8 Days: Disney Visa Rocks

We're terrible about discovering and utilizing the perks and rewards and discounts available through our Disney Visa, but even so, we are taking advantage of a few this year, including a couple of meet-n-greets exclusive to card holders. I bring this up because they've just moved the Epcot meet and greet location from Innoventions West to the Imagination Pavilion, and the new spot looks awesome!

We also saved 15% on our Keys to the Kingdom Tour by utilizing a Disney Visa discount I didn't even know existed until the cast member asked me if I was a cardholder. That's a decent bit of change, really. The card also gets you discounts at Disney Stores all over as well as many merchandise locations in the parks. Many restaurants, including the wonderful Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, offer a Disney Visa discount. I had no idea it could have saved us 10% at Artist Point last fall, which also would have been a not insignifcant amount of money.

The card also racks up Disney Dollars, redeemable for purchases throughout the parks and Disney Stores worldwide. I have no idea how many we've accumulated. I figure I'll check when I start planning our next adults only, non-park trip.

We've used the card's early shot at the Free Dining discount before, and many if not ll discounts are offered for a few days to cardholders prior to the general public. That's really helpful in getting the room you like in the resort you most prefer.

Here's a link to the Disney Visa site explaining all the perks and discounts. Give it a look, you might just find a way to save yourself some money!

B Is For.....Boma

Apologies in advance for this being the worst dining review ever. I don't remember exactly what we ate and I have no idea what it cost, but I do know that Boma, the buffet restaurant inside Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, made a huge impression on my family and we can't wait to go back in September.

The last time we spent a week at Disney, back in late August of 2006, we had taken advantage of the free Disney Dining Plan offer that was current at the time.  When I was planning our dining reservations, or ADRs in Disney speak, I wanted to try some new places, as it had been quite a while since either of us had spent much time at Disney World. Disney's Animal Kingdom was new to us, and so was the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I found Boma and figured it would give us a great excuse to visit the new deluxe resort and maybe try something new, as Boma had an African-influenced menu. As an aside, visiting Disney's resorts is an attraction in itself. All of them have their own theme and charm, from the All-Stars to the high-end deluxe resorts, all are worth checking out. Eating in the resort restaurants gives you a great excuse and opportunity to poke around these places.

Boma is located on the bottom floor of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, across a hall from Jiko, the AKL's more upscale dining spot. Not that there is anything low-class or cheesy about Boma. The dining room is bright and open and full of African artwork. It is not a quiet place, but, hey, it's a buffet at a family resort, nobody should be surprised. The buffet itself is not your typical Western Sizzlin' steam table affair. Most of the food was at least finished right there at the buffet table and everything was always full, fresh and hot. I am having trouble remembering exactly what we ate, it was largely nothing we'd had before or since, but it wasn't so exotic as to scare off timid eaters. I do remember wishing I had a bigger stomach because everything was so very delicious.

When we planned this trip coming up in September, we wanted to try as many new places as we could. We did, however, all agree that a return to Boma was essential. I can't wait.