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Universal Orlando Resort: Where to Stay & Play for a Few Days

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My recent stay at Universal Orlando Resort was so much fun and I’m going to share and highlight my favorite moments with you. First and foremost, I stayed at the Cabana Bay Beach Resort on the property which allowed me early access (one hour) to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™. It was my first time experiencing Diagon Alley™. I took advantage of the complimentary shuttle service to Universal Studios Florida and was able to … [Read More...]

Life & Style

Navigating Disney World During a Pandemic

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I recently had an opportunity to visit Walt Disney World as part of my Goofy Getaways FAM Training. It was exciting and I was a bit anxious because even though some restrictions are being lifted, guidelines are more relaxed, and travel is starting to … [Read More...]

Strike a pose at Pose Selfie Studio

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I recently had an opportunity to visit the NEW Pose Selfie Studio in Raleigh, NC with my daughter and it was so much fun. The great thing about this studio is that you have all the tools you need to capture your perfect photos alone or you can go … [Read More...]

Taste the Flavors of St. Thomas USVI

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I am excited to be collaborating with my fellow foodie lover Hannah Victoria on this listing of places to eat in St. Thomas USVI whether you are visiting or local to the island. We are giving you our personal opinions based on our dining experiences … [Read More...]

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Travel

Navigating Disney World During a Pandemic

By

I recently had an opportunity to visit Walt Disney World as part of my Goofy Getaways FAM Training. It was exciting and I was a bit anxious because even though some restrictions are being lifted, guidelines are more relaxed, and travel is starting to … [Read More...]

Taste the Flavors of St. Thomas USVI

By

I am excited to be collaborating with my fellow foodie lover Hannah Victoria on this listing of places to eat in St. Thomas USVI whether you are visiting or local to the island. We are giving you our personal opinions based on our dining experiences … [Read More...]

Food

Rosé All Day at Seasons 52

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I recently had the opportunity to experience the Seasons 52 Summer Menu paired perfectly with Rose cocktails. The menu changes with the season and I can really appreciate that. My reservation was for 7:00pm and it … [Read More...]

How I Made My Birthday Special at Disney's Animal Kingdom

When my birthday landed on a Tuesday, I had two choices: let the day pass with a quick lunch and a polite round of messages, or build a memory that would stay with me for years. I chose the second option and booked a solo day at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando. After too many trips where I treated the park as a checklist, I wanted this visit to feel different, slower, and more intentional.

The flight from Australia is long no matter how you slice it. I had flown out of Sydney a week earlier to catch up with friends in Florida, and the jet lag from crossing sixteen time zones was still nudging me awake at odd hours. Daylight saving shifts between New South Wales and the US east coast meant my body kept tricking itself into thinking it was tomorrow already. I worked around it by booking an early entry pass, which gave me a quiet hour inside the gates before the crowds poured in.

What changed this time was that I stopped rushing. In the past, I had measured park days in rides ticked off, snacks sampled, and photos snapped for the family group chat back in Brisbane. On this birthday, I let myself linger near animal enclosures, read the small plaques that usually blur past, and sat on shaded benches long enough to actually notice the sounds of the park. That shift made the whole day feel like a gift I was giving myself.

I also decided ahead of time that I would not compare this celebration to the kinds of big nights out I am used to back home. In Sydney or Melbourne, a birthday usually means a long dinner, a table at a busy restaurant, and splitting the bill with friends who all know the rules about tipping and BYO. Animal Kingdom offered something quieter, and the unusual setting turned out to be exactly what I needed to mark another year.

Starting the morning with a quiet safari

The gates opened at 7:30 AM for early entry guests, and I was third in line at the Kilimanjaro Safaris entrance. I had packed a small backpack with sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, and a protein bar from an Australian supermarket brand that I had tucked into my suitcase before leaving Adelaide. Watching the sun rise behind the safari trucks, with the savanna grasses catching the first light, felt like a private show.

Most visitors rush straight to the safari and then bolt for Expedition Everest, but I lingered near the flamingo pond and watched a keeper chat with guests about the birds' habits. I learned that flamingos are not born pink, which I had heard before but never really absorbed until that moment. The African wildlife painted across the savanna stretched out ahead of me, and I felt completely absorbed by the stillness.

