A weekend in Southern New Mexico

When we were choosing a destination for our big family vacation this year there were several locations that came to mind. We wanted a vacation that was diverse in what we would see & do but was also budget friendly.  After giving it some thought we decided we would visit New Mexico.  We had visited the mountains of New Mexico previously but had never explored other areas of the state. Since this would be a road trip we would cut across western Texas which we had never explored either. This would be a new adventure with a mix of familiar territory as well. Our trip would last 10 days and we would visit the the lowest depths to the highest heights imaginable. 

We spent two days in southern New Mexico in Carlsbad &  Roswell. If you are looking for a weekend getaway, this is a great adventure for the budget conscious family.  New Mexico is a much less expensive destination than say Colorado & you have many of the same activities from which to choose. 

Carlsbad, New Mexico

Entrance to Carlsbad Caverns National Park

The first day of our trip was in Carlsbad. We arrived in time to have an early dinner & then we were off to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. That evening the park was having two special events - the bat flight program & the star party.  The bat flight program in the amphitheater is a nightly event that takes place from mid-May through mid-October where thousands of bats exit the cave at around sunset. Prior to the bat flight a park ranger has a program where visitors can learn about the cave & bats that inhabit it. The bat flight was absolutely mesmerizing and well worth seeing!  We watched the bats exit the cave until after sunset. We left because it was growing difficult to see the bats exit but they were still exiting! To learn more about the bat flight program click here. 

Bat program at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

After the bat flight program the star party began.  In the east parking lot, local amateur astronomers set up their powerful telescopes for the public to use to see the night sky. The telescopes were so powerful that you could see the actual rings of Saturn. The star parties are offered once per month between the months June & October. To learn more about the star party you can visit the National Park Service web page. 

Admission to the bat flight program & star party was FREE!  This unique adventure is one your family will not soon forget & it does not cost a dime.

Drive into Carlsbad Caverns.

The next day we got up early & headed back to Carlsbad Caverns National Park to tour the cave. The seven mile drive into the caverns from White City is beautiful! The park road had many switchbacks that have amazing views! 

We arrived at the cave by 9 AM & purchased our tickets. The cost for admission at the time of our visit was $10 for adults aged 16 & older & FREE for children 15 & under for a 3 day pass. You can find visitor center hours information here. Times vary based on the time of year of your visit. You can find entrance fee information here. 

The Natural Entrance hike into the
cave has steep switchbacks.

The Big Room at the base of Carlsbad Caverns is 750 feet down a 1 1/4 mile steep trail called the Natural Entrance Trail. If you or members of your family are not physically able to hike into the cave, there are elevators available. However, we wanted the experience of hiking into the cave. There is nothing quite like watching the entrance as you head in the cave. The last daylight gets fainter & fainter as you descend the trail. I wonder what the original explorers were thinking as they entered the cave? Along the Natural Entrance Trail you will find beautiful formations. The national park service has the cave lit but we brought a high powered flashlight so we could see better. If you choose to take the Natural Entrance Trail, it is a doable hike with benches throughout for those who struggle with the incline. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Big Room.  At the Big Room you will find a small cafe that sells snacks & drinks as well as t shirts etc. There is also working bathrooms - much to my surprise. There is also a 1 1/4 mile trail through the Big Room where you can see formations such as the Hall of Giants & the Bottomless Pit to name a couple. The cave stays at a cool 56 degrees year round so make sure you bring a jacket or hoodie. The cave is very humid as well so bring your inhaler if you use one.   

Big Room Carlsbad Caverns

After hiking the Natural Entrance we met our ranger for our 10:30 AM tour of the Kings Palace.  I had previously purchased the ranger tour online at the recreation. gov website. The cost for the tour was $8 for adults & $4 for children aged 4+. The ranger led tours cost additional over the standard entrance fees for the park. There are several tours from which to choose, some of which involve repelling. Since this was our first cave tour, we opted for the milder Kings Palace tour. The tour is 1 1/2 hours in length.  The ranger will not only tell you about the formations you will see but you will also learn the history of the exploration of the cave. At one point of the tour the ranger removes all artificial light demonstrating the complete darkness original explorers experienced. This was one of the most memorable moments from our trip.  It is absolutely amazing how dark the inside of the cave was!  

