Disney World Discounts for 2009

For the first time since 2003, Disney announced last week that they would be offering a major resort discount for the early part of 2009. They cited the slow economy for the discounts and this could mean significant savings to guests! Disney President and CEO, Bob Iger said bookings for the early part of 2009 are down significantly, though he steered clear of saying this was due to people not actually going on a Disney vacation, rather stating that guests may just be holding off on vacation planning, this year.

The discount provides guests with a seven night Disney World vacation for the price of four nights. This applies to any vacation booked for the first six months of 2009. Additionally, if you book a trip for the first three months of 2009, you will also receive a voucher for $200 towards food and souvenirs. Both discount packages must be booked prior to December 20th to receive the discount and/or voucher. These are amazing deals and rare, too, so take advantage of the economic downturn and save a ton of money on a Disney vacation! Contact our travel partner, Destinations In Florida, for more information and to book your 2009 Disney World vacation.

Save Money on a Disney Character Dining Experience

Disney offers an amazing opportunity to meet your favorite Disney Characters during a Walt Disney World vacation. This opportunity is called a Character Dining Experience. There are several restaurants at the Disney Theme Parks and Disney World Resorts that offer Character Dining. These are great ways to spend time with your favorite Disney Characters from Mickey Mouse to Cinderella. Each restaurant features several favorite Disney Characters in one restaurant. You enjoy quality time with your favorite Characters as they stop by your table to sign autographs and take pictures with your family. The Character Dining Experiences are a little more expensive than a typical sit down meal. There are several ways to still save money on a Character Dining Experience.

An easy way to save money is plan on enjoying a breakfast instead of a lunch or dinner with the Characters. The breakfast experience is the same except you will enjoy breakfast menu instead of a lunch or dinner menu. A Character Breakfast is about $9-11 less per person than a Character Dinner. This is an easy way to save a little money on Character Dining.

Another way to save some money is planning a later breakfast. Many of the restaurants offer an all-you-can-eat buffet. If you plan a later breakfast, you can combine breakfast and lunch and then have a light snack later in the day. Since you can eat as much as you want, most guests that have a late breakfast are full the rest of the day.

If you have little Princesses that want to eat with Cinderella, plan a dinner for 1900 Park Fare at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort instead of Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom Park. Since 1900 Park Fare is a newer Character Dining Experience, many guests are not familiar with this restaurant. This restaurant features an all-you-can-eat buffet with Cinderella and her Royal Family. Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom is much more expensive than 1900 Park Fare. If you are not on the Dining Plan, plan your dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare instead of Cinderella's Royal Table. If you are on the Disney Dining Plan, it requires (2) sit down meals instead of just (1) sit down meal at 1900 Park Fare. You would get an extra meal by eating at 1900 Park Fare instead of Cinderella's Royal Table.

If you booked the Disney Dining Plan, enjoy your Character Dining in the evening for dinner. For you, the better value is using your sit down meal for dinner. Since dinner is more expensive, you will get more value with your Dining Plan for this meal.

The Character Dining Experiences are memories that will last a lifetime for your family and friends. This is a great way to mingle with your favorite Disney Characters without the crowds of the parks. You can enjoy these meals, but still save a little money if you pre-plan your vacation. We always suggest booking your restaurant reservations, before leaving for your Disney World vacation. For more guidance, contact MouseDine to plan your restaurant reservations.

Stay at a Nicer Disney Resort for Just a Few Dollars More

This summer, you can stay at a Disney Deluxe Resort for about the same price as a Disney Moderate Resort. Disney is offering a discount promotion this May 26-June 7 on room only reservations at the Disney Deluxe Villas. The Disney Deluxe Villas including Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort, Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's Boardwalk Villas Resort, Disney's Beach Club Villas Resort and The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort.

For just $15 more per night, you can upgrade to a nicer Disney Resort with better in-room and resort amenities. One of the popular features of the Disney Deluxe Resorts is the bedding. The Deluxe Resorts have Queen Beds instead of Double Beds, to make your vacation experience more comfortable. The rooms at the Disney Deluxe Villas also have microwaves and mini-refrigerators in every room. The 1-Bedroom and 2-Bedroom Villas even have a fully equipped kitchen and washer/dryer. The prices for this promotion start from $204 per night plus tax in a Deluxe Studio.

As an added bonus, book with Destinations in Florida Travel for 5 nights or more and receive a $50 Disney Gift Card to use during your vacation on fun stuff like recreation, meals, or merchandise. Click here for more details about this promotion.

Visit our ebook for more details about this discount and other ways to save money on a Disney World vacation.

Boat Rentals at the Walt Disney World Resort

The Walt Disney World Resort has so much more than just the Disney Theme Parks and Waterparks. This ultimate vacation destination also has top recreational activities including boat rentals. The Disney Moderate Resorts and some of the Disney Deluxe Resorts have marinas. At the marinas you can rent Sea Raycers, pontoons, fishing charters, and even yachts. The most popular boats are the Sea Raycers. These mini boats only seat two people and are perfect for kids of all ages. These boats do not go very fast but are fun to cruise around the lakes. Kids love these boats!

If you want to involve the whole family, rent a pontoon boats or book a fishing excursion. BASS is based in Orlando, so you can book a fishing excursion from the best. This catch and release program is popular for kids and adults. Disney's Marinas offer boats for every family vacation.
You can also save a little money on a Sea Raycer boat rental. If you book a Magic Your Way Package, you will get a coupon for 30 minutes free when you purchase 60 minutes. Check with Disney or your travel agent for more details about this free coupon.

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.

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!

April-May Discounts on Disney World Packages

Disney World released a new discount for room only reservations and Magic Your Way Packages for vacations this Spring. These discounts will save you extra money on your vacation, if you are visiting from April 20-May 21. Check out the Insider’s Guide to Disney World for more details on this discount promotion.