Anyone ever done the AAA Character Storytime at MK?

[Connorsmom0]

I just made a reservation for the character storytime at MK for our trip in august. It was a free part of our AAA vacation package. Wondering what it will be like... opinions... is it worth us missing our night at Downtown Disney?

Thanks!!

 

[CarlisleMom]

My DD was 5 in 2007 and we did the storytime. She loved it. We had Alice. SHe read a story, lead the kids dancing around the room, signed autographs and posed for pictures. It's a great way to see 1 character up face. Space is limited on each session.

If I remember right, it only lasts about 45 minutes. You should have plenty of time to make it to downtown disney afterwards. Most of the stores stay open late.

When we when this spring, we allowed her to decide if she wanted to do it again. She decided to skip it. But she wasn't as into getting autographs this year. Guess that's the diffeence between almost 6 and almost 8.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

We went a couple years ago. We got Aladdin--same deal, read "his" story and did the meet and greet. The kids really enjoyed it--it was air-conditioned, they got some character attention, etc. I thought it was worth the time--but, I also like "Storytime with Belle", which is similar. So, that would be a good thing to gauge by (or, possibly, substitute).

 

[mykidsrqts]

We went last year when my kids were 2 and almost 6. They absolutely loved it. It was a very small crowd. Peter Pan read a story with the kids all sitting around him. Then he led them all around on a quick activity and spent several minutes speaking with each child individually signing autographs and taking pictures. My kids said they would definitely do it again. My then 2 year old still remembers it a year later!

 

[palpluto]

Is this something you have to get tickets for in advance?

 

[stmize]

We went a couple years ago. We got Aladdin--same deal, read "his" story and did the meet and greet. The kids really enjoyed it--it was air-conditioned, they got some character attention, etc. I thought it was worth the time--but, I also like "Storytime with Belle", which is similar. So, that would be a good thing to gauge by (or, possibly, substitute).

We also had Aladdin and it was nice one on one time with each child. It wasn't rushed.

 

[kpm76]

Do you have to book at AAA package or simply be a AAA member to attend?

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

You have to book through AAA. We're AAA members, didn't book through them this trip (we have DVC), and didn't get to do it. We did do "Storytime with Belle", though. AAA gives you special tickets, then you have to call and reserve a spot. They only do it a few times a week, so they'll let you pick the best time for you.

 

[Goofy'slady]

We booked our vacation for the first time this past May thru AAA and so we were able to experience the Storytime. Our girls were both a month shy of their June B-days, so our oldest was 10 and our youngest was 3. They absolutely loved it, especially our 3 (now 4) year old. We loved it too because it was 45 mins of AC bliss. We had Snow White and she out of all the other princesses was my least favorite until we did the Storytime. The young girl brought the character to life for me and had me seeing her in a totally different light. The kids were able to have autographs signed and pictures taken and even bookmarks signed by Snow White.

For next year's trip we again will book thru AAA in order to recieve many bonuses like this. Highly recommend.

T.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

My favorite AAA perk is the preferred viewing for Illuminations. i don't know if they still do that, though. We got to go on the "friendship boat" launch in front of Italy, I think. We were the only people there.

BTW, you may be able to get the AAA parking passes even if you don't book through them. We did get these, but we booked our rental cars and some Universal stuff through AAA (just not airfare or rooms), so our travel agent may have just thrown them in for us.

 

[mykidsrqts]

I book through AAA to get the parking pass and we enjoyed the storytime. But I never heard of the preferred viewing for "Illuminations". Can you tell us more?

 

[2manyprincesses]

We did it this past May too and had Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. The things I liked most:

SMALL crowd (20 people with us)
Lots of face time with the character (Good if you have shy kids, gives them time to warm up and get a great picture)
Comfy seats and NICE air cond.

Like PP said it isn't long so you may be able to go Downtown afterwards. You might not want to do Storytime in lieu of Downtown Disney though. I actually didn't make it down there at all this past trip and wasn't too disappointed. Lots of shopping available at our resort and in the parks.

Have a great trip!!

 

[minnie1012]

I booked through AAA and my agent mentioned the storytime but didn't give specifics about how to do etc. Do you get those when you get your final paperwork?

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

For the Storytime thing, we got tickets in our final packet of stuff. We got one per person, along with (I think) discount coupons to Planet Hollywood and soem other discount/extra stuff. IIRC, it was a packet like you get airline tickets in, if that makes sense--there were a bunch of papers in it with all the trip info. My MIL is the one who would book the trips through her AAA, so we would tend to get the packet fairly close to the trip.

As to the Illuminations thing, I don't know that they still do this. We did it in 2006. Again, there were the tickets in the "packet o'stuff" that you would show to the CM that stood there. There were no signs or anything else--the tickets aid where you should go and when. And again, we may have had to pick a night and call to say we'd be there (IIRC, the CM had a clipboard so she could check our names). The only problem we had was, we were so close, the fireworks scared our youngest DD (she was 3 at the time).

I really like the AAA perks--nothing super expensive, but they're still nice.

 

[Connorsmom0]

I booked through AAA and my agent mentioned the storytime but didn't give specifics about how to do etc. Do you get those when you get your final paperwork?

I got the info with the final paperwork.