Disney World Tips: When to Book

When should I book my trip to Walt Disney World? 

So you've decided to book a trip to Walt Disney World Resort and you definitely want the best deal. So, when should you book? Unlike trying to figure out when the best time to book a flight, car rental, or hotel room at another destination, it's actually pretty easy to decide when to book your Walt Disney World Resort stay! Book as soon as you decide on your dates.

But what if a special offer is released after I book? 

The great thing about Disney is that they actually make it pretty simple to get the best deal. Booking early assures that you get the resort and room type that you want, because resort space can fill up quickly depending on the resort of your choice and they time of year you're planning to visit. However, if Disney releases an offer such as a room discount or free dining, as long it is applicable to your resort and dates, you can always call (or have your travel agent call) and modify your reservation to apply the discount. I've done this to apply both free dining and room discounts (on separate trips) to my own personal reservations and it was super easy. So take one item off of your to-do list- book your resort, then you can spend your time on the fun part of planning such as deciding on dining!

Update: I am now a travel agent specializing in Disney destinations- so let me handle your booking and worry about looking for discounts! Email me at leslie@marvelousmousetravels.com!

Surviving a Kidani Christmas

Even though it has taken 4 months to start writing about this trip, it was so fabulous that it has be documented!

Anyone who knows me is well aware of my love for Disney World, evident in the number of times I've managed to visit in the last few years.  One thing I never thought I'd do was spend Christmas at Disney. Well, last year, my family did just that. That's right- my parents, my brother, and I braved the Christmas week crowds to celebrate the season at Disney.

And you know what? It was wonderful. In many ways, it was the best trip we've ever taken. I could never put into words just how wonderful our trip was, but I do want to document a few thoughts and highlights about our trip, which took place December 21-27, 2014.

1. For this trip, we rented points from The DVC Rental Store. This was my second experience working with Lauren, and it was great from start to finish! Originally we booked at Coronado Springs with free dining, but found that for about the same price, we could rent points at Kidani Village and just pay out of pocket for the dining plan. We booked a Savannah View Studio at Kidani, and it was amazing! There's nothing like waking up to this view every morning! We did take an air bed with us, and we never really felt crowded in the room, even with 4 people staying in a studio. Of course, we didn't spend a ton of time inside, and having the balcony and really helped!
2. We went in with realistic expectations about crowds. During Christmas week, Disney is crowded. In fact, it is one of the most (if not THE most) crowded weeks of the year. We've been lucky enough to experience Disney during very low crowd periods and knew that this trip would be drastically different. We planned accordingly, making our dining reservations at the 180 day mark and Fastpass + reservations at the 60 day mark. We went in not really expecting to ride much other than what we had Fastpasses for and planned on spending a lot of time exploring resorts and taking advantage of things we wouldn't normally do instead of fighting crowds in line for rides. This worked perfectly! We got to ride all the head liners thanks to our Fastpasses without waits.  
3. We enjoyed a few amazing meals! We did the Deluxe Dining Plan, which was way too much food. But, it was great to have two meals a day scheduled so that we knew we had a break from crowds. As always, we tried to do an early lunch or late breakfast along with a signature dinner each day. This worked out well, and there was no way we could have eaten three meals every day! Not only was the food amazing, but it was great to end each day with a relaxing dinner where we could all just talk and rehash the day. 
   
4. We took advantage of what our resort had to offer. Kidani's table service restaurant, Sanaa, offers free cultural tours each afternoon! Animal Kingdom Lodge does the same for their restaurants, Boma and Jiko. My family were the only ones in attendance the afternoon we toured Sanaa, and there weren't many others for the Boma and Jiko tours. It was really interesting to learn more about these restaurants, meet the cultural ambassadors, and get to taste a few appetizers! We also spent time just relaxing at the animal viewing areas and walking around the resort. Usually we're only in the resort long enough to change clothes or sleep, so it was really nice to relax a bit, especially at a resort as beautiful as Kidani!
5. We were flexible. Remember how I said that all our dining reservations and Fastpasses were made well in advance? They were, but we also were open to change. For example, we ended up canceling a pre-park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace. After a long first day in the parks, we realized we weren't going to want to get up and ready early enough to make our breakfast, so we cancelled it. We did it before midnight so that we wouldn't be charged, and were even able to find a later breakfast in our resort so that we could sleep a little later and not have to travel to eat. My brother and I also spent a last minute late night in Magic Kingdom after dinner on Christmas night and it was one of the best decisions we made! We ended up there because it was the first bus that came after dinner, and even on Christmas night we managed to ride 8 rides in two hours! It was amazing how empty the park was after Wishes, even on Christmas! We rode Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder, Space Mountain, and the People Mover all between 10pm and midnight. In fact, the longest line we stood in during the whole trip was for Winnie the Pooh! We laughed at ourselves, but it was the only ride in the park that I had never ridden, so we waited 15 or so minutes to ride. During those two hours we also managed a stop at Starbucks, shopping, and Photopass stops. It was pretty magical! 

