It's hard to believe that we have been home from Disney for a month already. Time has absolutely flown by. While we were at Disney I had told myself I would come home and write a review for each table service restaurant we ate at as soon as I could so that I would remember the specific details of the meal. Well, with my Grandmother passing away while we were at Disney World, then heading straight to Iowa for the funeral seven hours after returning home, it was a little crazy around here. So, today starts the first of ten reviews over the coming weeks, and I can only hope I remember the details I tried to focus on while we were there :)
Our first meal of the trip was at Portobello in Downtown Disney. We had reservations at 6:30 as we knew we would be driving all day long and were hoping for a nice, relaxing way to kick off our vacation. We had never eaten here, but it had always been high on my list as a new one I wanted to try. This was the first year it was available on the dining plan, so we happily booked this one 180 days before our trip and anxiously looked forward to it all summer long. I only wish the meal itself had lived up to the hype I had created inside my head!
It started off pretty promising. Since we started our trip a little earlier than we had planned, we arrived in Disney around 2:00 pm. Our room was ready at All Star Sports so we were able to get moved in and settled by 3:30. We decided to head on over to Downtown Disney and see if we could get an earlier seating. By the time we got there, it was about 4:30 and there were only a few guests in the restaurant. It was looking good to us. After explaining our situation to the hostess, she said that she could seat us then, and that she would be with us in a moment. We stood in the lobby with another family for what seemed like 10 minutes. I did not time it, but it definitely was a while. She finally came back and took both of our families to our tables. Once we were there we sat, and sat, and sat waiting for our server. Finally, our server arrived and took our drink orders. Then we waited a long time again for them to be brought to us. Finally we placed our order and sat back to enjoy the meal. A few minutes into our wait, they sat a very large family at the table to next to us. The table was so close that we literally had to get up and move our table over into the aisle as they were continually hitting my arm with every little move they made. The bad part was that the restaurant still wasn't that crowded at that time so they could have seated them anywhere in the restaurant. However, we fixed the problem and were ready for our meals.
While we were waiting they brought us a basket of bread. I am a huge bread eater so I was thrilled! However, I was quickly disappointed. One of the breads had a very odd taste to it, and the other was so hard I could barely cut it to spread butter on it. Next came our entrees. I had settled on the Chicken Farfalle (snow peas, asparagus, tomatoes, and parmigiano cream sauce) and my husband had the Ravioli Gigante (handcrafted ricotta and spinach filled pasta, tomato, basil, and toasted garlic). Truthfully, I can't remember what my daughter had, but I am guessing it was pizza as that was her main meal every day. My husband really enjoyed the taste of the ravioli, but the sauce was super thin. It was like a broth. This may be authentic Italian, but he just didn't like the consistency of it. However, he did enjoy the taste as did my daughter who kept stealing bites of it. I wish I could say the same about my Farfalle. I think it would have been really good if I had ordered it without the snow peas. I personally like snow peas, but apparently not on my pasta. The taste was so strong, that I could taste it in every bite I had, whether I actually ate a snow pea or not. It was very garden tasting (I know that is a weird description, but I don't know any other way to express this taste). I only ate about half the meal, and was really looking forward to dessert.
The dessert was not that great either. I actually had to look at the website to see the dessert options to remember what I ate. I had the Fragole con Saba e Caramello. Although it sounds really fancy, it was just berry sorbet with marinated strawberries. By berry sorbet they mean the strongest raspberry flavored sorbet you can imagine with super soggy overcooked strawberries. I guess it was a little too fancy for me. Just give me plain ice cream please :). My husband had the Chocolate Paradis, which was Rich chocolate layer cake, chocolate ganache and toffee crunch. He was actually pretty happy with his, though it wasn't the best cake he's ever had. He is a dessert person, but he probably wouldn't go back just for the dessert alone. My daughter loved her dessert. It was a create your own sundae. They brought her ice cream, chocolate sauce, mickey sprinkles, and whipped cream (all in separate bowls) and she was able to mix to her hearts content. She was in heaven.
As soon as we ordered our dessert, we said that we were also ready for our check. We had been there a long time, and were ready to head to Disney Quest for some fun before collapsing in our hotel. However, even after taking our time eating our dessert, we were still waiting on our check. My husband finally had to go looking for someone to get our server so that we could get our check and go. I don't know if our server had too many tables, or was just forgetful, but we had to ask multiple times for refills and various items throughout our meal. Slow would be an understatement to describe our meal.
So, would I go back? Maybe. The food wasn't the greatest, and the service was far from good, but maybe they were having an off night. I definitely would not pay out of pocket for this meal. Our bill came to over $80 for the three of us, and that was just entree, colas, and dessert for each of us. Nothing special. If I had the dining plan (for free) again, and needed one more meal to fill the week I might would try it again in a few years. It is definitely at the bottom of my list though. With so many wonderful restaurants at Disney World, I would definitely choose several others over Portobello!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Another short and sweet one. You're welcome :) As I prepare for my wonderful trip in less than two weeks, I have a million things running through my mind. I also have a list a mile long of things I still need to do, so I am going to give an easy tip today.
Did you know that you can call T-Rex directly for dining reservations? There are a few made available via the Disney World website, but the majority of their reservations are taken directly through the restaurant itself. The phone number is 407-828-TREX (8739). So, if you have a little one who has their heart set on eating there, call the restaurant directly if the website shows no availability. Chances are very good that you can get a seating at the time you want!
On a side note, if you have ever thought about eating here, I highly recommend it. Especially now that the restaurant is on the Disney Dining Plan. We have eaten here many many times and my daughter (who is almost 9) absolutely loves it. It is a little loud, but the fun factor definitely makes up for the noise in my opinion!
Did you know that you can call T-Rex directly for dining reservations? There are a few made available via the Disney World website, but the majority of their reservations are taken directly through the restaurant itself. The phone number is 407-828-TREX (8739). So, if you have a little one who has their heart set on eating there, call the restaurant directly if the website shows no availability. Chances are very good that you can get a seating at the time you want!
On a side note, if you have ever thought about eating here, I highly recommend it. Especially now that the restaurant is on the Disney Dining Plan. We have eaten here many many times and my daughter (who is almost 9) absolutely loves it. It is a little loud, but the fun factor definitely makes up for the noise in my opinion!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Here is a really quick tip. The check in time for Disney resorts is 3:00 pm. However, you should definitely check with the front desk if you arrive in the area early as we have gotten lucky several times and were able to get into our room as early as noon. You can check in at any time during the day, but your room may not be available. If you want to hit the parks as soon as you arrive in Orlando, check with your hotel whenever you arrive. If your room isn't available, you can leave your bags with the baggage area and they will hold them until you return from the parks. We have been lucky enough to have them delivered to our room before, but that doesn't always happen. At least you know your bags are being safely taken care of while you are playing in the parks!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Maximizing the Dining Plan...Part 2
Finally, I have found five minutes to write my follow up to Maximizing the Dining Plan that I started probably a month ago! When are we going to get that extra hour in our day? I keep losing hours out of my days :)
So, you have made the decision to get the dining plan for your Disney World vacation. Maybe you were lucky enough to get it for free and it doesn't really matter where you eat (what a nice treat). However, if you had to pay for the plan and want to figure out how to make the most of it, here are a few tips. My first post talked about the sit down meals, but here are a few tips for quick service. Hope they help!
First of all, make sure you order every item that comes with the plan. For quick service meals, each person gets one entree, one drink, and one dessert. As a side note, most restaurants have combo meals where you also get a side with your entree. One exception to this is the turkey legs. They do not come with anything else, so you will only get the leg, a drink and a dessert. When you order, make sure you get a drink and dessert, even if you don't want it at the time. If you are eating at the hotel and can use your refillable mug for coffee or a soft drink, get a bottled drink and stick it in your bag for later (remember you can always get a free cup of ice at a counter service location so you can have a refreshing drink later if you don't want it with your meal). If you don't want the dessert and the restaurant doesn't have a cookie or rice krispy treat you can stick in your bag for later, see if they will let you have a bag of grapes or carrots instead. Disney is all about healthy eating so they will often let you substitute something from the healthy kids selections as a dessert. Not all will, but it doesn't hurt to ask. This makes a great snack later! Also, always ask for a large size drink. You can get either a medium or large size with the plan, and if you don't specify, they will give you a medium with your meal.
Most plans offer enough credits for two meals a day (either one table service and one quick service on the Regular Dining Plan, or two quick service meals on the Quick Service Plan). So, what do you do for the other meal? Bring your own breakfast! You get the most value money wise out of a quick service meal at lunch and dinner. These meals simply cost more. Besides, it is a whole lot cheaper to bring donuts, or bagels, pop tarts, and bread to toast in the food court than it is to pack your own sandwiches for lunch or dinner. We only use a quick service meal at breakfast when we have extra meals.
How do you get extra meals if you only are allotted enough for two a day? We share meals in a few of the restaurants where the food portions are extra large. I have written a separate blog on this in the past, but a few of the ones we share at are Yak and Yeti counter service in Animal Kingdom (sweet and sour chicken and rice), Pizza Planet at Hollywood Studios (pizza with a salad), Cosmic Rays at Magic Kingdom (BBQ chicken and rib plate) and Sunshine Seasons at Epcot (cashew chicken and rice). Sometimes we get one adult meal and one child meal, or just two adult meals. The quick service credits are lumped into one big pot, and are not broken down into a set amount of child and adult meals. Some counter service restaurants do not offer a kids meal, so they have to order off of the adult menu. We don't share every meal, but usually do two or three over the course of ten days. This allows us to get two or three meals at breakfast to break up our monotony of donuts and bagels!
So, there you have it. A few suggestions for making the most of the counter service meals. If you always order a dessert and a large drink, you will maximize your money. Also, instead of wasting food you are too stuffed to eat, get something to save for a snack later in the day. Then you can save your snack credit for a super yummy snack instead of a drink...maybe a Butterfinger cupcake at Starring Rolls in Hollywood Studios, a homemade ice cream sandwich or cinnamon roll at the Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom, or a truly unique treat from one of the countries of World Showcase at Epcot!
So, you have made the decision to get the dining plan for your Disney World vacation. Maybe you were lucky enough to get it for free and it doesn't really matter where you eat (what a nice treat). However, if you had to pay for the plan and want to figure out how to make the most of it, here are a few tips. My first post talked about the sit down meals, but here are a few tips for quick service. Hope they help!
First of all, make sure you order every item that comes with the plan. For quick service meals, each person gets one entree, one drink, and one dessert. As a side note, most restaurants have combo meals where you also get a side with your entree. One exception to this is the turkey legs. They do not come with anything else, so you will only get the leg, a drink and a dessert. When you order, make sure you get a drink and dessert, even if you don't want it at the time. If you are eating at the hotel and can use your refillable mug for coffee or a soft drink, get a bottled drink and stick it in your bag for later (remember you can always get a free cup of ice at a counter service location so you can have a refreshing drink later if you don't want it with your meal). If you don't want the dessert and the restaurant doesn't have a cookie or rice krispy treat you can stick in your bag for later, see if they will let you have a bag of grapes or carrots instead. Disney is all about healthy eating so they will often let you substitute something from the healthy kids selections as a dessert. Not all will, but it doesn't hurt to ask. This makes a great snack later! Also, always ask for a large size drink. You can get either a medium or large size with the plan, and if you don't specify, they will give you a medium with your meal.
Most plans offer enough credits for two meals a day (either one table service and one quick service on the Regular Dining Plan, or two quick service meals on the Quick Service Plan). So, what do you do for the other meal? Bring your own breakfast! You get the most value money wise out of a quick service meal at lunch and dinner. These meals simply cost more. Besides, it is a whole lot cheaper to bring donuts, or bagels, pop tarts, and bread to toast in the food court than it is to pack your own sandwiches for lunch or dinner. We only use a quick service meal at breakfast when we have extra meals.
How do you get extra meals if you only are allotted enough for two a day? We share meals in a few of the restaurants where the food portions are extra large. I have written a separate blog on this in the past, but a few of the ones we share at are Yak and Yeti counter service in Animal Kingdom (sweet and sour chicken and rice), Pizza Planet at Hollywood Studios (pizza with a salad), Cosmic Rays at Magic Kingdom (BBQ chicken and rib plate) and Sunshine Seasons at Epcot (cashew chicken and rice). Sometimes we get one adult meal and one child meal, or just two adult meals. The quick service credits are lumped into one big pot, and are not broken down into a set amount of child and adult meals. Some counter service restaurants do not offer a kids meal, so they have to order off of the adult menu. We don't share every meal, but usually do two or three over the course of ten days. This allows us to get two or three meals at breakfast to break up our monotony of donuts and bagels!
So, there you have it. A few suggestions for making the most of the counter service meals. If you always order a dessert and a large drink, you will maximize your money. Also, instead of wasting food you are too stuffed to eat, get something to save for a snack later in the day. Then you can save your snack credit for a super yummy snack instead of a drink...maybe a Butterfinger cupcake at Starring Rolls in Hollywood Studios, a homemade ice cream sandwich or cinnamon roll at the Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom, or a truly unique treat from one of the countries of World Showcase at Epcot!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
I stink at keeping up! Now that school is back in, this will be better! Anyway, today's travel tip is for all of you have someone with food allergies in your family. If someone has an allergy, or special diet that they must follow, then Disney is the vacation to take with your family. All of the chefs at Disney are wonderful and trained to deal with a plethora of dietary restrictions. Many of the menus already include vegan options, while some even have gluten free or sugar free options as well. If you don't see something on the menu that you feel comfortable with, or if your food needs to be created in a nut free zone, they can probably accomodate you. All you have to do is ask to speak to the chef and tell them you have food allergies. The chef will come to your table and work with you to create a meal that your special eater can fully enjoy.
