Sandos Playacar Beach Resort

So in August 2016 I had the pleasure of vacationing with my friend Lisa at the Sandos Playcar Beach Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. I was the lucky winner of a 4 night 5 day vacation from Air Canada and Sandos for two adults to stay in their adult only section of the resort. My husband has decided that All Inclusive vacations are not his cup of tea so my friend was more than happy to fill in for him.
Yes we went in the summer because I waited to the last minute to redeem the trip hoping my husband would come with me. The temperature was roughly the same as here and with a pool and beach at our disposal plus air conditioned rooms we managed to survive.

                                                                             Reception

Let me start off by saying I 100% recommend this resort to both adults only and families. I even have clients headed there this summer. The main lobby is right beside the adult only section so you do not have far to go to get to your room. Upon arrival you are greeted with a refreshing drink while checking in. Also in the lobby the have an adult only bar/snack area with two computers available for checking in with the real world if you have to. Wifi is available in all the public areas of the resort just not in the rooms. Pictures of our room.

Love seat

                                                                 2 Queen Beds

                             Flat screen tv, desk and the mini fridge was stocked with water and beer

                                                         The Bathroom had double sinks

                              Jacuzzi tub, Shutters open up into the room (there is also a shower)

There are 3 restaurants at the the main lobby and more restaurants can be found throughout the family section. I could not find fault with any of the restaurants that we tried and we tried almost all of them. The buffets we did for breakfast and the choices did switch up. As well at the Beach and around the pools they have BBQ's for lunch/snacks as well.

                                                      Adult pool with swim up bar

                                          The BBQ Area, showers (view from our balcony)

The Beach is also in the family section. It is about a ten minute walk from the front of the resort but they have golf carts that drive guests back and forth throughout the property. We never had to wait super long for one.

Golf Cart

The Beach has themed days and they are different everyday with lots of fun and entertainment for all ages. Mexico, Miami etc..There is beach volley ball, loungers, drink service and snack provided throughout the morning and the afternoon.

In my next post I will discuss excursions that you can do while visiting this awesome resort. Any questions please feel free to ask away.

http://www.sandos.com/hotel-playacar-in-playa-del-carmen/beach/services.htm?gt=1

My websites: www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca  www.exclusivetoyoutravel.com  and www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Disney Dining Plan Explained

So dining at Disney can be expensive. Buffets can run you $39 USD per adult and up.Sit down dinners can be equally as expensive and quick service meals are a lot also.
Many years ago Disney came up with a dining plan solution where you can pick one of three main plans and prepay for your meals. So when you are at Disney the only thing you need to worry about is gratuities and souvenirs.
The first plan is the quick service plan: This includes 2 quick service meals, 2 snacks and 1 refillable resort mug per person per night stayed.
The second plan which is the most popular is the dining plan: 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal, 2 snacks and 1 refillable resort mug per person per night stayed.
The third plan is the deluxe plan: 3 meals (either counter service or table service your choice) 2 snacks and 1 refillable resort mug per person per night stayed.
So you are now probably thinking what is a quick service meal and what is a table service meal. Quick service or counter service is cafeteria style restaurants. You go to a counter order and then find somewhere to sit. The value resorts have these and you will find many in the parks as well. My favourite at Magic Kingdom is Columbia House. I love their clam chowder they used to serve it in a bread bowl but stopped that practice. At Epcot my favourite is the Electric Umbrella. They serve awesome hamburgers. At Hollywood Studios I often go to the ABC Commissary and love the salad options. Funny enough I do not have a counter service favourite at Animal Kingdom I guess that will be my mission for my next vacation.
Table Service meals are sit down meals you either order from a menu or it is a buffet. This is also where you will find your character meals. Now picking my favourites with these one's is a lot harder to do. At Magic Kingdom I enjoy Crystal Palace which features Pooh and friends and is a buffet service. At Epcot I love Akershus (Norway Pavilion) which features the Princess's and is also a buffet that features Norwegian and American food. At Animal Kingdom I like Tusker's House which features Donald Duck and friends and once again is a buffet (ok I have a trend I think). This has some nice African dishes available as well. At Hollywood Studios we did breakfast at the Hollywood & Vine which features Disney junior pals and is also a buffet.
Now I have only included restaurants that I have eaten at. I have a huge list of must tries as with a bigger party reservations where very hard to get last time. So on my list is Be Our Guest (it was not yet open), Chef Mickey's ,and O'Hana.

