I. Getting the Disney Dining

A. Disney Dining plan

a. I recommend you get one
b. Counter Service Plan

i. 2 Counter meals (like really nice fast food)
    1. Ribs, fish etc.
ii. 1 Snack
    1. Can be 5-7 Dollars
iii. I recommend you buying this if you have small kids who might not be interested in 90 minute sit down experiences
iv. 43 and 17

B. Standard Disney Dining

i. One sit-down meal
    1. A nice restaurant
ii. One counter meal
iii. One snack
iv. Costs 62 for adults, 21 for children under 10 per day

b. If you are going to eat at Disney this is worth it

i. You can eat two counter meals in one day
ii. Four snacks in one day

c. Saves you a little bit of money if you buy it

i. You don’t have to think about food
ii. More than enough
iii. Huge portions
iv. Might have a few snacks
   1. Though we usually have leftovers

d. Tips are not included

C. What is Free Disney Dining?

a. Free Dining

  i. The Dining plan was free
    1. In a normal trip you would only pay for hotel and park tickets
  ii. Last year if you stayed at a value resort you got the quick service
    1. With an option to upgrade to Standard for $20 a day
  iii. If you stayed at a moderate or luxury resort, you got the standard plan
    1. Essentially, all of our food
  iv. It is exciting to go to one of our restaurants and see a bill for $700 dollars and know it is free
  v. It is Disney’s best deal by a long shot

b. Limitations

  i. Cannot be packaged with other special deals
    1. Not with 25% off
    2. Normal rate for that time of year
    3. Normal cost for tickets for the number of days

  ii. They only offer it for certain weeks
    1. Recently it is only in the fall and early December
    2. Not Halloween, Thanksgiving, Labor Day etc.
    3. When they announce they will announce which weeks the deal is for
               a. You have to go during one of those weeks

 iii. It is only for certain resorts
    1. The one’s they need to fill in those weeks
    2. Though it is for most resorts
    3. There are sections and whole resorts that don’t count

  iv. It is very limited
    1. And is getting more limited all the time
    2. First come, first serve
    3. When they are out of free dining plans, you have to hope that someone cancels

II. Booking Everything

A. When

a. Plan on going during the fall and not during a holiday
    1. Pick at least 2 or 3 weeks that will work for everyone at least by the first of March
    2. We planned on going the first week of November
               i. Disney didn’t offer free dining that week
               ii. They did offer it the second week of November

B. Pick at least 3 hotels that you want to stay in at least by the first of March

   1. Our first choice was Art of Disney Animation
   2. We needed to switch to Coronado Springs
   3. You won’t know which resort is offering the deals

C. Check every day in March, April, and May for Free Disney Dining Plan

    a. Details

    i. Dining is usually April or May
    ii. They don’t tell you
    iii. You won’t know until they announce
    iv. Just type in free Disney dining 2016
         1. If they’ve announced, it should be all over the place
    v. Just 30 seconds a day
         1. I checked two or three times a day
         2. It was worth about $7000 for our family

b.  You can book your trip for your first choice week
     i. They will let you switch rooms, dates, or just apply the discount if you are on an eligible date and in an eligible time

c. When they announce call Disney and book your trip
   i. It will be an hour wait
   ii. Do not wait
         1. They will be gone in less than 24 hours
   iii. Know your possible dates
   iv. Know your possible resorts
   v. You can do it online
        1. If you catch it early enough

d. If you miss it, keep trying
   i. People book too many rooms or their trip gets canceled
   ii. So you still might have a chance

D. Fast Passes
   a. 60 days if staying on Disney
   b. Magic Bands

E. Extras
   a. Don’t do them
   b. Hotel, Food, Tickets

III. At Disney: Scheduling the most out of your days

  a. Four types of touring days
  b. All Day
     i. Best: You can do everything in a park in one day
        1. If you do them at the right time
        2. And aren’t there during peak time
    ii. Worst: Can be very tiring
        1. Only do this a few times unless it is a short trip (four or five days or fewer) or your family has a lot of stamina
        2. Do not overestimate how tiring Disney can be
            a. 7 miles plus of walking per day
    iii. Strategy
      1. Start in a land with attractions with longer lines
          a. Do the longest
      2. Move to second level lines through late morning
      3. Eat lunch at 11:30
      4. Mix in fastpasses from 12:30 to 3:30
          a. Three big attractions
          b. Then get more
    5. Do shows and low line level rides
c.  Go early, Leave in the Afternoon, come back in the evening
           i. Best

Listen to the podcast by clicking on the picture below!

Links:

Disneyworld.disney.go.com
Disneyfoodblog.com
Disney Junkies FB page
Other RKWC/CI Podcasts
RKWC/CI blog
Plexus to Feel Great Blog
What is TriPlex?
Keep Kids Close Coupons
Affirmation Cards
Age-Appropriate Chore Posters
Consequence Pies
Meaningful Composition Writing Program
Character Ink Store
Write On, Peter Pan (and coming soon—Mowgli!) books
The Plastic Wrap Ball

The post Podcast Notes for “Part II – Trip Tips to Planning the Perfect & Money Saving Disney World Vacation” appeared first on Character Ink.

