Every so often I try a new product. I might be strolling the aisles at Costco. I’ll see a sample kiosk. If I have my children with me, we ALWAYS stop. No questions asked. I’ll stand while my children take a sample. If there are enough samples left, I take a sample myself. I’m rarely disappointed. I’ve found samples that were so tasty. Without the sample stand in a discount warehouse or grocery store, I would never have known.

Last summer, the Musings from Me family journeyed to Southern California. While the kids and dad explored San Diego, I walked the Expo Halls at BlogHer. I met people, played in-booth games at the Expo Hall, learned about products I had never heard of, and most importantly, sampled some awesome treats. Walking the Expo Hall is thirsty work.

As I hauled my bags out of the Expo Hall one day, I spotted a white booth with comfy white couches. As I cast my eye to the side and back of the booth I spotted several displays of Trop50. Trop50? I was intrigued as I looked at the familiar shaped bottles with a name I had never heard of. What was this Trop50? Looked like the Tropicana I buy for my family, but what was it exactly?

I sampled the Trop50 Lemonade. Let me tell you how it tasted…it was delicious. Tart, but not too tart. Sweet, but not overly so. Kind of like a lemonade stand lemonade, but with 50% less sugar and 50% less calories. Plus, no artificial sweeteners. I knew my family would love it and that I would be happy to buy it for them. In fact, I brought a few bottles back to my family in our hotel room, which we enjoyed on our drive to Legoland. Delish!

Which brings me to New Year Resolutions and the thorny subject of sticking to ‘em. I think of resolutions each, but do I stick to them? Sometimes. I find that the smaller, more focused, and more doable the resolution, the more likely I am to do it. For instance, resolving to exercise is not nearly as effective as resolving to exercise every other day. I need a resolution spelled out for me. Another resolution is to cook more dinners that are healthy, with mostly fresh ingredients. My resolutions need to be short on vagueness, and long on specifics.

More about Trop50…

• Trop50 by Tropicana offers fruit juice goodness with 50 percent less sugar and calories, and no artificial sweeteners.
• Trop50 juice beverage comes in the following flavors: No Pulp, No Pulp with Calcium + Vitamin D, Some Pulp, Farmstand Apple, Pomegranate Blueberry, Lemonade, Pineapple Mango, and Raspberry Lemonade.
• New! Trop50 introduced the following new flavors: Red Orange, Raspberry with Green Tea, Peach with White Tea, and Pear Lychee with White Tea. Can’t wait to try these!
• Do you like those funny Jane Krakowski spots? Here are a few funny ones.

Connect with Tropicana and Trop50:

• Find a store near you that sells Trop50 juice beverage.
• Like Trop50 – 50% Less Sugar and Calories on Facebook.
• Follow on Twitter by following @TropicanaOJ and searching for hashtag: #Trop50.
• Visit the Trop50 Web site.

I was given samples of Trop50 juice beverage to facilitate my review. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

Some tips for getting the most out of Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

FASTPASS

• FASTPASS is the key to getting the most out of your Disney experience. My husband is somewhat of a pro about the FASTPASS.
• FASTPASS can be used on the following attractions at Disneyland: Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Indiana Jones Adventure, Roger Rabbit’s Car Too Spin, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours.
• Use FASTPASS on these California Adventure rides: California Screamin’ (well worth it even though I was terrified!), Goofy’s Sky School, Grizzly River Run, Soarin’ Over California (our family’s favorite ride at both EPCOT and California Adventure), The Twilight Zone of Terror (I couldn’t get anyone to ride this ride with me!), and World of Color.
• When you enter a Disney park, check the bulletin board at the park entrance. The board shows wait time for rides and which rides are FASTPASS. You will also see which rides are closed for the day.
• Look for FASTPASS distribution kiosks near the entrance to each ride.
• Check the FASTPASS return time to know when you can ride the attraction. Don’t use a FASTPASS if you will not be available to ride the ride. Save your FASTPASS for another ride.
• A tip about World of Color at California Adventure… World of Color is a spectacular light, water, color, and movie show. You will want to use your FASTPASS to get a good viewing spot. Go early to the Grizzly River Run to get your FASTPASS for World of Color. You can hold a World of Color FASTPASS and a FASTPASS for a ride, so go get one as soon as you arrive in California Adventure.

