Thursday, May 8, 2008

My Family'sTrip to Disney World (Part I)

(***As I started to write this I realized that I have a lot to say on this subject, so I decided to break this up into at least two posts. Continue reading for Part I***)

My family's trip to Disney World was great! We had so much fun. The weather was perfect (at least for me) 80-85 degrees everyday! I loved it! Summer is my favorite month, and it was like Summer down in Orlando everyday! I could totally live down there! I love the weather. When we got home we found out it was raining the week we were gone and in the 40's! I was glad I missed that.

Enough about the weather. Like I said in my previous post (I Got a Loan, Now what am I Going to do) we stayed at Disney's Pop Century Resort. Which was quite nice. The kids loved all the funky decor they have around the hotel. It was actually a lot bigger than I had expected. We stayed in the "90's," with a big cell phone stairway (we walked up to get to our room), floppy disk, and walkman surrounding us. Cool! Before I left I thought there was only 1 pool. But there was at least 3 or more pools, throughout the hotel. So we had a "computer" pool very close to our room. And it wasn't ever that crowded. My daughter, especially loved the pool. And would even be swimming at 9 o'clock at night!

The Pop Century Resort also had a very nice fast food type restaurant and gift shop area. So you could get some of your meals there and even some souvenirs. As I mentioned before included in my package was the "Disney Meal Plan." If you are going to Disney World I highly recommend purchasing this. I know this saved us a lot of money, and I'm not lying when I say that I think it saved us maybe up to $1,000.00 of our own money in food costs.

How it works is as part of your package you can purchase the Meal Plan. I think it cost me around 740 dollars. Then when you get to Disney World they give you what they call "Your key to the World." You use that as your ticket for entrance in the Parks and for your Meal Plan. With the plan we had you get one meal (per person) a day at what they call a "Quick Service" restaurant, one meal a day at a "Sit Down" restaurant, and one snack a day. And you can use them in any combination throughout your stay.

Before I left I was worried about if this would be enough food for everyone. But believe me it is! The quick service places serve everything from Chicken Salads to Burgers. And The sit down places are everything from Italian Restaurants to Buffets. You can really get a lot to eat especially at the "All you can eat" Buffets! Probably too much! You also get non-alcoholic drinks included and desserts. (And what we would do is desserts that we didn't finish like packaged cookies or brownies, we would save for later and the kids could eat them as snacks later) And you get snack a day too extra (that you can purchase at your hotel or at various vendors through out the parks) anything from big soft pretzels to ice cream!

One thing I was wrong about before I left I thought "tips" were included. They
are not at the "Sit Down" places. On your "key to the world" though you can add your credit card info. and then any extra charges (like tips) you make can be added on. Even with paying our own tips we still saved a lot of money with the meal plan, because the food down there is fairly expensive a quick service meal for four (if you pay with your own money) will cost you at least $40.00 and sit down meals cost at least $100.00-$150.00! So by my calculations I feel we saved at least $1000.00 with the meal plan!

Also another thing about the restaurants, for the "sit down" places a lot of them require reservations. Before I left I did make reservations at the Contemporary Hotel for the Mickey and Friends Character Breakfast.(See pictures taken from that breakfast Here) Because I heard it's quite popular. So if you want reservations, especially for any "character meals" you can make reservations up to 120 days in advance! So if you are super organized you can make all your reservations before you even get to Disney World! If not when you get there you can call a 1-800 number they give you to make your reservations. There are over 100 restaurants to choose from in the meal plan!

So thats a few tips and information about my fantastic trip to Disney World, for now.
Stay tuned for Part II about my trip!

Below is a few more pictures (my husband took with our new Canon DVD Camcorder, that also takes stills)


21 comments:

  1. My hubby used to work at disney so we would go everyweekend for free.

    Man do I miss that. Glad you had fun

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  2. That resort sounds so fun!
    Love your blog :)

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  3. @amyoops, wow that is cool. When I was down there we kept saying it would be cool to work there! That must have been fun to get in there free every weekend!
    @beth, the Pop Century Resort was fun! It was great esp. for kids, and it shows you can spend less on the hotels down there and still get the quality and fun of the more expensive ones! Thanks I'm glad you like my blog, I hope you visit again!

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  4. That must have been fun. Though I haven't had the privilege of visiting Disney World, this reminds me of our trip to Disneyland many years ago.

    Thanks for dropping by.

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  5. Hi Sue,
    Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I am really enjoying all the pictures. Glad you had the meal plan to help save money. That was a big savings for your family. You were blessed with great weather as well. I look forward to Part II of your trip. Wishing you a wonderful day! :-)

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  6. Wow, you scored a photo with Jiminey Cricket. I never see that guy!

    That meal plan sounds great -- I'll consider it when we go later this year.

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  7. Thanks for your comments Monaco, Robin & Holly. Holly, I know it was cool when we saw Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio! And there was hardly a line to see them!

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  8. That looks like a blast. I'm sure the meal plan was more than enough especially with those buffets. All you can eat usually means bad news for me lol cause i try to get more than my moneys worth.

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  9. Glad you have your money's worth and the family seems to enjoy the day out.
    BTW, advance happy Mother's Day!

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  10. Hi Sue,

    Great post and advance happy Mother's Day, too. :)

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  11. Sue.. YOu are too Cool! Thanks for the digg!!!

    Ps yes its great when you got family there, besides it being free you get discount food, know what time to hit everything to avoid the lines. free strollers. and if you tell them its your birthday you get to the front of the line!

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  12. How nice trip guide to Disney World! Though it too far for me to go there.But I think there's the same service in Tokyo & Hong Kong the nearest one I can go. Welcome home,and wishing you have a wonderful Mother's Day!!

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  13. @sogeshirts, I know those Buffets can be dangerous - lol!
    @Chrissy, thanks for stopping by, and Happy Mother's Day to you too!
    @Mark, Thanks for commenting & Happy Mother's Day to your Wife!
    @AmyOops, your welcome for the "digg" your blog is cool too, very funny! Also I wish I knew someone who worked at Disney World - lol. TTYL
    @Randy, thanks, yeah check out the Disney World near you if you can, Disney World rocks! Thanks for wishing me a Happy Mother's Day, TTYL!

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  14. The meal plan sounds like a great idea! Hubby wants to take son to disney world as soon as possible, so I will have to show him this post. I love the pictures, they all look like they had fun!

    Take care sue

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  15. So nice to be at Disney World to enjoy the place and bond with your family. This experience will be remembered by your kids even when they are already grownups and have families of their own. God bless you all.

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  16. omigosh - you guys sound like you had an AWESOME time. I can't wait until we can go back - last trip was in '04 and I'd say it's about high time we returned. ;)

    Welcome back!

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  17. Welcome Back Sue! It looks like you had a really good time - love the pics.

    Trust you have a wonderful Mother's Day! My hubby and children surprised me with a weekend trip to DC Metro, so we leave here soon!

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  18. Sue,
    Sounds like you had a lot of fun on your vacation. It is nice to get away from the every day hassles of life and enjoy things. I'm glad that they children had a great time.

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  19. Hi,

    Your one of my Drop Stars!

    Please see the link to know all about it and grab your badge :)

    http://www.mummydiariesblog.com/2008/05/drop-stars.html

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  20. Thanks Rachel, Mel, Dette & Amy,
    We had a great family vacation! It was a bonding experience like Mel said! Disney World Rocks - lol!

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  21. Thanks for sharing the details of your trip. I'm jealous, makes me want to go back!

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