Just about as soon as we started considering a move to Florida, we started looking into how we would be moving our personal effects. Right at the start, we knew that there were 4 options we could go with; moving ourselves using the cargo van we owned, moving ourselves using a rental truck, hiring a moving company or using a POD- type moving service. Of course, there were a lot of details we had to work out in order to make the decision that was going to be right for us. Fortunately, we had plenty of time.

In the midst of all this discussion, we were also in the process of moving from our house to an apartment closer to the city. We were making this move ourselves, using our cargo van, which gave us a good opportunity to see how much of our stuff we could fit into the van and determine whether or not it would be a feasible option. Unfortunately, it was not. This quickly eliminated using our cargo van as an option and we ultimately sold it.

Next on the list, we considered using a moving company. This was an option that Russ and I didn’t quite prioritize in the same way. For me, having someone load, drive and unload everything was a great option. This would allow us to forego the heavy lifting and focus on other things like the dogs and drive down. On the other hand, there were concerns from Russ that the cost to use this type of service would outweigh the benefits of not having to do the heavy lifting ourselves. This was a legitimate concern, especially because we were still in the process of trying to see how we could make this move in the most affordable way possible. What had this option being taken off the list for us was customer service. Yeah. . . I didn’t see that one coming either. We had a good size handful of moving companies that we were looking into and it was the same experience with all of them. Either they didn’t respond back to our calls/requests at all or they did and couldn’t be bothered with us. In fact, there were 4 separate moving companies that hung up on us when we were trying to inquire about the service they provide. Quite frankly, we do not have time for this nor did this blatant disrespect give us faith that our personal effects would be in good hands.

[NOTE: Under normal circumstances we’d be letting you know what companies we had negative experiences with so that you can make informed decisions and/or share your own experiences using those companies. Unfortunately, in this case, I didn’t end up keeping a running list of who we spoke with. Sorry about that.]

Having knocked a few options off the list, this left us with only a few more to consider. The first would be renting a moving truck and driving it down to Florida ourselves. We also had the option of using a POD-type moving service. The only thing we had to do was figure out which option would work best for us.

Unlike the first few options that we considered, these next 2 would require us to look into more than pricing and whether or not our stuff would fit. Now, we were going to need to take logistics into consideration and figure out what the actual process of making the move would look like. So that’s exactly what we did. Over the course of what turned out to be a few months, we came up with a few different plans as to how we would move and what each of those plans would look like. There was a lot of deliberation involved, but we eventually came up with a plan that made the most sense for what we needed to do and started to pull that plan together as best we could.

As far as moving personal effects was concerned, that plan involved utilizing PODS. In a nutshell, PODS are storage containers. They are dropped off at your address, you can fill them at your leisure and then they will be picked up, stored and/or simply delivered to your new address. Fairly simple and straightforward. Based on the tentative plan that we had come up with, utilizing PODS was going to be the way to go. Not only could we pack the POD at our leisure, but we could do it well in advance of our move and put it in storage until we were ready to receive it at our new home in Florida. This would allow plenty of time for me to make my way down to Florida and set up living arrangements while Russ tied up all loose ends in Minnesota then drove down with the dogs.

Having worked out the particulars on our end, it was time to call PODS and finalize some details. Talking to the people at PODS was a very positive experience. We ended up making 2 separate phone calls and speaking to 2 different people, both of whom we found to be helpful and informative. We were able to get clarification at to the size of the container we would need and figure out the other need-to-know details. This was all very helpful and in stark contrast to what we had experienced trying to get information from other moving companies.

Now that we had all of the information we needed from PODS noted down, we took a couple weeks to think about everything and make final decisions on specifics. This is when those abovementioned logistics and plans came into play. Up until this point, most of them were theoretical, but now we were trying to determine how everything would plug and play into the timelines that we came up with or were provided with by PODS. Simultaneously, we were also starting to think about the where portion of the move. This isn’t something we going to talk too much about today, because it’s an entirely different discussion altogether, but it’s important to note that this was our new focus. Of course, as so often happens in life, the new focus on the where would end up shining a light on a few important questions; one of which was when.

