Dad’s Nine By Noon Magic Kingdom Challenge – the introduction

Posted on May 20, 2012 by

What is the Nine By Noon Magic Kingdom Challenge? Good question.

In December 2010, the New York Times had a story that said that “according to Disney research, the average Magic Kingdom visitor has had time for only nine rides – out of more than 40 – because of lengthy waits and crowded walkways and restaurants”. See the full story here.

Nine rides? Just nine rides? I think we could do nine rides on Christmas Day! (Now that would be a challenge.)

Main Street USA very crowded

Nine Rides with these crowds. You gotta be kiddin' - Photo by Mastery of Maps

While I agree with a lot of the story, I vehemently disagree with the reason people only complete one fourth of the rides in the park. The story says, guests only complete 9 rides because of the long lines and busy restaurants. Bunk. That’s just crazy talk.

In Dad’s experience, the reason most people only see nine rides at the Magic Kingdom in a day is because of poor or no planning. Yes, lines are long and restaurants are busy (if you arrive at noon, if try to go to Cinderella’s Royal Table without an Advanced Dining Reservation, if you try to ride the Mountains without a FASTPASS) but with a little preparation and thought any family should be able to accomplish more than 9 rides.

So, Dad what’s this Nine By Noon Thing?

When I first read the New York Times story, my immediate reaction was, I can do nine rides at the Magic Kingdom by noon. (I think I actually said breakfast, but that’s pushing it a bit.) Yes, nine by noon! Come on Mrs. Mom, we can do this.

Dad is introducing the Nine By Noon Challenge, and Dad is going to be the first to play. On Dad and Mrs. Mom’s Disney Palooza 2012, we will be going to the Magic Kingdom on our first day and we will finish 9 rides by noon. Yes, we will. Dad has a plan. (You can see Dad’s Magic Kingdom Plan here.)

Over the next couple of months, Dad will be working out the details of a contest where you can participate in the Nine By Noon Challenge and maybe win a prize. Be thinking about how you would complete nine rides at the Magic Kingdom by noon. In a couple of weeks (or months) Dad will reveal the details of how this will all work. It will be fun. Trust me.

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Posted in Dad's rants, News, Planning and Reservations, The Magic Kingdom, The Parks, The Perfect WDW Vacation, Traveling as Grandma and Grandpa in waiting | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Healthy Habits Saturday – Just Say No

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

Just Say No. This is good advice. Unfortunately in todays culture of indulgence “Just Say No” isn’t stylish. We’ve become a culture of anything goes, if it feels good do it, it’s all about me, your not the boss of me, and lots of other cliches. But sometimes that’s just not practical. Sometimes you have to “Just Say No”.

The Toluca Leg Turkey Company building at Walt Disney World

The Man-Child loves this place - photo by sifu renka

Now I don’t want to get into a big cultural discussion about lifestyle choices or anything like that. I’m talking about step 7 of our 10 Steps to a Stress Free Vacation. Step 7 is learn to say no. Yes, sometimes you have to Just Say No.

This applies to everyone. It’s not just about saying no to the kids (which is easy and hard). It’s sometimes about telling yourself no. It’s about telling your spouse no. It’s about being able to do that in a loving way and not in a mean way and sticking to it.

Here is an example of what I’m talking about. The Man-Child is a free spender and big eater. If we’d let him, he’d eat 5 turkey legs every day. He wants to buy everything he lays his eyes on. There’s not enough money in the world to get him the things he wants. So several times every day, on every Disney World Trip, we have to tell The Man-Child no.

If you are like Dad, the hardest person on the planet for Dad to say no to is Dad. (Mrs. Mom is a close second.) It’s pretty easy to say no to the kids (especially The Man-Child). It’s just hard to say no when it comes to a vacation. Vacations are all about making us happy and indulging ourselves and our loved ones.

So, Dad, why is it so important to Just Say No?

There are several reasons but the most important is because there are rules and guidelines for every vacation that have to be followed. For example, the budget we made when we started the Palooza, we said that it is important to set the guidelines before you leave on vacation so everyone knows what they can spend. This minimizes the need to Just Say No and makes it easier when you have to. All you have to say (and we’ve done this a hundred times) is, do you have the money? If the answer is no, can I borrow some. It’s pretty easy to say … Nope.

