The Mouse Traveler

The Coronavirus, its affects and why Walt Disney World Closes!

This is insane! The response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has been intense. Many people are stocking up on things like toilet paper like it is the end of the world. While I don’t want to minimize the affects of the coronavirus, do we really need to go to these extremes? I am feeling so sad for the families that have to cancel their vacations to The Most Magical Place on Earth. Also, all the travel agents that are getting ten thousand emails and phone calls from unhappy travelers.

I can always gauge how bad or serious a situation is by seeing if Walt Disney World closes or not. In Michigan, our schools closed through the middle of April. (Our spring break was already scheduled for April 6-10) In return, some Church events and Theater events have also been cancelled or postponed. Even when these things happened, I was still questioning the response. Until Walt Disney World announced that it was closing its parks. This is when I knew S*$% just got real! This is when I really began to be concerned. Not necessarily for myself or my children to get infected by the virus, but for how this is going to affect our economy, finances, and the those who have a compromised immune system.

With schools closing, there are many things to think about and be concerned over. What is going to happen with my children’s education? There is no school work for them to do over this extended time at home. Will this cause them to have to go to school through June or July? In Michigan, we usually are given a certain number of ‘snow days’ that we can miss school for without having to make up those days in the summer or at the end of the school year. The government regulates how many classroom hours are required for a school year. With this closure, will we have to make up these days? This is a question that will not be answered any time soon. Which could affect people who have their family vacations scheduled for those early summer months/weeks. I would venture to say that this closure of school and of WDW parks will affect family vacations for this entire year and possibly beyond.

Right now, Disney World is closed through the end of March. The resorts will remain open as will Disney Springs. It is very possible that this closure could extend into April. According to the CDC.gov, the “COVID-19 is a new disease and we are still learning how it spreads, the severity of illness it causes, and to what extent it may spread in the United States.” Because there is still so much that is unknown with this virus, things can change. The Coronavirus can live on surfaces for 2-3 days, so with the parks being closed for the current amount of time should be enough to allow any surfaces to be cleared of the virus. The virus is spread person-to-person through contact and respiratory droplets produced when coughing or sneezing. This is why it is recommended to stay 6 feet away from everyone. With Florida having 21-50 reported cases of COVID-19 and the fact that it is known as an easily transmittable virus, every precaution should be taken to help stop the spread.

From what I understand, the people most at risk are those that have a compromised immune system and the elderly. The spread of the virus could be spread from people who do not show signs of being sick. For example, I go to Walt Disney World today and someone sneezes on me who has the virus. (or they sneeze 5 feet away from me and one tiny particle lands on my lip – it happens all the time, people…don’t be grossed out) I go home tomorrow and visit my 91 year old grandmother to show her photos of my Disney trip and give her a kiss on the cheek. BOOM Caronavirus spread. Since they don’t have a vaccine for this yet, and it could possibly get out of control, I can now see why all these closures are happening.

Personally, my family has been greatly affected by all this. I have been directing the local high school musical, Mamma Mia, and it has been postposed. (It was supposed to open next Friday. Today was tech day, which is cancelled) My kids do not have school for a month. Not sure how it will effect our summer. Thankfully, my kids are older and can stay home by themselves. My son is dual enrolled in college and those classes are converting to online classes, so that’ll be tough for him. He also decided to participate in track this year, for the first time. (He ran cross country for that past 5 years) He did really well in the time trials just to have practices cancelled and the season at least postponed. Some of the cast of Mamma Mia also do spring sports which may or may not conflict with any new dates, which could mean re-casting some roles.(Please cast, don’t drop!!!) So far, my work has not been effected, thank goodness.

Here is what to expect of Disney if your trip is affected. Unexpired multi-day tickets with unused days, for use March 12-31 will be extended to use any date through December 15, 2020. You can also choose to apply the value of a wholly unused ticket toward the purchase of a ticket for a future date. Florida resident Discover Disney Tickets may be used through July 31, 2020. Any special event tickets for March 16-31 will be automatically refunded. Annual passes will be extended for the amount of days the parks are closed. If you have a resort stay scheduled for the park closure dates, you can cancel with no cancellation fee. They will also refund your money if you just don’t show up. If you have worked with a travel agent, you should contact them. All dining reservation pre-paid experiences will be automatically refunded. All fastpass+ reservations will be automatically cancelled for March16-31. Also, something I am so happy about is that Disney is still paying their cast members!

