ABD Backstage Magic 2/20 - 2/25/11 *** Close to Selling Out***

[bannermouse]

Well.....y'all are OFFICIAL, but Michael has sent in his paperwork and ABD has his flight information logged.

I guess this makes him more OFFICIAL and the rest of you...slackers.

I may be the biggest "slacker" with my humongous posting total of
wait.............wait...............wait, yes 201 posts.

Bannermouse

 

[DisneyKevin]

My paperwork was hijacked somewhere between California and Florida, so I'm excused. In the age of computers and iPads, why does paperwork even exist?

Mike is excused.

 

[Disney Enabler]

Well.....y'all are OFFICIAL, but Michael has sent in his paperwork and ABD has his flight information logged.

I guess this makes him more OFFICIAL and the rest of you...slackers.

We are going to have to create some kind of code to know which Michael you are referencing.

We sent our paperwork about a week ago. We have no flight information since we are driving down.

Kevin What info do you want to know our pre-night and post-night arrangements? I have made reservations, post will be 2 nights in DVC at GC Villas and the pre will be 2 nights at the Tropicana. Let me know if you need additional information.

It's a great day to be alive,
Carol

 

[DisneyKevin]

We are going to have to create some kind of code to know which Michael you are referencing.

We sent our paperwork about a week ago. We have no flight information since we are driving down.

Kevin What info do you want to know our pre-night and post-night arrangements? I have made reservations, post will be 2 nights in DVC at GC Villas and the pre will be 2 nights at the Tropicana. Let me know if you need additional information.

It's a great day to be alive,
Carol

Hi Carol,

I was actually teasing Michael (Bannermouse) and all the rest of you too.

While Bannermouse has booked his flights and I have logged them with ABD, there is really no hurry to do this. We have a couple of months before this becomes necessary.

That being said, there is no reason not to to do it early. It's whatever you are ready and comfortable with.

As you and Michael (Merry Mousketeer) are driving and staying pre-nights booked on your own, the only special instructions I have for you are that you should be at the Grand Californian on the day the departure begins. You will need to let the security guard at the front entrance know that you are parking for your Adventure by Disney trip. He will point you in the right direction as to where to park. There will be no charge during the ABD portion of your vacation.

You will need to be in front of the hotel at 1:00pm and ABD transportation will pick you and your luggage up there and take you to the Hollywood Renaissance.

I will make sure that ABD knows that they will need to schedule a Grand pick up. There might be others joining you on your ride.

These instructions are for Michael (Merry Mouseketeer) and Carol only.

***To anyone else going on the trip that is reading this information, if you are arriving by airplane or arriving for pre-nights, your instructions will be much different. Please do not assume these instructions are for everyone. Eventually, each and every person traveling will need to make sure that I have your travel and arrival plans. Thanks.***

 

[skunkvette]

Thanks for that info, Kevin - it sounds like there may be a few different scenarios that might work for Cathy and I.

We are still deciding on whether we will fly in to San Diego early to tour about and then drive up to LAX to drop off the rental car and meet the shuttle at the airport or fly straight to LA.

Once we decide and book our flight, we will get our itinerary to you.

We have already booked two added nights at Grand California on our own, so I guess we will be getting a town car or shuttle back to the airport.

 

[stitchlover]

I'm dragging my feet on buying my airfare. I keep hoping it will go down and actually it has done nothing but go up (twice) in the last two weeks.

Does anyone have any thoughts on airfare trends? We are still 6 months out, any chance of it going down in that time period or are the trends for it to just continue to increase as you get closer to your departure date?

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this. TIA!

 

[mikelan6]

Purchasing airfare is tricky as prices tend to fluctuate a lot.

I use yapta.com and flightaware.com to track airfare and see what the average price is for flights.

In the end, though, you're just going to have to settle on a price you are comfortable with and buy it, hoping that you made a good decision. If the airfare does drop after you've purchased, some airlines will give you a credit (less their change fees, of course).

 

[princessbride6205]

I'm dragging my feet on buying my airfare. I keep hoping it will go down and actually it has done nothing but go up (twice) in the last two weeks.