On the Natural Entrance Trail

After our Kings Palace tour we finished our tour of Carlsbad Caverns with the Big Room hike seeing such famous formations as Hall of Giants & the Crystal Spring Dome. We opted to ride the elevator back to the top because we had hiked the Natural Entrance into the cave & wanted to be able to experience both. I will say the elevator was much easier but not nearly as beautiful! When we visited the cave it was not very busy.  However, I have read blogs where the cave is very busy on weekends between Memorial Day & Labor Day and there are lines waiting to ride the elevator. You can choose to hike out of the cave but there are time restrictions you must abide by.  To learn more about the times visit the park website. 

Accommodations: 

As I have mentioned on previous blogs, I am a member of just about every hotel chain loyalty program available. Why not? I am going to stay in a hotel when I travel, I might as well earn some kind of reward right? When I stay I try to choose a hotel that has a rewards program.  My personal favorite rewards program is Marriott. I think they have the best rewards & you get free nights faster than some of the other chains. While earning rewards is important, price also affects the accommodations I choose. So when I set out to book a hotel in Carlsbad I considered both. We decided to stay in Carlsbad even though White City has a Rodeway Inn & it is at the entrance of Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  

Fairfield Inn & Suites Carlsbad, NM

After price checking & reading reviews of other hotels including the Comfort Suites, Hampton Inn, & TownePlace Suites I selected the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Carlsbad.  I booked my room 5 months prior to arrival choosing the standard rate instead of the slightly less expensive advance purchase rate on the Marriott web page.  The reason I always book a room using the standard rate is because you can usually check back the closer you get to your arrival date & get a rate that is lower. This happens every year without fail for at least one hotel we stay in when travelling. The Fairfield Inn & Suites was $170 per night when I booked it 5 months in advance.  However, I checked the rates periodically & about 6 weeks prior to my arrival date, the rate dropped to $120 per night.  I then cancelled my original reservation that I booked using the standard rate & re-booked the room at the new lower rate. BOOM - I saved $50 & I did not have to work hard to do it!  One more tip about the Fairfield Inn & Suites, the rooms are much cheaper if you can stay during the weekend.  We adjusted our trip so we could stay on the weekend at this hotel instead of during the work week.  By staying on a Saturday, we saved $50 over staying during the work week. 

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites for one night but we enjoyed our stay & would recommend it to others. Our room was clean, comfortable, & quiet. The room we stayed in had 2 queen beds, a microwave, & a mini-fridge. My only complaint with the room would be that the sink is not in a separate area from the toilet & shower making getting ready in the morning more difficult. There is a pool outside in a nicely landscaped courtyard that also features a fire pit. We did not get to enjoy the pool during our stay but it looked inviting. While the hotel was close to full, we did not hear any noise. Our room faced the street & we did not experience a problem with highway noise either.  The staff was accommodating & friendly.  The breakfast area attendant, Adrian gave us some helpful tips for our day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park while we were eating the free breakfast that is available every morning. We also liked that the hotel was on the same side of Carlsbad as the national park - so we did not have to drive through much traffic to get to the park. There are restaurants & Walmart nearby making the hotel convenient to necessities. The hotel was a short 30 minute drive to the caverns.

View of street from Fairfield Inn room

Breakfast area Fairfield Inn

Room Fairfield Inn

Bathroom Fairfield Inn

Room Fairfield Inn

Roswell, New Mexico

An "alien" sighting in Roswell.

