WDW Commando Club

[Disney Commando]

Hey everybody make sure to sign up for the sweepstakes. . . http://www.disneytimesweeps.com/?CMP=KNC-DisneyTimeSweepsSRCH|G|4131000.DM.AM.01.07B2P

Has anyone been able to enter Everytime I submit the entry it come up as site is unavailable due to high volume

Also can you enter each category everyday, or is it 1 entry per day

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

Has anyone been able to enter Everytime I submit the entry it come up as site is unavailable due to high volume

Also can you enter each category everyday, or is it 1 entry per day

It did that to me to. I just pressed try again, then waited a few minutes and clicked enter again and it went through. It say's one entry per day, I think it's one entry total but I was wondering the same thing

 

[jmm476]

Has anyone been able to enter Everytime I submit the entry it come up as site is unavailable due to high volume

Also can you enter each category everyday, or is it 1 entry per day

I was just able to submit, I think it was my 30th or so attempt! It's one entry per mailing address per day. Yes I'm a nerd and I read the entire rules and regulations.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Disney Commando]

It finally worked

 

[dr&momto2boys]

I don't know how I've missed this thread time and time again!

I definately belong here! I spend hours and hours and hours planning our trips months in advance! Ok, now we take a lot more trips so it's not always months in advance. We have one in February that I'm starting to freak out about now.

I NEED to know a good Fantasyland touring plan! I joined TGM again to see what he says...nothing updated?! I also need to do better planning now that FP expiration time is enforced. Again nothing updated on TGM! It's been 2 years since we went to the parks at WDW! (We had DL APs last year.)

Can someone point me to a good Fantasyland plan now? I found one thread on it, but don't think the responses there are really from people who are in the know or understand us commandos!
Nice to meet you all! I'll spend some time today reading through the thread to see what I am missing.

Thanks!

 

[Disney Commando]

I don't know how I've missed this thread time and time again!

I definately belong here! I spend hours and hours and hours planning our trips months in advance! Ok, now we take a lot more trips so it's not always months in advance. We have one in February that I'm starting to freak out about now.

I NEED to know a good Fantasyland touring plan! I joined TGM again to see what he says...nothing updated?! I also need to do better planning now that FP expiration time is enforced. Again nothing updated on TGM! It's been 2 years since we went to the parks at WDW! (We had DL APs last year.)

Can someone point me to a good Fantasyland plan now? I found one thread on it, but don't think the responses there are really from people who are in the know or understand us commandos!
Nice to meet you all! I'll spend some time today reading through the thread to see what I am missing.

Thanks!

You are member #221 A good Fantasyland touring plan is going to be hard to find since it is so new I have toured Fanasyland in Nov during a dress rehearsal, and got it all done rather quick, but can not say how I would go about touring now since the crowd levels, side shows & some more characters may be added, only those who have been there in the last few weeks can really give a good input on how to tour it, a few Commando's have been to WDW in the last few weeks so maybe they might have some tips

The new FP system believe it or not really did not have as much impact as I thought it would on our trip, you might have to juggle a few things around, but nothing to panic about

 

[jmm476]

We were there 12/8-12/14 and spent a lot of time in the new Fantasyland. By wait times, here is what I would do:
1. Enchanted Tales with Belle - on a day that wasn't all that busy, the wait times for this were over 2 hours. Do this first thing if it's a priority
2. Under the Sea/Little Mermaid ride - again, it wasn't that busy, but the wait times were close to 40 minutes. Get a fast pass for this if possible, distribution was by Philharmagic, not sure if it's staying there.
3. Dumbo - now that there are 2 of them, not such a priority first thing in the morning. There's also a fast pass now.
4. Circus character meet and greets - we went earlier in the morning and waited about 10 minutes for Goofy and Donald, no wait for Daisy and Minnie. I would still try to hit this early in the morning though if possible.
5. Great Goofini Barnstormer - we didn't ride this, but the line seemed to be 20 minutes or less whenever we were in the area
6. Little Mermaid meet - we did this during a Christmas party, so I don't have a good idea of wait times (we waited 5 minutes). But it looked like they have 2 Ariels going at once, so it should move fairly quickly. If it's a priority, I would do this earlier in the day as well. It was pretty neat to meet here as a mermaid!

The 2012 Unofficial Guide said to wait until the end of the day for the Little Mermaid ride, I wouldn't follow that but I'm not sure what the 2013 guide suggests.

