Preschoolers at Disney World

Disney World has so many activities for the whole family to enjoy. Many people debate about what age is the perfect age to come to Disney World. We laugh because any age is the perfect age to come to Disney World. There are activities for kids of all ages. The tough part is figuring out what is the best for your family. The team that wrote the Insider’s Guide to Disney, also wrote mini guides to Disney World for teens, kids, seniors, and even preschoolers. These are good quick read guides to a Disney World vacation for specific families.

We are going to spotlight one of the e-guides in this blog, called the Preschooler Guide to Disney World. This is one of our favorite e-guides because so many people think that children (1-5) are not a good age at Disney World. This is actually the perfect age for a Disney World vacation! Disney offers so many activities for preschoolers at the Disney Theme Park and Disney Resorts, you just need to know where to look.

With Disney vacations, we are always concerned with cost. We know planning a trip to Disney is quite an expense. Bringing your kids before they turn 3 is a great way to avoid some higher costs, like tickets. Children under 3 at Disney World are free at the Disney Theme Parks. Children under 3 are also free at the Disney Restaurants. You can enjoy a Character Breakfast with the Winnie the Pooh Characters and the 2 year old is free. Coming to Disney World with preschoolers is a great way to enjoy a Disney vacation and save money.

The Preschoolers Guide to Disney focuses on the best of the best at Disney World for families with preschoolers. This e-guide talks about Disney Resorts, Disney Theme Parks, Disney Restaurants and much more. Check out the Preschoolers Guide to Disney for more information.

Star Wars Weekends at Disney World

The dates are set for the very popular Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You will have more time to enjoy this special event during the month of June. Star Wars Weekends will be held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from June 6-29. More time to dress up and meet your favorite Star Wars heros and villians. More time to ride Star Tours. More time to learn how to become a Jedi Warrior and fight against the dark side. It is a fun special event for the whole family!

Get More Value at the Disney Theme Parks - Go During a Special Event

The Disney Theme Parks are always exciting and fun, but why not attend during a special event. The special events are included in the Theme Park admission, except for a few after hours events. You can play on the normal rides and attractions, but why not plan your trip around a special event. Some of the popular events that are included in Theme Park admission are Star Wars Weekends, ABC Super Soaps Weekend, Flower & Garden Festival, and Food & Wine Festival. You can plan a trip around one of your favorite hobbies. It is an easy way to get more value during your Disney World vacation.

Magical Express Services at Disney World - Save Money

Another reason to stay at a Disney Resort is the free Magical Express shuttle services. We already know that the Magical Express services will save you time on your Disney World vacation, but it will also save you money. Most of the hotels around Orlando do not have free shuttle transfers from the airport to the hotel, except for the hotels right at the Orlando International Airport. The hotels around Disney World and Universal Studios do not offer free shuttle services. You will have to pay for a shuttle which is around $32 per adult roundtrip and $24 per child roundtrip.

Disney World offers the shuttle service for FREE. Another nice freebie with the Magical Express transfers is that you do not have to pay any tolls. From the Orlando International Airport, you do take some main toll roads to get to Disney World and Universal Studios. Not only are you saving money with the free shuttles, but you are also saving money on the tolls. Not a bad service for staying at a Disney World Resort!

Save Time with Magical Express Services at Disney World

Disney World Resort guests have enjoyed the free Magical Express transfers and baggage handling services for over 3 years. If you are flying into the Orlando International Airport, this amazing service will save you time during your Disney World vacation. The greatest timesaver is with the baggage handling service. This free service will save you time and stress during your vacation. Disney will personally handle your luggage for your vacation.

Once you arrive to the Orlando International Airport, you will go right to the Magical Express Check In Desk. While you are checking in for your shuttle transfers, Disney is busy picking up your luggage from Baggage Claim. It just calms me to think that I do not have to wait and stress over my luggage at Baggage Claim! This is already an amazing service.

The other positive feature of this baggage handling service is the luggage delivery. You will take the shuttle to your Disney Resort. You can go ahead and check in and then go play at the Theme Parks or enjoy the resort amenities. You luggage will magically appear in your room about 2-3 hours after you check in. Just like Disney, Magic! Check in for most of the Disney Resorts is 3 PM. The Disney Deluxe Villas have check in at 4 PM.

