Magical Blogorail: First-Timer Planning Tips

Welcome to the first stop aboard Magical Blogorail Red. Enjoy the ride as we share our tips for planning your first Disney vacation.

A good friend of mine is planning a very special Walt Disney World vacation for this fall and has asked me for help.  Technically she has visited WDW once but since it has been about 30 years, we're considering her as a first-timer.  On this vacation, Ann will be traveling with her husband, their daughter who will be almost 4, and Ann's retired parents. They are all looking forward to seeing the little one take in the magic and Grandpa really wants to spoil his grandbaby.

You have to admit the volume of information available about Disney World is daunting. The options are nearly endless and a first-timer could quickly get overwhelmed with the research project required for a Disney vacation. I've tried not to bombard my friend with tons of information as she begins the process but rather break it down into smaller tasks.  Here are the first few things to consider as a first time Walt Disney World guest-to-be.  I'll write additional posts on this topic as I help her plan for the big trip.

The first step is to select travel dates. They were originally considering September, wanting lower crowds with weather still warm enough to enjoy some pool time.  Ann and her husband had not heard about the Food and Wine Festival but of course, it peeked their interest.  They were at our house for dinner, asking tons of Disney questions, when F&W came up.  Looks now like they'll visit in late September or early October, depending on which works best with school.  I reviewed Touring Plan's crowd calendar for my friend and that time of year is fabulous.  I also suggest checking the calendar at All Ears to see if there are any special events, conventions, tournaments, etc that a guest would either like to see or avoid.

Step two is to choose a Disney resort hotel.  There are some really good off-property options but you just can't beat the magic 'bubble' that staying on Disney property provides.  Especially for infrequent guests, the special touches, theming, and terrific Cast Members of a Disney resort hotel are really worth spending a little more.  Ann and her family are really interested in being very close to the Magic Kingdom and will likely book a room at the Grand Floridian.  Ann first let me know they were starting to plan via a text message.  She asked if I had heard of the Grand Floridian.  I told her I loved to visit there but I wouldn't personally pay the "Grand" prices and suggested Port Orleans Riverside.  What I didn't know was her father had already made up his mind that they were staying at the Grand and it was pretty much a done deal.  My husband and I had a suite there for our wedding night and it was beautiful.

If you are deciding where to stay for your first Walt Disney World vacation, know that Disney offers a wide variety of accommodations.  The prices vary widely from the cheapest value resort to the most expensive deluxe suite.  Once you've decided your budget for the vacation, you still have options within a category.  Be sure to browse Disney's site and check out the theming and amenities of a resort. For instance, a larger family might consider the Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort or a Family Suite at the new Disney's Art of Animation Resort.  Both sleep 6 and are about the same price but the experiences would be very different, as Fort Wilderness is rustic and AoA is as colorful as it gets.  That's one thing I love about Disney...something for everyone!

For a value resort, I've stayed at All Star Music twice.  Once in a standard room and once in a family suite.  It's not exciting but ASM has all the perks of being on property.  Pop Century is a very popular value resort in the Disney online community.  The newest resort is Art of Animation and I'm surprising the girls with a few days in a Little Mermaid room at the end of our fall trip.  They will love the theming and the gigantic pool.

The favorite moderate resort of the Growing Up Disney family and a fair number of our team is Port Orleans with most of us leaning toward Riverside.  This resort is divided into two sections, French Quarter and Riverside.  French Quarter is themed exactly like it sounds.  It's smaller and has a good cajun/creole food court.  Riverside has a more bayou feel, a little more space to wander, and a table service restaurant as well as a food court.  I don't think you can go wrong staying anywhere in this resort.

My favorite Disney deluxe resort hotel is the Polynesian.  I've stayed at all three of the monorail resorts and the Polynesian would be my choice for my family.  However, we are a Disney Vacation Club family and almost always book at Old Key West.  It's a lovely relaxed resort with huge villas and many of the comforts of home with full kitchens and washers/dryers.

Step three is contact a Disney Authorized Vacation Planner to reserve a room and purchase park tickets.  We use Travel with the Magic and they don't pay me to say that.  Yes, you can book on your own online or by phone but when you can get the help of a Disney expert for free, why not?  Your travel agent can check the latest deals for you and advise on ways to maximize your travel dollar.  They'll also watch for future offers to see if you could save more.  The current ticket pricing structure offers a myriad of options (park hopping, no expiration, water parks, etc.) and sometimes it's a good deal to purchase an annual pass for one member of your party in order to get annual passholder room discounts.  Back to my previous advice, let your travel agent run the numbers for you.

Step four TAKE A DEEP BREATH.  Again, it's easy to get in over your head in research so if you've wandered off into exactly how rider swap works at this point, walk away from the computer for a few.  You'll have time later to learn those things.

