My Strange Disney Addiction

We all have one. Chances are, if you're reading this blog you enjoy Walt Disney World. Perhaps you enjoy it a little too much. I mean, you are reading a blog devoted to the subject, aren't you? For every one of us, we have that one thing in the World that we love that's slightly off the beaten path. We'd prefer to think of them as guilty pleasures, but the truth is that most people think that our love is beyond bizarre. Perhaps you like to sip the Beverly at Club Cool or you can't get enough of the Sci-Fi Drive-In. Regardless, we all have (at least) one Disney thing that we can't live without.




Me? My strange Disney addiction involves an attraction in a pavilion in my favorite park on property, Epcot. In 1988, the Norway pavilion was added to the World Showcase and it featured the park's first "thrilling" attraction Maelstrom. Maelstrom is a rollicking-trip through Norway's mythic history from Viking settlement, to troll-infested wilds, to a modern-day village. From one-eyed Odin to a hidden troll to a friendly neighborhood polar bear, this ride gives a brief glimpse into the history and culture of Norway. Apparently, I'm one of the only people who really likes it.

If you could time travel back to 1988, when Maelstrom opened, you would have found me as a 2nd grader, studying Norse mythology. In 1988, nothing was cooler to me than a Viking. In class, we had made Viking helms, learned to draw our own runes, and I even had a sweatshirt with a dragon on it. (Some of this may also explain why I didn't have a lot of friends in the 2nd grade) To be able to go to my favorite place in the world and enjoy an attraction based on my favorite group of pillaging warriors was more than my little mind could handle. I'm now 30 and I've made many trips to the World since then, and I still love Maelstrom. In those moments, I'm transported back to 1988 and I'm in the 2nd grade all over again. Also, I still think Vikings are cool. I can't go to Walt Disney World without riding it. My friends snicker and my family rides just to humor me, but it's my thing. I also like to stay and watch "The Spirit of Norway" film afterwards, but that's a story for another day. What about you? What's your strange Disney addiction? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below. Also, check out a few Maelstrom videos:

The Great Dining Plan Debate

Because eating at WDW makes us this excited!

As promised, we're taking a look this week at one of the most polarizing debates in the Disney fan community: to dining plan or not to dining plan. Thad is a DDP enthusiast, while I am not. Thad will get the chance to defend the DDP, but it's time for me to share some of the reasons why my family doesn't take advantage of it. The DDP has changed greatly over the past several years, but for the sake of this post, we will be looking at the basic plan. So, why don't we do the dining plan?

1) There's too much food!
Those of you who know me personally are picking yourselves up off of the floor right now. There's no doubt that you can save money by using the DDP, but you have to eat like a horse to do it! I could easily get my money's worth out of the DDP, but my wife can't. There are plenty of times that we go out to eat in WDW that she would be happy to have a salad and an appetizer for her meal. I've got three kids and the pricing isn't too bad right now. But what about when they turn 10? In Disney terms, they will be "adults" and I will pay an adult price for the plan. If I do that and my "adult" wants a $9 chicken tender plate from the kids' menu, I've gone into the hole!

I'm a man of large appetite, but after 6 or 7 consecutive days of eating a big table service meal (with dessert) and one full quick-service meal (with dessert) plus a snack, I have a hard time enjoying my vacation.

2)Inflexibility
OK, confession time: I'm really not all that crazy about the desserts at many of the table-service locations. I'd really rather have an appetizer and treat myself to a Mickey bar or bakery treat later on. When it comes to the quick-service locations, I'm also on the hook for a mediocre dessert. Unfortunately, on the DDP I don't have that option. If I want the appetizer, it has to be paid for out of pocket and I've wasted part of the meal that I've prepaid for.

Then I have to consider the restaurants that aren't on the DDP. It seems like every time my family visits WDW, the Rainforest Cafe beckons our party. While it's not a personal favorite, the kids have a blast. So, as a DDP participant, I now have to decide whether I will explain to my kids that we can't eat at the restaurant at the entrance to Animal Kingdom because it's not a participating restaurant or pay for it out of pocket. The same is true for T-Rex Cafe, House of Blues, and a few other restaurants.

Not only do you have to consider the restaurants not included in the DDP, you also have to factor in the restaurants that Disney designates as Signature experiences. My wife and I like to have one of those meals on every trip and we have had a wonderful time at great places like Jiko, California Grill, Artist's Point, and Citrico's. As a DDP participant, those meals will take 2 table service credits. So, if I choose to eat at one of those restaurants, either I will be paying for another table-service meal out of pocket or I will fill in with another quick service meal that I will also be paying for out of pocket. Also, I will probably not get enough value out of the meal to justify the use of two table-service credits!

