All Things Travel Podcast
Listen in each week with Creating Magic Vacations Travel Advisors and destination experts Ryan and Julie.
He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She is a Disney-loving, Maryland mom of 3 and a specialist in family travel.
Whether they're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories…it’s always All Things Travel.
All Things Travel Podcast
Disney Secrets Revealed: Hidden Gems and Unexpected Magic for Your Next Trip
Planning your family's Walt Disney World vacation? Most families focus on the big attractions, dining, and shows, but there's so much more to discover! In this episode, Ryan and Julie dive into the secret attractions and interactive experiences at Disney parks that will keep your kids entertained and make your trip even more magical. From scavenger hunts to themed challenges, we’ve got you covered!
✨ In This Episode, We Discuss:
- A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas at Magic Kingdom
- Disney’s DuckTales World Showcase Adventure at EPCOT
- Wilderness Explorers Challenge at Animal Kingdom
- Spike’s Pollination Exploration & Food Crawls at EPCOT Festivals
- KidCot Fun Stops at World Showcase Pavilions
- Hidden Pascals near the Rapunzel Bathrooms
- Batuu Bounty Hunters Adventure at Galaxy’s Edge
- Finding Dory’s Friends at The Seas Pavilion
- Interactive Mirror in the Mexico Pavilion (Coco-themed)
- How the Play Disney Parks App enhances your Disney experience
🎧 Whether you're a Disney regular or planning your first trip, these hidden activities will bring extra magic to your vacation. Don’t miss out!
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Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. Families planning their Walt Disney World vacation tend to focus on the big things, the attractions, their resort, the dining, the nighttime shows. But there are actually a lot of secret attractions that can add to your days and especially entertain your kids. And today we're gonna talk about those.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts. Ryan and Julie. I'm your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation, and she's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a special. Is in family travel, whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories. It's always, all things travel. All right, Julie, how are you doing this week?
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:This is a good week in Maryland. It's sunny. We were at the playground. I love this time of year, just super busy with work. There's so much going on behind the
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah. We are in spring. We are in spring break mode, aren't we when it comes to travelers?
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:We are, and I think this is the most amount of travelers I've ever had over spring break. And man, it's showing
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah. But it's fun. you spend time working on these trips. You spend time helping people get ready. and to actually see them do it right, you're getting the text from Magic Kingdom. You're getting the text from the beach that say, you know, everything's great. that's really a lot of fun, isn't it?
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:That makes it worth it. It absolutely makes it worth it. This year I've had a lot of last minute spring break travelers. so it's just been a lot of condensed work, but still really exciting. So many clients going to Disney.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:well, I just got back from a trip to Atlanta, and that was a lot of fun. I hadn't been to Atlanta in years and so we did all the touristy stuff. We met up with some of, Jasmine's family friends and just had a really good time. And I've got a couple weeks here before my spring break trip, and right after that I am headed to Europe for a river cruise, travel agent trip.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:That's amazing.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yes.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:hanging out.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:So it's gonna be a busy next, month. But, you know, that's what I enjoy doing. I enjoy getting out and learning and seeing and experiencing so that I can help folks when I come back.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:I am guilty of constantly checking flights right now, trying to plan a last minute trip, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Well, hey, before we talk about these great Disney secrets that Julie has put together today, I wanna remind you, if you have not gone back to last week's episode, are you thinking about a cruise? Because we break down how to choose the right ship and the right state room for your trip. So make sure you check that out.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:Okay, so. These are kind of broken down. I have two different sections. One is really like more main attraction type secrets, like the bigger ones, the bigger activities, and then a couple that are a little bit smaller. when I say secret attractions, I'm not saying like there's a ride hiding backstage that you don't know about.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Sure.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:about little things that can add to your day that you don't really know. Are there unless you're looking for them. these are usually little games, scavenger hunts, things like that, that the kids find a lot of fun. and can also be a really great addition to your trip, especially if it's not your first trip. if you've been there a couple times, done a lot of the attractions, seen a lot of the shows, these are things that you can add into your day to Keep things a little more fun, a little more
