Disneyzone News - May 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.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ask the Experts From Sarah G, from Kentucky: We have 3 kids and 3 adults wanting to go to Disney World next year. The resorts only allow us 5 per room. What is the best way to go and still stay at a Disney hotel? Sarah, Aside from the suites at the deluxe properties, there are several WDW resort options for a party of six. One is to get two rooms at one of the value or moderate resorts. This will provide you with an extra bath, which is nice with a larger party size. Getting two rooms will also avoid that extra adult charge when you have more than 2 adults in one room. Rates for the values start at $77 per room, moderates $133 per room for the value season. The Ft. Wilderness Cabins offer room for 6 persons. In the bedroom there is a double bed and a set of bunk beds, along with a sink. In the living room, there is a full-size Murphy bed that pulls down from the wall. These units are nice in that they feature a fully-equipped kitchen with microwave oven, so you can fix some of your own meals if you are so inclined. Rates start at $224 for value season. The additional adult charge for the third adult is $5 per night. The Wilderness Lodge offers a deluxe room that sleeps 6. The Deluxe Guest Room has a sitting area with a queen-size sofa bed separated from the bedroom with two queen-size beds by french doors. In addition, this room includes a refrigerator with ice machine, coffeemaker, and wet bar. This room starts at $360 in value season. The additional adult charge for the third adult is $25 per night. The DVC resorts, Old Key West, Boardwalk Villas, Wilderness Lodge Villas, and the Beach Club Villas offers two-bedroom villa accommodation sleeping up to eight persons. The one bedroom has a king-sized bed. The second bedroom has either two queen-sized beds or one queen-sized bed and a double sofa bed. In the living room is a queen-sized sofa bed. A fully-equipped kitchen and stacked washer and dryer are also in these villas. Starting rates for value season are: Old Key West, $469; Wilderness Lodge, $520; Boardwalk, $535; Beach Club, $535. No additional adult charges apply. Which is the best way? That is something you must decide based on your budget, the space needed for your party, and what amenities you would like in your hotel. A great resource for room layouts and hotel amenities is on Disney’s official web site at http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/waltdisneyworld/resorts/resortshomeindex?id=ResortsRoot. DQ From Marge, Illinios: Is a Deluxe resort really worth so much more than the moderate resorts? Some of the prices I was quoted were almost double the price. I want to stay at one of the resorts where the monorail visits but not sure if it is worth twice the amount of one that doesnt. Do you have any advice? Marge, if you are going to use the amenties of the deluxe resort and you get the room at a discounted rate then to me its worth it. However if you are not going to be in your room to enjoy the view and full balcony or patio, and are going to spend most of your time at the parks then no it's not worth it to me. I would have to get a very good discount to justify a deluxe resort over a moderate. The moderates have great pools, very good transportation, good food choices and the rooms are very nice. The deluxe does not offer enough amenties to offset the high cost. Minnie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ask the Experts Do you have a tough question for our Disney experts? Send us an email with your question who knows your question may be featured in next month’s issue! Send it to: Advice@disneyzone.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 for May have been cancelled! June nights listed on the site ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Really good advice from DZ Visitors My name is Claire and I recently got back from our second Disney trip. The first trip we had no idea what we were doing. We booked a package from a local travel agent and just showed up. We had no idea what we’d do, or when, or where to eat or anything. The trip was fun but we left feeling that we missed many things and that we spent a good part of each day trying to figure out what to do. I found this site about 2 months before our last trip. What a difference a little planning makes. I asked some questions on the message boards and got great responses. Tips that I could have never known otherwise, like: you can go on the singles line and cut out lots of time wiating in line, and that you could actually request an area of a resort, and even something so silly as making reservations for the restaurants. We had no idea you could do that. The tips on which tickets to buy were invaluable. We saved a fortune by just buying what we would use. On the boards I learned that we could have our purchases sent to