DisLove E101 Photo Spots at the Parks and Ashlee from Storybook Delights

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In this episode, we are joined by Ashlee from Storybook Delights. Ashlee and her husband make all kinds of amazing custom desserts from cakes to cookies to pastries; they have something for everyone including individuals with dietary restrictions. They also feature amazing snack and breakfast boxes that can be delivered to your resort.

Mention the podcast and use the code STORYBOOK to save 10 percent off your order.

Earlier in the episode , Kris and Vanessa discuss the best spots to take photos in the Disney Parks.

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Vanessa Ferguson 0:04
Welcome to the DisLove podcast with Vanessa and Kris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson. I'm

Kris Johns 0:08
Kris Johns,

Vanessa Ferguson 0:09
we would like to welcome you to show 101. And for any listeners joining us for the first time, our show features things, we love it Disney. And in each episode, we have a guest who creates Disney magic for our listeners at home, or on their Disney vacations. From vacation planners to product producers. Our guests can bring Disney magic into your life. And as a reminder to our listeners, we appreciate if you can take time to leave us a review on Apple podcasts or any other platform where you listen that helps new listeners find us and of course helps the show grow. And Kris, you have a couple of things before we get started.

Kris Johns 0:42
I sure do you know that one thing when you go to Disney when you plan out a trip is you have to get tickets. Yes, you have to buy plane fare for most of us. Yes. And you got to have a place to stay. Yeah, well, the great thing is if you're not gonna stay on property, the great thing is you have a friend of Orlando vacation calm use the code does love to say 5% off your order. So that means if it's $100 you're gonna pay $95 Take that $5 And put it in via door with exactly. And the thing about Orlando vacation.com Is that they have everything from candles to pool houses to McMansions in something for every size of families if you want to do a family reunion, you can also do that in the great thing is they also offer hotel properties, including some Disney Good Neighbor resorts. So check out our Instagram profile for several properties that were recently added to their inventory that you don't want to miss. You can book online at Orlando vacation.com Or by calling 806 for 14008.

Vanessa Ferguson 1:42
Thank you Kris and definitely go check those out. There are some really nice properties. And on today's show we are going to be joined by Ashley from storybook delights the business that she has with along with her husband they create custom bakery items for you enjoy to enjoy on your vacation, whether it be a special occasion or just adding some extra magic to your next Disney trip. And we love sweets. Oh we should. So from they have some awesome things from custom cakes to bakery and breakfast boxes so you can have those delivered. They also offer really something for if you have any dietary restrictions, really the sky's the limit. They have all kinds of amazing things. So we're excited to hear from Ashley and what is actually done for us as well.

Kris Johns 2:26
She did something awesome she is going to save you 10% by using the code storybook in mentioned the podcast when you DMing their page received 10% of your order. So again, when you talk to Ashley and you DEMA DM her page, use the code storybook and save 10% That is awesome.

Vanessa Ferguson 2:44
Yes, most definitely. So if you have a trip coming up I know they typically booked up a couple weeks out so get your orders in now they have some cool things this is coming out right before Valentine's Day. They have some really cool boxes for Valentine's Day St. Patrick's Day, birthdays, you name it all kinds of treats. And today cuz we were talking about treats that just made me think about extra magic that goes into Disney vacations. And besides food, what do I guess I was gonna say we but what do I do a lot of pictures, I

Kris Johns 3:14
guess. You take photos of everything?

