The Disness Blog

Unboxing the April Launch Box

Apr 09, 2021

Travel Agent Success is BLOOMING This Month

Maybe it's just me, but it is TOUGH for me to get excited during that post-holiday-March slump. It gets dark so crazy early, everything outside is dead and there isn't much to look forward to. (As seen by my overzealous celebrating of Pi Day and St. Patty's Day when I'm neither Irish nor a friend of math.)

Then...then comes April. We move the clocks ahead, the daffodils start popping up, the trees begin to bud annnnd, a new Launch Box arrives on my pollen-covered doorstep. Hope SPRINGS eternal! This was such an exciting box for me to open because it signified rebirth, growth, and BLOOMING! the timing was perfect too; arriving on a gorgeous Spring North Carolina day.

When I opened the box it automatically felt like SPRING! It was full of green! I have missed green so badly this wet and LONG (feeling) winter. There was green from the happy little packing fringe to the beloved monthly candy fix down to...

What Luck When You're at WDW on St. Patrick's Day!

Mar 11, 2021

PINCH ME It's St. Patty's Day and I'm at WDW!

Lucky you, not only are you at Walt Disney World, but you are there during one of the most spirited, carefree, and fun holidays of the year, ST. PATRICK'S DAY! We are ALWAYS one to be celebrating something, and St. Patrick's Day is no exception! Grab your green Minnie ears, your quirky green knee socks, and let's get shamROCKED!!!

Here's our list of the TOP FOUR awesomely Irish things to do while enjoying St. Patty's Day at Walt Disney World!

#1 RAGLAN ROAD

I'm not going to beat around the bush; the absolute BIGGEST and best, must-do for your St. Patty's Day list is to visit Raglan Road in Disney Springs. It is ALWAYS St. Patrick's Day at Raglan road so you can imagine the excitement and energy that pulsates from this amazing, authentic Irish eatery during the ACTUAL St. Patrick's Day holiday.

From March 12th-17th, you can enjoy the "Mighty St. Patrick's Festival" at Raglan Road, this annual event will be paired down slightly to...

Luck Favors the Plussing It Launch Box Subscribers

Mar 11, 2021

March can mean so many things, the hopeful turn to Spring, days getting longer, Easter on the way, and of course, when all of us channel our inner Irishman for St. Patrick's Day. And of course, the best part, a new month means a NEW LAUNCH BOX. I truly look forward to this day ALL.MONTH.LONG. (As soon as I have finished going through one, I immediately get completely geeked about what will come the following month! Can one become addicted to Launch Boxes?)

The March box had a bit of a St. Patty's, "make your own luck" kind of theme to it and I was LOVING it! The first thing I noticed when I opened my box was my handwritten note and the adorable sticker that was adhered to the envelope that read, "Luck favors the prepared." I let that sink in for a bit.

I've been fortunate to have my travel business picking up some steam this year, guests are ready to kick some tires, many are ready to commit and it's time for me to switch gears. Having guests ready to...

The Rain Can't Dampen Disney Days!

Feb 15, 2021

I like to fancy myself a philosophical type, pretending that I somehow coined the phrase, "A rainy day in Disney is better than a sunny day anywhere else." Who knows, maybe I did, but it's more likely that I've ripped someone smarter off somewhere along the line. I'm currently type-type-typing away from my home in North Carolina where it has pretty much rained every day for easily the last two months. It's hard to not let the cloudy dreariness wear you down, especially during the throes of what continues to be Covid life, so as I always do when things feel heavy, I turn to thoughts of Disney.

Florida is pretty much famous for three things DISNEY, beaches, and...well, rain. Chances are if you are vacationing in Florida pretty much any time of the year, their infamous pop-up showers will find you. Sometimes they pop up out of nowhere and move out as quickly as they moved in. Other times, storms come in and just sit on your day like a Mrs. Jumbo sized bummer. So, what do...

What in the Giant Golf Ball is Happening at Epcot?!

Feb 03, 2021

There was a television show almost 20 years ago called, "The Swan." It was a tacky show, but a guilty pleasure the husband and I are guilty of watching and still reference to this day. If you aren't familiar, then you're probably a really nice human and didn't miss much. It was an EXTREME makeover show, where average-looking gluttons for punishment underwent plastic surgery and all kinds of torturous makeover extremes to then be crowned, "The Swan." Sounds horrifying, right? Well, that's kind of what I feel like is happening over at Epcot right now.