Donna Reish, co-author and co-presenter of Raising Kids With Character parenting seminar and blog and fifty curriculum books (including February 2016 releases of five levels of Write On, Peter Pan books and March 2016 releases of five levels of Write On, Mowgli book) from Character Ink Press, brings you this Wondering Wednesday podcast episode in which her guest, son Joshua Reish, answers even more questions about planning an amazing (and affordable!) family vacation to Walt Disney World. In this episode, Joshua delves even more deeply into saving money while dining at Disney, including the peak times for the free dining plan as well as purchasing a dining plan (to still save meal money over buying each meal separately). His thorough explanation of the snacks, quick service meals (counter meals), and sit-down meals will help you put all of the Disney dining pieces together in order to enjoy the amazing food and service that Disney offers. Joshua also goes further into the fast passes and making the most of each day at WDW.

Download the podcast notes here.

Listen to previous podcasts here.

The post Podcast: Part II – Trip Tips to Planning the Perfect & Money Saving Disney World Vacation appeared first on Character Ink.

I. Minimizing the Costs

A. Be Flexible

1. Go in off times (Value resort: $192/night/holidays; $101/night/off season—for four people)

2. Be ready to change if the next week or prior week has a “deal”

B. Don’t go without a “deal”

1. Free Disney Dining (check out 1/26/16 episode for detailed instructions on Disney dining)

a. A few weeks a year

b. Falls in late spring—Early April/May

c. Quite literally free meals for all!

d. Saved our family of fourteen $7,000 over paying for meals on Disney. Even if the meals are twice as much as fast food (in place of quick service meals) and chains (in place of sit-down meals), we still saved nearly $4,000 on food!

C. Stay on Disney

1. Resorts—three price range of resorts for everybody

2. “Deals” are associated with packages—stay in resort, buy ticket package, get free dining (or can purchase dining plan)…staying on makes all other aspects of the trip less expensive

3. Lose time also by staying off—driving, parking, not getting in during “magic hours”

4. Pay for parking when staying off ($20 per day per vehicle)

5. Can get other deals besides free dining, like 25% off room rates, etc. during off season

6. Can’t “stack” free dining, room reduction, etc….but off season nearly always offers some special to reduce the trip

II. Minimizing line times

A. Complex algorithms and touring plans—not really needed; just need to learn some key things

B. Times of day—three key times

1. Golden times

a. First hour park is open

b. Any magic hours morning or night (available only to people staying in a Disney resort)

c. Last hour park is open

d. Anytime you use a fast pass (Details on Fast Passes in 1/26/16 episode)

2. Silver times

a. Before noon

b. Last two to three hours park is open to general public

3. Bad times (!)

a. Afternoon—12 to 6

b. Use fast passes and see shows and parades during this time

C . Three attraction line times

1. Long—Peter Pan, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Pooh, Meet and Greets with Mickey/Elsa/Anna

2. Medium—Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, Magic Carpet Ride

3. Short/no wait—Most shows, People Mover, and Parades

III. Planning Ahead/Booking

A. Initial plans

1. Know length of trip and potential time period: 9 to 12 months in advance

2. Be flexible, especially with large party—get a couple of starting and ending dates available just in case of specials or full resorts

B. Booking vacation

1. Book vacation: 6 to 9 months in advance

2. Wait on deals (start watching at the 9 month mark—see links at bottom)

3. Be ready with your start and ending dates

C. Booking dining

1. As soon as you can book (180 days in advance with Disney Dining plan (either free dining plan or purchased plan)

2. Pick all of your sit-down places ahead of time (and have alternates)so when one comes open (when you call to make your reservations, you will have a list of first choices, etc., in front of you)

3. Know what types of days you will likely have so that you are not leaving one park to go eat in another or going from park to your resort to eat and back to park—schedule dining in or near the park you will be at on that day (base what park you are on, on the magic hours and hours of operation of each park during the days you are going to be there)

D. Booking fast passes

1. Sixty days out

2. Listen next week for details!

3. Use Long, Medium, Short line list above

4. Sites also list which ones are good ones to get fast passes for

5. Goal: Not wait over thirty minutes for most popular attractions if you are going in off season (we averaged fifteen minutes….many we walked right on in magic hours…)

IV. Slow down—enjoy every Disney-esque moment you can!

Links:

Disneyworld.disney.go.com

Disneyfoodblog.com

Disney Junkies FB page

Other RKWC/CI Podcasts

Plexus to Feel Great Blog

Keep Kids Close Coupons

Affirmation Cards

Age-Appropriate Chore Posters

Consequence Pies

Meaningful Composition Writing Program

Character Ink Store

Write On, Peter Pan (and coming soon—Mowgli!) books

The Plastic Wrap Ball

The post Podcast Notes for “Trip Tips to Planning the Perfect Disney World Vacation” appeared first on Character Ink.

Donna Reish, co-author and co-presenter of Raising Kids With Character parenting seminar and blog and fifty curriculum books (including February 2016 releases of five levels of Write On, Peter Pan and March 2016 releases of five levels of Write On, Mowgli) from Character Ink Press, brings you this Wondering Wednesday podcast episode in which her guest, son Joshua Reish, answers the myriad of questions that the Reish family is often asked about taking a Walt Disney World family vacation. In this first part, Joshua tells listeners how to minimize the price of a WDW vacation, how to minimize wait times in lines, how far ahead to plan your trip (including Disney Dining), how to slow down and experience Disney, and much more.

Download the podcast notes here.

Listen to previous podcasts here.

The post Podcast: Trip Tips to Planning the Perfect & Money Saving Disney World Vacation appeared first on Character Ink.