Vanessa Ferguson 3:16
Yes, I do. So we're gonna talk about taking pictures today. Yes. So we have had some other episodes where we specifically talked about Disney walls. We also had one where we talked about special photo things where you can have like Disney photography, take pictures in the parks, we talked about some special PhotoPass experiences and things like that. So this is really just talking about some of those great photo things that you can take yourself also some special things for Disney Visa card holders. So I'll put the links to those previous shows in the show notes. But today we're going to talk about all those spots that you can take some awesome pictures of your own. Now, when I went through some of these lists that are out there, I left off the obvious things like the castle. Why spit? Well, I mean, I think people know that, like, you know, to take a picture in front of a castle, you know, to take a picture in front of spaceship Earth if you don't watch any Disney advertisement. So we're going to talk a little bit more specific things. Now, what's ironic is that we're going to share a lot of from our own experience and a couple of great websites. But Disney has designated picture spots and they have them in the app and on Park maps. And some of these kind of surprised me because there's not that many years ago. I'm going to date myself. There used to be the Kota Kodak photo spots. Oh, yeah, yeah. So now they've been kind of course that's no longer a thing, but Disney does still have some picture ops. So I'm going to tell you about those picture spots that Disney has marked in the parks and then we're going to expand from there. Now, at Epcot, they have a specific Pick one for each country in the world showcase. And those vary. So you can see those in the app. They're iconic things like the pyramid in Mexico, the totem pole and in Canada, things like that. But when you move to some of the other parks this I thought was kind of interesting and Magic Kingdom they only have four, which surprises me Disney has four spots. Both of the mountains, the big mountain, so Big Thunder Mountain in Splash Mountain, the tiki statues, the ones that like spit water, yes. And the sword in the stone by the carousel interest. That's it. That's all Disney has. So those of course are still fun photos. We actually when we got married, we had a Magic Kingdom photoshoot that you can do through Disney fairytale weddings and Disney fine art photography. And we have pictures in front of Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain we should do from our wedding. But sword in the stone. I think that's a fun thing. It's been a year since we've done that we should maybe have our daughter do that where you try to pull the sword out. That's always fun. Yes. And the tiki statues if you can dab the water. Sometimes that's refreshing in a nice cool day. I thought that was add though they only had four. Now over at Hollywood Studios. They have even less How many do you think Disney hit at Hollywood studios, three, to wow, the guitar in front of rock and roller coaster and the Hollywood Studios. The arch that goes basically from like the main entrance way by Mickey's runaway railway as you go into that animation courtyard where Disney Jr. and all of that is so that those were the two for Hollywood Studios. And that animal kingdom, the only thing they said was the main entrance and usually typically off to the right of the main entrance, whatever show or

anniversary is happening, there will typically be a photo thing that you can stand in, we've done a Lion King one where it kind of looks like you're in those giant frames in front of an animal kingdom. We've done those a couple of times. So those are all at the entrance. So this is what Disney says is the highlighted photo spots, we're going to give you some better, I wouldn't say better. But just some more options here in a little bit. Before we get to some of those. So I want to tell you about a couple special ones that if you are a Disney Visa card holder, and they're not a sponsor in any way, but we both have Disney VSAs through Chase. We sure do. We like those Disney rewards. If you have one of the Disney pieces, there is a special spot in Epcot and also Hollywood Studios. And we've done both of these over the years, the picture spots. So they are open only during designated times. And in Epcot, it's over by journey into imagination. And the downside is that this used to be there would be rotating characters, so you never knew who would be there. In March 2020. Right before the parks went closed, this was the first place we took our daughter to see characters and there was Mickey and Goofy. And that was her first time meeting Mickey right now they just have a card exclusive, like Disney magic shop experience. So we did this with our friends, Shane and Charlie, when we were there in September, and they had some really cool backdrops and some fun things that you could do. And there was an interactive character photo that you would get. So that is a fun experience. It's no cost to Disney Visa card holders. And what will happen is that will show up in your app as a PhotoPass photo that you can download. Even if you haven't purchased the PhotoPass option, you get there as a Visa card holder. So I think we got probably about 10 different shots at the Epcot one. And that's open only from one to 6:30pm. So you have to time it right when you're over there. Now when you're at Hollywood studios, and we didn't do this one on our recent trip, but we've done it in the past, there's Star Wars magic shots. And again, right now there's not there's not actual characters in there. They're doing magic shots with the Star Wars characters. And we've been there before where there was Kylo Ren and some of the different Star Wars guys. But right now they're doing the magic shots. And this is over where at Star Wars launch bay in the animation courtyard. And these are also again, same deal, you show your card, you get the pictures, and these are from 11 to 4pm. So if you're a Star Wars fan, and maybe you don't have the chance to stand in line, or you haven't saw some of the characters from some of those distance, character greetings, right now you can get a chance to do it. And I think it's fun too, because even if you like we're not big Star Wars people, but we'll go and get those photos. It's just a nice perk of having the Disney visa. So if you have that option, go check those out. They are only at Epcot and Hollywood Studios. So that's something important to note when you're down and plan your times accordingly, because those are basically both kind of in the middle of the day.

