Posted by Ashley McChesney on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 @ 11:03 AM
After rumored attack plans and a leaked TSA manual, air travel security is being tightened and ruled are being changed. No official procedures have been announced but news agencies have been reporting on some of the changes.
The Transportation Security Administration wrote in a press release that "These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere." No doubt this measure is being taken to combat the TSA flight security manual being released. You can see that here.
One of the biggest things being reported is that flight passengers entering into the United States from foreign countries will not be able to leave their seats for an hour after take off and an hour before landing. This means no bathroom breaks or getting luggage from the overhead bins. Also passengers will not be allowed to have anything in their laps in those time spans (blankets, pillows, etc, etc.)
Passengers on flights coming into the U.S. should also plan for three hours to deal with the boarding process. Tighter security checkpoints will be enforced for those with carry-on items. Expect to be screened at security checkpoints and airline gates.
There is some good news though. Domestic flights are now on a time limit for taxi time. Planes will be given three hours to get off the runway and into the air. Any longer than that and they will be fined a large sum of money PER PASSENGER.
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Posted by Ashley McChesney on Sat, Nov 21, 2009 @ 09:13 AM
Orlando theme parks are fighting hard against the flu this year, Disney and SeaWorld taking the largest measures to combat illness in the parks.
Disney has installed dozens of industrial size hand sanitizers throughout their parks in high traffic areas like park entrances, hotel lobbies, and character meet and greet area. Over 200,000 individual sanitizer applicators were ordered to be sold for about a dollar at all Disney park stores, they are being distributed to Disney employees for use as well. They have also started printing basic health safety tips on brochures that list park hours and show times. Disney cast members are being given free seasonal flu shots as well as rigorous cleaning and hygienic training. Cast member are working as a team to make sure that character costumes are switched and washed as soon as they come into contact with sick park guests, even referring the sick guests to the park's first-aid center.
SeaWorld has followed suite and has installed more hand sanitizers and stepped up cleaning and disinfecting standards.
The parks are trying to do their part, now what do you do?
The CDC says the most important thing you can do is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand rub. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. To protect others, use a tissue or cough and sneeze into your sleeve.
You would be surprised at how many germs are left on your hands after a quick washing, it is important to thoroughly wash your hands and be sure to spend a little extra time getting under nails, around knuckles, and all the way up to the wrists.
Try to sanitize areas that are frequently touched before you touch them yourself. Use disinfecting wipes to wipe down bathroom door handles and table tops. Avoid touching places that are not easily disinfected and could have been used to store contaminated items such as pockets in rented strollers.
The CDC says studies have shown that influenza virus can survive on environmental surfaces and can infect a person for two to eight hours after being deposited on the surface. You can drink disposable cups and bottled water instead of glass items for piece of mind.
You may also want to stay away from breakfast bars and the like to be extra cautious.
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Posted by Ashley McChesney on Thu, Nov 05, 2009 @ 09:39 AM
As promised here is a list of the best child safety products on the web. Most of these were recommended to me by my customers. For more information on keeping your kids safe take a look at our Child Safety at the Theme Parks blog article. By the way, I make no money from any of these companies, nor do I make money if you choose to purchase from them.
Child Alert Distance Monitor
Child Distance Monitor Early warning alarm system detects when child strays too far from adult supervision. Ideal for mall, busy urban areas, beaches, theme parks, airports, etc.
Mommy I'm Here Child Locator Device
Much like the Child Alert Distance Monitor except this one can be activated remotely much like a car alarm to find your child. It can be attached to shoes and belt and comes in kid friendly designs that they actually want to wear!
Child Safety Harness
This child harness also has a cute stuffed animal on the back to make it more appealing for children to wear it and not complain! This one also features a special safety belt that children are unable to get themselves out of to wander free.
Fan for Stroller
Beat the Florida heat! This fan provides a soft, cool breeze for your child almost anywhere - strollers, play yards, high chairs, and more. Attaches almost anywhere with clamshell clasper, and has an adjustable neck.
