Check Out Our Spring Break Vacation!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Tips for A Succesful Day at Magic Kingdom

My family and I just returned from our Spring Break trip in Orlando.  We went to the Magic Kingdom on one of the days we were there.  This is our second time visiting the park with kids.  This time my kids were 8, 5, and 20 months.  My husband and I agreed that this time was a complete success with a fun-filled day with very low stress levels!  Here are my tips, planning is definitely the key!

1. Check the crowd calendars before you plan a day and go on a "green" or "yellow" day.
2. Load the My Disney Experience mobile app on your phone and watch the crowd levels several weeks before you go.
3. Order your tickets ahead of time, if you are just going for the day, there are no discounts, so I recommend just getting them off of the Disney site and having the cards (or bands) in hand when entering the park.
4. Make your FastPass+ selections as soon as possible (we did Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain).
5. Make a dining reservation for dinner.  This was a lesson we learned from our last trip, a big meal at dinner will refresh you and your family like you would not believe (we went to Tony's Town Square).  This gave my family the energy we needed to make it to parade,
6. Reserve a stroller ahead of time for all kids 5 and under.  I highly recommend the City Mini we rented from Simple Stroller Rental.  The Disney strollers are not comfortable at all for your kids, my little girl was able to take a nice nap after lunch!
   
    
7. Get there early, ideally you should be in the park for rope drop, we got there right at opening at 9 am, check park hours here.  If you are driving, allow at least 30 minutes to park, ride the tram to the Transportation Center and then ride the Monorail/Ferry into the Magic Kingdom.
8. Pack a backpack with snacks, water bottles, and other needed items.  I recommend using gallon size zip lock bags to organize the bag.   I had a bag of snacks, water bottles, diapers/wipes, and an extra change of clothes for the baby.  It makes the bag check area go so smoothly!
9. Buy a backup charger for your phone, I used this one for my iPhone and it worked great!
10. Follow the recommended ride path here, it will help with the crowds!
11. Book a breakfast/dinner with characters and avoid the character meets at the park unless the lines are short.  You get a much better experience at the meals (I recommend Chef Mickey's)!

What other tips do you have a for a day trip to the Magic Kingdom?

Disney 2011 On A Budget - Day 4 Disney's Animal Kingdom

In my opinion, we saved the best for last!  Disney's Animal Kingdom was my favorite park of the trip.  It was nice to go there towards the end of the trip, since everyone was getting tired!  However, Disney's Animal Kingdom is a nice change of pace, it is more laid back and nicely shaded!  It was also the 2nd best way to meet and greet characters (Chef Mickey's was the best in my opinion)!

Our first stop was Camp Minnie-Mickey Greeting Trails!  We were able to meet Chip and Dale, Goofy, Donald, Minnie, and Mickey!  We only spent about an hour here and were able to meet all these characters and give hugs and get pictures!

After meeting the characters, we headed back to Kilimanjaro Safaris to get our Fast Passes!  We had about 2 hours so we rode the Wildlife Express Train to Rafikis Planet Watch.  While we are at Rafikis Planet Watch we were able to visit Conservation Station and Affection Station and pet some animals.  After we were done we rode the Wildlife Express Train back to Harambe, Africa.

When we arrived back in Africa, we entered the Fast Pass line for Kilimanjaro Safaris and boarded our vehicle and enjoyed an amazing ride!  It was a bit bumpy, but the kids (and adults) enjoyed seeing the antelope, crocodiles, elephants, zebras and more!  I loved this ride!

After our ride, it was time for lunch!  WOW - we got a lot in before lunch!  Since we were still in Africa, we ate at Tamu Tamu Refreshments.  I had this amazing turkey sandwich there!  Next we headed over to Dinoland U.S.A. 

We got to ride Tricera Top Spin and dig in The Boneyard!  Unfortunately, everyone was getting tired and hot!  We decided to end our day a little early after we were able to catch Finding Nemo - The Musical.  My five year old loved this show!  After the show on our way out of the park we got to watch Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade.

So here is a special tip, remember where you park!  We got on the tram and none of us could remember where we parked!  So we got off the tram, where I thought we parked, and spent about 20 minutes on hot asphalt looking for our van!  We set the alarm off several times and finally, we heard the sound!  Yeah - we were rescued into the A/C of our van!  The thermostat read 100 degrees!