If you are working with a travel agent, please be nice to them. I can only imagine how much work they are having to do right now in order to help all their clients. Countless hours rescheduling current vacations for those who are there now and wanting to go home, those who are upcoming that need to just reschedule before leaving home, and those who are just not sure if their vacation will be affected and are taking early precautions by rescheduling in advance before it becomes a last minute change. Also, for those bookings that are direct through Disney, be nice to the cast members, they are just as overwhelmed as you! Please be patient and know that your travel agent and Disney cast member are doing everything they can to help you.

How has the COVID-19 effected you? Do you have an upcoming Disney vacation that you had to cancel? Comment below, I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. (it’s far below this last paragraph, so keep scrolling to comment 🙂 ) Thank you for reading.

Let’s Talk About Ohana’s

‘Ohana means family, family means no one gets left behind or forgotten. A famous line from Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, which is one of my family’s favorite movies. The movie is based in Hawaii which is also the theme of the Polynesian resort and ‘Ohana the restaurant that is housed there. ‘Ohana, the restaurant, is my family’s favorite restaurant on Disney World property. The food is amazing!

‘Ohana serves american style breakfast and you get to meet Lilo, Stitch, and a few other Disney characters. It is all you care to eat Scrambled eggs, Fried Potatoes, Port, Mickey waffles, Pineapple-coconut breakfast bread, and fruit. We have not experienced the breakfast here but the reviews are fantastic. The food is your typical breakfast stuff and served family style. This is great because you don’t have to get up from the table and go through a buffet. Breakfast is the only time you can meet characters at ‘Ohana, they do not have characters at dinner.

What I am REALLY passionate about is the dinner at ‘Ohana! Yes, I am passionate about THIS FOOD! There have been some complaints and mixed reviews about this dining experience for a very long time, however, we have NOT ONCE had a bad experience there.

The dinner is served family style and is all you care to eat. They start by the hostess grabbing some pineapple-cocunut bread and taking you to your table. Be sure to not get filled up on this bread because you wont want to miss what comes next. For starters, you get a mixed greens salad with Likikoi dressing, Pork Dumplings, honey-coriander chicken wings, Teriyaki noodles, and stir-fried vegetables. Then the waiter comes around with 3 foot skewers of chicken, steak and shrimp which are slid off onto your plate as many times as you would like. The dessert is the famous ‘Ohana bread pudding ‘a la mode. They will also bring out something different for the kids which could be a bowl of ice cream or some Mickey shaped sprinkled rice krispy treats. If you have a picky eater or a vegetarian in your group, just let your server know and he/she will grab them something special from the kitchen. (My youngest daughter is very picky and always asks for mac and cheese. This is actually really good. My dad and I always have a little serving of it, too!) If you want more of anything, they will bring it to you!

My personal favorite things from this dinner menu is the mixed green salad, teriyaki noodles, pork dumplings, chicken skewers, and the bread pudding. I am not a big vegetable eating person but this salad dressing is just so good, it is making my mouth water right now just thinking about it! It is almost like a vinaigrette but is a little sweet too. I really don’t know what it is made of, but, I just could eat buckets of it! The teriyaki noodles are a big hit across the board. I have heard through the grapevine that they tried to take these away and so many people complained that they brought them back. THANK GOODNESS, because I don’t think ‘Ohana would be the same without them. Some people in my family would up and walk out if they didn’t bring those noodles out. They are so simple, but so dang delicious… a bite of chicken with those noodles is the bees knees!! Speaking of the chicken, it is a sweet and sour chicken that has just the right amount of flavor and goodness. The steak (Szechuan) is good too, don’t get me wrong, but dang that chicken is just so good.

I have never had a better dessert (anywhere) than this bread pudding a la mode. Seriously, if my stomach, at the end of such a huge meal, could handle it, I would eat ten thousand pounds of this stuff! It is a warm coconut/pineapple bread pudding, drizzled with caramel and banana sauce, topped with vanilla ice cream. Need I say more?

So now that you know how I really feel, let me tell you about the things I don’t like and things you will hear other people complain about. First, I don’t like the shrimp because you have to peel it. It tastes good, but it is just so messy. The steak can be a little gristly at times, but usually you just set the gristle ones aside and ask for more, then you will get some good pieces. The chicken is a lot of dark meat. This doesn’t bother me, but some people don’t like dark meat, so you will hear a lot of complaining about that. If you know it’s dark meat before you go, then you know what to expect and won’t be disappointed. (I hope)

One big complaint that I hear from other people is that they feel rushed. This can seem true if you let the fact that they practically throw all the food at you at once bother you. My family doesn’t care if it happens this way because we would rather just dig right in and gobble it all up! We don’t have much conversation until we are all done eating because we are too busy eating! I know it can feel rushed to people though, I understand that not everyone wants all that food at once. You would think they would bring the salad and let you eat that before they bring the appetizers (noodles, dumplings, chicken wings, vegetables) and in turn let you eat some of the appetizers before bringing you the meats. However, this usually isn’t the case. Sometimes you get your salad and appetizers at the same time before the waiter even has time to bring you your drink order! Other times you may get your drinks then the salad. Then only after you had two bites of your salad, they bring you everything else… meat too! Most of the time they will wait to bring the bread pudding after they have cleared your dinner plates and we have never had it brought out before that. It is sometimes hard to get a drink refill but that usually just depends on your server.