Now moving forward from there, we're going to talk about what I consider the best lists compared to what Disney gives you for the photo spots. These eyes are kind of a compliment, a combination of our own experience as well as some great lists from touring plans and Disney lists calm. So I'm going to go over for each of the parks and talk about some of these great options. And we've done a lot of these. And again, I kind of left off those very obvious ones that you're going to do. Even if you're a first time person, you're going to get a picture in front of Castle you're going to get some of those iconic a photo in front of tree of life and animal kingdom. So at Magic Kingdom, a couple of these Kris we got pictures for our wedding again, I'm sure we did the wishing well by Cinderella's castle. And that's on the if you're facing the castle, it's on the right hand side. So it's on the Tomorrowland side. A lot of people might not see that if you don't take one of the sidewalk ways. It's just a really great spot. And you can get nice castle shots, as well as just having the wishing well is really cool. Another Castle shot is when you are going through the castle. There's that beautiful Cinderella mosaic wall, which actually this would have been great trivia, I should have you one time look up trivia about that mosaic wall. It's beautiful, made out of glass. It's wonderful to get all kinds of pictures in front of we had some photos in front of that for our wedding as well. And then throughout the park at different areas and in front of certain rides. There are some fun things over by Dumbo. They have a dumbo Flying Elephant they have one of the ride cars that you can take photos in. We've done that quite a few times. That's always fun. Well, it's a wonderful photo especially because you can always get the best picture of somebody on the ride. This gives you a chance to get as many shots as you want where you can sit in it. Usually you can get two or three people in which is nice. Now moving a little bit further from there you go over into Fantasyland and I think we've gotten your picture in front of the guest on Statue Of course yeah, so that's near where the histon meet and greets have been in the past and you can go in and get a treat but also get a great picture with gustan right near there. The Be Our Guest restaurant. It's fun to go there's the beautiful Belle and Beast painting that's right inside as you're exiting the restaurant which is really cool to get photos at not far from there. I still I'm not I tangled is a good movie but it's still kind of grosses me out that people love to get the pictures in front of the tangled bathrooms. It's super cute. It is cute but like in my mind I was thinking about the bathroom does not connect. So there is the spot also in in Fantasyland in front of the tingled bathroom you wouldn't know it's just because in my mind I know it's a bathroom but it is really cool pictures and they'll often do magic shots they're

