Disney World Planning Tips for Families: Expert Advice from Local Travel Pro Todd Johnson

Leaving Clarksville and planning a Disney World vacation can feel overwhelming, but in this episode of Clarksville Insider, host Josh Atkins breaks it all down with local expert and official "Disney Planner" Todd Johnson. Whether you're a first-time visitor or returning after years away, this conversation covers everything you need to know to make your Disney trip smooth, fun, and stress-free. Learn why booking early is essential, how to use Disney’s dining reservations and mobile ordering tools, and how to skip the long lines with MultiPass and Lightning Lane options. Discover the benefits of staying on property, how to manage mealtimes to avoid meltdowns, and get insider food recommendations that could become the highlight of your trip. If you're thinking about heading South and taking your family to Disney—or dreading the planning—this episode is packed with practical tips to help you make the most of the magic.

CONTACT TODD HERE: Todd@castlevacations.net

Transcript

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Welcome back to Clarksville Insider. I am your host, Josh Atkins, like the diet, and I hope you spell it. And we are here usually talking about things going on in Clarksville, connections to it, maybe some inside track on a restaurant or entertainment options, or even just some real estate stuff that I love to get into, of course. But today, my guest specializes in something that actually takes us away from Clarksville. He's here, he's here right now in the studio. But what he does and helps people do actually gets them and takes them away from the town. But everybody comes back, hopefully with a smile on their face. But my guest today is Todd Johnson, friend. And what I'd love to do first of all is before we get into all that stuff, could you give us a little bit of how you got here and... Just kind of what you've been doing in the meantime. But again, thanks for showing up. Thanks for being here and talking a little bit with me. Yeah, well, thanks, Josh, for having me. I'm excited to be here. So my name, as I said, is Todd Johnson. We have been in Clarksville now for eight years this summer that we moved here. And it was my wife and my two boys. And I've worked in a couple of different churches and I've taught school. But in the last few years, life's kind of changed a little bit. I ended up losing my wife to cancer. And then I've got my two boys. So we've just been kinda going through life the best we can. My oldest one is a junior at Tennessee, University of Tennessee in Knoxville. And he'll be graduating actually in December. My youngest one is gonna be a senior in high school and he will be at Montgomery Central graduating in a year from now and then headed to college. And like I said, I've worked at a couple of churches, done some teaching and this last year has kind of been a bit of a sabbatical for me. And I plan to probably re-enter the classroom this fall. I'll be teaching middle school math. we'll see. I've got a few more months to figure all these things out. But yeah, in the meantime, had started something on the side that you alluded to. And noting that you've gone full volunteer. You've gone full Tennessee now that you've moved here and you got your son at Yes. Never thought I'd have a volunteer. It is great. Yes. And so... So the thing, we're not gonna leave suspense any longer. It is a Disney planning, a trip planning, I feel like thing is the wrong word, it's probably... Disney planners. Disney planners. Okay, great. And so you help people plan Disney trips. Is that a good synopsis of it? that's no other better way to say it than I'm a Disney planner. Nice. Well, I am glad I accidentally stumbled onto that synopsis. And so... So you're working, you're doing some different things. How in the world did you sit down and wake up one day, you know what? I want to help people do that. I imagine you've gone on some trips, you enjoyed going and it was like, oh, I'd really like to help people. How did it kind of turn into something that you're doing now? Yeah, great question. I'm a Disney adult. I'm one of those people you hear about, but I'm truly a Disney adult. I've led Disney since I was a little kid. I remember the first time Parents took us in 1978, back when there was only one park, Magic Kingdom. But anyway, it always been, but really became special. My wife and I actually went for our honeymoon and we just had a blast. I remember us back in the day saving our money up and took the boys for their first trip when they were 10 and six. And really since my wife passed, my boys and I have gone a few times. I think part of it is just special for us. It's something my wife, we love doing together. And I think for us, it just kind of keeps that memory alive when we're there at the parks having a good time. And I knew that Disney planning had become a big thing that people could do, whether it's a full-time job or on the side. And so this last year, when I knew I was kind of taking a sabbatical from full-time work of teaching or so forth, I thought, hey, maybe I should look into that. So I did kind of explored some options, figured out how I could do it. And that's when I started planning, probably last July, I did the Disney does makes you go through an online training, become a Disney knowledge expert. And once you do that, you then have the freedom to, you we have a special website we use and I just started planning and it's a lot of fun. To me, Disney truly is the most magical place on earth. And if I can help other people take those trips, because it's a lot of work to figure out. So I love helping people with it. Did you say a Disney quiz or like an expert quiz? Yes. If I quizzed you right, like, is it like movie trivia? No, it's like understanding the hotels, the