Servers are not consistant. Some servers and wait staff are fantastic and keep up on things, asking if you need or want anything more. Others you have to hunt down. This, unfortunately, could cause for a not so stellar experience. Usually when you get a ghost of a server, you don’t feel rushed, but you also don’t get refills of anything because he/she is never around for you to ask. Honestly, this has only happened to us one time out of the twelve times we have eaten here.

I think that if you keep in mind that this is a very busy restaurant and the staff are very busy people and try not to get upset when everything comes out at once, then you will always feel like you are having a good experience. Another thing that goes a long way is to always be super nice and friendly to the cast member who is serving you. They see a lot of self centered ‘all about me’ and the ‘right now’ kind of people ALL DAY LONG. If you are the sunshine in their day, they usually will make your day a ray of sunshine too 🙂

Leave a comment about your experiences at ‘Ohana, I would love to hear about it! If you have any questions, leave those in the comments as well! Thank you for reading 🙂

Our Disney’s Polynesian Resort Stay

Disney’s Polynesian Resort is where my family has DREAMED about staying for a very long time. On our most recent trip to Walt Disney World, we were able to stay there and fulfill that dream. It was a fantastic stay! From check-in, transportation, food, and our room and the dreaded check-out, we enjoyed every minute of it.

As one of the original Walt Disney World resorts, it is very popular. Compared to a Value resort, there are only a fraction of the rooms available. This makes booking a room very difficult as availability goes fast. Walt Disney (the man) loved traveling to Hawaii – his vacation spot. This hotel is themed after the Hawaiian Islands. In true Disney style, the theme is phenomenally accurate! I had the opportunity to visit Hawaii in 2018 and I can attest to the fact that when you are at the Polynesian resort, it does feel like you are in Hawaii. The only difference is that there is a castle in the background here at Disney. The Polynesian Resort is considered a Deluxe resort and Room rates start around $400 per night. There are also DVC (Disney Vacation Club) Deluxe Studio rooms available.

Checking In to our room was pretty easy. We used the My Disney Experience App to Check In online. When we arrived at the gate for the resort, they scanned a magic band to see the reservation and let us in explaining to us where to park. (Yes, we drove to Disney from Michigan) While Disney Resorts now charge for parking, because we were staying on DVC points, we did not have to pay the parking fee. As soon as we parked, I received a text message from Disney stating a welcome and that they will let us know when the room was ready along with our room number. Our magic band will automatically open the door. Now, we stopped at the check-in desk in the lobby of the resort to ask a question and the cast member asked about our check in. He then stated “Oh, let me just check you in here” I still don’t know why he did that, but was able to let us know what room we would have, what building it was in, and about what time it would be available. Once we got the text that the room was ready, my mom and dad went to the room and one of their bands didn’t work, so they had to go back to the front desk to get that straightened out. Which was just a pain in the rear, but it was fixable. My children and I were at Magic Kingdom while my mom and dad did all of this. So when we got back to the room, we found that my kids’ bands didn’t open the room either, so back to front desk. It was a quick fix, but we had to stand in line to get that fixed. I wonder what would have happened if we just left well enough alone and allowed the online check in to do its job?? The fun part of it all is that we all received leis from the cast member with an “Aloha!”.

Our room was on the second floor in the Tokelau building facing the pool. This building is part of the DVC Studio Villas. The other two buildings that are DVC are Moorea and PagoPago. The Tokelau building is considered standard view rooms so they do not ‘cost’ as many points as others. I really loved the location of this building. If we stuck our heads out from the balcony and looked to the right, we could see the fireworks that were over the castle. We could not see the actual castle because of trees and foliage but it was still fun to be able to see the fireworks from the room. This building is also directly across from the Oasis pool. There is a pool bar there as well as a drink station. So, if you have refillable mugs, it is a short walk to get those filled up. (limited hours, though) It still isn’t a long walk to the Great Ceremonial house, so if you have a craving for your dole whip, its super easy to get to the Pineapple lanai. Capt. Cooks quick service is open 24 hours a day, so you can always walk just a bit more to fill that mug when the Oasis bar is closed. Also, if you want to walk to the beach to watch the Electric Water Pageant or the Magic Kingdom fireworks, it is a very short walk. One great viewing location is just at the lagoon end of the building. I would highly suggest requesting a room in this building. Disney will always do their best to fulfill room requests. It is always best to call the resort about 1-2 weeks before your stay to make any requests.