Season

• We have visited Walt Disney World twice in the fall. While the parks have shorter hours in the fall than in the peak seasons, we loved walking on rides and waiting for just a few minutes to get on a ride.
• In addition, to short wait times, you’ll also find that flights in off-peak season are cheaper as well as hotels.
• On this trip we visited in August. Because it was the height of a peak season, we planned our days with FASTPASS, wait times, and our stamina in mind. If we were all up for waiting in a long line, we did.

Technology

• Our two-day stay at Disneyland Resort would have been far less fun had my husband not had an app on his phone. He kept us apprised of wait times. With a Kid, a Preteen-now-Teen, and a Teen, we had the flexibility to race from one ride to another. Families with younger kids will want to pace themselves due to weather, crowds, and wait times.
• Here’s an app for Disney World Wait Times.
• Visiting Disneyland? Here’s an app for wait times.
• And of course, charge those batteries. Bring all chargers on your trip. Charge digital, video, and phones at the hotel each night.
• We had a couple of Flip Video Cameras which we let our kids carry.

Safety

• Stay connected with cell phones.
• Our Teen and Preteen-now-Teen did not carry their phones as they were worried about losing them or getting them wet. Because of this we stayed in a group of 5 or we split in to a group of 2 and a group of 3. My husband and I coordinated a meeting spot if we split up to ride different attractions.
• Let each family member carry his Disney ticket in a lanyard. You can bring a lanyard from home or buy a colorful lanyard from any of the Disney stores. Each lanyard comes with a clear plastic case for holding the Disney ticket and money. We found it helpful for each child to carry his own lanyard and ticket so that it was easier to get FASTPASS.
• My older two know their name, address, home and all our cell phones, but I wrote down all our details on a piece of paper for my youngest child to carry with him. If he got separated from us, I wanted him to know how to reach us.

I was given passes to Disneyland and California Adventure. We paid for our own flights, car rental, and hotel accommodations while in Southern California. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

As a child, we traveled a great deal. I lived in three countries. Attended three preschools. Three elementary schools. Two middle schools. And one high school. Lived in seven homes, including one hotel. Yikes that’s a lot of moving!

As well as moving, we vacationed all the time. When we first moved to the U.S., my parents weren’t sure how long we would stay. Consequently in a 6- to 7-year period we visited Niagara falls, Williamsburg (VA), Skyline Drive and Luray Caverns (VA), West Point (NY), Pennsylvania Dutch Country, the Jersey shore, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

One memorable trip was a quickie visit to Disney World. It was 1974. I was about 8. My parents knew that a return to England was in the near future. We stayed off site at a motel in Kissimmee (FL). March can be chilly even in Florida, so I recall wearing a sweatshirt while we were there. It was back in the day where you bought tickets for each ride. We had a handful of “A,” “B,” and “C.” As near as I can recall, you needed 2 A tickets to ride one ride, but only a C ticket to ride something else. While we didn’t ride every single ride, I have vivid memories of Captain Nemo’s 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Hall of Presidents, the Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer’s Island, the magic Tea Cups, and the Polynesian Resort.

Disney IS the most magical place on earth. While we had taken the kids twice to Disney World, none of us had visited Disneyland. I was anxious to experience a Southern Californian Disney with my husband and kids. After a stay in San Diego, a visit to LegoLand, and a brush with celebrities in Hollywood, we were ready to do Disneyland.

On Day 6 of our trip to Southern California, we hit Disneyland. Our experience was magical from start to finish. Our day began at the park bright and early after a buffet breakfast at our hotel.

We took a spin on Buzz Lightwear’s Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland. Everyone loves to laugh about Mom’s low score. I guess I have a little hand-eye coordination problem! While we were in Tomorrowland, we also rode Autopia, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Space Mountain, and Star Tours the Adventure Continues.

