Take the Monorail

Dear Elizabeth and April My kids really want to g...

2012-01-27T16:54:35.689-05:00

Dear Elizabeth and April

My kids really want to go to Disney World, so we created this little project to earn our way there. We are making crayons that look like little cars. We are all proud of what we made. We are just finding it hard to get the word out about them. Just being a side project we don't really have a advertising budget. We'd love it if you could take a look at them.
www.maxandjuliacrafts.com

Thank You (Love the blog)
Sherrie

I always enjoy staying at the Disney monorail hote...

2011-12-26T10:21:53.031-05:00

I always enjoy staying at the Disney monorail hotels for the convenience of the location. My favorite is probably the Polynesian Resort.

Too funny! Love it!

2011-10-07T16:58:49.338-04:00

Too funny! Love it!

I love the TTA!

2011-10-05T20:32:53.977-04:00

I love the TTA!

When I was in high school in the late 80s they ins...

2011-04-14T22:35:08.010-04:00

When I was in high school in the late 80s they instituted a one letter grade drop for 10 days of absence policy. This included sick days. My parents had already booked a week in Disney, and despite me being a stellar student (graduated 9th in my class) and the non-refundable expenses, our school fought hard against me going. We went. For me it was definitely the right choice, but I know plenty of students for whom this would/could be a permanent set back for the year. Teachers had nothing to do with it, it was administration level policy. They did take some points off of my grade point for it. Hopefully the school district isn't as strict now, but I understand the juggling act they are faced with. There is such a large block of time over which to take your kids when school is not is session. Disney is not an incredibly cultural or educational experience unless attempts are truly made to make it that way. Thanks for a balanced piece.

I hit the parks hard, early in the morning for the...

2010-11-24T05:13:14.557-05:00

I hit the parks hard, early in the morning for the extra magic hours and park openings and late at night until closing, and so I, a 24 year old, take a break after 12:30pm when the parks are often too crowded anyway to take a nap. Often this nap is just laying in bed cuddling with my boyfriend as on the last trip, or on the previous trip my best friend and I eating peanut butter and crackers, watching the Disney Parks preview channel (yes that really bubbly woman running around to the 10 best attractions in the 'World, one of which was a whole park I believe, not really a single attraction at all Ms. Bubbly; I am just going to say it, you are a liar!) and giggling about various things that are amazingly funny when you are exhausted. Usually though, even with everything else that we do during these breaks, we do get an hour or so of sleep, or at least sleep like rest with our eyes closed, which preps us to hit the parks again by 5pm. Our schedule is usually crazy and built for maximum riding, but even with what my friends call an, ahem, Disney Nazi schedule, I always build in rest times. My last trip was my boyfriend's first trip to a Disney park, and we got there on New Years day, which was his birthday and after not sleeping much New Years Eve (we were out of the house by 5:30am and I couldn't sleep until 3am), and staying up until the 2am closing at Magic Kingdom I let him sleep in until nearly 2pm on our second day. Despite my hyper, frequent contemplation of running off to the parks alone, it was a good idea, and after I had some breakfast I settled in myself, and I am sure it prevented us from dragging the rest of the trip.

In my experience, the bus services to and from the...

2010-07-01T22:36:07.826-04:00

In my experience, the bus services to and from the deluxe resorts are nowhere near as consistent as those at the value resorts. This makes sense because the number of guests is smaller, but it's something to think about if you don't like to wait a long time for a park bus.

2010-04-07T07:49:33.059-04:00

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

What a great blog!

2010-03-26T07:43:21.482-04:00

What a great blog!

I love POR. I have stayed at many resorts but I a...

2010-02-23T21:02:02.933-05:00

I love POR. I have stayed at many resorts but I always come back to POR. I love the sprawling scenery and walking around the resort. I love the boat ride to DTD. The food court has something for everyone and Boatwright sit down restaurant has great food.

I deduced that there could be a potential for savi...

2010-02-20T18:47:28.683-05:00

I deduced that there could be a potential for savings if you're in a deluxe resort within walking distance or on the monorail loop just by shear timing. If you're not waiting on a bus, how much time might you save that you get to experience in the park? I might actually consider the luxury enough to knock off a day that i might spend at a value or moderate resort and see some savings there. After some fume-filled bus-waiting in my last trip (at Caribbean Beach), I am anxious to look at luxury and convenience the next go around!

Same with my last stay at Saratoga Springs. An upp...

2009-11-07T17:04:30.578-05:00

Same with my last stay at Saratoga Springs. An upper level room was outside access too.

But I have just discovered this blog thanks to StudioCentral.com's recommendation, and I really like it!

I love the Wilderness Lodge (one of my favorites) ...

2009-11-02T09:50:10.319-05:00

I love the Wilderness Lodge (one of my favorites)

Bu you said the "Interior Entrances - The Deluxe Resorts are the only level of resort that has a main entrance with interior access to all rooms. This is, in my opinion, the safest way to go. Although the main doors are by no means completely secure, they are visible to staff at all times and there are no dark corners for potential criminals to lurk in."

If you are on the first floor of the lodge you do have access to walk right out of your room to the pool, ect. So you do have more access there than just the main entry.

Jessica

I know many don't care much about the room or ...

2009-10-30T15:36:16.566-04:00

I know many don't care much about the room or property while at WDW, be we've found we use the hotel as much as the parks so we really enjoy the ammenities of the deluxe resorts.

Don't get me wrong.....I'll take a trip to Disney and pretty much be happy with ANY property. But we pretty much exclusively stay at the deluxe properties--our favorite being the Grand Floridian. Our kids are teens now, but they've been staying at the deluxe resorts since they were infants and we've never felt they couldn't enjoy and be themselves. In addition, we've made great friends at many of the properties.

