Go Where the Locals Go

I know you hear that a lot from travel guides, blogs etc., but if you are one who ends up going to the same restaurants all the time, even on vacation, then this blog is for you.

Part of the whole vacation experience is getting out of the normal routine and away from the troubles back at home. If that is the case, then why would you want to only stick with the same eating places that may make you think about things back at home? I am always shocked to see travelers who will go wait in line to be seated at places like Cracker Barrel or Chili's when they have those same restaurants back at home.

Are you afraid to branch out? There are a lot of resources that you can draw from like your travel agent (me) or sites like www.cityspur.com where you can find great eating choices at your vacation destination that are not chain restaurants.

For example...some of my greatest memories of our travels are some of the "off the beaten path" restaurants that we found simply by talking to store clerks, taxis drivers etc who then recommended some of their favorites in town. Some of those "honey holes" are places like "The Cottage" in La Jolla California. It is such a small quaint eatery and their food was out of this world. Another local favorite in La Jolla was "The Coffee Cup." This again was a small local establishment off of the main drive that runs through La Jolla's tourist area. It was actually a place we would have never found had it not been for a store employee who said..."you have to go to the "Coffee Cup." It is open for breakfast and dinner and can get busy with the locals on the weekend. But this brings up an advantage for you as the tourist. You can visit these local places during the week when the locals are at work and while the other tourists are still lined up to get into the IHOP.

Those are just two ideas to get you to see that the real experience when traveling and the true escape comes when you leave what you know to go try something new and different. Traveling should be a cultural adventure even here in the U.S. You can learn a lot about the different cultures of a State and city when you get out of the tourist filled areas and go sit among the locals and just take it all in.

If you never try to branch out...promise me that you will on your next vacation. I will then promise that it will add so much more enjoyment and great memories to your vacation getaway.

Top 10 Reasons to Use a Travel Agent

It is one of the questions I get asked from time to time, "why should I or would I use a travel agent?" Well...here 10 reasons you might want to consider it:

1. You've Googled "Mexico vacation," and come up with 17.8 million responses. Need a little help editing those choices?

2. Remember when you used that obscure website to book your hotel, and when you got there you spent your beach vacation overlooking a parking lot?

3. How many hours were you on hold with the airline when your flight was canceled because of a snowstorm?

4. Did you really mean to spend your honeymoon at that resort whose one tiny pool was filled all day with 12 screaming children?

5. Who knew that when you booked that "villa" in Tuscany, it would be a small room with a kitchenette and no air conditioning? Funny, it looked much better on your computer screen.

6. No one explained to you that in July, it's winter time in Rio, and so you showed up there with nothing but five Hawaiian shirts and three pairs of swimming trunks.

7. How about the time you really needed a restful vacation, and you ended up in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and someone threw up on your shoes?

8. Yes, I guess that hotel must have used a telephoto lens when they took a picture of those guest rooms that you saw on their website.

9. I suppose contacting the Attorney General to resolve the fact that that Internet site has billed your credit card three times instead of once is the only route to take at this point.

10. It was definitely odd that there were no cab drivers at the airport at 3 o'clock in the morning when you finally landed in Costa Rica, but booking a transfer to your very remote hotel would have been a good thing to remember when you purchased your airline ticket and hotel online.

Always remember...a travel agent's services are free to the consumer unless a specific fee has been agreed to up front for some special services to be rendered.

Adopted from an article written by Ruthanne Terrero. Please visit the following link to read her article in its entirety. Travel Agent Central

Disney Lingo 101

In today's internet focused world, there seems to be an entire language that has been created for anyone who blogs or texts or even sends e-mails these days. It took me a long time to figure out what "LOL" meant or TTYL. I didn't want to seem out of touch with the ways of the world so I just played along and tried to ignore the short-hand for while. Then one day I was texting a friend who wrote something back followed up with an "LOL." Since this was a close friend, I decided it would be safe to finally ask, "what in the world does 'LOL' mean?" This friend then sent me a list of acronyms and their meanings so I would be safe from any embarrassment in the future.

Well it wasn't long after becoming a Disney Travel Specialist that I then learned there was an entire new set of acronyms and sayings that are only relevant and useful within the world of Disney. Once I too became savvy of their meanings and could use them all properly in a sentence, I also realized there were people that are still new to this phenomenon and may not know what I am saying when I start throwing this new lingo around in my letters, texts, or e-mails.

So I wanted to devote this post to familiarizing everyone with the Disney vernacular.

Let's start with the list below. You will see these on Disney discussion boards and chat sites.

