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Brought to you by...
John and Donna Gross "The Full Mickey - At a Discount!" The Wall Street Journal
Viewing Illuminations.... "Check to see which way the wind is blowing and be sure to NOT be where the wind will blow the smoke from the fireworks into your face. I learned that lesson the hard way! You cannot imagine how much smoke there is coming off the lake during those fireworks."
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Beth, our travel agent, writes about tipping on the Disney Dining Plan: Everyone that's ever asked me about the basic dining plan knows how much I love it. While it's not the least expensive way to eat at Disney, it's a real bargain if you are planning to do a character meal or full-service meal once a day for most of your stay - especially if you have children ages 3-9. You never have that little voice in your head telling you to order chicken or pasta when you really want prime rib (because it's all covered by the plan) and you're prepaying most of your food costs so you know in advance exactly what you're spending on food... or do you? I had a very interesting discussion with a man yesterday who told me of a family group that just returned from Disney World. They had a great time, and for the most part they loved the dining plan. What they didn't count on, though, was the gratuities. They were totally aware that gratuities were no longer included in the plan, and they understood that for parties of 6 or more 18% would automatically be added on, but in their minds they were budgeting 18% of the cost of the dining plan rather than 18% of the retail value of the food they ordered. This is a little detail that cannot be stressed enough: the gratuity is figured on the total of the bill as if you were paying out of pocket for everything you ordered. Now, if you're NOT a group of six or more, you can choose to leave less than 18% just like you can when you dine out anywhere else. If, however, you are dining with six or more that gratuity is going to be charged directly to your room. So, let's say your family of two adults and two teens heads out to Le Cellier for a nice steak dinner, a meal that takes one table-service credit each. To keep things simple, we'll say you all skip the appetizers since they aren't included, and you all decide to order the same entree and dessert: the filet mignon ($34.99) and the crème brulee ($6.99). You also each order Diet Coke (to cancel out the calories of the dessert) for $2.95 each. That's a total of $44.93 per person plus tax (another $2.92) and you're thrilled with your decision to spend $37.95 per person per night on your basic dining plan because you've spent more than that on just one meal! And then you realize you still have to pay a tip. A 15% gratuity is $26.96 - ouch! Of course, no one is going to MAKE you leave 15%, but you know that (or more) is what's customary for good service these days. Now, let's say that your family is dining with your sister's family of four. You're now a party of 8 so the gratuity is going to be billed to your room automatically, and it's billed at 18%. You're going to see a charge of $32.35 on your room bill at the end of the trip. If you ate like this every day for 7 days, the bill for gratuities at the end of the stay would be over $226!!! Didn't see THAT coming, did you? I'm not trying to say you should avoid the dining plan OR that you should eat pasta for every meal. I'm just saying that you need to understand in advance what to expect with these gratuities so you're not blind-sided. Those gratuities apply even if you're on the FREE dining offer, so plan for them. And if you've upgraded to deluxe dining then you REALLY need to think ahead because there's more of a tendency to eat 2-3 meals a day in the priciest places. By the way, if the gratuity thing is really an issue for you, you CAN find places that offer entrees for under $15. Also, gratuities are included when you use your credits for Grand Gathering events, dinner shows, room service, or pizza delivery (all of which take 2 table-service credits). Drop me a note if you need links to menus and/or tips for getting the most from your dining plan."
You must pay in full when you book the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, Disney's Spirit of Aloha and Mickey's Backyard BBQ dinner shows. If you cancel within 48 hours, Disney will refund all of your payment. If your package includes a Dinner Show, you will need to give Disney your credit card number. Disney will charge the cost of the dinner to your card if you don't show up or you fail to cancel.
Beth, our travel agent, writes: "The Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk were sharing buses. I don't know if they always do or not, but it means that it takes longer than you might think to get to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, or elsewhere. We walked out the door of the Yacht Club at 4:15 (for a 5:20 priority seating in the Magic Kingdom) and just missed the bus. We waited an extraordinarily long time for the next one, then had to visit two other hotels, one of which had a wheelchair person that needed to be boarded, and we ended up making it to the Crystal Palace at about 5:22. You're supposed to be there at least 15 minutes ahead of time! We lucked out, though. They weren't as busy as they are sometimes, and we only had three people so they were able to seat us in under five minutes."
Beth, our travel agent, writes about Disney dining reservations: "Now that the kinks are (mostly) worked out of the online dining reservation system, Disney will revert to allowing dining reservations 180 days out. And speaking on online reservations, I still maintain that the process is rather slow and tedious. If you have time to kill – or you’re sitting on a never-ending phone hold with the dining people – then go for it. In fact, you can even start an hour earlier than the call center does (6AM eastern time), but I personally would aim for doing just one or two reservations in that session (the places that are hardest to get) and then call at 7AM. Special note: be sure if you’re doing it online you check out after about 20-25 minutes because your session will TIME out after 30 minutes and you’ll lose everything in your cart. (I know this from personal experience!) Once you’ve confirmed the first group by checking out you can go back in and start again with your second group of reservations."
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