On a side note though, Disney takes food allergies very very seriously. If you have a slight one and want to chance eating what is on the menu, don't mention the word allergy around your server. Case is point, my daughter has a slight milk allergy. In her case, her face breaks out after she is exposed to a lot of dairy. Seeing as my daughter lives on pizza and Mac and cheese at Disney, this often happens towards the end of our trip. She doesn't get sick, doesn't go into anaphylactic shock, and the spots don't bother her. They are just blemishes on her face. I have the same issue if I drink too much milk. So, a few years ago we were eating at the super expensive Cinderella castle as her special birthday meal. This was a big deal to her. As we were going over the menu and she was saying she wanted macaroni and cheese, I asked my husband if we should let her have it since she had spots on her face. The waiter walked up just as I mentioned the milk allergy. He said he would get the chef, even though I was not talking to him. I told him not to worry about it, it wasn't a big deal. He insisted that he had to get him since I "mentioned the word allergy". The chef comes out and refuses to allow her to have the macaroni. He then spent at least ten minutes at our table trying to come up with something my super picky then five year old would eat. We finally settled on plain pasta with sauce on the side. When it was time for dessert, he again said no to the birthday cupcake as it has a small amount of milk in it. I tried to explain that her allergy is not affected by milk baked into objects, only pure milk or dairy products and that she could have the cupcake. He still refused, but sent out some sorbet that I told him she wouldn't eat. My daughter was devastated and wanted the cupcake, but he wouldn't give in. While I completely understand that he was doing his job and trying to keep an allergy reaction from occurring, I wish he would have stopped when I told him about how the reaction is limited to straight dairy. At least let her have the cupcake! It was a very emotionally draining meal, and definitely not worth the price that night (we have eaten there before and totally loved it though so this was an isolated incident strictly linked to the allergy issue). I will never mention the word allergy again at Disney in regards to my daughter's milk allergy.
I told the story not to bash Disney or that Chef, but to illustrate the extreme seriousness the Chefs have in regard to food allergies. Just keep it in mind if you have someone with a milder allergy!
On a side note though, Disney takes food allergies very very seriously. If you have a slight one and want to chance eating what is on the menu, don't mention the word allergy around your server. Case is point, my daughter has a slight milk allergy. In her case, her face breaks out after she is exposed to a lot of dairy. Seeing as my daughter lives on pizza and Mac and cheese at Disney, this often happens towards the end of our trip. She doesn't get sick, doesn't go into anaphylactic shock, and the spots don't bother her. They are just blemishes on her face. I have the same issue if I drink too much milk. So, a few years ago we were eating at the super expensive Cinderella castle as her special birthday meal. This was a big deal to her. As we were going over the menu and she was saying she wanted macaroni and cheese, I asked my husband if we should let her have it since she had spots on her face. The waiter walked up just as I mentioned the milk allergy. He said he would get the chef, even though I was not talking to him. I told him not to worry about it, it wasn't a big deal. He insisted that he had to get him since I "mentioned the word allergy". The chef comes out and refuses to allow her to have the macaroni. He then spent at least ten minutes at our table trying to come up with something my super picky then five year old would eat. We finally settled on plain pasta with sauce on the side. When it was time for dessert, he again said no to the birthday cupcake as it has a small amount of milk in it. I tried to explain that her allergy is not affected by milk baked into objects, only pure milk or dairy products and that she could have the cupcake. He still refused, but sent out some sorbet that I told him she wouldn't eat. My daughter was devastated and wanted the cupcake, but he wouldn't give in. While I completely understand that he was doing his job and trying to keep an allergy reaction from occurring, I wish he would have stopped when I told him about how the reaction is limited to straight dairy. At least let her have the cupcake! It was a very emotionally draining meal, and definitely not worth the price that night (we have eaten there before and totally loved it though so this was an isolated incident strictly linked to the allergy issue). I will never mention the word allergy again at Disney in regards to my daughter's milk allergy.
I told the story not to bash Disney or that Chef, but to illustrate the extreme seriousness the Chefs have in regard to food allergies. Just keep it in mind if you have someone with a milder allergy!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Maximizing the Dining Plan Part One
I have written several posts on the dining plan in the past. By now it is probably obvious that I am only a fan of the plan if you get it for free (or if your family really enjoys having a sit down meal every day). We have been very lucky to get it for free almost every trip so I definitely wouldn't turn it down, but I also did not pay to add it to the last two trips we took to the World. Why? Truthfully, the amount of food you have to eat on it to make it worth the money is way too much for our family. I have kept our receipts for the last few years when we had free dining and it was about a wash with the price for the plan. I added up every penny we spent on snacks, counter service meals, and dinner and compared it to the price we would have paid to add the dining plan to our stay. Every time we came out almost even. In other words, we wouldn't have saved any money by adding the plan. In fact, we probably would have spent more because there were many times we were eating food we wouldn't have purchased out of pocket (mainly desserts). We were "forced" to get a dessert at every meal, and truth be told, we don't often spend money on desserts. I am not saying we didn't enjoy eating them, but very often we left food on our plates because it was way too much. I have written posts in the past about how we stretch the dining plan and share meals which allows us a few extra meals, plus it eliminates excessive waste of food. Even taking that into consideration though, we still wouldn't come out ahead as we would share those meals anyway if we were paying out of pocket.
Whether or not you pay for the plan, or if you are lucky enough to get it for free, I have a few tips for maximizing the plan to get the most value out of it. My husband always makes it his personal challenge to get the most expensive food and dessert at each restaurant so that he can make the most of the plan. So, based on his "research" I have a few tips.
Part one: Maximizing the Dining Plan Using Sit Down Meal Credits
First of all, I am not a big fan of using the dining plan on signature restaurants (these take two dining entitlements) or in room pizza delivery. I would rather have two sit down meals instead of one that takes two credits, and truthfully, I can get two pizzas at Pizza Hut for $20, and even if I have them delivered and pay a delivery fee it is cheaper than wasting a sit down meal credit. We have had Giordano's delivered to Pop Century before when we didn't have access to a car so I know that there are restaurants that deliver if you just don't want to go out. There are so many amazing restaurants to choose from on property so why do I want to waste a sit down meal on a pizza that is made at the food court (and really isn't that good)? As for the signature restaurants, I just don't feel like you can get your money's worth for two credits. Now, I must admit that I have done this once. A few years ago my princess wanted to eat inside the castle so we did use two credits a piece for this meal. While this did include gratuity (not usual for dining plan anymore) and a photo package with Cinderella, I probably wouldn't do it again unless she really begged. I would rather eat with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare where the atmosphere is more relaxed, and the food is much much better.
Secondly, I wouldn't do breakfast unless it is something that your family really enjoys. You get much more food at lunch or dinner, and you aren't wasting a credit on bacon and eggs. We have had breakfast at a few sit downs now, and I walked away every time feeling like I just spent my life fortune on pancakes and waffles. None of the food was any different than what I could make at home (with the exception of maybe a casserole or two). Since our family isn't really into eating big breakfasts, we would rather have cereal or bagels at the hotel and save our meals for later. We had quick service for free last year and my daughter begged to eat at Chef Mickey's on her birthday. After looking at the prices, we decided to try their breakfast since it was considerably cheaper than dinner. Since we were paying out of pocket, we wanted to eat as cheap as possible. So, we took the plunge and tried it. After waiting in line to take our picture and get seated, we were starving by the time we were taken to our table. However, Mickey Mouse was really close to our table so we waited to see him. Then we raced to the buffet and filled our plates. By the time we got back, Goofy was one table away, so we spent the next few minutes getting ready for autographs and pictures. By the time he left and we started eating, our food was getting cold (as breakfast foods often do). So we ate a little then went to get more, only to come back to Minnie Mouse heading our way. So the cycle started again. By the time we had seen all of the characters it was an hour later and I had only eaten a few Mickey waffles, some scrambled eggs, some potato casserole and a muffin. I felt full as I was utterly exhausted, so we paid our bill and left. Our meal cost us $90 out of pocket by the time we paid for three buffets and left a tip. I really did not feel like the three of us had eaten $90 worth of food, and truthfully that is almost my whole grocery budget for a week. If we had eaten there for dinner as we usually do, we would have eaten a lot more food and I would have felt like I had gotten better value for my money since I would have had fresh carved beef, or ham, and lots of other goodies. I guess I just have a hard time spending so much on breakfast food that is really pretty cheap to make. Even if we had used a dining entitlement for our breakfast, and we had gotten the dining plan for free, I would have walked away from that meal feeling like I just threw money out the window. I am not saying we won't do breakfast again on the dining plan, but it will definitely only be when we get the plan for free. I am sure doing one or two breakfasts wouldn't be a big deal, but if you want to get your money's worth from the plan, breakfast is not your best value.
Finally, there are certain restaurants to avoid to get the best value out of your plan. The in room pizza delivery is number one on my list. Second choice would be The Plaza restaurant in Magic Kingdom. The prices are super cheap here, and the atmosphere is pretty laid back. The prices really aren't much higher than those at counter service locations, so you just can't get a good deal if you are on the plan. Now if you want a cheap sit down meal to pay out of pocket, then this is an awesome place to go. I would also avoid most of the sit down restaurants at the moderate resorts. These are geared towards the guests at those resorts, so again the prices are pretty affordable. Not only are the prices cheap, but the atmosphere is pretty laid back and simple (for example, Shutters at Caribbean Beach is open in the morning as extra seating for resort guests eating in the food court). The food may be good at these restaurants, but it is far from fancy and the value is not there if you are using the plan. One final restaurant that stands out as a low value for the plan is Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club. Here you will get burgers or sandwiches, and the desserts on the plan aren't as great as I would hope. you get a simple sundae or other small ice cream treat. I would rather go here for dessert only and enjoy a Banana Split or Kitchen Sink sundae out of pocket. Most other restaurants on property are going to be a decent value. If you are looking for a few that will give you your money's worth I suggest O'Hana, Teppan Edo, Portobello, Wolfgang Puck (lower dining room), T-Rex, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Boma or a Character Buffet for dinner (1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey's, Akershus, or Crystal Palace). These are all pricier options with either big portions, yummy desserts, or a great atmosphere. I would put all of these at the top of my must do list for all newbies to the plan.
In the coming days (hopefully) I will post my tips for maximizing the plan with quick service options.
Whether or not you pay for the plan, or if you are lucky enough to get it for free, I have a few tips for maximizing the plan to get the most value out of it. My husband always makes it his personal challenge to get the most expensive food and dessert at each restaurant so that he can make the most of the plan. So, based on his "research" I have a few tips.
Part one: Maximizing the Dining Plan Using Sit Down Meal Credits
First of all, I am not a big fan of using the dining plan on signature restaurants (these take two dining entitlements) or in room pizza delivery. I would rather have two sit down meals instead of one that takes two credits, and truthfully, I can get two pizzas at Pizza Hut for $20, and even if I have them delivered and pay a delivery fee it is cheaper than wasting a sit down meal credit. We have had Giordano's delivered to Pop Century before when we didn't have access to a car so I know that there are restaurants that deliver if you just don't want to go out. There are so many amazing restaurants to choose from on property so why do I want to waste a sit down meal on a pizza that is made at the food court (and really isn't that good)? As for the signature restaurants, I just don't feel like you can get your money's worth for two credits. Now, I must admit that I have done this once. A few years ago my princess wanted to eat inside the castle so we did use two credits a piece for this meal. While this did include gratuity (not usual for dining plan anymore) and a photo package with Cinderella, I probably wouldn't do it again unless she really begged. I would rather eat with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare where the atmosphere is more relaxed, and the food is much much better.
Secondly, I wouldn't do breakfast unless it is something that your family really enjoys. You get much more food at lunch or dinner, and you aren't wasting a credit on bacon and eggs. We have had breakfast at a few sit downs now, and I walked away every time feeling like I just spent my life fortune on pancakes and waffles. None of the food was any different than what I could make at home (with the exception of maybe a casserole or two). Since our family isn't really into eating big breakfasts, we would rather have cereal or bagels at the hotel and save our meals for later. We had quick service for free last year and my daughter begged to eat at Chef Mickey's on her birthday. After looking at the prices, we decided to try their breakfast since it was considerably cheaper than dinner. Since we were paying out of pocket, we wanted to eat as cheap as possible. So, we took the plunge and tried it. After waiting in line to take our picture and get seated, we were starving by the time we were taken to our table. However, Mickey Mouse was really close to our table so we waited to see him. Then we raced to the buffet and filled our plates. By the time we got back, Goofy was one table away, so we spent the next few minutes getting ready for autographs and pictures. By the time he left and we started eating, our food was getting cold (as breakfast foods often do). So we ate a little then went to get more, only to come back to Minnie Mouse heading our way. So the cycle started again. By the time we had seen all of the characters it was an hour later and I had only eaten a few Mickey waffles, some scrambled eggs, some potato casserole and a muffin. I felt full as I was utterly exhausted, so we paid our bill and left. Our meal cost us $90 out of pocket by the time we paid for three buffets and left a tip. I really did not feel like the three of us had eaten $90 worth of food, and truthfully that is almost my whole grocery budget for a week. If we had eaten there for dinner as we usually do, we would have eaten a lot more food and I would have felt like I had gotten better value for my money since I would have had fresh carved beef, or ham, and lots of other goodies. I guess I just have a hard time spending so much on breakfast food that is really pretty cheap to make. Even if we had used a dining entitlement for our breakfast, and we had gotten the dining plan for free, I would have walked away from that meal feeling like I just threw money out the window. I am not saying we won't do breakfast again on the dining plan, but it will definitely only be when we get the plan for free. I am sure doing one or two breakfasts wouldn't be a big deal, but if you want to get your money's worth from the plan, breakfast is not your best value.
