Latest / The Mami Collective / How Maria Velasco Is Building Community Through Disney While Sharing Her Best Tips
Transcript
- Paulina: Welcome to the Mommy Collective. I'm Paulina Rowe, radio host, TV contributor, writer, and mom of one. This is where ambitious moms come to keep their identity intact while navigating motherhood. Here we talk about the real stuff, career, money, relationships, identity, and everything that gets messy in between. You won't find sugar coating or cliches. What you will find are unfiltered conversations, real resources, and proof that you don't have to lose yourself to be a good mom. The Mommy Collective is here to remind you, you can be ambitious, you can take up space, and you can thrive in motherhood and in everything else that makes you, you. Before we get into the episode, make sure you're following The Mommy Collective on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, and share this podcast with a mommy in your life who needs a little inspiration. inspiration or just a reminder that she's killing it. Also, don't forget to sign up for our newsletter and leave us a review so we can keep showing up and reach every ambitious mom out there doing big things. Let's get into it! I'm a collective Paulina's here another episode of course and today I get to chat about something fun Okay, if you're a Disney lover a Disney adult Disney mom This is for you or if you're somebody who has to plan the next Disney vacation You want to also tune in for this too? But I have Maria Velasco joining me today and you are a content creator Disney mom Disney enthusiasts And I believe you also are you behind the Main Street mom talk as well? Yes, I created it actually. Me and my best friend Amanda. got together like five, four months ago and I initially came to her and I was like, I have this amazing idea. I think it could be really big. There is no like Disney mom group, like not in Orlando or like in California at Disneyland. I haven't seen it. She hasn't seen it. So I was like, let's create this mom group. where we just like get together and make content and just have fun together. And so that's where we started. And now it's like four of us and we want to keep growing. But right now we're just having fun with it and seeing where it goes. Oh, that's so cute. Well, I don't live near you. I'm in Chicago, but I want to bring my daughter every year. So she's turning two. OK, so my daughter is turning two. We've been to Disneyland because I used to live in California for like two years so like whatever I brought her there and I'm like this is like the this is the baby the baby step to get to Disney World because I have a whole plan Maria okay when she turns three we're gonna go right before she's three so she's free and by the way you're gonna drop more tips for us but I'm gonna do that and I want her to do the what is it called the itty-bo-pee-pop-pie-boutique what is it called? I should know this but I need the BD BD Bumbum like a word twist but yeah I'll already talk about it instead of the cat boy. yes yes. Boppity Boo Boutique. We're gonna do that one. I have it all planned out. We're gonna take like the family both sides like it's the whole thing. So I'm taking her though for her second birthday we're going back to Disneyland because I'm like you know what it's fun she'll have a good time. Yeah. But when I do go I want to meet up with you guys. ⁓ want to be on your mom talk. Your mom your mom thing. Yeah do a little collab. I think it'd be so fun. So yes, definitely. I'll let you know this will be next year. have a whole plan. Maria, so before we jump into all this fun Disney talk, I want to sort of talk about your kind of like who you are, right? What you do. And obviously you're a mom. Now, how many kiddos do you have? One. You have one? ⁓ I love it. And how old is your child? He's 18 months. ⁓ my gosh. You're like having a lot of fun with. the Disney stuff. ⁓ I love it. feel like I'm already in the terrible twos. He is wild. So yes. Yeah. My daughter's 22 months. So like I kind of. ⁓ OK. So they're kind of close. Yeah. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. Those two will have a blast when we come out to see you guys at Disney. I love it. So what kind of inspired you to essentially pick up the camera, start making content at Disney? Was that something that you've always kind of wanted to do where you're like, I'm already here. I'm going to just document it. Well, started like, you know, during COVID, I started TikTok when everybody else was kind of doing it. And I was just doing like fun dances and stuff that kind of died down. And so then I started going into like workouts and I was kind of all over the place for a while. Then I got pregnant. had my son and then I started doing like mom content. And it was just like typical mom content, which, you know, it's kind of saturated. There's so many mom content creators. So that's when I was like, I have a Disney pass. I take my son every single day pretty much. So I'm going to start using that as an outlet, I guess, to use content for my TikTok and see where it goes because I don't really see many moms doing this. And so that's when I started niching down to Disney mom content. And when I did that, I saw like a huge growth and ⁓ There's actually a lot of Disney mom