Last day at sea and a port of call in St. Thomas, USVI

Last day at sea and a port of call in St. Thomas, USVI

Taking the Kids correspondent Allison Tibaldi and her teen-aged son Alec enjoy their last day on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas with a port of call in St. Thomas, USVI, and ride on the Kon Tiki Sightseeing and Beach Cruise.

How to save time and avoid stress at the theme parks

How to save time and avoid stress at the theme parks

I had another ace up my sleeve. We’d arranged a VIP tour guide for part of the day. Our guide could lead the way, taking us through the park in a way that we would maximize our time, answering the most arcane questions, knowing where the bathrooms were and having ponchos on hand for the water rides.

What if it rains when you’re in Orlando?  No worries.

What if it rains when you’re in Orlando? No worries.

This was supposed to be our day to hang at the pool. In fact, we chose the Hyatt Grand Cypress in Orlando because it’s got a new water play area—big new water slide and 1500 acres with put-put golf, tennis, sandy beach with paddle boats, smores pit…the list goes on and on. But Tropical Storm Andrea put a wrench in our plan.

Can you EAR me?  It’s a special year at Disney Parks

Can you EAR me? It’s a special year at Disney Parks

2013 is the Year of the Ear at Disney Parks with new limited release Disney Ear Hats available every month as part of Disney Parks’ Limited Time Magic—special experiences designed to surprise and excite guests when they visit—including saving up to 30 per cent with the Monstrous Summer promotion available at Walt Disney World Resorts through mid June.

Can you EAR me?  It’s a special year at Disney Parks

Disney is all about ears this year

2013 is the Year of the Ear at Disney Parks with new limited release Disney Ear Hats available every month as part of Disney Parks’ Limited Time Magic—special experiences designed to surprise and excite guests when they visit. Of course you can get your ears autographed.

Families can spread out at hotels in Orlando

Families can spread out at hotels in Orlando

These days, not only do we want more room to spread out (think two rooms, two bathrooms, two TVS) but we want the experience to be fun. And we don’t want it to cost a bundle either. Did I mention that Disney has just unrolled free Wi-Fi at all of its resorts?

Testing out the new Test Track at Disney World’s Epcot

Testing out the new Test Track at Disney World’s Epcot

We’re at Walt Disney World’s Epcot where at the new Test Track Presented by Chevrolet we create our own design, then board a “simCar” to race through performance tests—how does it handle extreme weather conditions? How efficient is it? How responsive? How Powerful?