Finally, there are certain restaurants to avoid to get the best value out of your plan. The in room pizza delivery is number one on my list. Second choice would be The Plaza restaurant in Magic Kingdom. The prices are super cheap here, and the atmosphere is pretty laid back. The prices really aren't much higher than those at counter service locations, so you just can't get a good deal if you are on the plan. Now if you want a cheap sit down meal to pay out of pocket, then this is an awesome place to go. I would also avoid most of the sit down restaurants at the moderate resorts. These are geared towards the guests at those resorts, so again the prices are pretty affordable. Not only are the prices cheap, but the atmosphere is pretty laid back and simple (for example, Shutters at Caribbean Beach is open in the morning as extra seating for resort guests eating in the food court). The food may be good at these restaurants, but it is far from fancy and the value is not there if you are using the plan. One final restaurant that stands out as a low value for the plan is Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club. Here you will get burgers or sandwiches, and the desserts on the plan aren't as great as I would hope. you get a simple sundae or other small ice cream treat. I would rather go here for dessert only and enjoy a Banana Split or Kitchen Sink sundae out of pocket. Most other restaurants on property are going to be a decent value. If you are looking for a few that will give you your money's worth I suggest O'Hana, Teppan Edo, Portobello, Wolfgang Puck (lower dining room), T-Rex, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Boma or a Character Buffet for dinner (1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey's, Akershus, or Crystal Palace). These are all pricier options with either big portions, yummy desserts, or a great atmosphere. I would put all of these at the top of my must do list for all newbies to the plan.
In the coming days (hopefully) I will post my tips for maximizing the plan with quick service options.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Our sit down choices for our upcoming Disney trip
It is hard to believe, but it has already been three months since I woke up at the crack of dawn to make my dining reservations. On the flip side of that, it is even harder to believe that we are only three months out from our exciting trip to Disney World. If the next three months pass even half as quickly as the last three, I will be sitting on the new Dumbo before I even know it and eagerly anticipating that nights yummy meal. As I was re-writing my itinerary for the upteenth time it hit me that it has been a while since I posted on sit down restaurants (or really since I had posted at all thanks to summer and traveling). So, I thought I would share the list of restaurants we chose for our upcoming meal, and why we chose them. Hopefully it will help someone else who is planning a trip.
Before I list them, let me give you a little background on our travel party so some of my choices may make a little more sense :) It is myself, my husband, and our eight year old daughter (who will celebrate her ninth birthday while we are there). We are going for ten nights, and were able to snag the free dining promotion for our entire trip. Since we are staying at a value resort, we are getting the quick service plan for free (two counter service meals and one snack per day, per person). We chose to upgrade to the regular dining plan though which is an additional $36.31 per day total for all three of us. The regular dining plan includes one snack, one counter service, and one sit down meal, per day, per person. We have done the quick service plan for the entire 10 days and found ourselves getting really tired of the hamburgers, pizzas, and wraps by the end of our trip. Thus the reason for the upgrade :). This trip we also get the pleasure of my Aunt and Cousin joining us for four nights at the end of our trip, so that played a part in deciding which restaurants we chose as well. So, that is the background, and now I will get to the choices!
Day 1
We have a reservation at Portobello at Downtown Disney. I chose a time after 6:00 as I don't anticipate us staying late at the parks that day after driving late into the night to get there the night before. I have always wanted to try Portobello as our family really enjoys Italian meals, but in the past they have not been on the dining plan. Since this is the first year they are on the plan, I figured we had better try it in case they change their mind next year :). We also really enjoy trying new restaurants while we are at Disney, so this one was a perfect fit.
Day 2
We have dinner at 50s Prime Time Cafe. I cannot believe I finally talked my hubby into trying this one. I have been trying for years, but he always fights me. To give a little background, this restaurant is set with a 1950s theme and the waitresses are all supposed to be like your Mom...telling you to eat your vegetables. Well, seeing as most meals come with veggies, and my hubby has a gag reflex with most things green, it has never appealed to him. Add that to the fact that most of the menu is homecooked "favorites" (meatloaf, fried chicken, potpie, etc) which we don't eat a lot of, and you can see why it hasn't been high on our list. However, I know several people who love this restaurant and make it a must do every trip. Crossing my fingers that this one works out for us, and my hubby doesn't spend the evening in the corner for not eating his veggies.
Day 3
We have dinner with the Princesses at Akershus in Norway at Epcot. This is another one that took a lot of convincing for my hubby to book. We have eaten here three different times, and every time he swears we will never do it again. However, my daughter begged for it. After realizing that our little girl is very quickly growing up and will soon think she is too cool to eat with the Princesses, he relented and said he would give it one more try. A quick note, the food here is Norweigen for lunch and dinner for adults, but pretty normal American fare for the kids.
Day 4
We have dinner at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. Surprisingly, this is one of only three character meals this trip (this really makes me sad). This is an all you can eat buffet inside the park with Winnie the Pooh characters. We have eaten here before, but it was my daughter's first trip and she was only 22 months old. To say that she was terrified of the characters would be a gross understatement. She spent the entire meal under the table and her Daddy and I had to hold up napkins around her so she couldn't see the characters in order for her to eat. I am definitely ready to try this one again, and hopefully have a little less stressful meal!
Day 5
We have dinner at Les Chefs de France at Epcot. This is one that my hubby has been wanting to try for a while now. I am not usually an adventurous eater so I have resisted as long as I could. However, since he is letting my do 50's Prime Time, I really didn't have much choice :) Plus, Remy (from Ratatouille) visits the dining room on a meal cart most nights for dinner and interacts with the diners. I am looking forward to that the most! Crossing my fingers that this one works out for us as well.
Day 6
We have dinner at Captains Grille at the Yacht Club resort. This is another new one for us. I really like crab legs, and my hubby really likes crab cakes so we are hoping to enjoy a tasty seafood treat that night. Most of the restaurants that we wanted to try for seafood took two meal credits, and this was one of the few that took only one. By default, this one was the choice for the evening. Since we will be spending the day at Animal Kingdom and the water parks, and they both close at 5:00, it was the perfect day to eat at a resort for dinner.
Day 7
We have lunch at Sci Fi Dine In at Hollywood Studios. This is one of my daughter's favorite restaurants. What child wouldn't enjoy eating their dinner inside of a parked car while they watch clips from old movies on the big screen as if they were at a drive in movie? This is the first day our extra special guests will be with us, so I wanted something affordable for them since they probably won't be on the dining plan. Also, we are going to get Giordano's pizza that night, so we didn't want a super big and heavy lunch :)
Day 8
We have dinner at Teppan Edo at Epcot. This is a Hibachi steak house with the best food and cooking show of any Hibachi restaurant I know. We have only eaten here once, but I can already taste that super tender steak hot off the grill! I am not sure if my extended family will be eating this meal with us or not since it is pretty pricey, but I have a second reservation just in case that I will cancel as the trip gets closer and we are more sure of their plans. This is one meal that I don't want to miss so I made a reservation in my Aunt's name just to be safe!
Day 9
We have dinner at Paradiso 37 at Downtown Disney. This will be another new restaurant for us. This is the first year on the Dining plan for it as well, so I definitely wanted to give it a shot. It too is somewhat affordable since it has burgers and sandwiches on the menu, so I figured it was a good one to try with the family visiting as well. This restaurant has kind of a Mexican/American mixed menu that looks super yummy. I can't wait to try it!
Day 10
We have dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and her step sisters at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian resort. We have done this one almost every single trip for the last few years. This will be my daughter's actual birthday, so she got to choose dinner for that night. This meal is an all you can eat buffet, and the prime rib here is always super tasty, along with the strawberry soup. With the characters and the yummy food, this is one of my favorites as well.
So, there you have it. Those are our choices for this year. I am still in shock that we aren't going to Chef Mickey's or Whispering Canyon, but I know that we will love the ones we chose in their place. Off the top of my head I can't think of any restaurants on property that I just refuse to ever eat at again. I definitely have my favorites, but all the restaurants are very yummy and we always walk away with a smile on our face. I can't wait to try our new choices this year and see if our streak of good luck with restaurants continues!
Before I list them, let me give you a little background on our travel party so some of my choices may make a little more sense :) It is myself, my husband, and our eight year old daughter (who will celebrate her ninth birthday while we are there). We are going for ten nights, and were able to snag the free dining promotion for our entire trip. Since we are staying at a value resort, we are getting the quick service plan for free (two counter service meals and one snack per day, per person). We chose to upgrade to the regular dining plan though which is an additional $36.31 per day total for all three of us. The regular dining plan includes one snack, one counter service, and one sit down meal, per day, per person. We have done the quick service plan for the entire 10 days and found ourselves getting really tired of the hamburgers, pizzas, and wraps by the end of our trip. Thus the reason for the upgrade :). This trip we also get the pleasure of my Aunt and Cousin joining us for four nights at the end of our trip, so that played a part in deciding which restaurants we chose as well. So, that is the background, and now I will get to the choices!
Day 1
We have a reservation at Portobello at Downtown Disney. I chose a time after 6:00 as I don't anticipate us staying late at the parks that day after driving late into the night to get there the night before. I have always wanted to try Portobello as our family really enjoys Italian meals, but in the past they have not been on the dining plan. Since this is the first year they are on the plan, I figured we had better try it in case they change their mind next year :). We also really enjoy trying new restaurants while we are at Disney, so this one was a perfect fit.
Day 2
We have dinner at 50s Prime Time Cafe. I cannot believe I finally talked my hubby into trying this one. I have been trying for years, but he always fights me. To give a little background, this restaurant is set with a 1950s theme and the waitresses are all supposed to be like your Mom...telling you to eat your vegetables. Well, seeing as most meals come with veggies, and my hubby has a gag reflex with most things green, it has never appealed to him. Add that to the fact that most of the menu is homecooked "favorites" (meatloaf, fried chicken, potpie, etc) which we don't eat a lot of, and you can see why it hasn't been high on our list. However, I know several people who love this restaurant and make it a must do every trip. Crossing my fingers that this one works out for us, and my hubby doesn't spend the evening in the corner for not eating his veggies.
Day 3
We have dinner with the Princesses at Akershus in Norway at Epcot. This is another one that took a lot of convincing for my hubby to book. We have eaten here three different times, and every time he swears we will never do it again. However, my daughter begged for it. After realizing that our little girl is very quickly growing up and will soon think she is too cool to eat with the Princesses, he relented and said he would give it one more try. A quick note, the food here is Norweigen for lunch and dinner for adults, but pretty normal American fare for the kids.
Day 4
We have dinner at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. Surprisingly, this is one of only three character meals this trip (this really makes me sad). This is an all you can eat buffet inside the park with Winnie the Pooh characters. We have eaten here before, but it was my daughter's first trip and she was only 22 months old. To say that she was terrified of the characters would be a gross understatement. She spent the entire meal under the table and her Daddy and I had to hold up napkins around her so she couldn't see the characters in order for her to eat. I am definitely ready to try this one again, and hopefully have a little less stressful meal!
Day 5
We have dinner at Les Chefs de France at Epcot. This is one that my hubby has been wanting to try for a while now. I am not usually an adventurous eater so I have resisted as long as I could. However, since he is letting my do 50's Prime Time, I really didn't have much choice :) Plus, Remy (from Ratatouille) visits the dining room on a meal cart most nights for dinner and interacts with the diners. I am looking forward to that the most! Crossing my fingers that this one works out for us as well.
Day 6
We have dinner at Captains Grille at the Yacht Club resort. This is another new one for us. I really like crab legs, and my hubby really likes crab cakes so we are hoping to enjoy a tasty seafood treat that night. Most of the restaurants that we wanted to try for seafood took two meal credits, and this was one of the few that took only one. By default, this one was the choice for the evening. Since we will be spending the day at Animal Kingdom and the water parks, and they both close at 5:00, it was the perfect day to eat at a resort for dinner.
Day 7
We have lunch at Sci Fi Dine In at Hollywood Studios. This is one of my daughter's favorite restaurants. What child wouldn't enjoy eating their dinner inside of a parked car while they watch clips from old movies on the big screen as if they were at a drive in movie? This is the first day our extra special guests will be with us, so I wanted something affordable for them since they probably won't be on the dining plan. Also, we are going to get Giordano's pizza that night, so we didn't want a super big and heavy lunch :)
Day 8
We have dinner at Teppan Edo at Epcot. This is a Hibachi steak house with the best food and cooking show of any Hibachi restaurant I know. We have only eaten here once, but I can already taste that super tender steak hot off the grill! I am not sure if my extended family will be eating this meal with us or not since it is pretty pricey, but I have a second reservation just in case that I will cancel as the trip gets closer and we are more sure of their plans. This is one meal that I don't want to miss so I made a reservation in my Aunt's name just to be safe!
Day 9
We have dinner at Paradiso 37 at Downtown Disney. This will be another new restaurant for us. This is the first year on the Dining plan for it as well, so I definitely wanted to give it a shot. It too is somewhat affordable since it has burgers and sandwiches on the menu, so I figured it was a good one to try with the family visiting as well. This restaurant has kind of a Mexican/American mixed menu that looks super yummy. I can't wait to try it!
Day 10
We have dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and her step sisters at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian resort. We have done this one almost every single trip for the last few years. This will be my daughter's actual birthday, so she got to choose dinner for that night. This meal is an all you can eat buffet, and the prime rib here is always super tasty, along with the strawberry soup. With the characters and the yummy food, this is one of my favorites as well.
So, there you have it. Those are our choices for this year. I am still in shock that we aren't going to Chef Mickey's or Whispering Canyon, but I know that we will love the ones we chose in their place. Off the top of my head I can't think of any restaurants on property that I just refuse to ever eat at again. I definitely have my favorites, but all the restaurants are very yummy and we always walk away with a smile on our face. I can't wait to try our new choices this year and see if our streak of good luck with restaurants continues!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Two weeks in a row for Travel Tip Tuesday! I have to say that I am impressed with myself :). With Star Wars weekends currently going on at Hollywood Studios I thought it would be a good time to mention the Jedi Training Academy. Every day there are several 30 minute shows next to the Star Tours ride where little ones (ages 4 to 12) get to be Jedi's in training and help the Jedi Master to fight off Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers. It is a really cute show, especially for those little (or big....my hubby) Star Wars fans. My daughter really loves it. Somehow my hubby has managed to make her a Star Wars and Indiana Jones fan so this show is right up their alley. We usually catch at least a snip-it of it every trip.
