virgin welcome briefings

[sharon78]

This is our first trip for our family to Florida,were going to be stopping at the Holiday Inn on I.D.Our arrival time at the hotel will be about 5pm,Do they have there briefings at the hotel if so are they when you arrive or do they wait untill the next day?

Thanks

 

[susie2]

hi, virgin welcome meetings are the next morning from when you arrive, ours have been held in the past from 9.30am, dont know where the are holding them now though as they keep changing from different hotels to the picture house in downtown disney, they will let you know in advance though, hope this helps , susie

 

[sharon78]

Thanks susie for the reply,guess ill just have to wait and see,just that i want to start planing our days.

Thanks again.

 

[Wife of Fozzy Bear]

We stayed at Quality Inn International 3 years ago, the briefing was at 8am, we were disappointed that it seemed to be a 'selling' opportunity for the rep. and there was very little of the useful local info. that we have had on other tour operators meetings.

The briefing was held in the hotel that time, we are staying at the Fairfield this time and have been told the meeting is held 'off-site', but I don't know where.

They offered a free show if you attended, I think it is a meal at the Hard Rock this time, it was Arabian Nights then. We go again in just under 2 weeks and don't intend to do the meeting. We pre-booked all our tickets in advance, and, possibly unfairly, we feel they may not have much more to offer and would rather have an early start at MGM that day than a free meal. I did phone the rep. in Orlando to find out the time of the meeting (8am again), I hoped it would be an evening one this time...and we would still get the free meal!

Really it is up to you and your plans on that first day. An early start at the parks saves hours of queuing later so you have to weigh it up. It is President's day weekend when we arrive, so a Bank Holiday weekend in our terms and I am expecting it to be busy. If you are going at a quieter time it may not matter so much.

You said it was your first visit, glad to hear you are going with a plan (do you have a copy of the Brits Guide?), those who go without waste time discussing what to do and hit the parks when the queues start to build. It is an amazing experience rather than a 'holiday', it must be amazing, I worked 4 jobs last Summer to pay for it! Have a fabulous time...we did, and intend to again in 12 days time!

 

[sharon78]

Thanks so much for a great reply i think youve made my mind up for me,i have The unofficial Guide to WDW by Bob Sehlinger and with the help of all you on the DISboard i dont think i shall need to attend the meeting.Were going to be there from the 23rd Oct to the 5th Nov.This is my touring plan so far;

23rd Leave Gatwick airport -Arrive OIA
24th Typhoon Lagoon Early night
25th MK
26th MK
27th Beach (St Pete's)
28th Seaworld
29th MGM and Boardwalk
30th AK
31st Haloween MK
1st Beach (St Augustine)
2nd Epcot
3rd BB
4th ?????
5th ?????
6th Fly home! What do you think does that looko.k.

 

[lentesta]

Hi Sharon78,

I work for Bob Sehlinger and the Unofficial Guide. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions, especially on the touring plans: testa@ncat.edu. And thanks for reading the Guide!

Sincerely,

Len

 

[Katies Dad]

Hi, we planned before we went, read load on this site also had the help of a few books, and never bothered wasting any of our holiday on a `Virgin Welcome Meeting`, holiday time is too precious to spend it listening to someone `selling` you trips etc.
We also bought all out tickets on-line before we went. Any more info please let me know.

 

[keswick1uk]

When I look at my itinery its ruined by the welcome meeting on day one. I think we will give it a miss and get on with our holiday.

We do have a couple of easy days where we could go to an offsite meeting before shopping or going to a water park. I wonder if we can arrange to go to a different meet?

 

[susie2]

hi sharon, have you heard about mickeys hallowen party held in the magic kingdom, you need a separate ticket which can be ordered in advance, we are also going at that time we are there from the 25 oct till the 9 nov, so much planning so little time!!, susie

 

[sharon78]

Hi Len
Lucky you The book has been a huge help,it's been my bedtime reading for a few months now and will be untill we go.Thanks for the link to the touring plans update.Imight drop you a line closer to the date of our trip.
Keep up the good work

 

[sharon78]

Hi Katies Dad
Were buying our tickets before we go for all our attractions as well it sounded like the best thing to do.I think we have now decided not to bother with the welcome meeting,it does waste part of your morning planing and we havnt got time to waist have we!!!!
Thanks for your reply

Sharon

 

[sharon78]

Hi keswick

I think were going to do the same now,im not sure though about if you can go to a different meeting at your own convenience would be useful to know

Thanks for your reply
Sharon

 

[sharon78]

Hi Susie2
Yes i have heard about MNSSHP and we are due to be at the MK on that day,i didnt know weather it was worth buying the extra ticket to stay in the park after official opening hours or not.Is it something that a lot of people do? is it mega busy packed so you cannot get on anything?i havnt heard a lot of comments about this.

 

[keswick1uk]

Sharon,

I've decided we are not going but doing Animal Kingdom 9-5. I'll take the reps telephone number and call them when I have a spare moment. I want to use downtown check in last day anyway so may need to speak to them at some point.

There must be loads of people with PS's for the first morning who then couldn't make an appointment given at the last minute. We did originally have one for breakfast at CRT, but changed it when we secured another later in the holiday.

 

[sharon78]

Thanks Keswick1uk hope you have a good trip

 

[susie2]

hi sharon, we went to mnsshp last time we went in oct 2002, it was really good , the kids had a great time we dressed them up and they went trick or treating,the parade was really good also and i think you can only see it at the party, but might be wrong, well worth the extra money for us anyway,we will be going again this year twice !! if you look at the link for special events it tells you all about it, from what i read the only sell a limited amount of tickets so that it doesnt get too busy, but dont know how many and what they call to busy!! susie

 

[sharon78]

Hi Susie,Thanks for the link iv'e had a look and it does sound and look quite good,still not sure though.What date are you going?
Have you booked your tickets already?

 

[susie2]

hi sharon, we are going the 26 0ct till the 10 nov, we havnt booked our tickets yet as they have not gone on sale yet, last time they came out around the middle of may so will be on the look out from then, it is very good but it is what suits your family best, not sure now if you meant what date are we going to the party sorry just reread what you wrote, not sure what the dates will be this year but will be there on the 31 and one other night as well, my kids loved it that much we are having to go twice this year!! susie

 

[sharon78]

Thanks Susie for all the info i'll keep an eye out for ticket sales.
If we do go we would like to go on the 31st TTFN