Author: Nancy

Disney Holiday Gift-Giving: Luggage and Bags Disney Style

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Essential for any Disney vacation are those items you will need to “keep stuff in”, that is luggage, backpacks, tote bags, and diaper bags. The thing is, while these things are necessities, why not add a little “Disney” to something that is basically functional….and make it fun? The benefit of this is, of course, bringing the Disney love along with you PLUS having that happy Disney reminder day in and day out after you get home!

With that in mind then, here are some of my favorite Disney travel accessories (a few of which may end up on my Christmas wish list for our upcoming Disney World trip):

Disney Princess Luggage: On our first trip to Walt Disney World, one of the things that our daughter (then age 7) was most excited about was having her “own suitcase”. She would have loved the princesses on the outside. I would have loved the hard case and wheels that make it easy for little ones to take care of their own bag.

Disney Rolling Light-Up Buzz Lightyear Luggage: The solution for little boys, this case will help future Space Rangers to easily travel to Disney World, or Infinity and Beyond, whichever they prefer.

Blue 3-Piece Rolling Disney Luggage Set: For the grown-up on your list (or maybe you?? 🙂  ) I personally really like this 3 piece set for the sizes available and especially like that the duffle is wheeled. Plus, I love the blue color too. Yeah…this one’s going on my Christmas wish list.

Black 3-Piece Disney Rolling Mickey Mouse Luggage Set: This one’s for the person who really wants to have their Mickey on when traveling. One of the things I really like about this set is that you can EASILY pick out your luggage at baggage claim at the airport. 🙂

Tinkerbell Diaper Bag Backpack – Adjustable Shoulder Bag: Know someone who will be traveling to Disney World with a little one? A Disney diaper bag is a great gift idea. I love all the pockets on this one as well as the fact that it can be either a shoulder bag or back pack.

Disney Mickey Mouse Tote Bag: Having a tote bag of some sort is essential at the parks. At 15” x 17” this bag is roomy and it has a nice interior zippered compartment which I really like. Plus it’s just plain fun…..and also going on my Christmas list!

Disney Dooney & Bourke Black Tassle Tote: I will readily admit that this does NOT qualify as affordable….but it is gorgeous, and one can hope, right? Disney’s Dooney and Bourke collection is extremely popular and there are many different designs, patterns, and sizes that are available. And while this bag may or may not be in Santa’s budget this year, there are some smaller items like wallets, wristlets and such that can help you be stylishly Disney. But if we’re going to dream….then this is the one I’m dreaming of…..

Hope you found some great Disney Holiday gift items for your favorite Disney traveler…or for your own wishlist! Happy shopping!

The Affordable Mouse is Celebrating a Birthday!

Nancy Affordable Disney Vacations , , , , 3 Comments

I am excited to be celebrating our First Birthday this week! One year ago I made the decision to move The Affordable Mouse from a little blog with occasional posts to a “grown-up” website and blog. Just a year later, we have grown to be quite the community, with a Facebook page now as well, that is closing in on having 350 fans…and growing!

As I begin our second year, it is a great time for me to share with you a few things that I am working on, that will all hopefully be finalized before the end of 2010…as well as some ideas I have for the coming year:

  • Website re-design: As our community has grown, it is important for me to be able to provide a better way for you to find the information that you need to save money at Disney World. In addition, I have things that I have been wanting to add to the site as well 🙂 so this is the perfect time to for me to do some re-designing. My plans are that the finished product will be done before Christmas and once complete will provide an improved experience for you! Stay tuned for details!
  • Affordable Disney Dining Guide: This project that was born as a result of your responses to a survey that I ran in the spring, is in the editing stages now, and so is nearly finished! I currently expect to release it as an e-book right after the 1st of the year, just in time for your 2011 vacation planning!
  • The Affordable Mouse Community: In many ways, this part is the most important to me, because it is at the heart of why I started The Affordable Mouse in the first place. My vision for this site has always been one of a community of Disney World-lovers, where ideas, tips, and suggestions for saving money on a Disney World vacation are shared. I may have started it….but my hope over the coming years, is that this site and blog will eventually grow into a place where anyone who needs help making Disney vacations affordable, can come to ask questions. Our online “family” is pretty diverse: many of you are experienced Walt Disney World veterans, with many visits under your belt…but many of you found us because you are brand new, and looking for help. And one of the things that I love about Disney folk…is that we are a friendly, helpful sort of folk, willing to share advice and provide help to other Disney folk! 🙂

So, it is my hope, in 2011, to grow The Affordable Mouse community by getting more of YOU involved! Our Facebook      page is certainly a start, where a number of you already comment and share ideas, and I hope that will continue to expand. But beyond that, please feel free to ask questions there as well, and don’t be shy or worry about it being a “dumb” question: we’ve all been there once! Please also share your thoughts and ideas by commenting on our daily blog posts: I would love to see some real conversations begin to start in the comments every day! If you have experience with the topic, please share. If you have something helpful to add, please share that too!

