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John and Donna Gross "The Full Mickey - At a Discount!" The Wall Street Journal
Cherry writes:
During Evening Extra Magic Hours one of the parks will stay open three hours longer. You need to show your Key to the World Card at designated areas in the park two hours before park closing to get a wristband. |
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AVAST THERE YE LAND LOVERS! Paula sent us this note about her encounter with Pirates of the Caribbean during her vacation: "We just got back from vacation 7-4-06 to 7-7-06 at WDW and we went on the 'PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.' WOW, it was awesome. the figures of Jack Sparrow and Barbossa look just like they stepped out of the movie and it was great how they had both the old soundtrack from the ride and the movie soundtrack going in the ride! There were other things new in the ride but I don't want to be the one to give it all away. It was great to see so many people going on the ride. Wait time was about 60 min., but moved very quickly. I think it took us about 35 min. from start to finish. Pirate booty was flying off the shelves as fast as they were restocking it. I know a lot of people didn't want the POC changed but it still keeps it close to the original but freshened up for the next generation of pirates. We were going to take in the movie's first showing at 12:01am FRI. morning but all 12 theaters were sold out so we went to see another movie. The people were already in line at 7:30pm Thurs. night dressed in pirate ears and costumes. My husband said he hadn't seen anything like it since he went to see Star Wars. We heard a lot of people talking the next day about how great the movie was! Well the last suitcase is put away and I'm going to take off my pirate Mickey ears and put them on my Pooh bear and call it a night!"
Kimberley writes about her visit to WDW in May: "We are back and recovering from our nine day trip to WDW. It was amazing. It was our first time at Pop Century...it was nice. I enjoyed not having to make other stops like the other value resorts when traveling by bus. The parks had extra magic hours that really helped... Magic Kingdom was opened one night (morning) until 3am! We accomplished everything multiple times. We are now anxiously awaiting our next trip... I've already contacted Beth to begin planning. Expedition Everest was open for 'previews'...awesome, now Animal Kingdom is a must see park for our family (it wasn't on past visits). We also had a character breakfast at Restaurantosaurus...also amazing (one of the best character breakfasts and we've done lots). O'Hana's was okay, but we weren't that thrilled with it (other than for Stitch). Cape May's food was good and the characters were fun, but it took a long time to get in (even with reservations). Chef Mickey's was also good, but it really couldn't compete with Restaurantosaurus. Crystal Palace...also amazing. We began to notice a trend...the food, quality of service, etc. seemed to be stepped up a notch at the parks character meals when compared to the resorts. Have any others felt that way? All in all, they're well worth the money if you want to see the characters without a long wait (and my kids did). We tried to do a lot of character breakfasts at the resorts on our 'off days', so we didn't 'waste' valuable park time. Plus it (in a way) was a money saver for us since two of our kids are under three (they ate for free). At a counter service, we would have had to purchase them something (and they probably wouldn't have eaten much of it). Plus, like I mentioned, most did not require park admission. On those days, we explored Downtown Disney, other resorts, Blizzard Beach, and our own resort. Thanks for your newsletter and all your valuable advice. P.S. Like you advised, we were able to have our lost hopper replaced without any hassle by using the Xerox copy."
Lyn writes: "When we were in Disney 4/30/06 to 5/6/06 we stayed at the Polynesian Resort - Room only. Upon entering the room, it was dirty and dusty and when I picked up the phone to call housekeeping, I had to brush the dust away in clumps. A maid came to clean, but she was done in a minute. I then called Housekeeping and explained that the comforters were ripped and torn, the carpet was torn and worn and the dust was awful and that $500 plus per night should have entitled me to a clean room at the least. When the managers came to clean, they replaced the comforters and remade the beds, dusted the room and believe me, it was flying everywhere, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed and cleaned off the floor on the balcony. This took most of the afternoon, time I would have preferred to use seeing more of the location. From that moment on, the room was only marginally cleaned and on the Friday of that week, after returning from the parks late, we found the beds had not been made, only covered with the comforter. I then, had to make the beds myself. This was completely unacceptable and I was happy to be in a Holiday Inn on Saturday night where the room was clean and I even had free internet and breakfast the next morning, free coffee and cookies every evening. Perhaps you should go back to the service provided when we visited the Polynesian several years ago. The rooms were clean, the streams were not filled with garbage, the pathways were not littered and the beaches were clean enough to walk them. My disappointment was huge having been to disney so many times before and I was angry I spent so much for so little. It won't happen again." I would contact Disney about your experience. You can click here to file a complaint online.
