One of the perks of being self-employed is that our schedule is pretty flexible.

Sure, we often have deadlines to meet, and my evenings are typically filled with working, but overall, it leads to a pretty flexible lifestyle.

However, leaving town can get a bit stressful – making sure you have everything squared away can feel like a job in and of itself!

Since I’m sure a lot of our readers leave town every now and then, I thought I’d share a list of all the things you should do before you leave on vacation (some of which I learned the hard way!).

Let me know if I missed anything!

Put your mail (and newspaper) on hold

Once upon a time, we left town for about a month. We were living in Utah at the time, and I thought I had put our mail on hold.

Well, I didn’t. And we came home to a notice in our mailbox saying that the house was vacant and all mail had been sent back to the sender.

I just about cried, as we had several checks that had come during the time, as well as Christmas cards. I was so devastated, and I felt so silly for not holding my mail!

You can always have someone come pick up your mail, but if you will be gone for longer than a few days, I do recommend putting a hold on your mail through USPS, as well as pausing your newspaper (if you get one). Nothing screams, “I’m not home!” more than a pile of newspapers on your front porch.

Still, I would recommend having someone keep an eye out for packages from places like USPS or FedEx! You can have a security camera monitor this as well, so you can send someone over if something arrives.

Make a Checklist

I always forget something unless I make a checklist. No matter how on top of things I am, I will always leave something important behind if I don’t make a list.

My mom would always put a list on the door before we left, and we wouldn’t leave until every item was checked off. I’ve started doing the same!

Consider Home Security

When we bought our home, we were bombarded with offers for home security. And to be honest, it was pretty tempting.

While we live in a pretty safe neighborhood, I’d be lying if I said I was 100% confident when we left town that our house was totally safe. However, I’ve always been wary about signing up for an expensive home security plan.

Fortunately, we live in a time where there are many affordable home security options (and no, I’m not talking about building a moat around your house ;-).

Put Lights on Timers

I think it’s important to give the illusion that someone is home, even when you are gone. While I don’t recommend keeping your light on at all hours, I think it’s a good idea to have your lights on some of the time.

There are different smart switches you can buy or smart lightbulbs that make putting your lights on a schedule even easier. We use the GE Smart plug, which is great and compatible with the LG Smart Security app.

Find Someone to Check In

Whether you are having someone get your mail, water your plants, or just keep an eye on things, I think it’s good just to let someone know you are going out of town.

For instance, whenever our neighbor leaves, he lets us know, just so we can be aware of any funny business that might go on. I think it’s just helpful to have someone paying a little extra attention.

Put a car in the driveway

This obviously won’t always be a possibility (for instance, if you just have one car), but if you can, move a car into your driveway. My parents always did this when we would leave town when I was growing up. Again, just back to the idea of giving the illusion that you are home.

Call your bank and check your bank account

It’s always good to call your bank when you are leaving town. We’ve had a few instances where we’ve been out of town, and they put a hold on our account for a bit for “suspicious” activity. Super grateful that they are so vigilant, but it can be inconvenient having to verify your purchases with them!

My bank has a place in their mobile app where you can conveniently tell them you are traveling!

You should also make sure you have enough money in your bank account, and also withdraw some cash. Traveling without cash is not a good idea!

Paper Copies of Itinerary

There has been a time or two where our phones have died before we had a chance to look up where we were staying. While we usually have a charger, it doesn’t always happen. It’s good to not always just rely on technology.

Have Copies of Important Documents

Birth certificates (if you are flying with a lap child), passports, etc.

Cut the grass

Turn down the thermostat

There is no reason to pay for heating or air conditioning while you are gone. We have forgotten a time or two, and it’s never fun to pay a huge heating bill during the winter when you were gone for three weeks!

Of course, make sure that you don’t turn it down too low. No one wants to deal with frozen pipes! But turning it down a bit is a great idea. There are smart thermostats nowadays that you can use to control the temperature from your smartphone while you are away, so that’s another thing to consider.

Unplug Appliances, etc.

Unplug anything that doesn’t need to be plugged in! It decreases the risk of fires happening while you are away, and it helps you conserve energy.

Check the dishwasher and washing machine

You do not want to come home to a smelly house or mildewy clothes. Make sure everything is out and put away.

Pay your bills

Do you want to worry about paying bills while you are on vacation? Of course not! If your bills aren’t on autopay, just pay them before you go.

Clean Out Fridge

Same thing as the dishwasher and washing machine thing – if there is any food that will spoil or rot while you are away, throw it out.

Take out the Trash

Tidy Up and Make Bed

Coming home to a messy house is never fun. You don’t have to deep clean everything before you leave, but I think it’s a good idea to at least make things feel comfortable. I don’t think anyone wants to come home – probably exhausted from traveling – to a huge mess.

