If you're planning more than one trip to Walt Disney World this year you may be lucky enough to take advantage of what's known as a bounceback offer. Fliers are left in Disney Resort rooms explaining the offer and the dates available. If you are planning more than one trip within a 12 month period of time it can save you money. A friend recently visited Disney and said a flier was in her room for 30% off a deluxe resort if she booked before she went home. Sometimes the bounceback offers free dining and sometimes it's a room discount. Either way, it's a significant savings. There are blackout dates for the offer but it's worth checking out. The flier will have a phone number that you can call from the resort. If you don't see a flier in your room, check with the hotel concierge and ask about a bounceback offer. To book the offer you need to make a $200 deposit on the trip. Then Disney, like many other travel agencies, allows you up to 45 days before your arrival to finish paying for the trip.

A vacationing family in Walt Disney World recently made national news when a woman's platinum and diamond wedding and anniversary rings were accidentally thrown in the trash by her husband while staying at the Villas at The Wilderness Lodge. The woman had removed the rings as she always did and put them in a container and then into a cardboard bowl. Her husband was tidying before they left the resort to head home and not knowing the rings were in there, he threw the bowl into the trash. By the time it was realized and reported, staff at Wilderness Lodge said the trash was collected and sent to the resort's industrial size trash compactor. The Worcester, Mass. couple boarded their Disney Magical Express bus to the airport without the rings and without conversation.
Then, Drew Weaver, head of housekeeping (or as we refer to it..mousekeeping) at the Wilderness Lodge realized the trash from the villa where the couple stayed had not reached the compactor yet. So Weaver and a staff of 7, donned gloves and protective gear as they rooted through the trash to find the rings. And find them they did!
The couple was called as they were on the way to the airport and were pleasantly suprised to learn the rings had been found.
Now you just don't get this kind of service anywhere and that's why Disney is where magic lives.

In celebration of Animal Kingdoms 1oth birthday, I'm going to post some of my Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge photos.

I had the opportunity to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge in December in a Savannah View room. I wasn't sure I'd like this deluxe resort as much as the others because it was the furthest from the parks with the exception of Animal Kingdom park. But I wanted to try this resort and I'm glad I did. It quickly became one of my favorites after spending my early mornings watching the animals from my balcony while having coffee. They all just seem so peaceful. And even in the parks, the animals appear to adapt well to their man-made environment. You won't find a lot of thrill rides in Animal Kingdom but you will find an enormous amount of information about animals, their environment and ours.

Disney has always been very careful in Animal Kingdom to ensure the safety of the animals and also the guests. Because of the large amount of bird species in the park, Disney doesn't serve beverages with plastic straws. It is too dangerous for the birds who, I might add, are often lurking around the fast-food areas hoping for a handout.

The animals in the safari are separated with barriers that are hidden and unseen by guests because some animals are the prey of others in the wild.

You'll definitely leave this park knowing more about animals than you did when you walked in.

Who doesn't love a parade? And when in Disney, they're hard to miss! The Magic Kingdom is host to Disney's Dreams Come True Parade every afternoon around 3 p.m. You'll sometimes see people lining up to watch the parade hours ahead of time. The parade begins in Adventureland and travels through Liberty Square and right down Main Street USA. You'll find all your favorite characters singing, dancing and even interacting with guests along the parade route.

On select nights, The Magic Kingdom is also home to the Spectromagic parade which is a parade of lights when the park is completely dark. This parade is seen mainly during the warmer months. It's made up completely of lights and is amazing to see. This parade is usually scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. and on some nights, it repeats at 11 p.m.

Animal Kingdom has a Jamin' Jungle Parade each day and Disney Studios has a new parade called Block Party Bash which features Disney-Pixar pals.

So if it's a break you need, pull up a curb, relax, and watch one of these great parades!

Parade times vary from park to park so you'll have to check a park map when you enter the park.