creators in this area. And so we all kind of follow each other and support each other. And it's like a little community. It's really nice. so that's how that happened. then, of course, I met Amanda. She's my neighbor, actually. And that's the one that I started Main Street Moms with. ⁓ that's so cool. I love it. I love that you documented though, because somebody like me who lives not even remotely close to you guys, I'm like, this is a really not only like fun entertaining content for me to like engage in, but like it gives me ideas for like when I go and take my kid, you know, because you guys have it in your backyard, which is so cool. But then there's like the rest of us that like this is like our pilgrimage, you know, our yearly whatever, like when people go every couple years. It's so cool to see. And I think that's why it gets so much attention, because people are like, wait, you're a stay at home mom and you go to Disney every day. It blows people's minds. That's a thing. I feel like that's every mom's dream. And so I think that definitely gets a lot of attention. And that's how my account has grown so much in the past four months. ⁓ 100%. That's awesome. Congratulations. So now I'm really curious because I know that Disney can be very overstimulating for a lot of people, including myself, even before I had a kid. So the first time that I really went, was 28 with my husband. And I was like, ⁓ we're going to go. And even I didn't have a kid yet. And I was overstimulated. So I'm curious, Riu, somebody who frequents often, like pretty much every day. What's your mental system for staying focused when you are overstimulated and everyone kind of needs you at once, right? It needs a lot going on. Like, what do you do at places like Disney? How does that work for you? So when it comes to making content at Disney, it's not easy because we all have the babies. And so we don't have like a park nanny or husbands with us. So we're having to make content for all of our phones. And then we just recently started a group TikTok too. So now we have like a big batch of content to create in like an hour with all the babies with us. So it gets really overstimulating because they're all like different ages from like nine months to two or actually I think one of them's three. And so they're either like running around or crying or they always need something. And so we have to like pause and then go back to filming and Yeah, it's a lot. But then like, honestly, after that, the rest of like the time we're at the park, it's all about them. And so it's fine. It's just for that hour that we're trying to create content. It's very overstimulating. my God. No, I bet. You guys handle like pros, but I'm sure behind the scenes, it's like, it's a lot going on. It's a lot going on. And then we have like, you know, just people in public walking by us and watching us dance and make content, they're probably like, what are those girls doing? Like, what's going on? But yeah, we just like, it was like awkward at first, honestly, but now it's like, we don't really care what people think. And we just kind of put the tripod up and just make content and not care what is going on around us. Because honestly, people like don't really care at the end of the day. They're just going to walk past you and whatever. That's how I started to think about like content. Like I don't make even remotely as much content as you do, but I'll be like, ⁓ like I feel like everybody cares that I'm posting or like recording myself, like in whatever the front, whatever. And I'm like, they don't care. They're going to move on with their day. They're thinking about 20 other things. Yeah. But honestly, like it was funny. This was like two weeks ago. This guy, like older guy walked past me and Amanda filming like a dance TikTok. And he was like, he yelled at us and he was like, saying, those kids are your first priority, and then just kept walking. And we were like, ⁓ my god, mind your business. And it was shocking that somebody would yell at us like that. So we didn't even have time to respond. But yeah, that was really awkward and uncomfortable. No, it is. It is. I'm sorry that happened. That's bull crap. We're fine. Everyone's fine. We're doing our TikToks. We're good. Yeah, and like what they don't know is that like, yeah, we're filming a TikTok right now, but like after we're done, like our babies have our full attention. And even when we're filming, like if they need something, we stop and like, we're like, they're a hundred percent. It's not like we're just like abandoning them and to be on camera or anything. A hundred percent. No, I feel you on that. Yeah, I'm sorry that happened. I am curious though, like when it comes to like prep, getting ready for the day, right? Share with other moms too, like What do you pack? What do do to prepare yourself for a day at Disney? Because at the end of the day, it's a lot, right? You're conquering a lot of land. There's three main parks. There's a lot going on. There's Disney Springs, I believe. I love it all. So how do you prepare and what tips can you give moms before you even get into the park? Honestly, it depends on a couple of things. It depends on the weather and which park I'm going to. If it's gonna be cold, then I make sure to pack extra jacket, extra pair of