by Brian Bennett
8/14/01
Q.
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Jason asks: Dear
Brian, We are thinking of going to the Wilderness Lodge for
our honeymoon. My girlfriend had a knee replacement operation
about 6 months ago. She is fine now but, sometimes struggles
going up steps. We were just wondering if there are many steps
outside of the Wilderness Lodge. Inside isn't a problem because
of the lifts. An early reply would be appreciated. |
A.
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Jason,
There are some steps, but not a large amount. If you're walking
to the parking lot (car park, in your lingo) frequently, you'll
find that there are two short flights of steps to go up and
down.
In any case, everything is accessible via ramps, if you don't
mind walking a few extra paces to avoid steps.
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Q.
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Beth writes: What
time is the electric water pageant and is it every night?
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A.
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Beth,
The water pageant is a short "parade" that runs
on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake at WDW. It runs nightly,
after dusk, but the time varies depending on which resort
you're staying at.
You can contact guest services at your resort to get specific
times at your location.
There's more information on the pageant
in MousePlanet's WDW Trip Planning Guide.
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Q.
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Jim asks: Can you
suggest a hotel property near the Orlando Hyatt that is nice
for a photographer's convention? |
A.
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Jim,
Unfortunately, all I can do is direct you to MousePlanet's
reader-submitted
offsite hotel reviews at where you'll find many reviews
of resorts in the Orlando / Kissimmee area.
MousePlanet does not officially review hotels, so we're not
really in a position to be able to recommend a particular
property.
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Q.
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Cassie writes: Do
you know what it costs to park your own car? Is it per car?
Is it per day, or can you buy an extended pass? Is it included
if you buy Park Hopper passes? Any additional info regarding
the costs of parking would be appreciated. |
A.
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Cassie,
Parking at all of the parks will set you back $6/vehicle/day.
There is no extended pass available for parking. The only
way to get "free" parking is to stay onsite at a
WDW resort or to get an annual pass.
Be aware, if you park at one of the parks, then move to another
park later in the day keep your receipt! You will not be charged
a second time for parking at any WDW park if you show that
you've already paid that day.
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Q.
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Daniel Writes: Where
are the ON SITE reviews??? |
A.
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Well that's a good question. :) There are a LOT
of onsite reviews, but their embedded within MousePlanet's WDW
Trip Planning Guide.
Go to MousePlanet's WDW Trip Planning Guide accommodations
page. From there, you'll find a list of the various
WDW resorts. Click on the resort you're interested in, and
you'll find a TON of information on that particular resort.
At the bottom of that page is the list of reviews for that
specific WDW resort under the heading "Guest Reviews."
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Q.
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Betsy asks: Brian,
We are planning a WDW trip for the first week of January 2002.....approximately
the 2nd through the 12th. Do you have any information on weather,
crowds, etc. &/or any trip reports from anyone who has been
to WDW during this particular time frame of early January? Thanks. |
A.
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Betsy,
If you click
here you'll find a list (by "time of year")
of all of the trip reports in MousePlanet's archive. You may
want to check both "winter" and "holiday season"
reports (as some reports from Christmas week may wrap into
that first week of January.)
There's also information about "planning
your trip" and specifically, "deciding when
to go" to WDW in MousePlanet's WDW Trip Planning Guide.
You'll find information on weather, crowd levels, etc. there.
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Q.
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Melissa writes: I
would like to plan a trip to Walt Disney world the week after
Christmas. could you seen me some information on the cost of
hotels and the parks and a list of activities. I will be traveling
with a 8 year old and a two year old. your help would be greatly
appreciated. |
A.
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Melissa,
MousePlanet is really oriented toward the do-it-yourselfer.
We have a lot of information to wade through, though, so for
folks that don't have the inclination to do so -- or are just
overwhelmed by all the details of planning a trip to Walt
Disney World, I highly recommend calling MousePlanet's partner
company, Discovery Hills Travel, at (800) 750-5975. Discovery
Hills can help you sort through all the options and plan the
perfect vacation.
