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Friday Favorites - Best Disney World Websites

For today's Friday Favorites, I wanted to share with you some of my all time favorite Disney websites. I enjoy visiting these sites daily and they were my inspiration to create my own blog about my passion...Walt Disney World!

• www.touringplans.com I absolutely love this website! I have used it for years when planning my own Disney World vacations. This site has comprehensive information about all of the parks, hotels and restaurants. It also includes a crowd calendar, blog and a great tool to create your own daily touring plans.
• www.disneytouristblog.com Another one of my all time favorite websites! The author of this site is an amazing photographer and posts tons of beautiful photos. This site also has lots of great information written with a terrific sense of humor and a section of Trip Reports that will make you feel like you are right there along with him.
• www.disneyfoodblog.com For all of you foodies out there, this website is for you! This site features everything you ever wanted to know about eating in Disney World including menus, reviews and amazing photos!
• www.mousesavers.com Do you want to save some money? If so, check out this website! This site has ideas, information and codes for getting discounts during your Disney World vacation.
• www.allears.net This is another great website! This site includes lots of information, reviews and photos about everything in Disney World. They also have a great weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to. I am always so excited when it comes to my email each week!
• www.wdwinfo.com Another amazing website to get all of your Disney questions answered! This site covers everything Disney and has an amazing Forums section. If you have a question, it has probably been asked and answered there.

I hope you will enjoy all of these websites as much as I do and find them useful in planning your magical Walt Disney World vacation!

What about you? Do you have any favorite Disney websites? Please leave a comment below!

Disney World Tips & Tricks: Have A Plan

There are a lot of tips and tricks that will help you make the most out of your Disney World vacation, but I believe the most valuable tip is to have a plan. That, of course, is just my opinion and I am a planner by nature, but I can't imagine visiting Disney World with no plan whatsoever. Let's say for example you were to visit New York City for your family vacation. Would you arrive with no idea what sights to see, no dining reservations, no show tickets? Of course not! Well, Disney World is twice the size of Manhattan! Now if you are one of those people who prefers to wing it then I admire you, but I get shaky just thinking about it! Just how detailed you want to be with your plan is up to you. I create a spreadsheet that is an outline of where I'm going to go, where I'm going to eat and what I'm going to see. Compulsive, right? I know, but here's how I put it together!

• First, I make a column for each day I'm going to be on vacation and label them.
• Next, in each column I enter the park hours for the four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom) for that day. I also note the days I can take advantage of Extra Magic Hours with an asterisk (*). Click this park hours link to find the times that the parks will be open during your vacation.
• Then I create a row for each unit of time that I would naturally divide my day into. For my family, we have breakfast, morning, lunch, afternoon, dinner and evening. Your family might divide your days differently. For example, you may need a unit for nap time if you have young children.
• Now the real fun begins! I start filling in the units of time with where I will be visiting each day, what restaurants I will be eating at, and any other miscellaneous activities that I have planned.
• Under each column I have created, I make a list of the attractions that my family and I would like to see that day.

Here's a sample of a few days out of my trip from last summer.

	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
MK Hours	9am-11pm	9am-1am*	9am-11pm
EP Hours	9am-9pm	9am-9pm	9am-9pm
HS Hours	8am-10pm	8am-10pm	9am-12am*
AK Hours	8am*-7pm	9am-7pm	8am*-8pm
Breakfast	Boma	Starring Rolls	Kiosk
Morning	MK - Frontier/Adventure	Hollywood Studios	Epcot - Future World
Lunch	Pecos Bills	Sci-Fi Dine In	Sunshine Seasons
Afternoon	Break	Break	Break
Dinner	Beaches N Cream	Earl of Sandwich	The Plaza
Evening	Epcot - World Showcase	Downtown Disney	MK - Tomorrowland
	Magic Carpets	Toy Story	Test Track
	Jungle Cruise	Star Tours	Nemo
	Pirates	Rockin Roller Coast	Imagination
	Big Thunder	Great Movie Ride	Living with the Land
	Splash Mountain	Tower of Terror	Soarin
	Country Bear Jamboree		Universe of Energy
	Enchanted Tiki Birds		Spaceship Earth
	Mexico Ride		Buzz Lightyear
	Norway Ride		Tomorrowland Speedway
			Space Mountain
			Carousel of Progress
			Monsters Inc
			Peoplemover

This is just my general outline that I use during my first stages of planning. I'm currently working on the one that I will use for my trip this summer. Each day I spend a little time making dining reservations, checking with my family to find out about their top priorities and organizing my spreadsheet. When I get to about 90 days out from my trip, I begin creating a detailed daily plan that I will carry to the parks with me. My daily plan will include dining confirmation numbers, the best order to see the rides to minimize wait times and fastpasses.

