Ask Morgan Mondays!

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Ask Morgan Mondays – February 18, 2013 – Your questions answered, and our contest winner announcement!

Published February 18, 2013 by Morgan Crutchfield

Photo on 1-5-13 at 8.01 PM

Happy Monday, everyone! This week we’ve got a couple of great questions that lead to lots of information about Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot, and a contest winner to announce. Let’s see what we can find.

I know there’s a Food and Wine Festival at Epcot in the Fall, but now I’m hearing about a Flower and Garden Festival.What and when is it? – Kelly from Colorado

Kelly, while Food and Wine is definitely an event, Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival is gearing up this year to really hold its own! From March 6 to May 19, Epcot will come alive with fantastic topiary displays and blossoming gardens for guests to tour as they sample delicious food from the new food-and-drink Garden Marketplaces. At night, a special treat for this year will debut in the illuminated gardens around the park. And just for kids, a fantastic Oz-themed playground has appeared almost overnight!

Maybe first on everyone’s list of things to try this year is the Dole Whip and spiced rum drink being served at the Festival. I know I’ll be lining up first thing before heading out to find the gigantic Fab Five topiary on this year’s festival slate.

Need more details? Check out the official press release here and have a great time!

What are the dates for the 2014 Flower and Garden Festival? – Elaine from New York

Elaine, that’s a planning question! Unfortunately, Disney hasn’t released those dates yet. If you’re attempting to plan a vacation, you can bet that the month of April will be a great time to catch the Festival at its peak. Check back at Disneyways.com and sign up to receive e-mail updates to get next year’s dates as soon as they come out!

Thanks again for your questions, everyone. Have a fantastic week!

(Note from Krista: Hi Elaine! You may have heard we were having a special contest this week for all our Ask Morgan Monday fans who submitted their question via the form. Congratulations on having your question chosen! You have won a Disney Vinylmation. Send your mailing address to Disneyways@Disneyways.com and I will get that shipped out to you right away. We really appreciate your participation, and hope to have more contests and winners again soon. Have a magical week!)

Do you have questions for Ask Morgan Mondays? Fill out the form below!

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Ask Morgan Mondays – February 10, 2013

Published February 11, 2013 by Morgan Crutchfield

Photo on 1-5-13 at 8.01 PMHey everyone! I’m excited about today’s questions because I get to talk about crafts and little gifts and Disney! So let’s get going!

I heard that people decorate their doors on a Disney cruise. Will I feel left out if I don’t do mine? What do they do? – Kara from Long Island

Kara, I will be the first to admit that I did not know about the door decorating when I cruised and I felt like I missed the memo every time we went by our cabin door! Decorating doors is definitely a tradition on DCL and it’s lots of fun to see all the different themes and decorations! So where do you start? There are several ways to get awesome door decorations, the first being to by them. Etsy and Ebay both have lots of artists who will customize and produce the magnets for you. If you’re a craft fiend like me though, you can make them yourself really easily. There are templates all over the ‘net that you can customize, print, laminate or have laminated, stick a magnet on, and put up! Here’s a fun link to get you started so that you can end up with a fantastic door like the one below!

cruisedoorA few quick rules about decorating your cabin door: 1) NO TAPE. It damages the paint which will cost you for the damage! You don’t need to make the entire back of your signage magnetic, either. Small magnet strips or dots will do! 2) Nothing that sticks out into the hallway. It’s pretty narrow to begin with! 3) Nothing offensive or profane. If you wouldn’t want to show it to your mom, don’t put it up. Have fun with it!

