Schedule Thus Far

Schedule Thus Far:

Wednesday 2/10/10:
Arrive
Eat Dinner at Marrakesh in Epcot

Thursday 2/11/10:
MK opens at 8:00 am
No plans yet

Friday 2/12/10:
7:30 Dinner at California Grill - Contemporary Resort
Epcot closes at 11:00

Saturday 2/13/10:
Tammy's Family Arrives
College palls afternoon/evening?

Sunday 2/14/10:
Heather's Birthday Celebration - Animal Kingdom
1:05 Lunch at the Tusker House
3:15 Reserved Seating at Finding Nemo the Musical
Magic Kingdom open till 2:00 am

2/15/10:
10:00 am Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare
Hollywood Studios day
7:45 Dinner at Sci-fi dine in theater
Fantasmic show - ??
HS open till 11:00 pm

2/16/10:
EP opens at 8:00 am
no plans yet

2/17/10:
Fly Home at 3:00 pm.

Name of My Grand Gathering

Heather's 30th Birthday Celebration!

Latest Disney Deals

From: Mouse Savers

7-for-4 or 7-for-5 Package Offer for November 2009 - March 2010

Now you can purchase a fantastic buy 4, get 7 or buy 5, get 7 vacation package offer valid for stays November 1 - December 24, 2009 through January 3 - March 27, 2010.

Here are the details:

• Buy a 4-night/4 day vacation package at a MODERATE, DELUXE or DELUXE VILLA resort, get a 7-night/7-day package. That's 3 FREE hotel nights and 3 extra days on your theme park admission tickets, equivalent to a 43% discount on your room and tickets! You must buy a package that includes at least 4 nights' accommodations at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel plus minimum 4-day Magic Your Way Base Tickets to qualify for the 3 FREE nights and the 3 extra days on your tickets.

• Buy a 5-night/5 day vacation package at a VALUE resort, get a 7-night/7-day package. That's 2 FREE hotel nights and 2 extra days on your theme park admission tickets, equivalent to a 29% discount on your room and tickets! You must buy a package that includes at least 5 nights' accommodations at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel plus minimum 5-day Magic Your Way Base Tickets to qualify for the 2 FREE nights and the 2 extra days on your tickets.

Extra days on a ticket don't cost that much, so the primary savings are on the hotel room portion, so the higher category hotels offer the most total savings.

To calculate your approximate savings on a "buy 4, get 7" package at a Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villa resort:

• Multiply the room rate (2009 or 2010) times 3 (savings of 3 nights' room rate).
• Add $9.58 per person (ticket savings for the 3 extra days).
• The total is your savings.

To calculate your approximate savings on a "buy 5, get 7" package at a Value resort:

• Multiply the room rate (2009 or 2010) times 2 (savings of 2 nights' room rate).
• Add $6.39 per person (approx ticket savings for the 2 extra days).
• The total is your savings.

You can stay longer than 7 nights (up to 10 nights) with this package, but there is a maximum of 3 free nights and 3 extra days per ticket, per stay, if you will be staying in a Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villa resort, or 2 free nights and 2 extra days per ticket, per stay, if you will be staying in a Value resort.

You can stay less than 7 nights, but you still must purchase 4 nights at a Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villa resort, or 5 nights at a Value resort, so you'll end up with fewer free nights/extra days. The minimum total stay to make this offer worthwhile at all would be 5 nights at a Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villa resort, or 6 nights at a Value resort. Obviously a 7-night stay is the best deal!

You can add the Quick Service Dining Plan for 2009 or 2010, the regular Dining Plan for 2009 or 2010, or the Deluxe Dining Plan for 2009 or 2010, but you will pay full price for your dining plan (no free days of dining).

The package includes standard Magic Your Way Base Tickets. You can upgrade them with the Park Hopper, Water Parks & More and/or No Expiration option(s), but you'll pay the regular price for those upgrades.

This offer cannot be applied to the Premium or Platinum packages or to "split stays" (for example, 4 nights at one hotel, 3 nights at another).

You must book this special package by 12/20/09.

You can book these deals through your travel agent. You have already booked your trip check to see if you can have the deals applied.

Dining in Disney: Favorites, Plans, and Ideas

The Ones in Blue are the ones I am certain of trying to ADRs for

Resorts:

• California Grill - Feb 12th, current menu
• 1900 Park Fare Character Breakfast w/ Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, and possibly Pooh Bear & Tigger (trying for 1st time).
  