Does anyone have any thoughts on airfare trends? We are still 6 months out, any chance of it going down in that time period or are the trends for it to just continue to increase as you get closer to your departure date?

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this. TIA!

I use kayak to compare all airlines (but it doesn't show Southwest) and to see my options. You can also try farecast - which is similar to Mike's suggested sites. I almost never buy a ticket 5 months out. This far out, I would check how many seats are left on your desired flights. That will help give you an idea of whether the price is going up because the airline feels like it, or if they really are selling out of that price level. Overall trends, airfares over the past year have been trending up, at least everywhere I fly (LAX, New York, Orlando). Farecast seems to think the best time to buy is on Tuesday afternoons due to when airlines release sales and try to match each other's prices. I have not really seen that theory in personal experience.
Another note, if you are trying to book on airline miles, the sooner the better!

 

[bkoehl]

A month ago when this trip was first announced I found roundtrip airfare for $300 DIRECT Cincinnati to LAX. By the time I finally convinced my husband to go last week it has gone up to $380 which includes a stop and flying overnight on the way back. If I want the same direct both ways at reasonable times it is almost $600 now! I've look at the flights though, pretty empty still so am going to wait it out. Plus, got my AmEx companion ticket in the mail yesterday which I was going to use for this trip, however, it just looked like a credit card offer so I stuck it in the shredder- not noticing the words "Your Companion Ticket is Inside" until it was half way through! Now have to wait for them to send me another....

 

[stitchlover]

Sorry if this sounds stupid...how can I tell how full the plane is? TIA!

 

[bkoehl]

Sorry if this sounds stupid...how can I tell how full the plane is? TIA!

On Delta when they show you the flights one of the last columns has a "view seats" link that shows a drawing of the plane and marks which seats are available/taken. Not sure how other airlines do it.

 

[stitchlover]

On Delta when they show you the flights one of the last columns has a "view seats" link that shows a drawing of the plane and marks which seats are available/taken. Not sure how other airlines do it.

Hmmm...didn't find that on the American site. I will check again in the morning. Thanks!

 

[mikelan6]

On Delta when they show you the flights one of the last columns has a "view seats" link that shows a drawing of the plane and marks which seats are available/taken. Not sure how other airlines do it.

This only shows how many people have reserved their seats, not how many are truly booked on the flight. While the seat map gives a good idea of how many people are booked on the flight, only airline employees with access to the "flight loads" really know how many seats are left.

 

[bannermouse]

We, for the last 3-4 years have always used Southwest. It is generally always the lowest fare out of New Orleans. Their prices do go up as it gets closer and closer to the departure date. They do sometimes have specials where they lower their rates. If you have already made your reservation with them at a higher price, you will receive a credit you can use in the next year.

Bannermouse

 

[stitchlover]

We, for the last 3-4 years have always used Southwest. It is generally always the lowest fare out of New Orleans. Their prices do go up as it gets closer and closer to the departure date. They do sometimes have specials where they lower their rates. If you have already made your reservation with them at a higher price, you will receive a credit you can use in the next year.

Bannermouse

In Dallas we have this lovely little thing called the Wright Amendment. This means that Southwest can only fly direct flights within Texas and to Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico out of Dallas Love Field. To go further you must fly to one of those locations and then make a connection to your next location. Which boils down to: Southwest is always more expensive for us. It sucks for us.

 

[mikelan6]

I finally received my travel agreement documrents today. Do I have to mail them, or can I fax them to ABD on the number listed on the forms?

 

[DisneyKevin]

I finally received my travel agreement documrents today. Do I have to mail them, or can I fax them to ABD on the number listed on the forms?

You can do either.

Both are perfectly acceptable.

 

[mikelan6]

I found it odd that one of the forms wanted to know my height and weight.

 

[stitchlover]

I found it odd that one of the forms wanted to know my height and weight.

I thought that was interesting too.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

I found it odd that one of the forms wanted to know my height and weight.

It has to do with the adventures that include a zip-lining component to the tour.

Unless you want to play Tinkerbell before the fireworks there will be no zip-lining during this tour - I promise.