Good day, everyone! Hope you had a nice weekend and are gearing up for a good week. It's the first week of June - can you believe it?! I feel like I say that every month, but it's true that time does fly.
Last week, I finalized plans for a fall trip, the week of Labor Day - August 31st to September 7th. I have wanted to go during this week, as I've heard many times that Disney is VERY quiet this part of the year due to school just starting.
Then Free Dining was announced, and my travel dates aligned with it - awesome!! I have done the dining plan but haven't had Free Dining yet, so I am excited to go during that promotion.
After 5 days and 4 nights at the Coronado Springs resort, I am going to head to a 3 night cruise on the Disney Dream! I haven't sailed the Dream since 2011 and am very excited to once again sail on this awesome ship.
I have a few plans & goals for this trip, and things that I'll report on in future blogs:
1) One of my goals is to stay at every Disney hotel / resort. I am checking another off the list with this stay at Coronado Springs. I have also decided to stay in a Business level room at the resort. This is very similar to the Club Level that you'd find at the Deluxe Resorts. Coronado Springs hosts a fair amount of conventions every year, and so they have a business section; these rooms are closest to the main building and convention meeting areas, and you have access to a Club Level-like lounge in the morning and evening for breakfasts, snacks, etc. This gives you the Club Level experience but without the higher price point of the CL at the Deluxe resorts.
2) I am going to use the Free Dining credits + Club Level food offerings exclusively and not pay out of pocket for any food for these four nights. With the Dining Plan, I will get 1 snack credit, 1 counter service credit and 1 table service credit for each night of my stay. This will give me a total of 4 of each of the credits to use over the course of my stay. Counter service is like fast food, but that shouldn't scare you - there are many awesome counter service meals on property. Table service is a sit-down restaurant, where you have a server who brings you the food. There are also TONS of options that satisfy the snack credit - cookies, pieces of fruit, 20 oz sodas, bags of candy, etc.
On occasion, even with the dining plan you can choose to pay out of pocket for a meal each day, a snack, etc but you certainly don't have to with a little forethought and planning ahead. Because I want to give you all the best information about Free Dining, I will be documenting what food I choose, and where. I won't spend any additional money out of pocket, except for tips. This is very important to know, as tips for your servers at the Table Service restaurants are not included on the Dining plans.
3)
Speaking of dining - I am going to continue on my quest to try each of the Table Service dining locations at Walt Disney World. Another goal of mine is to try each of the Table Service dining options at the parks and resorts, as I want to be able to report back to you all with pictures, my opinions, tips, etc. I have a list of those that I have not yet tried, and will use this as my guide when making my dining reservations.
4)
I have booked a 5E stateroom on the Disney Dream, which is a balcony room with a very roomy verandah. I am SUPER excited about this room, as those staterooms go fast and are hard to come by. The verandahs on the 5E rooms are larger, as they're at the back (aft) of the ship. I can't wait to wake up and have coffee there each morning!
I also am going to do a "Pre-Trip" report for you as well, where I fill you in on my plans during my days at WDW and on the Dream. I hope you'll join me and provide me with your ideas and suggestions, as well!
So stay tuned as I plan this Free Dining + return to the Disney Dream vacation!
Have a magical day!