It is here with the Blog that I am truly hoping to grow our community! As you know, Brenda recently began contributing articles on a weekly basis and she has done a wonderful job of adding an additional viewpoint, as well as some fresh, new ideas. I would love to expand on this and have more of you share your expertise as well! So if you like to write, and would be interested in contributing articles to The Affordable Mouse blog, please let me know! Send me an email at nancy@theaffordablemouse.com and let me know your background and Disney “history”. Professional experience is certainly not required: what is needed however, is a love for Walt Disney World, and an interest in sharing ways to save money on a Disney vacation.  It is also not necessary to contribute weekly either: if you just wish to share an article once or twice a month that would be awesome too! (Please be aware though, that this is, unfortunately, not a paid position: your only pay will be sharing the Disney magic with others. 🙂 )

Lastly, I would really love to know what ideas YOU have for growing our Disney World money-saving community! Message boards/forums? Monthly podcasts or webinars? YouTube videos? Something else? Please let me know your thoughts: Growing our community is one of my goals for 2011, but clearly it can’t be done without you! So send me an email, post on the Facebook page, or comment on a blog post and let me know your ideas for creating a sharing community!

Thanks so much for reading, and thanks so much for making 2010 such an amazing year for The Affordable Mouse! “Meeting” all of you is something that I am truly thankful for…and I can’t wait to see what great things 2011 has in store for all of us!

Disney Fun From Around the World: Week of November 29, 2010

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Happy December Disney friends and Happy Hanukkah to those who are celebrating this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday last weekend and that you are ready for a good long blog round-up today! The Disney blog world has emerged from the post-holiday tryptophan coma and has provided us with some welcome Disney distraction from all the holiday rushing around. So grab a latte, sit back and relax in the World of Disney for a few moments. Here are some of my favorites:

To start, The Disney Blog offered a great way to celebrate the Festival of Lights: Voices of Liberty – Hanukkah Medley

Wow, wow, wow AJ at the Disney Food Blog has been busy! This week she provided a Guest Review: New Menus and Menu Items at Le Cellier Steakhouse and a delicious post that caught my eye: “I Can’t Believe I Hadn’t Tried This!” Disney Desserts Edition In addition, if you have Disney World food favorites, be sure to head on over and vote: DFB Choice Awards Voting Now Open

Tons of things going on at Chip and Co this week. Lisa shared the Top Ten Disney Tips I Learned This Year, Allie discussed Keeping things fresh at Walt Disney World and Chris shared some Kid Stuff I Secretly Want for Christmas (and I think I personally want a few as well… 🙂 )

Not able to visit Disney World over the Christmas holidays? Or maybe you want a “fix” until you do go? Amanda over at Disney Every Day provided just the thing: 3 videos of some of the most special holiday happenings at Walt Disney World this month: Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Time Parade Video and Video of the Christmas Holiday Wishes Fireworks in the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Osborne Family Lights Daytime Details Video

Kelly at the Disney Guru offered another informative Money Saver Monday!! What Season Saves You the Most Money??

Our friend James “The Mouse Planner” wrote a fascinating piece for the Disney Driven Life where he discussed using time well at Disney World…and then back at home too: GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TIME

Studios Central offered some great suggestions for Bargain Shopping at Walt Disney World

Ellie at The Relocated Tourist shared the favorite things she really wants to do at Disney World in My Disney Bucket List (and a few of these are on my list as well….)

Lastly, the Resourceful Mommy had some fantastic ideas for Surviving the Disney Souvenir Gimmes with your children. If you have little ones, this is a must-read.

OK, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading! Now, get back to shopping, cooking, baking, decorating…… 🙂 Have a magical weekend!

Disney Fun From Around the World: Week of November 22, 2010

Nancy Disney Fun From Around the "World" , , 2 Comments

I hope those of you in the U.S. enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! And if you are hitting the stores today for “Black Friday”, I hope you get tons of bargains! As a post-holiday treat for you, here are some of my favorite Disney blog posts from the past week…..so grab another piece of pumpkin pie, put your feet up, and take a break from all that shopping, to enjoy a little Disney magic….