food, the... And it's, you know, we're specifically just going to talk about Disney World, but there's also Disneyland, there's Disney Cruises, there's these other things I didn't even know. They have Disney expeditions through National Geographic and they have all these wild things you can do all over the world that Disney has their touch on. Pretty cool. So I had to do a lot of training. They also have a resort in Hawaii that you can go. So that's the training. It's not your knowledge of characters and of movies, but it's your knowledge of understanding the parks and the hotels and all that. Because I feel like I would do pretty well with that. You probably would. Who voiced the character of Wabawaw or whatever. But I'm glad you're actually learning things that would probably be helpful as opposed to, you know, Actually getting you there. Belle's dad, know, from Beauty and the Beast. Exactly. And so it's funny, like even now we were talking a little bit before we jumped on air or whatever this is considered, and talking about how I am a little in the dark on the current state of Disney adventures. I guess that's what they're called. And like what you just said, I didn't even know that it was the other things. Oh, a Hawaii. Oh, like a Disney National Geographic tour, like a hike tour. Expedition in different places around the world. Okay. Well, yeah. We're not gonna worry about that though. We're gonna focus on Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Okay, that's good. I feel like I need my inhaler just to keep going. Take a break. So really, because my understanding or my experience with Disney is we went three years ago with a, I think, a seven-year-old and a four-year-old or a five-year-old. And when we went, that was the only thing, we took a Florida trip and we did one day to the Magic Kingdom. And we didn't have any planning beyond, like, just getting the tickets and, you know, having... think we had the wristbands or some version of that. And we just went and had a great time because they were so young. We didn't really have to plan our day. We didn't have to do anything. I think we stayed at one of the Margaritaville, the local things, but it was, it's close, but it's not really affiliated with Disney. At least I don't think so. And it was so new and big and fast for the kids. It was like, okay. Just everything that we did was awesome. Yeah, great. We met Mickey on the... Okay, we did a few things that you would consider like as a Disney thing. But I feel like if we went back, if we're like, hey, this fall, we're going and we're taking an 11-year-old and an eight-year-old, I don't think we could get quite as far on just showing up, I guess. And I assume that's probably what you work with and are really familiar with, the idea of taking it from a show up kind of thing, a show up and walk around, which it probably hasn't been like that for a long time. Because you've been going throughout the years. I went on a band trip back in 2001 when it was new. for the Rock and Roll roller coaster and I think the Tower of Terror had just come over at the MGM studios. Hollywood Studios now. Get the name right now. Updating my notes that I won't remember. Hollywood Studios, yes. And so that was a lot different. Three years ago was a little bit different, but I imagine each year they add new things or is it new structure? are... Changes do they make or do they continue to make that? Kind of keep everyone on our toes or at least things that they'll usually like I assume it's probably how you get in How you deal with lines and how you eat I feel like those are probably the big things that they keep changing or updating Hopefully for the better is that kind of the main things that they are doing? Yeah, you know you talked about you went in 2001 with your back in high school band. Yes Well, that was my wife and a honeymoon there in 2000. So similar experiences you made our reservations, made park reservations, bought tickets, stayed at hotel, went into the parks like, hey, think, you know, let's go eat at Cinderella's Castle. Walked up, put our name down, get seated, eat in Cinderella's Castle, know, pick rides. You know, there was a fast pass process. You could go up to a ride that was a real popular ride. Had a little machine that said fast pass. push the button, you get a ticket and they'll tell you what time to come back to ride the rides. So you don't wait in the long line. And that was free. Well, none of that happens anymore. Now, a lot of stuff had changed even more because of COVID and how things have changed since COVID. But the reality is, you know, as I said, Disney is, you know, their tagline is, it's magical place on earth. But what I would tell someone, if you don't know what you're doing, and you're planning on going and you have all these expectations of rides and restaurants and things to do and see. And if you have no idea how to plan it, it will be the most miserable trip you can possibly have. Not to mention, I'm not gonna lie, Disney's expensive. It's not a cheap trip. I mean, you can try to do it as inexpensive way as possible, but it's gonna cost money. And the last thing you wanna do, especially as a father of two kids, You spend all this money, go down there and then just be frustrated because, wait, we can't eat anywhere. My daughter really wanted to meet the princesses and, oh, I had to have a reservation. you know, so that's where Disney planners come in like myself is we're to help take the ease out of that. We're to help to walk you through it, talk about it, make the plans for you to then make it as magical as it possibly can be. In big picture idea. I'm on board with anything that minimizes my desire to say, that's it, we're out of here. And if I can just keep pushing that along and actually get closer to the, I'm having fun or enjoying myself, that's what