Spending Christmas at Disney with my family was a once in a lifetime experience that I'll always be thankful for!

A Different Kind of Trip….Let’s runDisney!

I was lucky enough to be taken to Disney World 3 times while I was growing up, but it wasn’t until a 2011 “adult” trip with my parents to experience the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival that I became hooked. And by hooked, I pretty much mean obsessed! Since then, I’ve made several return trips to the World, with the most recent being last week. What made this trip a little different was that I wasn’t going to just have fun or relax, but to run a race!
Several times a year, runDisney puts on amazing race events at Disney World. runDisney events quickly became my favorite races to run after experiencing my first one last year. It was so much fun that I roped a friend into making this year’s Tower of Terror 10 Miler a fun girl’s weekend. Read on for a couple reasons why I think runDisney events can’t be beat!

We did it!!! #ToT2014 #tot10miler

A photo posted by Leslie Noggle (@onegirlandtwodogs) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:56pm PDT

1. It’s totally okay if you’re NOT a speed demon! These races really are for everyone! I started running last year in an attempt to get back into shape- and what better incentive that training for a race that was in Disney? I remember being so nervous before last year’s race because I wasn’t a “real runner.” Not only do the runDisney events have a pretty generous pace requirement (runners/walkers must be able to maintain a 16 minute per mile pace), but the events are low pressure and fun!
2. Entertainment- before, during, and after the race! Races can be fun? Absolutely! Not only are the expos packed with speakers and great vendors, but the race itself is made fun! At both races I’ve participated in, there has been a couple hours of pre-race entertainment, in the form of a DJ and photo ops. Not only that, but there has also been entertainment along the course! Characters are out for those who want to stop for photos and there has been music and awesome course decorations as well. I’ve did the last two Tower of Terror races, and of course they were both villain themed, so those were the characters who were out. The course decorations were spooky and eerie, and just plain fun! At both night races, there is an after party of sorts in the parks after the race is finished. It was pretty great to have access to rides and entertainment way after hours with 10,000 or so other runners!
3. The volunteers are simply the best! I appreciate anyone who gives their time to volunteer during any race- runDisney or not! Both years, I was amazed at the friendliness and excitement displayed by the volunteers, even as the back of the pack was running! What you may not realize about the Tower of Terror 10 Miler is that it is a night race that doesn’t start until 10 pm! This means that runners are still on the course way past midnight, but the volunteers handing out water, Powerade, bananas, and medals at the end were still enthusiastic even that late!
4. The medals are amazing! So, we all run for the bling right? Well, I’m pretty convinced that runDisney events offer some of the best bling out there! I mean, take a look at the medal for the 10 Miler! Not only is the design itself pretty great, but the elevator actually moves, AND it glows in the dark! Totally worth all those months of training and running, right?

   Nothing beats @rundisney race bling! (And loving the @newbalance runDisney Minnie running shoes!!) #tower10miler

   A photo posted by Leslie Noggle (@onegirlandtwodogs) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:21am PDT

I’m already looking forward to registering for my next runDisney race!

Tower of Terror 10 Miler–Before the race

Way back in April, probably thanks to enjoying a couple of cool spring runs and wishing I had a Disney trip planned for the fall, I decided to register for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 1o Miler, which is a runDisney race held in October. If the name didn’t give it away, I registered for the 10 Mile run.

So after registering, I started training and running and did pretty well for a while! (If you don’t Instagram it, it didn’t happen, right?) I had a love-hate relationship with running all summer long. And if I’m being totally honest, it was mainly hate…because people who enjoy runs in the hot and humid Southern summers are crazy people!  So I followed the official runDisney training plan off and on, but I did get some runs in…and finally, it was time to head to Florida for race weekend!

