Disney Vacation Planning

Tips for Using the Affordable Disney Vacation Planning Worksheets

Nancy Affordable Disney Vacations, Disney Vacation Planning, Saving Money on Food, Saving Money on Souvenirs , , , , 2 Comments

You told me you wanted worksheets to help you budget your Disney World vacation, and ways to stay organized with all the vacation details. Well your wish is my command. 🙂

Late last week I finally finished 3 new worksheets for you and uploaded them to the site. If you haven’t yet seen them, you can find links to all 3 on the Planning Worksheets page.

While there is a quick overview of each on that page, I wanted to take today’s post to elaborate just a bit and provide a tutorial that will hopefully help you to use them. But first, a few things for you to know…

First, they were all created as Excel worksheets, so if you have Excel installed on your computer, they should open up just fine. Each link goes directly to the worksheet: simply save each one into a folder on your computer so you can find it later! If you don’t have Excel, no worries because you can download the free program Open Office, that allows you to create documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and more that are all fully compatible with Microsoft Office. And again, it’s free! If you are going to use Open Office, once the program is downloaded, you should be able to open the worksheets in one of two ways:

  1. Click on each worksheet and it will open automatically in Open Office (you may need to “tell” it what program to use to do this) or
  2. Open Open Office and click on the spreadsheet icon. Once that opens, go to the file menu in the upper left corner, click “open” and select which worksheet you want to use…and it should open automatically.

OK, worksheets open: here’s the second thing you will want to know. Each sheet has cells where you can input your own information, while the rest of the sheet you cannot edit. Sorry, but since I created the sheets, I didn’t want changes to them going all over cyberspace…but still having my name on them. Hope you understand. 🙂 The important thing here though, is that the things you need to edit for your own use, you can.

The last thing to know is what you do with them once you are finished. Basically, if you have saved your edited version, then when you get ready to leave on your vacation, you can print out what you want to take with you. Even better, smartphones and blackberries make it easy to have an electronic version with you stored in your phone! Just send it to your phone, save it so you can pull it up when needed, and voila, your vacation details in the palm of your hand. 🙂 I do love technology sometimes……

Now let’s take a look at each sheet.

ADR Information Sheet

First there is the ADR Information Sheet: On this sheet, the Column Headings and top row with examples of how to fill it out (in red) you cannot edit. The rest of the sheet you can. So as you plan your Advanced Dining Reservations, use this little sheet to have all the information for each ADR together, in one place. I have found this truly important to have, in case I need to doublecheck, or change an ADR. I also like to make sure that I have noted when the ADR was made and who I spoke to (in case there is a problem). This sheet will also help you keep track of Disney Dining Plan table service credits, and/or how much you need to budget to eat there, as well as if there is a credit card hold for the restaurant.

Vacation Itinerary

The Vacation Itinerary is a formal version of what I have used on every Disney vacation (or every vacation for that matter) that I have ever taken. (In it’s earliest forms, it was hand written in a small notebook that came with me everywhere on our vacation.) I really like to have all my details for each day, all in one place, so I can at a glance, know who/what/where/when/why we are doing anything. This includes budget: I have found the absolute best way to make sure we don’t go over budget on a vacation, is to know how much I have to spend each day, and on what. That’s how much we take with us, the rest stays back in the safe at the room.

So the Vacation Itinerary basically has one sheet per day. You start with your Arrival Day, which has your travel information, hotel reservations/location, as well as a section for estimated expenses for the day. The left hand column you cannot edit, everything under Information/Numbers and Notes you can.

Next come Vacation Days. I made a number of these so you can have one for each day (if you need more days, then just open it a second time). Here you can enter as much information for each day of your Disney vacation as you like. I know many people get involved with touring plans, etc. We have never been quite so formal: Basically I like to know park hours, what is most important for us to see (so we make sure we get to it), any shows or parades if it matters, as well as ADR information. Take the ADR info from the ADR Information Sheet and plug it in here so you have it https://theaffordablemouse.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpwith you. And again, an estimated budget for the day. 🙂

And then lastly is the Departure Day, which is fairly similar to Arrival Day.