1. MK=Magic Kingdom
2. AK=Animal Kingdom
3. DHS=Disney's Hollywood Studios
4. EP=Epcot
5. TSM=Toy Story Mania
6. FL=Fantasyland
7. WS=World Showcase
8. FW=Future World
9. ToT=Tower of Terror
10. RnR=Rock n Roller Coaster
11. TT=Test Track
12. SpM=Space Mountain
13. SM=Splash Mountain
14. EE=Expedition Everest
15. ITTBAB=Its Tough to be a Bug
16. KS=Kilimanjaro Safari
17. KRR=Kali River Rapids
18. FP=Fast Pass (see photo)
19. KTTWC=Key to the World Card (see photo)
20. WT=Wait Times
21. DME=Disney's Magical Express
22. ASsp=Allstar Sports Resort
    
23. ASMo=Allstar Movies Resort
    
24. ASM=Allstar Music Resort
    
25. Pop=Pop Century Resort
    
26. OKW=Old Key West Resort
    
27. Poly=Polynesian Resort
28. GF=Grand Floridian Resort
29. CBR=Caribbean Beach Resort
30. CSR=Coronado Springs Resort
31. CR=Contemporary Resort
32. POR=Port Orleans Riverside Resort
33. POF=Port Orleans French Quarter
34. AKL=Animal Kingdom Lodge
35. WL=Wilderness Lodge
36. YC=Yacht Club Resort
37. BC=Beach Club Resort
38. BW=Boardwalk Resort
39. FW=Fort Wilderness
40. CRT=Cinderella's Round Table

This should be a good start to getting your eyes and head used to seeing all of these terms as you do your own perusing of the internet to learn and discover all that is "The World of Disney." Naturally I am here as well to answer questions and offer tips and advice for making your next Disney vacation the best it can be.

A Day at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom

I remember when my wife and I were planning our very first trip to Walt Disney World. I watched every video I could find online trying to see the parks, the rides, the resorts etc. I wanted to see and learn about it all. I keep that in mind now as I visit the "Happiest Place on Earth" and I try to record things of interest so the next person can see and learn and get as excited about their trip as we were.

If there is a park at Walt Disney World that is somewhat misunderstood, it is The Animal Kingdom. We actually overheard someone telling a first time visitor that it is really just a big zoo. I so wanted to jump in on that conversation and make sure the new visitor knew that she was being given wrong information. I have been to a lot of zoos including the world famous San Diego Zoo and, trust me, Animal Kingdom is WAY more than a place to just go and see animals.

Disney's Animal Kingdom has at least 5 major rides and 2 of the best shows in all of Walt Disney World. Some would now say that one of the rides (Expedition Everest) is now probably the best thrill ride out of all the parks. It is the largest park out of the 4 and some would also say the most scenic. So go with an open mind. Take a walk through by watching this short video of ours and see what fun lies ahead at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Walt Disney World Pop Century Resort

Here is a little video walk-through of the Pop Century Resort at Walt Disney World. This resort gets a huge thumbs up from me. In fact, if we were trying to decide to stay at either a "Value" resort or a "Moderate" one, we would choose the Pop Century over any of the higher priced Moderate resorts on Disney property. The food court had a great variety and the 3 pools were never overly crowded. The bus system was a quick as it would be at any of the Moderates. The only negative is the room size. The rooms are smaller than the Moderates which we for sure noticed as soon as we entered the room. If you have a party size of 3 or 4, you will need to be prepared for the tight quarters. But I will say that I am not sure the slightly larger rooms at the Moderates are worth the higher price. The only other thing that you get at a Moderate resort, that is noticeable, is at least one table service restaurant option. But reviews have shown that they are not the most desirable when considering all of the other table service choices throughout Walt Disney World.

The Pop Century is divided up into decade sections which is where the resort gets its name. The theme of the resort is pop culture. You can stay in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's building. Each building is then themed for that particular decade. For example, the 70's building has a huge "8-Track Tape" at the end of each building. The 80's building has a huge "Rubik's Cube." Music from each decade plays throughout the resort's common areas like the pools and "Everything Pop" which is the shopping and eatery area in the main building.

If you are on Facebook...stop by and become a fan of my travel page and you can see more resort pictures posted showing some of the detail that Disney has put into the grounds, the buildings and the rooms... "Operation Destination Vacations."

Disney Dining Plan...Is it Worth the Money?

Ok...I am going to be more open than I would ever be with something as personal as the costs of our vacation. So many friends and clients struggle with whether or not they should pay for the "Disney Dining Plan." Disney advertises the plan as a "savings" to your overall food budget but what I wanted to do on this last trip is determine if there truly is a savings or not.