Our room itself was nice. Because it was a DVC room, it had a queen size bed, a full size sleeper sofa, and a small Murphy style bed. Now, I say ‘small’ because of its width but my 5’10” teenage son slept on it and he was comfortable! I slept on the pull out bed with my 14 year old daughter and I think it was the most comfortable pull out sofa bed I have ever slept on! My parents claimed the bed and they didn’t have any complaints either. The room was equipped with a small cooler type fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, utensils and dishes. These really came in handy for breakfast! Unique to these rooms is a second shower! While there is still only one toilet, it was nice to have a second shower room with sink so all five of us could get ready in the mornings without taking forever. Also, it was nice to have two bathroom sinks and counters for all our toiletries. My parents were able to have all their stuff in one bathroom while my kids and I had all our stuff out on the counter of the other bathroom. The one and only complaint on our room was that when you sit out on the balcony, the cross beam on the balcony is right at eye level so it is hard to see all the beautiful scenery.

Amenities at the Polynesian are abundant. There are a lot of food options. Capt. Cooks is a quick service restaurant with some fun options. Pineapple Lanai offers Dole Whip ice cream at a walk up window. It isn’t just pineapple soft serve. They have a few different options. Oasis bar and grill and Barefoot pool bar have cocktails and some food. Trader Sam’s is the local bar. Tambu Lounge is another bar, but you can also order food – some food from Ohana is available here. Kona island serves sushi. Kona cafe serves american and seafood options. Ohana is a character breakfast and an all-you-care-to-enjoy dinner. Ohana dinner is our all time favorite place to eat anywhere on Disney property! Ohana dinner is Polynesian style food. There is also the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show which is Polynesian style food served during a luau! There are two pools at the Poly. The Volcano pool is the main pool where they do activities and there is a water slide as well. The splash pad is located around this area as well. The Oasis pool does not have lifeguards and is considered a quiet pool. You can rent little mouse boats or pontoons to go out onto Seven Seas Lagoon. Lots of activities going on everywhere, all the time.

Transportation is pretty fun at the Polynesian. This resort is on the Monorail line so you can take the monorail to Magic Kingdom. You can also walk over to the Transportation and Ticket center and take the monorail to Epcot. There is a boat that will take you over to the Magic Kingdom, as well. To get to other parks – Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios – there is bus transportation. (Buses also go to Disney Springs) When we were there, we had a hard time getting to Hollywood studios early (to get boarding passes to Rise of the Resistance) – even Lyft and Uber drivers kept bailing on us. The Bell services cast member was amazing and got us a Mears taxi that fit us all in to get us there on time.

Checking out of our room was so sad! The only thing about this stay that I wish I did differently is enjoy the amenities and the resort itself more. I didn’t take the time to walk around the resort much. We did enjoy the hot tub on some cool days and we did spend a little time there and not all of our time at the parks. I will admit that it didn’t FEEL like I thought it would. It felt totally magical, but it didn’t feel any MORE magical that it usually does when we stay at other on site resorts. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. With the cost of this resort being so much more than a value resort, you would think that the feel of it would be even more magical! I didn’t think it did. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful resort, but so are all the other resorts! I think that if I was going to Disney JUST to stay at a resort, I would definitely stay at the Polynesian or another Deluxe resort. But because when we go, we want to experience the parks to the fullest, I don’t think we need to stay at a Deluxe resort like the Polynesian. Even as DVC members, I feel like I would have had the same magical feeling and experience at my home resort of Old Key West. (which is the oldest DVC resort) and if I didn’t have DVC, we would have been just as filled with Disney Magic staying at the Art of Animation resort or even an All Star resort!

What are your thoughts on the Polynesian resort? Do you splurge on your resort at Disney? Do you make time to enjoy your resort or do you mostly spend your time at the parks, like we do? I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below! (and be sure to like this blog)

Visiting Disney World in February

One of the most popular questions people ask is “What is the best time of year to visit Walt Disney World?”. Our most recent trip to Disney was the first week of February, 2020. In this blog I will discuss why we decided to go at this time of year. I I’ll also touch on our experience with fast pass availability, dining availability, park crowds, and more!