BUT wait…a couple weeks before race weekend, my brother ended up having to back out of the trip. Thanks to him being a responsible adult and getting a brand new job, he was no longer going to be able to take time off, so I had a couple of days to find someone else to go with me. Enter my dad. He was able to get off work and happy (I think) to take Matt’s place. Since my mom went with me on my July trip, I felt pretty lucky to get a father-daughter trip in the same year! (I should mention that I’m also incredibly lucky that Dad kept all 4 dogs (my 2 and their 2) in July while Mom and I were in Disney, and Mom kept all 4 while Dad and I were gone. I guess this means that it’s my turn to stay home and dog-sit?) Thank you, Mom and Dad! You are the best!

Now, Disney is my happy place. I’m kind of obsessed with it, and usually my trips are planned and scheduled months in advance and I obsess over every single detail…but because of other stresses, and life, this one wasn’t exactly like that. If I’m being completely honest, I was also stressing about the race…because I’ve never run a race longer than a 5k, and this was 10 FREAKIN’ MILES. Not only that…but on average, we walk 7-10 miles daily while in Disney, and would be in the parks starting Thursday. And even though I wanted to do well running…I was not giving up precious Disney time to sit in a hotel room! So to say I was nervous and scared about the race was probably a bit of an understatement. Even so, Dad and I had a great time in the parks on Thursday and Friday. We had Fastpass + reservations for the rides we wanted in Epcot on Thursday and Magic Kingdom on Friday. In just a few hours in each park , we got to do pretty much everything we wanted! We also really enjoyed meals at Yachtsman Steakhouse and Cape May on those nights.

I knew that I wanted to get to the Expo before Saturday, so we headed over on Friday afternoon to pick up my bib and race packet. Since we stayed at one of the host resorts, Disney’s Beach Club, there was shuttle bus service to the Expo, which was at ESPN Wide World of Sports. We waited for a bus for maybe 10 minutes and then it was a quick drive to the expo parking lot, followed by a long walk! I’d never visited WWoS, so it was pretty neat to see! I think that this Expo, which was small by Disney standards, but huge compared to the local 5ks I’ve run was super organized! I loved picking up my packet and t-shirt in one place, and all the volunteers were super friendly and helpful. The only regret I have from this was not buying a finisher’s t-shirt. They were long sleeved, which would be perfect for fall/winter runs here in North Carolina! Honestly, I was still freaking out about maybe not finishing, and I didn’t want a finisher shirt (or medal) if that didn’t happen!

Since this was a night race, we had all day Saturday to freak hang out and rest. We spent the morning at Hollywood Studios making sure to ride Tower of Terror, Rockin’ Roller Coaster, and Toy Story Mania (thank you Fastpass +) since I wasn’t sure I’d want to stick around at the after party to ride.  I also made sure to step up my hydration game on Saturday…it was around 89 outside, sunny, and humid! We headed back to the resort around 1 or so to grab lunch and rest up! After inhaling a turkey sandwich from the Marketplace and texting back and forth with my friend who was running to figure out a meeting place, I tried to take a nap! And I kind of did…so around 5, I woke up with butterflies to start getting ready to run!

Since this is already so long…I think I’ll wrap it up here and post separately about you know, actually running! Stay tuned!

Do you get super nervous before races? Have you ever run a Disney race?

Disney's Yacht Club - A Short Review

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a 4 day conference to learn about using Alice, software that teaches about computer programming in a 3D environment, in the classroom. I won't bore you here with details of what I learned (I'll write a recap on my professional blog though), even though trust me- it was far from boring!

Not only was I excited to be attending the conference, but I was also excited because of where the conference was held! The conference was at Disney's Yacht Club, which meant that's also where attendees stayed! An added bonus was that I convinced my mom to join me and add an extra night to the conference covered nights so we could have a bit of a mother-daughter trip.

In our past Disney trips, we've stayed at one of Disney's moderate resorts, Coronado Springs Resort, which we absolutely adored. While I've always wanted to stay at the Yacht or Beach club, mainly because of the walking proximity to Epcot, I've never wanted to pay the price difference to stay at a deluxe. Thanks to conference rates, the price point was just right for us to stay at the Yacht Club for this trip. I mean look at how beautiful this is.