Step five is to make dining reservations.  Popular Walt Disney World restaurants book up far in advance.  This is the biggest surprise for pretty much everyone who has ever asked me for advice on a first-time vacation.  People just can't believe that they need to book a table six months before they'd like to dine with Cinderella or in Beast's Castle.  So if you are planning around the six month mark or less and are interested in the quintessential Disney dining locations, you need to get on the dining reservations fairly quickly.  If you are at around the one year mark when you read this...see step four.

Keep in mind that there are many options with Disney dining, just like with resort hotels.  If you have your heart set on having dinner with your favorite princess and it's booked throughout your vacation, try another similar restaurant.  I have two little girls and they will love Cinderella's Royal Table someday.  We don't tend to book far in advance and I'd like to save their first meal in the castle until they are a bit older.  However, we had a FABULOUS time at the Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus in Epcot's Norway Pavilion.  Hands down my favorite dining experience in ages and it's less expensive than Cindy's and a little easier to book.  You can always take a shot at last minute reservations for popular restaurants.  We managed to get a late breakfast a couple of hours in advance for Akershus.

We here at Growing Up Disney (and my blogorail pals) have shared many restaurant reviews and photos over the years.  When I am planning my own dining reservations, I always look at the menus at All Ears or the official Disney site.

Disney has a wide variety of dining options, from the character meals mentioned above to the exquisite five diamond/four star Victoria and Albert's to world cuisine to the casual cafe.  Check out our trip planning tab above for articles on the favorite restaurants of our family and guest contributors.  Our team of Minnie Moms has discussed our lists of best and worst restaurants for children.

Making reservations is simple.  Either send your list to your travel agent or book online with Disney or call 407-WDW-DINE.

Ok.  That's enough tasks to get you started on planning your first Walt Disney World vacation.  I'll be back later with more tips and you can always peruse our site for yourself in the meantime.  

Happy planning! 
~Amy

Be sure to check out our First Timer Class series.


Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is My Dreams of Disney.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ Growing Up Disney

2nd Stop ~ My Dreams of Disney

3rd Stop ~ Disney Donna Kay

4th Stop ~ Colorado Mountain Mom

Final Stop ~ A World View

Trip Planning with My Disney Experience - Part 2

My experience with My Disney Experience.

I work in IT so I do a lot of work on computers (I basically live on one at work), so it is natural to go on line and work with managing my account on the DVC Members web site, and now with my reservation integration with My Disney Experience.   I have felt right "at home" using the site.

Disney has allowed making reservations on line for years.  You can go on line and book your room, tickets, and purchase Disney Dining Plan.  It has only been fairly recently that Disney Vacation Club members could do the same thing by booking with their Vacation Points.  My Disney Experience has put all the capability of managing your resort reservations together with your dining reservations and integrated it with a iPhone app.  You can invite others to use My Disney Experience to "plan" along with you.

Amy and I have used our shared My Disney Experience to make dining reservations for our trip.  We have put events and activities on our shared calenders and added notes.  So far everything has worked well as we have planned our trip while we are over 600 miles apart.

The integration between the web version and the iPhone app have proved to be pretty seamless.  There are differences in how they work and display data but both do pretty much the same thing.  Dining reservation made on one, show immediately on the other.  So as we have been doing our planning everything shows on My Disney Experience.

With our trip approaching it is time to do Online Check-In.  It is now available 60 days out from the start of your reservation.  This past week I did my check-in.  My Disney Experience handles this too.  Online Check-in allows you to go ahead and handle everything you would do at the Front Desk ahead of time.  Resort check-in becomes a quick process (once you stand in line to get to the desk).  I did my check-in on my pc.  I don't know if you can do the same thing on an iPhone.

Amy decided to cancel one of the character breakfasts she had booked.  When she canceled it, it was removed from My Disney Experience.

My Disney Experience has been a nice tool to work with Amy on planning our trip next week.  

Have you done any of your trip planning on MDE?  If so let us know what you think about it.

--DisneyDad

Nine's Disney Adventures Continue: Tink's First Trip from the UK to WDW Part 1

Many thanks to Janine for sharing her family's Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World experiences with us! This latest installment is her trip report from her WDW visit this fall.  

We have fairly recently returned from our first trip to WDW with our 2 year old daughter, Tink. My husband and I have each been several times before but this was to be the first taste of America for the smallest Pipe. She had been to Disneyland Paris with us in June for a very quick 2 night visit.  Tink both thoroughly enjoyed it (we rode IASW about 1,000 times) and was over-awed (she literally screamed when she saw King Louis and Baloo).

 
We booked the WDW trip back in March for September 22 through October 6. This was a short time period of planning for us, but the holiday was very much a last minute decision. We last visited in 2009 when I was pregnant with Tink and didn't think that we would be able to afford to return until a planned family visit in 2014. But sometimes life deals you a card which makes you think just go for it, and so we did.

