Disney World just released the room rates and packages for 2012. Hurry and book your favorite Disney Resort, while there is still availability. Some of the seasons that book up quickly include January, March-April, Thanksgiving Week, and Christmas-New Years. Call us at 877-918-8941, chat with us online, or request a quote.

Bonus! Request your quote and book within 7 days to receive free autograph books for your kids or a round of mini-golf for adults. Plus get a FREE Day to Play at the Disney Theme Parks. These free perks are only with us!

Request a Free Quote for your Vacation

Haven't you always dreamed of taking flight on a hot air balloon ride?  I know I have, but I've always had a fascination with flight in general.

I finally had my opportunity for a balloon flight with Characters In Flight at Downtown Disney.  Well, it's not exactly a hot air balloon ride -- it's a gas-filled, tethered balloon ride and it was a thrill!

I've been skydiving, bungee jumping, screaming down the side of a mountain on my bike.  I'm not a stranger to trill rides and this one was just as much fun as all the others.  Standing below the balloon, waiting for my turn, I looked up 400' in the sky and thought, "Hmm, that's a lot higher than it looks from my car on I-4."

Once on board, you find that the platform feels solid while you're on the ground, but as soon as the wheels lift off, you're conducting a balancing act!  In spite of the safety netting, railing, and solid floor, the tossing of the wind makes it feel like you could fall out, any minute!

As soon as I became accustomed to my wider-than-normal stance to maintain balance, I looked around and wow!  The view was amazing!  I could see Spaceship Earth at Epcot, the Contemporary Resort, Tower of Terror and so much more!  Then, I peered over the edge at the height and loved it!...and so did our kids, to my surprise.  No crying or fussing, at all.

The only complaint I could have with Characters In Flight may be that it's too short.  I could have stayed up a little longer before that cable began pulling us home.  As for that cable and the landing, be ready for a rough one.  You'll find that the balloon tosses back and forth quite a bit as you come back down to the platform and then hit with a good thud!

Weather permitting, the hours of operation are every day from 9 a.m. to midnight.

Ticket Prices:
$18 Adult (tax included) - Guests ages 10 and up
$12 Children (tax included) - Guests ages 3 - 9
Free- Guests 2 and under
Tickets may be purchased at the attraction's ticket window.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our latest Disney videos.

Disney's Top Performer in 2009 and #1 travel agent in the WORLD for Universal Vacations, our travel partner, Destinations In Florida Travel, can help you book and plan your Central Florida vacation!

The official shop for all things Disney. Click the banner to get all your official Disney Store souvenirs and goodies!

It's the end of your day at Disney World.  You're ready to just get back to your resort and crash.  It's been about 12 hours since you parked, you were in a rush to make it to the park and paid zero attention to the tram driver's reminders that you were in the Minnie parking lot.  Now, you're wandering around one of the world's largest parking lots looking for your white rental car that looks exactly like the thousands of other white rental cars in the Disney lot.

Did you know, Disney Cast Members keep track of how they fill the parking lot?  You can ask any tram driver or navigator, a security guard, or any Disney Cast Member for help finding your car.  If you can even roughly estimate what time you arrived at the park, they can put you in the right lot and likely the right aisle of your car's location!  Disney notes what time they fill each and every row of the parking lot, so they'll get you to your car.

So the next time you're exhausted and searching for your car in a Disney lot, just stop and find a Cast Member to help and you'll be snuggling in your resort bed in no time!

Inside Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground resides the Trail's End Restaurant offering American fare for Disney guests.  Trail's End Restaurant's rustic décor is warmed by a pot-bellied stove. Beamed ceilings, split-log walls and a flagstone floor contribute to the home-on-the-range frontier feel.  The restaurant is located in Pioneer Hall, which means that you must take a boat or internal resort bus transportation to get to the restaurant, as there's no vehicle parking available at Pioneer Hall.

Trail's End offers a huge buffet for breakfast and dinner, with ala carte options for lunch.  Options include fried chicken, catfish, shrimp and sausage, ribs, and much more.  Prices range from $14.99 for the breakfast buffet to $35.99 for the dinner buffet and is included in the Disney Dining Plan as a Table Service option.