our room, we learned about E Ticket night, and we were able to take advantage of one which was great. I mainly wanted to thank everyone for all their wonderful advice and to tell those who have not been before to spend some time NOW planning. It makes your days of vacation go so much smoother. Thank you to the DZ people for their wonderful site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Restaurant Review By Rose Celebrated my daughter's 15th Birthday at the Concourse Steakhouse and she was treated like a princess. The food was excellent and the cake, which I had specially ordered before we left home, was the most beautiful cake that I have ever seen. It was delicious and you could tell that the person who made it went all out. The flowers on top were made of sugar and looked like a corsage. We wrapped it up and she brought it home and has it in her room. The people at this restaurant really made her evening memorable and special. By Jon It was one of my favorite meals of my life. The first course is very good. I loved the chicken wings and the penut sauce. The main course is the best. I loved the steak and shrimp. The turkey was to dry though. Also the dessert was delicous. I never thought that pinnapple would go with carmel. Next time I think I'll taste the pork. I happen to know that the taste that most of us find odd is just the oak wood. It infues evreything that is grilled. This was the best meal of my life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Planning Advice from Beth Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie what would be more exciting than a trip to Disney World? In my eyes, nothing! But, planning on the other hand, now that’s a different story. I thought that an article on how my husband and I begin planning our trips might be helpful to others. I am 23 years old, a true Disney fanatic, and have been to Disney World a total of 3 times so far. My first trip was for my 14th birthday obviously no planning on my part except for what to wear and pack. My second trip was a Christmas gift from my then boyfriend, now husband who proposed to me at Disney. So, of course when it came time to choose a honeymoon spot, Disney was first on my list and to my surprise first on my wonderful husband’s. He always used to playfully tease me about my infatuation with Disney until he went for the first time and now he’s hooked. Choosing to make Disney our vacation spot is always a cinch, but then the planning begins. One of my first questions is always…where do we start? When my husband surprised me with our first trip, he went through a travel agency. But, for our honeymoon we found out how simple it is to actually plan, reserve, and purchase and trip on our own. We always begin with researching the different plans and resorts on the Disney.com Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Page at disneyworld.disney.go.com/waltdisneyworld/index. Next, we got to the Reservation/Book Your Vacation page on Disney.com at http://wdw.reservations.disney.go.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/TravelDW, and use the Custom Package choice so that we can choose the specifics of our trip. This includes the resort, ticket/admission package, round trip flights, ground transportation, room view…you name it, it’s there at your fingertips. This is how I booked our honeymoon because with the honeymoon escape package there was no Disney Club discount. Now, with our trip in December, we wanted to get our Disney Club discount, so we still used this page, but instead of booking our trip on-line, we printed the pages out and called a Disney World representative to book our trip. (FYI…the only moderate that didn’t give the Disney Club discount in December around the holiday is Coronado Springs Resort. Of course the resort that we are staying at!) This made booking the trip much easier because we had all of the information that we needed to give the representative right in front of us and she didn’t have to read to us from a list. Next for us, always comes the fun part. We get our Birnbaum’s, which you can easily order from Amazon.com through a link at DZ and Kimmi gets a small percentage for DZ, and we begin to choose what restaurants appeal to us. My husband and I both make a list and we make the restaurants that we both have listed a priority and then decide on the differences together. Before we make the final decision though we use the menu link from DZ, www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm, to make sure that we will both appreciate what is being served. Surprisingly, a lot of times we choose a lot of the same restaurants. Next, we decide when we are visiting each park and which restaurants are in that park or close and then call for priority seating. Planning a vacation anywhere can be very worrisome, but if you try to make it fun it goes much smoother. I’ve found that there are three books that we like the most in helping