So this is the way I plan my Disney World vacations. Now it is up to you how you want to create your plan. You might want to be as detailed as me or just choose a park for each day and a few attractions you want to see there. My best tip would be to have some sort of plan..elaborate or simple. Walt Disney World is a huge place and you definitely want to make the most of your time there!

What about you? Do you have a plan when you visit Disney World? How do you go about creating it? Please leave a comment below!

Disney World Planning Basics: Where To Stay - Walt Disney World Resort Hotels

Walt Disney World has a wide variety of resort hotels to fit any budget or taste. They are divided into several categories based on cost and amenities.

1. Value Resorts There are five resorts that fall into the value category. They are Disney's All-Star Movies Resort, Disney's All-Star Music Resort, Disney's All-Star Sports Resort, Disney's Pop Century Resort and Disney's Art of Animation Resort. These resorts are the least expensive in the Disney family starting at around $85 per night. They offer food courts, gift shops, swimming pools and arcades. The rooms in this category are small, but clean and nicely themed. The atmosphere of these resorts is loud and energetic. You will generally find a lot of young families staying here.
2. Moderate Resorts The resorts that are considered in the moderate category are Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort Cabins, Disney's Port Orleans - French Quarter and Disney's Port Orleans - Riverside. These resorts are next up in the line of pricing starting at around $162 per night. They offer counter service as well as table service dining, gift shops, swimming pools with slides, arcades and lounges. The rooms in this category are a little larger than the value rooms and nicely themed. The atmosphere of these resorts is slightly more relaxed than the value resorts, but is still very appropriate for families, couples and individuals.
3. Deluxe Resort Hotels Next up are the deluxe resort hotels which include Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney's Beach Club Resort, Disney's Boardwalk Inn, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Disney's Yacht Club Resort. These resorts start at around $284 per night. These amazing resorts offer incredible amenities including counter service as well as table service dining, bars and lounges, room service, gift shops, swimming pools with slides and hot tubs, arcades and other on-site recreation such as boat rentals and beach access. The rooms in this category are even larger than the moderate rooms and are sophisticatedly decorated. The atmosphere of these resorts is more elegant and relaxed, but still very family friendly.
4. Deluxe Villas The resorts in the deluxe villa category are Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House, Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village, Disney's Beach Club Villas, Disney's Boardwalk Villas, Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. These resorts start at around $318 per night. These top-of-the-line resorts offer exceptional amenities including counter service as well as fine dining, bars and lounges, room service, shopping, swimming pools with slides and hot tubs, arcades and other on-site recreation and features. The rooms in this category are by far the largest and feel like a home away from home. They offer kitchens, living spaces, bedrooms and multiple bathrooms. The atmosphere of these resorts is warm, inviting and comfortable...a wonderful place for large families.
5. Other On Property Options There are two other deluxe resort category hotels located on Disney property near EPCOT that are not operated by Disney. They are the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel and the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel. Disney also offers campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort.

My Thoughts: As a former sales and catering employee of Marriott Hotels & Resorts, I can be picky about the hotels where I stay. What I really enjoy about Walt Disney World is that no matter your budget, there is a Disney resort hotel for you. Over the years I have stayed in every category of hotel (and the campground) and I have enjoyed them all. Each resort hotel is unique and special in its own way. From the value resorts through the deluxe villas, the theming and attention to detail is amazing. The real difference in cost is based on the size of room, hotel amenities and location.

No matter what category of Walt Disney World resort hotel you choose, you can't wrong. You are in Disney World after all!

More Information: For more details about each resort, please click this. For booking information and pricing, please click here.

What about you? Where do you like to stay when visiting Walt Disney World? How do you decide?

Please leave a comment below!

Tuesday Trivia - Pluto's Original Name

Before appearing as Pluto, Mickey's Pet in The Moose Hunt (1931), this pup appeared as Minnie's dog going by what name?

Please check the comments section for the answer!