| September 10, 2009 * Issue 9.37 |
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 In This Newsletter
From the Authors: School Daze
Travel Feature: Tokyo Disney Resort
Disney Feature: The Reluctant Mouseketeer
Updates: What's New and Changed
Tips: Split vs. Share, Wolf Down Wolfgang's, Scent-Sational
Captain's Corner: Morocco
PassPorter PhotoPick:
Q and A: At what age is a child too old for a stroller at Walt Disney World?
Our
Sponsors: We Recommend...
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 Cool Links:
Stuff and Services
We encounter many Disney- and travel-related products and services. From among
those we try, a few are good enough to use ourselves and recommend to you:
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Owner's Locker - The Purple Place for Storing Your Vacation Stuff!
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Updates:
What's New and Changed
This week we have 2 news bulletins:
Tomorrowland Transit Authority Reopening Delayed The Tomorrowland Transit Authority will re-open on September 12, 2009, not September 1, 2009 as originally planned.
Comments: 49
This updates page 136 of PassPorter's Walt Disney World guidebook
Fantasmic Dinner Package Changes Beginning soon, guests who book the Fantasmic dinner package -- which includes dinner at a Hollywood Studios restaurant and reserved seating for Fantasmic -- will have a different process. Guests will report to the main entrance 30 minutes prior to show time and join a special queue to the right of the general admission queue. This will give package guests better access to the reserved seating area and eliminate the need to arrive 60-90 minutes prior to the show.
Comments: 49
This updates page 218 of PassPorter's Walt Disney World guidebook
Tip: Need more news? Read, sort, and search all the PassPorter news bulletins at the PassPorter News Desk!
Our thanks to AllEars.net and MousePlanet.com from which we get some of our news leads.
Hear some news? Be a 'PassPorter Reporter' and send it to us!
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Disney Tips:
From Fellow
Readers
Our readers deliver a wealth of information! Send us your tips! You may see them in this newsletter and win a copy of PassPorter! And you never know -- your tip could even appear in a future edition of a PassPorter guidebook.
SPLIT VS. SHARE
'There's a hefty "split plate fee" at Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland. (I believe it was $12 the last time we ate there.) What you get for that is a split main entree, and two full orders of the sides (salad/gumbo, potatoes, and veggies). Many people don't realize that you can share an entree without paying this fee. Just specify that you want to share, NOT SPLIT a plate; ask for an empty plate; and they'll bring you the regular serving of everything. I've found that entrees such as the Monte Cristo (my favorite!) are WAY too much to eat for one person, so this is how we handle sharing. It saves a TON of money, and you get the experience of eating in this lovely restaurant without breaking the bank.'
-- contributed by Terri
 Save This Tip
WOLF DOWN WOLFGANG'S
'The best counter service in the World is the Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney. The food is fresh and terrific. It is more like a table service as wait staff brings the food and clears the table. It is a very refreshing change from burgers and fries.'
-- contributed by Kalli
Save This Tip
SCENT-SATIONAL
'This is a little thing, but it makes the Disney Magic stretch a bit further for me. Whenever I go to Walt Disney World, I find a new body wash in a scent I like that I've never used before. I usually treat myself to a nice one from the Body Shop or somewhere else a little nicer than I would usually buy. Sometimes I buy a nice fruity one for the kids too. I use the body wash for the entire week we're at Disney. After that, I find that the scent of that body wash reminds me of the trip. I might buy a bottle a few months later and put it in the shower and it reminds us all of WDW and makes us smile in the morning.'
-- contributed by Beth
Save This Tip
Want more Disney
tips? Look for the concierge bell icon in future newsletters and throughout the PassPorter.com site. When you see the bell, tap it to view and save the tip to your personal tip collection!
For Walt Disney World fans, we've collected 500 of the best tips submitted by readers over the past six years. All have been edited for accuracy and
categorized. For details, visit the PassPorter Disney 500 info
page or the PassPorter store. For Disney Cruise Line fans, we have an e-book with 250 cruiser tips, as
well as a special cruise line comparison section and seven customized packing lists. For information, visit the Disney Cruise Clues info
page.
