5 Reasons To Visit Pixar Pier

As you might have heard, Paradise Pier at Disney California Adventure is getting a makeover this summer.  Starting June 23rd, guests who visit the Disneyland Resort will be able to enjoy Pixar Pier.  Here, you'll be able to experience thrills, laughter and memories with all of your favorite Pixar pals.  If you're not sure what Pixar Pier is all about, I'm here to give you the scoop!  I've partnered with my friends at Get Away Today to give you 5 reasons to visit Pixar Pier.  Keep reading for an exclusive promo code to use on your next Disneyland vacation package, just for Sunshine & Munchkins readers.

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5 Fun {and Free} Disney Printables

I love Disney movies.  They make me laugh.  They make me cry.  And I have no problem admitting that I still watch them by myself sometimes at night.  So when I saw this month's prompt for Movie Club Monday was for Disney movies, I was so excited!  Then I felt a little bummed because I was having a hard time choosing just one movie to post about.  And then I thought, why choose just one?  So this month I'm sharing some of my favorite Disney movie quotes and song lyrics with you ("with you...with you...with you...with you...with you!")

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How To Make Disneyland Affordable For Your Family

One of the biggest problems I run into when it comes to planning and booking a vacation is how I'm going to pay for it all upfront and still get the best deal.  How many times have you been browsing deal sites or get an email about a great vacation package only to realize that you have to put down a huge deposit or pay in full in order to lock in the price?  In most cases, this isn't a realistic or affordable option.  If you're anything like me, I like to research the heck out of everything when it comes to planning and booking a vacation, but in the search for the best deal, sometimes I actually miss out on it thinking there might be something better along the way.  BUT, I've got some great news for you and it's called the Layaway Lock-In Program by Get Away Today.  My friend Lexi works there and has offered to share the details on this amazing program.  Read below to find out more!

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Best Snacks to Pack for Disney Parks

School's getting out soon and that means vacations for a lot of families.  Time to get away from the stresses of life and spend time together creating memories.  Of course, some of the most popular places to vacation are theme parks, such as Disneyland and Disney World.  Everyone wants to know the cheapest place to buy tickets, the best place to stay, which rides to go on first, and the list goes on.  About a year and a half ago, my family went to Disneyland for the first time and it was so fun!  I learned a lot about planning and what I wish I'd known before going and the next time we go, I will be even more prepared!  However, one question that I see asked all the time in groups and on Facebook is "what food can I bring into the park?"

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Parenting Lessons From Moana's Mother

If you have kids, you've probably watched the movie Moana, seen clips or heard the music.  I took my daughter to see it in the theaters not long after it came out and I loved it.  We've watched it a few times since then and it's a movie that we can all enjoy together as a family.  Soon after the movie came out, I started seeing different people post about their favorite scenes or lessons from the movie.  And each one I read never mentioned the one thing that struck me most as a parent: Moana's mom.

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Planning a Day at Disney's Hollywood Studios

When my husband and I were planning our trip to Orlando, almost everyone we talked to asked us the same question, "Which park are you going to?"  I would have loved to hit up all of them, but time didn't allow for that so we had to choose just one park.  If you didn't know the title of this post, you might guess that we went to Magic Kingdom or Universal Studios. *wink*  But instead, we chose Disney's Hollywood Studios.

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DIY Disney Shirt: Dinglehopper Hair, Don't Care

One of my favorite parts of going to any Disney park is wearing Disney themed clothing.  It makes me feel like I am part of Disney in some small way and it's just a lot of fun.  When I was planning my trip to Orlando and I found out that a friend of mine and her family were going to be able to come down at the same time as us, the wheels in my brain started spinning.  I knew I wanted to make some kind of a t-shirt for the two of us so we could match.  (Yes, we're those people.)  I started browsing ideas online of cute Disney quotes, made a list and sent it over to her to see what she thought.  We both picked the same two as our favorites and so I got started planning the designs.

