[00:00:00] Dana Stanley: Hi, Katie. Welcome to the Laid Back Magic Way podcast. I'm so excited to chat with you. This is gonna be a little bit different than other interviews I've done because on your last trip with your family, I feel like you hopped around a lot. You- there was a lot of moving going on, so I'm excited to chat about that with your different resorts.

[00:00:22] Dana Stanley: But being that this wasn't your first Disney trip, what made this trip in particular different from past trips? Like, what were you-- what did you wanna get out of it or were excited about doing this particular trip?

[00:00:37] Kate Goodine: I think that's a great question, Dana. And thanks for having me. I think this will be really fun to chat about

[00:00:42] Dana Stanley: Bye. Yeah

[00:00:43] Kate Goodine: Disney and what works for our family and what might help out some other families who are planning.

[00:00:49] Dana Stanley: And if you hear her little accent, her little adorable accent, Katie is from Canada, which is another interesting thing to chat about too just being from Canada and going to Disney. I think you're my first Canadian on the podcast, which is very exciting. But go ahead, what you were gonna

[00:01:05] Kate Goodine: So I think the pressure's really off for our family when we go to Disney now, and I felt it especially on this trip because we're very familiar with what works for us, and I will admit that we do repeats because we know it works. We repeat resorts, we repeat rides, and we repeat restaurants.

[00:01:29] Kate Goodine: I didn't mean to make that an alliteration, it just happened. But we go back to what we know that we love. So I think going into this trip, I, I remember trying to do my sketch, and if we think about rides there are some rides that are really popular for other families and you hear about them in the community or you hear about them on social media.

[00:01:52] Kate Goodine: And my family has experienced them, but we know we don't like them. And when we were doing trips, uh, when we were first getting into to Disney, there was a feeling of like pressure to do all of the popular rides because that's what everyone else does. But with this, with this trip, I remember thinking like, and I know you love Pooh, but I remember thinking like, "We don't need to book Pooh."

[00:02:14] Kate Goodine: Like, it, it, you know, our... It, it doesn't-- So my--

[00:02:19] Dana Stanley: two boys,

[00:02:19] Kate Goodine: Yes, my children are nine and four and they, they both celebrated birthdays right after our last trip, so they were nearly nine and nearly four. Kyle and Carter. Yeah. Yeah

[00:02:33] Dana Stanley: Yeah, I struggle with this. Obviously my job, it's like I have to do-- Ugh, I don't-- Eh, some things I do feel like I have to. Because even if I can, like in the community, I can point people to YouTube videos or whatever, people still are like, "But what do you think?" Like, "What do you..." H- And, and they want that firsthand experience of what I can say personally.

[00:02:59] Dana Stanley: So I will do things that it's almost like I know that I'm not gonna like it

[00:03:02] Kate Goodine: Of course,

[00:03:03] Dana Stanley: before I even do it, but I'll do it anyway. But it, it is-- When you've been to Disney before, especially, if you know that you don't like it, there is truly... And I feel like this about restaurants, too. If I went to a restaurant 10 years ago, I know that I should probably try it again to give it a more current review, but I know like in my heart I don't like it.

[00:03:26] Dana Stanley: So I don't wanna go and like spend the money. And I think if you go into that, like even you with Winnie-the-Pooh, once you have that in your head, you're not gonna like it. So there's no point of like-- And I think that about restaurants. Like, if I already have this in the back of my mind... 'Cause you can notice the good things or the bad things, obviously, for an experience in Disney World.

[00:03:51] Dana Stanley: But I do know the feeling of wanting to hit your favorites and just repeat vacations in general. , We tend to go to the same places because it's kind of a comfy security thing of knowing what to expect, especially for, for your kids, too. It's not like so new and exciting. So when you were going on this trip, did you stay-- Tell us where you stayed and like how, how you moved around.

[00:04:20] Kate Goodine: and this was a little bit of a journey, no pun intended. But we are a fan of split stays, and we've been fortunate that they've worked out well for us in the past. Our rooms have been ready early, that kind of thing, when we've been transferring resorts.

[00:04:33] Dana Stanley: A splits stay is when you start at one resort and then check out from resort r- one on the same day you check into resort two, and so on, just in case

[00:04:43] Kate Goodine: Of course. And then so theoretically you could be without a room during those really crucial ar- hours of the day where you may

[00:04:49] Dana Stanley: I always say you're

[00:04:50] Kate Goodine: to have a nap. Exactly, yeah. So we have gambled and we've done split stays and they've worked well in the past, so we had planned a split stay for this trip. We were originally actually booked for the Boardwalk for the first half of our trip, and then booked for the Poly the second half of the trip.

[00:05:07] Dana Stanley: I remember this,

[00:05:08] Kate Goodine: When we do split stays, we like to do a Crescent Lake resort and then a monorail resort because our time in the parks really are short bursts of time. Uh, there is a time change with Canada, so when we travel to Walt Disney World, like my kids are up at the crack of dawn literally. Like they're up at 6:00.

[00:05:31] Kate Goodine: I remember one time we went and Magic Kingdom I think was opening, like the actual park was opening at 8:00, so Main Street was open at 6:30, and my family was there. Like we can just, we can go early. So, we do the short bursts. We're often there earlier in the morning, so we're really looking for those like midday breaks and

[00:05:50] Dana Stanley: So it has to be easy to get back to the

[00:05:52] Kate Goodine: Yeah.

[00:05:53] Kate Goodine: And I mean, uh, a- and when we first started going, my youngest was just under two. And I remember thinking like, "Okay, we're gonna stay deluxe because you know, he needs his nap. I don't wanna be racing for the nap. I don't want him to fall asleep in the stroller," that kind of thing. And I said, "You know, years go by and, you know, when he's not needing a nap as much, I mean, maybe we'll branch out and stay at one of the resorts on the periphery."

[00:06:16] Kate Goodine: Now I, I, I'm not sure that'll happen because we just love the resort so much. But anyway, so typically we will plan Crescent Lake and then move to monorail area or vice versa. So we had Boardwalk booked and Polynesian booked. Then the Walt Disney World Company announced the free dining plan for kids during 2026.

