Travel Tuesday Tales

Travel Tuesday: Disney Giveaway Today!

Nancy Travel Tuesday Tales , , , 27 Comments

UPDATE: Congratulations to Lauren Cortright for being the lucky winner for this giveaway! And thanks to all for the fantastic money-saving tips on dining: there were tons of great idea!

Last week I told you that I had a week’s worth of Disney souvenir giveaways for you this week, from our recent vacation at Disney’s Hilton Head Island resort. 🙂

Yesterday I ran a fun contest on my Facebook page. Today’s contest is here at The Affordable Mouse blog. And what will today’s lucky winner receive?

We love pin-trading, so I just fell in love with this Tinkerbell lanyard and pouch. 🙂

It’s a perfect way to get a head start on your pin-collecting plans before your next Disney vacation!

But in order to be eligible, you are going to have to do a *little* work…… 🙂

As you know, I am in the process of a blog series related to affordable Disney World dining. With that in mind, I would love to find out from you:

“What tips, ideas, suggestions, advice, or information would you give to someone who is trying to save money on their meals at Disney World?”

To enter, simply leave a comment below before midnight ET today, Tuesday, August 24, 2010. One entry per person. I will choose a winner at random from all names who respond tomorrow morning, and announce the winner here in an update, as well as on our Facebook page and Twitter.

Good luck! Oh, and if you want to be eligible for the contests the rest of the week, be sure to *Like* us on Facebook and go to Twitter and *Follow* us!!

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Travel Tuesday Tales: That Disney Magic…in South Carolina

Nancy Travel Tuesday Tales 4 Comments

This week’s Travel Tuesday post is to let you know that things will be a little “different’ at The Affordable Mouse next week, since we’ll be on vacation.

And no, it’s not Disney World that we will be visiting! But we will still be playing at Disney, because we’ll be at Disney’s Hilton Head Resort in South Carolina.

If you haven’t visited this lovely, relaxing resort property, I hope you can someday. It is a beautiful complex, set among the marshes and Spanish moss of Hilton Head Island. It’s a very different “feel” from the bustling on-the-go resorts of Disney World, so for those who want lots of things to keep them going from noon till night, then they probably wouldn’t especially enjoy the laid-back type of vacation that is typical at Hilton Head.

But for those who love the idea of spending a week with not much more than sand and sea, a hammock and a darn good book….then you should check this place out. 🙂

Which is not to say that there isn’t anything to do, because there certainly is! It’s a Disney resort, so there are a number of activities planned each day, especially during the summer, to keep kids…and their parents….interested and entertained. In case just being at the beach isn’t entertainment enough…..

One thing that is a bit unique about Disney’s Hilton Head resort is that it is not located on the beach, but is in fact about a mile away. They do have a great beach house on the beach though, with a snack bar, game room, locker rooms and second pool (the main one is at the main resort). At first I thought that I wouldn’t like not being right on the beach, but it actually works out just fine. In fact, I find the beauty of the marshes and the main resort to be very peaceful, so I don’t mind being off the beach at all.

So that’s where we’ll be next week. 🙂 But I can’t leave you with nothing to read on The Affordable Mouse while I’m gone! So I’ll still have Monday’s post continuing with our affordable Disney dining series. On Wednesday, I hope to have a great Wordless Wednesday post for you from Hilton Head. And for the rest of the week, I will be having special guest posts from a few of my favorite Disney bloggers for your reading pleasure. 🙂

Now if you do follow us on Facebook, I plan to post pics from our trip on a hopefully, regular basis, so if you’re interested, be sure to check those out. And I will definitely give you a bit of trip report after we return!

Now, it’s back to my packing…….Have a magical day everyone!

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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! 🙂

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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…….

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Travel Tuesday Tales: Our Disney Vacation Accommodation Situation

Nancy Christmas Holidays, Disney Vacation Planning, Travel Tuesday Tales , , , , 1 Comment

Thanks for stopping by to read the next chapter of my Travel Tuesday Tales, where I am documenting my experiences planning our next Disney World vacation. For the story thus far, check out the Prologue, where I described who is going on the trip and when we will be at Disney.

And now, for today’s episode:

You know, one of the things I have struggled with my entire life is the conflict between my natural tendency to PLAN everything….and, well Life. As in, Life very rarely follows a plan. You think I would know that by now.

When last we spoke, I mentioned that Sunday, May 30 was my day to book our Disney vacation accommodations, since we would be using our Disney Vacation Club points and the earliest I could do it was 7 months out from our check-in date. I also mentioned that we were going to be driving home from western PA at 9 a.m. that morning, when the DVC phones opened, so I was hoping that I would have good reception in the mountains when it was time to call.

