Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

Yellowfin Tuna Three Ways from the California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Disney is offering dining plans for free this fall.

Walt Disney World Resort is offering free dining when you stay on-property this fall.

If you book a vacation that includes a room at a Value Resort and park tickets, you will get Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan for everyone in your party free. Each person on the free Quick Service Dining Plan gets:

• Two quick-service meals per night of your stay
• Two snacks per night of your stay
• A refillable mug to get unlimited soft drinks, coffee, etc. at your resort

This brings the price of a five-night Walt Disney World vacation down as low as $470 per adult (double occupancy). I am still in shock when I take advantage of Disney’s free dining deals and our trip includes free food.

I really like being able to limit my spending and know exactly what my costs are going to be by using the dining plan. It makes my Disney vacation more relaxed when I don’t have to constantly worry about how much money we are spending.

If you choose to stay at a moderate or deluxe resort at Walt Disney World, each person in your party will receive the Disney Dining Plan for free. Each person on the free Disney Dining Plan gets:

• One quick-service meal per night of your stay
• One table-service meal per night of your stay
• One snack per night of your stay

These packages are available most nights between Sept. 29, 2009 and Dec. 17, 2009.

If you’ve never been to Walt Disney World in the fall, you should give it a try. The weather is gorgeous, the afternoon thunderstorms that hit in the summertime are usually gone and the temperature and humidity drops. Crowds are much lighter, and there’s the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival to check out Sept. 25 – Nov. 8.

The hotels will fill up during these times, so the best way to book is to use a travel agency. The folks at Enchanted Destinations know the ins-and-outs of booking this Disney free dining deal, so I suggest contacting them.

The Contempo Cafe is a new choice for counter-service dining at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort.

The quick-service restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is various hot options including waffles and breakfast sandwiches.

Lunch and dinner includes a variety of both cold and hot sandwiches and entree salads. Sandwich and salad prices are in the $8 to $12 range.

The most unique thing about the new Contempo Cafe is the ordering system. You order through one of several self-service kiosks at the front of the restaurant. The kiosks are a picky-eater’s dream, as they allow any customization you can think of. Want your dressing on the side? You can order it that way. Would you prefer provolone cheese on that burger instead of cheddar? The kiosk allows you to make that change, too.

Contempo Cafe is on the concourse level of the Contemporary Resort, right next to Chef Mickey’s. The new Cafe is where the Concourse Steakhouse used to be.

Contempo Cafe is a part of the Disney Dining Plan. A meal here counts as a quick-service credit, and there are items available to use snack credits on, too.

Yep, this is the spot. Some day I want to open my eyes in this gorgeous bedroom on the second floor of a Grand Villa at Bay Lake Tower. The new building is a Disney Vacation Club property attached to Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort. See that window up there? It has a view of this:

Umm, yeah. That’s the Magic Kingdom. The MAGIC KINGDOM people! And it’s right outside the window. Back inside, this is what I’ll see as I walk down the stairs when my Disney dream is realized:

See that TV right there? Well, when I am staying in this grand villa at the Bay Lake Tower, I will be able to see the Wishes fireworks right out that two-story window. And while I’m watching the fireworks, I’ll be thinking about the gorgeous Wishes music that the explosions are timed to. And I found out last week that on that TV, there is a magical channel THAT WILL PLAY THE WISHES MUSIC FOR ME! SQUEE!

And while I am sitting in this gorgeous living room, watching Wishes outside my window and listening to the soundtrack on my TV, I’m sure my husband will step over to this kitchen…

…and fix me an adult beverage. And everything will be beautiful and right with the world. I love everything, EVERYTHING about the Bay Lake Tower.

Everything, that is, except for this:

A mother’s laundering is never done.

Bay Lake Tower is set to open on Aug. 4 as the newest Disney Vacation Club property at Walt Disney World. Disney Vacation Club is offering sales tours on select dates starting July 10. Registration is required. The Grand Villa shown here has three bedrooms and sleeps 12. The tower has 295 units ranging in size from studios to this bad boy.