Finally, to get the most out of the DDP, you had better plan ahead. If not, you could find yourself eating at a real stinker of a table-service restaurant just for the sake of getting the most out of your credits. WDW is filled with some excellent dining choices, but there are also a few stinkers. If forced to choose between a stinker and a counter service meal, I'm taking the counter service. I'd much prefer a trip to Casey's Corner or Pecos Bill's to Tony's Town Square. If I'm paying out of pocket, I've gotten the meal I wanted and saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $30. If I'd been on the DDP, I would have either gone to Tony's or failed to use the table-service credit I prepaid for.

Not only that, but once you have gone into your restaurant of choice, you may find that your preferred entree is not covered by the DDP. That snack that you'd really like? Not covered by the DDP.

3) It's Confusing
One of the things that I always hear from friends is that they love the ease of use that the DDP offers. I believe them, but I seldom see it in action. I've never been in line at a resort food court that I haven't heard a confused dad trying to understand exactly what he can or can't get his family for breakfast and not have to pay for it out of pocket because he's already paid for it on the DDP! That table-service meal? Is the steak that I'd really like covered by the DDP? I never have to ask those questions! I get what I want.

4) It's not More Convenient
I also hear from friends that they love that they don't have to worry about anything when they are on the DDP. "I've already paid for it, and I just swipe my card". When I check in at my resort, I place a credit card on file and make my in-park charges on my Key to the World card. As best as I can tell, I'm doing the same thing that the DDP participants are doing as I "pay" for my meal.

Even Free Isn't Free
The last argument that I usually hear is "well, they were offering free dining and I couldn't pass it up". In my experience, room only discounts often come out for the same periods that free dining is available (usually the Fall) and are comparable in savings to the free DDP. Depending on your situation and the resort that you plan to stay at, your "free" dining may cost you more than the savings you would have enjoyed with the room only discount.

OK, I know what you DDP enthusiasts are thinking right now. You're probably calling me unmentionable names and accusing me of not being magical. But, I'm here with an open mind. If you're a DDP devotee, convince me to try it out in the comments section below. If you're like me and you have any reasons to avoid the DDP that I've missed, add your thoughts as well!

Dining Plan Battle Royale!

Dole Whip or turkey leg? School bread or Napoleon? Walter Cronkite or Jeremy Irons? All of them are great questions for fans of Walt Disney World to answer. But, to Dining Plan or not to Dining Plan? That is the question! It's one of the great Disney debates and we will do our best to settle the issue once and for all here at the Happiest Blog on Earth.

Over the next few days, Thad and I will be submitting our views on the issue and we hope that you will chime in with your own thoughts and experiences with the Disney Dining Plan. Also, we'll do our best to answer any questions that you provide us with in the comments section of the blog.

Thad will be taking up the pro-dining plan position, while I will be the contrarian. Whatever your position, sharpen your knives and come prepared for a battle royale!

Snack Time!

One of the amazing things about travelling to WDW is the vast number of ways that you can do it! Whether you are completely budget conscious and don't won't to spend any extra money or you are planning on blowing things out completely, you can do it at WDW. One of the big divergences in opinion regards snack time in the parks. If you want to really save money on your trip, you have the opportunity to bring your own snacks into the parks. You have the option of bringing a book bag or small cooler into the parks, so long as they do not contain glass bottles or alcoholic beverages. As such, you can feel free to bring in your own drinks and snacks. Depending on the size and ages of your party, this option can save you quite a bit of money. If you are reading this and have a toddler or preschooler, a ready supply of goldfish crackers can be a life saver! Other popular options include cereal bars, chips, or fresh fruit.

For others of us, buying snacks in the park is the preferred option. This may be true for a number of reasons. Maybe you don't want to be encumbered by an extra bag or cooler. As the parent of three preschoolers, I fall into this camp. We have enough to carry on our own. We generally only carry snacks for the kids. The adults get their snacks in the parks.

A second reason, beyond the convenience of not having to carry food is that there are just so many great snack options available in the parks. Yes, you will pay more for them than you probably want to, but they are definitely worth it! In each of the parks, I have a few personal favorite snacks that I look forward to eating on each trip. If you plan wisely and share, they don't even have to be that expensive. So, here are a few tips for snacking around the world.

1) Drink the water. OK, I admit I have a pet peeve about bottled water. I can't imagine for the life of me why anyone would waste perfectly good money for something they are giving away for free. You can march right up to the counter at any counter service location and receive a free cup of ice water. If you will drink water all day you will probably feel better, and save enough money on the cost of three soft drinks to afford two snacks each day.