Disney's Yacht Club as viewed from the Boardwalk

Our experience at the resort was pretty great! Here are a couple of highlights.

Disney's Magical Express

If you're flying to Disney, take advantage of this service! This was the third time we used it, and you just can't beat the convenience of dropping your luggage at the airport for departure and having it arrive in your rooms after check-in. We were off the plane and on the Magical Express within about 15 minutes (including a pit stop at the restroom). Before stopping at the Yacht Club, our bus dropped guests at Caribbean Beach Resort and then Boardwalk. It still made the trip from the airport under an hour, cheaper than renting a car we wouldn't otherwise need, and most importantly- stress free! Perfection!

Check-In

I did online check in 60 days before our check-in date, and made no special requests at that time. I did add my credit card to be used for room charges, and set up a 4 digit pin to verify charges at that time. We were greeted by name as soon as we stepped off the Magical Express and ushered to the Online Check-In area. Within just a few minutes, we had added another credit card so that my mom's Key to the World Card would charge to her card and were pointed in the direction of our room, which was ready when we checked in (around 1:30 pm).

Our Room

Daybed in Yacht Club Room 1079

Yacht Club Room

As part of the conference rate, we booked a Standard Room. I was surprised that when I did online check-in, we saw that we were assigned a Pool/Lagoon View room. Sure enough, once we got to our room, we saw that we had a perfect side-view of the lighthouse right on the lagoon. We also had a daybed, which we were shocked to have since it wasn't a request and there were just 2 of us. The room was clean and smelled fresh, stocked with plenty of towels and toiletries. I wasn't sure if I would like having a first floor room, which meant a patio instead of a balcony, but it was nice to walk to the sliding door to get in when I ran to refill our mugs each night! Housekeeping was great, with the exception of one day when our room didn't get cleaned at all. We never called because we thought maybe they were just running behind, but even when we returned from the parks that night no one had been in. I wouldn't say this is necessarily a negative at the Yacht Club, because I know that this could happen at any resort. I will say, that after staying at Coronado, we really missed the doors that can pulled-out to partition off the bathroom/sink area. These would have been a nice touch to have on this trip especially since I was getting up each morning to get ready for a conference and mom was sleeping in (and I was staying out at parks later than she stayed up also). I think these were an addition to CSR after the last refurbishment, and I think it would be great to see this at the Yacht Club too! If I'm being completely honest though, our rooms at Coronado have been just as nice (albeit a little smaller) and included the same H20 products as amenities, same queen beds, etc. If we were simply comparing rooms, I don't know that I would pay deluxe prices to stay at the Yacht Club over Coronado.

Yacht Club Room

Resort Area

This is where you can't really compare the two! I can't explain how amazing the location of this resort is. Within 5-7 minutes of leaving our room (and we weren't speed walking) we were at the bag check area of Epcot. Since Epcot is our favorite park, this really is great, and I can only imagine would come even more in handy during the Food and Wine Festival. Another convenience was being able to either walk or hop on the boat to Hollywood Studios. We also took advantage of being able to walk over to

Boardwalk Bakery for dinner one night! This is where the prices of the Deluxe Epcot Resorts start to make more sense to me. We always get park hoppers (I know actually have an annual pass) because we always end up at Epcot at some point each day. Even on this trip, where we only had evenings in the parks, we still saw Epcot daily- and the convenience alone of walking to or from the park means a lot!

The parks we rode buses to and from were Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. I never waited for more than about 10 minutes for a bus to a park, and never more than 5 on one to take back to the resort. Even with stopping at the Beach Club before heading into the parks, we thought the bus service was great. We don't have kids, and although I always consult crowd calendars and suggested park days, this location was perfect for our touring style of going with the flow and park hopping. We also really liked the added benefit of the basically having access to 2 resorts at the same time, as the Yacht and Beach Club are right beside each other. 

