DIS Dads The Dis Dad's Club II

[stopher1]

stopher1 - I was reading your post about being a CM, sounds like you had a good time and saw alot of neat stuff.

So true. My absolute favorite memory though, as a CM, comes from the summer time and the annual CM Canoe Races. For a couple of weeks in the summer, very early in the morning, around dawn teams of CM's assemble on the Rivers of America and actually race the canoes around Tom Sawyer Island. That was such a blast. My team basically stunk though, as I remember at one point, getting stuck in the bank of the river - up under some brush and tree branches (lousy steering!), and another time crashing into the hull of the Mark Twain, actually taking a small chunk out of it, causing something like $500 or more of damage. It was hysterical. We laughed so hard at those antics.

So many fun times in lots of the various backstage areas. It's funny because some people think that the "magic" is ruined when you see how it all works - but NOT me - it actually was enhanced, and made my obsession worse, if you can believe it! Fun memories of my locker, which the mens dressing room at the time was located underneath the train and the Grand Canyon Diorama between the Tomorrowland station and the Main Street station - I could hear the roar of the dinos every time I got dressed for my shift, or changed back into my street clothes after my shift. Lots of various celebrities coming to the park with their kids. The various celebrations and special events that the park hosted... being part of the mass choir for the Candlelight Processional (which at DL is actually a processional, going along the parade route from IASW all the way down Main Street to Town Square where the mass choir then assembles in front of the Train Station. I was actually in the Employee Choir and on the Living Christmas Tree 2 years. It was AWESOME. I actually just watched the 1988 performance once again last night, that had been broadcast on the Disney Channel that Christmas. I burned it to DVD last year so that it would last longer than the old videotape would...don't want to lose that! Fun, fun times definitely.

Before I became a CM though, I had some other awesome experiences at DL too. (Remember that I grew up living just about 30-35 min from the park and was able to go quite often). In 1985, to celebrate the 30th anniversary, they had a 30 hour party where the park was open for 30 straight hours. It was awesome to be in the park at dawn as a guest. Then there were the two different 60 Hour parties to celebrate the opening of Captain EO in 1986, and Star Tours in 1987. Those were incredible experiences. Man was I tired at the end - and remember people napping on benches, Tom Sawyer Island - everywhere and anywhere - but what a fun time it was. Now here we are, just months away from when Star Tours will close and be replaced with Star Tours II. I remember that line, wrapping in and around Tomorrowland, then stretching around the Hub and up Main Street - reaching all the way to Town Square...it was like a 3 or 4 hour wait - and we did it multiple times!

I love WDW, I really do. I could be there 6 months out of the year (I do NOT like FL in the summer though) - but DL definitely is in my heart and will always be the preeminent locale for me (not just because it's the original - but because it's what I grew up with). I have a flair button on my Facebook page that I often display (as I have right now) that says - "I belong in Disneyland - it calls to me. Like the Mothership".

 

[Disney Commando]

Well Gents...

I leave tomorrow for the trek to the airport and then we fly out 7AM on Saturday.

I hope the crowds aren't too much. We haven't been at Christmas before.

Have a GREAT trip! Wish I was going.

 

[MadScouser]

Awesome !!!!


Must book flights now for Jan trip - just over 5 weeks to go..

Bizarre question : As we are from the UK, do we need an ESTA form for the DS as well ? I have one (as I travel to the US with work), but not sure if a 17mth old needs one ?

 

[dvczerfs]

The boardwalk is pretty much the same. The crowd is different, mostly teenagers & college kids, it's not as family friendly like it used to be. Only go once a year now for the car show and to enter the raffles on the boardwalk.

im 44 and when i was in my late teens early twenties it was heading that way. we have to take a drive that way some summer. we havnt been to the nj shore in 20 years. my inlaws have a place in delaware where my dw and dd go but im not the big beach person. and i only get 20 vacation days per year and i use alot of the for disney and dd dance comps.

 

[DizNutDad]

Awesome, hope you have a great trip, I see you guys are staying at OKW how long are you staying? Any special plans, we need details.

Thanks. We plan to. I think we will be flying through this snow storm. I hope we have no troubles. (Thank goodness it is a direct flight.)
We are staying Dec 19-28. This is the first stay at OKW (our DVC Home resort).

We have some reservations at restaurants we haven't tried yet. So I'm pretty excited about them.

