WDW's Port Orleans - French Quarter

Last year for our first anniversary trip, we went to Walt Disney World to celebrate! We wanted to stay at a "romantic" resort and read some good reviews about WDW's Port Orleans - French Quarter resort. If you are looking for romance, a little privacy and quiet, this is a great resort option if you are looking to stay on site at Disney. This resort is perfect if you are looking for:

A Smaller Resort
With only 7 buildings containing a total of 1,008 rooms, this resort is a little bit smaller than the other Disney resorts. There is easy accessibility between the various buildings, resort pool, front lobby and food court. We stayed at the far end of building 6 during our stay and we had a lovely corner room with a view of the gardens and the river.

A Little Bit of Peace and Quiet
We found the resort to be very peaceful. This is probably due to the smaller size of the resort, but also the lush gardens and beautifully manicured property. It was great to wind down our days at the parks with a nice walk along the river and around the property.

Close Proximity to Downtown Disney
We loved being a boat ride away from Downtown Disney. Although taking the boat may take a little longer to get there (time wise), we loved being out on the water. If you have been to Disney before, you know how fast paced the day is; rushing from attraction to attraction, dining to various shows, it sometimes is really nice just to relax and enjoy the scenery. The boat ride provides the perfect opportunity to do just that - relax a little before you move onto your next adventure.

Romance
So we obviously found all of the reviews of this resort being romantic true! The resort offered nice walking trails and nightly activities. They had a caricature stand at night and although we did not do it, we loved the idea of it to capture a nice (or maybe funny) momento from your trip. The resort also has a campfire some nights of the week. We found it to be a relaxing way to unwind from a long day at the parks.  And like I mentioned before, we LOVED the boat ride to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping at night or grab a bite to eat.

In addition, I know that this is going to sound weird, but I liked how the resort was not "Disney'd" out. After being in the parks all day, sometimes it is nice to take a little break from the mouse. The landscaping and the style of the buildings does not scream Mickey Mouse and friends, which is alright with us.

The rooms have been recently renovated and are lovely, with all of the magical Disney touches (see the Mickey's in the bedding???). We found the room size to be adequate and the room safe was large enough to fit our laptop we brought along. I loved that the bathroom area had two sinks and a good amount of counter space, including a nifty shelf above the sink.

Although we are enjoying trying out the different Disney property resorts, we would definitely stay at this resort again. To be honest, children might find this resort a bit boring, but I think adults will find it to be a wonderful stay away from the parks.

 

The End of National Scleroderma Month

Who is wearing teal today???? I am!!! In honor of National Scleroderma Month! Our local fundraiser for Scleroderma research and programs brought in over $11,000 and over 140 walkers came out this year. It was a great time and I am looking forward to next year's fundraiser - June 21, 2014 - so mark your calendars!

Date Night

I LOVE date nights with Christopher. Yesterday I planned a surprise date night for us. I made a picnic dinner, packed up our basket (including wine of course!) and headed over to Delaware Park to see Hamlet at Shakespeare on the Hill. I could not believe this group puts on productions for free to the community. It was lovely. Although the play itself is not very romantic, sitting in the sun together and munching on some goodies was fun and relaxing.

I made these petite deli sandwiches on the Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. This recipes has been flying around Pinterest and it is super easy and quite good. I cut the recipe in half (so using 1 12 pk of rolls) and half of the meats and cheeses as well. The buttery, mustard topping with chopped onion makes the sandwich so un-ordinary - it is the finishing touch.

We brought two bottles of wine from our favorite vineyard - Jackson Triggs. We are very excited to be making the trip up there soon to pick up our third wine club installment. Best idea ever to join! We have been tasting different types of wines that we may never have had tried. It is fairly reasonable too.

Sweet Mini Sandwiches  - makes 12 mini sandwiches 
1 pkg Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
1/2 lb of each: Honey Ham, Turkey, Swiss Cheese, Provolone Cheese
1/2 TBSP of each: Honey Mustard and Poppy Seeds
1 to 2 TBSP butter
1 TBSP Onion Flakes

Cut rolls horizontally (do not split up into individual rolls) remove top. Layer meats and cheese on the bottom and replace the top. Mix and melt together all other ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and melt until well blended. Then, spread on top of the rolls. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15  minutes.