you would want and not seeing, oh, my daughter's upset, so the whole trip is ruined, all those things. And so... So when you plan a trip, it like a commission-based thing, or is it like, would pay you some money? How does that work, just even working? If somebody knew their own Disney planner, their friend, how does that work, and how do we connect or get set up that Yeah, that's a great question, Josh. So basically, the way it works, utilizing a Disney planner, whether it's myself or... You know, the reality is you may know someone in your world that is a Disney planner. There is no fee for using Disney planner. If you yourself went to Disney.com, planned your whole trip, put in the hotel, the number of tickets, all that kind of stuff, and I go onto my website, which is for the Disney travel agents, I'm going to get the exact same price as you are. The commissions come from Disney World. Disney World pays the company that we're working for, whether it's a travel agent or whatever, or travel agency that we're working for, that commission goes, it comes directly from Disney World to them. So there's no fee whatsoever to utilize for Disney Planner. Oh, okay. That seems, I feel like that seems good in a sense because it's not like, my enjoyment isn't directly tied to how much I paid you to set up. And I'm like, And I'm at Disney going, can't believe I paid this guy. And look at me, I'm stuck out here on some jungle cruise with my Mufasa hat on. But being removed from that probably allows for some freedom, just even in the relationship. You go, well, how can I help you? No, really, I'm over here. Just let me give you as much as I can and really try to plan. It seems like that would be a pretty good situation or good setup. Yeah, I'm just like a friend of mine I was talking to recently that does this as well on the side. She was telling me how she had a friend who was wanting to go to Disney World had not been in years. And this person loves to do all the planning. they're, know, so they told my friend that's the planner, like, oh, don't worry, I'm going to get this figured out. Thank you for offering, but we'll do it all. And about a week later, that person called back and said, help. Like, I don't think I can figure this out. You know, like, will you help me? And of course, you know, the person was glad to. Because it's just, the reality is it is complicated. I hate that it is that way. know, Disney World, like I said, 20 plus years ago was a place you could just walk up, you know, the day of, grab a ticket, go in, experience stuff. You're not going to be able really do that unless you're okay with just buying a ticket and kind of what y'all got to do, kind of walk around, didn't have really an agenda, but for your kids to experience the just wow of seeing the Cinderella's Castle for the first time ever. walking around grabbing some treats or something. But, you know, if you're really wanting to do Disney, do all the parks, do all the things, have a plan, you gotta have, you know, you gotta either figure it out yourself or you get someone to help you walk through and make the plans for you. Well, I'm going to just, I'm not gonna leave you in suspense. There's no way I'm going to do that myself. There's not a chance. And part of the reason you're here, is to help me plan a trip. I thought it would be fun, partly because you click on, like sometimes I'll see these videos shoved in my feed or whatever, and it's somebody giving a Disney tip or something. Well, it's interesting to me, so I'll watch one and then Facebook thinks or Instagram thinks that that's what I'm interested in, and then I'll go through two weeks of nothing but Disney content. That's where I've seen these not tricks, but kind of like tips or hey, if you want to do this, make sure you check this and hey, I'm down here and giving the things and I wouldn't even know where to start with content like that. That's where I would start if we didn't know each other. And so what I was hoping you could do is or we could do together is help me plan a trip. And as of right now, it's a pretend trip. Amber, don't. freak out that I'm sitting here planning. We're not booking anything, we promise. Yeah, close the computer, log out of, put the credit card away, and really just to show, kind of as a model I would think, to show people this is what it was like, these are things to think about, these are things to consider that I had no idea even existed, and really maybe help me keep my timeline straight and... Those things so that when it comes to, let's just say fall break. Let's just say October. Is that far enough down the road that we can actually get some things in place? So let's say we're planning a trip for October 2025. So it's time stamped this episode. And so we've got some time to figure it out. So where do I start? I was like, hey, help me. I don't know anything. You know my background. You know my history. You know the ages. the kids 11 and 8 were we're looking to do a Magic Kingdom trip probably everything but I think that's we're just we'll focus on or I'll you yeah I'll let you drive the bus I feel like even right now I'm steering off a cliff trying to take bring you back in yes thank you it back in he's turned right so the the mantra is help me not hate it okay like that yes like that awesome maybe a new website or something right there helping you not hate it yeah So the first thing we would talk about, obviously, big picture is just, do you have a budget in mind? What are you thinking? Do you have an idea of what you're wanting to spend? You don't have to answer the question. I'm just walking through telling you, like that would be probably the first thing is to think about. And if you were very unsure, I would obviously tell you, hey, just know it's not inexpensive. I would say to definitely plan on a family of four. If you're