To Add Or Not To Add...That Is The Question

Good Morning! Today's the day! Those phone lines are ringing I'm sure! I've previously blogged about today being the 180 days out to make dining reservations for Thanksgiving day at the restaurants at Walt Disney World. So even though 7 am has come and gone and maybe the rush is over at this point (8:04 am), that's not to say that every restaurant on property is sold out. As a matter of fact, I just checked availability at Chef Mickey's restaurant for dinner and the availability that came up was 3:40 pm. Yep, otherwise the next available time after that is 7:40. Everything in between is booked and the reservation line has been open for 1 hour and 8 minutes. I'm not kidding when I tell you I know what I'm talking about! :)

On a similar note, I know that I've been blogging a lot lately about dining and itinerary planning, and I wanted to let you, the reader, know that it's not because I'm some kind of "type A" control freak that needs everything done immediately. Far from it. Yes, one does need that trait to a certain point to be a travel agent, but when it comes to itinerary planning at Walt Disney World, I chalk it all up to the one simple reason of...WHY would you spend a lot of money on a vacation like Disney World and then not be able to do some of the things that you want to do?

Part of me is smiling on the inside because a colleague of mine called me yesterday to ask me a "Disney-related question" and after I gave her the answer, she said "I feel a blog entry coming on..." and here it is... ;)

The situation her clients have (she is a travel agent as well) happens all the time. They are a party of 7, and are going on their Walt Disney World vacation in 3 weeks. They have their dining reservations already booked, and recently found out that a close friend of the family who lives in Florida can join them for a day or two on the trip. But they didn't know which day. So they were asking should they change their dining reservations or leave them as is and just show up at the restaurants with the extra person?

The answer is obvious, but it is not cut and dry. Yes, you should call and add the extra person onto the dining reservations. If you don't know which day that person will be there, add him/her to all of them. It is no big deal from the restaurant point of view if one less person shows up. Meaning you have 8 booked and 7 check in. BUT if you have 7 booked, and they have you at a table for 7, and you show up with 8...then some rearranging needs to be done. Will they get it done? Yes. Will you be waiting in the restaurant lobby while they figure it out? Yes again. Then your possible 6:00 pm dinner reservations turns into you not getting seated until 6:20 or so at the least.

Some people would say, well that doesn't sound like a big deal at all. Some people don't envision waiting in the lobby of The Liberty Tree Tavern at The Magic Kingdom (which is small) for an extra 20-30 minutes with hungry, possible cranky toddlers, etc. Not to mention that I said you wouldn't be seated for about 20 minutes, that means you won't be eating until later than that. Did you have a reservation that just got you out in time for the parade? Or the fireworks? Do you really want to be rushing the dinner and thinking about where you have to be next or enjoying the meal on your vacation? Don't get me wrong, this may not happen at all...they may be able to seat you as a party of 8 right away, but why chance it?

If you call the reservation line and they can't fit a party of 8 in the restaurant that day there's no need to cancel the reservation. Either ask the person that's visiting "You know, out of all the days we're there, Monday would be the day that doesn't work for us to catch up"... OR show up at the restaurant with your party of 8 early. They ask you to get to your dining reservations 10-15 minutes prior to be seated on time. If you have this situation going on, give the cast members at that restaurant a little extra time to get situated. They will seat you, and the earlier you get there (20 minutes or so), the more likely you and your (new) party size will be seated close to your original dining time!

Keep in mind, there are exceptions to every rule...restaurants that you have to pre-pay; i.e. Cinderella's Royal Table, The Hoop de Doo Revue, etc. must have the correct guest count. If they can't fit that extra person in when you call, don't bother just showing up with them. Those restaurants/dinner shows don't work that way. Their table configurations are pre-planned for each show. Hope this was helpful today and happy planning! :)

The Breakfast of Champions!

Good Morning! What's your favorite meal of the day? Breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Could you have a t-bone steak at 8 am? Not me. I am a breakfast person all the way. I could eat scrambled eggs for dinner any day of the week. I get that from my grandpa who used to do the same. I love a good, hearty breakfast at anytime of day and my favorite breakfasts at the Walt Disney World Resort are the breakfast buffets!