pants just in case. And then of course, I always pack a lot of hand sanitizer wipes, because I'm a germ freak and there's a ton of sick kids at Disney. And so I wipe everything down. I wipe my son's hands all the time, lots of snacks. If I go at night, I always bring his headphones for the fireworks. They're really loud. Also, during the day I bring a hat, because when you're on rides at Magic Kingdom, like Aladdin, Dumbo, you're up in the sky and the sun is right in your face, especially when it's hot. It's alive. So always make sure to pack a hat, water, diapers, just essentials like that. And you can bring water in, right? Am I making that up? You can? OK. I don't know why I always thought you couldn't. Yeah, I also bring his like formula. He's on toddler formula. So I bring that for his like lunchtime. And yeah, you can bring water. You can bring snacks. You can bring anything. Honestly, like I have seen like people bring in like coolers of stuff. ⁓ Yeah. Nice. Nice. Yeah. No, I wouldn't mind. ⁓ Believe me, I'll pack my sandwiches in there. That's something I would do, but we'll see. Maybe not this time. What kind of like Disney unpopular opinion do you have that you'll stand on even if people are fighting you, whether it's in the comments or just in person? What is one unpopular opinion you might have about Disney? Also, I'm sorry. On the past question, I also pack a fan, a toddler fan when it's hot. Get that fan. Get that fan. When I forget that, I have a terrible time because my son is like sweating and it gets really, really hot in the summer. So that's like. So essential. can't believe I almost forgot that. I'm glad you brought it up. ⁓ thank you. Yeah. Yeah. And then when it rains, a stroller rain cover. That's smart, too. OK. I have to see when I go when I go next year, if it's raining season or not, we might do March. We'll see. But OK, got it. Got it. ⁓ that's good to know. So, Unpopular opinion. Do you have one about Disney? Mm hmm. Maybe that animal kingdom is the best park for toddlers. Most people say Magic Kingdom, which I can see why, you know, like there's a lot of like rides and stuff for them to do, but at Animal Kingdom, there's like so much open space. They can like run around so much and let out all their energy. And then you have like the animals and all the nature going on. There's a lot of meet and greets with characters. So I really love Animal Kingdom a lot for toddlers. I think I take my son the most to that park, honestly. Yeah, I can see that. And then they have like the music. They have like bands in the Africa part and then also in like the Discovery part of the park. They have different shows and yeah, it's very toddler friendly. They have a baby care center. ⁓ that's awesome. Yeah, most people are like, no, like Magic Kingdom's better, but... I've heard that. Yeah, no, I don't think so. Yeah, no, I kind of agree because when I was looking at where to stay, I was like, should we stay? I want to do Polynesian resort. If any advice to where to stay, let me know. But I was looking at staying at the animal lodge or whatever it's called. yeah. Yeah. The animal kingdom lodge. So I've never stayed at a resort because I live 10 minutes away, but I've been to that resort just to have dinner and it's really cute. And you can see the animals like from your room and everything. when you go out to eat in the restaurants there. Yeah, it's really cool. I would say there. was thinking that too, for that reason. So that's why I'm saying I think your animal kingdom theory might be right. Unpopular opinion for sure. But I think you're right for toddlers. Absolutely. They love animals. My kid loves the zoo. they like another unpopular opinion that kind of ties into that is my favorite baby care center is the one I animal kingdom. Everyone likes the one at Magic or Epcot the best, which Magic, I can see why because it's very aesthetically pleasing, but it's so crowded all the time. It's very overstimulating. And then the one at Epcot, it's like really far away from everything. So I don't really, I don't really like that one. It is like kind of bigger, but the one at Animal Kingdom I love because it's never crowded. there's, like I think There's like maybe one or two people there at a time and it's in a really convenient location. And yeah, it's right by Starbucks too. So that'll get me. I'm there. Yeah. And it's really cool too. So I just love Animal Kingdom the best in general, obviously. no, that's great advice. Again, this is why I'm like, we got to call Maria, get her in here, talk all things Disney, because that's like a really requested topic to a lot of times. Like I told you, I became a Disney adult kind of after kids, you know, so I'm not mad at it. I think it's so Same thing happened to me before I had Nico. I had never been... I went to Disney when I was little, obviously. And I had lived in Orlando for four years and I hadn't been to Disney. And then I started going with him and now I'm a Disney mom. ⁓ I love it. I love it. What or guess how do you handle going to... Because you go so frequently, right, to Disney, you go to the different parks. How do you handle it when the kids like... I don't know if Nico's at this age yet, but like if they want this and the toys and this and the glitter and the whatever the bubble ones, like