2013 Disney Restaurants - Our Vacation List

So last night we had a fun game night with my husband's parents and we started to talk about our Disney trip coming up this Fall. Our conversation was mostly about the restaurants, Food & Wine festival, fun memories, rides, and fireworks. We are very excited to be taking our parents for their 40th wedding anniversary and in our humble opinion, think we did a good job picking out restaurants at Disney for all of us to enjoy.

Our first anniversary dinner at Narcoossee's

For our trip, we purchased the Deluxe Dining Plan - providing 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. We did this to minimize cost at the Epcot Food & Wine festival (you can use 1 snack credit for each of the tastes of food, therefore, a lobster roll = 1 snack credit...SCORE!) and enjoy some of the finer restaurants that Disney offers. There is some talk on other sites that using your dining credits at signature or character dining that uses two meal credits is a bad choice when maximizing your bang for your buck when it comes to the dining plan. We feel otherwise and actually kept all of our receipts from our previous trip with the the Deluxe Plan. We ended up eating $200 more than what we paid for the plan.

Here is the line up for our Fall vacation:

Breakfast:
- Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary
- Kona Cafe at the Polynesian (may not use a meal credit here - debating still)

Breakfast with Chef Mickey!

Lunch:
- Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot
- Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom
- Tusker House in Animal Kingdom
- Portobello in Downtown Disney

Lunch at the Coral Reef Restaurant

Dinner:
- La Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot
- Le Cellier in Epcot
- The Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios
- Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian Resort

Dinner & fireworks at La Hacienda de San Angel

I am keeping my eye out for when reservations open back up at the California Grill inside the Contemporary to maybe swap out our reservations at The Hollywood Brown Derby. Right now the California Grill is undergoing renovations, which are expected to be completed in August. Fingers crossed!

First Anniversary trip dinner at the California Grill

What are your must go to restaurants in Disney World???

A Friendly Weekend

This past weekend Christopher and I were busy visiting family and friends. Christopher's sister, Kim, and her family came into town due to a death of a close friend. Although the circumstances were sad, we were happy to see all of them. Friday night we went to the wake to support the family, then after we went out to dinner and drinks with our parents and a bunch of friends. It was a great time.

One of my favorite things to do in the summer on a Saturday morning? Go for a long walk. I ended up doing a 5 mile walk just before the sun started to get a little too hot. I fit in grocery shopping (love the Lexington Co-op) and some cleaning. Then my aunt came over to drop off a bunch of plants she is trying to give away before she sells her home. She generously gave us many plants to fill in our garden. But because it was so warm out, we had to work quickly to get them in the ground. Unfortunately Christopher got call away to his parents house and I ended up doing all of the planting and digging. Needless to say, I was a sore woman the following day.

At night we drove out to see our friends Dave and Abby and go out to dinner. We went to two places first before finding a restaurant that was open! It was definitely an adventure. The place we ended up going to was horrible though (well...the boys meals not Abby and I's salads). We will probably never go back. But our time with friends was perfect and all we really need - nothing some wine could not fix.

Sunday we met Kim's family out for breakfast and had a lovely time visiting. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family. I hope that we can go down to visit them sometime over the summer.

The rest of the day we spent outside doing some yard work, playing lawn games and just having fun in the sun. It was a very relaxing day. Then at night we decided to grill homemade pizza. I love grilled pizza and the little bit of charring on the crust - mmm so good!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

For lunch today, I decided I would try a Cauliflower crust pizza. I have been sceptical since reading about them in magazines and seeing the recipes on Pinterest. I don't know about you, but I do not like cauliflower but I am trying hard to like it. Back to the whole vegetable bit - trying to like them. I decided to take a chance on one of the recipes I found on FitSugar (http://www.fitsugar.com/Low-Carb-Cauliflower-Crust-Pizza-Recipe-30739512).

Verdict: it was delicious! But then, I guess adding cheese to anything for me makes a meal taste good. This is also a good low-carb option too. I will be keeping this around for a while. Although Christopher was not brave enough to try. Luckily, my friend Ashley is a guinea pig for my meals and she loved it too! Two thumbs up.

