To redeem your free admission you must register yourself or your children online and print a certificate.  Upon arrival th the selected park you will need to show a valid driver’s license, or a certified copy of a birth certificate, along with the printed registration certificate from the Disney website. At this point the birthday guest gains free admission and a button to pin on themselves that says It’s my Birthday and the name of the guest.  This magic button gets you a lot of recognition inside the park.  Every employee who reads it gives you a very warm greeting and happy birthday wishes.  In some cases you may get a surprise dessert at a restaurant, or a token souveneir.  Be certain to inquire on the day of your arrival what specialties are in store for birthday guests.

The other members in your party have to pay full price for admission, which is about $75 for adults at the Magic Kingdom in FL. This birthday freebie is in no way a freebie day for the whole family.  Only the admission for the guest of honor is included. Disney is still raking in the cash on all the food and beverages and souveneirs that will be purchased by the acompanying members in your party. But it is still a fabulous way to spend a birthday, young and old.

There are books and guides available that give you the best dates and times to enjoy the parks, if you are lucky enough to have your birthday fall during one of the slow periods it is a great time to take advantage of the promotion. Mid week is said to be one of the slowest times, when it’s not too close to a Holiday. If your child’s birthday falls at an inconvenient time, you may want to choose to wait until one of the parents’ birthdays.  You’ll save even more be gaining free adult admission, it’s close to $10 more for adults than children.

This is a great way to get families into the park and a great way to make a child feel special on their birthday.  Another brilliant Disney concept.

Depending on your location, there are probably many one tank trips you can take with your family. Do some research and find out what’s around you, within driving distance.  Even if it involves a night in a hotel, it’s still more affordable than a plane trip and a week at a hotel, meals…etc.  On a staycation you can also enjoy local things that were always out of your budget.  Again, without  the major travel costs, you can afford these little splurges, like eating at fabulous local restaurants, and taking in local theater.

Vacations are a great tiime for families to regroup after a hectic season and get to know eachother again.  Staycation-road-trips are a good way to do this.  Reconnect with you kids and enjoy local family activities together. There are probably numerous sightseeing opportunities that are overlooked due to busy schedules. Exploring your surroundings together will create just as many memories as visiting the mouse in Florida.

Be certain, no matter what you plan for your staycation travels, that you  DO NOT just stay at home.  When you are at home with unlimited free time, it is easy to fall into the trap of completing all the little projects that don’t get done throughout the year.  Leave the house daily as if you were out of town.  The cluttered closets, the piles of laundry, the dirty grout lines will all have to wait.  Don’t let the daily chores ruin your vacation, because you chose to make it a staycation. Plan your daily activities in advance the way you would on any other vacation.

There are parks and picnics and museums and history all around you.  Enjoy your local resources and most of all enjoy some relaxation with your family.

Now, as for Sundays, as far as I can tell, the hotel and other rentals definitely begin reducing their prices a ‘little bit‘. Depending on your desired location and the hotel or whatever accommodations you have chosen, that ‘little bit’ can be equal to anything from a dinner out to a gallon of gas. As a matter of fact, recently when I was checking prices to stay in Savannah in the near future, some hotels were even offering gas cards in amounts of anywhere from $25 to $50 depending on your length of stay — and that was for either a two-night stay or a three-night stay. Now that’s incentive enough for me to go. How can you beat it? I believe with gas prices being what they are right now, incentive gas cards are a common practice in quite a few places across the nation.

I think also, the business travelers are frequent Sunday through Thursday travelers and many hotels are reasonably quiet during those days. The kids are most likely in school, the moms and dads and everyone else is working, so you can enjoy some adult time around the pool, if that interests you or in the jacuzzi. No need to be an old meany and chase the children out of the adult areas or quietly mention it to the hotel managers.

Yep. Business travelers and retirees. Good rates. And now that I am a retiree and living on a limited budget, my few travel excursions will definitely have to be planned when I can get the best deals. Although there are also discounts offered to senior citizens in many hotels, be sure you cross-check the rates with other discount opportunities. You might just find that your AAA membership card will get you the same rate, if not better.

In addition to finding good deals during the Sunday through Thursday travel times, you are going to find that the museums and botanical gardens and day tours and things like that are less crowded. The lines will be shorter wherever you go, the restaurants won’t be quite as crowded (and neither will the bathrooms). The guided sight-seeing tours might even seem to be a little more informative if you can actually hear the narrator.

Avoiding the traffic can be another plus if you are driving to your destination during the weekdays. If you live in a large city, there is no doubt that at some time you have witnessed the interstates crammed with cars because people are trying to get out of the city for the weekend every Friday. Conversely, returning to the city on Sunday afternoons, you are going to be sitting at a dead stop for long, long stretches of the interstate as everyone tries to return home again for that Monday work day. It is even worse on holiday weekends.

Since my work week has been reduced to part-time and occasional work, I am free to travel whenever and wherever I can afford to go. And since nothing makes me happier or more excited than visiting a new place and experiencing all that it has to offer, I will definitely be doing a lot more of that in the upcoming future while taking advantage of every little bargain I can find along the way.