Disney's Year of a Million Dreams launched in late 2006 and continued through 2007. The promotion promised that during that year more than one million dream prizes would be given away at Disney parks. These were dream prizes that money could not buy such as a night stay in Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom. Each day throughout the year a time, ride seat and park was randomly selected (through a non-Disney agency). At the specified time, the Disney Dream Team would wait for whoever was on the ride. The unsuspecting winner was approached by the Dream Team and told they were the winner of the dream stay in the Castle suite for one magical night. The guest and their family were then wisked away to their hotel to gather an overnight bag, then off to receive the royal treatment including being the guest of honor at the Magic Kingdom parade.
This happened every day in Walt Disney World in 2007.
Other dream giveaways included a variety of Disney dream vacation package giveaways, Disney merchandise, shopping sprees in Disney gift shops, Dream Fastpasses and Year of a Million Dreams Mouse Ears.
As a loyal Disney fan, I was excited about this celebration. I was spending 15 days in Disney in 2007! I was certain that spending that much time there we'd have to win something!
And we did. No, it wasn't the dream stay in Cinderella's Castle suite like I had hoped. Instead, we were in line to ride The Great Movie Ride in Disney MGM Studios when the Dream Team began handing out Year of a Million Dreams Mouse Ears.
Disney's Year of a Million Dreams was such a success in 2007, they extended it throughout 2008.
So once again I'm keeping my fingers crossed that during my stay this year, I might just get a little luckier.

You take your camera to Disney but what do you do when you want a picture of everyone in your group together? Ask a stranger or leave someone out of the photo to take it?
In typical 'we-think-of-everything' fashion, Disney has come up with a solution: Photopass.
When you enter each park you'll find Disney Photopass photographers taking pictures of people using whatever signature backdrop the park has as a background. Sometimes these photographers will ask you if you want your picture taken and other times they don't because they're so busy taking pictures of other families. If you wait your turn and get your photo taken, ask the photographer for a photopass. He'll give you a card with a bar code and number on the back. Keep that card and give it to any photopass photographer you get your picture taken with in any of the parks. They will scan it after your photo and all your pictures will be saved. It's advised that once you get your photopass card, you take a picture of or write the numbers down that are on the back of the card and keep them somewhere so in the event you lose the card, you don't lose the opportunity to view the photos. There's no limit to how many pictures you can have taken with Photopass. In my last trip in December, we had 54 Photopass pictures taken. The best part is there's no charge for taking the pictures! When you go home, you can go to the Disney Photopass Website and view the photos you had taken! And that's free too! You may be pleasantly surprised when you see your pictures. We found Tinkerbell was in our hands and stitch was popping out of the street in front of us at Disney MGM Studios. (that explained why the photographer had us cup our hands and look at them and point to the ground with a surprised look). You only pay for the photos you purchase through Photopass. But you can also pay one price and get them all on a CD. In addition, you have the option to add frames and other art to your photos before ordering them. The prices are reasonable starting at $12.95 for a glossy 5x7 photo. The site allows you to create an online photo album. You can also upload your own digital photos to add to the albums.
Photopass is a great way to get a variety of group photos and include everyone in your party.
The Photopass Photographers aren't just located in the front of the parks. In Epcot, we found them throughout the World Showcase.

Pin trading in Disney became popular in Disney in late 1999 when purchasing pins and trading them with cast members and guests was introduced at the start of Disney's Millenium Celebration.
Since then, entire communities of pin traders have been created.
I was introduced to pin trading in 2004 when included in my Disney vacation package was 2 lanyards. I noticed people were wearing them around their necks decked out with a variety of colorful pins.
Once I realized the pins were not expensive, I decided to jump on board and begin pin collecting.
I did some pin trading with a cast member but most of the pins I bought I kept. I bought one pin of The Haunted Mansion which glows in the dark. Another pin from the 2004 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival smells like a flower if you scratch it (and still does 4 years later!). Since I was on my honeymoon (or Disneymoon as us Disney fanatics refer to it), I was able to find a bride and groom Mickey and Minnie and a Congratulations pin from Walt Disney World. There are pins for most rides, each park and waterpark, various holidays throughout the year and specific celebrations. There are limited edition pins also. Cast members wearing pin trading lanyards will trade pins with you however, they cannot trade their name pin or any pins that are "showcase pins."
Pin trading has become popular among adults as well as kids and is an inexpensive way to have some great souvenirs from your Disney vacation. For more information on Disney Pin Trading, visit Disney's official pin trading site at http://disney.go.com/eventservices/whatispintrading.html