IdentaKey Medical Records Storage
USB thumb drive designed easily organize and securely store your family's identifying information, including digital photographs and fingerprints. No software is installed on your computer and all your identifying information is kept on your IdentaKey. One USB ID key stores information for up to eight individuals.
Personalized Dog Tags
This personalized dog tag is a unique safety tool that is designed to help lost children be reunited with parents in a very timely manner. The front of these laser etched personalized dog tags have a cute logo that kids will love to wear and on the back we engrave the child's name & their parent's cell/ home phone numbers. Can use up to 8 lines of text!
Child Safety Kit
Includes-
1 - Child ID Card
1 - Child Car Seat ID Card
1 - Medical Release Card
1 - Child Luggage Tag ID Card
2 - Shoe ID Stickers
1 - Disposable Child ID bracelet
1 - Child DNA Fingerprint Kit
Optional Waterproof pen is available
CPSC CPSIA Compliant
Did I miss one of your favorites? Please feel free to recommend anything that didn't make the list or tell us if you have used any of the ones that did!
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Posted by Ashley McChesney on Mon, Oct 12, 2009 @ 10:17 AM
As expensive as they are, iphones are actually great money savers in the long run. There is an application for anything you can think of, not to mention less expensive (they are even free sometimes) than if you were to buy other electronics or even paid subcriptions to services for the same things online.
For the iphone users and eventual iphone users, I give you the travelers list.
Disney World Wait Times (Free!)
This app contains ride wait times for Disney World covering the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Users are able to submit ride times to compile an accurate prediction.
WebMD Mobile (Free!)
WebMD's iPhone app enables you to look up symptoms and try to figure out what's ailing you, your children, or anyone else. This is a great resource to try and narrow down what is going on, and prepare for a doctor visit if necessary.
Doctor Locator
A utility that helps you find a doctor anywhere in the United States. Search by
First Name, Last Name, City, State or Zip, Limit it to a radius lookup, Specify your insurance carrier to restrict the results. There are even over 40 Specialities to choose from!
Sit or Squat (free!)
Great app to have on your phone when you are out-and-about in an unfamiliar place and need to know where the closest public restroom is located. Includes user ratings, comments, website address and phone number of the facility and more!
Bank and ATM Finder (Free!)
Bank & ATM Finder quickly identifies your location and lets you choose the nearest Bank or ATM, as well as Cash Advance, Money Transfer, Check Cashing and more. When you select a listing, you can see the business location on a map, the address, telephone number, and the distance from where you are.
Aroundme (Free!)
Shows you a complete list of all the businesses in the category you have tapped on along with the distance from where you are. For every listing you can choose to see its location on a Map, view the route from where you are, add the information to your contact list or even email the information to a friend.
Events Finder (Free!)
You can search for events based on your current location or find events in another city. Events Finder works in all U.S cities and can even find events in major cities around the world! It identifies everything such as festivals, sporting events, concerts and more.
Spend ($1.99)
Track your spending and bank deposits, create daily or yearly budgets, and easily change your geographic region to monitor it all in the local currency. Never be surprised by the balance in the bank again.
Weather (Free!)
This app is powered by Weatherbug and provides users access to the largest network of professional weather stations in the US and thousands of locations around the world. Weather will also bring you National Weather alerts about severe weather nearby. Save up to 20 locations, many of which feature live webcams.
Take me to my car (Free!)
With only one tap save your current position and next time you start the app you'll have walking directions to your car in front of you!
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Posted by Omar Rodriguez on Fri, Oct 02, 2009 @ 02:04 PM
10. Book your trip with as much advance notice as possible. This allows you to obtain the best deals, and you will avoid nasty surprises such as ticket prices and hotel rates going up.