The Magical Express Baggage Handling is a great service that will save you time during your Disney World vacation.

Discounts at Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin

Right in the middle of the Walt Disney World Resort, lies a non-Disney Hotel called the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin. The Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Hotel is not owned and operated by Disney World, but this hotel is located right in the middle of the Walt Disney World Resort. You are walking distance to Epcot to some of the Disney Resorts including Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort and Disney’s Boardwalk Inn Resort. You are also a quick watertaxi ride away from Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

It is a Deluxe Hotel in the middle of Disney. Since this is a non-Disney Hotel, you can get some great discounts at this resort that you cannot get at the Disney Resorts or even Downtown Disney Hotels. The Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin offers discounts for teachers, nurses, Florida Residents, and active military. The teacher and nurses discounts are unusual for Central Florida Hotels and are a great ways to save some money if you are certified as one of these professionals. For more information about these discounts and availability, call the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin at 888-828-8850.

Magical Moments at Disney World

As regular Disney Theme Park visitors and Theme Park employees, we see the “magical moments” that Disney Cast Members make for guests everyday. Many of these magical moments are through the empowerment of Disney Cast Members to just do that little extra that will make the guests happy. When you are on your Disney World vacation, watch for that extra that a Cast Member does for you. It may be something as small as replacing an ice cream that fell to the ground or a Cast Member giving your child a Mickey Mouse sticker to keep them happy. These Magical Moments happen everyday. Watch for them! These moments are what makes the Walt Disney World Resort one of the Happiest Places on Earth!

Disney Resort In Room Amenities

One of the most common questions we get asked is, “Do I need to pack our hair dryer?” We decided to write a blog about the in-room amenities to help with the packing lists for a Disney World vacation. All of the Disney Resorts have hair dryers in the rooms. Besides a hair dryer, all of the Disney Resorts also have in-room safes, iron/ironing boards, and shampoo/conditioner/soap products. For coffee/tea makers, you will need to stay in a Disney Moderate or Disney Deluxe Resort. The Disney Value Resorts do not have coffee/tea makers. If you do need your coffee fix, the Value Resorts do have a Food Court with lots of beverage options. If you have infants, you can also request a pack and play crib or bedrails for your room. The pack and play and bedrails are free.

Gaylord Palms Kissimmee Disney Discounts

Some hotels are still offering some great deals during Spring Break. Right down the road from Disney World is Gaylord Palms Hotel. This hotel is offering some discount prices from $159 per night plus tax in a Florida View Room. There are several dates in March and April at this discount price including March 2, 5, 6, 9, 13, 16, 23, 24, 27 and April 6, 10-12, and 28-30. This price does not include the daily resort fee of $15 or parking fees. You can only book this rate online. Visit Gaylord Palms website for more details.

Orlando Kids Eat Free Card

We always love good deals and this one is a great deal! The Official Ticket Center in Orlando is offering a discount meal card called the Kids Eat Free Card. This card is available for $15 per child (ages 11 and under). With this card, you can enjoy free meals at over 40 Orlando area restaurants. A child gets a free meal with every paid adult. There are over 40 restaurants in Orlando and Disney area that are currently part of this Kids Eat Free Program. Some of the popular restaurants include McDonalds, Raglan Road (at Downtown Disney), TGI Fridays, Dixie Crossroads and many more. With every paid adult, you can show this card and get the child’s meal for free.

If you have two kids and two adults, you will need to purchase (2) Kids Eat Free Cards (one for each child). This promotion can really add up to huge meal savings for an Orlando vacation. Click here for more information on the Kids Eat Free Card through the Official Ticket Center.

Sea World Bud & BBQ Event

Sea World will host the popular Bud & BBQ event this year on February 16-March 9 with great food and some of the top country musicians. The musicians feature Trisha Yearwood and Lori McKenna on February 16, Creedance Clearwater Revisited on February 23, Craig Morgan & Pat Green on March 1, and Joe Nichols & Jason Michael Carroll on March 8. The concerts begin at 4 PM. Sea World is also featuring some taste tempting BBQ all inspired by Anheiser Busch beers. Some of the BBQ entrees include Budweiser Port Rib, Bud Light Chili Pepper Baby Back Ribs, and Pulled Chicken with Amber Bock Sauce.