Prepared & Baked Crust

Cauliflower Pizza Crust - makes 2 servings (one pizza)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups grated cauliflower (about 1 small head) (I used a cheese grater to grate the cauliflower - this was super easy)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup pizza or tomato sauce
Any other toppings you like

Directions:

Line a pizza pan with parchment paper and pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grate the cauliflower using a cheese grater over a large, microwave safe bowl until you have about two cups of cauliflower crumbles. Microwave the crumbles for 6-8 minutes or until soft. Let cool.

Mix in the egg, one cup of mozzarella, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder to the bowl of cauliflower. Once combined, pat the mixture into the prepared pizza pan (try your best to make it as round as possible). Spray the top lightly with a nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Top the pizza with the sauce, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and any other topping you would like. Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted, about another 10 minutes. Cut and enjoy!

Finished Product!

Chicken = winner; Vegetables = FAIL

So as you all know I am on a quest to enjoy and eat more vegetables. I was reading one of my favorite blogs (http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/) and came acrossed a chessy chicken and grilled vegetables dinner. I thought - why not! I did not have all of the ingredients that the recipe called for, so I improvised as I went along.

The chicken turned out great. But the vegetables not so much. I decided to grill some broccoli florets and sliced yellow squash, but they turned out really soft and soggy. I made a little foil packet to grill them in. I think that was the issue - next time, I would try grilling them on a grill plate. Luckily enough, I also had Christopher prepared corn on the cob for the grill, so our need for a side was saved!

Vegetable - FAIL

Teriyaki Grilled Cheesy Stuffed Chicken - makes 2
(original recipe posted here: http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/post/29056586230)

Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 TBSP Fat Free Cream Cheese
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 4 TBSP Teriyaki Marinade
- 1/2 cup bell peppers (red & orange)

Directions:
Heat grill to 500 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 tbsp Teriyaki marinade, garlic powder and cream cheese. Make a slit in the middle of the chicken breast. I cut mine almost in half lengthwise, but kept a seem to keep the chicken together. Stuff each breast with 2 tbsp of the cream cheese mixture. Prepare tin foil with nonstick cooking spray. I used two sheets of tin foil to make sure the packet would be strong enough. Lay the chicken on top of the prepared tin foil. Top each chicken breast with remaining Teriyaki marinade and cut bell peppers. Place tin foil onto grill and cook chicken about 9 minutes on each side.

Cooked Chicken - Yummy!

Father's Day 2013

Christopher and I had a lovely Father's Day with our dads and my grandfather. Papa ushered 8 am mass on Father's Day and it was a real joy to watch him in action. I am so grateful that the church has allowed him to continue to do this. He is so happy contributing to the parish community. It was also nice to enjoy mass with my father. After mass, we went out to breakfast at North Amherst Fire Hall for their annual Father's Day brunch. It was delicious as always and so much fun. My Uncle Jeff is a volunteer fireman there and it was great to see him too! He cooks some pretty mean potatoes.

Papa & I last year for his birthday

My Dad walking me down the aisle

Then after breakfast, I got to relax a bit at my parents house and watch Dad open his gifts. It was a nice morning.

Later in the day, we took Christopher's father out for dinner at Bravo in the mall. Dinner was delicious but the conversation and company was the best! We all made sure to save a little room for dessert and coffee after dinner. We always have such a lovely time with his parents.

4 Generations of Musialowski's!!!

Romance in WDW - Our Tips & Experiences

Before we left for our first anniversary trip!

It should probably come as no surprise that my husband and I LOVE Walt Disney World. We find ourselves  immersed in all that is Disney and find it quite romantic too. This usually comes as a surprise to some of our friends, but the feeling of being a kid again, playing in the parks, watching the fireworks and stage shows and eating scrumptious meals together, we find, to be very romantic.

As a Disney loving couple, we wanted to share some of our favorite romantic things to do when we go down to Disney. We are counting down the days until our next anniversary trip and will hopefully we able to do some of these things again and try new things too!