This is not my score!

Heading to Tom Sawyer’s Island. I was the most excited to explore the island. The kids were meh about it. Disneyland’s version of Mark Twain’s classic story of growing up in America is very different to Walt Disney World. We spent close to 45 minutes running through caves, climbing ladders, hopping on swing bridges, and generally having a boatload of fun (pun intended!). This part of Adventureland is actually called Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island.

Autopia otherwise known as “Who let that 8-year-old get behind the wheel?!” Actually everyone was a better driver than mom. I needed the hefty bumpers!

I was given passes to Disneyland and California Adventure. We paid for our own flights, car rental, and hotel accommodations while in Southern California. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

With a Kid, a Preteen-now-Teen, and a Teen, finding something fun for all of us to do is a challenge. You wouldn’t think so, but it is. Years ago, we could pop in a DVD. Go to a museum. Go out for ice cream. But, then school intervened. And homework. And weekends packed with birthday parties, sports, and play dates.

I struggle and stress and fret about the amount of time I have left before my oldest heads to college. She is one of those kids who never gave me a backward glance when stepping on the elementary school bus. Who was already planning what AP classes to take in high school when she was in 6th grade. Who now as a 10th grader is loving the envelopes that have started to arrive post-PSAT. She’s ready for college. I’m not ready to let go of her.

So, I have made it my goal to find fun things to do both at home, in our neighboring towns and cities, and in the places we visit for vacation. We’re not a family that travels to far away places every year. We have had years where we grabbed a quick week at the beach with the grandparents. Other years we have visited Niagara Falls–the Canadian side; Colonial Williamsburg, VA; Pennsylvania Dutch Country; and of course, the beach. Two summers ago we took a long-awaited, yet hastily planned trip to my home country…England. We had a fabulous time. I wish we could do a big trip each year, but we can’t.

Last summer, the chips fell in to place. I purchased a BlogHer ticket at the early bird rate. I planned to find a roommate and fly to San Diego by myself. The more I thought about going to SD and BlogHer, the more I wanted to involve my family.  How could I think of visiting California without them? But, how would I bring them?

A quick check of Southwest.com showed that we could get reasonably priced flights for all 5 of us. Not bargains, but not out-of-sight prices. I had a room at the Marriott Marquis and Marina, which would do. It was a relief not to look for a roommate. Although going to a conference with a roommate in tow is super fun, especially if it is your first blogging conference. With a hotel and flights, all I needed was an itinerary.

Within days of booking flights we had our itinerary planned. While I gallivanted about at BlogHer meeting people, making connections with brands, and of course, having fun, my husband and the kids toured San Diego. Post-BlogHer, the plan was for me to join the family and tour L.A. and Anaheim. Obviously our family works well under stress and tight deadlines…in fact we thrive on it.

Our itinerary went something like this:

• Wednesday — Travel Day. Arrived in San Diego. Kids and husband relaxed in the room, while I met up with some bloggers at a wine party hosted by @guavalicious. What can I say…BlogHer is part work and part play!
• Thursday — Day One — Sea World. While I attended one of the pre-conference sessions hosted by Procter & Gamble, my husband took the kids to Sea World. While I was very sad to miss out on the amazing-ness of the San Diego Sea World, my son and I got to experience the Orlando Sea World.
• Friday — Day Two — San Diego Zoo. I was very sad to miss out on a zoo I have heard so much about, but obviously I had obligations at BlogHer. Don’t worry, I had my husband text photos and tweet while he was there with the kids.
• Saturday — Day Three — Hotel pool. Bus to the airport. Pick up of rental car. Drive to beach. Husband and kids accomplished all this while I was hauling myself and sundry swag bags from the San Diego Convention Center Expo Hall  to my hotel room to meetings to sessions back to the Convention Center Expo Hall back to the hotel room, with a quick pitstop before the evening events and parties began. I was exhausted. I’m not a beach or pool lover, so I wasn’t upset about missing the beach and pool day. Highlight for my kids and their dad was catching a beach volleyball game. We’re East Coast volleyball players. They weren’t able to play, but loved experiencing a bit of Southern California.
• Sunday — Day 4 — Legoland. With BlogHer over and bags packed and swag exchanged at the Swag Room, we hit the road to drive to LegoLand.
• Monday — Day 5 — Starline Tour of L.A. and Hollywood. I was so glad to experience Southern California with my family!
• Tuesday — Day 6 — Disneyland. Our first experience of Disneyland was a success. Yes, it was crowded, packed, and we missed out on a couple of rides towards the end of the day when Fast Passes ran out, but we had an awesome day. Probably our best day as a family on our trip..
  