I am never one of those people that advocate "skipping a park." In fact whenever a guest asks me, "Which park should we skip," I pretty much start to break out in a cold sweat and may even develop a hive or two. Maybe I'm crazy, but I just feel attached to all of the parks and think that they are all unique and offer something special, ESPECIALLY the parks too often deemed as "half-day" parks.

For years, once...

PLUSSING IT LAUNCH BOX: February Review

Feb 03, 2021

I am a literal broken record, every time I open up my latest subscription Plussing It Launch Box, I squeal and say, "THIS one is my favorite!" You just have to trust me, even though we've just met about 30 words ago, this February box really is my favorite box so far. I know, I know, until next month; but isn't that the point? Isn't the point that these boxes keep getting better and better and I continue to get more and more excited about my travel business. (AND more excited about receiving my Plussing It Launch Box subscription, the weeks can't fly by fast enough!

Is it anticlimactic when I start with my FAVORITE thing in the box? I just can't help myself, I am such a pin trading geek. I am raising two pin trading geeks. We pin trade with each other even when we aren't at the parks, just here, at home, laying out in the middle of someone's bedroom. (Did you just cringe and think, "Ewww, they ARE geeks?")

Whenever I am putting together a final document folder...

PLUSSING LAUNCH BOX: January Box Review

Jan 04, 2021

New Year, Invigorated Travel Agent!

I simply can't stop raving about last month's Plussing It Launch Box! You probably wouldn't believe all of the mileage that I was able to get with ALL of the items in there and am STILL using, it was for sure the holiday gift that keeps on giving. I knew that the first installment was going to be special, it was the first box AND it was being released right before Christmas, that was going to be magical, but could a follow-up box be as special? What else could Kat POSSIBLY have up her sleeve? (Scratches head curiously...)

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START THE NEW YEAR! The second box in my subscription series arrived right before the New Year which was impeccable timing. Let's face it, this year has been a colossal, an EPIC pain in the...heart. Right?!

Hit after hit, cancellation after cancellation, this year has been an emotionally grueling, soul-sucking and financially draining year for Travel Agents especially. While every industry...

Plussing It Launch Box: December Box Review

Dec 10, 2020

PLUSSING IT LAUNCH BOX: Launching me into a new stratosphere of Travel Agent Awesomeness

I have been a Travel Agent specializing in Disney destinations for a couple of years now. It may sound crazy, but aside from the absolute love of Disney the thing that REALLY drew me to being an agent was the desire to WOW a guest. There are thousands of Travel Agents out there, what can I do to make myself stand out amongst them? That was the question I was constantly asking and using to challenge myself. As a home-based, part-time agent, I'm all about balance, impacting guests positively and uniquely while managing to not let any of the other dozens of balls I'm juggling drop.

Guests are always on my mind, I'm always on the lookout for a unique guest gift, a special way to say thank you, or something interesting that will keep me top of mind as they start to consider planning for that NEXT trip. Sometimes the ideas are FLOWING, all cylinders are firing and sometimes I feel...

The Smells of Disney at Home for the Holidays

Dec 04, 2020

My folks were artificial tree people, my Dad worked insanely long hours, working two jobs- so an outing to search for the perfect "real" tree just wasn't in the cards for us. We had LOADS of other really sweet holiday traditions that I remember fondly, but having a real, live, National Lampoon's Christmas tree was never one of them. (Which if we are using Chevy Chase as our measure of success, that's probably a blessing.)

When my husband and I were first married and living in our first, painfully small apartment we decided our first Christmas should be celebrated by buying a live tree. The trip to pick out the tree was fun, the smell of this new, live tree was magnificent and we felt decidedly VERY Hallmark Channel Christmas. However, when EVERY.SINGLE.NEEDLE systematically fell from that tree, hid in carpet fibers, and created an EPIC post-holiday disaster, we decided our real tree days were done. From then on, we would invest in the fullest, biggest, pre-lit and most fake tree...

PINCH ME It's St. Patty's Day and I'm at WDW!

#1 RAGLAN ROAD

Two Step