Our favorite romantic moments at Disney:

Fireworks while dining at La Hacienda de San Angel

We love watching fireworks. Our favorite show is the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party show, but Wishes is also our favorite at Magic Kingdom. Illuminations (Epcot) still catches our breathe as well. We are hoping to see Fantasmic! at our next visit...I have only heard amazing things about that show at Hollywood Studios. One of the things we discovered was that we can eat dinner AND watch the fireworks show in various locations. On our last trip, we dined at La Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot around 8pm and were seated near a window table. Illuminations literally takes place right outside the window on the lagoon. It was an incredible experience. The music gets piped in throughout the restaurant so you feel like you are right outside with the crowds watching it. Only difference...you can share your favorite dessert while taking it all in at your table!

Our last night at WDW dinner at Narcoossee's

We also dined at California Grill at the Contemporary Resort and Narcoossee's at The Grand Floridian resort. Both had excellent views of Wishes fireworks show at Magic Kingdom and had the music piped in throughout the restaurant. We also found out that if you dine at the California Grill earlier in the night (like at 6pm), you can come back to the restaurant and watch the show from the observation deck. You just need to present your receipt from dinner. For our experience, we totally lucked out having late reservations and had no problem viewing the fireworks. I would recommend an 8 pm reservation if you want to watch the fireworks from your table.

Christopher sent anniversary flowers to our room!

I feel very fortunate that I have a romantic and thoughtful husband. On our last two trips to WDW, he has ordered and sent flowers to our room on our first night. He highly recommends the service that WDW provides and he has not had trouble with the Disney Florist. He mentioned they offer many different types of arrangements in various price ranges.

This may sound cheesy, but we loved having lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre in Hollywood Studios. It has a classic romantic feel of being on a date at the drive-in. We even held hands and shared our desserts.  Although we found the food here to be only okay, the atmosphere totally makes up for it and is the real winner of the location.

Our fun experience tasting our way around the world at Epcot

We love spending a day just roaming around the World Showcase at Epcot, trying different alcoholic drinks and splitting food samples from each of the pavilions. Last year was our first time experiencing Epcot's Food and Wine Festival and we had a blast with all of our food and beverage tasting. It was a really fun experience trying to see how many of the food and drink samples we could try on our visit. WDW provides a free "passport" that you can mark off the food and beverages you have tried and collect stamps at each of the kiosks around the World Showcase. The Food & Wine festival has a chocolate and champagne stand. We would recommend stopping at that kiosk before the Illuminations show and sip some bubbly while waiting.

Our stay at the Port Orleans - French Quarter - super romantic and quiet. I would highly recommend to couples.

Most of the resorts offer pathways to walk around. We loved going for a walk when we went back to the resort after a day at the parks. We were able to reminisce about the fun day we had together and wind down a bit before going to bed and doing it all over again the next day.

Huge FAN of Disney Photo Pass

We LOVE the Disney Photo Pass service. It is so hard to get a picture together (or remember to) that we are not trying to take ourselves (you know what I am talking about - that long arm shot). We totally take advantage of this service and get our pictures taken together whenever we can. Then we buy the CD of the prints (it usually is worth it because we get so many pictures taken) and print off copies for frames, our family and post to the social media sites we belong too. This is an excellent souvenir and on the days we do not want to bring our camera, we know that we can rely on the Photo Pass photographers to capture our day at the parks. We also totally ham it up for the camera - it is Disney World - you will not look silly.

Our souvenir matching watches to commemorate our first anniversary trip!

We also try to bring home a special souvenir of the trip for our home to remind us of our getaway. Two years ago we bought a picture frame set and now have it on display in our guest bedroom. Last year for our first anniversary trip, we bought a print of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival to hang in our bedroom as well. We love looking at our "Disney" wall to reminisce about our fun vacations. We also treated ourselves to "matching" Disney watches to honor our first anniversary.

I would love to hear what you all find romantic at Disney!

Decoding WDW Tickets

So now you have figured out your accommodations (if you have not, see my blog post here: WDW Accommodations) now it is time to determine how many and what kind of tickets you need for your vacation. This can sometimes be overwhelming because Disney offers so many options. I will try to explain the basics to help in your decision making.