Originally, our timeline had us moving out of Minnesota at some point between the middle of May and the end of June. This was an ideal timeframe for a number of reasons, one of which being the lack of snow and ice. While there might not usually be a lot of snowfall in Minnesota during this time of year, piles of snow and ice that have accumulated during the long winter sometimes stick around. Maneuvering around these snow and ice piles can be less than fun, so our goal was to move when they would more likely than not be melted. However, this timeline would end up moving up based on the availability of housing options in the areas we were considering.

With our timeline moving up, we now had to consider the real possibility that we’d be maneuvering around piles of snow and ice. Inconvenient as this might be on its own, this also presented a potential problem with the delivery of the POD. According to the PODS website, for containers of the size we would be required to rent due to the out-of-state nature of our move, we would need to have 3 consecutive parking spots reserved and available for the POD delivery. This is not something we were positive we could manage. With the combination of unmoving cars along with the piles of snow and ice, we were looking at the real possibility that the POD delivery would be impossible or would be require to park in the overflow lot of our building, requiring us to rent a truck to move from our building into the pod. Needless to say, this was not going to work for us.

All things considered and timelines being what they were, we decided that the best route was to rent a moving truck and drive it to Florida ourselves.

As far as planning is concerned, renting a moving truck was the easiest and most straightforward process to gather information on. Unlike all of the other options we looked into, gathering all of the information you were looking for about renting a truck could be done online without having to fill out forms and wait for a representative to contact you back .This made the process a breeze, regardless what company we looked at.

Of course, there are a lot of different companies to choose from when it comes to renting trucks. We looked into a few different companies, but decided to go with UHaul. The choice to go with UHaul was fairly simple. Not only did they have a deal running for the dates of our move that would save us a considerable amount of money, but we’d also have access to a slightly larger truck than the alternatives. This wasn’t something that we’d considered to be a necessity or a deal breaker, but it was nice to get a slightly bigger truck for less than the smaller alternatives.

Working with UHaul to get the truck rental set up was a breeze. We started off on the website and was contacted shortly thereafter by a representative who was able to lock everything in, including the deal on the truck. We were also to book movers through UHaul. We opted not to book movers for the move out of Minnesota, mainly because we wanted to work on our own timeline and have access to an elevator. However, we did schedule movers to help us get everything into our new place down in Florida.

With all of the decision making and scheduling out of the way, the only thing left to do was wait until our move date. Of course, this felt like it took the longest time. . . . but there was no shortage of things to do!

Though the process of scheduling the UHaul went relatively smoothly, we did encounter a hiccup about 24 hours prior to picking up the truck. Originally, we were scheduled to pick up the truck about 30 minutes away at a predetermined location. However, this changed 24 hours in advance. We were notified of this change via phone, which was a bit confusing at first due to the way that the UHaul representative was communicating. [In a nutshell, she never communicated a “change” to an existing reservation. Rather, she had made it sound as though they were confirming a new reservation. After a couple minutes on the phone this was resolved, but it was a bit confusing and a little stressful considering it was within 24 hours of when we planned to pick up the truck.]

Admittedly, we were a bit stressed out by this change. Not only we were headed to a new location, but we would also be picking up at a later time. Fortunately, it would all work out! The time may have been a bit later, but the location was also significantly closer.

Finally, it was moving day! We kicked things off by picking up our truck around 8:00AM. The process of picking up the truck and inspecting for damages [which was done easily with their online system] was relatively smooth. The entire process took less than 20 minutes from start to finish. Soon, we were back on the road heading to our apartment to start packing.

In terms of packing the truck, it was a breeze. . . . . or as much of a breeze as it can be with 2 people. The truck was set up to make the process as convenient as possible with tie-down points, a lower entrance [which makes things much easier to load] and an easy to use loading ramp. While there’s no getting around how much work it was to load the truck ourselves, it was certainly easier having the ramp and the lower entrance.

The 1500 mile drive in the truck also went about as smooth as you might expect. Of course, there’s no getting around the fact that driving a 15 foot box truck is different than a car. As a bigger and broader vehicle, it’s going to be a bit more difficult to drive and will take some getting used to.

Like the pick-up process, returning the truck went smoothly. We confirmed our drop-off location and made our way over a day early to turn in the truck. Dropping off the truck did require a bit more time than thank pick-up as the UHaul employee did an inspection before we could leave. This only took about 30 minutes total though and we were on our way.

