Trip Planning
Character Meals: Vol 10 – Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort is an interesting restaurant. It hosts character dining all day long, yet boasts three very different character meals. The Supercalifragilistic Breakfast sees Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Alice, and the Mad Hatter, while the afternoon brings the Wonderland Tea Party. The meal I am focusing on here, though, is dinner, where 1900 Park Fare hosts Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner.
Atmosphere
My biggest problem with 1900 Park Fare is an extension of my opinion of the Grand Floridian Resort, in general. I find it very classy and clean, but ultimately boring and uninteresting (although I have been called boring and uninteresting myself, so maybe I am not the best judge). The restaurant is lightly carousel themed, with a few antique looking carousel horses and a band organ as the primary decorations. These items are incredibly nice, but they are few and go unnoticed far too easily. Other than that handful of items, the rest of the room is filled with beige. Nothing really draws the eye, and there is nothing special to even discuss here.
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The Walt Disney World Attractions+ PhotoPass Product
I made half a dozen visits to Walt Disney World last year, but only one with my entire family. Given that this “gang’s all here” trip was a momentous occasion, I decided to splurge on the new Attractions+ PhotoPass product.
Introduced in December 2012, Attractions+ is another variation in the string of new PhotoPass bundled products. In this incarnation, you receive downloadable JPEGs of all your on-ride photos for one price: $44.95.
The rides on which photos are taken are:
- Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (Magic Kingdom)
- Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
- Tower of Terror (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
- Rock ‘n Roller Coaster (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
- Dinosaur (Animal Kingdom)
- Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom)
- Test Track (Epcot)
When you buy the Attractions+ product, you are given a dedicated card which is only used to claim the photos at those attractions. Unlike regular PhotoPass cards, which generally have a 30 day life span, the Attractions+ card is punched with an expiration date. Each Attractions+ purchase can only be used to claim ride photos for 14 days. During those 14 days, you can add as many on-ride photos as you want. Given that getting a printed ride photo typically costs about $19.00, if you were going to buy more than two ride pictures, then the Attractions+ product makes sense.
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Looking over the February Crowd Calendar at WDW
February can be a great month to visit Walt Disney World, but it can be a reasonably busy month, depending on the week. Here’s a quick view of Walt Disney World’s February 2013 Crowd Calendar:
And here are a few specific days that I would like to bring to your attention: Read the rest of this entry »
Hotel Room Hacks: Ways to Make the Most of the Supplies in Your Walt Disney World Hotel Room
A while back, I wrote a post which listed all the things that you can expect to find in your Walt Disney World hotel room. Most of the items on the list seem pretty straightforward. I mean, an ice bucket is just an ice bucket, right?
Wrong.
In addition to being a container for conveying frozen water, your ice bucket can do double duty as a corral for your daughter’s hair supplies, a bowl for your microwave popcorn, or place to warm your baby’s bottle. Here are some hacks you can use to make the items found in your hotel room do double duty when you’re on your Disney vacation.
SHAMPOO
Your hotel toiletries can be used for many things other than getting clean.
- Meant to: Keep your hair clean.
- Can also be used:
- As a gentle detergent to rinse the chlorine out of your swimsuit.
- As a “stain stick.” Rub a little into a clothing stain. This will delay the stain setting until you can actually wash the garment.
- As a bubble bath for cleaning kiddos. Pour a slow stream of shampoo into the running tub water and watch the bubbles appear.
- As a “window cleaner” for your kids’ swim goggles.
- Remember: If you’re not staying on points at a DVC villa, you can get as much free extra shampoo as you need just by placing a quick call to housekeeping.
Is it Worth It?
I love helping guests with Disney trip planning. I’m happy discuss the strengths and weaknesses of every ride, resort, and restaurant on Walt Disney World property. But I have a confession to make, there’s one type of question that I can’t stand answering: “Is it Worth It?”
When working on the Walt Disney World Moms Panel, some of the hundreds of “Is it Worth It?” questions I’ve seen have included:
The cost of a room with a castle view might be worth it to some people, but not everyone.
- Is staying in a concierge level room worth it?
- Is the Disney Dining Plan worth it?
- Is Victoria & Albert’s restaurant worth the money?
- Is it worth waiting an hour to go on Toy Story Midway Mania?
- Is it worth it to get a preferred room?
- Is Cinderella’s Royal Table worth booking?
- Is the Grand Floridian Resort worth the money?
- Is it worth paying extra to get Park Hopper tickets?
- Is the Wild Africa Trek worth it?
- Are PhotoPass pictures worth the money?
- Is it worth the time it takes traveling back and forth to my hotel for a nap?
I could go on (… and on and on), but you get the idea.
Worth occurs when benefits exceed costs. Vacation time and money are scarce commodities. You want to be reassured that benefits you’ll gain from your Disney experiences will be greater than your investment in those experiences, both in money and time. You want to be reassured that your investment will be “worth it”?
My dirty little secret is that my answer to all your “Is it worth it?” questions is, “I simply don’t know.”