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PassPorter PhotoPick
Each issue we choose a special photo from the PassPorter Photo Archive which highlights something beautiful, interesting,
humorous, or timely at Disney or around the world. Here is this issue's PassPorter PhotoPick:
Photo by
(click the photo or link to see a larger photo with details)
You can nominate photos as a PassPorter PhotoPick by giving ratings in the PassPorter Photo Archive (you'll need to be logged in to do this). If you'd like to contribute your own photos to the Photo Archive and be considered as a PhotoPick, please read our Photo Upload Guidelines for details and benefits.
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. . . . . . . | Q and A: With Jennifer and
Dave
mariahnlily asks: "At what age would you say a child is too old for a stroller at Walt Disney World?"
Dave answers: "At 5 or 6 ... if you're planning to take rest breaks back at the resort, you might get away without a stroller. Same can still be true if you're willing to tour at a relatively relaxed pace and include time in the in-park playgrounds. As I often say, the slowest hiker sets the pace. While a 5- or 6-year-old sets an exhausting pace for part of the day, eventually he/she is going to crash.
If you're expecting to spend long days and nights in the parks and don't think you'll be able to take things easy, a stroller will probably still come in handy."
Did our message board members agree with Dave? To see other answers that mariahnlily received, check out the rest of the thread on the PassPorter Message Boards..
Have a question? Post questions at http://www.passporterboards.com -- and if you're
lucky, you may find that folks have already asked and answered the same question that's on your mind!
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Future Newsletters:
Want To See Your Name in Print?
PassPorter News is published weekly, and this means we're always in need of articles! We're on the lookout for guest columnists who want to contribute articles to this newsletter. No professional writing experience is necessary, just a desire to share your experience with others! Not only is this a great way to give something back to the PassPorter community, but you get to see your name in 'print' and receive a $25 gift certificate for use at www.passporter.com.
For details and our article submission guidelines, please e-mail news@passporter.com. Articles about Disney and general travel are welcomed! | . . . . . . . . . . .
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Our Sponsors:
We Recommend...
PassPorter only accepts advertising from services of the highest
quality -- we recommend these companies because we use them ourselves. Please support our sponsors and, in turn, support this newsletter! This week's sponsors
are (in order of appearance):
MouseEarVacations.com -
Walt Disney World FREE Dining offer
Mouse Fan Travel -
Mouse Fan Reunion by Land - Dec 10 - 14, 2009!
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$5.00 off airport round-trip town car!
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| | | From the Authors: School Daze
Hi, {{user('firstname')}}!
The first day of a new school year is a ritual in countless homes around the world, including here in PassPorterland. In our case, this past Tuesday was our son Alexander's first day of kindergarten! While that may be newsworthy only to ourselves, his grandparents, and our circle of friends and family, we hope you'll excuse us for sharing our excitement. We've met so many of you over the years -- online, at PassPorter and other Disney-focused gatherings, and in chance meetings at the parks and a few unexpected places -- that we can hardly consider you strangers! Here's a report (with photos and video) of Alexander's first day of school in The Nursery, our journal of life with Alexander!
Disney Cruise Line is hinting (well, more than hinting) that they'll be announcing some of the new 2011 ports of call and itineraries tomorrow, September 11 at the D23 Convention in Anaheim. If you're at all interested in what DCL plans to do duing the first year its new ship, the Disney Dream, is in service, keep your eyes on our Disney Cruise Line forum, where we're confident we'll have all the news.
Correction: In last week's Q and A: With Jennifer and Dave, in a question regarding airline seating preferences, Dave noted, "However, if you purchase a seat for an infant in a child safety seat, the child must be in the middle seat." Reader Stacey Z. and several others wrote to remind us that child safety seats must be placed in a window seat, so that the safety seat does not block access to the aisle. We we were dealing personally with this issue just three years ago and Alexander was always seated by the window -- Dave simply mis-typed middle instead of window. Our apologies for the error!
Decade of Dreams Disneyland Event!
Our Decade of Dreams 10th anniversary is taking PassPorter to Disneyland over the weekend of October 16-18, 2009! Everyone is welcome to join us for our festivities, which tentatively include a Mickey's Trick or Treat Party, Disneyland Quest Afternoon, and breakfast at Storyteller's Cafe (limited seating -- only 9 seats left!). To learn more, check out our meet schedule and let us know if you can attend! We promise a great time for all. See you there!
