MouseWait (Free)
MouseWait is like having Disneyland® in your pocket – wherever you are! Find out what rides to go on by looking at wait times, interact with your friends via Facebook, interact with other Disney fans via Twitter & FriendFeed, get real-time news, find out where to eat, park times & events, see what is closed, and more. Not only that, but MouseWait is your instant gateway to Disneyland® because you can check out live web cams from home, see what people are talking about in the park, look at the real-time news, talk to people who are at the park, and more! (more information)

Cons: Disneyland Theme parks only, IPhone only

Wait Watchers (Free)
If you’ve ever been to a theme park, you’ve probably had the experience of walking all the way across the park to ride something, only to find out that the wait time for the ride is ridiculously long. If only there was a way to have known that beforehand. Well, now there is.

It’s not about weight loss. It’s about waiting less.
With the Wait Watchers™ series of app’s for the IPhone, you’ll see the wait times for various attractions (as posted by other Wait Watchers™ app users) right at start up, without any further navigation. Each app is designed to be both easy to “consume” so you can find the wait time to any ride in the park quickly and easy to “contribute” so you can post a wait time update for others to see. (more information)

Cons: Wait times provided by other users, Website might be shutting down May 11th and is currently not available on Apples app store, IPhone only

Disneyland CA Planner ($1.99)
Lots and Lots of features.. GotPlanS Disneyland Park Planner – the ORIGINAL and BEST SELLING Disneyland Park app of ALL TIME!

Features:

• 3-D style zoom able map with GPS
• Park hours and events schedule for Disneyland, CA Adventure and Downtown Disney
• Wait times for Disneyland and CA Adventure
• Attraction, dining, snack cart and shopping information for nearly 200 points of interest
• Large color photos and detail pages for every point of interest
• Parking location recorder
• Locker information recorder
• Passholder information
• Lots more exclusive features…

(more information)

Cons: Disneyland Theme parks only, IPhone only

The Walkee™ Disneyland iGuide ($4.99)
The Walkee™ iGuide to Disneyland® Park is GPS-enabled and fully customizable, offering an interactive and fun alternative to one-dimensional paper maps. Pre select all of your Favorites before your arrive, or just browse Attractions, Restaurants and Shops, as well as other important park locales. Once you’ve completed something, just check it off and instantly see where you’ve been and what you’ve done. Add customized pictures and notes to any Detail page. Then email them to family and friends as colorful Walkee™ E-Cards. You can easily record where you parked. Discover cool background information on attractions. Get wait time information on the most popular rides from other Walkee™ users. Walkee™ Nation is a fast growing mobile community working together to share their wait time experiences.

Features:

• Get wait time information from other Walkee™ owners.
• Pre-select all your Favorites before you arrive.
• Check off “Done That” to keep you on track.
• Share the magic. Email colorful Walkee™ E-Cards to family and friends while you’re standing in line, after a thrilling ride, while dining together, wearing your new mouse ears… anywhere, anytime!
• And many, many more…

(more information)

Cons: Disneyland Theme parks only, IPhone only

Disney Parks Mobile Magic ($9.99 for six months)
The Official Mobile app of the Walt Disney Company. As you might expect from Disney this app is jammed packed with features. Everything is displayed in real time. Mobile Magic transforms Verizon devices into tour guides for Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. This is the first Disney-developed mobile application that provides consumers with navigation of both parks. Consumers can also view the locations of their favorite attractions, characters and restaurants with GPS-enabled maps. The application also features a restaurant listing, tips on what’s happening in the parks and trivia games to play against other park guests. (more information)

Cons: Not for IPhone, $9.99 for six months, only on Verizon

If you have any other app’s you would like to suggest feel free to comment below.

The Planning Stage

1. Disney Tickets – Understand your ticket options. In a previous post we provide a complete guide to understanding Disney Tickets.

2. Ride Refurbishments and Closures – Before departure check out ride refurbishments and closures to keep everyone happy. If your child has a favorite attraction, make sure it isn’t closed for maintenance.

3. Pick Your Time of Year. – You need to balance four main factors: crowds, heat, park hours, and special events. During busy times, parks stay open late and you may find extra parades and fireworks. View Walt Disney World 2010 Events and Calendar Guide

Inside The Park

1. Baby Swap (adult swap) – First, parents and kid(s) all line-up together; Parent A rides first with any older kids, while Parent B stays to one side with baby or under-height kids; once the ride is over, the parents change places, and again one parent rides while the other one waits.

2. Stay at a Disney Resort – When you stay onsite at a Disney Resort its easy to go to the park of your choice very early. When the day starts to get hot take a break and return to your resort; than return to the parks in the evening.

3. Advanced Disney Restaurants – Make advanced dining reservations for restaurant meals. It’s easy, it’s free, and usually entails no commitment — yet you get seated quickly instead of waiting in line.

