by Brian Bennett
10/24/01
Q.
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Buffy writes: Hi
Brian, Our family of 4 is going to WDW for Halloween and we
are staying at the AKL with the Savannah view. I haven't seen
that reviewed on your site and didn't know if that would be
helpful or necessary or how we go about it.
Anyway, we are looking forward to our
trip for all the usual reasons and also because we live right
in NYC and our kids (and we) need some magic, hope, and pixie
dust these days.
I have really enjoyed your site and
get a lot of great info and look forward to coming back often
for more insight.
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A.
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Buffy,
The page you're looking for is right
here. If you go there, you'll find lots of information
on the lodge. You'll also find a link to a photo tour (and
there's a new photo tour by Sue Holland coming to MousePlanet
later this week!) You'll also find links (at the bottom of
the page) to several reader-submitted reviews.
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Q.
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Michael asks: Mr.
Bennett, My family and I are leaving for a week long trip to
WDW in 9 days. WOOHOO! sorry, hard to stay focused at this point.
We have several meals scheduled including the character dinner
at liberty tree, and the elusive Cinderella's Royal Table character
breakfast (expect reviews in about 3 weeks lol). We have heard
great reviews both on MousePlanet, and from friends about the
50's prime time cafe. So we called tonight to get a PS for it.
When we asked about the Fantasmic! Dining Experience we were
told that this restaurant DID qualify. But that the experience
is only open to WDW resort guests. We are staying off site,
and found this odd since friends of ours had stayed in the same
hotel (tropical palms fun suites) that we usually stay in. And
they did the Fantasmic! experience while staying off site. I
basically have 2 questions:
1- Is this in fact true, that off site
guests cannot participate in this? It makes sense now that
i think about it, early entry, priority seating, all perks
for staying in the house of the mouse. :)
But if it is open to all WDW patrons
my second question is:
2- Since we cannot make reservations
at our hotel, can arrangements only be made at the MGM guest
relations, or the restaurant itself as stated here at MousePlanet,
or could they be made at guest relations inside the Magic
Kingdom? We are not going to MGM until our 3rd day, and would
love to get this reserved, if we qualify that is, ASAP.
Thanks for your time.
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A.
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Michael,
I don't have any information that indicates that the Fantasmic!
Dining Experience is only open to WDW resort guests. However,
my experience has been that you MUST make the priority seating
in person (either at the restaurant of your choice or at the
Hollywood & Sunset reservation center in the park).
Of course, it never hurts to ask...
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Q.
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Michael (a different
one this time) writes: I am helping arrange a trip to Disney
for a family friend. There will be 2 adults a young boy of 5
years and two further children age 11 and 14 years. Both the
older boys suffer with autism. The family is hoping to have
as normal a holiday as possible and although they do not suffer
any physical disabilities are wondering what sort of experience
WDW staff have when dealing with autistic children. If you have
any comments or can direct me to a suitable site I will be most
grateful. |
A.
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Michael,
The best suggestions I have would be... First, ask the advice
and help of the person that you contact at Disney's Central
Reservations Office. They can provide help in selecting the
best room locations and so on for those special needs. Second,
when your friend's enter the park, they can go to guest relations
and (with appropriate documentation) can request a special
pass that can help them bypass some of the queues.
Disney cast members used to be well trained to handle such
special situations. Unfortunately, reports I have in more
recent years indicate that cast members are no better informed
on special needs than the typical person on the street. That
may result in a very uneven experience (some CMs will be great,
others will be less so).
Unfortunately, that's all of the information I have personally
on this one.
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Q.
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Lea asks: Hello Brian,
I'm trying to get 9 tickets to Cinderella's breakfast. The dates
would be 8, 9, 10, or 11 of December. My grandchildren would
love to go but I don't seem to be able to get through in the
mornings at 7am. Do you have any suggestions? |
A.
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Lea,
There's no magical solution other than camping out on the
phone a few minutes before seven, dialing, re-dialing, dialing
again... and, well, you get the idea. (In fact, I use the
redial button on my own phone to do this.) Unfortunately,
that's how the system works.
The only other answer is very risky. Only a percentage
of the total capacity of the restaurant is tied up with priority
seatings, so there is a chance that you could get in by simply
walking up to the restaurant on the day you'd like to have
breakfast.
as you can read in the next message...
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Q.
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"Jay" writes:
Hi Brian, I'm a former CM of the Crystal Palace and have a tip
regarding priority seatings for folks that weren't able to get
a seating in advance. Although all the priority seatings may
be booked for a particular day, the computer system holds about
30% of the tables. The 30% becomes available each morning for
that day, so there still is a chance for day guests and others
to obtain a priority seating if they call WDW-DINE.
Also I know that the Crystal Palace
would accept those without a priority seating from time to
time if tables were available. There still might be a chance
for Rodolfo to dine at Cinderella's.
I hope this info is helpful.
Thank you and all the folks at Mouse
Planet for keeping me up to date on all things Disney!
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A.
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Thanks for the note. "Jay." I'll share
it with everyone in an upcoming Notes piece! |
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Q.