We are doing Hollywood & Vine, Tutto Italia, The Wave and the Luau. All new for us. We are going back to some oldies as well like Coral Reef, Crystal Palace, and Tony's.

We plan on taking a day off from the parks in the middle of the stay and checking out things like the Ginger Bread house in the Grand Floridian. Other than that we just hope to not get overrun by the crowds. I have never been to the parks when they reach capacity.

I haven't done a trip report before, so we'll see when I get back if I can take a stab at it.

 

[browniemtb]

Just SOME? Something tells me you're not being entirely honest with yourself Would you like to join our club?

Sign me up........

 

[Emma's Dad]

Is a post on here all it takes to sign up? Well, that and being a Disney-loving Dad? If so, I've met the criteria...please sign me up!

Yep.. we're pretty easy. If you'd like to send a check, though, I can send you the address Welcome to the club! You are member # 404!

Just found the thread. Widowed dad of three kids. Brendan 9 and Jessica and Ciara 6 (yes twins).

We went to WDW for the first time last May, and I liked it so much, bought a resale DVC contract. Our first "truip home" will be May 27th, 2010, 8 nights at AKV, 2 bedroom.

Sorry about your loss. Sounds like you are going to have some fun this coming May! Welcome to the club... you are member # 405!

Sign me up........

Roger that! Glad you joined us. You are member # 406!

OK... now we need more details from glennbo123 and browniemtb... what are your names? Any future trips planned? What is your most embarrassing moment??

WELCOME TO THE DIS DAD'S CLUB!

You have been added to the DIS Dad's Club list

 

[Emma's Dad]

Thanks. We plan to. I think we will be flying through this snow storm. I hope we have no troubles. (Thank goodness it is a direct flight.)
We are staying Dec 19-28. This is the first stay at OKW (our DVC Home resort).

We have some reservations at restaurants we haven't tried yet. So I'm pretty excited about them.

We are doing Hollywood & Vine, Tutto Italia, The Wave and the Luau. All new for us. We are going back to some oldies as well like Coral Reef, Crystal Palace, and Tony's.

We plan on taking a day off from the parks in the middle of the stay and checking out things like the Ginger Bread house in the Grand Floridian. Other than that we just hope to not get overrun by the crowds. I have never been to the parks when they reach capacity.

I haven't done a trip report before, so we'll see when I get back if I can take a stab at it.

Have a safe trip! I'm excited for you guys... never been down for the holidays yet. I may have to start working on DW now for the DIS Dads meet in Dec 2010!
Look forward to your TR... maybe you can take some heat off of me for a little while

 

[Emma's Dad]

There's only 2 days left on the current Special Offers (Buy 4 days get 3 more free) and I'm hoping they extend this offer to the dates of our trip. This saved us a bunch of money last year (over $800) and I must say that I look forward to the savings again this year. But I'm afraid that I'm being spoiled with these offers. In recent news I've heard Disney will be phasing out all their good deals (free dining, 4/3 deal, etc) by this time next year. Who knows if that is true. I'm still going even if the deals are gone... but I wonder how this would affect their park attendance once they really are gone? Do you think too many people are relying on the discounts right now?

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Thanks. We plan to. I think we will be flying through this snow storm. I hope we have no troubles. (Thank goodness it is a direct flight.)
We are staying Dec 19-28. This is the first stay at OKW (our DVC Home resort).

We have some reservations at restaurants we haven't tried yet. So I'm pretty excited about them.

We are doing Hollywood & Vine, Tutto Italia, The Wave and the Luau. All new for us. We are going back to some oldies as well like Coral Reef, Crystal Palace, and Tony's.

We plan on taking a day off from the parks in the middle of the stay and checking out things like the Ginger Bread house in the Grand Floridian. Other than that we just hope to not get overrun by the crowds. I have never been to the parks when they reach capacity.

I haven't done a trip report before, so we'll see when I get back if I can take a stab at it.

Good luck with your flight. We ate at Tutto Italia last year while we were on the dining plan. We ordered an antipasto platter they had on the menu. It is an assorted meat, cheese and olive platter for two. We ordered that and a meal and couldn't finish everything, we thought we would just get that and a couple of drinks for lunch this time and the kids meals were quite reasonable. They also serve assorted breads at the table which are very good. I hope you enjoy it, we did. Have fun!!

