Be Our Guest: How to Become a Disney Princess

Today’s post is courtesy of Disney Guru! Recently Theresa wrote a wonderful review of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on Disney Guru and not only shared how the experience works, but also provided some tips for saving money too!

Princess For A Day

Most little girls dream of  being a princess.  The dresses, the hair, the castle, and of course the title of “Princess”.  At Walt Disney World, that dream becomes a reality for children ages 3 and up.

Your child’s transformation takes place at the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique inside Cinderella Castle or at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney.

Once you arrive, your daughter is given her invitation to “The Ball” which comes straight from Cinderella herself.  When it’s her turn, she is addressed as “Princess (enter child’s name)” and  then escorted to her awaiting throne. Princesses get pampered by their own stylist. . .er, Fairy Godmother In-Training who will give them a royal manicure, hairstyle, and makeup all while a Photopass Photographer captures the memories.

Read the rest of the article……

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Wordless Wednesday: The Tree of Life

Pretty much everyone who comes to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom stops, at some point, for a picture in front of the Tree of Life. This Disney icon, representing what Animal Kingdom is all about, is pretty hard to miss. But how many people stop at some point during their trip to actually walk around and LOOK at all the intricate carvings? The artwork on this Tree is amazing….and while I think that the attention to detail is clearly something that Disney excels at…..I do think that with these carvings, the Imagineers take “detail” to a whole new level.

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Disney Fun From Around the World: Week of August 16, 2010

It’s time for another tour of the Disney Blog World, where I share some of my favorite Disney blog posts from the past week. There are always tons, and this past week was no exception!

To start, we once again were pleased to be part of the Disney Blog Carnival: this is the 8th edition! This is one of my favorite things to do as a blogger, because it gives me the chance to learn about new Disney websites and blogs. There are some really talented folks out there writing about what we all love….Disney. So be sure to stop by and check it out!

Chris at Everything Walt Disney World will be participating in Disney’s Wine and Dine Marathon this fall, and I for one am impressed with her plans to do this! Good luck Chris!

I had to share 3 great articles from Chip and Co this week. In Walt Disney World Quick Tip – Illuminations Viewing there are some great suggestions that I will be following on our next Disney trip. Ken had another in his Oldies But Goodies series. This week he talked about  Seniors And Thrill Rides At Walt Disney World. And Lisa shared, in One Mom’s Disney Confession her plans for an adults only Disney World trip.

Lots of great food news and AJ at the Disney Food Blog is there! First she shares some great ideas in 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival: Touring Strategies and then lets everyone in on something I have been waiting to hear about for our December trip: La Hacienda de San Angel Reservations Available After October 15th.

Speaking of the Food and Wine Festival,Theme Park Mom let us know about a very cool addition this year: WDW Swan and Dolphin Resort announces Food & Wine Classic

Think you would like to be on the Disney Mom’s Panel? Then check out Zannaland for some great suggestions for applying, from Suzanna, a current Disney “Mom”: Walt Disney World Moms Panel Search 2011

And last, in case you missed my post at Chip and Co this week, I shared with the readers there a little information about our recent Magical Vacation at Disney’s Hilton Head Resort

Happy reading and happy weekend everyone! 🙂

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Affordable Disney Vacations Step by Step. Part Fifteen: Know How to Save Money on Disney Parks Tickets

This is part fifteen in my blog series: Affordable Disney Vacations Step by Step. You can read the rest of the posts here.

I get many questions from people who are thinking about visiting Walt Disney World and want Disney World vacation tips and suggestions. Disney vacation planning can be very involved and confusing as well, so the goal of this series is to start at the beginning, and look at everything you need to think about, in the general order you need to think about it. Each week’s post will be numbered and link to all the others so that, when complete, you will have a guide with all the steps and information you need to plan your own Disney magic.

imagesUp until now, in our Step-by-Step Planning Series, we have been talking about aspects of your vacation that need to be thought about as early in the process as possible, if you want to be able to have an affordable Disney vacation. Ideally, most of the previous steps should be researched, decided, and in many cases booked from 4-6 months before your vacation. If you are planning to travel during a high-traffic season, like the Christmas holidays, closer to 6 months is best.

From here on out, I’ll be talking about some other aspects of your vacation that are part of your vacation budget, but don’t have to be decided on quite so early.

Today’s post will deal with tickets, another major expenditure…which is why you want to make sure you are not spending more than you have to.:)

Basically, there are two parts to this discussion:

  1. Where you can get Disney parks tickets
  2. Where you should NOT buy Disney parks tickets

Let’s briefly discuss the first one:

You can purchase Disney World park passes through Disney, or through an authorized Disney ticket broker. Those are the only two avenues you should consider if you want to be confident that you are getting actual Disney park tickets.

If you are purchasing a Disney resort package, your tickets will be part of that package, so you are good to go! But if you are booking your room individually (no package) at a Disney resort, or staying off-site at a non-Disney hotel, vacation home, villa, or condo, then you will need to order theme park tickets.

You can do this through the Disney website. Or you can get Disney theme parks tickets from a broker. There are a number of reputable brokers that you can purchase tickets from safely, and save some money. Not huge amounts, but enough to make it worth it, especially if you will be staying for several days, and have a number of people in your party.

The company that I have personally used, and recommend highly is Undercover Tourist. Their prices are great, their service is even better, and they are completely reputable. I would not recommend them otherwise. And their website does a great job of breaking down the Magic Your Way ticket structure and that alone makes them pretty awesome. 🙂

As to where you should NOT buy Disney theme parks tickets? Well, every place else….

I really can’t emphasize this part enough. Be very, very careful here, as unfortunately, many, many people get burned every year trying to save money on tickets, only to find that their “tickets” were worthless.

So steer clear of eBay, Craigslist, or any website or seller that offers prices that seem too good to be true…because they probably are. Look at the fine print as well, and make sure you are not agreeing to sit through a lengthy timeshare presentation in order to get those tickets…unless you really want to lol.

If you want to learn more, you can a basic overview on the Discounted Tickets page.  In addition, I discuss how to determine a reputable Disney ticket broker in this post. And to learn more about where you should not buy Disney tickets, you can read more in this post.

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