And we have a flight home!!

I HATE having a flight one way and not the other. I'd booked my fly down for my March 2011 trip and held on the return flight. So nerve wracking to not have that flight booked to come home. So when I did that yet again for this upcoming trip, it once again left me antsy.

I checked all the sites. Repeatedly. For like a week. The prices on the flights I wanted weren't moving in the direction I wanted. And paying $160 each for the direct Jetblue flight leaving Orlando at 6:55 pm just wasn't gonna happen. Paying that much was just ridiculous.

So then I started considering Airtran. They had a direct flight for $110 (same as what I paid for our flight down on Southwest) but of course, there would be checked bag fees. $20 each to be exact. And it left at 5:49 pm. In total, it was $120 less than the Jetblue flight. Was it worth it to pay $120 for an extra hour in Disney???

Most Disney fanatics, including myself, would say "Hell yes!!!!" But my thrifty self said no. I needed these flights to be as cheap as possible. And it was only an hour. The difference would be Magical Express picking us up at our resort at 2:30 ish or 3:30 ish. Usually by that time we are pretty tired and one extra hour would't really give us much. But still......an hour in Disney is better than an hour anywhere else on earth.

But I was done waiting and worrying the flight would go up just like all the others had. So I booked. And I felt relieved. :)

How are you struggling with airfare these days? Like me, worrying about the cost? Or are you lucky enough not to have to fret about those kinds of things? :)

Airfare is booked...going to Orlando, anyway!

Southwest opened their fares today and I've been waiting for this for months. Airfare ALWAYS gives me the most stress when planning any trip. You just never what you're going to find and you're kinda stuck. If you wanna get where you need to go, you need to pay the crazy prices. Driving is not an option for us. The drive is just too far.

So I've been stalking all the websites for weeks....praying for some kind of great deal today. And I did get it...on the flight down, anyway. $110 for a direct flight leaving at 7:55 am, arriving in Orlando at 10:40 am. We've done early morning direct flights before, but in the past they have been more like 6:30. That got us to Orlando around 9:30, and that was great, but this extra time in the morning to sleep will hopefully ensure that we won't be as tired once we get there!

But the flights home were not as great. SW had a direct flight home, also for $110, but it leaves Orlando at 2:40. That means Magical Express will pick us up around 11:30-11:45. That means our last day is pretty much a waste. We like being able to have at least half a day in the parks. The later flight, 5:20, cost $175. Yikes! I might book with Jetblue for the home flight...they have a direct flight leaving Orlando at 6:55, but it's $160. Not much better in price. The same flight is $110 the next day..........I'd save $200. The extra night at the resort would be less than that! LOL!

So, the stress of purchasing airfare is not yet over for me. :( Hopefully soon though.

It's ADR day!!!

YAY!! I always love this day, despite walking at 5:40 am to get the laptop booted up and ready to log in at 6 am on the dot to start my reservation process! :)

I have my brand spanking new laptop this time, so that helped. I brought it in the bedroom last night and set it on my night stand, so all I had to do was grab it, prop myself up in bed, and go at it. Worked well until I got in and my first ressie, Chef Mickey's, required a credit card # to book. I thought I was safe....didn't think I had any restaurants that needed one. But nope, both Chef Mickey's and Ohana needed it.

But anyway, I made sure I had my list of restaurants in order of priority beforehand. Chef Mickey's was first, then I moved on to Whispering Canyon Cafe. This one I was nervous about because I needed a table for 7 and it's a MVMCP night. Then I did Ohana and 50's Primetime. Next was Coral Reef...nothing. I tried my other Epcot day...booked solid. Moved on and booked Liberty Tree Tavern and Biergarten.

Coral Reef was the only restaurant hubby requested. So I had to check with him before booking a substitute. Garden Grill would have been mine next choice, but that was booked solid too. I find that to be kinda weird. I looked at the menus for Epcot, trying to find what would be good for us and also for the kids. I try to pick places that are somewhat entertaining for the kids...not just a restaurant. I would love to try Chef de France, but I'm not sure if my 4 year old would sit there nicely. So I suggested Teppan Edo to hubby and he said "yes". We've been wanting to do it...just waiting for the youngest to be old enough to be interested in watching the show.

I'm hoping and praying the Be Our Guest restaurant will be open for our trip, and I can get my hands on a reservation!! Ideally, that would be the day I made the reservations or Liberty Tree Tavern. I chose that restaurant for that day, hoping I'd be canceling it for Be Our Guest. I do love LTT, but since they took the characters away, it's not the same :(

I'm excited, as usual, for all the great food we'll eat!! My only hope is that Disney offers free dining for the late fall, like they have the last few years. It would slice $700 off our bill. Not sure what we'll do if they don't. :(

Different ways for different Disney Fans

I think all Disney World fans have their priorities. It's fun to try new things and do each trip a little different, but there's some things we won't budge on. And sometimes it's kinda hard to understand why people do what they do. In the end, everyone is happy in the happiest place on earth, so it really doesn't matter! :)

I know out in cyberland there can be some major snobbery when it comes to resorts. I myself stay away from those communities and only visit those who refuse to put up with that kind of rude behavior. It makes me super sad. I like value resorts and I have my reasons, just as those who like deluxes have their reasons, so if everyone's happy, why does it matter?