I was recently among a group of people discussing healthy eating when a woman behind me announced she was going to Walt Disney World the next day. She said she probably couldn't eat healthy while there.
She obviously hasn't been there in a while.
Several years ago, Disney began offering options such as apple slices instead of french fries with its combo meals. And most places to eat in Disney have salads as an option on their menu. Each Disney Resort has a food court and that's where you'll find the most variety. Fresh fruit, yogurt and bagels can easily be found there. Many times meals can be shared because of their size. In December, I had one of the best salads ever at Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney. It was BBQ chicken in a bed of romaine lettuce with cucumbers and red onions with ranch dressing on the side. Everything was freshly made.
For those watching carbs, whole turkey legs can be purchased in the parks. Most of the counter service restaurants in Disney offer a vegetarian option. Peco Bills in Frontierland is well-known for its burgers but the fixings bar itself could double as a salad bar!
So don't despair if you're going to Disney and trying to eat healthy. It shouldn't be too much of a struggle. That is until you smell the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as you pass the Main Street Bake Shop in the Magic Kingdom.

I stumbled upon Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival in May 2004. The annual event brings new meaning to what can be done with flowers, plants and topiaries. The event began March 19th and runs through June 1st. If you'll be in Disney during this time you're in for quite a treat!
You can't miss it when you enter Epcot because the land is drenched in beautiful blooms. These make great stand alone photos or backdrops to take pictures of friends and family.
What's amazing is how these flowers and lush greenery stay fresh and unscorched from that Florida sun at a time of year when the sun really begins to heat up.
During the festival special events are held such as the ladybug release every day at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. This is a great activity for children. In Minnie's Magnificent Butterfly Garden you can wander through a garden and butterfly house with hundreds of butterflies. You also don't want to miss the opportunity to learn from Disney Horticulturists how they create these amazing topiaries.

Disney has a system called Fast Pass. Nobody wants to wait in long lines and Disney has come up with a solution to it. Kiosks in front of many popular rides have a place to insert your park pass. When you do, you get a ticket that gives you a time frame in which to return to the ride and go in the Fast Pass lane. This line moves much faster than the regular line.
You can only get one fast pass at a time but there is a secret to "working" the Fast Pass system. Many people don't realize that if you come back to the ride after the time frame given, they will still honor the Fast Pass. So if your Fast Pass is for the time frame of 1:20 to 2:30 and you come back at 4:30, they will still honor your fast pass. As long as you use the pass that day, they'll honor it. On the other end, you cannot use your Fast Pass earlier than the beginning time. If you arrive at 1:19, they'll make you wait till 1:20. Here's how we work the Fast Pass system: We'll use the Magic Kingdom as an example. We arrive in the morning and head to Splash Mountain, get a Fast Pass. Then go wait in the regular line at Pirates of the Carribbean (which usually moves pretty fast anyway!), once finished Pirates, it's usually time to use the Fast Pass we got for Splash Mountain. But before going on there, we go get another Fast Pass! Now you can only get another Fast Pass if you are within that time frame of your Fast Pass. So using that same Fast Pass time frame example above of 1:20 -2:30, if it's past 1:20, you can get another Fast Pass, regardless of whether you used the first one. It's a little confusing till you learn how to use it and there are some people who just never use it because they don't understand it, but I highly recommend getting acquainted with that system and using it because you'll get on many more rides that way. One thing to remember is that sometimes during busy seasons in the parks, by mid-afternoon, Fast Passes are no longer available for some extremely popular rides such as Soarin over California in Epcot. So if there's something you definitely want to go on in a certain park, get your Fast Pass as early as possible.