Disney Vacation Budget Plan Sheet

The Disney World Vacation Budget Plan basically covers (hopefully!) just about anything you would conceivably spend money on. There are sections labeled “other” for things not listed. 🙂 The Budget Plan covers Transportation, Accommodations, Tickets, Entertainment, Meals, and Miscellaneous expenses. For every category except Meals, you edit “Column D” by inputting your estimated expenses, and the spreadsheet will subtotal each section for you, and provide you with a total for that entire category:

In the Meals category, you will figure your cost per day (Column B) enter then number of days (Column C), and then Column D will give you the total. There is an area to compute this using the Dining Plan or paying by cash. Important Note: The Cost per adult/day or Cost per child/day for the Dining Plan will be changed to reflect the number of people. You will note the TOTAL amount per day for ALL adults and for ALL children.

At the very bottom of the sheet, the subtotals for each category will be totaled for a complete Disney vacation budget. 🙂

So there you have it. Hopefully this tutorial will help you to make the most of these Disney planning worksheets. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments, or send me an email at nancy@theaffordablemouse.com.

Happy planning!

Travel Tuesday Tales: What Do You Mean There Are No ADRs Available?

Nancy Travel Tuesday Tales , , , 2 Comments

In last week’s Travel Tuesday Tales, I described the discussions my family and I had in deciding which restaurants we wanted to eat at for our New Year’s trip.  Knowing that I had the ability to book online at 190 days rather than the official 180 days in advance, I had worked hard to get a consensus of what our choices would be.

To review:

Night One: book at San Angel Inn for now until the Candlelight Processional packages are released and/or Hacienda de Saint Angel opens for booking.

Night Two (New Year’s Eve): Chefs de France.

Night Three: DD and DF want California Grill. DH and I chose Ohana.

Last Night: Coral Reef.

I should probably note here that this was my first official experience using the online Disney Dining platform, and was admittedly a bit nervous. Disney had just made some changes to the process. And then this 190 day “glitch” popped up which had thrown an additional layer of preparation into the mix. So I did some research, checking various Disney message boards to see the experiences of a number of folks who had successfully reserved online at 190 days.

(I have to say here that I felt a little “sneaky” as this is an unofficial option. Disney still officially allows you to make ADRs at 180 days in advance…and if you call Disney Dining to make your reservations, that is what they will tell you. But if you book online, the system does allow you to manipulate the dates…and for some to put in a fake Disney resort reservation…that makes it possible for you to make your ADRs at 190 days. Very weird, I know. And since folks have been able to do this for nearly a month now, one would presume that this “glitch” is on purpose as Disney is aware of it, and has not changed it. Yet. Still, it felt sneaky to me. I am SUCH a rule follower 🙂 )

Anyway, to continue with our story…

The online booking window for a new day opens at 6 a.m., so on my appointed 190th day, I was up, sitting at my computer at 5:45, waiting for the magic hour when I, along with who knows how many countless hundreds out there in cyber-space, would be attempting to book an Advanced Dining Reservation for December 30. (One thing about this “glitch” is that you must book each day individually, so I could only book December 30 that first morning.)

I reviewed our choice for that first night: San Angel Inn, temporarily until the Candlelight Processional packages and/or the new Hacienda de San Angel is available to book. So in essence, this first night would be practice for me for the “big event” the next day when I would be reserving our New Years Eve dinner. Still, I anxiously kept refreshing the stupid Disney website, wondering why we all had to wait until 6 a.m.

Ah Hah! Finally, 6 a.m. and our date of 12/30 showed up as an available booking date! Charge!!!! Quickly I put in our reservation number, chose the date I wanted again, and waited for the screen to show up with San Angel Inn as a dining option. I pictured hundreds of other Disney-obsessed folks doing the same thing, and I have to admit, it was a bit of a bonding moment as I imagined all these other Disney folks doing the same thing…. Yeah, I’m weird like that.

