Update- Back from Tokyo and Orlando

It's been a while since my last post so I thought it was time for an update.  The past two months have been busy but in my favorite way since it included a lot of traveling.  I think over the last few weeks, I was at hotels more than at home. (And now I've got so much laundry to do! ha ha.)

Dapper Day at Disneyland- Spring 2016

Around two weeks after we returned from Dapper Day at Disney World, it was time for Dapper Day at Disneyland!  Like we did last year, we made a weekend of it and got a room at one of the hotels that had a discounted Dapper Day rate.  We got there on Saturday and after checking in to the Disneyland Hotel, we hung out by the pool.  Because it was where we had our wedding, the Disneyland Hotel feels like home to us so it was nice to spend the weekend there.  There's no place like home!

Dapper Day at Disney World - Spring 2016

I've been going to the spring Dapper Day at Disneyland the past few years but this year's was extra special because I was able to go to Dapper Day at Disney World too.  It was fun to do Dapper Day coast to coast!  Disney World's Dapper Day was in mid April and Disneyland's was a few weeks later so I'll start out with a recap of my experience at Disney World's Dapper Day.

Hello Kitty Cafe

Last month my little sister came to visit and I had one of the best weeks ever!  It was wonderful to spend time with her and show her around. One of the first places we went to was the new Hello Kitty Cafe at the Irvine Spectrum.  I actually hadn't been there before since it was so new but I thought it would be fun to check it out so we all went together.  I'm really glad we did because we had a nice time and the food was not only super cute but yummy too!

Check out our YouTube Channel - Parkhopbears!

Hi everyone!  As I mentioned in my last post, my husband and I created a YouTube channel called Parkhopbears.

We use YouTube a lot when planning our adventures and find that it's really helpful so we decided to create a channel of our own!  We called it Parkhopbears since a lot of our adventures include theme park-hopping.  We combined "parkhop" with "bears" because I usually have some kind of stuffed animal in my purse during our travels. 

I've been having a lot of fun editing the videos and I really hope you enjoy them.  Please check out our channel and subscribe!

Here's the link to our channel. 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfpGnRhNAkZebJ5i56anKlw

And you can also follow us on social media:
Facebook:  Parkhopbears
Twitter: @parkhopbears
Instagram: @parkhopbears

A Look at Frozen Ever After and the Norway Pavilion

The new ride "Frozen Ever After" recently opened at EPCOT and we were able to go on it during our recent visit to Orlando. We took several photos of the Norway pavilion and even some video so I am sharing them here!

Orlando Weekend - June 2016

My husband and I just got back from a wonderful long weekend in Orlando.  This trip was extra special because I was able to go to an old friend from college's wedding.  It was so nice to celebrate with her and meet her husband.  Her wedding was so beautiful and took place in EPCOT.  We had a wonderful time!

Finding Dory and Speak Like A Whale Day

Finding Dory came out in theaters yesterday.  I was able to see an advance screening a week ago and I really enjoyed it!  It turned out that the day of the screening was also 'Speak Like a Whale Day' so we ended up having a very Dory themed day!

Wizarding World Hollywood - Before and After

Today's the day...  The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood is officially open!  I've been able to go during their technical rehearsals and although I'll miss how empty it was during those visits, I'm excited that it is now truly open.  No need to search Instagram and Twitter anymore; one can now just look up Universal's hours and then head over!  My husband and I have been Universal Studios fans for a while now and usually go at least once a year so it's been really neat to watch it's transformation as they continued to add new sections and rides to the park like Transformers, Minion Mayem, a Despicable Me section, and Springfield.  The one we were most excited about was the Wizarding World so we kept trying to catch glimpses of it as it got constructed.  Because it's finally opening day, I thought it'd be fun to look back at some photos from when the Wizarding World was under construction and compare it to now!

Egg-stravaganza at Disney Parks 2016

If you're looking for an Easter activity to do at Disney Parks this weekend, check out the Egg-stravaganza maps.  At select locations, you can purchase an egg hunt map that includes stickers you can put on it as you find each Disney themed egg.  We got one for the first time this year and ended up having a lot of fun with it.  I also had a lot of fun taking photos of the maps and eggs with my Tsum Tsums!

Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hollywood

Last Sunday, my husband and I checked out the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood.  We've never been to the one in Florida but we are big fans of the Harry Potter series so we were really excited when we heard it was coming to Hollywood.  We were not disappointed!  I should point out however that it is not officially open yet.  It won't be until April 7th, but they have started having soft openings to the public for technical rehearsals.  What does this mean?  It means that it is not guaranteed that it will be open if you visit the park and even if it is open not every part of it may be open.  There are no set hours for it so there is a chance that it may be closed if you do go.

However if you plan to get or have an annual pass, it may be worth going before April because if you are able to get in it's great since it is not as busy as it probably will be when it is officially open.  We were able to do everything with very little wait.  Once it's open, I expect those wait times will increase.  I'll put some info at the end of this post on how to try to visit during a technical rehearsal.  First though, here are some photos!

Weekend Getaway- Portland, Oregon

Around this time last year, we visited Portland, Oregon.  It was a weekend trip but we were able to make the most of our time and went to several great places.  We always had an interest in going there largely because it is the setting of one of our favorite TV shows, Portlandia.  So of course several of the spots we checked out were places we'd seen on the show!  I've split the recap up into a list format so that it's hopefully more helpful for anyone planning a trip there.  Here we go!

Hello 2016

It has been a long time since my last post!  Last year was a busy one but in a great way since it included so many wonderful adventures.  I ended up taking a break from the blog since there were just too many other things that I wanted or needed to do when I had spare time at home.  I do miss blogging sometimes though so I'm trying to fit some of that back into my schedule this year especially since there's so much I want to write about.