2) Package snacks to make a meal. One of our favorite meals in World Showcase is no meal at all. If we find ourselves near France near lunch time, we will stop in at the Boulangerie Patisserie where we craft our own meal out of the delicious offerings available there. Delicious ham and cheese croissants are availabe for $3.25 and a variety of pastries are available from $1.95-$4.00. If you take the free water, you can have a great lunch for less than $8.00 per person. You can find many examples of this phenomenon around WDW. Also, this can help you save time by allowing you to eat without fighting some of the crowds that accumulate in the more popular counter service locations during peak meal times.

3) Share! One of the best things about snacks is that, due to their relatively low cost, you can try new and different things without too much fear of wasting your money. If you are travelling with a larger group, go to one of the snack locations and order a number of different items. Come together and give everyone the chance to try something that they probably wouldn't have attempted otherwise. A great example of this phenomenon is the rice cream at the Kringla Bakeri og Cafe in Norway. In an every man for himself situation, very few members of your group will be willing to risk their snack on this unique treat. If they know, however, that they are only obligated to a few bites, they will probably give it a chance. After years of avoiding rice cream, I discovered how much I like it in a similar scenario. Also, the large number of small tastes makes the experience last a bit longer. Finally, don't forget that, even if you don't have a large group, sharing is a great option. Many of the snacks in WDW are quite large, and a couple can easily share them.

So, what are your thoughts on snacking around the World? Do you have any particular favorite snacks? Do you bring your snacks in, or buy them on the inside? Let us know about your snacking habits in the comments section below!

So you want to go to Walt Disney World?

It's a question people ask all the time, and it's a good one: "When's the best time to go to Walt Disney World?" While that's a great question (and probably the first question that you should ask!) there are no easy answers. The answer is going to depend on your schedule and your desires. For each guest, the answer is probably going to be a little different. Here are some questions that you have to ask yourself before going.

1) How much time do I need to plan my vacation?
This is an important question that I think many of us overlook, because most of us are planners. For many vacationers, a significant part of the fun is preparing well in advance by making ADR's (Advanced Dining Reservations) and attempting to get just the right room at our chosen resort. For some of us, however, those details just aren't quite as important (some of you are picking yourself up off the floor at this revelation). IF, and this is a big if, you are not all that into staying in a particular onsite property and if you are not dead set on particular dining experiences, then you can plan your travel at will. When I was a kid, that's the way we travelled. Dad would come home from work at lunch and tell Mom, "Pack up the car, when I get home we're going to Disney World!" Away we went, with none of the pressures of planning. If this is you, you can save a ton of money by booking an off-site hotel through Hotwire or Priceline, eating off-site, and/or eating quick service meals. Also, if you are flexible, you can find table service availability on off hours by calling the dining hotline (407) WDW-DINE, using the Disneyworld.com website, checking in with Guest Services at one of the parks, or checking in at the counter at any of the table service dining locations. Also, if you are willing to wait, sometimes there is the opportunity to get walk-up seating.

If you are one of those folks who broke out into hives reading that last paragraph, you need six months to plan your trip. Minimum, no questions asked, six months and possibly more. So, take that into consideration.

2)What's my schedule look like?
For many, if not most, Walt Disney World guests the local school schedule is a major determining factor for vacation dates. If you have kids in school or are a teacher, (and you're not interested in just taking the kids out of school) you will be limited on when you can go. The only problem with that is that most school schedules are pretty similar across the nation. There's a reason that the weeks before and after Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Summer break have some of the highest crowds, and its because most everyone is out of school. If you have the flexibility to go any time, you probably want to avoid traditional school breaks. If you are bound to the school schedule, be prepared for bigger crowds when you go and plan accordingly. You can go during school breaks and avoid some of the biggest crowds. For instance, our family loves a good Christmas trip to the World. However, we never go during the week between Christmas and New Year's due to the crowds. We wait for a year where a significant portion of the break falls before Christmas Day and come home on Christmas Eve as the crowds begin to build.

3) Do you have a favorite season?
This one's easy. Are the waterparks a must do for you and your family? Avoid February. Hate the idea of the summer heat? Scratch July and August. Love Halloween? Be sure to go during Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Get to know the schedule of events at Disney's Special Events page and you may find something that particularly appeals to you and your family. Going at a time that makes sense for your particular interests keeps the experience fresh and exciting.