Overall, this entire process was a very positive one. While there was a hiccup at the beginning, everything was resolved quickly and the process went smoothly. Would I do it again? Yes! While I’m not eager to move again and certainly not 1500 miles down the road, I would consider going this route if I had to.

Have you ever used any of the moving companies we talked about here today? We’d love to hear your experience! Join the Jamboree and let us know your thoughts, tips trucks and what you would [or wouldn’t] recommend to fellow mortals like yourself!

You’ve found our wheelchair page! 🎉

This is a place where we’ve collected all of the information you may want or need to know about renting and/or using a wheelchair [or ECV] during your next Walt Disney World vacation. Feel free to take a look around and please let us know if there are any additional questions you’re hoping we can answer for you. Having made many trips to Walt Disney World with someone who needed a wheelchair or ECV, we know that this part [you know, the one where you’re still trying to work out exactly how this is going to work] can be the most stressful. . . . . so we want to do what we can to help you out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Apartments.Com

Once you’ve settled on a place you’d like to live, the next step is to try and work out exactly where you’ll be moving to. Whether this is something you’re doing because you’ve got a move date in mind or you’re just trying to get a sense of what’s available, it’s good to get eyes on potential homes. Now, what exactly that home will look like varies based on wants and needs. However, if you’re wanting to try a place on for size before going all in on buying property, renting is the way to go.

When looking for rental properties, the website we gravitate towards the most is Apartments.com. For us, Apartments.com has been very useful in searching for apartments and similar rental properties during our last couple of moves. However, we want to make it abundantly clear that Apartments.com has not been useful to us for anything beyond research purposes. While it initially seemed useful, we soon learned that it was connecting us with a 3rd party that was unreliable and rarely got us in contact with the apartment complexes we were trying to contact. In fact, during the move we made in September 2021, we weren’t contacted back once by an apartment complex we reached out to through Apartments.com and ended up having to contact the complexes directly. As an alternative, we use Apartments.com to find out what’s available and then do our own leg word to get information about as well as contact apartment complexes directly.

Moving To Orlando

Finally, we need to devote some time to talking about where you live now and how that plays a role in finding work. One of the most inconvenient truths about trying to find work in Central Florida is that you may encounter challenges if you currently live out of state. More specifically, you may not quality for a position if you’re not currently living in Florida. This is something that we saw in a number of positions that we would have otherwise qualified for. Right at the top of the requirements list, “Valid Florida State Driver’s License” or “Florida Residents Only”.

Now, as some of you who have been part of past discussions may know, this was not the first time we’ve considered a move to Central Florida. The first time was around 5 or 6 years ago. At the time, we were living overseas and were in very different circumstances than we are right now. That said, one thing we didn’t find ourselves running into, back then, was the “Florida Residents Only” situation that is currently present in the job market. Why is this the case? While we can’t be completely sure, our best guess is that this is a result of the way things have changed since 2020. With the wants and needs of employers and employees changing, so too have the requirements for positions. I’d imagine that, in some cases, employers spend a lot of time filing through hopeful future residents and can’t get to the qualified candidates that are currently available and ready to work. At the end of the day, this isn’t great for productivity. That’s a completely different discussion for someone entirely different to be having with you though.

Assuming you still want to move to Florida and are finding yourself looking at a lot of “Florida Resident Only” job listings, the question becomes: what is there to do next? It’s another great question. Like so many of what we often discuss around here, the way you handle this situation is going to depend heavily on your priorities, wants and needs. For those who are only casually considering a move to Florida, I think that it’s likely best to continue looking for positions that you qualify for and aren’t designated for Florida Residents Only. This might stretch out the time it takes you to find work, but if you’re not fully committed to making the move to Florida, it’s what we think is a good way to go. On the other hand, if you’re prepared to make the move to Central Florida one way or another, there’s a more drastic route you might want to consider. While it’s most definitely not right for everyone, the right people might find that it makes more sense to move to Central Florida first and find work once you arrive. This is an option that I’d really only recommend to the right type of person, specifically someone who is set on moving to Central Florida and is at a major disadvantage trying to find work in their field living out of state.