[00:06:43] Kate Goodine: So I thought, "Well, we've never tried the Disney dining plan before. We should add that on. It's a good opportunity." And when I started sketching our trip, I realized I really like to eat at the Riviera because we love Primo Piatto breakfast, and we really enjoy Topolino's. So I ended up switching the Boardwalk.

[00:07:06] Kate Goodine: I was fortunate I could find a a reservation to switch to, to switch our trip so that it was Riviera and then transitioning to the Polynesian halfway through. And then the next little caveat, living in Canada in January, I was really unhappy with the cold.

[00:07:27] Dana Stanley: Yeah.

[00:07:28] Kate Goodine: And about five or six weeks before our trip, I looked at my husband and said like, "Do you think you can go a day earlier?

[00:07:35] Kate Goodine: Like, I can go a day earlier. Like, can you get one more day off work?" And we were gonna save some money with the flights. Anyway, we moved our flight and we added one more night, and I couldn't get it at the Riviera.

[00:07:47] Dana Stanley: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:48] Kate Goodine: My boys love Wilderness Lodge, so we did a crazy thing and we switched our flights, came in one day early.

[00:07:57] Kate Goodine: We spent one night at Wilderness Lodge, then went to the Riviera, and then went to the Poly.

[00:08:03] Dana Stanley: I wanna hear how you packed, 'cause I, I have done a few split stays. I haven't done three. I haven't done three. That is a lot. But I wanna hear your kind of strategy for the packing and unpacking, and like did you drop your bags off and then go into the park? I'm sure it was different like for each resort,

[00:08:25] Kate Goodine: Mm-hmm.

[00:08:26] Dana Stanley: but how did you handle that?

[00:08:28] Kate Goodine: So, typically we travel with two suitcases between the four of us, and for this trip, I tried to make the first half in

[00:08:41] Dana Stanley: do like a-- Yeah, did you do like a, almost like a nighttime packing cube for like the first

[00:08:48] Kate Goodine: Exactly. So Wilderness Lodge, everything was just, like, in the top of the suitcase. Uh, like, let's say the top of suitcase one. We barely got into the suitcase. We just landed at the resort. We went straight to the pool. Then it was a quick bite to eat, PJs, bed. So we really didn't need a whole lot. So I, I'm positive, because this was strategic, I only opened one bag when we got to Wilderness Lodge.

[00:09:14] Kate Goodine: I actually think we left bag two with bell services when we checked in because we knew we weren't going to need it before transferring to resort number two. I think I posted about that in the community. There's the Canadian accent when I say post. I said posted, I think. Something like that. I heard it.

[00:09:32] Kate Goodine: I heard it, my goodness. So, definitely strategic packing, although I am also a laundry person at Disney World. I do laundry. I like it.

[00:09:42] Dana Stanley: Yeah.

[00:09:43] Kate Goodine: I like

[00:09:44] Dana Stanley: do it all before you go home? My mother-in-law does all of it before she gets home. I'm not that... I like doing laundry while I'm there so that I can pack less things, and, like, pajamas or underwear or things that get stained and I know they're gonna get grimy. But yeah, she'll, she'll do her whole laundry day and then pack it in the suitcase so when she gets home it goes right from the suitcase to her drawer.

[00:10:08] Dana Stanley: I'm like, "That's kind of genius."

[00:10:10] Kate Goodine: sure on this trip I did laundry twice, and both

[00:10:15] Dana Stanley: you have it in the room? I didn't ask you what type of room type you had

[00:10:18] Kate Goodine: not for this trip. We had studios, so,

[00:10:23] Dana Stanley: So you did the laundry at the resort?

[00:10:25] Kate Goodine: Yes. And

[00:10:26] Dana Stanley: still have that, like, app where it will tell you when it's done

[00:10:30] Kate Goodine: Hmm. I didn't see that, but I

[00:10:33] Dana Stanley: I need to look into

[00:10:33] Kate Goodine: I wonder, I've-- I'm on the DVC side so maybe they have the app in the non-DVC parts of the resort, those laundry rooms. So I'm

[00:10:43] Dana Stanley: It's been a while since I've done it at the resort and not in the room

[00:10:47] Kate Goodine: But when we go on our next trip, we're trying to do carry-ons because we're ha- we're gonna have a one-bedroom. Uh, we're gonna have a, we're gonna have a one-bedroom, so I think we're going to try less in the suitcases.

[00:11:01] Kate Goodine: I mean, even two is, is pretty good for our family of four. But we're gonna try to go even, even smaller, so

[00:11:10] Dana Stanley: I've only ever packed carry-ons, like since we've been married. It was almost like a prerequisite for me to marry my husband, was like I was never allowed to check a bag. Which is really funny 'cause I came from a very check-bag family, like overpa- Like my mom is just the classic like, "Are you moving out?"

[00:11:31] Dana Stanley: kind of traveler. So when we didn't have kids, I thought it was really hard, and then I had one kid, and I was like, "Well, now I get to check a bag." And he's like, "No, like let's try to do carry-ons." And I did. And then it's almost like a challenge, you know? And I like a good... And it's like Tetris. So then I did it with one kid, then I did it with two kids, and it was like certainly we can't do it with three.

[00:11:52] Dana Stanley: But as the kids get older, like your nine-year-old, they can have something. So that's been like the saving grace is we have... I do one main carry-on, which is the bigger Away bag. So it is like a little bit of a bigger carry-on. Then I have my personal item. My 10-year-old gets her own tiny roll-on. Six-year-old gets a backpack.

[00:12:18] Dana Stanley: And that'll just be like the airport, like the plane ride things, just all go in one bag. And then my husband has a backpack that's like almost a carry-on size, but he likes that he can still fit it under the seat if there's no room. He gets very anxious about not having his... Like he just wants to be able to put it under the seat because they can say, "Oh, the plane's full.

[00:12:44] Dana Stanley: You have to check a bag." And he's like, "No, not my, not me. I'm putting it under the seat." So I think when... I think people forget like how m-many carry-ons and personal items you can actually bring, and I do get that it's more stuff to lug through the airport, but it's still worth it just to be able to get off the plane and leave.

