Note: This post is out of date. To see the latest prices (that we update once a month) go to our homepage and find the latest pricing posts from there. Or subscribe to our email list and get updated delivered to your inbox at the beginning of each month!
Note: This post is out of date. To see the latest prices (that we update once a month) go to our homepage and find the latest pricing posts from there. Or subscribe to our email list and get updated delivered to your inbox at the beginning of each month!
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:
We are always looking to save money on airfare when visiting our favorite Disney vacation locations. We’ve talked about using points to get free flights, especially through the use of sign up bonuses for credit cards. We have also talked about making alternate flight arrangements, including flying into alternate airports. During a recent search for flights for a trip next summer, we’ve discovered another tip!
Of course, the highs of being on the cruise always come crashing down on Disembarkation day. We decided to carry our bags off the ship with express walk off, but still enjoy breakfast. We left our room and headed towards Animators Palette, which is where we had dinner the night before. Since we had late dinner, our breakfast was at a reasonable time.
Day 3 of our cruise was Castaway Cay, which is one of our favorite stops. Imagine if Disney had taken an entire Caribbean Island and turned it into a water park. That’s basically how I describe Castaway Cay to people. We aren’t beach people, but we love this port stop more than any others. We had managed to grab the last Cabana on the family beach (Cabana #20) when we checked in for this cruise, so it was going to be a great day. We invited our friends to enjoy the Cabana with us, since there was no additional charge for six people versus four people.
The day started early with the Disney Dream pulling into Nassau. We’ve been to Nassau on previous cruises, but we had always treated it like a sea day and stayed on the ship. Because we were traveling with friends, we came up with a new approach. Nancy and our oldest daughter wanted to get off the ship and walk around with our friends, while I would stay on the ship with our youngest daughter.
We were very excited to get on board the Disney Dream as this was our first time on the ship. As they called our boarding group, we walked through the giant Mickey ears and had our Keys to the World cards swiped for the first time on this cruise. We skipped the initial photo since we never buy the photos on board.
The travel day for our Disney Dream cruise finally arrived! We had decided to leave really early so that we could join our friends at the airport. We could easily kill time in the Admirals Club lounge at Reagan National Airport. We were going to get the girls from school around noon, then leave for the airport at 12:30, which should get us there at 1:00 pm. The flight didn’t leave until 3:00 pm, so we should have plenty of time to get lunch as well.
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.