Ticket Fundamentals:

Regular "Magic Your Way Base" tickets includes entrance to ONE theme park on a given day. You can add on options to the base ticket such as:
- Park Hopping - purchase this option if you want to visit more than one theme park on a given day
- Water Park Fun & More - purchase this option if you want to also enjoy a smaller park such as the water parks, DisneyQuest in Downtown Disney, the miniature golf courses and ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex.
- Non-Expiration - typically, your tickets will expire 14 days from the first day you use them. This will allow your ticket to be used after the 14 days. If you are not sure how many days you are going to spend in the parks, but know that you are going to come back to WDW, this maybe a good option for you and your family to save money in the long-run.

Do note that if you want to go to a special event, some special events require an additional ticket. Such events like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party, require guests who want to attend to purchase a ticket for the event.

How to Choose your Ticket Package:

1) Evaluate your travel plans - many days are you planning to visit the parks? Do you want to hop from park to park? Are you traveling with children or seniors? Do you think you will head to a water park, Disney Quest, miniature golf, etc? Are you planning on returning to Disney in the future?

In evaluating your ticket decision remember the Magic Your Way tickets start with the "base" ticket which is entrance to one theme park per day. This ticket is the most basic and offer the best price per day, especially with longer visits (greater than 4 days). The longer your stay, the more discounted your ticket will be. The down side to this ticket is that the ticket will expire after 14 days. Therefore, if you do not use a ticket on one of your days, you will lose it unless you have purchased the "No Expiration" option for an additional cost.

2) Determine if you want to add on the additional options. Park Hopper is a popular add-on; for an additional fee, this option gives you the flexibility to go from park to park in one day on one admission ticket.  So if your family is planning on going to Animal Kingdom for the morning and afternoon, but catching dinner at Epcot, this ticket would be highly beneficial to you.

In addition to the Park Hopper option, if your family thinks they will be spending time at any of the Disney water parks, DisneyQuest or ESPN's Wide World of Sports, the Water Park Fun & More option maybe beneficial to you. This is almost like having a second set of tickets. This option also expires after 14 days. No hopping is allowed unless you purchased the Park Hopper pass. Therefore, if you wanted to go from Blizzard Beach to DisneyQuest, this would not be allowed unless the Park Hopper option was also purchased. But...since this is like having a separate ticket, you can go from major theme park to a WPF&M location in the same day.

Ticket Pricing:

For ticket and package pricing, I highly recommend consulting Disney directly as pricing and package offers change frequently. One of my favorite websites allears.net has excellent ticket information that is usually kept up to date.

In addition, if you call Disney directly, the cast member on the phone can also help you decide what package is best for your family. I have called before for questions and pricing and they were extremely helpful and talking with the cast member was easy too.

Hopefully this entry will help you get one step closer to your visit to Disney World!

Honor Flight - Welcome Home Mr. Adams!

Saturday night we went to the airport to welcome home the latest group of WWII veterans to go on Honor Flight. In 2011, I went on Honor Flight as a guardian with my grandfather, John, who is a WWII veteran. This program is very amazing. The group takes WWII veterans on a one-day trip to Washington, D.C. to see the WWII Memorial. They also have the chance to visit Arlington National Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean war memorials and the Marine Corp Memorial. The Honor Flight organization is so well coordinated and organized the day is so fun for all of the veterans (and guardians too!).

Yesterday, my Uncle George's father - George, was selected to go on Honor Flight out of Buffalo. We went to the airport to welcome him home from his trip! So many family and friends showed up at the airport to welcome their loved ones back from their trip.

Their plane did not get in until super late - but all of them were energetic and ready to greet their family and tell them about their special trip. I am so happy that we decided to go! Enjoy the pictures!

2013 Buffalo Scleroderma Walk

Saturday brought on the 2013 Buffalo Scleroderma Walk and Fundraiser. It ended up being a beautiful and sunny day! About 140 walkers game out and we all raised over $11,000 for Scleroderma research! What a success! And...Kathy's Krew took home the cup again! We had 35 walkers and raised over $1,500.