There are a lot of perks to staying on Disney property. The biggest benefit is not having to drive to the parks. Disney's elaborate bus system will transport you from any park you want to go to from an hour before the park opens until everyone is out of the parks at the end of the night. Each resort has bus stops where you'll wait till the bus arrives that is going to the park or waterpark you want, or to Downtown Disney. Wait time can vary but is usually not more than 10 or 15 minutes. The length of time on the bus varies depending on what resort you're at and what park you're headed to. Another perk to staying on-site is early entry and extra magic hour. Each day one park opens an hour early and a different park stays open late just for Disney resort guests. For the evening extra magic hour you'll need a wrist bracelet which they begin giving out around 7 p.m. inside the entrance to the park. Be sure you have your resort room key which doubles as your park pass because they'll want to see it before you get a wrist band. One of my favorite perks is having my gift shop purchases sent back to my room so I don't have to lug them around the park all day. Just ask at the checkout counter! Disney allows you to do this up until one day before your departure. If you purchase something in a gift shop on Friday and have it sent to your room, you'll get a voicemail message sometime Saturday letting you know your package has arrived and can be picked up in the gift shop. Disney's Magical Express free transportation to and from the Orlando airport is another resort guest benefit. The Disney Dining Plan offers you all-inclusive food and beverage options during your stay and that too is just for resort guests. Another perk is that at each resort's food court, Disney has a refillable mug you can buy for $12.99 and refill as much as you wish with coffee, tea, soda and water. This savings really adds up when you're vacationing for a week or more.
Another perk is that your room key also serves as your park pass. It's plastic like a credit card and you can use it to charge any purchases in the parks, gift shops and restaurants, as long as you give Disney a credit/debit card for your purchases to be charged to when you check in. At the end of your stay, Disney will charge that card with the total for your purchases and you will get a printout of your charges.
Another perk of staying on Disney property is that once you're name and address is in their system, you've got a chance they'll contact you via mail or e-mail with a code for a discounted room rate.
Where else could you stay and get all these perks?

Some people drive, some fly and some take the Amtrack Auto Train. It's really a personal choice that depends on your time and budget. I prefer to fly but this year had thought about driving. But once I calculated the cost of gas (who knows what it will be this summer?), lodging and food expenses, it really was only a little less than getting a good price for a flight. We did take the Auto Train one year to return home, but it often costs more than a flight. There's the convenience of having your car with you, but you need to be prepared for a less than restful night's sleep. The food was good and they have movies and activities in the lounge. Watch for specials in the summer where kids travel free.
Flying is always my first choice.
I usually book my airfare on my own regardless of whether I book a package through a travel agent. I spend a lot of time checking airfares, watching for the price changes and then pounce like a cat on a mouse when it gets to that magic price I have in mind. If your dates are flexible, you'll save more by flying during the week. Tuesdays and Wednesdays seem to be the days with the lowest fares. Make sure you know what you're getting into when you use lower-cost airlines where you don't reserve your seat when you book. With Southwest Airlines you have to check in online 24 hours before your flight. You're then giving section (A,B, or C) on your boarding pass. When you arrive at the gate, they load the plane beginning with section A, so if you're unfortunate enough to have section C on your boarding pass, you likely won't sit with your travel party. You also need to remember to go to the resort concierge desk 24 hours before your return flight home so they can print your boarding pass. This actually seems like too much work to me for the little savings you get. I prefer my vacation be all play and no work so I choose an airline that allows me to choose my seat when booking.
Disney makes it even more convenient to travel by plane. Several years ago they created a transportation system that takes Disney Resort guests to and from the airport when they fly with participating airlines. It's called Disney's Magical Express. Current airlines participating include American, Air-Tran, Continental, Delta, Jet-Blue, United, Northwest and US Air. And even if you don't use a participating airline but you're staying in a Disney resort, you can contact Magical Express, register with them your flight times and bring them your baggage claim tickets and they'll collect your luggage. When using a participating airline, you'll get luggage tags from your travel agent or in the mail if you book through Disney Travel. The tags will have your Resort Area and names to attach to your luggage. When you arrive at the airport to leave for vacation, wave goodbye to your luggage because you don't have to go to baggage claim when you arrive at Orlando International Airport. Disney will collect and deliver your luggage right to your room, usually within a 3 hour window of your arrival. If you have an early flight and your room isn't ready, they'll keep your luggage at Bell Services at your resort. When you get off the airplane, you head down to the ground floor of the airport where a team of very cheerful Magical Express people greet you and get you on the bus that will take you to your resort. The day before your scheduled return flight home, you'll find a Magical Express envelope at your door. This letter will tell you what time to be ready to be picked up by the Magical Express bus and taken back to the airport. This is a huge cost-savings if you're not planning on leaving Disney property during your stay. And the best part is that Disney's Magical Express service is free!