And really, there’s nothing better than the first night back in your own bed!

Charge Electronics

Turn email to auto response

If you don’t get a lot of emails, this isn’t a big deal. But if you do (especially if you work), it’s just common courtesy to put up an away message!

The post Vacation Checklist: 19 Things to do Before Leaving on Vacation appeared first on Magical Family Travel Guide.

Best Disneyland Apps

Over the past few years, we have gone to Disneyland three times – it’s easily becoming one of our favorite places.

When I went about ten years ago, there really weren’t apps that you could download for your trip. I remember purchasing a program that allowed you to plan out your day, print it off, and it told you the plan you should take to make for the best time.

It was nice, but it was also a little cumbersome! So when we went a few years ago, I was THRILLED to see that a lot of progress had been made in that respect. There are so many great Disneyland and Disney World apps available – including official ones from the parks that make life so much easier.

So today, I am going to share the best Disney World and Disneyland Apps that will hopefully make your trip a little bit more magical and fun.

If you are hoping to go to Disneyland, be SURE to check out Get Away Today! They have the best prices and perks around, plus if you use my code ClarksCondensed, then you can get $10 off any package. They have amazing layaway plans that just have to be paid off two weeks before you leave!

Originally posted in 2015 – updated October 2018. 

Disney Official Apps:

Before you leave on your Disneyland or Walt Disney World vacation, you’ll want to make sure you download the official Disney Park app for either park. if you download just one app, this should be it.

Both of these apps give you wait times for rides, entertainment schedules, where you can meet characters, restaurant menus and so much more. Although they are very similar, you’ll want to be sure to know the differences between the two before you go.

This is why I’ll give you a detailed explanation of what you can do with both apps below, so you’ll be a Disney app expert before you even step into the park. Luckily, both are available for free on iOS and Android devices.

Disneyland App:

Like I mentioned before, the Disneyland app is filled with ways to make your vacation experience as seamless as possible. At the top of the app, you’ll be able to see a map of both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Not only will you be able to see where attractions are located, but this is where you’ll also be able to view wait times and character locations. Plus, you can also view dining areas, entertainment locations, restrooms, shops and more. This map alone is extremely useful when you’re on
your trip.

In addition to the map, the Disneyland app will let you view Park Hours for the day, as well as Today’s Showtimes. But, some of my favorite parts of the app are where you can reserve dining to your favorite restaurants, use mobile ordering and purchase MaxPass.

If you’re not sure what MaxPass is, it’s a feature within the Disneyland app that lets you reserve FastPasses directly from your mobile device. This way, you don’t need to worry about running back and forth from Disneyland and Disney California Adventure to get FastPasses for your favorite attractions (learn more about the Disneyland MaxPass here).

Plus, MaxPass also includes PhotoPass for the entire day that you purchase it. With PhotoPass, you’ll be able to download any photos you take with a Disney Cast Member Photographer or ride photos directly onto your phone. PhotoPass is the perfect way to save vacation memories. While MaxPass is $10 per person/day, it’s well worth the cost for the convenience.

However, if you’re not looking to spend any extra cash, make sure you take advantage of Mobile Ordering. This feature on the Disneyland app will let you order meals directly from your phone, so you can skip the line and chow down. There are currently 18 restaurants to choose from in both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, so you’re sure to find something everyone can agree on. The best part?

This feature is completely FREE!

Let me tell you, it’s SO nice just to breeze past everyone in line and pick up your food.

My Disney Experience:

My Disney Experience is Walt Disney World’s official app, and while similar to the official Disneyland app, the entire Walt Disney World vacation experience is completely different. As you might know, when you travel to Walt Disney World, you usually start planning for FastPass+ and dining reservations at least 30 days in advance and even 60+ days if you’re staying at a Walt Disney World property. This means that if you’re traveling to Walt Disney World, you’ll want to download this app well before you leave on vacation.

Unlike Disneyland, Walt Disney World does not have the MaxPass feature. However, Walt Disney world will allow you to make FastPass+ selections up to 30 days in advance, starting at 7:00 a.m eastern time.

So, if you’re looking to glide on the newest attraction, Avatar Flight of Passage, you’ll want to set your
alarm to make sure you snag a reservation.

With the app, you can plan up to 3 FastPass+ experiences for each day of your vist. Once you arrive, the FastPass+ selections will be linked to your MagicBand or card. Luckily, once you enjoy all 3 FastPass+ selections, you can start reserving more within the same-day. As a tip, book all of your FastPass+ selections in the morning so you can choose even more throughout the day.

