Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize...

Good Afternoon! Today's "Picture of the Day" is serving as an inspiration for one of the Walt Disney World events who's (is 'who's' the correct word?) 2010 dates I am patiently waiting to be released. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! So fun. The Magic Kingdom park hosts this even select nights from mid-September through October.

The park will close at 7pm those nights for guests who don't have tickets to the party. It is a separately ticketed event, so your regular Magic Your Way ticket won't work for this. If you do have a ticket to the party (the tickets have the specific dates on them) and are already in the park, you may remain, you get a wristband. You get a wristband at the entrance if you have spent your day somewhere else and are arriving to the even at 7 or later.

The party goes from 7pm-midnight and during which most all of the regular attractions are open and then all the specialty stuff takes place as well! The park is decorated for Halloween, the have special Halloween fireworks show and my personal favorite--the Boo to You Parade. The characters are decked out in their Halloween costumes and come dancing down Main Street, USA with mummies and all the Halloween folk. The whole parade kicks off with the headless horseman galloping down Main Street holding his jack-o-lantern laughing his frightening laugh (but really, it is "not so scary"--its awesome!).

Bring your kids and yourselves as well all dressed up in your Halloween costumes and go trick-or-treating in The Magic Kingdom! You're given bags to hold your candy at the front entrance and there are specific spots throughout the park to get some yummy candy from Goofy's Candy Co.! Get a specialized park map as well that has all the candy spots!

The price for a ticket is of course different each year, but I think well worth it. My ideal day at Walt Disney World when I have a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party ticket that night? Sleep late, hang out at the resort or Downtown Disney maybe, pack a bag with the Halloween costumes in it, have a dining reservation in or around the park (a monorail restaurant is ideal), get changed there, and go! For example, in 2005 my sister and I (see picture) had a dining reservation at 5:30-ish at Tony's Town Square Restaurant (Italian food), we got dressed in a rest room at the park just before and by the time we finished it was about 6:45 already we were ready to party! This past year in 2009 we went to Ohana at The Polynesian Resort around 5 pm and then got the kids dressed after the meal, took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and were there by 7. I can't wait for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, its one of my favorite times of year!

Picture of the Day!

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. The year was 1995 and we gone to Florida State University to look around because it was the college I was going to attend the next year. So on our way back down to South Florida, how could we not stop for a day at the Magic Kingdom?? This picture is taken over in the rotunda area between Main Street, USA and Adventureland with my younger sister and brother. What makes me laugh is that afterwards when I saw this picture, I immediately thought of the picture that Marty McFly carried with him in Back to the Future (one of my favorite movies of all time). You know, the one where his siblings started to disappear. So I have given it its homage and named it "Back to the Future"...

"1.21 Jigawatts!!!!!"

Fairytales, Fireworks, and Fantastic Food (oh my!)

Good Morning!! My blog today is about a beautiful resort...The Yacht Club Resort. I have to admit I am biased; I got married there. It was B-E-A-UTIFUL!! Of course the weather had something to do with it and you can never count on it, but the heavens were smiling down on us that day and it only started drizzling just after the outdoor ceremony in the gazebo at the resort was over. :) So now about the resort....

Four words: BEST POOL ON PROPERTY. By far, no contest. Its like a mini-water park. A huge slide that begins at a pirate ship and ends in the pool. And the bottom of the pool?? Sand! A special sand shipped in from Mexico (I'm pretty sure) that doesn't stick to you as you come out of the pool! What will they think of next??? There is a kiddie area, a deep end, people just wading, swimming, sun bathing, a pool bar, and it is shared with the Yacht Club's sister resort, the Beach Club. You can't stay somewhere else and use this pool. Each guest has to show their room key that they are staying at the Yacht or Beach Club and gets a wristband upon entering.

The restaurants at this resort are great. One of my favorite's on property, The Yachtsman Steakhouse is located at the Yacht Club Resort. The steaks there are phenomenal and hand cut, you can watch the butcher through a window in the waiting area. If you're on the dining plan, this restaurant takes 2 table service meals, and it does have a dress code of business casual which means no bathing suits, flip flops or cut off shirts or shorts.