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:So this first one is over in the Magic Kingdom. It's called a Pirate's Adventure Treasure of the Seven Seas. this is based around the Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Jack Sparrow. You can go over to the Crow's Nest in Adventure Land and pick up a little talisman, and it's gonna allow you to read a secret treasure map.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:fun.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:What you do is you have to be there at least 30 minutes before Adventureland closes To access it, you use your magic band or your card to get that talisman, and there are five missions to complete. There's no time limit on the mission. And then you can start and restart throughout your day, which makes it fun. It's just a interactive treasure hunt all throughout Adventure Land. So that's a fun way to explore that land. as with all of these that we're gonna talk about, the great thing is there's no additional charge and anyone can do it, like a whole family activity.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah, that would be a fun thing for, maybe some older kids to go off and do themselves if they want to get away from the rest of the family. Or, a parent could take the little kids and go off and do this. I really like that.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:All right, so tell us about the one over in
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Okay, so Disney's Duck Tail's World Showcase Adventure. Scrooge McDuck is hot on the trail of some of the world's most precious ancient artifacts, and you can help using the play Disney Parks mobile app. it runs from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM at Epcot. You are going to seek the seven plunder of the world. You're gonna join Scrooge McDuck, his nephews and friends as a travel around world showcase on Quacky quests to find the priceless lost magic treasures and return them to their rightful owners. So here's what happens, Mr. Mc. Duck is sending you and his relatives to keep these priceless artifacts from getting into the wrong hands as part of that, you're going to be exploring treasures hidden in the following country. Pavilions, Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. you need to be prepared to assist Huey, Dewey Louie and Webby as they follow clues, defeat villains, and uncover the artifacts.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:So again, the great thing about this is it's free, it's in your play Disney Parks app, which
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yep.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:talk about again later on at the end.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Love it.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:over an animal kingdom. This one's like a little bit more well known. I feel like this is the Wilderness Explorers. you can follow in the footsteps of Russell from the Disney Pixar film up and earn adventure Badges from around the park, you'll see that there's, kiosks around the park that'll
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:wilderness explorers. You get a little pamphlet and you set out on a series of fun nature themed challenges on your way to becoming an official wilderness explorer. these are self-guided activities. It could be an animal observation or learning important wilderness skills. There are up to 25 badges to earn the right to echo the Wilderness Explorer call, which I'm gonna avoid. Ryan, you can do the call if you'd like.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:I am good.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:so you can either complete the activities on your own, do it as a group. It's all ages. It's just a really fun thing you head over. To any of the kiosks and pick up the handbook. the best place to get that is on the bridge between the Oasis and Discovery Island or any of the troop leader locations in Africa. RAF's Planet Watch Asia, Dina Land, USA and Pandora.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:What I love about these, Julie, people, if you're a Disney family, quote unquote, People are like, why do you keep going back to the same place? And these activities are part of it? Because every trip is different. You don't have to do these on every trip, but if you're looking for something else to do or you've done your favorites. And maybe the lightning lane lines aren't working in your favor, or you don't wanna spend money for Lightning Lane that day. You just want to hit a couple of your favorites and enjoy the park. This is the type of thing that you can do that's completely different and totally fun.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:And it also allows you to interact with those spaces a little differently than just running from one attraction
