planning a disney vacation

Disney Fun From Around the World: Week of March 14, 2011

Nancy Disney Fun From Around the "World" , , , 0 Comment

Hi there Disney Friends and Happy Spring (well, almost….tomorrow it’s official, but let’s look forward…. 🙂  ) It’s time, once again, for our weekly round-up of my favorite Disney blog posts over the past week.

I wanted to start this week with some updates on our Disney friends in Japan. The Disney Blog has been providing a series of updates throughout the week, and it is still clearly a challenging situation. These two articles: Disney suspends all operations in Tokyo and When Should Tokyo Disneyland Reopen? offer news and an interesting perspective. With a slightly different point of view, Your Highway in the Sky shares some thoughts on those wonderful Disney castmembers….and I think all of us who love Disney will not be surprised by this: Disney Employees in Japan – Hidden Heroes

Our other Disney blog friends had, of course, a wonderful selection of interesting and helpful articles. Starting with the folks at Chip and Co who always share so much great information, I found Character Meals: A Disney Do or Don’t? to have some good tips for deciding if one is right for your family. And then in another in his series,Oldies But Goodies Ken discusses: World Showcase, More Than A Bunch Of Buildings Part 2

Destinations in Florida provided a very helpful list of Magic Kingdom Quick Service Dining locations, that you will want to refer to for your next trip!

The Flower and Garden Festival is currently in “full bloom” (sorry, couldn’t resist 🙂  ) and this photo from the Disney Parks Blog shows why this time of year is truly one of the most beautiful: Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip at Epcot

Always interesting and entertaining…and providing very useful information as well, the Disney Dispatch had some great organization and planning tips for your next trip that you may want to try: Happiest Tips on Earth

Disney Driven Life continues to be one of my favorite blogs for the wide variety of incredible articles that are posted. DISNEY DINING PLAN TIPS FOR SNACKS AT EPCOT offered more great tips for dining at Disney World. And this one, KEEP MOVING FORWARD shares some powerful advice with true “words to live by”.

“Our” Kelly shared her favorite Magical Attraction Memories on her blog, Disney Guru and then also helped with something that can be especially difficult whether you are young or old:  How to Buy Time Before Your Next Trip

This post from Chris at Everything Walt Disney World was, I felt, especially important, because it points out something that we don’t often discuss in the Disney blog world: Bad Advice Abounds. We don’t discuss it…but it’s out there: be careful who you are listening to!

So many great posts at WDW Fan Zone, so little time! 🙂 Here are two favorites: Packing Tips and the mouth-watering Top 5 Desserts at Walt Disney World

Last……it would seem that I was all over the World Wide Web this week! First, Chip and Co ran an entire series on all of their writers: we all answered the same questions, and had a fun time providing a peek into “who we really are”. 🙂 If you want to find out a bit more about me, you can stop by here: The Magic Behind the ‘Company’: Getting to Know Nancy

I was also extremely honored to provide a Guest Blog post for Couponing to Disney this week: Dreaming of Walt Disney World: Putting the Pieces Together for an Affordable Disney Vacation

And finally, my monthly blog post on the Disney Dispatch shared some of my favorite ways to “get more out of your trip”: Nancy’s Monthly Magic.

That’s all for this week folks. Have a wonderful, safe, and truly magical start to your Spring!

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Thrifty Thursday: Walt Disney World Lost and Found

Brenda Disney Vacation Planning, Saving Money at Disney World, Thrifty Thursday , , , , 5 Comments

Our family always wears lanyards during extra magic hours. It is the easiest way for us to prove that we are guests of the Disney resorts without having to stop at each ride to show our key to the kingdom card. We normally take the type with press closures at the tops of the cardholders but the lanyards themselves are regular rope-type.

This year, we got some beautiful lanyards from a travel agent and so we decided to wear them instead. The tops of the cardholders were not closed on these. We didn’t think anything of it until we got off of Space Mountain and my DH was missing his key to the world and his driver’s license.

We were frantic and went back to Space Mountain and spoke to the cast member at the entrance. She told us that there was nothing they could do right then, but informed us that every evening after the park closes, they do a full sweep of the ride to find any lost articles.  If they found the lost items, they would turn them into the main Lost and Found at the Transportation and Ticket Center. She told us to wait until the next day and call the Lost and Found to find out if they had been found.

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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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