Quick Hint

1. Stay Cool – Walt Disney World Resort, On a crowded hot day in the Magic Kingdom we always use this quick hint to stay cool. When you enter the park stay to your left, instead of walking down Main Street fighting the crowd enter the first store and continue walking through all of the stores on the left hand side until you exit directly in front of Cinderella Castle. This tip might not seem like much now, when you have strollers and its hot the air conditioned stores and lack of crowd will put a smile on your face.

Here at D23Magic we want to help you make the most of your Disney experience. We have come up with 10 great ways to help you save money on your next trip.

So here are 10 ways to save money on a Walt Disney World Vacation now.

1. Airfare – There are two services we would like to suggest when purchasing your airfare with two special features. The first is Bing located here: Bing.com. Bing offers a great tool that predicts the price if its time to buy or wait. The next is Orbitz Flights and their Price Assurance, If another Orbitz customer books your itinerary for less, Orbitz issue a cash refund for the difference. Amounts range from $5 to $250 per airline ticket or $5 to $500 per hotel booking.

2. Trip Length – Plan your trip to ideally be at least 6 days long. Disney World has set their pricing structure such that you get the greatest benefit at about 6 days. The tickets are the most expensive part of your trip and choosing 6 days will help you maximize your value for ticket purchases. If you take a look at the ticket prices you will notice that the first 4 days are the most expensive. Anything after the first 4 days ($225.00) is approximately $4.00 more each additional day. Also consider purchasing your tickets ahead of time at the Disney World website to offset any price changes in the future and break up the expense over time.

3. Special Offers – Continue to review the Disney Special Offers section located here: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/ some current offers are: Get a $750 Disney Gift Card great for dining, entertainment, recreation and shopping when you get a non-discounted 5-night/6-day room and ticket package at select Disney Deluxe Resorts and Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts for most nights now to 3/27/10, and 4/11-8/14/2010.

4. Magical Express – If you are flying, use the MCO airport and take advantage of the Magical Express service. This service can save you well over a hundred dollars or more by not needing to get a Car Rental or pay for a town car or shuttle. Their is nothing better then bringing your luggage to the airport and it ending up in your room like magic.

5. Magic Your Way Base Tickets – Buy 6-7 day Magic Your Way Base Tickets. Stick to the Base tickets and avoid the temptation to purchase the $50 per person Park Hopper add-on. This is a feature that you can do without. Although it certainly does have its benefits, if you do a good job of planning out your trip ahead of time, the Park Hopper is not necessary. Saving $50/person here and there can really add up over the course of a trip. Remember that with a Base Ticket you can still come and go to the same park multiple times during the same day.

6. Parks – Stick to the 4 main parks to avoid the “extra expenses”. There are more activities in the 4 main parks than you can do in one week’s time. In order to minimize costs, skip the Water Parks, Miniature Golf, Bicycle and Watercraft Rentals and all of the extra expense activities that you can do at Disney World. If you want to get beyond the parks visit the Boardwalk or Downtown Disney.

7. Disney Dining Plan – If you have young children under 9 most definitely consider one of the Disney Dining Plan options. The fee for children is one of the best deals that you can get at Disney World. If your children are older, but you are concerned about the expense of the regular Dining Plan, you can also consider the Quick Service Dining plan where you get 2 Counter Service Meals plus 2 snacks per day plus a refillable mug. You can also utilize your snack credits to buy breakfast items like muffins and danishes to further reduce your food expenditures. For up to date prices goto http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/benefits/disney-dining-plan/

8. Souvenirs – Set an allowance for souvenirs and impulse purchases ahead of time. Determine your budget for those types of items before your trip and make sure that you and the kids stick to it. Buy glow sticks, toys, fans and gifts before you go. You can purchase all kinds of disney products at Wal-Mart. Buy them on the cheap and give them to your kids when you are there they will never know the difference.

9. Drive – Gas prices have come down since the all time highs a couple of years ago. If you have 4 people in your group to fly could easily cost $1000.00. It might take a little longer then flying but the saving is considerable. If your car is not up to a trip like that Orbitz Car Rentals have some great prices with unlimited miles. Just make sure to check if there are any restrictions on where you can drive.

10. Subscribe to D23Magic for Free – Click Here to get automatically updated from Google Feedburner. If you like our tips we provided you will love the future of D23Magic. We are going to try and give you the most up to date information with lots of new features in the future.

If there was ever an undiscovered treasure in Walt Disney World, it’s Tom Sawyer Island and Ft. Langhorn, located in the Magic Kingdom.

Tom Sawyer Island is a lushly-landscaped outdoor playground in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom theme park where children of all ages can relive the rustic 19th-century adventures depicted in the novels of Mark Twain.

The wooded island is surrounded by the pastoral Rivers of America, and the only way to reach the island is aboard a raft that docks at Tom’s Landing near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Sail across the river to romp through dense forests, forge rugged trails, cross swinging suspension bridges, explore mysterious caves, take shelter in a frontier fort built from unfinished timber and embark on mischievous, playful adventures—just like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Discover hidden treasures for those who care to do a little exploring; highlights include the mysterious jewels hidden deep in the dark caves, the creaky waterwheel at Harper’s Mill, the bouncy barrel bridge and Fort Langhorn with its twisting escape tunnel.