We have visited Walt Disney World during many different times of the year. We have experienced different festivals, holidays, and special events. We have visited in June, July, August, September, December/January, April, and now February. We have gone in June several times because the Star Wars Weekends used to run the first two weekends in June and our kids were out of school by then. We have also gone several times toward the end of September because it was a ‘value’ season and also Food and Wine Festival. (not to mention it is also around my birthday!) I will have to say, September is my personal favorite time to visit Disney World. So, why did we try February?

3D art at Epcot’s Festival of the Arts 2020

In the past, we have visited Epcot during the Flower and Garden Festival, Food and Wine Festival, and the Festival of the Holidays. All of which we have immensely enjoyed! One festival we had yet to visit is Disney’s Festival of the Arts which runs January 17 – February 24 this year (2020). This Epcot Festival of the Arts immerses guest in Culinary Arts (my favorite), Performing Arts, and Visual Arts. There are also several featured artist that have booths for you to see their art, purchase their art, meet the artist, or watch them create their art on site! One of my favorite things at all of the festivals is the food booths. There are so many offerings to try and it is so much fun to eat around the world [showcase] and try new things. One thing my entire family enjoyed was all the chalk drawings. There were artists drawing amazing pictures with chalk down the walkway that leads to World Showcase. There were even 3D chalk art, which made the drawing come alive! The drawings are different each week because they wash them off every Thursday. Each festival features some sort of concert series and the one for the Festival of the Arts was Disney on Broadway Concert Series, where they brought in famous Broadway stars to perform Disney Broadway songs on the stage in the America Pavilion. There are always fun workshops at festivals and fun for everyone. Being able to experience this “smaller” festival was a big draw for us to go during this time frame.

For a long time, I haven’t taken my kids out of school for vacation but, considering the other factors, I decided to try it this time. Taking Kids out of school for a family vacation is always a risky thing to do, even more so once they are in high school. My son is taking AP classes and is also dual enrolled in some college classes. My youngest daughter is in 8th grade which is important, but i didn’t feel like it would be too hard for her to make stuff up when we got home. Of all the weeks we could have taken them out of school, we decided on the first week of February because the end of the semester for them was the end of January. Exams were done and the new marking period had just begun, so I figured it was the safest time where my son would possibly not miss any tests or big project due dates. It didn’t really work out like we planned because he did missed a few quizzes in his AP class, but the teacher was gracious to let him make it up and take it when we got back. If I had it to do over again, I would reconsider. I think with the college classes, it has been a stressful couple of weeks since we got back trying to get caught back up.

Michigan is WAY COLD in the winter and Florida is WAY HOT in the summer. Personally, I love the heat and would rather be in 110 degree muggy heat than -10 degree dry freeze! My mother has gone with us to Disney in June and July and she hates the heat! (I’m sure more people in my family think the same thing, but she is the most vocal about it) It makes her miserable and it is hard for her to enjoy herself when it is so uncomfortably hot. I totally understand this. I do get hot some too, but it just doesn’t bother me as much as it does other people. A couple years ago, we decide to go in August and she would not come with us because she knew she wouldn’t be able to enjoy herself in the heat. The weather in Florida is generally pretty comfortable in February, so I knew my mom would be happy and have a good time. The weather for us was, indeed, great! There were only a few cloudy days, but no big rain. It was chilly in the morning where you needed a sweatshirt, but most afternoons, you could shed the sweatshirt and be comfortable in a thin long sleeve or short sleeve shirt. A couple days were a little chilly all day, where you may want to keep your sweatshirt on. (for me, I bundled up a little more than most would need-keeping my winter hat on all day) Sunshine was abundant and not too hot – ever! I will throw in here that we tried to swim a couple times and I was dying from being too cold when we got out – the pool is heated though so that was nice 🙂

Cost of hotels and DVC point values for February (Value) vs. July (Busy). We have been wanting to stay at the Polynesian resort FOREVER! February is considered a value season at Disney so the pricing on resorts is a little less than what it would be if you went in a busier season. For example, a room at a Disney Value Resort, like the All Star Resorts, would run around $170/night in July, but in February, you would be looking at something more around $125/night. The same would be said for the Moderate and Deluxe resorts. As far as DVC points, they work the same way. Less points for a room in February than in the Summer, which means the small amount of points I own will go further in February. For example, a Deluxe Studio at the Polynesian Villas for a week between the dates Feb 1-15, 2020 is 153 points. (We only stayed Sun-Sat, so we used less points than this -subtract the points for a Saturday night) But for a week between the dates June 11-Aug 15 is 169. The cheapest point week is Jan 1-31, Sep 1-30 and Dec 1-14 at 118 points!

