Summer 2024 Updates
A lot has happened in the last year, and some very exciting things come up for the future!
Author: Northwoods Thornes
White Pass and Yukon Route Railway
The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway is one of the most popular excursion spots in Skagway, Alaska. The White Pass Summit excursion is a specific tour offered, and by far one of the best when you’re limited on time.
Shades of Green Resort
Shades of Green at Disney World resort is a special hotel located on Disney property. Shades of Green is an Armed Forces Recreation Center Resort, not a “Disney Resort” even though it is on Disney property and has a lot of the same perks you get at a Disney Resort. This of course means you need to meet their eligibility criteria (be in or be former military, etc.) to be able to stay here.
Shades of Green has a good guide to eligibility on their website as it can be confusing with the different categories and ranks. Room rates are based on your current ranking. Check out their website for current rates and eligibility criteria.
the resort
Shades is truly a beautiful resort. As you walk in the lobby it gives a modern lodge vibe. The resort has enough amenities to keep you occupied even if you’re not going to the parks.
If you’re interested in golf the resort is quite literally steps away from a course. You can book your room to overlook the green so you never miss a minute. There are two pools and a kids aqua playground, an arcade, fitness center, and outdoor gardens.
Grab a quick bite as you’re headed out the door at the Express Cafe or have the full breakfast buffet experience at the Garden Gallery. Mangino’s is a full service Italian restaurant and grill, located right next to the Garden Gallery. If formal isn’t really your style grab pub style food and drinks at Evergreen’s Sports Bar by the pool. There is also a Java Cafe in the lobby that serves Starbucks coffee or ice cream if you’d rather.
There is a small Exchange near the front desk that has everything you might need on vacation. Beer, snacks, Disney apparel, deodorant, over the counter medications, you name it and they’ll have it. This is super handy if you forgot something or just don’t want to pay for alcohol at the bar while you’re staying.
visiting the parks
There are some major up-sides to buying your theme park tickets through Shades of Green. You can save up to 12% on tickets, pay no tax, and order ahead online so you can activate them on your Disney account. There is a PDF form you need to fill out and submit to get your tickets and validate your identity. If you’re looking for Universal Park tickets you can use the same form.
You don’t need to worry about transportation to the Disney parks from Shades of Green. There is a bus route that will take you from the front door of the resort to the bus depot of your park of the day. You do however, need a military ID and resort ID card (they give you this at the front desk) to board the bus in either direction. One set of verification for every 5 people works so you will be able to get your whole family on the bus.
There used to be a walkway between the Polynesian Resort and Shades of Green that everyone utilized to get to the monorail but the 2023 World Drive expansion project has shut down this path indefinitely. A major bummer, and you’re no longer allowed to walk past the guard house.
personal opinion
Shades of Green will hold a place in our hearts. You don’t need to leave the grounds to find something to do or to go to the store. If you are able to stay at Shades of Green we highly, highly recommend it. Their room rates are very affordable (in the Disney sense) and make it a breeze.
Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party Guide
Halloween is one of the most magical holidays to celebrate at Disney World. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is a must do event between August and October 31st.
Hollywood Studios Blog
The last park day is always bitter sweet, and even more so when it’s not your favorite park. I’m not sure what would be a better note to end on, your favorite park or your least favorite. It’s not that we dislike Hollywood Studios but it is not my favorite park. We got to the park for rope drop and made our way directly to Star Wars Smuggler’s Run. Everyone else had the same idea as us and the line was super long just minutes after the park opened. We left for Toy Story land after Smugglers Run, where we watched the Toy Soldiers drum show, rode Toy Story Mania and enjoyed the decor.
Our next Lightning Lane is for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, and we’re going to get lunch at Docking Bay 7 while we wait. I wanted to get the famous cocoa puff cold brew that you see online, and it took us a hot minute to find it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t great. Usually if I don’t like something Ben will finish it and in this case he didn’t even like it. Oga’s Cantina was on the bucket list of this trip, and we had a 1:00 reservation. I didn’t know when we made the reservation that the bar was a standing spot. We were super tired already and didn’t stay long so we wouldn’t end up leaning on the counters long. The Tower of Terror was the final ride of the day at Hollywood Studios, on the way to the boats to Epcot.
I still can’t believe we managed as much as we did, but we did a lap around the World Showcase before hopping over to Magic Kingdom on the Monorail. I had my first ever Dole Whip earlier this week and I thought it would be fitting to end the week with a Dole Whip too. We didn’t spend too much time at the Magic Kingdom as we wanted to try to get another reservation for Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto. It was a beautiful evening hanging out at the Polynesian. We were seated at a communal table at Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto and had a great conversation with the couple next to us. We stayed quite a while, and left with just enough time to grab a pair of Adirondack chairs on the beach to watch the fireworks display. I couldn’t have picked a better way to end our Disney trip.
Magic Kingdom Blog
Today is an action packed park day. The first half spent exploring Magic Kingdom, and the second half enjoying Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween.
Epcot Blog
Exploring Epcot in the morning then park hopping over to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon. We spent our evening at the Polynesian Resort hoping to see the fireworks.
