Mouse Travel Tips

Hello everyone:

Last week I discussed how I selected my travel date – and ended up going to Disney during the Easter holiday weekend.  Yikes!  So this week, I decided to fill you in on my next stage of planning – securing Advanced Dining Reservations and scheduling out my daily activities.

Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) allow you to book a table at Character Meals and Table Service restaurants at the theme parks, resort hotels, and Downtown Disney areas of the Walt Disney World resort.  You can make ADRs up to 180 days in advance of your trip to Walt Disney World, or up to 60 days in advance of a trip to the Disneyland Resort.  ADRs are highly recommended during peak season, and allow you to minimize your wait for a table at a popular restaurant.

ADRs can be made by calling a reservations number (for WDW, call 407-WDW-DINE), or you can book them online.  I chose to try the online booking system for this trip.  My first restaurant to try – Le Cellier Steakhouse, located in the Canada Pavillion in EPCOT.  This is one of the hardest ADRs to get, mainly because the restaurant is so small compared to others at WDW.  Much to my surprise – I got a reservation for Easter Sunday lunch!  Zippidee do dah indeed!

I also chose the Garden Grill restaurant for dinner one night (the Land pavillion, EPCOT), the Supercalifragalistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian), and a dinner at the T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney.  I’ll round out the rest of my meals using counter service restaurants or snacks from home.

When making ADRs, be sure and note the time and date of the reservation, as well as the confirmation number.  This can help you sort out any issues you may encounter, and can help you if you need to change or cancel reservations for your trip.

Second – I started my world famous “Spreadsheet of Death”  (also known in our family as the “Clipboard of Fun!”).  Yes – I am a bit crazy about knowing where I want to be at any given time.  So I created a spreadsheet to track:

• Parks Hours during each day of my trip, including Extra Magic Hours, Parade Times, and Fireworks shows
• Tentative Itinerary day by day – this is mainly so I can figure out which park (or parks) I want to visit each day, depending on my ADRs, Extra Magic Hours, or special events
• Preliminary budget – including airfare, hotel, park ticket, meals, and miscellaneous expenses
• Counter Service Restaurants and estimated costs – I go through the restaurant list to pick ones that have appealing menus, and note down where they are located, and approximately how much a meal will cost.  This helps me organize my budget and schedule

One thing I haven’t discussed is my hotel and park ticket selection.  Because I work for an online travel agency by day, I book my hotels differently from most other people.  However, for this trip I did reach out to a Disney Travel Agent to see what the price of my hotel/ticket/meals would be if I purchased a Disney package.  That’s always a good thing to do – compare a package price with that of purchasing each component separately.  Oftentimes, the Disney package is a better deal, especially if it includes perks like free dining, extra nights, or hotel upgrades.

That’s it for my April Disney trip planning.  I know when and where I’m going, where I’ll eat, and what I’ll do during my trip.  For next Friday’s planning report, I’ll discuss how we are planning our extended family trip to Disneyland at the end of April, 2010.

Rachel

Despite the heat and the crowds, many people travel to Disney parks during the busy peak seasons.  This is especially true for families with school aged children, and for teachers and others in the education profession.  In today’s podcast, we’ll discuss how you can survive a trip during Spring Break, Summer, or the holiday season.

One of the websites we use in our planning to beat the crowds at Disney Parks, no matter what time of year we go is Touring Plans.  This website offers detailed analysis on what the crowd levels will be at the Walt Disney World resort parks throughout the year, based on historical data and statistics.  You can view the next two weeks for free anytime, or you can opt for a paid subscription for access to a years worth of data.

One other fun post is by “Kidani Kate”, author of the blog “The DVC Life“.  In her “Summer Blogtastic” post from Feb. 12, 2010, she gives some great pointers on how to survive the heat and crowds during the busy summer months.  I love her enthusiasm for Disney during summer (especially because the heat just about kills me each time we go – in Spring!), and she does a great writeup on the new Summer Nightastic! special events at Walt Disney World.  Check it out!

Also in this Episode we introduce you to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (information on www.wdwautism.com).  Although this is the smallest of the four Walt Disney World theme parks, it has several major attractions.  In this episode, we chose to highlight my favorite ride:  Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, starring Aerosmith.  Check out www.wdwautism.com for additional information on Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster. Zero to Sixty in 2.8 seconds – let’s go!

We also highlight the Villains in Vogue store, for all of you who enjoy a walk on the dark side of Disney characters.  Purchase Fantasmic memorabilia and Villain merchandise at this store on Sunset Boulevard.

In Episode 4 next week, we’ll discuss the Fastpass Reservation System, and we’ll park hop over to Disneyland in California, to profile several Alice in Wonderland themed rides (in honor of the Tim Burton movie opening in the U.S. on March 5).

Hello everyone:

I am planning a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida this coming April, and as a special report,  wanted to share with you some of my planning tips.  This way, you can see the Mouse Travel Tips advice in action!  In this post, I’ll explain how I selected my travel date.

My first step was to think about why I wanted to take a trip to Walt Disney World.  I want to attend the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival, partly for research for this blog and podcast, and partly because I absolutely love the beauty of the festival!  So, I knew it was held in Spring, but which dates?  I did a simple search on Google  “2010 EPCOT Flower and Garden”, to find out that the dates are March 3 – May 16, 2010. 

Next step – finding a weekend that works well for me and my budget.  Airfare is the first thing I searched for, using the online travel agency Travelocity.com.  I picked 2-3 weekends within the festival timeframe, that worked well for my personal schedule (given work responsibilities and meetings, and other family commitments).  I also wanted to get non-stop airfare.  So armed with these parameters, I shopped until I found an airfare that was reasonable – which ended up being the first weekend in April.

Ironically – the first weekend in April is Easter weekend!  YARGH!  The means more peak season crowds than I like, but hey – I have strategies for dealing with that as well.  Plus, I’ll be able to pick up a limited edition Easter holiday trading pin for our collection.

In my next posting, I’ll talk about making Advanced Dining Reservations, and how I plan my days.

Rachel

Ray and I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has subscribed to the podcast for support us in this new endeavor.  We also appreciate everyone who has taken the time to post comments on our website and add their reviews to iTunes and other subscription services.

We are so excited about this podcast, and sharing our love of Disney with all of you.  And we really look forward interacting with you on the website.

Thanks again!

Rachel and Ray

This week we discuss travel to Disney Parks during value season. Travelling during value season can be a great way to save money and beat the crowds, but there are some things to think about – like pulling your kids out of school. In Episode 2 we discuss the pros and cons of travelling during the value season.

Also, we introduce you to the EPCOT park at Walt Disney World, explore the Spaceship Earth attraction (can you say Dame Judi Dench??), and visit the Art of Disney Store.

Thank you for joining us! We would love your comments on this Episode, and feel free to share your experience if you have travelled to Disney during the off-season.

Contacting Mouse Travel Tips
Twitter: RayMTT
Facebook: Mouse Travel Tips
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Related Links from the internet

Mouse for Less Pages (homework pages and school excuse letter):

www.AllEars.Net Refurb and Closing

Walt Disney World Calendar

Disneyland Resort Calendar

If you are interested in the pros and cons of taking your kids out of school to visit Disney, you will want to listen to Episode 202 of the Be Our Guest Podcast. The hosts of the podcast share their experiences as parents and educators as they explore this topic.