148/365 My kids LOVE Harry Potter. I read all of the books to them a few years ago. Now, the audio books are playing on our Echo device most days, and the movies are frequently chosen for family movie night. They both have wizard robes and wands, and know their Hogwarts House and Patronus. In 2017, we bought cheap annual passes to Universal Studios Hollywood at Costco to complement our Disneyland APs, so we have visited Hogsmeade there. However, Universal Orlando also has Diagon Alley AND the Hogwarts Express, so we knew we needed to visit there someday soon. Entertainment Back in April of 2018, I found a great deal on tickets to Universal Orlando through Daily Getaways, a fundraiser for the US Travel Association. Every spring, they offer a…
119/365 At the beginning of July in 2018, we decided to tack a trip to San Francisco on to a trek to the Bay Area for a family birthday party. You can read how we saved and what we splurged on in my post all about our budget here. Now I'll go through our itinerary and give you our impressions of the attractions we enjoyed. Sunday, July 1 Early Flight In order to maximize our time in the city, I picked an early flight time to begin our trip. The only drawback is that we are not early risers (well, except Bryan), and the airport lounge is not open that early. We packed breakfast in the car on the way and made the best of the wait at the gate. Getting…
118/365 Over the summer, we had a family party to attend in the East Bay, so we decided to tack on a trip into the city of San Francisco. We had done a similar trip a few years ago, but it was a bit of a stressful flop. All of us wanted a redo. Transportation It's a good 13 hour drive from Phoenix to San Francisco, so the only way to go to the Bay Area (unless we have sites to stop at along the way) is to fly. Bryan earned a Companion Pass for 2018-2019 through credit card signups, so Carter flew free besides the taxes, and Bryan used points for his flights. For Maggie and I, I decided to take advantage of a flight sale and book cash…
104/365 When I say we rarely get snow in Phoenix, I mean it. The only time I remember snow on the ground in Phoenix was when I was in high school. I took the day off, it was such a momentous occasion. (I probably would have had more fun if I'd gone to school that day, but hey, that's what hindsight is for, right?) Go North! Anyway, all we Phoenicians have to do is head north to find snow. It frequently snows in Flagstaff over the winter, plus nearby communities get snow, like Prescott, Payson, and the White Mountains. Flagstaff is just the easiest to get to, and I lived there for three and a half years in college, so there's that. Getting Ready for Snow I kept watching the…
38/365 In July, we made the drive to San Diego for Bryan's cousin's wedding. San Diego is the perfect summer destination for its temperate climate and nice beaches. However, hotel prices spike in the summer since everyone else wants to be there, too. There is a joke about how many Arizonans go to San Diego for the summer, but I can't remember it how it goes. I had my doubts about how we could make this an affordable and fun trip to a city in the middle of its high tourist season. Lodging As soon as Bryan's cousin sent out her Save the Date, we got busy contacting his extensive extended family to find roommates to share a house for the week. Two other families committed, and I started scouring…
Day 31/365 2018-2019 Since Phoenix is a resort town, we have lots of choices when we want a "staycation," especially in the summer when their occupancies drop and they lower their rates. A friend had recommended the Hyatt Regency at Gainey Ranch because she knew we could book on points and get a Club Lounge upgrade with our Hyatt Explorist status. Bryan and I tried it out for our anniversary this spring, and we decided to bring the kids along as a farewell to summer the week before school started. 20% Off Prepaid Rates Back in May, Hyatt had put this hotel on sale for 20% off. I had to play with the dates a bit to get something affordable, with a Sunday through Tuesday stay. Since it was a…
Day 21/365 2018-2019 Yesterday, I laid out all of the nitty gritty of our trip to Disneyland over Labor Day weekend this year, including buying tickets, how we got there, our hotel and how we paid for it, meals, souvenirs, and using Disney gift cards. You can find that post here. Now comes the fun part: what we did each day! Saturday Rope Drop We got up early to catch Rope Drop (the park's opening ceremony) for Magic Morning. This is a special hour for guests with three day or longer tickets to enter the parks before it opens to the public. Since we've had annual passes (and we don't usually stay at the official Disney hotels for Extra Magic Hours), we haven't done the early hour in awhile. Park…
Day 20/365 2018-2019 For Labor Day weekend, we headed to Disneyland with my mom and my brothers for our annual trip. The kids and I had annual passes from January, 2017 through February, 2018, but we (read: our budget) decided to take a break from them until we get our Premier Passports next year. So we have a relatively long time now in between trips! Tickets Buying Early First off, I bought the tickets for this trip back in February, since that is the time when Disney tends to raise their prices. While I saved lots of money, there was a bit of a hiccup by doing it this way. Disneyland hosted Pixar Fest from April through, you guessed it, Labor Day. Now, we are big Pixar fans. Pixar is…
Day 13/365 2018-2019 This past weekend, the kids had two days off from school, so a couple of months ago, we decided to head somewhere to take advantage of Maggie's Every Kid in a Park pass that allows 4th graders and their families free entry into National Park sites. Deciding Where To Go I made a spreadsheet by entrance fee to figure out where we should go, and the answer was clear: the volcanic parks of northern California and southern Oregon. Within a reasonable drive lies three National Park sites that have volcanic history, plus one more that is for recreation. We structured the trip so that we would hit Bryan's college campus at Chico, then one park each day for the next four days. Finding Lodging When I schedule trips,…
365/365 I can't believe it's been a year since I launched 365 Magical Days of Travel! I feel like it's been longer than that in some ways, but so much shorter in others. I've had so much fun and learned so much in the past year. Mostly, though, I want to thank all of the people who have supported me in my first year. You all are the reason I can't wait to jump right into the next 365 days with both feet! My Family Where would I be without my family's support, right? From the late nights up writing to the "Hang on, I've just got one more thing to post!" to getting just the right picture for the blog, my family has been very patient with me this…
