Celebrating 40 Years of Walt Disney World

If you love everything Disney like I do, you’re going to love this link I found.

Jeff Kober on Mouse Planet is doing a 4-part series on “Celebrating Four Decades of Walt Disney World”, and while only part 1 is up right now…it’s really cool.

In this article, he goes through the history of Walt Disney world, each year, from when Walt Disney World first opened in 1971. You can read about all the things that were added, changed, or taken away.

Now, don’t get me wrong…there’s a LOT that I know about Disney and Walt Disney World, but even I really learned a lot from this article!

For example, did you know that Peter Pan’s Flight didn’t open until 2 days AFTER the park did? Or that in 1974, John Lennon signed the paperwork that officially broke up the Beatles while he was staying at the Polynesian Resort? Or how about in 1975, when the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village opened, what stores were originally there?

Part one of this article goes from 1971 – 1981. I really can’t wait until the second part comes out.
I’m telling you, this article was really cool to read. If you’re into Walt Disney World, I really suggest you check it out.

Read “Celebrating Four Decades of Walt Disney World Now

Bookmark to:

• New Club at Mirage to Open Dec 22nd
• Walt Disney World will have Free Dining Select Dates through March 2012!
• Free Disney Dining Plan is Back!
• Magic Kingdom Basics
• Monsters Inc. Attraction Not Ready

As we’re headed towards the end of summer, a lot of people are looking to go on vacation.

And if you’re anything like me, you’d like to save as much money as possible when you do!

So if you’re looking to go to Southern California (Anaheim and San Diego), you’re going to love this.

There is a Southern California Citypass that includes some of the big attractions in the area. You get:

• 3-Day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper (which means you can go to both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure)
• Universal Studios Hollywood
• SeaWorld
• San Diego Zoo OR San Diego Zoo Safari Park

It’s valid for 14 days from the day of first use, so don’t think you need to do these all in a row. You can take time off between them to relax, etc.

What’s also great is that you can skip most of the ticket lines when you have your Citypass with you! It’s great.

I was able to use this on my trip to California a few years ago, and it was great. We went to all of the above parks (we chose to do the San Diego Zoo instead of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park) and had a great time.

It was also great not to have to stand in line to buy tickets, especially since some of the lines were pretty long…and we saved a lot of money by doing it this way.

If you’re going to Southern California, and plan on going to all of these attractions, it is definitely worth getting the Citypass.

Get the Southern California Citypass Now!

Bookmark to:

• Southern California City Pass
• Back from Southern California
• San Diego Discounts
• Planning a Trip to Southern Californina
• Balboa Park – Fleet Science Center

I mentioned it last month, but I wanted to say it again in case someone missed it. You have until June 22nd to book a Walt Disney World trip with FREE Disney Dining. This means that if you stay on property and get at least a 1-day park pass (of course you can get passes for as many days as you’d like), you’ll get FREE meals for everyone in your party!

You really can’t ask for more than that. I’ve done this twice before, and it’s incredible. You will get to eat at some really great restaurants, and won’t have to worry about the price!

The package is a little bit different than in previous years, but it’s still great considering it’s FREE:

Each day, each person in the room gets 1 quick serve meal (which includes an entree, dessert, and drink), 1 table service meal (which includes an entree, dessert, and drink), as well as a snack credit which can be used on many items such as ice cream, fruit, drinks, etc.

Tips are no longer included, so you’ll still have to pay for that…but think about all the free food you will be getting each day!

It really is worth it, since you have to pay for a hotel room anytime you go anyway, so you would still have to pay to eat. I’d much rather just pay for tips than have to pay for my meals plus tips!

I’ll be going again in 2009 (hopefully they’ll have free dining again!) since I was just there in 2007, but I really recommend it to everyone.

Bookmark to:

• Free Disney Dining Plan is Back!
• Walt Disney World – Free Dining Again?
• Disney – Free Dining Plan Offer Confirmed!
• Disney Dining Plan
• The Disney Dining Plan

If you’re going to Universal Studios Orlando, and are considering staying on site, you might want to take a look at this deal. United Vacations has a deal where if you stay at one of the 3 on-site hotels (Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, or the Loews Royal Pacific Resort) for at least 4 nights, you’ll get 2 FREE adult 2-park unlimited admission tickets! How great is that? You’ll also get a free Universal ExpressSM so you can skip the regular lines at most rides and attractions!

Not too bad, right?

To get this deal you have to book by December 12th, and can travel anytime by December 25th! So you have plenty of time. The Simpsons ride is opening soon, so if you’ve been waiting for that, it’s almost here!

Bookmark to:

• Southern California Citypass – A Great Way to get Discounts at Disneyland, Universal Studios, and More!
• New Rollercoaster for Universal Studios Orlando
• Walt Disney World will have Free Dining Select Dates through March 2012!
• Animal Kingdom Basics
• New Hotel Open in Las Vegas

Looking for the perfect vacation for the whole family? As I mentioned last week, Disney is offering FREE Dining if you travel between August 24th and September 20th. You have to stay on property, but since they have all types of hotels, you’re sure to find one that fits your budget. United has a great deal going on right now where you can book your trip to Disney, get the FREE dining package, and get a great price!

I can’t recommend Disney’s FREE dining offer enough. We’ve done it twice now, and really enjoy it. Hopefully they’ll offer it next year so we can do it again. We figure since we went last year, that we’d go somewhere else this year. But it makes your vacation so nice and easy not to have to worry about paying for your meals. You’ll also get some great meals when you have FREE dining, and since you won’t have to worry about the cost, you can order what you’d like, and get to try some really great foods!

