This Mom is Excited about the FastPass+ and PARK HOPPING!!!!!!

THIS is BIG NEWS as far as the world of the FastPass+ is concerned!!

In the Disney Blog, on April 2nd, Disney Announced that now, after you use the 3 FastPass+ reservations you made for the day, you WILL Be allowed to make new FastPass+ reservations (one by one) at that or ANOTHER PARK!  Which means that now, FastPass+ and Park Hopping are friends and the world will be a better place because of it!

This Mom's MagicBands have ARRIVED!

Finally - I hold in my hand tangible evidence that our Disney World Vacation in close!  Our MagicBands arrived in the mail this weekend and you would have thought it was Christmas morning for This Mom who LOVES Disney!! I was extra excited to see that each of our bands had our name labeled on the inside of each band!

I have already registered us for FastPass+ and linked all our resort and dining reservations on the MyDisneyExperience and that was pretty easy to do! Click on these links to see how! Admittedly I keep running through each day's itinerary in my head and have switched our FastPass+ reservations around several times already!!

MagicBands are giving out to all Disney Resort Guests now and are used as the keys to their rooms, tickets to the park, and holders of all FastPass+ and dining reservations.  This is your new "Key to the World" plus more!

This Mom's Disney Fastpass+ Reservation Walk-Thru

Disney's Fastpass+ Reservations can now be made up to 60 days in advance!! Don't be late in making your Disney Fastpass+ reservations for your next Disney World Vacation! Hopefully this video will help you know just what to do when making your first reservation and linking it with your MagicBands!! Have a Magical Day!!

This Mom Is Excited about the New MagicBands at Disney!!

This Mom is REALLY excited about the roll out of the new MagicBands at the Disney Resort this month!  Yes, there will be glitches and growing pains in the beginning, but these bands have the potential to really benefit all Disney families in the near future!

If you have a Disney vacation booked in 2014, you can already log into "MyDisneyExperience" and customize your family's set of MagicBands - including name and color for each! Order your Magicbands ahead of your trip and have them shipped to your home!

These MagicBands will take the place of your previous "Key to the World" and will hold ALL of your travel information, reservations, fast passes and more! You will even be able to pay with them!

This Mom is TOTALLY Siked about the NEW "Festival of Fantasy" Parade COMING SOON!!!!

Admittedly, This Mom is quite the Disney trip planner, and when I was making out our future daily plans for our upcoming Disney World trip in April... I was slightly concerned I could not find any major afternoon parade listed in the Magic Kingdom.  So upon further research, I have JUST learned there will be a NEW PARADE called "Festival of Fantasy" coming soon (March 2014) to the Magic Kingdom and it will feature brand new floats and more!  I could not be more excited!!!  The Disney Blog says that this new parade will specifically highlight the stories of “Sleeping Beauty,” “Dumbo,” “Pinocchio,” “Peter Pan,” and “Tangled” among others.  Other floats on tap for the parade will celebrate Disney Princesses in a Royal Court Garden float. Rapunzel and Flynn Rider will appear on a longship off on a search for another “Best. Day. Ever.” And Peter Pan and Wendy will soar high above on a pirate galleon ship, joined by Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and Tinker Bell

Below are the Disney Artists' renderings of some of the floats!!

This Mom's Ultimate Checklist of what to take to the Disney Parks!

OK Guys - here we go - HELP ME make the Ultimate list of What to take with you to the Disney Park for the Day!!!  I will continue to add to this list - please comment with your suggestions and ideas too!!

ABOVE ALL ELSE - Have a PLAN!!
Then....
1- Comfy & compact bookbag to carry your supplies in!
2- smartphone with AWESOME apps showing Disney World wait times!!
3- camera
4- ponchos (& gallon zip-lock bag to stash them once wet)
5- water bottle
6- hand sanitizer!
7- travel sized sunscreen
8- pain relievers and antacids (Just trust me)! 
9- band-aids
10- sunglasses (it's sunny in FL!)
11- extra memory cards/batteries for camera!
12- snacks
13- trinkets to keep little ones busy while waiting in lines

Why This Mom Thinks Disney Princesses are the Best!

