Try a Different Disney Vacation...Try an Adventure by Disney

Our Insider’s Guide to Disney World ebook is focused on Disney World vacations. However, when we hear about a discount that saves guests thousands of dollars we really can’t pass it by. Disney has been offering tours in the United States and abroad for several years with the tour company called Adventures by Disney. These tours are amazing tours that only Disney can offer! This summer, instead of taking a Disney World or Cruise vacation try an Adventures by Disney Vacation to Spain, United States, or Tuscany. It is a once in a lifetime trip with your family!

This summer, Adventures by Disney is offering select dates at huge discounts. The tours called Grande Espana, Backstage Magic, Imperial Cities, Path to Pura Vida, Spirit of America, and Taste of Tuscany are available at savings from $425-$600 per person! A family of 4 could save $2,400 on this amazing summer adventure! You do have to book soon. This discount is only available for booking until May 31, 2008. Click here to visit one of our partner travel companies for more details.

Sea World Orlando Tickets - Extra Day Free

Save money on your 1-Day Pass to Sea World Orlando, plus for a limited time get a 2nd day FREE. This special promotion is through one of our ticket partners, Official Ticket Center. That gives you one more day to visit Shamu, one more day to touch dolphins, one more day to ride Kraken! You do have to pre-order your tickets before you leave for your Orlando vacation. You can pick up your tickets at the Official Ticket Center Office or even have them delivered to your hotels (for a nominal fee). Click here for more details about these discount Sea World tickets.

Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios

The popular Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been extended to include every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the whole month of June. This special event is giving guests more opportunities to visit with their favorite Characters from the popular movie series. Disney recently announced the guests that will be making an appearance during Star Wars Weekends. These guests are subject to change, but here is the current list:

June 6-8
Jeremy Bulloch is Boba Fett and Daniel Logan is Young Boba Fett

June 13-15
Peter Mayhew is Chewbacca and David Prowse is Darth Vader

June 20-22
Amy Allen is Aayla Secura and Matthew Wood is General Grievous

June 27-29
Dave Filoni is a Star Wars Director

Summer Treasure Hunt at Gaylord Palms in Orlando

For all of those pirate fans out there, you may want to stay at Gaylord Palms Hotel during your Disney World vacation. This hotel is located right outside the gates of the Walt Disney World Resort and offers some great hotel amenities for the whole family. This summer they are hosting the 2nd Annual Pirate Treasure Hunt with a $10,000 booty! Pack your pirate attire and get ready for a Treasure Hunt of a lifetime. Younger pirates have their own treasure hunt called the Little Pirates Treasure. It is a fun adventure for the whole family.

Gaylord Palms is offering discount prices this Spring and Summer, just in time for this Pirate Treasure Hunt. Click here for more details about the Treasure Hunt and discount hotel prices for a summer vacation to Orlando, Florida.

Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Orlando Opening Soon

The Grand Opening date for the new Simpson Ride at Universal Studios has been set. The Grand Opening festivities will be held on May 15-16. There will probably be a soft opening prior to this date. If you are visiting Universal Studios in May, stop by the Simpsons Ride to see if they are allowing guests to test out this new attraction.

Airlines Charging Additional Fees for Baggage

Some of the airlines have started charging extra fees for customers having more than one checked bag. United Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Northwest were some of the first companies to charge this extra fee of $25 for customers with more than one bag. This extra fee adds up quickly with a family of 4. AirTran just recently announced they will be adding a $10 fee for customers with more than one bag. This is a little better than the $25 fee, but still extra charges after paying for expensive airline tickets. The airline companies are trying to come up with more creative ways to add additional fees to help with the rising fuel prices. If you are using one of these airlines for your trip to Orlando, you may want to double check for additional costs for bags, before packing for your trip.

