Basically, this service which launched last December, is basically like an old fashioned Christmas account. You use their tools to estimate you vacation cost, set up an auto-draft from your credit/debit card and when you have reached your savings goal, you book you vacation and the bulk of it is paid for. IF I had a regular job with regular pay, I would set up an account in a heartbeat. This would be the best way for me to finally go on a Disney Cruise, even if it takes me 4 years to save the money!

I did some dreaming on the Disney Cruise Line website and planned a trip for my birthday next year. I chose a 7 night Caribbean Cruise, inside stateroom, with 3 port excursions and my total price was $3962 so we will round that to $4000 to make it easy. Assuming I want to book this cruise 3 months before sailing I would need to save $111 a week for the next 9 months. I have never made a paycheck in my life that was large enough to save that much per week, even when I was working full-time in the medical field. Anyway, a dream deferred is still a dream.

Is the Disney Vacation Account for You?

• Are you planning a Disney vacation?
• Are you dreaming of a Disney vacation?
• Would having an auto debit from your account make that vacation dream a reality?

If you answered “YES!” to any of those questions then I think you should check the Disney Vacation Account website out. There are no fees and you can change the amount you are putting in at any time.

The money in your account is valid towards any of the following vacation types:

• Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
• Disneyland Resort in California
• Disney Cruise Line
• Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Hawai’i
• Adventures by Disney vacations

You can start you account with as little as $10. Payments must be made by Disney gift card, credit/debit card. These types of credit/debit cards are accepted:

• Disney Visa® Card
• Visa®
• MasterCard®
• Discover® Card
• American Express®

Will you sign up for a Disney Vacation Account? Why or Why not? Leave me a comment and let me know.

The post The Disney Vacation Account appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Jordan and I are HUGE fans of the Kingdom Keepers books by Ridley Pearson. So far we have read the first 3 books in the series and number 6, Dark Passage is available today! Last year we had the opportunity to meet Ridley Pearson at Disney Social Media Moms.

About the book…and the next one

Ridley Pearson’s New York Times bestselling Kingdom Keepers series continues with the thrilling sixth book: Kingdom Keepers VI: Dark Passage!

The Kingdom Keepers (young teens who were tapped as models for holographic Disney theme park “guides”) and their friends have uncovered a startling truth: Maleficent and the Overtakers (Disney villains) are plotting a catastrophic event that could have repercussions far beyond the world of Disney. Aboard the Disney Cruise Line’s inaugural passage through the new Panama Canal, the Keepers and their holograms uncover a puzzle hidden within the pages of a stolen journal. The point of that puzzle will reveal itself in the caves of Aruba, the zip lines of Costa Rica, and the jungles of Mexico. A destructive force, dormant for decades, is about to be unleashed—and the Kingdom Keepers are to be its first victims.

Now, for the first time, readers get the chance to help write the seventh and final book in the series via the Kingdom Keepers Insider app, launching April 2nd! Available on all mobile devices, e-readers and online, the app will provide a groundbreaking interactive fan experience for readers of the Kingdom Keepers series, allowing them to follow along as Ridley Pearson writes, voting on plot points, character involvement, and locations—even contributing ideas for dialogue! Plus, there will be writing contests based on the previous book in the series and judged by Ridley Pearson, promoting writing and literacy in a safe environment with characters readers already know and love! Learn more at www.kingdomkeepersinsider.com.

Ridley Pearson is the award-winning author of multiple adventure series for (young-ish) readers, including The Kingdom Keepers, Steel Trapp and with Dave Barry, Peter and the Starcatchers. Ridley is also a best-selling crime novelist of more than 25 titles, which have been translated into 22 languages and distributed in 70 countries. Pearson was the first U.S. citizen to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University. In 2008 Ridley served as a visiting professor at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. In 2013, Ridley was awarded Missouri’s Quill Award and inducted into that state’s Writers Hall of Fame. As a “full time dad and husband,” Ridley, along with his wife, Marcelle, live with their two teenage daughters in St. Louis, MO. Find him online at ridleypearson.com and on Twitter: @RidleyPearson

Kingdom Keepers VI: Dark Passage
By Ridley Pearson
Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 9781423164890; Price: $17.99; Ages 10-14

Tour Cities:

April 2: 7:00 PM event at Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville, IL
April 3: 7:00 PM event at Barnes & Noble, Paramus, NJ
April 4: 7:00 PM event at Book Revue Huntington, NY
April 6: 2:00 PM event at St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO
April 7: 2:00 PM event at Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL
April 9: 7:00 PM event at Books-A-Million, Brandon, FL
April 10: 4:00-6:00 PM signing at Once Upon a Toy in Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL
April 11: 9:30-11:30 AM signing at Writer’s Stop at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Orlando, FL
April 19: 6:30 PM event at Poisoned Pen, Phoenix, AZ
April 20: 2:00 PM “Sagas and Series” panel at Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, CA

Have you read the Kingdom Keepers books? Do you think you’ll start now? I can’t wait to start book 4!

The post Kingdom Keepers VI Available Today appeared first on The Mom Maven.

The Weather Channel has extended its popular travel-planning resource, Destination Guides, in order to help the millions of consumers each year who travel to Disney parks and cruise lines. To help visitors get the most out of their vacation, the new section offers tools to plan an ultimate Disney vacation with park information, tips, suggestions and detailed weather forecasts. Using TWC’s “Best Time to Visit” patented method for climate-based “best time to” recommendations (U.S. Patent #7,212,922), visitors can see the warmest, coldest, driest and wettest months along with average temperatures and average rainy, sunny and cloudy days.

In celebration of the new content, through April 2, The Weather Channel is giving visitors to weather.com online or on mobile the chance to enter to win a grand prize of a Disney Cruise. Visitors to www.weather.com/disneycruise, also can play a game daily for a chance to instantly win more prizes. For details and official rules of The Choose and Cruise promotion, visit weather.com/disneycruise.

A Disney Cruise is on my dream list for vacations so I am entering every day! Maybe Tink will sprinkle some pixie dust my way and I’ll win…who knows?!?

The post The Weather Channel adds Disney World and a Contest appeared first on The Mom Maven.

photo courtesy of Disney

New Sailings for Disney Magic and Disney Wonder – In 2010, the Disney Magic will sail to Europe for an unprecedented five-month season of Northern European and Mediterranean cruises.  Book-ending the summer season of 12-night Northern European Capitals cruises, the Disney Magic will once again return to the Mediterranean for 10- and 11-night cruises, with three new ports of call – Tunis in northern Africa, the island nation of Marta, and Ajaccio, Corsica.  In the summer of 2010, the Disney Wonder will sail four- and five-night cruises to Nassau, Key West and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.  In the summer of 2011, the Disney Wonder will sail for the first time to Alaska, with seven-night cruises calling on Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.

Disney Cruise Line Expanding Its Fleet– The Walt Disney Company is expanding its successful cruise vacation business by adding two new ships, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, to set sail in 2011 and 2012, respectively.  Two decks taller than the existing Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, the new 1,250-passenger liners will more than double the passenger capacity for Disney Cruise Line.  Now under construction, the Disney Dream will offer magical innovations, engaging children’s spaces, family entertainment and immersive experiences for which Disney Cruise Line is renowned.

The post What’s New at Disney Crusie Line? appeared first on The Mom Maven.