Walt Disney World has extended free dining to cover dates through September 29, 2011.

Dates that are valid (you must check-in during one of these times):

• October 1 – 7, 2010
• October 22 – 28, 2010
• November 12 – 18, 2010
• November 27 – December 2, 2010
• December 10 – 21, 2010
• January 1 – 5, 2011
• January 9 – 13, 2011
• January 21 – February 3, 2011
• February 11 – 17, 2011
• February 25 – March 3, 2011
• May 27 – June 2, 2011
• August 19 – September 29, 2011

This is a huge bonus for most families … free dining saved us over $500 on the trip we have planned this fall.

One of the most unique things that my kids have ever done at Disney is the Pirate Cruise. Kids, ages 4-12, are eligible to experience this awesome adventure!

Here’s what the Disney website has to say:

Disney’s Pirate Adventure

Aspiring buccaneers board a pirate-themed boat and scour the waterways around Walt Disney World Resort in search of pirate treasure during a swashbuckling high-seas adventure.

On this guided expedition, each participant enjoys a light snack and beverage, learns how to talk like a pirate, visits legendary ports-of-call, and—if he or she is lucky—returns with a bag of pirate booty! Disney’s Pirate Adventure is a 2-hour sailing voyage that takes place each day at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The cost per child is $34.00, plus tax. Space is limited. For reservations, please call (407) WDW-DINE or (407) 939-3463. Guests under age 18 must have parent or guardian permission to call.

We chose the cruise that leaves from The Grand Floridian. We dropped the kids off at the designated spot … which was a small daycare type room that had video games, toys and activities to keep the kids busy until it was time to leave. Since we go during the holiday season, we walked around the hotel and enjoyed the decor while the kids were gone.

When they arrived back, the “pirates” had found buried treasure and each child got to keep their own treasure chest. They also had on their pirate ears! (They were very proud of those.) They had a great time and we felt very comfortable letting them enjoy this adventure on their own!

Although this is not something we do every year, it was a great brother/sister activity. I consider this a great trade off with Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique if you have a boy!

* You can barely tell that the kids have on personalized Pirate shirts. I made them and will share with you how I did it in a later post.

Sorry for the lapse on Disney posts. Summer is supposed to be a down time for me and this year, it’s been anything but that!

Many of us go to Disney on a budget. For young families (like us), we save for this vacation and want to make the most of it while we’re there. Picking your hotel is one of the first decisions that has to be made – on property or off property. There are advantages to both.

For us, on property makes the most sense and we have chosen to always stay at the value level. (Disney offers three resort levels: Value, Moderate, and Deluxe.) Value resorts are the most economical and our theory has always been “We aren’t going to stay in the room, so we just need a place to sleep.” Luckily, the values have worked well for us and we continue to use them.

We’ve stayed in All-Star Movies and Pop Century during our trips. We love Pop Century.

The rooms at Pop Century are divided into two categories, standard and preferred. The standard rooms are closer to the main building where the food court is located. The preferred rooms are  closer to the transportation hub.

The resort is themed in true Disney fashion, but is indicative of an era in Pop culture. You’ll stay in one of the Classic Years – 1950-1990s. (When you are there, look across the pond and you’ll see the Legendary Years [1900-1940s]. It’s rumored to re-begin construction soon!)

Huge, larger-than-life icons such as Big Wheel bikes,

bowling pins,

Rubik’s Cubes, cell phones and more add a whimsical touch to the decor.

Lining the rooflines are such memorable slogans as “Boogie Down” and “Have A Nice Day.”

Disney’s Pop Century Resort includes two 5,000-square-foot arcades; a huge food court and shopping area, courtyards, three heated pools in fun shapes, one kiddie pool, and a playground.

You’ll never wonder what era of room you are staying in … You’ll know as soon as you walk in the door!  Each room has 2 double beds (or one king sized bed which must be requested when making your reservation), nightstand, telephone, small table with 2 chairs, armoire, television, wall mirror, clock radio and an open closet area with shelves on top for extra storage. A vanity area with a single sink and mirror is separate from the tub and commode. A small key-operated wall safe to hold your valuables is located in the closet area. All rooms are equipped with central air conditioning. Guests who need to connect to home or work via the Internet while vacationing, will find a computer data port. But it’s a per day charge to use it!