When we left Carlsbad Caverns we drove 2 hours north to Roswell, New Mexico as it was on our way to Red River, NM. Roswell is world renowned for the unidentified flying object that crashed near the town in July of 1947 & the controversy that surrounds it to this day. We were expecting a small town with a few thousand people.  We were surprised to find Roswell to be a decent sized town with a population of 48,000. There are many shops, theaters, restaurants, & hotels to choose. Roswell has embraced their UFO notoriety & you will find "aliens" all over town.  The town even has a UFO Festival the first weekend in July! 

There are "alien" sightings everywhere in Roswell.

THE International UFO Museum in Roswell

Since we were in Roswell we decided to visit the International UFO Museum. (my son was more excited about it than we were) You can't visit Roswell without doing a little UFO research right?  The cost for admission was relatively inexpensive at $5 for adults, $2 for children aged 5-15, & FREE for children 4 & under. Inside the museum you will find many news articles & information about UFO sightings from around the world but the primary focus is the Roswell area. There are also animated displays of aliens & UFOs. They show UFO related movies throughout the day in the movie room. It was fun to go & see what the museum had to offer but I would not plan to spend more than an hour at this location unless you are an avid UFO researcher. 

Inside the International UFO Museum Roswell

Accommodations:
Remember how I said I was a member of just about every hotel loyalty program available? Well our night in Roswell was FREE because I cashed in my Marriott loyalty points.  Since I was using my points I really did not compare any other hotels prices because how do you beat free? I did research the hotel to make sure I was not getting a bad hotel, I won't stay just anywhere even if it is free. 

Each morning a FREE breakfast is available. The breakfast included waffles, muffins, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, eggs, sausage, yogurt, fruit, juices, & milk. Everything you need to start your day! Every afternoon from 4-7 PM snacks & Pepsi soft drinks are available for FREE. The snacks vary by day but the day we were there they offered cinnamon rolls & popcorn.  As far as amenities go, TownePlace Suites in Roswell was our favorite hotel on our trip this year. 

TownePlace Suites Roswell snacks are
available daily from 4-7 PM.

TownePlace Suites Roswell, NM

We stayed at TownePlace Suites Roswell & loved our stay!  The hotel was impeccably clean & quiet. We really liked the location, about 1 block from Main Street. TownePlace Suites offers many amenities including a heated outdoor pool, a fitness center, on-site laundry facilities, & an outdoor patio & grill. Our room was our very own studio apartment! There was a small kitchen with refrigerator, cook top, sink, & dishwasher. Our room had 2 very comfortable queen beds, an over sized chair, & dining room table. The closets were big, like walk in big. I liked that the bathroom sink was separate from the toilet & shower which makes getting ready easier.  We never heard anyone in rooms around or above us making for a great night of sleep. The television in our room was a smart TV where not only did we have access to many channels but we could also sign in to our Netflix account & watch a movie. The WiFi network was amazingly fast and FREE!  After a long day of exploring Carlsbad Caverns we went to dinner & then crashed at our room and watched one of our Netflix movies.  

The room at TownePlace Suites Roswell was
 exceptionally clean & comfortable.

Our room at TownePlace Suites Roswell was a studio double queen.

The bathroom sink at TownePlace Suites Roswell
is separate from the toilet/shower.

Bathroom at TownePlace Suites Roswell

Kitchen at TownePlace Suites Roswell

On our visit to Southern New Mexico, our family was able to see & do things we had never done before. After two days we headed for the high country of Red River, New Mexico. Check out our blog on our visit to the beautiful mountains of New Mexico.

Visit our video link at the top of the page to see footage from our trips.

Wherever you go, may God bless you on your travels.

Disney World in Two Days

I have always wondered what it would be like to travel to Disney World when it was not at peak travel times. Since my husband and I are both teachers, we usually travel during the busiest (read most expensive) times to travel. As luck would have it my son's school had a three day weekend for Mother's Day 2016. We took advantage of this rare holiday in early May & booked a vacation to Disney World.  I have to say it was a great Mother's Day gift! 

