2010 Fall Dining for DVISA Is Out (See FIRST page)'

[Bimmy56]

thank you - I think we will still go with the annual pass discount - it gives us more flexibility

 

[trtl6941]

thank you - I think we will still go with the annual pass discount - it gives us more flexibility

What is the AP discount people keep referring to?

 

[DISNEYNY]

thank you - I think we will still go with the annual pass discount - it gives us more flexibility

Flexibility can be a good thing!! We went in December and could have had free dining then too. We opted for the room discount. For that trip we had less time and were glad that we were not tied to dining reservations. Have fun!!

 

[sjs314]

Great Hurricane story, is good to know how efficently Disney handled it, gives me peace of mind if one should by chance hit when we are ever there.

 

[southcarolinagirl]

What is the AP discount people keep referring to?

An AP discount, is a discounted rate that is usually offered for those people who have an annual pass.

 

[bahecasmart]

Thanks for sharing your hurricane story!
DH was expressing some concern last night about travelling in August. I dont really know much about hurrican season, but from what I can see on the interwebs, August-September seems to be peak time? But, if this is how it was handled, I really don't see it being that bad! Yes, 4 of us in a hotel room for 24 hours might get a little punchy.. but if we have to "suffer" locked up together like that - what better place than AKL? LOL.. perhaps we'll see some flying livestock a-la Twister? (i know... terrible thought.. but the visual was just too funny.... "Debris! Antelope!")

 

[meljw1960]

Just wanted to say hi from a fellow Rochesterian! I've been playing with dates - still have nothing set in stone - and airfare out of ROC is going as low as $175 up to $225 for us depending on the days. Of course, on Airtran.

About a month ago I had it down to $145, but we're not sure exactly when we're going yet.

we booked the bounceback for aug 15 - 22, then I started fare shopping and realized, how stupid I was to book a Sun - Sun.. the most expensive day to travel. so i crunched the numbers and for the difference we would pay in airfare, we could stay another day and get another day of dining credits. so we extended our stay to return the 23rd. Oh and Jetblue, does have direct flights, they are just later in the day. I flew jetblue there on thanksgiving day and got a direct flight at 4:15 arriving around 7pm.
The cheapest flight right now with airtran is the direct flight that arrives around 7pm, so everyone is fighting me on that. they want the whole day to play. I told them that now that we have the extra day and there are EMH at MK that night, its worth the savings. but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the fares will drop. We are also waiting for the FD announcement, because we need another room. if they don't announce it. or its QS only for POP, then we might just add the extra person to our room and survive with 4 of us in one room.

 

[disneyfan55]

Yes, you will have to choose one or the other. We also have annual passes.
We booked bounceback FD last year with one day tickets and rack rate at the resort.

We, too, have APs. If we book a deluxe, we use the AP discount. If a Value, the FD even with the 1 day ticket requirement (in the past anyway) it was worth the difference in the price between the AP discount (we had a $54/night room at ASMu in 2008) and the rack rate of 82/night. The difference in price (and we added another adult for 10 more per night) so 92/night. You couldn't feed 3 adults for 28/night anyplace!

 

[Junior-Beto]

Hopefully only 1 more week until DVisa can book FD!!!

 

[Janell]

i went back and found a few threads where i shared our Hurricane Francis story, so i am going to c&p most of it from right after we got back, 'cause i'd hate to get any of the deets wrong...

as we watched wishes on friday night before HF, it was as if all was right in the world... until it became time for park exit, because we are lollygaggers and were slow leaving, we were able to see the cms putting mesh bags around all glass light fixtures, stacking up and removing chairs and tables at outdoor cs' (like caseys), removing trash cans, etc... the place was *really* closing up for the night...

we were staying at pop century and when we got back to our rooms the night before the hurricane was predicted to hit, the mousekeepers had come around and super-stocked our rooms w/toilet paper, towels, shampoo, and extra garbage bags... the resort cm's were great about reminding people to stock their rooms w/30 hrs worth of food both by hanging notes on our doors, leaving voice mails and telling us in person at the food court area, etc plus they gave away free bags of ice when the machines ran out... they were even selling styrofoam coolers...