Being old hands at Florida holidays made the planning and booking process a lot easier. I still laugh when to think of when the Travel Agent phoned me trying to sell me some tickets to Universal. No thanks I said, we won't be going this year. But do you know about such and such they asked? This is my 5th and my husbands 7th visit I replied. Oh was the answer, well you probably know more about it than me then. Teehee.

We booked the flight, hotel and car hire through said Travel Agent but online rather than in the store which allegedly saved us some time and money. We booked the tickets to WDW through Disney directly but bought the 14 day Hoppers which are only available for UK customers. We opted to upgrade our flight to Premium seats which meant we had a dedicated check-in, extra baggage allowance, complimentary food and drinks etc. Well worth it with a pre-schooler as it was her first flight and 9.5 hours of sitting down with nothing to do was not going to happen! She actually did pretty well on the flights, refused to sleep the whole way there but made good use of watching Mickey on the iPad and playing with the huge bag of surprises I'd brought for her. Luckily she did sleep most of the way home, thank goodness as it was an over-night flight! There was one small child who was really wailing for part of the flight and I just felt so sorry for them and their parents, it can't be any fun with a grouchy child and disapproving looks from fellow passengers. We put her in her PJs and made sure she had her favorite pillow and blanket and that really helped too. We also brought her bed time sippy cup so she could have her usual milk and hot chocolate, so she had all her bedtime signals. I really think this worked more than anything to get her to sleep. A big tip was to buy toddler sized head phones. The ones provided on the plane would have been way too big and hers were pink, just what every 2 year old princess-in-training wants.

We booked a Dodge Caravan as we wanted plenty of space even though it was just the 3 of us. We really liked this car and would happily have one again. It just about fit all the stuff we carted around with us each day! We chose to take our car seat and stroller rather than hire them Stateside as Tink likes what she knows and knows what she likes. As the stroller is a Maclaren Volo it is really lightweight and folds up super quick anyway. Having a stroller was a Godsend, even when Tink didn't want to use it we laden it up with the bags in the Parks so we could carry extra stuff without worrying about the weight.

As this was a quickie/cheapie holiday we did not stay on-site at WDW but just outside in Lake Buena Vista. We stayed in the Clarion Inn on Palm Parkway and were about a 2 minute drive from the first WDW sign and just over 5 from DTD. The hotel was perfect for us as we had requested a ground floor room, lots to do and places to eat with in walking distance and a very short drive to the Parks. It might not have been as fancy as some of the WDW hotels (Oh Grand Flo I dream of staying in you one day) but it did us fine for what is was needed for and we would happily return.

Contributed by Janine P. of Swindon, England. She is a proud wife, mommy to Felicity and one of our Minnie Moms.  Check out her monthly series which followed her as she planned her family's first trip to Disneyland Paris.  Learn more about Janine here.

Please join us again soon when Janine shares fun memories and lessons learned about time in the Disney Parks from this most recent adventure.

Minnie Moms: Extra Magic Hours

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS

Amy: One of the perks of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel is Extra Magic Hours. Each day one of the parks is open a little longer than normal for resort guests only. Not everything is in operation during this time but the most popular attractions will be available.

For morning Extra Magic Hours, the designated park will be open one hour in advance. The Cast Member at the Theme Park turnstiles will ask for your Resort ID so be sure to have it handy. If you are an early riser, morning Extra Magic Hours are a great way to make tracks before the crowds form. It's especially nice for those Fantasyland attractions that get so busy during the day and let's face it, little ones just don't have the patience for long lines.

For evening Extra Magic Hours, the park can be open up to an additional three hours after the published closing time. If you like to stay up late, evening Extra Magic Hours might be for you. It takes a little while for the non-WDW resort hotel guests to filter out of the park, but the crowds get lighter as the night goes on.  (Note: EEMH will be a maximum of two hours beginning in January 2013.)

Valid park admission is required for Extra Magic Hours so if you don't have a park hopper option on your ticket, be sure to plan accordingly if you would like to take advantage of this perk.

Natalie: Extra Magic Hours are a great tool when staying in a Disney Resort. The Morning Extra Magic Hours are helpful if you and your family are used to getting up early, however, they typically only provide you an extra hour of fun before other non-Disney Resort guests arrive at the park.

I personally am a night owl. As such, I always choose to take advantage of the Evening Extra Magic Hours. I find that after the nighttime shows are done at the theme parks, the crowd levels decrease dramatically. This allows for park touring during the cooler times of the day while being able to also enjoy reduced lines!

Like so many others, I enjoy going to the parks for a few hours in the morning. Then as the day heats up, I head back to the room for a dip in the pool and a nap. Sometimes I eat foods I have brought with me in the room for lunch or have a nice air-conditioned meal in the hotel. Often the Resort's restaurants are less crowded than those in the parks and are often less expensive.