Here is the plan in a nutshell. A family of 4 would pay in advance for meals and snacks that they will be eating during their WDW vacation. Disney gives you credits on your resort room key that you then use each time you eat snack or meal. So say that you and your family will be staying 7 nights. The cost is determined by how many adults (ages 10 and up) and how many children (ages 3-9) there are in your party. So a family of 2 adults and 2 children would pay $39.98 per adult and $10.98 per child (and then multiply that by the number of nights staying, 7) for a total of $713.44. That would be the cost without tips and any extra meals and snacks. The plan gives you the following credits per night, per person: 1 Table Service (TS), 1 Counter Service (CS) and 1 snack. So each person in this scenario would get 7 TS, 7 CS, and 7 snack credits. I hope you are following me so far. So one thing that needs to be pointed out is that there is technically a meal credit missing in the plan. On the plan...you will be eating at least one meal a day out of pocket on average. So you have to consider extra meal costs as well as the added tips that are no longer a part of the package to get a true cost.

With all of that said and explained...let me know get to our trip and actual costs. Had we paid for the plan, I figured our "actual Dining plan costs" would have been:

Dining Plan (2 adults, 7 nights)= $559.72
Tips (est.) =$105.00
Extra Snacks/Misc=$64.00
Extra Meal per day(CS)=$161.00
Estimated Total for 2 adults, 7 nights=$889.72

Now keep in mind that the above totals include at least 7 TS meals. Now since we were not on the plan, we only scheduled 4 TS meals and had one lunch at a restaurant at Downtown Disney that would have also used a TS credit for a total of 5 TS meals and the rest being CS.

We kept receipts for every food related purchase so we would have our exact costs to the penny. Here is how much we spent:

Dinners (any tips included): $262.12
Lunch (any tips included): $275.88
Breakfast (any tips included): $165.22
Snacks: $214.01
Grand Total: $917.23

Now this total takes into account food we bought going to and coming home from Walt Disney World. Even if you consider the fact that we would have been able to eat at least 2 more TS restaurants during our trip had we been on the dining plan, it still would not have been a "cost savings." And as you can see...we enjoyed SEVERAL snacks during our trip which were above the 1 snack credit that you get with the plan.

So the question is...is the Dining Plan Worth it?? The final answer...it depends. :) Here is what I mean by that. If you are one who can eat only a light snack or meal in place of the one the plan does not cover and if you are someone who can maybe bring grocery items with you so you can eat that meal in the room and if you are someone that can do just fine with 1 snack per day (i.e an ice cream bar, bottle of water etc), then you are someone that can probably make the plan work for you and your family and possible make it a savings.

But so many people do not add in the costs of the extra snacks, tips and meals that they spend money on above and beyond the plan. Also...the Dining plan demands rigid and well-organized meal planning. You are only able to make ADR's 90 days in advance of your trip and everyone on the plan is anxiously awaiting that date so they can get into their favorite restaurants. This means you have to be willing to plan things out and have every day set well in advance of your trip. For some...that works perfect. But for others who like to hop from park to park or who decide they are really just ready to go back to the resort, having a set schedule can be more of a hassle and stressful. For example...on a day we did not have an ADR, we entered Animal Kingdom for morning EMH's. We had done everything on our "wish" list by 10:30AM so we decided to head back to the resort and then hop over to the Magic Kingdom later that day. If we would have had an ADR in the Animal Kingdom for later that afternoon or evening, we would have felt the need to stay in a park or come back to park that we were technically finished with. Having some select ADR's leaves room for change in your schedule where the Dining Plan demands that you have a set schedule which is perfect for a lot of folks.

So that is why I say it is worth it for some and not for others. The cost savings are no where near the 40% that Disney advertises so please do not make the decision to go with the plan based on the idea you will save a lot of money. At best shoot for a break-even and know you have at least several good TS meals.

And also beware of those special TS meals which take 2 credits such as Cinderella's Round Table.

I hope this helps give a truer picture of what the plan costs and please let me know if you have any questions and I welcome your comments.

Disney Dining Review 2009

I wanted to write a quick review of the dining experiences we had during this last trip to Walt Disney World. Dining is a big part of anyone's trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth." If you are someone who also takes advantage of Disney's "Dining Plan," you also know how important it is to have your all of your reservations planned out well in advance of your actual trip date.

So with that said, here is my summary and critique of the dining venues we chose to visit during our stay.

Our first advance dining reservation (ADR) was at "The Sci-fi Dinner Theater" in Hollywood Studios. The experience is what you pay for here. You are seated in a mock 1950's car where you face a big movie screen which is playing old 1950's black and white sci-fi movie trailers. The inside of the restaurant is constructed to feel like you are outside at an old drive-in theater. Everyone seated in one of the "cars" is facing forward so a party of 6 in a car would all be looking forward out the front of the car towards the movie screen. It is just a overall fun experience. The food, on the other hand, was mediocre. The dinner menu choices were somewhat limited and offered what I will call an eclectic selection. I had the butcher steak which came out over cooked and the veggies were already cool by the time my food arrived. So the food there does not really get a passing grade from me. The shakes, on the other hand, do. My wife commented that her shake was one of the best she ever had. So if you just want a fun place to dine during your trip, then this might be the place. We will probably look to other places now that we have experienced it this one time.