What is a fish extender? Do I have to clean anything that’s alive if I get one? – Lisa from Connecticut

Lisa, great question. I know when I first heard the term I had some uncomfortable thoughts that involved very long fish. Fortunately, fish extenders don’t involve real fish and are actually lots of fun. A fish extender is a series of pockets that hangs off the decorative fish on the wall next to each cabin door. Fish extenders are a mailbox of sorts and a place for people to leave fun gifts and notes. Fish extender groups get together on Facebook or the Disboards and plan to meet on cruises and have great times! Like door decorations, fish extenders can be purchased or crafted by you! You can also make the little gifts to go in and can find some fun ideas for those on Etsy as well. For more information on fish extending, check out this super-informative blog post.

Happy Cruising, and until next time, ears and cheers to you all!

Have questions for the next Ask Morgan Monday? Fill out the form below!

Ask Morgan Mondays – February 4, 2013

Published February 4, 2013 by Morgan Crutchfield

Photo on 1-5-13 at 8.01 PMHey everyone, and welcome back to Ask Morgan Mondays. We’ve got a couple of great questions on tap this week about cruising and staying at the parks!

Are there any Disney cruises geared for Adults? – Tami from Arizona

Tami, this is a great question. Though Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise line I’ve sailed on, I have friends who love to cruise and assure me that adult-only cruises are a great way to relax at sea. While Disney doesn’t actually have any sailings that are adult only, they have something that I think is even better; adult-only decks and recreation areas. We sailed on the Wonder in 2010 with childless friends and I was highly skeptical that there would be ANYWHERE on a Disney boat that was truly rugrat-free, but I was incredibly surprised. Not only was there an adult-only pool and hot tub area that was quiet and calm, there was also an entire deck full of night clubs and lounges, a coffee house, and a spa that were off-limits to the ankle biters. And when Disney says no kids, they mean it. I have never had such a good time and for me, it was awesome to know that I could bring my son if I wanted to some day and he could have just as much fun in the kid areas, leaving me free in adultopia. And if all that isn’t enough, there’s also an adult-only, completely incredible beach at Castaway Cay, totally separated from the family beach with servers ready to bring you large, fantastic adult-only beverages. In my mind, Disney Cruise Line is truly the best of both worlds.

Adults only beach at Castaway. Not a mini-me in sight.

Adults only beach at Castaway. Not a mini-me in sight.

My family and I are going to Disney for the first time and we want to save money. Do we really need to stay on property? – Toni from South Carolina

Toni, this question gets asked a lot and in my mind there’s only one answer; if you want to get the absolute most value out of your Disney trip, especially your first Disney trip, you’ll stay on property. Why am I talking about value instead of straight dollar figures? Ultimately, you might spend more money staying on property than if you rent a house or stay at a non-Disney hotel or resort, but you’re going to waste precious time, energy, and patience. Disney resorts are set up to make it as easy as possible to spend more time (and let’s face it – money) in the parks. While that works out well for them, it also provides a host of benefits to you. Disney Resort guests don’t have to drive to the parks and wait in line at the gates only to pay to park and wait in line for a tram or ferry, wait in line at the ticketing gates, and then wait in line for rides. Resort guests have access to Disney transportation, Extra Magic Hours (early park opening and late park closing), and soon will have access to special pre-scheduled Fastpass+ reservations. Resort guests can also book dining reservations 180 days prior to their trip. Being a resort guest makes it easy to take a tired kid (or adult for that matter) back to the room for a nap or a swim or to grab a quick meal that will satisfy everyone in the family. Quite simply, Disney Resort guests have access to services and privileges that make it so much easier to focus your attention on experiencing the magic at Disney rather than the difficulty of navigating it without assistance.

Thanks to Toni and Tami for this week’s questions. Got questions of your own? Fill out the form below and I’ll be glad to answer them!

Ask Morgan Mondays – January 28, 2013 – Who is she?

Published January 28, 2013 by Morgan Crutchfield

Photo on 1-5-13 at 8.01 PMHello everyone, and welcome to Ask Morgan Mondays! Today’s question comes from Patricia in New Jersey, and I thought answering it would be a great way to introduce myself and this series!

Patricia says: “Hi Morgan, Before DVC Central and this site, were you involved with other Disney sites…..and if so, which ones?”