Ok. . . . . I’ll be the first to admit that it might seem like we made the decision to move from Minnesota to Florida overnight. That couldn’t be further from the truth though. In fact, the decision to make the move from The North Star State to The Sunshine State has been a long time comin’. . . . longer than you might think.

There are a lot of places that the story of how we made the decision to move to Florida could start. For me personally, the idea of moving to Florida first came about in the late 90’s. [That’s an entirely different story for another day though.] As a couple, we first started toying around the idea of moving to Florida somewhere around 2016. The concept of moving to Florida wasn’t by any means new to either of us. While we’d never talked much about it, mostly because we loved where we lived and had no intention to leave, it was something we’d thrown around in conversation from time to time. That is, until 2016 rolled around.

By 2016, we’d been living in a small town not far from Hiroshima and celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. Naturally, that milestone had us thinking about our future. We had a firm grasp on where we were and an idea of where we wanted to be, but the question was how we were going to achieve just that. This is something that can be difficult to work out under the best of circumstances; it’s borderline impossible when you’re an expat. Coupled with a few other current events that we knew would present additional challenge into the equation, we started to talk about the possibility of stepping away from our life in Japan and moving to a country we hadn’t set foot in for nearly a decade; the United States of America.

Despite being US Citizens, having been out of the country for a decade and having no roots meant that we’d be starting fresh. . . . like really fresh. On a very basic level, this meant that we needed to decide where it is we were going to live. Initially, there was a pretty good list of places we were considering. Right at the top of the list were the cluster of states that make up New England. Seeing as how we were both born and raised in Massachusetts, it seemed like a good place to start. Then there were the states that we thought were interesting and so we threw them on the list. This included the likes of California, Washington and Florida.

Of all the states that we had been looking at, Florida was the stand-out. There are a few different reasons for that, but it really came down to the cost of living. While it was still more expensive than anywhere we’d lived in Japan, Florida didn’t come close to what it would have cost to live in one of the other states we were looking at; some of which [CA, MA & CT] were so expensive we would never have been able to afford the move. Then there were the jobs. . . . . there were none.

. . . . . enter Minnesota.

You may have noticed that Minnesota was not on the list of places we’d been considering. This is because Minnesota was not on our radar at all. Quite frankly, not only was it about as far away from the ocean as you could get, but it was cold. . . . . like really cold. Not something 2 people who just spent 8 years in the tropics before moving to place that would maybe get flurries from time to time were ready for. However, there were a few things that Minnesota had; jobs and a manageable cost of living. On top of that, my husband’s childhood friend had moved to Minnesota and that was the cherry on top!

It took a while, after the move, to get into the swing of living in Minnesota. Things were slow right off the start, but in about 3 years we managed to figure out how to cope with the winter and make the most out of the summer. It was 2020 when we finally seemed to have a grasp on making life in Minnesota manageable, but we all know what happened next.

We’re all familiar with the events that have been playing out sine early 2020, when the works turned on its head. I’ve no interest in rehashing those details during this discussion [‘cause we’ve all had plenty of that in the past 2+ years already], but I bring it up because of the role it played in the decision to move to Florida. Like so many others out there, the Global Pandemic that was Covid-19 shed a lot of light on the way things were happening; whatever those “things” happened to be. For us, among other things, it made it absolutely clear that the path we’d been on was not the right one. While we’d managed to spend the past 3 years distracting ourselves, when you strip everything away, Minnesota was not a place we enjoyed living.

Once we came to that realization, it was hard to see past it. This had us doing something very similar to what we’d done back in 2016 before moving to Minnesota. We started thinking about where we were and where it was we wanted to be. Although, this time, the conversations were a bit different. Of course, our circumstances were different than they had been when moving to the US from Japan. With a good grasp on what life in the United States entailed, we started developing a list of something we hadn’t given too much thought before; wants and needs. Though it had been a number of years since we’d had our last conversation about moving to what would ultimately turned out to be Minnesota, we slipped right back into the conversation as though it had happened only a few days before. With that came the discussion of Florida.