Well, the good news is that phone reception was not a problem. The reason for this is because I was not in the mountains. In fact, I was not anywhere near western PA at 9 a.m. on Sunday, May 30. I never went to PA with DH at all.

Like I said, Life has a way of doing its thing, in spite of my plans. And Life presented us with a sick dog last week. And a sick dog at home meant someone needed to be with said sick dog at home…which meant me. OK, no problem, I could still call DVC at 9 a.m. on Sunday, May 30. And, I could even go to church Sunday morning too, which was a good thing. Because it doesn’t hurt to have the Lord on your side when booking your Disney accommodations. 🙂

The only teensy problem with this plan is that our church services start at 9:15. OK, no problem, so I’d call DVC to book first, and then run into church when I was done….because I DO have my priorities. And the Lord would understand.

So I left early for church, and arrived just at 9 a.m., so that I could call DVC from the comfort of my car, when the lines opened. (I’m sure the rest of the congregation who passed me in my car on the phone with DVC thought I was doing some Very Important Business if I was on the phone in the car before church…which of course I was.)

At the stroke of 9 a.m. I was on the phone with DVC, and explained that I was looking for four nights, in a 2 bedroom, starting Thursday, Dec. 30. Wherever they had room. (In the Prologue, I noted that “Given a choice though, we are going to request Animal Kingdom Lodge or Boardwalk Villas…but I know from experience, I’ll need to have an open mind, and that’s ok too.”) So that’s where we started.

I found out that neither of those two options were available, no big surprise actually. Old Key West and Saratoga Springs were the two places available, and since we just stayed at Saratoga Springs last October, I opted for Old Key West: nowhere close to my first choices, but I was frankly grateful that anything was available.  While on the phone with DVC, I then asked to be put on the Waitlist for both Animal Kingdom Lodge and Boardwalk Villas. And I also asked about the possibility of doing a “split stay” where you stay in more than one resort, the thought being that starting with Jan. 1 we would have more options as people start to head home once New Years is over…and so could perhaps get in one of the resorts that we REALLY wanted, at least for a couple of nights. The very nice castmember said we could do that…but I would have to wait until June 1 (7 months out again) to request a different stay for the 2nd two nights.

Right. Forgot about that. OK, well that gave me a couple of days to now discuss the situation with DH and DD to see if they wanted me to try for a split stay. Feeling pretty pleased with myself for accomplishing what I did, I then went to church and thanked the Lord for there being any 2 bedrooms available at all for our vacation, and to pray for our Waitlist to come through. (Please…..I AM kidding here. Sort of.)

So DH arrived home from PA  later that afternoon, and I very happily described for him and DD my conversation with the nice castmember at DVC, explained our options, told them what I had booked, our Waitlist, and asked if they wanted me to try for a different place starting on Jan. 1.

DH said no, he didn’t really want to change resorts.

DD said she would love to change resorts.

Thanks guys for the help here.

So we talked and discussed and weighed the pros and cons, and finally agreed that I would give it shot for a different resort on Jan. 1. Maybe try Boardwalk again, maybe Wilderness Lodge.

Cool. I LOVE Wilderness Lodge at Christmas time so that would be worth it to me to switch.

And THEN, DH let me know that he was not too thrilled with Animal Kingdom Lodge and really did not want to stay there AT ALL, and did not understand why I had Waitlisted there and that it is probably the last place he wanted to stay.

Really? Wow. So did not know that. And yes we talk. Apparently not often enough it would seem.

OK then. Tuesday morning June 1, back on the phone I went with DVC to try again.

Availability for two nights starting January 1?  How about Wilderness Lodge said the new nice castmember at DVC? You Betcha! said I.  Love the location for Boardwalk, but Wilderness Lodge at Christmas is tops in my book.

And happily, DH and DD concur. (DD’s friend doesn’t get a vote here. Sorry. 🙂 )

So despite my plans that changed not once but several times, we’re all good now. We will be staying at Old Key West for our first two nights (unless our Waitlist for Boardwalk Villas comes through for the first two nights…which I’m not holding my breath for.) Then we will move to Wilderness Lodge for the second two nights. And we are no longer Waitlisted for Animal Kingdom Lodge so DH is happy.

Even the dog is better so it’s been a good week all the way around.

What’s Next?

I am scheduled to book our ADRs on July 3 (but maybe doing it a few days earlier). So in advance of that, there is a lot of discussion going on right now about where we want to eat, and when, and just a tad little negotiating and bargaining as well.

My daughter even has made a spreadsheet. 🙂

I have taught her well, don’t you think?

Stay tuned!

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