Disney has fireworks every night of the year but they step it up a couple notches when it's the Fourth of July. If you're planning to be there on the Fourth, just be prepared for crowds in the Magic Kingdom that usually push attendance to it's capacity. It's very common that you cannot enter the park by noon July 4th because Disney does close entrance to the park when it reaches capacity.

In July 2001 we were in Disney with the Boyertown Alumni Band. The marching unit was performing in the 3 p.m. parade in the Magic Kingdom. We were told to get into the park before 10:30 a.m. And we did. The weather was extremely hot with temperatures reaching 99 degrees. You'll also need to line up for that 3 p.m. parade extra early. When we were there, people began claiming their spots along Main Street 2 hours before the parade was scheduled.

In addition to the Alumni Band performance, an exceptional fireworks show that night was also well worth the wait.

Adding to the Disney fireworks shows is the night time lights parade called Spectromagic.

I've mentioned this parade in previous blogs but it's worth repeating. The lights in the Magic Kingdom are dimmed and then this parade - dripping in lights - spills out into the streets.

In true Disney fashion, they wow guests with this awesome parade. It's usually not scheduled every night so you'll have to check a park schedule to see when it's scheduled during your visit.

Some nights there are two performances of the parade, one just after the Wishes Fireworks and another around 11:30 p.m.

I'm going to answer a couple questions I recently had e-mailed to me from readers. One reader asked if it's worth it to get Disney's Photopass. My answer was yes!
When you enter any of the parks in Disney you'll likely see a Photopass Photographer somewhere near the entrance taking pictures. You can walk up to one of the photographers and get a card with a bar code on it and then all the pictures you have taken by the Disney Photopass Photographers will go onto that card. Before leaving Disney you can go to the camera shop in the Magic Kingdom and view all the pictures taken and even add the photos you've taken to a CD.
Now there's 2 ways you can do this. First is to buy the Photopass CD which costs about $100. That allows you the rights to reprint your Disney photos as you wish when you get home. The other way is to take the card home with you, login at www.disneyphotopass.com create an account, enter the bar code number on your card and view all the pictures the Photopass Photographers took. From there you can choose to order and pay for the prints you want. The photos aren't terribly expensive ($12.75 for a 5X7) and sometimes you'll find some added features to your photos that were not there when you had the picture taken! (I'll leave the rest be a surprise).
Another question I was asked this week was from someone who was leaving for Disney this weekend and had never been there. She was looking for suggestions on what not to miss. I told her to make sure she sees the Spectromagic Parade in the Magic Kingdom. It's a parade that doesn't occur every night but on nights that it does, it's often twice. The lights are turned down and all the parade floats and characters are drenched in lights. This is a must-see in the Magic Kingdom! She had also asked about the Fast Pass system in Disney. That's the best way to get on more rides in less time. Kiosks are located near the entrance of the most popular rides. If you insert your park pass into the kiosk, it will spit out a ticket which will have a time range to come back to the ride and enter via the Fast Pass line. That line moves quickly! One quick little known secret for those using Fast Pass. You'll get a time range to return to the ride. If it's after the end time on the ticket, my experience has been that they will still allow you in the Fast Pass line right through the end of the day! But don't try to go in before the time starts, they watch it and monitor it to the minute. A cast member is posted at the entrance to the Fast Pass line.
I'm sure there are other questions out there and if you have one, feel free to e-mail me at disneydiva1@gmail.com

Disney makes it easy to take babies on vacation. Although I never took my daughters when they were that young, I find myself looking at my 4-month-old granddaughter wondering when we'll take her. My family speculates that I will have her there before she's 2. She already has a Disney wardrobe and a plethora of Disney items around our house to look at. She hears Disney all the time since it's the name of our black lab. She received her first set of mouse ears on one of her first visits to the Disney Store. And everyone in our house has speculated on how cute it will be to see her reaction to Disney World for the first time.
I haven't quite figured out how 6 of us will stay in Disney. It would have to be a suite, villa or vacation club resort in order to accommodate all of us. Having a small kitchen with a refrigerator and a microwave would definitely be helpful with a little one. And you definitely need a resort that's close to the parks so it's convenient to go back for her nap.
Then there are all the things we don't do in Disney now because the girls are 15, 17 and 23. Now we'll have to include Toontown, the Bippidy Bobbidy Boutique, more time in Fantasyland, character meet and greets and autographs!
But accommodating families with babies is something Disney does well.
Baby stations are located in all four theme parks. They have a breastfeeding room, rocking chairs, high chairs, and smaller bathrooms for those little ones. If you don't bring your own stroller, you can rent one in any of the parks. The strollers are convenient so that children as old as 6 can sit in them when their little legs get tired.
When you wait in line for a ride it's usually in a building that is air conditioned. Many of the buses are handicap accessible so if you have a sleeping infant in a stroller, you don't have to disturb them to fold up the stroller for the bus ride. Disney transportation system is very efficient so if you need to get back to your resort quickly, you can.
So although the jury is still out on when our little Princess Arianna will make her Disney Debut, I know when we arrive, they'll be ready for us!

