Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #4

   Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #4

Fast passes are free. Yes I said free!!! Make sure you take advantage of them. When you utilize fast pass you free up more of your day because you are not standing in lines all day. Just remember to use your fast pass within the time frame given. WDW is cracking down on the time frames. Also remember that you can only have one fast pass at a time, so choose wisely.


Friday, October 26, 2012

Disney Pin




Today I received a Disney Pin Code in the mail today. It was for up to 35% off hotel stay or free dining. I think Disney is teasing me. I only receive these pin codes when we don't need them. Why can't they send them to me when we actually have a trip planned.  When I saw the envelope today in the mail I knew exactly what it was. Why Why Why?
Okay so if you don't know what I am talking about, a pin code comes either thru mail, email or is placed by your name in the Disney system. No one knows how these things are generated out. A pin code is a special that is only offered to a select group of people at different times of the year for Disney property hotels.
If you would like to try for one these pins. I would suggest the following:

1) Sign up at Disney.com for an account

2) Browse and price vacation packages and saved them for the future on Disney.com

3) Go to Disney on a trip and stay on property

4) Sign up for Disney mailing lists.

Like I said before no one knows how the pin numbers are generated, trying the four steps above may or may not get you a pin. Good Luck. If you get a pin I would love to hear about it, so I can be so jealous of you...lol  If you know of any other ways of receiving a pin, please comment and let me know so I can add it to the list. I will give you all credit for your tip. I will place your link beside the tip :) Can't beat that for free advertisement. Hope you all have have a hot dog day!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Our New Merida Doll

My love for Disney has grown so much since last week. Disney really knows how to make things right with their customers. Last May when we were in the world, we purchased our daughter the Brave Merida doll. We were not home for more than a week when I noticed that Merida's hand was missing. My daughter was very distraught about this and would not play with the doll anymore. So at one of our lasts visits to our local Disney store, I was just talking with one of the Cm's about what had happen and he told me to bring the doll in. Well with my busy schedule and the fact that we had lost all of the little pieces that belonged to the doll,  we never took it back to the store. The other day my daughter insisted we go get another one. Since we were going to that mall that day, I thought we would take the doll with us. I thought for sure they would not do anything for me. We did not have any of the pieces that went with it. We walked in and I talked to the main Cm, with no questions asked, he handed me a brand new Merida doll. I was in shock. I kept saying I just need the doll, we don't have all the pieces and he said it did not matter, all they needed was the doll. SCORE!!! So now we have a brand new doll. Disney is awesome!!!

Cosmic Ray"s Starlight Cafe

When Doing Disney who has time to sit down at a table service meal three times a day? I can tell you my family does not. We usually try to do two sit downs, one for breakfast and one for dinner. There is one counter service restaurant in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom that rocks, it is Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. We love eating there and the food is really good. It is the biggest counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom and it can be very busy at times. This place has three different bays to order from. They also have Sonny Eclipse who sings and tells jokes in the lounge. What else do you need? If you do your research on this restaurant you will find out that the chicken and rib meal is so big that two people could share it and still walk away being full. Did I mention how good that meal is? I can also recommend the pulled pork sandwich and the hamburgers. You can not beat the prices either, all meals are under $15 and the dining plan is accepted.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #3

  Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #3

When buying autograph supplies make sure to buy a chunky writing instrument. It is easier for the characters to hold and write with.


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Chef Mickey's





                                                                        Chef Mickey's

Chef Mickey's is one of the must dos on our family list every time we go to Disney. I usually try to schedule breakfast there for our last day. We feel this usually sets a good ending tone to our vacation. We usually do breakfast about 9:30 and then we walk over to the Magic Kingdom to finish out the day. Chef Mickey's has the fab 5, Mickey, Pluto, Donald, Minnie and Goofy. (Please note characters can change at anytime)

Chef Mickey's is an all you can eat buffet that is located on the 4th floor of the Contemporary Resort. This restaurant is very loud and very fun. It is truly a family oriented restaurant. As you eat you can watch the Monorail move in and out of the resort. You also hear the soft noise of the monorail to. Breakfast is an all you can eat with pancakes, eggs, biscuits, gravy cereal and all the ordinary breakfast foods that is American fare.

When you arrive at the restaurant usually you check in and just wait. There is has been times when we have waited and other times we have went straight back. Before you get officially seated your group will get a professional picture taken around the statue of Chef mickey with a plate being the background . Don't forget to hand the CM  your personal camera, because the professional picture prints cost.