The only time most people give thought to trip insurance is when the travel agent asks if they want it or something comes up right before leaving for vacation that might warrant the need for it.
Experience taught me it's best to have it.
In August 2004, we had a 7-day trip to Disney planned that we had booked online at a price we could not believe. So trip insurance was the last thing on our minds.
Hurricane Charlie hit Florida the day before we were scheduled to leave and was making its way up the coast. We worried our flight from Philly would be the problem. We awoke early for our 8 a.m. flight and were happy to see just a little rain. We were spared, or so we thought. We arrived at the airport at 5 a.m. Sunday morning and were greeted with a long line of people waiting to check in. We took our place in line and not 5 minutes later an airline employee was walking along the line asking if anyone was headed to Orlando International Airport. That was us!
She went on to tell us that all flights to Orlando were cancelled. Couldn't tell us why or when they would resume but she guessed in about 3 days or so.
My husband and I just looked at each other. Our daughters looked like they were going to cry. It was then I thought about trip insurance and realized we didn't have it. I asked my husband if he knew the way to Disney World. He said, "It's simple, take I-95 and turn at Jacksonville."
Our options were few: miss half the vacation or drive to Florida.
"Kids, get in the car, we're driving to Disney," is what came out of my mouth next. Still in shock and disbelief, we got in the car at 5:30 a.m. and headed south on I-95. We stopped in Virginia to get snacks and pillows for the kids. Meal stops were fast-food only. I called the Wilderness Lodge to let them know our arrival would now be very late that night. The cast member said our room would be waiting and told me to have a magical day. The girls made the best of it and started enjoying the drive. They even made up a song that they would sing whenever we crossed a state line. We all cheered when we drove under the Walt Disney World arch and we arrived at the Wilderness Lodge exactly 18 hours later at 11:30 p.m.
To our surprise (and Disney is famous for its little surprises), we had a room that overlooked Bay Lake instead of the "woods view" we had booked. We were able to watch Wishes fireworks from our balcony. It turned out to be a great trip and one that we always talk and laugh about. And it's the one we think about just before we say "yes" to trip insurance.

As expected, Disney once again is offering Free Dining! From August 24-Sept. 20th if you book a Magic Your Way vacation package, you can get the Disney Dining Plan for free. This morning, Disney Visa cardholders were able tobegin to book free dining. It's going to be opened up to everyone who isn't a Disney Visa cardholder on April 10th.
Though these dates don't work for those of us who have children in school/college, for those who can book during this time, getting the dining plan for free is a great savings and an opportunity to experience some of the finest food in Walt Disney World.
Just make sure you if you book the free dining, you contact Disney Dining and make advance reservations for your table service meals. If you don't, you could be left in the dark and may not get in to many of the restaurants. There are some Disney fans who plot their vacations around free dining.

