Category Archives: Walt Disney World

Saving on Disney World Dining – Part 2

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DSCN0980Yesterday in Part 1 we talked about some ways to save on dining at Disney World by bringing food, budgeting, and planning ahead.  Today let’s talk about what Disney has to offer with regard to savings on dining.

Potential Money Saving Purchases:  Disney Dining Plans / Tables in Wonderland.

Dining Plans come in different flavors, but all are pre-paid meal plan options which offer Disney guests the opportunity to select a plan that works for both their dining style and budget.  Per Disney’s website, “Disney dining plans are options available exclusively to Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels with Magic Your Way Vacation Packages.”

Pros of the dining plans:  Meals are mostly paid for – makes budgeting easier and minimizes unexpected surprises with regard to food expense.  Sometimes, Disney runs specials where the dining plan is INCLUDED in the Magic Your Way Vacation Package at no extra charge – aka Free Dining!  These plans can be a pretty good deal IF you’re careful with your dining credits and you don’t generally want adult beverages with your meals.

IMG_0933Cons:  May be too expensive and/or no single plan matches the way you like to dine on vacation.  Years ago, the regular dining plan included an appetizer and also included gratuities (if I’m not mistaken).  We loved that!  But things have changed and now the basic plan only includes dessert (which is perfect for a lot of people) – plus you must pay out-of-pocket for gratuities (and alcoholic beverages always).  The regular dining plan is supposed to save 15% per adult on dining, but many people end up spending (and eating) more than they think they will…read on.

Your plan choices look like this:

Disney Dining Plan (Basic):  One table service meal, one quick service meal, and one snack per night of stay – also includes one resort refillable mug for the duration of each guests stay.  Price is $58.66 per night per adult (10 and over), $18.88 per night per child (3-9).  Many of our favorite restaurants require TWO table service credits to dine there – this means many more meals out of pocket!  To make this work for saving money, you’ve got to avoid all those double-credit-required places.DSCN2519

Deluxe Dining Plan:  Three meals of the type of your choice (table or quick service) and two snacks per night of stay, plus the refillable mug per person – this is a LOT of food to consume!  Price is  $104.94 per night per adult and $29.51 per night per child.  We have never purchased this plan – I could not make the numbers work out where any money would be saved for us.  Tables in Wonderland is a much better option (in my opinion) – see below.

Quick Service Plan: Two quick service meals, one snack per day.  Also includes the refillable mug.  Price for adults is $39.64 for adults and $15.75 for children per night of stay.  If you are not into table service meals, this may be perfect for you.  Quick service is usually just that – quick – so you can keep on riding rides and seeing shows.  Many of Disney’s quick service restaurants have new delicious and healthy options, so don’t be afraid that all you’ll be eating is hamburgers and hotdogs.  I can see this being an excellent choice for many families.

For all the details on the 2014 Disney Dining Plan, go here, Deluxe is here and the Quick Service plan is here.  Info on the Premium Plan (included with the Magic Your Way Premium Vacation Package) and takes Disney vacationing to a whole new level is here.

An extremely helpful Disney Dining Plan Calculator can be found here.

IMG_2457Tables in Wonderland – This is a one-year “membership” that must be purchased and is only available to Florida residents, Annual/Seasonal Passholders, and Disney Vacation Club Members.  If you fall into one of those categories, the TIW card can save you big bucks (except on the blackout weeks which include most major holidays).  We have found this to be our best way to save on meals because of two key things:  1. we eat at least one table service meal each day and 2. we enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner.

From the Tables in Wonderland website, here are the benefits:

  • A 20% discount offered on food and beverage, including alcohol, at over 100 participating restaurants at the Walt Disney World® Resort (discount is valid for a party of up to 10 Guests including the member)
  • Complimentary Resort Valet and Theme Park parking for dining purposes
  • Invitations to special events, such as happy hours, dessert parties, and dinners!

IMG_5075The price of the card is currently $125 for Florida residents and $100 for Annual/Seasonal Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members.  To make back the investment ($100 for us) and start saving, we’d need to spend $500 at participating restaurants – Easy enough to do in just the first few days at Disney World.

Well, there you have it.  If you’ve stuck with me here to the end, hopefully I’ve given you some food for thought (hahaha)!  What type of dining will YOU be doing on your next Disney vacation?

Disney World Dining – Money Saving Tips Part 1

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IMG_0931So, the end of 2013 is fast approaching and I’m starting to think about next year – I’m going to Disney World!!!  How about you?  If you are planning a Disney trip in 2014, don’t forget to plan the FOOD!  Just think!  Mickey ice cream bars!  Lunch at the new Be Our Guest in Fantasyland!  Cheese soup at Le Cellier!  Dole-whips!  The wings, dumplings, shrimp and bread pudding at ‘Ohana!  Buffet at Chef Mickey’s!  Yorkshire County Fish and Chips at Epcot! Mmmmmmmmm.  So much to eat, so little time!

