Tag Archives: Walt Disney World

Walt Disney Travel Company Hurricane Policy

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While hurricane Irene decided not to pay a visit to Orlando this week, we are now entering hurricane season for Central Florida. If you are traveling during hurricane season, it is a good idea to make sure you are familiar with the current hurricane policy for Walt Disney World vacation packages booked through the Walt Disney Travel Company. Note that this policy applies for packages booked by individuals or by travel agents on your behalf . It only applies to Magic Your Way Packages booked via the Walt Disney Travel Company. Room only reservations, group, sports or convention reservations do not apply.

The official 2011 hurricane policy states that:
“If a hurricane warning is issued by the National Weather Service  for the Orlando area or your place of residence no more than 7 days before your arrival at Walt Disney World, you may change or cancel your reservation without any of the normal change or cancellation fees imposed by Disney.  If you choose to reschedule, all amounts paid toward the original vacation package will be applied to the new package dates.  However, any discounts or promotions may be lost if they are not applicable or available on your new travel date.”

This policy only covers the Walt Disney World portion of your vacation. Airlines and any other “add ons” to your package will have their own separate policy.

It is also important to note that this policy applies only to vacation packages and not to special events or dining experiences. In other words, if you have HoopDeeDoo Review or Cinderella’s Royal Table reservations, cancelling or changing your vacation package does not cancel these reservations as well. You’ll need to cancel those individually or be subject to their cancellation penalties. If you must cancel or change your vacation due to a named storm after your cancellation window has passed, asked to speak to a guest services representative and explain the situation.

Contact your travel agent with any questions regarding this or any Magic Your Way package policy.

 

 

Yummy new special offer at Walt Disney World! More FREE Dining!

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The wait is over for those hoping for a fall special offer from Walt Disney World! They have extended their extremely popular FREE dining special offer to cover travel on select dates through March 31, 2012! There are a number of blackout dates included. The available dates are:

October 1- October 6, 2011
October 22 – November 3, 2011
November 12 – November 17, 2011
November 26 – December 1, 2011
December 10 – December 15, 2011

January 8 – January 12, 2012
January 21 – February 2, 2012
February 11 – February 16, 2012
March 3 – March 8, 2012
March 24 – March 29, 2012


Here are all the juicy details:

  • receive free quick service dining plan with all value resort stays
  • receive free Magic Your Way Plus Dining plan with all moderate and deluxe resort stays
  • you may upgrade to a “higher level” dining plan, including the Deluxe Dining Plan by paying the difference between the two plans
  • minimum 3 night stay required
  • minimum 2 day ticket purchase required
  • availability is very limited with this offer, particularly for 2011 travel dates
  • Suites, camp sites and 3 bedroom villas are excluded from this offer.

This free dining offer must be booked by 10/29/11. Excludes gratuities and alcoholic beverages. Children ages 3-9 must order from the children’s menu if available. Some table-service restaurants may have limited or no availability at time of package purchase.

Free dining is a fabulous opportunity to try some new restaurant options at Walt Disney World. Your Disney vacation specialist will be happy to make restaurant recommendations to help you maximize the use of your dining plan credits.

Contact me or request a quote for more information!

See ya real soon!

Lori Hardegree
lori@magicalmemoriestravel.com
@DisneyMomATL

Top Counter Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World

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Walt Disney World has no shortage of dining locations or variety of food. With the most popular of their dining plans, the Magic Your Way Plus Dining package (often called the “Disney Dining Plan”) offering each guest a quick service meal credit for each night of their stay, I am often asked for restaurant recommendations.

Here are my top recommendations for counter service locations at Walt Disney World:

Columbia Harbour House

photo by the Restaurant Fairy

Magic Kingdom: Columbia Harbour House

Located in Liberty Square just down from the Haunted Mansion, Columbia Harbour House offers a great alternative to your typical theme park fare. You’ll find a delicious tuna sandwich (my favorite!), fish, fried shrimp, hummus, a BLT salad, chowder and other favorites. For a nice, quiet location to eat, go upstairs to find a table. If you can get one near a window, you’ll enjoy some fairly picturesque views of the Magic Kingdom!

