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Hi Everyone!
In this issue...
Now... lean back, prop up your feet, and take a Disney break!
Deals and Updates as of May 25, 2005 We continuously update our information and you can find these current specials in our Addenda: WALT DISNEY WORLD
A reminder...
"Hi John, I just joined your affordable Disney group. My wife and I have been planning a trip to Disney World in December. When we ... saw the prices we were just awed." -------------------------------- This hotel is one of the closest hotels to Walt Disney World and all the other Orlando and Kissimmee attractions, with FREE shuttle service to all four Walt Disney World Theme Parks. The 614 rooms and suites feature a mini-fridge, microwave oven, coffee/tea maker and iron/ironing board in every room. Starting at $55 per night including FREE breakfast buffet for two adults! Save $15-$25 per night compared to regular rates during the same period. Kids under 12 eat FREE too! Special rate is based on space available and valid through June 30, 2005. DISNEY CRUISE LINE Haven't booked yet? This tip will show you how to get a $25 onboard credit per stateroom! -------------------------------- DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA
Just announced! New benefits for
Disney's
Visa cardholders at Disneyland California to commemorate Disneyland's
50th anniversary:
For more details, click here. -------------------------------- Residents of certain Zipcodes in this state can buy up to eight 1-Day Park Hopper tickets for $68 (adult); $58 (child) now through 01/02/06. -------------------------------- OTHER VACATION SPECIALS Las Vegas Resort Special: June 19 - September 14, 2005 Sunday-Thursday. Deluxe rooms from $149/night. Suites from $249/night. Upgrade any suite to Lakeview for only $50/night. -------------------------------- 7-day Caribbean Cruises from $599! Sail crystal clear waters on an Eastern Caribbean cruise, while visiting St. Thomas, Tortola and Nassau. On the Western Caribbean cruise, you can relax on the white sands of Grand Cayman, swim with dolphins at Key West and explore the Mayan ruins in Costa Maya. Include a 3rd or 4th person in the same stateroom on select sailings from $299! -------------------------------- Affordable Disney Members should log in at our password-protected site (The Disney Reading Room) to access the particulars about the above mentioned specials. If you are not a member, you can join our Disney family here.
Disney's Visa® Credit Card from Bank One®
Disney's Visa Card -- a way to take your family on the vacation they've been wishing for sooner and even more affordably than you ever thought possible! For more details, click here. |
Resources
 Affordable Airfare
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NEWS FROM AROUND THE "WORLD" "Beginning June 10, lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table at the Magic Kingdom Park will become a character-dining experience. 'A Fairytale Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table' will be served daily from noon to 3:00 p.m. The price is $23.99 plus tax for Guests ages 12 and up and $12.99 plus tax for Guests ages 3 to 11... Advanced dining reservations can be made 90 days in advance by calling 407-939-3463." (Source: Walt Disney World Resort Email Promotion, 05/24/05) -------------------------------- Closed for Refurbishment
Magic Kingdom
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disneyland California "Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Hall, the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will be pictured on a postage stamp to be issued by the U.S. Postal Service on May 20." (Source: playbillarts.com, 05/18/05) For the rest of the story, click here. -------------------------------- Closed for rehab:
Disneyland Park
Disneyland Paris "Confronted with ongoing losses at its theme parks near Paris, Walt Disney Co.'s Euro Disney operation on Thursday announced that it had replaced the resort's French chief executive with a company insider." (Source: Orlando Sentinel, 05/20/05) For the rest of the story, click here.
Disneyland Hong Kong "Environmentalists urged Hong Kong Disneyland on Monday not to serve shark fin soup when the park opens in September, but Disney officials said they planned to offer the dish at special banquets in accordance with local customs... Environmentalists say millions of sharks are killed each year for their fins, driving many species close to extinction. The fins are hacked off and the fish are dumped back into the sea to die." (Source: Orlando Sentinel, 05/20/05) For the rest of the story, click here. -------------------------------- "So what are the similarities and differences between Hong Kong Disneyland and other theme parks around the world? ... the common factor will of course be the Disney characters and stories. As for the differences... being the newest theme park of its kind meant that it was able to select from the more popular and acknowledged attractions in parks around the world and bring them together under one roof in Hong Kong." (Source: Bangkok Post, 05/19/05) For the rest of the story, click here. -------------------------------- "The date of Hong Kong Disneyland's opening is fast approaching but the theme park is reluctant to let the tourism industry in on its ticket sales plans... Crucial information on the projected swarms of visitors to the park when it opens on September 12, and the mechanisms of selling entry tickets to them, has been withheld and communication with the tourism industry is lacking, according to travel agents." (Source: The Standard, 05/16/05) For the rest of the story, click here. -------------------------------- "Hong Kong couples who want to live out their fantasies can do so at Hong Kong Disneyland - for a hefty price. Starting today, couples can book Chinese banquet-style wedding receptions with a Mickey Mouse touch at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel from HK$11,457 (US$1,470) a table, Hong Kong Disneyland executives announced Tuesday." (Source: The Standard, 05/18/05) For the rest of the story, click here. -------------------------------- NOTE: Links to newspaper articles change quickly and without notice. If you receive a "File Not Found" error message, search the newspaper's archives for the story. Certain newspapers require a free registration to view their articles online.
