Wednesday, July 22, 2009

How we afford to go to Disney...

There are lots of people that don't quite understand all my tricks to make Disney "more affordable", so here is a random post about some of the things we do...

Free Dining - We have done this a few times now in late August (my wife is a teacher, so we usually go in the summer anyway), and the savings is hard to beat. This year we just booked a Magic Your Way - One Day Ticket, and we are going to take that to Guest Relations to upgrade to our Annual Passes when we get there. (*Note the Free Dining Offer requires you to purchase a ticket as part of the package).

Dining Plan when it isn't Free - We typically don't buy the Dining Plan when we have to pay for it. Instead we find that a big meal every other day or two is plenty (especially if we have a car, and can eat offsite a couple of times)... Although, when we go next year I might try the Quick Service Dining Plan which is relatively new...

Getting to WDW/Car Rental - We usually Drive to Walt Disney World if it is a longer trip of 9 Days or so, because we save money driving offsite to eat lunch, do the laundry, or buy food for breakfast... I do the normal airline price hawking for airfare if needed... If we decide to get a rental car (which is rare) then I usually take the Disney Magical Express from the airport to the hotel, because they handle luggage etc, and then I go to Downtown Disney and walk across the street to one of the hotels to rent a car from them (which I have pre-booked), because I no longer need a van to carry luggage and people, but just a car big enough for the family. It takes a little bit of logistical work, but it really isn't too bad, because the family eats lunch at Downtown Disney while I get the car, and then pick them up.

Annual Passes - This is the biggest money saving tip around if you are going to go to Disney more than 10 days in any calendar year. I think my record was like 31 or 32 days in one calendar year, and I live in Michigan :) We are buying our Annual Passes this August, and then we will go for sure next summer (probably late June or early July), and squeezing in a Spring Trip is as easy as Driving down, finding a decent hotel price (onsite or offsite), and eating for the week. In addition to having saved money on your tickets you can get some good rates on Disney Hotels (not guaranteed) at different times through-out the year. I watch http://www.mousesavers.com for all the latest deals, and sample prices from this fall were a Value Resort Room for $64+tax... If you decide to stay offsite then you can use your Annual Pass for free parking (listed as a current benefit, but always double check this).

Tables in Wonderland formerly Disney Dining Experience - (available to Annual Passholders only) - This card gives you a 20% discount off of food and non-alcoholic beverages, and you can purchase it for $75 as an AP holder. A couple of nice dinners easily pays for it, and that chicken nugget basket at the Pop Century food court goes from $7.69 to $6.15, so it really can add up over a few trips...

I still recommend MouseSavers.com for lots of other tips, because they cover everything :)

Monday, November 10, 2008

Thanks Walt - I think you succeeded...

One of the quotes from Walt Disney when speaking about creating the parks is, "We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun-together."

I am in Orlando this week for the CIPTUG Conference, and I spent yesterday at the Magic Kingdom all by myself... I have never been at the parks for a whole day without my family, but I had the opportunity to just watch and interact with other families, and it gave me a new perspective on the whole Disney World experience. We must usually be in our own little vacation world when we go, because I have never noticed the number of other families that are having a great vacation together. I also noticed many little babies, and I am really getting excited for March when the latest addition to our family will be here :)

I met a family from Illinois where the older son was ecstatic about his new "Hidden Mickeys Book" as they waited for the parade. There was a little girl that was nervous about her first ride on Space Mountain. The teenage girl talking about how scary Splash Mountain was when she was younger, and the young boys that were reaching for every item during Mickey's PhilharMagic just like Tommy and Austin do. I also met a nice family on the train that was enjoying a breather before they tackled Frontierland and Liberty Square, and I watched the fireworks with a family of 7, and the younger ones were definitely tired out as they looked like zombies as Wishes lit up the sky.

Thanks to everyone that shared a piece of their vacation with me yesterday... I think Walt succeeded, because there are indeed lots of families that are making life-long memories every day at the parks he inspired. As parents we aren't forced to sit on the sidelines and watch our children have fun like he was... Thanks to him we have a place that allows us to be a kid again, and just have fun with those wonderful blessings from God that grow up way to fast...

Have you made any memories lately? If not, there is a pretty good special going on for the beginning of 2009, so go to Mousesavers, and check it out!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Twitter at Disney World

I was planning on doing a bunch of "tweets" from Disney World on our upcoming vacation. However, I just found this site Twisney.com, and they take your twitter, put it on a map, allow pictures to be added, and also provide a link that you can share with friends and relatives to your "real-time trip log".

