DisneyWorld
NikNikk
Here are some posts I gathered from CompuServe's Florida Forum.
Best wishes!
-Nikki (& Bill)
29 April 1995
From: CJ MITCHELL, 74176,3204
To: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102022, reply to #102018
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Mon, Sep 12, 1994, 12:48:25 PM
4 years ago my wife and I had our delayed honeymoon at WDW. And I would
advise the following. 1 - If at all possible stay on site. We stayed at
the Disney INN. You really wont appreciate the ability to fall off the
bus right into your room untill youve walked around the pars for about 6
hours. 3 - GET THE MEAL PLANS - At the time we went we got what was called
"THE PIG PLAN" this gives you the most flexability for meal planning and
as on site guests, you gave reserve your meal times days in advance.
Although the plan in limited to full service restaurants. You still can
eat at a "wide variety of places" all part of the experience of WDW. 4 -
Arrive in Orlando THE DAY PRIOR TO YOUR SCHEDUELED WDW ARRIVAL. Stay in
one of the many Orlando hotels. this will allow you to start your WDW
plane on the fully day, instead of waisting 1/2 to 3/4 of a your WDW
package in transit. The same can be said for the end of your stayplan to
spend the night of the last day of your package at a off site hotel.
again this will allow you to utilize the full day instead of waithing it
on travel. We planned our stay to arrive the Second Wed. in JUNE. This was
done for the following reasons. a) (at the time) off season rates, b) no
crowds - most schools had not let out so the KID/family/crowds were not a
factor. Most people do not leave for vacation the day the kids get out of
school, there is usually a week to 2 week lag time. this is ideal for
childless visitors. c) eve though this is still the off time. The park
has shifted to iSUMMER HOURS of operation, this means you get the
nightime water shows and the electrice light parade, that might not have
been presented a week earlier. (I guess this is sort of a dry run week)
d) most of the rides that were closed for the off season will be open in
preparation for the "ON" season which will begin the following week. Start
you stay in the middle of the week (TUE, WED, or thur) most people start
their vacations with the travel on SAT, or SUN, and usually arrive in
ORLANDO on monday. By arriving in the middle of the week, you have 1
avoided some of the Airline/interstate rush "(SOME of the rush) Summertime
ORlando traffic is always bad). and secondly you will be running behind
and not with the crowd (what little is there) for the attractions. By the
time your 5 days is up you can spend it leisurely catching up with the
attractions you missed, or using your "PIG PLAN" card to enjoy fishing,
horseback riding or etc... typically non-crowded activities. BUY AND READ
THE BIRNBAUM BOOK BEFORE YOU ARRIVE IN FLORIDA..... While in florida I saw
too many people using the books as guide books. Thes books are so
comprehensive that it is impossible to use them whils at the park. you
should if at all possible study them prior to leaving for Florida, and
once there refer to the book only when necessary I know much of what I
have said will be open for debate by other members of this forum.... We
took this plan of attack and had a wonderfull time. we plan on using the
same method for our trim in 1995.
By the way can anyone tell me what happened to the DISNEY INN. I see its
not listed in any of the plan books ?????
Cjm
(cont. next post)
NikNikk
Here is part 2 of some posts I gathered from CompuServe's Florida Forum.
Best wishes!
-Nikki (& Bill)
29 April 1995
From: Stewart J. Dimon, 74706,1460
To: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102255, reply to #102018
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Tue, Sep 13, 1994, 5:24:15 PM
Marc,
<<Thinking about going to Disney for our Honeymoon.>>
Congratulations. We just spent two weeks there for our honeymoon
and we had a blast.
<<Wondering if anyone has any advise on what hotel to stay in at
the park. or should we stay in the park?>>
Of course....now a lot of this depends on your personal taste, but
for me, the *only* place to stay is AT a hotel on property, and on the
monorail (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian). We stayed at both
the Contemporary and the Polynesian. The room was more comfortable at the
Contemporary, but the Polynesian had "style" (as Gallagher would say). If
I had the money, I'd bump up the scale one more notch and stay at the
Grand Floridian.