• Wednesday — Day 7 — California Adventure. Second day of Disney…we hit our stride. Figured out how to maximize the Fast Pass. Got prime “seats” at the World of Color. And, I may have been persuaded by a certain Kid to ride California Screamin’. Whoa that was an experience!
• Thursday — Travel Day. Sadly, we had to say farewell to Anaheim and Southern California. And say hello to our lives back home.

I was given passes to the attractions in this post. We paid for our own flights, car rental, and hotel accommodations while in Southern California. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

My son is a giant. O.K. not quite. But he is very tall for his age. At 3 he was mistaken for a 5-year-old. At 5, people assumed he was 8. Lately, people have asked if my 8-year-old is 10 or 11. What?!

Being mistaken for an older kid can be onerous. Especially if your 3-year-old is acting like…well…a 3-year-old and not say like a 5-year-old. I got used to the looks of concern. There is a one bright spot to having a taller-than-average kid. Your child is tall enough to ride rides at Disney! That’s right my 3-year-old was about 40 inches tall when we visited Walt Disney World. I was surprised to learn that he was able to ride Soarin’ at EPCOT. I was amazed that I was able to take him on this ride. I thought that I would have to do the Rider Swap, which is when one parent rides a ride while the other parent stays back with the young child. He rode that ride like a seasoned veteran of amusement park rides.

Of Interest to Parents… At Disneyland, a child who is 40 inches and above may ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours — The Adventure Continues. At Disney’s California Adventure, a child who is 40 inches or move may ride: Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Silly Symphony Swings, Soarin’ Over California, and The Twilight Zone of Terror.

Our Kid, Preteen-now-Teen, and Teen loved California Adventure. So did we! We arrived at California Adventure determined to have the best last day of vacation ever…and we did!

Warning To Those Who Like to Stay Dry: You will get wet on Grizzly River Run! We couldn’t persuade the older two to come along for this adventure, but our youngest was game. Did I mention we got wet? A poncho would have been a good idea. Except that my son probably wouldn’t have worn one.

Musings from Me advice: Go on Grizzly River Run early in the day. We climbed aboard as soon as we arrived at California Adventure. We were able to ride twice. It was August so we all dried off quickly.

Grizzly River Run and Soarin’ Over California are in the Golden State Area of the park. Another attraction in this area is the Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar. You can get a preview of soon-to-be-opened attractions, while also perusing plans and blueprints for existing attractions. If I had any artistic skill at all, I would train to be an architect. The attractions at all Disney parks are designed to give the visitor the best possible experience. Nothing is left to chance. Why even Spaceship Earth is designed with channels and special gutters to allow rain not to fall on visitors. Disney Imagineers think of everything!

Thanks to FASTPASS we rode Soarin’ Over California twice, maybe three times. You feel as though you are literally handgliding over California.

The kids were anxious to do as many rides as possible at California Adventure as it was our last day of vacation in Southern California. I couldn’t blame them for wanting to do as much as possible, but I wanted to see Blue Sky Cellar.

Once we were inside Blue Sky Cellar the kids were intrigued by the designs for new and old rides. Of special interest to us was the soon-to-be-opened Cars Land. Scheduled to open in 2012, Cars Land will feature the sleepy town of Radiator Springs off Route 66. Rides in Cars Land will include:

• Luigi’s Flying Tires
• Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
• Radiator Springs Racers

The 6-acre Cars Land will be the largest attraction at Disneyland Resort. You can even dine at the Cozy Cone Motel, Flo;s V8 Cafe, and Fillmore’s Taste-in! I wonder if there will be a statue to Stanley!