The screen finally came up and…..whhaaaaaatttt? Nothing available at San Angel Inn for 12/30 for my time? Geez, how did people beat me out that quick? Let’s try another time…. And another one…. Nothing. Holy cow, it’s only San Angel Inn, not exactly the most popular dining option at Disney World! I started putting in every time I could think of. Nothing! Wait a minute, something’s really strange here. I then took a look to see what I *could* book at Epcot that night, trying not to be *too concerned* as this reservation was only temporary.

And to my utter shock there was absolutely nothing available at any single restaurant in World Showcase, for the entire day…other than Norway and Germany, the two restaurants that no one in my group wanted to eat at.

Now what? Finding it hard to believe that ALL availability had been taken for all of World Showcase for the entire day, I was finally able to book an ADR for Cape May Café at the Beach Club…which was at least in walking distance to Epcot.

I closed out my session in disbelief, and attempted to regroup and analyze the situation.

Clearly there was something wrong, as there was just NO WAY that all those restaurants were already full. Maybe they had been blocked out by Disney for Candlelight Processional packages….that was somewhat plausible. But the WHOLE DAY? Hmmmm…..

I needed firm, concrete information, so I did what all self-respecting Disney planners do when faced with a Disney planning crisis: I checked out some Disney message boards. And sure enough, this problem was not just me. Whew….

But it also happened to a number of folks who had been reserving just fine all week long, wherever they wanted. And the problem was not just Epcot: only 17 restaurants had been available for anyone to book that morning for Dec. 30…51 were not available at all.

Yikes! What did this mean? And more importantly, what would it mean for tomorrow, when it actually mattered to me what we booked? The consensus on the boards was that it was a temporary glitch to the glitch, and to keep trying the rest of the day, it would probably fix itself later on.

OK….So I tried again at 9, at 11, at 1, at 3…and so on, until nearly 11 p.m. that night. No change.

Which really left me wondering what would happen the next day, when I (along with all of my newfound Disney cyberspace buddies) would be trying for New Years Eve?

The next morning I was at my computer again at 5:45, again refreshing the page, waiting, waiting, waiting. And really hoping that yesterday’s problem was no longer a problem.

December 31 showed up as an available date to book, I quickly put in the information requested for Chefs de France, hit enter…..and waited again, not really breathing………

SUCCESS! There it was! Hallelujah. I quickly confirmed it, got my reservation number, and then thought, let’s try again for Dec. 30….maybe NOW it’s fixed….

Waiting, waiting….yup, now showing availability! Hurray! I cancelled yesterday’s Cape May, now that I had San Angel Inn, and heaved a sigh of relief, as my hundreds of Disney Dining cyberspace friends surely did as well. 🙂

And I am happy to report that there were no further glitches the rest of the week: the other two days went smoothly, with no problems to report whatsoever.

I reported back to my family that all dining reservations had been achieved as requested.

And they said ……. “Thanks”.

So next steps? Waiting for Disney to announce the Candlelight Processional package, so that I can book that….and un-book my ADR at San Angel Inn that I worked so hard to get. I’ll keep you posted! 🙂

Travel Tuesday Tales: The Fine Art of Negotiating Disney World ADRs

Nancy Travel Tuesday Tales , , , 2 Comments

One of the things about planning Disney vacations that I take extremely seriously is booking our dining reservations. Known as Advanced Dining Reservations or ADRs, getting these scheduled well in advance of your trip can make life on your Disney vacation soooo much easier…and if you are traveling during Free Dining or a peak time like Christmas/New Years week, then making them is crucial.

In fact, for many restaurants, making them on the very earliest day possible can mean the difference between eating dinner where you want at a time that you would actually want to eat dinner….vs. eating dinner at like, 10 p.m….if you even get in at all.

The official earliest day you can make ADRs is 180 days before you check in (if a Disney resort guest).

You already know we are going over New Years, so clearly I had the 180 date highlighted on my calendar: July 3. I would be ready.

Except that we couldn’t decide where we wanted to eat. I brought it up every couple of days, and each time I did, I ended up with different answers!! Seriously folks, we need to get our act together here, July 3 will be here before we know it.