They also are providing a mechanism to share the wait times with other readers of their site. I think it is a cool idea, but it will only be successful if a number of people are actively posting. That is, unless Disney wants to join in the fun, and provide some of this information close to real-time for the benefit of its guests :)

Check it out...

****EDITTED - Twisney.com is not functioning any longer as of Spring 2009

--Joe

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Disney Parks on YouTube...

I just wanted to share that Disney has now setup a YouTube collection for the Disney Parks, and there is quite a bit over there to check out including a contest for a free vacation... So, if you find yourself sitting at a hotel room and bored head over there to check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyParks

Monday, May 12, 2008

How to "get started"...

The inspiration for this post came from some friends of mine that recently asked for some help planning a trip, because nobody in there family has ever been to Walt Disney World. So, here are some tips for getting started...

Order the Vacation Planning DVD by clicking here - this will give you a good overview of the fact that there are indeed 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, lots of hotels, and lots of other recreational activities for your vacation enjoyment.

Start reviewing a couple of my favorite websites...
- www.mousesavers.com - this site is great - especially if you are on a budget, because it highlights various ways to save money while vacationing at Disney

- www.allearsnet.com - this site has information on every topic related to Disney World including sample menus from all of the restaurants on property. Here is a link to their initial planning page.

- read my blog - hey this what I wrote it for, and it should continue to get better over time...

Start thinking about how you and your family vacation, and how you will answer the questions below for your family dynamics and budget...

- Onsite versus Offsite - We prefer to stay onsite, because of some of the "added benefits" of transportation, and extra magic hours.

- Rental Car or Not - You will need a car if you are offsite, but if you are onsite you can go with or without it. We preferred a car when the kids were smaller, and we were "lugging" a big stoller, because it was easier to put it in the rental than to cart it on the bus (especially at busy times).

- Fly or Drive - We have done both from Michigan (about 21 hours of driving time), and you will want to think about how your family will handle the drive, because nobody wants to start or end their vacation with a horrible driving experience.
*Story - we drove down in the middle of summer when Dawn was pregnant for our second child and after on our way home she started having pain, and eventually we realized that it was pre-term labor. So, south of Atlanta we stopped off, and found a hospital with an ER. The ER wasn't being very helpful, but with a little encouragement we were able to get Dawn into the Labor and Delivery floor where she received excellent care. They determined it was dehydration (if you go in the summer drink a lot, no I mean really a lot). She got out of the hospital (yes, I had our oldest, at age 2 with nothing to do for several hours), and we decided to get a hotel room. The next day we had a long drive, because we normally get into Kentucky before stopping on the way home.
*Another Story - We were 20 miles outside of Orlando on a trip that was going to be primarily to Sea World when we were rear-ended on the Turnpike. It made a fairly interesting vacation, because they "totaled" our van, and we had to get a rental for the week, and a different rental to drive home the following weekend.

- Length of vacation - I recommend at least a week, because there is so much to do and you really do want to enjoy your vacation (see the next item).

- Commando or Relaxed - We have been on vacation with family that insists on doing "everything" they can at the parks, and in the process have what I consider to be a horrible vacation. We call this Commando style. There are times that we do have to get up and go early, or "power through" a hot afternoon to see a certain attraction, but we make it a point to spend lots of time at the pool, and taking afternoon naps. Yes, it costs a lot to be there, but if you come home miserable with negative feelings of standing in line for 7 days... was it worth it?

Well, that's enough to get you started... Feel free to post any comments or questions...

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Disney Visa

If you are planning on going to Disney I recommend getting a Disney Visa where you can get 1% of your purchases back in the form of Disney Reward Dollars. You can also get no interest for 6 Months on select Disney Travel Purchases... Of course, check with them for all of the T&Cs etc...

Disney has several different designs that you can choose from, and they have even created a tool that allows you to take a personality test to determine which card you should select.

Here is a link

In case you were wondering I am a Castle person, so I should call and order some new cards for us, because we currently have the Pixie Dust red cards :)

Monday, March 3, 2008

Character Greetings - How to make them successful...

So, I couldn't decide what to blog about next, but in keeping with the previous Character Dinner post I am going to write about Character Greetings. A Character Greeting can happen anytime you are at a Disney World Park. Here is my list of tips to make your Character Greeting experience (and those in line behind you) an enjoyable one...