Yacht Club Lobby entrance from back

Yacht Club view from lighthouse/boat dock

Resort Eats

Bacon Angus Burger from Beaches & Cream
Served with smoked bacon, barbecue sauce,
blue cheese, onion rings, and lettuce and tomato

On our arrival day, we visited the Beach Club Marketplace to purchase refillable mugs and shared a pepperoni flatbread. This was the only thing I had here, and I liked that it was prepared fresh and in front of us. We had reservations one night for dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse- and it was fabulous! It has become our must do every trip, and they definitely did not disappoint. Since I actually have pictures of that meal, I'll do a separate review of that. We also ate once at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop. Mom and I split the Bacon Angus Burger and it was delicious! The burger The server was nice enough to bring it out on two plates with a serving of fries on each. The burger was great- but the fries are my new standard to compare all fries to! They were that good! I also found out that my mom had lunch here while I was in my last conference session on our departure day. She had the Beaches Hot dog and while I don't have pictures, she said it was the best hot dog she's had in years. There are several other dining options at both the Yacht and the Beach Club, but those are the ones that we tried ourselves.

Storm Along Bay

So this is the part I'm embarrassed to write. We stayed for 5 nights at the resort with what is arguably the best pool on property...and I spent a combined 15 minutes at it (not in it!). In my defense, since my days were taken up by a conference, I didn't want to waste a minute of park time each night! My mom did hang out at the pool for a bit each day, and I did walk out to say hello to her during my lunch breaks, and the whole area looks great! I will be staying at the Beach Club in October, so I'm already planning to set aside time just to hang out at the pool for a while! Since I can't say a whole lot about it, here are a few pictures!

Storm Along Bay

Storm_Along_Bay_2

Yacht/Beach Club Beach

Storm Along Bay 3

Slide at Storm Along Bay

So in conclusion, I think the Yacht Club is pretty amazing! While I don't know if I could ever justify paying rack rate for a room there on my budget, I'm very thankful that I had the chance to stay here! I'm looking forward to comparing it to the Beach Club in October (booked with the runDisney discount for the Tower or Terror 10 Miler).

Which Disney resort is your favorite?

Disney Dining: Yachtsman Steakhouse Review

Last November, my parents and I had our first dining experience at Yachtsman Steakhouse, located at Disney's Yacht Club. When Mom and I made plans to head back to Disney recently, the Yachtsman was one of the two dining reservations we made sure to secure (the other being Boma for breakfast). We had an early reservation made for 5:20. We checked in right around 5:00, and they were able to take us straight to our table. In the main dining room, I just love the detail in the high ceilings. Our view of Storm Along Bay wasn't bad either!

Yachtsman Steakhouse Ceiling

Right after our drink orders were taken, our server brought out the basket of bread. I try to make it a rule not to fill up on bread at meals (it is my weakness), but this is the exception! There are two kinds of freshly baked bread here: sourdough rolls and onion rolls. Served with the bread is roasted garlic and butter topped with Australian sea salt. I think I skipped the sourdough in favor of the onion roll last year, but this year I tried both and they were delicious! The sourdough was more firm and crusty, and the onion rolls soft and pull apart perfectly. I followed our server's advice to spread the garlic just as you would butter, and could have made that whole basket of rolls my meal! It was great!

Yachtsman Bread Basket

Next up was the appetizer course, otherwise known to us as the whole reason we go to the Yachtsman. For the second year in a row, I ordered the Lobster Bisque. I order this soup pretty much anywhere that I see it on a menu, and Yachtsman has my absolute favorite. It is creamy, rich, and has nice sized chunks or lobster in it. This was so good that both Mom and I had a moment of consideration for licking the bowl. I always want to try a different appetizer here, but I know I'd regret not having this. Maybe next time I'll go just for apps and desserts?

Lobster Bisque

Even though the bisque is always the star of the meal for me (which isn't to say anything bad about the steaks, that's just how much I love the bisque), we still had entrees to devour! This was the one meal of this trip that we ordered our own entrees, and I went with the 16 oz Boneless Ribeye. This is normally served with Brioche and Bone Marrow, but I substituted fries this time. I ordered the steak cooked medium, and it was perfectly cooked and seasoned. It was described as well-marbled, but it was a bit fattier than I expected. It was pretty delicious though!

Yachtsman Ribeye

We made one mistake at this meal- we skipped dessert! I absolutely loved my dessert here last year, but since we had a couple hours planned in Epcot, we decided to skip dessert in favor of picking up snacks around the World Showcase. Yachtsman was once again a favorite for us, and we'll be returning on our next trip!

If you've visited Yachtsman, what was your experience like?

