Show Notes Episode 44

Hello and welcome to the show notes for episode 44 of The Minnie Minxes Disney Podcast. You will find the show on iTunes under touringplans.com Podcast Network. Alternatively there is a direct player available on their website http://podcast.touringplans.com

In this episode we take a close look at safety and we discuss some recent happenings in the happiest place on earth where guests have been hurt.

We have also been fortunate enough to get some author signed editions of the newly published WDW with kids 2014. If you wish to win one of these books; follow us on twitter and follow @lilianeopsomer as we both will be tweeting a competition question. When you have both answers send a direct tweet to us Minxes and you never know the book could be on its way to you!

Next episode, will be out 14th October 2013 and is entitled Adventures by Disney Girls... intrigued? Well it is an amazing trip report about an Adventures by Disney trip.

Minnie Kisses

Kimmie and Michelle xx

Michelle's Travel Plans

So as I prepare for the start of my journey to WDW it set me thinking, what preparations do people make prior to their trips? What do others endure to get to the magic? I know I do quite a bit of pre-travel preparation so I thought, over the next few days, I would share some plans and if I have missed anything, please please please tweet or email me to help fill in the blanks!

So as I live 4000 miles away from the magic, I have to start with the prospect of a long flight, which those who know me, know I am not a good passenger. So to ease this phobia I travel to the airport the day before, do twilight check in and then it's to the hotel to wish away the time for the next days flight.

This year I have done a DIY package rather than leaving it all to a tour operator. So I booked my flights with Virgin Atlantic and stumped up a massive £2,500 ($3,750) to fly direct in to MCO. I know it sure is a lot of money but it is a direct flight and I have upgraded to fly premium class, just basically because it comes with additional luggage, legroom and usually the ability to get off the plane first and hopefully be one of the first through immigration. Also it is during the UK summer holidays and prices are always at a premium then.

Once at MCO first plan of action is getting the hire car. I always complete online check as it avoids the clerk trying to sell insurances, upgrades and sat navs that I don't want or need. So who is my car hire provider of choice? Well, I booked the car hire ten months in advance and the best price was Alamo. However I was a tad disappointed that following changing a few details on my booking the price jumped up and their clerk told me the price was in $ when in actually was in £. This means I have had a £240 price increase. I obviously wasn't happy and as I type I truly hope the manager in Orlando will review this as he promised but more about this in a later blog/rant!

Makes coffee delicious for $2

So I have been reunited with cases (no I don't send them on the second trip to avoid taking them on monorail), I have the car and the next stop is Walmart. I know it isn't the poshest of places, but I simply refuse to pay $3 for a small bottle of water when I can get 5l for $2. So I stock up on water, mascara (I know random but sooo much cheaper), hazelnut coffee creamer and all the good stuff I love but can't buy in the UK without pay 4x as much.

So It will now probably be around 5pm. I will have been awake 15 hours. Tired. Grumpy. Facing Florida humidity. So best course of action would be to drive to hotel, check in, unpack and collapse. Oh no! As soon as I am unpacked I will be out and straight to the Polynesian Resort to eat at Captain Cooks, then (all crossed) meet up with Ashley from WDW Happy Place podcast. 

So that is the first day... even typing has exhausted me!

Universal for me in 2013?

Our next podcast, episode 39 – The Girls With Universal Appeal is focusing totally on Universal Orlando Resort as I feel of late we have been very Disney-centric recently so here is a piece about my growing excitement for my visit this summer!

My first visit to a Universal theme park wasn’t actually in Orlando and it doesn’t belong to Universal either but back in 2002, I visited Universal’s Port Aventura, in Salou, Spain. However after seven years it sold all interest in the park. Anyway as I was saying, it was a jaw dropping experience not just for the rides but for the nighttime spectacular they hosted around the central lake using fireworks and floats. I was lost for words. I had never seen anything like it before and it was worth the 90 minutes I had stood and waited.

So forward wind to July 2010 and my very first visit to the Universal Orlando Resort. Little did I realise that I had arrived in the most happening spot in Orlando at that time, as the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride plus newly themed area had just opened. However to my dismay once I had my fill of rides and attractions there was little to hang around in the evenings for. No lake side stunt show and no fireworks.  I must admit I was a little taken back and despite visiting in 2011, I gave Universal a miss in 2012.

So it has been two years since I have been to Universal Orlando and wow the changes that have happened! It is like my prayers have been answered. New in 2012 was their Cinematic Spectacular which celebrates 100 years of movie magic and the cherry on this girls cupcake is that the narration is by my favourite actor of all time; Morgan Freeman. However, Universal haven’t just added an evening show to appease me; there are new rides and attractions and I seriously can’t wait to see the upgrade to Spiderman as well as the new rides for Transformers and Despicable Me.

Are you like me and haven’t paid Universal a visit for a while? Curious? Well join myself, Kim and Chris Wakefield (from Universal Now podcast) on 22^nd July for a whizz around the park and then once I have visited to share my own pictures and opinion on the new things they have to offer.

Minnie kisses Michelle xxx

Paying for the dining plan

So it isn’t offered free and you want to buy it. 
Should you? Lets start with the current prices.

Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan


$37.58/£24.99 p/n ages 10 & up
 
$14.32/£9.99 p/n age 3 to 9 

Disney Dining Plan
 (Value and Regular Season)


$55.59 to $56.94/£39.99 p/n ages 10 & up

$17.16 to $18.16/£11.99 p/n age 3 to 9

Using Disney Quick Service Dining Plan (DQSDP)

A counter service entrée usually costs between 

$8 and $14, add average drink cost of $3

then add a dessert of around $4.

Leaving a counter service value to a maximum of $21.  