obviously if you're going every single day that can get really expensive. So how do you sort of like manage that when the kids are like, I want this mom and that and the funnel cakes and whatever else it is that's there. Cause it's a fun place to be for kids too. But if they're there every day, like how do you do that budget wise? Like, okay, we can't be buying magic wands every day. He's honestly not at that age yet. Like You know when you like get off a ride and you're like in the store in a store usually we do that sometimes and he'll like point at the little plush toys and teddy bears and stuff and like he like wants it but and I let him touch it and then I'm like okay we gotta put it back and then he just forgets about it so like love it he's not at all yeah me too totally I'm gonna miss that. We'll test the bubble ones he's like Bubbles bubbles and like yeah bubbles and then I just keep walking He does have a bubble one Yeah, of course. We got one on from Disney on ice and I made a joke I work on the radio show man I was like at $50 later half of it's in the car the other half the dogs chewing I'm like it is what it is I guess that's happening, but no, I love it. I love it. I know that's so hard sometimes like saying no to kids like your kid. I'm like, I can't always say no, but I can't do a bubble on five days a week. We're just not going to happen. I totally get it. ⁓ I love it. So obviously with, you know, Disney, it's a lot going on. Right. So when you go to the parks, what do you notice about like how attention is designed for the kids, like for adults and for the kids? Right. I feel like that's why Disney works. And that's why you both the community too of moms, right, who relate. If I'm a mom, right, and I know sometimes moms or dads too, they get dragged to these kinds of trips and they're not into it, whatever, how can they find their fun and like their magic there? What can we do as adults? I know Epcot, you can drink around the world. I'm just saying. Yeah, so like you're basically asking like, what is there for adults to do? Okay. Yeah, for those who like have to go along and they want to, you know? Yeah. Well, at Magic Kingdom, they did just open up a bar in Pirates of the Caribbean. So it's no longer like a dry park so that you can't get a drink there now. okay, that's fun. That's new. Yeah. They have like, you know, the seven dwarfs train roller coaster. And then of course, in Tomorrowland, they have the people mover, which is so chill. You can just cruise and have a conversation with your friends. And I love the people mover. It's my favorite. The Astro Orbiter is a fun ride. So they have fun rides at Magic Kingdom. And then of course, like if you're into the whole Disney thing, the parades and the shows, you're gonna enjoy too. It's just a lot of entertainment. And then of course, Epcot around the world. They have all the cool rides there. Animal Kingdom. I feel like there's not, I feel like it's more designed for kids, honestly, because for adults, it's all you really can do is drink, eat, go on the safari, and then go on a couple rides in Avatar world, especially since they closed down Dinosaur Land to make it into like Encanto Land, which is not gonna be ready for a while. So. Yeah, there's really not much to do. I I guess the Cali River Rapids in Asia, but I mean, who wants to get soaked when you're at the park, you know? But they do have like the trails, the tiger trail where you get to see tigers and gorillas. So it depends if you're into that kind of stuff or not. But if you're more of like a thrill seeker, then I think Epcot and Hollywood Studios, definitely. Hollywood Studios is definitely more designed for adults. I rarely take my toddler there. feel like it's not very toddler friendly. There's literally two rides that he can ride there. So that one is definitely more geared towards adults. Yeah. I love it. Okay. They have the Star Wars land and I saw that. Yeah. Adults love Star Wars. I've never seen it to be honest. My biggest flex in life is that I've never seen the Star Wars movie. think it's like so cool to see. I haven't either, but Star Wars Man is really cool. Like it literally feels like you're in like another planet. And they also have a lot of bars in Hollywood Studios too. ⁓ that's right. I forgot about Hollywood Studios. Okay. Yeah. So there's a lot to do for the kiddos and the parents. Yeah. Yeah, literally. Like even if you don't have kids, like it's just fun to go. feel like I agree with that. I agree. What's on your skip it list, right? If you were to be honest and say, okay, this one, don't eat here or don't really go on this ride or like, and I know it depends, or if you have older kids or younger kids, what's your take on that? like skip something or skip a part. If you were to be like, skip this, like don't Paulina, don't even go here. Like it's not really like, you know, you're not gonna, I'm not gonna care for this. It's a little overrated. If there's like a food place or like a ride. ⁓ food. I definitely have a good one. It's the one in Hollywood studios that it's like, you know how like in the fifties they would do the drive in theater and you would like eat their stuff. They have one of those there. I went and tried it and the food was not good. The service was horrible. It was a cute