staying on property, and if you're staying in There's three different resorts level, value, moderate, deluxe. If you want to stay in a value resort, let's say you're going to go for six nights, you're going to do five days at the park, and you're going to do a park hopper, which allows you to go from park to park throughout the day. If you did that plus food, I'm going to tell you you're looking at least probably close to $5,000 for that. Now, So we would kind of get an idea and then you could either immediately could be like, yeah, we need like it's spring break. I need more time to save money or. Why don't we plan a trip to city forum? Let's try that. I have the budget for that first for a Miss Lucille's excursion. I can't help you with that, but I can tell you how to get there. All right. That's what I need. So we talk about that. And then, course, you know, basically depending on what you're thinking could be in budget and then talk about, you know, I'd want to ask with your kids and their ages, what are they into? What are they like? Like, does Olivia love any certain princes or any kind of Disney character? Same with Lincoln. What all kind of characters do they like? And maybe from what you have seen, because like you said, you look at one TikTok on Disney World, of a sudden, algorithms hit you with every possible Disney World TikTok there is. You know, it's something come across you have questions about. What is going on? in your mind to go ahead and just kind of put that out there. And if you're like, man, we really don't know anything. I mean, we're just we want to go want to see all the parks, do everything. So that's again, then I would I would kind of just go into the system immediately put in like, hey, let's let's I would compare I'm gonna give you a price for a value resort price for moderate and a price for deluxe. You can compare the three. All three. You got a five day hopper ticket and kind of, you know, we'll go from there. OK, so Let's pretend we're actually planning it. So I'd say let's go for the moderate. Okay, good choice. Right in the middle. Yep. And... We like some of the newer Disney stuff, like Moana's a big hit. We like some of the traditional Pixar characters, Incredibles, Monsters Inc, Toy Story. Those are on repeat on the DVR at the house. Good choices. And so they're both very active. So if there are kind of interactive things that we could hit or kind of see or do down there with those things. There's not a big connection to any one particular character. I think it's more probably just the active or activities and experiences that could be more fun than anything I could line up again just by showing up. exactly. Well, and you know, it's a good place to start. So let's say we're doing moderate five days. And let me just kind of back up to say I always encourage a family, it's a big thing like, hey, this is probably our one big Disney trip, we're not gonna be to do another one for another 10 years or whatever, I'm gonna be one to say, encourage, hey, try to hit it, try to make it work that you can go to be at the parks for five days. So you can really get everything and also not have to go crazy from sun up to sun down. Because the thing is, and where Disney gets you, as probably most any type of vacation place does. The longer you stay, you're kind of getting a better bang for your buck, if you will. If that makes sense. Like to give you an idea, to go from buying a, let's just say for example, from a two day to a three day pass is probably still going to be like maybe $120 additional per person. But let's say you were going from like a six day pass to a seven day pass, it's probably like 40 bucks additional per person. So the more you, know, in terms of your ticket cost, it's a better value if you can do more days. Hotel's going to be pretty much the same, you know, each night. So anyway, so we'd look at that. And obviously, so we're going to do six nights, five days at the park, we're to do a hopper. You know, of course, I would be telling you things like, obviously, Pixar, you're going to hit Hollywood Studios, you're going to all the parks. Hollywood Studio is going to be, is where you're to really get to meet the Pixar characters. I would recommend, hey, there's a great, what I would call a table service restaurant. Table service means it's a sit down restaurant. Quick service means fast food, pick up and go sit down yourself. They've got a great toy story. It's called Woody's Roundup, Rodeo Roundup Barbecue. And it's, you are like a toy in Woody's, I mean, excuse me, in Andy's playroom. You had me at barbecue. I'm all in. Give me... And the great thing is this is one of those, you know, it's probably 55 bucks per adult, maybe 40 bucks per child, but it's an all you can eat. They'll keep bringing you more and food than you want. already... I'm in. I'm there. You don't have to keep selling No, but I'm just saying like for your kids, it's fun because that's a place where you're sitting there, you literally feel like you're the size of a toy in the playroom. So you see Bo Peep and everybody... But all of a sudden someone will come on and be like, Andy's coming and the whole restaurant has to freeze. Like your waiter's gonna stop and whatever they're doing, you're supposed to stop and you hear Andy come in and talk and then he leaves. Oh boy, all right, we can, you know. So it's just, those are the kind of things to me that's what makes Disney so magical. But again, you gotta love that stuff to enjoy that. So we would talk through food. They even do a dining plan. I'm not gonna go into details of that. I personally, dining plan isn't necessarily what it used to be. It's almost better just to pay out of your pocket as you go for the food. The nice thing about the dining plan that people like doing it is you pay for it ahead of time. So once you're there, it's