Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Affordable Walt Disney World Vacation

THE DISNEY NEWS
November 23, 2005
Copyright © 1999 - 2005 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved.
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Hi Everyone!

In this blog...

* Deals and specials - including an airline holiday fare
sale
* The latest news from around the "World" - including a
preview of The Chronicles of Narnia on cable
* Wendy asks about getting a Disney Dining Experience card
when you can't wait weeks for delivery
* Beth, our travel agent, continues last week's trip report
* This week's money saving tip - Save 20% and get free
shipping at Disney's online store
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We continuously update our information and you can find
these current specials in our Addenda:

WALT DISNEY WORLD:

Thanksgiving Holiday Special!

We're including with every new membership a FREE Duplicate
Gift Membership for a friend or loved one! Become a Basic
Member and we'll include a FREE Basic Gift Membership.
Become a Lifetime Member and we'll include a FREE Lifetime
Gift Membership!

The Hard Cover/CD version is excluded from this offer, but
we'll include free lifetime online access. If you don't have
the recipient's email address at hand, you can send it to us
any time at johngross@affordabledisney.com. Hurry! Offer
expires today, 11/23/05, at 11:59 PM EST.

You can join our Disney family here.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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This Airline is having a Holiday Fare Sale! Purchase your
tickets by 11:59 p.m.(CST), November 28,= 2005, to take
advantage of these great savings.

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DISNEY CRUISE LINE

Get early booking savings on these three-, four-, seven-,
ten- and eleven-night cruises booked November 21-27 for
travel in 2006. Three-night cruises start at $479 per adult,
double occupancy!

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3-, 4- and 7-night sailings in December and January at
special rates for Florida Residents, including NEW YEARS
EVE! Beth, our travel agent, will book this for Affordable
Disney members at no charge!

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DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA

Save up to $70.00 per adult on Park Hopper Tickets!

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Buy your Disneyland Tickets here and receive a free
collector's pin set with a $100 purchase.

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VEGAS

Las Vegas for New Year's! Beth's travel agency has a great
New Year's deal for you! Sahara from $57; Circus Circus from
$80; Luxor from $113; Riviera from $125; Aladdin from $132;
Wynn from $193. Valid December 28 or 29 (depending on hotel)
- January 1.

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CRUISES

These offers are special rates for upcoming cruises with
limited availability. These rates must be booked Thursday,
November 24th through Sunday, November 27th, 9:00 am - 11:59
pm EST for select sailing dates in 2006. Take a look at the
great cruise deals listed here and make your plans for a
terrific cruise:

* 10-Night Mexican Riviera & Baja Cruise Vacation from $700
* 11-Night Mexico Cruise from $600
* 9-Night Western Caribbean Cruise from $500
* 12-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise from $1000
* 10-Night Mexico Cruise from $800
* 7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise from $500
* 9-Night Bermuda & Caribbean from $1000
* 6-Night Special Western Caribbean Cruise from $500
* All prices are per person, double occupancy

Another well known cruise line is running a similar sale.
Valid for select sailing dates in December, 2005. They also
have a 4-night cruise to the Bahamas, 5-night Southern
Caribbean cruise, and 13-Night Transatlantic Cruise.

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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.
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NEWS FROM AROUND THE "WORLD"

WALT DISNEY WORLD

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe

"Many welcome Disney's film portrayal of a novel laced with
Christian imagery... As with Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster
"The Passion of the Christ," [...] thousands of churches
across the country - through advanced sales, sermons and
study guides - are preparing to flock to a movie that many
perceive as Christian-themed." (Source: ocregister.com, 11/21/05)
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"Tiger Claw and Disney's Martial Arts Festival have
announced the creation of a new national championship of
martial arts tournaments. Throughout 2006, 10 qualifying
tournaments will take place across the United States.
Winners of qualifying tournaments will be eligible to
advance to the Tiger Claw Elite National Championship as
part of Disney's Martial Arts Festival being held October
27-29, 2006 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in the
Walt Disney World Resort, near Orlando Florida."
(Source: tigerclaw.com, 11/17/05)
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"Starz Entertainment Group (SEG), Walt Disney Pictures and
Walden Media announced today that they will partner to bring
Starz and Encore viewers an exclusive sneak peek at Walt
Disney Pictures' and Walden Media's The Chronicles of
Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe prior to its
nationwide theatrical release on December 9. Starz, Starz
Kids & Family and Encore viewers will be taken behind the
wardrobe door to experience a 30-minute original Starz
Original production and a 9-minute sneak peek of the film
beginning on Thursday, November 24... at
the following times (all times are ET/PT):

* 30-minute Starz Original production: Premieres on Starz at
6:30 p.m. and Starz Kids & Family at 8:00 p.m.

* 9-minute teaser: Premieres on Encore at 9:45 p.m. and also
airs on Starz and Starz Kids & Family throughout the day."