Magic Kingdom

Once the trip was decided, the question that came to mind was, can we visit Disney World in JUST 2 days?  Is it possible? All of the times before when we visited Disney World we were there for 6+ days each time. Our budget nor time would allow us to visit for our typical stay.  This time we had to do it differently...

First we had to decide how we would get there. Time was a big constraint on our trip. We live 17 hours from Orlando, it would not be feasible to drive to Disney on a three day weekend. So it was decided we would have to fly. 

Southwest Airlines from Dallas Love Field Airport

For several months I had been researching airfare to Orlando for weekends throughout the spring. Therefore I had a pretty good idea how much airfare cost & could recognize a deal when I saw one. I used Google Flights & Southwest Airlines to research airfare prices. Here are a few things I learned about airfare while researching prices. First airline ticket prices fluctuate constantly. The time of day you look at airfare prices & the day of the week effected the cost of the ticket.  For example if I searched for airfare on a Tuesday morning it was considerably cheaper than the SAME flight if I looked it up on a Friday afternoon. I ended up booking our flight with Southwest on a Saturday morning. By that afternoon the price of the ticket had increased $50 for the same flight.  When I checked the same flight again on Sunday morning the price had dropped once more. Flying out on a Friday & returning on a Sunday would not fit into our budget as typically those are the two most expensive days to travel. We ended up flying out of Dallas Love Field on a Thursday evening at 7:15 PM.  We arrived in Orlando by 10:30 PM & took Disney' Magical Express from the airport to our hotel, Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter. We arrived at the hotel at midnight & quickly got our room. Our return flight was Sunday morning at 10:50 AM putting us back in Dallas by noon.  This gave us 2 full days to enjoy Disney World!

Next we had to choose where we would stay... There are many choices for hotels in the Orlando/Disney World area.  In years past we have stayed on Disney property & off Disney property.  We prefer to stay on Disney property in a moderate resort.

Disney's Port Orleans French Quater

 This year the moderate resort we selected was Port Orleans French Quarter located near Epcot & Downtown Disney. Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter is a sister property to Port Orleans Riverside.  The two properties are within walking distance from each other & they share amenities meaning you can swim in either pool, enjoy resort amenities, etc. You can find out more about Disney's Port Orleans resorts by clicking here. In years past we stayed in French Quarter two times and really liked it. So when it came time to select a hotel for our quick trip to Disney World we chose Port Orleans French Quarter. The main reason we selected this resort is the size of the resort. Compared to other moderate resorts, French Quarter is small with just over 1,000 rooms available. Another reason we selected Port Orleans

French Quarter Grounds

French Quarter is we really enjoy the boat service to Disney Springs. We also like that the grounds are beautifully landscaped to have the look of New Orleans' French Quarter. Jazz music plays in public places to add to the ambiance. Room choices include standard, garden, & river views. At the French Quarter no room is more than 5 minutes walk from the main building/pool area, boat launch, & bus stop.  There is only one bus stop at French Quarter making the ride to and from the theme parks faster. In addition French Quarter has it's own bus service to and from the theme parks so you do not have to share a bus with another resort like the All Star resorts. In the past when we have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside there were multiple bus stops that we had to go to before our bus dropped us off or picked us up for the theme parks.  This was a BIG waste of time. On more than one occasion we have ridden the French Quarter bus from the theme park & then walked to our room at Riverside because it was faster than waiting on the crowded bus for Riverside.   The bus system at French Quarter is better than Riverside.  

French Quarter Pool

We have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside twice before & liked the resort except for one thing, PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE IS HUGE!  The first year we stayed there we were in Alligator Bayou as far from the main building as you can get, Building 37! Our walk to the main building took no less than 10 minutes to get there. The grounds were beautiful but it was a long walk. The second trip we stayed at Riverside I did a little research and learned how to request a room that was in my price range but closer to the main building. If you would like to know how to request rooms at Port Orleans click here. It really does work because the room we stayed in on our second trip to Port Orleans Riverside had a great location!  Of all the hotels we have stayed in at Disney World, Port Orleans French Quarter is our absolute favorite.

