Coumbia Harbour House

Columbia Harbour House

 If you are in the Magic Kingdom and in the mood for some fish, then the Columbia Harbour House is the place to grab some grub. It is located in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom and is considered a counter service meal. They serve fish and tuna sandwiches, lobster rolls, shrimp, chicken, grilled salmon, salad, and soups. I can personally recommend the fish basket, it is so yummy. The most expensive item on the menu is $10.19 + tax. This restaurant can get crowded at times, there is sitting upstairs that is usually very quite with very good views.

If you have ever have been to restaurant I would love to hear your thoughts on this restaurant.  I love comments and would  love to hear from you, even if it is a question. Please remember that this is a unpaid article. I am writing this out of my love for Disney and I hope you will utilize my blog for your Disney planning.

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.

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. 

 

Disney Dining Plan yes or no?

                                   Should you or should you not go with the Dining Plan?

This is the question I ask myself before every trip. I debate on this up until a few weeks before our trip has to be paid in full. Most family's like the dining plan for the peace of mind knowing that all meals are already paid for in advance.

Disney offers 3 dining plans that can be placed on your Magic Your Way Pass

1. Quick Service -2 quick service meals and 1 snack per night of staying on property and 1 refillable mug
2. Plus Dining - 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal, 1 snack per night of staying on property and 1 refillable mug
3. Deluxe Dining - 3 meals a day (They can either be quick service or table service), 2 snacks per night of staying on property and 1 refillable mug

This can be very confusing to most people. Sometimes I feel like I need a Disney Doctor Degree  to understand most things related to a Disney Vacation. I wished they made those degrees....LOL.

So if this is confusing hopefully I can help you understand it better.

Lets say one person is going on a trip for 3 days and 2 nights. Below you will see how many credits that person will receive when they check in for the meal plan they picked.

Quick Service - 4 quick meals and 2 snacks

Plus Dining - 2 table services, 2 counter services 2 snacks

Deluxe - 6 meals (can be either quick, counter or table)

Now lets say we have 2 people going on same type of trip, 3 days and 2 nights their dining credits would like this.

Quick Service - 8 quick meals and 4 snacks

Plus Dining - 4 table services, 4 counter services 4 snacks

Deluxe - 12 meals (can either be quick, counter or table)

Now the fun thing about deciding on how many credits you are going to need is deciding on where you want to eat. Go the the Disney website and search thru the menus and the restaurants.  If you plan on doing any signature meals or Cinderella Castle those type of meals take 2 table service credits per person. The big thing to remember is that you can make dining reservations 180 day out.

                  

Finding the right hotel

 Finding The Right Hotel

After setting a budget your next step should be finding lodging that you like. There is many hotels in the Orlando area. You will need to decide if you are going to stay on Disney Property or stay off property. I have developed a list below to show you what staying on property offers and staying off property offers. 

Staying off Property
No Disney Dining Plan
Disney Parks Magic Hours are not offered
Most hotels charge resort fees
Can only making Disney Dining reservation  in advance on the 180 day mark
No Magical Express
Some hotels offer park transplantation  the times are not the best
The packages you buy in the parks you can not have them shipped back to your hotel.
Hotels off property might not take payments before the vacation
Some hotels don’t have a good selection of food on property
You drive to the magic

The Nifty Thrifty Family Goes Disney

 Welcome

Welcome to the Nifty Thrifty Family Goes Disney Blog. I hope this blog  will inform you on how to do a Disney Vacation that will make you want to come back for years to come. There is so much that I want to share with you, from planning, saving, ride critiques and more.
I found my true love for Disney several years ago, when I took my husband and daughter for their first time. I was a teenager on my first visit. That was many years ago and we did not know that this type of vacation needed so much research.  Each day we set out to conquer each park. We did not know that Disney World was built on 35,000 acres (47 square miles) and that most people who go to the parks walk over 10 miles per day. Wow if we only knew what we know now.
After that vacation it took me about 15 years to go back to Disney World and that is when I found my true love for WDW. Instead of being that teenager who wanted to conquer all of the park and every ride in one day. I planned for a whole year to make a 3yr old little girls vacation perfect. I found my love for WDW the moment we walked down Main Street for the first time. I got to see Disney World thru a child's eyes and the first timers eyes. It was magical. Now I am a Disney Addict.