Mark visited WDW in April, 2006: "Dear John, I wanted to take a moment and update you on our recent trip to Disney. First, let me say that Beth is one of the greatest travel agents I have ever had the pleasure of working with. She was able to masterfully guide me to a great place to stay for a reasonable cost. The shuttle service from the hotel was outstanding as were the meals at the hotel. The bonus was kids eat free so it ended up costing us very little for meals in terms of eating out in the Disney area. We had an absolute lovely time and visited every park in Disney. This was my 16th time to Disney (a favorite spot of my parents while I was growing up) and was the 5th time that I took my family. Each time is magical and we are never disappointed in the new attractions that greet us. On that note: Everyone needs to ride 'Soarin' in Epcot. Young or old, it does not matter. We were a bit concerned as we approached the ride with all of its warnings, but were we ever surprised by the ease of the ride and the relative little movement. This is an instant classic ride that will forever be a family favorite. Nobody wanted to join me to ride 'Everest' so I went it alone. It was a long wait even with the fast pass but was well worth it. The attention to details leading up to the ride was phenomenal. The walking up to the ride was an event within itself. This alone was worth standing in line. The only issue that I ran into was using our old Hopper passes. We had hoppers from five years ago, before signatures were required, and received questions entering the park. The attendant was reluctant to let us use these passes. I had bought these new years ago so I would definitely warn anybody that attempts to buy used tickets to not do it. The security around this was higher than a year ago. I went to guest relations and they issued me new tickets (with the signature spot) so I wouldn't have any other issues the rest of the week. They even gave me passes for free ice cream for my inconvenience. We have no more days left on these tickets so we have established a 'bad behavior' jar in our house now that were home. If anyone does something that violates the family rules, they need to pay a quarter into the jar. As the money builds, we will be buying additional hopper passes. I look forward to the Disney newsletters and to Beth's reports on different rides and parks." Good advice, Mark. We've said it many times: do Not buy used tickets. Disney is checking tickets very closely. They are using finger scans and signatures. If you have old tickets without signatures, you might as well go to Guest Services before trying to use them at the gates and they will issue new tickets. Seems to me that the bad behavior jar would encourage bad behavior since everybody wants to go back to Disney World, right? :) How about a good behavior jar where the parents contribute routinely to reward good behavior? If the kids misbehave, you don't add anything to the jar. They'll get the message.