Disney’s Park ticket prices are based on the time of year and the day of the week. Prices vary depending on what month and day you visit. When I was plugging in dates for our park ticket purchase, there was a significant difference between a 6 day ticket in February compared to anytime over the summer. The price you pay per day is based on your FIRST day. There are military discounted tickets and since my dad is retired military, he was able to purchase 6 park tickets at the discounted military rate. You do have to get these tickets through MWR.

Crowds at the parks should be lower during the first week of February, right? According to all the charts and information that is put out on the interwebs, it shows that February is one of the least crowded times to go. Back in 2011 when we visited over New Years Eve, we went to the park on January 3 and it seemed pretty empty. I’m not sure if it was just a fluke since we haven’t really been during that time since. We have been around that time and the crowd level was pretty high. When we go in the summer it is very busy during the day, however, during Evening Extra Magic Hours it would be pretty vacant. Most likely because the evening magic hours are very late at night in the summer (11pm-2am) and most people with children don’t stay out that late. This February trip, we were hoping the crowds to be a little less than other visits, but what we found was that they were just as busy. Wait times for rides were 2-3 hrs for the more popular attractions . Our experience with getting fastpasses was fantastic and we didn’t have to wait in line. I was able to get fastpasses for all the most popular attractions. We only stood in the standby line for a couple rides, most of which were a 5-10 min wait. Peter Pan was the only ride we waited 60 min in line, because we were passing time before a dining reservation. 60 minutes for Peter Pan is actually a decent wait time for that ride as it usually doesn’t fall below 90 minutes. It was fantastic. We also had no problem getting any of the Dining reservations we wanted either.

Other random things we didn’t consider was Super Bowl Sunday, Tour Groups. Cheerleaders, and limited park hours. We checked in to our resort on Super Bowl Sunday and went to Magic Kingdom. We thought that the parks would be way less crowded because of the super bowl, but that is not true at all! It was very busy at Magic Kingdom that day! Also, we found out that the day after the Super Bowl, alot of the players and their families go to Magic Kingdom. I would suggest avoiding that park the day after, unless you want to try to see the football players.

We also noticed that there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of tour groups. Huge groups of young people with limited chaperones wandering the parks were everywhere. They were not annoying or anything, but we did find some huddled up by Rockin’ Roller Coaster sleeping on the ground one day. I had heard people talk about them being loud and chanting, but I didn’t witness that at all. We didn’t stay at value or moderate resorts and I believe that is where they tend to stay and perhaps that is where they make their ruckus. We also saw groups of cheerleaders roaming around. These groups were not as big and mostly not very noticeable. One thing to note about these groups… if you are going on a ride, be careful to not show up right behind them getting in line. The posted time will be WAY off because it will take at least 30-40 minutes JUST to get through the group that got in line ahead of you. (they are that big!)

Because we had been used to park hours being something like 8am-10pm and evening magic hours being 3 hrs after that, with several evening magic hours offered throughout our stay, we were thrown off a little with the park hours being shortened. The average park hours were 9am-8pm which is up to 4 hrs less time in the parks than we are use to. Plus, there was only ONE evening extra magic hours offered during our stay. It was at Epcot, (9pm-11pm), and we didn’t take advantage of this because there are not enough rides to make it worth it for us. We were able to ride all of them with fastpasses during regular hours. As far as the other parks with shorter hours, utilizing the fastpass options on My Disney Experience was key to being able to ride everything.

One last thing to consider when going in February is ride closures. We knew this ahead of time, but it still was a bummer that we weren’t able to ride Kali River Rapids, Splash Mountain, or Test Track because they were closed for refurbishment. These rides typically close during this time every year for maintenance.

No matter the time of year we visit, we ALWAYS have a fantastic time at Walt Disney World. We do everything we set out to do. We ride the rides, see the shows, eat the food, and have fun regardless of any of the aforementioned points to ponder. If you are wondering what time of year is best for you and your family to visit, just know that ANY time is a good time to visit Disney World!

Please leave a comment below and let me know YOUR favorite time to go to Disney!

Thanks for reading!

Disney Dining Plan, worth it or not?

When you are planning your Disney vacation, one of the biggest concerns and costs is food. Disney offers a Dining Plan which is like prepaid dining. In this Blog, we will discuss what the Dining Plan consists of, how much it costs, and whether or not it would be right for your family. Is it worth it? It all depends on your families needs, wants, and budget.