We're not talking Shoney's here (sorry Shoney's people), we're talking piping hot food that's constantly fresh and delicious. And you can find most anything! Like for example at the biggest breakfast buffet on property, Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort, you can find anything that floats your boat from eggs, breakfast pizza, hash browns, a create-your-own omelet station, Mickey shaped waffles, fresh breads, bagels, lox, I could go on and on! So which are my favorite restaurants on property to grab the most important meal of the day?

Here's my top 5:

5. The Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast at Disney's Beach Club Resort. This is a character meal where Minnie, Donald, and Goofy usually show up and it's also a breakfast buffet. The food is very good and I've never had a bad experience with the service here. Quick tip: A lot of times I 've been there I've noticed that most guests go straight for the main buffet and miss the bread and cereal buffet that's kind of hidden away in the corner when you first come in. If you miss this as well, you'll be missing bagels, breads, lox, cream cheese, cereals if the kids want any and more!

4. The Whispering Canyon Cafe at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. No characters at this location but the servers are characters enough! They're trained to make your dining experience fun and exciting whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner that you're there for. Be there first thing in the morning to hear them ring the "Cooooooome and get it!" triangle. This restaurant is all you can eat, family style meaning they just keep coming with more and you don't have to get up. The food comes in a big skillet or you can also order off a menu. Just make sure you ask for ketchup!

3. Ohana's Best Friends Breakfast at Disney's Polynesian Resort. Great location if you're planning on spending the day at the Magic Kingdom. You can start your day at the park on a full stomach and already have some great pictures with Mickey, Lilo, and Stitch! This restaurant is also all you can eat family style, some of the menu items include pork sausage, eggs, bacon, and all the (Polynesian) fixings. There is also great music and the servers will periodically pull all the kids in the restaurant up for coconut races with hockey sticks and conga lines! Fun Fun Fun!

2. The Kona Cafe at Disney's Polynesian Resort. If you can't get a reservation at Ohana and the wait is too long for you as a walk up...the restaurant right next door, the Kona Cafe has a FANTASTIC breakfast and is one of my favorites on property. It's order off a menu and they're house specialty is called the Tonga Toast. A HUGE thick piece of French Toast with bananas and sugar all over it. It's sinfully delicious! Great "kona" coffee there too!

1. 1900 Park Fare at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. This is it my #1. And for good reason. I love the ambiance of The Grand Floridian and the restaurant itself, I love the food there....it's a breakfast buffet with a variety of staples and a create-your-own omelet station. And it also could be that some of my own personal favorite characters show up there for breakfast including Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, and the Winnie the Pooh characters! It's practically perfect in every way!

Under Down the Boardwalk...We'll Be Having Some Fun!!

Good Morning! I have a few pictures that I will posting in the next few entries that I have from behind people while they're walking around at Walt Disney World that I love...they're candid and I think capture a real moment that is what I would love to help anyone who wants to go have as well. This is on Disney's Boardwalk on the Yacht and Beach Club side in August of 2009. It was early in the evening after dinner going for a walk on the Boardwalk. Look around them...there's no one. Normally wouldn't you think in pictures like this you'd have strangers somewhere in the picture. That's what I think makes this one special.

I have previously blogged about the Free Dining deal that's available right now, what it entails and what you get for your money. But I thought that this was a nice visual of why it's available during these 10 weeks from August 15- October 2nd. It's August, it's central Florida, it's hot.

It doesn't bother me... but some people don't like the muggy humidity that happens there during the day in August. It usually rains for about an hour in the late afternoon and then you get what this picture shows, a nice , warm evening.

September is a beautiful month to go, it's not as humid as August but still hot and of course all of this is taking place during Florida's hurricane season which in 2010 runs from June 1- November 30th. I will get this question from clients every so often and what can you say? Mother Nature is the one person we have no control over.. not even Walt Disney World. The parks are open rain or shine, and there have been two hurricanes that hit central Florida where the parks were closed. The resort has specific hurricane policies in the even of a hurricane...