already paid for. So the only thing you're paying when you sit down at a restaurant is you're paying a tip. But everything else is paid for. That kind of makes sense. So it would almost be like an access card. or something where... Yeah, everything. So there's different things you can do. The most popular thing, and I always encourage my clients, is you want to purchase Magic Bands. And I don't know if that's what you would have had a couple years ago. So it's almost like, looks like a watch, but it's a band. can, you you go online, you order them, you can get, you know, there's all different characters and stuff. You get it. And that's all synced. Everything is going to be synced to your My Disney Experience that you have to create on your phone. You download the app. everything's connected back to this app. So all your wife, your kids, you're all connected to the one account within your app. Your magic bands connected to that. So this is your hotel key. This is your credit card. This is everything. Does that kind of make sense? Yes. That's an option. You don't have to do this. Some people just, you can have it because you have the app. You can use your phone. Is that the I've seen where they... hold your wrist and you'll like scan it on a thing right there and they'll light up and make a noise and it's very exciting doing that noise. Yeah. And like if you're at restaurant, you would just take the band off like when they come bring you the check. First of they'll ask you, are you on a dining plan? If you say yes. So then they know they'll take your band, they'll scan it and they know you're good. And then at the end, you're just going to pay a tip. But you can also you can use it with your Magic Band because your credit card, you put a credit card into the, you know, your My Disney app. It's all tied back together. Okay. That kind of makes sense. It's more of just a kind of experience. Like, do you want to streamline the payment and all those things? Do you have it all paid before you go? Or do you want to budget and take an additional, you know, whatever, a thousand dollars or more for food while you're there? And one of the things I will say that is good about Disney, you can bring snacks, all that stuff into the park with you. You can have a backpack. You can bring your water. Like, would tell you, just tell me where you're going. bring a water bottle, like bring your good water bottle. There's refill stations all over the parks and any quick service restaurant will hand out free cups of ice water. And a lot of places, come summer, but Orlando, summer is basically May through October and November. They'll have water set up around at different restaurants. You can just walk up to a dispenser and put water back into your thing. you can bring, mean, there are families who will literally pack sandwiches and everything, put it in a backpack and they're not paying for any food. You know, because it does cost a lot of money. They want to buy the hotel, the tickets. So, hey, we are doing our own food. So that's an option. That is an option. You can bring that stuff in. So, and like I said, you can bring your water bottle in. It's no problem at all. So that is nice because a lot of parks won't let you do any of that. So the nice thing is you can bring your own stuff in, know, bring your snacks, whatever in your hotel, even if you're at a value resort, you're still going to have a small mini like cooling fridge. So there is something where you can keep drinks or if you wanted to keep sandwich meats or something like that, if you're making sandwiches to take every day, stuff like that. so you mentioned the my Disney account connected to the wristband. It sounds like there is some things to do before you get there. Yes, absolutely. And So please help me not hate it by at least giving me a rundown of maybe, I assume there's like approach things. And we talked a little bit even yesterday and just kind of getting ready for our conversation today about things that would need to happen and when they need to happen, all those things. But you being the one that knows, help me get to the park. and having laid out those plans for me. that's great. So let's say you booked the trip. We're going to do six nights, five days, hop or pass for all four of y'all. I'm going to say I'm going to pitch y'all at the Caribbean Beach Resort. It's one of the three moderates. reason why I like this one is because it is on what's called the Disney Skyliner. The Skyliner is a motor transportation. It's basically like a gondola. Think of a little gondola. it connects in your resort and you can take that to Hollywood Studios and to EPCOT. So you don't have to do a bus to those two places. So that's kind of nice, that's probably to me one of my favorite thing. There's three different resorts that are connected to the Skyliner. And that's why my boys and I love hitting one of those just because having that Skyliner is a game changer. Enjoy that. So let's say we booked this for you. I'm gonna put you there at Caribbean. after, you, once we book it, you only have to pay a $200 deposit. If you are booking a package, you only have to pay that deposit. The rest of the money is not due until 30 days before your trip. This is something I think Disney does very well, especially compared as I've shopped like other exclusive resorts and cruises and stuff like that. They require the $200 deposit. If you want to make payments, like if you're planning out a year, the great thing with Disney, like right now, you can book all the way out to October 31st of 2026. So that is a year and a half out. If you want to go fall break of 26, book it now. You pay $200, you break it down and you your budget. And OK, so for the next 17 months, I'm going to pay$200 a month and you can go in and do it yourself and you'll pay it on the app and everything. But