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Disney World Free Dining Plan 2009

March 28, 2009 By Alison Leave a Comment

Disney World Dining Plan
The Disney World Free Dining Plan for 2009 has just been announced. At the moment this great offer is open only to Disney Rewards Visa Cardholders but it is expected that it will open up to all sometime next week so we will keep you posted.

This offer is open on most dates from 8/16/09 to 10/3/09. You must book by 6/21/09. Suites are excluded from this offer.

The Disney Free Dining Plan is one of the best offers available to resort guests as savings add up to $101.96 per day for a family of 2 adults and 2 children.

So with this offer you get the Disney Magic Your Way Plus Dining for the price of Disney Magic Your Way. Still confused? You need to book at least a 3 day stay at a Disney World resort hotel and in addition you must also purchase at least a One Day Magic Your Way Base Ticket.

What meals are included in the Free Dining Plan? This Disney Dining Plan option includes 1 table service meal, 1 counter service and 1 snack per person per day.

You can also upgrade the Free Dining Plan to a Deluxe Dining Plan for $32 per adult and $10 per child aged 3-9. This covers 3 table service meals,2 snacks and a resort refillable mug.

The Disney Free Dining Plan is always popular so as soon as you know that you want to book then go ahead as there are limited rooms available.

When you have booked your Disney resort room then be sure to make Advance Dining Reservations as soon as you can. The offer is popular and the restaurants do reach capacity. You can make Advance Dining Reservations by calling 407 WDW DINE up to 90 days ahead of the first night of your stay at a Disney hotel – and you can make up to 10 days reservations.

If you want to know more about the benefits and how to get the most value from the dining options for resort guest then you can check out my Free Disney World Dining Plan Guide

Photos used under Creative Commons from armadillo444

Filed Under: Disney Parks, Disney World Dining Tagged With: , , ,

Disney Cinderella Castle

March 26, 2009 By Alison 3 Comments

Cinderella Castle

Cinderella’s Castle is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the World. But have you ever wondered what is inside those famous Disney Castle walls? Built in 1971 it stands 189 feet tall and was inspired by the historic castles of France. How many bricks were used to build it? A trick question as the answer is none – it is made out of concrete and fiberglass over a steel structure.

What most Disney guests are really interested in finding out is if they can spend the night in Cinderella’s Castle. Inside you will find Cinderella’s Castle Suite, but only the select few have ever stayed there and no amount of money will buy the privilege. The only way to stay in the Castle is to win a night as a prize.

Originally Cinderella’s Castle was to have a suite for Walt Disney and his family to stay. Sadly Walt never saw his iconic castle completed as he died in 1966, some 5 years before the opening of Disney World. So the suite was never created. Over the years the inside of the Castle was used for various things including housing the Disney telephone operators but for much of it’s history it was just empty space.

The Disney hit upon a great idea. In 2007 Disney World Launched the Year of a Million Dreams. And what better as one of the most coveted prizes than a stay in Cinderella’s Castle. So each day a winner was chosen who with up to 5 guests could stay in the Cinderella Suite.

The inside of the Cinderella Castle Suite has the kind of detailing that you would expect from the Disney Imagineers. The Suite is intended to make you feel not just that you are inside the Castle but that you are immersed in the whole Disney experience. It is surprisingly small at 650 square feet but is large enough to sleep 5 people in absolute Disney luxury.

How do you get to stay in Cinderella’s Castle Suite? The Year of a Million Dreams is of course now over but Disney has announced that it will still keep the Cinderella Castle Suite as a prize and not open it up to fee paying guests. Or you could become a Disney superstar like Kevin Jonas, who stayed their with his wife for their first wedding anniversary!

There is a much easier way to get inside Cinderella’s Castle. You can make a reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table. Yes I did say easier – but this is Disney World’s most popular restaurant so you do need to make reservations as soon as you can by calling 407 WDW DINE. Reservations are taken up to 90 days ahead and Disney resort hotel guests have the advantage that they can book up to 10 days of their stay. Make sure that you call on the first day possible as soon as the lines open. What if you don’t get a reservation first time? You can try calling to see if there are any cancellations.

You can eat breakfast, lunch or dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. The food is certainly not the best at Disney World but of course the big attraction is eating inside that famous Castle and meeting the characters. As with all Disney character meals you can never guarantee who you will meet but the usual favorites are Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Belle, Aurora, and Snow White. Is Cinderella’s Royal Table worth it? Well I personally wouldn’t go for the food quality, but the experience of eating in Cinderella’s Castle is perhaps something you just have to do!

If you want to learn more about the Disney World Castle and even see some pictures inside the Castle Suite then visit my new guide at
Cinderella Castle.

Photos used under Creative Commons from expressmonorail

Filed Under: Disney Parks Tagged With: , ,

Disney Cruise Line New Ships

March 6, 2009 By Alison Leave a Comment

Disney Cruise Line began construction on two new ships this week and held a  steel cutting ceremony at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg Germany. The new ships, which will be similar in design to Disney Wonder and Disney Magic are due to be launched in 2011 and 2012.  The first piece of steel to be cut this week was in the shape of Mickey Mouse and will be used to decorate the bow of each new ship.
Each ship will have 1,250 staterooms and will weigh 128,000 tons.  Each new Disney cruise ship will carry 4,000 passengers, significantly more than the 2,700 capacity of the Magic and Wonder.

There is still a lot of speculation about where the new Disney ships home port will be, but the current opinion is focusing on the West Coast ports of San Diego and LA’s San Pedro.  The West Coast and European itineraries have been a huge success for Disney and have sold out very quickly. So it seems they are looking towards setting up a permanent port in California. This would of course fit in well with cruise guests having a land and sea vacation at Disneyland.

The San Diego port district is preparing to build a $28 million cruise-ship terminal to upgrade the exisitng facility. Having traveled from San Diego port last month I can certainly confirm that it needs an upgrade! It would be a fantastic opportunity for the port of San Diego if Disney decided to award it the contract.

No one at Disney will yet confirm the new itineraries but it is thought that there may some news later this month.  There is some speculation that Disney will send the new ships to Florida and move Disney Wonder and Magic elsewhere. If I had to guess? The West Coast will get Wonder or Magic, a European port will get a new ship, and 2 will have Florida as the home port.

Also on the subject of cruise lines I just spent some time saving almost 25% on a cruise to Alaska I have already booked – not with Disney unforuntately, I am still hoping they add an Alaska itinerary but am not too hopeful they will given their demographic. I had booked the cruise a while ago and was happy with the rate for 2 connecting balcony cabins (we need 2 cabins as we have 3 kids – Disney of course has family cabins). I was checking online to see if I could get a better deal and found that prices had dropped a lot. So I called my agent and got the cost reduced. So always remember to keep checking prices for any changes. I just saved a lot of money for the price of a phone call and some time spent on research.

Wherever Disney’s new ships go I am definitely aiming to be on one of the first cruises.  I travel with other cruise lines too but there really is nothing quite like Disney.

Photos used under Creative Commons from lemoncat1

Filed Under: Cruises, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy

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