We spent a good amount of 2020 and 2021 really working through the idea of moving to Florida. We took a lot of time to think up different scenarios and ask ourselves the difficult questions to try and figure out whether or not this idea had legs. . . . and we came to the conclusion that it did. Not only did much of what we’d added to our list in 2016 still hold water, but we learned in the past few years that there are even more reasons that moving to a place like Florida makes sense for us; even if the move comes with a few challenges.

. . . . and that’s where we are right now. Like I said, the list of reasons that moving to Florida seems like the ride decision for us is a long one. So long, in fact, that it’s worth having a separate conversation altogether. That being the case, we’ll save the particulars of that conversation for another day. When all is said and done though, the idea of moving to Florida isn’t new to us and, quite frankly, it’s been a long time coming. While I’ll be the first to say that you can never really be sure whether the decisions you’re making in life are the right one until you’re waist deep in them, I do think that this is [if nothing else] a step in the direction where we wanted to be all along.

I suppose we’ll have to wait and find out!

My most recent trip to Walt Disney World was filled with firsts and new experiences; one of which was using Disney gift cards as my primary form of payment. In the past, I’ve always leaned towards using cash when visiting Walt Disney World. For me, it’s always felt like the most convenient option. Then I learned about the discounts you could get on gift cards when purchasing them at Target with a Red Card. This gave me an idea! Why not give gift cards a go during my next trip? So that’s just what I did! After taking some time to calculate how much money I’d need for my trip, I made my way over to my local Target to grab some gift cards.

With a stack of Disney gift cards in hand, or. . . you know. . . safety stowed in my carry-on luggage, I boarded my plane and made my way to Walt Disney World. Once I arrived, it was time to start giving this new method of payment a try. For the next 13 days, I’d use Disney gift cards to make purchases around the Walt Disney World resort. In some cases, the Disney gift cards worked like a charm; other times, not so much. This is why today, we’re taking some time to talk about the pros and cons of paying primarily with gift cards at Walt Disney World.

🦇

Now, I don’t know about you, but I like to end things on a positive note whenever possible. So we’re going to start off this discussion talking about the downsides of using Disney gift cards as a primary method of payment while at Walt Disney World and go from there. Plus, I was. . . quite frankly. . . a little taken aback by some of the downsides that presented themselves and I think you might be too.

As with anything in life, there are indeed downsides when it comes to primarily using Disney gift cards while at Walt Disney World. That said, most of these downsides aren’t what I’d consider to be deal-breakers. A good example of this would be that Disney gift cards can be more time consuming to use than credit cards or even cash. This was something I noticed while making purchases at both carts and shops around Walt Disney World. In some cases, if a Cast Member didn’t initiate the correct method of payment initially the entire order would have to be cleared out of the system and reentered. This happened to me about 4 times during the first few days of my trip. Having to pay with multiple Disney gift cards, such as you would if the balance on one card isn’t enough to cover your entire purchase, can also be time consuming. This is treated as 2 separate transactions and can take a bit longer than if you simply were using credit or cash. You’ll also find yourself receiving 2 separate receipts for these types of transactions, which I suppose you could consider a downside. . . . that’s all about your point of view though. When all is said and done, though both of these examples did take longer than other payment options would have, we’re not talking about huge amounts of time here. At best, I spent maybe an additional minute or two at the register.

👻 Attention Ghouls: After having 4 instances where Cast Members had to clear my order and reenter it so I could pay with a Disney gift card, I asked what I could do to make their life easier next time I made a purchase. The cast member, whose name I unfortunately don’t remember, told me that it can be helpful to let them know before placing the order that you’d like to pay with a gift card. I did this each time I made a purchase moving forward and didn’t run into the issue again.

Spending an extra minute or two at a register when buying some popcorn or a Mickey plush might be a minor inconvenience, but there are some other downsides that can really be a pain in the. . . . pixie dust. Right at the top of that list is something you’ll encounter when using the Mobile Order function on the My Disney Experience app. In a nutshell, for those who might not be familiar, Mobile Order is a feature you can use in the My Disney Experience app that allows you to order and pay for food around Walt Disney World using your smartphone. Simply place your order from anywhere, set a time you’d like to pick it up and you’re good to go. When your time arrives you just push a button on your phone, letting them know you’ve arrived, and pick up your order. Mobile Ordering is quick, easy and saves a lots of time. Rather than standing in line for food, you can order while standing in line for an attraction. . . . two birds one stone!