Would I like to stay in a deluxe resort, all out with deluxe dining plan? Sure! If I had a never ending supply of money!! LOL! But like most people, we live on a budget. I know there are some who would rather only go to Disney every 2,3,5 years, but go all out. I prefer to go more often and keep to a budget.

And there are others who like to stay deluxe, but bring all their own food and save money that way. Seems like a another good plan. It's something we have thought of before. But in the end, we spend very little time at the resort. We've done upgraded trips before and stayed at a moderate with the plan to spend more time there and take more advantage of the resort's amenities...but no. We still spent the same amount of time in the parks! LOL!

And honestly, I love food. I lot eating!! I don't think I could give up Disney food in order to stay deluxe!!

But that's me. I know everyone has their priorities. Some couldn't care less about food and are all about the ambiance of where they stay.

Disney has so much to offer every person with every size budget and taste. That is the great thing about Disney.

Almost ADR day!

As any Disney planner extraordinaire, I have been thinking of my dining reservations almost as long as I have been planning this trip! Dining is a HUGE deal for us. Part of the Disney experience is splurging on the fabulous food. For us, the restaurants are an attraction! So many fun character meals and awesome experiences!

My 180 day marker is next Friday. I had a huge list of possibilities. But when it came down to choosing which park for which day, and therefore, which restaurant for each day, I had some trouble. Problem is, we arrive November 28th and stay til December 5th. Disney has only released the calendar for November. December's calendar won't be available until a few days into June. Which doesn't help me right now. My ADR day is June 1st!

I did manage to find a website listing December's hours, and usually these sites are pretty accurate. Either way, I tend to follow Touringplans.com's advice anyway.

My other snag...I am REALLY hoping the new Beauty and the Beast Be Our Guest restaurant will be open for our trip. Disney is saying "holidays" for an opening date. Fingers are crossed. But in the meantime, I have to make my ADRs. If it's announced that the new restaurant will be open, I hope to be one of the lucky ones to secure an ADR for one of our Magic Kingdom days. I have one day planned that I hope will work. I chose a restaurant we like, but are okay with canceling if the new restaurant opens.

We debated on a dinner show too. But ultimately decided to skip it. We will be on the dining plan and having to use two credits for the show didn't seem like a good plan for this trip.

So here are our plans:

Chef Mickey's, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Liberty Tree Tavern (to Be Our Guest if it's open), Coral Reef, Beirgarten, 50's Primetime, and Ohana.

Yum yum yum! Can't wait!

Baby and Toddler Tips!!

I've traveled to Walt Disney World many times with babies and toddlers. My oldest, now 9, we took as a toddler twice- when she was 2-1/2 and 4. My youngest, now 4, has gone at 9 months, 20 months, and 2 months shy of 3. And honestly, it really wasn't that big of a deal! But as I've always done with any trip we take, I plan ahead and plan smart. Go with flexibility and common sense.

First of all, taking a child under 3 is great because they are FREE! Who doesn't like free??? If you do the dining plan, children can eat from your plate or if it is a buffet, they eat off the buffet for free. We always brought food for the kids- things like fruit cups, pb crackers, dried fruit, trail mix, breakfast bars, etc.. Things that had nutritional value and they could eat as meals. That way we weren't limited on what we could order. This upcoming trip will be our first paying for our son, which stinks on some levels. (Yuck...over $200 for his park pass!) But it will be nice to not have to bring tons of food with us and he gets all his own counter meals like his sister.

WDW is THE MOST kid-friendly place on the planet. We've taken other vacations with the kids and it's not as easy. In Disney, there are kid care centers in each park. A place for parents to feed, change, play with the little ones if they need a break and some quiet time. A large percentage of attractions in the parks are suitable for kids of all ages. Try going to a Six Flags or other amusement park...there's very little for parents to do with small children. And most of it the parents cannot also ride with the children. The cast members who work at WDW know how to deal with children. They aren't uncomfortable around little ones. They know how to speak to them to make them smile.

I know many people use the argument of "the kids will never remember." Yeah, probably not. But the kids sure have a blast while they're there. The parents have fun and have memories of the fun had. Family time is very important for our family, and vacations are too. It's very hard to completely relax and forget about bills and responsibilities while at home. So for us, leaving home is a big part of complete rest and relaxation. We enjoy doing fun things with our kids and so what if they don't remember. We do. And I have the photos to prove it.

I know for some families, a Disney trip is a once in a lifetime event, so yes, it is smarter to wait until the children are old enough to fully take advantage of everything the parks have to offer and be old enough to remember it. If that is the case, I think 5-7 is a great age. They are still young enough to "get" the magic and still believe, but should be tall enough to ride most rides. They'd still have to skip some though. Our daughter has always been a peanut, so at 9, she is finally tall enough for Rock n Roller Coaster (minimum height requirement is 48"). And if we'd waited til she was this age to take her for the first time, we would have missed out on all the memories she's made, playing with the characters, still believing that she was meeting the REAL Mickey and Cinderella. She's past that now...she knows there's someone inside the costume. She knows they're actors. I wouldn't have wanted to give up the memories of her smiles and the excitement in her eyes meeting them when she was 2-1/2 and 4.

Updated Scrapbooking Page!!!!

I've FINALLY finished my Disney Scrapbook from our big 10th Anniversary trip in 2008. Yeah...only took me 3-1/2 years. but it's done and I uploaded a bunch more pics today. I have a bunch more but for some odd reason I'm having trouble uploading the pics to my computer from my phone. New computer...still figuring it out! :)

Check out the new pics here!