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/hurricane-policy/

What else can you do? No one has a crystal ball to forsee the weather and no one wants to get stuck in a hurricane. But my advice is don't let the possibility that it might happen prevent you from going on your trip. Purchase the travel insurance and that's it ( I will blog about the travel insurance in a different entry)... focus on the fun your trip is going to be!!

Don't Be Late, Late for A Very Important Date!

Good Morning! I have to admit, I am dragging today because I stayed up late to watch the series finale of LOST last night. I liked it and I didn't. I wasn't too fond of the ending but leading up to that did have its high points. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a LOST attraction at The Magic Kingdom in Adventureland? Or maybe in at the Disney Hollywood Studios they could have the set pieces of the plane wreckage? That would be something I and other LOST fans I'm sure would love to see!

And now back to my travel info for Walt Disney World... :)

Have you noticed on the calendar to the right of this blog that we are fast approaching the 180 day mark to book dining reservations for Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving this year is November 25, 2010 and believe it or not...on the 180th day out (which this year will be Saturday, May 29th) the phone lines will be packed for the dining line and I'm sure the internet will be spinning and spinning on the reservation page with the amount of people trying to book. It's gonna be busy.

Don't think this is necessarily because of the people who are going to be vacationing at the resort, but more so the Orlando residents who have made it their "Thanksgiving Tradition" to dine at Walt Disney World and play in the parks that day. They wait all year for the day the dining reservations are available and know to jump on them at 7:00 am when the phone lines open.

Most every restaurant on property will be serving some type of traditional Thanksgiving day fare, or serving a Thanksgiving feast with the restaurants "flair" to it. So you can definitely find turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. that day. But these of course are the restaurants that will book up first, and I can almost guarantee that the very popular ones probably won't be taking walk up that day or you may have to wait an hour or more. In the past few year, they have even been opening restaurants like Chef Mickeys for lunch that are normally not open during that dining period to accommodate as many people as possible.

So here is my advice to all of you who are planning to visit during that week and don't know where you'd like to eat or what you plan on doing. Book something. You can always cancel it or TRY and change it. It's not a good idea to wait on this one. Restaurants will be booked up for Thanksgiving day on May 29th. I don't mean to scare you or freak you out...but it's the reality. It's better to have something and try and change it if you change your mind and then cancel rather than wait and not be able to get anything at all. I know this message isn't going to reach everyone who isn't aware of the situation for Thanksgiving day, but if I can get it out to as many people who may be going as I can....it's all I can do. Don't wait!

It's Not Personal, It's Business..Wait, I Mean It's Not Business It's Personal....

I've recently had some seasoned bloggers look at my "newbie" blog to get their opinion on how I could help it and what I could do to improve it and they were SO helpful! Ladies, you know who you are and thank you. But one suggestion struck me and I really didn't know where to go with it. It was suggested that I focus on my content because it is unclear if this blog is personal or business and that I should focus more on the business aspect and only bring in a few personal details. Hmmmm... I understand where she is coming from, but I have to either disagree or find a happy medium with that. I think people who are first time goers to Walt Disney World and are perhaps looking to find a travel agent to help them in the planning of their trip might have more confidence in me because my blog is on more of a personal level.

If I were your travel agent and booking you a trip to Alaska, but have never been there myself, would you feel confident in booking with me? Especially when I would have to go back and find out answers to questions that could be simple? I mean, yea, I would hopefully know more about cruising itself, especially if you were a first time cruiser. :) Most questions you can ask me about the Walt Disney World Resort I can answer on the spot. Without calling the non-toll free number, without waiting on hold, and without getting a different person each time.

So I think that at the end of the day...this blog is going to have to be personable, not necessarily personal. But you'll get a lot of "me" in my business, and I really do want everyone I book to have a fantastic vacation. So please, ask me questions, that's what I'm here for!

"Leave the gun, take the canoli..." (I couldn't resist) :)

Lucky Number 5!

Good Evening! I know that this has been posted on the Walt Disney World site and other Disney blogs, but just in case mine is the only one you read, I am posting the announcement as well!

A new resort is coming to a Walt Disney World near you in 2012! This is great news, not only because it's the first new resort since 2003, but this resort will be geared towards people traveling with families and extended families...meaning parties of five, you're staying alive.