Meeting ANY Disney character is exciting, but there is something totally enchanting about meeting the "Face" Characters, like the Princesses, who speak to you and ask you questions and interact with you and your children. They have been trained to fit their part very well and always stay in character! Every time we have had the opportunity to meet with them, either out in the parks for a meet & greet or during lunch at the Castle, the Disney Princesses have always taken their time with us and it has made such an impression! This is a video of when my children were about to have their picture taken with Belle at Epcot last year. She didn't just rush them into position and pose for the camera, even though there were others waiting to have their picture made... She took the time to learn their names and get to know them a little. She really made them feel special. As we walked away, they could not stop smiling, they were so excited!

This Mom Loves Disney Shows!!! Top 3!

We LOVE to go to all the Disney Shows, but there are some that just stand out above the rest as our Favorites!!! #1- Finding Nemo the Musical (live performance show in Animal Kingdom) The quality of this show is top notch - Disney all the way! All of the props are poeple with ELABORATE costumes and the singers (who have amazing talent) are all singing WHILE they operate giant fish puppets to truly make the story come alive in a way that only Disney could pull off!

#2- Lights! Motors! Action! (Live stunt show in Hollywood Studios) Ok - If you don't like the singing stuff, then this show is for you! This is a awesome driving/action stunt show - featuring fast car stunts, motorcycles, and jet skis. It totally keeps your attention and is lots of fun to see time after time!

#3- Mickey's Philharmagic 3D Show (3D or really a 4D show in Magic Kingdom) If you are a lover of Classic Disney movies - you will LOVE this show!! Donald Duck tries on Mickey's magic Sorcerer's Hat which takes him on a whirlwind journey through major Disney Movies like Aladdin, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid! Not only do you feel like you are experiencing these movies first hand because of the 3D wrap around theater, but puffs of air from the back of the seats in front of you and smells take you further into the magic of the experience!

This Mom's List of Great Disney World Planning WEBSITES!!

When planning a trip to Disney World, the internet is going to be your BEST FRIEND!! But if Websites about Disney were friends, then you would have about a million!  So here is a list to start with!!

Great GENERAL Disney World planning sites:
www.TouringPlans.com
www.AllEars.net
www.EasyWDW.com
www.YourFirstVisit.net

Good Q&A Sites:
www.DisneyWorldMoms.com
www.DISboards.com

Good Money Saving Sites:
www.MouseSavers.com
www.TheMouseForLess.com

Good Site to See What Disney Attractions are Really like:
www.YouTube.com (type in the name of the Disney Attraction in the search box)

Have a great site you don't see here?  Let me know!!!

This Mom's Steps to Planning Your Disney Vacation!!!

Ok - So you have made the happy decision to plan a Disney World vacation!  Well, who doesn't want to have the most magical time at Disney as possible??  Here are the first 4 steps to planning your dream vacation!

With each step - please DO YOUR RESEARCH!! 

Step 1 - CHOOSE YOUR DATES CAREFULLY!

First look at a predicted crowd calendar for the year you are going and choose your week wisely.  For example, HERE is the 2014 Crowd calender from www.yourfirstvisit.com. 

If you have school age children you will have to decide whether to pull them out of school only look at weeks when they are out of school already.  Obviously the most crowded times of the year are also peek season in prices so you are spending more money to wait in lines longer (and I am talking about hours of waiting) than the low season times. 

Step 2-  CHOOSE YOUR RESORT THOUGHTFULLY!

In Choosing a Disney resort, there is much to consider - Price, location, accommodations...  This will be a large chunk of your budget, and granted you will spend most of your time at Disney World away from your resort, but you should make your resort selection with much research.  First you will need to narrow down your search by deciding if you are headed for a Value, Moderate, or Deluxe resort based on their prices and level of accommodations for the number of people in your traveling party.  

To get a good idea of what you will be paying, run some different scenarios on Disney's website, (This is why it is good to have your date already decided because you will need to enter that in to get accurate pricing for the resort during your vacation time).
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/

Once you have your eye on 2 or 3 resort options that fit your needs, go out there to the WWW and start looking them up.  It's not enough to just read what Disney says about their own resorts, read what others have said too. 


Step 3- CHOOSE YOUR HOW MANY DAYS FOR YOUR TICKETS & ADD ANY OPTIONS!
 
