Dreaming of Disney…

As if it weren’t bad enough that I’ve been working non-stop and feeling desperate for a vacation, I had to come across Jennifer’s carnival  on Disney World.  I’ve already been having withdrawal symptoms since it’s been a whole six month since our last trip.  Reading all the posts on what a good time everyone has there doesn’t help! Ah, yes.  The magic of Disney.  One of our most magical and memorable times at Disney was four years ago.  We went in the spring so we could catch Star Wars weekends (another one of our family’s obsessions).  My husband and I celebrate our birthdays together being that they’re only 8 days apart and our trip was scheduled right between them.  So we had to celebrate our birthdays at Disney! It was a big trip.  And by big I mean everyone was coming along.  Besides our family of six, there was my mother and father-in-law, my brother in-law, sister-in-law and our nephew.  With such a crowd I opted to go all out for a birthday celebration. We sent everyone invitations telling them to meet us on the Fort Wilderness dock at 7pm.  Everyone was surprised and elated when our birthday boat arrived decorated with balloons.  Our captain took us for a cruise around the lake.  Poor thing tried to tell us little known facts about Disney as we went.  With all our Disney experience, we ended up teaching her a thing or two instead.  It was a beautiful night.  As the sun set we stopped in the middle of the lake and our Captain pulled out the cake and sodas.  We were all so relaxed and enjoying it so much.  Then it was time for the fireworks!  The captain told us that once we saw the fireworks from the boat, there wasn’t any going back… and she was so right!  There really is no better place to watch the show.  It was an awesome experience for everyone.  Four years later everyone still agrees that was the best Disney experience ever!   

See the original post here: 
Dreaming of Disney…

Tips for visiting Disney World from The Crazy Dazy

Some personal cost-cutting tips for your trip to Disney World from Ellen at The Crazy Dazy : We went during the off-season in the middle of January.  We were taking a 5-day trip (a quick trip saves you money, too!), so the kids only missed a little bit of school.  The crowds are much smaller, it’s not hot in Florida during that time of year (saves on you having to drink a ton of bottled water), and the best thing—we got round-trip air tickets for $100 each.  We have a family of five; we had two free tickets, so our whole family flew for $300 round trip.  We couldn’t drive it for that.  It was totally worth it to going during school because of the smaller crowds, more pleasant weather and CHEAP airfare (bought directly from the carrier’s site—we’ve found that to be cheaper, too)!  Plus, there was a 70 degree difference between home & Orlando ! Make Disney World your only stop.  If you stay on the resort   (we stayed at the cheapest—All-Star Musical—plenty nice), they will give you free transportation to/from the airport and that saves you the cost of a rental car.  That makes up for any cost increase of staying at the resort.  And they give you free transportation   anywhere in the resort!  And you get extra hours in the park if you stay at the resort.  And the headache & time it saves you!   Our kids were totally cool with only seeing Disney World.  They had only been to grandparents before, so this trip was huge!   Use the Disney Dining Plan .   It saves you up to 30% on some of the best food!  The price of the dining is included in the cost of your package (like a cruise), and it allowed us to save tons of time of having to run back to our room to eat.  Our meals included an appetizer, entrée & dessert.  It was a lot of food!  You are allotted so many meals during your stay.  Since we checked in at night, we missed a meal.  The plan allows you to combine meals to have a very nice meal at one of their upscale restaurants.  We did that with our missed meal and got to eat in Cinderella’s castle during the fireworks at Cinderella’s Castle .

Read the original post: 
Tips for visiting Disney World from The Crazy Dazy