There's only 2 days left on the current Special Offers (Buy 4 days get 3 more free) and I'm hoping they extend this offer to the dates of our trip. This saved us a bunch of money last year (over $800) and I must say that I look forward to the savings again this year. But I'm afraid that I'm being spoiled with these offers. In recent news I've heard Disney will be phasing out all their good deals (free dining, 4/3 deal, etc) by this time next year. Who knows if that is true. I'm still going even if the deals are gone... but I wonder how this would affect their park attendance once they really are gone? Do you think too many people are relying on the discounts right now?

I heard that same report but I would have a hard time believing that they will be able to drop all discounts as well. I think they like to slowly take things away, rather than all at once. The 4/3 deal last year was on values as well, this year you have to buy 5 day tickets to get 2 free on values, mods remain unchanged. The free dining is something that they need to continue to offer in the Sept time frame, I think the only reason that time period is even busy is because of free dining. If they take it away, I dont see the incentive to travel during those dates. Maybe next year they will only offer the QSDP instead of the regular? But I'm will you, if we can still go we probably will, maybe we will have to stay a little more on the cheap if thats possible. Our economy is still a little slow but I hear from a lot of my contacts down there that it is a lot worse in the US and especially places like Orlando.

 

[stopher1]

In recent news I've heard Disney will be phasing out all their good deals (free dining, 4/3 deal, etc) by this time next year. Who knows if that is true. I'm still going even if the deals are gone... but I wonder how this would affect their park attendance once they really are gone? Do you think too many people are relying on the discounts right now?

Yes, yes, yes... but then on the other so hand - so has Disney. They have continued to throw more discounts out there in order to keep their attendance up and their resorts filled. If not, then they might have experienced a period like what followed 9/11 and the way people stopped traveling for a period of several months. Remember they basically shut down the remaining on construction on POP as well as shuttering all of POR at that time due to a heavy drop off in business with people cancelling reservations right and left due to a fear of traveling. It was then that they took the opportunity to merge the two former resorts of Dixie Landings and Port Orleans into the one singular resort that is POR today once they decided to reopen it as business picked up again.

I heard that same report but I would have a hard time believing that they will be able to drop all discounts as well. I think they like to slowly take things away, rather than all at once. The 4/3 deal last year was on values as well, this year you have to buy 5 day tickets to get 2 free on values, mods remain unchanged. The free dining is something that they need to continue to offer in the Sept time frame, I think the only reason that time period is even busy is because of free dining. If they take it away, I dont see the incentive to travel during those dates. Maybe next year they will only offer the QSDP instead of the regular? But I'm will you, if we can still go we probably will, maybe we will have to stay a little more on the cheap if thats possible. Our economy is still a little slow but I hear from a lot of my contacts down there that it is a lot worse in the US and especially places like Orlando.

I've read the same or similar reports on the comments that Iger made recently. I agree that they most likely will be phasing out their discounting strategy of late 2008 & throughout 2009 in the 2nd half of 2010 (if the economy turns enough to their satisfaction), but do not believe that they will shut off that spigot completely. People have gotten very, very used to the discounting. Returning to the premium pricing with no form of discounting will deter an awful lot of people. I think Free Dining will remain, since that was originally devised back in '05 as a way to beef up the bottom line at the end of the fiscal year (their year runs Oct 1 - Sep 30) and get some heads in the beds. It pretty much sold out and was repeated in 06 with a couple of additional weeks avaiable to the promo. Again it was a smashing success. It drove attendance at an otherwise very quiet time of year, filled resorts and defnitely filled the restaurants - and drove up the use of the DDP consequently. All huge marketing ploys that paid off for them big time, since they would have otherwise. People in 07 were clamoring to get those dates as they expanded it again by a week. IMO that's the kind of strategy that they will continue, but probably reduce the timeframe and limit it to specific resort categories.