Honorable Mention: Pecos Bills in Frontier Land – home of my favorite Magic Kingdom counter service meal, the chicken wrap!


Tangerine Cafe

photo by Around the Mouse

Epcot: Tangerine Cafe

I consider the Tangerine Cafe to be the best theme park counter service option available! Located in the Morocco pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase, this little gem of a restaurant has terrific Moroccan and Middle Eastern food. The portions are huge, not to mention delicious. The top recommendation is the Shawarma Lamb Platter. Don’t like lamb? The Shawarma chicken platter is good as well. The desserts here are divine as well. To make your experience here even better, check the Times Guide to see if the group Mo’Rockin will be performing around your meal time. If so, look for a table outside where you can enjoy the show while you eat!

Honorable Mention: Sunshine Seasons downstairs in the Land Pavilion. With the huge variety of offerings, there is sure to be something here to please everyone in your group.


Starring Rolls Cafe

photo by DisneyDreams.net

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Starring Rolls Cafe

Counter service options at Disney’s Holywood Studios are not as impressive as options at other locations. Starring Rolls Cafe is a tiny bakery/sandwich shop tucked away on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. It’s easy to miss, but definitely worth a stop! Serving fresh sandwiches, sushi, pastries and some quite decadent desserts, they often run out of food by late afternoon so don’t wait too long to stop by! Everything I have tried here has been delicious. Make sure you have a chocolate butterfinger cupcake for me while you are there. The only drawback is it’s very limited seating.

Honorable Mention: Toy Story Pizza Planet grabs honorable mention not for fantastic food, or even variety on it’s menu, but because it’s a popular one for the kids. Just like the Pizza Planet in the movies you’ll find arcade games and lots of fun. Sometimes Mom and Dad just need somewhere to sit and rest for a bit and let the kids burn off some of that extra energy and this is a great air conditioned spot for that!


Anandapur Local Cafes

photo by Disney Shawn

Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Anandapur Local Cafes

Animal Kingdom has a couple of great counter service options so I had a bit of a hard time picking my favorite! The Anadapur Local Cafes won out because of the fact that it is the same food as served around the corner at the Yak and Yeti table service restaurant…but it’s priced about 30% less! Offering generous portions of Asian food and plenty of outdoor (mostly shaded) seating, this is a great way to get table service quality food for less or without burning a table service credit!

Honorable Mention: Flame Tree Barbecue. Ask me on a different day and Flame Tree could easily take the top spot at Animal Kingdom. The food is good and the location is quiet and beautiful (my husband heads up an award winning competitive barbecue team and this one gets his stamp of approval too!).


Wolfgang Puck Express

photo by Visit Mickey

Downtown Disney: Wolfgang Puck Express

If you are looking for the best bang for your buck on the dining plan, this is it! I’d consider Wolfgang Puck Express at the Downtown Disney marketplace probably the top counter service location in all of Walt Disney World. It’s borderline table service. You order at the counter but your food is brought out to you. Fresh salads, sandwiches and gourmet pizzas make up the menu. I highly recommend the barbecue chicken pizza! My family teases me that dining at Walt Disney World for me becomes “the creme brulee extravaganza” because if it’s on the menu, I’m probably going to order it! This is one of the only counter service restaurants to have my favorite dessert, and it doesn’t disappoint! The drawback here is that seating is very limited so you may want to send someone out to scout for a table while the rest of your party places your order.

Honorable Mention: Earl of Sandwich – sandwiches and salads and wraps, oh my!

So there you have it, my top recommendations for counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World! You’ll find more than just hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken nuggets at all of them!

Did your favorite make the list?

Stay tuned for my top table service recommendations as well!

See ya real soon!

Lori Hardegree
lori@magicalmemoriestravel.com
@DisneyMomATL

Put a little education in your vacation with the Kingdom Keepers!

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Meeting Ridley Parson, author of the Kingdom Keepers series on board the Disney Dream

The Magic Kingdom and other Disney parks seem the last place for anything “dark” to be happening but as fans of the Kingdom Keepers series by author Ridley Pearson know, things aren’t always as they seem!

