Today's Orlando Groupon: Characters in Flight

Today's Groupon for the Orlando area is up to 44% off of Characters in Flight, the tethered hot air balloon experience at Downtown Disney. It will cost you $11 for one person (and $18 value) or $20 for two (a $36 value), and you can purchase up to 10 Groupons. The Groupon expires May 31, 2013. If you've always wanted to try this experience, and you have a trip coming up soon, this would be a great deal to purchase!

Today's Orlando Groupon: Garden Grove

If you've never tried a character meal--and feel that they're just a bit too pricey--here's a great way to try one at half price! Today's Groupon deal for the Orlando area is a half price character meal at the Garden Grove restaurant in the Walt Disney World Swan Resort. The regular price for this dinner is $36, bu you can buy the Groupon for just $18.

There are some restrictions, however. You can only purchase one for yourself and two additional as gifts. And in case you were hoping to get around that and "gift" them to someone else in your party, you can only use one per table. So, unless you're going to this meal alone, you're going to have to pay full price for the rest of your party.

Still, it's a better deal than paying full price. However, you might do better with a gift certificate (purchase at 80% off with a coupon code, which are frequently available) from Restaurant.com, depending on the size of your party. As always, you gotta do the math to see what's best for your family.

Cars 2 Review

Before I jump into my assessment of Cars 2, I want to take a moment for a "bargain brag": our family of four saw the movie yesterday for just $9! How? We got 2 free tickets (up to $8.50 value each) by purchasing Cars and The Incredibles on Blu-ray (and I got those at a bargain price with coupons too!). For the remaining two tickets, we used the Fandango deal we recently purchased from Groupon--two tickets for $9. Voila! Four tickets to see Cars 2 on opening night for just $9.

So...the movie. Although I won't go so far as to say I didn't like it, I can't say that it falls among my favorite Disney/Pixar films. For starters, Cars 2 was missing so many of the things our family enjoyed about the original: the NASCAR theme (my husband is a huge fan), character development (I honestly can't even remember the names of most of the new characters, much less understand their personalities), and good storytelling. This sequel is much more action-oriented, and the story takes a backseat. Oh, and if you were hoping for a Lightning McQueen-centered film, you're out of luck. Mater is definitely the star of this one.

Don't get me wrong: there are funny moments and some fun "Easter eggs" to be found, but, in my not-so-humble opinion, this movie lacks the heart of the original. Do I recommend seeing it? Sure...I mean, it is a Disney film. And if our experience is any indication, everybody is seeing it--our enormous theatre was sold out, as were most of the showings yesterday. Bottom line: it's not the best movie of the summer, but it's a fun family outing that will make the kiddos happy.