The 4/3 and the current 5/2 deals have worked too, but not quite as well as "Free" Dining ever did. With "Free" Dining, sure folks are getting the food given to them, but they are paying a much higher rack rate for the room than they would normally. We enjoyed FD back in '06 and '07 and it was quite nice, but the room rate was definitely more than it would have been without it. When I compared a reservation with FD vs without the FD promo code, I saved on the total price of the package, but honestly not as much as one might imagine. Ever wonder why you cannot see the actual break down per night on the reservation system when booking like you would on regular hotel chain websites? I travel for business quite a bit and pay attention to these kind of details and it used to frustrate me to no end why I couldn't see the individual cost breakdown of each night when planning trips like I could if I were making a reservation for the Hampton Inn or a Marriott property. Instead you get a "starting at" rate and then it searches for availability and a lump sum per trip cost that you can then add to or subtract from with the assorted add-on options you want or downgrade your room view...but it just doesn't break it all down for you. But it sure will give you upgrade options quickly with the "DISNEY RECOMMENDS..." option!

• Back in '06 when only 4 of us needed tix & the DDP, staying 6 nts at POP with room, tix & DDP, the package for 4 cost us $1527 with FD... The identical package without FD (room, tix & DDP) would have cost me $1873 - only a $246 difference.
• In '07 we did it again this time staying 7 nts at PO Riverside (by then my DD needed tix as well as the DDP), and again the package had room, tix & DDP this time for 5 - with FD cost me $2526 vs. without FD (again the same package just no promo code) $2991 or a $465 difference. (This was the year we toured the DVC models and got points, so we haven't booked those packages again since then, so I cannot speak to the cost differences in 2008 since we've been staying on points since, with the exception of a couple of nights I've stayed solo in 08 & 09 that were at the values.) Sure, both saved money in the end, but neither were nearly as much as the per night per person cost of the DDP, so "FREE" really is a misnomer.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

The 4/3 and the current 5/2 deals have worked too, but not quite as well as "Free" Dining ever did. With "Free" Dining, sure folks are getting the food given to them, but they are paying a much higher rack rate for the room than they would normally.

Oh sure, take all the fun out of it, why don'tcha?

We did free dining in Sept. 06 and loved it. Eating out is part of the appeal of vacations to us, so it allowed us to try some sit-down places we never would have done on our own dime. It seems like it's a better deal if you have a bigger family, with so many mouths to feed. But you're right, you can definitely do a cheaper vacation by just looking for a room discount and eating much cheaper on your own.

That being said, we're hoping they continue "free" dining next September!

 

[skinsfan2878]

My wife with any luck will be pregnant by the time we go on our next trip. Do you guys have any advice for a man who will be taking a pregnant wife to disney for a week? We already have a DD 5yr old, and I am assuming I will be doing most of the entertaining for her. But hey, that's what daddys are for.

Any suggestions about what to do with my DW while my DD and I go on some of the bigger rides? This will be the first year DD is able to do Splash Moutain, and all the other bigger rides, so we are definitly going to do them.

 

[Emma's Dad]

My wife with any luck will be pregnant by the time we go on our next trip. Do you guys have any advice for a man who will be taking a pregnant wife to disney for a week? We already have a DD 5yr old, and I am assuming I will be doing most of the entertaining for her. But hey, that's what daddys are for.

Any suggestions about what to do with my DW while my DD and I go on some of the bigger rides? This will be the first year DD is able to do Splash Moutain, and all the other bigger rides, so we are definitly going to do them.

How far along will she be?

 

[stopher1]

I see in your sig. you are a former CM, what did you do there?

My primary location was Carnation Plaza Gardens, which while covered under the FF umbrella, was actually located at the end of Main Street, on the permiter of the hub, next to the castle.

Here are some pics of the location I worked at (taken last year, not on this trip) - though it is somewhat different today vs. back then. The food stand part of CPG actually closed back in 2000, I believe, and it was demolished. They made some changes to the area expanding the patio and opening up a new entrance into Frontierland with expanded restrooms and the expansion/renovations to the old Casa Mexicana restaurant there that became what is Rancho del Zocalo. This image is from the hub. Basically immediately to the right of this entry sign is Sleeping Beauty Castle. There are beautiful little gardens around it, with a couple of different foot bridges crossing over the outflow stream from the castle's moat.

This one shows the covered dancefloor/bandstand area. They still use it for special events, including Disney Magic Music Days performances, but the glory days of weekend night dancing do seem gone.

