Newbie

[mickeydumplings]

Hello

I am new to the board could i introduce myself I am Debbie
We are going to Pop century July 2006 with my two boys 12 & 13
(been to DLP thiis year was great so trying florida next year)
After much looking on net and adding the pennys have booked flight
and hotel with Cosmos. Will get passes cheaper from a site, have decided
will be quicker and easier to get a town car to resort as non driver
(like the thought of stop to shop on way too)
Just now wondering about the disney dining plan seems quite reasonable
even with one of my boys a small eater and fussy. This tax and gratuity seems confusing.
Any thoughts or advice will be greatly recieved.
Am sure I will have lots of other questions and much needed advice
if thats okay.

Thank you
Debbie

 

[mickeys_chick]

hi, i was asking about dining plan last week and after lots of banging my head against a wall being told by disney to contact my travel agent and told by my travel agent to contact disney,,,, i was finally told by disney that you can only book the dining plan (19.99per nigth your there) if you book as part of a package.

In their eyes a package is room, park tickets and dining plan direct with disney or get your TA to book all 3 through disney. In my eyes i thought a package was my hotel and flight so would therefore be eligible for the plan but it appears not........

so after all the planning and thinking of whether it would be good or not it turns out we cant have it anyway!

Someone answered my post saying they also had same experience and hardly no uk travel agents offer the package......

I think it was differant for the free dining plan offer but i dont know if anyone here has sucessfully paid for it without the "disney package"

hope that helps in some way

 

[Shooby doo]

I seem to recall seeing a thread on here about WDW Dining plan not being available in the UK! It has to be booked as part of a Magic Your Way package which means passes at the same time!! The Plan must last for the duration of your stay & include everyone in your party, for us it would be a no go As we don't spend all our time at WDW & looks like false economy.I've seen somewhere that resort tax is 12-13% which I assume you would have to pay on arrival at your resort. As for tipping 10-15% of the bill (which mounts up 3 times a day!!) BUT if you don't think the service warrants it don't tip that high.I've noticed that our "american cousins" are not slow at complaining about shoody service whereas us Brits as a nation put up with anything - which some of the waiting staff know & don't try too hard!
I don't know how tipping goes on -site but normally as a rule anyone that helps you is looking for a tip!Just be polite if you don't want their help eg at the airport you will notice people stood about with trolleys,if they help you to your transportation then they are looking for @ $1 a suitcase
HTH SD aw:

 

[Scottish-Helen]

I'm currently working for a small USA travel company in Dublin at the moment but Disney gives us the same info and deals as UK agents and we haven't been given any access at all to sell the dining plan.

PS Welcome

 

[Goofyish]

Welcome to the boards Debbie. Nice to see another local here

 

[squitty]

Hi Debbie

Welcome to the boards...

Have fun planning your trip

 

[Mr-D]

I booked flights with TCD, then booked the Magic Your Way package with Dreams Unlimited to get the free dining plan.

D

 

[mickeydumplings]

Hello

Thank to everyone for there replies and welcomes.
Looks like i am not allowed to have the dining plan then
Seems well off but hay hoy.
I think you could have it with Virgin but they where so much more expensive
would have saved me nothing away.

Debbie

 

[natalielongstaff]

hi
welcome to the boards, just wanted to add that if you are staying onsite you will be eligible for disney magical express.... a complimentary shuttle bus from MCO to the hotel
good luck with the planning

 

[mushumadness]

hiya debbie

welcome to the boards

my dbf and i are going to pop century on december 3rd to 18th, im hoping its a great hotel.

anna

 

[arieljasmine]

Hi Debbie

Welcome to the boards. The Pop Century is a great hotel, and I'm sure you will have a lovely time.

ArielJasmine

 

[carolfoy]

Hi Debbie and welcome ask any question you like, you're almost always guaranteed a quick response, they're a great bunch of people, these dissers!

 

[KayleeUK]

Welcome to the DIS

Don't forget to join us on the UK Community Board too.

 

[Goofyish]

hi
welcome to the boards, just wanted to add that if you are staying onsite you will be eligible for disney magical express.... a complimentary shuttle bus from MCO to the hotel
good luck with the planning

Cosmos use Monarch flights that go into Sanford, so I don't think the Magical Express is available

 

[ely3857]

Hiya Debbie, Welcome to the wonderful world of Disney!

I will be at Pop next year aswell, my first time onsite so I am really excited!



Jodie

 

[mickeydumplings]

Hiya Jodie

To be honest i quite fancied CBR but the boys wanted to go to pop
being as it was quite a few hundred cheaper i didnt complain
a little less overtime for me


debbie

 

[Shooby doo]

Debbie if you want to cheer your self up about the dining plan go to www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com,not only do they explain in detail but also give you a list of participating restaurants.For All-stars/pop Century there are no table service (in fact thru the whole list there isn't many!!),counter service is fine for lunch & the occasional night but it is nice to be sat at a "proper" table rather than at "macDonalds" for 2 weeks!!If you don't have transport then off-site is a bit of a problem but there are more than enough decent places to eat off-site that will be cheaper than WDW.If you are looking for inspiration then either ask on here or get a look at a copy of "the brits guide" as Simon's recommendations are fairly spot on.
Be warned once you been to WDW once you just keep wanting to go back!!
HTH SD aw:

 

[arieliwish]

Hi Debbie, Hope you have a comfy seat by your PC as you may find these boards keep you there for some time!

We're off on Tues to the CBR with First Choice, and have booked the dining plan through them. They did tell me it had to be thru disney, who said it had to be thru first choice! After finding a young man at FC who knew what he was doing, we got it booked (he had to rebook our room) with tickets and dining plan. I know we've lost out a bit on the cost of the tickets (14 days Ultimates) but as we got a really cheap deal to start with and we'll be able to eat in some very nice disney restaurants that we otherwise wouldn't, I think it was a fair price.

Good luck with whatever you go for, you'll love it anyways!!

 

[Laurafoster]

You can get the Magic your way package - you just have to order it direct through Disney!

 

[Verity Chambers]

Hello welcome to DIS!