"I thought I knew all the tips for saving money at WDW, even being a member of the Magic Kingdom Club for over 15 years, but just learning about [your ticket agent] saved our family over $300.00! Thanks." Janet Handy, Bel Air, MD "Plenty of roadside outfits in Orlando promise discounted tickets, but most of them really want to rope you into a time-share sales pitch in exchange for vouchers - accept at your own risk. [Affordable Disney's ticket agent], though, is legit." The New York Post, November 16, 2004. NEVER overpay again! Join our Disney family today and keep that extra money in YOUR pocket!
Cynthia writes: "Dear John, We will be at Epcot next week and will view Illuminations for the first time. From your experience, where is the best location from which to the enjoy the show, and how early should we be in that place?
Thanks so much for your valuable input; you and your book have become a staple
to our WDW ventures and we really appreciate what you do. God bless."
Glad to have been of service. We love Illuminations. I'll be with you there in spirit!
Beth, our travel agent, writes about Disney's Dining Plan: "There seems to be some confusion about how the dining plan works. It is ONLY available as an add-on to a package, and ALL packages have tickets with them. There's no way around that. Room discounts - AAA, annual pass, Florida resident, the Affordable Disney special, etc. - are not something that is combinable with a package. So you have to consider what you're going to save with whatever room discount you qualify for verses what you stand to save if you paid full room rate, but got the dining plan... Disney's Dining Plan costs $35 for adults and $10 for ages 3-9. Children MUST eat from a children's menu if available. The dining plan will generally save you at least $8 a day on a child, and it could be as much as $20. For adults, while you could save $30, $40, or even more money in a day, I think you'll find that unless you normally eat a lot at meals you're likely to average a savings of about $10-15 per day... *Note from John: In general, figure $30-$40 per adult at one of Disney's full service restaurants for a meal that includes appetizer, entree, and dessert. Sodas are $2. You're on your own with alcoholic drinks! Disney's dining plan also includes one counter service meal (entrée and non-alcoholic beverage) and one snack (ice cream.) So if you ate dinner at a full service restaurant, that would cover the cost of the plan and you would basically get the counter service meal and snack for free - a savings of $10-$15. (See the "Affordable Dining at Walt Disney World" chapter in our book for more dining information. Also see Character meal prices in the same chapter since you may swap one table-service meal for one Character meal.) Bottom line: It looks like the average family of two adults and 2 children would save about $50 per day - less if they skip meals or don't choose menu items carefully. So add up [the Disney Plan savings] and compare them to the room discount you'd get if you skipped the package and see which one leaves you better off. *Note from John: If you skip the package and buy your tickets from our ticket agent, be sure to add your ticket savings to the room savings. A family of 4 will save about $50 on (4) 4-day park hoppers w/o expiration. Don't forget that if a promotion comes out that could change everything. Be prepared to convert from a room-only reservation to a package if there's a package promotion, and to drop the package and rebook as a room-only if you suddenly find you qualify for a room promotion. *Note from John: If Beth books your vacation, she can handle those changes for you at no charge. Please emphasize to everyone that having the dining plan added to your package does NOT mean that you are guaranteed a seat at the restaurant of your choice. You still have to make reservations for the table service locations. You can do that up to 90 days in advance by calling 1-407-WDW-DINE. They are open 7AM - 10PM daily (eastern time). Dinner shows can be booked that same way up to two years in advance!"
Disney and other new books 50-90% off the list price. Hundreds of books under $1.00! Plus! Over 700 videos have been marked down to $1.99. Exclusively for Affordable Disney Readers: Save $5.00 on an order of $35 or more! Coupon code: bookcloseouts; Coupon password: bargainbooks. Expires December 31, 2005. Click here to check out the bargains.
Are You Suffering Withdrawal From WDW? You know ... that empty feeling you get when you arrive back home from your vacation at WDW and realize it may be a while before you experience that Disney magic again? We have had that feeling ourselves many times. Yet, we always seem to feel better when we read about the experiences of others who share their trip reports with us. It's almost like being there again. We invite you, our readers, to send us some feedback about your experiences during your latest vacation at WDW. Reports on Disney weddings, honeymoons, cruises, and resort vacations on and off Disney property are all welcome. Send your email to: johngross@affordabledisney.com . Thanks!
