Disney Vacation Tip #5: Embrace Magical Moments

Magical Moments at Disney can happen in many shapes and forms.  Sometimes it is just a cast member going out of the way to help you with something.    Or it could be one of your kids meeting their favorite Disney character.   When a magical moment happens Embrace it –because it could be a moment that you will remember forever.  A Magical Moment happened for us at the end of our Disney Vacation.

On our vacation in March we stayed at the Saratoga Springs (I’ll talk about that in a future blog). Our schedule which included my step daughter’s cheer competition was such that we needed to spend one night at a different hotel at the end of our trip.   So we had booked a room at the Art of Animation hotel which was one of the newer hotels –but reasonable priced.    I was looking forward to staying there and checking out all of the Cars, Nemo and Little Mermaid areas and pools and thought the kids would enjoy it as well. 

Sunday morning came and my wife had to take her daughter to the last day of her Cheer Competition –it was my job with the help of my step son to move all of our stuff and check into the new hotel.     The 2 of us struggled with all of the luggage into a taxi and headed over to the Art of Animation.

As we arrived at the check in desk for our one night a Magical Moment happened.   It seems like the Art of Animation was overbooked ---and the girl behind the desk asked us if we would mind being moved to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. 

I thought about it for about 5 seconds…….And then embraced the moment.   I couldn’t believe our luck.

A magical upgrade!!!   I mentioned that we had luggage for the whole family and had just taken a taxi to get here and Disney said no problem --they would pay for us to get there as well.    I didn’t even hesitate…..I texted my wife on the way over that we were no longer staying at the same hotel. We just jumped in the taxi and headed for the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  All the things I was excited to see at the Art of Animation went out the door and were immediately forgotten.

When we were looking at Resorts (especially Timeshare ones we could trade into) Animal Kingdom was our number one choice.

But it wasn’t available to trade into for the time period we needed to go.  Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Polynesian would be my top 2 choices of resorts to stay at.   So when they asked us if we would mind upgrading from a Moderate resort like Art of Animation to a room with a view of Giraffes and zebras it was a no brainer.   I’ll remember how special that one night was for the rest of my life.  It was like having part of the Kilimanjaro  Safaris in your room.

Waking up before the rest of the family and sitting out on the 

balcony with this view was definitely a memorable moment.

Here is one of the cool little patios you can relax on and check out the animals from.

A gorgeous wide open pool with a cool thatched bar area.  As much as I loved the Condo style larger rooms at Saratoga Springs  --I would have loved to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the entire week.   It was just breathtaking.

I’ll go into more detail and share more pictures from our brief stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge in a couple of upcoming blogs.

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Disney Vacation Tip #4 : Bring more Cash $$$$$$

Okay this Vacation Tip is pretty obvious....

When you plan your trip to Disney World or Disneyland.......
Bring more cash than you planned on spending.  

SHOW ME MONEY!!!   That is Disney's motto.


No matter how much you budget--or if you have a dining plan or not---you will spend more money than you planned on spending.

On our trip we had one pair of sunglasses lost and another pair broken.   Cha Ching... Epcot just made about $40 extra bucks.

I love Disney or I wouldn't be doing a blog about it.....but even I have to admit that Disney is willing to make a buck on any and everything.  Whether it is a $3 water bottle in the parks or pumping out smells from the Bakery on Main Street to get you hungry.  


Disney has poured a ton of money into the Magic Band program --which is like something out of a Sci-Fi movie (I will write an entire blog about how much I love the Magic Bands later) .  With all the money they poured into this system -- Disney has even found a way to make money off of the Magic Bands.   You can pay for customized ones --or trick them out with accessories.   Brilliant marketing!

Here is a link of some of the Magic Band Accessories that Disney is Cashing in on.
http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/mymagicplus/gallery/26jun2013-magicband-accessories/18906.htm


After a long day at the parks you may relax with a couple of extra drinks at the pool bar.  
Swipe that Magic Band (you don't even need a wallet anymore---which is convenient when in your bathing suit.) 
Of course that is extra money out of your credit card.   The Magic Bands aren't Magic in that you magically get stuff for free.

So Bring more cash.....Lots and lots of cash or credit.
Budget extra for the things that aren't in your budget
like Sunscreen or that extra souvenir you didn't plan to buy --but bought anyway.   Bring extra cash you will need it


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Disney Vacation Tip #3 : Don't be too much of a Clark Griswald

This weeks Disney Vacation Tip:

Don't be too much of a Clark Griswald.
Disneyworld has created an environment that is setup for the Clark Griswald's of the world.  When you go to Disneyworld you can plan your Fastpasses several months in advance online.   
And you better make your dinner reservations ahead of time or good luck getting a table at that restaurant you really want to go to.
We stopped by the Polynesian and without reservations it was pretty much quick service only for us.
Disneyland hasn't completely embraced this type of over planning yet , but I'm sure it is coming soon.

