Surprise!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

UPDATE: The surprise was a success! They had no idea even though a few people (including myself dropped the ball a few times). Little did I know how crazy a time it would be. We had a blast and it was a little more crowded than expected. The end of May is probably not the best idea for me with school ending 2 weeks later along with final dance recitals and a festival to follow. It has been an exhausting few weeks and I have been a complete slacker when it comes to my blog. Summer is here and I am back in action. Watch for posts on all the amazing experiences we had while at Walt Disney World!

Today is the day we are surprising the kids with a trip to Disney. We have been keeping this a secret for 3 months and they still have no clue. So many people, myself included have blabbed right in front of them and neither have picked up on it. The fact that I am the Mouse Ear Momma and constantly talk Disney with people has helped tremendously, I think they are immune to the word Disney. My 5 year old keeps telling me it is time to plan another trip, wait until she hears she is leaving today! We decided to pick up the 2nd grader and then have my husband on the porch with a sign and ear hats waiting for us. I will post pictures of the surprise as soon as we are on our way

Here comes Free Dining! – Update

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

Free Dining is available for booking to any guests ARRIVING September 2 to September 25, 2013. A minimum stay of 3 nights is required and your vacation package may not be booked for longer than 14 nights.

If you stay at a Value Resort, you’ll receive the Quick Service Dining plan for FREE. (Note that you can upgrade to the standard or deluxe dining plans by paying the difference in cost per night).

If you reserve a Moderate, Deluxe, or Deluxe Villa Resort, you will receive the standard Dining plan for FREE. (You can upgrade to the deluxe dining plan by paying the difference in cost per night).

Ft. Wilderness campsites, 3-bedroom villas, and Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation Resort are not included in this offer.

In order to get this deal, you must stay a minimum stay of 3 nights at one of the above Disney resorts, you’ll also need to purchase AT LEAST a 2-day Magic Your Way Disney World ticket.

A $200 deposit using your Disney’s Visa card is required at the time of booking, until May 9th when this is expected to open to the general public, and everyone in your party must purchase the same package and same tickets.

May the 4th be with you…

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

For you Star Wars fans out there, tomorrow is the big day…May the Fourth be with you! Now that Disney owns Star Wars, they are capitalizing on this popular day among the geeks. (No offense, this includes me too!) As part of this year’s Limited Time Magic, tomorrow Hollywood Studios will be celebrating “May the Fourth be with you”. The plans are special Star Wars entertainment, merchandise, dance party and fireworks (which are a rare occurence in Hollywood Studios).

There will be Star Wars characters greeting guests and even riding on Star Tours occasionally. I can imagine what my kids would do if we went to sit on Star Tours and Boba Fett was sitting there! Characters will appear from 9-7:30 and expect to see Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Boba Fett and many more surprises.

Jedi Training will also be changed for the day with parents being able to join their children on stage (ages 4-12) for training and fighting the Empire. Oh, how I wish I could be there to wield a lightsaber at Darth Vader! Shows will be every 30 minutes from 9-7:30. Get to the park before opening to sign up for Jedi Training.

After dark, a Star Wars themed dance party will take place with DJ Lobot from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Expect Star Wars characters to be dancing as well. This will be from 6-7pm & 7:45-12am.

The day will be capped off with a special Star Wars themed fireworks show at 9:45.

So, put on your best Star Wars gear and head out to Hollywood to celebrate May 4th. This is a good way to pump yourself up for the upcoming Star Wars weekends!

Coming Soon to Magic Kingdom: A Pirates Adventure

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

The success of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom has led to a new interactive experience, A Pirates Adventure: Treasure of the Seven Seas in Adventureland. This was supposed to be open in the spring but has been bumped to an ambiguous “summer” opening. This looks even better than Sorcerers when you watch the video from Disney Parks Blog. Some are saying that this is a way to keep park guests busy and happy while waiting for their fastpass return times with the new Magic + system. If this is true, then I am happy that they are trying to find a way to entertain the masses between rides.

Smile! It’s Friday!

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This makes me happy today! I hope it brightens your Friday too!

Summer 2013 Discount

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

Newest offer for summer has been released this week and the most exciting part of it is that the offer includes Art of Animation for the first time!

Up to 30% off Rooms plus discounted 4-day through 10-day Magic Your Way Tickets

For stays June 13, 2013 – August 14, 2013
Can be booked as a room only discount
Add a minimum 4-Day Magic Your Way Tickets and get discount on tickets (Quite a good deal on tickets)
Book by June 14, 2013

This package incluldes the following discounts off the room rates:

5% off – All Star Movies, Coronado Springs (suites), Port Orleans French Quarter, Animal Kingdom Lodge & Villas
15% off – Art of Animation (family suites only), Pop Century, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music (standard rooms)
20% off – Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs (standard rooms), Port Orleans Riverside, Wilderness Lodge and Villas
30% off – Deluxe and Deluxe Villa rooms other than listed above

Reservations Tricks…

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

I have now been able to book the impossible for our May vacation!

Right away I was able to snag a much coveted Cinderella’s Royal Table breakfast reservation and I took this as a good omen. I have been determined this trip to eat at all new restaurants (at least new to us).

I have been checking for Be Our Guest everyday for months and all of a sudden there was an opening for the evening of our arrival!! Yes it is at 9:20 pm, but we don’t arrive until 6:15 and we’re planning on heading over the new Fantasyland anyway to see what is all about. What a beginning on the surprise vacation for the kiddos!