[00:13:06] Dana Stanley: And like your s- like your stuff does-- Especially coming from Canada, like internationally too, your bags could get lost, then you have to

[00:13:14] Kate Goodine: Not waiting for a bag, like we've experienced that and I think that's what we're trying to capture on our next trip is not waiting for bags. Just getting off the plane, meeting the driver, and getting to the resort as soon as possible 'cause that's the priority, right? And with the one bedroom, having the laundry in the

[00:13:32] Dana Stanley: Yeah, there's literally no reason for... Especially your kids are kinda older, you don't have all the little like baby toddler things that take up room.

[00:13:42] Kate Goodine: Yes. We're no longer bringing, like, a monitor with us, like all of the extra things that we brought when my youngest was almost two, right? Like,

[00:13:49] Dana Stanley: yeah, diapers and wipes and all that

[00:13:51] Kate Goodine: Exactly, yep, yep. So pretty... But we were strategic with that last trip, so two bags, mainly tried to keep it organized. It was never perfect, right? And then, like, you think you have a plan for what's gonna work, and you have to dig into a different bag.

[00:14:08] Kate Goodine: But the other thing that I do and I think I've done it for all of our trips, I'm quite sure, I mean, I make use of a Ziploc. I love a Ziploc bag when we're traveling. I mean, yes, you can get packing cubes. Yes, you can have, like, wet/dry bags, and we have those. But there's just something so simple about a Ziploc bag and having the kids, like, semi-organized.

[00:14:29] Kate Goodine: It's not perfect, right? Like, I'm not planning out everything that they're wearing each day. But just to have, like, if I know we're going to Topolino's and I would like them to have somewhat of an aesthetic appearance , I might have that in a Ziploc bag

[00:14:45] Dana Stanley: like an experience outfit, not like a day outfit. Or like we're doing afternoon tea. Well, not for the boys, but like we're going to, you know, this specific... I'm trying to think of like things that are very themed to me. Like, 'cause my 10-year-old does, she packs herself. Like the last couple trips she's been starting to pack herself,

[00:15:09] Kate Goodine: That's

[00:15:10] Dana Stanley: and she does...

[00:15:11] Dana Stanley: And yeah, well, so usually I just kind of supervise, you know? And I'll have my sketch and just let her know like the reservations and things that we're doing, because she does care, and she has like vintage shirts. Like she's a vintage Pocahontas. She won't wear that, not in Animal Kingdom. So she'd be like upset if I didn't like give her a heads up.

[00:15:33] Dana Stanley: But this time she said that she wants no help, and I'm debating.

[00:15:39] Kate Goodine: Planting some seeds

[00:15:41] Dana Stanley: Yeah, I don't know whether to like let her pack it all and then maybe sneak and look, and make sure she has like enough... That's probably what I'll do, make sure she has enough like underwear and like a toothbrush and toothpaste and, and things.

[00:15:53] Dana Stanley: But where was I going with this?

[00:15:55] Kate Goodine: I don't know if it was like the Ziplocs or

[00:15:57] Dana Stanley: The Ziplocs

[00:15:58] Kate Goodine: packing the

[00:15:59] Dana Stanley: But yeah, so we've, we've never done like days where it's like day one, day two, day three. But I do understand kids or adults wanting like that special outfit. Like we're doing afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian. It's just me and my five-year-old, and I know that she'll want...

[00:16:22] Dana Stanley: Like she's my girly one. Like she's gonna want some type of cute outfit, and we'll set that aside.

[00:16:28] Kate Goodine: Like she probably won't be wearing a Stitch shirt to the T, right? Like

[00:16:32] Dana Stanley: They'd be like mad at me if I didn't like give them a heads up about that. So I do understand, but I, I still do think that there is a sweet spot between having just like, not basics, but like things that can mix and match, and you can swap out and wash, and then just have maybe like two or three special themed pieces so that you're not

[00:16:58] Kate Goodine: Yeah, we're, we're repeating outfits or T-shirts or what have you on our trips. And I mean, again, that's like another plug for the laundry. I just love being able

[00:17:07] Dana Stanley: And like you said, you're never gonna see these people

[00:17:10] Dana Stanley: again.

[00:17:10] Kate Goodine: a- absolutely. You got it. You got it. So

[00:17:14] Dana Stanley: I'm curious, had you stayed at all three of those resorts before, or were any of them new this time?

[00:17:20] Kate Goodine: Uh, Wilderness Lodge was a repeat and we had checked out of there on our last trip. So it was kind of like we said goodbye to Disney World. Yeah. And i- in our house, Wilderness Lodge is Mickey's lodge. Whereas, you know, the Poly was Stitch's house. Like, my little guy's always just coming up with like little ways to identify the places.

[00:17:40] Kate Goodine: So

[00:17:41] Dana Stanley: Mm-hmm

[00:17:41] Kate Goodine: on our last trip, we had spent some time at Wilderness Lodge, and we fell in love with the Boulder Ridge pool. Uh, my children just ... It's quiet. It's not overcrowded. There's no water slide, which actually can be of benefit, I think, in some scenarios. And the background music that they play at Boulder Ridge Pool is like an instrumental kind of soundtrack which I find very relaxing.

[00:18:09] Kate Goodine: So I think, yeah, we had left Boulder Ridge on our last trip, so then the idea of being able to go back, even just for one night, was really appealing. So that was a repeat. The Riviera was brand new. We had never done Riviera, and again, I think the, the method behind that was that I just knew that I was going to want to use a lot of dining credits at Primo Piatto, and I

[00:18:34] Dana Stanley: So you hadn't stayed there, but you knew that you liked the

[00:18:36] Kate Goodine: Yes, we had often gone there from the beach club. We would take the Skyliner. We had done Topolino's, and then we had done Primo Piatto quite a few times. My, my little guys, they love the breakfast pizza and they have some of the best coffee on property at La Pizza Cafe. So, uh, we've always been pretty pretty likely to go to the Riviera on a rest day to grab some food but we'd never stayed there and,

[00:19:04] Dana Stanley: which is a great reminder too of like, if you think that Disney World is going to be a staple in your future, to take some time to try the food at other resorts. Or just, you know, go to the lobby, go to the community hall, community center, and just... You can get, besides the actual room, because I do think the room is very important, but you can get 90% of the feeling of what it's gonna be like to stay there by just booking like a breakfast reservation or...

