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Making Disney Holiday Magic Affordable

Nancy Christmas Holidays, What to Do at Disney World , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Well it is November 1, and that can only mean one thing: the Holiday Season in upon us, and in fact, from Disney’s point of view, the holidays begin next Monday with the 1st Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party of 2010.

This is the favorite time of year for many, but all that Holiday magic can get a bit dimmed when combined with concerns about keeping costs under control. And when you add in an impending Disney vacation into the mix, well it can get more than a little challenging.

With that all in mind, I am going to use my Monday blog posts over the coming weeks leading up to Christmas, to discuss ways to have a very merry Disney Christmas. I’ll talk about what you can expect at Walt Disney World for the Holiday Season if you will be visiting during this time of year, and how to experience the magic affordably. And I will also share some of my favorite ways to bring Disney into Holiday gift-giving: whether you are looking for something for the Disney lover on your list, or you will be buying Christmas gifts that will be useful on your Disney World vacation, I will give you some ideas for how to make a Disney Holiday Season both magical AND affordable.

So let’s get things started with a quick overview of the many great Holiday happenings at Walt Disney World, and then in coming weeks we’ll explore some of them in a bit more detail.

For anyone traveling to Disney World in the coming two months, prepare to find TONS  of Christmas events and attractions. Decorations abound, characters are in their festive finest, and music, entertainment, and yes, of course, food all combine to make this one of the most special….and popular times of the year to visit Walt Disney World. And best of all, most is free. 🙂 Some of the highlights include:

Magic Kingdom

The centerpiece of the Holiday celebrations is Cinderella’s Castle, decked out in the “Castle Dream Lights” that sparkle, shimmer, and glisten to create a breathtaking sight. Do not miss this. Lit every evening as part of a special ceremony, the Castle Dream Lights are amazing: if you think the Castle is lovely at other times of the year, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. And it is free to see, every night, starting November 8.

In addition to all of the special decorations, Magic Kingdom features Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on select nights from November 8 to December 19. A “hard ticket” item that requires separate admission, this fun evening event features a showing of  the Holiday Wishes edition of the fireworks, as well as the popular Christmas parade (both of which can be seen….for free…..without attending MVMCP, after the 19th until New Years.)

Epcot

Epcot is probably my favorite place at this time of year. In addition to the beautiful decorations, World Showcase offers some wonderful programs, for no additional charge, as part of the “Holidays Around the World: if you have ever wondered what it would be like to celebrate Christmas in another country, this is the place to find out. Each country shares their most interesting holiday traditions, and many have Holiday Storytellers that highlight some fascinating and fun customs. Look carefully to find Father Christmas in England, Pere Noel in France, and St. Nicholas in Germany to name a few. It is delightful and yes, educational, in a very fun way.

Probably the highlight of the Walt Disney World holidays in Epcot is the Candlelight Processional, a nightly presentation of the Christmas story with a celebrity guest narrator and a huge massed choir made up of professional, college, and high school choirs from around the country. You can reserve a seat by purchasing a Candlelight Processional dinner package for one of the 3 shows each night, or if you don’t want to pay for the dinner package, you can take your chances and wait in the stand-by line. (More about this in coming weeks.) If you love Christmas music, you will find this to be a dramatic, powerful, and very moving experience.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios you will find the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, held nightly on the Streets of America. There are literally millions of lights and it is an absolutely amazing experience….and also free. 🙂 The streets can get very crowded however, so if you want to get the most of your visit here, consider going during the nightly Fantasmic show, or at the end of the evening, before the park closes. It is much more enjoyable when you are not elbow to elbow with people!

But Wait, There’s More!

If you still want more parades, then Animal Kingdom has Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade, with all the characters in their holiday finest. Plus, you will want to visit Downtown Disney for the Festival of the Seasons, where you can finish any holiday shopping, visit Santa before Dec. 24, and say hi to Santa Goofy from Dec. 25 to Jan. 4. And then there are the resorts: some of them feature decorations that are attractions in themselves. Of particular interest are the towering trees at Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Gingerbread House in the Grand Floridian, and the Carousel at the Beach Club. Tour the Disney resorts for a fascinating, and free way to spend an entire day!

The Christmas Season is a wonderful time of year. We’ll take the next several weeks to see how amazing it is at Disney World, and find ways to make that Disney magic more affordable for your family this Holiday Season.

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Thrifty Thursday: Get the Idea?

Brenda Christmas Holidays, Thrifty Thursday , , , , , 1 Comment

Something inside me keeps me always on the prowl for new ideas for decorating once I get back home from DisneyWorld. This is especially true about the holiday decorations at the parks; I want my house to look just like them and, darn it, one day I will win the lottery and make it happen.

There is one spot in particular where I can spend half the afternoon enjoying a wonderful creation and dreaming of what my yard could look like. It is the miniature train village by Germany in Epcot’s World Showcase and it is another one of those free treasures that has been fashioned around the notion of adding a little extra magic to your visit. Disney has designed and created a whole countryside made into the landscape with a miniature community and trains running through. There is also a bridge that goes across it for anyone who wants to view it from the middle.