Typically around 5 pm, I head back to the parks for many more hours of fun out of the sun! Evening Extra Magic Hours last for at least an hour, but often times provide an extra 3 hours of time.

Corby: You know the saying, “Do as I say not as I do”? Well, that pretty much describes my thoughts on using Extra Magic Hours. Having young children, I find it very difficult to take advantage of them. We are not early risers in my family. Shockingly, we've never even made it to rope drop. Ever. It's not that I don't want to. We just can't get it together in the mornings. So, seeing as how we can't make it to the park for regular opening, the early EMH's clearly aren't going to happen for us. I tried to take my son out for a date one evening at the Magic Kingdom when it had an evening EMH. I had visions of he and I riding the rides until midnight with no lines. What ended up happening was he was falling asleep by 10:00 and begging for me to take him back to the hotel. The nerve of him, I tell ya!

Now, as a travel agent, I highly recommend that my clients who are staying on Disney property use this perk. I think they are wonderful! If you have young children that wake up at the crack of dawn as I know many do, take advantage of the early EMH. If you have children who are night owls, or if you are adults traveling without children, definitely take advantage of the evening EMH. You can get up to 3 extra hours with fewer crowds and not to mention less heat which is a no brainer in my opinion. I would advise if you are in the parks late to sleep in the next day. Similarly, if you go to the park early, be sure to take an afternoon break or leave early that day. If your family doesn't get enough rest, you'll end up being crabby and miserable from being overtired so try to take it easy.


Janine: As we have not stayed on-site at WDW, my only experience of EMHs was during this years short trip to Disneyland Paris. Here the EMH was from 8-10am in just the Disneyland Park. We didn't make it for rope drop either day but were there shortly after 8, between 815 and 830. Although we enjoyed the park being quiet for a few Castle shots, we found the number of rides open quite disappointing. There were only a few open in Fantasyland (it's a small world was meant to be open at 8 but didn't til 10 both days, this would have been super useful as was Tink's fave ride), a couple in Discoveryland (Buzz and Space Mountain: Mission 2) and Pirates over in Adventureland, which was again supposed to open at 8 but didn't. Another issue that we found was that there were barely any dining options. The Deli on Main St was one of the only places for coffee and we had a real issue with the CMs here (see my review of DLP here).

That being said, being able to wander around the park, soaking up the atmosphere and just enjoying seeing the sights without hoards of people everywhere was priceless and well worth getting a 2 year old up extra early (France are an hour ahead of the UK) and missing breakfast to get into the park ASAP.

We were only there for 2 nights so I am unsure if there is sometimes EMH for the Walt Disney Studios but as far as I am aware there is only early EMH, not after general closing.

I would definately recommend EMH to anyone considering staying at a Disney hotel, if soley for the wonderful photos you will get.

Danielle: Since I have two very young children who love to wake up early (even on vacation!!), we are a get-to-the-parks-for-rope-drop kind of family. If we are up early enough, we do enjoy taking advantage of the EMH in the morning. We find we can stay on top of the crowds this way, since most guests still arrive at the parks around 10 and later. Having said that, if we are not going to be at the park for rope drop, we steer clear of the park with EMH. Even though most guests don't arrive for rope drop (thus taking advantage of the morning EMH), most resort guests still gravitate to the park that has EMH for some reason. If you arrive late, you will be among the swarms of people, and that is just not appealing for us. Unfortunately, I can't speak to the evening EMH because my little ones are too young to take advantage of it.

A big thanks to Danielle, Janine, Corby, and Natalie for joining me on today's post.  Please visit our Minnie Moms page for all our past topics and more information on our whole team of moms.

"Best Of" Week: Photo Flashback -- Old Key West

Ridge originally posted this shot on March 28, 2012.  It's one of my favorites and I think it certainly deserves a spot in "our best." ~Amy

My last adventure to WDW for "One More Disney Day" gave me a lazy day at the resort to just walk around and snap a few pictures. Here is one of my favorites.

Disneyland Paris Planning with Nine: Part 3 Where to Stay?

Where to stay?

Although we haven't yet decided exactly when we are going to Disneyland Paris (DLP), as a ballpark figure it'll be (I'm 99% sure) in July.

So the next question on the list is, where will we stay?

This question is not unlike the Walt Disney World decision of on-site verses off-site, except that usually when we go to Florida with the in-laws, we do an off-site villa rather than a hotel. As we will only be staying at DLP for a couple of days, and the French cities are not renowned for their spacious villas, the question remains basically a Disney hotel or not a Disney hotel?

Of course, I would love to stay in one of the park accommodations. I have yet to stay in a WDW resort, so this could be the first step to my husband agreeing that we must be engulfed with the Disney spirit 24/7 on our next trip to the US.