The Yacht & Beach clubs have a great pool, the Grand Floridian and Poly share a great beach with water sports and now movies on the GF beach, they all have great restaurants and other things we've enjoyed during each stay. We stayed at the Boardwalk for the first time this past June and LOVED that location as well.

While I've enjoyed Pop Century, All Star Sports & Music and some of the moderate resorts, there is nothing like a deluxe resort for pampering and grown up activities! After all, it's my vacation, too!!

Love the WDW deluxe properties!!

As my mother would always say, "This is when ...

2009-10-16T17:30:58.437-04:00

As my mother would always say, "This is when having a good personal relationship with your child(ren)'s teachers pays off".

Until we go into high school, my mom had a relationship with my teachers that many kids would probably classify as unhealthy. She had all their phone numbers and they had hers. She often met with my teachers and in many cases because good friends with them.

She never had problems pulling us out of school.

Love, love, love this idea! I'm absolutely do...

2009-10-12T22:49:52.887-04:00

Love, love, love this idea! I'm absolutely doing this! Right now I just have my pins on a regular 'ole BORING bulletin board. This is now on my crafting "To Do" list.....of course, it's already a mile long!!! Oh well, I'll never be bored!!!

Thanks for sharing this! Love this blog!

I know I hated going to "nice" restauran...

2009-10-08T14:00:10.117-04:00

I know I hated going to "nice" restaurants as a kid, but now like to eat at those places. I'm sure I'm going to get a taste of my own medicine when it's time to take our kids to a nice, linen tablecloth restaurant at WDW

We generally did't leave a backpack/diaper bag...

2009-10-05T18:39:39.233-04:00

We generally did't leave a backpack/diaper bag in the stroller since it is more likely to be rifled through. Instead dh and I both carried a medium to light bag with the important stuff (small amount of snacks, camera, phone, park info, a few small toys/amusements, dollar store ponchos, etc).. then in the bottom of the stroller I placed two plastic bags (generic supermarket.. WDW ones may be considered full of recently purchased items!). One bag held diapers, travel wipes, and the changing pad from our diaper bag (which we didn't bring in the park) and the other held a change of clothes for the little one as well as sweatshirts for everyone else. Having the diaper changing gear under the stroller allowed dh and I to be more flexible when it came time for diaper duty.
I would also highly recommend disposable sippy cups. They are easy to reuse when you would like to but if left behind in a restaurant or dropped, there are no worries. We generally carried 2 or 3 with us (two stashed away, nestled inside each other).

We have to go back for a nap or our daughter is to...

2009-10-05T11:02:53.602-04:00

We have to go back for a nap or our daughter is totally unreasonable plus she really does not sleep in her stroller. We typically stay offsite so we go back to the house around 11 or 1130 have a nice lunch at home and then lay our daughter down for 2-3 hours and in the quiet she will sleep longer. Then my husband and I will take turns exploring our resort or if we have other family members we will both go out; otherwise, we take a nap along with her so we are not burnt out either (dragging a toddler around WDW can be extremely mentally and physically tyring!).

Great idea to bring 2 bags, I never thought of tha...

2009-10-05T10:58:35.544-04:00

Great idea to bring 2 bags, I never thought of that! We also check the weather before we leave and if we see rain in the forecast we buy a cheap plastic table cloth and clothes pins from the dollar store to cover our stroller when we are in the attractions.

We also put 1 or 2 diapers, wipes and a changing table cover in a ziploc bag and place this in our bag so that is all we have to grab when we run in for a bathroom break.

Don't forget a park map!! Speaking from experi...

2009-10-05T09:50:47.912-04:00

Don't forget a park map!! Speaking from experience as a younger park guest not that many years ago I can certainly remember being dragged to the closest "You are here" kiosk. They are ALWAYS across from something that the young one MUST DO NOW. Meltdowns are quick to follow when trying to drag Dad to the next ride while he tries to read the community map while other families are taking family pictures in front of said map... Its much easier to read your private map from the comfort of a nearby bench.

On our last visit (I'm no longer in the MUST DO NOW age category) we were standing outside a shop reviewing our map. A cast member snuck up right between us and asked "may I help you get lost?" She offered us fast passes and answered all of our questions that we'd generated since getting there that morning. It definitely had the Disney spirit!

Scott

sadly, the living statues haven't been in Epco...

2009-10-04T00:42:29.774-04:00

sadly, the living statues haven't been in Epcot for a couple of years now... :(

We have enjoyed both POFQ and Coronado Springs, th...

2009-09-12T00:24:27.512-04:00

We have enjoyed both POFQ and Coronado Springs, though we are, admittedly, more likely to stay at a deluxe (and now DVC). A minus for each:

At POFQ's food court there are VERY large "Mardi Gras" masks on the ceiling, which freaked my kids out. We had to get our food/drinks and take them elsewhere.

Coronado Springs is HUGE. We got there at night and had to rely on the kindness of strangers to find our building. And then struggled the next day in the light. But awesome pool.

My family loves the atmosphere of Port Orleans Fre...

2009-09-10T18:05:09.404-04:00

My family loves the atmosphere of Port Orleans French Quarter. However the busses are an issure for us at this resort. POFQ shares busses with PO Riverside, so it has a grand total of 4 stops. Other resorts share busses too, but the PO resorts are veeeerrrryyy spread out. We found the wait could be quite long. Also, it seemed that POFQ was always the last one to get dropped off.

I convinced my parents to stay at Coronado Springs at the end of this month and I can't wait to hear what they say. I will try Coronado on my next trip as well.

Definitely The Boneyard! :-)

2009-09-09T20:26:25.791-04:00

Definitely The Boneyard! :-)