Save Money During 20th Annual Epcot Food and Wine Festival

The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is a culinary and entertainment event held each fall in Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort. At the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, savory small plates, desserts, snacks, wines, beers and more from all over the world are featured in this outdoor festival running from late September through early November.

Want to save 30% on coffee beverages at Epcot International Food and Wine Festival? Allison shares her tip on how to do that:

What are your best tips to save money at Epcot Food and Wine Festival?

We know Disney World is expensive.  Here are some of our favorite ways to save money during your visit with Mickey Mouse!

Go Off Season to Avoid Crowds

The best times to visit Disney World are in December before Christmas, in January, and in the fall (between Labor Day and Thanksgiving). The crowds are smaller, plus everything you book at Disney World during those times is less expensive.

On the other hand, if you book during the summer and during the “spring break” period, the parks will be very crowded and everything will be more expensive.

Character Dining

If you really want to do a character meal (typically they are buffets) try for a breakfast over dinner. Breakfast is always cheaper and you can eat as much as you want. Another great benefit is that if you get the first seating it is often before the park opens. Sure you might have to get up a little earlier but you will get into the parks before everyone else, and just think about how happy you and your kids will be. Imagine being the first into the parks, being done with breakfast when the park opens, getting fast passes before everyone else, and starting the day with a full autograph book.

Car Rental

There is no need to rent a car when at Disney. Magical Express will pick you up at the airpot upon arrival then bring you back when it is time to leave. There are busses at all of the Resorts that will take you to all the theme parks, water parks and Downtown Disney.

Little Princess

If you are taking your little Princess to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the Magic Kingdom or Downtown Disney buy a dress and accessories before you leave home. You can dress your child there before her pampering. You will save you some big bucks.

My last money saving tip is to go to the dollar store before you leave home. I buy glow stick necklaces and bracelets instead of spending money on the Disney parade toys and lights. I also buy and always take rain ponchos. You will need them as it showers frequently in Florida.

Written by Susan Norgaard: Susan creates lasting memories by planning customized vacations all over the world. Not only does she find you the BEST accommodations with the BEST value, but she will fill in all the blanks for you, all at no cost to you. Traveling is her passion! Passing that magic on to your family is what fuels that passion! If you are ready to save on your next vacation book your next vacation with Susan at susan@destinationsinflorida.com and 877-241-8663.

New Fall and Halloween Decorations at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Theme Park

Walt Disney World celebrates the seasons as well as the holidays with various decorations around its theme parks and resorts. In mid-September, Fall season and Halloween decorations start to arrive!

Here’s a look at the Halloween decorations at the Magic Kingdom.

Which holiday or seasonal decorations are your favorites?

Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant – One of Our Favorite Restaurants in Orlando

With so many restaurants in Orlando, it can be tough to choose a dining location. Downtown Disney (soon to be Disney Springs) offers many dining choices alone and soon more will be opening, too.

If you are looking for a restaurant that will please the entire family, we recommend Raglan Road. Raglan Road features inventive cuisine by Irish celebrity chef Kevin Dundon, host of the TASTE Award-winning PBS and Create TV cooking show, “Kevin Dundon’s Modern Irish Food.” Not only is it an authentic Irish pub, but you’ll find allergy-friendly menus, live entertainment, excellent service and fresh, top-notch food. The menu is described as modern, inventive, award winning and out-of-this-world!

Take a brief tour with us:

Here are just a sample of the recent awards noted on their website:

Did you ever get the chance to voyage under the sea with Nemo? No, not that Nemo, long before the little clownfish got lost and his dad went searching the Big Blue, there was another Nemo at Walt Disney World, Captain Nemo of the Nautilus. He piloted his submarine through perilous waters in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

20,000 Leagues Under the Seas opened October 14, 1971, and was one of the original flagship attractions at Walt Disney World. It had twelve amazing 38-passenger subs and the huge water tank held 11.5 million gallons of water.

This ride was designed for people with an imagination, people with dreams, people who could let themselves be swept away. Once you boarded your sub, you sat on a stool looking out a personal porthole. Millions of bubbles washed over the windows as you descended into the sea. Captain Nemo would describe the scenes as you passed by on your trek, including mermaids and even the lost city of Atlantis. But your peaceful ride took a turn for the worse when you faced the giant squid! Thanks to your skilled captain, you narrowly escaped before surfacing.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was abruptly “temporarily closed” for renovations on September 5, 1994. However, that temporary closure turned out to be permanent, though it wasn’t until early 1996 that it was officially announced that the 20K ride was closed forever. Were you sad to see it go?

Written by Laura Schindler: Laura creates lasting memories by planning customized vacations all over the world. Not only does she find you the BEST accommodations with the BEST value, but she will fill in all the blanks for you, all at no cost to you. Traveling is her passion! Passing that magic on to your family is what fuels that passion! If you are ready to save on your next vacation book your next vacation with Laura at laura@destinationsinflorida.com.

