Disney recently announced some offers on package and room only reservations for the Walt Disney World resort in Florida.  The package offering includes discounted hotel, theme park and dining plan while the room only discounts offer savings of up to 35% off a room for your trip.  Depending on your family’s needs one offer may provide more savings to you than the other and we are here to help understand and book the best option for you.

Reservations for these offers must be booked by December 31st of 2012 and the travel dates are good for most dates between January 2nd and March 7th of 2013.  (One exception to this offer are the dates around Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, January 18 – 20, 2013.)

Please contact us at 770-783-1224 or via email at calvin@magicalexperiencetravel.com to request pricing for these or other deals.  As always Disney pays us so our services are free to you and include booking rooms, theme park tickets, and booking dining and other resort activities.

Titled “Limited Time Magic” the Walt Disney Parks have announced a new round of celebrations for 2013.  Over the course of the year Disney will have short celebrations focused on everything from Pirates to rare Disney characters to meet in the parks.  Disney announced the event this morning in Time Square and we expect more information soon.  So far here is what Disney has officially announced at their blog (http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/10/giant-ice-castle-in-times-square-kicks-off-limited-time-magic-at-disney-parks/ ).

• True Love: Celebrate romance and enchantment throughout Valentine’s Week with special moments and entertainment geared to lovebirds. Disney Princes join their Princesses to meet park guests in special settings, prix fixe menus turn up at select restaurants and Valentine’s collectibles will be offered for the week.
• Independence Week: It’s red, white and blue as Disney Parks salutes America with a 4th of July Fireworks Party — for an entire week, with patriotic lighting bathing the Disney castles on both coasts. Mickey Mouse appears in his patriotic finest and guests will find special USA shirts, Ear Hats and other limited-edition souvenirs.
• Long Lost Friends Week: Lesser-known Disney characters will move from the shadows to the spotlight meet-and-greets on both coasts. Photo opps with characters that could include Flik, Clarabelle Cow, Remy, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum will surprise and delight guests. And Disney guests even have the chance to vote online for which characters they want to see.
• Pirate Week: Why talk like a pirate one day when you could celebrate these scalawags all week long? The adventures of Jack Sparrow come to life like never before during a bicoastal buccaneer bash in which Disneyland and Walt Disney World become pirate-palooza: pirate bands, pirate meet-and-greets and more.
• Dapper Dans Sing Boy Bands: The Dapper Dans, the iconic quartet from Main Street, U.S.A., will add a special finale to their show, claiming the title of the “Original Boy Band” and delivering a medley of hits from One Direction, *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.
• Unleash the Villains: Friday the 13th in September 2013 is a special day, so Disneyland park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are staying open until the 13th hour (1 a.m.). Maleficent, Captain Hook, Jafar and other Disney Villains host a dance party, complete with limited-edition collectibles and other nighttime mischief.
• Golden Horseshoe Revue: The fabled Frontierland show returns to Disneyland park for one month only, bringing back the corny jokes and enduring songs that were often enjoyed by Walt Disney himself.

We’ve seen some exciting movement in the dates for new Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom.  This week Disney announced that Fantasyland will open for previews on November 19th and officially open on December 6th.  We will still be waiting for the new Snow White roller coaster (2014) and the new princess meet and greet area (2013), but the rest of the announced elements of Fantasyland will open later this year.

We are hearing that the Be Our Guest restaurant will start taking reservations in late August.  So if you are considering a trip to the Magic Kingdom later this year plan for some larger crowds and exciting experiences.  If the new additions to Fantasyland are of the same quality that we saw out in California Adventure with Cars Land and Buena Vista Street we’re in for some true magic.

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is an interactive card-based dueling game. Each card shows a hero with various strengths. Use these cards to defeat the digital villains who want to take over the Magic Kingdom.  The game was introduced to the Magic Kingdom in early 2012 and has gotten great reaction from the guests who have tried it.  Here are a few tips that may help you play the game and have the most enjoyable experience:

• The waits at the various game portals seem to be the shortest early in the morning or later in the evening.
• Playing the game all the way through and beating all 9 villains can take up to 3 – 4 hours.
• Some portals in Fantasyland close during the fireworks at night (typically close 30 – 60 minutes prior to the fireworks and reopens 30 – 45 minutes after the fireworks).  There is also a portal in Adventureland that can close during lunch since it is in one of the restaurants in that area.
• You can ask a cast member at a Sorcerer recruitment station (the Fire Station on Main Street or the kiosk behind the Christmas store in Liberty Square) to send you to a specific land or reset your game at any time.
• You can get a new deck of cards each day you visit the park (one pack of cards per theme park ticket).  You can also get a new pack of cards for beating all 9 villains.
• After you beat all 9 villains you can play the game at higher levels that require you to beat more minions on your way to the villain battles or may even require specific cards to complete a quest.

The game is a great addition to the Magic Kingdom and seems to have a lot of future potential for even more stories and adventures.

This week Disney announced the official opening dates for their new Walt Disney World resort the Art of Animation. The resort is a new value priced resort that focuses on suites.  The new suites will give maximum flexibility to families looking for a little more room on their vacation.  The resort features a number of themed areas with a focus some all star movies from Disney’s and PIxar’s vast library of favorites.  The opening dates for the different areas are:

• Finding Nemo (Grand opening) – Opens May 31
• Cars – Opens June 18
• Lion King – Opens August 10
• Little Mermaid – Opens September 15

Between the themed play areas, special dining, and the magic of staying on property at a Walt Disney World resort has all the makings of a hit.  For more information or to book a stay at the new resort please contact us at 770-783-1224 or calvin@magicalexperiencetravel.com

Wow.  Its already the end of January.  We had an opportunity this year to experience Marathon Weekend at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.  It was a great experience.  Calvin ran the half marathon (finished in just a bit over his target goal of 3 hours) and the rest of the family (including Calvin’s parents) got up super early and watched the runners come through the Magic Kingdom and then the finish at EPCOT.

We had a great weekend and have a few tips and tricks for those of you considering a runDisney event at Walt Disney World.

• The best resorts for families with lots of spectators are the Monorail resorts.  They allow for everyone to get the most sleep while still having easy access to the Magic Kingdom to see the runners come through and still make it to EPCOT for the finish.
• There are no resorts with distinct advantages for runners getting to the starting line in the morning.  If you are staying on property expect the Monorail or Disney bus to be your best means of transportation.  If there is an advantage of one over the other it would have to be the Monorails since you are not subject to the surface street traffic which were quite busy.
• While the parks were busy the crowds were manageable and as always FastPass is your friend.

We will have more to report on our experience in some articles throughout the year, but overall we can highly recommend that anyone just starting out running or experienced runners will fine the overall experience with a runDisney event a worthwhile investment of your time and money.  It will really create lasting memories for not just the runners but the spectators as well.

Welcome to the new and improved Magical Experience Travel website.  Here you will find our latest information on Disney deals and our personal updates with tricks and tips about traveling to Disney destinations.  If you have any issues or questions please feel free to contact us by calling 770-783-1224 or by email at calvin@magicalexperiencetravel.com.