The Disney Dining Plan is an option that you can add on to your vacation package. It is based on how many nights you are staying at a Walt Disney World Resort. It doesn’t matter which resort you stay (Value, Moderate, or Deluxe) , as long as it is on Disney World property. There are three levels of Dining Plans: Quick-Service Dining Plan, Dining Plan, and Deluxe Dining Plan. At the time this blog is published, the cost for these dining plans are: Quick Service Adult $55, Child $26 per day, Dining Plan Adult $78.01, Child $30.51 per day, Deluxe Dining Plan Adult $119, Child $47.50. All of the plans come with one refillable mug per person. You can only fill the mugs at a Disney Resort. You can read more detail about each dining plan at WDW website. For our purposes in this blog we will be mostly looking at the Regular Dining Plan which gives you 1 Table service meal per day, 1 Quick Service meal per day, and 2 snacks per day.

Some things to consider when deciding if a dining plan is right for you are: Do you have picky eaters in your group? Do you want convenience of not checking prices on the menu? Do you like to eat ALOT? Do you have any vegetarian/vegan eaters in your group? Do you HAVE to do character meals or signature dining? Also, think about what type of foods and snacks your family will eat. One of the worst things is getting the dining plan and realizing that it is just too much food and you are left with food credits on your account at the end of your trip that will expire and go to waste.

There is no easy answer to the question of the Dining Plan being right for you or not. It is not as easy as a Yes or NO. What might be right for one family or individual is not going to work for another. The best way to explain is to give examples, so hopefully the following scenarios and experiences will help you decide if YOU should get the dining plan for YOUR family.

The first time we got the dining plan was when my children were young. They all were still considered children in the eyes of Disney (under 10). Therefore, the cost for us seemed pretty cheap for all the food! (2 adults, 2 children, 1 baby) Children under 3 are FREE! They will share off of your plate, but at buffets and all-you-care-to-enjoy meals, they will let you build a plate for the tot. So for around $216 per day, we could do a character meal (most are 1 table credit), one quick service and snacks! WE planned ahead and made all our dining reservations, did all the character meals and got snacks throughout the day. It was fantastic. However, what we realized at the end of the trip, we had 6 quick service meals and 10 snacks left on the account. (This was either before they allowed for the 3 snacks in place of a quick serv. OR we just didn’t know about it) So we had leftover credits, but still didn’t feel like we wasted money on the dining plan considering we would have easily spent $216 per day for food for a week with all the character meals we were able to have. So, in this case, I would say that the Dining Plan is Totally worth it!

As our children got older and they became ‘Adult’ Disney goers We purchased the Dining Plan but found it to be more than what we would have spent of food. Once my oldest turned 10 (and my youngest was 4) the cost went to $294 per day and she was a very PICKY eater, so we paid a lot of money for mac n cheese and corn dogs. However, we did go through all our credits this time because we used 2 table service credits to eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table and allowed the kids to get more treats. (mostly dole whips every day- they became an addiction) Then my middle child turned 10 the cost went to $350 per day. This is when we realized that because there is always too much food left over and we could pay out of pocket for EVERYTHING we WANTED to eat, the Dining Plan was no longer right for us. Now, we pick 3 table service restaurants (this past trip was 2 table service, then a Dinner Show) Then eat snacks and quick service the rest of the time. Sometimes we also will leave Disney property and go to Chuy’s TexMex restaurant with friends, which is much cheaper than Disney restaurants. If you don’t have a car, this may not be something you can do, but I would highly suggest it, if you can!

My sister is currently planning her Disney vacation with her family and they are weighing the costs of the Dining Plan. When their family (and mine for that matter)goes out to eat at a sit down restaurant at home or on vacation, they don’t just let the kids order whatever they want. They always order responsibly by sharing plates, limiting cost of meals (no steak), etc. This way there is less food waste and more cost effective. Now, imagine you are on vacation at The Most Magical Place on Earth, you are 17 years old and Hangry. You want to order one of the most expensive main courses on the menu, but mom says “no, thats too expensive”. Then, your husband wants to order a glass of wine (imagine the disney price tag on that) and you give him that look. Now does that sound very Magical to you? Sounds stressful to me! (and probably would be for my sister if she had to pay out of pocket for everything) In order to allow your kids to “order WHATEVER you want” and not have to worry about cost. Even when all your kids are “Adults” at Disney, this would be a situation I would say that the Dining Plan is Definitely worth it! Let your family feel the magic of a limitless (well, mostly) menu!