As with all popular destinations, there are varying seasons, and varying prices that go with them. You know you will pay far more for a room in the high season or holiday season than the low or value. Even just one day can make a difference in the price, and as rooms tend to be smaller than we're used to in FL (more NYC size than Orlando) we would definitely need 2 with the 5 of us.

There are six on-site hotels at DLP.

• The Disneyland Hotel, which is 4 star and situated right at the entrance to the Disneyland Park.
• The Hotel New York, also 4 star and about a 10 minute walk to either park.
• Both the Newport Bay Club and the Sequoia Lodge are 3 stars, and about a 15 minute walk to the parks.
• The 2 star accommodation is the Hotel Santa Fe and Hotel Cheyenne, they are about 20 minutes on foot.
• There is also the Davey Crockett Ranch campsite too, which is about a 10 minute drive, but we are not that adventurous!

The Unofficial Guide to DLP rates all of the above and the Sequoia Lodge comes out best for children, value, theming and being the most romantic. The first three are high on our list of must-haves, and the latter being an added bonus, with the grandparents coming along as built in babysitters, who knows, we might even get a date night! It is also meant to be a very relaxing complex, which will feature very high on my mother-in-law's wish list.  The restaurant in the Sequoia Lodge, The Hunters Grill, is meant to be one of the best in the resort, and is very well placed, with the parks being a nice stroll away and the Disney Village around a 10 minute walk too.  The Sequoia Lodge is described as being full of wood trim, quilting and huge open hearths, so in my mind it is not dissimilar to The Wilderness Lodge in WDW. However, having seen neither in the flesh I could of course be completely wrong. I hope to visit both so I can see if my guess was right.  There is also a bus service, which is great if it is pouring with rain, as this is Europe of course.

All of the hotels have at least one eatery and offer kids menus, a shop, a pool and daily character meet and greets.

So what about off-site?

We have stayed in hotels in Paris itself before, they tend to be very small and very expensive. They are also of course a good drive away. But my in-laws may prefer this option as it means they will be able to dine in Paris itself after a day at the parks.

Another option may be one of the Disney associated hotels, not within the resort itself, but not too far away. Both the Adagio Val D'Europe and Hotel L'Elysee Val D'Europe are around a 25 minute walk with free shuttles, and are considerably cheaper than their Disney themed counterparts.

So what will we do?

As in the US, one huge advantage of staying on-site will be the Extra Magic Hours, although we may not need the late hours, if Tink is still up at dawn then this would be a great way of ensuring we get into the parks early and take full advantage. Proximity is also a big plus, being such a short distance means that we can come back for naps or rests easily if needed. And of course the guaranteed admission into the parks in peak season is always a huge bonus.

But, and it is a huge but, they are way, way more expensive than other hotels. And although being totally exposed to Disney 100% of the time is my idea of heaven, and I'm sure Tink would love it too, I'm not too sure about the rest of the party.

Lots to think about as usual.

Make sure you stick around to find out what we decide.

Contributed by Janine P. of Swindon, England. She is a proud wife, mommy to Felicity and one of our Minnie Moms.  Follow along throughout this monthly series as she plans her first trip to Disneyland Paris.


Other posts in this series:

New Series from Nine

Part 1: Questions

Part 2: When to Go?

Disneyland Paris Planning with Nine: Part 2, When To Go?

One of the very first things anyone has to consider when they're planning a holiday, after choosing the destination, is when to go.

At the moment I am looking at two possibilities for our trip to Disneyland Paris (DLP) next year.

Firstly, do we tack the trip to see The Mouse on to our usual jaunt to France?

Or, do we take a completely separate short trip as well as the annual one?

There are of course pros and cons to both of these possibilities.

If we just make it part of the yearly excursion over The Channel, do we do it at the start of the holiday, or the end? Paris is a good 4 hour drive from our family farmhouse in Doussac, so it will not be in the middle. So do we travel straight to Paris and DLP and the go on to the family home for a break?

Or do we want to save DLP until the end for something to look forward to, knowing we have a much shorter journey home to the UK at the end?

If this is the case, I imagine we'll be looking at going in July again.

But we will most definitely want to avoid the school holidays, in the hope that the wait times in the parks aren't too horrendous. This could prove difficult as as it stands, the UK schools break up on 24th July 2012 but the French schools are out on the 5th July. We tend to go over around the 10th of July (so we can be there for the 14th, Fete Nationale) but we may need to re-address this and go earlier.

But what about a completely separate trip?

This way it wouldn't affect the dates we want to spend with the family in France and the summer holidays won't be an issue.

But then the question again arises, when?

As we will be going with my in-laws, there are two other times of the year when they like to travel, April and October. Our wedding anniversary is in October and we like to have a long weekend somewhere if we can. So, October next year is a maybe. And, if we go in October, you know what that means! We would HAVE to do Disney's Halloween Festival wouldn't we! The Park is decorated throughout the whole of October with spooky events and happenings, but Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party itself is only on 4 specific dates. We would have to see how much more expensive it was to go to this or whether just the Halloween atmosphere alone would suffice.