In my opinion, traveling with a 2 year old and a 5 year old, 3 day tickets were enough for us.  Also we did not get the park hopper option, but honestly we would have never used it!

Check out the other parks we visited from our trip here:
Magic Kingdom
Hollywood Studios

Disney 2011 on a Budget – Day 3 Disney’s Hollywood Studios

If you missed my posts on our visit to the Magic Kingdom or breakfast at Chef Mickey’s check them out! Our 2^nd Walt Disney World park to visit on our 3 day tickets was Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Overall the experience parking and getting into the park was a lot easier than at the Magic Kingdom. We were getting a rhythm down of parking the car, walking to the parking lot shuttle and boarding the shuttle with 2 kids and a double stroller. I tried to get the first row of the shuttle car because it was larger. I then grabbed the kids and got them on board while my husband folded the stroller and boarded with it!

When entering the park we headed straight for Toy Story Mania!  My sister had been to Hollywood Studios in April and she warned us that they run out of the Fast Pass’s quick on this ride! So at 10:30 we got our Fast Pass’s for Toy Story Mania for a return time of 12:50 pm to 1:50 pm.

Our first official stop was Voyage of The Little Mermaid. We only had to wait about 10 minutes. My 5 year old loved the show. I liked it too; it was cute with special effects of water splashing on you! After The Little Mermaid we headed over to Disney Junior - Live on Stage!  We only had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated. Seating for this show was sitting on the floor with everyone else. I was a little disappointed that it was not “life-size” characters of the Disney Junior shows but just smaller puppets. However both of my boys enjoyed it and got to sing along with the gang from Mickey Mouse Club House, Little Einstein’s, Handy Manny, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates!

After leaving the Disney Junior show we got to meet Handy Manny. Only about a 20 minute wait to meet him. Next we headed over to the Studio Backlot Tour. We had to wait about 30 minutes, but we all enjoyed the tour.

Next we headed over to the Sunset Ranch Market for lunch. It was again beginning to get really hot, so we made we were well hydrated!   After lunch it was time to go on Toy Story Mania! This was by far the best ride we went on! My five year old wanted to go on it again, but at that point the Fast Pass’s were already all gone and the wait was up to 60 minutes. After Toy Story Mania, we went and watched Beauty and the Beast -Live on Stage. It was in a covered outdoor theater. It was a little hot, but at least it was shaded!

We were then able to watch the Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun parade. It started at 3 pm. We had to stand in the sun and it was HOT!! The parade was great and we got to see most of our Pixar Pals and sing along to 5-4-3-2-FUN! After the parade, we decided to leave the park.

I really enjoyed Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The park was more laid back and we got to see and do all of the things that were on our list! By the time we got back to our condo, we just made frozen pizza and then enjoyed an evening swim!   We went to bed earlier because Disney’s Animal Kingdom was on the agenda for the next day!

Disney 2011 on a Budget – Day 2 Chef Mickey’s!

So after a full day at the Magic Kingdom, our Day 2 agenda was a little more laid back! We had reservations (be sure and make them 180 days in advance!) at Chef Mickey’s at Disney's Contemporary Resort at 9:10am and then we planned to spend the rest of the day at The Windsor Hills Resort pool!

To get to Disney's Contemporary Resort, you have to go through the main Magic Kingdom gates. I thought they would charge us for parking, but we told the attendant that we were going to Disney's Contemporary Resort and he let us right through. Parking was free at the hotel.

 We arrived at Chef Mickey’s on the fourth floor of the resort and the kids loved to watch the Monorail zipping through the hotel! We had to wait in line to get our picture taken with a life size Mickey by a photographer, and then we were quickly seated at our table. Right away the boys started to spot Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto! They were so excited! The waitress explained to us that each character makes their way around the restaurant and comes to every table.

The food was delicious! They had an incredible buffet with pancakes, Mickey shaped waffles, omelets, fresh fruits, cereals, potatoes, breakfast meats, and much more! We got our food and began to eat. Before we knew it, here came Mickey right to our table. The boys got to hug him and we got lots of pictures. We then had Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto all come to our table! By far this was the absolute BEST way to meet the characters!