9. Find a hotel or resort with free transportation to the parks. With this feature, it enables you to save a TON on taxis or shuttles and the parking fee at the theme park parking lots.
8. Buy supplies in bulk such as water and snacks. There are usually supermarkets around your resort that allow you to pick these staples up that you know for sure that you will be buying on a daily basis. Buying them in one shot guarantees you a good discount, and no midnight trips to the store when you realize that you ran out of something.
7. Bring food and snacks to the parks. There is absolutely nothing wrong with brown bagging it at the parks. A hotdog and a soda usually run about $7 per person which is insane (or really good depending on which side of the window you are standing on!)
6. Buy your souveniers outside of the park. There are plenty of gift shops in the area surrounding the theme parks where they sell pretty cool merchandise at huge discounts. Rule of thumb: Buy stuff for yourself at the park for the memory, buy your friends mugs at the gift shops.
5. Avoid room service. Unless you're on your honeymoon, avoid this because you usually end up spending about 3 times as much as you normally would for food. Why spend $20 on pancakes when you can spend $3.99 on a huge breakfast buffet at Ponderosa or Perkins? Or stay at a resort with a kitchen in the room, you'll have a place to put all of that water your bought in bulk and a place to cook.
4. Bring DVD's to watch. Most hotels/resorts have dvd players in the room, that way the kids have something to do while the parents relax other than spending their parents money. This way you can take all that money you saved and blow it at the gift shop!
3. Explore the other smaller Orlando area attractions. There are numerous other attractions that you can go to and have a blast at without having to spend a ton, and in some cases, nothing at all. Gatorland is a good example of this, as well as Old Town in Kissimmee and Downtown Disney in the Walt Disney World resort where you don't even have to put out money for parking.
2. Drive to Orlando instead of flying. If you live a tolerable distance away from Orlando, it makes better financial sense to drive 5 people on the same tank of gas than to have to spend money on 5 plane tickets. Besides, if you see something of interest to you, it is a lot easier to pull over and park than to parachute over a spot and walk the rest of the way!
1. Never, ever, ever buy your tickets at the gate of the theme parks. There is always a discount available for your tickets. If you don't believe me, come check out our dream vacations. Didn't think it was possible to stay in a resort for 3 days and visit one of Orlando's major theme parks for $99 did you?
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Photo: Nancy
Posted by Ashley McChesney on Tue, Sep 08, 2009 @ 02:35 PM
Taking a child to a crowded amusement park is both an exciting adventure and also a reason for preparing beforehand. Sometimes children tend to have an agenda that is not necessarily your own and in the event this occurs where you become separated or any other incident, here are some tips that you should follow.
Before you go to any public place have a conversation with your kids. It's best to have a plan if anything were to happen.
- Tell your child before you get to the park that they should not be alone in the park or become isolated with anyone, even characters in costume. Also tell them not to accept any prizes, offers, or gifts from anyone until they have checked first with you. Children should also be cautioned not to engage in conversation with or offer assistance to anyone until they have checked with you first.
- Tell your children if they are approached by anyone who tries to take them away to yell, "This person is not my father/mother/guardian!"
- Talk to your children about who is able to help them if they become lost, need assistance, or are in trouble. Examples of these people may be park personnel with nametags or mothers with children. Point them out when you get to the park so they know exactly who you are talking about.
And if the worst should happen and you lose your child while at a theme park immediately report them missing to authorities at the park, and be prepared to give an accurate and detailed description of your children. You should carry a current photograph and be able to accurately describe the clothing your children are wearing that day. All public places have planned out a strategy for these situations that are proven to be of the best help, but they can't do anything for you if they don't know and these strategies may not work as well if they aren't informed as soon as you know what's happened.
Some ways to prevent losing sight of the kids or even to help them be returned to you as quickly as possible should they lose sight of you are easier than you may think.
- Dress them in matching shirts and hats in an unusual color or distinctive design.