OK - Once the dates and resort finalized - this is when the real fun begins! Choosing tickets!! WOO HOO! 
-You can choose to have a base ticket (which gets you into one park, one day)
-or add the Park Hopper option (which allows you to go from park to park on the same day, as many times as you wish)
-or add the Water Park Fun & More option (which allows you the same number of visits to Disney Water parks and Disney putt-putts as the number of days you are staying...  for example - 5 Day tickets with the Water park Fun & more option allows your 5 visits to water parks and putt putts)
-or you can go for the whole sha-bang and get the Park Hopper and Water Park Fun and More All together.
Obviously, each time you add an "option" to your base ticket, the price per day increases.  But, it is good to know that the more days you buy tickets for, the less they are per day. 
-One more option to throw in there is the Non-expiring option.  This is attractive to those who are paying for tickets that may not all get used this trip, in which case, you can always use them your next trip. 

***PLEASE NOTE****  In my opinion, you should plan for your number of days conservatively, because you can always just pay the difference to add on another day or two to your tickets ONCE YOU GET TO DISNEY!  So why not save on the front end and if you get down there and decide you'd like another day in the parks, just pay the extra $$ per person.  In the same way, you can always ADD THE NON-EXPIRING option once you get down there.  If someone from your party is sick or for whatever reason, all your paid for tickets are not used, simply take them to the resort front desk and they can add on the non-expiration option for any of the days not used.


Step 4- DECIDE ON DINING AND MAKE RESERVATIONS!

First things first, you will need to decide if the Disney Dining Plan is for you and which one to get! (I go into more detail about my opinion of why the Disney dining plan is awesome HERE if you are interested in reading)

Here are the different levels of Disney Dining Plan

Quick Service Dining plan includes:
Two Quick Service Meals, per night of your resort stay
One Snack, per night of your resort stay
One refillable mug
Plus Dining Plan includes:
1 table service entitlement, per night of your resort stay. The table service meal will include an entrée, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage per guest.
1 counter service entitlement, per night of your resort stay. The counter service meal includes the same things outlined for the  quick service dining plan.
1 snack, per night of your resort stay
1 refillable mug, per guest

Deluxe Dining Plan includes:
3 meals, per night of your resort stay
2 snacks, per night of your resort stay
1 refillable mug

Once you have decided about your dining options,  you will need to be prepared to make any reservations up to 180 days before your trip!  Definitely consider Character Dining if you have young kids with you!  (Read more about my opinion of the different character dining options HERE)

You can look through all the dining options here:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/

Hope this has been helpful!  Let the magic begin!!

Predicted 2014 crowd Calendar for Disney World!!!

Planning a trip to Disney World in 2014 already?!!  GREAT!  Here is the first step in your planning process!! Look at the crowd calendar for 2014 broken up week by week!!  This is from the site www.yourfirstvisit.net which is SO full of great info and ideas that it should not be overlooked in your planning research!!  Go there now and hit your BOOKMARK button!!

http://yourfirstvisit.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Disney-World-2014-Crowd-Calendar-v2.jpg

This Mom's Take on Disney Dining Plans...

If you are staying on Disney Property -  you will be given the option to purchase a Disney Dining plan for the time of your stay.  Disney Dining plans cover each person in your party for each day of your reservation, giving you each an specified amount of food to use...

The different options are as follows: (PLEASE NOTE- 2013 PRICES!!!)

(as explained in great detail at http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/disney-dining-plan )

The very first time our family stayed on Disney property (in spring of 2010 with our 2 children who were 7 and 3) we thought it would be a great idea to take advantage of the Deluxe Disney Dining plan.  What were we thinking!??  This was WAY TOO MUCH FOOD everyday for our family!!  I cannot even begin to tell you how much food was wasted on this plan.  It paid for us each to have 3 full meals a day PLUS 2 snacks! Wowzers, we could hardly do anything but eat!  Haha! We agreed that a dining plan was a GREAT thing to have for several reasons which  I will detail below, BUT not to this level of amount of food, for sure. Maybe if we had several strapping young lad who ate everything that didn't eat them!

So, the next time we went to stay in the world (in Spring of 2012, when our children were 9 and 5) we again got the Disney Dining plan, but this time the Standard (now called "Plus") plan and it was absolutely PERFECT for us! There were a few days we had planned to spend away from Disney (one at Sea World and one at Siesta Key beach) so we were able to use any "Extra" meals to go towards our Character dining experiences that required more than one meal credit per person.

What we LOVED about the Disney Dining plans:

1- CARE FREE ORDERING!