While Walt Disney World does have Mobile Ordering, you’ll want to consider reserving your dining as soon as you possibly can. You can do this through the app or online, up to 60 days before your reservation or 180 days before if you’re staying on a Walt Disney World Resort property. If you can, try to snag reservations to popular restaurants like Be Our Guest Restaurant and Ohana as soon as they become available. However, if you didn’t get it the first time, you can keep checking to see if any time
slots have opened up.

Since Walt Disney World is much larger than Disneyland, the map feature becomes especially helpful when trying to find dining locations, resort hotels, character experiences and even other parks. To change the park map that you’re seeing, just select the “Filter” option in the top, left-hand corner of your screen.

Other Disneyland Apps

Where in Disney? 

I was recently told about the “Where in Disney?” app, and let me tell you, I think it’s one of the coolest apps for Disney visitors. It’s only for Disney World, but it helps you search and find souvenirs (such as an Elsa plus doll), gluten free snacks, restaurant menu items, services, and more. It works with all the theme parks at Disney World, as well as Downtown Disney. The free app is awesome, but if you upgrade to the new one, it will show you photos to help you identify what you are looking for and it uses Google Maps to help you find things even quicker. I think it’s an awesome app to help you spend less time searching for things at Disney and more time having fun!

Anaheim Disneyland Guide & Map

This app is awesome because it can help you find your way not just around Disneyland, but all of Anaheim. We all know that Disneyland has crazy expensive food prices, so it’s not usually an option for everyone to eat every meal there. I really liked this app because it helps you find lots of different restaurants in the area, as well as things to do in the area (in case you get burnt out from the ol’ Mouse!)

Mouse Memo

This is just a tool to help you keep yourself organized while at Walt Disney World! You can put all your itinerary information into it (such as hotel confirmation numbers and addressess/phone numbers, flight information, etc.) You can also view all the restaurants at Walt Disney (and search for them by type of food, cuisine, etc.) and even make a reservation at one.

Walt Disney World Main Street Windows

I don’t know why, but this one seems SO cool to me! Basically, it helps you have a walking tour of Disney World Main Street! It has all sorts of information on the history, secrets, and stories of different windows of Main Street at Disney World. This could be a really fun activity to do with your family when you are taking a break from the rides.

Disney World Hidden Mickeys and Disneyland Hidden Mickeys

There are hidden Mickeys throughout all of Disney World (and Disneyland!) This app is great for those who are wanting to find them all and learn some fun stories along the way. It’s a guided tour that would be a lot of fun to do with your family, or whatever group you are with. It includes pictures of the Mickeys for the beginning tour, and for the more “advanced”, it leaves out the Mickeys so you can try and find them yourself.

Disneyland Secrets Gold and Disneyland Secrets Gold

This is just another app that tells you secrets and stories about Disneyworld. It has tons of trivia, and it can be fun for either leading up to a trip to Disneyworld, or as you’re walking through the streets!

Disneyland Secrets Gold

From what I’ve read, this is one of the best apps that you can download before you go to Disneyland. It not only has 2D GPS maps of Disneyland, Downtown Disney, and California Adventure, but it allows you to selcect which rides, restaurants, and stores you want to visit and place them on your customized map so you can plan your day! It also shows the wait times for different times, right on the map. It will even send you a text reminder to tell you when to get to a ride at a specific time.

It also lists the times of different events at Disneyland (such as Character meet & greets and parades), tons of information on menus, a live WebCam of different areas, information on rides, trivia, and more. It even tells you where to find wall chargers. There are a lot more awesome features though, so if you want an all-in-one app for Disney, I’d say this would be a great option.

Plus… more Disneyland events & times, more restaurants now with pictures, more menus, add in-app pictures & notes on over 400 pages, LIVE WebCam, customizable wait times list, Character Meet times & locations, Passholder blackouts, more shows, ride info, videos, park pics, trivia.

Disney World Wait Times/Disneyland Wait Times by Versa Edge

These are some more apps that offers wait times, though the unique feature it offers is that you can submit your own wait times (and others can to), which can sometimes be more accurate than just waiting for Disney to update them. You can see the history of wait times as well, so you can kind of gauge if it’s a ride that’s always busy, or if kind of ebbs and flows throughout the day.

Disney World Dining and Disneyland Dining by VersaEdge

 Just some more apps that offer dining options – you can browse by type of food, location, organize a dining schedule based on your reservations, etc. It’s not the coolest app, but it doesn’t require you to connect to the Internet, so that can be helpful if you are using it on a device that doesn’t have data enable (Disney doesn’t have WiFi either.)

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Don’t forget to check out this other awesome post on Disney vacations!

The post 7+ Must-Have Disney World and Disneyland Apps appeared first on Magical Family Travel Guide.