Random trip notes
Caren
reading the message boards. It was great to meet you all and put faces
to the names. And special thanks to Charlotte and John for hosting the
Friday-night shindig—yes, you can stuff fifty people into a one-
bedroom villa at OKW
After staying in a one-bedroom at OKW we’ve decided we are now utterly
spoiled and can never stay in a hotel room again. We’ll be shopping
for some used OKW points to complement our BLT points after we finish
getting our youngest through school. I think we may start planning
trips just to hang out without doing any parks.
It’s a relief to have a kitchen and not have to depend on Disney for
meals. It’s so nice to just be able to scramble a couple of eggs at
home and hang out on the balcony with a cup of coffee.
I’ve decided that what I really don’t like about Disney dining isn’t
so much the exorbitant cost or the bland food, but the hassle. In five
days, we had only three meals with the Mouse and all three were a lot
more trouble than they were worth. By the time we make the
reservation, travel to wherever we’re dining—which we’re stuck with
even though we’ve decided in the meantime that someplace else would be
better or more convenient—wait in line to check in, wait around with
our pager, and eat in a noisy restaurant attended by wait staff trying
to cover too many tables, it just doesn’t seem worthwhile. Even the
Yachtsman seemed very noisy and crowded.
I was surprised by how close Illuminations seemed from our balcony at
OKW. We had a fairly decent view of the higher fireworks, could
actually hear the music in the distance, and the fireworks themselves
seemed louder even than I remember them being from the Beach Club.
This year’s Christmas decorations were…um….tasteful, restrained,
energy-efficient…okay, they were a disappointment, nothing like the
over-the-top decorations I remember. The Christmas lights I enjoyed
the most were decorating the balconies at the DVC resorts. Scaled-down
Christmas decorations were a major topic of discussion at the bus
stops at OKW.
One of our bags arrived with a half-inch hole neatly punched into its
side. On the way back, we noticed the Magical Express driver fishing
bags out of the bottom of the bus with a pole that had a hook on the
end of it—a pointy hook that would have made a hole just about the
size of the one on our bag. The trouble with Magical Express is that
you never know for sure who damaged the bag.
We had pretty good bus luck this trip with buses always being there
pretty quickly when we needed them. Whatever dispatch system they’re
using seems to be working. I miss chatty bus drivers.
--
Caren
TDC Queen of Adventureland
Ginny Favers
you saw with the pole/hook from Magical Express.
Not to get anything, but to let them know! If someone punched a hole in
my travel bag I'd be po'ed. Those things aren't free.
~Amanda
Norm
We just got back from our stay at OKW. We noticed the parks seemed to
be more toned down in the decorations, but thought it was just us not
remembering as well.
On our last day at OKW we were waiting for our cab to arrive near the
front entrance. We overheard a vacationer talking to a CM at bell
services about the Magical Express bus. Apparently, their bus was
picking them up three hours before their flight. The man was not
happy and also complained about their luggage had taken so long to get
to their room after they had arrived. The CM pointed to my wife and
I, but I couldn’t hear what he had said. The man came up to me and
questioned why we would use a cab when Magical Express is free. I
told him I pay $100 r/t for a cab just for the added peace. The cab
driver meets us, takes us and our luggage straight to the resort, and
then picks us up 1½ hours before our flight. To us, for $100 it’s
worth not having to deal with the hassles. I know there are a lot of
people that use the service, but after getting off an airplane I want
to get to my room as quick as possible. Our only Magical Express
experience was a nightmare and I’ll never do it again.
Steve Russo
I can't disagree with your preference but I'll present the other side
of the coin.
We've used DME for all but one trip since it started (5 or 6 trips
total) and have never had a problem. It is nice to completely bypass
baggage claim and step on to a bus. We've made it from stepping off
the plane to standing at the resort check-in desk in as little as 50
minutes but the norm has been closer to 90 minutes. Our luggage has
always been delivered directly to our room inside of two hours after
check-in.
I admit that three hours before the flight is a little much but having
the extra time has never been an issue for me. But I'm the type that
always arrives to the airport early, just in case...
I've often said it's not for everyone but for me... it cost me about
15-minutes over a Town Car, taxi etc. and saves $100-120 plus tip.
Not a bad deal.
MitchB
news:9a318d1b-95af-4a4f...@3g2000vbp.googlegroups.com...
>
> I've often said it's not for everyone but for me... it cost me about
> 15-minutes over a Town Car, taxi etc. and saves $100-120 plus tip.
> Not a bad deal.
My DH would never be able to do that. He loves to have a car and we've
always been able to get some really good deals thru National's Emerald Aisle
club. As much of an anal control freak that I am (I'm the one who arrives
early at the airport too!), doesn't matter how I get to my hotel, as long as
I get there quickly and get my luggage quickly. Don�t think I'd like it
either.
Michelle
Ginny Favers
>> reading the message boards. It was great to meet you all and put faces
>> to the names. And special thanks to Charlotte and John for hosting the
>> bedroom villa at OKW
>>
>> After staying in a one-bedroom at OKW we�ve decided we are now utterly
>> spoiled and can never stay in a hotel room again. We�ll be shopping
>> for some used OKW points to complement our BLT points after we finish
>> getting our youngest through school. I think we may start planning
>> trips just to hang out without doing any parks.
>>
>> meals. It�s so nice to just be able to scramble a couple of eggs at
>> home and hang out on the balcony with a cup of coffee.
