Planning

Planning

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Going through security at the airport is right up there on my list with going to the dentist.  I like the result, but getting through the process isn’t the most pleasant thing.  Going through the airport security with children in tow is even worse.  Taking your laptop out of your bag, taking off shoes, coats, and at the same time trying to talk your kids through the process can make for a hectic experience.  Well, the Transportation Security Administration provides a solution to the problems that they have caused!  Its called TSA Precheck (along with its big brother, Global Entry).  For $85, you get entry into the TSA Precheck program for five years, which lets your avoid a great deal of the hassle of going through airport security. read more

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Disney Parks, Planning

One of the core components to the cost of a Walt Disney World trip is tickets to the theme parks.  The tickets can easily be one fourth the cost of the trip.  What can you do to reduce this cost?  Let’s examine it in detail. read more

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Disney Parks, Planning

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My Disney Experience Website

Making FastPass+ reservations can be an exciting part of your next Walt Disney World vacation.  If you are staying at a Disney resort, you can make these reservations 60 days in advance of your trip.  If you have an annual pass or a ticket you purchased outside of a Disney World package, you can make your FastPass reservations 30 days from your visit.  When Disney says 60 days, they aren’t kidding.  You can make these selections starting at midnight if you can stay up that late!  Disney has two methods you can use to make your selections, either through their mobile app or their website.  We will describe how to use the My Disney Experience website to make FastPass+ reservations. read more

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Disney Cruise, Planning

For a number of years when the kids were young, we never made plans to take a spring break vacation.  It’s generally too cold to really enjoy the beaches near us.  We knew that Walt Disney World tends to be very crowded during spring break week, so that was out as an option as well.  We usually just stayed home and tried to balance who was going to take time off from work to do local activities with the kids. read more

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Disney Parks, Planning

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Crowd Calendar

Although we love Disney trips, our least favorite aspect is standing in lines.  One of our favorite tools that helps us avoid lines is Touring Plans — a website and service that helps you plan around the crowds to maximize your time while on vacation.  Touring Plans has studied hundreds of thousands of wait times from all over the Disney parks, and has compiled a statistical model of how the parks run.  They can predict, with surprising accuracy, what the crowds will be like at different parks on different days.  They also have extensive models of what those crowds do in the park, giving you accurate attraction wait times at different times of the day. read more

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Planning, Ticket Cost

Universal Studios has two very popular theme parks in Orlando, Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.  Each has a Harry Potter themed land (The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida), which continue to drive Universal Studios attendance numbers higher and higher.  How can you see these two parks without spending all day waiting in line?  Universal Studios has the answer with Universal Express Pass and Universal Express Unlimited Pass. read more

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