after we book it, next thing I'm going do is tell you, right, Josh, you need to go download the My Disney app, My Disney Experience, and you need to create an account. you're then going to add Amber, Olivia, and Lincoln to your account. So you're all connected there. All right? That's the next thing we're gonna do. All right? And after that, let's say we're still going this October, okay? So then we're gonna start talking about, I'm gonna talk about food. Do you want to do some of the restaurants? I'm gonna encourage you, go do some research. I'm gonna tell you one of my favorite media outlets, I guess you would say, that I love is, It's a group called AllEars.net. They're out of Orlando. Actually, they're out of all over. But these people, job, like they're my dream job. They go to the parks every day and they report on all the things that are going on. But they make video. They literally put out a YouTube video every single day. Some of them are very, you know, much longer and very thorough. Some are just more silly fun, last 10, 15 minutes. But it's a great place to get some information because they go through They have given reviews of every single restaurant, at every single park, in every single hotel. They've given all this stuff. So you start kind of watching. You've got some time. Because the big thing, the reason why I ask about the food is 60 days out from the day of your trip is the day that we can, or I can for you, go into your Disney experience and I can book your reservations. And I can do it for you. That's again, that's why it's great using a planner. you will give me your information of your My Disney Experience. I can do it from my computer. I will get it up at 5.55 a.m. that morning, 60 days out, and I will get on and second it hits six, and I will make the reservations for y'all. Because a lot of those restaurants, let's just say, okay, let's go back to Woody's Rodeo Roundup. Sometimes it's really hard to get in, but not always, but let's just say we hit a season, really hard, if I didn't get on 60 days before and make your reservation, you may miss it, and you may never get it. You know, and so that's one of things that I would do as your planner is I would sit down, let's figure out what are the restaurants that you really want to do? Are there any table service restaurants you want to do? So which day will kind of plan it out? And again, that's where it is not as it's not as relaxing if you don't think ahead of time, because then we're going to talk about like, we have five days. So day one, why don't we start at Magic Kingdom? Let's make a reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast. And then y'all can stay there and later you can hop. But we got to know those so we can make those reservations. That kind of makes, again, sounds like a lot, but. Yes. It does sound like a lot, but I feel like it would be a lot more if I found out too late that those were options. Right. And I was like, oh, I didn't know we could do that. And then I realize, oh. too late or it's already booked. And when we've been planning it or at least if we were doing it in our house and I'm in charge of it, which I would never be in charge of this, just for the sake of everybody, I'm sure it would fall to Amber. But getting those things lined up, that seems like you're doing two things. You're setting up... the meals, you're doing a practical thing. Okay, we have breakfast taken care of or lunch. But it also allows you to plan ahead and think, what do want our park experience like? What days do we want to be? Do we want to do two days in a row here? Do we want to hit three different ones and then circle back? And so it seems like a lot, and it is, but it seems like if you're really going to do it and really going to... go through the motions of doing more than what we did, which is just a literal walk in the park and just looking up, there's the castle, there's this, there's that, oh, it's lunchtime. That's gonna make you pretzel. That's easy to get. They're huge, by the way. And so getting, just going next level, those seems like the things that really would help me not hate it. Going in with the plan and even having a plan six months out seems even better to me. Well, and the nice thing too is you can make these reservations and you basically could cancel it all the way up to two hours before that reservation without paying any kind of fee for that. Does that make sense? So like if you didn't do the dining plan and let's say you made a reservation at so and so, know, so you're going to actually pay when you go in and eat. But, you know, four hours before that reservation, know, Lincoln is just worn out. And there's no way. So you are thinking, you know, we're going to get on that skyliner, go back to the hotel, take a nap instead of go to this restaurant that we had reserved. It's four hours ahead of time. I just go in the app, cancel reservation, cancel, clear. Does that kind of make sense? So that's kind of a nice thing. not, you have some flexibility because that's what I always tell a client. If you're not for sure which ones you want to do, or if you are going to follow through with it. Let's go ahead and make those reservations because you can always cancel them. You just may not always be able to get it if you wait later. Yes, that seems like probably the best thing to go ahead, just even if you're thinking about it. so I guess my big question is, can I do the barbecue three times in one day? Well, you might get a little sick, but go for it. I'll just stay off the teacups. Well, luckily not the same part. Maybe just don't go ride Tower Terror after you've done the barbecue. See, this is what I need. I need not just the trip planning, but the immediate after meal planning. through. And so, that's the thing, is to think through that stuff. But here's the thing, if you don't