Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Make Reservations for Food & Wine Events Now



Disney is now accepting reservations for special events (seminars, talks, tastings, etc.) for Epcot's 2011 International Food & Wine Festival. Some of these events include the First Bites Opening Reception, Sweet Sundays, The Discovery of Chocolate (my first choice!), and Mixology Seminars. The festival runs from September 30 through November 13. You can make your special event reservations by calling 407-WDW-FEST.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Hidden Mickey

This morning at Zumba, a woman in front of me was sweating in a Mickey pattern! No kidding--there was a perfect Hidden Mickey on her lower back at the end of the workout. I would have taken a picture, but...well, I thought she might find that in poor taste. (And you probably don't want to see that either, do you?)

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Friday Photo



In about 5 weeks, we'll be there! Just. Can't. Wait!

Halloween "Sneak Peek"


Have you seen the sneak peek of the new Disney Store Halloween collection? Is it embarrassing for me to admit that I want this? I'm guessing it doesn't come in my size. Check out the other great costumes and accessories here!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Thursday's Tip

I'm a big proponent of saving money by taking food and drinks into the Disney Parks. Topping our list of items that we typically take into the Parks is bottled water. We usually buy a case (on sale, of course!) at home and take it along with us. Each morning we pack at least one bottle per person. We tend to drive to the Parks and often keep a cooler in our car to refresh our water stash midday. (These are all bonus tips--enjoy!)

But this year, we're doing something different. Thursday's Tip: take a filtered water bottle to WDW. I had read many reviews from Disney devotees who are hooked on water bottles with built-in filters, but until recently, I hadn't seen these in stores (and they were a little pricey online, especially when you factored in the shipping costs). But lately, I've been seeing several varieties of bottles with filters in stores, so we decided to try the "Brita Bottle on the Go."

Brita® Bottle

This retails for around $10 (but you can find them for $7 or less with coupons), and the filter lasts for about 2 months. My husband has been trying this out at work for the last few weeks--we have excessive algae in our water this time of year in Tennessee, and his office doesn't have a filtering system. His assessment is that the filter works quite well, but he is a bit concerned with the possibility of leakage around the rim. Hoping that isn't an issue, but we tend to keep everything in ziplock bags anyhow.

Our plan is to take 2 Brita bottles and share them. (We may pack a few small plastic cups for the girls, since they aren't crazy about squeeze bottles. They should fit over the top of the bottles for compact packing in our bag.) This should also cut down on the weight we carry into the Parks! I'm kinda psyched about having a little extra space in our car too (minus the case of water we usually bring). More space for shoes--yay!

The Numbers Are In--But What Do They Mean?

"The Daily Disney" section of the Orlando Sentinel has an article regarding Disney's earnings this quarter. Trying to decipher the numbers is a bit like reading Portugese to me, but I'm always interested in what experts have to say about the numbers--and what they likely mean for the consumer.

Disney has been making a gradual shift from the deep discounting of the last few years, but I'm happy to read that Robert Iger is keeping the deep discount door open, should our economy weaken. "We'll take a look at holiday bookings as the year progresses. It's way too early to predict, … [but] my gut, based on the trends we've seen this past year, is it's not something that we'll necessarily have to do quickly." After the rollercoaster the stock market has taken this past week, it would seem that just about anything can happen.

To read the full article, click here.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Grand Floridian Spa Temporarily Closing

The official word from Disney is that the Grand Floridian Spa will be closing on September 19 for 18 months due to a "planned renovation." Most Disney watchers are attributing the closure to the impending construction not-yet-officially-announced DVC Grand Floridian Villas.

On a personal note, the closure comes while we're at WDW--and staying at the Grand Floridian! No, I didn't have real plans to go to the spa...but, hey, it's my 40th birthday...ya never know. True spa lovers need not fear: there are two other spas on property--one at Saratoga Springs and another at the Swan/Dolphin Resorts.