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Character Dining at the Garden Grove Restaurant

I have been a Disney fan for as long as I can remember.  I have so many happy memories of watching Disney movies with my sisters, my first trip to Disneyland as a kid and our first trip as a family to Disneyland with our own kids.  One thing I remember clearly from my first trip to Disneyland was standing in line to get the autographs and pictures of the different characters all over the park.  My sisters and I loved this almost as much as the rides because it made the experience so much more real to us.  So when we were booking our trip to Orlando at the Swan and Dolphin Resort and I found out they had a character dining experience, I knew I wanted to go.

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My Stay at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort

A little less than two months ago, my husband sent me a message that he'd been invited to go to a training event in Orlando.  Jokingly I replied, "Can I come?"  His response: "I can ask."  As it turned out, I could come and the minute I heard 'yes', I was searching online for the best flights, calling family members to ask if they could watch our kids and dreaming of sunny Florida.  (I'm a planner, remember?)  Midway through the day I asked my husband if he knew the name of the hotel they were putting everyone up at: "Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort".  Um, what?!  That's right my friends.  We were going to be staying at a WDW hotel and I was doing a happy dance in my living room.

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Book Review: Disneyland On Any Budget by Jessica Sanders

Before my family and I went to Disneyland last fall, I did a TON of research on a million different website and blogs trying to learn as much as possible about lodging and food and travel and strollers and souvenirs and anything else I could think of that I might need to know about when planning a trip to Disneyland.  I learned a lot and everything I found was really helpful.  Our trip to Disneyland was a huge success and I even learned a few things that I've been able to share with others.

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9 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Going to Disneyland the First Time

In a previous post, I talked about what I learned as I planned our family's first vacation to Disneyland.  We went and had so much fun and now that we are back, I have more tips to share that will make your experience at the park even more magical and stress-free.

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Keeping Toddlers Busy While Waiting In Line at Disneyland {and other theme parks}

When I was planning our family vacation to Disneyland, I knew I was going to have to come up with some ideas for keeping my kids (ages 3.5 and 18 months at the time) busy while standing in line for the rides.  Knowing how hard it can be to keep them out of trouble while standing in line at the grocery store, I knew I'd have to have a few tricks up my sleeve so we didn't all go crazy. *wink*

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5 Quick Tips for Visiting Disney California Adventure

My family and I recently got back from our first family vacation to Disneyland and California Adventure.  We had two day park hopper tickets so we jumped around a little bit between parks.  This worked well for my family because it allowed the kids to experience both parks.  I also found that most rides at California Adventure had shorter lines and rides that allowed more riders so even if the line was a little long, it moved fairly quickly.  We didn't spend as much time at California Adventure as we did at Disneyland, but there were a few tips I wanted to pass along for first timers.

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Disney Countdown Chain

Last October, we took our first family vacation to Disneyland!  It was so much fun and the kids loved it.  I hadn't been to Disneyland in about 15 years so I was excited to go too!

Since this was a somewhat last minute trip, I didn't have as much time to build my kids (mostly my daughter) up to it as much as I would have liked.  Like most kids her age--she was 3 at the time--she doesn't fully understand the passage of time.  To help her with this (and to save my sanity!), I made a simple Disney countdown chain.  We've used countdown chains before to help her learn how time passes (see this post here), so I knew that making one again would be a successful way to count down to our trip.

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7 Things I Learned Planning Our First Family Trip to Disneyland

We recently went on our first family vacation to Disneyland.  The last time I went to Disneyland was about 15 years ago when I was in junior high so I didn't do much planning (besides finding ways to make money to spend).  In addition to this being our first vacation to Disneyland, it was also our first big family vacation with our kids.  While trying to figure it all out, I didn't really know where to start, so I turned to Facebook and asked my friends for their best Disneyland vacation planning tips.  Then I went to my Disney Pinterest board to look through my saved pins.  I was working within a short time frame (less than 2 weeks to plan it all out) so I needed to get as much information as possible as quickly as possible.

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