Disney Resorts Dining at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

At Walt Disney World, the Disney resorts offer a range dining experiences from grab and go items, to quick service restaurants, to full table service meals and more. Moderate and Deluxe resort category hotels offer more options, but even the value resorts offer a large food court with quick service dining.

In this video, we take a closer look at the quick service dining options available at the moderate level resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. The dining locations shown here are located at Old Port Royale where you can also find a merchandise shop and the main feature pool.

As you can see, a variety of foods are available including sandwiches, burgers, salmon entrees, chicken entrees, pizza, pasta, salads, quesadillas and more.  Grab and go items include pastries, cupcakes, sandwiches, desserts, juice, soft drinks, wine, beer and more.

Get the Best Headphones at Sound Lion

Now open at Disney Springs, Sound Lion is an established retail concept offering premium quality personal and home sound products to enhance the Personal Listening Experience.

At Sound Lion, they provide the knowledge to amplify and clarify the music and sounds that we hear every day.

Sound Lion offers the latest technology for the best headphones, earbuds, Bluetooth® speakers, and other digital sound and music products. They also provide education in digital music applications that improve the listening lifestyle.

From the Sound Lion website:

At Sound Lion we believe that listening in the digital age is an inherently personal experience. As mobile digital devices such as mobile phones and tablets become the center of our lives, hearing the sound from these devices becomes a necessarily private experience. For example, you can’t have everyone in a library listening to music without personal headgear, or you can’t have everyone watching HULU Internet TV without privacy. There would be too much noise to enjoy anything. We believe the need for high quality, multifunctional personal listening products such as headphones will only grow. There is much growth to come in the technology of how we hear music and sounds in the digital age.

Sound Lion is here to help you find the best products for your specific needs and to customize a product solution for you.

Sound Lion offers brands including: Audio-technica, beats. by dr. dre, JBL, Klipsch, Nixon, Sennheiser, Skullcandy, Sony, yurbuds and more.

Does your family love Epcot? What about relaxing at the pools? Disney’s Beach Club Resort is the perfect resort for you! Disney’s Beach Club Resort is located along Disney’s Boardwalk and is within walking distance to EPCOT and a short boat ride to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Rooms at this resort keep the sea in mind as its inspiration. Most rooms sleep up to 5 guests comfortably and offer Standard View (parking lot or rooftop), Garden View and Water View (lagoon or pool) rooms as well as Club Level rooms. Rooms come complete with alarm clock with MP3 player, mini fridge, ceiling fan, coffee maker, hair dryer, safe, iron and ironing board, pool towels, telephone and flat screen TV.

Disney’s Beach Club Resort offers both quick-service and table service options for dining. For something fun head over to Beaches & Cream Soda Shop and try if you dare the Kitchen Sink! For a fun character meal Cape May Café has you covered with Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast complete with Goofy and Friends. No beach themed resort would be complete without a Seafood-and-More Dinner Buffet at Cape May Café serving up mouthwatering seafood every night. If seafood is not your delight you can always head over to Captain’s Grille or treat yourself to a Signature Dining Experience at Yachtsmen Steakhouse both located at the sister resort Disney’s Yacht Club Resort.

Fun outside the parks is boundless with numerous activities for you to enjoy. The best pool on Disney property, Stormalong Bay, is more of a beachside waterpark than it is a pool as it covers over 3 acres and is sure to keep everyone entertained. Stormalong Bay features a sand-bottomed pool, a life-sized shipwreck replica, a 230 foot-long waterslide, a lazy river, and 3 whirlpools. For the little ones they can enjoy the sand and gentle sloping sandy beach of the main pool or make a splash in the kiddie pool complete with its own waterslide. If you are wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle and simply relax there are 3 leisure pools located within Disney’s Beach Club and Yacht Club Resorts to provide a more tranquil environment.

After you have had your fill of fun at the pool there is plenty more to be had with campfire activities, movies under the stars, boat rentals, fishing, bike rentals, tennis, volleyball, playgrounds, arcades and much more! No matter your age you are sure to have a blast at your next stay at Disney’s Disney’s Beach Club!

Written by Kari O’Dell:  Kari creates lasting memories by planning customized vacations all over the world.  Not only does she find you the BEST accommodations with the BEST value, but she will fill in all the blanks for you, all at no cost to you.  Traveling is her passion!  Passing that magic on to your family is what fuels that passion!  If you are ready to save on your next vacation book your next vacation with Kari at 434-609-2370 or  kari@destinationsinflorida.com.

Animal Kingdom Theme Park’s Centerpiece

Celebrating all living creatures, the Tree of Life is the iconic centerpiece and the symbol of Disney’s Animal Kingdom park. The Tree of Life is 145 feet tall and 50 feet wide tree. It’s been in place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park since it opened on April 22, 1998. The tree is covered in more than 103,000 leaves and originally featured more than 325 animal carvings.

In February 2015, construction walls were removed from the area around the base of the tree, revealing how the tree’s roots have expanded into the central hub area. Within those roots, you will discover carvings of new animals that make up the circle of life, from tiny bugs to large crocodiles and more.

Here’s a closer look at the new carvings around the roots of the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

What do you think of the new “roots”?