 

[AirGoofy]

I don't know how I've missed this thread time and time again!!

Welcome.

We were there 12/8-12/14 and spent a lot of time in the new Fantasyland. By wait times, here is what I would do:
1. Enchanted Tales with Belle - on a day that wasn't all that busy, the wait times for this were over 2 hours. Do this first thing if it's a priority
2. Under the Sea/Little Mermaid ride - again, it wasn't that busy, but the wait times were close to 40 minutes. Get a fast pass for this if possible, distribution was by Philharmagic, not sure if it's staying there.
3. Dumbo - now that there are 2 of them, not such a priority first thing in the morning. There's also a fast pass now.
4. Circus character meet and greets - we went earlier in the morning and waited about 10 minutes for Goofy and Donald, no wait for Daisy and Minnie. I would still try to hit this early in the morning though if possible.
5. Great Goofini Barnstormer - we didn't ride this, but the line seemed to be 20 minutes or less whenever we were in the area
6. Little Mermaid meet - we did this during a Christmas party, so I don't have a good idea of wait times (we waited 5 minutes). But it looked like they have 2 Ariels going at once, so it should move fairly quickly. If it's a priority, I would do this earlier in the day as well. It was pretty neat to meet here as a mermaid!
.

Thanks for the info. We just missed the opening in October, but did get to ride Dumbo and Barnstormer during MNSSHP. As you had, there were no lines. I really do like the upgrades and pre-ride area at Dumbo and at Winnie the Pooh. I wanted to spend more time playing there than going on the rides.

 

[zianha]

I don't know how I've missed this thread time and time again!

I definately belong here! I spend hours and hours and hours planning our trips months in advance! Ok, now we take a lot more trips so it's not always months in advance. We have one in February that I'm starting to freak out about now.

I NEED to know a good Fantasyland touring plan! I joined TGM again to see what he says...nothing updated?! I also need to do better planning now that FP expiration time is enforced. Again nothing updated on TGM! It's been 2 years since we went to the parks at WDW! (We had DL APs last year.)

Can someone point me to a good Fantasyland plan now? I found one thread on it, but don't think the responses there are really from people who are in the know or understand us commandos!
Nice to meet you all! I'll spend some time today reading through the thread to see what I am missing.

Thanks!

Welcome!! I'm trying to figure out what I'm gonna do for the New FLE too...my boys don't want anything to do with Story Time with Belle, and I'm essentially gonna MAKE them do the Little Mermaid!

 

[Disney Commando]

Welcome!! I'm trying to figure out what I'm gonna do for the New FLE too...my boys don't want anything to do with Story Time with Belle, and I'm essentially gonna MAKE them do the Little Mermaid!

I thought my son also would not like it, but it turned out he enjoyed it, granted your boys are a few years older but they still might get a kick out of it, Belle does not tell a story at all, The kids and whoever wanted a part get to tell the story

From Disney Commando

Yesterday was a 3 park 17hr day you never what you will encounter & touring all of the new Fantasyland was the icing on the cake. I had no clue that there was a Jungle Cruise guest skipper card until DS got one after steering the boat

Once you are in you arrive in the Wardrobe room (and she even talks), props are given out to the kids who want to be in it and even some adults

From Disney Commando

The new Belle M&G

When Belle comes out a story is presented to her by all those who wanted to participate with the help of a couple CM's and Lumiere, a photo pass CM is on hand taking pics, I was quite surprised at the outcome of the whole thing and can see why the line is so long, we were on line for about a hour and there weren't a whole lot of people in the new section. Now that my son know's what it is all about he wants to do it again and this time he wants a part

 

[brettcw23]

Great thread! My wife and I are both Commandos and our kids at ages 8 and 5 buy into it completely. One thing we've done is come to realize that the best laid plans can go awry. But the savvy WDW Commando can adapt and overcome!

The local CBS affiliate did an interview with our family about Disney and it was mostly about saving $, so we were only a small segment of what was on the news but I explained to the interviewer that having a plans saves you a lot of money b\c....time is money!

 

[Disney Commando]

Great thread! My wife and I are both Commandos and our kids at ages 8 and 5 buy into it completely. One thing we've done is come to realize that the best laid plans can go awry. But the savvy WDW Commando can adapt and overcome!

The local CBS affiliate did an interview with our family about Disney and it was mostly about saving $, so we were only a small segment of what was on the news but I explained to the interviewer that having a plans saves you a lot of money b\c....time is money!