Cherry writes about her Spring Break vacation at WDW: "Hi John, My 17 year old, her teenage boyfriend, my sister, and I spent the week (4/3-9/06) in a cabin at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. A prime concern for appropriate yet affordable sleeping arrangements was resolved with the cabin's one bedroom with full sized bed and set of bunk beds (for the three girls) and a Murphy bed in the living room area (for the guy). This was a lower cost alternative to other Disney properties with full kitchen and two separate sleeping areas. Other perks included a private deck with picnic table and outdoor grill, and quiet, beautiful surroundings. Thanks to my annual pass rate*, the cabin was only $213 a night including tax. We drove down from Georgia and carried most of our food with us including homemade spaghetti sauce, beef stew, hamburger patties, and marinated chicken breasts (all frozen) plus bagged salad, boxed pasta mixes, baking potatoes, and canned vegetables for quick but good meals. The food we ate in our cabin was much better than most of what we've previously eaten in the parks and we saved lots of money on food costs. The two teenagers expressed to me by our third day that they liked this resort better than any of the others we have stayed in previously. They appreciated the privacy of the cabin, easy access to the outdoors, and they were more comfortable in the casual, slower paced atmosphere of this resort. They especially enjoyed driving around in the electric golf cart we rented for the week. The resort is too large and spread out to travel on foot; the bus system is more complicated than at other resorts; and driving your own car inside the resort is discouraged. Very little, if any, parking for cars is available at the resort bus stops, restaurants, shops, and activities. However, there is ample parking for the electric carts and we noted that some people brought their own carts! Unfortunately, many people discovered the worth of the cart after arriving and none were available if not reserved weeks ahead of time. Of course, the $44 per day cost is not acceptable for every budget but all four of us loved the cart and the cost was offset by our savings on food and lodging expense. Riding on smooth, paved roads in an electric cart was very pleasant in the mild, spring temperatures and allowed us to experience more of the beauty of the 'wilderness' than we could by bus. And making a quick run to the resort store for more bread or sodas was much easier by cart than by bus. But next time I'll bring more sodas - a six-pack of sodas was nearly $6.00! Though the cabin definitely turned out to be the right decision for this trip, there were some negatives. I've never had a problem in the past with cleanliness of other Disney properties; however, we noticed as soon as we arrived that the linoleum floor in the kitchen was dirty. The upper edges of the kitchen and bathroom counters had not been cleaned recently and dirt/dust had built up in crevices around the baseboards. I expect housekeeping would have cleaned it for us on request but we found it easier at the time to take care of it ourselves as we unpacked the car and put our groceries and clothes away. Only one bathroom for the four of us was a major inconvenience. Also, the bedroom didn't cool as well as the rest of the cabin. We turned the thermostat down to 68 at night to keep the girls' room cool enough, especially for me in the upper bunk, but this made the area of the Murphy bed too cool. Ceiling fans could have helped this situation and I'm surprised Disney didn't include them in the cabins as they do in other resort accommodations. As I mentioned earlier, the bus transportation is more complicated and time consuming in this resort than others. You must first walk to a bus stop in your cabin area to catch another bus that will take you to one of the two bus stop 'depots' for transportation to the parks. The distance to that first bus stop can be a 10 minute walk depending on the location of your cabin. This double bus system was confusing to me the first time I tried it but it didn't take long to get the hang of it. It did add considerable time on the trip to the parks. Driving our cart straight to the appropriate 'depot' for the bus to the parks was preferable. We did plan a few meals in the restaurants. We enjoyed the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue dinner and show in the resort one night. The show was entertaining and the fried chicken and ribs were okay but not worth the money. We ate dinner at the Nine Dragons Chinese restaurant in EPCOT one night - and won't do that again. But, as always, we loved the Crystal Palace character buffet lunch in Magic Kingdom and the crab at Fulton's Crab House - though it is very pricey. My 20% discount with the Disney Dining Experience card* helped with all restaurant meals except Fulton's where my 10% annual pass discount helped. Of course the teenagers wanted to visit Universal's Islands of Adventure and I was [able to] get a ticket for 5 consecutive days for the price of one*. They had time for only 2 days but the savings for the second day more than covered the cost of the Mears bus transportation to get them there and back ($15 each round trip). I wasn't so lucky on the cost of their 2 day Disney park hoppers, which were very expensive in comparison. I also discovered that the cost of the Universal Express Plus Pass goes up drastically as you get closer to the day you want to use it. I had ordered it for only one day when the cost was $20 each. When I went back later to order for the second day the price had gone up to $35 each - so the kids didn't get the second one. However, they arrived at the gate before the park opened the second day and were able to ride all their favorite rides, and many twice, by 3:00 pm even without the Pass! All four of us rode the new ride Soarin' at EPCOT and absolutely loved it. It is a ride for ALL ages. Beth might appreciate that I was at Animal Kingdom on the opening morning of Expedition Everest and, of course, the ride was closed to the public until 2:00 pm. I'm envious of her participation in the festivities! (smile) I was able to pick up six of the limited edition pins for the ride's opening (my husband and I are avid collectors!) but never got to enjoy the ride itself! Maybe next trip.." *See our book, "Secrets To An Affordable Walt Disney World® Vacation," for details.