What about the weather? This is another factor to consider when planning a date for this trip. When we were in France this year, some days were in the 30's, as hot as WDW! Other days, it was cooler and POURED with rain. This can make a Florida trip seem dreary, but a cold, wet day in Europe is far worse than an Orlando shower. It'll be even colder with more chance of rain later in the year. My aunt travelled over to DLP with my 3 year old cousin last September for a day trip. It rained so hard and was so cold, they shut half the park. She didn't even get to meet Mickey, as it was one of the only indoor attractions and the queue was over 3 hours, they just didn't have time.

The Park opening times are not really a major issue at this time. Whether the parks stay open until 7pm or midnight will not affect us this time as Tink will only be 2.5 years old and will be wanting her bed around 7ish. She is not a child who naps in her pushchair and is not happy when over tired.

However, they don't tend to open until 10am to the general public, with 8-10am being Extra Magic Hours for guests. Tink is an early riser, so this is definitely something to think about. However, you'll have to check back for a future post on where we are going to stay, with the usual on-site verses off debate.

So, what will we do? Alas, the decision is not just down to me, the in-laws tend to finance a great deal of the holiday, and how much it all costs will probably be the deciding factor. Keep following my planning series to find out if I'm any closer to a definite date, and the next things to consider.

Thanks for stopping by.

Contributed by Janine P. of Swindon, England. She is a proud wife, mommy to Felicity and one of our Minnie Moms.  Follow along throughout this monthly series as she plans her first trip to Disneyland Paris.

Magical Blogorail: Once in a Lifetime Dining

Welcome to those of you joining me from A World View and those of you who have just hopped aboard.  I am the 3rd stop on our Magical Blogorail.

This month's blogorail topic is "favorite WDW restaurant."  Well, there's my favorite place for a character meal or my favorite spot for a quick bite or my favorite restaurant for a relaxing meal.  I couldn't decide on one overall favorite, at first.  Then I remembered a once in a lifetime dining experience and knew it could rank above all others as "favorite."

Victoria and Albert's Chef's Table  

My father and I dined here two days before my wedding.  I have no pictures at all from the evening.  This was well before I thought of blogging and I'm not sure if my phone at the time even had a camera.  We just relaxed and enjoyed the experience.  The table will seat up to 10 but it was nice to share this ultimate Disney dining night just with Dad.  The photo below is from Disney's official site and shows the table and your view.  Only one party is seated per evening and the 10 course meal takes about three to four hours.

When you call 407-WDW-DINE for reservations at Victoria and Albert's, you are directed to a special area and not routed through the normal process (or you can now call 407-WDW-DVNA.)  In addition to getting your contact information, they want to know about any special dietary needs and if your party is celebrating anything. I know this is common now with the marketing emphasis on special events at Walt Disney World, but V&A is has always been a place that attracts guests treating themselves for a big occasion.

You'll want to dress up for dinner at Victoria and Albert's and the dress code requires it.  Men need to wear a jacket and ladies are encouraged to wear a nice dress or pant suit.  Here's the official wording:

Proper Attire may include the following:

Men: Dinner jackets with dress pants/slacks and shoes. Ties are optional (Please no jeans, shorts, sandals, flip-flops, or tennis shoes)

Ladies: Cocktail dress, dressy pant suit, skirt/blouse or nice dress. (Please no jeans, shorts, capri pants, sandals, flip-flops or tennis shoes)

I wore a black cocktail dress and Dad wore a suit.  At $200 per person for the meal plus $95 per person for the wine pairing (current prices), it only seems right to don fancy clothes. 

After we were escorted through the kitchen to the table and settled in by our butler, the chef came out to introduce herself and check again for any special dietary needs or likes/dislikes (Chef Hunnel was not in on this night.)  Dad and I will both try anything once.  There wasn't anything strange served to us but this might not be the best idea for picky people.  There is not a menu at the Chef's Table.  You are brought a selection that is determined by the chef and it was all DELICIOUS.  On some courses, we were given the same foods and other times Dad and I each had totally different items.  In the latter case, we'd eat half and trade plates so we still got to try everything. 

With each course, the butler would serve our dishes and pour the wine, explaining the pairing.  The chef would go over the food and answer any questions we had about its origin or preparation.  Again, all of the food was amazing.  I can't think of anything we didn't like.  The presentation was impressive too, plated beautifully on a series of creative plates.  How can you not love a place with a chocolate course?!? 

I am a coffee fanatic and was fascinated by the vacuum coffee maker brought to our table at the end of the meal.  It brewed a terrific cup of coffee, as well as being very entertaining.  They get so many questions about it that the butler had business cards for guests who would like to purchase one.  (I included the full link from Amazon so you could see the price.  That's why I haven't ever bought one.)