moving over into Liberty Scrit square you have the stockades which is kind of a fun thing to do. And then circling out the rest of the park there is the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance there's a really cool it kind of looks like the crow's nest and it's got the the ship masked from the the ride. So that's a cool thing to get a picture and we've been there at the Halloween party and they'll sometimes do magic shots where it looks like the ships on fire. So little things like that. And then last but not least, as you're exiting from Adventure Land you have the orange board slash some people call it the Dole Whip wall. Our friend Charlie and I we got some pictures there this last time. It's super cute. My mom loves orange bird, so I got one to send to her. So that kind of rounds out some of those fun spots at Magic Kingdom. We're now going to move over to Epcot which Epcot is my favorite Of course of course. Now we talked about the mosaic at Cinderella's castle. There's also a really cool mosaic as you're going into the land. As you're walking up, there's kind of that ramp walkway as you go into the land if you're going to do soaring, or something like that, or living with the land in there's just really cool spots that you can get pictures in front of that mosaic. nearby. You also have the imagination pavilion which is cool with the pyramids during Flower and Garden. They have all those water areas there and they usually have beautiful floral arrangements along the waterways. I love to get pictures of the flowers of the pavilion, depending on the time of day. You also can sometimes get the monorail coming through which is super cool. And then there's a variety of ones throughout the World Showcase. As I mentioned, Disney gives you some of these as well. So there's the totem poles in Canada, which we had our reception for our vow renewal in Canada, and we have some cool pictures by those totem poles. There's the red phone booths, those iconic phone booths in the UK. Another place if you're you could probably do a whole thing with mosaics in Walt Disney World. There's a really cool mosaic water wall that it's kind of like a fountain. And it's in Morocco that you can get inside some of the buildings, you want to walk in a little bit. I think some of those iconic ones, you're going to probably already get Eiffel Tower. There's a Shima shrine in Japan, in Italy, instead of just doing the main pavilion, if you go towards the pier, there's the gondolas, and you can get some cool pictures with those. So it looks like you're in Venice. In Norway, I think we always have gotten, I think most people get the picture. If you go into the shops and get your picture with the troll, which is fun. Yeah, in Norway, and then they sometimes have the hats and fun things that people can do. I have a picture I love from my grandma was in her mid 80s, the first time she went to Disney with us. And she took a picture with one of the Viking hats in front of the troll and she was just like, laughing so much. It's just one of those Disney memories that that's why we all go to the parks. And also in Norway, there's a Viking statue that's out front that's near the bakery, and the church that is really cool to get some pictures by as well. So that kind of rounds out at Epcot. And then we're just gonna we just have a few at the other two parks. So Hollywood studios, of course, you probably would have already gotten a picture in front of the Chinese Theater. We mentioned those couple that Disney said but in Toy Story land, there's some really fun ones. Tell me we've gotten those pictures with the big woody Toy Story land. Yeah, sign as you go into the park. There's also one which I think we've walked past it but I never thought about getting a picture in front of it. There the Pixar ball, it's kind of near as you're getting in the line for Slinky Dog. So that's kind of a fun spot to get a photo. Then of course, if you are Star Wars fan, you got to get the Millennium Falcon photo. And a couple more that we've done for our wedding. Because this was before some of those areas in Hollywood studios, but the Miss Piggy fountain. Remember, we have some wedding photos in front of that. No,

we do. I'll try to dig some up to share. So there's the Miss Piggy fountain in front of the Muppets 3d vision. And then Gertie, the dinosaur is kind of fun. If you're eating at 50s primetime, or one of those restaurants right around the lagoon, you can get a picture with Gertie. And so just kind of an iconic thing that you might not think of normally. And last but not least, of course at Animal Kingdom, and we always talk about you like getting pictures in front of Everest, we get pictures in front of the tree of life. Yeah, all different angles. But there's a couple more that I thought were fun ideas. Getting some pictures when you're in line for the dinosaur ride where they have the giant dinosaur fossils inside where it looks like you're in the Natural History Museum. That's kind of a fun thing, especially if a kid or someone loves dinosaurs. Then when you go to Harambee village, there's the graffiti walls. We talked about some of those with our Disney walls episode. And we finally found that you are beautiful wall. We had some a cast member was kind enough to help us when we were with Charlie and Shane, this last trip. Remember that one that was kind of tucked back? Oh, definitely. Yes. And then last but not least the floating mountains and Pandora. So we've gotten some pictures there and in different times of day at night as well. What

Kris Johns 18:27
do you think about my selfies that I take? We talk about photos. I have a very unique selfie.

Vanessa Ferguson 18:33
Kris will stand in front of something and not really pose and he takes a picture of himself not smiling. Yeah, we will not be sharing any Kris. No, you should know. Kris' selfies are not

Kris Johns 18:46
for everybody loves him on my Facebook. Yeah. Please, yes, will you please share, at least

Vanessa Ferguson 18:51
to our screen, which ones? Okay. So that kind of rounds out. Hopefully this gives you some more creative ideas. I'll put links to some of the lists that some of the other websites give where they're even more detailed than what we talked about. Today. I'll share some of our photos that we've had in some of these spots as well. I think it's just great to add, especially if you go to Disney more frequently, because your chance to try something different, have some different shots, maybe get some great Instagram photos as well. So looking forward to seeing some of your photos. And then of course we'll share some of ours as well. And next we're going to have our interview with Ashley to hear all about storybook delights. We'd like to welcome Ashley to the show. Their bakery storybook delights offers custom cakes and pastries that can be delivered right to your resort when you're seeing and in the Orlando area. We would like to welcome Ashley to the show.

Ashlee Santmyers 19:50
Hi guys, how you doing today?