While my son had his pic taken with Lightning and mater, I took a peak over the wall surrounding the construction site for Cars Land. It looks very fun!! I can’t wait til it opens!

We ended our day with several visits to California Adventure stores so my Preteen-now-Teen could swap her Vinylmations. She started a collection of these quirky and oh-so cute figurines about a year before our trip. Each one has the body of Mickey Mouse but each is decorated to resemble the characters from Toy story, the Muppets, Disney villains, or other more off-the-wall creations. One of hers is a Mickey decorated to look like a S’more.

She was anxious to trade the Vinylmations she had for different ones. I volunteered to carry her Vinylmations in the PlumDistrict bag I got at BlogHer. After saving the Vinylmations from getting wet, getting crushed, and getting mangled in the crowds, I was ever so happy for my daughter to do her trades. You can trade at over 90 locations in Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Disney Cruise Line, and Disneyland Resort Paris.

We ate a very delicious dinner from two walk-up, quick service places: Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta and Paradise Garden Grill. My son and I are the more adventurous eaters…we loved the Mediterranean dishes from the Paradise Garden Grill. After dinner, it was a final ride on Goofy’s Sky School before heading to World of Color to use the FASTPASS that we picked up at Grizzly River Run at the start of our day.

I was given passes to Disneyland and California Adventure. We paid for our own flights, car rental, and hotel accommodations while in Southern California. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

BlogHer was a whirl. A veritable blur of activity. I had my family with me, which added to the chaos. Although really I was so much in my own world of BlogHer that I hardly noticed my family. I don’t mean to sound like I didn’t care about them. Far from it. I texted my husband each day to find out about their adventures. When I spotted my husband’s tweets about Shamu or the beauty of the San Diego Zoo, I would smile knowing that they were happy doing their thing and I was happy doing mine. I chatted to whomever was awake when I left the room each morning. I watched as the kids chose which swag items they wanted.

In short, BlogHer was fun for me and San Diego was fun for my family. It was the best of both worlds. And to think I was worried about bringing my family to BlogHer!

My oldest had a couple of brushes with all that is BlogHer. Leaving the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina one day she spotted a group of women in the hotel, she said to her dad “Those are mommy’s type of people!” At first I wondered what she meant, but then I pictured myself standing with a group of women…eyes alert, swag bag on shoulder, phone in hand, casually dressed by day, formally dressed by evening…so yes I can see that I fit in with the blogging women that my daughter saw at the Marriott.

On another day she was waiting for the elevator with her dad and siblings when the elevator doors opened to reveal men in matching shirts surrounding the Jimmy Dean Sun Guy. I WISH I had been there to catch her expression of surprise!

Our celebrity sightings weren’t limited to BlogHer, though. After BlogHer, we journeyed to Anaheim. On one of the days of our stay we took our lives in our hands on the LA freeway. Yikes it was busy and it was only 10:30 a.m. What must the roads be like at 8 a.m.?

Anyway, after buying our passes to the Starline Tour’s Hop On Hop Off Doubledecker Bus City Tour, we spotted commotion outside the Graumann’s Chinese Theater where the Starline Tour’s City Tour bus drops off and picks up. Trucks were bringing in panels and walls and barricades. I could see the name of a movie on one of the screens. Workers were setting up for the movie premiere of 30 Minutes or Less with Jesse Eisenberg.

I couldn’t believe my luck. Me? A Hollywood lover. A celebrity watcher. A TMZ sneak peeker. I might actually get the chance to watch celebrities arrive for the movie premiere. This was extremely Squee-a-licious to me!

Anyway, we headed on our Hop On Hop Off City Tour. We purchased the 24-Hour tickets since we knew that we would not be back the next day. A 48-Hour Hop On Hop Off City Tour is also available. We saw Beverly Hills, La Brea Tar Pits, the Kodak Theater, Rodeo Drive, Melrose, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and a couple of brief glimpses of the Hollywood sign. The Hollywood sign is hard to see as tour buses cannot get close, plus the sign was shrouded in mist the day we visited.

