DVC Perk ??? -- Pal Mickey

[dcfromva]

Originally posted by FredS
Our experience was that the coupon was in our check-in materials at both OKW and BCV (although we bought at OKW so didn't need the second voucher.) We were not asked to show our member card or anything other than the voucher when we got Pal Mickey (well, they did something with my credit card, of course, but there was never a true $50 charge on it.) When we returned that night, I went to the store at OKW and told them that I wanted to purchase it, then gave them the voucher. They then ran an actual charge of $41.50.

BTW, my sister, who is not a DVC member but I made reservation in her name at BCV also had the voucher in her check-in packet.

FredS,
That is good information to know. My sister will be staying on my points in July, maybe she will get a coupon, too!
Thanks,
DC

 

[LUVMICKEY]

So neat that you are talking about this Pal Mickey. Our kids were just talking about this yesturday. And wanting to get one while we are down there this month. I didn't know about the voucher, but I do now,


and that makes it even better yet. I'm sure we will be puchasing a couple of them for our 2 grandsons.

Thanks,
Michele

 

[WDWguru]

We ended up not using ours last week at BWV and won't be back before it expires on September 30. If someone would like it, you're welcome to it. It gets you a free day rental and/or $8 off the purchase price. The first PM I get with a mailing address gets it.

It does say in the fine print that you can only redeem one coupon per member per day (or something like that), but if somebody is going and staying off-site this trip or wants to buy two (you could get one the first day and another the second - or two at different locations) you could use it.

 

[disneyberry]

just wanted to confirm that you do get a voucher every time you check-in.
we had a split stay OKW + VWL, and got a voucher at each check-in in our DVC folder.
they never asked to see our DVC Member Card at check-in.

the voucher says to present your DVC Member Card with the voucher when you return your PAL Mickey.
however, when dbf went to return him, the CM didn't even bother to ask to see his DVC Member Card either.

this makes me wonder if we could've used both our vouchers to get 2 free days of rental. (moot point anyway 'cause we lost one of the vouchers. )

in any case, we park hopped to 3 parks the day we had PAL Mickey. he is a bit of a pain to carry around. someone asked us about him and said, "what is that, like pre-parenting practice?" heh. that comment did make me feel a bit silly.

he didn't work too well in MK for us either. we were wondering if it was 'cause MK was too crowded.

his nose seems to be an Infrared Sensor, as part of the process for renting and returning Mickey is that they press his nose against the right side of a Palm Pilot based device in the drawer, which then displays a progress bar that says "Waking Mickey".
when you return the Mickey, the PDA displays a timestamp of when you started renting the Mickey, and how much it costs for the rental.
since they have to press his nose against the PDA (and Palm devices typically use Infrared), we strongly suspect that his nose is an IR sensor.

we'd probably pick Epcot as the best park to take Mickey around.
MGM comes in at a close 2nd place.
we didn't go to AK w/ Mickey, that would've been crazy (4 parks in 1 day )

of course, remember that YOU are going on vacation. you're not playing tour guide to PAL Mickey, he's supposed to be guiding us. haha.
(yeah, can you tell that we felt like we were taking him around just to see what he said? )

i will be posting detailed pics of PAL Mickey (and DVC rooms) some time soon. stay tuned!

 

[MikeSquared]

We inquired about Pal Mickey last Thursday at the BCV store and the woman working behind the counter said the coupon was good for a free day rental. She also said we could keep the rental or get a new one in a box and still use the coupon for $8 off. Friday night I went down, coupon in hand, to just purchase PM because I wanted a new one in the box. The person behind the counter said the coupon was for a free day rental but if I purchased PM it would be the normal $50. I then repeated what I was told the day earlier and he said she was mistaken. He said the coupon was only good for a free day rental upon return of PM and if you didn't return the rental or purchased a new PM it would be the full $50 price. I didn't rent PM Friday night and went back down to try again Saturday morning. Again the person working said the coupon was only good for a free day rental and only upon return. I went ahead and rented PM to try it out and used him 2 days. He didn't talk much the short time we spent at MK but he wouldn't shut up at Epcot. I loved him and WASN'T GIVIN' HIM BACK! I did return the rental Sunday night, but still didn't see the woman who told me I could use the coupon for $8 off the purchase price. The person working there was nice and didn't charge for the second day so I was credited back the full $50 deposit. We then headed to the Downtown Market Place so I could use our annual pass discount to buy PM at the World of Disney store. They didn't stock him! I had to go to the big toy store and pay the full $50. Well, right now he's sitting next to me at work because I'd rather still be at Disney. I'm happy I brought him home with me and will bring him "Home" again for many years to come.

 

[bnlbebes]

Thanks for the info on which park Mickey is most useful! I was debating whether or not to use my voucher for our first day at MGM or wait until the 2nd day at AK. Now I think I'll wait.