Vanessa Ferguson 19:53
Well, of course before we get started we love to hear a little bit about what you enjoy at the park. So we like to find out what is your favorite snack at any of the Disney parks.

Unknown Speaker 20:05
Oh, that's a difficult one. I like everything. I like the churros. But my most favorite one that I usually hunt down is animal kingdom. And it's those almonds, those candied almonds that they do. We've never tried those. They are delicious. So they have candied almonds and they have candied pecans as well and it's it's a tree I go for every single time.

Vanessa Ferguson 20:32
We'll have to keep that in mind because Kris really likes almonds and different flavored not so we'll definitely have to check that out next time. We're there. Now, the big reason why we want to talk to you is we of course want to hear all about your bakery. And what are the products you offer connected to Disney?

Unknown Speaker 20:50
Oh, that's awesome. Um, so I am storybook delights. I actually was a furloughed cast member. And I started this during the furlough and it's kind of just taken off. The main thing I do is cakes. I say that no cake, no two cakes are the same. So even if you order Like a Snow White, or you know a bell cake, that's a dress or something. There's always something slightly different from it and it's completely your cake. I also do like treat boxes as well breakfast boxes, different snack boxes that we deliver directly to the resorts. So you don't have to worry about breakfast, you know cinnamon rolls, muffins, you name it. It comes in a breakfast box, and it's waiting for you to enjoy the next morning.

Vanessa Ferguson 21:40
Awesome. Now, you mentioned treat boxes as well. What are some of the treats that are in those boxes?

Unknown Speaker 21:46
Oh, that's actually we have a wide selection. So we do like cake pops. We do royal iced cookies, there's cupcakes, pretzels trail mix. We also do like rice krispie treats different kinds of cookies. And that all can be different themes. So we've done Harry Potter theme we have Mickey sprinkles that we use in like Mickey Mouse colors. I've done a princess themed box before so it has different like portraits of their favorite princesses and just colors and customized to go along with the theme.

Vanessa Ferguson 22:21
Now you mentioned sprinkles and I have a good friend who like is obsessed with Mickey sprinkles, but she's also gluten free. Do you offer anything for people with dietary restrictions? Or is that not something you've started on yet?

Unknown Speaker 22:34
Actually, yes, we do. We have people raving about our vegan and our gluten free cakes. I do have to say my bakery is not free of those contaminants. But we do do our best to ensure you know, before I make your stuff is completely gluten free. I rewash all my tools I make sure I sanitize my station. So if people are okay with that, we do accommodate those allergies. But I do pretty much anything gluten free. Vegan, I can do peanuts tree nuts. I've even had like mango allergies and like PKU use. And I'm a Disney trained allergy cast member. So I take those policies and I carried it over into my business

Kris Johns 23:25
awesome. No with it.

What made you decide one day that you wanted to share your talents with the world?

Unknown Speaker 23:34
Oh, well, I've been doing this since a very, very young age. And ever since I found culinary school for college. I always wanted to own my own bakery. It's just it's just been a goal of mine. And the furlough really just kind of let it happen. I was doing I call them quarantine cakes, just to keep busy. Sure. Just to keep busy and keep like my artistic flow going, I would just make you know a couple cakes here and there and just give them away and just be like donations, you know, to recoup supplies and it went crazy. And then from there, you know, storybook delights, was born, I guess.

Vanessa Ferguson 24:15
Now and we've talked to quite a few people who either started their business during quarantine or like you are a furloughed cast member. So it's always fun to see how people have been able to channel challenge channel those talents into new areas and new endeavors.

Unknown Speaker 24:31
Yeah, so it was it was nice. My husband and I actually we did get our callbacks. And we were the first ones to go back to the company. And it was kind of difficult because we have a four year old and there weren't daycares open. My closest My in laws live like an hour and a half two hours away from us. So it was really hard trying to balance work in daycare. So we finally were just like one of us is gonna have to to leave the company and I was like, I'll do it and you know, focus on storybook delights. And this was a year ago, December actually, November and we just kind of took off run and it was nice to be able to be a stay at home mom and focus on my business. And here we are now my husband is no longer with the company. And it storybook delights all the way it is paying our bills, and it's it's us.