[00:19:36] Dana Stanley: And then especially if you're going to the park after, like I love doing a Topolino's breakfast and then going to Epcot from there. And then you have in your head like, "Oh, this is what it would feel like to start a park day here," and you get ideas for the next time.

[00:19:51] Kate Goodine: So Riviera was new and then the Polynesian, we had stayed at the Poly Tower, but we had never stayed like in the Polynesian

[00:19:59] Dana Stanley: was Pali Resort.

[00:20:01] Kate Goodine: This was in the village on the DVC side. Uh-

[00:20:04] Dana Stanley: So I'm curious, what did you think of... I, I remember your tower 'cause that was like almost right when it opened kind of, right? Like, it was like new

[00:20:14] Kate Goodine: we were there in March of 2025, and I think it had opened in the December prior to that. So,

[00:20:20] Dana Stanley: And what did you think

[00:20:21] Kate Goodine: we really liked the Poly Tower. Yes.

[00:20:25] Dana Stanley: Okay, you really liked it. So going back, if you had to choose, you'd do tower over village?

[00:20:31] Kate Goodine: Mainly because it's less crowded. There's less foot traffic. The Poly is a really fun resort to visit and it's an easy spot to pop over

[00:20:41] Dana Stanley: Yeah, you could just walk over.

[00:20:42] Kate Goodine: or the, you know, the monorail, that kind of thing.

[00:20:45] Kate Goodine: There's a lot of great food there, so I think people pop over from Magic Kingdom. Our experience in the Polynesian Village was it's beautiful. It was definitely crowded. There were people everywhere. The pool was really, really crowded, like the main, the main pool on that side. Whereas at the Poly Tower it had a more serene feeling to it.

[00:21:08] Kate Goodine: The pool there had a zero entry, which we love. It was smaller. I feel like I, I am saying things that maybe don't really make sense, but again, there wasn't a water slide. Like, it was really about swimming in the pool, not like running in and out of the water slide. And we really enjoy Wailulu.

[00:21:27] Kate Goodine: Again, like not just best burger on property, but best burger in a, a lot of zones where you ... Yeah, absolutely. Like really, really good burger. And the rooms at the Poly Tower, I will say the theming is, is subtle. They are they're not as colorful as the rooms in the village, but it was brand new. And, and I mean, don't get me wrong, beautiful room.

[00:21:53] Kate Goodine: Beautiful room. And, and the terraces

[00:21:56] Dana Stanley: thing is just... Sorry, I was just gonna say, just a newer resort. Like I love The Boardwalk. I would choose The Boardwalk over everything, which everyone knows. And Riviera, which was like the most new resort we have stayed at, being-- meaning like freshly built, not renovated, but like from the nuts and bolts up, was just fresh paint, and the, the handles on the doors just feel new and heavy, and the sinks, and it just, just a newer resort.

[00:22:32] Dana Stanley: There is something to be said. I still-- Like I can't do Riviera 'cause I don't love the Skyliner. But there is something to be said of just like a new resort and it just being crispy

[00:22:45] Kate Goodine: That, that was our experience at the Poly Tower. But I knew, like, we wanted to stay at the Polynesian this past trip. We hadn't stayed in the village.

[00:22:55] Dana Stanley: My husband loves it. That's like one of his

[00:22:56] Dana Stanley: favorites.

[00:22:57] Kate Goodine: so-- But if, if I had to choose again and I know my husband would say the same thing we would, we would try to do the tower again.

[00:23:06] Kate Goodine: The terraces are really lovely, and the time that we stayed at the Poly Tower, we were there for four nights, and I remember it was my goal during that trip to see Happily Ever After every night, either within the park

[00:23:20] Dana Stanley: I love that goal.

[00:23:21] Kate Goodine: And I achieved it. We were-- We-- Our trip that time was four nights, and I had seen Happily Ever After every night, and it was always from a different part of the Poly Tower.

[00:23:34] Kate Goodine: So, there are two terraces that have a castle view or a firework view that if you're staying in the

[00:23:41] Dana Stanley: Did-- And that never got crowded, huh?

[00:23:43] Kate Goodine: No, it was beautiful. It was so nice and not crowded and beautiful, big, comfy chairs. And then I remember I watched the fireworks one night while I was doing laundry at the Poly Tower which is gonna sound ridiculous.

[00:23:58] Kate Goodine: It was a four-night trip. But yes, I was doing laundry. Maybe I do that to

[00:24:02] Dana Stanley: That sounds

[00:24:02] Kate Goodine: Yeah, I don't know if it's just like the normalcy of like motherhood and folding my kids' laundry. I don't know. But the, the laundry for the Poly Tower is right on the, the main floor, I believe, and then there's a green space right outside.

[00:24:15] Kate Goodine: So, you know, wh- while my clothes were in the washer or the dryer, I just popped out and watched Happily Ever After from the green space. And it was-- I was by myself, like my kids had already gone to bed and it was

[00:24:28] Dana Stanley: Sounds lovely

[00:24:29] Kate Goodine: it was relaxing and just beautiful views from that area. And then there's another green space right by the pool on that side of the resort with hammocks and Adirondack chairs.

[00:24:41] Kate Goodine: So we had also seen the fireworks from there. So really, really lots of opportunities if you're a Happily Ever After fan to, to see fireworks from the Poly Tower.

[00:24:51] Dana Stanley: Well, that's me. I just need to-- I need my kids to get-- Well, I need one kid to just get a little older so that we can go to bed a little later, and then I'll be watching it every single night. Talking about more of your park days, you are one of our few members that have used WaitMagic, which just a quick explanation of what that is, is when you use Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Disney World, there are third-party apps that can help you get more Lightning Lanes or help you book Lightning Lanes so that you're not fiddling on your phone so much.

