One way you can save on souvenirs at Disney, is to pre-purchase the Disney Photopass CD.

Don’t know what photopass is?

Basically, there are a bunch of professional photographers stationed throughout the resorts and restaurants, who take pictures of you and your family. They load the information on a little card and give it to you. Then you take the card home, log into the photopass website with the key code on the card, and viola!

Your pictures are there for you to download at $14.95 a copy.

Think that’s a little expensive?

Yeah, me too.

Unless- you buy the photopass CD in advance, through their Pre-Arrival Savings Offer.Which will save you a really nice chunk of change. Not to mention your whole family makes it into the photo (it’s always one person taking the photo, am I right?).

For $99.95 (total, there is no tax or shipping) you get Disney’s PhotoCD- loaded with all of your digital .jpeg photos to you can customize (like adding borders, and making them different colors), and the copyright release so you can print them out where ever you like.

If you buy it after your vacation, the price goes up to $149.95.

Hello savings!!

You can pay with a credit card, or if you’re like me, a Disney gift card.

And what’s really great is that if you tell your Photopass photog that you’ve pre-purchased your CD, they will take additional shots for you and even pose your family to fit in with some of the “photo shop like” add-on images!

So, let’s say you have 300 images taken, and you go a little hog-wild editing them, and end up with say- 1400 images total (’cause you can make as many as you want) you could end up paying $20,930 for the images.

Okay, so I took it to the extreme, but you would have to pay $50 more for the CD if you bought it after your trip.

See where I’m getting at?

Buy the CD before you head out to Disney. You’ll save money, have it pre-paid and have an awesome souvenir (that you OWN the rights to) to boot.

What are ADR’s exactly?

They are your Advanced Dining Reservations.

Which Disney has you do 180 days from the start date of your trip.

Insane right? I know, it’s hard to look 6 months into the future- and decide when and where you are going to eat.

But, if you want that extremely hard to get reservation, you need to do this.

And the best way to do it is to either

A) Buy a Passporter, which has all the dining locations and information

or

B) Spend hours and hours of leg work online and in forums, and create your own spreadsheet.

I’m the nut case who does both.

So, my 180 days has come, and I’m going to share my dining reservations with you!

We’re trying to do a bunch of firsts, so I don’t have a whole lot of information on them, but I can assure you that when I get back, you’ll get a full report!

Just a quick note- characters are subject to change.

Day 1-

Lunch at Downtown Disney- no reservation, most likely at the Earl of Sandwich.

Dinner at 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian. This is a buffet “character meal” with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Step-Mother and Step-Sisters.This is a tradition for us, and is always our first big meal.

Day 2-

Breakfast at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary. This buffet character meal features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto.

Lunch at The Plaza in the Magic Kingdom. This is a table-service restaurant, and a first for us.

Dinner will be at O’Hana in the Polynesian. This is a lively family-style meal, with lots of games and activities for the kiddos! It’s also a first for us!

Day 3-

Breakfast at Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood studios. This is a buffet meal, with characters from Playhouse Disney. Another first for us!

Lunch is at the Sci-Fi Dine In. J swears we’ve eaten here before. I beg to differ. But, we’re eating here anyways, requesting a car booth to watch some old Sci-Fi movie clips!

Dinner is on the fly, as we’ll be attending the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP for short). This is another first for us, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Day 4-

Breakfast at Tusker House. Word on the street is that it’s a fabulous buffet hosted by Donald Duck. As you can tell, it’s new for us, and I’ll have more information when I come back!

Lunch will be a quick service location, giving the Flame Tree BBQ a try. I’m really looking forward to this one.

Dinner is an all time favorite in Pioneer Hall- the Hoop De Doo Musical Review! This is M’s FAVORITE place/event to eat at. It’s a great break from the character dining- and has unlimited sangria. You’re welcome.

Day 5- THE BIG DAY

Breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella’s Royal Table, in Cinderella’s castle.

Lunch is another all time favorite, with Pooh, Tigger, Eyore and Piglet at Crystal Palace. Amazing food, and scenery. A must do!