The Yacht Club is a deluxe resort (if you haven't figured that out already), there are suites, with marble-floored entrances and double doors. And the regular rooms are anything but regular. Two queen sized beds, refrigerators, bathrooms, vanities with double sinks, room service, balconies or patios, and all the amenities. This is also one of the resorts that when you book your room, part of your price will be decided upon what type of view you choose. garden, water, or pool, some rooms you can go on your balcony and see the fireworks from EPCOT! Side note: those rooms as you can imagine are in high demand and there are a limited number so request it straight off if that's something you want....we can figure out which rooms they are!)

It is located on Bay Lake and within walking distance to the International Gateway (back entrance) of EPCOT. You can take a boat to EPCOT or The Disney Hollywood Studios, and a bus to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, or anywhere else on property.

Any questions? Ask away....I'm feeling very "informational" today (and everyday!) Enjoy!

Picture of the Day!

Mickey Waffles! Yum! This photo was taken at The Beach Club's character breakfast at The Cape May Cafe but you can get them at several restaurants on Disney property!

To discount or not to discount...that is the question!

Good Morning! This subject has come up in my work a couple of times this week, so I thought I'd blog about it. Florida Residents, one would think they have it so easy, right? Discounts on rooms? Discounts on tickets? Man, I wish I was a Florida Resident! Well, its not all its cracked up to be. As a former resident of Florida (believe me, I sooo miss it), there is a constant decision to be made if you're wanting to go on a Walt Disney World vacation for more than say, the weekend.
Yes, they do get discounts on the rooms. But there are a certain number of rooms allotted to Florida resident discounts per hotel, so they have to jump on them fast. What I'm saying is, spur of the moment trips are do-able, but sometimes not. Yes, they do get discounts on the tickets. Each adult must show their valid Florida Resident ID when picking them up. If they order them over the phone or internet then they get a voucher in the mail to exchange for a ticket when they show their ID. Disney doesn't play with this. The discount of the rooms and tickets you ask? About 10%.
Now, thats a good discount if you're going over night or for the weekend. Or if you're buying a Florida resident annual pass or something like that. But if you want to spend a week, there is something to debate: the dining plan. The dining plan saves you about 30% off the cost of regular meals. Its a lot of food. The way the dining plan works though is you add it on to the cost of your non-discounted package. So, can Florida Residents buy their discounted room, and then discounted tickets separately and get the dining plan? No. So, what to do? Decide whether the dining plan is going to be something that your family (or party) will get their moneys worth on. Is it too much food for us? Do we care about the character meals enough to want to do one more than once? Do we want to go to a nicer-type restaurant? Or is a quick service location where you would eat normally? I told ya, decisions, decisions.
Granted, it must be nice not to have to worry about flights and get in the car no matter hour many hours the drive is and be at Walt Disney World. Who am I kidding? I remember what it was like and it WAS nice. There are perks to be a Florida Resident besides the sunshine and Walt Disney World would definitely be up there on my list as a perk too!!

I'm Going to Undo and Redo!!

Good Afternoon~!!

It has occured to me that I might be going about this blog all wrong. But if at first you don't succeed..... :)! So, in the good nature of the "try try again" I am re-vamping the blog. My intentions are still the same. But I think that people respond to visual media as well as written text. My intention of the blog remains the same. I would love for people to be asking me questions for their Walt Disney World vacations. I am trying to be a busy little bee typing away and answering as many as I can. I have also joined the DisBoards at www.disboards.com so if you would like to ask me a question on that site you can look me up as username: "loves2cr8magic". You could spend HOURS on that site (as I often find myself doing late at night) :) So I will be posting pictures more from now on along with stories of Disney World past and hope that this encourages people to trust me to take care of their Walt Disney World vacations!! Until tomorrow... :)

How 'bout a nice big slice of Alligator Pie??

Good Morning!! In celebration of everything New Orleans I'm blogging today about Port Orleans Resort French Quarter. Let's see, how many references can I make so that you won't think you had fun. I can't imagine that they didn't have some kind of celebration in the lobby (although I don't know for sure) when the Saints won the Superbowl this week. Even though you are reading this from a die-hard Colts fan, I was glad to see the Saints do something great for their city. Even my favorite music artist, Dave Matthews Band (which I have mentioned before and will most likely mention again) has a track about New Orleans on their newest album called Alligator Pie! Mardi Gras is coming up, and that's the theme of this resort that is inspired by the French Quarter in New Orleans.