Up until recently, a family of five or more was caught in the dilemma of having to get two rooms because they are over capacity of a regular room. For example, a family of 5 wants to stay at Disney's All Star Sports Resort, and the children's ages are 4, 6, and 8 years old. Well, because the rooms at All Star Sports accommodate 2 adults and 2 children or 2 adults, 1 child and 2 infants, the above mentioned family were forced to either get two rooms at All Star Sports, go to Port Orleans Resort Riverside where they can accommodate that party with the two double beds and a trundle, or upgrade to a deluxe resort where the regular rooms there can fit five...and pay deluxe resort prices. That's not really fair, is it?

I totally agree, I come from a family of five and can completely understand the frustration in the guests voices that I heard over and over again when wanting to book their family vacations. Well, we have to work it out both ways...two rooms or one deluxe room and see which is more economical. Can we get adjoining rooms? Yes, there are adjoining rooms, but you may only request it. Because rooms are assigned at check in, there's no guarantee that adjoining rooms will be available. But let me say that truly honestly I've NEVER had an issue with getting the adjoining rooms I've requested. It does leave something for one to think about though the entire time leading up to the vacation, I get that.

Hopefully, this will all be a thing of the past once Disney's Art of Animation Resort is opened in 2012! It is going to 1,120 family suites that fit up to 6 people! Just like the ones available at Disney's All Star Music Resort. It's a great idea, value priced, and plenty of legroom! I say start your "Disney Vacation Fund 2012" now! I'll be here and ready whenever you are to book! :)

"It's Easier Than Pie..."

Good Morning!

Your own personal concierge. What does that mean to you? Even if I stay at the value resorts, you ask? I can get my own personal concierge for Walt Disney World? YES! Know how? "Think of a wonderful thought...any happy little thought?" Like a vacation to Walt Disney World? Like your own personal concierge? Book your Walt Disney World Vacation through me... and you get your own personal concierge of travel. I can set up all the planning that may make your head spin! I enjoy it! Dining reservations, dinner shows, character meals, spa reservations, recreation, anything you need (based on availability of course)! And for that matter, I can be your children's concierge as well! Did you know you needed reservations for your daughter at the bippity boppity boutique?? I can help you with that! You can make your Walt Disney World vacation feel like it's starting that much sooner with my "no worries" policy.

And as an added bonus to this blog, here is what a "sample" itinerary may look like. Ok ok ok it is one of my clients that I just finished this week. I've omitted the names and reservation numbers for privacy...but this is it in a nutshell:

Sunday, October 2nd:

Check in at Disney's Contemporary Resort. I didn't know what time you were planning on getting up there or if you were planning on using one of your park days, so I booked you at The Whispering Canyon Cafe at Disney's Wilderness Lodge at -- pm. One of my favorite restaurants on property. It's in the Magic Kingdom Resort area, so close to the Contemporary.

Sunday, October 3rd:

ANNIVERSARY! The California Grill @ Disney's Contemporary Resort at -- pm. It's on the top floor and a great restaurant. It does have a business casual dress code, so no flip flops, tank tops, or beachwear. Slacks and a polo or button down for mean or jeans and jean, slacks, skirt, dress, for ladies. This restaurant counts as two table service meals per person on your dining plan.

Monday, October 4th:

The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater @ Disney's Hollywood Studios at --pm. I know you said that you weren't planning on going to Animal Kingdom, but I did book you at the Studios. This restaurant is a lot of fun for the kids as all the tables look like cars at a drive in movie theater and you sit in front of a huge screen that plays old science fiction movies while you eat! :)

Tuesday, October 5th:

Spirit of Aloha at Disney's Polynesian Resort at the -- show. This reservation also requires two (2) table service meals on your dining plan, so I suggest if there's another one to pay out of pocket for that it's the Sci-Fi reservation you have on Monday. This is a dinner show so it does require that you pick up tickets. They are available at you resort concierge desk 7 days prior to the show or at the ticket office at the Polynesian 40 minutes prior to the show. I recommend just picking them up when you check in and putting them in the safe in your room until you need them so you don't forget (but don't forget them the day of the show!!). You have to arrive at Luau Cove at Disney's Polynesian Resort at least 30 minutes prior to showtime (just 2 stops on the monorail for you!) and just so you know, this show is outdoors so unfortunately it can be cancelled in the even of inclement weather. The Spirit of Aloha does have a credit card guarantee on it, and if you need to it needs to be cancelled at least 48 hours prior to show time to avoid a $20 per person cancellation fee. All taxes and gratuities are included already for this one. Aloha!