(Source: Starz Entertainment Group, 11/17/05)
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"Hit by increased competition, rising gas prices and a
record hurricane season, Universal Orlando's parent company
saw its profits fall 25 percent as attendance slipped at the
Orlando theme park during its most recent quarter, the
company said Tuesday."
(Source: Orlando Sentinel, 11/16/05)
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Walt Disney World Monthly Calendar.
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DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA

Disneyland Resort Calendar
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HONG KONG DISNEYLAND

"Attendance at Hong Kong Disneyland is running below
government forecasts two months after the park opened, the
South China Morning Post reported Monday. Disneyland
officials have refused to say how many people have visited
the park. This has angered lawmakers, who say the public has
the right to know since the government owns 57 percent of
the attraction." (Source: Yahoo! Finance, 11/20/05)
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DISNEYLAND PARIS

"French theme park operator Euro Disney (EDLP.PA: Quote,
Profile, Research) reported a smaller annual net loss on
Wednesday, helped by financial restructuring, but heavy
charges and flat visitor numbers widened its operating
loss." (Source: Reuters, 11/16/05)
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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. If web addresses are broken into more than
one line, copy and paste all lines.
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Wendy writes about the Disney Dining Experience from last
week's issue:

"I was wondering if you knew if there was anywhere to buy
the Disney Dining Experience card for passholders. We were
going to buy one, but our vacation is Dec. 7 and the form
(and phone call) said to allow 4-6 weeks to get the card.
Thanks."

Call 407/566-5858. Ask them to let you stop by Guest
Services for a letter of authorization. Be prepared to show
photo ID.
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Beth, our travel agent, continues last week's trip report:

"Friday we headed down the path to Port Orleans Riverside
for a yummy breakfast at Boatwright's. I'm not big on
breakfast foods, but their sweet potato pancakes are pure
heaven! Then we crammed ourselves onto the bus to MGM and
headed right for Star Tours. This is one of the ones I was
always afraid of. (Claustrophobia, motion sickness, you name
it.) I slathered on some herbal oil behind my ears that's
supposed to take care of motion sickness and mentally tried
to prepare myself for the claustrophobia bit. We had a short
wait - maybe 10 minutes - to get on, and it turns out I was
worried for nothing! I admit I closed my eyes a few times,
but the pod was large enough and the temperature cool enough
that I was OK!

My daughter announced she was very proud of me for facing my
fears, and with that we took off for Who Wants to be a
Millionaire - Play It! I was all ready to be bored to tears,
but it was surprisingly entertaining. I didn't care for the
show's host (who made a few political statements that would
have been best kept to himself), but playing the game was
fun. And yes, even my daughter enjoyed it!

We were all ready to walk to Epcot, but a bus pulled up just
as we exited the MGM gates so we took the lazy way over.
After entering Epcot we went straight to The Land to
experience Soarin,' but were dismayed to see that, even
though it was just after 11:00 in the morning, all the
FastPasses for the day had already been given out! (Big
signs outside the pavilion and inside as well announced this
sad fact.) So we went in anyway, determined to ride. The
standby time listed was 90 minutes, and a cast member
assured us it would really take that long - but it didn't.
It only took 60 minutes of waiting. That's a long time, but
when you're mentally prepared for 90 minutes it's a
wonderful thing! There are plenty of places you can read
about this ride so I won't go into it except to say that it
was well worth the wait, and I'd stand in line again for it
if I had to.

After exiting Soarin' we sauntered across the park to Test
Track to grab a FastPass - and just in the nick of time! It
was about 12:30 at that point, and we snagged the last Test
Track FastPasses for the day. They told us to be back
between 8 and 9 PM!

At that point, we were hungry and a bit tired, so we took
the bus back to French Quarter and had a mediocre lunch at
the resort's food court before going to the room. Our travel
companion napped while I took my daughter out to the serpent
pool for 45 minutes. It was a gorgeous day and all the kids
seemed to be having fun. (It's a great pool for kids.) Then
we went back to the room for a short nap as well.

About 5:00 we got up, freshened ourselves, and went back to
Epcot. We were early, though, and they wouldn't allow us to
enter the attraction more than 5 minutes before our stated
pass time, so we shopped and did a little people-watching.
Finally, we got to head into Test Track, another first for
me. It is most definitely NOT what my daughter refers to as
a "mommy ride," but I lived through Star Tours so I figured
it couldn't be that bad! Well, claustrophobia wasn't a
problem and the herbal oil behind the ears was good for the
motion sickness, but that's the closest I've ever come - or
ever care to come - to being on a rollercoaster. Those of
you that love this ride are probably laughing, but when our
little car went flying into that outdoor curve every muscle
in my body was tensed. Some may call it exhilarating. I call
it insane. And yes, my daughter loved it, and no, she did
NOT talk me into doing Mission: Space! Instead, we actually
skipped Illuminations (something only those of us who are at
WDW often would/should even think about doing) and got a
seat on the bus back to the hotel. We had dinner at the food
court and dropped into bed with a smiles on our faces."

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK
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DISNEY SECRETS NOW IN HARD COVER!

The Hard Cover/CD version of our "Secrets To An Affordable
Walt Disney World® Vacation" is now available with a Deluxe
Lifetime Membership!

These professionally printed works (weighing over 6 1/2 lbs)
come in two beautiful 3-ring binders with inside pockets.
You can easily add more pages to the binders in the future,
if you wish, and keep important documents in the inside
pockets where you can quickly access them.

Plus! Our book and all our reports are now available on CD!
You'll be able to access our book and reports on your
computer without paying for costly Internet access or trying
to figure out how to download!

Click Here To Learn More
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MONEY SAVING TIP

Disneyshopping.com:
Save another 20% with your $75 purchase when you use coupon
code: THANKS. Plus! Enjoy FREE shipping for the holidays!
Expires 11/24/05.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Don't Leave Home Without It!

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?

With the Orlando Entertainment Book, you can save big on
travel, groceries, shopping, movie tickets, and more!
Receive a FREE $5.00 gift card from Target when you order
the 2006 version. Coupons in the 2006 book are valid through
11/01/06. Save at hotels and restaurants near Walt Disney
World, on car rental, airfare, admission to Universal
Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa!
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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