So two lots of that, plus a snack of around $4 and the

ability to fill your mug in resort means you spend $37.58 on buying the

DQSDP but you get value of $46 plus those drinks!

Using Disney Dining Plan (DDP) a table service entrée can range between $18 and $30, add a drink of around $4, then add dessert $6 could be worth a maximum of $40. Add in the counter service value of $21 + snack $5 = $66 plus those drinks!

Where you could have paid up to $56.99 so a pre-tip saving could be made but not as good value as the DQSDP

My summary

·      The maths can add up if you order the most expensive option

·      It helps with budgets

·      Teens can be left to sort their own food without having charging privileges
    on their key to the world card or being given cash.

·      If you are spending all your time in the parks and you can plan it can be worth it

·     Please visit the Disney Food Blog website - wealth of information
·    You may get fed up of all the food


Let me know your thoughts!

Show Notes For Podcast Episode 31 - The Girls Dip Their Toes At Sea World

Welcome to the show notes that support episode 31 of the Minnie Minxes Disney Podcast. Due to our Kimmy being a bit poorly, I was joined, in parts, by the lovely Becci Manion for a discussion about how to get from park to resort; whether to hire a car or purely rely on buses, monorail or boat.

Also on the show was the fascinating Kelly Green, who Kim and I had earlier interviewed. She was an amazing guest and to give you a bit of background information, here is her bio.

Sea World when trainers 'went in the tank'

SeaWorld Mommy was an editor at a national pet magazine in her "past life." Now she is a doting mom and home schoolteacher to Daniel, who was 6 in February. She and her family travel as often as possible around America's southeast to lots of theme parks, museums, zoos and other points of educational interest, but plan to take the kiddo to further points on the globe as soon as possible.

Her blog, SeaWorldMommy.com, began as a way to "talk to grownups" again. It's about SeaWorld, the theme park, but also about this Sea WORLD we live in. It's an exciting place, if we just look around. And here, in Central Florida—the Theme Park capitol of the US—the excitement and learning opportunities come in both real and make-believe forms. Which is just how she likes it. Speaking of real, she also goes by her born name: Kelly Green (just like the color).

If Kelly alone doesn't make you want to visit Seaworld I don't know what else will! All that plus two Ciarán facts, ways to contact the show and details of our recent competition winners - so a very busy podcast! So we all hope you enjoy the show and look forward to sharing episode 32 with you around 15^th April 2013.

To plan or not to plan?

Michelle's blog

Are you a planner or do you go to Disney and see what happens? Perhaps you are somewhere in between. Personally I plan. Perhaps, I may over-plan. Ok, I definitely over-plan!

My trips are currently yearly but this year could be the last trip for a long time. This is down to simple economics. Due to working in education I have no option to pay the higher costs of travelling in term time. With flight and hotel alone starting at around £1860 ($2715) per person, add in park tickets, dining, shopping and those £££ sure add up.

This means when I do get to my happy place, I want to fit in as much as I can; whether it’s a must do, or to a try to tick something off the list of things still to do. As the parks evolve there is always something new to try!

Must do treats

So I’m afraid at 180 days to departure I already have already using Touring Plans to calculate which park is the best to attend, researched every Disney eatery I wish to dine in, all of which has been my preoccupation for the past 60 days but it’s all part of the fun. So the next part is to ring WDW, hear the happy music and book the ADRs.

Now I know having all my holiday mapped out using excel spreadsheets does not sound like fun, but I assure you it is. We always treat it as a guide and do not always stick to it rigidly. For example adding in an extra magic hour session mean changing things round or dinner with friends gets bumped, no biggie!

Favourite Parade

Well next time round I will share some of the eateries I have booked but in the meantime, how and why do you choose to plan or not plan your Disney vacation? Tweet us @theminnieminxes or email contact@theminnieminxes.co.uk

Podcast 25 - Girls Reflect On 2012

On this podcast show we have news of Februarys meet, 2012 review by Lou Mongello and Limited Time Magic discussion.

Hello and welcome to episode 25 of The Minnie Minxes Disney Podcast. We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and that 2013 brings all your heart desires, health, wealth and happiness.

In this episode we have a personal invite to our listeners, from Lou Mongello, to the meet we are organising for UK fans of WDW Radio along with the blog Daydreaming Disney.

Then we review, in a true Minxie style, some of the highlights of 2012, with input again from Lou, as well as some of our listeners who tweeted in. Ask Minxie Michelle is still on Christmas holidays but we do have our thoughts on Disney’s Limited Time Magic campaign for 2013.

Keep looking out as we will have a new blog post in a few days but in the meantime we hope you enjoy the show and don’t forget to get in touch with a question for Minxie Michelle, show ideas, comments or feedback.

Minnie Kisses

Kim and Michelle xx

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2013

Writing this on 1st January 2013 I am looking back on what 2012 brought for me as a Disney fan. The most important event was the launch of The Minnie Minxes in early 2012, who can believe it has nearly been a year!

Later on in 2012 I was brought to the podcast, with eternal personal thanks to Kim. As a believer in fate I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and before I could blink I went from fan to host.

We both attended Mouse Meets in Birmingham back in May 2012. I was lucky enough to be on the winning quiz team and involved in the now infamous 'Petar poster-gate'. Kim visited Disney Land Paris for the first time and I returned to Walt Disney World. Most importantly this year were the friendships that came about from being involved in the Disney community.

So to 2013 sees our re-launch of this, our blog, all thanks to Simon and Jayne Phipps, who created a whole new range of images for the show and began the resurrection of this blog.

Look out for the next podcast - episode 25 out on Monday 7th January 2013, which can be subscribed to on iTunes, Stitcher, Podbean or linked to on our homepage, with news of our meet in Nottingham on 2nd February.