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Right, right.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:allows you to get really immersed and really look for things.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:So the next one are the scavenger hunts and food crawls at the Epcot festivals. You know that I have done these with my family. I'm gonna highlight the Flower and Garden Festival with spike's pollination exploration, because that's the one going on right now. you follow a scavenger hunt with spike the bee on his pollination trail. He will be busy. Collecting nectar and pollen along the way. you purchase a scavenger hunt map and stickers at, select merchant locations, and it's 9 99 plus tax. And basically what you're gonna do is you're gonna search for spike all over World Showcase, and add a sticker to your map after, you discover him at each place. You're gonna take your map back to Disney Traders, the creation shop, or the world traveler, and get a prize for doing so. And so, I've done this with my kids. This is a lot of fun.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:Okay. So then about the food crawls, the one that's going on right now for Flower and Garden Festival is called the Garden Grays Food Stroll. all the festivals are gonna have different ones around, Christmas time. It's a. Christmas cookie stroll, the way it works is you use your festival passport, which are little books you pick up near where the maps are, or inside any of the merchandise locations. That passport is free. You use this as a guide to find and purchase five garden grays menu items and collect a stamp for each. you take your Stamped festival passport to the pineapple promenade near the port of entry to receive a festival treat. So. year it's gonna detail like the specific items you have to get.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Right.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:these are the items you have to try, or at least these are the list of
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:garden Grace, the Grilled Street, corn on the crab from beach grub. The coconut chocolate fla cacho from Lala Fresca. Potato pancakes in Germany, fruit parfait from the refreshment outpost, which actually sounds lovely. Sweet chili sauce and dole with mango.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yes, please.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:right a Jamaican beef patty featuring impossible beef over at the refreshment port. A farmhouse meatball, which is also impossible. Beef from Talon Trellis, a lumpia from Citrus Blossom. The Lemon Tart from Citrus Blossom, the biscuits and gravy with impossible sausage from brunch co, and avocado toast from brunch Co. So there's more than five items there. You just
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Sure.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:in order to get the free item, when I did the one at Food and Wine, the free item you got was like some sort of specialty drink. It could be a mocktail or a cocktail, things like that, or a specialty dessert. so that can change too. But I like how they have, not like these are the five things. It gives you a range of options.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Absolutely. you have some more to share with us today, Julie, but before we do, I wanna talk about where in the world is all things travel. When I looked at new locations this week, levy Quebec came up, and Levy Quebec is a city that is on the other side of the St. Lawrence River from. Quebec city. you can go there several different ways. There is a historic bridge that allows you to, drive or this is how I would do it. There's a 12 minute ferry that takes you from Old Quebec City to old levy. Quebec. both of these areas have old town, areas. So you can explore what, Canada was like back in olden times and learn about history and see all sorts of fun stuff. I like those locations. it sounds like there's a lot to do and see. And Levy, Quebec.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:Awesome.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:All right. Bonjour Levy, we are glad you are listening to all Things Travel. reach out to either Julie or myself. you can do that on the website, all things travel podcast.com.'cause I would love to send a little thank you note all the way up to Quebec For being featured on the show. And fun fact, Julie, when I was living in Vermont and my daughter was a toddler, we would get a kids station from Quebec on our cable. she would watch all these Canadian shows, sometimes in French, sometimes in English, but she just thought it was really cool.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:What a fun little fact.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:All right, so we've got some more to discuss. What's the next one, Julie?