The rooms are small (think Motel 6), but if you only planning on being in the room to sleep – it’s perfectly fine. Since this is our big trip of the year, we don’t build in naps and rest times. We leave the room in the morning and hit it again well after the sun goes down. Small works for us.

One thing that we love about Pop Century is that they have their own buses. Most “economical” buses share with other resorts. That can really add to the time that you have to wait getting to, and more importantly, from the places you want to go! We wait an average of 10 minutes at most.

If you have questions about Pop Century, comment on this post or on the Facebook page. I’d be happy to answer them!

Act quickly … some of these expire today!

Walgreens - Photos are 10-cents each! Use code “Celebrate10″.

Snapfish - 50 prints for 50-cents. Use code “july4penny”.

DisneyShopping - Remember me talking about buying shirts and gifts early for my Disney trip. I ship them ahead of time so we aren’t stuck buying expensive clothing in the parks. DisneyShopping is having a huge sale and offering free shipping. Use code “freeship”. (Today is the last day!!!)

Oshgosh and Carters are offering free shipping! No code needed.

Avery wearing a shirt that I ordered before our trip to Disney in 2007.

You can’t step one foot on Disney property without being bombarded with merchandise … and most of it will be wearables. My kids typically don’t ask for a lot of wearables, but some of that may be because Mickey brings so many on the first night!

The secret is pre-buying. My partner-in-crime is Disney Shopping. When they have a sale, I buy and put it away for the trip. You can typically get t-shirts on sale for $5.99 during a good sale. PJ Pals (pajama sets) will also be less than $10. It’s a great way to give your kids something new without spending a bloody fortune!

(Right now, Disney Shopping is doing their twice a year sale. It’s an awesome time to stock up!)

Another great place to shop is Disney Outlet. This site gets what doesn’t sell out on Disney Shopping. It’s like Goodwill – there is something different every time you visit. Occasionally, you luck out and find a treasure!

Don’t forget to buy t-shirts even if you are going in a cooler month. Layer with a Wal-Mart, Target, or Old Navy plain, long-sleeved tee underneath and you still have a great bargain!

One of our favorite things to do at Disney World is Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. This is a highlight for not only the kids, but also for us as parents. Located in Downtown Disney and in Cinderella Castle, little girls (and boys … but more on that in a minute) are transformed by Fairy Godmothers in Training. We’ve done this twice and plan to take part again this year. If you want to see Disney Magic in action – this is a must do.

Girls can pick three hairstyles: Fairytale Princess, Disney Diva, or Pop Princess. We’ve done Fairytale Princess each time. If you have an older girl/tween, they may like Disney Diva or Pop Princess since they involve colored hair extensions and some more “hip” selections.

First, you’ll need to pick a package: Coach, Crown or Castle.

• Coach Package includes hairstyle and make-up. Cost starts at $49.95
• Crown Package includes hairstyle, make-up and nails. Cost starts at $54.95.
• Castle Package includes hairstyle, make-up, nails, photos and costume. Cost starts at $189.95.

We’ve always done the Coach package. It’s plenty of pampering for my daughter. Since the only difference between the Coach and Crown is the nails, we paint hers beforehand. She’s never noticed the difference!

Now, to make the Coach package get the same “bang” as the Castle package, we bring our own costume. We’ve done Cinderella and Snow White. One costume I got at Target and the other I bought on DisneyShopping the week after Halloween when it was on clearance. I hide the costume in our suitcase, then the morning that we go to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, I lay out the costume and tell Piper that the Princesses brought it during the night and left it especially for her!

I’ve paid about $25 for the costumes that I’ve purchased. In the parks, these same costumes will cost between $65-80.

The morning of our BBB appointment, I wash Piper’s hair (they prefer clean hair with no products), throw on the dress and head out.

The BBB has two locations at Disney World: Downtown Disney and in Cinderella Castle. We’ve done both locations. I prefer the castle location only because it’s cool to be made into a princess inside of a castle. There is no difference other than that – both locations are equally as grand.

