Magical Blogorail ~ Best Disney Planning Resources

Welcome to those of you joining me from Disney Donna Kay and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the Final stop on our Magical Blogorail.

Since grade school, my dream job was to be a travel agent.  I’m not a travel agent.  But I get to play one when I plan our family Disney trips.  And I love every minute of it!

You can find a wealth of ideas, photos, statistics, and advice online when it comes to planning a Disney vacation.  Here are the planning resources that I personally utilize the most.

Mousesavers

 

Attemping to crunch those Disney trip numbers every which way?  Then Welcome to My World 😉 … and Mousesavers is the site for you.  You’ll find the latest and greatest hot-off-the-presses deals and promotions right in the middle of their home page.

I’ve found the information on this site is kept nice and current.  In addition to offering numerous money saving Disney vacation tips, some of the pages I reference the most are the current Disney World resort hotel rack rates, and a chart of historical release dates for special offers and discounts that Disney has run in the past.

I’ve actually even used Mousesavers when planning other trips, because they maintain such a comprehensive list of all the car rental companies and current discount codes (which makes a HUGE difference).  Yep.  Highly recommend them, they’ve saved me many a dollar in the past.

Allears

Allears is a fun site with a wealth of information.  Here you can read

• General articles featuring Disney attractions, events or restaurants;
• Find out what’s new (or even scheduled for refurbishment) at the Parks; or
• Gain some insight on recent Disney visitor’s experiences.

I most often frequent the “Rate and Review” section of Allears, for both Disney resorts and dining reivews… to help me make those final selections for my own family!

Touring Plans

It’s all about standing in line at Disney.  Or I should say, “It all about NOT standing in line too long at Disney!”

I think Touring Plans is a fantastic resource to address the challenge of crowds at Disney.  They offer a variety of touring plans to literally plot out your day’s park strategy, if you so desire.  These touring plans are schedules listing the order and times you should visit specific attractions, so that you can enjoy them when they are the least busy.

But the Touring Plans page that I rely on most is the  Disney World Crowd Calendar.  Each day for the upcoming year is projected, with an estimated crowd level number and recommended park(s) to visit.   I’ve relied on this calendar for selecting our Disney vacation dates every single trip!

Disney Blogs

Here’s where you’ll hit real pay dirt, and find the most candid descriptions and advice on what you can expect from a particular Disney resort, Disney dining location, or just about anything you want to know about planning your Disney vacation.

For the same reasons blogs in general have exploded in popularity in recent years, these sites are a beloved and trusted source of “real” information.  Reading Disney blogs can be a fantastic resource to track down just about anything and everything you need to know, or even just spark some “I really want to try that!” ideas.

Disney blogs are written and photographed, not by Disney employees, but real people who love the Disney Parks and sincerely want to help you squeeze the most magic out of your Disney vacation.

I’ve listed a few of my favorites on this blogorail page.  Check them out sometime!

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Thank you for joining Magical Blogorail Red this month. We will be back on August 16th with an all new theme. Keep checking in with our blogs in between loops to keep up to date with our Disney news, photos and stories. If you are looking for more Disney magic, you can make your way over to The Magical Blogorail website to see all our members and their blogs, as well as all our previous loops.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

 

1st Stop ~ A World View

2nd Stop ~ Growing Up Disney

3rd Stop ~ My Dreams of Disney

4th Stop ~ Disney Donna Kay

Final Stop ~ Colorado Mountain Mom (You are here!)