plan to do any sit down table service restaurant, there are no reservations to make. Because quick service... is just a walk up. Yeah, I think that's we did. It was just a counter. Yeah. And you'd take it, get your tray and go sit somewhere. And the best thing about the app is you can do mobile service ordering. So you can actually go into your app, pull up that restaurant that you're wanting to go eat at the quick service and put your order in and then put a time that you want to come pick it up. And it may even, it could be so busy that it may say, hey, the first available window isn't for another two hours. And so you do it and then when you hit your time to go, you'll click on it to say like, I'm here, they'll fix it. And then it'll come up and be like, your order's ready. Go to booth, go to window number six. I like to think I'm, well, having only been two times in the last 25 years, I'm not surprising anybody. I'm living in the good old days were then kind of thing. That seems like a pretty good... good setup as far as meals, because that always seems like one of the biggest stressors. Like somebody's hungry, where are we going to eat? $50 for that, and just here it goes. it just starts to tension, starts to rise, and it's hot. And oh, well, she doesn't want this, and he doesn't want this, and they never agree on anything. And what time is it? And it just starts to build. And that even in itself gives. the planning alleviates that a little bit, releases the tension. And that definitely hits the mark of helping me not hate it. Well, what I enjoy doing, I can help as much or as little as you want. Like, I have a friend I did a trip for. She went last month as a childhood friend, and she's a Disney fanatic and she knows everything. And I was like, well, hey, let me just, you know, I'll book your trip. But you can still because she likes to get everything herself and she's done it enough. So I really didn't have to do much after I booked her trip. She was just kind to let me book it so I could get a small commission from, you know, from Disney. It didn't cost her anything, you know, because she even to test it, she went in and booked it or she went in and played with it herself and then told me her price. She's what are you getting? I'm like, you know, taking a picture of it screenshot. Same price. I promise you, I told you, you know, it's like, oh, OK, well, yeah, go ahead, book it. But she took care of her food and did all that kind of stuff. But again, I can sit down. There was a family who went back in January, and I went to lunch with them one Sunday after church to talk with them in detail about what do they make things you want to see, what are the kids? had four kids. What do you make sure they get to see? And so I can give as much information or as little information as that family wants. I can sit down and have Lincoln and Olivia in the room to go, Lincoln, what do you really want to see or do? What you know of, what sounds really, you know? And they may like, I don't know anything. Yeah. Like, okay, well, that's great. I'll just tell y'all some good things, you know? Like I got to the point where I started watching enough videos where I was making a list on my phone and my notes section of the things I want to make sure I eat. Like not restaurants, but snacks. Like, okay, I definitely want to get that cream cheese stuffed Mickey pretzel at this place. The cheeseburger spring rolls at Adventureland. Oh my goodness. I will get them every time because they're the best things ever at. Keep talking. Yeah, you know, food. That's the thing people... Disney has amazing food. That is really the draw for me. I I feel like I'm in a magical place and I love that, but I love eating, as you can tell. you know, that's what's fun. And my boys, we all do. So it's fun because there's really good restaurants. And what I love about it... is you get to go sit in a really good restaurant, but you're wearing shorts and a t-shirt and you've been sweating all day. But I'm going to sit down and have a steak. That's one of the best steaks I may have ever had, know, things like that. That's what I enjoy about that. Add whatever place you're talking about to my meal plan. got it. So, Woody's Barbecue and whatever that is. Take you to Les Aileurs in Canada and Epcot. Best steak, best cheese, Canadian cheese soup. It's amazing. you like cheese, you'll just have you order for me also. You'll just be texting me, Todd, what do get? Yeah, me just a notes page of a screenshot there. I feel like this is, like even when we were talking about what to talk about, this is more than I thought. Well, and one last thing, and I won't spend much time, we won't go into detail, but the other big thing about Disney, We talked about, they used to have that FastPass, that free FastPass, go-be-a-ticket. Well, that doesn't exist. They have now what's called a multi-pass. They actually have three options. They have a multi-pass, they have an individual lightning lane, and they now have what's called the Premier Pass. That is something way outside of my league. You're spending thousands of dollars for that. But those are things that I would sit down as well to help you understand how it works. It is additional cost, but the reality is, if you're going, especially if you're going at a busy time, which let's be honest, there's not many weeks that aren't really busy at Disney anymore. But fall break has become, because I've gone the last two fall breaks, fall break has become a very busy time for them because so many places are starting to do fall break that midweek of October. So it's been busy. So the multi pass, you're going to pay a little bit more money each day, but you're going to get to ride rides and you're not going to waste five hours in a line, you know, in lines throughout the day. Like there's literally videos going back