Hi from a newbie from Italy! (first timer questions)

[kurgana]

(Even though we're not actually from UK I thought this would be the most approptiate forum to post seen that we are traveling from the UK, have lived over there for 6 years and live on this side of the pond anyways :).)

We (me, hubby and daughters (7 and 4 years old) are all set to go for our first WDW holiday 28.11.-5.12. (we are not Disney virgins however, in the last 2,5 years we have visited DLP for 6 times (3 days+ holidays). After hours of research online, especially in forums, we booked 7 nights at POR FQ with 7 day park hopper tickets + dining plan directly from the WDW US website and flights with British Airways from Gatwick.

I think after all the research I know more about WDW than most first timers but there are a few things I would still like to figure out before leaving, and I apologise if these details are easy to find in the forum but I have a slooooow and unreliable dial up connection so it takes ages to load pages and therefore I haven't really had the chance of properly looking up all the info.

First of all, can anybody tell me what kind of version of Pal Mickey are they currently selling in WDW? How much is the exact price of Mickey himself + extra outfits (and which outfits are available)? Do they sell Pal Mickeys in the resort shops (in the US WDW website they only have a list of shops in the parks but in some posts in forums people have been talking about buying him at the resorts)? AND does anybody know how I could contact the resort shop beforehand to ask if it is possible to reserve one for us for when we arrive?

One of the reasons for the holiday is to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and while I was booking the hotel I had the chance to chat with a Disney vacation specialist on their website, who mentioned that we should go to customer services (?) when we arrive to pick up our anniversary pins so that the cast members can help us celebrate our special occasion... does anybody know anything more about this since I haven't managed to find any more info on the subject anywhere?

I would also like to hear from people who have risked not making ADRs before arriving at WDW since this is what we are planning to do, well aware of the risks but we are not really bothered about eating in the most popular restaurants and don't plan having many TS dinners and in general are flexible regarding meal times... the plan is to make reservations when we arrive at POR. Any personal experiences would be most helpful.

Also we are planning to use our snack credits for breakfast (we are light bf eaters), planning to buy the refill mugs when we arrive so coffee wise we are ok, and use snack credits for danish pastries or similar for me & hubby, possibly cereals for the girls (not sure how much they would cost though), anybody know if this is possible at POR FQ?

Ok I will stop now otherwise no-one will make it to the end of this post, but just the last thing, I have been trying to add our flight information to the hotel booking for the Magical Express for the last two days but it does not seem to be saved, anybody else had problems with this lately or is it my browser (Firefox) or just my stupidity?

Thanks for reading :earsgirl:!

Jo

[florida sun]

Hi Jo

A very warm welcome to The UK Disboards:goodvibes Im sure there will be lots of our regulars along soon to help with you your questions, but just wanted to welcome you the boards:thumbsup2

[Goofysmate]

:wave: JO :welcome:

[Goofyish]

Benvenuto al DIS :yay:

Pal Mickeys are available at selected shops in the parks and at resort shops. You will certainly be able to get on at the POR shop.
Here's details of the latest version:

http://allearsnet.com/tp/pal.htm

Price is $65 + tax.

As for not making ADRs - this really depends on where you want to eat and how flexible you are with when you eat. You will struggle with the most character meals and some of the most popular restaurants (like Le Cellier).

A 'snack' on the DDP is any item under $4.

DDP information available here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1479952

[kurgana]

Hi again and thanks for the warm welcome :goodvibes

Goofyish: I had seen the all ears pal mickey page, I was just wondering if this was still the current version. Thanks for all the info.

I would still like to know how much the Pal Mickey extra outfits cost in WDW if anybody knows.

After posting the ME question on the Transport forum, I have been told that what happened when I tried to enter the flight info (after entering it did not show the right info in the itinerary) was entirely normal, and now the ME people should have our flight details on record... about 15 times :):rolleyes1

Still looking for anyone with more info on the wedding anniversary pins which I was told to pick up from Customer Relations (not services but I had a complete blackout when I was writing the first post and the word wouldn't come to me).

As I mentioned before we are not interested in the most popular restaurants and not necessarily even in character meals, but I will be posting another message on the Disney Restaurants board about this.

Thanks again everyone,

Jo :eeyore:

[disneyholic family]

you're going during what's considered a relatively low season (after thanksgiving /early december) so the ADRs should not be a problem.

I've done that. If your times are flexible, you'll even be able to get some of the more popular restaurants and character meals.

You might have to eat lunch at 11 or 3 but that's not really a big deal in my book.

I still would try to draw up a tentative plan now of which park you'll be at each day and what restaurants you're interested in.

Then when you arrive at POFQ, you can call disney dining and make your reservations.

[kurgana]

you're going during what's considered a .

You might have to eat lunch at 11 or 3 but that's not really a big deal in my book.

I still would try to draw up a tentative plan now of which park you'll be at each day and what restaurants you're interested in.

Then when you arrive at POFQ, you can call disney dining and make your reservations.

That is exactly what I'm talking about, we actually prefer to eat at non peak meal times (better service, reduced waiting times + the parks are much quieter when everybody else is eating :) at least based on our past DLP trips).

I couldn't live without making lists, I think the current count is 3 different itineraries for the holiday including the parks we are going to visit for each day that also include a minimum of 3 TS restaurant options for each day so shouldn't have problems there ;).

Is there a concierge desk at POR FQ for restaurant reservations etc? Never quite understood how the american concierge system works.

Thanks for the reply :)

Jo