Beyond the dance floor there are lots of little umbrella covered tables - that's pretty much were the restaurant used to stand. The wall was built in its' place and lots of extra foliage added to mask the backstage area. The patio was expanded at that time as overflow seating for Rancho del Zocalo as the patio in the old days was not this large for CPG! It was strictly a walk up, almost L shaped location, with the food on the long side of the L, and ice cream on the short side. As you approached from the entry bridge, it was the ice cream side you came to first. Directly beyond the restaurant (backstage) was/is the storage barn for the BTMRR trains, as that attraction is physically just beyond CPG. Additionally was the landing tower for a certain pixie who opened the nightly fireworks as she descended from the top of the Matterhorn, down over the castle and on through to her exit. Many nights during the summer we would watch as Tinker Bell made her descent on those wires and did her crash landing into a couple of mattresses that were held up to stop her on her special landing platform! It was always fun to watch.

Here's a picture of CPG "back in the day"... this was sometime in the late '80's or early '90's, I don't know for certain

And here's when CPG was highlighted in the DISNEYLAND LINE (the weekly CM publication) back in '92

and finally, one with me in it from my days in the kitchen... I'm the 2nd from the left in the back row, or basically the guy in the middle of that row

 

[stopher1]

My wife with any luck will be pregnant by the time we go on our next trip. Do you guys have any advice for a man who will be taking a pregnant wife to disney for a week? We already have a DD 5yr old, and I am assuming I will be doing most of the entertaining for her. But hey, that's what daddys are for.

Any suggestions about what to do with my DW while my DD and I go on some of the bigger rides? This will be the first year DD is able to do Splash Moutain, and all the other bigger rides, so we are definitly going to do them.

How far along will she be?

I second that question. We took our boys to WDW when my DW was 6 mos pregnant with our DD. We didn't realize it when we planned the trip & paid for it. We decided to keep it in place, just moved it up a couple of months when we learned she was pregnant because we wanted something extra special for our boys with the family as they knew it before things changed when their sister came along. Kind of a special last hurrah if you will. They had such a good time. We did not rush, and when DW got tired, she sat down and took a break and met up with us later on. That was a 10 day trip, with only 5 park days. We planned it such with down days in between, and a day trip over to Cocoa Beach. There were definitely things that she could not do (i.e. Kilimanjaro Safaris at AK) and simply sat them out. She didn't want to spoil the fun for the boys.

 

[browniemtb]

Roger that! Glad you joined us. You are member # 406!

OK... now we need more details from glennbo123 and browniemtb... what are your names? Any future trips planned? What is your most embarrassing moment??

WELCOME TO THE DIS DAD'S CLUB!

You have been added to the DIS Dad's Club list

Name. Bob B.......most embarrassing moment at WDW or anywhere? As far as future trips, well we have #4 due in June so that squashes 2010 but I will be banking and going with family more than likely to the F&W in November of 2011.

 

[stopher1]

Ok, I'm going to try to finish up my photo essay for you from my final day at DL a couple of weeks ago... for those just joining in - I started this "report" back on pages 184, 196, 197, 198 & 214 - in case you want to go back and see more photos from Disney's California Adventure, the Grand Californian Hotel and Disneyland.

At DCA, the overall theme was designed to be California and what kind of fun you can have within the state - without actually going and experiencing it for yourself. Kind of lame IMO. That would kind of be like designing a theme park about Florida in Florida. Kinda dumb. But that's what they did. The park opened in 2001 to much fanfare, and basically fell flat on it's face. It was designed and built "on the cheap" - even though the expansion of DL (creating a new "resort destination" with a 2nd theme park, DTD district, the beautiful Grand Californian Hotel and the addition of (at the time) the world's largest parking garage - holding more than 10,000 vehicles) - even though that expansion cost the company more than $1.2 billion in the late '90's and early part of this decade... thanks to that the poor management decision, the WDC is now pouring an additional $1B into revamping and plussing DCA in order to actually make it a stand alone park worthy of that $79 daily admission price.

Since it's opening, DCA has struggled to pull in the daily attendance figures that was assumed would come - despite several very expensive additions & changes meant to draw those people in. The complete new land "A BUGS LAND: Flik's Fun Fair" didn't do it. The $100M addition of Tower of Terror didn't do it - though it helped get it over into the 20,000's regularly. The Monsters Inc: Mike & Sully to the Rescue attraction didn't do it. Even Toy Story Midway Mania didn't do it - though that finally did get the numbers up into the 30,000's regularly. Initially they thought that 50,000 per day would show up to experience it... after the first couple of weeks, they strugged to meet 15,000. After 8 years, they still struggle to go beyond 30,000. DL by comparison can and does draw between 60-80,000 visitors. DCA has sadly become known as DL's overlow lot! But that is (hopefully & finally) about to change for the better with the initial opening of World of Color coming in the Spring - followed by additional changes to the Paradise Pier area throughout 2010, the opening of the new Little Mermaid ride in 2011 and CARS Land in 2012. (Opening Cars 2 in theatres in 2011 will certainly help add to the draw for Carsland, I'm sure).