10 Tips For Planning Your 2013 Walt Disney World Visit
Many families use this week to begin planning their 2013 Walt Disney World vacations. We’ve assembled some of our own Erin Foster’s most popular blog posts into a step by step list to get started.
1 – Trip Planning 101: Deciding When to Visit Walt Disney World
The first choice most families have to make is “When?” Erin has a simple system for narrowing down your options. It also works great for scheduling any kind of vacation!
2 – Trip Planning 101: How Long Should We Stay at Walt Disney World?
Explains how much time to budget, considering everything from budget and vacation time available, to stamina and non-park activities.
3 – Trip Planning 101: Budgeting for Your Trip to Walt Disney World
Includes a handy set of worksheets to use when trying to figure out how much your trip will cost.
4 – Value, Moderate, Deluxe, Villa: What’s the Difference Between Disney World Resort Categories?
A handy primer on the different kinds of lodging at Walt Disney World
5 – Deciding Where To Stay At Walt Disney World, Number Crunching Part 1: Getting the Most Sleep Surfaces Per Dollar
If you’ve got a large family, getting the most beds at the cheapest price can be important. Erin’s got some tips on how to maximize your lodging dollar.
7 – Deciding Where To Stay At Walt Disney World: It’s All About the Bathroom
For some people, bathrooms are the most important part of the hotel room. Learn the ins and outs of WDW bathrooms.
8 – The Art of the Disney World Room Request
Once you’ve settled on a resort, learn the tricks the pros use to get the perfect room.
9 - Trip Planning 101: Packing for Your Walt Disney World Vacation
10 – Frequently Asked Questions About Disney’s Magical Express
And a bonus:
11 – Trip Planning 101: Disney Dining
A reference on the restaurants and dining options available on your trip.
Let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see. Happy planning!
My First New Year’s Eve In Disney World
Dance party in Epcot, photo by Doug Uhlig
This year I’ll be spending New Year’s Eve in Disney World for the first time, and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ve always wanted to experience this holiday in Disney World, and this year is my big chance. I’ve heard all sorts of things about this occasion in the parks from crazy crowds to awesome fireworks, and I’m pumped to experience it for myself. Being the Touring Planner I am I’ve done a bit of research into my options for the day and night, and I encourage you to do the same if you intend to spend the end of 2012 at Disney World.
As we’ve previously posted on this blog, each park seems to have its own special offerings for the holiday. To briefly recap: the Magic Kingdom will have both Wishes! and Fantasy in the Sky fireworks to enjoy. Epcot will offer dance parties in various countries throughout World Showcase and a special version of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at 7:00 and 11:42. This is also one of the few times throughout the year guests can enjoy a fireworks display at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with Mulch, Sweat, and Shears providing the live soundtrack. If you’d rather avoid crowded park, there are several other options around Disney World property, as well. Check out the link above for more details.
A Notice For Tower Of Terror Over The Holidays
Over the past several weeks wait times at Terror of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have shown suspicious spikes. We have confirmed that these were due to the temporary shut down of one of the elevator shafts that take guests into the other dimension. Historically, we have found that the shut down of one shaft, although rare, usually results in a posted time that is more than double the wait time from before the shutdown. These shutdowns have been more frequent recently, affecting as many as 5 days out of 7. If I had to guess, I would suspect that during the busy holiday season, Disney may be less likely to shut a shaft down for fear of driving wait times too high. Regardless, we want our holiday touring-planners to be prepared.
Most of you who follow an optimized touring plan will find that Tower is Terror is slotted in the first half the day, which is good, but we want you to be aware that if these temporary shutdowns continue you may come to the queue with a Christmas wait time surprise in the range of 200 to 300 minutes. We have tried to adjust our estimates for the wait times at Tower of Terror, but it is difficult to predict when the elevator shaft will go down. (Pun intended!)
If Tower of Terror is on your must-do list over the holidays, make sure to re-optimize your Hollywood Studios touring plan while in the park. Lines will adjust to the current wait times and the optimizer will adjust as well.
Don’t Forget Walt Disney World’s Free Wi-Fi This Week
Past experience has shown us that when the Walt Disney World theme parks, particularly the Magic Kingdom, see extra high crowds, cellular service can be extremely unreliable. If you’re using Lines, our mobile app, while you’re touring this week, please switch over to the free in-park Wi-Fi. Lines does not cache any park information or your plans locally to your phone and needs a data connection to work correctly.
Enjoy your holidays at Walt Disney World!
My Experience as a FastPass+ Tester
I made an all too brief visit to Walt Disney World this past weekend with my husband. About two weeks prior to our departure for this trip, I received a surprise FastPass+ tester invitation in the mail. The “welcome” letter included two standard plastic cards which were imprinted with our names and a square QR code box. We were directed to a website where we could use our resort reservation number to sign up for FastPass+ use.
The test took place at the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We were directed to choose one of these parks on each of the two nights of our stay. I chose our arrival day Friday December 14 for DHS and Saturday 15 for the Magic Kingdom. We were offered a list of several attractions and allowed to choose a limited number to reserve with the FastPass+. We were presented with four sample time configurations, but had the ability to go in later and tinker with the timing. In practice, this felt very much like making a meal reservation.
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