Want to see Disney World from high over head?  You should try parasailing with Sammy Duvall's Watersports Centre at Disney's Contemporary Resort and see the Magic Kingdom and Disney World from a whole new place.

You can ride single or tandem for between 8 and 12 minutes (not including prep and take-off/landing time) over Bay Lake.  The rides cost between $95 and $130 for single riders and $170 to $195 for tandem (double) riders and you can go 7 days a week, weather permitting of course.  You have the option of a standard or deluxe ride with the difference being in how high you go on the parasail.

Here are some basic requirements for the rides:

• All fliers must be over 6 years old.
• At least 130 lbs. and no more than 330 lbs. total weight in the parachute.
• If a flier is under the minimum requirement, he or she may accompany another child or adult to reach the minimum weight.
• Minors under the age of 18 must have an adult present to sign waivers prior to departing on your trip.

Here's a video of the parasailing experience.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park has had a significant impact on the Central Florida travel picture for 2010.

July saw a 6.8% increase in the number of rooms booked versus July of 2009 with an additional 3.6% increase in the average cost of a room night.  Hotels and resorts near the new Harry Potter park saw room bookings closer to 90% filled for July!

I know this is a lot of "inside baseball" talk, but it really made me wonder about the impact that the Wizarding World has had on Disney World.  The resorts and hotels in and around Universal Orlando have seen significant decreases in room vacancy, in spite of significant increases in average cost per room night.  Although the Disney World area has seen similar increases, they can't compare to the the Universal area.

I knew the day Wizarding World opened, it was going to hurt Disney, especially in light of the fact that they have very little in the pipeline to generate the kind of excitement that we've seen for Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Universal went all out on this one and it shows.

What are your thoughts?  Has Wizarding World hurt Disney?  If so, how much and for how long?

We had some video sitting around of the Disney resort monorail station, so we thought we'd share it with you.  We have the Polynesian monorail station and the Contemporary monorail station.  No Grand Floridian, TTA, or the Magic Kingdom entrance, but we'll be sure to update this post with those.

We often ride the resort monorails as an attraction for our kids.  They love it!  You get to see some great resorts, the entrance to Magic Kingdom and ride on the monorail.

Last week, the Disney Parks blog did a post about the top 10 Disney stocking stuffers.  We thought this was a great idea, but rather than a list of stocking stuffers (which we'll include, below), why not a list of Disney Christmas/Holiday PRESENTS?!  Forget the small stuff, let's go for the big prize!  Right?

So, we polled our kid-contributors, ranging in age from 3 to 7 for our list of Disney Christmas gifts for kids.

Top 10 Disney Christmas Gifts for Kids

1. Toy Story Mania for the Wii -- this one is by far the most popular Disney gift, this year among kids.  They all want it (provided they've ever been exposed to a Wii and Toy Story).
2. Up -- Pixar's latest DVD hit on a 4 disc combo pack.  I really loved this set-up from Disney, because it comes with a disc that I can upload to iTunes and watch on my iPod Touch.  It's great for those longer lines at Disney to keep the kids entertained!
   
3. Leapster -- Our kids love their Leapster Learning Game Systems!  The games are fun (keeps them entertained in the car like a champ!) and they all focus on learning objectives, rather than just your standard video game objectives.  Don't forget to stock up on the multitudes of Disney games for the Leapster.
   
4. Cars Dirt Track Racer Slot Car Set -- Now, according to Amazon, the Disney/Pixar Cars Mack Track Challenge is more popular, but we found among our poll group that they preferred the Dirt Track Set.
   
5. Pixar Speedway -- This one has been very popular among our own children.  Fair warning: you will bump into it in the middle of the night, set of all the sound effects and wake all the children.  Great toy, but don't say I didn't warn you.
   
6. Princess Tiana merchandise -- anything from Disney's newest princess from the Princess and the Frog movie will be a hit, this year, especially with your very own "little princesses."
   