Disney's monorail system takes you from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot and back or from the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian or the Contemporary Resort to the Magic Kingdom. A little known secret to the monorail is that if you are the first in line for the monorail and ask the cast member if you can ride up front with the driver, they will almost always say yes! (But you have to say "please.") If no one is in the front when your monorail arrives, you will be guided to the front of the monorail where 4 people can sit and watch the panoramic view from the best seats in Disney's transportation system! You'll meet the driver and can ask them any questions you may have. The pictures and video you can get from this perspective is fabulous! And often when you reach your destination, the driver will give the children small certificates as a souvenir.

So many times I've gone to amusement parks and found the food less than tasty and extremely expensive. In Disney, some say the food is expensive. I believe you get a lot of food for your Disney Dollar. Several years ago Disney came up with a promotion for a Disney Dining Plan.
This plan allowed guests who stay at Disney Resorts and had a vacation package booked, the opportunity pay one price per person per day and receive credits for one table service meal (at a restaurant on Disney property), one counter service meal and one snack credit. Each year since the Dining Plan began, Disney has offered free dining for certain dates in August and spilling over into September. When we learned of the free dining offer for our August 2006 trip, we called and booked it. When you book the dining plan, it's recommended you make advance reservations with the Disney restaurant before your trip. Some restaurants are hard to get into because they're so popular. You can begin making your reservations 180 days before the day you plan to eat at that restaurant. Though making a reservation doesn't mean a table is reserved for you, it means when you arrive, you will get the first available table. We never waited more than 10 or 15 minutes. The dining plan is a great way to try many of the wonderful restaurants on Disney property. I would say however, it is definitely too much food. A table service credit allowed us to get an appetizer (this has since been deleted from the table service credit), an entree a dessert and a non-alcoholic beverage. On our free dining trip, we kept receipts and tallied what our freebies totaled over a week and for 4 of us, we had $1,200 in food reciepts. Last year, we added the dining plan to our 10 day trip for $37.99 a person (per day) plus tax.
Then it included tax and tip. In 2008 that was changed and the price now no longer includes tax and tip. If you keep an eye on the Walt Disney World website, sometimes they offer dining discounts. Recently I saw a 30 percent discount on dining. I would definitely recommend trying it if you're going during the free dining period (now *rumored* to begin Aug. 24, 2008). The promotion previously began being offered in April and could be offered beginning next week. As usual with Disney, they only offer the discount (with a code!) for a certain number of rooms in each resort so you need to act fairly quickly to take advantage, because everyone wants free dining. Depending on the number of people traveling with you, it could save you as much as the cost of your resort stay and park tickets!

Staying on Disney property has its benefits. In addition to free transportation to and from the airport and to and from the parks, you can get discounts on your room rate! Disney has categorized its seasons throughout the year and labeled them. Value season in 2008 is Jan. 1-Feb 13; July 20-Oct. 1 (deluxe resorts value season); Aug. 3-Nov. 20; Nov. 30-Dec. 18. This is the time when you can get the best rates on rooms at Disney resorts. If you want to get additional discounts the easiest one to get is AAA. If you are a AAA member, you'll get an additional 10-15 percent off. But don't delay, each resort allows only a certain amount of rooms to AAA discount. When those rooms are booked, you're out of luck with that discount. And be prepared to give Disney your AAA member number when you call to make a reservation because they will ask for it.
Another way to get a discount is with a code. These random discounts that Disney dishes out can save you anywhere from 20 to 40 percent on your room rate! If you're registered at the Disney website and receive occassional e-mail offers from them, you can receive a code that way. They also come via a postcard in the mail.
If you've stayed on Disney property previously, you're in their reservation system and you can just call and ask if a code is attached to your name when calling to inquire about a room rate. Even if you've booked your room, it doesn't hurt to call and find out if there's a code. If you have a code attached to your name and you already have a reservation, Disney will allow you to apply the code to get the additional discount as long as your travel dates are within the dates during which the code is good for.