Wednesday, October 6th:

Lunch at Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada at EPCOT at --pm. Here it is...what your hubby was waiting for! The lunch menu really is just as good and I will continue to check for you for a dinner reservation for the next 5 months...but keep in mind, a good idea: If you don't get a dinner reservation, I suggest paying for this one out of pocket since you California Grill reservation will be 2 sit down meals on the dining plan and since this is a lunch it will be less expensive. :)

Thursday, October 7th:

FREE DAY!! Rest up! You have a busy night ahead of you...here's the spa appointment reservation information: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort for your 50 minute Swedish massage and then you get a half hour break to relax some more and 50 minute European facial. You can arrive anytime prior to your first reservation, or stay as late as you like after, but they do ask that you get there at least 15 minutes prior. It's going to be easy for you, you just have to hop on the monorail from the Contemporary to the Grand Floridian! You are going to have dinner at Chef Mickey's restaurant at the Contemporary Resort at --pm, go back to your room and get changed into your costumes and get back on the monorail for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that starts at 7!!

YAY!

Friday, October 8th:

Coral Reef Restaurant at EPCOT at --pm. This was the only reservation I could get for this restaurant! So here's your other EPCOT day if you want to dine there!! :)

Saturday, October 9th: check out at 11 am. But thats not to say you have to leave Disney property! You won't have any park days left on your ticket or meals left on your dining plan, but if you would like me to book a lunch before you head back home for you let me know.

All this could be yours! I am going to add this to a link on my page after today so anyone can see it anytime. This involves checking park hours, parade and fireworks times, and the park tickets your party has. I like to consider it a little added bonus you would get by booking with me! :)

Whistle While You Wait

Good Morning! I haven't blogged in a WHOLE WEEK. Is that a blogging rut? And there's so much going on too...new resorts announced, new specials released, how could I? I included this picture of me and my ole' pal Pluto today because this past week my kids have been watching the Mickey Mouse short cartoons from way back when and he's in a lot of them. And when I say my kids have been watching them, that of course means mommy has as well (but mommy doesn't mind one bit). :)

I have noticed in travel agent trending that people are scheduling their vacations lately more and more last minute. And that's fine. You gotta do whatcha gotta do, right? So here we are mid-May already and I have clients asking for June vacations! Great! I just wanted to throw out to you some tips of the trade that I've learned over my park-going years about going to Walt Disney World in the summertime.

I won't sugar coat it...it's gonna be HOT. A lot of people avoid Disney World in the summer because all they envision is sweating on long lines with a lot of cranky, also sweaty strangers. There are things that have alleviated this a bit, Disney's Fast Pass being one of them. If you don't know what Fast Passes are, basically when you walk up to a queue to an attraction, there are two lines. One being the regular entrance, the other being the Fast Pass Return. If you look to the side there are Fast Pass machines where you insert each of your family's park tickets individually, and the machine spits it back out, along with a Fastpass that gives you two times to return between. It waits on sort of a "virtual" line for you while you go and do other things. You return during the alloted time, and go to the front of the queue! This system has been around for years now, and I'm always amazed at the amount of people asking how much Fastpasses cost. They're FREE! They don't charge you to wait on line (there are plenty other things to spend your money on-ha!).

When you're at the parks you'll see people with those water bottles that have the little fan on it to mist yourself during the hot Florida summer...but you buy one of those for each of your kids and you've spent a small fortune! You could do that, or plan to go to the attractions that are indoors during the hottest parts of the day. It's also a good bet that in Florida during the summer you will have a thunderstorm in the rain. They last about an hour and drench everything, and you'll see all the guests of the park scamper into the covered areas. My tip...bring a poncho with you (although those Mickey Mouse ones are cool, they are pricey as well), and DO the park in the rain! The lines will be shorter and so what if you get a little wet? You're on vacation!! I always recommend turning the TV in your resort room in the morning and watching the weather for the day. Or if you just got there the week....

