Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Affordable Walt Disney World Vacation

THE DISNEY NEWS
May 17, 2006
Copyright © 1999 - 2006 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved.
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Hi Everyone!

In this blog...

* Deals and specials - Discount tickets to Disney's Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon!
* The latest news from around the "World" - including changes at Downtown Disney
* Beth, our travel agent, writes about the new 2007 rates for WDW's Value resorts
* Kimberley writes about her recent nine-day trip to WDW
* This week's money saving tip: cheap gas stations near you!
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We continuously update our information and you can find
these current specials in our Addenda:

WALT DISNEY WORLD

Time is running out!

* Special for Canadian, Wyoming and Hawaiian Adventures ends May 31!

* Walt Disney World Resort Special for Florida Residents ends June 3!

* Free dining at Disney's Magical Beginnings special ends June 4!

* FREE dining with this late summer package ends June 4!

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Discounts at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon

Our ticket agent now sells Disney Water Park tickets at a
discount. Plus! Its a huge convenience for customers since
the lines at the water parks to pay gate price can be pretty
long in the mornings.

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New Sweeps!

Win a 4-night trip for four to Orlando!
Win a 3-night trip for two to Orlando!

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Sensible Luxury. Natural Beauty. Perfect Summer Getaway

Enjoy:

* a round of golf on one of two Greg Norman-designed golf courses
* an afternoon of pampered indulgence at The Spa
* scheduled activities for children and teens
* two pools, a waterslide, 850-foot lazy river

Close to local attractions and only 6 miles from Walt Disney World. Only $143 per night valid 05/07/06-07/04/06. Special rate of $127 per night is valid Memorial Day Weekend! Three night minimum stay required. Black out dates include: May 16-23 and June 5-6.

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VEGAS

Casino/Resort Summer Special: Drench yourself in Five Diamond Luxury with these special Sunday - Thursday rates July 2 - September 7, 2006:

Deluxe Rooms - $159/night
Suites from $249/night
Upgrade any suite to lake view for only $50/night!

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Casino/Resort Summer Splash: From $89 per night! Promotion runs May 16 - September 6, 2006. Includes:

* $25 Entertainment Credit
* 2 Complimentary Poolside Cocktails
* One Complimentary Inner Tube Rental

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If you are not a member, you can join our Disney family here. Members can use the following URLs to log in:

Lifetime Deluxe Member
Lifetime Basic Member
Deluxe Member
Basic Member
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NEWS FROM AROUND THE "WORLD"

WALT DISNEY WORLD

Playhouse Disney's Play 'N Dine

A new character meal will be offered at MGM's Hollywood & Vine starting June 25 featuring characters from "Jo Jo's Circus" and "Little Einsteins." Call 407/WDW-DINE (407/939-3463) to make your reservation.
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"According to reports that leaked out of Emeryville late last week, the Dreamfinder is coming back to Epcot's 'Journey into Imagination attraction."
(Source: Jim Hill Media, 05/15/06)
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"Combined, Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld are looking to hire more than 8,000 summer and permanent workers this month and next. Most of the jobs are entry-level positions paying $6.90 to $7.50 an hour."
(Source: Orlando Sentinel, 05/15/06)
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"Around the World at Epcot invites visitors to tour World Showcase in a way that's truly fitting for Walt's 'Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow' -- aboard a Segway Human Transporter... For an $80 admission upgrade, participants can join a guided glide around World Showcase before it opens to everyone else."
(Source: Orlando Sentinel, 05/12/06)
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"Gallagher's Gardens was chosen to construct a "pondless" waterfall [for the International Flower and Garden Show] in the Germany area of EPCOT. The 6.5-foot-tall waterfall was placed in an area that focuses on children." (Source: High Springs Herald, 05/13/06)

"Aquascape Designs and a select group of Certified Aquascape Contractors (CAC) traveled to Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center for the fourth year in a row to showcase water features. The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival made a statement once again that water features are hot and they’re here to stay by including them in the exhibit." (Source: lawnandlandscape.com, 05/08/06)
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Disney's Tarzan opened last week on Broadway. See the following links for reviews:

NY Times
Washington Post
USA Today
Times Online
NY Post
Yahoo! News
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"No matter what Walt Disney does with its bar scene, shopping is driving most of the changes at Downtown Disney... To enliven the shopping experience, Pleasure Island has been opened up to shorten the walk between the main shopping districts -- Marketplace and West Side -- on either end of Downtown Disney. Disney also will add more water taxis and a dock at Pleasure Island, so people can travel by ferry." (Source: Orlando Sentinel , 05/10/06)
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Walt Disney World Monthly Calendar. =================================================
OUTSIDE WALT DISNEY WORLD

"Universal Orlando is closing its in-house call center operations and contracting out the work to an Illinois-based company, leaving 55 people scrambling for jobs this week... The work, which includes vacation bookings, is being given to Virtual Agent Services of Shaumburg, Ill., which has call centers in Canada. That company already has worked with Universal to handle hotel room bookings."
(Source: Orlando Sentinel, 05/12/06)
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"The chief of Walt Disney's parks and resorts said Tuesday that he expects the gentler version of Epcot's Mission: Space to attract more guests than before once it debuts this summer." (Source: Orlando Sentinel , 05/10/06)

"Next year Mission: Space will get some competition from Kennedy Space Center, which on Tuesday announced details of a $60 million space shuttle simulator [Shuttle Launch Experience] scheduled to open next spring... The platform- based motion simulator will jolt riders back and forth and, along with other special effects, will create sensations of acceleration and then a transition to weightlessness when the capsule's payload bay doors open to reveal a view of Earth from space." (Source: Orlando Sentinel , 05/10/06)
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Believe Premieres at SeaWorld

"The new show delivers a stadium full of new effects and orchestral music to dramatize what one reviewer has called 'a killer whale ballet.' But the biggest difference from old Shamu shows may be that Believe is as much about the trainers as the whales. The 30-minute show mixes a tale about a young boy who dreams of killer whales, with the real, first-person stories told by SeaWorld's trainers." (Source: Orlando Sentinel , 05/11/06)

Click here for a review.
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DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA

Pin Trading Event

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Legend of the Golden Pins" will take place June 23 through August 13 at Disneyland.
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The Second Annual Star Wars Fan Day will take place at Disneyland June 25, 2006. For more information, click here.
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"Amid controversy over the placement of paroled sex offenders at hotels and motels near Disneyland, the state fired its parole chief and began removing offenders from areas closest to the theme park, officials said Thursday."
(Source: latimes.com, 05/12/06)
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Disneyland Resort Calendar
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OUTSIDE DISNEYLAND

New Roller Coaster Debuts at Magic Mountain

"This year, under Six Flag Inc.'s new Chief Executive Robert Shapiro, the park is reinventing itself again into a more family-centered theme park. Besides Tatsu [their 17th coaster], it is staging daily parades and performances for those who feel a coaster's rightful place is under a cold drink." (Source: ocregister.com, 05/13/06)
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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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2007 VALUE RESORT RATES RELEASED!

Beth, our travel agent, writes:

"The 2007 rates for the value resorts (and ONLY the value resorts) have been released, and I've been pondering them a bit this evening. At first glance it seems that the rates are up $3-4 across the board for next year - but there's a new 'season' added called SUMMER and that increases the rates for May 24 - August 4 by a whopping $10 a night compared to this year. Ok, so $10 doesn't sound like much, but that's a 10% increase! I am, however, very happy to see that they've backed off the dates for value season. Instead of starting at the end of August (the 27th this year), value season will start on August 5. That's great news for families where school doesn't start until after Labor Day.

I expect to see at least a few more of the 2007 rates out probably this week - and also expect that the rates will increase similarly. Keep in mind that you CAN book now for 2007 even though the rates aren't all set yet. Disney will, however, adjust your rates accordingly when they are set, so booking now holds just your space, not the price."
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Kimberley writes:

"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." =================================================
MONEY SAVING TIP

Cheap Gas Stations

Just enter your zip code at this site and it will tell you which gas stations have the cheapest prices (and the highest) in your area. It's updated every evening. =================================================
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! 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! 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! Donna and I bought a beautiful 5-piece set of Samsonite luggage for our daughter for Christmas for $144! 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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