On the first day of our trip we cheated on Disney and went to Universal to check out The Wizarding World of Harry Potter all decked out for the holidays! This was the first year that both parks were decorated and there was even a light projection show on Hogwarts Castle. The show goes off about every 20 minutes after dusk, which is super convenient if you can't be there at a specific time. There's just something so much more magical about Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley when they're decked out for the holidays!

We made sure to ride Escape From Gringotts and the Hogwarts Express while we were there since my sister hasn't been to Universal since Diagon Alley opened. We also rode The Mummy (one of my other faves) and the Jimmy Fallon ride. I was hoping to ride Hulk, since it's another favorite, but it wasn't working when we wanted to ride and we had so much else going on.

I dressed on theme by wearing a green snakeskin sweater even though I'm not a Slytherin. This was the only day I wore sandals on the trip because it was so cold! I brought these jeans hoping to wear them with sandals because they don't look good with boots, but warmth is more important than fashion so I wore them with boots the rest of the trip.

Cardigan: Banana Republic, Sweater: T.Babaton (Aritzia), Jeans: M.i.h Jeans 'Farrah' Tomboy cropped jeans (Net-a-Porter), Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Alethea' (bought in Greece), Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika'

A Disney Travel Guide

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I was in Florida earlier this week for a little vacation. I go to Florida a few times a year thanks to "free" flights with my Southwest credit card points (I pay $11.20 each round trip) and to make my Universal Orlando annual pass worth it.* Normally I stay at Universal because that's where my friends and I spend most of our time. Cabana Bay is our favorite place to stay, super fun!

Planning Our Trip

This trip, my friends and I decided to splurge and stay at Disney. We ended up booking a Royal Guest Room at Port Orleans - Riverside, and boy was it worth it! You're staying at Princess Tiana's palace and there are portraits of all the princesses on the walls. There are also tons of hidden touches like a faucet in the shape of Aladdin's magic lamp and fireworks on the headboards!

But What About Those Expensive Disney World Park Tickets?

Next on our list was Disney tickets. I won't lie to you. Disney tickets are PRICEY! My friends and I love Disney but don't go as often as we like because of that. Up until earlier this year we would get in free through friends who worked at Disney but most of them have left their jobs, so now it's up to us to get ourselves in.  Kristen and I knew at the point of booking this trip that we would be going at least one more time within the year so we decided to think about getting a Disney annual pass. They are far more expensive than our Universal ones so it was a big decision.

Basically, we had to figure out if we would go enough times in the 12 months to make the price per-day less than if we had bought tickets each time. After a lot of calculating, I figured out that the pass pays for itself after 8 (single-day) visits, 4 (2-day, 1 park) visits or 3 (2-day, any park) visits. Meaning if we took 3 trips in the year and went to Disney at least two days per trip, our passes are paid for! We already have a second trip planned during Universal's Celebration of Harry Potter so we'll only need one more.

How To Get Your Disney Annual Pass Cheaper

There are only deals on Annual Passes for Florida Residents or Disney Vacation Club Members. But there are other ways to get your Disney Annual Pass for less than retail. My route was to buy discounted gift cards. Here's how I did it for my Platinum Pass.

1. Decide what pass you need. I bought the Disney Platinum Pass. It is $779 ($829.64 with tax)
2. Buy $850 worth of gift cards from BJs for $816.92.
   
   • Costco also has gift cards for less than they're worth
   • Note: This is not the only way to get cheaper tickets. There is a way to do it with a Target Red Card but that's a bit more complicated so I didn't bother.
3. Combine them on to a single gift card via Disney's official Gift Card website.
4. Buy Annual Pass on Disney's website!
5. Bring your gift card and use what's left during your trip!
6. Don't forget to use your annual pass for discounts in stores and restaurants! Usually 10%

Throughout this year I will be keeping a spreadsheet to see how much money the pass ends up saving me in merchandise, dining and photos. My pass comes with Disney PhotoPass downloads which can be pretty pricey if you buy them for you trip. 30 days worth of downloads runs you $169 if you buy in advance and most people I know who vacation to Florida don't go twice in a month so it will add up.

What to Do

This trip we did a few super fun things that added to our experience (and price tag.) We visited Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios in only 3 days. Day one was spent between Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I'll share a bit more about each day when I post the corresponding outfits and will update this post with links to them as I'll include small guides to each park. But first, I'll share my 2 favorite parts of the trip:

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

To celebrate the Holidays and Christmas, Disney holds special evening events a few nights a week and closes down the park for only those with tickets. It is still crowded AND is a separately ticketed event (at around $100 a pop) but you're in the park without HOARDS of people from 7pm until midnight and get to enjoy free cookies, snacks and drinks! There are also special shows and parades specifically for the party. You can even get photos with some of your favorite characters. I attended the party last year so I already knew it would be a blast! This time we focused less on character photos and more on a fancy dinner (see below) and getting all those tasty snacks!

Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table

Ever since I heard you could have dinner in Cinderella's Castle I've been dying to go! The only problem is, reservations are almost impossible to come by! Disney lets you book dining reservations 180 days in advance so I attempted to get reservation for each of the days we were staying by getting up at 5am to be ready for the reservation drop. I struck out all 4 days. But by a happy accident I was reading a Disney blog one day and saw that they would be opening up reservations during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party later that day! I waited, my heart beating fast, for the tip of the reservation drop. I swooped in and snagged a 6:15 reservation for the day we'd be attending the party. While very pricey (about $79 per adult) the experience is totally worth it! I will share more next week when I post that outfit.

*Pro Universal Tip:

If you're going to Universal for more than 3 days, get a Seasonal Annual Pass, it's cheaper (make sure you check the blackout dates.) I have the Preferred Annual, which is a mid-range pass with no blackout dates. In addition to being good all year, you also get free parking AND 10% discounts at most stores and restaurants on property! Definitely worth it.

And now to my travel outfit! We arrived at the hotel around 8pm on Saturday so we didn't go anywhere that night. Mary Poppins was on TV so we lounged on our beds and relaxed.

Reindeer Sweater: J.Crew, Jeans: Mother (Marshalls), Boots: Vince Camuto 'Davilla' (Marshalls), Bag: Disney x Coach 'Patricia' with Mickey ears


And here are some photos of our room!

I have had this look saved since July to recreate with my crazy vintage suede jacket - first seen here. Whenever I browse through Net-a-Porter's new arrivals I always find outfit inspiration. One of my favorite things about Net-a-Porter is that they style pieces into full looks rather than just showing you the item with jeans. I find that so much more inspiring. This particular look is for the Valentino Fringed Beaded Suede Jacket and was super simple to recreate with light jeans a black top and pumps.

Vintage Suede Jacket: William Barry - Brandon Colorado (Vintanthromodern), Top: Cullen (Rue La La), Jeans: Everlane "The High-Rise Skinny Jean" in Mid-Blue, Shoes: Nicholas Kirkwood suede Prism pumps (NET-A-PORTER), Bag: Chanel Classic 2.55 Double Flap (Madison Avenue Couture)


The Inspiration:

Who doesn't love purple with a bit of leopard print? I've always enjoyed this outfit so I'm glad I was able to re-wear it recently. I also added in my Louis Vuitton Epi bag because the burnt orange was too perfect with the purple and white.

Sweater: Inis Crafts (Marshalls), Skirt: Chanel (Roundabout Resale), Heels: Miu Miu (eBay), Bag: Louis Vuitton Epi Leather Sac D'Epaule (HauteTrader)



The Original:

This blazer is one of my favorites. My blog friend Christine generously gave it to me a couple years ago because she was getting rid of it and knew I loved it. You can actually see her in it in this post from 2012! I wore it with super skinny jeans and over the knee boots to emphasize the oversized look. Funny how it makes my purse look less purple. My mom insists that it's burgundy but depending on my look it really is the "dark purple" that is on the tag.

Blazer: Evan Picone (from Christine),  Sweater: Everlane, Jeans: J Brand 'Maria' High Rise in Supreme (Gilt Groupe), Boots: Audrey Brooke 'Mirie' (DSW), Necklace: Indulgems (Gilt Groupe), Bag: Dark Purple Chloé Faye (eBay)

This is one of my favorite sweaters. It's nice and thick but still comfortable. It looks great with everything too! I remember I was so excited when I saw Jamie-Lee was selling it from her closet, she wore it better than I do though. And since it's almost Star Wars: The Last Jedi time (December 15th!!!) I decided to throw a little Star Wars to my outfit with my cute R2D2 pendant necklace!

Sweater: Witchery (Jamie-Lee's blog shop), Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop), Loafer: Burberry Prorsum (Net-a-Porter, another pair), Bag: Dark Purple Chloé Faye (eBay), R2D2 Necklace c/o Kohl's

Happy December!!!!! As is tradition, the day after Thanksgiving, my family went to find our perfect Christmas tree at Jones Family Farm in Shelton, CT. After finding our tree, we head to Grandma's for leftover turkey soup and sandwiches!

I've worn this sweater to get our tree almost every year since I bought it.  In 2014 I wore a fun llama sweater I had just got, but 2013, 2015, 2016 and now 2017 have been all about this Stella McCartney polar bear sweater! It just screams Christmas to me and will never go out of style.

The sweater's story on the blog started in 2011 when I featured it in a "dream" Christmas Tree picking outfit. Little did I know that the following year I would find it in The Outnet's clearance sale (going on now.) It was still pricey at $229, but far better than the regular price of $1075. I've successfully styled it in different ways each time. But this year I had to add another layer since I ran out of different colored tights.

Polar Bear Sweater: Stella McCartney (The Outnet), Faux Fur Vest: Simply Vera Wang c/o Kohl's, Rain Boots: däv (giveaway win), Sunglasses: Gucci, Eyeglasses chain: Tinksky (Amazon)


And now pictures of Jones Family Farm, where we've been getting our tree since I was little.