Girls may pick the colors of make-up that are used. (They are all in good taste!)

Finished Product - Coach Package with a costume brought from home.

Each package also includes this cool rhinestone barette

The day of your BBB visit is an awesome time to do a character meal!

The first year that we did BBB with Piper, there wasn’t a package available for boys. I took Piper to do her thing, and Don took Avery to ride the thrill rides that Piper wasn’t tall enough to ride. Can you tell how this story ends? Yes, we had one very sad little boy. In fact, we visited the Princesses later in the day and Belle asked Avery what was wrong. He replied “All I wanted was a little glitter.” (That statement still mortifies Don …)

Low and behold if the next year the “Cool Dude” package wasn’t introduced at the BBB. Thank heavens. For the price of $7.50, Fairy Godmothers in Training will transform your average looking little boy into the coolest dude you’ve ever seen! Colorful hair gel, Disney confetti, and a painted Mickey stencil on their head … it is super cute and super cheap!

The finished product

Be prepared to find Disney confetti everywhere for the next 3 months

Mickey Stencil painted on the back of Avery's head

Important Things to Know:

1. Parents and grandparents are allowed to accompany guests back to watch the transformation. Bring a camera and a video camera. Both are allowed.
2. No tips are accepted.
3. Photopass Photographers are on site. Take advantage of it. They get some great shots.
4. The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is for girls and boys aged 3 years and older.
5. Reservations are accepted 180 days out by calling (407) WDW-STYLE

Both Downtown Disney and the Magic Kingdom have locations with Photopass Photographers and studio backdrops that you can visit to afterward. Ask for directions and head that way. We’ve taken advantage of both places and have had great luck.

If you go the Photopass route (which I recommend), there is a BBB watermark that you can add onto photos free of charge should you wish to do that. If you get more than 3 great photos during your “transformation”, you’ll pay for the entire Photopass CD for the price of printing those 3 prints on Disney property.

So, you’re going to Disney World? Congratulations and guess what …. So am I!

At my house, we are certifiable Disney freaks. We live, breath, and sacrifice for anything and everything Disney. In fact, at dinner last night, my daughter used “Ok … what’s your favorite monorail color?” as a conversation starter.

Before you say, “Again???” Let me show you why we go over and over and over …

Can you say “PURE JOY”? It keeps us coming back running back every year.

I realized this weekend that there are many people who would love to go on a trip, but get  overwhelmed in the details. That’s completely understandable. There is always something new to learn, but for the most part – I think we’ve figured it out. So, I thought it might be helpful if I take you all along on our planning … from now until we leave for our trip later this fall.

STEP ONE – PICK A DATE: The dates of your trip  affect not only your price, but also how you have to plan your day. Here’s a great link. Value season is the cheapest and the lowest crowds; Regular season is moderately priced and average crowds; and Holiday season is crazy crowds and super expensive. Tip: More expensive=More people in the parks=More time you’ll need in a park to really enjoy that park.

STEP TWO – FIGURE OUT YOUR 180 DATE: Once you know your check-in date, you’re going to want to see when you can call to make ADRs (Advanced Dining Reservations). Gone are the days of walking up to a “sit-down” restaurant and grabbing a table. Oh no no. These things are gobbled up like hot cakes … 180 days in advance. To find your “180 date”, click here.

STEP THREE – DECIDE WHAT PARKS YOU’LL DO ON WHAT DAYS: There are several ways to do this: (1) just pick whatever you want, (2) use a crowd calendar, or (3) buy park-hopper tickets. We have always gone with #2. Park hopper tickets are an added cost that, for as long as we stay, isn’t needed. We began using the Crowd Calendars three years ago and they’ve been wonderful. I recommend Touring Plans or Tour Guide Mike. Both are great. They aren’t free, but they are well worth the money.

STEP FOUR – WHERE WILL YOU EAT?: There are a couple of options on how to approach your dining. (1) You can just take your chances where you get there. {I DO NOT recommend this.}; (2) You can purchase the Quick Dining Plan {2 Quick Service Meals, plus 2 snacks/per person per day}; and (3) You can purchase the Dining Plan {1 Quick Service Meal, 1 Table Service Meal, plus 1 snack/per person per day}.