Gord from Canada writes: "Subject: WDW March 6-12 We went to WDW earlier this month. I was not the most willing member of the family but with two girls 8 & 10 I felt compelled to go along for the ride. Man what a ride it was! I was never much for rides but I am now! The cast members are so helpful. The parks were fairly quiet and they would just walk up to us and ask if they could help. Being from Alberta Canada it was warm, very pleasant the whole time. Although in Typhoon Lagoon we burned!! The one thing I really appreciated was a washroom at every turn, and each one of them clean. The Pirates venue was closed so we didn't get to see that. Cinderella's Breakfast was awesome. Soarin was just too long to get into, maybe next time. Expedition Everest was just pure rush, I've never heard my daughter scream so loud, ever! Even at her sister! Use the fastpass system, it works. I learned a lot from your website, thank you for all the info you put up." You're, welcome, Gord. Upon arrival on our first vacation at WDW in 1993 I told the kids to see as much of it as possible since we would not be coming back! I changed my tune quickly after just one visit to the Magic Kingdom. I never imagined what an impact this magical place would have on me and my family!
Susan writes about her WDW vacation in February, 2006: "Hi John, Concerning the section of the newsletter for people suffering from WDW withdrawal, I just had to write and tell you about our crazy trip in February. Usually, I make our reservations for the end of January/first of February in November - just after we get back from our annual end of October/first of November trip to WDW. But this year we decided to take a break from a winter trip and save up for a longer fall trip with friends (besides, four visits to WDW and a 7 day cruise on the Magic in 2005 should have been enough for a while). Well, starting a week before the time we usually leave, my husband began the 'This time last year' litany. Such as 'This time last year, we were sitting down to dinner at the Kona Cafe' right down to the 'This time last year, we were on our way home.' I heard so many 'this time last year's,' I was ready to scream. So I did what any self-respecting Disneyholic would do - on February 5th I looked at air fares on a whim and was shocked at how low they were. I called Disney reservations and was disappointed (but not surprised) that The Polynesian and The Contemporary were booked the next week. I called a few hours later and was lucky to get a room at The Contemporary for February 12th through the 15th. I booked everything we needed from the air fare to the room to a scooter for my husband and the Magical Express from the airport to The Contemporary. Then I told my husband something like 'This time last year you had been home from Disney for almost a month but this time next week you'll be there again.' For a few bright, shining minutes there was joy. Then we heard the dreaded four-letter word - snow. And then my husband, ever the pessimist, said we weren't going. By the time Friday rolled around, I decided to check the airport information. The local weathermen were drooling and had that glazed look that only hurricanes and blizzards can achieve. While everyone else is wondering if toilet paper and milk will still be available in two days, I'm wondering if the airport has roll-out cots for rent. Then I called the airline Friday evening and was informed by a cheerful voice that they were going to call me to let me know that they had already canceled our flight. Our options were to either save our southbound leg for another time (what was I supposed to do with the return trip?) or get out of town on Saturday morning. I opted for Saturday morning. Then I had to call Disney reservations and get a room for one more night. God help me, there were absolutely no rooms available on Disney property! Of 29,000 rooms from value to deluxe, not one single room was available. Finally, the castmember I was working with looked at the hotels over by the Disney Marketplace. The Buena Vista Palace had a room so I grabbed it. But the Magical Express doesn't run to the hotels over by the Marketplace so I had to rent a vehicle for pickup at the airport that would fit the scooter we needed for my husband. After everything was reorganized for the extra day and I got off the phone for the last time, I ran down the stairs yelling 'Pack your bag, we have to leave here in five hours!' Needless to say, I didn't sleep that night. But we did get out before the snow hit. Sunday, February 12th saw 18 inches in our neighborhood. We've been going to WDW for enough years to know that this time of the year can be iffy as far as the weather is concerned. We've had some gorgeous years and we've had some 'what were we thinking' years. This was almost one of the 'what were we thinking' years because the weather was so cold and windy. But the weather couldn't ever hold us back from having a great time at Walt Disney World. Between the attractions, food and the castmembers who've become close friends, the weather is just a little blip on the radar screen." Wow! That's quite a story! It's amazing how things still come together at the last minute despite all the obstacles. The secret is to be flexible. A little luck doesn't hurt, either! :) Barry writes: "John, I wanted to share a recent experience with you and your readers. Also could use some advice on what I should do. Below is a letter I emailed to Guest Communications back in January after a terrible stay at the Contemporary. I "cc" this email to Ryan Gerard, and Guest communications. I hope they realize just how big your subscription audience is, and how high of a regard disney-goers hold your advice!