4)What about park hours?
Do late night hours matter to you? While the park opening is pretty well standard throughout the year, peak seasons will have extended hours during the evening. If you hate to get up early on vacation, but love to stay out till the late evening hours, you may want to avoid some of the seasons with lighter crowd levels. While the wait times may be shorter, night owls may be disappointed to get on vacation and find out that the Studios are closing at 7 tonight. Keep an eye on park hours as they become available. Disney releases this info 6 months in advance, and there are a number of resources available out there for accessing it. One of my favorites is provided by the folks at WDW Info.

Personally, my absolute favorite week to visit is the week before Christmas, with a shoutout to the week of Memorial Day. What about you? When have you found success visiting Walt Disney World? When are your favorite times to go?

They've Got an App for That

One of the blessings of the Internet Age (and if you're reading this blog, I assume you're a participant) is the opportunity to use these technological advancements to aid in planning your trip, in enhancing your enjoyment of the parks, and giving you a little added taste of the Disney magic when you have to go back home. In this part of the blog, we hope to give you a little taste of some of the many apps that are out there!

To kick this series off, I feel like I should start with my personal favorite app for trip planning: Lines. One of the questions that I often hear from folks who are planning a trip to Walt Disney World is, "when is the best time to go?" Obviously, this is a terribly complicated question and will depend on one's weather preferences, favorite seasons, and vacation schedule. Usually when someone asks this question, what they really mean is, "when is the best time to go where I will be able to enjoy my vacation and not be trampled underfoot by a mob of stroller-wielding men in Mickey Ears bedazzled with pin-trading lanyards blowing in the breeze." That's a great question, and one that many of us would love the answer to.

Thankfully, the good folks at Touring Plans have very nearly perfected the art of crowd level predictions. Using a wealth of data, they maintain a crowd calendar which grades each day on a scale of 1-10. A 1 would be one of the slowest days of the year, while a 10 would be one of the busiest. The calendar makes predictions up to a year in advance of your dates, so you have a good idea of how to plan for your trip.

But wait, there's more! Not only does the Crowd Calendar provide you with information regarding the best park for each day of your trip. Should I go to Magic Kingdom on Tuesday? What about Epcot on Thursday? The Crowd Calendar will give you a best and worst park for each day of your trip. Having this information in hand will make it a bit easier as you prepare to make ADR's (a topic for another day), set touring plans, and set up other experiences inside and outside of the parks. Touring Plans offers much more than a Crowd Calendar, but that's all we have time to explore in today's post.

Access to the full Crowd Calendar at Touring Plans is only available to members. The cost for a one-year membership is only $10.95. A discount is available to you if you own a current edition of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, as they sponsor the Touring Plans website. With this membership, you will have full access to all of the Walt Disney World information on their site. For a few dollars more, you can add Disneyland as well. Once you have the membership, you can navigate to the site on your mobile phone at m.touringplans.com or smart phone users can download the free (for subscribers)mobile app Lines and access the Crowd Calendar and much more information from your mobile device.

On a scale of 1-10, I would personally give the Lines app a big 10. I've used the information from the Crowd Calendar and the best days in each park to plan many of my trips over the past several years and have found it incredibly useful and accurate. While $10.95 may seem like it's a bit much, you'll find that it's worth every penny. The Crowd Calendar is just the tip of the iceberg for Touring Plans, and in the days ahead, I hope to provide you with more information on how I've used this valuable tool to enjoy my trips!

This is Not for the Cool

It's not easy being a fan of the Muppets...

Admit it. You like the Muppets. So do I. Whether in the greatly missed Muppet Show or one of their many movies (with the Muppet Movie being my personal favorite) the Muppets were once an American institution. Unfortunately, they have been largely forgotten in recent years. Many of us believe that we are too jaded, cool, or ironic for the particular kind of slapstick the Muppets provide. For the rest of us who still love the Muppets, one of the great things about going to Walt Disney World is the opportunity to see Muppet Vision 3-D at Disney's Hollywood Studios. If you're not familiar with the attraction, it offers a fun-filled frolic into the world of the Muppets, including all of the gags, mania, and one-liners that make Muppet humor so great. The Muppets became a part of the then MGM-Studios early on, and there were plans for them to have a larger role than they currently hold. Alas, for what might have been. While Muppet Vision 3-D is a great attraction, I have long felt that the Muppets provided Disney with an under-utilized property.

As such, it was with no small delight that I viewed this new movie trailer yesterday:



What do you think? I'm interested to see how Amy Adams and Jason Segel fit in with the rest of the gang? Will they attempt to take center stage or will they let Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo do their thing? Could this be the reboot that the Muppets need? Also, if this is a hit, can we look forward to some more love for the Muppets at the Studios? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!