Easy as this process might be if you’re using the credit card that’s been saved to your My Disney Experience account, guest who want to pay with a Disney gift card will find things are a bit more complicated. Because you’re unable to store a Disney gift card in My Disney Experience as a primary method of payment, you’ll need to reenter your Disney gift card number with each mobile order you make. [NOTE: Though there seems to be an option for you to save the card for future purchases, the information never seemed to save.] This made it much more difficult to order on the fly. Now, rather than poking my phone a few times while walking through a queue, I’d need to also find a place to pull off so that I could dig my card out and enter the lengthy card number. . . hopefully correctly so I wouldn’t have to do it a second time. As a grown adult who was traveling solo with no kids to keep an eye on, this process was annoying and a pain. Doing this while having to manage anyone outside of myself and also sticking to some version of a schedule would have been meltdown inducing. . . especially if I wasn’t planning on having to jump through this particular hoop every time I’d be putting in a Mobile Order.

Finally, at least as far as downsides are concerned, Disney gift cards are not accepted everywhere on Walt Disney World property. While you’re good to go at the parks, you may want to keep this in mind if you’re planning to shop or dine at Disney Springs. According to various resources and Cast Members, a large majority of restaurants and retail locations at Disney Springs do in fact take Disney gift cards as a form of payment. Trouble is, there are very rarely specifics provided as to who does and who doesn’t. This can have you running into an issue, especially if you’re not planning on having a backup payment option with you.

In the interest of absolute fairness, it’s important that I mention here that you can call ahead or even simply ask someone whether or not Disney gift cards are accepted before making your purchase. You absolutely can! However, you’ll have to decide whether or not that’s a feasible option for you and your family. Personally, aside from table service restaurants, the idea of calling ahead is a bridge too far in the planning department. . . . at least for me. I’d personally prefer having that backup form of payment so that I didn’t have to worry about any purchases I couldn’t use a gift card for.

Now that we’ve got all of the downsides out of the way, let’s focus on some of the reasons you might want to use Disney gift cards are your primary payment method while at Walt Disney World.

Right off the bat, we’ve got to talk about the ability to get the gift cards at a discounted rate if you’re purchasing them from Target with a Red Card. This is something that we’ve talked about before here on 2 Foolish Mortals as have others; you can get 5% off when you purchase Disney gift cards when you purchase them using your Red Card. This is one of the reasons I considered using Disney gift cards in the first place and I’m sure it’s one of the reasons you’ve materialized here today too. Without going too into the whole discussion again, this is the best and easiest way to cut costs when visiting Walt Disney World and if you can you should take a look at going this route.

Another great reason to use Disney gift cards as your primary form of payment at Walt Disney World is all about budgeting. Look, it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone that Disney is a good place to spend money. [Goodness knows, this is something I’m well aware of.] This is why it becomes important to have a way to track your spending or cut yourself off when you’ve reached your limit; especially if you’re trying to keep to a budget. The way I like to do this is by having multiple Disney gift cards to be used throughout the duration of my trip. [For example, if my budget is $100.00 per day, I’ll set aside a $100 Disney gift card for each day of my trip.] In many ways, with a few exceptions, this is the same way I usually budget with cash. The major difference with using Disney gift cards is that you don’t get any of the bulk that you’d have to deal with carrying around notes and coins. . . . which is really nice.

Finally, we need to talk about keeping track of your purchases. A lot of times, when we talk about gift cards, we compare them to cash. I’m sure you’ve heard it before. . . . “keep track of your gift cards, because losing them is like losing cash” . . . and so on. However, very much unlike cash, you won’t need to keep a pile of receipts to figure out where your money went over the course of your vacation. All you have to do is check the card’s transaction history.

Checking the transaction history on your Disney gift card is something that you can do with as little as a smartphone and an internet connection. However, to make things as easy as possible, you’ll want to do a little bit of set-up prior to your vacation. Don’t worry. . . it will only take a few minutes.