<<Are the packages (air, hotel, tickets) cheaper than not having a
package?>>
In general, the packages won't save you much money. For our whole
two weeks (twelve nights, r/t air from San Francisco, meals, tickets and
transportation) we pieced the best prices we could for each part of the
trip and it wound up costing us around $3500. Had we done this on a
package, it *could* have cost us close to twice that amount (according to
what I've read). Of course, this required numerous phone calls to WDW to
fine tune our lodging and discounts, then a lot of monitoring of flight
costs with our travel agent, etc etc etc. A package *would* have been
simpler, but it would not have allowed us to stay as long as we did in the
accomodations that we were in.
Stew
NikNikk
Here is part 3 of some posts I gathered from CompuServe's Florida Forum.
Best wishes!
-Nikki (& Bill)
29 April 1995
From: Joe DeNicola, 71612,2333
To: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102316, reply to #102018
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Tue, Sep 13, 1994, 11:14:29 PM
<<Thinking about going to Disney for our Honeymoon. Wondering if anyone
has any advise on what hotel to stay in at the park. or should we stay in
the park? Are the packages (air, hotel, tickets) cheaper than not having a
package? any help would be greatly appreciated. >>
We are going to WDW in October for our honeymoon. I've never been to
Disney, but from what I have read on here and in the many books on Disney
I have purchased, I would recommend staying in the park. It's appears to
be less of a hassle to get around and you feel more "involved". I don't
need hassles (like driving around FL) on a vacation. I've taken vacations
where I needed a vacation from the vacation afterwards!
We are staying at Dixie Landings. The Grand Floridian is the
top-of-the-line place to stay, but was much too expensive for us. We
considered the Polynesian, but DxL was about $400 less total (5 nights)
and with expenses from the wedding itself, we decided this was best.
After all, we're not going there to stay in a hotel!
We bought a package from a travel agent (air, hotel, tickets, car
rental/shuttle). I think this was a mistake, although I haven't
researched how much of a mi$take it was. I don't think the agent takes
advantage of specials that you could act on. For example, we scheduled
everything in the summer. In the fall, the airlines had some great
specials on airfare to Orlando, so I think we paid too much for the
flight.
We were dumb in this regard - neither of us had done any traveling, so the
travel agent was our first stop not knowing any better. I think we should
have bought everything separately ourselves. The only advantage was that
it was very easy - only two stops at the travel agent and everything was
taken care of.
My advice is to pick up a few Disney books at the book store in the travel
section. They are well worth it and give you lots of details about the
hotels and how to plan the trip. Also, download all of the
MSG files in the library in this forum. They also contain valuable
information.
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From: Bob Richmond, 73770,474
To: Joe DeNicola, 71612,2333
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102354, reply to #102316
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 1994, 2:06:28 AM
Joe,
>> We are staying at Dixie Landings. <<
In my opinion, a good choice. If you would like specific section /
building number / room to request just reply to this message and I will
try to help you out. Give me a little more specifics on what your trip
will be (view paid for / WDW transportation / quietness / closeness to
pools or main building or buses, etc.).
If you get the info, than just give your agent a call and have her call in
and request it. WDW will not guarantee it, but in my visits have batted
1000 so far.
Bob
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From: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
To: Bob Richmond, 73770,474
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102404, reply to #102354
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 1994, 10:33:20 AM
Bob, is the "Dixie Landings" at the Park?
NikNikk
Here is part 4 of some posts I gathered from CompuServe's Florida Forum.
Best wishes!
-Nikki (& Bill)
29 April 1995
From: Bob Richmond, 73770,474
To: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102559, reply to #102404
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 1994, 11:55:07 PM
Marc,
>> Bob, is the "Dixie Landings" at the Park? <<
I don't know what you mean by "at the park"! It is within the 43 square
miles of WDW property (which contains a large number of resorts, 3 major
parks, 4 minor parks, etc.). It is a short bus ride from all the parks
though. It is considered an on-site resort.
Bob
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Dixie Landing is on the Disney grounds, owned by Disney, but is not on the
Monorail line...It is connected by bus to MK, EC, D/MGM, etc. and by
waterway to Pleasure Island.
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From: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
To: Scott A. Taub, 75221,3267
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102649, reply to #102572
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Thu, Sep 15, 1994, 10:58:12 AM
Thanks Scott. I'll give Dixie Landings a call for prices.