We were also able to purchase a packet of pictures that were taken when we entered Chef Mickey’s. The package cost us $29.95 plus tax, but you received a 5x7, 3-4x6, and a few pictures of the characters in a keepsake book. I kind of felt like I was on a cruise ship!

 he meal was on the expensive side, $32.95 for adults, $15.95 for my 5-year old and my 2 year old was FREE! All in all it was well worth the money to see the look on my boys’ faces. I think this was one of their favorite parts of the whole Disney trip and perhaps mine too!

The boys, and us had the best time at Chef Mickey’s. I definitely recommend a character breakfast as a “must do” on your Walt Disney World adventure!

After breakfast, the boys wanted to ride the Monorail. So we were able to jump on it at Disney's Contemporary Resort and ride the complete loop. They loved it! Nice relaxing time and you were able to see the other hotels on the Monorail loop.

Disney 2011 On a Budget - Day 1 Magic Kingdom

Our first Disney park we hit was of course The Magic Kingdom!  We arrived at our condo My Magic Home Near Disney at The Windsor Hills Resort on Saturday, May 7th and took a day off to relax.  We hit The Magic Kingdom on Monday, May 9th!

Everything I read was this time of the year was a down time, however the park was very crowded!  From the time we parked the car, got on the Monorail and then into the park, it was almost an hour wasted!  The lesson we learned?  Take the Ferry Boat!

We headed first to Adventureland and road The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.  My husband and son got right on, no wait!

The next stop was the Jungle Cruise!  One of my favorite rides.  We had to wait about 20 minutes, no problem!  Last stop in Adventureland was the Pirates of the Caribbean, first time ridding this ride and we all really liked it! 

Next we headed over to Frontierland and right away we spotted Woody and Jessie!  Two of our favorite characters and on our "must see" list!  We had to wait about 45 minutes to greet them but in the meantime I went and got the FastPass's for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!  We got our PhotoPass card from the photographer.  Disney's PhotoPass Service gives you professional photographs of your Walt Disney World vacation. View the photos online, order prints and create custom photo keepsakes.  Give the card to every photographer and even ask the photographer or helper to take pictures with your own camera!

After greeting Woody and Jessie, we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then got our FastPass's for Splash Mountain.  This left us just the right amount of time to get some lunch.  By now it was HOT!!  High was 90 and all sun!  I asked a friendly Disney Cast Member for a cool place to eat and she pointed us right to Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe.  Lesson #2 - always ask Cast Members where to eat.  It will save a lot of time looking for something to eat!  It was cool inside to eat, but half the park was in there!  Crowded!

After lunch we rode Splash Mountain and The Walt Disney World Railroad around the park.  We then headed to Fantasyland!  We rode It's a Small World, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mad Tea Party, and Prince Charming Regal Carrousel.  Now it was off to Tomorrowland.  It was getting late in the day, everyone was hot, and getting a little moody that this point.  We had to skip a few rides!

In Tomorrowland we rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and we got to meet Buzz himself when we got off the ride!

We finished up with riding on the Tomorrowland Speedway twice (my five year old loved driving, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, and Stitch's Great Escape.   This was my least favorite.  I had no clue what this ride was but it turns out it really wasn't a ride at all and my five year old was quite frightened by it!  We then headed to the front of the park to get some dinner before the Main Street Electrical Parade which started at 9.  We then spotted Pluto!

We then wanted to eat someplace inside to be cool, however I did not realize you needed reservations for all of the sit-down restaurants, Lesson #3 - make reservations ahead of time for dinner, you will want a cool place to eat!  We ended up eating foot-long hot dogs at The Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland.  We ended our day watching the Main Street Electrical Parade with a front row seat near the park entrance!

Tips for a Successful Disney Trip

We have returned from our first family Disney World Adventure. I hope over the next few weeks to share with you our trip and some of the tips and ideas that I learned firsthand this time. I will have a post on each park we visited as well as other items were included on our trip. However, to kick off my Walt Disney World Adventure, I am starting off with some tips that we learned! Hopefully they will be helpful to you if you are planning a trip in the near future. If you missed my Disney on a Budget series, check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!

 My 10 Tips for a Successful Disney Trip

1. If you are not bringing a stroller, consider renting one from an outside company. We rented this City Mini Double Stroller from No Hassle Vacations. They delivered and picked it up directly from our condo’s club house. It was the ABSOLUTE best stroller ever. Plus we had it all week to use even to go to the pool. It is a lot easier to pull the stroller out of the car and be ready to hit the parks instead of renting a stroller in each Disney Park! 

