Author: Bridget Ratlief

There always seems to be a great debate on the various Disney websites about whether or not the dining plan is “worth it” and since there are three levels of dining plans now, it seems harder than ever to decide if the dining plan makes sense for your family.  Many of the arguments against the…

Stopping to smell the roses is a learned art when at Disney World, well at least for me.  Back in 2006 I brought my kids to Disney World for the first time and in the months leading up to the trip I hyper planned EVERY minute!  Then we got there and I realized that in…

I don’t know about you, but I hate driving.  My mother always taught me not to use the word hate, she says it is a strong word to use and I agree.  I hate driving!  So when I go to Disney World I am more than happy to stick the car keys in a dresser…

The other day my mom gave me an old Disney shopping bag.  It’s wrinkled and worn and the plastic is starting to go brittle, but it’s not the bag, but what’s inside that I am going to write about.  Inside was full of Disney memories from my first two trips back in the early 80’s.  Not…

I recently had the opportunity to spend a long weekend at Walt Disney World with some of my best gal pals for the Princess ½ Marathon, no kids, no husbands invited.  I was a little reluctant to tell the kids that they weren’t invited, but I think the promise of a June trip to their…

One memory I have is kind of silly, but it was a magical moment for everyone involved.  This memory is from our June 2009 trip to Disney World.  It was hot.  I am from Houston, so I feel like I have a certain heat tolerance that people from other parts of the country don’t have…

Meeting the Disney characters is almost always magical moment for children, my daughter is no exception.  Sure, some shriek and run in terror at the sight of their life sized heroes, but Kara has loved them from first sight at 9 months old when we took her to Disneyland for the first time.  From the…

I enjoy looking at pictures from our past Disney World vacations and with Disney’s new promotion “Let the Memories Begin,” it is hard not to be nostalgic over the little moments that make a Disney trip special.  As I was looking at the pictures this morning, it wasn’t the nearly 1,000 mile car trips, the…

I had the most amazing time during the Disney Princess ½ Marathon weekend!  If anyone had told me a year ago that I would have that much fun running 13.1 miles, I would have laughed in their face.  I never pictured myself EVER crossing the finish line after successfully completing a race.  While I was…

As I write this race day is only a few days away.  Earlier this week I had my last official long training run until race day, 12 miles thank you very much!  I NEVER in a hundred million years thought that I would be doing this.  I have a few more “short” runs, 6 or…

I was looking through my son’s autograph book from a few years ago with my kids the other day. This is a favorite past time for them. When we go to Disney World, one of the first things that I buy for them is the autograph books with the slots for the pictures. When we…