Disneyzone News - January 2002 Issue - TEXT VERSION This is the text-only version of the DZ News. This version will not include any photographs, special charts, calendars, or graphs. Please note that Disneyzone is not affiliated with Disney in any way. We are a group of Disney World enthusiasts who want to assist you in making the most of your next Disney World vacation Newsletter and content Copyright © 2000, 2001 & 2002 Disneyzone - Please do not alter or copy any or all of this material, or use it on a website, or printed media without prior written permission, from Disneyzone or from the individual article's author.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whats your New Years Resolution? This is the time of year when many of us make New Years Resolutions. Have you made yours? Did you know that a goal is only a wish, unless its in writing? Our current Disneyzone contest is one where you submit your New Years Resolutions. To help everyone keep their new ‘GOALS’, many are listed here! Some were shortened in order to fit more resolutions in! Tammy - I resolve, to experience more JOY in my life than ever before! I will look to the sunny side of the situation, whatever it may be, and try to find "joy!" I'm sure it can be found everywhere! Kyle—to be nicer to everyone and not be so inpatient Joie—spend more time having fun with my three children and less time thinking about money troubles. Bill—to be a little less high strung with people who think they are the only person driving and have no respect for others.I would like to stay with my workouts and dieting and not ending them when my disney vacation starts Scott—To Visit WDW at least every other year Beth—to start living healthier, both mentally and physically. It will be tough, but I need to remember to have will power. Sean—to spend more time with my kids Doris—to save more money. My 16 year old daughter has 3 years till high school graduation and I would like to buy her a new car for graduation. Ron—to be more helpful to my wife Rosemarie—to keep my bank account balanced and checked each month Sherri—I will do one nice thing for somebody else at least twice a week Angela—to make the next year better than the one before. Michele—eat better and watch my cholestoral which is high Peggy—Stay on my diet and finally lose that "extra" weight I have been trying to get off all this past year! Wendy—to be thankful of everything i have, the person i am, and the country that i live in. and if i think about breaking this i will think about what happen 9-11 and of the people that lost so much. Patsy—QUIT SMOKING by February 10th, which happens to be our first day at Disney World!! Samantha—I promise myself to stop and enjoy life a little more, play with my children instead of folding the laundry, eat that double scoop ice cream cone instead of saying "I really shoudn't", and just do things that I wouldn't ordinarily do Eric—To look fit and trim during our visit to Disney World in June (so I can really enjoy all those photos we bring back). Cathy—Don't wait until a disaster occurs before you tell somebody that you love them! Tracey—To Lose Weight and To Walk the Dog more Rick—to go to Disney more often. Aiden—to take my job more seriously and be there on time. Sharon—My resolution is to lose weight. I know this is one a do every year but this year is different. I have a great goal to look forward to...my 20th wedding anv. - I have until Nov..... Lesly—to try not think about our next Disney Trip every single day. It is 11 1/2 months away and yet I can't stop thinking about it!!! Pete—to not take advantage of people and show them I appreciate them Wendy—to loose 10 pounds before my June 2002 WDW first ever trip. I will really do it. Christine—to get to Disney World at least once in 2002 - We have to jumpstart this sagging economy! I also resolve to save more $$ so I can afford to take my DD on the Disney Cruise! Marjie - be kind to everyone I meet. Shelly—Our new year's resolution is to eat well, get to know my sofa better, and to learn the fine art of remote control (Only Kidding! - these are the "Resolutions" we tend to keep each year!) GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit the Message Boards! One of the most popular sections on DZ just happens to be the Message Boards! You can post questions/answers/advice or just hang around and read what others say! We have a very friendly, helpful group on the boards! Give it a try www.disneyzone.net click on the FORUMS link! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Park Hours Theme Park Hours will be omitted from the DZ News for the next few months, or until Disney goes back to a regular schedule. Park hours are being released about a week ahead of time. I suggest calling (407) WDISNEY the day before you leave to get current hours for the parks! You can also check their site: www.disneyworld.