If you've already purchased airline tickets for your Disney vacation you might be relatively unaffected by the most recent changes some airlines made because of rising fuel costs.
American Airlines and US Airways just made changes that include a $15 charge for the first checked bag. United had already made the change. Previously, US Air allowed one bag per passenger and charged an additional $25 for an extra bag. US Airways passengers have until July 9th to purchase tickets without enduring the charge.
And if you think you might get thirsty on your US Airways flight, you'd better have some cash on hand.
The airline will no longer have complimentary drinks on its flights. Sodas are $2 and acoholic beverages are $7.
Finding deals on flight may also be harder now. And they can be found but most likely you will have to fly on the less than desirable flights. Those are the ones where you fly out later in the evening and have a return flight scheduled for the inconvenient time of 6:30 or 7 a.m.
Remember when booking your return home flight if using Disney's Magical Express, that the service will transport you from your resort to the airport approximately 3 hours before your scheduled flight time. This means if you schedule that 7 a.m. return flight, you'll be catching your Magical Express bus around 4 a.m.!
I try to book my flight to Orlando early in the morning and my return trip home in the evening giving me extra time in the parks on my arrival and departure day. But there's a price to pay for that too. I either have to get up at 3 a.m. for the airport and then I'm tired by mid-afternoon or I pay to stay in a hotel near the airport the night before and get a couple extra hours of sleep. I usually choose the latter. Despite the additional cost, I have to pay to park my car for the week anyway.

There are many people still under the impression that it's cheaper to spend a week at the beach than to go on a Disney vacation. I maintain that depending on how and when you vacation, the expense can be very similar and even less, when all the costs are tabulated.
Granted, if you're driving to the beaches in Delaware or Jersey, you're not going to spent the same as I will for an airline ticket. But the costs of lodging, eating out and entertainment at the shore might just put you right up there!
Yes, you can go to the shore and rent a house/condo and cook your meals all week and save a lot. But let's say you don't cook and you eat all your meals out.

Here's my comparison based on staying 7 nights:

Disney Value Resort: $82/night
Beach condo: $200/night (Myrtle Beach)
Disney Meals for 4: $0 (Aug. free dining)
Beach Meals for 4: $1,100
airline tickets: $800
Beach trip Gas: $320
Disney park tickets: $1,200
Myrtle Beach Dixie Stamped: $200
Disney transportation to/from airport: $0
Myrtle Beach Water park: $200
Myrtle Beach Miniature Golf: $60
Myrtle Beach Aquarium: $120
Myrtle Beach Car trip check-up: $75
Myrtle Beach Total: $3,225
Disney trip total: $2,574

These numbers are based on actual expenses from our Myrtle Beach 2005 trip and our Disney 2004 trip. Free dining has been offered in Disney in certain weeks in August for the past 4 years, so if you can go during those last few weeks of August, you can have all your meals free!
Even if you go to Disney and there's not free dining, we've calculated our food expenses for 2 adults and 2 teens to be about $900 for the week. That pushes the cost higher than the beach trip, but not by much!

If you're heading to Disney this summer, expect crowds at both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Who wouldn't want to spend the day wet when the temperatures are soaring well into the 90's?
I've found a couple ways to fend off some of the crowds. First, we never go to the water parks on the weekends. Locals who have annual passes often go at that time adding to the crowds.
Disney resort guests get the added benefit of being admitted every day into the water parks at 9 a.m. while everyone else has to wait till 10 a.m. Add to that the fact that many people won't get up early because they were out late, and you have very low crowd levels at both water parks early in the morning. Many people choose to hit the parks in the morning and head to the water parks in the afternoon. I reverse that and head to the water parks in the morning and get on all the popular rides multiple times before the big crowds arrive. Then when it starts getting full, we head to the lazy river or the wave pool. We usually have lunch in the water park and by early afternoon when the crowds peak, I'm wrapping up my water park day. This also allows us to escape the ever-popular afternoon thunderstorm that's a regular occurrence in Florida during the summer months. Disney has an elaborate radar system that is used to determine how close to the parks (and resort swimming pools also) lightning is striking. Disney takes no chances when it comes to thunderstorms and lightning and acts quickly to get guests out of the water until the storm passes.
Both water parks have their own unique highlights and I wouldn't recommend one over the other. I always try to get to both parks when there during the warm weather.