Disney Vacation Planning

Adrift with Disney: Choosing the Perfect Stateroom

Brenda Disney Cruises, Disney Vacation Planning , , , , 0 Comment

photo via http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierraandi/5425751383/in/photostream/

As you may have read last week, my family and I are planning a brand new adventure – a Disney cruise. We have never been on a Disney cruise, nor booked one, so I am finding out new information all the time. I have already had to call and change our cabin choice after doing a little research.

When choosing our cabin, there were three things to keep in mind once we chose the category and price: the room accommodations, the location of the cabin, and which side of the ship.

Room Accommodations
Since the Disney Dream will be our home for 4 days, we want to be as comfortable as possible but  assume we will not be in the room much, if it is anything like being at Walt Disney World.  Because there are 4 of us, and allowing for the ages my children will be at the time of the cruise (DD, 21 and DS, 18), I wanted to make sure we had an adequate number of beds. I chose the Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Veranda as the description said:

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Helping You Plan an Affordable Disney Vacation

Nancy Affordable Disney Vacations, Discounted Disney World Tickets, Disney Vacation Planning, Saving Money at Disney World, Saving Money on Accommodations, Saving Money on Food , , , , , , 0 Comment
Side View of Cinderella Castle Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World 2008photo via http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathika/3155260892/

It’s National Plan a Vacation Week….but for those of us who are, ahem, Disney obsessed, I have to say that every week is probably Plan a Vacation Week….Disney vacations that is. If we are not planning a Disney vacation, we dream of planning a Disney vacation, make plans to plan a Disney vacation, read about planning a Disney vacation…….and sometimes we even plan a Disney vacation for others.

That was, of course, the reason why I started The Affordable Mouse in the first place: to share with others what I have learned about planning Disney vacations, and help others to experience that Disney magic with their families.

For me and every other Disney blogger out there, every week is Disney vacation planning week….and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Walt Disney had this vision for what he wanted to create with his theme parks: a place where families could experience the magic of just being with each other….and those who have found the Disney experience to be as magical as Walt envisioned, feel compelled to help others do the same.

Ya kind of can’t really help it. 🙂

So this week is truly the perfect time for me to officially share some news that I mentioned briefly a few weeks ago, to those of you who are on my email newsletter list:

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Disney’s All Star Sports: Hang Ten Disney Dudes!

Debbie Affordable Disney Vacations, Disney Vacation Planning, Saving Money at Disney World, Saving Money on Accommodations , , , , , , 0 Comment
Disney ResortsPhoto via: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frikitiki/2852686004/

Before I get stated, I would like to apologize to those who love All-Star Sports.  Don’t get me wrong: I like many parts of this resort but while I do enjoy sports, this resort just isn’t my favorite among all the choices available.  As the name implies, this resort is themed with the sport enthusiast and athlete in mind. There are open areas for practicing routines and really getting into a sports-mindset!  In fact I remember one morning starting quite early with cheerleaders practicing outside our door.  This resort attracts many sport groups from around the country such as cheerleaders, dance teams, soccer and baseball players, etc.

Several years back (ok a lot of years – she’s 31 this year), we took our 18 year old daughter and a girlfriend of hers for their first adult trip.  We booked an All-Star Sports room for them while we stayed in the French Quarter.  They were on their own so they had to get themselves up the morning, figure out food for the day (we supplied $20 each every day for them to eat on), keep up with their room keys and park passes.  I had purposely booked Sports thinking the girls would enjoy being around people closer to their age. But it turns out that neither of the girls were sport enthusiasts and there were more families with a little younger age group.  In looking back I can see the reason why, with the football field, the more open areas bright colors, the younger generations really enjoy it!

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Thrifty Thursday: Creating a Disney Trip Cheater Book

Brenda Affordable Disney Vacations, Disney Vacation Planning, Saving Money at Disney World, Thrifty Thursday , , , 16 Comments

I have not yet decided whether I am extremely organized or just uncertain of my ability to remember things but, either way, I compensate by always being prepared. I like to be able to put my hands on whatever I need whenever I need it.

Several years ago, when we first started visiting Walt Disney World, there was so much information about so many different things that I wanted to have a method of keeping track of things specific to our trip at any given time. I decided to create a Disney Trip Cheater book by using a set of colored 3X5 index cards, hole-punched and held together with a loose-leaf clip, like this.

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Adrift With Disney: Disney Cruise or Disney World?

Brenda Disney Cruises , , , , 0 Comment

Editor’s Note: Welcome to a new series about planning an affordable Disney Cruise: “Adrift With Disney”, courtesy of our friend Brenda. 🙂 Brenda is starting to plan a Disney Dream Cruise because….well….I’ll let her tell you!

photo via http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierraandi/5425751383/in/photostream/

Disney Cruise or Disney World?

That is the question…my answer? How about a little of both?

As my life continues its metamorphosis, so do the plans for our annual Disney family vacation. As you may have read in my previous post, our annual Thanksgiving trip has changed to December this year as my youngest will be graduating from high school and so we will be planning around a college vacation schedule. The latest development in my family is that my oldest son will be marrying his sweetheart this year and, since they will use their vacation days for a honeymoon, they will not be joining us this December.

So, the question is what to do this year. We had planned on a family of 6 at Walt Disney World for 10 days/9 nights and now there will be only 4 of us. Is this an opportunity to try something new? Well, yes it is…and what is newer and grander to try than the brand new Disney Dream? My family has never been on a Disney cruise, so we were excited by the prospect. But, to give up our fun time in the parks was holding us back.

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