For some of us, Just Say No is easier than for others. Dad is an “it’s OK, honey, go ahead” type of guy. Mrs. Mom on the other hand is the practical one. She is the one that holds us to our budget. This is a great thing. If it was up to Dad, a Disney World vacation would cost a billion dollars because I’d just buy everything. Someone has to say no. This is a good thing.

It’s pretty easy to just go on vacation and spend like there is no tomorrow. In fact, Disney does everything they can to suck all the money out of your wallet, your credit cards and even the kids college fund. They are masters at making people want to spend money. From the gift shops at the exit of every ride to the food carts that are located at just the perfect place to make your mouth water. Even the “free” transportation to and from the airport encourages you to stay on Disney property and spend your vacation dollars with Disney. Yes, Disney wants your money, all of it and more.

Learning to “Just Say No” is hard, very hard, but it’s important, not just for a Stress Free Vacation, but for everyday life. What is just as important is how we respond to someone who “Just Says No.” Maybe we’ll talk about that in the future. Maybe not.

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Disney Cruise Friday – Mrs. Mom does some research

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

On Mother’s Day this week, I talked about Mrs. Mom and her Pearls of Wisdom when it comes to the Palooza. Earlier this week, as we were doing our almost daily evening walk (our Healthy Habits walk), Mrs. Mom started bombarding me with tons of information about “Embarkation” day on the Disney Dream. Wow. It all came pouring out …

The AquaDuck and pool area of the Disney Dream cruse ship

This is just cool - Photo by insidethemagic

The first thing she asked was “what time do you think will we board the ship?” Innocent enough. Then in about the next 10 seconds I got bombarded with …

Did you know that there are special tours of the ship between 1 and 2 pm? Or, that the Flo’s Cafe area is open all afternoon? And Cabanas is open until around 3 along with the Sail Away buffet? That a lot of people pack swimsuits in carry ons and swim and ride the AquaDuck before the ship sails? Are we planning to watch the party from deck 12 or deck 13? Do we really have to wait until we board to reserve Palo or Remy? (Remember, dear, we aren’t planning to eat at Palo or Remy.) Will we really have to wait until we read the Personal Navigator to know which restaurants we are scheduled to eat at each night? They actually take roll at the Life Boat Drill … on and on it went.

Whoa horse (another anachronistic statement from Dad). Slow down a bit, Mrs. Mom. Let’s see if I can answer some of your questions.

Cool, Really, Good, Fun, It’s 11 or 12 but I think 12, Think so but who cares, Dunno but maybe, No.

Yep, in person, Dad’s a real conversationalist.

This is really cool. Mrs. Mom is more excited about the Palooza than Dad is.

So where did Mrs. Mom come up all this information? I asked her today and she told me she found it on the internet. That’s cool, but the internet’s a big place. Can you be a bit more specific? So, she took me to her computer and we looked at her history file and found the site she was looking at. It’s a pretty cool review of the first day of a Disney Cruise. Check it out here.

No, I didn’t bite her head off (I did scold her a bit) for looking at another WDW site. (Yes, I’m the jealous type and it hurt just a little.) Since I haven’t written much about Sail Away Day, I guess it’s OK. But you just wait. When I get back from our Palooza Cruise, we’ll make sure Mrs. Mom doesn’t have to go to any other sites to find information. You can be sure of that.

OK, enough rambling for one day. Mrs. Mom is something special. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

The Blog

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Walt Disney World extends June Hours to Please Heavy Crowds

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

Hey Yall! Summer is almost officially here. With summer guest can be expecting more heat and more crowds at our favorite vacations spot. Walt Disney World announced that they are planning to extend the hours in the Magic Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. The only one that has not changed their hours is Epcot, and that’s because (as Dad says) the Epcot hours are boring and never change.

The Main Street Electrical Parade in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World

Yipee, more chances to see the parade - photo by Don Sullivan

In the Magic Kingdom, for most days during the month, an extra hour or two was added to the evening schedule along with a second showing of Main Street Electrical Parade. At Disney Hollywood Studios almost every day changed. Some days the morning opening time changed to 8 am. Most days an extra hour was added in the evening plus they added second showing of Fantasmic!. At Animal Kingdom, an extra hour was added in the evening.