Upon returning to Graumann’s Chinese Theater, a small group of people were lined up behind a barrier on the opposite side of Hollywood Boulevard. I made my way to the barrier — I was in the second row. My family were tired from a long day, but I insisted that we wait. And wait we did even though the kids were a little whiny and the husband was definitely not as starstruck as I am.

2.5 hours later the first limos arrived. Exciting! The limos…actually black SUVs…were not for one celebrity, but instead were crammed with 4 or 5. Is this a green measure? I’m not sure, but the celebrities were not recognizable to me at all. My teen, on the other hand, spotted a guy from one of her TV shows…I don’t recall the name of the show or the guy. What kind of a celeb watcher am I anyway? My tween spotted Joe Jonas. We all spotted one of the Kardashians…Kim, I think?…I’m not sure, but it was a young woman with jet black hair.

In the sea of celebs we didn’t know, we spotted one of the costars. He bounded out of the limo, raced across the road, and ran past the crowd shaking hands. I have to tell you that it was quite an exciting event even though I didn’t know who the guy was. Just being on Hollywood Boulevard, standing in front of the Graumann’s Chinese Theater all during a movie premiere was a special, unexpected moment of celebrity in the city built on movies and stars.

I did some digging and found that Alexa Vega was at the premiere as was Fred Ward. Vega was in all three Spy Kids movies as well as the new Spy Kids 4 flick. All exciting, but nothing compared to the last star we saw bound out of a limo and cross the road…

Ben Stiller! That’s right Ben Stiller was there at the premiere. I didn’t know that he was the producer of 30 Minutes or Less. We love him in the Night at the Museum films. I took the most awful Flip video of blurry crowd and then completely missed filming Stiller as he passed where I was standing. I won’t be asked to film an event any time soon that is for sure. Oh well, my husband got a nice shot of Ben, which I will post once I gather all my SD cards and flashdrives and photos from my old phone to collate my pics.

Oh, and I almost forgot a funny moment. As I waited in the crowd it was hard not to eavesdrop on people’s conversations. I overheard a young mom who was standing with her kids and what looked like her mom talk about a blogging conference in San Diego. I couldn’t stop myself from letting her know that I was a blogger who was also at the conference. We exchanged cards. Found out that she just moved to LA from where I live and her mom lives close by me still. Small world, isn’t it?

I was given a complimentary ticket for the Starline Tours Hop On Hop Off City Doubledecker Bus City Tour. We purchased the other 4 passes for my kids and husband using a $5 off code my husband found on the internet. The views expressed in this post are my own. I blog following the tenets of Blog With Integrity. Some of the links in this post are to my amazon affiliate account.

In our house summer is divided in to two parts.

Part 1 encompasses May and June when the kids are still in school and the rest of June and all of July when the kids are out of school. May through July is all about finishing up the school year and swim team. We spend hours at swim meets every Saturday. The kids are shuttled back and forth to practice by either me or their dad. I volunteer as the communications contact for the swim team. By the end of July we are done. Stick a fork in me done with the heat. We can’t wait for Part 2 of the summer to begin.

Part 2 of the summer is relaxing and far less stressful than the first part of the summer. During Part 2 we might go on vacation for a week or so.

This summer we trekked to southern California. After returning home, we set about doing relatively nothing. My son had a half-day camp one week. My daughter had volleyball tryouts. My husband is back at work. But, for the most part we have a lot of nothing going on. After walking for what seemed like days in California, the kids are quite ready to relax and enjoy the last days of summer.

Are your kids enjoying the last days of summer? Any last minute day trips planned? Do your kids start school after Labor Day?

I seize family time any way I can. I seize family time every dinner — movie — game — trip at a time. With a kid, a preteen, and a teen, the sand of time is running through the hour glass too quickly. My teen will be in college before I know it. I am so not… ready for her or my other two to be in college. Weren’t they just in preschool??