My daughter loves to watch the show, but has never wanted to be a part of it. Therefore, I don't have first hand knowledge of what it takes to get your child on stage, but I feel like I can give you a few tips based on what I have seen, and what my friends have experienced. If your baby has always dreamed of being a Padawan, or would love to defeat the dark side, you will have to get to the park at rope drop. It used to be that the Jedi's in training were chosen before each show, but that has all changed in the past year or so. Now, when you walk down Hollywood Boulevard at park opening you will see signs on your left for Jedi Training Academy. These signs will direct you to the sign up area. At this point, the employee will help you find a show time that is available for your little Padawan. They will tell you when to arrive at the show as well to get your little one into their robe and get prepped for the show. The show times will fill up quickly each morning so you want to get there early to assure you get a space in a show. Be prepared, as the shows are out in the open. You will be standing in the hot sun with complete strangers trying to get good pictures of your baby so you may want to stake out a good place as early as is allowed for each show. Good luck, and May the Force be with you!
My daughter loves to watch the show, but has never wanted to be a part of it. Therefore, I don't have first hand knowledge of what it takes to get your child on stage, but I feel like I can give you a few tips based on what I have seen, and what my friends have experienced. If your baby has always dreamed of being a Padawan, or would love to defeat the dark side, you will have to get to the park at rope drop. It used to be that the Jedi's in training were chosen before each show, but that has all changed in the past year or so. Now, when you walk down Hollywood Boulevard at park opening you will see signs on your left for Jedi Training Academy. These signs will direct you to the sign up area. At this point, the employee will help you find a show time that is available for your little Padawan. They will tell you when to arrive at the show as well to get your little one into their robe and get prepped for the show. The show times will fill up quickly each morning so you want to get there early to assure you get a space in a show. Be prepared, as the shows are out in the open. You will be standing in the hot sun with complete strangers trying to get good pictures of your baby so you may want to stake out a good place as early as is allowed for each show. Good luck, and May the Force be with you!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Hello again to the cyber world! I am really really behind now on posts. The end of school is always such a blur to me as I always seem to stay super busy! I think I have started the bulk of my last few posts in a similar fashion :)
Anyway, today's travel tip is super easy and simple. I have talked about deals before, but really feel like it bears repeating the ways you can find discounts for trips to Disney World. At bare minimum, always check in the Special Offers sections of the disneyworld.com website. If you look under the tab that says Tickets & Packages, it will list the current offers under Special Offers. There is almost always some kind of discount out there. For example, if you look on the website right now you will see a military discount and two different room only discounts for travel dates ranging between June 15 and Sept 29. For room only discounts, you have to stay completely within the listed dates. In other words if you check in Sept 25 and check out Oct 4, you will get the room only discount only from Sept 25 to Sept 29. The other dates of your trip you will pay full rack rate. However, if there is a package deal out there, you will get it the full length of your stay as long you check in before the last posted date. In the example above of the Sept 25 to Oct 4 trip you would get the deal for the whole trip since you are checking in before Sept 29.
What is the difference? A room only discount is just like it sounds. You are only booking the room. Usually people only do this if they can get passes through a third party (Undercover Tourist) or if they are annual pass holders. A package deal includes room, park tickets, and maybe dining. We almost always have a package since we travel during the time period when they often offer free dining. So, in our case this year we were able to get free dining for the whole length of our stay since we are checking in by September 29th, which was the last day of the free dining offer. Although that promotion just ended, I expect a new one to be offered in the near future for September 30 through the end of the year. Be on the lookout if you think you will be traveling during that time period. Keep checking the Disney website frequently as it should go live soon based on past years activity of this promotion.
There are several websites that also list all of the current deals and discounts. My favorites are mousesavers.com, allears.net, and touringplans.com. There are many more out there though. You can google Disney World discounts and all of the current ones will show up as well. I just like to go straight to the Disney website as you can book the deals straight from a link under special offers. Make sure you do it from the section listing the deal though or you won't get the deal and you will have to call Disney to get it changed. If you are unsure, you can always call Disney at 407-939-7675 and tell them what deal you are trying to book. Also, remember that you can always call Disney and have them adjust your reservation if a new deal comes out after you book!
Anyway, today's travel tip is super easy and simple. I have talked about deals before, but really feel like it bears repeating the ways you can find discounts for trips to Disney World. At bare minimum, always check in the Special Offers sections of the disneyworld.com website. If you look under the tab that says Tickets & Packages, it will list the current offers under Special Offers. There is almost always some kind of discount out there. For example, if you look on the website right now you will see a military discount and two different room only discounts for travel dates ranging between June 15 and Sept 29. For room only discounts, you have to stay completely within the listed dates. In other words if you check in Sept 25 and check out Oct 4, you will get the room only discount only from Sept 25 to Sept 29. The other dates of your trip you will pay full rack rate. However, if there is a package deal out there, you will get it the full length of your stay as long you check in before the last posted date. In the example above of the Sept 25 to Oct 4 trip you would get the deal for the whole trip since you are checking in before Sept 29.
What is the difference? A room only discount is just like it sounds. You are only booking the room. Usually people only do this if they can get passes through a third party (Undercover Tourist) or if they are annual pass holders. A package deal includes room, park tickets, and maybe dining. We almost always have a package since we travel during the time period when they often offer free dining. So, in our case this year we were able to get free dining for the whole length of our stay since we are checking in by September 29th, which was the last day of the free dining offer. Although that promotion just ended, I expect a new one to be offered in the near future for September 30 through the end of the year. Be on the lookout if you think you will be traveling during that time period. Keep checking the Disney website frequently as it should go live soon based on past years activity of this promotion.
There are several websites that also list all of the current deals and discounts. My favorites are mousesavers.com, allears.net, and touringplans.com. There are many more out there though. You can google Disney World discounts and all of the current ones will show up as well. I just like to go straight to the Disney website as you can book the deals straight from a link under special offers. Make sure you do it from the section listing the deal though or you won't get the deal and you will have to call Disney to get it changed. If you are unsure, you can always call Disney at 407-939-7675 and tell them what deal you are trying to book. Also, remember that you can always call Disney and have them adjust your reservation if a new deal comes out after you book!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
I have been a little behind in posting these the past few weeks. I am still having computer issues and it is a little trickier to post these on a tablet! Excuses aside now, here is my weekly travel tip :)
If you are traveling to the Orlando area (or really anywhere else), you should search out restaurants in the area ahead of time. If there are some that you think you would like to try, go to their website about a week before you go and sign up for their e-clubs. Often times, if they have an e-club they will send you a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert just for signing up with them. A bonus is if you will be celebrating your birthday while you are there. Often, they will also send you a coupon for a free meal on your birthday, too! This is what we do before we go to Disney as my daughter's birthday always falls during our trip. We often get a few free kids meals courtesy of these clubs while we are on vacation.I have compiled a list below of some of my favorite e-clubs in the Orlando area. These are all near Downtown Disney so you can get to them fairly easily if you are staying on or near property. Note, if you sign up for these, the coupons typically expire in 14 days from the day that they are sent. Therefore, plan your sign up time carefully!
Joe's Crab Shack Sends you a free appetizer coupon when you sign up
Chicago Pizzaria Uno Sends you a free appetizer when you sign up and frequently sends coupons throughout the year.
Fuddruckers Sends you a coupon for a burger and drink combo at $7 and we also received a coupon for free burger when you buy one as well for a birthday deal.
Macaroni Grille Sends you a coupon for a free appetizer when you sign up.
Steak and Shake Sends you a coupon for a free meal on your birthday or anniversary
Also, Rainforest Cafe has a place on their website where you can print down reading calendars for your child. If you fill it in every day of the month stating which book your child read that day and take it with you to the restaurant, you will get any kids meal for only $.99. This is a big savings if you are paying out of pocket. On a side note, we have successfully used this coupon at T-Rex twice now as well!
This is just a list of a few examples we have found in the area. I am sure that there are a lot more as well! If you see coupons in the paper before you go, cut them out and take them with you. There are often Olive Garden or Red Lobster coupons in the Sunday inserts, so I suggest taking them with you. If you can find the time to go off property to eat a few meals, you will save a lot of money for other things.
One more way to save money is to go to restaurant.com and buy a few discounted dining certificates. If you enter zip code 32836 you will find several options for the Downtown Disney area (key address is on Apopka Vineland Road or Irlo Bronson Hwy if you are staying in Celebration). We always buy certificates for Giordano's pizza whenever they go on sale and take them with us. If you are like us and love true Chicago pizza...you know the stuffed pizza with layers and layers of cheese and a lid of crust and more cheese...I would suggest getting one or two! We often get the $10 certificate for $2 (with a sale). Make sure you read the fine print. You often have to spend a certain amount at the restaurant and will also have to pay 18% gratuity, but we still walk out of there saving a ton of money!
If anyone else knows of great e-clubs, or other ways to save at Orlando area restaurants I would love to hear your tips as well. We are always looking for new ways to save a buck at Disney!
If you are traveling to the Orlando area (or really anywhere else), you should search out restaurants in the area ahead of time. If there are some that you think you would like to try, go to their website about a week before you go and sign up for their e-clubs. Often times, if they have an e-club they will send you a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert just for signing up with them. A bonus is if you will be celebrating your birthday while you are there. Often, they will also send you a coupon for a free meal on your birthday, too! This is what we do before we go to Disney as my daughter's birthday always falls during our trip. We often get a few free kids meals courtesy of these clubs while we are on vacation.I have compiled a list below of some of my favorite e-clubs in the Orlando area. These are all near Downtown Disney so you can get to them fairly easily if you are staying on or near property. Note, if you sign up for these, the coupons typically expire in 14 days from the day that they are sent. Therefore, plan your sign up time carefully!
Joe's Crab Shack Sends you a free appetizer coupon when you sign up
Chicago Pizzaria Uno Sends you a free appetizer when you sign up and frequently sends coupons throughout the year.
Fuddruckers Sends you a coupon for a burger and drink combo at $7 and we also received a coupon for free burger when you buy one as well for a birthday deal.
Macaroni Grille Sends you a coupon for a free appetizer when you sign up.
Steak and Shake Sends you a coupon for a free meal on your birthday or anniversary
Also, Rainforest Cafe has a place on their website where you can print down reading calendars for your child. If you fill it in every day of the month stating which book your child read that day and take it with you to the restaurant, you will get any kids meal for only $.99. This is a big savings if you are paying out of pocket. On a side note, we have successfully used this coupon at T-Rex twice now as well!
This is just a list of a few examples we have found in the area. I am sure that there are a lot more as well! If you see coupons in the paper before you go, cut them out and take them with you. There are often Olive Garden or Red Lobster coupons in the Sunday inserts, so I suggest taking them with you. If you can find the time to go off property to eat a few meals, you will save a lot of money for other things.
One more way to save money is to go to restaurant.com and buy a few discounted dining certificates. If you enter zip code 32836 you will find several options for the Downtown Disney area (key address is on Apopka Vineland Road or Irlo Bronson Hwy if you are staying in Celebration). We always buy certificates for Giordano's pizza whenever they go on sale and take them with us. If you are like us and love true Chicago pizza...you know the stuffed pizza with layers and layers of cheese and a lid of crust and more cheese...I would suggest getting one or two! We often get the $10 certificate for $2 (with a sale). Make sure you read the fine print. You often have to spend a certain amount at the restaurant and will also have to pay 18% gratuity, but we still walk out of there saving a ton of money!
If anyone else knows of great e-clubs, or other ways to save at Orlando area restaurants I would love to hear your tips as well. We are always looking for new ways to save a buck at Disney!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Want to win a $100 Disney gift card?
I thought that might get your attention! If you want to try to win one yourself, check out this link: blog.dvcrequest.com/?p=120. I have been a subscriber to their emails for a while now, and they just started a new blog recently as well. The original site was set up as a place to go to buy and sell Disney Vacation Club points. I have looked into doing it several times,but so far the dates haven't worked out with where I wanted to stay. Hopefully one day though! Check them out and while you are there, register for your chance to win! Good luck!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Review of All Star Music Resort
As most of you know, we took a trip to the World over Spring Break. Man, was it crowded! I didn't realize how spoiled we were with crowds over fall break in October! However, with a little planning (and the blessing of not having to rush to see everything since we were just there in October), we survived, and of course had a great trip.
As I have posted in the past, we almost always stay at Value resorts on our trips as we like to stay as long as possible. We would rather stay cheap, and stay longer. So, that is where we usually stay. Up until now, I have been a big fan of Values. We usually spend most of our days at the parks, and are usually only at the resorts for breakfast, late night swimming, and sleeping. With our family of three, room size isn't a true factor when deciding where to stay. Therefore, we are perfect candidates for Value resorts. After this past stay at All Star Music though, that may have all changed. Below I will try to outline a few of the issues that we had. Now, not all of them are huge issues, but when you combine them all together I can confidently say that I will never willingly stay at Music again. That statement actually makes me very sad as until this trip I had very fond memories of this resort. This is the resort we stayed at during our daughter's first trip to Disney World. Therefore, I was very excited about taking her back this time and re-experiencing everything with her again (six and a half years later). I only wish that the experience would have been as great as I had built it up to be in my mind!
Our first minor issue occurred with check in. Let me first say that the check in process was great! I am used to staying at Pop Century which is always super busy. The lines can get long during peak check in times, and the only times I have had a fast check in there is when we check in early in the morning. When we got to Music around 1:00 pm, I walked right up and requested my packet. Since I had done online check in a few days before our trip, our packet was all ready to go, and our room was even available (I was shocked)! So, we get in the car and we head to our room. We looked at the map and headed towards what we thought was our room. However, we got turned around as the map wasn't super clear and there are a few different ways to go when you leave Melody Hall (the main building). Since all three All Star Resorts are together (and all look very similar), it is easy to get confused. Alas, we got back on track and headed to our room....which was way in the back of the resort. Which is part of my first issue. When you do online check in, you can select a few options as room requests. These are not guaranteed to be granted, but in the past we have always had at least one of the two requests granted. I had selected ground floor and near the main building. We had a second floor room almost as far away from the main building as possible. However, we were in the Broadway section which was a very cool themed area and our room was on the end so I quickly reminded myself that the requests aren't guaranteed so it wasn't a big deal. At least we were in the building next to the piano pool (not the main pool, but this one is usually quieter). So, I was happy. Then we looked at the pool....there were construction walls around it and the water was drained. Wish I would have known that when I booked the room, or at least been told that at check in. That meant that every person in the hotel would be using the one main pool. Not too happy at this point, but again, told myself it wasn't a big deal. I didn't go to Disney to swim, I went to enjoy the parks. Again, reminded myself it wasn't worth being upset over.
