Christmas Shopping At Downtown Disney Marketplace

Holiday shopping at Disney's downtown marketplace shops

If your looking for a very unique Disney World gift this Christmas holiday season, the best place to go is the Disney Downtown Marketplace. Located right in the east end of the downtown Disney area. This Disney entertainment and shopping area is filled with shows, great places to eat and lots of Disney shopping. For this article I’m talking about just the shopping stores.

As everywhere on Disney property, the Downtown Disney marketplace is alive with Christmas holiday decorations and lights right now. With plenty of free parking, this Disney shopping area has over 30 shops, all unique and wonderful. It features the largest Disney character store in the world among other things. You can find every Disney character toy, costume, accessory and more here.
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Christmas sales on luggage and bags at ebags


Save 20% at eBags.com!

Now that Thanksgiving is over everyone is having their big Christmas shopping sales! So I thought I’d throw out my own holiday sales here. Ebags is having a 20% off Christmas sale inside their store right now. They have nice affordable luggage, laptop and computer cases, bags and more.

I have a page of their luggage right here in my luggage sets page. It’s really good stuff yet not high priced like others are. You can find single carry-ons up to 8 piece luggage sets. They also have great computer cases and a wide range of bags.

So check them out for some great Christmas shopping sales on luggage and bags. Then book that Orlando vacation and enjoy a holiday stay here, taking in Disney, Universal Studios or Sea World. Disney World look fantastic on the holidays with decorations and Christmas lights. 😉

Walt Disney World Christmas lighting show at Magic Kingdom

Very soon Walt Disney World will start having their Christmas lighting ceremonies. Nothing is prettier than the Christmas lights at night at the Magic Kingdom, especially Cinderella’s castle! It’s amazing how they can make that castle glow with different colors.

Then of course you have the special Disney Christmas night parades, which are also very colorful and pretty. Add the fireworks and it’s a fantastic place to be! Here’s a youtube video of a past Disney Magic Kingdom Christmas lighting ceremony. Enjoy!

Walt Disney World Thanksgiving day parade youtube video

Well everyone, I can’t show you what this years Walt Disney World Thanksgiving day parade will look like, because it has not happened yet! But I can show you one from a few years ago. Each year the Disney holiday parades get better, and I’m sure the Thanksgiving day parade at Disney this year will be better than this one.

But this gives you a little taste of what to expect if you are at Disney World this year for the Thanksgiving day parade. They will have several of them during the day. Of course with four theme parks each parade will be a little different. This youtube video is of the Magic Kingdom Thanksgiving day parade at Walt Disney World. Enjoy!

Orlando Holiday airport travel tips and tricks

Orlando Holiday airport travel tips and tricks

The 2009 Holiday travel has begun! Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years see’s the biggest tourist crowds in the Orlando airport. Many from Florida are flying out to spend a white Christmas with loved ones up north. While many more are flying in for a Disney or other theme park Holiday vacation.

The biggest hassle will be at the Orlando airport. Expect long lines both at the baggage check-in area and also at the security points. These two spots will give you the biggest headaches and cost you the most time. Many people flying in or out for the Holidays don’t travel often and may not be up to date on everything.

So here’s a few refresher tips and tricks for you. Many airlines now charge for checked baggage, or checked bags over one per person. So remember that when your in the baggage line. But since they charge per bag anyway, and the baggage line is the longest wait at the airport, why not ship them instead?
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Best place for Walt Disney World discount tickets

best place for walt disney world discount tickets

Click here for best deals on Disney tickets!

Of all the things that has to do with going on an Orlando vacation, the most confusing is getting your Disney theme park tickets! So many places sell Disney tickets, and all of them claim to be lowest in price. You can buy them in dozens of little booths in the tourist areas, as well as inside many hotels. BUT, most of these have strings attached.

The most common catch is that you have to go on a tour of a local time share resort and listen to their sales pitch. Trust me, it’s boring, you waste valuable time, and the sales people are very aggressive. If you don’t sign that paper they want you to sign, they make you feel like crap.

So avoid all that hassle. The best way to get the cheapest Walt Disney World tickets with no strings attached is buying them online. You always pay the lowest price when you buy online. But even then, you have dozens of different choices. All of these places that sell Disney tickets buy them wholesale at a discount.
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Walt Disney World Thanksgiving events and parades

walt disney world thanksgiving events and parades

Well in just a few weeks it will be Thanksgiving. Those of you who are going to take an Orlando vacation and go to Walt Disney World at Thanksgiving time might be wondering what is going on. One thing I can tell you is, all the Disney theme parks will be packed!

In fact every one of the Disney parks should fill to capacity in the early afternoon. So if you want to take in a Disney park on Thanksgiving day, go early and prepare for crowds. Don’t even think of park hopping on Thanksgiving day. Plan on going to one Disney park and staying there for the day.