Our family loves to travel. Whether I am traveling for my blog or for fun, my husband and I are planners. We plan the living daylights out of any trip. On our trip to Universal in January, we knew what time of day to go on the Harry Potter ride, where to eat lunch, and how to get the most out of our hotel for the least amount of money. And by “we” I really me “my husband.” He is the go-to-guy for our family vacations.

I use experiences gained on trips to write for a travel site: Oyster Locals Blog and here on my blog.

Where are you going on vacation?

And, we had a fabulous time. Back in January, we enjoyed the parks on a three-day break from school and work. We truly seized all the family time we could. We spent as much time at Universal Studios as we could. Islands of Adventure, too. The three-day break was just “what the doctor ordered” for each of us. The Kid and Tween were 3 and 8 the last time we ventured to Orlando. Both have a combination of hazy and vivid memories of our last trip. The Teen was on a break between semesters at school. As we left the park on the final day of our three-day weekend, she expressed how grateful she was to be able to have a getaway. I am “building a business,” working long hours, and generally tired and exhausted. My husband is adjusting to a new job, all while hunting for a new job. It’s safe to say that we ALL needed a break at Universal in Orlando!

The parks have slightly shorter hours in the offseason. On the plus side, finding a hotel room is much easier than in busy holiday and summer seasons. Did we have trouble getting on any rides? Nope, the wait time for rides was minimal. Even the Harry Potter ride — The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — only had a long wait on Monday. During January, tour groups of students from South America come to Universal Studios in what is their summer vacation. Of the three days we were at Universal — Saturday, Sunday, and Monday — Monday was by far the busiest, especially in the town of Hogsmeade where the Harry Potter attractions are located. Now on the Saturday and Sunday of our trip we rode the Harry Potter rides 2 or 3 times each day. On the Monday, we only managed the Harry Potter rides once each.  We couldn’t spare more time as we had other rides to do at the parks before we had to catch a ride to the airport.

But, seize family time we did. My parents even joined us not at the parks, but at the hotel…the Portofino Bay Hotel, which is on the lagoon, a short boatride from Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

The screaming. The righteous indignation. The bulging veins on the neck. Over the years I have watched as family and friends have fought tooth and nail for customer service to right a wrong. I get it. If you buy an item, attend a show, or eat a meal at a fancy restaurant that is sub par, you want a refund or be compensated. But, screaming until you are hoarse is not a productive use of your time.

This time last weekend I had a good customer service experience. I was at a conference, working as a volunteer. I had assignments to complete. I was obligated to do certain tasks. I shipped a package to the hotel that I needed to do my job. The package never arrived. Never. I checked at the front desk all three days. I even walked down to the loading dock. No sign of it. On the final day well after my volunteer duties were done the hotel staff found my package. The envelope was clearly labeled, but the package was stashed in a room that I only looked in once. Now, what was I going to do?

I did what I needed to do. I complained to the manager. She was sympathetic, but didn’t offer any compensation. I didn’t expect her to. I pressed she offered one night free. Nope. One night free wouldn’t do. I was unable to do my job the entire conference. I countered with a free stay. She was not agreeable. Why wouldn’t she be? But, I pressed on. She finally agreed to comp my share of the room I was sharing with two other attendees.

This weekend we’re in an other hotel. Not a business trip for me or my husband, but a day or two away over the holiday weekend. We opened the door to our room last night. Noticed the lack of a sleep sofa. Immediately called down for a rollaway cot to be delivered. The front desk staff told us there were no cots left. Understandable as it is a holiday weekend, but we needed a place for our 8-year-old to sleep. I twas pushing 10 p.m. I pushed for a room change. A room with a sleep sofa was found. I requested that the bellman come up to our room with a luggage cart. 30 minutes later our son was asleep.

At one point in the evening our girls suggested that our son sleep in one of the double beds. I talked to them about not settling. Standing your ground. Pushing forward for what is right. It’s OK to settle at times. I have certainly had meals in restaurants that have been so-so. I rarely complain or return the food to the waiter. But, if I have a bad meal, I probably won’t return to the restaurant.

What do you do when customer service fails?