My Disney thoughts

1. We will be staying at the value resort-actually the Disney All-Star Music Suites. Since we are a family of 5, it was either two value rooms or this. So our room price isn't all that cheap.

We loved the All-Star Music Resort! It is very similar to a Holiday Inn hotel room. We were actually in a suite where my husband and I had our own room and the boys slept on the pull out couches. There was a tv in each room. Two bathrooms-more than we have here!! Total size of the suite was almost 600 sq feet.

When we plan another trip down there, we will be using the suite again! I think many are concerned about a value resort being cheap and not having the Disney magic there, however it did. The guitar pool was great, they played Disney movies each night
2. We will be using the Disney Dining plan. The Disney Dining Plan puts guests on a two-meal-and-a-snack per day diet for each night of their stay. For adults it is 37.99 a day and for the under 10 crowd 9.99 a day. It is actually great not to have to worry about paying for each meal individually.

If you are staying on property, you are crazy not to get the Disney Dinning Plan. We had 3 character meals that would probably would not have done. Its worth every penny. We didn't pay less than $40 for lunch or less than $100 for dinner. We would never have been able to eat like this if we hadn't had the plan. I booked all of our dinners ahead of time and the places were great. The tip is included as well!

I also had bottle water shipped down from Staples. This kept us cool. We also got two refillable mugs for $12 a piece. Honestly, I didn't think we needed them, but hubby got them. They could be refilled with soda, coffee for the length of the trip.



3. We will be using Disney Transportation called the Magical Express from the airport to the resort. Since we will not be renting a car, we will use the Disney buses.

The transportation was great! Magical express is the transportation to use going to and from the airport. Going to the airport was great-they pick up your luggage and deliver it to your room. No dealing with baggage claims. Of course, my husband didn't think it would get there. It was there when we got to the room later that day!! Going back to the airport, they gave us an assigned time but two buses came that were full and couldn't take us. I was a little upset, but wouldn't let this ruin my vacation.

The internal bus transportation was super. We rarely wait more than 5 minutes for a bus and many times the buses were only 1/2 full. I think we may stood once or twice.

4. Included in our $6,000 budgeted for this trip we have $1000 spending money. We probably won't spend all of that but I would rather budget more than not.

We spent $6500 the extras that I forgot to budget were airport parking and the kennel for the dog. We did buy a lot of suvivors. This is where my hubby gets a little crazy. And we had to hit the Lego store at Downtown Disney.

5. I saved about $250 a month for our trip plus used our tax refund for this year to help pay for this all. This will not be a trip that we will be paying for years.

Absolutely this is the best feeling!! We may plan another trip in 3-4 years however I got to start saving again for it!! I do need to get my frugal butt get in gear if we are going to do it!!

 Disney World money saving tips