a thought i had was that while at wdw during the hurricane and the days leading up to it when there was much uncertainty and such, disney kept us very insulated from the real world...(the whole world, not just wdw)... if it were not for the well-timed messages and notes on our doors, it was business as usual... the cms went out of their way to keep a semblence of normalcy while if you stopped and thought about it, they had to be worried about their homes, their families, their safety...

anyway, as the storm neared (saturday morning), but had not yet hit, parks all closed for the day (actually two days), the buses stopped running, we were encouraged to stay at our resort, and cms were everywhere... while it was safe to venture outside your room and roam the resort, they offered tons of activities for kids (small bowling alley set up on the lobby, hula hoop contests, characters who really spent time interacting w/the kids, chalk drawing, and of course, the pool!) and adults (mousekeepers were teaching how to make towel animals!)... in addition, they offered disney movies on three different channels in the rooms...

the food court was selling meal packs at reasonable (read: not typical disney) prices... and more! (i believed it was a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a granola type bar and a bottle of water for $5)

once it was deemed dangerous to be outside (around 4pm), the food court and lobby were locked down, and we were instructed to return to our rooms and not leave 'til we got the "all clear" signal from disney... shortly thereafter a knock on the door and a cm was distributing flashlights should we lose power (never did)...

so, for 24 hours we enjoyed our resort room(s) (we had two connecting... PTL! dh could watch weather channel, kids/i could watch disney movies!), with regular updates on the resort phone (but they would leave vm, not ring the phone, it was great!)... and around 4pm the next day (sunday), we got the message to come out of our rooms... we saw ducks swimming in the pool, and the foodcourt was crowded at first, but otherwise, again, all was well...

that afternoon/evening, me and every other mom at PC met at the laundry rooms... it was a really nice escape, great company and practical too!

we went to Epcot on monday and it was like nothing ever happened... there was maybe a puddle or two to indicate that it had rained, but no signs of damage (yet the news was reporting damage all over the place, trees uprooted, etc... yet at wdw, not a leaf out of place!)... however it was *empty!* not sure where all the people went, but not to epcot! we even got a walk-in b'fast at akershus w/the princesses!

oh, and, because we had length of stay tix, we were compensated for the days that the parks were closed with UPHs for that number of days multiplied by the number of people in our party... 2 closed days, 4 in family, 8 ultimate park hoppers to be used w/in the next 20 years!

last but not least, because we were scheduled to fly out on monday, and the airlines were backed up from two days of no flying, we were able to switch our flight to wednesday and disney gave us a rate of $45/night/room!!! that, my friends, was a BARGAIN! (they were in a position where they could have gouged their customers, but didn't!)

basically, we were well cared for, well entertained, well informed (and well compensated)... it was truly a unique experience and it did not make our trip any less fun... different, yes! (i have since joked that wdw should come up w/a "hurricane package" that includes no park tickets and uncrustables and bottled water for all meals )... you know the ol' adage "a bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work?" well, "a hurricane at wdw is better than nice weather at home!"

Thank you for sharing your story. Its nice to know Disney does things to try and help when a hurricane has come through. I think its nice they had food at a cheaper price, rooms after the hurricane at a cheaper rate for those how can stay and tickets that don't expire for the days lost in the park. Very nice.

Im sure it was scary looking at the hurricane as it passed though.(Ive never been in a hurricane) What do you pack now, incase there is a hurricane while you are there and are stuck in your room for a long time? I wonder if Disney would give free internet if you were on lock down?

 

[pinkle]

still waiting. Any more news regarding May 3rd? Any changes to the rumor? or is everything status quo? I can't believe I've got to wait almost two more weeks to hear the fall promo.....I'm going to get an ulcer...

i keep checking back, just in case they surprised us all and announced FD.....this is soooooooooo hard
May 3rd feels like a loooon way off, they've never waited this long before..... I thought maybe with the ash in the air less people from the UK would be flying in and they would feel the need for an early promo..............this is where dreams come true isn't it?

