An Introduction to the Disney vacation experience

Donna Quinn

I love Disney. Their resorts and theme parks are great places to have a family-oriented vacation, combining plenty of high-quality entertainment with clean facilities and excellent service. Not only do they have plenty of ways for small children to enjoy themselves, but they've also remembered to include things for older children and adults. For a true vacation from everyday life, you'll have a hard time finding anything better than what
Disney offers.

That said, the Disney experience isn't exactly a budget product. While Disney has tried in recent years to give visitors more options and flexibility, it's still a somewhat high-end product, and you pay for what you get. But, with an experienced travel agent to guide you through the variety of options available, it's possible to get the most out of your Disney vacation.

Let's start with the basics. The two main options for most travelers in this region are Disney World and Disney Cruise. We sell some of the other options, such as the Disneyland packages, but most people in this area would rather go to Disney World, because it's closer. I'll be talking about Disney Cruise in another blog, but in this post I thought I'd talk a little about how I can help you get the best out of a visit to Disney World.

Walt Disney World Resort is located in Orlando, Florida, and it's a huge complex with four theme parks (The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom), two water parks, six golf courses, a sports complex, a race track, several resort hotels and plenty of places to shop, eat and watch live entertainment. Because of the staggering number of options available, our clients generally purchase a resort and theme park package for the trip.

One thing that many people might not know is that Disney has changed the way it sells its vacation packages. While this may seems like a small change, its impact on visitors and their budgets is substantial. Not that long ago, when you called Disney to arrange a visit, they only had a limited number of packages available. You would give them the number of nights you were planning on staying, they would tell you exactly what parks and other locations within the resort you could go to based on that. Some people found it a little limiting, so they changed it.

Now, the packages available from Disney are much more flexible. Instead of getting what Disney thinks you should have, they now try to make sure that you get what you want. For instance, the number of nights you spend at the resort no longer has to match the number of park passes that you get. In other words, you can go stay where you want, go where you want, and do what you want. It's a much better program, and I think that it's also a little better for people who are more budget-conscious.

The biggest change is how they handle the park passes. You can have a "base ticket," which is where you have a pass for one park per day, or you can have a "hopping ticket," where you can hop from park to park each day. The "base ticket" is good for people who want to visit a particular park, like The Magic Kingdom, but aren't really interested in the water park or the golf courses, for instance.

Another big thing that has changed dramatically is the meal plan. The vast majority of my clients purchase the meal plan, which is more reasonably priced than it ever has been before. It's a very flexible plan that gives you one table service meal, one counter service meal and one snack per day. The meal plan works out to be much cheaper than if you ate the same meals without it, and it also simplifies the resort experience. And, since you can mix them up any way you'd like during your stay, it's also a great way to check out the dozens of excellent places to eat at Disney World.

In my next blog post, I'll be talking a little about the entertainment options available at Disney World, both for kids and adults, and getting into a little more detail about how I can help you plan your visit.

Walt Disney World

I have recently returned from a
Walt Disney World vacation.

I stayed in the new All-Star Movies Resort which is one of the three value priced resorts on property (the others are Music and Sports). The All-Star resorts offer a large food court, two swimming pools, playgrounds, and arcades at each resort. They cost approximately the
same as the Comfort Inn and the Grovesnor Resort, but they are part of the Disney property. There are two other All-Stars in the planing stages of being built-Comedy and Theater. Each property is decorated with larger than life images representing each theme.

For the first day I went to Animal Kingdom. This is a park where it is best to go in the morning. It does open at 8:00am which is the earliest of any of the parks. Upon arrival you notice the Tree of Life. This remarkable tree is in the center of the park, inlaid with carved animals, and the home to the show "Its Tough To Be A Bug." The park is devoted to conservation. Each of the rides or attractions is intended to educate. For example, the safari which takes you through the arces of land with free roaming animals also tells the story of the poachers in Africa. Countdown to Extinction is the only "roller coaster" in the park. The River Rapids ride is sure to get you wet, but is very short. The park also offers "archaeological" sites for kids to dig up "dinosaur bones." The Festival of the Lion King is a must see show of songs and acrobatics. Unless you have children who want to play in all of the playgrounds, you can see and do everything in the Animal Kingdom in a few hours (8am-2pm) if you go in the morning to avoid the longer
lines of the afternoon.

