Journeys Near and Far

Plan Your Disney Vacation...

... with PassPorter.com

Since I'm fond of PassPorter  Disney guidebook series, I recently visited the PassPorter website and found it to be a great place to start planning a Disney vacation. 

On the website, you'll find updates to the PassPorter guidebooks (saving you money if you don't want to buy an updated book every year), as well as hundreds of tips, ideas and articles about Disney as well as discussion forums and links.

I've been to Disney World dozens of times, but I have a confession:   I've never had to plan a Disney Vacation.  First, my parents brought me there when I was little.  Then, in my early 20's, I worked there as part of the Magic Kingdom College Program, and finally, I spent years visiting my sister who worked there.   As an employee, she had official passes that "got me in" to the parks, so I never had to do the "work" of planning a trip there. 

Last year, however, when I attended the Year of a Million Dreams Florida press event (after not visiting Disney World for about ten years), I realized how much I miss the place, and want to go back again to explore everything that's new in the parks.  So now I'm planning a Disney vacation for the first time.

Helpful to the planning process are the articles on the PassPorter site -- and there are at least a hundred of them, so plan to take some time browsing the list.  Some examples of article topics offered:

• Preparing Your Child for a Walt Disney Vacation by Leanne Phelps
• Money Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World by Jennifer & Dave Marx
• Walt Disney World at the Holidays:  Tips for Surviving the Busy Season by Ann Weber

And on the site's discussion forums, you can ask questions or give advice to other Disney travelers.  The site isn't just for Disney World vacations, though.  You'll find information on:

• Disney Cruises
• Disneyland
• Other places including New York:   In the Fall of 2009 the company expects to have a PassPorter to Hawaii, with PassPorters to New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Paris, and London on the drawing board.

What's unique about the PassPorter guidebooks are the sturdy envelopes and stickers that allow you to customize the books and store receipts, tickets and other mementos while you're traveling.  It's like having a guidebook, scrapbook, trip journal and organizer all in one. 

If you want to go further with your Disney vacation planning, check PassPorter's list of official Disney websites, or their list of unofficial websites.

Ride Disney's Magic Carpet of Fantasies...

...during their Year of  a Million Dreams

In a previous post I wrote about Disney's Year of a Million Dreams, a 15-month dreams giveaway promotion launched in October, 2006, that will continue through December 31, 2007.  While I wrote about the new royal Cinderella Castle Suite, I want to let you know that there are also lot of other new things at the Disney Parks this year.

Disney's Year of a Million Dreams celebration is highlighted by the debut of several innovative Disney attractions and entertainment spectaculars, many of which I had a chance to experience during the three days I spent at Walt Disney World in January.  Here are a few that I especially liked:

Like pirates?  When you're ready for some action, go to Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom -- it's brimming with pirates these days.  The kids are going to love Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial.  Sparrow, whose looks and mannerisms are almost an exact replica of Johnny Depp, is looking for new pirate recruits.  Watch as he and his mate Mack lead guests through a series of pirate skill tests.  Before you can utter "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, the Pirate's Life for me," the new recruits will be sworn in as honorary buccaneers of Sparrow's crew on the Black Pearl.  Savvy?

And if that doesn't shiver yer timbers, you can have a rootin' tootin' good time in dusty Frontierland as Woody, Jessie and Bullseye invite everyone to Woody's Cowboy Camp.  I watched as kids giddied- up their way through a cowboy obstacle course and guests of all ages sang and danced in this rollicking hoedown.

The just-opened 400-seat Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club in Tomorrowland is one of my favorites.  Guests match wits with the Disney-Pixar characters from Monsters, Inc.   This interactive show features one-eyed hero Mike Wazowski, who has opened a Comedy Club to collect laughs that will generate power for the future.  And be warned -- before the show begins, the comedians secretly scan the audience for someone to be chosen as "That Guy" (or gal), the one who will be continuously singled out by the characters on the screen. 

Have some jokes of your own?  While waiting in line, guests can text-message jokes on their cell phones for possible use in the show.

At Epcot, ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends, where the stars of Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo seem to swim with the marine life in the 5.7 million-gallon saltwater aquarium in The Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion (formerly The Living Seas).