You are member #222 that's AWESOME that your family was on Tv, I love saving money on trips to WDW, we always stay at a value resort mainly for the reason that you can almost make 2 trips staying at a value for the price of one trip staying at some of the other resorts

 

[Disney Commando]

Just checked AAA to see what kind of offer they are giving for the month of Jan, this is there big Disney push for the year, all it is saying is receive a special gift card if you book your trip before Jan 31, guess I'll have to stop by the local office and see my TA to find out exactly what this gift card is about

 

[jmm476]

Just checked AAA to see what kind of offer they are giving for the month of Jan, this is there big Disney push for the year, all it is saying is receive a special gift card if you book your trip before Jan 31, guess I'll have to stop by the local office and see my TA to find out exactly what this gift card is about

Hmm, that's interesting that its a big push without any details... Please let us know when you find out. I think the only way we'll be headed back this year is if I win the sweepstakes or lottery.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[brettcw23]

Anyone check out the new WDW app that replaced Disney Mobile Magic? I downloaded it and played with but since I'm not at the Parks, I can't really validate the accuracy.

For our trip this past Novermber, in addition to the Mobile Magic app, I used that, Touring Plans Lines app, Parktastiq and Ride Hopper.

And of course my trusty spreadsheet!

Something else I did for the first time was put all of our ADR's and other ressies into my Google calendar. I then copied the test from the actua Disney webpages into the appontments. So fo example, for our Ohana reservation, the even wa on my calenare and the text from the Disney page along with the page's URL. it was a nice feature. While we were waiting or in transit, I could pull up the web site and PDF versions of the menus.

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

Just checked AAA to see what kind of offer they are giving for the month of Jan, this is there big Disney push for the year, all it is saying is receive a special gift card if you book your trip before Jan 31, guess I'll have to stop by the local office and see my TA to find out exactly what this gift card is about

There is a thread that is talking about FD changing to: No FD for Value resorts and QSDP for Mod and Dlx resorts. I guess it's a rumor but the person who made this statement, I guess tends to be accurate. I say that to shed some light on why the AAA offer may lack details and possibly (though I truly hope not) also may be lacking in true value.
I LOVE Disney! BUT while I don't mind no discounts or stingy ones (ok, I mind a little bc I shop for deals) I DO mind the ridiculous price hikes AND lack of discounts. Mind you, I'm not even really into FD. I just hope as the year goes on, they will surprise us with different and just as good or better deals. Keep us posted on what you find out.

 

[Disney Commando]

There is a thread that is talking about FD changing to: No FD for Value resorts and QSDP for Mod and Dlx resorts. I guess it's a rumor but the person who made this statement, I guess tends to be accurate. I say that to shed some light on why the AAA offer may lack details and possibly (though I truly hope not) also may be lacking in true value.
I LOVE Disney! BUT while I don't mind no discounts or stingy ones (ok, I mind a little bc I shop for deals) I DO mind the ridiculous price hikes AND lack of discounts. Mind you, I'm not even really into FD. I just hope as the year goes on, they will surprise us with different and just as good or better deals. Keep us posted on what you find out.

The one great thing about booking with AAA is after you book if Disney offers a new promo they will honor it, of course Disney's requirement is that the vacation must be booked with non discounted rate, but if they offer FD it's goining to cost me about $100 more, but it will be equal to the price if I booked with Disney, now say the AAA promo is a $50 GC even if Disney comes up with a promo later on you still get to keep it along with any other AAA perk

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

The one great thing about booking with AAA is after you book if Disney offers a new promo they will honor it, of course Disney's requirement is that the vacation must be booked with non discounted rate, but if they offer FD it's goining to cost me about $100 more, but it will be equal to the price if I booked with Disney, now say the AAA promo is a $50 GC even if Disney comes up with a promo later on you still get to keep it along with any other AAA perk

Wow. That's cool, I'm confused , but it sounds like a win win

 

[AirGoofy]

Wow. That's cool, I'm confused , but it sounds like a win win

Basically, you are not supposed to be able to get Free Dining and a discounted room. Disney will change it to let you have one or the other. With AAA, you can still make the change and get to keep the gift card.

We haven't done dining plans for several years now and are much happier without it.

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

Basically, you are not supposed to be able to get Free Dining and a discounted room. Disney will change it to let you have one or the other. With AAA, you can still make the change and get to keep the gift card.

We haven't done dining plans for several years now and are much happier without it.

Got it!