We agreed early on that our first two nights we would eat in Epcot. We will arrive on Dec. 30 which is the last day of the Candlelight Processional, and that is a must. Disney will be offering Candlelight Processional packages, where you reserve dinner at a particular restaurant, and you get priority seating for the Candlelight Processional. It’s very worth it to do this, especially since you can use the Disney Dining Plan for your CP meal….so it’s just a matter of choosing where you want to eat in Epcot.

However, since those packages had not yet been released, I still wanted to book an ADR for that night, in Epcot “just in case”. (Moms make their families always prepare for “just in case”. We really can’t help ourselves you know, it just happens.)

Our second night will be New Years Eve, and we’ll be celebrating in Epcot. On NYE, once you get to the park of your choice, you don’t leave. So we’ll be eating there as well.

It was decided that our 3rd night will be spent at Magic Kingdom, and then on our last night we will visit Hollywood Studios.

And as of June 16, that is about as far as we had gotten.

Choosing where to eat at Disney World is serious business in our family and negotiations can get intense. DH rarely has a strong opinion (unless it is about staying in Animal Kingdom Villas lol) but DD and I do have differing tastes and ideas. One of my big things is that on this trip, I really wanted to try some places we had NOT eaten before. Meanwhile, DD is bringing a friend and she had some places that she specifically wanted him to experience. Seems he also had a few opinions about where he did and didn’t want to eat.

Soooo, let’s see what we have here:

Me: Some new places, specifically Ohana (yes we have NOT eaten here yet! I know, shocking), and Sanaa, and hopefully the new Mexican restaurant Hacienda de San Angel (once they start taking ADRs there). Pretty much every place in World Showcase was fine too. 🙂

DD: California Grill one night with friend only (date night for us!! 🙂 ), Mexican is good, Ohana is not. Not sure about Sanaa. No Norway or Germany or England or Morocco. Interested in sushi in Japan. Nothing in Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom….  Alrighty then.

DF: Wanted to eat Mexican and eat sushi at some point. And keep DD happy. 🙂 (Smart young man I would say….)

DH: As long as we weren’t staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, he was happy.

The thing is, we had a couple of weeks before I could book our ADRs on July 3, at exactly 180 days out from our arrival date…so I figured we had plenty of time to hash things out and get it all figured out.

And then I found out that people were (maybe accidentally, maybe on purpose?) able to book their ADRs at 190 days out if they did it online.

Whoa Nellie that’s in a couple of days! Fun time is over people, we have some decisions to make.

So let the negotiations begin!

With some shady backroom deals and dubious trading (“I’ll give you one Mexico for an extra ride on Soarin’….”), lots of talks, research on the web (thank you Disney Food Blog and Chip and Co.!), and multiple spreadsheet revisions…..this is what we managed to come up with:

Night One: book at San Angel Inn for now (you know, “just in case”) until the Candlelight Processional packages are released and/or Hacienda de Saint Angel opens for booking.

  • Fulfils Mexican requirement and if Hacienda, some place new.

New Year’s Eve: Chefs de France.

  • We all like this one, and DD told DF that he “will” like it too. 🙂

Night Three: We will have our “date nights” on this night. DD and DF will be eating at California Grill where they will eat sushi to their heart’s delight. DH and I will be finally eating at Ohana.

  • Cali Grill and sushi for DD/DF? Check.
  • Ohana/someplace new for me? Check.

Last Night: Back to Epcot for dinner at Coral Reef, then on to Hollywood Studios for the evening.

  • Not sure who exactly this one is for, other than we are all happy about it, so it’s all good. 🙂

We got it all figured out and agreed upon on the evening of June 22. My date to try booking at the new 190 days out was June 23, at 6 a.m.

And I was ready.

Hopefully we would get all the restaurants we worked so hard to agree on…

……..To be continued…….