French Quarter Splash Area

Next we had to decide the best possible use of our 2 days at Disney World. Being ever budget conscious, money was a huge factor in choosing how we would spend the limited time available at Disney World. Since we had visited Disney World 4 times previously, we had a better idea of our choices. This helped in the planning process. After looking at many variations of our two day trip we decided to spend one day at Magic Kingdom theme park & one day at  our hotel & Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney). At Disney World it is quite expensive to visit a theme park for one day, the more days you visit the cheaper the daily rate becomes. But we did not have time to visit for longer.  Therefore our 1 day ticket to Magic Kingdom was $110 per person. If we had selected to visit Epcot, Animal Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios the daily rate was slightly less expensive at $102. If you wish to add park hopper to your one day ticket it costs an additional $50 per ticket. 

Cinderella's Castle

We chose Magic Kingdom over Epcot, Animal Kingdom, & Hollywood Studios because as of May 2016 it offered more entertainment for the money.  We did not choose Epcot because Soarin' (one of our favorite rides) was closed for refurbishment. Also, as of April 2015 Innoventions West closed permanently at Epcot. In addition, the "Frozen" themed ride in Norway is not open as of May 2016. A final reason we did not select Epcot is when we visited Summer 2015 on a Saturday night there were more drunk people in World Showcase than there were sober people - not really family friendly.  We did not select Animal Kingdom because as of May 2016 the closing time for Animal Kingdom was 6 PM and we would not have felt as though we were getting our money's worth. We did not select Hollywood Studios because everything past Toy Story Mania! is closed permanently.  Hollywood Studios is undergoing major renovations & the entertainment offerings are limited. 

Magic Kingdom Main Street at rope drop.

Once Magic Kingdom was selected, our next choice was which day to visit the theme park. You can find crowd meters online that will give you an idea of expected crowds based on historical information. Our choices were Friday or Saturday since we had to fly home Sunday morning.  Friday was selected because we knew Magic Kingdom would be crowded on the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend. Especially since the weather that weekend had high temperatures around the 80 degree mark with humidity at 40% - which is unheard of in Orlando on the trips I have been on in the past. As luck would have it Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic MORNING Hours that day.  We prefer Extra Magic Morning hours to evening hours because we are early risers. However, it was very difficult to get up at 6 AM after not getting to our room until midnight the night before. But it was Disney and the "magic" got us up & kept us going that day. 

Our day at Magic Kingdom was... MAGICAL! The weather was perfect with sunshine & a high temperature of 78 degrees & 40% humidity! The crowds were - not bad compared to the June crowds we were accustomed to dealing with. We did not have to wait on Disney transportation at all during our trip. We got to do everything we wanted to do, some of it TWICE! Of all our trips to Disney World, this one was the closest to perfect that we experienced. 

Our day at the park began after a short 12-minute Disney transportation ride from our hotel to Magic Kingdom. We arrived at 7:30 AM & went through bag check & the park entrance. We then waited for the Magic Kingdom Welcome Show to start at 7:45 AM.

Magic Kingdom Welcome Show

During the Magic Kingdom Welcome Show, Mickey & the gang came out to open the park.  This is a great opportunity to see a variety of characters.  The characters open the park from the train station balcony. After the welcome show we enjoyed the Extra Magic Morning hour from 8 AM to 9 AM that is available only to Disney hotel guests. In this time we were able to ride 4 rides including the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (always try to ride early because the lines get really long during the day), Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Tomorrowland Speedway, & the Astro Orbiter. Our first FastPass+ selection started at 9:10 AM so we headed to Adventureland which was vacant at 9:15 AM. We spent the next two hours exploring Adventureland & Frontierland. In the early afternoon we headed back to Tomorrowland & Fantasyland to finish the rides we did not get to during the morning. 

