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Melissa's European Adventures: Barcelona

6/30/2020

While we are all yearning to travel again, I’d like to share one of my family’s most memorable vacations to locations we can’t wait to return to someday!

Myself being of Spanish heritage and my husband of Italian descent, we’d always dreamed of going to Spain and Italy with our children. One day, during one of my many “what if we went there” vacation planning exercises, I found the perfect Disney Cruise Line itinerary that would take us there. Thank goodness, my husband went along with the idea! I booked it, researched, and our dream trip became a reality! We felt this was the perfect way to bring our children to Europe (ages 8 and 6 at the time). A cruise would provide us with the ideal way to experience multiple cities and countries that would otherwise be incredibly difficult to do on our own via planes, trains, and automobiles. Plus, the cruise would provide us with a consistent “home” to go back to each evening and to stay overnight throughout our journey. To top things off, it was a Disney Cruise!

As we started planning, we decided to spend a couple of days in Barcelona pre-cruise, as it would give us time to explore the top sites in the city, and allow us time to get adjusted to the time difference before boarding the ship. We flew overnight to Barcelona and hit the ground running as soon as we arrived. We started off by checking into our hotel right off Placa de Catalunya and enjoyed breakfast at an outdoor cafe. It felt so surreal at that point! We had no time to waste, so we dove right into sightseeing. We got multi day tickets for a hop-on hop-off bus. Kristen also rode the hop-on, hop-off bus during her time in Barcelona and we both agree that it is such a great and easy way to get around the city. We first rode the bus around a couple of loops without getting off so we could just see and soak in various areas.

That evening, we visited the Spanish Village, enjoyed another outdoor cafe for a quick bite and took in a spectacular Flamenco show. The cafe gave us just a small taste of the delicious cuisine that was in store on this trip, with traditional patatas bravas, pan con tomate, and the first of numerous glasses of sangria. The show was a feast for the eyes- I never realized how meaningful and moving dance can be. Even my children were captivated by the show!

I had endlessly researched restaurants prior to our trip, however, our first dinner ended up being totally spontaneous, at a location we stumbled upon. We accidentally found Carrer de Blai, also known as “the tapas street of Barcelona”. We were drawn to the pedestrian street, it was so lively and full of small restaurants and bars. Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed our first experience with Spanish pinchos- savory appetizers served on a cocktail stick. There was no menu- you just choose from the vast variety of pinchos kept in trays on the bar counter, then at the end, the server counts up your different colored toothpicks to determine your bill. Such a unique and absolutely delicious experience!

The next day we took advantage of the hop-on, hop-off bus to take us to many highlights such as Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and Camp Nou (home of the Spanish professional football club, FC Barcelona). Of course, we included a snack stop for churros; not just plain churros, but churros stuffed (Yes, I said stuffed) with Nutella and strawberry jam.

Sagrada Familia and Park Guell opened our eyes to the absolutely incredible and beautiful architecture created by Antoni Gaudi. I was amazed by the interest my children had in learning about the history and art; they were drawn to how unique his designs are.

We made time for shopping and more indulgences, too. La Boqueria Market is where I fell in love with shishito peppers, manchego cheese, and Cava wine. My children were in awe of all of the various market stands overflowing with bread, cheeses, meat, produce, chocolates… so naturally, they settled on crepes and pizza! Our evening included a stroll through the medieval streets of the Gothic Quarter and the popular area of Las Ramblas. Our time in Barcelona was wonderful; I was in awe of the beautiful city and it's friendly, warm people. As sad as I was that our time in Barcelona had come to an end, I was beyond excited for the next part of our journey - a 7-night Mediterranean cruise onboard the Disney Magic! Stay tuned for the next blog post in this series, our first port of call - Naples, Italy.

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What will it look like when Walt Disney World reopens? Here's what we know:

6/8/2020

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health and safety measures:

Walt Disney World will be implementing new policies and procedures to help promote cleanliness, physical distancing, and reduced contact, including:

Face coverings required for all Guests ages 2 and up, as well as for Cast Members.
Temperature screenings required upon arrival and some other additional locations.
Signage and ground markings installed to help encourage physical distancing.
Physical barriers have been added in select places where it is difficult to maintain social distancing, such as cash registers, Guest Relations desk, and more.
Cashless payments are encouraged; debit, credit and Disney Gift cards are preferred methods of payment. Guests can also opt for contactless payment options such as mobile wallets and Magic Bands for purchases throughout the Walt Disney World Resort.
Enhanced cleaning of common and high-traffic areas.

theme parks and experiences:

Walt Disney World will begin a phased re-opening on July 11, 2020 with Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom theme parks.

Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios will join them a few days later, on July 15, 2020. Select audiences, including Cast Members, may get previews prior to the scheduled opening. Disney Springs is currently in a phased re-opening, with many retail and dining locations already open.