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From: David Pool, 76701,25
To: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102757, reply to #102649
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Thu, Sep 15, 1994, 9:51:02 PM
>> I'll give Dixie Landings a call for prices.
For *all* WDW Resorts -- Dixie Landings included -- just call Central
Reservations (CRO) at 407-WDISNEY
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request...>>
That would be great.
We paid for a "WVW" class room (Water View).
We would prefer a quiet area, a nice view (of what I don't know - are
there balconies or porches?), not too far from the buses although a little
distance is not a problem. The quietness and view are probably most
important. Closeness to transportation would be a bonus.
We are using WDW transporation - not renting a car.
I know there are two sections - Magnolia and Alligator Bayou (correct?).
I don't have a preference right now because I don't know which area best
meets the above criteria. We were just going to be suprised when we got
there, but a sure thing would be better.
Any assistance would be appreciated!
NikNikk
Here is part 5 (the last one!!) of some posts I gathered from CompuServe's
Florida Forum.
Best wishes!
-Nikki (& Bill)
29 April 1995
From: Bob Richmond, 73770,474
To: Joe DeNicola, 71612,2333
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102568, reply to #102537
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Thu, Sep 15, 1994, 12:39:08 AM
Joe,
>> We paid for a....Water View....We would prefer a quiet area, a nice
view (of what I don't know - are there balconies or porches?), not too far
from the buses....We are using WDW transporation....I know there are two
sections - Magnolia and Alligator Bayou (correct?). <<
Yes, there are two sections (Magnolia Bend & Alligator Bayou). Magnolia
Bend is 4 buildings which are meant to resemble mansions. These buildings
are 3 stories and have a lot of rooms (256 per building). The landscaping
is fountains, sweeping lawns, & weeping willows (slightly formal).
Alligator bayou is meant to resemble the bayous slightly downriver. There
are 16 two story buildings with 64 rooms in each. Room interiors are a
little more rustic than MB and landscaping is pine, ponds with fake
cypress knees, and piped in crickets and frogs.
The quietest section is AB, mostly because of people density in MB. Water
views from AB are pools open all night or a few river views. Water views
from MB are mostly river views with some pool views.
Recommendations would be depending on your taste in landscaping:
MB - Oak Manor building, rooms 9239, 9240, 9241, or 9242. This will give
you a river view at the end of a corridor, not a lot of traffic to the
main building by your room, and with the pool on the other side of the
building. You also be the closest MB building to the main buiding and its
bus stop.
AB - Building 36, 27, or 14 river view (not pool view) upstairs, in that
order. Traffic by 27 & 14 is heavy, were by 36 it is light. Building 14 is
the closest to the main building and 36 is furthest from it. Both 14 and
36 are about equal distance from a bus stop.
There are no patios / balconies as all rooms open out onto a walkway
around the buildings.
Hope this helps, Bob
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From: Joe DeNicola, 71612,2333
To: Bob Richmond, 73770,474
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102756, reply to #102568
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Thu, Sep 15, 1994, 9:44:10 PM
<<Hope this helps, Bob>>
Thanks - it sure does.
MB has 4 buildings of 256 rooms and AB has 16 buildings of 64 rooms? It
sounds like a computer designed DxL! Everything is a power of 2!
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From: Marc Wisdom, 71072,62
To: Joe DeNicola, 71612,2333
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102403, reply to #102316
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 1994, 10:32:30 AM
Thanks Joe for he great information. Have a good time at Disney on your
Honeymoon.
Marc
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From: Noel K. Smith, 74222,25
To: Joe DeNicola, 71612,2333
Topic: Honeymoon at Disney?
Msg #102606, reply to #102316
Section: Disneymania [13]
Forum: FLORIDA+
Date: Thu, Sep 15, 1994, 7:08:17 AM
>>We are staying at Dixie Landings.<<
Joe, just got back from Dixie Landings, and having stayed at the GF and
others, to me the price differential isn't worth it unless you really like
room service. DxL is absolutely great! Have a wonderful honeymoon!
SirKermit
Just as a response to the question
"what happened to the Disney Inn?"
It became the Shades of Green resort, which is a place where active and
retired military can stay. It is leased to the U.S. Govmt.
-Robert Stephens
Zweena
"going to Disneyworld".
Zweena