Since there is no way to remember that many courses, several with multiple dishes within the course, we were given commemorative menus at the end of the meal. I've scanned them and they are below.  They are printed on fine paper with a blue vinyl cover to protect these mementos.  I was given a long stemmed red rose as we were leaving the restaurant. 

While I'd be more than happy to go back, this was a very special night and I was honored to share it with my first love, Daddy.

    

DisneyDad's menu

DisneyDad's menu part 2

Amy's menu

Amy's menu part 2

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Red Loop is WDW Backstage.

1st Stop ~ My Dreams of Disney
2nd Stop ~ A World View
3rd Stop ~ Growing Up Disney
4th Stop ~ WDW Backstage
Final Stop ~ Makin’ Memories

Guest Post: Magic Your Way

First of all I’d like to say I’m flattered Amy asked for me to be a guest blogger!  Amy and I went to college together and were sorority sisters.  We have been able to reconnect thanks to the internet and her awesome blog, Growing Up Disney, which I’m thankful for!

I grew up visiting Walt Disney World.  I was raised in South Florida and Disney World wasn’t too far away.  We usually went once a year and it was normally through school or church.  This is the way I remember going to Disney…wake up early, drive 4 hours to Orlando, spend the day in the Magic Kingdom and then drive back home that evening.  Can you say EXHAUSTED?!  I would envy those that could stay in Disney hotels and eat at Disney restaurants.  The only food I ever ate was fries and maybe a slice of pizza from a quick service restaurant, if I was lucky!  My family actually did go to Disney for a weekend and we did stay in a resort ONCE.  We camped at Fort Wilderness (in a camper not a cabin) soon after Epcot was built.  Not exactly luxury but I do have the fondest memories of that trip over any others from my childhood.

I guess that’s why I cringe when I hear about someone going to Disney on a vacation only for a couple of days.  I hear people say they’re going to Orlando for a vacation and they’ll go to the Magic Kingdom for one of the days while they are there.  I want to scream, “You’re doing it all wrong!”  I often hear people complain about how stressful the planning is or how stressful their trip was but it doesn‘t have to be.  There is a much easier way!  I believe the way to go is to stay at least 5 nights and to do the Magic Your Way with a dining plan.  You’re not stressed out trying to cram everything into 1-2 days!  There is so much to see and do and it makes it so much more enjoyable when you can take your time and not be in a rush.  We’ve actually been for 8 days and we still leave feeling like we haven’t seen it all!

I had not been to Walt Disney World since college in 1992.  I had my career, met the love of my life, got married, and had a son.  When our son was about to turn 3 in 2007, we started planning our first Disney trip as a family.  My husband’s boss at the time was a Disney fanatic.  He knew all things Disney and we knew nothing when it came to planning a trip.  It is thanks to him that we learned how to plan our trip right and our Disney addiction quickly began!

Returning to Disney brought back so many memories, having gone there my entire childhood.  Seeing the happiness and joy on my child’s face was absolutely priceless to me!  I know this sounds corny but I literally got tears in my eyes the first time we entered through the gates on Main Street!  We got a park hopper pass and enjoyed going to all of the parks for 6 days and 5 nights.  We stayed on property at Port Orleans French Quarter which we enjoyed.  I must admit though, my favorite thing which I wasn’t expecting at all was the dining!  It was absolutely fabulous!  I had no idea we would wake up eating Mickey waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and biscuits and then in the evening eat filet mignon, seafood, and crème brulee!  And all of this was made so convenient with the swipe of one little “Key to the World” card!

Little did I know our vacation in September 2007 would spark such a love for Disney in our family!  My son will be turning six this year and we’ve just planned his 5th trip (in three years) to Disney this November!  He now has a new sister that will be joining us this year for the first time.  We’ve decided to start her young, at 6 months!

It’s so easy (and dare I say fun) to plan our trips!  I simply call (407) W-Disney, book the resort of our choice for the dates we would like and inform them I’d like to do the Magic Your Way plus dining plan.  I then make all of my dining reservations online and it’s done!  Please note, many restaurants do book up quickly so I recommend making your reservations as close to the 180 day window as possible.  And it doesn’t have to be ridiculously expensive.  Our trip this year will cost approximately $1600 which includes hotel, food, and park passes for a family of four (well, 3 and a baby) for 5 nights.  We will stay on property again at our favorite resort, Port Orleans Riverside, and we will have the dining plan through a Disney promotion for free.

I hope this information helps someone while planning their next vacation.  Just be warned: you may create your own Disney addiction as well!

Contributed by Corby C. of Atlanta, Georgia. She is a proud wife and mom to Banks and Henley, a Disney Destination Planner with Travel with the Magic and one of our Minnie Moms.