 Crystal Palace. Me with my favourite Eeyore

 Garden Grill (Epcot)

 Garden Grill (Epcot)

 Hollywood & Vine

 Liberty Tavern (Magic Kingdom) - Mickey Plate

 Askershus (Epcot)

T Rex Restaurant - Disney Springs

So now onto Snacks. Many things qualify as snacks and so for those on the two meals a  day plan will often use a snack credit for breakfast. This works for people who are light breakfast eater and are happy with a bagel or a donut (yes donuts seem to be a big breakfast item at Disney).At the parks the kids like getting popcorn or churros as snack or for something sold ice cream Mickey bars. We amazingly had snack credits leftover and used those on nuts, candy, cookies etc that could be brought home with us.
I do not drink pop but the refillable mug did come in handy for water and my morning coffee. My oldest drinks hot chocolate all the time so she enjoyed being able to do that as well.
Now Disney also has signature dinning which requires 2 table service credits. I will be honest I have not tried any of them. If you were planning on doing a lot of these then the deluxe dinning plan would be for you. Also if you want 3 solid meals a day I would also suggest the deluxe. One of the most popular signature dinning experiences is Cinderella's Table.
Gratuities are extra on table service dinning. Disney expects that you will pay at least 18% and if your party is eight or more they will automatically charge it on your bill.

Please feel to ask any questions you may have and I will try and answer them.

You can always check out my Facebook page www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor or my website www.exclusivetoyou.ca

Value Resorts at Disney

I will admit that in the five times I have been to Disney I have only ever stayed at a Value Resort. I have stayed at both the All Star Music and the All Star Movie's Resorts and I have no faults with them at all.
I have seen the other resorts I even went to the spa at the Grand Floridian for a day. For me Disney is expensive and I want to maximize my dollars and that means staying at a Value. Especially now that I have a family of six, We are planning to go in December 2018 but it is still a bit early to price out a vacation but I imagine we will do either two rooms at the All Star Movies as my parents will once again be joining us or we may check out a family suite at the Art of Animation. They have built 3 wings that specifically cater to families of five and six. They do have Little Mermaid rooms for the Family of four however the drawback is that they are at the back of the resort so further to walk than the family suites would be. When booking a value resort if you pay the little bit extra for the preferred room you will be closer to the lobby and the main pool. Trust me this will make a difference after spending 8 plus hours at the parks and coming home with tired children who have more than likely dozed on the bus ride and no longer want to make that walk back to the room because they are too tired. The value resorts have two pools and usually a small wader for the littlest ones. Whereas the moderates and deluxe pools will have slides and extra water features that the value's do not.
We like the pool for a quick dip to relax and cool down and really do not need the extra features and if we really did we could take the time to go to one of Disney's Waterparks. Blizzard Beach being less than five minutes from the All Star Resorts.
Beds at a value resort are either two doubles or a king whereas the moderate and deluxe resorts provide two queens. My husband an I are heavier so instead of sharing with each other. He shared with our son and I took our youngest daughter.
If money were not a worry than I would probably check out a few of the other resorts. My list in no particular order would be the Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Polynesian Resort, the Wilderness Lodge and the Beach Club.
All of the value resorts have food courts as opposed to a sit down restaurant. Again I like this when travelling with the kids. If one feels like pizza, the other hot dogs and I want the roast beef dinner then we can all be taken care of. Although most sit down restaurants do tend to have the regulars for kids: pizza, mac and cheese and chicken fingers. It just makes it quick and easy and breakfast can be taken care of the same with someone having a full breakfast and someone else eating a bagel. We all get taken care of quick and easy.