This special event is included with your paid admission into Sea World Orlando. For extra savings, pre-order your tickets from the Official Ticket Center and get a 2nd day free! Click here for details.

Last Minute Disney World Vacations

If you are planning a last minute Spring Break trip to Walt Disney World, you may have trouble finding room accommodations or prices to fit your budget. Some weeks in March and April are already sold out. If you are really trying to stick to a budget, you may want to consider a trip to Disneyland instead of Disney World. Disneyland and Disney World has separate busy seasons. While Spring Break is very very busy at Disney World, it is not quite as busy at Disneyland. In price comparisons, Disneyland also offers less expensive packages. If you are unable to get a great deal for Spring Break at Disney World, try a Disneyland vacation.

Valentine's Day Flowers at Disney World

Disney has their own florist, but the prices can be quite expensive even for a little bouquet. There are plenty of off site florists that will deliver flowers to your Disney Resort for alot less money. Here are some companies that you can contact to order flowers for Valentine’s Day at the Walt Disney World Resort.

1800 Flowers
FTD
Just Flowers

Educational Activities at Disney World

When deciding the dates for a Disney World vacation, most families work around the typical school schedule and pick Spring Break, summer or Winter Break. Most parents do not like to pull the kids out of school, but you may want to talk with your child’s teacher before setting your dates for your Disney vacation. You may be able to pull the kids out of school and visit during an off season, so you can avoid the crowds and save some money.

Disney World has quite a few learning opportunities for younger kids. There are two Theme Parks are are devoted to learning! If you bring this to the attention of your child’s teachers, they may be willing to work with you to create some educational activities to work on during your Disney World vacation. This may help your child learn and your teacher feel more comfortable about them missing school, because they are still learning.

Disney offers two parks that are very educational including Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Epcot. Both parks have lots of educational features including zoology at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park and science, foreign language skills, and geography at Epcot. Many schools in Florida have field trips to Epcot, since it is a great learning experience. You can turn even a fun Disney World vacation into an educational experience that will make your child’s teacher happy and you happy!

Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot

Imagine a 14 foot topiary Goofy riding a 6 foot flower wave or Mickey and Minnie relaxing on a beach surrounded by palm trees and sandcastles. This is a sneak peek into this years Flower & Garden Festival held yearly at Epcot. This years event proves to be one of the best years with even more flowers, plants, and topiaries across Epcot. There will be over 30 million blooms across the Epcot Theme Park!

Besides the beautiful flowers and planets, you can enjoy special playgrounds throughout World Showcase for the kids and even a nightly concert series called Flower Power. You will hear some top musicians from the 60’s and 70’s including Davy Jones, Jose Feliciano, Petula Clark, Paul Revere and the Raiders. The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival is scheduled for March 19-June 1.

Save Money at Disney World - Eat a Happy Meal

The food at Disney World is more expensive than you would normally find in your local restaurants. An easy way to save some money is to have dinner at one of the area McDonalds. There are two full service McDonalds at Disney World in the Animal Kingdom Resort area near Disney’s All Star Resorts and at Downtown Disney Marketplace. Both locations have all of your favorite McDonald menu items from Big Macs to Happy Meals. Be prepared, even McDonalds is a little more expensive than your local McDees.

Disney Strollers - Rent or Bring my Own

If you have preschoolers, you will want to either rent or bring your own stroller for your trip to Disney World. You will do so much walking, even the older kids get tired of walking. The tough decision is whether to rent a stroller at the Disney Theme Parks or to you bring you own stroller from home. We say bring you own umbrella stroller. It will save you money on renting a stroller just for your trip. Single strollers run $18 per day. That adds up quickly! It will also save you time waiting in more lines. The stroller rentals are per day, so each morning you would have to wait in line to pick up another stroller for the day.

