey, there's this show. It's a little hot right now. Let's step in here, enjoy some air conditioning. And then the most impactful thing that has ever happened to us as a family, almost, uh, at least at a Disney park, happened right there. And so you you have to give space for those kind of things to happen. Yes.

Alicea 25:32

And take some time and do sit-down lunches if you can.

Nathan 25:35

Absolutely.

Alicea 25:36

That actually helps out for a reset as well. If you're doing a very busy day, take some time, get a reservation somewhere, and just sit down and have some lunch. And you can get some good reservations like the night before, even because people will cancel their plans. Actually, you can do it, I think up to two hours ahead of time now.

Nathan 25:54

Right.

Alicea 25:55

So it's a lot easier to find some last-minute reservations for sit-down.

Nathan 25:59

Yeah. It gives you an opportunity to get off your feet. It gives you an opportunity to enjoy some air conditioning, have some pretty good food, and then go back about your day.

Alicea 26:09

Another way to kind of slow down a bit and re-strategize is don't measure your success by how many rides you get on.

Nathan 26:19

Right.

Alicea 26:20

A great Disney day is not necessarily I got on 17 attractions, although that would be pretty epic. Um a great Disney day is everybody had fun and everybody came away with lasting memories.

Nathan 26:35

And this is truly where, like we were just talking about, if we were chasing rides,

Keep Goals Small And Let Kids Lead

Nathan 26:40

we never would have met Sorcerer Mickey that day. We never would have the joy of watching the Disneyland marching band. We never would have the fun of interacting with Captain Jack Sparrow or Peter Pan or somebody else, Captain Hook, that you just happened to meet walking through the parks, especially in California.

Alicea 27:02

Yeah. Rey and Sterling had an amazing interaction. She liked recruited Sterling to do some sort of mission or something like that. And he was all for it too. He was like, Yes, I'm gonna go do this. I think he was like five or six on that one.

Nathan 27:16

So yeah, just again, I know we keep saying the same things over and over and over, but this is really the point of this episode is you can have magical days and magical experiences by stepping back and refocusing what your goals are. Have limited goals, and your your real number one goal is to give space to let the parks do their thing and to work their magic. One other thing that you can do is pick an area in one of the parks and really explore and experience it. This is something that we've kind of alluded to, but say you're in Animal Kingdom, go wander those trails with the the animals. You've got the gorilla trail and you've got the the the Asian trail with all the tigers and stuff like that. You have yeah, you have the trail that goes through the tree of life. See how many animals you can find. There's just so much you can do. You can you know get enjoyment out just out of watching the animals that you see, enjoy the landscaping. There are some amazing quiet areas of those parks for just some chill time to just relax. And if you are the kind of person like I think Alicia and I are, people watching is prime in so many of these Disney parks.

Alicea 28:34

And Epcot, take your time to wander around World Showcase. Go into the little shops, take a look at the stuff. They'll go look at all the um the

Shows And Sit-Down Meals As Resets

Alicea 28:45

cultural information that they have there, explaining a little more about the country and how beautiful these places are.

Nathan 28:52

Yeah.

Alicea 28:53

Listen to the musicians that are there, talk to the cast members. A lot of times these are cast members that are specifically from those countries that would love to talk to you about their home.

Nathan 29:05

Right. What's your favorite part of home? What do you miss the most? If you're gonna go have a snack here or you're gonna go have a meal here, what do you recommend? What reminds you most at home? Is there something that's off menu that that you might be able to ask about and enjoy that is a little bit off the beaten path from what everybody really thinks may be available in Germany or Norway or wherever it may be? You know, there may be things that you can go order or ask for that are just that extra special level of uh of magic that can happen at a Disney park. And then, like we were saying earlier, over in Hollywood Studios, spend some time soaking up Galaxy's Edge. Don't just run through it just to get to the rides. And I get it. There's there are some cool rides there, but there is so much detail in those lands. It's really quite amazing to just sit and live in that ambiance and and really just soak up and enjoy. I would say Carsland is the same thing over in California. Uh, Avengers Campus to a certain degree. I'm actually really, really excited for Monstropolis coming to Hollywood Studios to that I think will have the same level of detail available in that space. Same with Piston Peak over in Magic Kingdom. I think they're really leaning into these immersive lands, and I am excited to go to these spaces. Yes, I want to ride the new rides, but I also just want to be in those environments.

Alicea 30:45

And one other thing to think about is each one of the parks in Disney World has a scavenger hunt. Hollywood Studios has it in Galaxy's Edge where you can do the bounty hunter game. You do have to have a Magic Band Plus, I think, to do this. You'll get little missions on where to go in different areas in Galaxy's Edge to try and find your bounty and bring it back.

