Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Affordable Walt Disney World Vacation

THE DISNEY NEWS
June 14, 2006
Copyright © 1999 - 2006 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved.
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Hi Everyone!

In this blog...

* Deals and specials - save up to $75 per night at WDW resorts!
* The latest news from around the "World" - Disney will choose families to sleep over night in the MK Castle during their newest "Dream" promotion!
* Beth, our travel agent, writes about a Disney Beach vacation
* Rosemary writes about her experience in the Judges
Tent where she waited to see the Disney princesses.
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We continuously update our information and you can find
these current specials in our Addenda:

ROOM DISCOUNTS FOR LATE SUMMER

Value resorts - $25 off per night!
Moderates - $50 off per night!
Deluxe - $75 off per night!
Cabins/Villas - $75 off per night!

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* Kids go to SeaWorld FREE when you book this vacation
package!

* FREE Dining at Disney's Magical Beginnings program to draw
pre-school aged children during the off season. Extended to
June 25!

* FREE Dining Plan with this Disney package! Save over
$150.00 per day! Extended to June 25!

* Receive a 5th Day FREE when you purchase a Walt Disney
World 4-Day Magic Your Way Base or Hopper ticket with 14 day
Expiration!

* More than 10 ways to win a FREE vacation to Walt
Disney World!

* Deals for the military, teachers, government workers,
nurses, Florida residents!

* Buy one, get one free tickets to Universal Studios and
Islands of Adventure!

* All you can eat at Universal Studios or Islands of
Adventure for less than $20!

* Save up to $40.00 per ticket to Disneyland California!

* Special discounted rates for vacation packages at
Disneyland Paris!

* Las Vegas Hotels & Casinos from $79 per night!

* Cruises to Europe and the Caribbean from $599 per person -
even during the holidays!

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NEW SWEEPS

Win a 4-night trip for four to Kissimmee, Florida!
Win a 3-night trip for four to Disneyland!
Win a 3-night trip for four to Walt Disney World!
Win a 3-night trip for four to any SeaWorld Park!

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DISNEYLAND PARIS

Summer Vacation Package: More magic for less money! 4 nights/5 days for the price of 3 nights/4 days! Package includes:

* 4 nights accommodations on Disney property
* Access to the Disney parks during your entire stay - from the day you arrive until and including day of departure!
* Breakfast at your hotel
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AIRFARE SPECIAL

Companion Flies Free: Two can go for the price of one! Save up to $600! Participating properties:

Cancun's Riviera Maya Cancun
Allegro Playacar Le Blanc Spa Resort
Aventura Spa Palace Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort
Occidental Grand Xcaret
Iberostar Paraiso Beach Cozumel
Iberostar Paraiso Lindo Allegro Cozumel
Iberostar Paraiso Maya Cozumel Palace
Iberostar Tucan Playacar Iberostar Cozumel
Playacar Palace Occidental Grand Cozumel
Royal Hideaway Playacar
Xpu-Ha Palace
Puerto Vallarta
Allegro Nuevo Vallarta
Vallarta Palace

Book by: 06/25/06 for travel: 06/14/06 - 12/15/06.

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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

Early Entry at Water Parks: WDW Resort Guests can now enjoy Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach Water Parks one hour before the gates open to the general public!
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Disney to promote dreams

"At its two U.S. parks, Disney will launch the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration in October, where park visitors will be randomly awarded "dreams" such as a night in the Mickey Mouse Penthouse at Disneyland or private meetings with Disney characters." (Source: Reuters, 06/07/06)


Here's Disney's Press Release.


Here's Disney's official link.

It's every little girl's dream come true: Spending the night in Cinderella Castle.
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"Cinderella fans must wait a while longer before learning details of what a night in her castle might be like -- and then wait until January for a chance to win such a visit.
Walt Disney World officials say they haven't worked out many details about the part of their big, new, yearlong promotion that is piquing imaginations: a chance to spend the night in the royal chamber at Cinderella Castle."
(Source: Orlando Sentinel, 06/10/06)
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Walt Disney World Monthly Calendar.
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DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA

Disneyland Resort Calendar
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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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A Disney Beach Vacation?

Beth, our travel agent, writes:

"I can't count the number of times I hear the comment, 'We want to stay at Caribbean Beach Resort so we can spend some time in the sand.' OK, maybe not those exact words, but it's obvious that many people think they can get something like a beach vacation if they choose that hotel. No doubt this misconception comes from the photos that Disney uses for publicity on that resort. Here are the facts...

* You can't swim in the lakes. There are signs saying as much, but they don't go into detail about WHY you can't swim in the lakes. They don't want to scare you, but the fact is, there are alligators in Disney lakes just like nearly every other fresh water lake in the Florida peninsula. Trust me when I tell you that you often can't see one until it's too late. Are they definitely in there? No, but they could be. (I see them all the time in the waters in front of the Yacht Club.)

* This is a HUGE resort. It even has its own internal bus system. This is the only moderate resort where the front desk isn't in the same building as the food and gift shop. In fact, they are on opposite sides of the resort. Only one of the eight pools has a themed water slide, so you may be quite a hike from some key areas of the resort.