...Because...we all know how much the vacation costs, right? Well, why not work in one of your days to really use the resort pool that you've been hearing loads about? Disney does them BEST! (I'm a little biased ;) ) But really, look at the weather report for the week, look at the park schedules, and see which day would be best for you to lounge at the pool with your family and have a "hang out" day at the resort. Go to the park in the late afternoon or early in the morning. Go back to your room, get dressed, go to a dinner show like the Polynesian Resort's Spirit of Aloha or The Hoop de Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. It could be a great day! :)

Would You Like Another Cup of Tea? Why, This is the Very BEST TEA!

Good Morning!

You know that there are other things that you have to make reservations for other than dining. I realize that all I've been blogging about lately has been dining, dining, dining...but there are some lesser known fantastic experiences at Walt Disney World that you can take advantage of as well...for a price, of course. :/

One of them is what I'm blogging about today, the Garden View Tea Room at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. I know that somehow I keep coming back around to the spa, but just imagine ladies a great facial or massage appointment, feeling all relaxed and refreshed, and then walking into the main building and going to an afternoon tea! You can do it! This has nothing to do with theme parks and waiting on lines now, does it?

The Garden View Tea Room is located straight in the back of the lobby area of the Grand Floridian and does a traditional afternoon tea with different types of finger sandwiches, desserts, scones, and of course teas :). But you can get glasses of champagne with strawberries if you like as well.

This is also the location of the My Disney Girl's Perfectly Princess Tea Party, the end all be all of events if you would like to treat your little girl like a true princess. This is no ordinary afternoon tea. No, it's afternoon tea with the pixie dust sprinkled ALL OVER IT! It's for little girls ages 3-11, it's optional (but encouraged) to dress in their princess dresses (doesn't matter which one), and they'll have afternoon tea with a set menu and their moms. They'll also get a visit from Princess Aurora from Disney's Sleeping Beauty, a tiara, and an 18-inch My Disney Girl Doll! Not to mention a princess scrapbook page and a "best friend certificate". And the price for all this luxuriousness you ask? A mere $84 per adult and $150 per child. Chump change, right? You'd be surprised how many of these I've booked.

Now to get to the pictures that are gracing my page today...doesn't my little sister have that pre-wedding glow? Awwww...!! And where are we? None other than the Garden View Tea Room! I was her fabulous maid of honor and what other way to celebrate a Disney Fairytale Wedding than with a Disney "Fairytale" shower?! You can reserve the Garden view tea room before or after (they'll work with you) their regularly scheduled activities for a couple of hours and have a private party there. It was fantastic. The same scones, desserts, and drinks on the regular menu, and we played the normal shower games and told my sister how much we love her! But I thought the best part was what Disney does best. We ran out of our allotted time in the tea room before she opened her presents. No problem, you know what they did? Let us rearrange a small part of the lobby itself of The Grand Floridian so we could all sit around her and watch her open them! And then they brought bell services by to personally help us load them up! They wouldn't let us clean up a thing, even when she received a closed "shower" umbrella that when she opened it "showered" her with money and confetti and ribbon and was so creative and made such a mess! I just never expect anything less from Disney besides first class service!!

I Have to Give Credit Where Credit is Due...

Good Morning everyone in blogland! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE getting feedback whether it be from friends, strangers, or family members about my blog! Encouragement is the best form of flattery when it comes to this and even though I feel very new to the blogging community, it helps my spirits to hear works of encouragement. What's prompted this is praise from my Daddy. I hadn't told him about it for a couple of months because I wanted to get it underway to say, and he finally has read all of them...and told me he loves it. YAY! When I told my younger sister this, she asked if I had told him who came up with the title for my blog...yes, it was you--not me, you! Thank you sis!! :)

So now onto what you guys are here for!! What to blog about today?! Well, I wanted to talk briefly about decision making. Let's face it. There are A LOT of things to choose from when visiting the Walt Disney World Resort. First and foremost, which resort do we stay at? How many days on the tickets do we purchase? Should we add any features? A park hopper? The water parks? The dining plan? Which restaurants should we dine at? These are all questions that pretty much every first timer faces. And I realize that some people do not handle planning this sort of thing out very well. But at the same time, I've seen many people just simply give themselves TOO MANY options to choose from, OR after they "choose" what they're going to do, continue to look back over their shoulder per say and wonder if they chose the right or wrong option.