Nathan 31:10

Right.

Alicea 31:10

Epcot has the DuckTale Scavenger Hunt. I know it has a specific name, I don't know what it is. Um, that'll bring you around to different areas of the showcase,

Explore One Land Instead Of Sprinting

Alicea 31:20

and you can actually make different things happen. Like you'll scan your band, and I think somebody comes up with a ray gun or something like that.

Samantha 31:30

Here, let me help. Epcot offers both year-round interactive games and seasonal festival scavenger hunts. Year-round options include the free DuckTales World Showcase Adventure in the Play Disney Parks app, and Kidcot Funstops booths around the park. Seasonal hunts like Remy's Ratatouille Hide and Squeak and Figments Brush with the Masters are available for a small cost and include a prize.

Alicea 31:47

Animal Kingdom has the Wilderness Explorers thing.

Samantha 31:55

It's called the Wilderness Explorers Program, which I guess is a kind of a thing.

Alicea 31:59

Where you can go a c around the park and you have to do a certain task or or just talk to a cast member and you'll get stamps and all sorts of stuff. And it helps. It helps spend the day and you get to see different areas that you may not have thought about.

Nathan 32:18

Yep.

Alicea 32:18

And in Magic Kingdom, over by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, they have a little pirate treasure map type thing. There's like four or five different tasks you can do, different maps you can get that will take you to different places around Adventureland there.

Samantha 32:35

This is called a Pirates Adventure, Treasures of the Seven Seas. It's a free interactive scavenger hunt that uses your magic band or park ticket card to trigger clues and special effects around Adventureland. There are five different missions, and each takes about 20 minutes to complete.

Nathan 32:47

They have ways to build in some of this stuff too for you. You don't just have to sit down and wait for magic to come happen to me. You know, it's it's like uh in The Incredibles, where Mr. Incredible is having a really tough time and the kid's just sitting there at the end of the driveway. Mr. Incredible is something like, like, what are you doing? What are you waiting for? It's like, I don't know, something incredible to happen. It's like, you don't have to be that kid. You can go around. There are some things that you can go do. Uh, but while you are going to go do that stuff, please remember the fourth thing that we want to say, and we've said this before, I'm gonna say it again: protect your reset times, your afternoon resort breaks, or your pool time, even that monorail ride, or rest in peace. Although you can do it over in California, still, you can get on the steamboat and just take a lap on the rivers of America. You can go ride the Skyliner, you can just take a coffee break with no specific agenda. Get a snack, get a dole whip, sit down and enjoy. Break time in a park is not lost time. It's just time when you

Scavenger Hunts That Slow You Down

Nathan 33:55

are not actively doing something and seeking an experience. You're letting the experiences come and find you. And that's what really makes not just that time more enjoyable, but it gives that time to reflect and open up and give space for all of the things that you have gone to explicitly go to to land in your brain and really make that impact that is lasting.

Alicea 34:20

Yeah. So, in closing, we think that one of the biggest lessons that Disney has taught us over the years is that magic isn't something you chase, it's something that you notice. And when we finally slowed down enough to notice it, our vacations just became richer and more memorable and honestly a lot more fun.

Nathan 34:42

Yeah. So we have a question for you, dear listeners. When did you realize slowing down actually improved your Disney vacations? Is there a resort day or an unexpected break or a moment where you stopped rushing and discovered that's where the magic was all along? We want to hear those stories from you. Reach out to us on social media at our mousecapades, hit us up on email, podcast at our mousecapage.com. We'd love to hear from

Protect Breaks And Final Listener Question

Nathan 35:10

you.

Alicea 35:10

As we wrap up, a reminder that we are not affiliated with Disney or any of its subsidiaries. Everything that you hear on the show is based on our own personal experiences, our opinions, and our questionable snack choices. We are, however, proudly affiliated with fun and just chilling.

Nathan 35:27

Just chilling. If you're planning a Disney vacation, we always recommend working with a travel advisor or reaching out to Disney directly to help make the magic happen. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please take a second to rate and review the show. It really helps other Disney fans find us.

Alicea 35:44

If you have a question, a topic suggestion, or a Disney story that you'd love to share, we'd love to hear it. Please send us an email at podcast at our mousecapades.com.

Nathan 35:54

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads at Our Mouse Capades, and over on YouTube at Our Mouse Capades Pod. And please don't forget to share us with your friends, your family, and Disney fans of all ages.

Alicea 36:09

Thank you so much for listening. We'll be in your ears next week.

Intro 36:12

Thank you for flying Star Tours. Bye bye.