When you are seated the characters make their round to each table. Don't think you are going to get a lot of time with the characters. usually it is only a few minutes. Our first visit our daughter was afraid of the characters so the characters kinda stayed a tad bit longer waiting for her to warm up to them. The last time we were there Goofy seemed to be in such a hurry that he was motioning us to hurry up. I will say that made me very mad and I would have saw a manager and said something but my daughter was having a blast. That has been the only time ever that a character has done that to us.
 I have heard that going between breakfast and lunch you may get to spend more time with the characters due to restaurant not being so busy.

 Another tip is to have your camera and autograph stuff ready.

Overall my family and I enjoy this restaurant. We have only went there for breakfast, but I hear the lunch and supper is great too. 

I have added some pictures below what the characters look like.




Here is me with Minnie Mouse.
Please note
All views are my own. This is a non paid view. I wrote this out of my love for Disney.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #2

 Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #2

When using a stroller, either your own stroller or if you rent a stroller. Make the stroller stand out. Trust me, you want to be able to pick your stroller out from the sea of strollers parked by it.  Remember that your stroller may not be parked in the same parking spot where you left it. The Cm's is constantly moving and shifting them. So make it stand out. People use balloons, bandanas, name tags, etc.. I always place my plastic stroller cover over my  stroller. That way the stroller is safe from the unexpected rain shower and I can spot it out.

Friday, October 12, 2012

17 Week Dining Adventure

The Nifty Thrifty Family Goes Disney will be going on a 17 week Dining Adventure. Each Thursday I will be writing a review about one of the restaurants that my family has been to on Disney property. There will be reviews on 5 signature restaurants, 8 table service venues and 4 counter service places. Do I have your mouth watering yet? I know mine is. So make sure to follow the Nifty Thrifty Family Goes Disney blog at http://niftythriftyfamily1.blogspot.com or watch for the links on the Nifty Thrifty Family Facebook page. Don't forget you can also access the Nifty Thrifty Family Goes Disney thru the Nifty Thrifty Family Blog at http://niftythriftyfamily.blogspot.com and then look for the link.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #1

Disney Fix Wednesday Tip #1

When making Dining Reservations on Disney Property, don't forget you can make them 180 days from the start of your trip. If staying on property you can make them on the 180 day + 7 days out. If you are staying off property you can make reservations on the 180th day that the reservation will take place. The dining website opens up at 6:00 am EST and the phone lines (1-800- WDW- Dine) opens up at 7:00 am EST.


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Void a Melt Down at Disney

Avoid a melt down with your toddler / child

When going to a theme park with a toddler or small child, you must plan the day around them. Today I thought I would share some tips with you that I have used to make our theme park adventures go smooth. These tips are not 100% melt down proof, but they can really help prevent one from happening.

1) Go to the parks during the time of day your child is going to be in a good mood and wanting to ride the rides. 
Our first trip with our daughter I planned early morning character meals. When I say early morning I mean we were in the park eating and done eating before the park before rope drop. This was wonderful the first couple of days. But towards the end of the week you could tell my daughter needed more sleep. 

2) Ride the rides your child wants to ride first.  
After many meltdowns it dawned on me that my child needed to set her own pace on trying different rides. So if that meant we would ride Dumbo, Magic Carpet ride and the Tea Cups over and over then that was what we were going to to.

3) If your child does not want to ride something do not force them. Always give them an out for a ride. 
I have a nervous little one. To get her to ride the barnstormer we had to give her a little nudge. As we stood in line she wanted to leave ever once in while, but I tried to keep the topic off the ride and onto train sitting at the station.  When we got to the top we asked her if she really wanted to ride and she said yes, if only she could be the line leader. So we set off to ride in the first seat with our hands in the air the entire time. After that little nudge she was ready to ride Splash Mountain and Soarin.

4) Set a spending budget for your child
Stress to your child that they only have so much money to spend for souvenirs and once it is gone it is gone.

5). Take a break thru out the day for naps and swimming. 

6) If your child wears a costume bring another change of clothes.
 It gets very hot in those beautiful dresses.

I hope you can take these tips on vacation and helps prevent a melt down. Please let me know if you have any tips. I love comments. 

Have a Wonderful Disney Vacation.