[00:00:00] Dana Stanley: Welcome back to the Laid Back Magic Way podcast. This is our report episode, which I do monthly, and it’s basically a roundup of just what I’m into right now. So report stands for Reading, eating, playing, obsessing. Recommending and treating. So I’m imagining you maybe like folding laundry or walking around target.

[00:00:24] Dana Stanley: So this is your moment to just kind of like not really use your brain and we can catch up and maybe you’ll walk away with a fun new thing to try. Hello and welcome to the Laid Back Magic Way podcast. I’m your host, Dana Stanley, creator of Laid Back Magic. As a mom of three, I know how tough it can be to find time to plan a Disney World trip.

[00:00:45] Dana Stanley: That doesn’t leave you feeling stressed or overwhelmed. That’s why I’m here to help moms like you create Disney vacations that feel even better than they look on paper here. We’re not chasing perfection, but creating our next favorite memories. So whether you’re brand new to Disney or looking to go deeper into the details.

[00:01:02] Dana Stanley: This podcast is your go-to for simple tips, mindset shifts, real life trip recaps, and expert insights to make your trip magical and manageable. New episodes drop every Monday, so be sure to subscribe so you never miss a moment. Okay, let’s dive in. Right now I’m reading the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, and I’m not finished it yet, but so far I don’t think it’s anything groundbreaking, but.

[00:01:29] Dana Stanley: That being said, there was one piece of advice that hit me a little bit, and the idea of just letting people have their own opinions about you. It’s like the classic, like what people think of me is none of my business, especially people you do not know, and just letting that be fine. If you’re not familiar with the book.

[00:01:52] Dana Stanley: It’s very popular and the overall cliff notes is let them after everything. To give an example, if you’re scared of people talking bad about you, instead of wasting your energy, trying to not make them talk bad about you, which is completely out of your control, it’s just let them talk bad about me. So I think of this, especially when it comes to social media of like, oh no, what if I say the wrong thing?

[00:02:17] Dana Stanley: What if I spell something wrong? And kind of just saying like, well, let them think I’m dumb. That’s actually so freeing. ’cause I, I know that’s a fear we all have of just saying or doing the wrong thing and how that’s gonna come across. And I’m not saying say and do whatever you want in like a rash way, but just not overthinking every single thing that you’re posting on social media.

[00:02:44] Dana Stanley: It’s something I’ve come back to a few times already when, like in my brain, when I start to overanalyze things. I feel like I don’t have to tell you how popular this book is because it’s everywhere right now. I think. I mean, at least for me, but to put it in perspective, my library, they have an app and you can just renew books through the app.

[00:03:02] Dana Stanley: My library wouldn’t even let me renew it because they’re such a long wait list to read it that it’s like you have two weeks and you better hurry up and finish it. Like, no, you can’t keep it. I thought that was so wild because I’ve never had a book that like wouldn’t let me renew. Moving on to eating is kind of funny because this past month I actually did a cleanse and it was kind of like the opposite of eating.

[00:03:26] Dana Stanley: It’s one that I stumbled across a few years ago through my friend Courtney, and this was my second time doing it. And this time I actually had Colton do it with me for like a little reset. It’s by Shaklee, and you have these pills that you take in the morning. I shouldn’t say pills, supplements that you take in the morning and then supplements at night, and then in between it’s like unlimited vegetables and fruit.

[00:03:51] Dana Stanley: You can have some like olive oil and coconut oil, things like that, but you cut back completely on caffeine, no alcohol, and obviously like you’re drinking tons of water, just like the usual cleanse stuff. This round. I really liked this. The first time I did it, and I wanna say it was maybe three or four years ago I did it.

[00:04:13] Dana Stanley: I felt really good. This time it was like even faster, like by day two I felt really good. I didn’t go through like the withdrawal things that I normally do. I’ll leave a link for that because there’s just a lot. It’s like there’s stuff for your liver and your gut and like probiotics and like all of that stuff that they’re squeezing into those morning and night supplements that I really like.

[00:04:35] Dana Stanley: So I’ll leave a link for that if you’re interested. P for playing. I had to think because I’m thinking like playing games, playing music, playing movies, and then it struck me. That story, you know, kids just go through this like random hyper fixations I guess. So story is my daughter, she’s turning nine in a few days and her hyper fixation right now is the three Caballeros on Disney Plus with Donald Duck.

[00:05:04] Dana Stanley: So the one from, I think it’s like 1940 something. The movie, not the show. I know there’s like a modern show, which she also likes, but now it’s turned into. Playing the song over and over on her Alexa, which we got her recently, and I’ll just hear, Hey Alexa, play three Caballeros. So, you know, it’s May Cinco de Mayo’s coming up.

[00:05:27] Dana Stanley: We’re, you know, thinking of Grand Fiesta tour and Epcot and just fully in three Caballeros mode. I really do think the movie is cool if you haven’t seen it before. It’s like kind of trippy. It has a little bit of like, I dunno if you wanna call it live action, but it does that hybrid, similar to Mary Poppins, where there’s like live actors and then the cartoon on top.

[00:05:51] Dana Stanley: And there’s certain, almost like stories within the story. So if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s really good, especially if you have like a Donald Duck fan. And if you’re going to Disney and you haven’t been to Disney yet. This is what the Grand Fiesta tour ride in Epcot, Mexico is based off of. So it’ll kind of put you in the mood for Epcot.

[00:06:13] Dana Stanley: It’s like a very cool, chill easy, almost like a very short, tiny version of small world. But Grand Fiesta Tour actually just pulled up the Wikipedia of the three Caballeros, ’cause I am obviously having a hard time describing it. So. It’s from 1944, and they describe it as plotting an adventure through parts of Latin America combining live action and animation.

