Coasters & Castles Travel- Christopher Steele

20/03/2025

🚨NEW DEAL for Disney Visa Cardmembers!🚨

From now until March 26th, Disney Visa Cardmembers can get a FREE dining plan with a minimum 4 night-4 day non-discounted package.

This is a deal too “delicious” to pass up!

28/02/2025

🚨Disney Nerd Post Alert🚨

The Importance of Being Flexible At Disney:

The graph that you see in the picture below shows the wait times for Frozen Ever After in Epcot from Tuesday, February 25th.

Why does this matter to you, the person wondering how to plan your day in the Disney Parks? It is a GREAT example of the unpredictability of park experiences. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people in message boards and Facebook groups share a story like this:

"I can't believe it! We spent so much money to come to Disney world and all my daughter wanted to do was meet Elsa and ride the Frozen ride. We spend HUNDREDS of dollars to get into Epcot just for the ride to be broken most of the day. How does Disney expect to keep the park magic alive when they can't even keep their popular rides alive. Our trip was RUINED because of this!"

This is a huge violation for my Disney Trip rule #1: Have a plan for your day, but then be ready to throw away your plan!

If your Disney vacation all hinges on a small handful of experiences, then you WILL be disappointed. In fact, the thing that draws me to Disney time and time again are the random unexpected surprises you encounter on a daily basis in the parks. If you don't leave any room for flexibility, then you rob yourself of what makes Disney World the greatest collection of theme parks in the world!

On February 25th, thousands of park goers were not able to ride Frozen until after lunch (around 1:30). On top of our hypothetical family above, there were hundreds if not thousands of other families who had little princesses with the same "must-do" on their list. With the whole morning unavailable, that left all of these families scrambling to ride it in a smaller afternoon window. This drove wait times for a ride that averages 49 minutes above 70 minutes for most of the day with a max wait time of 2 and a half HOURS!

My personal rule is that I'm not spending more than 30 minutes in a line for a non "must-do" ride and 50 minutes for a "must-do" ride. You could have ridden Guardians of the Galaxy (Best coaster at Disney) almost 3 times on 2/25 in the same time window as waiting on Frozen.

With that context in mind, sometimes the best decision is to be mentally prepared to skip rides you really want to do if extenuating circumstances make riding it in a reasonable time impossible.

Flexible choices when something like this happens:

1. Pass up the experience and come back to it right before closing. As long as you are in line before closing time, Disney will let you ride! If this is really a "must-do", then scratch whatever you had listed in this riding spot and circle back to the ride that was closed or had crazy wait times earlier. (Wait time for Frozen at park close on 2/25 was only 25 minutes).

2. Plan multiple days in the same park. I personally love the 2-2-1-1 plan for Disney. If I'm going for a week, I want 2 days in Magic Kingdom, 2 days in Epcot, 1 Day in Hollywood Studios, and 1 Day in Animal Kingdom (Non-Epcot Lovers can swap the 2 Epcot days for 2 Hollywood Studios Days). If Tron is broken all day on your first Magic Kingdom day, it limits your stress about it because you still have another day you can go to the parks.

3. Add Park Hopper to your tickets. I know, I know...of course a Travel Advisor will want you to spend more money. BUT if you really wanted to ride Avatar: Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom and it was down for most of your Animal Kingdom day, Park Hopper lets you take some time out of one of your other days to go back to Animal Kingdom for the sole purpose of riding the experience you missed the first time.

4. Just don't sweat it. If you only booked 4 park days with single park tickets and something just isn't working that day...breathe and enjoy what is available. Disney jam packs its parks with more experiences than you can do in one day. Sure, they like you spending more money having to come back; but that means when one thing you wanted to do isn't working out that there is now time for you to discover a new favorite in another part of the park. Live in the moment and enjoy the experience!

If you made it to the end of this "book", then congratulations! You may be a Disney nerd like me! If you want other park tips, strategies and reviews make sure to like and follow my page!

19/02/2025

🚨🚨Disney World News Drop!🚨🚨

Disney announced today that the last day of virtual queues for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy will be February 24th! That means when 7am hits on February 25th, park guests will no longer be racing for a spot on these rides. They will still be options for Lightning Lanes, but now you will be able to hop on any ride the old fashion way!