Team Favorites--Non-park Activity

While the theme parks at Walt Disney World are certainly the main reason most people visit the resort, don't miss out on some of the other great recreational activities available to you.  From boating and fishing to golfing and horseback riding to shopping and dining, there are many things to do at Walt Disney World that don't involve turnstiles.  Here are a few favorites of the Growing Up Disney team.

Amy:  I obviously love the theme parks but I also think the resorts are an attraction unto themselves.  My favorite is the Grand Floridian.  It's so beautiful and I find it relaxing just to walk into the lobby.  Afternoon tea with my mom is one of my favorite things to do at WDW and I highly recommend the Garden View Lounge and its tea service.  Depending on the time of day, you may hear a pianist or an orchestra entertaining in the Grand's lobby.  Many times you may spot a bridal party taking pre-ceremony photos on the grand staircase.   They have a great system for taking both the groom's and bride's photos here without the couple seeing each other.  (I really do have to blog about my wedding soon....)  Other favorite resorts for relaxing and exploring include the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge. 

Heading to breakfast at Kona Cafe

While this is often more transportation than recreation, I love riding the boats at Walt Disney World.  To get to the Grand for tea, I like to take the Monorail over from the Magic Kingdom and then leisurely make our way back on the boat that provides service to Magic Kingdom, Grand Floridian, and the Polynesian.  We normally stay at Old Key West and the water taxi to Downtown Disney is fun.  Again, we typically take the quicker option, in this case the bus, to get there and return by the more leisurely transportation choice.  If you are going to Wilderness Lodge from the Magic Kingdom, be sure to take a boat! 

Walt Disney World is a great place for shopping.  Since Disney has been homogenizing their merchandise over the last few years, I like to window shop during my trip and then go to Downtown Disney's World of Disney store to purchase.  This ginormous store has much of the merchandise you see at the parks and I like making one big purchase.  Thankfully, not every store on property features the same Mickey 2010 t-shirt.  The World Showcase shops in particular have some very interesting merchandise.

TIP:  Most merchandise locations at Walt Disney World theme parks and Downtown Disney will offer resort delivery.  If you've bought something you don't want to carry around with you, the store can have it sent to the gift shop at the WDW resort where you are staying.  This takes a couple of days, but if you are at the end of your visit or staying off property, they still have you covered.  Your purchase can also be delivered to the front of the park.

Miniature golf is a favorite activity of our family.  I peeked ahead and saw that DisneyDad is covering that so I'll leave it for him.  I already have a full post scheduled for next Monday for Winter Summerland Mini-Golf, so be sure to check it out.

Confession:  I haven't been in a Walt Disney World pool since college.  We're more hit the parks people.  However, now that we have Tink, this will be changing.  WDW has some great resort pools.  I'm especially interested in staying at Kidani Village to let Tink check out the vast water play area there.  Most resorts have both feature pools with fancy theming, slides, etc and quiet pools which are more simple.

Click here for my post on jogging at Walt Disney World.  Most of the resorts offer walking/jogging/running paths and a morning jog is a nice way to watch the World wake up.

Mom at the 18th hole, winning again

DisneyDad:  We usually plan a day where we do not go to a park when we visit WDW.  My wife loves to play mini-golf  and she has a tendency to beat me when we play.  We enjoy Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course near Blizzard Beach Water Park.  The fun begins when you pick up your club at the small airstream looking camper - the Winterbago - which is the starters booth as well as snack bar and gift shop (Annual Passholders get a 50% discount on golf.)  Be sure to bring your camera and climb into Santa's sleigh for a quick picture before you begin.  Then choose your Santa-themed course...Sand or Snow.

The Sand Course takes you on a summer trip to the beach with Santa.  On one hole you'll find him buried in the sand as you putt over his belly.  There is a large sand castle with a drawbridge for you to test your luck.  The Snow Course takes you on a winter trip with Santa and his elves along with some of the Disney characters.  It has a snow castle that matches the sand castle.  Watch out for Squirty the snowman who just might get you wet as you pass.  Both courses end up with a special message from Santa on a computer screen as you finish up on the 18th hole.

Watch out for alligators!  Both courses are near a lake and I have seen a small alligator sunning himself.  This is central Florida after all.

Ridge:  My favorite non-park activity, besides taking a break and just grabbing a nap in the room, is going to Downtown Disney or the Boardwalk to hangout.  Both have shopping and pretty nice restaurants.  At Downtown Disney my favorite restaurant is Raglan Road and it's ESPN Club at Boardwalk.  New to the Boardwalk is Kouzzina by chef Cat Cora and has a Mediterranean menu.  Also at the Boardwalk is the Big River Grille & Brewing Works where they make their own unique beers.  It's nice to get out and people watch sometimes, especially at Jellyrolls dueling piano bar.  There really isn't a song these guys don't know.  There is also other entertainment to be seen here right out in the open, so keep your eyes peeled.