The place you want to be in order to do everything we’re about to talk about is the Disney Gift Card website. This is a website, which is operated by Disney, that can help you do just about anything you might want to in order to manage your Disney gift card. . . aside from making purchases, that is. You can consolidate the balance on multiple gift cards, track the balance of your card and even see a list of transactions made like you would if you were checking a credit card statement. The website is very easy to use and can be very useful if you’re trying to keep track of your Disney gift cards and the funds you have available while on vacation at Walt Disney World. Personally, I checked the site at the end of every day. This gave me an idea of how much money I had available and allowed me to keep my spending on track.

Now, I’m sure that by this point some of you are wondering whether or not I think that paying primarily with Disney gift cards during your Walt Disney World vacation is the way to go. Ultimately, much like everything else we talk about, I think it depends. For those of you who have the funds for your vacation saved up, going the route of purchasing discounted Disney gift cards for your vacation can be a great idea. Don’t forget, you can use those gift cards to pay for everything from hotel rooms to park tickets, so the 5% savings can really add up! For example, we just purchased a 2 day park hopper ticket using Disney gift cards and ended up with $20 in savings. Just imagine the savings if your entire trip was paid for with those gift cards you purchased at a 5% discount! Of course, this is only worth it if you have the money set aside and aren’t going to have it sit on a credit card gaining interest. Like I said. . . . it’s not right for everyone.

There’s also the matter of how you’re going to spend the money. We went into great detail earlier, so I’ll do my best not to repeat myself, but if you’re planning to do a lot of spending at Disney Springs or use Mobile Order a lot, going the route of the Disney gift card might not be for you. Again, you’ll have to decide whether the inconvenience is worth the savings for you and your family. For me personally, using only Disney gift cards isn’t really the way to go. . . . at least not for every purchase. In fact, I’m not going to be using Disney gift cards for purchases during my next trip; opting instead to use a credit card with rewards.

Whatever payment method you choose for your next trip to Walt Disney World. I think that the most important thing to keep in mind is that you should definitely have a backup ready. Whether it’s a bit of cash, extra funds in your bank account that you can grab from an ATM or a credit card, a secondary form of payment if very vital.

Have you ever used Disney gift cards as your primary form of payment when visiting Walt Disney World? What did you think about it and would you do it again? Let us know all about it by joining the jamboree. See you over there!

It took me about 15 minutes of being in the Virtual Waiting Room before the page loaded allowing me to begin shopping.

This is my first experience with the Virtual Waiting Room at shopDisney.com and I have to be honest. . . . I’m not a fan. I don’t know about you, but online shopping is one of those things that I do when I’ve got a few spare minutes to make a purchase. Having to spend 15 minutes waiting to simply access the website, which I’d imagine will be longer at different times of the year or during special releases, makes it much more difficult to do so.

There’s also the matter of an allotted time during which you are allowed to shop. To be fair, despite being informed by Virtual Waiting Room page that I would have 10 minutes to shop, I was not kicked from the site at the end of that 10 minutes. I also had no trouble reentering the site, even after closing out completely.

There are a lot of different reasons that you might find yourself wanting to visit Mall Of America. From the long list of movies that were filmed inside the mall to the indoor amusement park, it’s one of those places that some people just have to see in their lifetime. It’s also massive. Known as the largest mall in the United States, Mall Of America is 4,879,000 square feet of shops, stalls, restaurants and more. That’s enough space to fit 7 Yankee Stadiums inside. . . . . WOW!

Inside that massive space, you’ll mostly find what you’d come to expect from any other shopping mall. However, there are a few unique offerings that you might not find at the mall down the road from your house. There’s miniature golf and some restaurants that you don’t see every day, but there’s also an amusement park in the center of the mall known as Nickelodeon Universe. We’ll take some time to dive into Nickelodeon Universe some other time, but it probably goes without saying that this is the most unique feature of Mall Of America.

Mall Of America also has temporary installments and/or offerings throughout the year. Of course, these vary depending on the year and what the current events are at the time. This could be an art installation or even screen used costumes on display from an upcoming film. The information about these offerings can sometimes be found on the Mall Of America website or posted on their social media.