Entrance to Adventureland

Pirates of Caribbean Ride

Big Thunder Mountain ride

Haunted Mansion ride

Jungle Cruise ride

At 3 PM we took a break from Magic Kingdom & rode the monorail to Disney's Polynesian Resort to eat at our favorite restaurant, Ohana. After lunch/dinner at Ohana we took the water launch back to Magic Kingdom. As we entered the park once more we took the time to take pictures down Main Street that we did not take at arrival that morning.  This was great because there was not as many people! That evening we explored the park & rode rides until time to pick our spot for the Electric Light Parade at 9 PM. We selected our spot around 8:30 PM that would work both for the Electric Light Parade and also for Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.  We selected a spot in front of the castle near the entrance to Adventureland that did not have trees blocking the castle. We knew if we tried to pick two different spots it would be difficult to move around in the crowd between the two. Our selection was a good one & we enjoyed seeing both of these not to be missed attractions. Remember: Magic Kingdom fireworks are not your typical everyday or even July 4th fireworks - you do NOT want to miss the show.  Wishes Nighttime Spectacular always makes me cry.  

Magic Kingdom Wishes Fireworks

Magic Kingdom Wishes Fireworks

After the fireworks we had one last FastPass+ to cash in at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for a night time ride.  It was a fabulous final ride for a near perfect day! The day was long as we were in Magic Kingdom from 7:30 AM until 11:00 PM.  We could have stayed until 12 midnight that night but we were worn out & were ready to get some much needed rest. Our day in Magic Kingdom was truly "magical" for our family. From trying to scare each other in the caves of Tom Sawyer Island to seeing who could get the high score on Buzz Lightyear to screaming our heads off on the night time Big Thunder Mountain this day will be remembered always. 

Port Orleans French Quarter

Our day at Disney Springs & our hotel was... RELAXING. After a long day at Magic Kingdom Friday, relaxing on Saturday was perfect.  We awoke and ate the breakfast bars we brought with us on the tables outside of Jackson Square.  The morning was brisk but invigorating at 58 degrees. We explored the beautifully landscaped property of Port Orleans while we waited for the boat to Disney Springs to begin service at 10 AM. My son played video games in the Medicine Show Arcade at French Quarter during this time as well.  

Disney Springs

We headed to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) around 11 AM on the free boat service from our hotel.  The twenty minute boat ride was a relaxing journey down the Sassagoula River to Disney Springs. At Disney Springs we did a little shopping, had lunch at Raglan Road, & picked up dinner at Earl of Sandwich for heating up later. Disney Springs is not a theme park and therefore there is no admission charge.  You have a variety of stores, restaurants, theaters, and other activities you can do when you visit Disney Springs. Some of the most popular include: La Nouba - Cirque du Soleil (a great family friendly show), Disney Quest (an indoor interactive theme park with five floors of video games & 3D interactive rides), AMC Disney Springs 24 with Dine-in Theatres (catch a movie while eating at the dine-in theater), Splitsville Luxury Lanes (bowling in the 21st century accompanied by tasty food selections), & Characters in Flight (a 10 minute ride on a tethered hot air balloon). 

Disney's Magical Express - FREE
transportation from/to the airport.

We used Disney's Magical Express for transportation from & to the airport. You do not need to rent a car if you are staying at a Disney hotel & plan to only visit Disney World. This is a great way to save money. Disney's Magical Express will pick you up from the Orlando Airport 24 hours a day 7 days per week. If your plane arrives before 10 PM Magical Express will deliver your checked bags to your room.  Disney guests that arrive via plane between 10 PM & 5 AM will have to get their own bags & take them on the bus. You will need to register for Magical Express pickup at least 10 days prior to scheduled arrival. Your booking agent can help you register for pick up at the airport. For return to the Orlando Airport Disney's Magical Express will pick you up at your Disney hotel. You will receive departure information one day prior to scheduled departure in your room. Disney's Magical Express will go to other resorts than just your resort so expect to make stops prior to your hotel. The ride is approximately 35-45 minutes from/to the airport to your resort.  

