From the Authors: Travel, Travel, Travel

Travel Today: 10 Terrific Travel Tips From Our Readers

Disney Feature: Surviving the Parks as First Time Parents

Updates: What's New and Changed

Tips: Disney for Spouses, Finding Your Car, Souvenir Snapshots

Q&A: DCL Refillable Mugs, Transferring Between Hotels
 
 

Updates:
What's New and Changed

The biggest “news” lately is the new Fairytale Vacation Package at Walt Disney World. It’s almost unheard of to see a Disney package vacation at a true discount, so when this offer was unveiled a few days ago it attracted a lot of attention. This is a room-and-admission-only package -- no meals or other add-on options. There are many variations available, but the best deal is the one Disney advertises: Stay seven nights for the price of four nights, based on double occupancy. Using the rock-bottom All-Stars Resorts rates as an example (and teaser, in Disney’s case), two adults can stay seven nights at a Value Resort and get two Seven-Night (eight day) Ultimate Park Hopper Tickets for just under $1,000 (plus tax). Those Ultimate Park Hoppers list for $380 each ($760 for two), so the lodging costs just over $34 per night. This price is good during Regular Season (7/4-8/23/03 and 10/2-10/30/03), when list price at the All-Stars for a standard room is $99. The rates during September’s Value Season are even lower! Another way to look at the savings is to compare the rate for children ages 10-17 (when two adults are also in the room). The advertised seven-night rate is $266, while a Seven-Night (eight day) Ultimate Park Hopper Ticket alone is worth $380. In short, not only do the kids stay free in the room (Disney’s normal policy) but you get a deep discount on park admission (unheard of, unless you’re a Florida resident). Children 3-9 cost 20% less ($212).

Yes, there are “gotchas” if you stay less than or more than seven nights, so comparison shop very carefully. Find out exactly how many “free” nights you’re getting for your length of stay. Also, this deal only makes sense if you need park admission. Annual passholders will do much better booking a room-only Annual Pass discount.

Based on the current offer, you must make your reservations before June 29, 2003, and availability of discounted packages is limited. Rooms are available between July 4, 2003 and October 30, 2003. To book this package, phone 407-W-DISNEY, visit http://www.disneyworld.com or call your travel agent.

At Disneyland, there has been a longstanding offer with similar features. If you book four nights lodging at a participating hotel (the Disney-owned resorts plus a long list of Good Neighbor Hotels) you may be able to get a fifth night free, plus a five-day Park Hopper for the price of a three-day Park Hopper. There are some black-out periods (mostly the summer high season) at some locations, but others are offering the deal year-round.

>Things To Do: Hear some news? Send it to us at
news@passporter.com .
 

Disney  Tips:
From Fellow Readers

MUSIC TO YOUR EARS
"If your spouse has said, 'we've been to Disney enough and we should see other places,' this tip is for you! Introduce your spouse to the Disney radio stations on Live 365 (http://www.live365.com). I did this and my husband now listens to the Disney music online. It wasn't more than a couple of months and we were scheduling a trip to Disney! The magic of Disney music reminded him of the wonderful times we have had at Disney and we was the one ready for yet another trip! Of course, I'm always ready!" -- contributed by Debbie Alexander ( mickey_wdw@yahoo.com )

ID YOUR WHEELS
"Need to spot your car in the parking lot? We accidentally parked the wrong way (back in instead of front in) at Epcot on our way in to see IllumiNations. When we exited at 9:45 pm, we noticed that the car was extremely visible and easy to find, thanks to its orientation in the parking lot. Another idea is to buy a plain black bandana and paint it with glow-in-the-dark fabric paint (easily found around Halloween in most novelty sections of local stores). Tie it to the antenna, roof rack, or window for an easy to spot car at night. Be creative with what you paint on the bandana." -- contributed by Judy W.

SHOOT THE SOUVENIR
"Have you ever seen a souviner on the first few days of your trip and figured you'll come back and get it later, but then forgot what it looked liked or where it was later in your trip? Take a digital photo of the item and/or location so you don't forget! You can even show the digital picture to a cast member in the store if the merchandise was moved to help you find it." -- contributed by Sean A.

>Notes: Send us your tips ! You may see them in this newsletter and win a copy of PassPorter!
 

Q & A:
With Jennifer and Dave

GATechGal asks:
"What exactly are the refillable mugs on the Disney Cruise good for? Is it just soda, or are juice and bottled water included? And where do you get the drinks?"

