Universal is often dismissed as the non-Disney park and called things like "that other park in Orlando." While perhaps less popular than Disney, at first, Universal Studios is where the MAGIC of Harry Potter lives. I know dozens of adults who are "too cool" for Disney but will talk to you about Harry Potter for hours. I've been lucky to travel with people who agree with me that visiting Universal is equally as important ad Disney while spending time in Orlando.  

During our recent trip, we spent our second day in Orlando at Universal Studios. Join us and relive the whole day!

This is the first of several posts on our days in the parks at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I'll do a recap of each day, the park we visited, where and what we ate and drank, the very best parts of each, and what we'd do differently or skip altogether for next time.

Here's where you can find the overview of this trip to Orlando, which includes 3 of the 4 Disney parks and Universal Studios. Here's where you can find a Decoding Disney Guide to help you understand the many Disney created terms and features. 

If you're visiting Figs and Flights for the first time, please stay a while and take a look around. Start here if you're looking for all things Disney. 

Our very first day in Orlando was nearly perfect. We checked into our Disney hotel, had a great dinner, then spent the night in the Magic Kingdom.

There are plenty of Disney posts here at Figs and Flights. Start with the Disney Parks Basics if you're new to the MAGIC and keep exploring using the Disney page.

Recently I went on a family trip to Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Florida. While I covered the trip overview already, when I started to write about our first day in the parks the post was just TOO LONG with the happenings of our day and explaining all of the Disney-speak. I created this guide to help you to decode Disney before your next visit! If you never intend to visit and just want to read along, I also appreciate that!

This post also hints at my thoughts on staying at a Disney property (yes, it is absolutely worth the money) and why you don't actually need a rental car, even if you have small kids needing car seats. 

There are so many Disney features and options to know of before you visit Walt Disney World (WDW), in Orlando, Florida. It doesn't help that most of them include the word magic. This Decoding Disney Guide will help you learn the most important terms and understand a bit more of just what I'm talking about in the series of WDW posts to follow.

Many of these features are reserved for guests (which is your first Disney-speak term, always used instead of "customers") who are staying at Disney hotels or properties. I'll call out which apply only to Disney hotel guests and which are for all park-goers.

​While many of these things are included with your hotel stay, you still need to get super friendly with the My Disney Experience website and/or app to customize your Magic Bands, arrange for your transportation to and from the airport, and so on. Just because they're included in your stay once you've paid doesn't mean you don't have to give Disney your flight information and first born child... OK OK, you get what I mean!

While I aspire to travel all around the globe I also LOVE visiting the Disney parks. This year has been an amazing one for me, having visited Disneyland Paris, Disneyland in California, and now Walt Disney World in Florida.

There are plenty of Disney posts here at Figs and Flights. Start with the Disney Parks Basics and Decoding Disney {A Guide} if you're new to the MAGIC and keep exploring using the Disney page.

Last week I enjoyed a magical vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, with my husband and his family. We spent 6 days in sunny Florida and visited the Disney parks plus Universal Studios. 

Here's the overview of our visit, before I dive into the details. This will explain the basics of where we stayed, what we did, and the parks we visited. It will be a great start for helping to plan your Walt Disney World (WDW) vacation!

Fav 5 Travel Guides are a short list of the best things I've found to do, see, eat, or drink in a particular location. This guide is for Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park, both located in Anaheim, California. 

For more on these two parks see the Fav 5 Disneyland and Fav 5 Disney's California Adventure. If you just can't get enough we've got a whole Disney section here at Figs and Flights.

My husband and I met in Honolulu, Hawaii, where we both used to live. I couldn't have wished for a better hometown for a spouse than one that's within an hour's drive to Disneyland. The first time I traveled home with him he obliged me with a trip to Disneyland. 

That was 9 years ago and he and I will both tell you that the addition of my Disney-loving sister-in-law, Renee, to the family has made the Disney situation better for both my husband and I. I visit the parks with Renee at least once, often times twice, every time we come to town while my husband and his brother get quality time with their immediate family and away from the parks. It's a win-win situation for us all. 

During our Thanksgiving visit this year we managed two trips to the parks: on the Monday before the holiday and on Thanksgiving Day! Most people thought we were crazy for going on Thanksgiving and those doubters even had me worrying that the parks were going to be similar to an overcrowded zoo. Luckily the Thursday crowd was just slightly more noticeable than that Monday. It was actually more fun to be surrounded by other kids-disguised-as-adults who threw tradition to the wind and prioritized MAGIC over turkey and football. Disney decorates for Christmas just after Halloween so the parks were decked out in their holiday best for our November visits.