We used the FREE Disney transportation exclusively during our stay. Disney World is 40 square miles in size!  Disney World theme parks, hotels, etc are not close to one another so transportation is important.  Disney transportation includes bus service, boat service, & monorail service.  Bus service is available between Disney resorts & theme parks & Disney Springs. You can also use the bus service between theme parks. Boat service is available at select resorts & theme parks. Monorail service runs between Magic Kingdom & the Contemporary, Polynesian, & Grand Floridian hotels.  Monorail service is also available between Magic Kingdom & Epcot. You can find out more about the FREE Disney transportation online by clicking here.

Boat transportation from French Quarter to Disney Springs

We relied on Disney transportation during our trip. We took the bus to & from Magic Kingdom. We took the monorail from Magic Kingdom to the Polynesian for lunch/dinner. We took boat service from the Polynesian back to Magic Kingdom.  We used the boat service from our resort, Port Orleans French Quarter, to Disney Springs. As luck would have it, we never waited for a bus, boat, or monorail - as close to perfect as can be expected.  This is atypical to a visit during the busy summer months. I highly recommend using the FREE Disney transportation to avoid having the hassle of driving, parking, etc. Disney transportation makes your stay all the more MAGICAL! 

Over the years we have learned that EATING at Disney World is... challenging. You would not think a place such as Disney World that has over 140 restaurants, including sit down restaurants & counter service fast food style restaurants,  would be a challenge to find something good to eat.  However, I do not like fast food (except Chick-fil-A) when I am not at a theme park.  I REALLY don't like fast food when I am at a theme park paying theme park prices! With that being said, we still have to eat so that we can have the energy to stay in the theme parks for hours on in.  So how does a family eat & stay within a budget? 

** We do NOT purchase the Disney dining plan.  The Disney dining plan is available to guests of Disney World hotels where you can pre-pay for all of your meals & snacks.  To learn more about Disney dining plan click here. On previous trips to Disney World we have tried the dining plan & without the dining plan. For the needs of my family we save money NOT purchasing the dining plan.  In fact on our trip in June 2015 we saved $500 by paying for our meals as we go instead of purchasing the dining plan. However, IF you are a family that wants a dessert every meal AND you eat a snack once per day in addition to your meals then you might want the dining plan. The year we purchased the dining plan, it seemed like all we did was eat - which made it very hard to walk around the theme park in the heat of the summer. 

French Quarter's Sassagoula Floatworks

• Breakfast - To save money we always eat breakfast at our hotel in our room or on the grounds of the hotel. Disney World hotels do not offer complimentary breakfast that mid-priced hotels offer. All Disney World hotels have a restaurant and or food court where you can have breakfast.  However, the prices for breakfast cost from $10 & up per person when you include a drink. For this trip I brought along Nutrigrain bars & instant breakfast mix for myself & my husband & pop tarts for my son for the 3 mornings we would be at Disney World. We purchase milk at the hotel store to have with our breakfast.  If we stay more days & we drive to Disney World, I will pick up milk at the grocery store before getting to the hotel. However, if you fly to Disney World & are staying for a lengthy stay, you might want to consider getting groceries delivered to your hotel room at sites such as Garden Grocer to save money on food. 

• Lunch - The day we went to Magic Kingdom we were lucky enough to get reservations for Ohana Restaurant at Disney's Polynesian Resort at 3:45 PM. Ohana (means family) is our favorite restaurant at Disney World. I was surprised I was able to get dinner reservations as it is usually booked up months in advance.  When I first checked for reservations there were none available.  However, I continued to check the Disney

  

  Ohana Restaurant - Our FAMILY Favorite!