British Peer Reviewers Chosen
Many thanks to everyone who responded to the call last week for peer reviewers for our new e-book, PassPorter's Guide to Walt Disney World for British Holidaymakers by DVC e-book author Cheryl Pendry. Cheryl and e-book Editor Carrie Hayward have been sifting through everyone's replies, and they have now chosen our team of expert peer reviewers. It's a great shame that it wasn't possible to include everyone who responded to our appeal, and both Carrie and Cheryl would like to thank everyone for their interest and for offering their time. The peer review work has started, and we're looking at a late October publication date.
PassPorter's Disney Weddings & Honeymoons E-Book Updated
A fourth revision of PassPorter's Disney Weddings & Honeymoons: Dream Days at Disney World and on Disney Cruises e-book is ready for download. Changes include new ceremony and reception venues (including a scuba wedding!), new venue pricing, new requirements for the complimentary room night, and the discontinuation of printed save-the-dates for the Wishes Collection. If you purchased the e-book from our online store, you can download the revised version by going to the PassPorter Store, logging into your account, locating the e-book in your Order History, and clicking the download link. If you're a member of PassPorter's Club, just head over to the Club and download from The Reading Room, as always.
Contribute To Our 2010 Disneyland Edition
We're working new Disneyland edition of PassPorter for 2010! And, as always, YOUR input is very important -- it's one of the things that makes PassPorter unique and valuable. We encourage you to take some time to contribute a tip, story, photo, and/or rating -- it really makes a difference! To learn how to contribute, please view the details on our message boards. We look forward to seeing your contributions!
PassPorter's Club
Update
- More than 1500 vacationers are now enjoying access to all our e-books, e-worksheets, and super-sized photo archive images. Thank you for your continued support!
- The Disney Weddings e-book has been updated to version 1.4 -- download it free of extra charges in the Reading Room!
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In this issue, PassPorter Featured Columnist Cheryl Pendry shares information on Tokyo Disney Resort. Then PassPorter Guest Contributor Nicole Courson gives us a glimpse into The Reluctant Mouseketeer. Finally, Jack Skatt is back with a brand-new Walt Disney World Treasure Hunt.
Jennifer and Dave Marx
PassPorter Founders and
Authors
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**This offer expires 9/26/09. The number of packages available at this rate is limited. Savings based on non-discounted price for the same room. Tickets valid for one theme park per day and must be used within 14 days of first use. No group rates or other discounts apply. Advance reservations required.
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Travel
Feature:
Tokyo Disney Resort: Booking the Best Hotel For You
Cheryl Pendry, PassPorter Featured Columnist
When you're planning a vacation, it usually follows a fairly familiar pattern. Once you've chosen when to go and booked your flights -- or sorted out other means to get to your destination -- then your thoughts turn to where you're going to stay. If it's a Disney vacation you're planning, the first choice is usually whether to stay at a hotel on or off site and it's no different, even if your Disney destination is a little more exotic. That was the case with our plans for the Tokyo Disney resort -- we needed a place to stay.
Our first challenge was finding out what options are available, but fortunately there are plenty of online resources. The best source of information I found was the Tokyo Disney web site itself. I quickly learned that our choices were limited to three onsite Disney hotels or the six official hotels of the Tokyo Disney resort. These are similar to the Hotel Plaza Resorts at Walt Disney World, such as the Hilton, the Royal Plaza, or the Buena Vista Palace Hotel and Spa. If you're more familiar with Disneyland in California, they compare to the Good Neighbor hotels.
All located alongside the Tokyo Disney monorail system, they offer guests a range of benefits, including purchasing theme park tickets at their hotel, guaranteed park admission, complimentary shuttle buses from the monorail station and a baggage delivery service from the Tokyo Disney Resort Welcome Centre, something all the Disney resorts benefit from as well.
One of the downsides to an off-site hotel however is in the small print on the Tokyo Disney website, where it does warn you that "some hotels may not have English speaking staff available." That's a daunting prospect, even for someone like me, who has a basic grasp of the Japanese language.
As the only two Western names, the Hilton Tokyo Bay and Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay were instantly familiar to me and the Hilton's website clearly states that they have multi-lingual staff, while the Sheraton's website is exceptionally detailed and all in English, unlike some of the other official hotels. Add to that, both are regularly available on search engines such as Expedia, which shows they cater to a more Western market.
That proved to be the case with our short one-night stay at the Sheraton Grande. The staff was all very helpful and polite. Our room, which was upgraded by the hotel when we checked in, had a theme park view, overlooking both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. We were absolutely delighted with the facilities there, considering the low price we'd paid to stay there.
