Disneyzone News - March 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.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Are Packages the Best Deal? Not necessarily! We get many emails each month asking about Vacation Packages, which is the best, who offers the best ones, which are the cheapest, etc. There is no simple answer to this question. In my own personal opinion, packages are NOT the way to go. They cost more, and many times include options that you wont use. When you purchase a vacation package, you are basically picking your dates and/or your resort. Everything else is already ‘packaged’ together. Tickets, airport transfers, which airline you will use, etc. You normally don’t get a choice for those items. Besides, planning and researching is half the fun. You can scour the internet’s many wonderful Disney World sites, get lots of ideas and advice, learn all about the different resorts, ticket options, restaurants, theme parks, and more! You can visit the airlines sites and monitor pricing, see who is the cheapest, who offers non-stop flights, etc. You can visit car rental sites and sign up for their newsletters, which will come out periodically with special discount rates. Everything you need to plan the perfect vacation is right at your fingertips—online! When you decide to make your reservation, and you have chosen your resort (Disney or off-site) you can call direct and make the reservation. Disney’s Central Reservation office (CRO) 407-WDISNEY will handle Disney reservations. Tell them the dates, resort, any discount codes, and they make the reservation. You will have to give a deposit on a credit card, and that’s it. They will mail you a confirmation. Buying the ‘right’ ticket is often times the hardest part. There are many choices. Hopper Passes, Hopper Plus Passes, or Ultimate Hopper Passes. 4, 5, 7 days or more! Package deals usually ‘include’ an Ultimate Park Hopper, which basically gives you access to all parks, Disney Quest, Pleasure Island from the moment you check in, until the end of the day you check out. This may sound great, but you are PAYING for it. If you are arriving late the first day, you will not get full use out of that days ‘pass’. Or if you decide to go to Kennedy Space Center one day, you will waste that days ‘pass’. You can sit down and decide how many days you will want a pass, and buy the pass that is good for that many days. This is a discussion all in itself! I went online and priced the exact same 9 night package for a family of 4! All the same dates, locations, cars, etc. Here are the prices:American Airlines Vac: $5070 Delta Vacations: $4419 Southwest Vacations: $ 4238 Funjet Tours: $5119 United Vacations: $4638 Disney Travel Co (via phone): $4330 Priced separately with NO discounts, using CRO for the resort, Delta for air, Dollar for midsize care, and buying a 7 day hopper plus (omitting passes for first and last day) was: $3978 - Big difference! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 a few weeks ahead of time. I suggest calling (407) WDISNEY prior to your trip to get current hours for the parks! You can also check their site: www.disneyworld.com Eticket Nights: March 11 9 to midnight March 14 7-10pm March 18 8-11pm March 21 7-10pm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. This is my last article, for now. I hope that you have learned something from my experience. We are going again this summer, so I should have more after we return. My last words of advice: Plan! Have at least a loose plan of which parks which day, have an idea (if not PS reservations) for at least one meal a day, take it slow with kids. Try really hard to resist ‘forcing’ them to have fun. Let them set the pace, let them enjoy the silly little things that kids love, don’t stress out that you are not ‘seeing’ it all. Main thing to remember when you travel with kids: Kids are kids, they are not going to change just because you are on vacation. If you have a whiny 2 year old, he will still be a whiny 2 year old! Kids need their naps/rest/down time just like at home! Enjoy each and every moment—take lots of photos, and let the magic fill your days! Until next time….. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Restaurant Review By Michele Boma is definitely the new hot restaurant at Disney World. It is located in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. True African atmosphere here. Fun to taste the different styles of cooking. They offer many choices. Roasted meats, soups, many salads, breads desserts, and more. All made in very interesting ways. We tried several things and I honestly liked it all. I am usually a very cautious eater while on vacation because my stomach bothers me at times. I made quite a pig of myself at this meal and it didn’t bother my tummy at all. The crusty prime rib was superb, by the way! While you are eating they have people that come around and tell you about Africa, the areas that they were from, and how it is different from the United States. The atmosphere in this restaurant is really colorful and exotic feeling. You get lots of food and everything is fresh and tasty. It is a buffet so you can try as many things as you want. Warning, some things don’t look as good as they taste! They had some odd pasta dishes. Be brave and try them. We had great service and felt that the prices were fair. The waitress only came over to take plates and refill our drinks. But she was very nice, and did spend time chatting with us. After you eat you have to go explore the resort a bit. We wandered around and fell in love with this resort. We even saw a giraffe and a gazelle looking animal outside of one of the viewing areas. Very cool. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some Favorites of DZ Visitors In a recent newsletter we asked you to submit some of your Disney favorites. We received MANY responses. We tallied them up and here are some of the results. Some categories we took the Top 10 listed and figured out the percentages for them. So the numbers don’t include the other entries. It is interesting that so many of you voted for many of the same things! For instance, many of you who’s favorite character was Tigger, chose Liberty Tree Tavern as your favorite restaurant. Tigger doesn’t even appear at that meal! And many who chose Dumbo as your favorite restaurant also chose Rainforest Café as your favorite restaurant. I bet there is a personality test someone could make out of all this data :) Favorite Disney Theme Parks: Magic Kingdom - 42% Epcot—30% MGM Disney Studios— 19% Animal Kingdom—9% Favorite Disney Restaurants: Top 10: Liberty Tree Tavern—19% Narcoosees—13% San Angel Inn—11% Boma—10% Rainforest Café—10% Beaches and Cream—10% Flying Fish—9% Yachtsmas Steakhouse—7% Prime Time Café—6% Fultons Crab House—5% Favorite Disney Movies: (top 10) Bambi—22% Cinderella—14% Snow White—13% Beauty and the Beast—11% Little Mermaid—11% Dumbo—9% Toy Story—9% Aladdin—6% Tarzan—3% Peter Pan—2% Favorite Disney Characters: Top 10: (this one surprised me) Tigger - 20% Eeyore - 18% Minnie— 11% Bambi - 10% Sully—9% Mickey - 8% Cinderella—8% Tinkerbell—7% Pooh—5% Pluto—4% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kids Views It is 34 days until we get to go to Disneyworld. I cant wait. I have been dreaming about it every single night and my mom and me have been planning which parks we are going to do every day and all that. I am going to miss some school but its ok because I will take my work with me and do it on the plane. I cant wait to get there and just run wild and do it all. We went a few years ago and had the best time. I hope I am not crazy because I think I love Disneyworld too much. My mom said its normal and I think it is too. Watch out Orlando, here we come. - Sara Lyn, 14 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Travel Polls Please send me an email with your answer to: I think Disney is a great vacation spot because... Send to kimmi@disneyzone.net and in the title of the email put .. My favorites! I will compile the results and post them on the site and /or next months newsletter! Will be fun to see the results! I already have several from last months newsletter, but would love to read some more! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Birthday to: Cora, 40, Kayla, 10, Steven, 8, Marc, Emily, Lisa, 15, Andrew, Paul, and Miranda, 1 . . . and every other DZ’er that has a birthday in March! 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 ******** MouseEarVacations.com Unparalleled attention from Disney Experts will make your vacation extra magical! 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