There are a LOT of dining decisions to make and dining in the World can take up a fairly large chunk of your vacation dollars.  Today’s post will focus on tips for what you can bring, plan, and budget for saving a few dollars on dining at Disney World.  Come back tomorrow – part 2 will focus on Dining plans and discounts you can purchase.

Here are a few money-saving ideas to consider:

Bring breakfast.  Actually pack breakfast foods (granola bars, pop-tarts, breakfast cookies, etc.) and bring them with you.  This works like a charm for us – you can read more about it here.  Saves both money and time!  We’ve also saved money by bringing our own movie snacks onto Disney cruises.

Bring Snacks:  If you have little ones, this is especially important.  Having some goldfish crackers or other snacks and a juice box tucked away will not only save you some money – it may even prevent a meltdown.  Some children are so excited to be at Disney World, they don’t eat when you want them to and then must eat when you least expect it.  Best to be prepared.

Consider brunch or lupper (lunch+supper – yes, I made it up, but we’ve been using the term forDSCN2611 years and now you can too).  Eating your main meal of the day during a restaurant’s lunchtime window can serve two purposes:  Lunch is generally (and sometimes much) less expensive than supper/dinner at most table service restaurants and a willingness to eat at non-traditional times like 11:00 am or 2:30 pm may make the difference between scoring ADRs (advance dining reservations) at one of the most popular eateries and not getting in at all.

Load up a Disney Gift Card (or cards) before leaving home.  This is much better than carrying cash and you can pre-budget your food/beverage expenses without purchasing any dining plans or discount cards (see Part 2 tomorrow).  You can easily find menus and prices for most Disney restaurants online to get an idea about cost.  My favorite place for menu info is here at allears.net.  We’re planning to do this when we go for the Epcot International Food and IMG_0760Wine Festival in the fall.  Forced budgeting for when we hit all the exotic food and beverage kiosks in the World Showcase.

Book ADRs at 180 days out.  Seriously.  Do this.  If you want to eat at any of Disney World’s popular table service restaurants without waiting a looooooong time or being turned away outright, you must have an ADR.  You can call (407-WDW-DINE) or go online  (or have your travel agent do it for you) and make advance dining reservations (ADRs) 6 months in advance.  While it may not directly save you money, it makes budgeting so much easier – gives you a chance to compare restaurants serving similar fare and select the most budget friendly option.  Again, use online resources to view menus and prices.

Remember – you’ll need to give a credit card number (this is new) in order to book the ADRs.  Nothing is charged to your card unless you’re a no-show, then it’s $10 per person on the reservation.  Avoid this charge by making sure that if you need to cancel, you do so at least 24 hours in advance of your dining time.  WDW Info (aka the DIS) has a great tips post on ADRs here.

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for Part 2 – I’ll give you the 411 on Disney Dining Plan options and the Tables in Wonderland discount card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s on Your Disney Christmas Wish List?

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TIMG_0059here hasn’t been a Christmas since Raymond and I married that there weren’t Disney gifts.  Clothing, P.J.’s, ornaments, movies, games, stuffed animals, toys, home décor – and so on.

One year in particular stands out in my memory as the absolute best for Disney gift-giving!  Megan was 16 and Joseph 11.  They had been arguing most of the year (literally) about where to go on our next vacation.  Megan wanted – and to this very day – always votes for – Disney World; Joseph wanted to see the ocean.  Any ocean.  We hadn’t been to the beach in so long, poor thing couldn’t remember what the ocean looked like.  The argument went on and on, month after month.  Seriously, aren’t you surprised sometimes by how tenacious siblings-at-odds can be?  During all that debate, an idea began to form.  What if we could give them both what they wanted?

The perfect solution would be a Disney Land-and-Sea Vacation.  Hey – what if we could pull itIMG_1049 off as a Christmas surprise?  When could we go?  Both the children were extremely involved in activities outside of school.  Megan had auditioned for and become a member of a local ballet company four years earlier – the practice and performance schedules were seriously demanding.  Our best bet was to try to go on Christmas break – which, if this trip was going to be a Christmas gift, would mean leaving right after Christmas Day.  A little web surfing and a few mouse clicks later… Ta-Dah!  We’d booked a package that would have us enjoying four Disney-World-days at the Polynesian (over New Year’s) before sailing on a 3-day cruise in the Bahamas.  I’ll be honest – Raymond was not in favor of this plan, but only because he had no interest whatsoever in taking a Disney cruise – thought it would be boring compared to Disney World.  HA!

Booking the trip was SO much easier than trying to keep it a secret.  That part was torture!  There were several times over the months leading up to Christmas when either Raymond or I would start to make a comment or ask the other one a question about the trip in front of one or both of the kids – each time we managed to catch ourselves just in the nick of time.

IMG_2389Now we needed to figure out how to stage the big reveal.  This was going to be the best gift EVER and I wanted the gift-giving to be so epic – the most incredible, most unique, most FUN and exciting moment-to-remember-from-childhood for our precious youngsters!  I came up with a scathingly brilliant idea! (Triple points if you can name the movie reference there).  I decided that by making the gift’s discovery a little challenging, the surprise would be even better!  A treasure hunt would be just the thing!  In fact, a pirate-themed treasure hunt would go right along with the gift!