[00:06:42] Dana Stanley: The film is plotted as a series of self-contained segments. That’s the word I was looking for. Segments strung together by the device of Donald Duck, opening gifts from his Latin American friends. So this month I’ve been obsessed, or I should say obsessing over checking the DBC rental website. We do not have a Disney trip booked.

[00:07:06] Dana Stanley: And lately we’ve been doing pretty last minute trips to Disney, which is like not our usual, but I’ve been trying to make these dates work for something like we have so many things going on in the summer that our dates are like so specific and the inventory, like just the rooms are slim. Mostly because I waited too long, which is like classic do as I say, not as I do.

[00:07:30] Dana Stanley: If you’re thinking, what is she even talking about? DVC stands for Disney Vacation Club, and it’s basically a timeshare system at Disney, and people who have DVC memberships can rent out their unused quote points to other people. I always explain it, it’s almost like Chuck E. Cheese money, like there’s a certain value on these points.

[00:07:53] Dana Stanley: So there were something, but for the member. They’re, you know, offloading these points that they’ve like kind of already paid for, and they’re a lot cheaper than paying Disney’s normal rates than if you went to Disney World’s website. This only works for the deluxe resorts, and you can normally put in a request seven to 11 months out.

[00:08:14] Dana Stanley: But lately, and especially because it’s so last minute, I’ve been stalking confirmed reservations instead, and that means that someone already booked a room, it’s a guaranteed room that is already. Booked and they’re just selling that reservation to you, so you buy it and then they put your name on the reservation and you’re done.

[00:08:34] Dana Stanley: It’s honestly the easiest and most affordable way for me to stay deluxe on property at Disney. Sometimes with the price difference, I can get away with a one bedroom instead of a studio. So yes, I’ve been refreshing that page of Confirmed reservations daily obsessing and hoping something lines up R for recommending and.

[00:08:55] Dana Stanley: This one is more for my fellow Disney content creators. So think if you are making any type of content around Disney, Disneyland, Disney Cruises, Disney World. If you’re a travel agent or a blogger, anyone who’s trying to grow a Disney adjacent business, I’m working on a new training that’s gonna show you how to use social media, especially Instagram, to grow your personal brand and your audience.

[00:09:22] Dana Stanley: So that you’re actually bringing in the right people into your world. Instagram is exactly how I started my business, how I grew my email list, and how I continue to connect with people who need what I offer. So if you know that growing your audience is about more than just followers and you wanna build something like a real business, I’d love for you to fill out the form and the description.

[00:09:45] Dana Stanley: You’ll get more info if and when this becomes available. You’ll have first dibs on the wait list. And it’ll also allow me to reach out to you, hear more from you, what you’re struggling with, a little bit about your business, especially when it comes to standing out. Online. Treating is always a funny category to me because I feel like I could go down so many paths.

[00:10:05] Dana Stanley: Is it like a dessert or like a spa type experience or like what I’ve been doing for fun. So I really haven’t been. Treating myself to anything. Is that like a bad thing? I was really racking my brain as to like what has been feeling like a treat. I haven’t had this like dessert routine lately, like those dates from last month.

[00:10:28] Dana Stanley: I haven’t eaten those in a while. Haven’t had like any time to myself in a while, but when I was thinking about just what I’ve been looking forward to lately. Which in terms feels like a treat to me, is that it’s officially bike weather here in New Jersey and we’ve been taking full advantage. So every night that we can, after dinner, we’re taking bike rides just as a family.

[00:10:53] Dana Stanley: And I forgot how much I love riding my bike because we don’t get to do it all winter and it just feels so good being able to ride my bike. So last summer. Crew is at this weird in-between stage. He’s one and a half now. I’m not gonna do the math of how old he was last year, but he would like arch his back in the bike seat and like very Wrigley like just didn’t wanna be in there and would like throw the balance off the bike.

[00:11:20] Dana Stanley: I couldn’t tell if he was like scared or uncomfortable or just didn’t wanna do it. But now this year he’s at the perfect age. Like he just sits in his seat like a little stone statue, just like looking around. It’s so cute. I wanna get like a side view mirror for my bike so that I can see his face. ’cause I’m always asking Colin like, what is he doing?

[00:11:40] Dana Stanley: Like he’s just so still doesn’t make a sound and he’s just loves the bike. I’m so happy. We’re headed down to Rosemary Beach, Florida next week, and I’m so pumped because you just bike everywhere there. It’s like my favorite vacation activity that I feel like not everywhere offers that, so it’s something we all enjoy equally, which if you’re a parent, you know that that’s rare.

[00:12:07] Dana Stanley: So I’m really looking forward to that and treating myself to our bike rides. That’s your April report, R-E-P-O-R-T. Thanks for hanging out with me for this little roundup. These episodes are kind of like my version of a monthly journal meets group text. If you want links to anything I mentioned from the books, our favorite bike seat, the DVC of rental site, or the form to hear more about the creator training, you’re gonna find them all in the show notes.

[00:12:37] Dana Stanley: And if you liked the style of episode, do me a favor and just leave a quick review so that more people like you can find the show. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of the Laid Back Magic Way podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode and it was helpful for you, it would mean the world to me.

[00:12:53] Dana Stanley: If you’d write a quick review, your reviews, help more moms like you find the show, and I read every single one of them seriously. Thank you in advance. You can find me on Instagram at somewhere worthwhile, and I’d love to hear from you there. DM me. If you have any questions about this episode or what you’d like to see in future ones until then, keep planning for your next favorite memory and I’ll see you next time.