If price is less of an obstacle, then it's definitely worth considering the three onsite Disney resorts. Each boasts swimming pools (although they're only open during the summer months), restaurants, lounges, and shops.
Of those, the Disney Ambassador Hotel is the cheapest of the three. As usual, you do get what you pay for and its location is also the poorest of the three. Admittedly, it's still very close to both theme parks and is right next door to both the Ikispiari shopping and entertainment complex and the theatre that houses ZED, the resident Cirque du Soleil production.
The theme here is Art Deco with lots of crisp, clean lines as you arrive at the hotel. The lobby is stunning and it's definitely worth looking up to see the constellation of stars above you, with some forming some familiar Disney characters. Although it's the cheapest, a standard room at the cheapest time of the year will still set you back around $300 a night.
More expensive and located inside Tokyo DisneySea theme park is the DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta, designed to be an Italian style village. It's even got its own special entrance into the theme park and is right next to the Tokyo DisneySea monorail station. You're looking at a starting price of $350 a night to stay here.
The newest addition to the Disney hotel line-up is just as pricey as the Hotel MiraCosta and that's perhaps not surprising. The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is situated at the entrance to the Tokyo Disneyland park and is exceptionally grand, in a similar style to the Grand Floridian. Walk into the lobby and you'll gasp at the Victorian beauty and splendor of the place.
Obviously, as well as staying onsite and closer to the action, each of the three Tokyo Disney hotels brings a number of benefits for its guests. Just like the official Disney resorts, you can check in at the Tokyo Disney Welcome Centre. Located at the Maihama station, where trains arrive from Tokyo, it's a great idea and something I'd love to see implemented at other Disney resorts.
As soon as we walked in, we were immediately seen to by people who spoke impeccable English. We were able to check in and were given our free passes to ride the monorail. That's one of the perks that Disney hotel guests get. In Tokyo Disney, you have to pay for the monorail, unless you're staying at a Disney resort. They were also able to give us our park tickets and take our luggage, which would be delivered to our hotel and would be waiting for us later in the day.
Other benefits are familiar to anyone who's stayed at a Disney resort before. You get guaranteed admittance to a park, even on the busiest of days and merchandise purchased at the parks can be sent back to your hotel. You'll have the Disney Channel in your room, although you may find that it's in Japanese! And, of course, there are Disney touches to be found everywhere, from your room to your lobby to the shops and restaurants. One nice touch, which is available until at least March 2010, is that you can purchase a special multi-day passport to the theme parks. This is important, as at Tokyo Disney, for the first two days of your visit, you have to specify which park out of the two you wish to visit. You can't park hop until day three, but this multi-day passport allows you to park hop each day and is currently only available to Disney hotel guests.
So where on earth do you find out more? The Tokyo Disney web pages have extensive information on all the hotels mentioned. We also found it useful to read people's trip reports about their visits to Tokyo Disney. MousePlanet has a great selection of these, while MouseSavers has a very detailed report of their visit there in May 2004.
And finally, how easy was it to book everything? It was very simple, with booking online through the Tokyo Disney Resort website. Everything is in English, so there are no worries on that account. The only issue we had was putting the deposit down for our room, when the system refused to accept our Mastercard and American Express. Fortunately, our Visa card went through fine. Whether this was just a glitch or a problem with the site, we weren't sure, but we did experience exactly the same thing when purchasing our park tickets.
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About the Author: Cheryl and husband Mark live in England and love to travel, particularly to Disney, and they have made numerous visits to destinations across America and Europe. They recently completed their tour of every Disney theme park around the world, which culminated in their visit to Japan, including the Tokyo Disney Resort. Cheryl is the co-author of PassPorter's Disney Vacation Club Guide and is a regular featured columnist for PassPorter News.
Questions, feedback, or
corrections about this article, or just want to give kudos to the author? Share a comment here or e-mail
us at news@passporter.com. Also check out our Article Collection for more great information!
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Disney Feature:
The Reluctant Mouseketeer: Discovering the Disney Magic
Nicole Courson, PassPorter Guest Contributor
The first time I visited Walt Disney World I was nine years old. To even call it Walt Disney World is a bit of a stretch, because the year was 1979 and the entire resort was made up of the Magic Kingdom. Disney had actually just broken ground for Epcot during our visit. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom were no doubt stars in some Imagineer's eyes. But to my younger brother Jimmy and I, those days spent endlessly spinning in the teacups and screaming on Space Mountain with our parents were unforgettable.