Now as to what you can expect to see that is new on Thanksgiving day, the answer is not that much really. Disney will put up all their Christmas decorations and lights that night, but not on Thanksgiving day. So you will not see any special Christmas sets or displays.
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Youtube video of Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park

Today I found a really cool youtube video of Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach water park. Now there’s lots of youtube videos out there of Blizzard Beach water park. But this one is taken with the persons point of view. They did that by using waterproof cameras while they went down the slides and water chutes.

It’s a very good and quality video that really shows you just what you can expect the full length of all the Disney’s Blizzard Beach slides, rivers and tubes. It’s longer than most too. So if you want to go to Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park, make sure you check out this cool youtube video!

Walt Disney World’s Festival Of The Masters 2009

walt disney world festival of the masters 2009

For those who don’t know, Walt Disney World is holding their 34th annual Festival Of The Masters at downtown Disney on Nov. 13 to 15th. So just what is the Festival Of The Masters? It’s an art show, featuring top artist from all over. The types of arts you can see here is a wide range of items. Pottery, glass blowing, paintings, photograph, wood working, jewelry and all types of custom made crafts.

This year there will be nearly 150 artist showcasing their unique arts and crafts. Some of the things you see here are amazing and you can’t find anywhere else. I loved the guy who made life-like bust of women and men, they looked ready to talk to you!

Whatever type of arts and crafts you like your sure to find something here you love. The artist will put up booths all over the downtown Disney area. Besides the artist, there will be live entertainment, art shows for kids, a chalk artist display and much more.

Over at Cirque du Soleil La Nouba in the downtown Disney area you can meet the performers and have your kids enjoy face painting and balloons. Also if your a Disney pin lover check out the pin traders location, the biggest Disney pin trading and swapping store in the Disney resort.

Then of course you can go shopping at the dozens of Disney stores at downtown Disney, and eat at several restaurants and food shops. Disney’s Festival Of The Masters 2009 is an art lovers dream and one you don’t want to miss!

Walt Disney World verses Universal Studios Orlando, what one?

Walt Disney World's Snow Whitemarvels spiderman

Living right here in Orlando, I’m always surprised at some things people ask me. But then I realize that not everyone deals with theme parks every week! I often get asked if Disney is part of Universal Studios. No, they are not, in fact they are big competitors of each other. So then I get asked the next question, which is, which one do I recommend?

Ouch! That’s a really loaded question, and it depends on so many things. So let me try to explain the fundamental differences between the two theme parks, and then you can decide for yourself. The biggest difference I think is the characters of the parks. Walt Disney World has all of the favorite characters of the Disney movies.

Snow White, Cinderella, Mickey and Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Daffy Duck, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell and all the other Disney stars are at,,,, Disney of course. Universal Studios has Marvel comics characters and Universal movie stars.
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How far from the Orlando airport is Disney and other theme parks?

Orlando Florida map of airport distance to Disney, Universal, Sea World and other attractions

Click here to open larger map in new window

One of the most asked questions I get is how far from the Orlando International airport is Walt Disney World, Sea World and all the other attractions. So I’ll give you a quick run-down in this post on the distance in miles from the Orlando airport to Disney and many other attractions and areas around the central Florida area.

The Orlando airport connects to major interstates and toll roads that gets you right to all the major attractions. You can pretty much stay on only one or two roads all the way to where your going. Reading all the road signs can be tricky, but for the most part it’s pretty simple to drive from the Orlando airport to where your going.

Now for the number one question I’m asked: how far is Walt Disney World from the Orlando airport? Disney itself is 44 square miles big, so it depends on what part your going to! But in general Disney World is about 22 miles from the Orlando airport.
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Walt Disney World making new fantasyland at Magic Kingdom


Click here to see full size picture

Exciting news is going on at Walt Disney World here in Orlando! It seems as though Disney is finally making a new fantasyland at the magic kingdom. Where fantasyland is now, behind Cinderella’s castle, will be done over into a bigger and better fantasyland, complete with a new little mermaid ride. There also will be more interaction areas with Disney’s princesses and more.

They seem to be making it more about the Disney Princesses, like dancing with Cinderella, or playing a role with Belle from Beauty and the Beast. In fact a castle from that story will be made. Plus lots more from Tinkerbell to Dumbo, which will have that ride moved and upgraded. Mickey’s Toontown fair will be removed, with Mickey and Minnie getting new homes at the front of the park.

The picture above is the current plan, click it for a bigger view. Kids will walk through a fairy tale forest and much more to get to the attractions and new shops and restaurants, all based on the popular Disney Princesses. However it will all take time. The current time table for it to be done and open is,,, sometime in 2012!