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Leanne writes: I
was reading your map of transportation (there are links to the
transportation guide pages that Leanne is referring to on
this page) and it seems a little confusing. If I am
going to the Contemporary or Polynesian Resorts from Caribbean
Beach Resort, why can't I just take the bus that says Magic
Kingdom and get off right in front of the Magic Kingdom, walk
to the monorail for the resorts and go to the Contemporary or
Polynesian? Isn't this easier that taking a bus to Downtown
Disney? |
A.
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Leanne,
I based the transportation guides directly on the ones that
are given out by Walt Disney World at the resort. I agree
that there are often alternatives, but I went with the "official"
answer.
The reason why the Downtown Disney route is preferred is
simply because the monorail only runs during park hours (plus
an hour or two on each end). If you were going to one of those
resorts later in the evening, the Downtown Disney route would
get you there while your proposed solution would not.
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Q.
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Susan adds: I love
your site! I've gotten lots of great ideas and information from
it.
Wanted to let you know, I was offered
an after 4pm admission to Epcot when I booked my Candlelight
Processional dinner package in 1997. We had a Magical Holidays
package at the Poly without park admission. We were just regular
guests, not part of a convention. I didn't buy it, but wished
I had when we walked in at 5pm! Too bad this isn't offered
any longer. Also, we always go to the Poly beach to watch
the Electric Light Water Parade or Magic Kingdom fireworks,
whether staying there or not, and you can easily buy dinner
at Captain Cooks and bring it out to a table near the beach.
Its one of our favorite things to do! That's it. Thanks for
a great site!
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A.
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Thanks for letting me know, Susan. |
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Q.
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Rick shares: Brian,
I noticed that someone wrote to you asking about the PI Dual
Annual Pass. Yes, there is such a thing and it is still available.
One of the benefits of the regular PI Annual Pass is that you
can bring a guest in for free on Friday nights. Basically, the
dual annual pass (which costs roughly twice as much as a standard
annual pass) gives you that privilege EVERY night.
When people write with Pleasure Island
questions in the future, I invite you to direct them to my
Yahoo
club for Pleasure Island enthusiasts. Chances are that
someone there will either know the answer or be able to find
out!
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A.
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Rick,
Thanks for the note! I'll certainly direct folks to your
Yahoo club. I'm sure it will be very helpful to MousePlanet
readers!
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Q.
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Sam writes: Brian,
Long time reader, first time writer.
You've saved us money, time, and effort
in the past and I was wondering something:
We're brand-new AP holders. We do about
14-21 days per year and it was, at the time, a no-brainer
with the 7 (AP) and 10 (Premium AP) day payoff. But with the
recent discounts on packages including the UMP I was wondering
if the payoff were longer now. We purchased the APs in April
and activated them in September; the AP prices haven't changed
but the 3 day package price sure has! Disney club is offering
$601 for 3 nights, including Unlimited Magic Passes, Flex
Feature, and AIR from Portland at the All Stars in 2002 value
season. Yeah, I do get Contemporary Concierge for 1/2 price
so I save $200/ night, but I'm wondering about just admission
payoff for the folks staying at the Holiday Inns and Best
Westerns.
What about DVC cost comparison? APs
and DVC points raise every year, but Park Hoppers and Unlimited
Magic Passes do a Yo-Yo thing as the Resort caters to the
casual visitor at the cost of the visitors that are worth
tens of thousands of dollars in their lifetimes. Seems like
a good story to me. I know my family of three spends about
$100/ day on food and trinkets for all 14 of those days and
we intend to do it for the next 40 or so years. So who's worth
more: me or the guy who bites on a $49/ night 3 day All Star
trip every couple years?
Sorry about the rant! Great site!
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A.
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Same, thanks for the note. I'm glad you've enjoyed
the site!
The bottom line on the cost comparison that you're making
is that there is no substitute for pulling together the information
and putting together a comparison spreadsheet. You really
do need to look at all of the alternatives to see how things
fit together.
Traditionally, my family and I have gotten three trips in
on each AP. For example, on our most recent trips we bought
our APs for our Fall 2000 trip (October). Then we used them
again in the Spring and Fall of 2001 (September) to get a
full thirty days out of them!
I've not run a comparison of prices of package deals because
we are DVC members and have always picked up our passes ala
carte (since our accommodations are already taken care of).
You mentioned that AP and DVC point costs increase every
year. Certainly the AP costs are going up, but I'm sure you'll
note a general upward trend of package deals including Unlimited
Magic Passes, too. DVC points costs are NOT increasing, though.
(Well, the maintenance does go up a small amount.) Once purchased
the points prices are locked in for the long haul.
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Q.
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Susanne writes: Brian,
in a previous Notes From the World David asked about things
to do, without using the park admission. While at WDW a few
weeks ago, my family and I waited for a friend to arrive and
decided not to go into the parks that day. Instead, we went
over to the Fort Wilderness area, got on a bus and had lunch
at Trail's End buffet, did the petting zoo and pony rides. All
told, we spent about 3-4 hours relaxing and enjoying the beautiful
area.
Another perk, depending on the time
of year, is the Electrical Water Pageant, to which they've
added a Flag. (I don't remember the flag the last time I saw
it, in 1984.)
Hope this might provide a different
diversion for David's family that will be lots of fun. As
for us, now we want to stay in the wilderness cottages!
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A.
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Susanne,
Thanks for sharing your ideas!
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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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