Q.

Now we are home, and have all of the exact details describing the camera and case.

If there had been a link somewhere, I would be able to forward all of this to see if the camera ever showed up. Or I can hang another 30 minutes long distance.

I know there are some very dishonest people around, and it may be gone. My wife insists it was left in the [Maelstrom] boat in Norway, but the girl welcoming back weary travelers checked each boat as they returned.

At any rate, any chance of a link for lost and found?

A.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of a web site for Walt Disney World's lost and found departments.

The only option I have for you is to make that phone call.  Click here for a MousePlanet page with all of the phone numbers for the lost and found departments at WDW.  Hopefully that will help!

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Q.

We are only going for 4 days so we are limited. we want to attend a dinner show and hopefully it is not too late to get reservations ( May 3-7 ). What are your recommendations about dinner shows? Which if any is best for adults? What would you recommend for a plan the other 3 nights? We thought we would 'wing it' for breakfast and lunch. We are staying at what was called Dixie Landing [now Port Orleans Resort - Riverside]. Thanks again for all your help.

A.

So, I'll take it from the top...

First, if you haven't looked over MousePlanet's WDW Restaurant Resource, you should give it a looooooong look see. It has pretty good descriptions of all of the restaurants on-site, and even has some menus from some of them.

As far as dinner shows go, the Hoop Dee Doo is considered, by most folks, the best dinner show at WDW. I've also enjoyed the Luau at the Polynesian resort. Again, theming is the issue. What sounds like more fun? A Western vaudeville-like show or an authentic Luau with the flame dancer and all?  In either case, though, it's unlikely (but not completely impossible) that you'll get priority seating for one of the dinner shows just a few weeks before your trip.  I'd check, if you're really interested in a dinner show, but don't get your hopes up too high!

If I had only three nights, though, here's my picks (Focusing on the unusual):

1. Rose & Crown... this is a fun restaurant, with only average service, but with very good food. It's a personal favorite because my family comes from the UK originally.
2. Marrakesh... this is a very unusual restaurant for most American tastes, but the food is excellent and the dining room is gorgeous.
3. Teppanyaki Dining Rooms... again, this is an atmosphere choice. If you've eaten at a Japanese steakhouse, this won't be a huge treat, but coming from a small Midwestern town without any culture (unless you consider blue cheese dressing to be culture), we've always enjoyed this place.

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On our last day our flight is at 5:30pm... we were planning on just hopping around from resort to resort for a bit of sight seeing and future planning.

I know this is a challenge with the Transportation system but here is what I have thought of so far...

CBR -> MK -> WL -> TTC -> Polynesian -> MK -> Coronado Springs -> Boardwalk. Now you can walk from Boardwalk to International Gateway as I understand it but what if you wanted to go Epcot's main entrance? Is there a way without burning a day on our multi-day passes? (We don't have AP's, but we will have a day or two left on some of our passes at the end of this trip.)

The idea to get to the main entrance of Epcot is to go Boardwalk -> Epcot -> Port Orleans -> DD -> CBR! I figure about 4 to 6 hours to do this, what do you think? Too commando-esque?

A.

What you might want to do instead, even though it's obvious you have some resorts that appeal to you, is pick some resorts that are near each other and visit them instead. For example, the monorail resorts are easy to see in two or three hours. Also the Port Orleans and Old Key West Resorts can be seen in that time (and using the water taxi is fun).

I wouldn't plan as much as you are for one afternoon. It's really too much.

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Q.

I would love to do the 9:30 show, after a day at the parks. Also, is there a way to let them know it is our anniversary? Also, do you know which restaurants at the Studios offer the priority seating at Fantasmic? Also, is Fantasmic presented year round? Thanks for all your help!

A.

You can get the answers to your questions about the Hoop Dee Doo when you make your priority seating for the show. They won't give you a priority seating (actually, a real-live reservation) for a show that won't be run and they're scheduled long in advance. Also, when you make those arrangements, you can let the reservationist know that it's your anniversary.

Fantasmic! does run all year long, but is cancelled due to weather on rare occasion.

The Hollywood Brown Derby and Mama Melrose's are the two restaurants that generally offer the Fantasmic! dinner deal. Again, you can check on those details when you make your priority seating arrangements.

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Also, a guest can pull into the toll booth or security gate for any park or resort and ask for directions.

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When would you fax a room request to a resort you're staying at? We broke up our stay between ASMoR (3 nights) and WL (4 nights). I'm concerned about our room location at ASMoR because of the size of the resort. We would like to stay in the Toy Story section. Do you have any recommendations as to the best location with a 5 and 2 year old. Is the best location central to the food court and bus stops?

I've also read about a "personal card" written to a child from Mickey. What needs to be done to request a "personal card", so at check-in I can give my girls a personalized card (keepsake) from Mickey?

P.S. That was an excellent story you wrote in regards to your new son Michael.

A.

First, on the room request issue, I have two comments. You can fax or call in your room requests at any time -- even when you first make your reservations. However, if you want to "punctuate" your requests, you can make a phone call to the resort within five days of arrival and ask for the "room controller" or "the person that assigns the rooms" (either "title" seems to work.) Verbally ask the controller for those things you've requested. You won't be given any promises, but I know that the controller will make an effort if you request it. The reason for having you call within five days of arrival, is that the room reservation system gives the resorts advanced planning information only five days out, so calling earlier won't help.

On the personal card issue, I have no advice to give. I've never heard of such a thing. I even ran a search of the trip report archive at MousePlanet with no results. If you could give me some more information on what you've heard, maybe I can figure something out. Also, you can call your resorts and ask them, perhaps they can just work it out for you directly?

Thanks for the kind words about Michael's Story. :) Michael really enjoyed his first trip to see WDW and Mickey.  He seemed to be duly impressed. ;)

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• Cinderella's Royal Table (just for the atmosphere)
• Liberty Tree Tavern (good theming for the holiday)
• Rose & Crown (just to enjoy the old country when we celebrate the beginning of the colonies)

You might also want to browse through MousePlanet's WDW Restaurant Resource to get some other ideas!

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Click here to see some awesome WDW pieces that have run on MousePlanet recently!

Click here to check out the rest of Brian's Archive, including all of the previously published "Notes From the World" pieces!

I've always gotten email about the WDW Trip Planning Guide, but since we added the feedback form to the site several months ago, the number of questions has increased dramatically!  I do my best to answer each and every question personally, but I've noticed that a lot of the questions are asked again and again.  The question that one person asks might very well be the question that someone else is wondering about.  Thus this page!

So...I'll post reader email and feedback every once in a while, because the question someone else asks might be the same one you're thinking about yourself!