©Disney   

     Now, don't let this factor be misleading.  Disney Dining plans CAN be confusing when you are trying to figure out at a resort quick service place how many different items you can get and what it will count for- a snack or a quick service? etc
    BUT when I say care-free ordering, I mean going into a restaurant (be it quick service or table service) and knowing we can order whatever we want off the menu and not even LOOK At the prices!  Now, THAT is what I call being on vacation!!  Because I don't know about your family, but at home, we try to be conservative with our spending and do not splurge on high priced foods on a regular basis.  I know what you are thinking - you ARE Paying for it, just all rolled into one lump sum in the trip price (unless you are blessed enough to get the free dining option).  But at least by the time you get there, everything has been paid for and you are covered for the rest of your trip!  So even if getting the dining plan ends up being more than we would have spent on all of our food expenses otherwise, it is full worth it just for the experience!

2- CHARACTER DINING!!

    If care-free ordering wasn't enough to sell me on getting the Disney Dining plan - then Character Dining sealed the deal!  Yes, you can get character dining if you don't have a dining plan, but it can be painfully expensive! So if you do decide to take advantage of a dining plan, then by all means, do character dining and do it often!  We would schedule a character dining event for every day we were at a Disney Park (both in 2010 and in 2012) and we were so glad we did!  There is no meal more magical than when Disney characters are constantly coming around to your table to hug and take pictures with your child!  I will speak more about our experiences with Character dining in another post, but just know that this is one of the best uses of the Disney Dining plans (in this mom's opinion!).

3- BUILT IN SNACKS!!

     Enough said, right??  I mean, you start out with a good breakfast, but after a couple hours crisscrossing the Disney parks, you need some nourishment to keep you going til lunch!  Or in the hot afternoons, everybody wants an ice cream Mickey head, right??  What I love about this is all the adults get a snack too!! (and that never happens otherwise, I feel like I always end up sacrificing mine so my kids can have one - don't you?).  And to those moms who are counting sugars for their kiddos.. there are lots of healthy snacks available throughout the parks, like fruit stands and baked chips, etc.

4- DESSERT AND A DRINK WITH EVERY MEAL!!

     I had you at "dessert," didn't I?!  Seriously though, how much more magical can each day get for a kid when EVERY meal includes a dessert?!! (except breakfast, obviously).  This is just GREAT and for people like us (who normally NEVER order a dessert out and ALWAYS order water only because ordering drinks really adds to the bill) these are 2 huge luxuries that we look forward to when vacationing at Disney World!

This Mom's Disney World Tips with Young Children:

The very first time we went to Disney World, right after we had gotten married, and it was just me and my love. It was truly magical.  Years passed and we had 2 children and we wanted to take them to Disney World for their first time.   We were so excited. They were just 3 and 7 at the time.  And this was a whole new experience.  We learned a LOT by mistakes we made and here are the major tips I gleaned from the first experience.

Tip #1- BREAK UP YOUR TRIP!

 If you are going to be at Disney World for long enough to break up visiting the parks - DO SO! Believe me, you will want to thank me the next morning.  Going to a Disney Park ALL DAY is fun and exciting and magically, BUT it is also totally exhausting and draining, and the next morning it is increasingly difficult to force yourself out of the bed to do it all again.  Not to mention the tole it takes on small children and how easily they transform into sleepy, cranky, little people the next morning.  If at all possible, schedule your time like this:
Day 1-Parks
Day 2- Pool (or Putt Putt)
Day 3- Parks
Day 4- Pool
Day 5-Parks
Etc. Now, after you have launged around and let the kiddies play in the pool on your "off" days, sometimes it is VERY nice to go into the parks in the early evenings if possible for just a few hours.

Tip #2- KNOW YOUR CHILD's PERSONALITY

 This is a huge factor of the Disney Magic.  If your child is easily frightened, please do your research on the different rides and shows before you go.  Disney World is supposed to be Magical and Totally fun for kids - not sprinkled with terrifying experiences that your child will take hours to recover from.  Many books review ALL of the rides (I personally LOVE the Unofficial Guide to Disney World - a new one is published each year) and they rank them in likelihood to scare children.


Tip #3- HAVE A PLAN FOR THE DISNEY PARKS

 If you are going to take the time to take your family to Disney World and spend the money for that kind of trip, then spend your time wisely!  Have a plan before you go to each park.  Don't just roll up into the parking lot, willy-nilly, and stroll into a Disney World park going from attraction to attraction as you pass by.  If you do, you will end up spending MANY MANY more hours in lines and not getting to experience near as much as you could if you had a plan.  As I mentioned above, I am a big fan of the Unofficial Guide to  Disney World or TouringPlans.com (same people).  They provide wonderful plans for your family to follow to make the most of your time in the park.