There is also a way to eat on a very low budget at Disney. If you drive, you can pack food to bring. If you don’t have a car at Disney, there are several Grocery delivery services available. Every room on Disney property is equipped with a little fridge. Deluxe rooms and DVC studio’s have a microwave. DVC villas have full kitchens and Value/Moderate resorts have microwaves that you can use in the quick service dining room. We like to take breakfast, lunch, and some dinners. Then we will book 2 table service dinners. For breakfast, we have the typical sweet breads and cereal/milk. We also take instant coffee (we call it fufu coffee) Maxwell House International Delight is our favorite. You can purchase a refillable mug for about $21 which you can have unlimited refills for the length of your stay (a fountain beverage will cost you about $6, so these are worth it – even if you can only fill them at a resort) For Lunch, we take cold cut sandwiches, chips and a fruit (apples or grapes). For Dinners, our favorite is Mexican night which consists of refried beans, flour shells, shredded cheese, hot sauce, corn ships, salsa. We pack up the items and head to the food court, heat up the beans and make burritos. Or you can make nachos or quessadillas in the microwave. Then use your refillable mugs for drinks. This is by far the cheapest way to eat at Disney.

I hope these examples will give you an Idea of how your family would benefit from a dining plan, or not. I am not much of a fan of the Quick Service Dining plan, because: there aren’t many GREAT quick service locations in the parks and table service meals have better food and include character meals. so, if you are gonna splurge on a dining plan, you should get one that includes good food and company. The Deluxe Dining plan isn’t my favorite either, only because it just seems to be way too much food. Now if you are a foody, and you are going to disney without kids (well, maybe you have foody kids) then experiencing all the table service restaurants you can handle might be the way to go.

Don’t forget to research the details of the dining plans at Disney.com and if you are interested in Chuy’s, visit their site too!

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the dining plan, please leave them in the comments below! (Also, please ‘like’ this blog if you enjoyed reading it and if it helped you)

Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Rise of the Resistance, is it worth getting up at 4:45am to get that boarding pass? YES! In our most recent trip to Disney World, we decided to get up early on our first full day to experience the new attraction. This was also our first time entering Star Wars; Galaxy’s Edge. Batuu is fully immersive and we thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

Our day started at 4:45am in order to get the entire family ready and out the door. Hollywood Studios park opened at 7:00am and we wanted to get to the park no later than 6:15am. Unfortunately, Disney’s resort transportation did not start running until 6:15 and the Minnie-vans didn’t start until 6:30. We scheduled a ride with Lyft, however every confirmed driver ended up canceling on us last minute. After going through about 3 drivers and seeing that the next one was 20 minutes away, I decided to ask a cast member at bell services what he thought we should do to get there in time. He had a Mearz taxi at the ready and flagged him over. The cost ended up being about the same as the ride share estimate, so I would highly suggest just asking for a taxi! Much more reliable.

We arrived at Hollywood Studios around 6:15 and got in line behind hundreds of other people waiting to get into the park. Around 6:20 they started letting guests scan their bands to enter the park. They didn’t allow anyone in stores or in any attraction lines. Starbucks, however, WAS open (thank goodness!) As time approached 7:00am, I checked my app to make sure my entire party was in my travel party and had it ready to refresh. (make sure to wait until you are in the park to open the app or it may not register that you are IN the park) At 7:01 my refreshed screen showed “join boarding group” and I selected my entire party and clicked “join group” – WE GOT IN! We were group 43 and were called to ride around 11:45am. Once we we got to the queue for ROR, it was practically a walk on. I have heard though, that you could wait up to 1hr in line once your boarding group has entered the queue.

Once we obtained our boarding pass, we went to our breakfast reservation at Oga’s Cantina! You can read our review of that experience in our WDW Food review section. We used our fastpass for Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours and watched Beauty and The Beast. (not in that order) Then, entering the single rider line for Smugglers Run, we walked on to that attraction and had a great experience. Some of our party went on that ride again through the single rider line and had a totally different experience. (Having a couple good pilots is key) Quick tip- ride Smugglers Run at the end of the day as the wait time first thing in the morning can be up to 2 hours. In the late afternoon, you can expect the wait time to go down significantly (it was 45 min. standby when we were able to walk on for single rider). After Smugglers run, we were able to score some fastpasses for Rockin’ Roller Coaster before we headed to Dinner at SciFi Dine in Theater.

Rise of the Resistance was THE best attraction that I have ever experienced. I still cannot phathom how they pulled this off! From the time you enter the transport vehicle, you are fully immersed INTO a real story line that you are playing a role in! Look out the back window and you can see yourself leaving Batuu. Look out the front window and you can see where you are going and where you are getting pulled into! Aboard the enemy ship, you are surrounded by storm troopers in a bay that you are walking through. As the First Order troops lead you into interrogation rooms, they stay in character NO MATTER WHAT! They are amazing! Finally, The resistance rescues you and you enter a transport vehicle that winds and twists through the enemy ship and finally takes you back to Batuu. The larger than life effects make you believe that all you are experiencing is real! I still cannot wrap my brain around it all. Worth getting up at 4:45am? ABSOLUTELY!!!