While there are some unique features and offerings at Mall Of America, one of the biggest misconceptions people have about the mall is that it’s particularly unique. Don’t get us wrong, while there are some things about Mall Of America that are unique [like rollercoasters], the mall itself isn’t much to write home about. With the exception of a few Minnesota specific shops, Mall Of America consists mostly of stores that you can find in shopping malls around the country. While this might be something that mallrats will enjoy, if you find a family trip to your local mall to be somewhat stressful, this isn’t going to be the destination for you.

The Value Of A Dollar

Another concern that I’ve seen expressed is in regards to how unbiased an opinion can be if content creators are receiving an experience for free. It’s another really great point and something that should be taken into consideration if you’re putting a lot of stock into the opinions of content creators. In cases like that of the Galactic Starcruiser, the content creators are given something for free and there’s no way around it. . . not having to pay for an experience can play a role in the way you experience it. However, the role that it plays can be very different depending on personality traits of the content creator. There are some creators out there who take opportunities like this as a chance to push all the buttons and find all the cracks. Others will look at this opportunity through rose colored glasses, mainly because they didn’t have to pay and choose to appreciate rather than criticize. Again, it’s about the personality of the content creators and what type of content they choose to create.

That said, in my personal opinion, having to pay for an experience isn’t the only way you can appreciate whether or not it’s worth the price they’re asking you to pay. I mean, there’s a whole discussion we could have on the subjectivity of something being worth the money, but it’s long enough that I’m going to save it for another day. Again, while there are some cases where this will be true, there are too many content creators out there with different backgrounds to assume that none of them understand how to judge the worth of an experience if they’re not actually paying. It’s like saying that people can’t possibly appreciate the quality of a sweatshirt until they actually pay for it, despite feeling it or even trying it on.

That Seems A Bit Tricky

Since the start of our discussion here today, we’ve been focusing a lot of our attention on the way that content creators present their experiences and opinions to us. What we haven’t talked about, at least not yet, are the experiences themselves. While it’s not always the case, it’s not uncommon for media events to be bolstered in order to make sure that they are presented in the best possible ways by the media, content creators and/or influencers that are bring invited. This could mean bringing out only the most experienced Cast Members or insuring that Guests are being put up in only the best rooms. This is one of the main reasons that you might hear some content creators talk about how they won’t “review” something if they haven’t paid for it themselves or if they’ve been identified as a creator/influencer. They want to make sure that they’re giving the most honest review possible and that’s not something they can do if they know that the experience is being bolstered or plussed because of who they are.

The fact that this can sometimes happen is challenging not only for the creators themselves, particularly those who want to give as unbiased an opinion as they can possibly manage, but also for those of us who are consuming that content. Is what we’re seeing the same type of experience we would get or is it over the top because they know that they’re under the microscope? Honestly, there’s no way to be sure. The best that we can do is be aware that this sometimes happens and not take too much of anything as gospel.

First and foremost, welcome to the runDisney side of the 2 Foolish Mortals website. Here we are going to dive into what runDisney is, what they offer, and what you can get out of the experience.

Let’s do it!

If you didn’t guess this already runDisney is all about running and, of course, having fun. It’s a part of Disney that hosts running races with distances ranging from beginner 5Ks all the way up to a marathon. All of the events are themed around Disney ranging from the upcoming Disney Princesses Half Marathon to the Wickedly Delicious Wine and Dine Half Marathon which takes place in November. You can check out all the events listed here.

All on site race routes differ, but one thing’s for sure: you’ll be running through one of the iconic Walt Disney World theme parks for your race. Also, did I mention that during the events you’ll have the opportunity to meet and take pictures with some of your favorite Disney characters?

Now, not everyone [myself included] can get to Disney as often as they’d like; be it to vacation or participate in races. Thankfully Disney has us covered by putting on Virtual Races. They work in the same fashion as any other race, you sign up then you get access to digital goodies to print like a Digital Bib, Digital Race Tool Kit featuring printable mile markers, Goody Bag (every race is different), and if you one you runs with music they also include a Virtual Playlist. Once your ready to run your race you race either run on a treadmill or outdoors the choice is yours and you upload your times to Disney for completion. Once they have received and confirmed your submission then your sent your awards of medal(s) and shirt [if applicable] for your event.

Now for some of us running is apart of our everyday lives, but for the rest who just aren’t sure where to start Disney actually offers great information and training plans from runDisney trainer Jeff Galloway.