Halfway through the ride, our driver pointed out a white rhino resting in the grass. The animal seemed unbothered by the truck, and the entire queue around me fell quiet. Back home in Australia, I am used to seeing kangaroos on the edges of golf courses, but watching a rhino doze in golden morning light was a different kind of wildlife encounter. I took a photo but, more importantly, I sat with the moment.

Discovering details I had missed on past visits

After the safari, I wandered toward Asia and stopped at the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I had walked past this trail on earlier trips, always chasing the next thrill ride. This time I followed the path slowly, watching tigers prowl behind the trees and reading the small signs about the conservation work Disney funds in partnership with the Disney Conservation Fund.

I spent a full twenty minutes at the Komodo dragon exhibit, which had been reworked since my last visit. The dragons moved slowly across the rocks, and a cast member nearby explained how temperature changes affect their activity. It struck me how often I had skipped past these small educational moments in the rush to beat the queues. I bought a pressed penny from a nearby machine, which is a habit I had picked up as a kid in Sydney whenever my family visited Luna Park.

Later in the afternoon, I drifted into Rafiki's Planet Watch and took the wildlife express train across the park. The train ride gave me a chance to sit, watch the landscape slide past, and listen to soft music piped through the speakers. It was the kind of slow travel moment I would normally associate with a road trip down the Great Ocean Road, not a theme park in Florida.

Choosing a meal that felt like a celebration

By midday, I was hungry and wanted a proper sit-down lunch rather than a quick-service wrap. I had booked a late lunch at Tiffins, the signature restaurant near the entrance, and the reservation felt like the centrepiece of my day. The dining room was calm, the windows looked out over a small water feature, and the menu leaned heavily on global flavours.

I ordered the charred octopus starter and the slow-braised short rib, both of which arrived looking more like art than lunch. The waiter noticed the birthday pin I had picked up at guest services and brought a small dessert with a candle, which I was not expecting. Sitting there with a candle flickering in front of me, I thought about how Australians normally mark birthdays with pavlova at a family barbecue, often under a string of lights in someone's backyard. Tiffins felt like the opposite end of the spectrum, and I loved every minute of it.

The bill arrived in US dollars, and I did some quick mental maths to convert it back to Australian dollars while keeping in mind that value-added tax is already baked into the US price rather than added at the register. Tipping in the US is a different rhythm than what I am used to back home, where service is included and rounding up the bill is the norm. I left a generous tip because the service had been genuinely attentive.

Adding personal touches that made the day my own

A few small choices turned the park visit into something more personal. I bought a pair of Animal Kingdom ears from a merchandise kiosk, something I had resisted on past trips because I thought they were silly. Wearing them around the park drew friendly comments from strangers and made it easy for the photo pass photographers to find me in a crowd. I also picked up a refillable mug and treated myself to hot drinks throughout the day, leaning into the flat white habit I had carried over from Melbourne.

I made a point of stopping for a photo in front of the Tree of Life on my way out, just as the light was starting to soften. Crowds were thinning because many families had already left for dinner reservations elsewhere. Standing there with my ears, a full stomach, and a phone full of slow moments, I felt the kind of happiness that does not need a big audience. The Tree looked different without a hundred phones raised in front of it.

One small detour made the day feel connected to my broader travel plans. Earlier in the year I had bookmarked a detailed guide to spending a single day in St. Thomas, and reading it again while waiting for the bus back to my hotel reminded me how different each island visit can feel. You can read the full guide if you want to compare park days with port days, but I will save that energy for the next trip.

Practical ideas for marking a birthday at Animal Kingdom

If you are weighing whether a theme park is worth your birthday, here are a few suggestions that helped me shape the day into something memorable without turning it into a stress test.

Walking back to my hotel that evening, with the Florida humidity sticking to my shirt and a complimentary birthday cupcake wrapper still in my pocket, I felt strangely peaceful. A birthday does not have to be loud to feel full. Sometimes the best gift is a quiet morning on a fake savanna, a slow lunch in a quiet dining room, and a handful of moments you actually remember.