How do you get there?
To get to Tom Sawyer island, you’ll take one of four small rafts from Tom’s Landing located across from Big Thunder Rail Road. The rafts are all named for characters in the book: Injun Joe, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher and Tom Sawyer. Each raft carries about 55 people and contrary to popular belief, they do not run on rails or tracks but are free floating vessels.

Early in the morning, cast members hide several paintbrushes for guests to find. If you find one, let a cast member know and you’ll be rewarded with a small prize, such as a soft drink or a pass to get to the front of the line of an attraction, for your entire group. The island is a great place for kids to stretch their legs and for parents to relax and since it’s Disney, it’s all very safe. Kids will love climbing up and down the stairs at Fort Langhorn and exploring all the rooms. From the lookout towers, they can fire popguns at imaginary targets.

Tom Sawyer Island usually opens at 10:00 a.m. and closes at Dusk. Be sure to check the daily schedule for the exact closing time. If you want to get a snack, Aunt Polly’s Place sells sandwiches and refreshments. It’s open seasonally. Even when it’s closed, Aunt Polly’s makes a great place to sit and relax; consider bringing a sack lunch and eating it there.

Foldable strollers are allow on the Island, but must be folded before boarding the raft. Most people will find strollers hard to use on the island as the paths are not made for them and there are a lot of steps. Still for some it is the only way to get around the large island.

Location:
Magic Kingdom Theme Park Frontierland

Height Requirement:
Any Height

Category:
Fun for Everyone Outdoor

Pictures:

• The Dock
• Raft
• Fort
• View
• Map

Here are some easy steps to ensure good weather and less crowds on your magical vacation to Disney World!

Decide what kind of weather you would like.

If you want to get a tan and spend part of the day by the pool, avoid November through beginning of February.
If you want to stay warm but dread 100% humidity and unbearably hot days, avoid July and August.

Next, is it important to you to be apart of Holiday festivities? Even though it is gorgeous at Christmas, as the parks decorate to the max and parades and events are countless, expect heavy crowds and colder weather. My favorite time of the year.

Very Busy: (reminder the parks will close down if they are overfilled)

June – School’s out, it’s the middle of the year and vacation time begins being used
August – The last of the summer months… Again, kids are still off and people want to get in their last minute vacations
December – Tons of time off for both students and employees. Lots of attractions draw crowds and families are together for holidays.

Avoid Holiday Weekends:

January – New Years Eve/New Years Day
February – Presidents Day Weekend
May – Memorial Day Weekend
July – 4th of July
Sept – Labor Day Weekend
October – Columbus Day Weekend
November – Thanksgiving/Black Friday

Avoid Summer months if possible:

Disney Resorts have MANY specials going on August-September. To get more people in the parks, they offer discounted hotel stay and free meal plans to guest staying in their resorts. As it may look desirable to anyone on a budget, the lines are extremely long and the weather is extremely hot!

The Best Times to go:

January – 1 week AFTER New Years until the end of the month
February – Until week 3
April – Every week but the week of Easter (if it falls in April)
May – Until week 2
September – Last week
October/November – Until Thanksgiving

Calendar Guide:

Just a ten-minute drive from Disney World you can travel back in time to find the town of Celebration, a planned community developed by the Walt Disney Company. This is a pedestrian-friendly, wonderful small town (think Mayberry!) You can have a great time exploring the old-fashioned downtown area called Market Street. Here are some ideas to take advantage of during your tour, that will cost you little or nothing (as well as a couple of splurges to consider)!

Tour the model homes.

Window-shop on Market Street, which has wonderful specialty stores, boutiques and galleries.

Explore the Lakeside Promenade or the miles of walking paths and nature trails.

Tour the Celebration Hotel. Sit in one of the oversized wicker chairs, people-watch, and have a drink or coffee at the lobby bar.

Market Street often has different events scheduled each month, such as craft festivals, antique car shows, etc. During the winter holidays, Market Street hosts an event called “Now Snowing Nightly” — it “snows” on Celebration’s main street four times a night and the town provides entertainment and a visit to Santa in his lakeside chalet, all for FREE!

Have an appetizer or dessert at one of the varied restaurants including award-winning Spanish and Cuban cuisine!

Pick up some picnic items and head over to the Interactive Fountain to let the kids (or you) have a splash!

Treat yourself to an ice-cream or lemonade from Herman’s Ice Cream and then enjoy it relaxing in one of the rocking chairs by the lake.

Scenic tour Carriage Rides are offered every weekend, September – June, Friday and Saturday evenings from 6 – 10 pm. Call (407) 414-1981 for information. Depending on the size of your party, this can work out to less than $10 per person.

Links to rental car companies in the Walt Disney World area:

• Avis
• Hertz
• National Car Rental
• Budget
• Alamo
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Dollar Rent A Car
• Thrifty.com
• $13.95 per day rental cars with low Hotwire Hot-Rates!