2. Do a Character Dining Experience. This was the BEST way to meet characters in my opinion. I will share more about our experience at Chef Mickey’s in a future post.

3. Make all dining reservations 180 days in advance through the Disney website. As soon as the 180^th day hits, get on the site and start making reservations! No deposit is necessary!

4. If you plan on staying all day at a park, make a dinner reservation inside the park. I did not know about this, so we ended up eating hot dogs in Tomorrowland at 7 pm at Magic Kingdom because all restaurants were reservations only! Believe me; you will want a cool, relaxing place to eat dinner before the parade!

5. Fast Pass, Fast Pass, Fast Pass – Learn how to use this, it works! You need this for Toy Story Mania! in Disney’s Hollywood Studios – go there first and get the Fast Passes, they do run out quickly!

6.    The 2^nd best way to meet characters in my opinion is the Camp Minnie-Mickey Greeting Trails at the Animal Kingdom.

7. Get a Photo Pass from the first photographer you are at and keep using that card your whole trip. You can then go on the website and see all of your photos! Always ask the Photo Pass or attendant standing with the characters to take a picture with your camera, they will do it! I got a lot of the same shots the photographers got which I will also be sharing!

8. When looking for places to eat in the park and your kids on are the verge of breaking down, ask a Disney employee! They are virtually everywhere and are the most helpful! Even if you ask, “where can I buy milk?”

9. Pack water bottles, juice boxes, and snacks for the park each day. You will need them when waiting in line for rides.

10. Buy rain ponchos ahead of time at a dollar store. I found 2 packs for $1. Luckily we never had to use ours! I also bought the kids glow necklaces and glow sticks at a dollar store and pulled them out at night!

Disney 2011 on a Budget – Our Vacation Schedule

I am continuing my series Disney 2011 on a Budget. If you missed the first post, Disney 2011 on a Budget – How to Get There & Where to Stay, or the second post, Disney 2011 on a Budget – The Budget, be sure to check them out!


Wow – I normally like a nice relaxing vacation where the only thing I need to decide is whether we are going to the beach or the pool today. With Disney however, I wanted to make sure we have a schedule for each day we are there. We have some flexibility in case it decides on rain on our “Main Street Parade”, but this is how our week is planned!

Day 1 – Arrive at Condo after a long drive, eat dinner at condo, go to bed!

Day 2 – Resort Day (enjoy the pool and amenities)
Breakfast /Lunch – At Condo
Dinner – Grill out Steaks

Day 3 – Magic Kingdom
Breakfast – at condo
Lunch – at park
Dinner – at park

Day 4 – Resort Day
Breakfast – Breakfast with Characters at Chef Mickey’s
Lunch – at condo
Dinner – Eat Out

Day 5 – Disney's Hollywood Studios
Breakfast – at condo
Lunch – at park
Dinner – Grab Pizza on the way home

Day 6 – Disney's Animal Kingdom
Breakfast – at condo
Lunch – at park
Dinner – Reservations at The Rainforest Café (Downtown Disney)

Day 7 – Resort Day
Breakfast /Lunch – At Condo
Dinner – Grill out Chicken

Day 8 – Head Back Home!

Disney 2011 on a Budget – The Budget

I am continuing my series Disney 2011 on a Budget. If you missed the first post, Disney 2011 on a Budget – How to Get There & Where to Stay, be sure to check it out!

Our family is all about budgets! We make one every month and stick too it (well most of the time)! Vacations are supposed to be a fun time. We plan for it and we save for it! Our vacation money is set up front. We normally pay with credit cards, but the money is available to pay them off when the bills come in after the trip. Below is our categories and budgeted amount for each category:

Fuel - $394.63

Tolls and Parking - $69.00

Lodging - $653.00

Breakfasts - $0.00

Lunches - $135.00

Dinners - $170.00

Extra Spending Money (at the parks) - $75.00

Groceries (while in Orlando) - $45.00

Park Tickets - $593.91

TOTAL - $2,135.54

Fuels, Tolls amd Parking – We are driving to Orlando, there are a few tolls along the way, and we need to pay for parking at Disney Parks ($14.00 per day)

Lodging – On the way down, we are stopping half way and staying at a Hampton Inn for free due to my Hilton Honors Points. We rented a condo for 7 nights off Disney property at a Resort. On the way home we are stopping half way and I booked a hotel room through Expedia through a recent Hotel Card deal.