I feel like this is a huge win (for Epcot especially). I wasn’t a huge fan of how virtual queues kept you from really being able to nail down a schedule for your day. When your number was called you had an hour to make it to the ride no matter how far away from the ride you were.

Check out the comments for how I would tackle the parks if I was walking into Epcot or Magic Kingdom next Tuesday! 🏰🎆🪩

14/02/2025

No, this photo is not a figment of your imagination….but yes, it is also a Figment of your Imagination! 😂🐉🎢🏰

18/01/2025

If you are flying anywhere this summer and beyond, then keep the new TSA ID requirements in mind!

15/01/2025

Ok, I get it. I’m not great at making pictures of food for social media; but I did want to take the time to highlight one of my favorite breakfast experiences at Walt Disney World: The Garden Grille!

The food is delicious and all you can eat, you get to meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale, and the restaurant moves! During the length of your meal, the restaurant spins slowly as you take in the scenes from one of my favorite rides: Living with the Land.

I don’t like waffles, but the Backyard Grilled Steak with ranchero sauce was AMAZING. We made our reservation the earliest available and when we were done, we were still able to walk on Soarin’, Living with the Land, Figment, Nemo, and walk through the Journey of Water exhibit without any waits.

Getting to share this experience that I loved as a kid with my own daughter made the time we spent together even more priceless!

09/01/2025

There are people who will tell you to wait hours in line at Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney Springs for a cookie. For me, I will stand in line for a couple minutes at the Ghirardelli’s Soda Fountain for this cup of heavenly goodness!

This is the Chocolate Lover’s Hot Fudge Sundae, and I’m not sharing with anyone else 😂🍦

02/01/2025

🚨🚨🚨DEAL ALERT!🚨🚨🚨

Free dining is returning as a special this summer! If you had your eye on a Disney World vacation for the kids this summer, contact me to help you book your next trip and take advantage of this “delicious” deal!

20/12/2024

Welp! I guess I have a good excuse to take my kids back to Disney in 2025! 😂🐕🏰

20/12/2024

🚨MAKE YOUR PLANS!🚨

Alright, alright....it may be too early to book the Grand Floridian for this vacation, but this will literally be a once in a lifetime event at Disney World. On August 12, 2045 Disney World will experience 6 minutes of a total solar eclipse. I've already told my wife that we need to be ready to book a trip for us, the kids....and by that time all of our grandkids to witness it!

22/11/2024

Here’s a nice early morning news drop from Disney! There have been lots of complaints from people on social media about the price of premiere pass, but in busy parks like Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios this could be an absolute life saver!

Disney didn’t design it to be a budget item on your vacation, but I feel like it’s in a nice sweet spot between the cheaper Multi Pass and the luxury-priced VIP tours which are charged by the hour.

With Premier Pass you get to use the Lightning Lanes at every ride in a park once at any time without making reservations for it. The price point puts it as high as $400 per day on the busiest days of the year at the Magic Kingdom. I can tell you that all you have to do is wait in line with 3 toddlers for an hour to understand why you would find value in this option. 😂😂😂

17/10/2024

I’m already trying to plan on checking out the new Epic Universe park in Orlando next year. Can I help you plan your next visit as well?

09/10/2024

"Should I cancel or move my trip?"

This is a loaded question that does not have a short answer (which actually makes this a bad social media topic 🤣). Nevertheless, with hurricane Milton getting ready to hit Florida and the Orlando area head on, there are THOUSANDS of people that have had to ask this question this week.

Having grown up up in South Louisiana, I'm no stranger to hurricanes. Here is what my suggestion would be to someone wondering whether Disney World is still the happiest place on earth in the middle of a major weather event:

1. Where is the storm going? The last few weeks have given us a "tale of two storms". Helene technically impacted the Orlando area, but it cause a very minimal disruption to Disney operations. With Milton heading directly towards Orlando, I would anticipate Disney World being closed for a couple days while they assess the full impact. You could very well have ridden out Helene in Orlando, spent a day at the resort during the storm, and been right back out to enjoy the rest of your vacation.