[00:25:33] Dana Stanley: And one of them is WaitMagic, which is a little unique because you can modify your reservations. It-- Can it pre-book for you too, or no? You have to-- And, and so you have to do your initial booking seven days before,

[00:25:51] Kate Goodine: So you book your pre-selects, your three Lightning Lanes, plus or minus your single passes. Wait Magic can modify those in the days leading up to your trip. So it's not just modifications or booking new Lightning Lanes while you're in the park. I like to describe it by, you know, the past few years when I've been planning our trips, you get a little bit of a dopamine burst when you book Lightning Lanes, right?

[00:26:23] Kate Goodine: Like, you've been planning and then you go in and you do the booking, and you can really kind of see your trip take sha- take shape. So with Wait Magic, you would get the initial dopamine rush when you booked, and then the seven days leading up to my trip, I would get little notifications on my phone that Wait Magic had moved my return time up for a Lightning Lane, and that would excite me

[00:26:53] Dana Stanley: I know you got like really good return times, which if anyone's listening and has no idea what we're talking about Lightning Lanes can sell out. And before they do for your park day, it kind of goes from earliest to latest. So like the soonest return time you could get, let's say Magic Kingdom opens at 9:00, would be 9:00 to 10:00, and then those fill up.

[00:27:15] Dana Stanley: 'Cause most people want them in the morning, 'cause once you start scanning into your Lightning Lanes on your park day, you can book more. So the earlier the better. 9 times out of 10 you're getting more Lightning Lanes for your money essentially. So unless you were like only going at night or f- some other extra reason, the earlier the better.

[00:27:36] Dana Stanley: But as things sell out, people get really disappointed, especially if you're not staying on property like you were. They're booking three days out. So they go on their phones and they're trying to get like Big Thunder Mountain, and the first one available is 9:00 PM or I don't know, any other ride that they wanna ride.

[00:27:54] Dana Stanley: Test Track and it's like 9:00 PM. Frozen. They're like, "Ah," like, "my kids are in bed. What am I gonna do?" And they think they're getting, quote, "bad return times." Wait Magic, you can go in and say, "Change this Big Thunder at 9:00 PM to..." And then what are the options that you can modify them to?

[00:28:16] Kate Goodine: The interface website for Weight Magic, it is overwhelming at first when you first see it, especially if you compare it to other services that I've used in the past.

[00:28:27] Dana Stanley: It's not an app, it's like browser-based

[00:28:30] Kate Goodine: browser-based, so within the browser you create your profile, you create your party, you add the people within your family who you'll be booking Lightning Lanes for.

[00:28:45] Kate Goodine: There is a new booking, so that would be more applicable when you're in the park and you've scanned into your first Lightning Lane. You can have a new booking search running. There is a modify booking and then a third modify, and it will continue to modify until you stop it. So you can make your modify a specific window or it will just keep modifying it to give you the earliest possible return time.

[00:29:19] Kate Goodine: So

[00:29:20] Dana Stanley: like an A- like an ASAP? Like just keep getting me something

[00:29:24] Kate Goodine: Yes. So say for instance, you're going to Magic Kingdom and you'd really like to do Peter Pan, and when you do your pre-selects, the earliest available return time for Peter Pan was 2:00 PM, and that's right in the middle of a nap time for one of your family members. You would go into Wait Magic and create a search to modify a current booking, and you could select a span of time or just modify until earliest available.

[00:29:55] Kate Goodine: And that is a little bit different from some of the other platforms that are

[00:29:58] Dana Stanley: Which one do you feel like you use the most? This, that modify until, like, forever or the first one?

[00:30:07] Kate Goodine: Hmm. I would say they're probably equal. If I understand your question correctly, I would say most of my Lightning Lanes were modified, like the seven days leading up to my trip, to earlier return times. The one exception--

[00:30:23] Dana Stanley: it too much in the park? It was mostly like

[00:30:27] Kate Goodine: and then I had my searches set up for my day of bookings. So my approach was sketch out our trip, figure out what Lightning Lanes were my three pre-select priorities for each park day, and then I would go into Wait Magic.

[00:30:47] Kate Goodine: I've used it for two trips. I would go into Wait Magic and create my searches. So with, you know, uh, be- thinking positively that I was going to get my desired three rides but then I would create a search to hopefully bump all of those return times earlier. So I would have three created that were existing bookings that I wanted new, and then I would usually have two or three per day that were new bookings.

[00:31:21] Kate Goodine: So I wanted Wait Magic to look for a new Lightning Lane as soon as we scan into our first, and that was usually another tier one.

[00:31:31] Dana Stanley: Yeah. Which is I, I love using that in the park because it's keeping you off your phone. Like, I like setting it up. Like when I would use Standby Skipper, I would usually set it up during like a bathroom break, like literally while I was like

[00:31:47] Kate Goodine: Yes

[00:31:48] Dana Stanley: the bathroom, just like inputting it, or on... I would do it on the bus ride to the park.

[00:31:54] Dana Stanley: So you still are on your phone, but like you get to choose when you're on your phone. 'Cause otherwise you'd be scanning into the ride

[00:32:01] Kate Goodine: And then immediately trying to book another one. So I would say the difference

[00:32:04] Dana Stanley: is so lame

[00:32:05] Kate Goodine: uh, with Standby Skipper appreciate that app, used it for a few trips, was really, really happy with it. With Standby Skipper, we would scan into a ride, and then I would have things set up to search, But I would still be in that app quite a bit during the day.

[00:32:22] Kate Goodine: Like, not just the My Disney Experience app, but also the Standby Skipper app. With Wait Magic, there's more pre-trip planning to set up the searches, but then when we were actually in the park, the only reason I was looking at my phone was because I was getting a text notifying me that my next Lightning Lane was booked

[00:32:41] Dana Stanley: So that's what it does. It's not like a... 'Cause it's not a push notification, it just texts you. Yeah.

[00:32:45] Kate Goodine: Yes, it was a text. Yes

[00:32:47] Dana Stanley: like your Buzz Lightyear was modified from 2:00 PM to 10:00

[00:32:52] Kate Goodine: Yes, or a new booking was found for Remy's Ratatouille

[00:32:58] Dana Stanley: love the pre-trip stuff

[00:33:00] Kate Goodine: I think for, for me, I mean, yes, it was overwhelming, especially doing it the first time. But once I got the hang of it, it, it really wasn't difficult. And it definitely made me spend less time on my phone when we were in the park the last two trips.

