Disney Vacation - Create your Dreams

At Disney.com they have a fun new way to plan you Disney Vacation called "Create Your Dreams". It asks you a few questions of how you would like your Disney Vacation to be, and after selecting a few options gives you access to videos and suggestions that will help you plan. CLICK HERE for more info, and enjoy making your dreams come true!

Disney Vacation - Create your Dreams

Disney Stock Certificate - Perfect Gift for a Disney Fan

This is a fun idea--if you're looking for a gift that keeps on giving, give a framed Walt Disney Company stock certificate. CLICK HERE to find out more, and click on "for kids". You can have it framed and everything!


Disney Stock Certificate - Perfect Gift for a Disney Fan

Disney Gem Princess & Royal Horse Gift Set

For all of you Disney Princess lovers, here is a fun group of Disney Princess Gift Sets. Each set comes with a beautiful Princess figure and a Royal Horse. These are great additions to your Disney Princess collection.


Disney Gem Princess & Royal Horse Gift Set: Cinderella


Disney Gem Princess & Royal Horse Gift Set: Sleeping Beauty


Disney Gem Princess & Royal Horse Gift Set: Snow White

Disney Gem Princess & Royal Horse Gift Set

Disney Vacation Test Drive

Planning a Disney vacation? I recently discovered a fun way to find out what is going on at the Disney Theme Parks at the time you plan to go. You can also get great ideas depending on the ages of you children, amount of time you will be there, and more.

As you go through your test drive you get to choose your favorite Disney character, watch video clips that apply to your interests, and more. It's a lot of fun, CLICK HERE for more info.

Disney Vacation Test Drive

Free Disney Vacation Planning DVDs

Disney offers some great FREE DVDs to help you plan your vacation. They can take quite awhile to get to you, so give yourself some time. Use the following links to order:

For either of the Disney (Florida or California) parks CLICK HERE

For the Disney Cruise Line DVD CLICK HERE

For the Disney Vacation Club FREE VACATION SECRETS DVD CLICK HERE

For the Adventures by Disney DVD CLICK HERE

These are great resources, so check them out!

Walt Disney World Resort Savings: The Basics

Here are some of the basics to saving money on a Walt Disney World vacation:

1) Vacation packages DO NOT always save you the most money--they are designed for convenience not savings. It is usually cheaper to book everything separately.

2) There are five seasons at Disney Resorts: Regular, Summer, Peak, Holiday, & VALUE seasons. As you can guess, Value Season is the cheapest time to go. There are no specific dates, but generally it is January, February, last three weeks of October, first three weeks of November, and the first three weeks of December. These are the least expensive and least crowded dates!

3) Continuing the previous points, according to MouseSavers.com here are the dates to avoid, ranked from most expensive down (to see these times ranked in order from least to most crowded CLICK HERE):

• Holiday Season (especially weekends) - December 19-31
• Presidents Day - February 15-17
• Easter Week - March 16-27
• Peak Season (especially weekends) - February 14 - March 29
• Independence Day Weekend - July 4-5
• Summer Season at the Value and Moderate resorts (especially weekends) - May 22 - August 2
• Thanksgiving Weekend - November 26-29

4) Keep up on discount codes & promotions. Here is where it is really handy to have a site like MouseSavers.com bookmarked. CLICK HERE to go straight to the current discount codes & promotions.

5) Stay in hotels nearby, not in the really expensive hotels on the resort. Again, thanks to our friends at MouseSavers.com for a list of preferred hotels nearby. CLICK HERE for details.

6) Buy discounted tickets. This is the trickiest part as discounts on passes are rare. Check out my previous post on discount Disney World tickets (CLICK HERE) for more information. Also, check out the MouseSavers.com discount list.

7) Don't eat at the park! You will find most of your budget sucked away just in food. In my family we pack lunches and eat them in the car so little ones can nap, and give the kids fanny packs with snacks. Another tip is just to eat off-site at close-by restaurants or fast-food, you'll save a bunch.

8) Maximize your fun by planning ahead. The best way to do this is use the Unofficial Guide to Disney World. You will be amazed how much more enjoyable and cost-effective your trip will be! CLICK HERE to get it from Amazon. You can also check out the special links to the right for other Unofficial Guides to help make your trip enjoyable. I HIGHLY recommend these books.

9) Get discounts on traveling to, from, and around the park. The best resources is MouseSavers.com list of transportation discounts - CLICK HERE.

And that's it. Just as a final note, in my experience Disney vacations are so much more enjoyable if you're not going into debt to have one. Save the money in advance! Make it a family activity--fill a savings jar, open a special savings account and write the balance on a dry-erase board as everyone contributes--just be creative! Then you can enjoy it before, during, AND after!

Happy Vacationing!

Walt Disney World Resort Savings: The Basics

Disney Cruise Line - Last Minute Savings (Expedia)

Here's a Disney Cruise Line money saving tip: if you're trying to save money and are booking your cruise last minute, give Expedia.com a try. They reserve blocks of cabins for use throughout the year, and when a cruise date is close they will sell remaining cabins at a discounted rate.

So, if your schedule is variable and you have a hard time planning far in advance, CLICK HERE and check out Expedia.com deals.

Happy Cruising!

Disney Cruise Line - Last Minute Savings (Expedia)

Buzz Lightyear Online Game - Astro Blasters Online

Want to go on a Disneyland ride from your own home? Sign in HERE and play Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Online, and defeat Zurg and his minions along with those riding the ride in real time! It's a lot of fun! CLICK HERE to start.

Buzz Lightyear Online Game - Astro Blasters Online

Disney Pirates of the Caribbean Online (FREE online game)

This is a lot of fun--check out this free online game (CLICK HERE). You can create your own pirate and battle on the open seas! Lots of fun.

Disney Pirates of the Caribbean Online (FREE online game)

Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom (FREE online game)

For those of you interested in online gaming, or just socializing online you should try out Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK). You create an avatar and explore the different theme parks online creating music mixes, playing games, earning credits for cool free stuff, win prizes, and more. Best of all, it's FREE!!!

CLICK HERE and check it out.

Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom (FREE online game)