  reservations web page for openings. About one week prior to our trip a reservation became available. Ohana is an all you can eat restaurant that serves Polynesian style food family style. The first course is friendship bread followed quickly with a Polynesian salad that is simply wonderful.  But don't fill up on bread & salad because the next course is appetizers that have wonderful pot stickers & wings. After the appetizer comes Polynesian noodles & grilled mushrooms & peppers. Next is the main course, grilled chicken, shrimp, & steak. The meat is brought out to you on skewers straight from the flame grill that is located in the middle of the restaurant. The meat is tender & savory. Remember to save room for the final course - dessert. Ohana serves delicious friendship bread pudding with a banana's foster sauce along side a scoop of ice cream.  Everything is all you can eat so be prepared to eat too much. Is Ohana a budget buster? The cost for the 3 of us was $140 including tip.  This is a bit pricey but not when you compare a counter service meal at Magic Kingdom costs our family of 3 around $50 & all we get is a burger & fries. The quality of food at Ohana is far superior to counter service restaurants at Magic Kingdom. Therefore I feel it was a better use of our money than eating a counter service meal in the theme park.  The second day of our Disney World trip we went to Disney Springs and had lunch at Raglan Road Irish Pub &

  

  Raglan Road Disney Springs

  Restaurant which is our favorite restaurant at Disney Springs. It is located near The Landing in the center of Disney Springs. The lunch menu serves a variety of sandwiches as well as entrees.  Budget saving tip: the entrees are slightly less expensive if you eat lunch as opposed to dinner.  We like Raglan Road because the food is tasty & we enjoy the ambiance as well. The day we visited (Saturday) there was an Irish band & dancers entertaining on the main stage during lunch.  Typically entertainment starts at 3 PM. The band & dancers were phenomenal.  Audience participation is encouraged & our son was invited up on stage to learn to clog dance.  In addition to the clogging lesson, he received an autographed photo for his participation.  This was a memorable & fun lunch for our family.  For dessert we headed over to  Ghirardelli Chocolate at the Marketplace & got a free sample of chocolate. For a family on a budget this was a nice treat!

• Dinner -  Remember we are a budget conscious family so we tried to cut costs as much as possible.  The day we visited Magic Kingdom we ate a snack we brought with us for lunch of crackers & water so we would be ready for Ohana at 3:45 PM. Because we ate so much at Ohana we did not have any dinner that night. This saved us $50 for food for a counter service dinner at Magic Kingdom. The second day of our trip we

  

  Great AFFORDABLE Food in Disney Springs

  picked up a to go sandwich at Earl of Sandwich when we were in Disney Springs. Earl of Sandwich offers a great selection of soups, salads, & sandwiches at an affordable price. Make sure you join the Earl of Sandwich e-club before you leave for your trip so you can get a FREE sandwich. Hint: put your birthday as being the week of your trip so you will get a free birthday sandwich too. Our hotel room had a refrigerator so we put the sandwiches in it until dinner time.  At dinner we heated the sandwiches up in the microwave at the food court of our hotel & ate dinner on an outside table located on the patio near the food court. This was much less expensive & much more tasty than eating the burgers & fries that we could order at the French Quarter food court. I highly recommend Earl of Sandwich for the family on a budget.

On this trip we ate some fantastic food while maintaining our budget.  It is possible to eat great while at Disney World! 

Cinderella's Castle at night.

Yum! Ohana bread pudding with ice cream &  Bananas Foster sauce

Our room at Port Orleans French Quarter

Magic Kingdom Seven Dwarf's Mine Train

Monorail that runs from Magic Kingdom to Contemporary,
Polynesian, & Grand Floridian Hotels.

Some final thoughts about our 2 day trip to Disney World... Often times families do not go on vacation because life gets in the way. I encourage you to take some time while your kids are young and travel - show them the world.  Your time to do this is brief - so do not let it pass you by.  You CAN visit Disney World even if you are on a budget! A two day visit to Disney World was within our budget where a seven day visit was not.  We had to cut corners by bringing our on breakfast & snacks but because we did that we were able to go to Disney World. You will not regret the lifelong memories you will make on your travels. 

Visit our video link at the top of the page to see footage from our trips.

May God bless you on all your adventures!