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tips for Families with Young Kids More Tips from Allison I have been to Disney World 4 times in the past 3 years with my family. We have small children and I have been there pregnant, too. So I have a lot of tips to share. Different spin this month. I asked our Kindergarten teacher (she has been to Disneyworld many times) for some ideas for educational activities for small kids. She felt that Epcot and Animal Kingdom would be the easiest to do from an educational standpoint. She suggested doing the Epcot Passport. It’s a small passport that you can buy at many of the gift shops at Epcot. You go around to the different countries and get stamps, and some of the Cast Members will write something to your child in their native language. She suggested having a couple questions for your kids to ask each Cast Member, and have a small notebook for you to write down the answers (unless your kids are old enough to take notes). She suggested asking things like, what is the native language? What is the countries money called? How large is the country? Things like that. Then compare answers. For older children she suggested the kids try to find 5 unknown facts as they explore that countries ‘exhibit; Also for Epcot, visit the Living Seas area. They have tons of great exhibits and you could easily have each child find something that would interest them, and have them learn a few facts about that exhibit and draw a picture to go with it. Visit The Land and learn about how food is grown, and about our natural resources. The ideas are endless… Cranium Command is great even for small kids, telling how your body is all controlled by your brain. The best part about Epcot is that they way they present all the information is so much fun, that kids don’t realize they are actually learning something! Here is her idea for Animal Kingdom. She said that Animal Kingdom is a great place for its educational value. The Tree of Life is a great place to start, right in the middle of the park! See if your kids can identify any of the wildlife sculpted into the tree. For kids who don’t know what animals are actually called, she said to see if they can identify what species; cats, snakes, birds, etc. For a child interested in dinosaurs or animals, there are many options. She suggested taking the safari, and discussing with the kids how some animals can live together in the wild, but why in zoos they usually separate them. She also said talking about the different things animals eat, and that in the wild they don’t get fed by people. Things like that. She liked the dino land area for small kids. She said there is a small shop area right by the dinoland area where you can get some great books on dinosaurs. She suggested letting each kid choose a book, and then reading it later to reinforce anything they learned that day. As far as Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios, she said there are still many education things to do, but its not as easy to get kids attention, as there is so much FUN to be had! She does say to ask your kids to summarize each day before bedtime (either tape record them, or write down what they say). I agree, its so much fun hearing what stood out for each day. We have our kids draw pictures of their favorite thing that day. I later put them into scrapbooks for the kids. A sincere Thank you to Marilyn Hopewell, Kindgergarten teacher, for these great educational ideas! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Restaurant Review By Jeff I have gone with my family to WDW for over 15 years now and discovered Beaches and Cream back in 1992. The restaurant is designed to resemble a 1950s diner complete with jukebox (you can play songs free of charge) and counter service. It has a seashore theme complete with pastel colors and beachball banisters. The walls are covered with mirrors and Coca Cola memorabilia But what about the food, right? I've tried most of the menu and the food is excellent, this is no fast food joint! Their chocolate milkshake is one of the best I've tasted this side of the mighty Mississippi, it's really something to look forward to. As an amateur hot dog connoisseur, theirs defenitely ranks very near the top of the competition. (Note: If you put ketchup on a hot dog you are a cruel, cruel person!) Their fries are excellent, not the soggy, bland, tasteless kind but very crispy and delightful. They even do breakfast here and arrange the items available (usually it's fruit, rolls, and pastries) on the counter and you choose your selection. You can also order pancakes, waffles and eggs made to order. Okay, one last glowing recommendation, the Casting Department (Personnel) really sent some of their best Cast Members (Employees) to work here. The service is great, the Cast members are really courteous and helpful. Now that I've basically kissed major rearend, I'll list the caveats. Unfortunately, space at the Yacht and Beach Club is at a premium and Beaches and Cream is no exception. It may have been that they wanted to make an impression of a cozy diner, but it could be a little bigger. There are no bathrooms in the restaurant, but not to worry, they are just outside the front door twenty paces to the right. It can get very crowded so I would suggest you eat here earlier or later than the WDW-assigned meal times (at least they seem assigned, it's like a cattle rush everywhere you go). If you would rather eat by the pool or out on the veranda they do have a take-out counter. As far as prices, they are higher than off-property restaurants, but the food here is better and the prices are very reasonable for WDW. This place is definitely worth a try during your stay and I doubt you'll leave unsatisfied. One last warning...the Kitchen Sink is a massive ice cream, brownie and topping dessert... be wary because it is only FREE if ONE person can FINISH it in ONE hour! Don't eat beforehand if you wish to attempt this gastronomical feat! Heed my warning all those who wish to celebrate birthdays and other significant events...it ain't cheap! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We Celebrated a Birthday or Two! Do you know that Disney is a great place to go for a birthday celebration? We had our 4 year old twin daughters birthday at Disney World this year and it was great. Here are their comments, direct from their mouths to you: Desta: I had my birthday party with Rella and she gave me a kiss. Beauty gave me hugs but not with beast. I got princess jammies and I got to have a cake in a beautiful castle. Shella: My sissy and me got to have our food with a real life princesses, And we ate in Cinirellas castle and we wore our pretty up dressies and sparkly crowns there too. I like to be 4. Mommy gabe me two pieces of cake and I ate it all up. Breakfast in the castle was hard to get, but worth the effort! Here is how we did it. I called all our immediate family members and asked them to all call at 6:58am EST exactly 60 days prior to my daughters actual birthday. I gave them the dining number (407-WDW-DINE). Altogether I had about 15 people calling. I told them what time I wanted and we hoped for the best. We ended up with 3 different reservations, so we were lucky enough to be able to choose which time we wanted. We got 8:45am! I called immediately and cancelled the others, so other families could get these hard-to-get reservations. The castle is a great place for little girls birthday parties. We bought the girls each a crown to wear, got them the birthday pins that are available at City Hall (Magic Kingdom), and also let them wear their favorite princess dresses. Knowing the girls were celebrating their birthday, all the Cast Members really went out of their way to make the experience extra special. The girls have wonderful memories of that breakfast, and I encourage any of you with little girls to try to celebrate one of their birthdays at the castle! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kids Views Hello Newsletter People. I am going to try to tell you about why Disneyworld is the greatest place on earth to go on a vacation. My family went there last summer and we had a very good time. My dad was grumpy going there and didn’t want to go but as soon as we got to our hotel he was happy. So Disneyworld makes grumpy dads happy. My mom planned the whole trip for like a year so Disneyworld gives moms something to do for a year. My sister got a good report card so we could go so Disneyworld makes girls get good report cards. Disneyworld made me actually stop fighting with my sister. So Disneyworld is great for every person in the family. Take your family there and you will see. By Jake, age 12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Travel Polls There was a Poll on the DZ Resort Biographies Page on the site. In December we asked how much money you budget, per person, per day, for Disney vacations. The site that hosts the polls went down, so I never got the final results, but here is approximately how it broke down : Over $40: 10% $25-$40: 50% $10-$25 : 15% Under $10: 15% What budget?: 10% The polls are fun, so I will look for another way to get one! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Birthday to: Gary, 60, Sara, 2, Emilee 5, Grant, 11, Jordan, Nicolette, 13, DeeAnn, Lisa, 21, Andrea, Bob, Carly, and Olivia 30! . . . and every other DZ’er that has a birthday in November! If you would like a birthday announced in the DZ News, send name, and birthday (and age if you want that in, too) kimmi@disneyzone.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THANKS to all the Disneyzone visitors for their help with the newsletter and the site!!! Tell your friends about Disneyzone! They can get their own copy of the Disneyzone News emailed to them each month, all they have to do is go to the site and register. They will automatically be put on the list. If you would rather, you may print it out or forward it. Newsletter and content Copyright © 2000 & 2001 Disneyzone - Please do not alter or copy any or all of this material, or use it on a website, or printed media without prior written permission, from Disneyzone or from the individual article's author.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLASSIFIEDS DZ now has a DZ Classifieds section! Please visit our advertisers, and tell them that you saw their ad in the DZ News :) If you are interested in advertising, or would like to comment regarding this issue, please email me at: kimmi@disneyzone.net Articles, restaurant reviews, kids articles always needed for the newsletter! E-mail if you would like to contribute! ***********TRAVEL AGENTS AND COMPANIES ******** Magical Journeys Your Attraction Destination Specialists Coming Soon: Magical Guild Specials . 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