7. Disney Easy Readers -- these are books you will find your children reading as they enter Pre-Kindergarten on up to about 2nd grade.  They're easy enough for them to read and they get to read about their favorite Disney characters!
8. Nintendo DSi -- I know, I know, this is not really a Disney gift.  However, they do make a lot of Disney games for the Nintendo DSi  and it is VERY popular among the kids.  We may not be in favor of this one as we are the Leapster.  It's a much more expensive gaming system and it's classic video game mind-rot.  However, it is still immensely popular, so you have to strike your own balance in your home.
9. Talking Buzz Lightyear -- Yes, Buzz is still going strong in the toy department.  "To infinity and beyond!"
10. Disney Annual Pass -- Our children get one of these every year for Christmas.  If your close enough to the World, this makes a great present that keeps on giving all year long.

Top Ten Disney Stocking Stuffers

These are the recommended stocking stuffers from the Disney Parks Blog:

1. Green is the perfect accent for the Holidays! - Check out the environmentally friendly merchandise available at the Resort including our tees, accessories and stationery.
2. Race Through Time - Kids will also go wild for our Disney’s Wild Racers (“Cars With Character”) available in a variety of Disney, Pixar and Star Wars inspired characters.
3. Make it a cool Yule… - with our Disney Vinylmation! These unique and funky vinyl figures feature artwork inspired by Disney attractions, characters and icons, plus cool urban and seasonal designs. Vinylmation figures come in 3” and 9” sizes, which is the perfect size for anyone’s stocking. To find out more, visit www.Vinylmation.com.
4. Go Krazy for Kooky’s! - You’ll go “krazy” for our Kooky Kollection of Disney inspired pens. Created for the holidays, you’ll find Minnie, Mickey & Pluto dressed in their holiday best, but if you are looking for Kookier holiday fun, then check out our limited edition Holiday Kooky Set featuring Dumbo, Tinker Bell and Stitch!
5. Fit For a Princess – If it’s a Disney Princess item you’re looking for, you’ll find a variety of Disney princess inspired costumes, toys and gifts including our newest addition to Disney royalty, Princess Tiana.
6. Jedis In Training - If the force is strong with your young Jedi Knight then they’ll be drawn to design their own Light Saber, including grip and energy beam. Star Wars ©Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. -- This is one you can only get in the Disney Parks.
   
7. Deck the Halls with Pins – A perfect stocking stuffer for avid collectors and novices alike. Disney's seasonal pins are sure to be the hit of your holiday party.
8. Quick Pick-Me-Ups – Find that little something special. Disney's top souvenir picks this year are our key chains, cell phone charms, magnets, playing cards and the ever-popular antenna toppers.
9. You’ll be an “EAR” above the rest – Tip your hat to your friends and family this holiday season with our Santa inspired Mickey Mouse ear hat and holiday themed headwear or have frosty fun with a Snowman ear hat.
10. Cuddle up with your favorite Disney Pals – A new selection of the ever popular holiday plush is now available. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Stitch and more can be found decked out in their festive holiday attire.

How can you cut your wait time in half, without using a FastPass?

Go into the Single Rider line, if the ride has one.  This is the line Disney Cast Members use to "fill in" spots on the ride.  So, for example, if a ride can hold 3 to a row, a family of  takes up 4 of the six spots available on the ride, no couples around and a single rider line, you could take those two spots!

This really works well if there's only a couple of you or you're in a group of all adults that don't mind being split up on a ride.  Not so much if you have children.

This really can significantly cut down on your wait time for popular rides that offer a single rider line option.  Even if you don't see it marked at the start of the line, ask a Cast Member if they have a single rider line for the ride you want to experience.

Did you know Magic Kingdom at Disney World has 182 pumpkins on Main Street for the Halloween holiday?  They do and if you watch the video, below, you can pause it and copy some of those 182 designs for your jack-o-lantern, this year!

To customize your pumpkin, you'll want to sketch the design on the pumpkin, first.  Also, be sure to pick up some of those small pumpkin saws that are available at almost any grocery store for all the detail work on your pumpkin pattern.

Here are some other places to get some pumpkin carving patterns.  They may not be Disney themed, but they're better than the old squares, triangles, and circles.

• http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/mpatterns.htm
• http://www.zombiepumpkins.com/patterns.php -- these require a paid membership, but they have some AMAZING patterns!
• http://www.pumpkinlady.com/pattern.htm

Hope you enjoy customizing your family pumpkins and have a happy Halloween!