One of my favorite things about Disney is when the magic comes in unexpected ways. Bennett was about 12 years old when he gave me a gift. We were enjoying a day at Disneyland with our party of 8, 2 adults and 6 kids. We had just gotten off Grizzly River Run in Disney California Adventure and were drying off when some of the kids said they wanted to do a little shopping with their souvenir money. So, we spent some time walking around Rushin' River Outfitters. When we walked outside, Bennett handed me a bag. Inside the bag was something wrapped in paper. I unwrapped the paper to reveal a Disneyl ..read more

Why Happiest Disney Mom, you ask... For a mom blog, why not just Happiest Mom? Well, Disney plays a huge role in my story. I come from a long line of Disney fans... the word "fan" is probably an understatement. My grandma was a huge fan! She passed her love of all things Disney on to her children and grandchildren, and, for some reason, I inherited a healthy dose and have found great joy in my passion for all things Disney, especially Disney Parks. My grandma passed away in 2016, but what she left behind was a legacy of finding joy in the little things and magic around every corner. My mom, au ..read more

Happy New Year! It's time to plan your next Disney trip! I have many tips & tricks from my 24 years of planning trips for a big family as a mom of 4, and will be sharing them with you here at Happiest Disney Mom! So, let's get started... Tip #1: Make Park Reservations The first thing you need to do is decide when you want to go to Walt Disney World and for how many days. You don't want to book a hotel and airplane tickets only to discover later that the parks are not available on the days you've booked your vacation. So, first things first... park reservations! My family lives on the West ..read more

June 2021... After months of anticipation, it was finally here. My oldest son was graduating from college, my daughter was graduating from high school, and we were going to Walt Disney World to celebrate! This would be my children's first trip and we were beyond excited! We booked our stay at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and would be staying for 8 magical nights. When I booked the trip through my travel agent, she was able to squeeze us into one room because we were a party of five. There was only one problem. The 5th sleeper in the room is a child-size pull-down bed that comes out of a pie ..read more