Hi Patricia! The short answer is no, I’ve never worked with other Disney sites prior to 2012. Much to my dismay, I’ve never been a cast member, either. I did read the Walt Disney biography in 6th grade, but I’m pretty sure any Disney cred I might have received from that has long since expired. My experience comes from spending a whole lot of time in the parks and answering questions for thousands of people about how to do Disney in the most magical ways possible.

Check it out. It's a great read.

Check it out. It’s a great read.

I’ve been going to Disney for years and have been helping friends and family plan vacations for a good long while, but I didn’t stumble on the Disney web communities until around 2011 when I was searching Facebook for a site or page that could give me some tips on how to use my Disney Vacation Club membership. I had so many questions about policies and procedures and basic planning that I was having trouble finding accurate, timely answers to. There were lots of great sites with pieces and parts of what I wanted to know, but I needed it all in one place!  As I continued to research for friends and eventually, their friends who asked me to plan vacations, I got feedback that I wasn’t the only one looking for information. And so in June of 2012, with the help of a good Vacation Club friend Debbie, I started the Facebook group DVC Central. In the beginning, Debbie and I really just wanted a moderated page where Disney fans could ask and answer questions and talk about the Mouse. While we’d originally intended to focus on Vacation Club, we realized quickly that the importance that Disney has placed on pre-planning was leaving all kinds of Disney fans old and new with planning questions.

"Wait...HOW did you say this thing is going to work again?"

“Wait…HOW did you say this thing is going to work again?”

DVC Central grew in leaps and bounds and as it did,  so did my concept of what I wanted my contribution to the Disney community to be. I saw Disney’s focus shifting to complete emphasis on pre-planning with dining reservations at 180 days and Fastpass+ and I heard regular Disney vacationers becoming concerned that they wouldn’t have the time or the know-how to plan. I knew that I could give them the tools they needed to address those concerns and refocus on having FUN with the new tech that Disney was rolling out. It’s been my philosophy for a long time that the more detailed information guests have, the better their vacations and experiences can be – not just what time the parade is, but where can my kids and I get the best view and even what can we do with the confetti they throw out? Disney has always been about magic for me and my family and I wanted to share the information that makes it that way. More, I wanted to share as much of the information as possible in one central (See what I did there?) location so that people who found me and my sites wouldn’t have to waste time collecting it all themselves. From refurbishment announcements to parks information, merchandise announcements, movie releases, and even just fun photos and videos, I wanted Central to be a one-stop-Disney-shop.

timeline Mickey dvc central

So why am I popping up on Disneyways? Well, it’s simple. In researching daily for Central and the vacations I continue to plan, I have found a huge community of bloggers and tweeters, commenters and podcasters who share and share alike. If we all help each other, we are more apt to have information that will help you maximize your time on property. I’m all about that.  Krista has a fantastic blog here with unique and fun information, and I’m really excited to add to the magic of Disneyways. And some things, like my upcoming World Secrets series, require a few more words than Facebook and Twitter allow.

So that’s me, and I thank Patricia for a great first Ask Morgan Mondays question! Feel free to wander on over to DVC Central on Facebook and say hello! Join the group (www.facebook.com/groups/DVCCentral) if you’d like a great Disney community to talk to, or just “Like” the page (www.facebook.com/DVCCentral) if you’d like tips and information in your newsfeed daily. I’m a regular columnist on WDWFanzone.com and am on Twitter at @DVCMorgan. And don’t forget to look for me in the parks. In my typical getup (below), I’m usually pretty easy to find.

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A note from Krista: Although Morgan has never worked with any other sites on a regular advice column, she has done some writing for WDW Fanzone.

Click here to see her article about

Ten Walt Disney World Holiday Traditions You Won’t Want to Miss.

Click here to see her article about Running Disney.

Questions for Ask Morgan Mondays? Fill out the form below!

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