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:So these are kind of like smaller gems, lesser known interactions that you can do throughout the park. The first one is in Epcot, and this is finding Dory's friends, a fantastic scavenger hunt. this is a small booklet you can Pick up at a kiosk inside the Seas Pavilion. It's featured around the movie Finding Dory. It has stickers, it has riddles, it has trivia, it has coloring. This is a great thing to grab and take with you to dinners in the parks
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:The next one is in the, Mexico Pavilion at Epcot, and this is the Mirror de los Motos, I've done this with my son before. This is an interactive mirror that allows you to customize a skeleton to transport yourself to the land of the dead from the movie Coco, you tap your magic band and start putting your, avatar, if you will, together. And it's just a lot of fun to make your customized skeleton.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:That is a fun one and you can easily walk right past it. If you don't know it's
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah, what I love about These activities are like when you're walking around Disney and people are doing something, but it isn't associated with anything you really know about. So you're like, What is going on? What are they doing? And you feel like you're in the know, right.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:this next one is really fun and my kids do this one a lot. This is over in Magic Kingdom in Fantasy Land by the famous Rapunzel bathrooms, which a lot of people would argue are the best bathrooms.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:They possibly could be.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:There are 10 hidden pascals around the bathrooms. some are up high, some are down low. They're hidden all over the place, and it's just a fun activity to sit there, take a break, have a snack, and try to find all the pascals.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:I love this next one. I've done it several times. It is a really cool thing if you are a Star Wars fan, and this is the be two bounty hunters you use the Disney Parks Play app and your Magic Band Plus. So you need a magic band plus to do this, and it sends you on different. missions and you basically go around batou and you find different bounties to collect and it's a lot of fun.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah. The only caveat with that one, that's the only other one that you would have to pay for or invest in some way.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah, to get that magic band Plus, but as more and more people are getting those, Again, it's to pass the time, to have another adventure when they go to Disney. I really like it.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:All right. And the last. One here is the kid cut. Fun stops. This is something I put on every single one of my touring itineraries when I have families with kids. my kids love to do this. This is around all the 11 countries of World Showcase. Kids can collect traveler activity cards.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yep.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:each country and it will have a fun fact celebrating the country's cultures or traditions. And then on the back of the car, there's a little coloring scene, there's stickers, and there's gonna be a little markers or or crayons there. There's also gonna be a cast member there that is from that country. they think it's fun to color, but they're also getting a little bit of exposure to that country's culture.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah, I would say too, one of the things that I really like about the Kid Cot Fun Stops is especially if you were taking advantage of the festivals. This is a good time for one adult to stay with the kids and another adult to go grab something from the kiosks or go grab a drink the kids are taken care of, they're having fun. one adult can take care of getting stuff, the other adult can stay there with them. I think it's really smart, what they have in Epcot
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:Yeah, it tends to be like inside of a shop or something like that. So they're fairly easy to find. I have to like pull my kids away from these a lot and be like, we're leaving. We're going to the next country. And I think all these are just a great example of. the level of service that Disney provides, just going the extra mile, having an extra thought of these extra activities to do. They just add a little bit of magic. they don't have to have coloring activities in each country in Epcot. they don't have to have little scavenger hunts. Going on throughout the parks, there's a ton to do. But I love these small, interactive experiences, things like the wilderness explorers that really have a great callback to the movie. it just makes everything feel more immersive. so the last thing I just wanna do a little mention for, and we mentioned this a few times earlier, is the play Disney Parks app. This was something that was really big when it first came out, and it's kind of like everyone's forgotten
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:To, to be honest, I kind of forgot about it until you brought it up today.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:We use it sometimes. it's been around for a while. I can't remember when it launched, but it's actually really cool my kids are a little too young for it, but if you've got older, elementary, middle, or high schoolers, this is a great addition. the way I used to use it a lot, it's a separate app from my Disney experience It knows where you are in the park. So for example, if you are in the queue at Peter Pan's flight, it's gonna send you games that go along with the queue. Like, look for these five things and check them off. if it knows you're walking by and attraction, it will send you a trivia question, things like that. And I just think that's a really great way to pass the time. We used to use it a lot at the Peter Pan line. We've used it at Toy Story Manias Line, and it's just really fun things to pass the time.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:I love that. You wanna plan a trip to an amazing destination, but you don't know how to get started. As your travel advisors, we work with you to create a customized itinerary for your vacation and take the stress of planning away so you can focus on the fun and creating memories. You can reach us at all things travel podcasts.com. We look forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel When I'm joined by Amy Graham from Kensington to talk about their family heritage, travel options. I just got back from Nashville. I'm in between a couple trips.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:Nashville.
ryan_1_03-18-2025_140810:nope, not Nashville at all. That's gonna go at the end.
j_1_03-18-2025_140810:Jasmine's gonna be like you did. were you with?