Bookmark to:

• The Disney Dining Plan
• Disney Free Dining 2008
• Walt Disney World will have Free Dining Select Dates through March 2012!
• Disney Dining Plan
• Free Disney Dining Plan is Back!

It’s finally here!! If you’ve looked into going to Walt Disney World in August or September, most likely you’ve heard of the Free Dining Plan they have had the past few years. We took advantage of it in September 2005, and this past September as well.

It’s back! If you plan on going to Walt Disney World between August 24th and September 20th, and are staying on property, as long as each person has at least a 1-day park ticket, you will get FREE Disney Dining with your reservation!!!

Considering it usually costs $37.99 for an adult, and $9.99 per child, you are getting a great deal. What exactly do you get with the Disney Dining Plan?

Each day, each person gets: 1 quick serve meal (which includes an entree, dessert, and drink), 1 table service meal (which includes an entree, dessert, and drink), as well as a snack credit which can be used on many items such as ice cream, fruit, drinks, etc. Tips are no longer included…but think about all the free food you will be getting each day!

We have taken advantage of this deal twice, and both times it was incredible! We ate some really great meals, and it didn’t cost us anything. The best part was, we went in September after most kids had gone back to school, so it wasn’t even very crowded! We were able to walk onto most rides without having to wait in line. So between that and the great (FREE) food, it was an amazing trip. Actually, we’re hoping they do it next year so that we can go in September of 2009. It’s fun going every other year for us!

To book the Free Dining package, you can either do it at the Disney Web Site, AAA, or at your local travel agent. If you do go, have fun!

Bookmark to:

• Walt Disney World will have Free Dining Select Dates through March 2012!
• Walt Disney World – Free Dining Again?
• FREE Disney Dining – Great Deal
• Disney Free Dining 2008
• The Disney Dining Plan

Rumor has it that FREE Dining at Disney will be offered for late August -Mid September starting tomorrow, April 10th. I have taken advantage of this twice before, and can’t tell you how great of a deal it is.

Tomorrow I’ll be back with more details on exactly how you can book your trip…and get your meals for free! Since I did this last September (and was just at Disneyland last month), I won’t be booking this year…but I’m hoping they’ll do it again next year because then I will take them up on it!

I’ll have all the details for you tomorrow!

Bookmark to:

• FREE Disney Dining – Great Deal
• Free Disney Dining Plan is Back!
• Disney Free Dining 2008
• Walt Disney World – Free Dining Again?
• Walt Disney World will have Free Dining Select Dates through March 2012!

SeaWorld was a really nice drive from La Jolla. It was quick and easy, and we passed some really nice areas on the way.

We had a lot of fun that day, and got to see a lot of fish, penguins, dolphins, sharks, and more. While I knew it would be a fun day, I honestly didn’t realize how much fun it would be. The whole day was great, and the animals were really great.

The shows were a lot of fun as well. We were able to see the Dolphin Discovery, Pets Rule, Shamu Show: Believe, and Clyde and Seamore’s Risky Rescue. All of them were were really great, and we were impressed.

I hadn’t thought it would be a full day park, and figured we wouldn’t be there all that long, but we were there until they closed, which was at 6pm.

Bookmark to:

• Travel Shows on the East Coast
• The Hershey Chocolate Factory
• Philadelphia Flower Show
• Orlando, Time for a New Theme Park!
• Griffith Observatory

After we checked out of our hotel in Anaheim, we started towards San Diego. When we planned our trip, we knew that Legoland was on the way, and loved the idea of seeing all of the amazing LEGO creations…so we bought 2 tickets (actually, we technically got them for free…see how we did it.)

It was nice and easy to get to – right off of the highway in Carlsbad, California. I will say this. It is a park definitely designed for kids. We knew this going into it though, so we weren’t surprised or disappointed. Almost all of the rides are kids rides, and adults going alone wouldn’t enjoy them. But we weren’t going for the rides. We had been to the Lego store in Disney many times, and loved the cool displays they had of a sea dragon, a family, and a lot more – all made out of LEGOs. The idea of an entire park of stuff like that really interested us, so we figured we would check it out. We also knew they had MiniLand, which took US cities and recreated them in miniature.

We had a good time walking all over the park. One section where we spent a lot of time was MiniLand USA. MiniLand has a mini version of Las Vegas, Florida, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and Washington DC. It was incredible the level of detail they had for everything!! It was a lot of fun to look at.

We also enjoyed walking around the rest of the park, because everywhere you went, there were more cool LEGO creations. I even had to take my camera out when having lunch, because the restaurant had many cool characters in there as well!

If you really like LEGOs, you’ll enjoy Legoland, even if you don’t have kids. Of course kids will enjoy all the rides, but we still had fun.

Bookmark to:

• LegoLand California – For Less
• Carnival Splendor – Great for Families!
• Overall Thoughts on Disneyland
• Disney for Adults
• Nickelodeon Universe – Coming Soon to The Mall of America

Since we were just talking about Universal Studios yesterday (even though that was Hollywood and this is Orlando) I thought this would be a perfect time to mention a new roller coaster that was just announced for Universal Studios Orlando! It’s called the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit and looks really cool! It is going to have a lot of loops, twists, turns, and will even go out into CityWalk…so it goes outside the theme park!

It’s going to open next spring. This is one of many attractions that are currently being worked on in Universal Studios Orlando. I must admit, I’m really looking forward to going next year once all of these new rides and attractions open up.

Bookmark to:

• Universal Studios Hollywood
• Universal Studios Orlando – Free Park Tickets
• Southern California Citypass – A Great Way to get Discounts at Disneyland, Universal Studios, and More!
• Southern California City Pass
• Back from Southern California