experience, you know? I did a little drive-in thing, but it wasn't worth it to me. So I wouldn't do it again. I'm not. I like that. That's all right. we're both. It's crazy. Yeah, sorry. It's crazy because it's always packed and it's hard to get a reservation there, but it's not worth it at all. That's very interesting. Okay. What about off season versus like the hotness season? Like when is it a more chill time to go as far as during the year? What months do you recommend people to go? Definitely September. That is the best month. Like last month or not last month, last time I went in September, this past September, I remember like everything was like five to 10 minute waits, like the parks were empty. It was so nice. Yeah. Like I would say even towards the end of August, towards the end of August, all of September, really nice time to go. And even the first two weeks of December, like if you want to go and still see like the Christmas decor and all of the Christmas vibes, you can go in the first two weeks of December, still experience all of that and not deal with all of the Christmas. chaos that happens like the third and fourth week of December. True, I'm sure it's chaotic, but it's probably so fun and like so pretty in there. Yeah, but like it gets really crazy. Like I couldn't go until it's like not even enjoyable in my opinion. if you want to go and see the Christmas vibes and everything, definitely just go the first two weeks of December. Yeah, I don't know. It's a lot of people. I get it. I get why they're going and Halloween too. I really want to do the Christmas and Mickey's Halloween, whatever it's called. yeah, the not so scary Mickey's Halloween party. Yeah. Maybe one day we'll see. I know that's got to get super packed as well. I love it. So if you could give one piece of advice to a mom planning her very first trip. So Disney World, we're going. What is a piece of advice you could share? Definitely. You need one day for each park because the parks are so big and you're going to want to experience everything, especially if you're like coming from out of town and you spent all this money to be here, you're going to want to do everything. And there's no way you can do two parks in one day unless like you go from like open and close and you're going to be so exhausted. I'm guilty of that. I also didn't have a kid, though, but I would have Looking back I would take my time. I would set those days up individually so quick the park hopping isn't worth it to me personally no, not at all because like you can't even really enjoy it because you're gonna be in a rush and try to make it to everything and it's just not fun and also because like Besides Animal Kingdom all of the parks have night entertainment like fireworks or parades or shows and you're gonna want to watch all of them, you know, yeah No, that's very fair. That's a good point. That's awesome. Well, I love all advice that you've dropped. So now I'm curious a little bit more about you. Where do you see your content going and evolving and the moms of Main Street, all of that? Where do you see it going? What do you see kind of for your future and with your content? I think just a lot of like mom talk, fun, entertaining content. I just started a series called Main Street Mom Takes and That's where I start with an unpopular opinion or just like a general opinion about Disney. And then I interview the Main Street moms and we all kind of like agree or disagree and, you know, talk about it. So that's something that I just started and I think I'm going to keep doing for a while. And yeah, just a lot of mom talk stuff. I've been really enjoying that and I feel like my followers are really enjoying it too. Oh, 100%. That's how I found you. was like, wait, this is so cute. And I was loving it because I told you like, we're gonna when my daughter grows a little bit bigger, we're gonna go I would like to ideally go every year. I just feel like I want to make it a tradition. I want to just do fun activities with her. I never want as a kid. like to me, I take it real personal. So I'm like, I want to go and do this and make these memories. So I love all the tips that you shared with us. Yeah, thank you. I know it sounds like cliche, but it's such a magical place. Especially when you have kids. I mean, it's the best place to make memories, for sure. I've been to Europe with my son. I've been to Miami. I've been to so many places. But Disney is so unique. And they just do such a good job at keeping the magic going and helping you make the best memories. 100%. Oh, I agree. I love it. Maria, thank you for coming on today. We appreciate you so much. Where can we keep up with you? Instagram, TikTok, all the handles. Where can we do that? So I'm mainly on TikTok, Maria Laura Velasco, which is kind of long, but it's M-A-R-A-L-A-U-R-A-V-E-L-A-S-C-O. And then on Instagram, I'm Maria L. Velasco. Perfect. Yes. And I'm going to link all this to in the show notes. So make sure follow my girl. And they can also... contact you, message you, any questions or if they want to reach out, perfect. love it. Maria, we're going to keep in touch too. So when I plan my annual pilgrimage to Disney, I'm going to definitely message you. Maria, thank you so much for being here with us today. Thank you for having me. Have a good night.