Then we went into the room and started to put our stuff on the bed. I looked at one of the beds and thought it had a dip in the mattress, but figured it was just because maybe my daughter must have set a bag in that spot, then moved it. Truthfully, I forgot all about it until later that night when we settled into bed. I could actually feel the dip. It was very awkward, and hard to comfortably sleep around. Luckily, the next night I had the bed to myself so I was able to sleep on the other side of the mattress. So again, not too big a deal for most nights of the trip. It was an issue that could be worked around.
The next night, we headed back to the hotel to clean up before going off property for dinner. As we were walking to our car we were surrounded by a massive throng of kids heading to the parking lot. I am not exaggerating the massive size of the group. There were so many of them that they filled five (maybe more) tour buses. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but we were stuck in the parking lot for several minutes while they all crossed the roads and loaded the buses, a few of which were parked in the road. Once we finally started moving, we hit another huge group who were just standing in the middle of the road. Ummmm....hello! The worst part is that there were adults in the group who just looked at us. Finally, we got past them and headed to dinner. All was forgotten....until they returned late that night. Around 11:00 that night some of these same kids were running around the building across from us, knocking on doors, and screaming and laughing. This went on for about 15 minutes. Now, I know that this is not the resorts fault. This solely lies on the adults who were supposedly supervising these kids. However, it was very inconvenient for us and the noise was truly unacceptable in my mind. I didn't like the fact that several days while we were there we saw large groups of teenagers checking in. I know that they have to stay somewhere, but I just wish I had known this before checking in. I would have stayed somewhere else.
Our final straw for this resort happened one morning while we were brushing our teeth. My daughter and I were both brushing at the same time so about two or three iches water was standing in the sink (the sink had been draining slow and appeared clogged all week, but it wasn't anything too bad for us to complain). Although it was gross for me to see with my poor gag reflex, it wasn't too bad....until the hair dryer fell into that water! I had been having issues putting the hair dryer back into the holder in the wall all week long, but again never thought much of it. It seemed to just be a little loose and no big deal. Then, out of nowhere while we were brushing our teeth it fell into the sink. My eight year old daughter reflexively grabbed the hair dryer out of the sink....while it was still plugged in! Remember, there were a few inches of water in that sink. That could have been really really ugly. She could have been electrocuted. Poor thing thought she had done something wrong when I screamed no! She just didn't realize what had happened, or more importantly what could have happened. That was my final straw.
That afternoon I stopped by the main desk and asked to talk to a manager. The employee I talked to was super friendly and went straight to the manager at the other end to tell him I needed to talk to him. He looked at me, then proceeded to finish what he was doing on the laptop in his arms (I am fine with that). Once he was ready, he walked to where I was standing, still continuing to hold his laptop in his arms. He was nice enough and asked how he could help me. I was very calm and nice and just simply listed all of the issues I had been experiencing with the room that week. I started with the pool being closed, included info on the visibly sagging mattress, talked about the horrible noise of the teens near us, and ended with the hair dryer in the sink experience. The only part that got his attention was when I blatantly said it was a safety hazard and my eight year old could have been electrocuted. He asked my room number and told me he would have the mattress, sink, and hairdryer issues addressed with housekeeping. I am sure that he apologized, but it definitely wasn't overwhelmingly heartfelt or memorable. I didn't expect anything from him, and wouldn't even have said anything had it not been for the hairdryer incident. I didn't want any child (or adult) to face being electrocuted in the future. I just wish he would have been a little more convincing in his apology, or at the least, he would have put his laptop down and acted like he cared about what I had to say. I know he was probably busy, but still we are talking about basic customer service! However, by the time we had returned to our room there was a new drain in our sink. The hairdryer was still loose though, and the mattress still sagging. Although I didn't expect the mattress to be replaced, I had hoped for a new hairdryer. I can only hope that those issues were corrected before the next guess checked in.
One final thing I must mention is that if you are relying solely on buses to get you to and from the resorts, you may want to rethink any of the All Star resorts. In the mornings and at night, they all seem to have their own buses. However, during the day they share buses. The bus will first stop at All Star Sports, then continue to Music, and finally stop at Movies. As you can imagine, that can take a while in the afternoon if you are trying to get to a park. Sometimes, the bus fills up at the first stop or two, and therefore never makes it to Music, or Movies. Also, coming back to the resort can take a while if you are the last stop. There is also a lot of shuffling of people around the bus at each stop as people make room for those trying to get on or off the bus. One of the days we were there we were leaving Magic Kingdom in the late afternoon to head back to the hotel. At Magic Kingdom, each resort does have their own stop coming or going and luckily doesn't have to stop at each resort. Apparently, even during peak season, they only run one bus a day though which can take a while to make its loop. So, we waited about 40 minutes for a bus to head back to the resort. Had we known it would be that long, we would have hopped on the bus that had arrived 30 minutes earlier for All Star Sports and walked to our resort. If you are staying at All Star Resorts I strongly suggest driving to and from the parks (except Magic Kingdom as this one is about the same even with the long waits since you have to take the monorail or ferry over anyway from the parking lot). If you won't have access to your own car, stay at Sports as it is the first stop on the loop. You will definitely get a seat when you are headed to the parks, and you won't feel like cattle when you return to the resort as you are shuffled around the bus as people get on and off!
So, those are all my reasons for not wanting to ever stay at All Star Music again. I have stayed at All Star Music, All Star Movies, and Pop Century and hands down I stand behind an earlier belief that Pop Century is the best Value resort. However, as much as I hate to think about it, we are staying at All Star Sports in October as that is the only one we have not stayed at. After this past trip I am definitely not looking forward to it, but my daughter has convinced me to give it a try. I think she is tired of Pop Century and wants to try something new. Our only other option for value is the All Star Movies resort, but due to the fact that it is the third stop on the bus routes after Sports and Music, I can't stand the thought of trying to use the buses for 10 days. So, as much as I love the theming at Movies, it is not worth it to me to spend hours of my day waiting for buses to and from the parks.
I must remind you that this is solely my opinion on the All Star Music resort and was based off of one stay. I truly hope that it was just a comedy of errors that alligned just right to make our stay less than magical and that everyone else will enjoy a stay here. I however, hope to not have to find out if it can get better. I will stick with Pop Century, or hopefully, moderates in the future.
As I have posted in the past, we almost always stay at Value resorts on our trips as we like to stay as long as possible. We would rather stay cheap, and stay longer. So, that is where we usually stay. Up until now, I have been a big fan of Values. We usually spend most of our days at the parks, and are usually only at the resorts for breakfast, late night swimming, and sleeping. With our family of three, room size isn't a true factor when deciding where to stay. Therefore, we are perfect candidates for Value resorts. After this past stay at All Star Music though, that may have all changed. Below I will try to outline a few of the issues that we had. Now, not all of them are huge issues, but when you combine them all together I can confidently say that I will never willingly stay at Music again. That statement actually makes me very sad as until this trip I had very fond memories of this resort. This is the resort we stayed at during our daughter's first trip to Disney World. Therefore, I was very excited about taking her back this time and re-experiencing everything with her again (six and a half years later). I only wish that the experience would have been as great as I had built it up to be in my mind!
Our first minor issue occurred with check in. Let me first say that the check in process was great! I am used to staying at Pop Century which is always super busy. The lines can get long during peak check in times, and the only times I have had a fast check in there is when we check in early in the morning. When we got to Music around 1:00 pm, I walked right up and requested my packet. Since I had done online check in a few days before our trip, our packet was all ready to go, and our room was even available (I was shocked)! So, we get in the car and we head to our room. We looked at the map and headed towards what we thought was our room. However, we got turned around as the map wasn't super clear and there are a few different ways to go when you leave Melody Hall (the main building). Since all three All Star Resorts are together (and all look very similar), it is easy to get confused. Alas, we got back on track and headed to our room....which was way in the back of the resort. Which is part of my first issue. When you do online check in, you can select a few options as room requests. These are not guaranteed to be granted, but in the past we have always had at least one of the two requests granted. I had selected ground floor and near the main building. We had a second floor room almost as far away from the main building as possible. However, we were in the Broadway section which was a very cool themed area and our room was on the end so I quickly reminded myself that the requests aren't guaranteed so it wasn't a big deal. At least we were in the building next to the piano pool (not the main pool, but this one is usually quieter). So, I was happy. Then we looked at the pool....there were construction walls around it and the water was drained. Wish I would have known that when I booked the room, or at least been told that at check in. That meant that every person in the hotel would be using the one main pool. Not too happy at this point, but again, told myself it wasn't a big deal. I didn't go to Disney to swim, I went to enjoy the parks. Again, reminded myself it wasn't worth being upset over.
Then we went into the room and started to put our stuff on the bed. I looked at one of the beds and thought it had a dip in the mattress, but figured it was just because maybe my daughter must have set a bag in that spot, then moved it. Truthfully, I forgot all about it until later that night when we settled into bed. I could actually feel the dip. It was very awkward, and hard to comfortably sleep around. Luckily, the next night I had the bed to myself so I was able to sleep on the other side of the mattress. So again, not too big a deal for most nights of the trip. It was an issue that could be worked around.
The next night, we headed back to the hotel to clean up before going off property for dinner. As we were walking to our car we were surrounded by a massive throng of kids heading to the parking lot. I am not exaggerating the massive size of the group. There were so many of them that they filled five (maybe more) tour buses. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but we were stuck in the parking lot for several minutes while they all crossed the roads and loaded the buses, a few of which were parked in the road. Once we finally started moving, we hit another huge group who were just standing in the middle of the road. Ummmm....hello! The worst part is that there were adults in the group who just looked at us. Finally, we got past them and headed to dinner. All was forgotten....until they returned late that night. Around 11:00 that night some of these same kids were running around the building across from us, knocking on doors, and screaming and laughing. This went on for about 15 minutes. Now, I know that this is not the resorts fault. This solely lies on the adults who were supposedly supervising these kids. However, it was very inconvenient for us and the noise was truly unacceptable in my mind. I didn't like the fact that several days while we were there we saw large groups of teenagers checking in. I know that they have to stay somewhere, but I just wish I had known this before checking in. I would have stayed somewhere else.
Our final straw for this resort happened one morning while we were brushing our teeth. My daughter and I were both brushing at the same time so about two or three iches water was standing in the sink (the sink had been draining slow and appeared clogged all week, but it wasn't anything too bad for us to complain). Although it was gross for me to see with my poor gag reflex, it wasn't too bad....until the hair dryer fell into that water! I had been having issues putting the hair dryer back into the holder in the wall all week long, but again never thought much of it. It seemed to just be a little loose and no big deal. Then, out of nowhere while we were brushing our teeth it fell into the sink. My eight year old daughter reflexively grabbed the hair dryer out of the sink....while it was still plugged in! Remember, there were a few inches of water in that sink. That could have been really really ugly. She could have been electrocuted. Poor thing thought she had done something wrong when I screamed no! She just didn't realize what had happened, or more importantly what could have happened. That was my final straw.
That afternoon I stopped by the main desk and asked to talk to a manager. The employee I talked to was super friendly and went straight to the manager at the other end to tell him I needed to talk to him. He looked at me, then proceeded to finish what he was doing on the laptop in his arms (I am fine with that). Once he was ready, he walked to where I was standing, still continuing to hold his laptop in his arms. He was nice enough and asked how he could help me. I was very calm and nice and just simply listed all of the issues I had been experiencing with the room that week. I started with the pool being closed, included info on the visibly sagging mattress, talked about the horrible noise of the teens near us, and ended with the hair dryer in the sink experience. The only part that got his attention was when I blatantly said it was a safety hazard and my eight year old could have been electrocuted. He asked my room number and told me he would have the mattress, sink, and hairdryer issues addressed with housekeeping. I am sure that he apologized, but it definitely wasn't overwhelmingly heartfelt or memorable. I didn't expect anything from him, and wouldn't even have said anything had it not been for the hairdryer incident. I didn't want any child (or adult) to face being electrocuted in the future. I just wish he would have been a little more convincing in his apology, or at the least, he would have put his laptop down and acted like he cared about what I had to say. I know he was probably busy, but still we are talking about basic customer service! However, by the time we had returned to our room there was a new drain in our sink. The hairdryer was still loose though, and the mattress still sagging. Although I didn't expect the mattress to be replaced, I had hoped for a new hairdryer. I can only hope that those issues were corrected before the next guess checked in.
One final thing I must mention is that if you are relying solely on buses to get you to and from the resorts, you may want to rethink any of the All Star resorts. In the mornings and at night, they all seem to have their own buses. However, during the day they share buses. The bus will first stop at All Star Sports, then continue to Music, and finally stop at Movies. As you can imagine, that can take a while in the afternoon if you are trying to get to a park. Sometimes, the bus fills up at the first stop or two, and therefore never makes it to Music, or Movies. Also, coming back to the resort can take a while if you are the last stop. There is also a lot of shuffling of people around the bus at each stop as people make room for those trying to get on or off the bus. One of the days we were there we were leaving Magic Kingdom in the late afternoon to head back to the hotel. At Magic Kingdom, each resort does have their own stop coming or going and luckily doesn't have to stop at each resort. Apparently, even during peak season, they only run one bus a day though which can take a while to make its loop. So, we waited about 40 minutes for a bus to head back to the resort. Had we known it would be that long, we would have hopped on the bus that had arrived 30 minutes earlier for All Star Sports and walked to our resort. If you are staying at All Star Resorts I strongly suggest driving to and from the parks (except Magic Kingdom as this one is about the same even with the long waits since you have to take the monorail or ferry over anyway from the parking lot). If you won't have access to your own car, stay at Sports as it is the first stop on the loop. You will definitely get a seat when you are headed to the parks, and you won't feel like cattle when you return to the resort as you are shuffled around the bus as people get on and off!
