Sunday, May 29, 2005

Affordable Walt Disney World Vacation Updates

THE DISNEY NEWS
May 30, 2005
Copyright © 1999 - 2005 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved.
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Hi Everyone!

This just in...

Stay at this Downtown Disney Resort from $69 per night!
Upgrade to a Disney View Tower room overlooking Downtown
Disney and Epcot's nightly IllumiNations for only $10 extra
per night! Valid for stays between August 14 through
September 30, 2005.

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Stay at this hotel near Universal Orlando and enjoy
complimentary transportation to Universal Orlando, SeaWorld,
Discovery Cove, Wet 'n Wild, and Universal CityWalk. This is
a freshly renovated, full service hotel in an exceptional
Florida setting. Book the special offer from $119 per night
and receive one in-room movie per stay. Offer available for
Sunday through Thursday arrivals, June 1 - 30, 2005.

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DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA

Save up to $40.00 on Disneyland Park Hopper Tickets! Plus!
Receive a discount coupon for up to 20% savings on
Disneyland merchandise with your ticket purchase!

Members of this organization living in Southern California
can buy a ticket which grants admission to Disneyland or
Disney's California Adventure for 4 days for $89 (all ages)!
That's less than $25 per day! Ticket must be used by
06/23/05.

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OTHER VACATION SPECIALS

Stay at this luxury Hotel & Casino select nights May through
August 31, 2005 from $79.99 per night! Offer must be booked
by June 5, 2005. Included with your stay:

2 for 1 Breakfast
2 for 1 Drinks
$10 Credit at Starbucks

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Affordable Disney Members should email me for details on
these latest deals at johngross@affordabledisney.com

If you are not a member, you can join our Disney family here.
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A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

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"I thought I knew all the tips for saving money at WDW, even
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is legit." The New York Post, November 16, 2004.

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News From Around The "World"

WALT DISNEY WORLD

WDW 2006 Room Rates And Season Dates

Beth, our travel agent, writes:

The 2006 rates are in, and the news is pretty much as
expected: The rates have gone up a bit.

Value resort rates for regular season aren't changing, but
they're up $2 a night for value season, $6 a night for peak
season, and $6 a night for holiday season.

Moderate resorts room rates have gone up $5-6 across the
board, except that water view and king bed rooms in
'regular" season are up $10 over this year.

The increase on suites at Coronado Springs resort range from
$10 - $30 per night.

The rate "seasons" for value and moderate resorts are
similar to the revised calendar for this year.

Value season: 1/1 - 2/15, 8/27-10/4, 11/26 - 12/19
Regular season: 4/23 - 8/26, 10/5-11/25
Peak season: 2/16 - 4/22
Holiday season: 12/20 - 12/31

The deluxe resorts have the biggest changes. At the lower
priced ones (Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge) they're
up $5-15 a night, with as much as a $30 a night increase on
the larger suites. Popular deluxe resorts like the
Polynesian are seeing larger increases (from $11 and up).

Increases at the Villas are in the $10-20 a night range.
Campsite rates are up $1-$3 a night, and the cabin rates are
up $5-10 a night.

The rate calendar for deluxe and Home Away From Home resorts
is the same as for the value and moderate resorts EXCEPT
that the rates drop to value season on 7/5 instead of 8/26.
There's also a category of pricing that only applies to
campsites, called pre-holiday, which runs 11/17 - 12/19
(similar to this year).

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Grand Gatherings Prices Going Up!

Beth continues:

Effective for events booked on or after July 3, there will
be some new pricing in effect for Grand Gatherings events.

* The child's price for the Illuminations Dinner will be
$24.99 (up $5).

* The child's price for the Safari Celebration Dinner will
be $24.99 (up $5).

* The adult price for the Good Morning Gathering will be
$26.99 and the child price will be $13.99 (up $2 each)

* The adult price for the Magical Fireworks Voyage will be
$34.99 and the child price will be $19.99 (up $5 each)

Grand Gatherings participants can now order a special
collector pin ($6.50 each), and they've also come out with a
custom t-shirt that has a blue and green Magical
Gathering/castle logo on the front and the name and date of
your gathering screened on the back. Prices for shirts are
$17/$15/$13 for adult/child/infant. All prices are plus FL
sales tax."
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DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA

What's New at Attractions outside Disneyland

"Creation has been described as "a wonderfully original
masterpiece of moving, intelligent theater that
unapologetically tackles the age- old question of the origin
of life." Is it science, God, or a little bit of both? You
decide...Call 800/549-6177 or see
http://www.creationlive.com for tickets and information."

"The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific debuts Whales: A
Journey with Giants on May 27, 2005. Click here.