As with most of my hair-brained schemes clever plans, I pulled out all the stops!  I wrote clues on scrolls written in pirate-speak suitably aged and burned around the edges.  These clues lead to puzzle pieces that, when assembled in their cardboard-backed frames, would form a poem that described the surprise.  Note:  gluing poetry onto puzzles before cutting the pieces apart while preserving the ability to read aforementioned poem is WAY harder than it sounds… IMG_2388y’know, just sayin’.

So – Christmas morning finally arrived!  The moment Raymond and I have been waiting for….the first scroll is handed to the children and, reading the clues, they begin their search to find puzzle pieces.  Here’s where my plan went a teensy bit awry.  See – I thought the whole plan would be just perfect if the location of the final puzzle pieces were really authentic to a pirate-treasure-finding-mission.  I had Raymond bury a small wooden chest in the side yard – pretty far away from the house.  So, that treasure chest (carefully wrapped in plastic) containing the final puzzle pieces was about a foot deep near a small pine tree next to a bayou – a lovely location for a sunny December day.

IMG_2387In my defense, keep in mind that here in Louisiana we sometimes wear shorts on Christmas – today even (December 20th), was in the 70’s, tomorrow will be near 80 degrees.  Yeah….Christmas day in 2006 dawned pretty chilly.  And RAINY!  Oh, the following-the-clues part was great until our teen and tween realized they would have to use a map (outside in the rain) and a shovel to dig in the MUD in order to finally find out what was up.  Oh, the eye-rolling and loud sighing – just imagine the indignity and horror!  Indeed.  We were downrightIMG_2385 cruel to ruin Christmas in such a way.

But they completed their mission!  Put the final pieces together and read the poem.  Then they just stared at us.  After a moment… light bulb!  No, REALLY?  You mean it?  Seriously?  We are going to Disney World and on a Disney Cruise…..Really?

Yep – it was worth every single moment of preparation and secrecy.  And we had a great trip.  And the children forgave us for our cruelty.  AND Raymond had a fantastic time on our first Disney cruise – so much fun, in fact, there have been four more since.

IMG_1045“Our children are different a girl and a boy.  What should we give them a game or a toy?  For Megan it’s one thing for Joseph another – Can they share just one gift, this sister and brother?  This present’s so clever, two halves of a whole – You’d better get ready – Mom and Dad are on a roll!  Now Megan we know what will make you most jolly – this time next week you’ll check in to the Poly.  And Joseph beware!  It’s pirates you’ll be seein’ when you set sail with Mickey to cruise the Caribbean.”

IMG_0990So….What’s been your favorite Disney Christmas surprise?

Disney World – The Christmas Touch

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IMG_0988Disney World – The Christmas Touch

As I’ve mentioned many times, Disney’s all about details.  That’s what makes a Disney vacation so amazing and keeps bringing people (like US!) back time after time.  No matter how often you visit a Disney park or resort, you will always notice new details, big and small.

The Christmas season brings on a whole new level of Disney detail magic.  It gives those Disney magicians the opportunity to go all out and delight you with their imagination, style, humor, and flair for presenting guests with unexpected surprises.   If you’ve neverIMG_0971 been to the World during the holidays, you’ve been missing out on some wonderful experiences guaranteed to fill you with holiday spirit.

We’ve had the privilege of visiting Disney World twice during the holiday season – and yes, because we went during the school break, the crowds were huge!  Except for trying to get out of Epcot once after dinner on New Year’s Eve, the throngs of visitors did not detract from our enjoyment of all the special Disney touches we found.  I’m sorry we aren’t able to visit this year – I hate to miss out on the Jingle Cruise – a new Disney magical surprise this year at Disney World that gives the Jungle Cruise a holiday IMG_0968overlay and seasonal Skipper dialogue!

I’ve put together a list of five of the special Disney holiday surprises we experienced once upon a time:

Chocolate sculpture at the Contemporary – this was an amazingly extravagant scene from Pinocchio entirely made of chocolate.  I’m sure this was a one-time-only bit of magic and I felt very lucky to have been there to see it! IMG_0970

Main Street USA and the streets of Disney’s Hollywood Studios all decked out in their holiday best.

Christmas Trees!  Everywhere and each one had its own design and special ornaments; themed for each tree’s particular location.  I was especially taken by the ornaments on the large tree outside the entrance to Animal Kingdom – fantastic!

IMG_1135Santa hats – on everyone!  Even the Spitting Stitch at Downtown Disney and the gigantic Dinosaur at Dinoland in Animal Kingdom.

Best of all – Cinderella Castle.  Pictures (mine, at least) cannot do justice to the beauty that is the castle covered in 200,000 lights.  Some people say it looks dipped in sugar – I think it looks like Elsa from Frozen covered it in ICE!  Stunningly gorgeous and completely breathtaking – for me, this is the very best holiday touch at Disney World.

IMG_1244If you’re been to Disney World at Christmastime, what was your favorite bit of Disney holiday magic?