plan our Disney trips. (1) Birnbaum’s; (2) Passporter; (3) And, Birnbaum’s for Kids; We don’t have children yet, but love the instead scoop and hidden Mickey details on the different attractions. These books are available through links on DZ at: www.disneyzone.net/guidebooks.htm I hope that some of these links and information can help some. Remember, this is all my experience and opinions, so some of your thoughts may be different or better. Hopefully some day I’ll have it perfected and have no worries before or during the trip, but we all know that will probably never happen. So, with all that said Happy Planning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kids Views We 3 went to Disney Even though dad hurt his knee We loved Eeyore, Pooh and Minnie But mostly we loved Mickey. The hotel s and the parks were great All day long we ate and ate Never left too much on our plate Best part is we stayed up late. Disney is a great place to go. Go tell everyone you know. You don’t have to wait until you grow Just get your family and GO! This poem my 12 year old daughter, Hailey, wrote for a poetry contest at her school. She got 3rd place. I thought you might like to put it in the newsletter so other kids could read it and maybe write a poem of their own! Thanks for the Kids section, its fun for the kids to participate and read what other kids write. -Maria ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ask the Experts! Do you have a question regarding planning a Disney vacation? Send it to us via email: advice@disneyzone.net Who knows, maybe your question will be posted in a future newsletter. The e-mails may also be answered via e-mail. But be patient, we expect a high volume of questions! Thanks… We started answering a few this issue, hope you enjoyed reading them! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Birthday to: Lindsey, 12, Thomas, 2, Robin, 6, Becky, 17, Brianna, 5, Cole, 9, Lois, 75, Erica, 5, Samantha, 10, Paul, Dennis, Christopher, 7, Tyler, 14, Scott and Megan 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! Best Prices plus: Insider tips- Suggested daily itineraries - Disney gifts Visit www.MouseEarVacations.com A division of Cruising Co Etc Look at our customers' comments - see why they come back to us for every Disney vacation! Disney World - Disney Cruise - Disneyland Free online quotes or call toll free: 800-886-8601 to request that a Disney specialist contact you. **********GIFT IDEAS*********************** Disney Character Watches. Mickey, Minnie, Daffy, Donald, Pluto, Movie Themes and More. Wholesale prices available to dealers. Individual watch sales to collectors and retail customers. Visit our site and order on-line. www.watchcloseouts.com **************RADIO STATIONS****************** KMIN980 is an oldies radio station that broadcasts live on the internet. Not the same old songs over and over. Come listen to our Sound Souvenirs while you are surfing on DZ ! www.kmin980.com ***************HOME SERVICES********************* Interior Redesign Industry Specialists. You can have a beautiful, comfortable, and inviting home that is easy on your wallet and you can have it in just one day. Your rooms undergo a stress-free transformation with the finished product being a stunning new look - at a tremendous savings to you! www.weredesign.com Great American Funding One-stop site for info on Home Loans, Refinancing and more. Online calculators, lots of great information, too. No pressure from us! Come visit our site and contact us if you would like any additional info, to be preapproved, or want a firm quote. www.homeloans411.com **************INTERNET SERVICES****************** Website Hosting and Maintenance Do you have a website looking for a home? Do you need someone to maintain your website? Sites hosted $25/per month if you mention DZ when you call! 805-370-8001 www.actusa.net *********DISASTER SERVICES/CHARITIES ************ RED CROSS The Red Cross will continue to need blood and monetary donations as the weeks go by. However small your donation, it all adds up! Please visit their website at www.redcross.org to see how to help! A memorial fund has been created to help provide for the families of police, fire and emergency workers who were killed during rescue efforts. The Twin Towers Fund General Post Office P.O. Box 26999 New York, NY 10087-6999 HELPING.ORG is a website dedicated entirely to helping the victims of the Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks. Relief organizations tell us that they most need cash donations to fund special resources and personnel. To make a donation or learn more about these different organizations visit www.helping.org ********************************************* Put your ad in the DZ News and reach Disney fans! Email us for info! Advertising@disneyzone.net Please note that all ads on this page are paid advertisements and DZ, Disneyzone does not endorse their products or services.