Planning
Disney Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom Park (Walt Disney World)
We’ve got a special guest post from our favorite Disney friends! They recently took a great combined trip to Walt Disney World and a Disney Cruise to celebrate the end of the school year. One of the special events they attended was a Disney Villains After Hours Event at the Magic Kingdom.
Reader Questions?
We would like to start answering reader questions in a once a week post. Our only problem is that we don’t have any sitting in our inbox! Please feel free to add a question as a comment to this post or to any post that generates some questions for you! You can also send them to us via our contact form.
March 23, 2018 Spring Break Cruise, Part 1: Planning
The Disney Cruise Line Spring 2018 itineraries were released near the end of October 2016. We started scanning them as soon as they came out because we knew our Spring break trip for that year would be a DCL cruise. We eventually decided to go back on the Magic as a follow up from our Christmas Cruise planned for December 2017. The cruise we selected was a 5 night Bahamian cruise that left from Miami with stops at Key West, Nassau, and Castaway Cay. We had previously sailed to Key West on the Wonder and loved the port. We were also excited because there would be a sea day after Castaway Cay. All of our other cruises spent the last full day at Castaway Cay, which kind of made the stop bitter sweet.
December 24, 2017 – Christmas Cruise, Part 1: Planning
I initially covered the planning for the cruise in our post about our 2017 Christmas trip, but I’ll summarize it again here. In May 2016, Disney Cruise Line had just announced the fall/winter sailings for 2017. After scanning through offerings, I noticed a 5-Night Western Caribbean sailing out of Miami on the Magic. It would leave on December 24, 2017. The prices were really high, but that’s to be expected with a holiday cruise. We had a placeholder available from our Spring Break 2016 sailing, but it appeared that this cruise was blocked out from receiving the 10% discount. This left us having to pay full price for the cruise if we wanted to take it. The itinerary was one we have done a few times before. Departing Miami, there would be a sea day, followed by a stop in Cozumel. The sailing would then have another sea day followed by a stop at Castaway Cay, then return to Miami.
Booking Excursions on Disney Cruise Line
So, you’ve booked your Disney Cruise — now it’s approaching your check in day and you wonder what will happen? The most important thing you need to know before booking your excursions, adult dining, character meets, and other activities is that you must be paid in full on your cruise. Once you have paid in full for your cruise, you can book your activities. The date for this depends on how many Disney Cruises you have taken. If this is your first cruise, your check in day will be 75 days from your sailing date. If you have taken 1-4 cruises (this makes you a Silver Castaway Club member), your date will be 90 days out. If you have taken 5-9 cruises (this makes you a Gold Castaway Club member), your date will be 105 days out. If you have taken 10 or more (a Platinum Castaway Club member), your date will be 120 days out. On the other hand, if you are sailing in a Concierge stateroom, you can book 125 days out regardless of your prior number of cruises. You should be contacted by the shore side Concierge team who will book your activities for you (I believe you can email them 125 days out, so you should get everything you want).
Disney Cruise Line Check-In Process
You’ve booked your Disney Cruise — now it’s approaching your check-in day and you wonder what will happen. The most important thing you need to know before checking in for your cruise is that you must be paid in full before you begin the check in process. Once you have paid in full for your cruise, you can start checking in. Your check-in date will depend on how many Disney Cruises you have taken. If this is your first cruise, your check-in day will be 75 days from your sailing date. If you have taken 1-4 cruises (this makes you a Silver Castaway Club member), your date will be 90 days out. If you have taken 5-9 cruises (this makes you a Gold Castaway Club member), your date will be 105 days out. If you have taken 10 or more (a Platinum Castaway Club member), your date will be 120 days out.
Saving Money on Lodging at Walt Disney World – Updated
We are always looking to save money when visiting Walt Disney World. One of the primary expenses to consider when planning your trip is lodging. Any money saved on lodging can be directed to other expenses or set aside to upgrade your lodging on a future trip. Here are various options for getting your lodging costs down:
Dream Cruise – Part 1 – Planning
We usually plan our travel 18 months or so in advance. We look at school calendars, compare prices, and then book a trip. In the case of our February 2017 cruise on the Disney Dream, almost none of this happened (we did look at the school calendar). Here is how our cruise came together.
TripIt – Updated
TripIt
One of our favorite travel tools is TripIt. TripIt is a web site (with associated mobile apps) that gathers details of your travel, including hotel reservations, airline tickets, cruise itineraries, rental cars, and other travel information. TripIt then presents you with a comprehensive itinerary in a simplified format that allows you to easily view the information. (Note: some information on these screen shots is hidden, so they may look a little strange)