What to Pack for a Cruise to Alaska
I have recently been made aware of how difficult it is to pack for an Alaskan cruise. I had spent the better part of a week trying to narrow down my outfit selection for our 9 day cruise, into a 50 pound suitcase. Ben and I packed 11 days worth of clothes, toiletries, shoes, camera gear and all necessities into two checked bags. This list is designed to help you pick out what is necessary and what is not if you’re also in a similar situation.
Trip Details
The trip details heavily influence what you should be willing to bring with you, and what you’ll be willing to leave at home. In our case, we flew to Seattle a day early, and flew home the same day we disembarked our cruise. We based our outfit choices carefully around our travel days, port days, and at sea days. We are thankful that the weather in Alaska closely mimicked Maine’s (our home state) weather patterns.
The time of year is an important detail you should note. Summer in Alaska may be hot, or it may be chilly. Bringing only shorts when you’re visiting in the summer could end up being a cold mistake. The weather when we visited in June was rainy, a little bit chilly, and sometimes sunny. I was quite happy with my choices of sweatshirts and leggings for the most part. Later in the summer when the heat picks up could be a different story.
Clothes
While trying to pack minimally and keep up with airline weight limits, you should try and pack as much as you can. In the shoulder seasons you will need a full spread of seasonal clothes. I highly suggest bringing pants and shorts you’d be willing to re-wear, and enough tops to last your trip. Laundry on cruise ships is either non-existent or very expensive.
Outerwear is a very important piece of your wardrobe. We brought raincoats, winter hats, gloves, puffy jackets, hiking shoes, and rain shoes…and we used them all. It is very windy on the top deck of the ships, and if you plan on spending any time walking around or glacier viewing you’ll want to be warm.
Formal wear is a category we chose to be lax in. We are the outdoor adventure type and leaned into that category more. We brought one set of nice clothes, each. The cruise line that we chose didn’t have any formal nights or specific clothing requirements for the dining rooms.
footwear
Narrowing down what shoes to bring was a difficult process for me when I was packing for our trip. We are very active and outdoorsy which complicated the process even further. Our final picks that we brought with us were crocs (don’t come for us), sneakers, hiking shoes, nice shoes, and rain booties for me. I had originally thought about bringing my full size Hunter rain boots and ended up going with UGG rain booties instead. In hindsight I would recommend XtraTuf, Grundens, or Huk rainbooties based on durability. Ben didn’t bring rain boots and was fine with his hiking boots even though they did get wet.
If you aren’t intending to be doing any hiking or any activities in the rain you could skip the hiking shoes, and I would still recommend waterproof shoes of some sort.
Toiletries and Supplies
If you are familiar with cruising you pack almost everything under the sun in your toiletries kit. Buying simple necessities onboard is quite expensive. I have a crap immune system and choose to travel with a “sick kit” so I don’t have to search out cold meds. When traveling to Alaska specifically I HIGHLY recommend a mini bug spray for your toiletries bag. Another forgettable item is sunscreen and aloe.
Misc.
These may seem like some odd-ball items to add to your suitcase but for me, they were all necessities.
We play cards often when we go out to eat or get drinks, and spent a lot of time doing just that on our cruise. The travel blanket I use is actually a hiking blanket I bought on amazon, and I used it a lot sitting on the balcony of our room. The waterproof bag comes in handy if you bring a backpack into town with you on port days. I had a waterproof bag that fit inside my backpack and held all of my camera gear and day clothes. We needed it when it started raining, and I used it on our kayaking tour. Which also leads me to the secondary ship bag. We brought a spare backpack to carry around the ship with us and to take on shore for port days. Bringing a reusable water bottle will save yourself from unnecessary trips to the buffet to get a cup of water. You can also use them on port days so you don’t have to buy bottled water. You may ask yourself if bringing a monocle or a pair of binoculars is worth it, and it certainly is.
We did not bring a power strip this trip and we regretted it. You have to check with your cruise line to see what their requirements are but most of the time NON-GFCI ones are allowed.
camera equipment
Photography and videography are a fun hobby for me, and bringing along just the right amount of equipment was a struggle. I brought my camera, a 50MM, 18-55MM, and 75-300MM lens. I don’t own a larger lens, though I wish I did. These lenses were more than enough for sightseeing, close distance whale watching, nature shots, kayaking, and glacier viewing. Sadly, there were a few missed opportunities when cruising the narrower channels where I couldn’t catch wildlife on shore. Someone was kind enough to let me borrow their 800MM lens to grab a photo of a grizzly bear, which was super cool. At that moment I wished I had my own set up because I wasn’t prepared for the shot.
I brought a monopod that I carried around regularly, and a tripod for when I thought I could set up. The monopod helped to stabilize but sometimes that wasn’t enough to ward off a case of the shakes.
I also brought a GoPro, spare battery set, and plenty of memory cards. I have made the mistake of forgetting extra memory cards and paid the price.
Overall, how you pack is going to be determined by what kind of activities you want to pursue, and what time of year you are going. Being prepared for all types of weather is a must. I hope this post helps you pack for your Alaskan cruise!
Epcot Guide
Epcot is the adults and couples dream park. Check out all the best things to see and do while you’re here.