[00:33:14] Kate Goodine: Yep. Yep

[00:33:15] Dana Stanley: 'Cause I would do that too, and I say it to my members of like, if you're not getting good times, if the app isn't giving you great times, book what you can and move on to the next park day. And because you can always try to modify it later. But there's kind of like no rhyme or reason to ... Like I remember before our last trip, just kind of whenever I thought about it, I would look on the app and try to modify something a little closer.

[00:33:41] Dana Stanley: But there isn't like a, a good time. Like, oh, you sh- if you should try to modify things, like I would try maybe three days before the trip because they release more for the three-day people. But other than that marker, there isn't really like a time of day or night to go and look to modify. There's just no rhyme or reason 'cause people are canceling or they're releasing ones.

[00:34:06] Dana Stanley: I don't really know how it works. But to have something on the back end just always looking for

[00:34:11] Kate Goodine: Yeah. Yeah. It was really impressive

[00:34:14] Dana Stanley: have that like peace of mind, like knowing what you have and not like, "Oh, well hopefully I can modify it later," and just having that done before your trip is huge

[00:34:26] Kate Goodine: I think especially for families who are fortunate to be returning when you know for sure what your family's favorites are you know, you're, you're really locked in. Like, you're really tuned in that,

[00:34:41] Dana Stanley: a lot of, like, pressure too.

[00:34:43] Kate Goodine: to get it. Yeah, to get it

[00:34:44] Dana Stanley: I just-- I actually just interviewed my 10-year-old, Story, on the podcast last weekend, and I was shocked. I'm actually glad that I did it before our next trip because I was shocked at... I think I know what she likes, but really hearing her say it in like an interview style.

[00:35:04] Dana Stanley: She said Millennium Falcon so many times, and I know that she likes it, but like, I mean, she probably said it 25

[00:35:13] Kate Goodine: Did she just like the way it sounded?

[00:35:16] Dana Stanley: Is this a waste then? I... No, just like, any question I asked somehow came back around to

[00:35:20] Kate Goodine: Okay. She was like hyper fixating. Millennium Falcon. Yep

[00:35:24] Dana Stanley: m- it was about like memories or favorite ride or a ride she was proud of trying.

[00:35:30] Dana Stanley: It just, it's just 'cause I'm Millennium Falcon. What ride are you excited about next time? Millennium Falcon. And I was like, "Okay," like need to make sure I get that lightning lane, which thankfully is an easier one. But when you... It, it's like there is pressure to, for first-timers not having been to Disney, there's a lot of learning to do, but there's also equal amounts of pressure when you have been to Disney 'cause now the other problem is true of you do know what you

[00:36:02] Kate Goodine: The expectation is there, right? That we're going to be riding Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and

[00:36:07] Dana Stanley: Yeah. Maybe like, "What do you mean we're not writing that? What do you mean we don't have a lightning lane for that?"

[00:36:12] Kate Goodine: Totally. Totally. No, I, I hear that for sure

[00:36:16] Dana Stanley: Was there a lightning lane with weight magic that you were like stressed about and it worked and you were like, "Oh my goodness"?

[00:36:26] Kate Goodine: Just looking at my list here

[00:36:29] Dana Stanley: I know you said that you don't really go for, like, the big trendy rides though, so I'm assuming you didn't have any issues getting what you wanted?

[00:36:39] Kate Goodine: To be perfectly honest, Wait Magic worked so well grabbing us rides when we would park hop, that our last park day was scheduled for Epcot, and we had bought Multi Pass and our pre-selects included it included Remy's. And then Remy's Ratatouille was, was our first tier one that was booked for that day at Epcot, which was our last park day.

[00:37:05] Kate Goodine: But Wait Magic had done such a good job earlier in our trip that we had already done everything in Epcot. So

[00:37:12] Dana Stanley: So it didn't even matter

[00:37:13] Kate Goodine: yeah, I mean, we, we, we, we ended up not using a Remy's Lightning Lane, which is crazy in Epcot. And we were in Epcot but we just, we had already done the ride three days previous. We had been up late.

[00:37:26] Kate Goodine: Yes, we, and we had been

[00:37:28] Dana Stanley: So you hadn't pre-booked Remy's for that first Epcot day,

[00:37:32] Kate Goodine: Yeah. So our

[00:37:33] Dana Stanley: but it got Remy's

[00:37:34] Kate Goodine: our, The day that we started off at Hollywood Studios, we booked our first three Lightning Lanes there. Hollywood Studios was interesting. It was the only park that my pre-selects did not modify. So the--

[00:37:51] Dana Stanley: It's a hard

[00:37:51] Kate Goodine: Yeah, I think so, and there's just fewer Lightning Lanes available in that park.

[00:37:56] Kate Goodine: So that was the only day that my return times didn't get bumped up. We still-- I mean, we had an amazing day, and things were-- they were, they were spaced out by one hour when we first booked them, and that was completely fine. But we had planned to park hop to Epcot that evening, and Wait Magic got us Remy's, Frozen, and Test Track.

[00:38:21] Dana Stanley: Yeah, that's crazy

[00:38:23] Kate Goodine: then, you know, four days later when we were supposed to be starting our day at Epcot, I mean, we w- we, we went, and we repeated some things, but we just didn't really think we needed to trek across the park to get to Remy's to ride it

[00:38:36] Dana Stanley: No, totally.

[00:38:37] Kate Goodine: we had already done it and, you know, it was hot, and the kids were tired.

[00:38:40] Kate Goodine: We had been up late the night before and

[00:38:42] Dana Stanley: That's really crazy because it's har- Did you say f- did you say Frozen? Yeah, like it's very hard to have a Frozen and Remy's Lightning Lane in the same day.

