Category Archives: General Disney

Valentines Day in Walt Disney World

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We all love to be in love, the butterflies in your stomach, the constant thinking about that person… now add that feeling to the surroundings of Walt Disney World and you have THE perfect moment. We knew our first Valentines Day as FL Residents had to be wonderful, meaningful, and memorable.  We decided on dinner at Trail’s End at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground and then a romantic stroll among the crackling campfires.

Dinner was for 5:00 p.m., and we had no problem getting reservations the day before. We could have ate anywhere, many places were open, but we had never done dinner at Trails End before so we had to try it out.  After parking, grabbing their bus, we were on the porch by 4:45 with beeper in hand.

After a game of checkers where I was about to beat Craig badly, our beeper went off and it was dinner time!  We had a nice table away from the business of the restaurant, and enjoyed the ribs, fried chicken, baked potatoes, and salad.  We finished the meal off with apple cobbler, completely satisfied with our choice.  The buffet wasn’t as big like Boma or Tusker House, but it had enough variety to keep us happy and full. 

After we walked near the water and watched a beautiful sunset, we came up upon the horse and carriage. A beautiful white carriage and gorgeous black horse stood in front of us, and Craig surprised me by paying the cash to the gal and giving me his hand to get in. “Really?” I said. We are pretty tight with our money and we budget everything, so it was such a surprise to me that he was splurging on this evening.  I was over the moon excited!

I had never been in a carriage before, and being in one in Walt Disney World, it was so magical! We clip-clopped past beautiful scenes of mossy trees while the sun set in the distance.  Our Cast Member was incredibly friendly and kind, and she filled us in on all types in information on the Campground and Horse Stables. 

The ride was supposed to be only 20 minutes, but ours pushed 45 because she took us into the camp sites area so we could see all the neat RV’s, Mickey decorated sites, and one of the cabin sections.  It cost $45, flat, so if there was tax included, it was in that amount.  We were not allowed to touch or pet the horse, Brady, but I so wanted to hug him after she told us he was one of the horses they use in the Magic Kingdom for the Headless Horsemen.  She said “We let him use our horses, and we get to keep our heads.” LOVE IT!

It was SO worth the money, and it made our first Valentine’s Day in Disney World EVER, the BEST! I highly suggest to do it at least once, and no, you don’t need reservations to do it- but I do recommend it during high peak times and holidays.  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

The Reality of the Florida Resident and the Annual Pass Relationship

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When we were planning our relocation last year, one of the items on our budget list for Florida living was the Walt Disney World Annual Pass. Not only that one, but also a possible Sea World and Universal one as well. Having lived here now 7 months, I wanted to pass on how much we have “really” used any of the annual passes we have and why you may want to think about how much you will really be using your own. Enjoy!

Of course one of the biggest reasons we moved here was to enjoy Walt Disney World anytime we wanted, so that annual pass was a no brainer. But, we found there were several to choose from. Certain passes have black-out dates, some are for just the four parks, then you have the premium pass which covers all 4 Parks, the Water Parks and Disney Quest. With the regular AP you get 10% off the Disney merchandise, and with the Premium you get 20% off.  So let’s start with which one our family chose first, which is the Premium Annual Pass.  For FL Residents, which started in 2009, you can make a small down payment then make a monthly payment making it affordable for families to enjoy it all year round.

Do we make the most of the Premium Pass? For now, we have.  I, myself, have CLEARLY used it to its potential.  For the monthly payment I make for the 4 of us is only a little more than the cost of one day at WDW.  Why do they make it so cheap for FL Residents? Well, I’m betting that they think you will only have the weekends to really enjoy them, and that’s if you live close enough to go that much. So here is why I wanted to blog about this, MAKE SURE you are going to get the most out of the pass you choose. If you live more than 45 minutes away, how are you getting the most out of it when you go maybe once or twice a month? Just keep the distance in mind when choosing your Annual Passes.  It’s nice to have the freedom to go whenever I want and not really have to think about it, and I love getting the 20% off when I have to buy something in the Parks. But, I will tell you this, we have the Water Parks included and we went a total of ONCE since we have gotten here. Why? Well, we aren’t huge water park people, but we thought we would try it out. I hope to do more with them this summer, I think we were just incredibly busy last year and it never really occurred to us we COULD go.  Because we live very close to WDW,  and that I do buy enough items to want a discount, the Premium Annual Pass has worked for us so far.

Now, on to Sea World. We have Annual Passes there, and we have been there a total of 3 times since June. Incredibly sad since I figured we would go there every other week- but there is something to be said again about distance. WDW is so close that its like driving to the Mall for me, whereas Sea World is 20 minutes down dangerous I4, so I am not always so inclined and happy to drive over there with the kids or by myself. I saw myself feeding dolphins on my own and walking the Park, but I feel way more comfortable at Disney World. The down payment for us was small, and we make monthly payments on it as well, but they are VERY small, so I guess that’s why we thought it was worth the shot. We have already talked about not renewing them for next year unless something changes.

Universal Studios is even farther from us yet, about a 30 minute drive.  With again the traffic on I4 and the crazy busyness around Universal, I haven’t gotten comfortable with that area at all yet.  Not to mention, I am not a fan of Universal at all. We were blessed with tickets both times I have gone, which was a great way to do it because I knew we would never use Annual Passes for this Park.  If they could make one for JUST the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we would be in. But, since that day isn’t coming, we will pay for a one day occasionally now and then and enjoy it that way.  Like Disney, when Universal puts out a FL Resident deal for a 3 day pass, that’s when we will probably enjoy it again. 

The reality of living here and having all of these Theme Parks nearby is that most can only enjoy them on the weekends or every couple of months. Life still goes on with school, jobs, and day to day things we all do whether with live near a park or not. Before you break the bank on signing up for a mutltitude of Annual Passes, think about how much time you are REALLY going to spend there and if the money is worth it. Time IS money and you want to make sure that the investment is something you are prepared for. If nothing else, try it for your first year of residency, like we are, feel it out, then you will know moving forward what you truly wound up using. I hope this helps those of you relocating here soon and what passes will be worth your time. See you in our LIVE Chat tonight!