Chip and Co: has a great series of fun holiday gift items. Take a look at the Top 5 Disney Holiday Gift Ideas by Chip and Top 10 Disney Holiday Stocking Stuffer Guide by Lisa.  Ken also shared some helpful Disney World Quick Tips – Budget Considerations For Your Trip.

Disney Guru offered a great post for Money Saver Monday!! Free things to do at Downtown Disney  (always love FREE!) and Tuesday’s Top Ten Things You Must Know Before You Go…….

The Disney Blog shared some news for those of you who are Pooh lovers:  Winnie The Pooh attraction at Magic Kingdom opens with new Queue

Chris over at Everything Walt Disney World discussed an important question for thosse of you visiting this next month: Is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Worth It?

Do you have your Christmas card pictures done yet? Theme Park Mom has some suggestions: Christmas Card photos at Walt Disney World

Finally, my article at Chip and Co shared one of my favorite things: Walt Disney World at Christmas Time: Planning Time for Decoration Hopping

That’s all for this week friends! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! We’ll be enjoying having our daughter home from college and putting up our Christmas tree and decorations. I love this time of year! 🙂

Travel Tuesday Tales: T-Minus 36 Days and Counting…

Nancy Christmas Holidays, Travel Tuesday Tales , , , , 7 Comments

While our friend Brenda is enjoying her vacation in Walt Disney World, I thought I’d take today to provide a quick update to our Disney vacation planning. We leave for Disney World in 36 days, on December 30…and as always happens when you start planning so far in advance….I can’t believe that we’re about a month away!

I can’t believe it because I have quite a bit to do in the next month for this trip.

Oh yeah. And we’ve got a few holidays sprinkled in there as well. 🙂

First let’s start with an update to some previous plans: Instead of 4 going, there are now just 3, myself, my DH and our DD. So I have had a few changes to make in the past month or so, namely to all of our ADRs, and Candlelight Processional reservations.

I also have been regularly in touch with Disney Vacation Club (meaning *daily*), in the attempt to reduce the size of our accommodations from a 2 BR to a Studio or 1 BR. Knowing how crazy busy this week is at Disney, I’m not holding my breath, but it’s worth the try, so that we can save the points for another trip. (And isn’t that always the case: you start planning your next one before you leave on the current one? Or is that just me…. 🙂  ) In any event, currently we still have a 2 BR at Old Key West for the first two nights, and now have a 1 BR at Wilderness Lodge for the 2nd 2 nights. In addition to calling DVC, I’m also on the waitlist for something smaller, so we shall see what happens.

Now what is done so far?

  • Accommodations (well sort of): check.
  • Basic Disney Dining Plan added: check.
  • Advanced Dining Reservations for all dinners: check.
  • Flights booked: check.

And what needs to be done in the next few weeks?

  • Tickets ordered: To Do!
  • Magical Express contacted: To Do!
  • Parking/transportation to and from airport: To Do!
  • Check park hours: To Do!
  • Any additional tours/meals/events booked: Research, maybe yes, maybe no.
  • Check luggage situation and replace some suitcases: Research, but probably To Do!
  • Check for new comfy walking shoes for me: Oh definitely To Do!!!!

This is, of course, in addition to getting ready for Christmas. Yeah, it’s gonna be a fun month! 🙂

Now you may notice that I don’t really have any itinerary planning on here, and I will say that is a benefit of many trips: for us at this point, we don’t worry about this as much as we would if we were still fairly new to Walt Disney World. Plus, and this is a biggie: there will be lots of crowds, and so we have learned that flexibility will be key during our time there over New Years. We have a few favorites at each park, and certainly know where we will be each evening (we decided that when making our ADRs). Beyond that, once I see the hours for each park, and see when the Holiday events will be ending, then we will narrow it down to which park we’ll go to each morning, and we’ll chat about if there are any Must-Sees for anyone on this trip. That will be about it for itinerary planning for this Disney vacation for us. (Note: it really helps here that we are 3 adults, so no little one meltdowns if we just can’t see something…..)

This weekend, DD will be home from college 🙂  so we’ll have a chance to talk a bit about if there are any extra things anyone wants to do, like doing a tour or something like that. We also need to decide if we want to get Park Hoppers for 4 days or 5, so I can order them from Undercover Tourist. And then I need to call Disney to arrange for Magical Express.

Oh, and before Black Friday, I’ll be looking at our suitcase situation, and my shoe situation, both of which are apparently necessary purchases….

And that will be it then, for a few weeks, as I get ready for Christmas………

…….until I start obsessing about the weather forecast. 🙂