Tips about Budget, Food & Beverage and Resorts

Pop Century - My wife and I just returned from a stay at the Pop Century Resort. We discovered that if we were trying to catch a bus from a park back to Pop Century and the lines were very, very long, we could sometimes hop on the Art of Animation Resort bus instead. (The stops are usually next to each other.) The walk from the Art of Animation, through the lobby, and across the short bridge to Pop Century took only a couple of minutes -- much quicker than the possible long wait we would have had for our own resort bus. - Rory Osborne

Crystal Palace is incredibly accommodating for restricted diets. Our server was helpful and the chef was wonderful. The chef will show you what you can eat and will also offer to make fresh food from the kitchen. I'm GF/DF (gluten-free/dairy-free) and received fresh GF dinner rolls and DF "butter." For dessert they had a special GF/DF brownie for me. The food was delicious and fresh and we loved it. My food consisted of fresh greens (green beans, broccoli), rice, roasted chicken, and salmon in a honey-cilantro pesto. Fantastic. The characters were great and fun! The cast members made sure that we got to meet Pooh and all of his friends while we were there. At one point there was a little dance party, so it was fun to see the kids romp around with the characters. The environment was nice and we had a nice view outside of the castle. The cast members and chef worked really hard to give us a magical evening! - Destinie

When we were planning our trip to Disney World, we made our reservations at one of the hotels that was on Disney property. Our family is on a budget so it was hard for us to try to save all at once. I called the hotel and asked if I could send so much money each month. The money we sent went towards the hotel bill, like a prepayment. So each month I sent money towards our stay. I made the reservation a year in advance therefore we had all year to send the money. Well, we went to Disney World at New Year's and guess what? Our room was already paid for! I thought I would pass the idea to you since it seems like Disney World gets more expensive every year. - Linda Martin of Mt. Sterling, KY