Lisa writes: "Hi John, We just got back from WDW and I wanted to give you a Magical Express Update.. I will give a full trip report later in the week. Ok so the Magical Express has A LOT of bugs to be worked out. We got off the plane fine. found the people who directed us to the visitors center in the lower level of the airport. They asked for one person from each party to check in.. however we were a party of 10 representing 4 different families. One person from each family should have gone to check in since they ask you to identify your luggage.. color, size, style, etc. They did not hassle us in terms of not having luggage tags from them. they scanned our claim checks to identify bags. Since we did not receive our tags and I read on the newsletter that there was a coupon for a pin and lanyard I asked for coupons. They gave us 5 coupons which we redeemed for a pack of 2 lanyards each with 1 pin... (However when tour ME tags finally arrived they had only put in 2 coupons for the lanyards and we would have been 6 short.. so it pays to ask for extra). Also the coupon was marked with a D. there are other coupons marked with different letters for different things and the lanyard may vary based on the letter on the coupon. After checking in at the counter we were told that the luggage would be delivered within 4 hours. We went into the line for our hotel waited maybe 3 minutes and loaded up onto the bus. We had priority seating at Planet Hollywood at 7:00 pm for dinner. went to Dinner and walked around downtown disney afterwards. My husband, son and myself then went to MK to catch spectromagic and the last extended hour. The rest of the family went back to the hotel.. at this point it had been 6 hours and the bags were not there when they arrived.. the hotel did very little to accommodate them. My mother and father in law were offered nothing. My sister-in-law and her 2 kids and husband were told to wait. My husband's 67 year old Aunt who made the biggest stink was offered a credit card at midnight to go buy stuff.. she declined it and said she didn't want to go anywhere except to bed. She finally found someone who located all the bags - hers in particular were still sitting on the loading dock 6 hours after we landed. The bags finally arrived around 1 am when my father-in-law mentioned that they had been waiting for 7 hours for their bags the baggage handler said oh that's nothing a couple last week had you beat - they waited for 10 hours. When my husband, son and I returned at 2 am from MK our bags were there and we were none the wiser. We didn't find out about all the hassle until we met everyone at Epcot for lunch the next day. After the negative experience on arrival everyone except my family chose not to check their stuff. We did. It was simple and easy. we packed up our stuff, called the bellman who loaded up our stuff, and drove us and our luggage to the airport check in area at the hotel. He unloaded our stuff - our bags were checked and NOT WEIGHED - crucial for all the current overage charges. they aren't equipped to weigh bags and do not represent one airline. if you have bought too many souvenirs then definitely use this service if you can! The only glitch was through United. They were unable to print our boarding passes so we still had to check in at the airport. Our luggage arrived without problem and was actually the first down the ramp. I asked the worker about the system. he said the way back is completely different and Disney will continue to have problems with ME because they only have 50% of the staff they need to handle the volume of bags they get. The check in at the hotel is a privately contracted company. they are not employees of the airport or Disney." Thank you, Lisa, for the great feedback! I'm looking forward to your trip report.
Money Saving Tip Race Rock Supercharged Restaurant: 8986 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819. 407/248-9876. Motorsports restaurant with children's menu and simulator games. Receive one free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees. Click here. Scroll down for coupon. Expires December 31, 2005.
YOU CAN AFFORD DISNEY WORLD! If you THINK a Disney vacation costs too much ... WE AGREE! That's why we created the ULTIMATE Disney savings site. Save up to 40% on your total trip. Learn about discounts on tickets, food, Disney merchandise, hotels ON Disney property, travel, parking, and MUCH more. Too much to list here. See it all at here. "We just got back from a great trip ... and thanks to you and your great advice, [we] saved money and time! ... In total we saved about $3,000.00 for our group of 6. We are going back within a year to use our passes again, and think our per person cost will be in the $150-200 range, flights and all." Michael Barrett, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
All for the price of a fast food
Well, that's it for now. THE DISNEY NEWS is a free service provided by
AffordableDisney.Com. Please forward our newsletter to your friends and family.
See You Real Soon! John
http://www.affordabledisney.com
Disclaimer: We cannot guarantee the accuracy of information contained in The Disney News. Always check to be sure. The views and opinions expressed by others in The Disney News do not necessarily reflect the views of AffordableDisney.Com. Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and other companies mentioned on our site and in our newsletter are registered trademarks of their respective companies. The use of these trademarks is for editorial reasons only. No endorsement by the Walt Disney Company or any other company is implied. |
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