Camera (assuming you are not taking video)
The key to remembering that Character encounter is having some nice pictures when you get home... Here is a list of things to consider when selecting your camera...
  • Portable - it has to be easy for you to carry, and deal with. A large expensive camera sitting at the hotel room is not going to do you any good when Mickey Mouse shows up unexpectedly, and interacts with your child.
  • Responsive - the key to this is that you have to be able to snap pictures quickly... The need for this is impacted by the age of your children, but for younger children the faster it takes the pictures the better your odds of getting a great one. You need to have fresh batteries on-hand at all times, so that dying batteries aren't the cause of a missed shot.
  • Usable - there are lots of people that buy a new camera right before they leave on vacation, and I think this is a big mistake. You need to know your camera, and have used it in several situations before you are in the "high-pressure" situation of a Character Greeting line. You need to have taken pictures inside, and outside (both daytime and nighttime). It is important for all the adults in your party to have an idea on how to take the photo. Grandma or Grandpa might find themselves taking a picture of your family with the Incredibles, and you want the picture to turn out, so let them use it elsewhere in the park on occasion.
  • Unlimited - in this digital photo world this is much less of an issue, but make sure you have enough memory cards, so that you can take any picture you want to several times. We take well over 500 pictures in a week on our cameras.
My Camera setup consists of a 4+ year-old Canon A80 (4 mega-pixel 3x Optical Zoom) digital camera that has a nice belt holster, and is good for when we are traveling "lite". The other camera is a Nikon D50, and that is the one that lets us take several continuous shots of the dynamic duo meeting the characters. We have 2 lenses, and usually determine which lens to take based on the plan for that section of the day.

Autograph Books
We have done the autograph books on several occasions, and the tricks for these are as follows...
  • Ink Pen - the ink pen needs to be large, and have it open and ready. They sell nice large pens right next to the autograph books at every turn in Disney, so when you buy the book get the pen. The large pen makes it easier for the Character to sign...
  • Page Selection - the book should be open to the page you want them to sign, and feel free to help your child by delivering the book to the Character if the child is struggling with the book.
Photopass
Disney has recently (ok it has been a few years now) introduced PhotoPass where they will take pictures of you and your family through-out the parks. They give you a card at your first encounter during your vacation, and you can use that same card for every PhotoPass person from there on... So, have this out and ready if you see a PhotoPass Photographer.

The Line
Yes, there is a line... I know it is hard to believe, but even if the Character is moving to a new location there is already a line. So, do yourself a favor, and find the person in the yellow shirt as soon as possible, and get in line. I love to see people running to see a Character, and turning around to see the line clearly established and they really aren't next... Don't worry you shouldn't have to intervene, because the Character handlers in the cool yellow shirts will direct them accordingly.

Child Prep
I am sure there are lots of people out there that will think we are a little "over the top", but we really do have a routine for our kids to follow. The kids know to do this, and it helps us to not waste everybody's time while trying to get some nice pictures of our boys...
  • Initial interaction - A hug, or high-five, and a transfer of the autograph book. If there are multiple characters they will interact while the autograph book is passed around.
  • Picture - smile at the camera for the picture, and wait until the "ok boys let's get going..."
  • Leaving - a handshake, hug, or high-five as they are walking away..
Putting it all together... The Character walk-through...
Here is the step-by-step...
  • Get in line - start talking about what page we are going to have them sign on, and get the kids excited for meeting xyz character. Decide who all is going for the interaction, so at the last minute Grandpa doesn't try to get in the picture with Minnie Mouse unexpectedly...
  • Next in line - my wife waits with the boys, and verifies they have the autograph page open. She reminds them to get the book signed, and then smile at Dad for the picture...
    • At this point I setup just next to the Photopass person (or where they would be standing)... They can tell that I am considered to be "on-deck"... I turn the camera on, and remove the lens cap if necessary...
  • As the people ahead of us are leaving the Characters - the boys walk in
    • I hand-off the PhotoPass card (if they are there), and start snapping pictures.
    • My wife has now transitioned to near me, so that she can call for the boys when the nice picture is needed, and when it is time to walk away.
  • After the autographs - We call for the boys, and give the PhotoPass person their opportunity to take a photo (very important when flash is needed), and then I snap, snap, snap some more.
  • Leaving - The wife calls for the boys, I grab the PhotoPass, and we are off to the next character...
A few final thoughts... Kids have great moments and not-so-great moments, so don't pressure them. We have some pictures where our youngest wasn't included because he was on the bench in time-out, for being bad in line etc... If you can't get that nice picture of your kids with the Character in a reasonable amount of time then just move along, and try again at another time. We have a collection of good and bad pictures, but the only one that we are selfish about is the family picture that we get taken in front of the castle on every vacation. That may be in another blog posting, but for that one we have to get a decent picture, because it sits on our mantle from the time we get it until we get another one to replace it... So, I openly apologize to anybody that gets behind us in that line when we are getting our picture taken first thing in the morning at the Magic Kingdom :)

Here are some of our character pictures from last years trips...