Save Extra Money on a Disney World Package

Disney is offering lots of great discount packages for April/May and August/September. We are about to offer a way to save even more money on your Disney World vacation! One of our travel partners is offering an additional discount for our Insider’s Guide to Disney readers. This discount is good for any vacation dates from today until December 31, 2008 on the Magic Your Way Packages. Save from $50-200 off your package, just for our readers!

You can use this extra discount on any Magic Your Way Package, including a discount package like the Free Dining Packages. Check our the Insider’s Guide to Disney World Ebook in the Members Only Section for more details about this brand new savings, just for our readers.

Disney Dining Plan Food & Facts

The free Dining Plan at Walt Disney World has turned into one of the most popular discount packages at Disney World. Today was the first day to book this discount package and the phone lines were busy at Disney! This package is popular because it is an excellent savings on meals at Disney World. Everyone likes free food, right? In this blog, I wanted to write a little bit about the food and facts of the Disney Dining Plan to make sure this package is right for your family.
The Dining Plan includes (1) sit down meals, (1) counter service meal and (1) snack per person that you can use anytime during your vacation. The sit down meal and counter service meal includes an entree, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage. The snack includes ice cream, popcorn, fruit, water soda, etc.

Some facts to know about the Dining Plan. Fact #1: The sit down meal does not include gratuity, so plan on paying for tips after your meals. This is not covered under the Dining Plan and many people do not realize this is not included.

Fact #2: The sit down meals no longer includes an appetizer. In the past years, the Dining Plan included an appetizer (per person) with the sit down meals. For this year, the Dining Plan no longer includes the appetizer. Even without the appetizer, the sit down meal is still quite alot of food.

Fact #3: During your vacation, be sure to use all of your meals. We have heard lots of stories (from past guests) about forgetting to use all of their meals. If you are not using all of your meals and snacks, you are just losing money. Be sure to keep track of your meals. An easy way to do this is to pre-book all of your sit down meals. You can also plan an itinerary. In your itinerary, you can include your counter service restaurants, too.

If you have any questions about how many meals or snacks you have left, be sure you check. You have several ways to learn how many meals and snacks are left on your Dining Plan. After you finish a meal, your receipt will tell you have many meals are left on your Dining Plan. You can also ask a Cast Member at the front desk of your resort.

Fact #4: You have your Dining Plan booked for your Disney World vacation, so start making your sit down restaurant reservations. More people are enjoying sit down restaurants because of the Disney Dining Plan. To make sure you get your favorite restaurants, book your reservations immediately. If you need help, contact our friends at MouseDine. All they book is Disney Restaurant Reservations. For one low price, they give you suggestions of the best restaurants for your family and then book all of your restaurant reservations. This is a good discount if you are an International Guest. This will save you hundreds of dollars on International phone calls.

The Disney Dining Plan is a great way to save money and have a stress free Disney World vacation. You now have all of the facts about the Disney Dining Plan!

Disney Free Dining Promotion

We just heard a rumor from our travel partner, Destinations in Florida, that Disney World is going to bring back it’s FREE dining promotion for August and September of this year! Yeah! We know this is a very popular promotion that everyone looks forward to each year. The details are still a bit sketchy, but it sounds like it will be announced early next week to begin booking late in the week. We were told the dates would be August 23-September 22, 2008. This is a fantastic promotion that books VERY fast every year, so keep checking back for more updates and please, use our travel partner for booking your vacation!

Disneyland's Mickey Penthouse Suite

An agent with our travel partner, DestinationsinFlorida.com, had the good fortune of winning a night in Mickey’s Penthouse Suite at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California. This week, we are going to get a video and photo tour of the suite! This suite is losing some of the luster it once had, due to the new edition of the Dream Suite in the Disneyland park, above the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. However, this suite is absolutely unbelievable in it’s own right and has unbeatable views of the entire Disneyland complex and amazing theming. Although our normal focus is the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, this was an opportunity we could not pass up and we know all Disney fans would enjoy a tour of this unique room.
Click here to view a short video tour of the guest bathroom, with a lot more to come later this week! We hope you enjoy the tours!