Of course, you're welcome to browse through the trip planning
guides on MousePlanet in case you decide to do things yourself.
:)
I'd suggest you start at MousePlanet's WDW
Trip Planning Guide. If, after you'd surfed through those
pages, there are questions you don't have answers to, let
me know and I'll be happy to help as best I can.
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Q.
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Joanie asks:
What are DVC points? What is the DVC membership? |
A.
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Joanie,
DVC stands for "Disney Vacation Club." The DVC is a pre-paid
vacation program (disguised as a timeshare lease) that permits
folks to pay up-front for vacation accommodations that will
be used over a long period of time (over forty years).
Members that buy into the DVC are given an annual allotment
of points that can be used in trade to rent your accommodations.
The number of points you need depend on the type of accommodations
(studio at the low end to multi-bedroom condos at the high end)
and the time of year you want to visit. Obviously, high season
times (like Christmas week or mid-Summer) require more points
than at less busy times of the year.
You can read a LOT more about the DVC in MousePlanet's
DVC Trip Planning Guide, including point charts to get an
idea of how far your points can be stretched. |
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Q.
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Jeneice writes: How
do I submit a pre-trip plan for WDW we are going in September
/ October. |
A.
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Jeneice,
If you go to MousePlanet's
Disney Trip Report Archive, you can see several links in
the left-hand margin about writing and posting a trip report.
This
page gives specific information about posting the report.
Since you're talking about a pre-trip report, though, I have
one other thing I would ask. In the past, I've posted "pre-trip"
reports as a courtesy to various folks with the understanding
that they would update the report with a final version after
their trip. Many of those folks reneged -- failing to do so.
Now I always ask the question, Are you willing to commit to
updating the report when you return?
In addition to that, I also need some specific summary information
that I add to the link page when I post a report:
- Your Full Name
- Your Email Address
- Dates of Trip
- Travel Method: (i.e. Personal Car, Plane, Autotrain, Rental
Car, Shuttle Service)
- Resort: (i.e. Disneyland Hotel, Disneyland Pacific Hotel,
GRBR, YBCR, PBR, CR, WL, OKWR, BWR, CBR, DL, PO, CSR, ASR, FWC,
Plaza Hotel, Offsite)
- Accommodations: (i.e. Standard Room, 1 Bedroom Vacation Home,
2 Bedroom Vacation Home, Villa Vacation Home, Suite)
- The Ages Represented in Group: (i.e. Infant/Toddler, Elementary,
Teen, Adult, Elderly)
- Disney Park Experience Represented in Group: (i.e. Veteran,
Frequent, Infrequent, Rookie, DVC Member)
With your confirmation that you're willing to follow-up with
a final report, and the text of your pre-trip report and the
summary information, I'll post your report as soon as I can.
:) |
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Q.
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Ellen writes: Trying
to find out if there are any Independent Fundamental Baptist
churches in the WDW area. Do you know of any? I tried an internet
search and got hundreds of Baptist churches but cannot tell
without calling each of them if they are 'independent fundamental'.
Thanks. |
A.
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Ellen,
I'm not sure exactly what your definition of "independent"
and "fundamental" is, but the church that my wife
and I most enjoy visiting in the area is
Bible Baptist Church in Kissimmee. It's located on Vine,
which is SR-192, way to the East f WDW. The address is: 1500
East Vine Street, Kissimmee, FL, 34744-3720.
Bible Baptist has a bit of Southern gospel influence (not
surprising, since most churches in the South are). It has
a great Sunday School, bus ministry, Christian School, and
other programs, too.
The church is very fundamental by my definition (that is,
they are strongly Bible-based). I don't know if they are "independent,"
but I've never heard any reference to any convention that
they belong to.
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Well, I hope you enjoyed the reader feedback
for the WDW Trip Planning Guide! Feed free to send more questions
or comments to brian@mouseplanet.com!
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Brian Bennett's Disney Trip Planner
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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!
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