One other nice perk about bringing your own stroller is that it is easier to spot your stroller at the attractions. If you bring your own stroller, it is easier to spot your stroller among 50 strollers rather than the same blue rental stroller among 50 strollers. You will be amazed how much time you can waste trying to find your stroller after every attraction. Save the stress and money, bring your own umbrella stroller from home.

Disney World Tickets - Park Hopper Option

Tickets can be one of the toughest decisions when trying to plan a Disney World vacation. What kind of tickets do I need? Should I add the Park Hopper Option? We are going to talk about the Park Hopper Option in this blog to help you decide what the best tickets are for your family.
Let’s start with the basic ticket at Disney World. This ticket is just called a Magic Your Way Pass or a Base Ticket. This ticket allows you to visit one Disney Theme Park each day. The Disney Theme Parks are Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Disney-MGM Studios) and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. With the Base Ticket you can visit the same Disney Theme Park twice in one day. For example, you can go to Magic Kingdom in the morning, leave the park and then come back to Magic Kingdom in the evening. However, you can not visit more than one Disney Theme Park in the same day.

This is where the Park Hopper Option comes in handy. The Park Hopper Option allows you to visit more than one Disney Theme Park in the same day. You can go to Magic Kingdom in the morning and then hit Epcot for the evening for dinner and IllumiNations. Adding the Park Hopper Option gives you more flexibility during your Disney World vacation. You will have the option to visit resturants at other Disney Theme Parks for dinner or if the kids want to just hit Disney’s Hollywood Studios to ride Tower of Terror after a day at Magic Kingdom. You will have that option. It truly gives you the most flexibility during your vacation.

When you are thinking about your Disney World tickets, consider your budget and then what is the easiest and best ticket options for you and your family.

Kissimmee Hotel Deals

There are thousands of hotels that surround the Walt Disney World Resort. If you are not an Orlando local, it can be tough to decide where to stay with so many options. There are two cities that surround the Walt Disney World Resort including Lake Buena Vista and Kissimmee. Of these two cities, Kissimmee on average has lower prices on hotels than Lake Buena Vista.Most of the hotels in Kissimmee are older properties, but this does mean better prices. Even though this is an older hotel area, many of the hotels has been renovated. For example, Radisson Resort Orlando has an incredible renovation a few years back totally updating the rooms and main areas. With this huge renovation, you can still get rooms for $79 per night. Even with renovations, you can still get better rates than at a newer property. If you are trying to get the lowest price on your room outside of Disney World, Kissimmee will have some of the best hotel deals.

Since you are unable to actually see these hotels until you arrive, you do not want any surprises when you check in. We always suggest picking a Kissimmee hotel that is also a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel. This way, you know it is a Disney approved hotel and partner. The Disney Good Neighbor Hotels have strict guidelines to be part of this program, including offering scheduled shuttle service to the Disney Theme Parks.

Be sure to always ask questions and research the off site hotels, even in Kissimmee. You want to make sure you are picking a hotel that works for your whole family on your magical trip to Disney.

Save Money Like the Orlando Locals

An easy way to save money on an Orlando vacation is by thinking like the “locals!” When we want to save money, we buy the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper. The best papers are on Friday and Sunday. For just change, you can find coupons and deals on attractions, shopping and restaurants around Orlando. You can buy the paper in almost every hotel gift shop.
The Friday issue features the Calendar Section that highlights all of the entertainment around Orlando for the upcoming weekend and week. You can usually find some good deals on all things entertainment (restaurants and attractions) in this section. On Sunday, you can search the whole paper for restaurant and attraction coupons, plus lots of deals on shopping around Orlando.

Snorkel with Sharks at Disney World

Imagine snorkeling with tropical fish and sharks right at the Walt Disney World Resort! Guests do it everyday at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Waterpark. This waterpark has so many fun activities for the whole family, including the unique opportunity to learn how to snorkel at Shark Reef. You will have a brief snorkeling lesson and then have the opportunity to swim up close with tropical fish and baby sharks.

After your snorkeling experience, you can go around and try it again or you can walk down into a submarine aquarium. Inside the submarine aquarium and get another look at these beautiful fish and sharks. It is an amazing experience. Shark Reef (experience and snorkeling equipment) is included with your paid admission to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon.