From the Authors:Babies on the Brain

Community Update: MouseFest 2004 -- Will You Be There?

Dining Feature: Food Allergies at WDW

Disney Feature: Behind the Backstage Tours

Updates: What's New and Changed

Tips: Goodie Bags, Keep The Fluids Flowing, Packing For Your Preschooler 

Q&A: Protecting Cameras on Water Rides, Future Cruising Question

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Updates:
What's New and Changed

Here’s a few of the new developments at Disney…

Disney’s Animal Kingdom welcomed a new baby on July 6, 2004! Weighing in at 230 lbs the female elephant calf has been named Kianga, which means “Sunshine” in Swahili. Kianga and her Mom (an 18 year old named Vasha) can be viewed on video monitors at Rafiki’s Planet Watch until Kianga gets a little older and can join the other elephants on the savannah. 

E-Ride Nights continue! Upcoming dates: July 23, 26, 28 & 30 and August 2, 4, 6, 9, 11 & 13
No fall dates have been announced as of yet, but we will keep you posted. 

The Magic of Disney Animation will be closed for rehab September 13, 2004 and re-open September 25, 2004. 

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

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Disney  Tips:
From Fellow Readers

Our readers are a wealth of information! Here are the winners in this month's tip contest:

Goodie Bags
“I create goodie bags 'from Tinker Bell' before we leave home. During our trip Tinker Bell delivers the gift bags each morning to the children. The bag also includes a letter from the character the children will be dining with that day, and tells them which park they will be visiting.” ? contributed by Kelli Wallace (jkmwallace@...)

Keep The Fluids Flowing
“Since the water at Disney does not taste very good, take along small packets of flavored drink mixes (i.e. Gatorade, Kool-Aid, etc.). It helps keep the fluids flowing.” ? contributed by Dawn H. 

Packing For Your Preschooler
“When traveling with preschoolers, here's a good way to be quick in the morning and get to the park on time.  Take some large zip-lock bags and put an outfit in each one.  Then squeeze the air out and pack enough bags for each day plus a couple of extras.  That way, each morning, your preschooler can choose which outfit to wear without you digging through the suitcase.  Because you're squished all the air out, they pack really easily as well. And dirty clothes can be put back in their bag and marked with an X, ready to take to the resort laundry or home.  This tip keeps my suitcase neat and my preschooler happy and dressed quickly.” ? contributed by Beth N. 
 

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

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Q & A:
With Jennifer and Dave

Marshall asks: “My family and I will be traveling to Disney World for the first time this Friday. Any suggestions on how I can carry my camcorder, digital camera in the parks while getting on water rides and coasters without getting them wet?? What about when getting on roller coasters, nothing falls out?”

Jennifer answers: “We carry our camcorder in a small camcorder bag which we either attach to the belt of our waist pack or keep in our backpack. We haven't had any problems with it getting wet, but if you're worried about that, bring along a Ziploc bag and put your camcorder in that before you go on the water ride.

You need to secure your stuff on rides. Either there will be a bin or net to put things in, or you just put the stuff on the floor between your feet (put your foot through one of the straps for extra security).”

misslady asks: I read someone was planning a cruise in December 2006. Does that mean DCL will accept a reservation now for a cruise that far way even though rates aren't out yet?

Dave answers: “Disney Cruise Line can only make firm reservations once the sailing schedule has been released. Before then, they’ll accept a faxed request that they’ll refer to when the schedule has been announced. You might also talk to a travel agent, who can make note of your desired travel date(s) and wait for the sailing schedule to be released. 

The biggest issue at the moment is that the 2006 sailing schedule hasn't been released yet. It will probably be announced in September 2004. Considering that Disney Cruise Line has done special Christmas season itineraries in the past, there's a chance that the sailing you hope to get now may be different once the itineraries have been announced. That's something neither your travel agent or Disney Cruise Line will know this far in advance (other than rumors).”

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!
 

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Future Newsletters: Want To Get Published? We're on the lookout for guest columnists to contribute articles to this newsletter. 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 details and our article guidelines, please e-mail news@passporter.com. Articles about Disney and general travel are welcomed!

Get a 25% discount off the list price of either a Disney Cruise guide and/or a Walt Disney World guide (paperback/spiral/refill kit/deluxe kit). Just use discount code DCLWDW during checkout in our online store! (One discount/coupon per order. Offer expires on August 12.)

To order your copies, visit:
http://www.passporterstore.com/store/

“What’s MouseFest?” 

We're glad you asked! For years, members of Walt Disney World fan communities (Like PassPorter.com) have been gathering at Walt Disney World in early December, to take advantage of Disney’s wonderful holiday festivities while the crowds are relatively small and lodging rates are low. They also get to meet some of their online friends face-to-face, and enjoy a wide variety of attractions and activities with their Internet pals. Some folks build their vacation plans around these gatherings. Others, who are already planning to be at Walt Disney World during the same time period, may join us for just one or two events. Either way, it’s a blast!

Volunteer event hosts put on dozens of individual “meets”-- far more than anyone can manage to attend. Typical activities include ride “meets,” when folks get together to ride as a group. Others are more elaborate, like special scavenger hunts. Most MouseFest events are free except for the usual cost of theme park admission, and/or Disney’s regular charge for the meal, tour, or other activity.

We (Jennifer and Dave) have been doing this for many years now, both by organizing PassPorter Gatherings and participating in other communities’ events. Last year we teamed up with Deb Wills (from AllEarsNet.com) to create MouseFest, a “grand gathering” of the many online communities that will be at Walt Disney World in early December. Participating communities share their event schedules and activities, and everyone comes together for MegaMouseMeet, a reception/meet-and-greet where folks can hook-up with friends, meet web masters, guidebook authors and other notables, and (hopefully) have a grand old time.

This December’s MouseFest takes place from December 5 through 13, 2004. The fun starts December 5, for a four-night cruise on the Disney Wonder, and moves to Walt Disney World on December 9. Everyone’s welcome, whether you’re cruising, visiting the parks, or both! Visit our PassPorter Gathering/MouseFest page (http://www.passporter.com/gathering.htm) to learn more about it, and to register (it’s free!) We hope to see you there!

You haven’t booked your trip yet? MouseEarVacations.com is offering great deals on special MouseFest vacation packages that include some extra-special goodies. Cruisers can attend a private cocktail party on the Wonder, land-only vacationers can attend a fabulous, private reception at Pleasure Island’s Adventurer’s Club, and folks along for the full eight-night land/sea combo deal can attend both events plus an IllumiNations dessert party at Epcot. The last call for these packages is August 1, so if you’re interested, hop over to MouseEarVacations (http://www.cruisingco.com/mev/mousefest.php) now, to check things out!

Travel Feature:
Dining Safely: Food Allergies at Walt Disney World

by Dr. Marla Shapiro
Guest Columnist

As the parent of a child with severe food allergies, I’m always more than a little wary of eating out in public. Although I luckily don’t have to worry about airborne contaminations or exposures, my 5-year-old daughter Dana has had an anaphylactic reaction after ingesting even tiny amounts of dairy or sesame products.

When we first started planning our trip to Walt Disney World, I was very nervous about how we’d manage the “food issue.” I envisioned a not-so-mini fridge in the room, a portable cooler on our backs, and a suitcase just for safe foods. My nervousness began to evaporate, however, as I began to learn what Disney has to offer guests with food allergies. By providing a wealth of dining alternatives for those with special dietary needs, Walt Disney World can indeed provide magical vacations for all.

Based on my initial information-gathering (from friends and printed sources like PassPorter), I learned that Disney provided “some accommodations.” But as the time for making that first Priority Seating grew closer, I was still concerned about making PS's (priority seatings) in restaurants in which Dana would be able to eat. We would be staying at the All-Star Movies (ASM) resort, so I called the head chef at the ASM food court, hoping to get some guidance in determining which WDW restaurants might provide some safe choices. I was blown away by his response! Not only was he incredibly helpful and knowledgeable, he completely (well, almost completely) allayed my fears, and all without making me feel like the pain that I often seem perceived to be when dining out locally.

For starters, he assured me that at WDW, accommodating special dietary needs was routine. By asking me questions about Dana’s susceptibility to airborne exposure, specific ingredients, and requirements for food preparation, I could tell immediately that he “got it.” Dealing safely with food allergies isn’t exactly rocket science, but I’ve found that people either “get it” or they don’t; and if they don’t, I simply can’t provide enough instructions to cover any/all possible scenarios. But he clearly understood which immediately put me at ease. I quickly came to realize that we’d be able to have a “normal” vacation like other people -- that asking about allergens was no big deal, that chefs across WDW were all highly knowledgeable and willing to deal with special dietary needs, and that -- most exciting to us -- we’d be able to eat just about anywhere we wanted to go. All that we needed to do was provide “a little advance notice.”

The chef told us that Dana would even be able to have a choice of foods in the food court, though it might take a little longer to prepare them, and encouraged me to let him know if we had any questions or concerns when we were there. And, as we made each PS, the cast member noted our special dietary concerns and reminded me to contact the individual restaurants 7 days prior to that meal.

As an example of the wonderful service and understanding that we encountered, our first meal was at Chef Mickey’s, a special surprise for my Dana. When I checked in at the podium, I asked to speak to the chef as I’d been instructed to do when I dutifully called seven days in advance. After asking me specific questions about Dana’s dietary restrictions, he walked me down the buffet lines, talked about each and every dish, and told me what she could and could not eat. When we encountered foods that she couldn’t eat, he asked if that was a food she liked and, if so, suggested alternate ways that he could prepare special portions for her. Moreover, he assured me without prompting that his staff would be sure to take such precautions as cleaning the cooking surface, using separate utensils for her, etc., in order to avoid accidental contamination by allergens. He even offered soy milk and non-dairy ice creams for dessert. For the first time in her life, Dana could go into a restaurant and eat just about anything she wanted that was on the menu -- and dance with Mickey and Minnie to boot. It was truly a magical evening!

The rest of our trip was equally enjoyable. She had a delightful dairy-free breakfast with princesses and more at character dinners, soy milk and “her” ice cream upon request, and we even knew which carts and counter-service dining spots offered “safe” food for more spontaneous dining (thanks to tips from the ASM chef). We learned to ask for the head chef at each restaurant, and we tried to dine at off-peak hours so that the extra time needed to prepare her foods wouldn’t make much of a difference to us. 

The only problems we encountered were at non-Disney owned restaurants, though not all. Although we’d eaten at a Rainforest Café in Connecticut with no problems, we had a poor experience at their location at the Animal Kingdom. I had trouble getting a knowledgeable person on the phone when making my 7-day advance call, and we had even more trouble finding someone at the restaurant when we were there who seemed even somewhat understanding of our needs. After waiting over an hour for our food at an off-peak time, we still weren’t entirely confident that Dana was served foods that were safe to eat (and luckily had enough snacks in our bags to give her). We also discovered that only the Disney-owned restaurants stocked non-dairy supplies like Soy Dream or Tofutti, but we were at least able to feed her safely and confidently anywhere else that we went.

I realize that there are far worse things than food allergies, but until you’ve known the gnawing anxiety of trying to feed someone with life-threatening food allergies away from home, you won’t really appreciate the extraordinary relief and pleasure we took in each Disney dining experience. And while fortunately Dana’s allergies aren’t as severe as others, I’m confident that she’d be safely fed at WDW even if airborne contamination were an issue. I’m not sure what difference it really made to call each restaurant seven days in advance, particularly since I was told that most Disney restaurants often have non-dairy beverages and desserts on hand, but I’d do it again anyway. 

It was a truly amazing, magical and safe vacation. And we can’t wait to do it again!

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Did you enjoy this article? Have questions? E-mail us at news@passporter.com or visit http://www.passporterboards.com to discuss food allergies.
 

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by Cheryl Pendry
Guest Columnist and PassPorter Message Board Guide

Where in the World can you pet a rhino, visit a VIP area, and go underneath the Magic Kingdom to see the famous utilidors? On one of the many backstage tours now offered by Disney. 

So far, we have taken four backstage tours at Disney and plan to take more in the future. They offer a unique view of a place we all feel so familiar with, yet after every tour behind the scenes you will view the parks in a completely different light. 

How many of you, who haven’t yet taken a backstage tour, can honestly say that in all your visits you noticed the writing in the windows along Main Street and that you know what it represents? Or did you realize that the plants you were admiring in many of the countries of the World Showcase are species which are native to that particular pavilion? 

One of the beauties of Disney is that the Imagineers plan almost everything, yet most guests just don’t see it even though it’s right in front of them. This is where the backstage tours come in, opening up your eyes to the smallest of details. 

Our fascination with the backstage tours began on our Christmas 2002 trip. We had already enquired about them during our trip two years earlier, but with only days left of our vacation, we had been unable to get a reservation at such late notice. This is something worth bearing in mind, as the number of tours offered each week is limited and their availability is now more widely advertised than ever. Places do fill up in advance and it’s possible to book many months ahead. For our May trip, we booked our tours four months beforehand and there have been reports of people already booking tours for trips this December. 

The more popular tours, such as Keys to the Kingdom, are usually offered more than once a day but others, such as the Wild by Design tour at Animal Kingdom and Gardens of the World at Epcot, are only available a couple of days a week. If you’re particularly interested in a certain tour it’s worth checking whether you’ll be able to fit it into your schedule, before your days become filled with other magical plans.

But for those who might not instantly know which tour they want to take, how do you decide which one to take first? It’s worth considering going for a tour based in your favorite park, as it will give you a completely different perspective of it and will help you to appreciate it even more. 

That was the method we adopted when selecting our first tour. Our favorite park is Epcot, which immediately reduced the number of options available. I suggested that perhaps we should concentrate on Future World, as we felt that there was more to learn here and it would be a fun experience particularly as reports we had read suggested that we would be taken on some of the rides. We incorrectly assumed that touring the gardens of World Showcase could be dull and a waste of our morning. 

So what can you expect from a backstage tour? Each is unique but they do have some things in common. Let me first dispel a myth. Before setting off on our first tour I had read that they involved a lot of walking and left many people exhausted the next day, so I carefully scheduled our tour with nothing planned for the afternoon and flexible plans for the following day, just in case.

I was pleasantly surprised as we moved around Future World. There were regular restroom breaks and we were given plenty of opportunities to stop and sit down in the shade. On a number of occasions the nearest water fountain was also pointed out to us, in case we needed a drink. Neither of us felt exhausted at any point during the tour or afterwards and that experience has continued through our other tours. While we are certainly not super-fit, we do manage to get around Disney during our vacation but we don’t exercise a great deal at other times of the year, so I would expect most people to find the pace of the tours suited to their needs. 

Only on one occasion, during our Gardens of the World tour, were we kept constantly on our feet and that, I have to admit, was partially our fault. Our guide had told us that we could stop as often as we liked for comfort breaks but we failed to take her up on her offer, assuming that breaks would be built in. We won’t make that mistake again in the future!

On some of the tours, such as Keys to the Kingdom and Undiscovered Future World, you will be able to experience some of the park’s attractions, but the ones selected do change from time to time so there’s no guarantee it will include your favorite. Keys to the Kingdom has featured the likes of the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise in the past, while in Undiscovered Future World, guests have been able to sample Test Track and Universe of Energy. 

Some of the tours offered are completely “onstage”, but even then Disney can always throw in a surprise. When I booked Gardens of the World, the Cast Member kept repeating that there would be no visits behind the scenes, which I was perfectly happy with. Imagine my surprise when, at the end of the tour, our guide then took us backstage at Canada, so we were right in front of the building that will eventually house Soarin’! 

Of course for most people who take the tours the unique selling point of them is the experiences I mentioned earlier, like seeing the VIP area at the Living Seas in Undiscovered Future World, going into the utilidors in Keys to the Kingdom or petting a rhino on the Backstage Safari tour. Disney is careful to state that they cannot always promise such experiences, perhaps with the exception of the visit to the utilidors (which is now an integral part of the Keys tour and is the main reason why kids under sixteen are not allowed to take part). 

For many people though, their concern is that a peek behind the scenes may destroy the magic of what’s provided onstage. In our experience, nothing could be further from the truth. Admittedly it’s not a very magical feeling to pass through a “Cast Members Only” door straight into a car park with no Disney theming at all. There is no transition. Suddenly and abruptly you’re back in the real world with a bump, but while in that real world, you will see magic of a different kind -- the Cast Members going about their everyday jobs of creating magic for their guests and you will learn how they all work together to achieve that. After all, team at Disney means “together everyone achieves magic.” 

Backstage tours are not cheap. The four we have taken so far have ranged in price from $49 to $65 per person. Some have included food, while others haven’t, but all have given us unique experiences and perspectives on the various parks. They have all surpassed our expectations and have provided us with so many fascinating facts that we now appreciate the magic that goes into creating Disney parks and Disney attractions all the more. 

[You can get more information on backstage tours on pages 242-244 of PassPorter Walt Disney World 2004, where all tours with a “backstage peek” are clearly identified. Book your tour by calling 407-WDW-TOUR up to 90 days in advance.]

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Did you enjoy this article? Have questions? E-mail us at news@passporter.com or visit http://www.passporterboards.com to discuss backstage tours.