Dinner, another first, will be at Tony’s Town Square. All I know, is that it has a “Lady and the Tramp” theme, and it has an Italian menu. Obviously, I’ll have more when I get back.

Day 6-

Breakfast with the Princesses yet again, but at Akershus in Epcot. It’s a buffet, and that’s about all I know at this point.

Lunch will be at the Coral Reef. Yet another first!

Dinner at Germany’s Biergarten!! A FAVORITE of ours, as we spent 8 WHOLE HOURS in it on our honeymoon! I’m very excited to take M there for her first time. The theme, the music, the beer- ahhhhh home!

Day 7-

A full day of Downtown Disney!

So, that’s what I have so far!

We’re taking advantage of the Free Dining during our time frame, so we’ve upgraded (paid the difference) to the Deluxe Dining Plan- and wouldn’t have it any other way!

So tell me, have you done your ADR’s yet?

To see the Disney Vacation Breakdown parts 1-4 please click here.

If you’re like me, and have experienced a Disney Dining Plan first hand, you don’t ever go back…

But…

The first time you do it, you’re a rookie.

And most people don’t know that the dining plan covers everything, BUT gratuity. And there isn’t a place on your receipt to charge it, so you unknowingly stiff your server!

Not that I would do that.

Okay, I admit it.

It happened to me.

But honest- I had no idea until someone told me well AFTER the fact.

And let me just say, I felt like a total a-hat (if you know what I mean) for doing it, because we had always gotten STELLAR service from our wait staff.

Except for Cousin Joey. He forgot about us several times. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

So, now that I know- how do I plan for such occasions being on the dining plan and all? 5 months out, I create envelopes for every. single. restaurant. we. visit. and I fill them with 20% of a $55 check. Why? It’s an average of what each meal costs. And all I have to do, is bring the envelopes with me during the day in my John’s back pack. No muss, no fuss. No calculations, because I’ve already filled, labeled and had M decorate them at home.

I even fill out envelopes for the Bell Man, Mousekeeping and Disney’s Magical Express driver.

Why yes, yes I am an over-planner. Don’t judge me!

So what do I do with these envelopes? I mean, you don’t want them sitting around getting lost 5 months just days from your vacation?

I store them in these:

That, m’dear is a Passporter insert page. Otherwise known as HEAVEN to those of us who are a little-bit OCD when it comes to planning and organizing information on our vacations.

And where can you find these pages?

Well, in a Passporter ofcourse!

It’s amazing. And has all of the information and pockets you might need on your Disney vacation. There are worksheets. There are budgets. And there’s a supporting website and forum that accompanies it to update and answer all of your Disney vacation planning questions.

It also contains incredible full-color images for your enjoyment. It also features your favorite blogger J and I on page 282, under special occasions (yes, our Disney Wedding made it in the book!)!

And no, I’m not reviewing this because we’re in the book. The truth is, we used a Passporter in 2003 for our wedding and have been hooked ever since.

And no, I’m not getting anything for doing this review (HEAR THAT FTC?? You can suck it!).

I really think that this is one of those items, that if you’re my reader and are heading to Disney, you really do need. Even if you’re not my reader (then you’re reading this illegally because it’s not on DomesticDebacle.com and the person who copied it will be in big-time trouble) you need this Disney guide.

Oh yeah, so I guess I let the cat out of the bag…

My good friend (okay, so I think she’s my good friend, but she might think I’m her stalker) Jennifer Marx, co-founder/author of the Passporter and Passporter.com is giving one of my lucky readers their very own 2010 Disney Passporter!!

All you have to do is:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

• Head to www.Passporter.com and tell me what you think the best tip is on Passporter.

Optional Entries:

• Tweet: @DomesticDebacle is giving away a 2010 Disney @Passporterbooks Guide! Head here to enter:  http://wp.me/pFIaT-my
• Fan Passporter on Facebook
• Fan Domestic Debacle at www.facebook.com/domesticdebacle
• Post on your facebook page about this giveaway
• Blog about this giveaway, and leave the link in my comments.