Reservations for Disney restaurants, including Chef Mickey's, must be made 180 days in advance. Your room location is noted on your reservation confirmation. If you don't like your assigned building/room, call Disney immediately to see if you can make a change. Disney does offer some decent discounts to Florida residents during the year. Yes, Disney's customer service can sometimes be found lacking. Donna and I have had some problems over the years, but overall the good definitely outweighs the bad. Still, Disney could have been more sensitive to your complaints. If a castmember fails to solve your problem, ask to see the manager. I have other addresses that you can write to. See: http://www.affordabledisney.com/email.html. Let me know if you get a response. -------------------------------- Jennette writes: "Dear John, I noticed that in Barry's letter he could not get seating at Chef Mickey's. Almost everyone who goes to WDW knows about priority seating 180 days in advance, don't they? Also, when you call to get a reservation, and your confirmation comes in the mail or over the internet via e-mail, it says garden wing room, or main building. Why were they so surprised? I spend a lot of time and energy making sure that my vacation is a good one. I think if you put forth the effort, you get results. And with regard to your footnote: WDW DOES offer some great discounts for Florida residents. Much better than the rest of us get. I would also like to know if they spoke to a manager right away in person. That usually helps. Writing a letter (with sarcastic notes in parenthesis) after the fact does not always get the results you want." -------------------------------- Beth, our travel agent, sent us these comments on Barry's letter we published in issue #317 about his disappointing experience at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Barry was used to staying at the Swan and Dolphin Hotel: "Reading Barry's note in your newsletter made me really sad. I never like to hear about someone having a bad trip to Disney - and fortunately it doesn't happen very often - but in this case nearly every item mentioned was so avoidable. Barry mentioned his girlfriend going off to a conference, and the Contemporary does host plenty of them. This could well be a case of people who decided to take advantage of a convention rate on the rooms without doing much research on the resort itself first. No matter what the situation, though, it certainly emphasizes the importance of doing your homework first - or at least contacting someone that can fill you in before you go. Lest there may be readers out there that have suddenly decided they never want to set foot in the Contemporary based on Barry's report, I think it's only fair to point out a few things... 1) The Contemporary is one of the two original Disney hotels and was built back in the 70s so expecting it to look as updated as the name would suggest isn't realistic. To Disney's credit the entire resort is being extensively refurbished, so construction noise can be expected after 8AM (when most guests are out of their rooms, or at least up and getting dressed). The refurbished rooms are really lovely, and you can request one when you reserve (although they won't make any promises). 2) There are eight 'deluxe resorts' and the Contemporary can be a real bargain among them if you can get one of the standard view wing rooms because you're paying not much more than standard view rates at the Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge AND getting the added perk of a great monorail location. OK, so the view isn't wonderful - but in Disney terms "standard view" translates to "parking lot view" at ALL the resorts so that's what one should expect. Anything better is a bonus. If you want to be in the tower with a view of Cindy's castle you'll pay a lot more for it. 3) Rooms at ALL Disney resorts are officially ready at 3PM, so if you check in earlier count yourself lucky if you can get into the room before that. 4) Yes, it does get cold in Florida in the winter and it does occasionally rain. If you're unfortunate enough to be hit by them simultaneously then you'll be both cold and wet if not dressed appropriately - and that would go for nearly ALL the resorts, not just the Contemporary. Many require at least some amount of walking outside to get from the front desk to the rooms. Given that Barry lives only three hours away from Disney, I'm a little surprised that he and his girlfriend were caught off guard by the weather. 