Now, I have been calling for about a month (every day or so) to get into the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party. This is a dessert buffet with seats/viewing of the Wishes Fireworks in Magic Kingdom. I have heard many good things on the blogosphere and chat rooms about this and I wanted to check it out for myself. Finally, on April 1 it was open for the month of May and I was able to book the night of my choice. This isn’t on the dining plan so we do have to pay out-of-pocket for it but I think it will be worth the experience.

So my advice for these hard to get reservations…Be Our Guest and Royal Table are worth checking the online reservation site every day or even multiple times a day. You want to book these 180 days in advance if you can. My problem is that I very rarely book a trip that far in advance. You do have to put a credit card guarantee down, but you can cancel 24 hours in advance without penalty. Be Our Guest is more difficult because it is only dinner for the sit down, but at least you can be in the restaurant for lunch as often as you like!

Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party seems to have a very flexible booking start date. Some WDW reservation agents have told me they release it to them 4-6 weeks prior to the beginning of the month and others have said it varies even more. I tried to book starting about 8 weeks out and called every other day. When it neared to about 5 weeks before May, I started calling (407)WDW-DINE every day and finally yesterday on April 1 my work paid off. The phone reservations seemed correct that they do release those reservations starting the month prior, so keep that in mind and start bugging them about 6 weeks if TTFDP is something on your bucket list!

Penny Pressing…a fun (cheap) souvenir

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

Are you trying to think of ways to bring home souvenirs that won’t collect dust and you won’t have the urge to throw away after a year? I discovered the penny press a few years ago as a way to keep the kids busy while my husband was collecting the stroller. After digging into my wallet for 2 pennies and 4 quarters, I let each kid press one penny. They were so enamored with the process and the different options it kept them happy and involved for longer than it probably should have. After pressing one penny each, they continued to ask to look at it the entire trip. I didn’t think anything of it until I started to notice penny pressing machines everywhere around the parks and hotels. In a gift shop, I found a book to hold your pennies next to the autograph books.

Now, I purposely pack a roll of pennies and 2 rolls of quarters from our Disney Fund. The kids each has a baggie in the backpack with their coins and are allowed to stop at any machine they want. They hunt high and low for penny presses. Hotels, outside bathrooms in the parks, at rides…penny press machines are everywhere and it is a fun and inexpensive thing to collect and bring home. Each penny costs 50 cents and a penny to press. They also have quarter press machines, but that is too rich for me so I just stick to the pennies.

Here is a site that can give you a list of where to find the penny press machines and what they have for the hard core collectors. I am not so hard core yet, but that may change as the kids get older…

Resorts for Grown Ups

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

Everyone thinks of Disney as a travel destination for parents with small children but this is not the case. There are tons of adults that love Walt Disney World and may want to enjoy the parks without the kids (or grandkids). Here are my recommendations for resort hotels that are more suitable for adults. These are based on location, amenities, restaurants/bars on site and the general grown up feeling of the resort. Yes, you will find families there but it’s Disney World and you can’t avoid that! Most of the resorts I recommend for adults are in the Deluxe category because you will find more and more families when you go to moderate and value resorts. Continue reading →

Star Wars Weekends 2013

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Mouse Ear Momma

I love Star Wars and I love Star Wars Weekends. The artwork has been released for this year’s Star Wars weekend and I love it. Return of the Jedi is my favorite of the original trilogy and I have a soft spot for the Ewoks. This year is particularly special because it is the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. I don’t know about you but I remember seeing this one in the theatre when it was released, so now I feel old… It is also going to be interesting this year because it is the first Star Wars Weekend in which Disney now owns the Star Wars empire.

But know that this is not for the first time Disney traveler. Star Wars Weekends are hot, crowded and confusing if you don’t know your way around Hollywood Studios. If you are a seasoned veteran of WDW and you (or your children/spouse) are a fan, this is the weekend for you to visit!

The full schedule is not released but here is what is available now. Star Wars Weekends will take place May 17-June 9, every Friday, Saturday, & Sunday.

Celebrity Guests: You can get a fastpass to meet and get autographs from the celebrities.

James Arnold Taylor: The Official Celebrity Host for all 4 weekends. The voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Clone Wars series. He performs a one man show about voice talent.
Ashley Eckstein: Also a Celebrity Host for all the weekends. She is the voice of Ahsoka Tano in The Clone Wars. She hosts a talk show about the cartoon series. We had the privilege to meet Ashley a few years ago at SWW and she made a wonderful impression on my daughters and made them feel like it is ok for girls to like Star Wars. (I keep telling them that the boys will think it is the coolest thing someday!)
Ray Park: Darth Maul from Episode I: The Phantom Menace for Weekends 1 & 2. He is also a martial arts expert and in X-Men & GI Joe. He does a martial arts show during the weekend.
Warwick Davis: Wicket W. Warrick (my favorite Ewok) for Weekends 2 & 3

The schedule should stay the same for the most part. Character greetings and autographs from the bunches of characters from all the movies and cartoon, specialty merchandise, Jedi Training, Padawan Mind Challenge, Hyperspace Hoopla, Star Wars Stars Motorcade Parade with stormtroopers and various characters.

I will update more as soon as the information comes available, so stay tuned!

Mouse Ear Momma

Just a mom who loves Disney and sharing that love!