Don’t forget to make each entry a separate comment!

The giveaway will end on Friday, May 14th at 10:00am.

Good luck!

Want to see my Disney vacation break downs?

Head here for 1

Head here for 2

Head here for 3

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) tickets go on sale Thursday, April 29th at 7:00am (est)!

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Dates:

September 14, 18, 21, 23, 25, 28, 30; October 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, and 31; November 1. Hours: 7 p.m.12:00 a.m.
Advance Purchase: $57.46 for adults 10 and older / $51.07 for ages 3-9 (Not available all dates)

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Dates:

November 8, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 28, and 30; December 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, and 19. Hours: 7 p.m. to 12:00a.m.
Advance Purchase: $57.46 for adults 10 and older / $51.07 for ages 3-9 (Not available December 7, 10, 12, 17 or 19)

Call Disney (407-939-3463) to purchase your tickets (on Thursday, not today)!

Okay, so here’s where I tell you how long my vacation is going to be, and how much it’s going to set us back!

Errrr, well, there’s more to it than that.

Like the fact we have to pay for flights too.

You gotta get there somehow!

So, we are flying into Orlando on a Sunday, and flying out of Tampa on a Saturday. We’re spending 2 weeks in Florida, the first in Orlando, and the second in Tampa.

Because of the split-air port schedule, our ticket prices were a little cheaper. And, because I booked through AAA I saved another $20. We are flying on Air Tran though, so we have to pay $15 for each piece of checked luggage. We already know that we’ll have 3 bags. So that adds another $45 to our cost.

The tickets themselves were only $607. 20 for the three of us, (2 adults, one child) round trip.

Not bad right? I didn’t think so either. So those, done and paid for.

Now… onto Disney.

We’re going to be at Disney from a Sunday, until a Saturday. We’re staying at a moderate resort, and have signed up for “Magic Your Way” tickets (base- no park hoppers or water parks, which I will explain in another post) for Monday-Friday and the Deluxe Dining Plan.

Our price?

$2500.31

And that’s with the $300 savings through AAA.

This includes transportation to and from the airport to our hotel (also known as the Magical Express) and buses to parks, the tickets, the hotels, 3 meals a day (drinks, appetizers and dessert all included) and two snacks per person per day.

You have to put down a $200 deposit- which goes towards your bottom line, and the total has to be paid off 45 days before our arrival. Which, if you book a year in advance, it can really benefit you by making small payments over a longer period of time.

For us, we have already made the $200 deposit, which brought the total to

$2300.21

Recently, I made a payment of $350.31, which brought our total down to

$1950.00

Not bad, for an all-inclusive vacation, right?

I’ll keep updating you too whenever I make a payment.

Now, this total *could* go down, by one of three ways…

1) I could cancel the trip. Not likely, but possible.

2) Disney could offer a seasonal discount, like they’re having right now- the Summer Special, which is 20-40% off your hotel stay. I’m really hoping for their “trending” one for our time frame, free Magic Your way dining- which includes 1 table service meal, 1 quick dining meal and 1 snack. I’m signed up for the Deluxe, so if this is offered, I would chose it and then upgrade back to the Deluxe plan. But honestly, I would be happy with any seasonal offer that would be more than the discount I’m getting from AAA.

3) I would get an ever-coveted pin code in my e-mail, or through snail mail. There is NO rhyme or reason to these things at all. NO ONE knows how you get them, or when they’re coming. But they are these sequence of numbers and letters attached to your name and then attached to your reservation to give you a special discount. These things can only be used in your name, and are NOT transferred. Which kinda stinks. So, if you get one for your friend’s time frame, and then your friend gets one for your time frame- you both are screwed.  No one can use the Pins, and Disney is stricter than anything about it.It really stinks, but I guess it keeps people from abusing the system and taking advantage of specials that don’t really exist.

Next up: Tipping on the dining plan- what? The gratuity isn’t included? But everything else is!