Survey Says: You Have Disney Questions! Now For the Answers…

Nancy Affordable Disney Vacations, Disney Vacation Planning, Saving Money on Food , 1 Comment

I really enjoyed reading the survey results from a few weeks ago. I appreciate the fact that so many of you took the time to share your thoughts and tell me what would really help you in planning an affordable Disney World vacation. What was especially interesting to me was the consistency in what you need: a lot of you voiced the same frustrations, and have many of the same questions….and are looking for the same types of Disney vacation planning tools.

Here are the main things that you told me you wanted help with, in descending order:

  1. Disney Dining. There are many questions about Disney restaurants, cost of meals, what to budget for food, using the Dining Plan and even just needing more ideas for saving money on food. I agree: this can be an especially frustrating area of Disney planning, especially so because it is such a large part of any Disney vacation budget.
  2. Planning spreadsheets. You are looking for ways to keep your planning organized, as well as tools that will help you budget. And a number of you are looking for something small and simple that keeps track of everything, which you can bring to the parks with you.
  3. Accommodations. Another big expense on a Disney vacation, many of you want more in-depth information about your options.
  4. What is the most affordable way for me? There are a number of you that want assistance trying to figure out the most affordable way to get to Disney World. There are so many options to choose from, you worry that you might not be picking the one that will save you the most money.

Well, your wish is my command. 🙂 I am happy to help and am really looking forward to being able to provide you with the information you need to save money at Disney World. In fact, I can’t wait to get started.

However, I won’t be able to do it all at once! So, my plan is tackle each item, one at a time, in the following ways:

  1. Disney World Dining information will be shared weekly in my Monday blog posts, starting next week. For at least the next couple of months, I will discuss a number of different aspects of saving money on your food. I recognize however, that blog posts won’t necessarily dig deep enough into all the details, so at the same time, I will be creating a Disney World Dining Guide. This Guide will use the posts as a base, but will be far more involved. Some of you won’t need this much detail, but for those of you that do, it will be available for you.
  2. Planning spreadsheets are being created as we speak! 🙂 Since I am a planner by nature and live by my spreadsheets, I will basically be formalizing something for you that I am already using. And I will happily make these available to you for FREE, once I am done…which will hopefully be by the end of July.
  3. Accommodations will be discussed, starting in a few months, once I finish the dining. While many of you need help with where to stay, more of you need help with dining, so that is where I am starting.:)
  4. What is the most affordable option? This one is kind of tough, because it is so individual! Everyone’s situation is different, so the right thing for one person is not necessarily the right thing for another. At the same time, I also recognize that it can be overwhelming and at times confusing to know the best way to plan for your family. And having someone to just point you in the right direction can be a huge help.

That was one of the reasons I designed the survey, so that I can be sure to be addressing YOUR needs, and answering YOUR questions. However, my worry is that I can’t write everything fast enough to help you in your Disney vacation planning, especially if you are visiting Disney World in the near future.

But….I have an idea, and I am wondering if you might be interested…

Would it be helpful to have someone to just talk to personally about your Disney vacation, to ask questions and get suggestions about the best way to save money at Disney World? One-on-one time to figure it all out?

If so, then let me know! I want to be able to help you out, so I am going to try something out to see if there is a need. If you want someone to personally help you with your planning, email me at nancy@theaffordablemouse.com and I’ll set up a 30 minute Disney vacation planning call with you. Just the two of us, to talk over your questions, and hopefully help you figure out the best way for you to plan an affordable Disney vacation. Kind of like a talking, personalized Disney vacation guidebook. 🙂

Now there is one thing: while I would love to be able to do this for free, unfortunately I just can’t. 🙁  However, the cost will be minimal, I promise. (After all, I want to help you *save money*!)  So if this is something you are interested in, let me know, and we can chat more.

(Please keep in mind that I am not a travel agent: this does not involve me booking anything for you, nor would I be selling you on any specific type of vacation. This is merely personal assistance in Disney vacation planning that I am offering, if you need it. We’ll talk about it, I’ll help you decide what is best for you, and then you’ll do the rest.)

This is just a trial for now. I’ll see what kind of interest there is, what additional help you need, and we’ll go from there.