So, those are all my reasons for not wanting to ever stay at All Star Music again. I have stayed at All Star Music, All Star Movies, and Pop Century and hands down I stand behind an earlier belief that Pop Century is the best Value resort. However, as much as I hate to think about it, we are staying at All Star Sports in October as that is the only one we have not stayed at. After this past trip I am definitely not looking forward to it, but my daughter has convinced me to give it a try. I think she is tired of Pop Century and wants to try something new. Our only other option for value is the All Star Movies resort, but due to the fact that it is the third stop on the bus routes after Sports and Music, I can't stand the thought of trying to use the buses for 10 days. So, as much as I love the theming at Movies, it is not worth it to me to spend hours of my day waiting for buses to and from the parks.
I must remind you that this is solely my opinion on the All Star Music resort and was based off of one stay. I truly hope that it was just a comedy of errors that alligned just right to make our stay less than magical and that everyone else will enjoy a stay here. I however, hope to not have to find out if it can get better. I will stick with Pop Century, or hopefully, moderates in the future.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Today's post will hopefully answer a few easy questions for you about how to make your dining reservations for sit down restaurants at Disney World. However, I have to lay a little ground work before I give the "Tip".
If you have ever gone to Disney and failed to get a table on a whim at a sit down restaurant at the prime dinner hour I am here to explain to you why that is. It is simple, those people who are happily enjoying a tasty meal with your coveted characters are having a blissful and relaxing meal due to some hard planning....six months before that meal. Yes, I said 180 days. Really? You thought you could just go to the parks (whichever you wanted to that day) and enjoy things as they came to you? Well, yes and no. I know of a few lucky people who have done just that. They rolled out of bed whenever, had a late breakfast while they decided what to do that day, then headed to a park. Then they rode whatever ride they came to and ate wherever they wanted. Now, I must say I have heard that from maybe one or two people. However, it is definitely the exception.
What I usually here is more like this: We got up at 10:00 and got to the parks about 11:00 after a leisurely breakfast. Then we tried to ride our favorite rides, but only got two in before we were ready to eat again because the lines were so long! So, we took a break for a late lunch. After looking at the maps and asking around we decided to try to eat with Pooh (or at Liberty Tree, or at Chef Mickey's....the list goes on and on). So, we got the kids all on board with our lunch plans, and walked to the restaurant. Once we arrived, we were told that they didn't have any openings at all, or that it would be a two hour wait. Really? So, we left and had a lunch at a counter service meal. After lunch, we hit the long lines again and got two more rides in before dinner time. We tried again at a sit down, and finally realized that this was the reason people encouraged us to plan our trip months in advance. So, once again we ate a counter service meal and then got a few more rides in before close. Then they came home and told everyone how horrible the crowds were and that the food at Disney World is overpriced and not worth the money. They then wonder how I can be so addicted to Disney! They thought it was too stressful and not fun.
Well, I am a planner, so preparing for our trips is heaven to me. I love looking at the crowd calendars, park hours, and restaurant menus six months in advance and figuring out where we want to eat on vacation. Now, I admit, it sounds kind of silly to try to figure out what I want for dinner in 180 days, when most days I don't know what I am cooking that night. However, I know how important it is for my upcoming trip to do the planning in advance and make my reservations at exactly the 180 day mark. So, I get up at the crack of dawn and log in to my account on disneyworld.com to make all of my dining reservations. When I am done, I know that the hard part is over, and I have the next six months to anticipate those yummy meals that I booked.
So, today's "tip" is to plan, plan, plan and book, book, book. I don't care how silly it sounds now, it will be worth it in the end. You can book your sit down meals 180 days prior to your trip. So, with today being April 3, you can book any meal you want for September 30, 2012. If you are not staying on property, you will have to call every day to make that one meal until you have booked every meal of your trip. However, if you are staying at a Disney resort, you can reserve all of your meals for up to 10 days of your trip based on your first check in day. If you are checking in to Disney on September 30, you will be able to book 10 days of your meals TODAY! So, all you Wilson County people who are going over Fall Break....book now!!!!
There are two ways to book your meals. You can call Disney directly at 407-WDW-DINE and the friendly staff will help you plan your meals. They will tell you the times that are available, then if you are interested in one of the times, they will reserve it and give you a confirmation number. Then they will move on to the next reservation and do all of them for you. The call center is open from 7:00 am to I believe 10:00 pm. These times are Eastern time! I know the opening time is 7:00, but I can't remember the close time. With us being an hour behind, I always forget the time :). So, that means for our area, we have to be online calling at 6:00 am CST if we want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table or Chef Mickey's as those are two of the hardest ones to get.
If you don't want to call, you can book your meals by yourself on the web. Go to disneyworld.com and click the link across the top that says "Where to Eat". Then click the link that says "Make Dining Reservations". Once that comes up, if you are staying on property, click the link that says "I want to use my dining plan to book reservations". That will take you to a page that allows you to put in your resort confirmation number so that you can make multiple reservations past your first day. Then put in your restaurant name, click a desired time, click the number of people in your party, and click the button that says "search for a table". The computer will then display a few options for meals (hopefully). It will search two hours before your desired time, and two hours after to list several options for your meals that it feels most closely matches your criteria. Choose a listed time, then click make reservation. It will then take you to a new screen and ask for a few details from you, then give you a confirmation number (which will be emailed to you as well). Once you complete this reservation, start over and book another one. I strongly suggest playing around with this process a few days before your big day. This way, when you are doing it half asleep you will know what to do. While you can book reservations online any time of day, the new day starts at 6:00 AM Eastern time. So, if you want to book the first possible day, that means logging on and being ready at 6:00 in the morning (which sadly means 5:00 for us CST people)!
My big day was yesterday so I was up at 4:45 am to make my dinner reservations. So, I am still behind on sleep, but I know I will reap the benefits of that effort in six months! In the next day or two I will post about what meals I selected, and a few of my tips for trying to decide which restaurants are best for your family. Sorry for the long post! I still have so many more in my head based on the past few trips if things will ever slow down enough to post them! Happy Planning!
If you have ever gone to Disney and failed to get a table on a whim at a sit down restaurant at the prime dinner hour I am here to explain to you why that is. It is simple, those people who are happily enjoying a tasty meal with your coveted characters are having a blissful and relaxing meal due to some hard planning....six months before that meal. Yes, I said 180 days. Really? You thought you could just go to the parks (whichever you wanted to that day) and enjoy things as they came to you? Well, yes and no. I know of a few lucky people who have done just that. They rolled out of bed whenever, had a late breakfast while they decided what to do that day, then headed to a park. Then they rode whatever ride they came to and ate wherever they wanted. Now, I must say I have heard that from maybe one or two people. However, it is definitely the exception.
What I usually here is more like this: We got up at 10:00 and got to the parks about 11:00 after a leisurely breakfast. Then we tried to ride our favorite rides, but only got two in before we were ready to eat again because the lines were so long! So, we took a break for a late lunch. After looking at the maps and asking around we decided to try to eat with Pooh (or at Liberty Tree, or at Chef Mickey's....the list goes on and on). So, we got the kids all on board with our lunch plans, and walked to the restaurant. Once we arrived, we were told that they didn't have any openings at all, or that it would be a two hour wait. Really? So, we left and had a lunch at a counter service meal. After lunch, we hit the long lines again and got two more rides in before dinner time. We tried again at a sit down, and finally realized that this was the reason people encouraged us to plan our trip months in advance. So, once again we ate a counter service meal and then got a few more rides in before close. Then they came home and told everyone how horrible the crowds were and that the food at Disney World is overpriced and not worth the money. They then wonder how I can be so addicted to Disney! They thought it was too stressful and not fun.
Well, I am a planner, so preparing for our trips is heaven to me. I love looking at the crowd calendars, park hours, and restaurant menus six months in advance and figuring out where we want to eat on vacation. Now, I admit, it sounds kind of silly to try to figure out what I want for dinner in 180 days, when most days I don't know what I am cooking that night. However, I know how important it is for my upcoming trip to do the planning in advance and make my reservations at exactly the 180 day mark. So, I get up at the crack of dawn and log in to my account on disneyworld.com to make all of my dining reservations. When I am done, I know that the hard part is over, and I have the next six months to anticipate those yummy meals that I booked.
So, today's "tip" is to plan, plan, plan and book, book, book. I don't care how silly it sounds now, it will be worth it in the end. You can book your sit down meals 180 days prior to your trip. So, with today being April 3, you can book any meal you want for September 30, 2012. If you are not staying on property, you will have to call every day to make that one meal until you have booked every meal of your trip. However, if you are staying at a Disney resort, you can reserve all of your meals for up to 10 days of your trip based on your first check in day. If you are checking in to Disney on September 30, you will be able to book 10 days of your meals TODAY! So, all you Wilson County people who are going over Fall Break....book now!!!!
There are two ways to book your meals. You can call Disney directly at 407-WDW-DINE and the friendly staff will help you plan your meals. They will tell you the times that are available, then if you are interested in one of the times, they will reserve it and give you a confirmation number. Then they will move on to the next reservation and do all of them for you. The call center is open from 7:00 am to I believe 10:00 pm. These times are Eastern time! I know the opening time is 7:00, but I can't remember the close time. With us being an hour behind, I always forget the time :). So, that means for our area, we have to be online calling at 6:00 am CST if we want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table or Chef Mickey's as those are two of the hardest ones to get.
If you don't want to call, you can book your meals by yourself on the web. Go to disneyworld.com and click the link across the top that says "Where to Eat". Then click the link that says "Make Dining Reservations". Once that comes up, if you are staying on property, click the link that says "I want to use my dining plan to book reservations". That will take you to a page that allows you to put in your resort confirmation number so that you can make multiple reservations past your first day. Then put in your restaurant name, click a desired time, click the number of people in your party, and click the button that says "search for a table". The computer will then display a few options for meals (hopefully). It will search two hours before your desired time, and two hours after to list several options for your meals that it feels most closely matches your criteria. Choose a listed time, then click make reservation. It will then take you to a new screen and ask for a few details from you, then give you a confirmation number (which will be emailed to you as well). Once you complete this reservation, start over and book another one. I strongly suggest playing around with this process a few days before your big day. This way, when you are doing it half asleep you will know what to do. While you can book reservations online any time of day, the new day starts at 6:00 AM Eastern time. So, if you want to book the first possible day, that means logging on and being ready at 6:00 in the morning (which sadly means 5:00 for us CST people)!
My big day was yesterday so I was up at 4:45 am to make my dinner reservations. So, I am still behind on sleep, but I know I will reap the benefits of that effort in six months! In the next day or two I will post about what meals I selected, and a few of my tips for trying to decide which restaurants are best for your family. Sorry for the long post! I still have so many more in my head based on the past few trips if things will ever slow down enough to post them! Happy Planning!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Today's tip is an addendum to a previous post. Several posts ago I wrote about how we like to use Hotwire to add an extra night to the beginning of the trip just to make the most out of our first day and to avoid driving all night long. I mentioned that we always try to get a three star or higher when we book. Well, I am changing that a bit as a result of our trip a few weeks ago. We started checking Hotwire a few days before we left just to get a feel for what prices would be for our "extra" night. Let me say that our extra night was a Saturday on the kickoff of high travel season in Orlando so the choices were limited, and a little higher than we were used to in October. So, we decided that we would chance it and check along the way while we were driving down to Orlando. We were very excited when a four star room popped up for cheaper than the three stars had been going all week. It was in the Sea World area, but there were none anywhere close in price to what we wanted to pay in the Downtown Disney area so we decided to grab it. Let me also say that it had gotten pretty good reviews on Hotwire. So, we booked it and anxiously awaited our email letting us know which hotel it was. When the email came, it listed the hotel as Rosen Shingle Creek. Hmmm....not one we had heard of, but the price was right. So, my hubby called the hotel to let them know that we would be doing a late check in. When he did, they informed him of the $16 per night parking fee. What? We so didn't see that anywhere on Hotwire. We knew to look for a resort fee, but there wasn't one listed so we thought we were safe. We were a little disappointed, but the cheap price we had paid offset the parking so we figured it was a lesson learned.
So, we arrived at the hotel.......and it was massive. You could either leave your car at the door with the valet for $20, or self park in a lot a bit of a walk away for $16. We went the cheapest route possible and parked ourselves. So, we checked in the gigantic lobby, then carried our things up to our room. Once we got in the room we looked out the windows and saw that we were overlooking a golf course. So, we looked at the hotel info more carefully and learned it was a golf resort and convention center. No wonder it was so huge! We started scoping out places for breakfast in the morning and realized the only options were pricey restaurants. No thank you! I was heading to Disney and would be paying through the nose for food soon enough. Luckily I had brought bagels for the rest of the week so we ate those before heading out. We obviously weren't getting a free continental breakfast here!
So what is my "tip" after all this rambling? Stick to three star hotels when using Hotwire. You probably won't have to pay parking, and chances are good that you will get a free breakfast. If you are looking for a cheap night to spend a few hours in a bed before heading to the parks, you probably don't need a four star resort. Chances are that you will get a nicer hotel than you bargained for! I would have enjoyed this hotel if I was looking to spend a few days alone with my hubby, and if we golfed. The beds were super comfy (unlike what we encountered the rest of the week at All Star Music) and the robes were fancy, but it was a bit much for the 10 hours we spent in the hotel.
So, we arrived at the hotel.......and it was massive. You could either leave your car at the door with the valet for $20, or self park in a lot a bit of a walk away for $16. We went the cheapest route possible and parked ourselves. So, we checked in the gigantic lobby, then carried our things up to our room. Once we got in the room we looked out the windows and saw that we were overlooking a golf course. So, we looked at the hotel info more carefully and learned it was a golf resort and convention center. No wonder it was so huge! We started scoping out places for breakfast in the morning and realized the only options were pricey restaurants. No thank you! I was heading to Disney and would be paying through the nose for food soon enough. Luckily I had brought bagels for the rest of the week so we ate those before heading out. We obviously weren't getting a free continental breakfast here!