Our next ADR was a character breakfast at the Tusker House inside the Animal Kingdom (Donald's Safari Breakfast). This gets an overall grade of A+ from us. The buffet was well laid out so you never had to wait to get something on your plate. The food was hot and kept plentiful on the buffet line. But here is where it really makes the grade; for you who have children, the characters made their rounds quickly and easily. Everyone had the chance to get their picture made and autograph books signed. The staff also encouraged the children to join in on a parade with one of the characters around the restaurant. Just a great experience and one we will probably try to book again in the future.

Next...we had an ADR at The Coral Reef in Epcot. This was our most expensive meal during the trip. The main choices are either fish or steak. Since it is a ocean-themed venue, we chose to try a couple of the fish selections and were both fantastic. I would grade the food here an A-. The restaurant has a huge glass wall looking into a giant fish aquarium. It was nice to just sit there and watch the variety of fish swim by and our view was fine even though we were seated about as far away from the aquarium as you could get. The only major issue I had with the experience is that it was loud. You pay a lot of money to eat here ($80+ for 2 without dessert or alcohol) and you sort of expect a nice quiet dining experience. But since it is a restaurant on the dining plan, you will get large groups and families which can make for a not-so quiet experience and lacks the ambiance that you would expect for a $80-100 meal somewhere else. But I have no problem recommending this restaurant to someone else and we will probably visit it again someday.

Our last ADR was at Mama Melrose in Hollywood Studios. This is an Italian themed restaurant with a California twist. The decor is Italian intermingled with items representing Southern California. As with every ADR on this trip...we were seated quickly, but our service was very slow. This ADR was on a Sunday afternoon and was a part of the Fantasmic Dinner Package. The package includes a fixed price menu where you can select one appetizer per person, one entree and one dessert and a non-alcoholic beverage. The package also then gets you into a reserved seating area for watching the show "Fantasmic" (more on that in a bit). The food, once it arrived, was good. We were a little surprised to see the lack of actual pasta dishes in the menu (no typical lasagna offering or spaghetti and meatballs), but our choices were still good. For the price though, as a part of the package, it was not worth the extra money. Because they have now cut the Fantasmic show down to only a few nights a week, they still recommend those who pay for the package to line up at least 1 hour early which to me negates the value of the dinner package. Overall...the slow service and loud 60's California-themed music took away from the experience for us at this restaurant. We might give it a second chance on a future visit.

Those were the 4 table service restaurants (TS) we chose to eat at during our trip. The dining surprise on our trip were those places outside of the parks, but still on Disney property. I cannot say enough good things about "Everything Pop" which is the food court area inside the Pop Century Resort. Keep in mind I am speaking of counter service meals now versus the table service venues above, but we actually felt like we got more of our money's worth at the Pop then we did at any of our ADR's minus the character breakfast. Everything Pop had choices ranging from Salmon to beef stir fry to pizza to a bacon double cheeseburger. And on each night, they offered a "Mom's special" featuring some form of comfort food that your mom would have made back at home. We tried Mom's fried chicken and it was fantastic. Breakfast choices were also abundant ranging from omelets to pancakes to healthier choices. Some may disagree with me, but I feel our money was better spent eating back at the Pop then in most of the TS venues we chose on this trip. I haven't even mentioned the dessert choices yet at the Pop which ranged from a "tie-dyed cheesecake to hand made sundaes.

The next "out of park" meal that we had was at Downtown Disney. This meal was our best meal during our trip. We ate lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe. Since it is on Disney Property, you can still eat there as a part of the dining plan or pay using your resort room key. We got seated immediately for lunch on a Saturday without any need of an ADR. Our service was what you expect at a place where the lunch is going to cost $40+ for 2. And the food was the best on our entire trip. You have to try their bacon wrapped meatloaf. All I can say is WOW! Their wood-fired pizzas are also fantastic. Don't overlook the dining choices at Downtown Disney during your trip. It was a nice break away from the crowds and noise of most of the venues inside the parks.

The 2 counter-service restaurants I will mention are Flame Tree Barbecue inside Animal Kingdom and the Columbia Harbor House in the Magic Kingdom. Food is good, not great, but the thing we like is the abundance of seating. Flame Tree's seating goes way back, further than people think and it is all mostly in the shade. In fact...I saw one man sitting on a ledge eating because he did not realize how much seating there was further back.

Columbia Harbor House is a step better because its seating is indoors. This counter service venue has seating upstairs as well as down and it is huge. We have gone during peak lunch times and have never seen every seat filled. We can usually find a window seat overlooking either part of Fantasyland or Liberty Square.

This concludes my short dining review. Next I will be writing a note which gives details of actual food costs and then comparing that with the "actual cost" of the Disney Dining Plan.