In the meantime, watch for your FREE planning tools and spreadsheets in the near future, and the beginning of the Disney Dining posts coming next week!

Oh, and one more thing: let me know what you think, and if I am on the right track for what you need. Either leave a comment, post on Facebook, or feel free to send me an email. Thanks and as always….have a magical day!

Disney World Fun Outside of the Parks

Nancy Disney Vacation Planning, What to Do at Disney World , , , 0 Comment

My last post for this month of talking about making the most of your Disney vacation, will discuss all those “other” things that you can do at Disney World. Because believe it or not, there are a lot of fun, interesting, and in many cases quite affordable things to do beyond just visiting the parks. (I’ll let you in on a secret: there are so many really cool things to do at Disney World, that is what keeps many folks going back again and again….we have yet to see/do it all.)

One thing I do want to mention at the start is that not all of these things are free or even necessarily inexpensive. But I mention them because one or more may very well appeal to you or your family, and it may be worth a trade-off with something else instead. Planning an affordable Disney vacation is very much about choices: you choose what is most important to you and your family, and make up for it in other areas.

OK? Here we go then, my list of favorite things to do outside of the parks…

  1. Downtown Disney: Can you imagine an entire area that is pretty much devoted to just eating and shopping? Disney sure has lol! This is a great way to spend an afternoon, evening, or even an entire day if you like. There are lots of great restaurants, many of which participate in the Disney Dining plan so that is nice. There are even more stores….and so this is my caveat to keep this affordable: go with the amount of money you are willing to spend…or willing for your kids to spend. Leave the credit cards back at your room. The enormous World of Disney store is my personal place to buy souvenirs, as they have most of the things you will find in the parks…plus a lot more. (Note that they don’t have EVERYTHING, so if you come across something in your travels that you *must* have, especially if it is unique, you should probably not assume it will be at World of Disney, and just get it when you see it instead.) Now there are a few things that are at Downtown Disney that are not shopping or eating related though. Which brings me to…
  2. Disney Quest: think video games on Disney Imagineer-induced steroids. If you have teens…especially boys….they will love spending a day here. The admission here is less than a day at the parks, and depending on how you structured your Disney Magic Your Way tickets, you may have the option to visit here without paying extra. While it’s not my personal cup of tea, DH and DD loved it when they visited….although DH ended up with a headache at the end of the day, so if you are not fond of loud noises, then bring the Tylenol with you. 🙂
  3. Did you know that miniature golf is an option at Disney World? In fact, you have two choices: Fantasia Gardens and  Winter Summerland. Cost for each is $12 per adult and $10 per child ages 3-9.
  4. To cope with Florida’s heat, think water parks. If you are visiting during the summer months, you may very well want to take a day to visit Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, Disney’s two fantastic…and very popular….water parks. Both are separate admission, unless you have the “Water Parks and More” option on your tickets. With slides, lazy rivers, and giant pools among other things, each park is guaranteed to cool you off in the most fun way possible. You should note though: the available chairs at each water park do get “taken” relatively early in the day, so if you want to go and just camp out in a chair while your family is on the go, plan to get there when they open.
  5. Fishing and boating: Yup Disney has these too! With the lakes, lagoons, and canals that are in or near each of the parks and many of the resorts, you will find lots of options for spending time on the water if you like. Whether it is renting a small boat at one of the resorts, or reserving a fishing excursion on Bay Lake, if you want water fun, Disney has it. You can check this out for more information for information on speed boats, or this for information on fishing.
  6. Rent a bike, four-wheel surrey, or carriage! Several resorts offer this option and some, like the Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness, have the picturesque trails to go with them.  Learn more here.

There’s your quick overview of a few more ways to get the most out of your Disney visit. You can check out this page for the full list of all the “other things” Disney World has to offer. While I could easily write an in-depth post about each of these, (and I may at some point!) this will at least give you an idea of what else you can do to have fun at Disney World. Affordable Disney vacations are all about getting value and there are a number of ways that you can add value to your visit without adding significantly to your cost. The bottom line is this: you don’t have to go to the parks every day to have fun at Disney World!