Dave replies:
"The mugs are for carbonated soft drinks. You can get them filled at any bar. That means, Deck 9 & 10 (many locations), the Promenade Lounge on Deck 3, Preludes Lounge on Deck 4 in the evenings, and the bars in the adult entertainment district when they're open. The beverage station on Deck 9 (same deck as the pools) has water, iced tea, lemonade, hot coffee and tea, etc. at no charge. It'll be very handy whenever you're at the pools (also Deck 9). Bottled water is sold separately (not part of the mug program). I'm sure the bars will fill your mug with tap water if you ask. They don't serve beverages at the kids clubs, so if your child can't check him/herself out to head for the beverage station, he/she may have to be satisfied with the water fountain."

Linda asks:
"My family is heading to Walt Disney World for a family reunion. We are thinking that we want to arrive one day ahead of our Wilderness Lodge reserevation and stay in Downtown Disney or Caribbean Beach Resort. If we take a Mears shuttle to the Caribbean Beach Resort, is there a way we can transfer the following day to Wilderness Lodge without hiring a cab? And if we chose Hotel Royal Plaza in Downtown Disney, how much would cab fare be to the Wilderness Lodge?"

Dave replies:
"The cab fare from the Downtown Disney area to the Wilderness Lodge Resort is probably around $12-$15. Mears runs the taxi service. Ask for a rate estimate at 800-759-5219. You can get free luggage transport from any Disney resort to any Disney resort. That's only for your luggage, though. I suggest that if you stay at Caribbean Beach Resort, that your entire party take the bus to whichever park you want to visit for the day. From there, one member of your group can take the bus or boat to Wilderness Lodge to do an early check-in, then return to meet the rest of you in the park. You can then return later to the Wilderness Lodge at your convenience to claim your bags and get settled into your room. If you do stay at a Downtown Disney resort, one member of your party can take a cab with the luggage to Wilderness Lodge (they have taxi vans with loads of space at the same price as a car), and join the rest of your group at the park."

Have a question? Post it 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!
 
 

Hi, {{user("firstname")}}!

We're back from our 7-Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Cruise! A big hello and thank you to dozen or so the PassPorter families we bumped into on the ship -- your kind comments were much appreciated.

Now you know we're travel writers, so don't be surprised to hear we're traveling again soon. At the end of this month we hop on a plane to Los Angeles. We were recently notified that PassPorter Walt Disney World has received its eighth award, and our first order of business is to attend the awards ceremony. Then it's off to the big BookExpoAmerica book convention where we'll woo the booksellers with sneak peeks at our new PassPorter for Disneyland. After that, we knuckle down and do some intensive research in Disneyland, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Whew! So with all this travel, we don't expect to send a newsletter again until June 12.

This newsletter is chockful of helpful tips from PassPorter readers, and a special feature article from a new contributor -- Kimberly LaPaglia. Enjoy!

Jennifer and Dave
PassPorter Travel Press

Our most popular travel accessory is the "PassHolder Pouch" -- a thin nylon "wallet" that hangs around your neck. The PassHolder is incredibly convenient -- you can put I.D. cards in the clear plastic window, credit cards and cash in the zippered pocket, small notebooks in the large velcro pocket, and pens in the pen holders. And with the PassHolder around your neck, you won't accidentally leave something behind or have to dig around to find that I.D. card. We have a hard time keeping these pouches in stock, and readers tell us it's easier to pass through security when they're just wearing the pouch! The pouch is very light and quite small, and perfect for touring hands-free. You can view a pouch at http://www.passporter.com/online-store/passholder.htm

Tip: Here's another hands-free solution -- you can get a free adjustable bottle strap with every order! Our thanks to MouseEarVacations.com for making this possible for our readers.

Learn more and place an order at:
http://www.passporter.com/store/

by those amazing PassPorter readers!

In preparing for this newsletter, we went through our recent tip submissions in search of our top three Disney-related tips (see the "Disney Tips From Fellow Readers" column later in this newsletter). But this search was different than previous ones. Not only did we have many, many more tip submissions than usual, but there were some particularly good travel tips in there as well. In fact, we found ten excellent tips that can be applied to almost any type of travel! So allow us to share them with you here... compliments of your fellow PassPorters!

1. In-Flight Movies
"At more and more airports, you can now rent a portable DVD player for approx $10/day. This is EXTREMELY helpful in keeping young children occupied during the flight, while waiting to board, and just about anywhere! You can rent these portable DVD players and a DVD at nMotion Pictures (http://www.inmotionpictures.com) at several airports now, with many more airports signing on all the time. The company has kiosks at airports in Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis; Atlanta; Cincinnati; Seattle; Denver; San Jose; and San Diego. I hear that the service will find its way into airports in Orlando, Jacksonville, New York (LaGuardia); San Francisco; Las Vegas; Anchorage, Alaska; and Vancouver, Canada, by the end of June. I actually bought one for my 3 1/2 year old, I wish I knew this option was available before I bought one!" -- contributed by Kathy P. 