[00:38:54] Kate Goodine: We,

[00:38:55] Dana Stanley: And then you throw in Test Track too

[00:38:56] Kate Goodine: was, it was crazy. And we had a Guardians too. We had a single pass for Guardians that night. Like, that night in Epcot was just extraordinary. So I think that was why our, our quote-unquote Epcot day, we kind of felt like, well, we ki- we kind of filled our Epcot cup a

[00:39:13] Dana Stanley: Yeah. Like we're

[00:39:14] Kate Goodine: couple evenings ago.

[00:39:15] Kate Goodine: We're all right

[00:39:17] Dana Stanley: I love Remy's, but I don't know if I would have to ride it again depending on where I was in the park. It does kind of feel far. It is

[00:39:26] Kate Goodine: Yeah. I mean,

[00:39:27] Dana Stanley: on where you are in the

[00:39:28] Kate Goodine: if you're at the front of the park and you're only going into the World Showcase to do Remy's, it, it's a bit of a, a trek, and yeah. So I mean, I think that's the first time we've ever, like, let a tier one Lightning Lane just kinda, like, slide through our fingers. Thought we... Oh, I probably, I'm sure I modified it to something in Magic Kingdom, 'cause we park hopped to Magic Kingdom that evening.

[00:39:51] Dana Stanley: I'm sure, yeah.

[00:39:52] Kate Goodine: like, but yeah, I just remember, I remember thinking like, "Wow,"

[00:39:55] Dana Stanley: like, "Yes."

[00:39:56] Kate Goodine: absolutely, yeah. Make someone else's day by freeing up that Lightning Lane space, so

[00:40:02] Dana Stanley: So looking back on this particular trip, what were your top memories? Maybe like 'Cause I know you like the chill, being relaxed vibes. Like, did you have a moment, like maybe at the resort this trip,

[00:40:21] Kate Goodine: Yeah. So

[00:40:23] Dana Stanley: "Okay, this is the life"?

[00:40:25] Kate Goodine: I do love the resorts. I'm very impressed with the grounds, the music, the cast members, the-- I love, like, the hotel spaces. I love finding quiet corners. I think something that I'm learning as a mom is to be more kind to myself in taking some moments for me. And I often do that at the resorts.

[00:40:54] Kate Goodine: So at Wilderness Lodge, one of my favorite memories from the trip, it was the first night we'd arrived. We were staying in Boulder Ridge, which is the DV si- DVC side. The kids were in bed, and I just took my book and sat in one of the rocking chairs by the fire in the little lobby of Boulder Ridge and rocked, and the fire was crackling.

[00:41:18] Kate Goodine: And

[00:41:19] Dana Stanley: I love

[00:41:19] Kate Goodine: to be honest, it was rainy the day that we arrived. We didn't care though. Like, I have beautiful, like, photos and videos of the boys swimming in the rain at Boulder Ridge. But I really liked that quiet time. That was wonderful. And then at Riviera, I spent some time at the quiet pool by myself, which is not something I've done on previous trips.

[00:41:42] Kate Goodine: So again, like, I had my book. I was at the pool. So I think, like, reminding yourself that if you have the opportunity to slow down and really treat this like a vacation, I think that can be helpful. Previous trips, I feel like my husband and I, in a way, have been hesitant to split up, right? Like, to take one child one way and another child the other way, or even for one parent to take both children and the other parent to have a break.

[00:42:10] Kate Goodine: But we're getting better at that. I think as a mom as well, like, especially, like, I work full-time in my regular life, and I, I do a lot of evenings and weekends, and so I'm not always home with my kids. So, when I'm with them or I have the opportunity to be with them, sometimes I feel, like, this pressure that I have to be with them the whole time.

[00:42:35] Dana Stanley: But y- well, and it's smart. I've never thought about doing something on my own when they're in bed. 'Cause usually, kinda back to the... It's, it's hard on one of the parents, and like for me to do something on my own, that means Colton would have all three kids, and if one was napping, then he's kinda like stuck in the room, so which is like almost impossible.

[00:43:01] Dana Stanley: So right now, with our season of things, it just doesn't really work. I will do, like I'll take one kid, makes it a little bit easier. But I haven't thought about after they go to sleep

[00:43:14] Kate Goodine: Well, and to be honest, I think, I think this probably works best on rest days because on a park day when they go to bed, I mean, I'm often going to bed too. I'm, I'm so tired, right? But on some of the rest days, I was more apt to, you know, tackle bedtime with Nathan together. We'd get the kids both down, and he was better at this in our earlier trips, that he would go out and he'd go for a walk, or he would pop over to Disney Springs and I would stay in the hotel room, either asleep or reading my book, you know, in the dark.

[00:43:48] Kate Goodine: I-- and I think I just-- that was what I needed during that

[00:43:52] Dana Stanley: how easily, it's amazing how easily it comes to men, isn't

[00:43:56] Kate Goodine: Yeah, it, it really, and but this past trip, I think I gave myself a little bit more space to... And I think just acknowledging to myself, like, "Katie, you know how much you love the resort." So, y- you know, the kids are asleep, Nathan's relaxing on, on the deck. Like, he's checking the scores, he's watching the game.

[00:44:19] Kate Goodine: Like, go for a walk, watch the fireworks, read a book, go for a night swim those...

[00:44:27] Dana Stanley: You're gonna love the one bedroom

[00:44:28] Kate Goodine: Yeah,

[00:44:29] Dana Stanley: on your next

[00:44:30] Kate Goodine: we're looking forward to that for sure.

[00:44:31] Dana Stanley: you're really not disturbing anybody. You might not even feel like you have to leave 'cause you have, like, your own room. And where are you staying on your next

[00:44:41] Kate Goodine: Uh, so for our next trip, we're doing a split stay. Yep. We are actually doing two nights at the Car Suites, which I went back and forth, but we're gonna do two nights at the Car Suites. We've never even been to the Art of Animation Resort, so I think just exploring the resort is gonna be really fun.