In the Kingdom Keepers series, Disney employs 5 teenagers – Finn, Maybeck, Philby, Willa and Charleen – to act as the models for a new feature where holographic “tour guides” will guests through the Magic Kingdom. Through some special Disney magic, the teens find that they “automagically” enter the parks each night in hologram form to do battle with the Disney villians – the Overtakers – who are attempting to take over the Disney parks.

Now your children have the opportunity to help the Kingdom Keepers save the magic of the Disney parks from the Overtakers and become immersed in the story like never before! With the Kingdom Keepers Quest from Disney’s Youth Education Series, kids in grades 5-9 have the opportunity to join Finn, Maybeck, Philby, Willa and Charlene as Keepers. The quest takes them through the park solving problems much like Finn and company had to do in the first book, Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark.

Each “keeper in training” is given a unique park map that will guide them through the challenge. The group leader explains that the Keepers are in need of help and Wayne, the Disney Imagineer who worked with Walt Disney himself, has designed this quest to see if they have what it takes to become Keepers (in reality, the quest was created and designed by author Ridley Pearson). The kids work together in a small group to solve the puzzles in the quest.

Ridley Pearson says that “the Kingdom Keepers Quest involves problem solving, visualization, observation, creativity, math skills, language arts and critical thinking.” Pearson goes on to say that “by putting the kids in these educational experiences with a book they’ve read and seeing the book come alive, they learn the power of observation, they learn team play and they take a lot of these things and bring them back to the classroom and become better students for it.” (click the link for a video preview of the Kingdom Keepers Quest program!) Continue reading →

Top Tips: Rainy Days at Disney Never Get Me Down

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You’ve saved and planned and looked forward to your Walt Disney World vacation for some time now. All of your mental images for the trip have blue skies and puffy white clouds. So what do you do when the reality is grey skies, black clouds and rain? Your best bet is to grab a poncho and keep on going! We’ve put together some of our Top Tips for Rainy Day Fun at Walt Disney World!

Rainy Days at DisneyMy oldest son, Brandon, and I just returned for a quick trip to Orlando where we took some time to check out what’s new at Walt Disney World and to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. As with all of our trips, I kept an eye on the forecast for Orlando for 10 days or so before our departure. Typical of summer in Orlando, every day had the little thunderstorm icon with a note that said “chance of afternoon or evening thunderstorms.” It’s par for the course for summer months in Central Florida! Most days we had lots of clouds and occasional sprinkles but on our last day we were treated to an all out storm!

If you find one (or more) of your vacation days will be a bit soggy, take heart; Disney can still be fun even in the rain! Keep in mind that Central Florida has always had a good amount of rain and the good folks at Disney Imagineering knew this when they designed the parks. Ever wonder why the majority of Disney’s rides and attractions are inside? You’ll be happy they made that decision when you can keep right on going with your theme park fun in the rain.

Here are our Top Tips for Rainy Day Fun at Walt Disney World: Continue reading →

Savings Alert: Ticket prices going up on Sunday, 6/12/11!

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Planning to visit Mickey Mouse this summer? If you haven’t already purchased your theme park tickets, it’s going to cost you more starting this Sunday!

Ticket prices for Walt Disney World and Disneyland will increase starting June 12, 2011. In the past ticket price increases have occurred in late July or August.

A 1-Day Magic Your Way base ticket for Walt Disney World will increase from $82 to $85 plus tax ($90.53 including tax), and a 1-Day, 1-Park ticket for Disneyland will increase from $76 to $80 ($88.75 including tax). A full list of updated Walt Disney World ticket pricing can be found here. Information on Disneyland ticket prices can be found here.

There is good news for those planning to visit Walt Disney World for only one day. The cost for adding the park hopper option for 2-Day through 10-Day Magic Your Way ticket will increase from $54 to $55 however the cost for adding the park hopper option to a 1-Day ticket has been reduced to $35 + tax. This brings the cost of a 1-Day park hopper ticket down to $127.80 as opposed to current ticket prices of $144.84.