* There are no elevators in the building at this resort, so request the first floor if you don't want to be carrying your tired kids up the stairs at night.

* Although this resort is one of the few that nearly always has cots available at $15 per night, you cannot pre-reserve them and you still cannot exceed the 4-person maximum occupancy (plus a child under age 3). If you have five people age 3+ then you need to stay in the Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside (which, coincidentally, doesn't have elevators, either - although they DO have them in The Magnolia Bend section.) You'll get a trundle bed for the 5th person at no extra charge.

* All four moderate resorts and most of the deluxe resorts have access to water and offer watercraft rental. Caribbean Beach Resort is one of TWO moderates with lakeside sandy areas and beach chairs, the other being Coronado Springs. Several deluxe resorts have 'beaches.' In other words, the Caribbean Beach Resort isn't the only Disney resort to offer a sand and water experience."
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Rosemary writes:

"John:

I have enjoyed your website as I have been planning our 10 day Disney World adventure since last summer/fall.

I wanted to tell you about my trip in case you could use any of the info.

First, we stayed at Pop Century and loved it. Asked for a room change to be closer to the Hippy Dippy Pool and after 3 nights around the corner from it, we spent the next 6 nights right at the pool. Very convenient to the Classic Hall too and appreciated the staff honoring our request (we did pay for preferred room). Also, had asked for and did receive the ground floor.

The food was delicious in the dining room. We shipped food to ourselves (we flew so couldn't easily transport it). The wholesome snacks tided us over between meals - nuts, jerkys, trail mix, power bars, cereals, crackers, poptarts, raisins, etc. We brought along plenty of baggies to make fresh supplies every day and the two days we went to the different water parks, we were able to picnic with our food alone. Also, it was so easy to snack while waiting in line and not feel like you were wasting time in the food lines just to get a snack. It gave us lots of fuel to do it all!

Now to the big story regarding customer service - it has a happy ending! I waited in the Judge's Tent for an hour to see the princesses. During this time, folks would pass me to catch up to their families. My daughters and husband were over at Ariel's Grotto so I was the lineholder. There are no signs posted as to the expected wait times or that your group must stay together. If you have never waited in this line, there are a series of turns in the line that bring you to a new "room" so you never really see an end. Well, all of a sudden I found myself ushered into the room with the princesses! And my children are not with me! I had suspected I was close so I had called my husband and they were en route, but were not fast enough to catch up to me before I went in. So I told a lady there, 'My daughters are on their way. They'll be here in a minute.' She said we had to all be together in the line the whole time, there was no line holding allowed and that I just had to go!

I left the Princess Room and was very upset! I had just wasted an hour of my time! I went back to the head of the line to speak to the posted attendant. I told her what happened, she said there wasn't anything she could do, so I asked to speak to someone who could do something about it.

The manager arrived explaining they were working on signs to advise families to stay together and advising of wait times and told me the lady shouldn't have told me to leave and that I could go back and see the Princesses still. I told him, 'I didn't wait in a line an hour so I could see them, but so that my daughters could see them!' By this time, my daughters were with me looking forlorn and disappointed. I pointed out that the signs were not there, that no one had advised me of the families staying together deal and that people had been passing me in order to catch up to their family. I just told him it was disappointing to waste an hour of my time and not get the opportunity for my daughters to see the Princesses. 'Isn't there anything you can do?' I pleaded.

He said, 'Come with me.' So he took us in the back way and we got to see the Princesses and we all lived happily ever after!

The point I want to get across to the folks reading this is: First, if you go to the Judge's Tent STAY TOGETHER AS A GROUP! Second, if you experience disappointment at Disney World just talk to one of the Cast Members. I'll bet he or she will do everything in their power to right the wrong. In this case, this gentleman did the right thing and he didn't have to. But it only took 4 minutes and saved the day!

Another thing I'd like to report: I hemmed and hawed about reserving a character meal - my kids were adamant they weren't interested! - so I never booked ahead. Finally, with 3 days left, they expressed interest so using the dining reservation number I had saved in my cell I called and was able to book a Princess breakfast at the castle on our last day. She only had room for 2. My 12 year old graciously declined so her little 7 year old sister could go. Two days before the breakfast, we stopped by the podium at the Castle to confirm our reservation and to ask if we could add another 2. They did have room and were happy to add two more - hey, it's another easy $70 for them! The point of this story: Even if you leave home without reservations to a popular character breakfast doesn't mean that you won't get one. Just call the dining number or go by the restaurant and see what they have available.

If you are like me and like a more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants schedule, go ahead and put the Disney Dining number into your cell phone (or from any park phone you can call using *88). We did this another time reserving at Fulton's Crab House 1 1/2 hours prior to showing up when we knew we would actually be heading over to Downtown Disney. We were seated immediately. Again, this method does not guarantee you a reservation but it does quicken the process and if there is availability, why not secure your spot ahead of time instead of showing up and waiting?"
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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! 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! 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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