Hello Everyone!

Well, well, well! What a month for Disney news and announcements! 2009 Vacation Packages and Dining Plan information was released along with some really great discounts for the remainder of 2008. Of course the discount wasn’t applicable to MY vacation – but that’s a topic for another time and place……

The 100 Day point for my family’s upcoming trip has come and gone! We have printed and constructed our Vacation Countdown Chain and the boys have begun the daily ritual of arguing over who gets to tear off that day’s link!! If you haven’t already seen our countdown chain, check it out at www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com/vacation-countdown-chain.html. It’s a fun activity for the whole family.

**Note: I recently added both sides of the chain in PDF versions to facilitate the printing process and to eliminate any loss of formatting. Use these PDFs if you want to use the chain as it is presented – with no customization. Otherwise, follow the download instructions.

Here is a quick monthly update on the hugely popular planning spreadsheet files. Since posting the files in a new location on an external web host, they have now been downloaded over 2100 times! Wouldn’t that be funny if I saw someone in Disney World with the spreadsheet that I created!?

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

On September 7th, 2008 the use of wristbands for the Extra Magic Hours will be discontinued. In order to take advantage of the EMH, guests staying at a Disney Resort need only to show their resort ID or Key to the World card.

In case you are not familiar with EMH, each day one of the parks either opens an hour early or stays open up to three hours after regular park closing. Only Disney Resort guests can use these extra hours.

For more information about the hours, EMH schedule, and which attractions are included, please see the Extra Magic Hours section of the website.

Hall of Presidents closing for refurbishment…

The Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom is scheduled to close for an extensive refurbishment starting November 1, 2008. It is slated to re-open by July 2009 with significant changes and enhancements.

This may not be a big deal to many of you since a lot of people find the Hall of Presidents to be a snore - or a welcome respite from the heat….but I have to say that my kids were really disappointed since we have always missed it on our previous visits! Besides being big fans of “Presidential biographies” (kid-versions only), they were really looking forward to the whole audio-animatronics side of the show – especially the “whispers”! What can I say, with two engineers for parents they are fascinated by all of the Imagineering details!

2009 Quick Service Dining Plan

For 2009, Disney has added an additional option to the dining plan. The new option is called the Quick Service Dining Plan and it can be added to any 2009 Disney Magic Your Way Vacation Package. The Quick Service Dining Plan option costs $29.99 per person per night for adults, and $8.99 per person per night for kids ages 3-9.

Please visit the Plan a Magical Vacation Amazon Store

Be sure to check out the Gifts and Shopping section of the website for all of your Disney guide books, music, and more. You can now use all of the Amazon.com features like Search, Checkout, and read product and customer reviews right from within the Plan a Magical Vacation website.

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!

Find the Cheapest Airfare

If you are looking to find the best price you have got to check out Kayak.com. If 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. 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!

Disney World Package Discounts for the rest of 2008

• Good for travel dates 9/28/08 to 12/23/08
  
• Must book by September 24th, 2008.
  
• Use the following codes when booking:
  • DGL for a regular Magic Your Package
    
  • QXD for a Magic Your Package with Dining Plan
    
  • DGM for a Magic Your Package with Dining and Wine
    
  • UVL for a Magic Your Package with Deluxe Dining
    
  • GCM for a Magic Your Package with Deluxe Dining and Wine
    
• As always, certain restrictions apply and availability is very limited.
  

• More Info:
  
  • Disney Resorts
    
  • Disney Resort Room Size Comparison
    
  • Disney Resorts Dining
    
  • Disney Resorts Maps
    
  • Disney Ticket and Package Overview
    

This month’s tip comes directly from one of your fellow “Scoopers”! Thanks to Kelli for this great tip.

“Always take a picture with your cell phone or camera of the row number you parked in at the airport... I can't tell you how many times this has saved me!”

I have personally done this at many places besides an airport and it really does help. I have also been known to snap a photo of my kids before leaving the hotel room each morning. That way, just in case they are separated from us, I have a full color photo showing their clothing, shoes, etc.

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

• February 2009 Park Hours have been added.
  
  
  • Magic Kingdom Hours
  • EPCOT Hours
  • Disney Hollywood Studios Hours
  • Animal Kingdom Hours
  • Blizzard Beach Hours
  • Typhoon Lagoon Hours
  
  
• The Extra Magic Hours were updated to include February 2009 dates.
  
• Disney Quick Service Dining Plan
  
• Vacation Countdown Chain - Backs (PDF version)
  
• Vacation Countdown Chain - Fronts (PDF version)
  

To stay up-to-date with the recent additions, please visit our What’s New page. If you have a Disney or vacation-related idea that you wish to share with all of us, or if there is some topic you would like more info about, please contact me!