Rollercoaster-phobia kept me from experiencing Expedition Everest in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom, but my braver friend who rode it tells me it was a thrilling high-speed ride along icy mountain ledges and inside dark, snowy caves.  Brrrr....

Also in Animal Kingdom, don't miss Finding Nemo -- the Musical, a lavish musical stage production fit for Broadway.  With original songs, this stage show tells the heartwarming story of an overprotective clownfish father and his son through a dazzling combination of puppetry, dancers, aerialists and animated backdrops.  Presented in the 1,500-seat Theater in the Wild, the show represents the first time Disney has taken a non-musical animated feature, as well as the first Pixar film, and transformed it into an original musical production.

These are only a few of the new attractions at Walt Disney World unveiled during the Year of a Million Dreams.  Experience them all and see which ones become your favorites.  And while you're at the Disney Parks this year, don't be surprised if a member of Disney's Dream Squad taps you on the shoulder.  Your dreams could come true, too!

Bottom three photos © 2006 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved

.

Disney's Year of a Million Dreams

A Dream that Money Can't Buy

Stars shimmer beneath a deep indigo sky, so close that you want to reach out and touch them.  Gazing out the window of your castle turret, you sigh with contentment.  You've been granted a dream that money can't buy -- the chance to spend the night in Disney's brand new, first-ever royal suite inside Cinderella Castle.

Spending a night in Cinderella Castle is only ONE of the more than a million dreams being randomly awarded to guests of Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts this year, however.  Each day during Disney's Year of a Million Dreams program, dreams will range from the special, such as a Dream FASTPASS, to the spectacular, such as a spending a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite.  And some dreams will even be extraordinary, such as a trip to every Disney park in the world.  Launched in October, 2006, the 15-month, Year of A Million Dreams program will continue through December 31, 2007.

Each day, the guest who wins a stay in Cinderella Castle and up to five members of their party begin the evening at Cinderella's Royal Table, the popular restaurant in the Castle.  Then, after the rest of the Magic Kingdom guests have gone home, they'll snuggle down in the beautiful late 17th/early 18th century dream suite, amid surroundings that hark back to the days of fairy tales and the French chateaux that inspired the design of Cinderella Castle.

And I must say that the surroundings are stunning!  I saw the Suite in January, the day the First Family was chosen to spend the night there.  Upon arrival at the Castle, guests enter a small, concierge room at ground level, then take a fancy elevator which whisks them up four stories to an elegant foyer decorated with a mosaic tile floor depicting Cinderella's Coach.  The floor, made from more than 30,000 tiles, took four months to hand-cut by four talented craftswomen.

The Royal Bedchamber contains venetian glass sconces which adorn either side of the antique fireplace.  Above the fireplace, a portrait of Cinderella magically transforms to a flat screen TV (yes, the suite has some nice 21st century details).  Playful mice, inspired by the Cinderella story, cavort on columns above rich mahogany and maple furniture.  Regal canopies drape over two queen beds.

The Royal Sitting Room is no less dramatic.  A magic mirror transforms into a TV; stained-glass windows tell the story of Cinderella, and the windows face west toward Cinderella's Golden Carousel in Fantasyland.

And the bathroom -- I wanted it for my home!  A Jacuzzi sits in a grotto, its ceiling a dome of twinkling stars.  Three mosaics containing a total of 30,000 tiles continue the Cinderella theme, featuring a crystal slipper, a crystal pumpkin, and a mouse, looking up toward the castle.

It's definitely a suite fit for a Prince or Princess!

So while you're at the Disney Parks this year, don't be surprised if a member of Disney's "Dream Squad" taps you on the shoulder.  Your dreams could come true, too!

[Note:  Having once worked for Disney as a member of their Magic Kingdom College Program, I have a little secret to tell you:  even if you don't win one of Disney's million dreams, just being at Disney World is a dream come true.  And if you've been there before, think about visiting again.  Both Disneyland and Walt Disney World have a lot of new things to see and do this year -- more on that in future blog posts!]

Read the Year of a Million Dreams rules.

Photos ©2006 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved