Disney World Blog Discussing Parks, Resorts, Discounts and Dining | Only WDWorld

Jugglers Take The Stage At Disney's Boardwalk

2010-04-26T22:00:00.001-04:00

Night Time At Disney's Boardwalk

When visiting the Walt Disney World Resort, one area to make sure you visit is Disney's Boardwalk. This is a shopping and entertainment area situated between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios and surrounded by the Boardwalk Inn & Villas, Disney's Swan & Dolphin Hotels, and the Yacht Club and Beach Club Resorts.

Disney's Boardwalk is a great place for a family to spend an evening enjoying the free entertainment. Each evening entertainers set up shop along the Boardwalk and crowds quickly form around them to watch them perform. Often they are talented jugglers, but they may perform magic tricks, balancing skills, or a variety of other original entertaining acts.

On a recent vacation evening I visited Disney's Boardwalk with my family and we were captivated by the performers. We saw them juggle balls, clubs, bowling balls, machetes, & tennis rackets. They were able to juggle the standard 3, then 4, and one even managed 5 items successfully.

They set up in two different areas along the Boardwalk and performed approximately 15 minute shows. That particular night 3 performers rotated, so that one was always performing, drawing the crowds back and forth along the Boardwalk.

Each of the performers were very talented and had their own unique style. Although they all juggled, their routines were vastly different. They each interacted with the audience, with shows that were definitely family friendly.

The one pictured above juggled while balancing a ladder on his head. It was definitely unique. Earlier in his act he did some simple magic tricks to draw the crowd in closer.

Here we see a demonstration of balancing skill while keeping a plate spinning on a stick in the performer's mouth.

Best Free Disney World Entertainment
Visiting Disney's Boardwalk at night may be the best FREE activity that there is at Disney World. The atmosphere is relaxing and the entertainment is top notch. It is never too crowded which makes the entertainment seem all the more special, because you are so close to the performers.

This is something that every family should include on their list of things to do on a Walt Disney World Vacation.

Create Your Own Disney World Tradition

2010-01-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

Taking a family vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort is a memorable experience.

As time passes and your children grow up, each trip to Disney World continues to bring new fun and more memories to enjoy.

One great idea for families is for them to establish their own family tradition for their Disney World trip. Look beyond the typical picture in front of Cinderella Castle and create something that is unique and meaningful to your family.

Some families have traditions where they always eat at the same restaurant on the first day that they arrive. Others may have their traditional Dole Whip or other special treat. While still others have a special ride or attraction that they ride together and perhaps get their picture taken.

Family traditions do not have to be something expensive, its just another activity that is uniquely yours that makes your trips special to you.

One tradition that my family has established is having the kids pose in Great Britain in Epcot in the main plaza. What started as a fun place to pose for a picture is now, something that must take place for each trip. Looking back it is great to have these pictures and see how they have grown over the years.

Establish Your Own Disney World Family Tradition
You can easily pick a place for your family to establish its own tradition. Even if you have visited many times before, it is never too late to start a new family tradition. With so many restaurants, rides, attractions, recreational activities, and photogenic locations at Disney World the difficult decision will be how to choose just one or two.

Maybe you can start a tradition of everyone going to Club Cool in Epcot and tasting all of the soft drinks, even the Beverly. Well, maybe you can skip the Beverly.

Disney World Annual Passholders Can Experience High Speed NASCAR Excitement For FREE!

2010-01-13T06:29:00.001-05:00

For a limited time, the Richard Petty Driving Experience located at the Walt Disney World Speedway is offering an unbelievable opportunity for Disney World Annual Passholders.

From now through March 31st, Disney World Annual Passholders can receive a FREE Ride Along experience with no other purchase necessary.

The Ride Along is a chance to ride alongside a professional driver for 3 laps around the 1 mile track at speeds up to 140 mph. You may not be driving, but this is certainly a great way to experience some of the excitement of NASCAR firsthand.

This experience normally costs around $109, so this FREE opportunity is something you should take advantage of if you are at Disney World between now and March 31st, 2010.

While you are there you will also be able to register for a drawing to give away one King's Experience - 18 Lap Package where you are the driver that is normally valued over $900.

Here are some key notes:

The Passholder must be 14 years of age or older to participate in the Ride Along. Each Passholder may only receive one free Ride Along experience for the duration of this 3 month long promotion.

Great Passholder Perk

Recently there have been some great Annual Passholder Perks that have never been offered before. This offer may just top them all. So if you have always wanted to know what it would feel like riding in a NASCAR style race car going around those 10 degree banked turns and hitting 140+ mph on the straightaways, here is your chance for free. You can't do much better than that.

Reservations ahead of time are not necessary, all you have to do is show up at the track with your Annual Pass.

2010 "Give A Day. Get A Disney Day." Program Has Begun!

2010-01-04T21:44:00.000-05:00

The well advertised Disney Parks promotion for 2010 "Give A Day. Get A Disney Day." has begun.

As a follow up to the wildly successful program in 2009 where anyone could get a free one day park ticket to a Disney World or Disneyland theme park on their birthday, 2010 brings a new element to the free park ticket giveaway.

For 2010 Disney will give away 1 million one day theme park tickets to people who follow the requirements and volunteer a day of their time to one of the available charities. The time involved varies depending upon the volunteering task, but may be as little as 2 1/2 hours.

To get started you need to go to the DisneyParks website to register.

Once you are there you will see the 3 steps to receiving your free park ticket:

Search & Sign Up
Volunteer
Redeem & Celebrate

You can search for available volunteering opportunities in your area by entering your zip code. If you don't see anything that fits you, try again in a couple of weeks as it gets updated with new opportunities as the year progresses.

Some key program stipulations include:

Each person can one earn 1 free ticket, no matter how much they volunteer.
Anyone who lives in the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada age 6 or above is eligible to volunteer.
You must sign up to volunteer through the official Disney Site to qualify. Volunteer activities outside of thissign-up process do not qualify.
Ticket quantities are limited and program may end early if allotted tickets are all distributed.
Volunteer service must be verified, then you will be eligible to print a vocher to take to the park to be traded for a one day ticket to one of the major theme parks.
There are black out days. For Disney World you cannot use the free ticket from March 29 - April 8 and July 4th..
Tickets are non-transferrable.

See the entire program rules and stipulations at the website.

Program Benefits The Community And The Guests
This program sounds like a great way for Disney to help the commuinty and give people an opportunity to easily earn a park ticket to Disney World or Disneyland. Hopefully it will run smoothly and be a win-win situation for all involved.

Money Saving Tip: Some Things Are Still FREE At Disney World

2009-12-20T10:59:00.000-05:00

When you are looking to save money during your Walt Disney World Resort Vacation it is important to know as many tips as possible.

Here is one tip that can save you a lot of money during your next Disney World Vacation:

At all Disney World Quick Service Restaurants you can order Ice Water (Tap water in a cup with ice) instead of a soft drink and save over $2 per person. The Ice Water is not on the menu, but it is available and the best part is it's FREE.

This is not a rumor, but a real tip. See the picture below showing an actual Disney World receipt from the Pizzafari in Disney's Animal Kingdom last week. The Regular Cup Of Water is shown for $0.00.

If you are looking to be healthy and avoid the soft drinks anyway, this is a healthy alternative. You do not have to resort to the expensive bottled water, you can drink the tap water with ice.

Over the length of your vacation this can really add up to a lot of savings, especially if you were planning on drinking water anyway. If you eat 2 Quick Service Restaurant meals per day during your trip, you could save $5 per person each day. For a family of 4 over a typical 6 day trip, you could save as much as $120.

That is a lot of money spent on soft drinks!

So keep this tip in mind during your next Disney World Vacation and don't be afraid to ask for Ice Water, so you can spend your money on something else!

Old Fashioned Fun Disney World Style at Chip 'n Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long & Movie

2009-08-28T22:05:00.007-04:00

At Disney World's Ft. Wilderness Resort & Campground you will find a fun evening activity that is FREE for the family.

Each evening Ft. Wilderness hosts Chip 'n Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long & Campfire. This activity includes:

A campfire where you can roast marshmallows.
A fun sing-a-long session with old favorite songs that make you feel like you are at camp.
A chance to see Chip & Dale and have your photograph taken with them and have them sign your autograph books.
After the sing-a-long a Disney Movie is shown on the big outdoor screen, like the drive-ins of the past.

The rustic setting of the Ft. Wilderness Campground makes a great setting for this event. You do not have to be staying at the campground to participate. Any Disney Guest can attend for free.

To get there either drive to the main Ft. Wilderness parking lot or take a bus from one of the parks or Downtown Disney to Ft. Wilderness. Then board one of the Yellow line internal buses to the 1500 area Bus Stop.

If you don't remember the stop, tell the bus driver that you are going to the Chip & Dale Campfire and they will let you know where to go.

During the campfire phase of the program starting at 7:30 pm, you may roast marshmallows that you brought with you or you may purchase them from the Chuckwagon.

At 8:00 pm the Sing-A-Long starts. A guitar playing cowboy led the crowd in a number of old favorites and then he was joined by Chip & Dale. During the program Chip & Dale went through the audience allowing each family to meet with them, take pictures, and sign autographs.

After the sing-a-long ended things got prepared for the movie to start at 9:00 pm. During the night we attended Bolt was the movie for the night. A schedule was posted and there was a different Disney Movie playing each night of the week. Show times may change during different times of the year, so please check for exact times while you are visiting the Walt Disney World Resort. Also remember that this event takes place outdoors, so dress appropriately.

The setting and the entertainment wasn't fancy, but it was good wholesome family entertainment. The trip to visit Ft. Wilderness Resort and the show was definitely worth doing for an evening.

This is a good way to slow down and relax, doing something different. It is also great that this is an evening of free entertainment (unless you don't bring your own marshmallows and choose to purchase them there.)

Epcot Kidcot Fun Stops Let Kids Learn While They Are Having Fun At Disney World

2009-06-29T06:46:00.004-04:00

Epcot has a found a way to engage children while visiting the World Showcase section of the park. They have created a series of 11 activity centers called Kidcot Fun Stops.

In each of the countries represented in Epcot’s World Showcase (Canada, Great Britain, France, Morocco, Japan, United States, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, & Mexico) there is a Kidcot Fun Stop. Children can go there and pick up a mask that they can decorate.

At each stop, they can add to their personal decoration, and they can get a stamp from that country, and a special ornament to add to their mask.

The Cast Members working at the Kidcot Fun Stops are actually from the countries that they represent and are happy to answer questions that the children have about that particular country. This is a great way for your children to learn a little about different cultures and far away places.

As the children work their way around the World, their masks get fuller and they get excited as they try to collect stamps from all 11.

In China, they help the child determine what animal they are associated with based upon the Chinese calendar and the year that they are born. Often the Cast Members will write the child’s name in Chinese on the mask for them as well.

The mask makes a nice keepsake for the child to remember his or her visit to Epcot. There is also special “gift” if they visit all of the Kidcot Fun Stops.

Besides being a fun activity for the kids to do, it’s great that it is FREE.

You can start the process at any of the 11 stations. There is no particular order that you have to go in, which makes it very flexible.

Visit a few or visit them all, but take advantage of this opportunity to keep the kids engaged and let them interact with friendly Disney World Cast Members from all over the world.