And of course our favorite part...the basket raffle! I think almost every group went home with a basket. Christopher and I took home three - a pink purse, glass & metal candle holder, and watch & clutch. Our friends Steve & Lauren took home two - a garden hose and a champagne basket. There were over 115 baskets raffled off!

Our group had a ton of fun and we are looking forward to the walk next year. Save the date: Saturday, June 21st!

Busy Thursday Night

It is amazing how full our week gets! Last night we went to a happy hour and dinner with the Canisius College Alumni Board at Fat Bob's. I was elected to the Board of Directors for this upcoming year and I am very excited to start working with everyone. It was so nice to meet some of the other board members so that I can put names and faces together for when we have our first meeting. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. I am looking forward to our first meeting and orientation in August.

Thursday was also our June splurge night. I was disappointed that I could not go. I look forward to splurge group each month and I am always bummed when I cannot make it. This month the winner was preselected - Christine. As she is expecting in September, she is hosting and splurging for July. I think she is going to splurge on shoes and a purse. I am hoping she invites me on her shopping trip - I have not been to the mall in months!

I decided to take Friday off to do some shopping and stuff around the house. I met my friend Reese for breakfast. It is also so nice to meet up with her and catch up! Then I did shopping for father's day and my mom's birthday. My father wanted a sporting goods gift certificate and we got Papa some lottery ticket scratch-offs. He is going to love it! I taped each of the tickets end to end and rolled them up and put them in a box. A roll of lottery tickets - how fun, right?

For my mom, I got her an I-Tunes gift card and a pretty blue scarf. Well...I should say that Marv Eric got her the scarf. I think she is really going to like it.

Later on today, we are going to my friend Lori's party to celebrate the beginning of summer and then we are going to help set up for the Scleroderma Walk that is on Saturday. Hopefully the donations will come in in these last couple of days! Kathy's Krew may not take home the trophy this year, but we have had fun putting together all of the donations together as a family!

This weekend I will try to post some pictures from the walk :) It will be another nice event!

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

So tonight I tried a new recipe - Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops. I was on a roll this week for meals, so I was hoping to go 4 for 4 tonight. Well...in the end, the recipe ended up turning out okay, but I followed the directions to a T and ended up burning one of the sides of the pork chops. I found this recipe on Pinterest (Lil Luna's Blog) and it looked delicious.

Some tweeks I would make:
- when searing the pork chops, make sure you pre-heat the oil so it is hot when you sear the pork chops
- I followed the recipe and for the first side, I sauteed it the full 5 minutes. This lead to burned pork chops. I would suggest doing 3 minutes per side, especially on medium to high heat.
- When baking it in the oven, I baked them at 325 degrees for 12 minutes. That was all it needed and in my opinion, could have been baked less. I do not like a tough chop.

The flavor is definitely good - I liked the cheese breading and it stuck pretty well to the chops. I served the chops with some cooked green beans - italian style. Why not? It was the perfect complement to the pork chops.

I Want to go to WDW...but Where Should I Stay??

So you have started to plan your trip to Walt Disney World, but here comes the daunting question...where should I stay? I will be honest here...I am very partial to staying on the Disney World property. I love the free transportation from the airport, to all the parks and resorts, etc. I enjoy the convenience of being close to all the action. With that said, I will do my best to give a good picture of the Disney World resorts and staying off property.

Walt Disney World Resorts - staying on property

There are several different types of hotels on WDW property. They fall into four categories:

1) Value (the least expensive)

2) Moderate

3) Deluxe

4) Disney Vacation Club

The Value resorts offer the basic hotel amenities with outdoor corridors with Disney theming throughout the entire resort. Currently (as of June 2013) the value resorts include the All-Star Resorts - Movies, Music and Sports, Pop Century and Art of Animation. These resorts all include a food court as the main dining option. 

The Moderate resorts are currently: Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans (French Quarter and Riverside),  Coronado Springs and The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort. These resorts tend to have larger rooms than the Value and all have a sit down dining option.

The Deluxe resorts are the most expensive. These rooms are larger than the Value and Moderate and some include balconies, concierge service, full-service restaurants, and room service. The draw to stay at these resorts is not just the additional amenities but also the fact they are a stones throw away from the parks. The Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian are all walking distance to Magic Kingdom AND they are located on the monorail line. The Yacht Club, Beach Club and the Boardwalk are within walking distance to Epcot. The Animal Kingdom Lodge is right next to Animal Kingdom, and some rooms have a view of the African savanna out their room window. The Wilderness Lodge is also part of the Deluxe grouping. This resort is in close proximity to Magic Kingdom.

Then there is the Disney Vacation Club (or DVC). These resorts are "reserved" for Vacation Club members, but can be booked at a premium rack rate for non-DVCer's. It is possible to rent DVC points to stay at these resorts. These resorts include 1 or 2 bedroom villa style rooms with a kitchenette, laundry and generally more room for families. If you are interested in renting points, I would recommend checking out dvcrentalstore.com, dvcrequest.com or mouseowners.com. There are also many other sites/companies that offer this service. DVC resorts include Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Villas, Old Key West Resort, Treehouse Villas, The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Saratoga Springs Resort and the newly opening Villas at the Grand Floridian (scheduled to open Fall 2013).

Making your choice

There are several factors to keep in mind when making your decision about where to stay either on or off property:
- What is my budget?
- How many people are in your party? What are the ages? Any special needs?
- Do we need more than one room (ex. villa or suite)?
- Which resort amenities are important to our family?
- Do we need to rent a car?
- How are we going to spend our time? All Disney? Visiting other Orlando attractions?

These will all need to be considered when making your decision.

Advantages & Disadvantages of On-site & Off-Site Accommodations

On-site Advantages
- Transportation to and from the airport (Disney's Magical Express), to all the parks and resorts and Downtown Disney, is included with your stay on Disney property. This makes getting around really easy. Disney offers bus transportation to all the parks. Monorail and boat transportation is also available from certain resorts and parks.
- Your family is completely immersed in all the Disney Magic 24 hours a day.
- The Disney service provided by the Cast Members is amazing.
- All resorts are themed, well kept and clean. All have housekeeping and maintenance staff to handle room issues.
- Staying on property will give you the ability to purchase discounted tickets through Disney's Magic Your Way package. In addition, if you stay on property you have the ability to purchase a Disney Dining Plan (which I think is the best way to go for foodies).
- Extra Magic Hours - Disney allows all Resort guests to enter the park 1 hour early or stay at the park 1 hour later on certain days at designated parks. This will allow for your family more time to enjoy the parks.
- Guests have the ability to charge purchases to their room AND have merchandise purchased in parks delivered to their rooms.

On-site Disadvantages
- It is definitely more expensive than staying off-property
- Eating all on Disney property can be more expensive than eating off property
- If you are going to non-Disney attractions in the Orlando area, transportation can be more difficult if not planned ahead of time
- I have found that going from resort to resort can be difficult using Disney Transportation if you do not have a game plan prior to leaving (definitely talk to a resort cast member for the best option to get to another resort - very helpful!)

Off-Site Advantages
- You will mostly likely be able to find a resort for a cheaper price for similar amenities
- Better access to all of Orlando attractions (theme parks, restaurants, shopping, etc)
- If you do not want to be immersed in Disney 24/7
- Free breakfast - some non-Disney resorts offer free breakfast - any little bit helps, right?

Off-Site Disadvantages
- Getting to and from the parks and hopping from park to park can be more difficult. If you need a break from a day at the parks, you will have a distance to travel.
- Parking and having a rental car. All non-Disney resort guests have to pay for parking at the theme parks. In addition, sometimes the Disney parking lots are packed and parking can be tricky. I have even heard that Disney will close some parking lots during peak days.
- Off-site hotel concierge may not be as knowledgeable about the Disney parks, including park hours, events, getting from park to park, park to resort, etc.


Hopefully some of these points will help you decide whether staying on or off property is right for you. Christopher and I love staying on property. We feel that if your purposes is to go to Disney, stay at a Disney Resort and live in Walt's dream for your vacation. We have had great experiences at each of the resorts we have stayed at. In the past, we have stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort (Epcot area), Port Orleans - French Quarter (loved - so romantic; Downtown Disney area) and Pop Century (very cool for families; Downtown Disney).

Whatever you choose, your vacation will be magical!