2. Punch It In
"In order to keep all my information I gathered before my trip in one location (my PassPorter), I cut the various 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper to fit my PassPorter. This included hotel and rental confirmations, tips I cut & pasted from other (Disney) websites, and detailed information (dates & times) of shows or attractions I want to see. I then took a one-hole paper punch and punched the holes to fit my Deluxe PassPorter. Now I have everything I need to know right in my PassPorter." -- contributed by Debra Dubord (menomee@up.net)

3. Charter Travelers
"When traveling by plane with a large group, check into chartering your own bus to and from the airport. It's a lot cheaper! We had a group of 52, we chartered a bus through Mears, and it was less than $600.00 round trip. It was our own private bus and went directly to our resort, no unnecessary stops, no sorting through luggage. It averaged about $10.00 per person!" -- contributed by Laura Barton (laurabrtn@aol.com)

4. Goodie Bags for Good Kids
"We drove from Pennsylvania to Florida year ago, and I was worried the long trip would be boring for our two young sons. To make the trip more interesting, I packed "goodie" bags for each day with special little toys and books. The kids were not permitted to open all of the bags at one time. It took us two days down and back, and I made four bags up, one for each new day driving down and then picked up some small Disney things for the two bags for the return drive. They throughly enjoyed their surprise bags each day." -- contributed by Sharon Welker (sharonwelker@webtv.net)

5. Fanny Packs for All
"Don't leave home without a fanny pack for every member of your group! There are great "small" items that can be conveniently carried by all. For instance, sunscreen sticks are readily available everywhere sunscreen is sold. These twist-up tubes can be easily carried in your pack, and are easy and "neat" to apply to face, arms and neck. Also, Walmart sells ponchos for .87 that are the size of a small pack of tissues. Be prepared, and have fun!" -- contributed by Ellen G.

6. Packs for Real Men
"Guys, are you worried about looking a little less than macho with a standard fanny pack around your waist? I was not looking forward to the practical, yet dainty-looking, waist pack my wife got me. Mind you I had my choice between black and khaki. But really, those small waist packs are not for me.  Well here is the solution. I was in K-Mart the other day, cruising through sporting goods, specifically hunting supplies, when I saw the "man's man" solution to the fanny pack. It was a hunters waist pouch. In woodland CAMO no less. It has a nice wide belt with snapping buckle. It has one big zippered pouch, one smaller zipppered pouch and a slip opened pouch. Plus there are loops on the outside for pens. Here is the bonus. The larger zippered pouch is just big enough to put my PassPorter into and get it zipped closed. Guys, our days of "fanny packs" are over. Hit the World in macho style with this pack." -- contributed by Todd Bergman (latoberg@excite.com)

7. Getting the Sand Off
"When you get all sandy and need to get cleaned up, just sprinkle baby powder on the sandy spots and the sand comes right off. And you smell nice and fresh, too! Baby powder works on wet or dry sand." -- contributed by Eleanor Greenly (mimi710@comcast.net)

8. Journals for Bucks
"We relive our vacations over and over again with our kid's journals. Here's how we do it: we give each of our four children a journal to write in. At the end of each day, they write a story about their day. We tell the kids that their journals will be graded ... $10 for an "A", $7.50 for a "B", etc. They haven't figured out that they always get an "A" because they're priceless to us. And it's fun months later to get the journals out and re-live the vacation." -- contributed by Rose Wyrick

9. Dish Towel Days
"We bring 2-3 dish towels with us on our vacations. When the heat is the greatest in the afternoon, we wet the towels down in the coolest water fountains then lay them on our kids arms and legs. Sometimes we even wrung out the wet towels over their heads to keep them cool!" -- contributed by Sarah A.

10. Rx for Meds
"Prescription medication is an important part of the lives of MANY people. To avoid a prescription crisis, take twice the medication you will need and place half of it in your checked luggage and carry half of it in your carry on luggage. You can also ask your physician to write a paper prescription for you for each of the medications. This gives you an opportunity to purchase your medications locally should you lose both of your supplies. Although this is not likely, if your medication is absolutely required it never hurts to take this last simple precaution. If you use prescription insurance coverage, you may have to pay cash if you purchase the medication with the paper receipt. This is because most insurance companies limit the number of days of medication they will pay for at one time." -- contributed by Ken Brown (kbken@comcast.net)

Each of these contributors will receive a complimentary copy of PassPorter! Would you like to see your tip in a future PassPorter newsletter? Visit http://www.passporter.com/customs/contest.htm

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