Disney Dining Plan vs. Tables in Wonderland (Our Experience)

I've been lucky enough to travel to Disney World three times since 2011. After not traveling to Disney since I was a kid, on New Years Eve in 2010, we started talking about where to go for our family vacation the next year. Surprisingly, my mom said she had always wanted to visit Disney as an adult. After much discussion and research, we booked a trip and ended up with Free Dining, which we upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan.

We used 2 dining plan credits to attend the Spirit of Aloha
Luau in 2011 (and my hair was brown).

Well, that trip only served to spark my Disney obsession and somehow I convinced my parents we needed to return in 2012.

Both trips were in November, over my birthday, and during Epcot's Food & Wine Festival.

Pork Slider from the Hawaii booth at F&W (snack credit)

We had a great time on both trips, and when I had the opportunity to attend a conference in my field being held in Disney at the Yacht Club Resort, I signed right up and convinced my mom to tag along. After having the dining plan for the first two trips, we weren't quite sure how we'd like not having it. In addition to not having the dining plan, we decided to just make a couple ADRs (advanced dining reservations), and just wing the rest. This trip was totally different than our previous ones! Since it was so different, I thought I'd write a little bit about our thoughts.

First- we loved the deluxe dining plan on our past two trips. As three adults, it was nice to have breaks in our day and to be able to leisurely enjoy meals. We had no problem using our 3 credits a day by booking either a table-service breakfast or early lunch each day and a Signature dinner every night. We also loved ordering whatever we wanted without looking at prices. Both years, we had free dining, so we only paid the upgrade price to upgrade from regular to Deluxe dining. This meant that each of us ate for less than $40 a day (not including gratuity)- which can't be beat! We also traveled during the Food and Wine Festival, and had no problems using our snack credits to snack around World Showcase. Was it a lot food, and in some cases too much?

Oak Grilled Filet from California Grill (2012)

Absolutely! But to us, it was totally worth it to try new things and for the convenience factor, especially since we were eating Deluxe for less than $40 per day. (For reference, in the years we went, the Deluxe Plan included 3 meals and 2 snacks per person, per night of stay. Each meal could be used as table or counter service, and included an appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage per person. Also included was a resort refillable mug.)

Since this trip involved booking the room at the conference rate and me attending the conference all day each day, we couldn't add the dining plan. Instead, I purchased the Tables in Wonderland card, which is one of my Annual Pass benefits. The card costs $100, but can be used at most table-service restaurants to receive 20% your bill (including alcohol). I knew that it wouldn't actually save money for us on this trip, but I have a trip booked with a signature dinner every night of the stay in October, so I knew between the two it would save money.

Here's a line-up of where we ended up eating over the course of our 5 night trip:

• Beach Club Marketplace
• Be Our Guest (dinner- used TIW discount)
• Tomorrowland Terrace Wishes Dessert Party
• Boma (breakfast- used TIW discount)
• Beaches & Cream (lunch- used TIW discount)
• Boardwalk Bakery (dinner)
• Coral Reef (dinner- used TIW discount)
• Yachtsman Steakhouse (dinner- used TIW discount)
• Rose & Crown (dinner- used TIW discount)

As I mentioned earlier, we only had a couple of set in stone ADR's for this trip. These were the Wishes Dessert Party, Boma breakfast, and dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. The week before we left, I saw an opening for Be Our Guest, so we also booked dinner there. Another difference between this trip and our Deluxe Dining trips was that instead of us each getting our own appetizer, entree, and dessert we knew that we'd order what looked good and most likely split some things. We actually ended up splitting entrees at every meal, and didn't order dessert or appetizers at every meal. Of course, by splitting entrees and not always ordering appetizers or dessert, we were able to eat much more cheaply than our previous trips. I must admit though, that at times, we ordered the way we did (or chose not to order) was because we were watching our budget. 

Grilled Strip Steak from Be Our Guest

That would be considered one negative of not having a dining plan- even though it is a lot of food, when everything is paid before you go you don't have to think about your budget at all once actually on your trip. I've seen it advised several times that you can budget and have everything paid for even when not on the dining plan by buying Disney gift cards before the trip or just setting the money aside. We actually did this- and even though it was great because everything was paid for before the trip, it just wasn't quite the same, because when the bill came, we still had to look at the price.