- It's also a good idea to attach a covered luggage tag to your child's clothing or place it in a pocket. (The cover prevents a stranger from seeing your child's name.) Include your name as well as your child's and the name and number of your hotel. Some parks issue special tags for young children; ask about this when you enter the park.
- Accompany young children on rides in the park. Older children should stay in groups and take a friend with them wherever they go in the park. If you decide to let young children go on rides without you, wait with them in line, watch them enter the ride, and immediately meet them when they exit the ride.
- Always accompany younger children to restrooms in the park. Older children should not go to the restroom alone.
- Immediately report any suspicious or inappropriate behavior to authorities.
Most parents already know that kids are prone to scraping knees and taking a few spills. Be prepared to keep them comfortable and your nerves somewhat at ease.
- Carry a few first-aid supplies with you, such as adhesive bandages and antibiotic cream to treat minor cuts and scrapes. Also, if it's summer, use plenty of sunscreen, take breaks, and make sure your kids get enough liquids so they won't be overcome with the heat.
- Whenever possible, keep children toward the middle of ride vehicles, if anything should go wrong this is the safest place to be. And this way you can make sure they aren't going to flail any arms or legs out of the vehicle.
In the near future I will post another article of safety products that my cutomers and family have recommened.
What are some of the ways you keep you children safe when you take them out to crowded places?
Posted by Ashley McChesney on Tue, Sep 08, 2009 @ 01:17 PM
Your guide to airport travel and airline baggage restrictions.
Photo: stevesheriw
There have been so many changes to airport security, baggage restrictions, and what is that thing with the 3 oz. of liquid... it can get to be very confusing.
Checked Luggage
Late last year there were major changes across the board in several of the major airlines, then everyone else followed suit. And then they changed the rules again. Packing light is a problem for most people, but there are new fees imposed on extra luggage and more fees added on if it's heavy luggage. Don't be caught by surprise at the check-in counters.
Most airlines now charge extra for checked suitcases weighing more than 50lbs (it was 70lbs previously.) Don't forget, an empty suitcase weighs 15-20 pounds.
The number allowance varies between airlines between 1 and 2 free checked pieces of luggage, and that's if you are lucky, several charge for the first as well. You will have to pay extra per each piece of luggage above the limit, and you will have to pay once each time you fly even if you have a round trip ticket.
Excess luggage is usually carried on a 'space available' basis which means the airline doesn't promise that your luggage will arrive at your destination on the same flight you do.
Here are some of the major airlines official baggage policies
American Airlines
Continental
Delta
Jetblue
Northwest
SouthwestUS Air
United
Carry On Luggage
Here is where it gets tricky. You are generally allowed one bag and one personal item as carry on items. Personal items would be a purse, briefcase, small laptop, diaper bags, etc.
If you need to bring things like canes, crutches, wheelchairs, or similar items they will be allowed but only if the person using them is dependent on them.
Customers departing from U.S. airports on any domestic or international flight may bring carry-on bags through security and aboard the aircraft with trial-size toiletries (3.4 ounces or less) which can be purchased at any drug store. Toiletries must fit comfortably in one, quart-size (7.5" x 8"), clear plastic zip-top bag. Take a look at the TSA guidelines for carry-on liquids.
Additionally, beverages or toiletries purchased inside the airport beyond the security checkpoints will be allowed onboard the aircraft.
Items greater than 3.4 ounces and/or not contained in a zip-top bag may be allowed on board but must be declared to the TSA at the security checkpoint for screening. These items include baby formula, milk (to include breast milk), baby food, juice, medications and liquids/gels that are needed for diabetic or other medical conditions.
More Prohibited Items
- Lighters
- Matches
- Gel-type candles
- Gel shoe inserts
- Snow globes
- Martial arts and self defense items (including pepper spray)
- Sporting goods
- Certain food items (Take a good look at that list of restricted food because some airlines are now charging even for bags of peanuts and pretzels.)
See the full list of TSA restricted items here