It is the sister resort of Port Orleans Riverside, you can take a relaxing, scenic stroll to and from them. French Quarter has replicas of the intricate iron-work railings and is reminiscent of the grander days before the hurricane that devastated the city that has been rebuilt since 2005. I have mentioned before that I got married at the Walt Disney World Resort, but hadn't mentioned that we did go to New Orleans for our honeymoon. Just thought I'd throw that in there! :)

French Quarter is in the moderate resort category so you're going to find those types of amenities such as the two double beds, double sinks, bathroom, TV, etc. The pool their is very memorable for children, it has a Mardi Gras theme as well with a jester leading you into the pool area and King Neptune riding a huge snake-like dragon that is the slide as you fly down into the main pool out of the dragon's mouth by his tongue! The recreation there also consists of carriage rides and boat rental, along with a hiking trail, etc. I didn't mention in the last blog that the sit down dining option at this resort is only at Riverside, so if you do decide to dine at Boatwright's Dining Hall (which I highly recommend) then you would have to walk next door. But they do each have their own quick service location and at both of them you can get pizza delivered to your room!

Down by the Bayou....

Good afternoon everyone! I hope this blog find you spectacular! Today is all about Port Orleans Riverside. Ahhhh, drifting peacefully down a lazy river in an inner tube. Can you picture it? That is one of the perks of the pool at the Riverside Resort. When you're at this resort you are transported back to a simpler time, a time or Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in the deep south. Steamboats and rafts and good home cookin'.

There are other recreation activities at this resort too! You can go fishing! Fishing! Yes, there are other places to fish on property, but I think that this is an amazing perk for the husbands and daddy's who take vacation from work to go with their families. I mean, its their vacation too, right? OK dear, you take the kids to the pool this morning, I'm going fishing. Yes, its a catch and release policy, but you'd be surprised how many guests partake in this form of recreation. Who would've thought, fishing at Disney World? And at your own resort no less?!

There is something different about the rooms at the Riverside resort and that is that you can have FIVE people stay in one room there for a "moderate" price! (angels sing!!!) You can have the option at this resort to have a pull out trundle bed along with your two double beds. Its designed for a child of around 8-12 years old, but it is a fantastic option to have. I will be blogging about parties of five soon and what the options are for them. Just wanted you to keep this in mind. ;)

There is another form of recreation that's only available at two other resorts besides Riverside and that's horse drawn carriage rides! One flat fee for a relaxing carriage ride complete with driver and real horse. LOL. There are bike rentals, and a jogging/walking course, a playground, and the merchandise location is so adorable with its "general store" theme. I love the ambiance of this resort.

Questions, Comments, Concerns??

I just wanted to throw it out there to all of you in "blog-land" that there are still about twenty days left on the poll, and also, if there are any future WDW-goers that have questions, please ask!! That was my initial point of the blog; to be able to answer questions on a more personal level and I don't want to loose sight of that. I know that these things take time so I was just sending out a reminder!
Thanks for reading! Jenn

Bay Lake Tower pics

So we have some pictures of one of the rooms at the Contemporary's new Bay Lake Tower in a Studio room along with the view from this specific room!! Looks "Magical"!!

Looking for some "alone time"?

Good Morning! Today I am blogging about Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. Can we say "romantic vacation at an affordable price"? There is no particular reason, but it seems like this is not one of the first picks so to say for the families. Maybe its the southwestern theming, who knows. But that doesn't take away from the Disney service that you'll receive at this resort. I always recommend it to couples who are looking to visit at a great price that want a little R & R, visit the parks, and also hang out at the resorts as well!

The pool there is fantastic! It's pretty big, with a water slide, but I think the best part is the location, Its surrounded by foliage and has a huge jacuzzi spa and pool bar. Hmmmm.....jacuzzi spa + pool bar + margaritas = GREAT TIME! What more could you ask for on vacation?? It really is a beautiful resort. There is also a great restaurant there called the Maya Grill that has southwestern-inspired flair to the food. It is considered an "Animal Kingdom Resort" and there are also meeting facilities at this resort, so it is one where you might find a lot of business people on conventions which probably adds to the feel that there are more adults than kids.