Tip #4- DO CHARACTER DINING (if possible)

 We have taken our kids to Disney World twice in the past 3 years and are going back in the spring of 2014. Each time we have gone, we have stayed on Disney Property and get the dining plan.  I know that there are great debates on if it is financially better to get the dining plan or just pay as you go.  But in my personal opinion, it is so much more a vacation to walk into each restaurant and order whatever we wanted, not even looking at the prices (which, let's face it - are HIGH is Disney).  Plus it was a total gift to us that we could use our dining plan to pay for Character Dining!!  We would have Character dining almost every night!!  This way, we would eat our meal, while a selection of Disney characters came around and each hugged our children and had their picture made with them.  Not only was this a highlight each day for our kids, but it totally alleviated their need to go and wait in line to hug each random character we passed in the parks!

This Mom's Opinion of Disney's Pop Century Resort

The first year my husband and I went to Disney World after we were married, we stayed at a Holiday Inn just outside of Disney.  The room was nice, and it was just what we needed, plus it was super cheap.  But the next time we went to Disney, we had 2 small kids and thought staying on Disney Property would be a better option.  We went straight to the list of Value resorts and immediately settled on Pop Century.  The choice was a good one!

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/pop-century-resort/

First I would just like to express what a difference it made staying on Disney property! Disney does everything over the top, and their resorts are no exception!  Pop Century was definitely geared towards kids and they loved every second! The decor was amazing and the pools were awesome! We stayed in the Lady and the Tramp section of the resort which was close to the pools and semi close to the main building where the food court is and gift shop, as well as where the buses pick up to take you to the parks.

The food was pretty good.  Nothing in particular stands out in my mind as  I type this 3 years later, but we had no complaints.  There was an arcade, but we didn't spend any time there - as my children adore a swimming pool!

The resort was very clean, the staff was overly helpful in every way and I would highly recommend Pop Century to anyone interested in a Value Resort - except for ONE DRAWBACK...

The rooms only offer 2 double beds...  My husband is not a tiny guy and we had slept on a King bed for 10 years straight at that time...  so going from a king to a double was TERRIBLE!  I cannot tell you how miserable we were at night!!  Here we had spent ALL day at a Disney Park, and were completely exhausted, only to cram ourselves into this bed and lay awake at night.  I will tell you, however, that the gift shop sells Nyquil and that is what we drank each night to sleep!  Only offering double beds was a deal-breaker for us so sadly, we won't be going back to the Pop Century Resort.

So - if you have a limited budget, are looking for a value resort geared towards the kids, and are not bothered by sleeping in a double bed, then Pop Century should be a consideration!!

See our Pictures from the Pop Century Resort in spring of 2010:

This Mom Would REALLY Miss Seeing Lights! Motors! Action!... if it goes away...

So, I recently read a rumor floating around the Disney World community that Lights! Motors! Action! might be on it's way out in order to make room for a new attraction at Hollywood Studios.  Let me tell you right now that this show is a top favorite for my family to see every time we vacation at Disney!  It is one for the whole family!

Lights Motors Action Extreme Stunt Show, located at the end of the Streets of America, is a copy of the attraction that originated at Disneyland Paris. Guests are introduced to the director and the director's staff and told that they'll be filming scenes for a film about a spy who is trying to make his getaway and now they'll be filming the stunts that need to be performed. The stunts are executed and then explained in-depth how they were achieved.
The action takes place in a "Southern France" setting and as the stunts get more extreme, they add more variety to the set. A large monitor in the middle of the set keeps guests entertained before the show and explains the stunts during the show.   Stunts include automobiles, motorcycles and jetskis.  The black cars are the "chase cars" while the red car is the "hero" car. The designations are there to make it easier for the audience to follow along. (As described by studiocentral.com)

The rumor is that Disney will soon reclaim this space to make room for some great new attraction... possibly Star Wars land or Cars land.  We are not too big into the whole Star Wars thing, so I guess I would personally prefer a Cars Land...  Although it is unclear just how real these plans are at this time... but I sure do hope to get to take my family back to see Lights! Motors! Action! one more time in the spring!!

This Mom's Favorite Disney-Discussion Site!!

There are a LOT of Disney World sites out there in the great WWW...  But my favorite place to connect with other Disney-obsessed peeps is the DISboards!  There are hundreds of topics to read through and weigh in on!!

http://www.disboards.com/


So what is yours??