Initially, park attendance will be managed through a new park reservation system. To enter a park, both a park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date is required. We will be providing our clients with additional information as soon as it is received by Disney.
FastPass+ will be suspended for the time being as Disney plans to use additional queue space to manage capacity at our attractions and maintain physical distancing. All existing FastPass+ selections have been cancelled.
Extra Magic Hours will be temporarily suspended.
Some experiences may be modified or unavailable to allow for physical distancing and limited contact. There will be no parades, firework shows, character meet and greets, and offerings like Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique until further notice.

resorts:

On June 22, select Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground will reopen. If you have a reservation at a Disney Resort hotel that won’t be open during your travel dates or if you have a room and theme park ticket package, your travel advisor will be in touch with you. Resort operations will be modified to accommodate guests in a safe way, including:

Amenities and Services:

Bell Services will deliver luggage to rooms, but will not escort Guests
Club-level service will be temporarily unavailable
Deliveries will only be made to occupied rooms
In-room celebrations will not be available
Dry-cleaning and valet laundry services will be temporarily unavailable, but self-service laundry will remain available
Shipping services will be temporarily unavailable
Resort airline check-in service may be temporarily unavailable
Package delivery to the front of our theme parks or to Disney Resort hotels will be suspended
Shipping merchandise to Guests’ homes continues to be available
Guest rooms will be thoroughly cleaned prior to your arrival
MouseKeeping services will continue to be provided throughout your stay however service will be provided every other day instead of daily; you can request that service be suspended throughout your stay, however, Walt Disney World reserves the right to perform wellness checks

Pools:

Feature pools may operate with reduced hours; leisure pools will be open 24 hours a day
All pools will operate with reduced capacity to allow for physical distancing
Select poolside activities may be available at select Resort hotels
Stormalong Bay at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts will not be available during the initial reopening period; Guests of this Disney Resort hotel may enjoy the leisure pool at Disney's Beach Club Villas or the Luna Park Pool and leisure pool at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas

Fitness Centers & Sports Courts:

Fitness centers will open in alignment with state and county regulations, and may have reduced hours
Fitness centers may have reduced hours and capacity
Instructor-led fitness classes will not be available
Fitness and sports courts will be open, and Guests must maintain physical distancing
Spas and salons will be temporarily unavailable

Recreation:

Activities and schedules will vary. The schedule of activities for your Disney Resort hotel will be shared during your stay.

The following will be temporarily unavailable:

Arcades
Campfires
Character experiences
Dog parks
Electrical Water Pageant
Marina rentals
Pin trading
Playgrounds

The following special offerings and childcare services will not be available during the initial reopening:

Fireworks voyages and tasting cruises, including the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage
Fun runs
Wonderland Tea Party at Park Fare
Hula lessons
In-room childcare services
Mermaid school
Special classes and programs—including culinary, cultural and animal programs

In order to visit any Walt Disney World Resort, you must have a confirmed room reservation for your stay or a confirmed dining reservation, if you are not staying overnight.

dining:

During the re-opening of Walt Disney World Resort, many dining experiences will be modified or unavailable in order to promote cleanliness and physical distancing:

Character dining will not be offered during the initial reopening with the exception of a modified experience at Topolino's Terrace at Disney's Riviera Resort.
Dinner shows, such as Hoop-Dee-Doo-Revue and Spirit of Aloha, will not be offered at this time.
Private dining and in-room delivery will not be offered during this time.

Face coverings (for all Guests age 2 and up) must be worn in all public areas, including while entering and exiting dining locations. Coverings can be removed while eating or drinking.
Cashless forms of payment are encouraged.
All dining reservations made previously have been cancelled. At this time, dining reservations are not available, except for a few Disney Springs table service locations. Reservations will resume at a later date. We will share details of the new advanced dining reservation system will be shared with our clients when they become available.
When in-park dining initially becomes available, guests will need valid park admission, a reservation for park entry and a dining reservation to dine at an in-park, table-service restaurant. Dining reservations do not guarantee admission to the park.

transportation:

There will be modifications to transportation options available throughout Walt Disney World. All transportation will operate at limited capacity to allow for physical distancing:

Disney's Magical Express will be available to Walt Disney World Resort guests.
Minnie Van Service will not be available upon initial resort opening.
Self-parking will be available. Valet service is temporarily unavailable, with the exception of Guests with disabilities who may require parking assistance. The cost of parking remains the same at the resorts and the theme parks.

We understand that there are a lot of updates being made and we are here to help our clients navigate through them. Stay tuned for more updates from Walt Disney World!

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Melissa's European Adventures: Barcelona

What will it look like when Walt Disney World reopens? Here's what we know:

health and safety measures:

theme parks and experiences:

resorts:

dining:

transportation:

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