Travelling to Disney with Kids

So I finished off my last post mentioning my 2011 Disney trip with my family and getting ready for 2018. In 2011 Victoria was 7, Elizabeth was 6, Katherine was 3 and Daniel was 2 1/2. My nephew Bradley was just shy of his 9th birthday.
We chose the second last week of August for a few reasons. Summer vacation was the easiest to get the eleven of us together. My kids and my brother's son were in different school boards so they had different start times for the new school year. Also almost all American schools had re-started so we only had to compete in the park with other tourists.
Crowd levels can definitely play a major role in any Disney vacation and I will definitely touch on this in other posts.
Direct flights out of Ottawa in the summer do not really exist and as I am on the border of NY we made the decision to fly out of Syracuse on Jet Blue. Flying with the kids was not as painful as I thought it would be. I have heard stories of people having difficulties with their little one's which caused them to be embarrassed or mortified. Yes it is hard on the people around you but it is not like anyone is doing it on purpose and thankfully this is only a 3 hour flight. My son was bit more restless on the flight home but still it was a very positive experience. Here are my tips for flying with kids. Bring an activity bag that includes all of our some of the following:dollar store toys that are new to the child, colouring book and crayons or pencils, books to read and a tablet (depending on age). Make sure to bring some gum for them to chew to help with ear popping (again depends on age). Noise cancelling headphones if they have problem with noise. Gravol may be a good idea as well.
Going to Disney we were lucky as we had Disney Magical Express which means we did not have to try and collect luggage for eleven people when we arrived in Orlando. We simply made our way downstairs to the buses got into the line for our resort and we were on our merry way. Our luggage was collected by Disney and was delivered to our room several hours later (In your carry on luggage I suggest a bathing suit if you are not going to the parks or a change of clothes).
This is one of my reasons for why staying at Disney is so important to us. Magical Express is a godsend when travelling with young children. Recently I had to wait for a rental car at the Orlando airport. It was pre-booked but the line for pick up was about three turns long and it was after 9:00 pm. There were people in that line with young children.I thankfully was not. Everyone was exhausted and cranky it took over two hours to get our car and we still had a 3 hour drive to Miami.
I will always stay at Disney and I am more than fine with a Value Resort to do so!!

Daniel and Katherine (first flight anywhere)

Walt Disney World

So as a Family Travel Specialist I of eat, sleep and breath Disney. The funny thing is I never went to Disney as a child. My first visit was January 1998 just after the huge Ice Storm. Many people in the outskirts of Ottawa were still without power.
Walt Disney Work was still celebrating their 25th Anniversary so Cinderella's Castle was still done up as a huge Birthday cake. Animal Kingdom had not yet opened and Hollywood Studios was called MGM and Disney Springs was Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island (an adult only venue in the evenings).
This vacation lead to my mother and I doing Disney 4 years in a row. We did branch out doing visits to see Busch Gardens in Tampa, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, Discovery Cove and Universal which that first year only had the one park and has expanded greatly since then.
The nice thing is that these parks are constantly expanding and adding new things so your vacations will constantly evolve. It is "not" like being dragged to the same museum every summer on your family vacation.
2001 marked my last solo trip with my mom as shortly after that I met my husband and we married the following year. My parents continued to go to Disney together over the years bringing back presents and stories for their five grandchildren.
I finally got to return to Disney in August 2011 with my children, my husband, my parents and my brother and his family. Eleven of us together, 3 rooms at the All Star Movies Resort. First time ever visiting in the heat of the summer, and I have to tell you summer, Disney and I do not go hand in hand. So we are headed back to Disney in December 2018. Yes I have a countdown and yes it is painfully over 500 days away!!

This picture is courtesy of disneyeveryday.com (Norm Robbie). I would have used one of my own but when I went to Disney that year I still had a regular camera (digital were just coming out) and my pictures are currently packed away in a box.

Welcome to my blog. My Name is Stephanie Lough and I am a home based travel agent who gets to work and stay at home with these four great kids. Of course this picture is almost six years old so they are much older now.  But they still give me a run for my money running them all over the place.

I do specialize in Family Travel as well as Group Travel. I am sure you can guess why to the first. I love to travel but as you can imagine it is not always easy to travel with a large family. Most packages cater to a family of four as do room sizes etc. We also tend to travel with my parents which makes it a little easier.

With my blog I hope to be able to share my passion of Disney, Travel and Family with all of you!!

You can also check me out on Facebook www.facebook.com/stephaniethatravelagentnextdoor.com

Our company also has two websites you can check out www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca and www.exclusivetoyoutravel.com