[00:45:03] Kate Goodine: And the Car Suites, I mean, my kids will get a kick out of that for sure. And then we're doing five nights in a one-bedroom at Boulder Ridge

[00:45:13] Dana Stanley: Awesome. So you'll be back at that pool

[00:45:15] Kate Goodine: We're gonna be back at that pool, and it's gonna be, you know, June, July, and it's gonna be wild and hot, and we need the really nice pool and I think the extra space to kind of spread out when, you know, it's too hot to be outside or too hot to be at the park and

[00:45:30] Dana Stanley: yeah, you can kind of like, like a studio is hard to just hang out in the room, you know? But a one-bedroom you feel like you can hang out,

[00:45:40] Kate Goodine: And we've, we've experienced--

[00:45:42] Dana Stanley: get some lunch

[00:45:43] Kate Goodine: We have experienced a one-bedroom once. We've never booked it, but we were pixie dusted to a one-bedroom

[00:45:48] Dana Stanley: fun.

[00:45:49] Kate Goodine: At Boulder

[00:45:50] Dana Stanley: was that?

[00:45:51] Kate Goodine: Boulder Ridge, yep.

[00:45:52] Dana Stanley: Oh, that's funny. Oh, so you know that you're gonna love

[00:45:54] Kate Goodine: Yeah, I think, I mean, well, to be honest, when it happened that time, we thought like, "Oh, like Disney's just like dangling this in front of us, and they'll think we'll wanna book a one-bedroom from now on."

[00:46:04] Kate Goodine: But we, we held fast, and we kept doing studios. But then, you know, we had a bounce back offer for this trip, and the, the price of a one-bedroom was, was really reasonable. So I think bounce back offer in June, we just lucked out and

[00:46:18] Dana Stanley: That's why I end up renting DVC points, because it ends up almost being the same as booking through Disney with a studio, and then I can justify it a little bit. I think once-- I've always had a kid that's napping. I have yet to... Like, we went to Disney pre-kids, but for 10 years, I have not visited without a napping child. But I know that day is coming,

[00:46:46] Kate Goodine: And

[00:46:46] Dana Stanley: is very-- That's gonna be very strange for

[00:46:49] Kate Goodine: But also,

[00:46:50] Dana Stanley: I'm not gonna know what to

[00:46:51] Dana Stanley: do

[00:46:51] Kate Goodine: my children are nine and four, and I mean, the, the nine-year-old crashes from like 12 until 2. He sleeps. I mean, he doesn't

[00:47:00] Dana Stanley: does sleep?

[00:47:01] Kate Goodine: he's, he totally crashes. I mean, he probably isn't in like a de- I mean, and then the four-year-old, I mean, he, he definitely has a good sleep. And I mean, we're on a different routine, right?

[00:47:12] Kate Goodine: Like, we're up later than we would be at home and the time change. And we had one really awesome night on our last trip. We did something unique that we've never been able to do as a family before. We saw Happily Ev-Ever After from within the park. It was our first time as a family of

[00:47:30] Dana Stanley: Oh,

[00:47:30] Kate Goodine: it together in the park.

[00:47:31] Kate Goodine: We had seen it from the beach. We'd seen it from the

[00:47:34] Dana Stanley: Oh, no, there's, it's a totally different experience being in the park

[00:47:38] Kate Goodine: And it wasn't even planned, just the kids were hanging, and they were doing great that evening, and, you know, the weather was perfect, and I remember just kind of looking at Nathan and saying like, "Should we try?" Like, "Should we stay?" And it was, it was a really, really wonderful experience

[00:47:55] Dana Stanley: Was that this time?

[00:47:56] Kate Goodine: was this past trip. Yep. Yep. Our first time.

[00:47:59] Dana Stanley: Yeah, no, that's very special

[00:48:01] Kate Goodine: It was, and my older son had seen Happily Ever After once before, just he and I had done it. But my little guy had never seen it outside of like a YouTube video when I would try to like stir up interest at home, showing him the, the shows from, from YouTube.

[00:48:18] Kate Goodine: But yeah, it was, it was really, really wonderful and, you know, we didn't scope out a spot an hour in advance. Like, it was nothing well thought

[00:48:27] Dana Stanley: Just

[00:48:27] Kate Goodine: We just happened to be rolling through Tomorrowland and trying to decide like, are we gonna turn left and go down Main Street and go home, or are we just gonna find our way into the hub?

[00:48:38] Kate Goodine: And we did, and

[00:48:39] Dana Stanley: Is that where you watched it from? You just pulled up a

[00:48:42] Kate Goodine: We just found a spot. Yeah. It was, it was wonderful. So, I mean, we were just fortunate that it all worked out. Now, the next morning, I mean, I feel like we paid for it. My kids were really tired. They're just not used to staying in the park for, for fireworks. But, uh, it was still like completely worth it.

[00:49:00] Kate Goodine: And I am nervous for our summer trip because, of course, fireworks are even later in the summer, so-- and Fantasmic! is late, and my little guy loves Sorcerer Mickey, and I just don't know if we'll

[00:49:15] Dana Stanley: just make sure it's after... Make sure you do, like, a rest day after

[00:49:19] Kate Goodine: Yes, absolutely.

[00:49:21] Dana Stanley: And then they can sleep in and, and chill. It's the late nights with the early mornings back to back that really get people. But you're good. You do, you do rests, like, in between your park

[00:49:34] Kate Goodine: We d- yeah, and I mean,

[00:49:36] Dana Stanley: This, this trip at

[00:49:37] Kate Goodine: we have just found that that works really well for us if you can incorporate the rest days. And like I had said at the beginning, I think there really is less pressure for us right now to do it all.

[00:49:53] Dana Stanley: Mm-hmm.

[00:49:53] Kate Goodine: wanna do our favorites, and one of my favorites is to be resting at the resort.

[00:50:01] Kate Goodine: And I, I plan the trip, so...

[00:50:05] Dana Stanley: I get to, so.

[00:50:05] Dana Stanley: Yes. And you get to

[00:50:06] Kate Goodine: mean, our last trip, we didn't even make it into a park until day three, and that was planned, right? Like, I- but I remember, like, the kids kind of like looking at me like, like, "When are we gonna go on a ride?" And I was like, "Tomorrow, day three, we'll get to a park."

[00:50:19] Dana Stanley: I mean, it's not a bad idea,

[00:50:22] Kate Goodine: okay. It-- Yeah, it was all, it was all good