5) Chef Mickey's is a very highly sought after character breakfast so it's not unusual that they couldn't just walk up and be seated. The same holds true of ALL character meals. My guess is that they probably could have been accommodated at the Concourse Steakhouse next to Chef Mickey's where they serve a nice breakfast and usually have at least a little space for walk-ups. 6) Finally, you'd be surprised how often a Disney hotel is sold out even on dates that you wouldn't expect. They do a good job of selling to convention and meeting planners for off dates as well as holding special events like the marathon, cheerleading competition, etc. so it's very possible that there wouldn't be any place to move you to if you don't like your room. In summary, I think this is a case where the guest had expectations based on incorrect and/or preconceived ideas of what the stay would be like. Had he known in advance that his room would be in a wing, that there was construction going on, etc. he could have done a different hotel - or at least been better mentally prepared for the Contemporary experience. Barry DOES have some very valid points about soaked luggage (bellmen DO have to go outside, but the luggage should have been covered) and an unwillingness to provide robes in a more timely manner given that Disney was responsible for their clothes being all wet. I, too, have found that the check-in wait time can seem unbearable at times (although that can be true of ANY hotel). The Swan and Dolphin are fine resorts - among the best of the Sheraton and Westin chains - but I have always found them to be just that... a Sheraton and a Westin. They could be located in any city in the country. I find the service there to be at least as good as others in their chain - but generally no better than the typical service I get at a Disney resort. If you can stay in them on points or get a really great discounted rate that's one thing, but otherwise, if your budget can handle it, a Disney resort is the way to go in most cases. I hope that Barry gives Disney another chance - but the next time, he needs to spend a few minutes reading up on his resort before booking (or at least consulting someone who can supply the details)."
Wendy writes about her visit to WDW in January, 2006: "Hi John, I've been a Canadian member of your website for about 5 years and have been dealing with [your travel agent] Beth all of that time. She has become someone I correspond with regularly and we religiously book every trip with her (as well as recommend her to every friend and co-worker we know are looking to go to Disney). We're from the Ottawa area in Canada and it's darn cold here so many people make a trip south each winter. Beth is absolutely the best travel agent around and a wonderful person who definitely goes out of her way for her clients - she makes everyone feel like a friend. We've had the good fortune to meet up with Beth on one of our trips a couple of years ago and I've been corresponding ever since. I sent her this trip report about our Jan/Feb 2006 trip and she felt it might be of interest to you. We spent two nights with family, 3 nights in Sarasota specifically in St. Armand's Circle and 5 nights in Disney at Port Orleans - Riverside.
Donna (Lifetime Affordable Disney Member) writes about her visit to WDW in January, 2006: "Hi John, I just returned from a wonderful five day trip to DisneyWorld Jan. 29th - Feb. 3rd. My friend and I stayed at Boardwalk and had a Boardwalk view which was great. The weather was nice, it only rained part of Monday and the rest of the week was sunny and mild. The new ride SOARIN at EPCOT was so awesome, We really felt like we were flying and could smell the evergreen trees and orange groves. just how do they do that? Ha. There were hardly any wait times for rides at the parks so most fastpass machines were covered except for SOARIN. we used the fastpass twice. I wanted to say we used [your ticket agent] for our Disney Passes and Cirque Du Soleil La Nouba passes. We bought them in Sept. '05. When we arrived at our resort we noticed the Cirque passes expired 12/30/05. We we very upset because they cost $75 each. I called and talked to [your agent's] father who was wonderful. he told us that Disney expires them every year and comes out with new prices. We knew the hopper passes went up every year, but didn't know the other pass would have an expiration date. He gave us new passes and brought them to the Boardwalk and didn't charge me anything! I have used [your ticket agent] three times and will ALWAYS use them now. We saved a lot of money by using suggestions from your book about food and drinks, and your maps are so much easier to follow. Thanks for all your advice. I enjoy looking over your book even when my Disney trips are a year apart. Many Thanks." Thanks again, Donna, for your generous comments. We are very proud of the service our ticket agent provides to our members.
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