If we could've gone back, we would have, but as the years went by there were always reasons not to: too busy with soccer/school/family, we were saving for college, and we'd "outgrown" the whole Disney experience by the ripe old age of sixteen, surely.
The truth? I never stopped wanting to go back. In my head I planned a trip for my high school graduation, then for Jimmy's high school graduation, and finally, my college graduation. Except then I decided to get married immediately following college.
Enter the Reluctant Mouseketeer.
We'll call him Mike. He was my Prince Charming, a handsome, kind-hearted man with green eyes and dreams as big as Fantasyland. We dated several years before he joined the military, and following our engagement I told him that I'd secretly dreamed of honeymooning in Walt Disney World for years.
His reaction wasn't what I expected.
"I don't get the whole ‘Mouse' thing," he told me, seeming as shocked by my wishes as I was by his lack of interest. "We're adults, isn't that the kind of thing to do with a family someday?"
His reasoning, coupled with the fact that we'd need pretty much every available penny to set up housekeeping in a foreign country, seemed sound. So I agreed, somewhat disappointedly, but still secretly planning a trip in the not-to-distant future.
So I asked again following his next assignment, back in the States. Again, the look of surprised confusion, and he said, "But we don't have kids yet. Why would we want to go without kids?"
Again, two years later, with our little guy Austin toddling around the living room of our base housing unit, Mike presented me with even more reasons to not go to Walt Disney World: the Florida weather, a too-big-for-our-military-budget expense, and Austin being too little to remember this no-doubt once in a lifetime journey.
I've learned the hard way that there are a dozen easy ways for people to talk themselves out of that Disney vacation: the crowds, the heat, and the expense just being a few of them. And I've also learned that there are far more reasons to go, if they'd just carefully consider their own arguments.
The last time I approached Mike with my Disney vacation plea, I had a battle strategy the size of Epcot. Our two boys were by then nine and eleven, well within the "remembering" range. I was willing to work extra hours to pay for the trip without touching our household budget. We'd stay on property (no driving) at a value resort (low cost), use the meal plan (most expenses paid for before we get there), and visit during the month of December (lowest crowds, low temperature). Our best friends and their kids were in – they'd been there three times before. My mother, my brother and his family were in, too. All I needed was Mike's okay.
Mike agreed, however reluctantly, knowing when he was beat and under the condition that he could keep any princesses that he found. I readily agreed, dizzy with the thrill of finally making our trip official. He shook his head as we made dining reservations six months out, rolled his eyes as the boys and I sang along with old Disney soundtracks in the car. But being our Prince, he boarded the plane with a smile on his face and a reminder that he was holding me to the princess promise – he'd be keeping any he found.
Our first day in the Magic Kingdom, my Reluctant Mouseketeer spotted Mary Poppins. His eyes widened. His jaw dropped. His head turned to the rest of us, a look of childlike amazement on his face.
And just like that ... he was one of us.
The adult barrier gradually wore away the next few days, as he sported our son's Stitch hat and taunted my mother into riding the Tower of Terror. He sponsored his own "Beers of the World" tour around the World Showcase, flirted with Lady Tremaine, and on our last day, squeezed my hand and said, "We should do this again. You know, before the boys get too old."
I knew what he was saying, and I know in my heart what he meant. And naïve as it may sound, I hope we never get too old to go back, because it's the closest thing to magic I've found.
And even the least likely, most charming prince of a husband can become a Mouseketeer with a little bit of planning…and the promise of a princess or two.
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About the Author: Nicole Courson lives in the magical kingdom of Pittsburgh, PA, with her two growing Mouseketeers and Prince Charming. They're planning their next trip to Walt Disney World in December of 2010 – this time, with Mike's family.
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corrections about this article, or just want to give kudos to the author? Share a comment here or e-mail
us at news@passporter.com. Also check out our Article Collection for more great information!
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Did You Know?
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Free 30-minute grocery stop with airport round-trip
Special! $5.00 off airport round-trip
Use Discount Code: PassPorter News
Call 888-GO TO WDW or visit quicksilver-tours.com
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