So, which works out better? The Deluxe Dining Plan or using the Tables in Wonderland discount card? Well honestly, I think it just depends. We loved the Deluxe Dining Plan both times we used it, and as long as we were paying to upgrade to it during free dining and not paying the full price, it is a fantastic deal. However, for the type of trips I had this time (a conference being the main reason) and that I have scheduled next (going down for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler), I think the Tables in Wonderland card will be the best fit. This has as much to do with tickets as food....I now have an annual pass, and I can purchase discount tickets for my traveling partners thanks to the conference and runDisney, so wouldn't be eligible for free dining.

I really think that which is the best deal is a personal decision and depends on a multitude of factors such as your touring style, your restaurant preferences, and whether or not you have children. So for us, we do like the dining plan, but will stick with Tables in Wonderland for now.

Our Disney Trip Through Instagram

Last week we returned from a vacation my favorite place- Walt Disney World! Even better, we again went during my favorite time at Disney, Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. Hopefully I'll do a full recap later, but here are a couple of snapshots of our trip, via Instagram.

After landing in Orlando and catching a ride to our resort, Disney's Coronado Springs, on the Magical Express, we headed over to Epcot to sample a few Food and Wine booths. My favorite from the day was the Pork Slider from the Hawaii booth. And when the Cast Member serving saw my birthday button, he even added a hidden Mickey!

Hawaii's Kahlua Pork Slider with Pineapple Chutney 

The next day, we had a behind the scenes tour booked in the Magic Kingdom, but we managed to hop on this before the tour started. Any guesses? It's Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin in Tomorrowland.

You can't see the numbers...but I won (at least this time).

Another favorite from the trip was convincing my non-roller coaster or "big rides" riding Mom to go on this. It was awesome.

Tower of Terror...even more terrorizing at night!

Two of my favorite times from our trip actually happened on our last night. To begin the evening, we had dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse, located in Disney's Yacht Club Resort. Even though we had great meals at other Signature restaurants each night, I've got to say, I think this was the best meal on property, and the maybe the best dinner I've ever had. The service was excellent, and each course was better than the last, ending with this beautiful dessert. That would be a Lemon Pudding Cake served with a Blueberry Shake, Fruit Leather (homemade fruit roll-up), and Candied Lemon. Paired with press pot coffee, it was amazing! I'll get around to writing a full review of this dinner as soon as I stop being too lazy to download pictures from my real camera!

The last Instagram shot I'll leave you with is this one....

If you've visited Hollywood Studios in the last year or so, you'll recognize this as the revamped Star Tours ride. We rode it twice with no wait at all thanks to Extra Magic Hours, and the last time Mom and I got to be on the 1st row!

Now, is it too soon to start planning another vacation?

Cannot wait to be back here….hurry up November! #blogger...

Cannot wait to be back here….hurry up November! #blogger (Taken with Instagram)



via Tumblr http://onegirltwodogs.tumblr.com/post/29165508185

Disney Planning Tip Highlights

If you've spent much time at all with me in the past year, then you know that a new obsession has entered my life. Ever since I can remember, my family has loved to roll their eyes lovingly joke about my list-making, plan everything obsession. Well, while sitting at my parents house over Christmas in 2010, we were discussing vacation plans and somehow decided we'd do an adults trip to Disney in the fall of 2011. We decided on this for a couple of reasons:

1. My mom has mentioned going to Disney off and on for the past several years. Her last trip was when my brother and I were still in strollers. She wanted to experience the Disney magic without kids in tow.
2. Dad and I thought Disney sounded great. But Orlando in the heat of the summer? When crowds are at their highest? Umm no. Not happening. Enter fall timetable.
3. After doing a little bit of online research, I discovered that every fall, Disney holds the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. It starts at the end of September and goes through the second week of November. My birthday is November 4. SOLD.

So, we booked a trip for November 3-8 to attend the Food and Wine Festival. We booked it on December 31, 2010, which gave me about 11 months to plan (or obsess, depending on your definition of plan). I say me, because other than deciding on dates, my parents told me to plan and they'd do whatever I booked. I never knew there was so much information about there about planning Disney trips! Like I've already mentioned, I developed a slight Disney-planning obsession, but once we boarded the plane, it was totally worth it. We had the most relaxing, fun, and perfect vacation we've ever had (and this coming from someone whose idea of perfection is laying on the beach doing nothing for a week). Since returning, we've booked another trip for this fall, and I've had several questions about planning. I thought I'd give an overview here for anyone who is interested. Click through to read more!