Download the full list of hours here

Unfortunately this usually means Disney is expecting bigger than normal crowds. When Dad reads this he might have to take a look at the June Disney World Crowds page and make some changes.

Have a great weekend.

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Dad and Mrs. Mom’s Disney Palooza 2012 – our hotels

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the hotels we will be staying in during the Palooza. Yes, I’ve probably mentioned all 3, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about our decision process. So here is all you’d ever want to know about how Dad picked the Disney Hotels for our Disney Palooza.

The Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World with Bay Lake Towers in the Background

Yep, Contemporary - Ugly. Bay Lake Towers - Cute. Photo by Christian Lambert

Picking a hotel at Disney World is harder than it sounds. There are now 24 or 25 hotels (depending on how you count the Treehouse Villas) at Walt Disney World. That number will expand to 25 or 26 when the Art of Animation Resort opens at the end of the month.

Of course, we could have chosen a non-Disney hotel … Nah.

We kinda picked the hotels backward. We started with the third hotel and worked backward.

The last hotel was the first and easiest choice. The whole Palooza is happening in October because Dad is going to a convention at Walt Disney World. The convention is being held at the Coronado Springs Resort. Dad has stopped by the Coronado Springs a couple of times, and while the hotel looks pretty, it’s not somewhere Dad would normally pick to stay at. (Dad’s not a big fan of the Moderates because of how spread out the hotels are.)

Dad’s Coronado Springs Resort page

Dad normally thinks the Moderates are a bit overpriced even for Disney, but the convention price for the Coronado Springs was just about the same price as we were paying for the Pop Century. That’s a good deal. So it was an easy decision to pick the hotel where Dad’s convention will happen.

Next came the hotel for the bulk of the Palooza. The first week of the Palooza is theme park week. We will be spending our days in the Theme Parks. So Dad wanted to find a hotel that some transportation options other than just the buses. Dad’s first choice, of course, was the Polynesian Resort, but at over $400 per night was just too expensive. We had pretty much decided to go back to the Pop Century when …

One day, at church, I casually mentioned to our friends who have a Disney Vacation Club Membership at Bay Lake Towers, that I’d be happy to rent some points from them if they had any extra in the future. What do you know, they did. They set a price and I agreed. I really wanted to try out the Bay Lake Towers, so I told them our dates and they made a reservation for us. Whoopeee!

Price was a big deal in this. We ended up paying just over $200 per night for our room. That’s a steal for a MAGIC KINGDOM VIEW Studio room. The regular price for that room would be over $550 per night. Yep, a steal. (Find out more about renting points from David’s Vacation Club Rentals.)

Dad’s Bay Lake Towers page

So Dad, you’ve mentioned the Pop Century, what’s up with that? Dad got to looking at our plan and realized we needed to add a day to the trip to make sure we could see everything. So Dad made a command decision and added a day to the Palooza but it was too late to add another day at Bay Lake Towers. We needed hotel for just one night. When we started pricing hotels and looking at the plan.

Believe me, I thought about the Polynesian, but just couldn’t pay the big price. Then we started talking about our meals and our choice became totally obvious. Back to our favorite Value Resort the …

Dad’s Pop Century page

Again, Dad is not a fan of the Contemporary Resort. In Dad’s humble opinion, it’s kinda ugly. Yes, ugly. Uncle Walt thought the Contemporary would be what the hotels of the future would look like. Fortunately, Uncle Walt was totally wrong on this one. The Contemporary is still the ugliest hotel at Disney World. But, the Bay Lake Towers on the other hand is kinda cute. (And it’s walking distance from the Magic Kingdom.)

There you have it, that’s how we chose our hotels for the Palooza. It pretty much boiled down to price. Hey, when you’re spending 2 full weeks at Walt Disney World, saving a buck is a big deal.

Of course, if you’d like some help in choosing a Disney Hotel, Dad has a couple of resources. First, check out Dad’s Disney Hotel ebooks for great info and savings. You can also get some professional help from Dad’s partners at Pixie and Pirate Destinations. Give them a shout and get started.

The Blog

Posted in Disney Hotels, Hotels, The Perfect WDW Vacation, Traveling as Grandma and Grandpa in waiting | Tagged , | 2 Comments