The problem with this is that it can feed into the already over planning OCD vacation goers.  Having your entire vacation planned to specific hours of the day can become more of a burden and therefore less enjoyable and make you feel like you have a gun to your head trying to stay on schedule.   

No time to stop for pictures at the Grand Canyon kids --we need to get to the world's second biggest ball of mud by 2:30pm before our Fastpass runs out.  

I'm an over planner myself and a Disneyland Passholder so I fell right into this trap.   Just like my previous advice of taking a day at the Pool --it is okay not to have to be at the park the second it opens.   That was a hard lesson to learn.  My OCD was kicking into overdrive and I was up at around 6:30 in the morning and ready to go.   I was waiting for people to wake up.  After all being a Passholder I know that the best time to get some of the big attractions in is early in the morning.  I've gone to Disneyland at opening on a Sunday morning and been able to get about 6 to 7 attractions in before the crowds and hr long queues start to happen.  The rest of the family wanted to sleep in???  We are on vacation after all.  It was a hard concept for me to grasp.  We are wasting good park time I thought.   Hell this is no longer a vacation.  It's a Quest. It's a quest for fun.

So my tip for this week is too leave the Clark Griswald that is wanting to exert itself at home and relax and enjoy your vacation. Despite Disneyworld's system that feeds into the over planner and OCD people of the world like myself.   Take it easy...  So what if you miss the world's biggest ball of mud.   (You can see that next time).  Your family doesn't need to be whistling Zip Dee Da Doo Dah out their you know what's .  Don't be such a Clark Griswald and maybe your family will have a better time.

Until next time.....See you all at Wally World  (I mean Disneyworld and Disneyland)

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Disney Vacation Tip #2 : When you Realize that you could have just skipped the park and stayed at the pool

The Disney Vacation Tip deals with the Pools:

That moment in the middle of the day when you are at the Theme Parks and you realize you could have saved a whole bunch of money and just stayed at the pool.   It was the first time my wife and her kids age 9 and 13 had ever been to Disneyworld.   We were there for my step daughter's cheerleading competition which was at the back end of our trip.   Since the last days of our trip including a cheer practice on Friday and competition  days on Saturday and Sunday we had to do the parks at the beginning of our trip.  4 parks in 4 days!!!   Oh Yeah!.....Okay so it wasn't the ideal way to do our trip- but I wanted them to see all 4 parks and that is just the way the trip worked out.  (I have several upcoming blogs that will talk about this topic).    

Well in the middle of day 2 the kids (who were having a great time at the parks) asked what time we were leaving ---because they wanted to go swimming in the pool.    The Pool I thought????   Are these kids crazy.  They want to leave the theme park early to go to the pool??  We had talked about Friday (which was cheer practice day) being a rest day where we would just hang out at the pool ---but they wanted to go to the pool now.   You mean I could have just saved $400 and hung out at the pool all day?  Maybe the next time we go on vacation we should just forget about the theme parks and just find a place with a cool pool?  (Yeah not really)

Okay so Saratoga Springs does have several cool pools so I can kind of understand why the kids wanted to go to the pool . If we could have planned our trip differently - we definitely wouldn't have tried to do 4 parks in 4 days.  Ideally 2 park days and a Resort day at the pool followed by 2 more parks and maybe another Resort day at the end would probably be ideal.

So the Disney Vacation trip Tip is to take a break from the parks and plan a pool day.  Especially if your resort has a cool pool like this one.  The kids went on this slide at least 30 times.  

Take a break from the parks and the "go - go -go" mentality and relax.

We even got lucky and had some pool time at Animal Kingdom Lodge at the end of our trip after Cheer (which is a whole different blog---which I will post soon)

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Disney World Vacation Tip #1 : Refillable Mugs

If you are a big soda  or diet soda drinker and are staying at the resorts....Buy a refillable mug first thing upon arrival.  The mugs can be refilled at your resort and at the pool area and when you consider the price of drinks while on your Disney Vacation this will end up being a totally value.  Like park tickets it becomes a better deal the longer you stay at the resort.

When we went on our trip in March 2015 we picked up a couple at our resort.  The Prices at the time of our trip were as follows.
$8.99 for 1 Day   (Not a super value)
$11.99 for 2 Days  (Breaking even)
$14.99 for 3 Days  (Now we are talking)
$17.99 for the length of your Stay  (what a bargain)

The longer you stay the better value you get.  
Plus you already have an instant souvenir as well.

We used our cups every morning at breakfast time .... I would make the morning journey to the Artist's Palate while the rest of the family slept in to fill up our morning drinks.   We are soda in the morning people --so if you are a coffee person or not a big soda drinker it may not be as great of a deal for you.   For us it was a a great deal.  We would get our sodas in the morning and sometimes one at night and then the kids used them the day we hung out by the pool.




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