• Grand View Lounge Afternoon Tea (trying for 1st time) - current menu
• Jiko: The Cooking Place - current menu
• The Maya Grill - current menu
  

Epcot:

• Restaurant Marrakesh (trying for 1st time) - current menu
  
• Le Cellier - current menu
• Biergarten - current menu
  

Hollywood Studios:

• Sci-Fi Dine In - current menu
• 50's Prime Time Cafe - current menu
  

Magic Kingdom:

• Liberty Tree Tavern - current menu
• The Crystal Palace character meal with Winnie the Pooh & friends - current menu
  

Animal Kingdom:

• Yak & Yeti - current menu
• Flame Tree Barbecue - current menu
• Tusker House - current menu
  

Downtown/Market-Place:

• T-Rex (would be trying for the 1st time - not on Dining Plan)- current menu
• Paradiso 37 (would be trying for 1st time - not on Dining Plan) - current menu
  

Disney 2010 Information

For those thinking on joining me in Disney in 2010 here is some more info to help you start planning.

My favorite Disney info sites is Allears.net. Their Facebook site also is a great place to get tips, help on questions and to join in/start discussion here is the link Allears,net-Facebook.

There are many ways to go about booking a Disney vacation. First you can book directly through Disney at DisneyWorld.com, through a Disney certified travel agents like SmallWorld Vacation or Mouse Fan Travel, though AAA, or by booking everything yourself. AAA saved me $200.00 off the total cost of my trip, where as the Disney travel agents quoted me the same amount as Disney did. The joys of booking with an agent vs. booking everything yourself is that the agent will keep an eye on any specials or discounts that become available and let you know if you can apply them to your trip - Disney won't do that and if you book yourself you have to do all the searching.

To Package or Not to Package: Disney offers package deals called the Magic Your Way Package, which included base tickets, hotel, with the option of a including a dining plan. This package allows you to pick a Disney resort, the number of tickets, and any add-ons you want like Park Hopper (allows you to visit more then one park a day - I never go to Disney without it) and/or Water Parks & More, and a dining plan (More on resorts and dining plans below). I like the package deals because of the one stop shopping and because they include the dinning plan. For more information on the Magic Your Way Packages visit Allears.net-packages. However, you can possibly save money by booking your hotel and tickets separately. Mouse Savers is a site that lists Disney discounts and saving tips.

Resorts: In order to be included in my Grand Gathering you have to stay on Disney property in one of their resorts. Disney offers 3 level of resorts with multiple resort options availbe with in those levels. The 3 levels are Value (the most inexpensive), Moderate (mid range) and Deluxe (very expensive). I have stayed in the all 3 levels and all are very comfortable. More more information on the resorts including fact sheets and pictures go to AllEars.Net-accommodations.

Dinning Plan: With the Magic Your Way package Disney offers the option of a dining plan, you can only get the dining plan if you book a package. Like the resorts there are different levels of the dining plan, and you can choose the one that best works for your party's needs. The dining plans are the: Quick Service, Basic, and Deluxe. The Quick Service plan includes 2 quick service meals and 2 snaks per day, per guest - but no table service meals. The basic plan includes one quick service, one table service and one snack per person, per day. The deluxe plan includes 3 meals - either quick service or table service and 2 snacks per person, per day. There are almost no restrictions on where you can eat, and no restrictions on what you can order off the menus. What the plans don't include is gratuity and alcohol. I am a big fan of the dining plans because it means you don't have to worry about paying for meals when you are on vacation, there are no restrictions on what you can order so you can try foods you might otherwise have avoided due to cost. For more information on these plans check out Allears.net-packages.

Transportation: Disney offers free transportation for guest staying on property to and from Orlando airport (MCO) called the Magical Express. If you fly a Disney approved airline they will also take care of you luggage for you so you don't have to worry about that, and will allow you to check in for your return flight from your hotel. For more information on this service check out Allears.net-ME. Disney also offers free bus service to and from the parks to the various resorts so a car is not necessary. If you would feel better having a car those guests staying on Disney property get free parking at the parks. For the complete lowdown on Disney transportation check out Allears.net-transportation.

Child Care: For information on traveling to Disney with an infant or toddler check out Allears.net-Infant. Disney does offer on property child care for children ages 4+ who are potty trained. You can also get in-room babysitting through outside babysitting companies recommended by Disney. For more information on these services check out Allears.net-ChildFAQ.

Puppies: Certain Disney resorts offer kennels for your pups. For more information on these check out Allears.net-Kennels.

If you are interested in hearing what other guests have thought about any of the above check out the Rate & Review section of Allears.Net

Please note that you do not have to stay in the same hotel as me or book the same type of package you are free to do what works best for your family/group.

If I can not book an actual Grand Gathering event I will be booking one or two special things for people to join me at. More word on that when I know who is coming and for what lengths of time.