Advice from the travel agent: DON'T DO EITHER OF THESE THINGS!

The first one will literally drive you insane and make you completely unbearable to be around. Also and more importantly, it will make you dislike the vacation that is supposed to be "magical" before you've even been on it because it's caused you so much grief! The second will keep you second guessing and in turn will do the same thing...make you crazy. What if you planned your vacation 6-8 months in advance? Do you really want to keep going back to the website and to the chat boards and get people's "advice" for half a year on what you "should've" done? " Oh and this was terrible, and this was great, and we had the worst experience at..."

Let me tell you something about chat boards and tripadvisor and such while I'm on the subject. These are FANTASTIC tools. BUT, I always tell my clients, take them with a grain of salt. You have to realize that some people use these as forums to COMPLAIN because that's all they do! So I advise people to go with the majority and keep moving.

My last piece of travel agent advice today to solve the above problems is simple. Be happy with your choices. I know its expensive to go to Walt Disney World, but it's not going anywhere. Make your choices of hotel, tickets, etc the best way for your family or party and just exhale, and look forward to your vacation. Do your research, read the reviews, and then enjoy your trip! Not to mention, that's what this blog is for...if you are reading this and planning a trip to Disney World, ask me questions, but still do what's best for you! A Bientot! :)

Food Tastes So Much Better When It's Free....

Goooooood Morning!

I am so excited! We have a new week, we have some new offers, we have some new dates released...it doesn't get any better than this! Well, maybe just in my world, but I get so excited at the possibility that I could save my clients a little dinero and get them more excited about their trips to Walt Disney World!

Firstly, let's talk about FREE DINING! That's right, I said FREE dining! If you book a Walt Disney World room and ticket package for at least 5 nights anytime between August 15,2010 and September 30, 2010 you can get either the quick service or regular dining plan...FREE! This is a great deal! And if you book it through ME..I will make any reservations whether it be dining, golf, recreation, spa appointments, whatever... hassle FREE for you too!! :)

Here are the main details, you have to stay at least 5 nights; its based on the tier of the resort that you choose. So if you're staying at one of the values (All Star Music, Movies, or Sports or Pop Century) you can get the the quick service dining plan free which is two quick service meals and two snacks per day per person, per night, and you each get a resort refillable mug. These are the restaurants that you don't have to book. You walk up and order your meal. The main thing would be these restaurants don't include the character meals. But hey, if you're doing Disney on a budget, do this plan! No one says you can't book a character meal and pay for it out of pocket!

If you stay at either a moderate, deluxe, or deluxe villa (all the other resorts on property) for at least 5 nights, you get the regular dining plan. That's a table service, quick service, and a snack per person, per night. Let me interject here with the "per night" part in case that raises questions. This means if you and your family are staying for 5 nights on the dining plan, you would get 5 counter service meals, 5 table service meals, and 5 snacks each to use for the duration of your stay. The nice thing is that you don't have to use them in any order. If you want to use 2 table service meals in one day, you can. This is all on your key to the kingdom card, which is also your room key and your park ticket.

Anyway, back to the regular dining plan, this is has the table service meals, which are mostly the ones that need reservations. And if you have any questions on how I feel about making your dining reservations, just read the last blog I posted. In short, book 'em Dan-o!

Just another little interjection on this deal, you can only get free dining if you book a room/ticket package at rack rate..which means no other discounts apply. So if you're military or Florida Resident or something like that, we'd have to work it out both ways to see which is the better deal and compare apples to apples; not the poison kind (and if you don't get that joke, you are in desperate need of a Disney vacation!) :)

Bottom line is this is a great deal. If you have questions on whether this is a better deal than Florida Resident discounts or anything else like that, then that would have to be established on an individual basis, but I'm here and willing to price things if needed...just ask!