to alllears.net. They'll do videos where they'll be like, they'll have two other people at the same park saying, hey, you know, this person's going to ride all the rides with using multi-pass. This person's going to ride the rides without any pass. And they both get through all the rides, but the woman, the multi-pass got through four and a half hours early and they had time to stop and eat. And this one didn't. They constantly went from line to line. grabbed a drink or grabbed a pretzel and kept going. So that makes sense. So again, I'm not going into detail, but know that that's another step where that is not an... You got to learn about it. You can't just walk up and those are also purchased if you stay on property, they're purchased seven days out. If you're off property, they're purchased three days out. So it's one of the benefit about being on property. So again, that's the next step I'd have to say, all right, now we got to... We've got your reservation 60 days out. All right. We hit 30 days. You've paid the rest of your trip off. All right. We're eight days out. So let's talk because tomorrow morning you've got to get up and do your you know if you want to book the multi pass and that is something that I can't do the way they created the multi pass and all those they actually have to be done from the app in your phone not the app on the computer. That makes sense. So that's why I've got to like make sure I teach you how to do it show you how to do it. So that's what y'all want to do, pay the extra dollars for it. Yes. So like I said, that's why I'm saying there's just so much that... Well, and I'm glad you said that because the... If food is the number one stressor, just predicted stressor for me or anybody, maybe in my position, I feel like standing in line would be number two right behind it. I was like trying to cut it down and just the... the opportunities for complaining and just standing around and wishing you were doing anything else and being able to say, okay, well, here's your options on this as well. And I'm glad you brought that up because I feel like that's a big thing. And that would be a big thing for me. And almost like, oh yeah, me whatever that is. And like a great example, I went, I did my first trip ever by myself this past January for a few days. It was great. Loved it. And the day I did Hollywood Studios, I did the multi pass and the way it worked out was I got there in the morning. I didn't go at rope drop. I got there, you mid morning, did a few things, ate something. But then I had like a four hour break before my next rides that were on my pass. Now, I could go and sit in the line, but if I know I get to do it later on. So what I did for four hours is, know what, I went and took a bus to Disney Springs, which is like their used be called Downtown Disney. So they have a lot of restaurants and shops. So I just went for a few hours, bought some stuff, went back to my hotel, dropped the stuff off. And then I took the Skyliner back over to Hollywood Studios. And then I was at Hollywood Studios for the last three hours of the day. It was great. That's the benefit when you stay on property and you do that multi-pass. You know when your rides are going to be. So if there ends up being a gap in them, don't be miserable. Go back, take a nap, go back to your hotel. Have a pool, get in the pool for a few hours. You know, these hotels are cool. They're not just like going to Holiday Inn in a basic square pool. You know, it's fun. There's a lot of neat stuff to see. So you can really enjoy everything. Again, it's going to cost a little bit more, but it's worth it to help with the anxiety and the stress that... I hate using those words, I'm going use that word about vacation, but that's the reality. Any vacation, as you know, they're just not... Life's just not simple like it was... 30, 40, 50 years ago, you know? Yes. And having seen the vacation movies even 30, 40, 50 years ago, there's a little bit of stress and anxiety involved with driving the station wagon across country to Wally World. Exactly. Well, Todd, I do appreciate you coming in and just sharing a little bit. I'm sure we could just, well, as you noted, there's just tons of content out there. You said allears.net? That's a great resource. There's other things out there, but that's just my personal favorite. I like the videos. I like the people that run it. They're entertaining to me. So that's something anybody can just look up and go find. And if somebody was like, hey, that sounds like a great, he sounds like he's got a good idea of how to help people. How would people find you to help them book a trip? Thanks. Best way, just email me. My email is Todd, T-O-D-D, at castlevacations.net. So it's Todd at castlevacations.net. I'll get your email and I'll get back to you within a day. Yeah. And we'll put that in the show notes. Great. Thank you. That way, I don't know if it'll be a link or at least it'll be typed out so people can see it and find it. But thanks again for some time. that's... Pretty much it for Clarksville Insider today as a Clarksvillian, sending people away, bringing them back and actually having good memories and good stories and taking care of and mom and dad in the process. Todd, thanks for coming in. Any last words to just encourage or... Yeah, thanks for having me. Like I said, if you want to go to Disney, email me. I'd love to talk to you. I know it's... But like I said, you can plan far out you can plan 18 months out from right now and start working on it, you know, cool. Yeah Well, let's uh, yeah, let's let's get to planning and maybe 18 months from now Maybe I'll be putting on the Mickey ears, but uh, thanks again Thanks for listening to Clarksville insider your inside track for all things Clarksville And we will catch you next time. But in the meantime, we will see you and I'll see you