Another big renovation that they are doing at DCA is the main entrance area. Originally it was designed with two very large tile murals (think the of the one done by Mary Blair in the Grand Canyon Concourse of the Contemporary or the Cinderella story one inside the breezeway of the Castle at the MK done by Dorothea Redmond and you'll kind of understand) - made to look like giant postcards highlighting CA experiences - on both sides of the entry turnstiles. Just before that, as you approach the gate area - very large letters (10 or 11 ft tall) spelling out the word C A L I F O R N I A. Well all of that will change in later 2010 through 2011 as the entire entrance plaza will be redone. The entire area will be rethemed from a mishmash of CA "stuff" - including the mini version of the Golden Gate Bridge that the monorail runs across. A brand new entrance themed to the Hollywood of the 1920's & '30's will be built (looking very familiar to all you Studios park fans out there), adding in a new "street" (think Main Street) from the entrance up into the current Sunshine Plaza - where the roads then branch out to the various "lands" of DCA (think the hub). Since the entire entrance plaza is being rethemed/rebuilt - they are currently figuring out ways to be able to move people in and out of the park with all that work going on around... it won't be easy. Temporary alternate entrances have been considered... who knows what they'll actually end up doing. It will be interesting to say the least.

Anyway - long story for these couple of photos... here are the beginning and ending letters of California decked out for Christmas. Note who's there on the "A"

Inside the Hollywood Pictures Backlot is the Art of Disney Animation building which houses a bunch of different animation themed rooms & experiences (including Turtle Talk with Crush) - there is an amazing Zoetrope themed to Toy Story. It's awesome. These pics don't do it justice, but if you've ever seen a Zoetrope in action, you'd really like this one.

 

[tutter99]

My wife with any luck will be pregnant by the time we go on our next trip. Do you guys have any advice for a man who will be taking a pregnant wife to disney for a week? We already have a DD 5yr old, and I am assuming I will be doing most of the entertaining for her. But hey, that's what daddys are for.

Any suggestions about what to do with my DW while my DD and I go on some of the bigger rides? This will be the first year DD is able to do Splash Moutain, and all the other bigger rides, so we are definitly going to do them.

Drop her off at Aloha Isle! I'm pretty sure if you give a pregnant woman a Dole Whip she'll be happy, so you'll be happy. It's a pretty quiet area compared to over by Splash Mountain and lots of shade and spots to sit.

Plus the other bonus is if you put her in line for you and DD and then go to ride Splash, they may have gotten the order ready by the time you get back.

 

[stopher1]

Back across the Esplanade and into Disneyland...

In Town Square I boarded the Streetcar - I love riding up and down Main Street. The Dapper Dans jumped on and actually serenaded us as we rode - that was pretty cool.

Turning from Town Square headed up Main Street, with those fun Mickey garlands

Arrival at the hub - Sleeping Beauty Castle

After riding UP Main Street on the streetcar, I hoped onto the top level of the Omnibus and rode DOWN Main Street. The Fire Engine was parked waiting for guests and enjoyed the level of decorating detail on the Fire Engine

Going back down Main Street with Town Square

The Cinema at DL still shows 6 classic MM cartoons each & every day

Here's "Tilly" the "ticket taker" at the Cinema

Note where here "hometown" is...

The day I was there just happened to be one of the days that the Candy Palace had their handmade Candy Canes (recently featured on HGTV apparently)... they are extremely limited, only made 4 or 5 times during the season. You have to line up and get a number in order to be eligible to purchase one. Each batch is limited to only about 30-40 and each purchaser can only buy up to 2. No more than 3 batches per day they offer them. I was fortunate enough to be able to be in the line for the third batch and walked away with 2. Yay. But at $9.99 each, I wouldn't want to buy more than that! Here's pic. I successfully got them home break free (they wrap them in bubble wrap), and they will go into my DW and my stocking on Christmas Eve. Note the size - I laid it next to my watch for comparison purposes.