So what is my "tip" after all this rambling? Stick to three star hotels when using Hotwire. You probably won't have to pay parking, and chances are good that you will get a free breakfast. If you are looking for a cheap night to spend a few hours in a bed before heading to the parks, you probably don't need a four star resort. Chances are that you will get a nicer hotel than you bargained for! I would have enjoyed this hotel if I was looking to spend a few days alone with my hubby, and if we golfed. The beds were super comfy (unlike what we encountered the rest of the week at All Star Music) and the robes were fancy, but it was a bit much for the 10 hours we spent in the hotel.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
As I approach our Spring Break trip to the World, I am actually getting a little anxious for the first time in a long time about the crowd levels. I have never been at Spring Break before, and in fact the last time we went at a highly busy time was our honeymoon in 1998 which was the week before 4th of July. Our last seven trips have been in low times and we have frankly gotten very spoiled with crowd levels. However, it looks like that is all going to change in two weeks. The crowd levels are predicted to be 10 out of 10 on almost every day we are there. Yowza! That is going to force me to plan even more than I ever have in order to outmaneuver the crowds. With a little help from Touringplans.com, I accept that challenge.
Today's tip is simple....make touringplans.com your best friend! As you begin planning for your trip, visit the site and register. It is a very minimal $11.95 cost for a year long membership (sometimes there are coupon codes to lower this price through allears.net newsletters, so subscribe to those as well). In the past, you had free access to the planning features on this website when you bought the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, but I think now you get half off the $11.95 charge (I haven't bought the book in two years, so I am uncertain if this has changed or not). This website is my absolute favorite for trip planning and helps me out in so many ways. I will try to break down the benefits below.
The first benefit is helping you know what to expect as far as crowd levels for every day of the year. It will tell you the expected crowd number (on a scale of 1 to 10) and also tell you which is the best park to visit every day, and which park to avoid. It also lists the park hours, Extra Magic Hours, and show schedules for each day. There is also a place to click on each day so that you can "track" that day. If any changes are made to the crowd expectations, you will receive an email alerting you to check it out.
The second benefit is access to a very large number of touring plans that will help you ensure you see everything that you want to see in any given park. You choose the one that fits your family the best and it takes you step by step through each park telling you what ride to hit next so that you will have the shortest possible wait times at each attraction. If you don't find a plan that fits your family, the site allows you to create your own customizable plan. You tell it what rides and shows you want to see and it tells you in what order to see them. I assure you, if you follow these plans to the letter as they are written, you WILL get everything done, and then some. When we were on our honeymoon it was unbelievably crowded. However, I had printed a copy of a touring plan ahead of time and we gave it a try. We were done with Magic Kingdom at 1:30 in the afternoon! Now granted, we probably skipped a few things that they had listed, but we did everything we wanted to do. We were then able to go to the hotel and swim, then head out for more fun that night. Although we haven't needed one of these touring plans in a few years due to crowds, I am going to revisit them for the trip in a few weeks. One note about these plans....if you are not willing to get to the park at opening for rope drop, don't bother with the plans. I hate to hear people http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifsay how these plans don't work when really it is their fault because they didn't follow them as they are intended (to start at park opening). I know some people don't like the thought of planning out their every move of their vacation, but I would bet these same people hate the thought more of their children screaming at the end of the day because they didn't get to see everything that they wanted.
One final huge benefit is access to lines. This is an app on your smartphone that tells you actual wait times at every attraction in each park. If you are at Buzz Lightyear in Magic Kingdom and are thinking about heading to Splash Mountain, you can open up Lines and see what the actual wait time is before trekking all the way across the park. It will also tell you the crowd level expectations for that day and the crowd forecast for 10 days. It also has a chat feature on it that allows you to ask questions to fellow "liners" and get help while you are in the parks (or at home planning your trip). I love reading these discussion threads from home as it makes me feel a part of the magic even when I am far away from the parks. Another thing on the lines app is access to the park touring plans I discussed above. It is much easier to read the steps on your phone than it is to keep up with a printed piece of paper all day long!
So, if you are planning a trip to Disney World, check out touringplans.com before you go. Even if you don't pay for the subscription, you have some access to trip planning advise on the site, and you can read blog posts by the staff of touringplans. It is one more way to experience a small piece of the magic away from the real magic of the parks! Happy planning!
Today's tip is simple....make touringplans.com your best friend! As you begin planning for your trip, visit the site and register. It is a very minimal $11.95 cost for a year long membership (sometimes there are coupon codes to lower this price through allears.net newsletters, so subscribe to those as well). In the past, you had free access to the planning features on this website when you bought the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, but I think now you get half off the $11.95 charge (I haven't bought the book in two years, so I am uncertain if this has changed or not). This website is my absolute favorite for trip planning and helps me out in so many ways. I will try to break down the benefits below.
The first benefit is helping you know what to expect as far as crowd levels for every day of the year. It will tell you the expected crowd number (on a scale of 1 to 10) and also tell you which is the best park to visit every day, and which park to avoid. It also lists the park hours, Extra Magic Hours, and show schedules for each day. There is also a place to click on each day so that you can "track" that day. If any changes are made to the crowd expectations, you will receive an email alerting you to check it out.
The second benefit is access to a very large number of touring plans that will help you ensure you see everything that you want to see in any given park. You choose the one that fits your family the best and it takes you step by step through each park telling you what ride to hit next so that you will have the shortest possible wait times at each attraction. If you don't find a plan that fits your family, the site allows you to create your own customizable plan. You tell it what rides and shows you want to see and it tells you in what order to see them. I assure you, if you follow these plans to the letter as they are written, you WILL get everything done, and then some. When we were on our honeymoon it was unbelievably crowded. However, I had printed a copy of a touring plan ahead of time and we gave it a try. We were done with Magic Kingdom at 1:30 in the afternoon! Now granted, we probably skipped a few things that they had listed, but we did everything we wanted to do. We were then able to go to the hotel and swim, then head out for more fun that night. Although we haven't needed one of these touring plans in a few years due to crowds, I am going to revisit them for the trip in a few weeks. One note about these plans....if you are not willing to get to the park at opening for rope drop, don't bother with the plans. I hate to hear people http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifsay how these plans don't work when really it is their fault because they didn't follow them as they are intended (to start at park opening). I know some people don't like the thought of planning out their every move of their vacation, but I would bet these same people hate the thought more of their children screaming at the end of the day because they didn't get to see everything that they wanted.
One final huge benefit is access to lines. This is an app on your smartphone that tells you actual wait times at every attraction in each park. If you are at Buzz Lightyear in Magic Kingdom and are thinking about heading to Splash Mountain, you can open up Lines and see what the actual wait time is before trekking all the way across the park. It will also tell you the crowd level expectations for that day and the crowd forecast for 10 days. It also has a chat feature on it that allows you to ask questions to fellow "liners" and get help while you are in the parks (or at home planning your trip). I love reading these discussion threads from home as it makes me feel a part of the magic even when I am far away from the parks. Another thing on the lines app is access to the park touring plans I discussed above. It is much easier to read the steps on your phone than it is to keep up with a printed piece of paper all day long!
So, if you are planning a trip to Disney World, check out touringplans.com before you go. Even if you don't pay for the subscription, you have some access to trip planning advise on the site, and you can read blog posts by the staff of touringplans. It is one more way to experience a small piece of the magic away from the real magic of the parks! Happy planning!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Today's travel tip is going to focus on helping you get the most bang for your buck when it comes to staying hydrated at Disney. I have already mentioned many times about how you can get a free cup of ice water or ice at any counter service window. The staff is always super friendly and more than willing to give you one, even if you don't buy anything else. So, with that being said, there is no reason NOT to stay hydrated. What about at meals though? Sometimes, people (like me) just want a cold soda to go with their meals. Is there a way to save money with a meal?
Of course there is! In the past few years Disney has changed a few of the restaurants to include a serve yourself beverage station. This of course means as many free refills as you want. So, buy a drink with your meal, and drink until you get your fill. Then, after your meal, take one "to go" in your cup, but don't fill it with ice. Then in a little while when you are thirsty from the hot sun, get a free cup of ice from a counter service restaurant and pour your soda over it. This option will only work if you have a stroller to put your drink in while you tour though. I wouldn't recommend carrying a drink all over the park all day :)
There still aren't tons of places that offer the serve yourself beverage stations, but there are a few. At Hollywood Studios, you can visit The Backlot Express which is located next to the Star Tours ride. If you are in Epcot, you have two options to choose from. The Electric Umbrella, which is located beside Innoventions East and Sunshine Seasons which is located inside The Land (this is my favorite counter service meal inside the theme parks due to the variety and fact that it allows us to save some money on our meals). If you are at Animal Kingdom, you can eat at Restaurantosaurus in Dinoland and drink (soda) to your hearts content. A side note about Restaurantosaurus is that the kids meals are served in a sand bucket so needless to say, we eat here often :). I can't think of any serve your own stations inside of Magic Kingdom, but hopefully they will come soon!
One final way my husband and I save on drinks when we can't get refills is to order a large cola with no ice and a cup of ice. This maximizes the amount of cola you get for your money, and allows you to be able to pour it over ice as you go. We are all about saving a buck or two whenever we can at Disney!
Of course there is! In the past few years Disney has changed a few of the restaurants to include a serve yourself beverage station. This of course means as many free refills as you want. So, buy a drink with your meal, and drink until you get your fill. Then, after your meal, take one "to go" in your cup, but don't fill it with ice. Then in a little while when you are thirsty from the hot sun, get a free cup of ice from a counter service restaurant and pour your soda over it. This option will only work if you have a stroller to put your drink in while you tour though. I wouldn't recommend carrying a drink all over the park all day :)
There still aren't tons of places that offer the serve yourself beverage stations, but there are a few. At Hollywood Studios, you can visit The Backlot Express which is located next to the Star Tours ride. If you are in Epcot, you have two options to choose from. The Electric Umbrella, which is located beside Innoventions East and Sunshine Seasons which is located inside The Land (this is my favorite counter service meal inside the theme parks due to the variety and fact that it allows us to save some money on our meals). If you are at Animal Kingdom, you can eat at Restaurantosaurus in Dinoland and drink (soda) to your hearts content. A side note about Restaurantosaurus is that the kids meals are served in a sand bucket so needless to say, we eat here often :). I can't think of any serve your own stations inside of Magic Kingdom, but hopefully they will come soon!
One final way my husband and I save on drinks when we can't get refills is to order a large cola with no ice and a cup of ice. This maximizes the amount of cola you get for your money, and allows you to be able to pour it over ice as you go. We are all about saving a buck or two whenever we can at Disney!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
This is going to be short and sweet (for me) as I am having computer issues and therefore having to use my tablet to enter this....not very fun :)
So, my tip for the day is more of a news bite that was announced last week. I had mentioned in a previous blog that you only have to concern yourself with the first return time on your fastpass ticket. In the past, it didn't matter if you were four hours past your return time, you could still use the fastpass as long as you returned sometime after the first posted time. For example, if the return time said 4:10 to 5:10 you could return anytime that evening after 4:10 and you would be allowed to enter the ride. That is all changing in a few weeks. Now, you will only be able to return during that hour that is listed on your fastpass ticket. That can sometimes be a challenge if it happens to fall during a dinner reservation, during a parade, or if you happen to be on the other side of the park. So, my advise is to double check the return time before you request a fast pass. If you know you can't make it back in time, pass it over and try to get one later.
So, my tip for the day is more of a news bite that was announced last week. I had mentioned in a previous blog that you only have to concern yourself with the first return time on your fastpass ticket. In the past, it didn't matter if you were four hours past your return time, you could still use the fastpass as long as you returned sometime after the first posted time. For example, if the return time said 4:10 to 5:10 you could return anytime that evening after 4:10 and you would be allowed to enter the ride. That is all changing in a few weeks. Now, you will only be able to return during that hour that is listed on your fastpass ticket. That can sometimes be a challenge if it happens to fall during a dinner reservation, during a parade, or if you happen to be on the other side of the park. So, my advise is to double check the return time before you request a fast pass. If you know you can't make it back in time, pass it over and try to get one later.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
So you are going to Disney World and you have secured your hotel. Maybe you are staying on property for a week, and you plan on driving there from wherever you live. The problem is that if you drive, you either arrive midday, or you have to drive all night to get there in the morning. What do you do? Do you pay for an extra night, even though you are arriving late in the day and won't be able to take advantage of the amenities or parks? Do you drive all night and arrive at the parks worn out? We have done both options, and now prefer the option of adding a night to our trip. We typically leave after my daughter gets out of school (ok so we usually can't stand it and pick her up a little early), then begin the 11 or so hour drive. This puts us in the Orlando area around midnight. With such a late arrival it doesn't make sense for us to pay the higher price of our Disney hotel (unless you have free dining and get an extra day of meals for everyone in your party). So the last two years we went off property for our first night and used a travel website to help us secure a super cheap room that served our main purpose....get a cheap hotel room to allow us to rest a few hours after our drive, and even get a free breakfast in the process :)
Today's tip is my advice on how to secure a cheap hotel room at Disney World. I know everyone has probably used the travel websites such as Hotwire or Priceline. We started using Hotwire a few years ago for Disney, and I have to admit it was a little scary. The way Hotwire works is you tell them the city you want to stay in, and it it brings up choices in different areas at different price levels. The ony problem is that you don't know the hotel name, or it's exact location. So, unless you know a little about the city you are staying in you could end up choosing a hotel in a not so nice area of town. Not my ideal situation, though in our case, I could do anything for a night (I think). I am not brave enough to use this service for the entire trip, but for a few hours in a comfy bed, I am all for using Hotwire and gambling with the hotel a bit.