Vanessa Ferguson 25:30
Awesome. That is so awesome to hear. Now, you've told about how your business has kind of helped you through these things. How do you think your products add Disney magic to your customers lives?

Unknown Speaker 25:41
Well, it's not just my products, I think it's our customer service too. Because we do try to accommodate everything that they want, you know, we give them something that is special just for them. And I think it just adds a little magic because it's in their room. You know, whenever they're ready for it. It's at the front desk, they can pick it up, they can eat it. And it's kind of exactly what they want. So you know, if you go somewhere and it's like, oh, hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies, like there's, you know, Jimmy wants cake pops and Suzy wants pretzels. So the box kind of has a little bit of everything for the families.

Vanessa Ferguson 26:22
Now in it's nice too, because we've been down a couple years ago, we were down on Kris' birthday. And at that time, there weren't a lot of options. We ended up we had a cake made by Disney and delivered to to one of the restaurants but you didn't have the option to have it at your resort, which would have been nice to be able to have delivered right like you said, where it's right there where you can have it and you're not having the hassle of taking on transportation from a restaurant and all of that. Now what are some of the flavors that you offer with your cakes, I know I'm sure probably have a wide range but maybe some of your favorite flavors that you offer.

Unknown Speaker 26:55
So my flavor is basically our wide range. If you think of it I can make it I go anywhere from like chocolate chocolate you know I have a butter beer flavored for the Harry Potter universal fandom. It is delicious. I do fun study. I have a fun Fetty pop rock combination. That's absolutely it's fun. I have a I call it a better than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

Vanessa Ferguson 27:22
cupcake we love

Unknown Speaker 27:25
little bit of a mouthful but it's it's peanut butter chocolate cake. I have a chocolate strawberry lovers cake. And then I have like a vanilla bean one that is just a vanilla cake with my vanilla butter cream and it has like a vanilla bean pudding in it. So if you're just straight vanilla, there's nothing wrong with that. And rice cake is probably one of my favorites because it's just it's a comforting vanilla flavor.

Vanessa Ferguson 27:51
Now you mentioned like butter cream Do you offer different types of frosting or most of your cakes fondant with frosting under them like do you offer a wide range.

Unknown Speaker 27:59
So my butter cream is actually a modified American buttercream so that means it's straight butter, fat. That's the best kind of butter, butter cream you can have. That one is actually shelf stable and it lends really well to the Florida heat. So I can offer other types of butter creams but my main one is the American but I do offer fondant cover cakes. I can do modeling chocolate covered cakes. I've done ice cream cakes. We actually have an ice cream cake going out right now. Yeah, so it's basically it's it's whatever the customer or the client can can think of I love doing it.

Vanessa Ferguson 28:42
No. Do you have a favorite cake design that you've done?

Unknown Speaker 28:48
Oh, yes. I actually have a couple. So I have my cousin's wedding cake. She came straight to me when she got married. And or when she got engaged and said I want you to do my cake. Okay, it's a seven tear fully fondant covered cake. It's it's Funfetti with pop rock buttercream. And it's just beautiful. It's very folly colors and it had lilies and stuff on it. I have a picture on my Facebook actually. And it's my favorite because I did it out a household kitchen in California. Wow. So I flew with everything. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And then my second favorite one I would have to say is my McCobb cake. It was just for a photo shoot. And I did my signature peekaboo on the back so you have this elegant black cake with golden red accents. And then on the back. Jack Skellington pops out The Nightmare Before Christmas seem

Vanessa Ferguson 29:49
very cool.

Kris Johns 29:52
You know and you mentioned all these awesome cakes and designs where can people go see all the cool things you make? So I

Ashlee Santmyers 29:58
right now have a face page if you just look up a storybook, that's one word storybook, the lights with an S, you'll see our logo and it'll pop up. That's where most all of our photos are. We are working on our Instagram page as well, still storybook delights. That one is up and coming, I just got a new social media manager. So hopefully after the new year, you'll see a lot more posted on there. But Facebook has majority of our photos and all of the creations that we do throughout the weeks.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris

DisLove E101 Photo Spots at the Parks and Ashlee from Storybook Delights

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