Breakfasts – All breakfasts will be at the hotel (included) or at our condo before leaving for the day. These breakfast items will be packed from home. We do have a reservation for a Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey’s one morning (need to make reservations 6 months in advance). This will be paid for with Disney gift cards received as Christmas gifts.

Lunches – Will be eaten at the theme parks or at the condo on the days we are staying at the Resort and hanging out by the pool. These lunch items will be packed from home.

Dinners – We are grilling at our condo for a planned three nights. We have reservations one night at The Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney. We will use a gift card to pay for this dinner earned with Discover Points!

Extra Spending Money – We are packing drinks and snacks for the parks, but this money will be for those extras that pop up like popcorn, ice cream, souvenirs, etc.

Groceries – We are bringing a cooler from home with hamburgers, hotdogs, steaks, chicken, lunch meat, bacon, sausage, eggs, etc. We are also packing non-perishables food from home that I get on sale. This will include water, pop, juices, juice boxes, snacks, macaroni and cheese, potatoes, cereal, etc. Grocery money will be used to buy items such as milk, ice cream, fruit, frozen pizzas, bread, etc.

Park Tickets – We purchased 3 day base tickets (2 adults and 1 child) through AAA before leaving home. I also have a AAA credit card in which I had $80 in rewards to spend which I applied to the park tickets. I have one child under three and he is FREE!

Did I miss anything you Disney experts out there?

To continue to Part 3 - Our Vacation Scheule...

Disney 2011 on a Budget – How to Get There & Where to Stay

PHOTO SOURCE

So we are taking the plunge and planning our first family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Who knew so much planning could go into a one week vacation? We feel our boys are the perfect ages (2 and 5) to enjoy the park. Not to mention the 2 year old will still get into the parks for free this year which is a definite budget helper!  We were on a mission to visit Disney World on a a budget!


Choice #1 – Drive or Fly?

We have chosen to drive to Orlando. It is a long trip for us, 17+ hours, but definitely cheaper on the budget. It also allows us the flexibility to have our car with us on vacation to get to the grocery store, all the parks, and to eat out. Four airline tickets would have cost us at least $1,200. This would have included tickets, baggage fees, and airport incidentals. If we rented a car in Orlando the cost would be over $1,500. I calculated that driving will only cost us just under $600 or about half. This would include gas, tolls, parking at Disney parks, and hotel rooms (one of which is free due to Hilton Honors points) on the way there and back since we are splitting the drive into 2 days.

Choice #2 – Stay on Disney Property or Off-Site?

We chose to stay off-site. We found a lot of reasonability priced two bedroom condos in wonderful resorts very close to the Disney parks. Our 7 night stay at a condo within 5 miles of Disney parks is costing us less than $600 for the week. Yes we have to provide our own transportation to and from the theme parks, but we saw a lot more positives to staying off property.

First is the fact that we can eat breakfast at our condo every morning. Our condo has a full-size kitchen! We can also each lunch at the condo on the days we are not at the parks and relaxing by the amazing pool areas! We also have access to a grill. We are planning on grilling at least 3 dinners at the condo. We can also freeze water bottles the night before to pack for the parks!

Privacy! Need I say more? It is the parents’ vacation too! We have our bedroom and the boys have theirs. We also have the flexibility to put them to bed and stay in the living room and watch TV or relax outside on the lanai (yes in Florida it is not a balcony, but a lanai)! My husband and I are in complete agreement that we do not want to spend a week with everyone in the same hotel room. It is just not relaxing for us when we all have to go to bed at the same time!

Finally – we have a full size washer and dryer. For some reason this is important to me! This means you can pack half the amount as normal and do laundry mid week! Since we have stayed in condos and rental homes before, I love to do all the laundry the last day of our stay. I love to pack up all the clean clothes and have very little dirty laundry to do once we return home. Instead of coming home to piles of laundry, we get to come home and carry on with our normal activities. Plus with kids, you never know the messes they will make!

Continue to Part 2 - The Budget...