>>
>> so much the exorbitant cost or the bland food, but the hassle. In five
>> days, we had only three meals with the Mouse and all three were a lot
>> more trouble than they were worth. By the time we make the
>> even though we�ve decided in the meantime that someplace else would be
>> better or more convenient�wait in line to check in, wait around with
>> our pager, and eat in a noisy restaurant attended by wait staff trying
>> Yachtsman seemed very noisy and crowded.
>>
>> I was surprised by how close Illuminations seemed from our balcony at
>> OKW. We had a fairly decent view of the higher fireworks, could
>> actually hear the music in the distance, and the fireworks themselves
>> seemed louder even than I remember them being from the Beach Club.
>>
>> energy-efficient�okay, they were a disappointment, nothing like the
>> over-the-top decorations I remember. The Christmas lights I enjoyed
>> the most were decorating the balconies at the DVC resorts. Scaled-down
>> Christmas decorations were a major topic of discussion at the bus
>> stops at OKW.
>>
>> One of our bags arrived with a half-inch hole neatly punched into its
>> side. On the way back, we noticed the Magical Express driver fishing
>> bags out of the bottom of the bus with a pole that had a hook on the
>> size of the one on our bag. The trouble with Magical Express is that
>> you never know for sure who damaged the bag.
>>
>> We had pretty good bus luck this trip with buses always being there
>> using seems to be working. I miss chatty bus drivers.
>>
>> --
>> Caren
>> TDC Queen of Adventureland
>
> We just got back from our stay at OKW. We noticed the parks seemed to
> be more toned down in the decorations, but thought it was just us not
> remembering as well.
>
> On our last day at OKW we were waiting for our cab to arrive near the
> front entrance. We overheard a vacationer talking to a CM at bell
> services about the Magical Express bus. Apparently, their bus was
> picking them up three hours before their flight. The man was not
> happy and also complained about their luggage had taken so long to get
> to their room after they had arrived. The CM pointed to my wife and
> questioned why we would use a cab when Magical Express is free. I
> told him I pay $100 r/t for a cab just for the added peace. The cab
> driver meets us, takes us and our luggage straight to the resort, and
> worth not having to deal with the hassles. I know there are a lot of
> people that use the service, but after getting off an airplane I want
> to get to my room as quick as possible. Our only Magical Express
I'd add that the "free" ME bus ride lures people into paying full rack
rates for rooms that they might otherwise wait and seek out discounts on.
~Amanda
Judy
>
> I'd add that the "free" ME bus ride lures people into paying full rack
> rates for rooms that they might otherwise wait and seek out discounts on.
>
The ME is available to anyone who stays on property- not just those
who pay rack rate. Or maybe I'm missing your point?
Judy
Ginny Favers
The ME is a marketing ploy that, along with the way tickets are
structured, encourages people to purchase packages and not spend any
time or money off Disney property.
Since the economic downturn, there have been really decent deals on
Disney packages, but that was not the case the past few years. People
would have done way better for themselves going "a la carte".
~Amanda
Patty Winter
In article <hghmm9$f9f$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
Ginny Favers <ginny...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Judy wrote:
>> On Dec 17, 10:41 am, Ginny Favers <ginnyfav...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I'd add that the "free" ME bus ride lures people into paying full rack
>>> rates for rooms that they might otherwise wait and seek out discounts on.
>>
>> who pay rack rate. Or maybe I'm missing your point?
>
>structured, encourages people to purchase packages and not spend any
>time or money off Disney property.
Sure, that's what a lot of people do. But how does ME keep anyone
from waiting for better rates on WDW rooms? It isn't like there's
a limited number of ME spots that are first-come, first-served.
You can wait as long as you want for the rate you want and still
take advantage of ME. The people who don't know any better than
to grab a WDW package to get ME are probably the same people who
don't know about the various discounts and thus wouldn't wait for
them anyway.
Patty
Lisa Cubbon
> Judy wrote:
>> On Dec 17, 10:41 am, Ginny Favers <ginnyfav...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I'd add that the "free" ME bus ride lures people into paying full rack
>>> rates for rooms that they might otherwise wait and seek out discounts
>>> on.
>>>
>>> ~Amanda-
>>
>>
>> The ME is available to anyone who stays on property- not just those
>> who pay rack rate. Or maybe I'm missing your point?
>>
>> Judy
>
> The ME is a marketing ploy that, along with the way tickets are
> structured, encourages people to purchase packages and not spend any
> time or money off Disney property.
ME always has seemed to me to be the answer to NOT getting a
high speed rail line from the airport. If I remember correctly,
Universal and Sea World were in very vocal disagreement about that plan.
Disney could not get that approved so this was plan B and it works well.
Gets people to the resort, and the parks. Yes it does keep people on
the property. Orlando used to be just a wide spot in the road
before Disney came to town.
Lisa
Ginny Favers
package, paying as much as possible, thinking they're getting all this
"free" stuff, getting hassled by buses, poor ME service, overcrowded EMH
nights, bad food they prepaid for and aren't even eating all their
credits, etc.
~Amanda
Judy
How does using ME differ from the earlier transportation offers of
Mears, Tiffany Town car or some other paid transportation to and from
the parks? In most of those cases, once the person arrived at WDW,
they stayed until they used the same transportation to leave. If
someone wanted to go off property, they used Mears etc. I have friends
who spent a week at WDW and also visited Sea World and Universal, all
without renting a car. I guess I'm still not to clear on why ME is
encouraging people to buy rack rate tickets....
Ginny Favers
People look for a discount and hear they get "free" bus transportation
so they stop right there. I saw that over and over talking to people
booking trips who were first time or infrequent visitors. Don't know
why they behave that way, but they do.
Once someone decides they are getting a "deal" they are committed to
that belief and will hold on to it to a highly irrational degree.
~Amanda