If you do decide to use Hotwire, I would suggest choosing a hotel that is listed in the Lake Buena Vista-Downtown Disney area. This will guarantee a room pretty close to Disney property, and the area is a good, safe one. We used this last year and chose a hotel in this area that ended up being right by I4 and across from the entrance to Disney property (about half a mile or so from Downtown Disney). We put Orlando into the city name, and a lot of options popped up. We chose one in the Lake Buena Vista-Downtown Disney area that was listed as a three star hotel for $49 plus tax. We felt it was a good price so we went with it. Once we accepted it and put in our payment info we received an email that we would be staying at the Clarion, which made us pretty happy. We felt like we go a pretty good hotel for a cheap price. Once we arrived we definitely were impressed and happy with the outcome.
I have a few tips to keep in mind if you are considering using Hotwire for your trip. First and foremost, once you hit that confirm button, you are locked into your stay as it is non-refundable. So, double check that you are selecting a hotel in the right area. Decide on what "star" level you want for your hotel, and read the reviews for that level on the site. Check to see what your final charge will be. Some resorts charge a resort fee ON TOP of the Hotwire charge. So, you may want to choose a hotel that does not charge extra (our Clarion did not charge the extra fee). Just be careful and take your time. Finally, both times we did this, we booked a day out. Since it didn't matter where we stayed, we waited until the last possible moment so that we could get the best deal available. So there you have it! You can save money on a hotel at Disney World!
Today's tip is my advice on how to secure a cheap hotel room at Disney World. I know everyone has probably used the travel websites such as Hotwire or Priceline. We started using Hotwire a few years ago for Disney, and I have to admit it was a little scary. The way Hotwire works is you tell them the city you want to stay in, and it it brings up choices in different areas at different price levels. The ony problem is that you don't know the hotel name, or it's exact location. So, unless you know a little about the city you are staying in you could end up choosing a hotel in a not so nice area of town. Not my ideal situation, though in our case, I could do anything for a night (I think). I am not brave enough to use this service for the entire trip, but for a few hours in a comfy bed, I am all for using Hotwire and gambling with the hotel a bit.
If you do decide to use Hotwire, I would suggest choosing a hotel that is listed in the Lake Buena Vista-Downtown Disney area. This will guarantee a room pretty close to Disney property, and the area is a good, safe one. We used this last year and chose a hotel in this area that ended up being right by I4 and across from the entrance to Disney property (about half a mile or so from Downtown Disney). We put Orlando into the city name, and a lot of options popped up. We chose one in the Lake Buena Vista-Downtown Disney area that was listed as a three star hotel for $49 plus tax. We felt it was a good price so we went with it. Once we accepted it and put in our payment info we received an email that we would be staying at the Clarion, which made us pretty happy. We felt like we go a pretty good hotel for a cheap price. Once we arrived we definitely were impressed and happy with the outcome.
I have a few tips to keep in mind if you are considering using Hotwire for your trip. First and foremost, once you hit that confirm button, you are locked into your stay as it is non-refundable. So, double check that you are selecting a hotel in the right area. Decide on what "star" level you want for your hotel, and read the reviews for that level on the site. Check to see what your final charge will be. Some resorts charge a resort fee ON TOP of the Hotwire charge. So, you may want to choose a hotel that does not charge extra (our Clarion did not charge the extra fee). Just be careful and take your time. Finally, both times we did this, we booked a day out. Since it didn't matter where we stayed, we waited until the last possible moment so that we could get the best deal available. So there you have it! You can save money on a hotel at Disney World!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Ok guys, here is one of my secrets for saving money on Disney World souvenirs. It truly is possible to buy t-shirts, mugs, toys, and pins ON SALE!!!! We just recently found this little secret, and to tell the truth, I hate to share it. So, as long as you promise not to beat me to the deals when I am there over fall break, I will allow you to finish reading this post. :)
There are two outlet centers in Orlando that I have fallen in love with. Not because they are HUGE and filled with lots of my favorite stores. That is just a bonus. Sadly, I haven't been able to explore them like I would like to since I am not in Orlando to shop, but instead to visit the parks. I don't want to take time away from touring to shop (and believe me, that says a lot for me as I am a shopper). However, the one reason I will make it a point to visit at least one of these outlets every trip, is due to the fact that they have an outlet that sells Disney World merchandise. The store name is Character Premiere. This is actual merchandise from the parks. The employees work for Disney (and the proof is in the fact that they do pin trading and vinylmation trading in the stores). It is always so much fun to walk around the store and check out the deals. Now remember, I did say this is owned by Disney, so the prices are not going to be rock bottom. However, the prices are lower than those in the parks, and a few times, I have even seen the same items in the store that are on sale at World of Disney (the big store at Downtown Disney).
I recommend saving the bulk of your buying for later in your trip and heading to the outlets before you buy t-shirts and toys. Then, if you don't see a shirt or fun item at Character Premiere that you like, go back to World of Disney and do all of your shopping at one place. For the most part, you will not see the same merchandise at the outlet as you will at the park so if there is a particular item you have to have while at the parks, buy it. If however you just want any T-shirt to remember your trip by, or if your kids will be happy with any plush Mickey or Tinkerbell doll, head to the outlets first. We have gotten many shirts for $12.99 and $16.99 that we would have easily spent at least $25 each for in the parks. My favorite deal so far is a zip up fleece hoodie with Mickey on the back for $9.99. These sell for around $40 in the parks.
One more thing to keep in mind is that for the most part they have broad Disney World souvenirs. The majority of the merchandise will say Walt Disney World or Disney Cruise Lines, but most of the time they don't have park specific merchandise. In other words, if you want something that says Magic Kingdom on it, you will want to buy that at Magic Kingdom. I have seen Animal Kingdom merchandise in there before, but that is the only park that stands out to me right now.
So, where do you find these Character Premier stores? There are two in the Orlando area, both at Prime Outlets. One is on International Drive and one on Vineland Avenue (this is about 3 miles from Downtown Disney, right along I4). If I remember correctly, they are both located near the food court in each mall. On a side note, if you are going to be in St. Augestine, there is one of these stores in the outlet mall there as well. We really got a lot of great deals there last year during our trips to the beach.
Happy Shopping!
There are two outlet centers in Orlando that I have fallen in love with. Not because they are HUGE and filled with lots of my favorite stores. That is just a bonus. Sadly, I haven't been able to explore them like I would like to since I am not in Orlando to shop, but instead to visit the parks. I don't want to take time away from touring to shop (and believe me, that says a lot for me as I am a shopper). However, the one reason I will make it a point to visit at least one of these outlets every trip, is due to the fact that they have an outlet that sells Disney World merchandise. The store name is Character Premiere. This is actual merchandise from the parks. The employees work for Disney (and the proof is in the fact that they do pin trading and vinylmation trading in the stores). It is always so much fun to walk around the store and check out the deals. Now remember, I did say this is owned by Disney, so the prices are not going to be rock bottom. However, the prices are lower than those in the parks, and a few times, I have even seen the same items in the store that are on sale at World of Disney (the big store at Downtown Disney).
I recommend saving the bulk of your buying for later in your trip and heading to the outlets before you buy t-shirts and toys. Then, if you don't see a shirt or fun item at Character Premiere that you like, go back to World of Disney and do all of your shopping at one place. For the most part, you will not see the same merchandise at the outlet as you will at the park so if there is a particular item you have to have while at the parks, buy it. If however you just want any T-shirt to remember your trip by, or if your kids will be happy with any plush Mickey or Tinkerbell doll, head to the outlets first. We have gotten many shirts for $12.99 and $16.99 that we would have easily spent at least $25 each for in the parks. My favorite deal so far is a zip up fleece hoodie with Mickey on the back for $9.99. These sell for around $40 in the parks.
One more thing to keep in mind is that for the most part they have broad Disney World souvenirs. The majority of the merchandise will say Walt Disney World or Disney Cruise Lines, but most of the time they don't have park specific merchandise. In other words, if you want something that says Magic Kingdom on it, you will want to buy that at Magic Kingdom. I have seen Animal Kingdom merchandise in there before, but that is the only park that stands out to me right now.
So, where do you find these Character Premier stores? There are two in the Orlando area, both at Prime Outlets. One is on International Drive and one on Vineland Avenue (this is about 3 miles from Downtown Disney, right along I4). If I remember correctly, they are both located near the food court in each mall. On a side note, if you are going to be in St. Augestine, there is one of these stores in the outlet mall there as well. We really got a lot of great deals there last year during our trips to the beach.
Happy Shopping!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Travel Tip Tuesday
Wow! As I signed in to write a travel tip, I looked and realized that I haven't posted in almost a month. That post was one of only few in the past few months. I, along with everyone else, have been a little busy the past few months. Actually, I have been busy the last year. Although it has been a busy year, I wouldn't trade it for anything. In our house, we are calling 2011 the year of Disney. We booked a lot of fun hours in Disney parks last year. We kicked it off with a Spring Break trip to Disneyland, had a few days in Orlando in June, took our annual fall break trip to Disney World in October, and had a quick get away for my birthday to Disney World in December. When I look back, I think wow, I can't believe we did all of that. When I think of all of the memories we made, it makes me think of a whole new tip other than the one I logged in to write. So, I will get back to my more conventional tips next week, but for now, humor me for a few minutes.
My new tip for the day is to seize the opportunity, and go on vacation with the family. Of course I recommend going to Disney, but I know that not everyone has the love for it that I do. If your family is not into Disney, do something else, but please please find a time and place that your family will enjoy, and get away together. Don't make excuses. I have known many people who said we will go next year. We are waiting for the kids to be older. We don't want to leave the house (or kids, pets, etc) for a week this year. Well, often that vacation the next year didn't come for whatever reason....someone lost a job, someone got a devastating illness, a loved one passed away, etc. Sadly, these things happen all the time, and we don't know when they will occur, so if you have the time off, and money, go!!!
If you are going to Disney, you don't have to stay at the monorail resorts. You don't have to visit every single park. You don't have to have a sit down character meal every day. You don't have to stay a week. We decided a few years ago, that we would rather go every year for 10 nights and stay at a value resort, instead of going every other year and staying at a Deluxe monorail resort for five nights. We have done short trips (June and Dec were only four nights), long trips (October is always 10 nights), trips where we ate at one sit down a day, trips where we only ate counter service meals every day, and trips where we left property for at least one meal a day. When we went to Disneyland, we stayed at a Super 8 hotel and left every day for at least one meal. Let me tell you, every single trip was amazing and magical and we had just as much fun every trip no matter what kind of meals we ate or the hotel we slept in. You have to take the trip that comfortably fits into your family's budget, and that will be most enjoyable for YOUR family.
We were very blessed last year with some great opportunities (free flights for all of us to California and Orlando, along with the chance to buy annual passes). With my fear of flying it would have been so easy to say no to both California and our December trip. I could have come up with a million reasons to say no, not right now, maybe next time. I even tried to, but thankfully my hubby pushed me to get over my fears and now I am so thankful we took those trips. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. Sadly, my daughter will grow up too quickly, and one day will not enjoy the trips as she does now. Odds are, one day we will go on vacation and she will be a typical teenager and think she is too cool to have fun with her family at Disney World. With that in mind, I am seizing every opportunity I am given, and embracing the memories we are making together as a family, that she will hopefully take with her for the rest of her life. I urge you to do the same. Seize the chance, plan a trip, and enjoy time together as a family (even if that means going to the next town over and staying at a cheap hotel or camping out in tents).
In 2012 we will go back to our typical year of Disney which include our fall break trip. I can't wait to take that trip and make even more memories. Where will 2012 take you and your family? Hopefully someplace fun for you! You never know when something big will happen that will disrupt your plans, or your life. Embrace the moments and make some wonderful memories. Don't say no when an opportunity arises!
My new tip for the day is to seize the opportunity, and go on vacation with the family. Of course I recommend going to Disney, but I know that not everyone has the love for it that I do. If your family is not into Disney, do something else, but please please find a time and place that your family will enjoy, and get away together. Don't make excuses. I have known many people who said we will go next year. We are waiting for the kids to be older. We don't want to leave the house (or kids, pets, etc) for a week this year. Well, often that vacation the next year didn't come for whatever reason....someone lost a job, someone got a devastating illness, a loved one passed away, etc. Sadly, these things happen all the time, and we don't know when they will occur, so if you have the time off, and money, go!!!
If you are going to Disney, you don't have to stay at the monorail resorts. You don't have to visit every single park. You don't have to have a sit down character meal every day. You don't have to stay a week. We decided a few years ago, that we would rather go every year for 10 nights and stay at a value resort, instead of going every other year and staying at a Deluxe monorail resort for five nights. We have done short trips (June and Dec were only four nights), long trips (October is always 10 nights), trips where we ate at one sit down a day, trips where we only ate counter service meals every day, and trips where we left property for at least one meal a day. When we went to Disneyland, we stayed at a Super 8 hotel and left every day for at least one meal. Let me tell you, every single trip was amazing and magical and we had just as much fun every trip no matter what kind of meals we ate or the hotel we slept in. You have to take the trip that comfortably fits into your family's budget, and that will be most enjoyable for YOUR family.
We were very blessed last year with some great opportunities (free flights for all of us to California and Orlando, along with the chance to buy annual passes). With my fear of flying it would have been so easy to say no to both California and our December trip. I could have come up with a million reasons to say no, not right now, maybe next time. I even tried to, but thankfully my hubby pushed me to get over my fears and now I am so thankful we took those trips. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. Sadly, my daughter will grow up too quickly, and one day will not enjoy the trips as she does now. Odds are, one day we will go on vacation and she will be a typical teenager and think she is too cool to have fun with her family at Disney World. With that in mind, I am seizing every opportunity I am given, and embracing the memories we are making together as a family, that she will hopefully take with her for the rest of her life. I urge you to do the same. Seize the chance, plan a trip, and enjoy time together as a family (even if that means going to the next town over and staying at a cheap hotel or camping out in tents).
In 2012 we will go back to our typical year of Disney which include our fall break trip. I can't wait to take that trip and make even more memories. Where will 2012 take you and your family? Hopefully someplace fun for you! You never know when something big will happen that will disrupt your plans, or your life. Embrace the moments and make some wonderful memories. Don't say no when an opportunity arises!
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