We’ve done #2 and #3 … I’ll chime in on both.

On our 2007 and 2008 trip, we did the Dining Plan. And, we are doing it again for this trip. We stayed over a week on both trips, so on approximately day 4ish, we had already eaten more in food than we had paid for the Dining Plan. The trick to making this work for you is eating expensive food! (Here’s a great link to restaurants and prices.) Character meals (at most places) for 2 adults and 2 kids will run in the $120 range. We did a character meal nearly every day.

With that said, let me also tell you that it will be one of those vacations where you feel like you’ve done nothing but eat. You are like a stuffed pig … thank goodness there is so much walking to do!

Last year, we did the Quick Service Dining Plan. Our trip was only 5 days and we didn’t want to sit down every night. (We paid for 2 table service meals out of pocket.) Truthfully, although it is less expensive, I wasn’t a huge fan. A lot of the quick service options are similar and most are fried, and by the end of day 3 – I would have killed for a salad or some other healthy option. But, I will say, we still came out ahead should we have paid for it. (We hit the free dining jackpot!)

Here are the table service restaurants that we’ve really enjoyed on our trips. (We’re trying several new ones this year!):

Epcot: Coral Reef, Chefs de France, Rose and Crown, San Angel Inn
Magic Kingdom: Cinderella’s Royal Table (2 dining credits), Tony’s Town Square, Crystal Palace
The Contemporary Resort: The Wave
The Polynesian Resort: ‘Ohana
Wilderness Lodge: Whispering Canyon

We’ve also had good luck with the food courts that are in the resorts. They take Quick Service credits and have a great variety of hot food.

Next up … Extras for your kids. What “specials” are worth the money?

PS – Send your questions – I’ll answer them in a post or will send you an email!

The one thing that can ruin the “before” of a vacation is the “is it today?”, “how many more days?”, etc.

We’ve solved that by making a Disney Countdown calendar. This is our second year to do it. If you are a scrapbook gal and have a Cricut or other cutting machine – then you can be a pro in no time!

I started with 6 polkadot papers – all different colors. I loaded in my Mickey Font cartridge and the rest was a piece of cake.

1) Figure out how many days you are going to count down. (We did 36).

2) Divide the paper and figure out how many “heads” you need.

Load the paper and let the cutting begin!

This is what it will look like when it comes out …

I darkened this picture so you could see what they look like before you peel them off.

From there, we made a header (same cartridge) and glued everything down.

After this, I printed out numbers to put on each day. (This would have been quicker if I had used stickers, but I didn’t have ones that would be perfect – so I did it the hard way!)

To do the actual countdown, each child gets to put a sticker on every-other-day. I have a stash of all kinds of stickers and they get to pick which ones they want to use. They love to pick and …. they never have to ask “how many days” … they know!

Here’s the finished product!

Before our first trip to Disney, I read about what type of bag/backpack to take. Many people recommended a Baggallini, but I had a perfectly good backpack, so I decided to just use what I had.

My backpack was ok, but the hassle of taking that thing off at every attraction was enough to make me crazy. Plus, with the lack of pockets and organization attributes, I was constantly digging in the thing. And, I mean digging, because it always worked out where whatever I was searching for was at the bottom!

The next year, I knew that I had to have a Baggallini. I do the Coke Rewards system and (at that time) one of the products that you could redeem points from was eBags. I saved my points until I had enough to get a gift certificate and ordered the DISboards traditional lime green.

I’m not endorsed by eBags, but I will tell you that I’ve had great luck with them. (My in-laws used them to buy two more bags the following year.) They are fast, constantly run specials and have great products.

Here is a link directly to the bag that I bought. A Baggallini Messenger Sling Bag in Rip Stop Nylon. (There are nine colors that are available from eBags.com.)

The reason I endorse this bag at Disney – or anywhere else for that matter – is that it easily slides to the front of your body without having to take it off. On the days that I loaded it down, I could also switch shoulders every now and then, and wear it on the front of my body. Imagine going an entire day without having to take the bag off of your body … It’s heaven.