My family loves this charming attraction. I remember the first time we found it how enamored we all were by the beauty of it. It is so well-designed and detailed. I also really enjoy people watching so I love to get a glimpse of children discovering this wonder for the first time. That experience truly adds value to my time at Epcot.

If I had my way, this is exactly what my backyard would look like! Maybe I could convince some Imagineers to come for a visit. In any case, don’t miss out on this awesome creation. If you can’t seem to find it, ask any cast member and they will be happy to help you.

Brenda is a native Texan born and raised on the Gulf Coast. She visited Disney World twice as a teenager and always dreamed of growing her family Disney. She took her first-timer husband and their three children to Disney World in 2000 and they now spend every Thanksgiving there. Brenda writes with a comedic twist on various Disney topics. She will be sharing tips she has learned during her travels and also hopes to enlighten people on little-known freebies that Disney has to offer. She wishes she could have met Walt Disney and considers herself to be a student of Walt. In parallel to his dream it is her wish that everyone would take at least one trip to Disney World in order to share in its magic with their families.

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Be Our Guest: Disney Dispatch Serves Up Food and Wine Festival Series

Nancy Food and Wine Festival , , , , 0 Comment

One of my favorite bloggers, Bob from the Disney Dispatch has been writing a series on the Food and Wine Festival that I wish I had read last year as a Food and Wine newbie: Country Cuisine Confidential, where he is literally reviewing each country participating in the festival, and offering descriptions of the food and drink available at each country.

Yes, an explanation of “What IS it” for each country’s food. 🙂

As Bob himself describes the series:

The three most common words spoken by guests at Epcot’s annual Food & Wine Festival aren’t “that’s so good!” but “what is this?”. Unless you’re a serious foodie, you’re going to be flummoxed by flavors untasted and dishes undreamed. Luckily, it isn’t a big deal since the folks serving the food love to talk about it and will answer all your questions.

But wouldn’t it be nice knowing a bit about each cuisine before you belly up to the booth?

….. I’m offering a crash course in demystifying the dishes served. Country by country, we’ll look together at the menu items and do some detective work to discover how each dish fits into the national cuisine, which ingredients are used in its preparation, and what it (should) taste like.

Nothing, of course, beats actually tasting the food, but on the assumption that your mind gets it before your stomach, let’s bib up the brain and see what’s on the menu.

Here is an excerpt for his entry on Mexico:

Mexico made its first appearance at the Food & Wine Festival in 1996, the same year that the Festival itself began. This year, the Mexican booth is in front of the Mexico Pavilion, where it belongs.

Let’s look at our menu:

Tamal de Pollo

Mexico is serving simple dishes with exotic names. A tamal de pollo is a chicken tamale. To make a tamale, meat- or vegetable-filled masa is wrapped in corn husks and then boiled or steamed. You unwrap it from the husk to eat it. Unlike a taco or a burrito, which you can eat by hand, a tamale is typically a plated dish that you eat with a fork.

Masa (Spanish for ‘dough’) is made from whole corn, not wheat. At the Festival, the masa will be filled with seasoned chicken, probably not too spicy, and not slathered with sauce, either. Tamales lack the universal appeal of easily eaten tacos and aren’t available at chains like Taco Bell. They’re also time-consuming to cook at home and require special ingredients like corn husks. That’s your cue to eat lots of them here!

You can read the rest of this post here: Country Cuisine Confidential 2010, Part 14: Mexico

And find a link to descriptions to all of the countries right here: Country Cuisine Confidential 2010: All You Need to Know About All There Is to Eat and Drink at the Food & Wine Festival

Bon Apetit!

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Wordless Wednesday: Welcome to the Food and Wine Festival

Nancy Food and Wine Festival, Wordless Wednesday , , , 2 Comments

In less than a week, this year’s International Food and Wine Festival will begin at Epcot. We had the pleasure….and I do mean pleasure….of attending last year, and it was a fantastic 4 days of eating and drinking around the World! To those of you who are going this year….enjoy! Bon apetite!

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Wordless Wednesday: Just Another Typical Evening in World Showcase

Nancy Wordless Wednesday , , , 0 Comment

You’re strolling along World Showcase before dinner one evening, and suddenly a gentleman brings out a chair or two, and asks for some “help”. Curious, you stop for a moment and wonder what on Earth he is doing. Before you know it, the person who “volunteered” to help, is perched high up in the air, and you are holding your breath hoping that the poor guy doesn’t fall and break his neck. He doesn’t, of course,  🙂 and you applaud this demonstration of balance, courage, and yes, a bit of Disney magic too.

It’s just another typical evening at Epcot. And one of many reasons why you shouldn’t go rushing from one attraction to the next, without stopping to be amazed and entertained every once in a while.

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