Purchasing your theme park tickets, or placing a vacation package under deposit before Sunday morning will “lock in” current pricing. For a family of 4 planning to purchase 7-day park hopper tickets this will save almost $100 by locking in pricing now.

As a special bonus, I am offering a $50 Disney gift card* to anyone booking a Magic Your Way vacation package before 11:59 pm on Saturday night! Contact me or request a quote for more information! Continue reading →

Late Summer Savings at Walt Disney World

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Are you planning to Visit Mickey at Walt Disney World between August 14, 2011 and October 1, 2011 this year?  If so, great news! Walt Disney World’s latest discount offer was custom-made just for you! With rates as low as $69 per night there are options for every vacation budget!  Theme park tickets and Disney’s popular dining plans can be added to this discounted room offer for even more savings.

Standard view rooms at Disney’s value resorts start at $69 + tax per night
Standard view rooms at Disney’s moderate resorts start at $129 + tax per night
Standard view rooms at Disney’s deluxe resorts start at $189 per night
Studios at Disney’s Deluxe Villa resorts start at $209 + tax per night

Guests visiting Walt Disney World between 8/28/11 and 9/24/11 have 2 great offers to choose from! If you are staying in a value or moderate resort, chances are the Memories Vacation Package with Free Dining will be your best option. Staying in a Deluxe resort? Make sure you or your travel agent checks both offers as the discounted room offer may save you even more!

Need help planning your next Disney vacation? Contact me for a free no-obligation quote or request a free vacation consultation by phone today!

See ya real soon!

Lori
lori@magicalmemoriestravel.com
@DisneyMomATL

Free Food and Photos – Oh My!

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Disney has just released their popular Free Dining offer for travel 8/28/11 – 9/24/11. This special pacakage offer is being called the Memories Vacation Package and includes a Disney Photopass Photo Book (a required package component at a cost of $99.95).

Here are all the juicy details:

  • guests booking a stay at one of Disney’s value resorts will receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for free
  • guests booking a stay at one of Disney’s moderate, deluxe or deluxe villa resorts will receive the Disney Dining Plan for free
  • you may upgrade to a “higher level” dining plan, up to the Deluxe Dining Plan by paying the difference between the 2 plans
  • minimum 3 night stay
  • minimum 2 day ticket purchase
  • Photopass photo book is a required package component
  • the number of rooms available with this offer is very limited

If you are interested in travel during this time period (8/28 – 9/24) and would like for me to place a room on a courtesy hold for you as you consider your vacation options, please contact me and let me know! A free, no-obligation courtesy hold can lock in availability and pricing for 7 days while you have a chance to talk over your options. If you want to confirm the reservation, Disney would require a $200 deposit.

Have questions? Contact me or ask away in the comments section!

Disney World Annual Passholder Rates 6/3/11 – 8/13/11

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Good news for Walt Disney World annual passholders! Discounted room rates for summer have been released. For travel from June 3, 2011 to August 13, 2011 you can enjoy the following savings:

  • Save 15% on Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campsites
  • Save 20% at Disney’s Value and Moderate Resorts
  • Save 30% at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney’s Polynesian Resort
  • Save 35% at Deluxe Resorts (excluding Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Polynesian Resort)
  • Save 35% at Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts

Unsure if an annual pass makes sense for your family? Schedule a vacation consultation or request a quote today!

Best times to visit Walt Disney World

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Of all of the questions I am asked about Walt Disney World, by far the most frequently asked questions is “when is the best time to go?”  There is no one answer that is right for all families, but by and large people are wanting to know when can they plan their visit where they will find low crowds and low prices.

True “empty park” weeks are pretty much a thing of the past at Walt Disney World now but there are definitely some weeks that are better than others. I have listed the best week for each month but to read more information, check out this article on examiner.com. If you are ready to start planning your Disney vacation, click here for a free vacation consultation call.

Keep in mind that “least crowded week” is relative! The least crowded weeks in April and July are still going to be more crowded than the most crowded week in January or February. If you are looking for the lowest crowds all year, those will be in bold italics. Other weeks with low to moderate crowds are noted in italics. Continue reading →