Some summers are measured in beach days and backyard barbecues. This one, for me, will also be measured in baseball games, fireworks, Mickey ears, Bluey, conversations on the concourse, and one very surprised Trenton vacation giveaway winner.
As a Preferred Travel Partner of the Trenton Thunder, Embrace The Magic Travel had the chance to spend several nights at the ballpark this summer. I was there for Broadway Night, Faith & Family Night, and Small Business Night, and each one gave me a completely different reason to love being part of the Thunder community.
What I expected was a chance to meet local families and talk about vacations.
What I got was so much more.
I saw current clients, past clients, friends, families I recognized from other games, and plenty of people I was meeting for the first time. I got to talk Disney, Disney Cruise Line, cruising, family vacations, multigenerational travel, and everything in between. Boomer and Cloud Man stopped by. Dash came to visit our table too, which felt especially appropriate for a business built around helping families Embrace the Magic and travel.
A Family Affair at the Ballpark
Trenton Thunder has been part of our family story long before Embrace The Magic Travel became a Preferred Travel Partner. After years as season ticket holders, my son now works with the Trenton Thunder, which made this summer feel especially personal and full-circle for our family.
My mom came out. My daughter-in-love joined me. I got pictures with mascots, clients, winners, family, and plenty of people who simply stopped because the Embrace The Magic Travel sign caught their eye.
It really did become a family affair.
The Best Part: Handing the Prizes to the Winners
One of my favorite things about our Thunder nights was being able to announce the table-prize winners and then meet them right there at the ballpark.
There is something especially fun about watching someone walk up to the table knowing they have actually won the thing they entered for a few innings earlier.
Broadway Night Winner: Karen
Karen won our Disney-and-baseball prize pack, valued at more than $60. It included a pair of baseball-themed Mickey ears, a Mickey 2026 baseball, a Disney reusable gift bag, and a few extra Disney surprises.
The Mickey ears were the hit.
I wore a similar pair to the games all summer and got so many compliments on them. Karen was just as excited about hers, and I immediately thought how much fun they would be at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World. The 2026 party season is already underway, and if you paired those ears with a Trenton Thunder jersey, you would have a pretty great Disney-meets-baseball Halloween look.
Faith & Family Night Winner: Jason
Our Faith & Family Night prize was another Disney-and-baseball themed pack, and Jason was our winner.
One of the younger Thunder fans in his family especially loved the Disney baseball, and that is still one of my favorite winner photos from the summer. Sometimes it is not the biggest item in the bag that creates the biggest smile.
Small Business Night Winner: Wendi
Small Business Night brought Bluey to our table.
Wendi won a $55 Bluey family prize pack with a Hide & Seek Bluey doll, Bluey party plates, napkins and cups, stickers, an art pack, and a big helium Bluey Mylar balloon. Basically, everything needed to turn an ordinary evening at home into a very Bluey family night.
The weather had other plans for the end of the game, so we did not get the same on-the-spot winner announcement experience that night, but I was still thrilled to send the prize home with another local family.
And Then There Was the Grand Prize
Small Business Night also included our biggest giveaway of the summer: a vacation prize with a choice between a resort stay and a cruise.
Eric, a Trenton local, was selected as our grand-prize winner and is deciding between the resort or cruise package. His family was with him at the game, and their reaction was exactly why giveaways like this are so much fun.
Eric told me they almost never enter things like this. His daughter wanted them to enter, so they did. When his name was called, he said it felt like winning the lottery and joked that from now on, he is entering everything.
The announcement itself turned into one of those only-at-the-ballpark moments.
We made the announcement from the press box with Boomer and Cloud Man. Friends of Eric and his wife heard it live and started calling them to say he had won before everyone had even fully processed what was happening. There was already buzz on the concourse, and people stopped by to take pictures and congratulate him.
Now I am looking forward to seeing which trip he chooses, and helping turn that winning moment into an actual vacation.
What I Heard Over and Over on the Concourse
The giveaways were fun, but some of my favorite conversations started with a sentence like this, . .
“We just got back from Disney.”
“We already have a Disney trip booked.”
“We cruise all the time.”
“We know Disney pretty well.”
And I loved those conversations because they gave me a chance to share something people did not already know.
Even the self-described Disney experts often walked away with a tip, a planning idea, or a promotion they had never heard of.
That is one of my favorite parts of being a professional travel advisor.
After 14 years in this business, I know what tends to change. I know what questions to ask. I know what promotions may be worth watching, which upgrades can be worthwhile, what details families often overlook, and when something that looks like the obvious choice is not necessarily the best choice for that particular traveler.
Using a travel advisor can feel a little like having a personal assistant whose entire focus is your vacation.
You can still research. You can still pick restaurants. You can still watch cruise videos, compare resorts, make Pinterest boards, and do every part of travel planning that you genuinely enjoy.
You just do not have to do it alone.
You also get the opinion, context, and assistance of someone whose job is to know the travel world every day.
That is why I am continually surprised that more frequent travelers do not use a professional advisor. If you already love to travel, having an expert in your corner can make the experience even better.
And No, We Do Not Only Plan Disney
The word “Magic” in Embrace The Magic Travel naturally makes people think of Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line, and Disney-forward family travel is absolutely an important part of what we do.
But it is not the whole story.
Embrace The Magic Travel is family-focused and Disney-forward, and through our sister company, C Pinnacle Travel, we are also connected with a team of specialists who help open up a much bigger world of travel.
That includes family cruises, couples cruises, multigenerational vacations, premium and luxury cruising, small ships and yachts, Alaska, river cruises, expedition cruising, all-inclusive resorts, land vacations, and destinations around the world.
Over the last 14 years, I have helped plan everything from Disney vacations and cruises to international trips, river cruises, land tours, and travel as far away as the Philippines.
So if you stopped at my Thunder table this summer and thought, “Oh, Disney,” you were not wrong.
You just were not seeing the whole picture yet.
Thank You, Trenton Thunder
The Trenton Thunder has been such a wonderful partner to work with, and I am grateful for the chance to be part of the ballpark this summer.
Small Business Night was especially fun because I got to meet so many other local small-business owners and table partners. They helped make the grand-prize passport possible by welcoming fans to their tables and stamping entry cards throughout the night.
Seeing the concourse filled with local businesses, families, mascots, prizes, and conversation was exactly what community partnership should feel like.
If you own a small business, lead a group, or are looking for a fun way to bring people together locally, I would absolutely encourage you to look at what the Trenton Thunder offers. I have loved being part of this community as both a business partner and a local family with a personal connection to the team.
And to every person who stopped at the Embrace The Magic Travel table this summer: thank you.
Whether you entered a giveaway, talked cruises with me, told me about the Disney trip you just took, asked a planning question, introduced me to your family, or simply said hello, you made this partnership fun.
The baseball season may be winding down, but vacation planning never really has an off-season.
If you are thinking about what comes next, I would love to help.