"On December 7, 2004, Knott's Berry Farm introduced their
brand new attraction - Silver Bullet. Knott's seventh roller
coaster has been billed as the longest, tallest and fastest
suspended rollercoaster in the West." Click here.

"LEGOLAND California's new Knights' Tournament attraction
opened May 16, 2005... Miniland New York City received a
two-million-LEGO brick renovation in March 2005... Wild
Woods Golf... mini-golf... is scheduled to open June 2005."
Click here.

"SeaWorld Adventure Park San Diego launched its all-new sea
lion and otter show, Clyde and Seamore in Deep, Deep
Trouble, on March 19, 2005." Click here.

"Universal Studios Hollywood launches its newest attraction
Fear Factor Live in June 2005. Based on the popular NBC
program 'Fear Factor,'... Guests can compete against each
other in a series of extreme stunts that have been developed
with help from the show's creators." Click here.

(Source: Email promotion from Anaheim/Orange County Visitor
& Convention Bureau, 05/26/05)
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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.
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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 here.
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Christa writes:

"John,

We are planning a trip to Disney/DCL in October. I have
planned for magical express for transportation. How long is
the wait at the airport? Is it worth it....or should I book
through Mears? Our flight is due to get in at noon...and I
don't want to wait long...can't wait to get to WDW!!! thanks
for your help with our dilemma!"

The wait at the airport is short - just minutes. The wait
for your luggage to arrive at your hotel can take hours. I
would use it. Disney should have the bugs worked out by
October!

Karen adds:

"I just returned from a land/sea/land trip it was wonderful.
The Magical Express was great. We had booked this trip
before this system went into effect, but it worked great, a
little confusion at the airport on arrival, but overall it
was great. Leaving the French Quarter was so easy, we did
the resort/airport check in so we were able to get our
boarding passes right at the resort, the luggage was taken
and tagged from there so when we got to Orlando airport all
we had to do was go through the security screening and we
were all set. When we got off the plane at home, everything
was there!

I love your site and have gotten so much information from
you, I just had to let you know about this."

Thanks again, Karen, for the wonderful feedback and your
kind comments.
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Fran writes:

"Hi John,

Thanks for all the wonderful information in your newsletter.
I have saved plenty of $$$ using your tips over my 3 last
trips to Disney.

My question to you is about the Food & Wine Festival in
Oct/Nov this year. I've convinced 3 of my friends that this
is a great time to go. I experienced it two years ago. How
can I find out more about the timetable, or how to make
reservations for any of the special dinners or seminars. We
want to go when we can do a few of the "special" things.
Thanks for all your help."

Call 407/939-3378 for information or to make reservations.
Disney will publish more details this summer at:
http://www.disneyworld.com
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Don't Leave Home Without It!

Disney offers special deals to Disney's Visa cardholders.
Plus, you'll get 25 Disney Dream Reward Dollars FREE after
your first purchase! For more details, click here.

Universal offers special deals to Universal Entertainment
MasterCard cardholders. Apply now and receive a movie ticket
with your first purchase! For more details, click here.
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Affordable Disney Books

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
To check out the bargains, click here.
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Got Coupons?

Here's a great deal on the 2005 Edition of the Orlando
Entertainment Book, which can save you thousands on travel,
groceries, shopping, movie tickets, and more! For a limited
time, all 2005 Entertainment books are 50% OFF their retail
price or just $12.50 a book! Now you can buy two books for
the price of one and save even more! You could buy one for
Florida and one for your local area! Offers in the 2005
books are valid through November 1, 2005. For details, click here.
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Affordable Accommodations

Get the guaranteed lowest prices at the Downtown Disney
Resorts as well as at hotels, condos and vacation rentals
outside Disney property. Plus! Receive up to a $100.00 rebate! For hotels, click here.
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Affordable Car Rental

Just enter in your travel dates, select the kind of car you
want, and receive a list of car rental prices at over 12
companies starting with the cheapest price! Click here.

Cheryl writes: "I saved over $200.00 on my mini van rental!!!"
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Affordable Airfare

This service delivers as many as 230 flight options in a
single search - more options than any other travel site.
It's possible to save as much as 80%! To compare prices, click here.
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Affordable Luggage

Save up to 60% on Luggage, Backpacks, and more! Click here.
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Own a piece of the Magic Kingdom

Disney framed stock certificates are works of art. They
feature Walt Disney and the Disney characters. Unlike stock
brokers that require you to purchase several shares of
stock, OneShare sells one share of stock and mails you the
certificate. You can frame the stock certificate yourself or
OneShare will frame if for you at a nominal cost. Click here.
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See You Real Soon!

John

AffordableDisney.Com.
johngross@affordabledisney.com
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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.
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