Disney Holiday Events on land or at sea.

On occasion when we travel to one of the Disney resorts it happens to coincide with a holiday. We have been to Disneyland during the Christmas season (usually between Thanksgiving and Christmas) when they bring out the winter holiday theming. 

However this is the first time that we will be traveling there during the fall close to the Halloween holiday. Because of this and the fact my son is 4 years old we have decided to take advantage of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This is essentially an after park hours special event that has spooky theming, special fireworks, and what I think is the coolest feature your ability to dress in costume and trick or treat in WDW. This is not a cheap outing and you really need to address whether or not it is appropriate for your group. In our case it is. Not only do we have a young child who likes to dress up, but my wife and I are extreme Halloween fans ("I am the pumpkin king!").

So we were all set for this special treat, when the Disney Cruise Line gave us an extra surprise. Because we are sailing The Disney Dream in between September 22 and October 31 they are going to be holding special Halloween events. The pirate party will be replaced by a Halloween party hosted by Jack Skelington and Sally (complete with meet and greets), there will also be kids club events, as well as some spooky fun for us adults. Now for those of you who are wondering about the other ships, they will also be getting some holiday fun although no specifics have been announced as of this date. 

The official announcement also hinted at winter holiday events that will be taking place during those holiday time periods so take heart you travelers going in November through January.

More to come soon.

Walt Disney World Vacation Planning: our splurge and how to make it fit in the budget.

Be it add ons, extras, up sells, impulse buys,or plain old splurges when you are on vacation chances are that you will want to get, do, or experience something that isn't on your original budget. When my family goes on vacation, even when we are on a shoestring budget, we like to pick one thing that is a splurge. This can be dining at a specific restaurant, picking out a cool art piece to hang at home, a massage at the spa, a special t-shirt, or buying pictures to remind us how much fun we had. This may mean that you get creative and use your AAA card to get that 15% off, Study the Fodors, or Frommers discussion boards (or the DISboards) for advice or deals, pick up one of those coupon books (you know the ones that your kid's school sells every year) that are filled with discounts, or "pre-purchase" a spur of the moment t-shirt or parade vendor item from the Disney Store or online so that you get it for less than at the park (this is great for younger kids who are not totally aware of how purchasing works).

On our upcoming Walt Disney World trip my wife and I decided that we wanted pictures of all of us together (as you might guess we don't have may of these because someone always has to hold the camera). She did some web research and discovered that WDW offers deals on photo packages, if you pre-purchase them before arriving at the resort. This is great for us as we can just enjoy walking around the park and getting posed and candid shots done without the bother of lugging a camera around and having to ask someone to snap the picture. This picture package will allow us to have pictures done through out the the resort and get them placed on a CD for ease of use. We absolutely loved this idea and snapped at the chance to get memories of what will be our biggest trip as a family. You will need to check in the Disney website to see what pricing, but if you feel like me, in the long run the memories you will share will be priceless to you and your family.