Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the great weather and the wind-down of the school year. I know in my house summer is being anxiously anticipated by the boys and somewhat dreaded by me! After a long 5-day weekend, I have quickly realized that keeping these boys entertained will prove to be quite a challenge for me this summer….but I digress.

So anyway, back to Disney…..

First things first, hopefully all of you traveling to Disney World in November, including the popular Jersey week as well as the Thanksgiving holiday, have made your dining reservations.

And for those of you going in December, your 180 day window will open soon! Yippeee! My family is going this December and I have my ADR wish list all set. If you are going too, get ready to make all of your dining reservations and set your alarm for 7 am eastern time on your reservation day! If you need help figuring out your 180 day point, check out the countdown calculator.

And lastly, for all of you lucky ducks who are going before then, know that I am extremely jealous…. Just kidding! But hopefully you have already made all of your desired reservations, especially if you are taking advantage of the Free Dining offer this year.

Here is another quick update on the planning spreadsheet files. Since posting the files in a new location on an external web host, they have now been downloaded over 1100 times! Wow – there are going to be lots of organized Disney vacationers out there!

As always, if you have any feedback or questions, please send me a note.

As of this writing, the November 2008 Park Hours have still not been released. When I contacted Disney about this, I was simply told that the hours were not yet finalized or confirmed. I think this is absolutely unfair to all of the November visitors as it makes planning out their itineraries and dining plans really difficult. I do understand that there are lots of holiday happenings and special park hours during that period, but I also think that Disney should get the hours set and published. I know I am anxiously awaiting the release of the December hours, but right now I have little confidence in their timely release – I hope I am proven wrong! Anyway, all of the Park Hours will be posted as soon as they are officially released.


2008 Holiday Party Tickets went on sale May 1

Stroller Rental Price Increase

This is a repeat from last month, but I felt it was worth repeating! The cost of renting a stroller at Disney World has increased by an outrageous amount. The new rental costs are listed below:

Read more about stroller rental information, including where to rent them, what they are like, and if you really need one.

Announcing the Plan a Magical Vacation Amazon Store

The Gifts and Shopping section of the website has a new look and better functionality! Now you can use all of the Amazon.com features like Search, Checkout, and even read product and customer reviews right from within the Plan a Magical Vacation website. I hope you find these new features helpful. In case you are wondering, yes the website does earn a commission when you shop through the links on our site. Thanks to all of you who show support in this way!

A Cool Tool to Find the Cheapest Airfare

If any of you have ever booked your own airfare, you know what a pain it is to manually check all the different airlines for the best deal. Well, you have got to check out Kayak.com. I was so impressed by this service that I really wanted to pass this info along. Kayak is a travel tool that searches 140+ travel sites all at once and finds the cheapest fares for you – for flights, hotels, and even rental cars. After you get all of the results for your desired travel dates, you can then compare the results from all of the sites together – and there are many ways to filter and sort the results – all done instantly! Hotels searches are also offered, so check it out if you are planning to stay offsite in an Orlando area hotel. You can even buy direct from the airlines or agencies - Kayak is not a travel agent. And of course, Kayak is free!

Annual Pass Holder Room Only Discount

• Good for travel dates 5/26/08 to 8/2/08.
  
• Use code FJY when booking.

Florida Resident Room Only Discount

• Good for travel dates 5/26/08 to 8/2/08.
  
• Use code FKB when booking.

Free Dining is Still Available – book by 6/22/08

This is a great deal and I hope many of you are able to take advantage of this wonderful offer! Hurry, you must book by 6/22/2008 and the number of available rooms at each resort is limited. Also, make all of your dining reservations NOW!

To book, call 1-407-WDISNEY and use one of the following codes:

I plan to add more coloring pages each month and would love your input and help – if you have a suitable photo, please contact me. I could really use photos of the attractions and resorts. Thanks in advance for you help!

I hope you enjoy the most recent additions at the Plan a Magical Vacation website:

• As of this writing, the November 2008 Park Hours have not been released. The hours will be posted as soon as they are officially released.
  
  
  • Magic Kingdom Hours
  • EPCOT Hours
  • Disney Hollywood Studios Hours
  • Animal Kingdom Hours
  • Blizzard Beach Hours
  • Typhoon Lagoon Hours
  
  
• The Extra Magic Hours for November will be updated as soon as they are released.
  
  
• Disney World Strollers
  
• Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
  
• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
  
• Chip-In: Show support for www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com.
  
• A Disney World Coloring Pages section has been added to the website. Includes printable coloring pages featuring attractions, resorts, and favorite characters.
  
  • Magic Kingdom Coloring pages
    
    • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
      
    • Cinderella Castle 1
      
    • Cinderella Castle 2
      
    • Dumbo Ride
      
    • It's a Small World
      
    • Space Mountain
      
    • Splash Mountain
      
    • Winnie the Pooh Ride
      

  • Disney Resort Coloring pages
    
    • Contemporary Resort (with Castle in background)
      

  • Disney Character Coloring pages
    
    • Goofy 1
      
    • Goofy 2
      
    • Goofy 3
      
    • Goofy 4
      
    • Goofy 5
      
    • Goofy and Pluto 1
      
    • Goofy and Pluto 2
      
    • Mickey Mouse 1
      
    • Mickey Mouse 2
      
    • Mickey Mouse 3
      
    • Mickey Mouse 4
      
    • Mickey and Minnie 1
      
    • Mickey and Minnie 2
      
    • Mickey and Minnie 3
      
    • Minnie Mouse 1
      
    • Minnie Mouse 2
      
    • Pluto on carpet
      
    • Pluto's Dog Dish
      
    • Pluto's Dog house
      
    • Pluto in his Dog house
      
    • Pluto running
      
    • Pluto sitting down
      

  • Sword and the Stone Coloring pages
    • Archimedes the Owl 1
      
    • Archimedes the Owl 2
      
    • Archimedes the Owl 3
      
    • Archimedes the Owl 4
      
    • Wart (Arthur) 1
      
    • Wart (Arthur) 2
      
    • Wart (Arthur) 3
      
    • Wart (Arthur) 4
      
    • Frog
      
    • Madam Mim
      
    • Merlin and the Frog
      
    • Merlin
      
    • Sir Ector 1
      
    • Sir Ector 2
      
    • Sword in the Stone