 

[mikamah]

Thanks Gigi1313 for sharing your hurricane story. A friend of mine was there during the same time at AKL, and also had nothing negative to say. I wondered about the value vs deluxe resorts, but seems like you were well taken care of.

Hope I never have to go through it, but it's nice to know disney will do everything they can to make the best of it.

 

[Paradise18]

You don't know how lucky you are! I just booked airfare to Disney and it cost me $2500 roundtrip for two adults and two children and that's with seat sales......10 times as much!!!! I am sooo envious

Hi There,
I am in NL too and just booked A/C for 2 adults and 2 children and the total was $2,010.68. Decent seats sales on now. Nothing like what US residents can get, but I didn't think it was too bad for getting off the Rock.

 

[Nicole786]

Is the May 3rd rumor only for FD or can we expect AP discounts around that time as well?

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I think it is just free dining. When do AP discounts usually come out? I thought I read not until a month or two prior.

Waiting for free dining is surely making my countdown clock tick AWFUL slow!!!! Each day seems like an eternity.

 

[Rita007]

Great Hurricane story, is good to know how efficently Disney handled it, gives me peace of mind if one should by chance hit when we are ever there.

Another great argument for staying on property as well! Thanks for the info!

Now, back to our regularly-schedulled AGONIZING WAIT for a FD announcement!!!!!

 

[ShellyShellfish]

we booked the bounceback for aug 15 - 22, then I started fare shopping and realized, how stupid I was to book a Sun - Sun.. the most expensive day to travel. so i crunched the numbers and for the difference we would pay in airfare, we could stay another day and get another day of dining credits. so we extended our stay to return the 23rd. Oh and Jetblue, does have direct flights, they are just later in the day. I flew jetblue there on thanksgiving day and got a direct flight at 4:15 arriving around 7pm.
The cheapest flight right now with airtran is the direct flight that arrives around 7pm, so everyone is fighting me on that. they want the whole day to play. I told them that now that we have the extra day and there are EMH at MK that night, its worth the savings. but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the fares will drop. We are also waiting for the FD announcement, because we need another room. if they don't announce it. or its QS only for POP, then we might just add the extra person to our room and survive with 4 of us in one room.

Everything is so up in the air right now - it all depends on if FD is announced, and then we can't decide between going September into October, or at the very end of FD in October or do we stick it out and hope for FD in December?! My son turns 3 10/13, so there is a perk to going before then obviously, but I also don't want to be there in 90+ degree heat.

When I priced out various time periods, it looks like we can go end of Sept. into Oct. for 9 nights for the same price as 7 nights in December. However, Airtran hasn't announced their rates for that fare out yet, and what is available is running at least $50 more per person than what I can find for this fall.

So frustrating!!!!

 

[ShhhQ]

Last time we went.. sept 2008.. we were there with a bunch of hurricanes getting ready to hit. Fortunately (for us at WDW at least) the hurricane that was coming in hit the west coast of FL instead... there was a ton of rain before we arrived... it even rained as we were driving to WDW. However, someone was smiling down on us, we didn't even get a single drop of rain (not even the usual rain) the entire time we were there.. the most beautiful weather we could have asked for. When we were leaving, there was another hurricane that was getting ready to hit FL... and we hit a downpour on our way out!!!!

 

[verlee]

Disney you need to announce soon. DH is losing his will for a second trip this year. We are on the verge of booking a trip to Williamaburg VA If we don't go this year we will go next but I wanna go this year (insert pout and whine)

 

[anorman]

Hi There,
I am in NL too and just booked A/C for 2 adults and 2 children and the total was $2,010.68. Decent seats sales on now. Nothing like what US residents can get, but I didn't think it was too bad for getting off the Rock.

a couple of days before and a couple of days after the dates I needed showed improved rates but, just my luck, the dates I needed were not available to me