This little thing holds A TON!!! Here’s what I pack: (I realize that this is probably over the top for most people, but I’m not letting anything get me down when I’m on vacation – so I bring it all.)

Front Zipper Pocket

I use this for wet wipes. I put them in a Ziploc bag for a couple of reasons. (1) I hate the ones that have the tab-stick thing. They leak if they are squashed and the chances of them being squashed are very good. (2) We use these constantly. It’s cheaper for me to bring a big pack and refill my Ziploc bag each day.

Front Pocket:

A retractable sharpie for Character autographs. (The characters have an easier time signing with a larger pen.) Retractable ensures that we won’t lose the lid.

Kleenex

Hand Sanitizer

Face Sunscreen

Travel Tylenol and Advil

Earplugs (Piper is really sensitive to loud sounds and the fireworks make her nuts!)

Tums

Pepto Tablets (for kids); Immodium (for grownups)

Big Middle Pocket:

This is where all the extra stuff goes. Extra sharpie (still in the packaging), extra batteries, ponchos, etc.

2 Tips: Buy your ponchos at Wal-Mart before you go. They are in the hunting section. They run about $1 a piece. We buy A LOT. In fact, since we go in November/December, it can be chilly (sometimes). The kids want to ride the water rides, but don’t want to walk about in wet clothes all day, so they wear ponchos on those rides too. (They wear adult sized ponchos, and I just cut them off with scissors.) Since we’ve only paid $1 for the poncho, we throw it away when we’re finished and don’t worry about folding it back up. Park ponchos will run you upwards of $7 a piece.

Second tip: If your daughter is doing the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Disney, bring shower caps. You won’t want that salon hair messed up by an Orlando passing shower! It works like a charm to save their royal ‘do!

Back Pocket:

Because this pocket sits against my back, I put my wallet in here, as well as anything else like my park ticket/room key, phone, etc.

I’ve never had anything stolen in the parks, but I figure my chances go down considerably when they’d have to put a hand right on my back!

Let me know if you’ve got something tried and true. I’d love to hear what works for you when packing for a day in the park!

Last week we had the pleasure, via Mom Central and Feld Entertainment, to go to Disney On Ice – 100 Years of Magic. Since we are heading out to Disney VERY soon, it was the perfect timing for us to review the show and use it as a catalyst to get even MORE excited about our trip.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the show. It flowed well and did a great job of allowing the kids to see all of their favorites.

As my friend Stacey found out – seats do matter. The show is in a vertical rectangle – seats at the top of the rectangle will be the best. We were just slightly to the left and about half way up. We had a great view – I was totally satisfied with it. It wasn’t close enough to reach out and touch the performers (those seats were available), but it was certainly close enough to see the detail on the costuming – which I thought was great!

The show is split into two parts with an intermission. The entire thing lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes. Just long enough for most kids … although I wouldn’t have complained for at least another 2-3 acts in there! My kids could have made it for a while longer.

Our favorite segments were: the princess segment; Toy Story; Small World; and The Incredibles.

The acts did a good job of either telling the premise of the story in a short time period or giving you the information that you needed to enjoy it for that moment. I really hadn’t expected that, but was pleasantly suprised.

What did catch me off guard were the concession prices. I’m no stranger to stadiums and the OUTRAGEOUS pricing that occurs, but you have no idea … The show runs the concessions here. The booths are set up everywhere. I bet there isn’t 12 feet between any of them. They are selling everything imaginable.

We decided that we would get 2 snow cones and a bag of cotton candy. $32 folks. $32. Nothing comes without a “collectible” cup. The snow cones are in collectible cups; the cotton candy had a collectible crown. I just wanted 2 snow cones in the paper cones and a bag of cotton candy. We’ll collect our souvies when we travel to Orlando in two weeks.

Would I recommend this show? Yes. Would I pay for tickets? Yes (although I would have used the discount code and gone to a matinee).

Did the kids have a good time?

(Thanks so much to Mom Central and Feld Entertainment!)