After Animal Kingdom I headed over to MGM-Studios Theme Park. Because of the great transporation system you can get from any one park to another by buses. MGM is home to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. In true Twilight Zone fashion, this is the scariest ride in WDW.
Originally, the Tower was an elevator that went to the top and the dropped for a free fall. It now goes to the top, opens to ghosts beckoning you to join them. And these ghosts are not the same as the 999 happy spirits in the haunted mansion; these could have come from "The Shining." The elevator then drops, stops, and rises again. This is done several times with windows opening so you can look over all of MGM at some of the stops. In the end, I don't know how many time you drop because I could not always tell when I was going up or down. I was told that the next time I go, to put a quarter on my knee and watch it. If anyone goes and tries it, let me know.
MGM is scheduled to open the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster this summer, but it was still being tested while I was there. It is going to be the first coaster in WDW to flip you upside-down. The other rides include Star Tours, which is a simulated ride, the Studio Backlot Tour, and the Great Movie Ride.

The first makes you feel as if you were moving, but in reality you have just been bounced around. The other two are like moving shows about the movie business. There are some really good shows such as the Indiana Jones Stunt Show and Muppet Vision 3D. One of the best things though was dinner. It is best to make a reservation early since waits can get up to 2hrs long. I ate at the 50's Prime-Time Cafe. Each table is decorated like a fifties kitchen, television show the Mickey Mouse Club and Dennis the Mennis, and the waiters are all your aunt, uncle, brother, or sister, and treat you as such. And you better keep your elbows off the table, or they make you stand in a corner. The absolute best part of MGM is the laser-light show Fantasmic Based on Fantasia, this show is about Mickey vs. The Disney Villians. Movie clips and laser displays shown on sprays of water are accompanied by live characters and puppets. I would suggest arriving at the amphitheater about 90 minutes early for the first show for the best seats (center midway up).

The next day was devoted to the Magic Kingdom. My group decided to go on a day that the park opened early to on property guests. The day started with a character breakfast in the Crystal Palace. There are several different choices for character meals, but this one involved Winnie the Pooh and friends (my roommate is obsessed). During the breakfast, characters come up to your table for autographs and pictures. And yes, I got autographs.

The good reason for going early is to avoid lines in places such as Space Mountain. During the rest of the day the line can be an hour or so long, but at that time not many people are there. Also only part of the park opens early and you can go ahead and get those rides out of the way. New to Tommorrowland is the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. In this ride you spin your craft to different targets and try to score points by shooting a laser beam. Or you can just spin around and shoot people in front or behind you. Fantasyland also has a new ride, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This takes the place of Mister Toads Wild Ride. Little kids really like this ride. The Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square is always a favorite. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a great coaster especially if you are not a fan of the darkness of Space Mountain. The only line that was horribly long was the 90 minute wait for Splash Mountain, but it is a great ride and worth the wait. A great way to shorten the lines is to miss the parades.
There are three parades right now at the Magic Kingdom. In the afternoon there is a parade of the classic Disney Characters. In the evening they have two showings of the Main Steet Electric Light Parade (the original from Disneyland).

The last day I went to EPCOT. Normally, I really like EPCOT, but right now half of the park is closed for preparations for the Centorium celebration, this includes Journey Into Imagination, Horizons, and areas blocked off by construction. But a great addition has opened, Test Track. This coaster takes you through different car tests including the reason for anti-lock brakes, heat and cold, suspension, and turns. The World Showcase has so far been left untouched by the construction, though they are planning the addition of new countries. You definitely can not get a better choice of dinning than in the countries. Depending on how much is open, EPCOT can be a half day to a more than full day, but make sure you are there for dinner.

The other part of WDW I visited was Downtown Disney. This area is full of restuarants, shops, and nightclubs. Downtown Disney is split into three parts: West Side, Marketplace, and Pleasure Island. The first two are free, but Pleasure Island cost $20.00 to be in after 7pm. Luckily if you get the one day complimentary travel agent park hopper pass, it includes one night in Pleasure Island free. The area offers nightclubs for everyone; there is a techno dance club, seventies club, rock n roll club, hip-hop music club, country music club, big-band club, and a comedy club.
There is also live music on the street for their "New Years Eve Party" everynight. While the rest of WDW closes by midnight, Pleasure Island is open until 2am.

There are a few things one needs to remember about Walt Disney World. One is that it is in Florida. That means is you go during the summer you will get rain on almost every afternoon. The showers don't always last long, but they do happen most days. Disney is ready for this and people selling ponchos are about as common as the people selling drinks and icecream to cool you down from the 90+degree days. Also, there are lines everywhere. My roommates and I were excited when we saw line signs that said the wait was 30 minutes. Another thing is not everyone will want to do the same things, don't make them. I saw several groups who kept in touch be cell phone or walkie-talkie and they seemed much happier than those fighting about what to do next.

But most important, Walt Disney World was designed for kids, so act like one.