2. How strong is the storm? There is a major difference between a Category 5 and a Category 1. Orlando sits a little ways inland, so the storm won't hit it full force. The buildings and structures at Disney are also built to withstand very strong winds. Disney World will not in all likelihood be blown off of the map by a hurricane, but the sheer size of Milton is going to effect park operations for at least a day and a half. Rain and wind will begin long before the storm "lands", and it will stick around for quite a while after the storm "passes".

3. How long is your trip? If you are only in Disney World for 4 days and the parks are closed for 2 of those days, half of your trip will be impacted by the storm. If your trip is one or two weeks, 2 days may not make you bat an eye and you can simply rearrange your "rest days" to account for a brief interruption. If you had a short trip planned, you would most definitely have wanted to move your trip.

4. How long will local resources be impacted? Disney World may be able to get back up and running quickly, but there are other things to keep in mind that may indirectly affect your ability to get to and from Orlando. Are roads in and out of the city greatly affected? That can disrupt the availability of food and fuel, the second of which is necessary to get out of the Orlando area and beyond (much of the middle of the state will be greatly impacted and there could be a temporary fuel shortage over the course of a few days).

*The bonus answer to number 4 is that you may not necessarily feel the Disney magic when you are sitting in a resort cafeteria eating the most expensive ham sandwich and bottled water on earth. Hurricane experiences at Disney World DEFINITELY vary.

My personal opinion would be this: "When in doubt, move it out". It can be tough to process the idea of rescheduling a trip that you have been looking forward to for months and sometimes years! That doesn't even take into account all of the dining reservations and experiences that you may have already booked that will need to be rescheduled as well. However, don't leave anything to chance. The castle will still be there and the magic will still be waiting at a later date.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who will be impacted over the next few days by Milton. Be safe and don't take any unnecessary risks!

07/10/2024

Traveling to and from Orlando is going to be increasingly difficult as the week goes along! My prayers are going out to those in the path of the hurricane. Everyone stay safe out there this week!

Operational Update/3 – Hurricane Milton
Together with our partners, a decision has been made to cease commercial operations on Wednesday morning, until circumstances permit safe operations to resume. We will continue to monitor Hurricane Milton to determine the potential impact at MCO. We ask you to please continue to work with your airline directly in regards to your specific flight.
Details: https://bit.ly/3TYjI0Y

02/10/2024

🚨🚨Deal Alert!!!🚨🚨

Disney dropped a couple of great promotions for the beginning of 2025 today! Reach out to me for more information!

01/10/2024

🏰Let’s talk resorts!🏰

I haven’t stayed at every Disney Resort (talk about a bucket list 😂), but I have stayed in every resort type! For my wife and I’s getaway in September I booked All-Star Sports because we just needed somewhere to lay our heads down at night. I had heard all of the complaints about the theming and room quality, but I’ve got something to tell you…..they were all wrong.

I actually REALLY liked the room, and we stayed here with all of the perks of staying on Disney property for less than the local off-site hotels because of a special that was being run.

Don’t get me wrong, I really love the luxury, theming and convenience of the Deluxe resorts; but if you are planning a shorter getaway, I would highly recommend choosing the All-Star Resorts. The only time you should absolutely avoid them is during the sports and cheer events in the Spring. Otherwise, this is a great option that want the in-site perks at a great price!

27/09/2024

Magic Kingdom fireworks as seen from the Polynesian Resort

26/09/2024

I wrote earlier this week about my favorite Epcot Food and Wine Festival food (Stone-baked bread in Morocco), so now it’s time to talk about the worst thing I tried.

Behold: The Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese from the Alps booth.

I waited in line excitedly because they were melting the cheese right off of a giant wheel of Swiss, but it was by far the least impressive plate. It was basically a scoop off Swiss Cheese, cold cut ham, a couple of baby potatoes, and a couple of baby pickles. The bread was cut like it was supposed to be a sandwich, but who knows how you are actually supposed to eat it.🤷🏻‍♂️

And let’s be honest, once you’ve eaten the fresh bread baked at the France pavilion, a piece of white bread slapped onto the plate just can’t live up to it.

The cheese was tasty, I ate the pickles, but everything else was put directly into the garbage can.

2/10. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