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

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is one of my favorite parks for younger children because of all of the animal sightings and the great shows. Here are a couple of rides that the preschool set will enjoy:

Kilimanjaro Safaris: Climb into an off-road vehicle for this safari through 100 acres of savannah in Animal Kingdom’s Africa area. You and your child could see giraffes, elephants, flamingos, rhinos, antelope and maybe even a lion or two. This attraction is best experienced in the morning, when the animals are more active and easily seen.

Triceratop Spin: Little ones will enjoy making their dino go up and down on this circular ride in the DinoLand U.S.A. area of Animal Kingdom. This gentle ride is similar to Dumbo the Flying Elephant in the Magic Kingdom.

Wildlife Express Train: What child doesn’t love a train? This one runs every 5-7 minutes and takes you between the Harambe, Africa area and Rafiki’s Planet Watch. You can get off the train at Rafiki’s Planet Watch to take part in some educational activities and learn about animal conservation.

This post is part of “Under 5 Friday,” a series of posts with my best tips for taking young children to Walt Disney World.

Are you planning your first trip to Walt Disney World? One of the best ways to be sure you are getting the most out of your vacation (and your time and money) is to use a a travel agent who specializes in Disney vacations, like the folks at Enchanted Destinations.

Wow! You came back! I hope you find my site helpful. Please contact me if you have any suggestions or story ideas.

Yes, it is the first week of the new year.

And yes, we are all just getting back to our routines after the holidays.

But it’s time to start planning your Disney travel for this year and beyond.

No, I’m not kidding.

The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the best selection of resort rooms or cruise cabins. And for the least amount of money.

“The people who get in on any promotion early are going to pay the lowest price,” says Celeste Koutavas, an agent with Disney-only travel agency Enchanted Destinations.

Celeste tells me it’s a simple case of supply and demand. The lower-cost options (the less expensive categories of Disney Cruise Line cabins or Walt Disney World and Disneyland resort rooms) often fill up the most quickly. In addition, as resorts or cruises fill up, the prices rise.

So what if you book early and then Disney releases a bigger, better deal for your vacation than the one your originally got? The agents at Enchanted Destinations say they monitor the new deals for their customers and re-book a vacation if there’s a better deal to be had.

So if all this talk of saving money isn’t enough to have you flipping the pages of the calendar just yet, here are my top three reasons why you should book your Disney vacations right away:

1. More Harmony in the Workplace: Scheduling vacations early leads to less fighting with co-workers over who gets the most popular weeks off.
2. Less School Burnout at Home: Your kids will have something to look forward to when the novelty of being back to school in the new year wears off by the end of this week.
3. More (or Less) Diet Angst, More or Less: You will be able to calculate exactly how many days you can slack on your New Year’s diet before you will need to go on your vacation diet.

Disney Cruise Line has announced that a new stage show, “Villains Tonight,” will debut during the March 27, 2010 voyage of the Disney Magic.

The cruise line says the show will be a family-friendly comedy, so no concerns about nightmares in your cruise cabin.

I am so excited about this show! There have long been rumors about Disney doing more with the villains as a group, and I hope this is a sign of bigger things to come.

Disney has released this video preview:

“Villains Tonight” will also be performed on the brand-new Disney Dream when it sets sail in 2011. Did you know you can already book sailings on the Disney Dream? I recommend using the magic makers at Enchanted Destinations to book your Disney Cruise. They are experts at getting you the most for your money!

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.