Maybe it's not too late to get the call from Mickey...

Just out of curiosity I checked back with the Mickey Mouse Christmas phone call web-link.

It would appear that if you did not get the Christmas call from Mickey, (see earlier post) then you can CALL HIM! and he will break the news of your up-coming Disney vacation to your kids.

To get the special phone number to call, you need to go to the website and put in your Disney reservation number.

Disney Itinerary Planning Tips

As a "Disney Insider" I get sent various emails periodically from Disney. Today I got a link to some articles on Disney Travel planning. Many of these are good, particularly those helping you come up with suggested itineraries to get the most out of short trips to Disney World, but curiously a number of them were written (or last updated) in June 2005, so are somewhat out-of-date. For example, some of them refer to the Park-Hopper tickets which have been extinct since January of 2005... and most have no mention of the dining plan...

However, I include the link here anyway, as the nitty-gritty of "where should I go first, and what should I aim to see" is something that I am regularly asked. And there are good family-tested suggestions here.

Here's the link...

Did Mickey call your kids?

I have heard from two of my clients so far - so I know that Mickey did call some of you on Christmas day.

I'm intrigued...

Did you sign up?

Did Mickey call?

What did he say?

Please comment below!!

Disney World to get healthier food!

For all those of you that have experienced the dearth of healthy food options (particularly in the fast-food restaurants, rather than the sit-down restaurants) at Disney theme parks, (heartburn) relief is coming!

Disney announced recently that they are re-thinking their menus and will be phasing in more healthy options at the parks starting next year. As I understand it, as franchises are coming up for renewal, the less healthy ones are not being renewed and are being replaced with more healthful choices.

Personally I think this is a good move, as you are a captive audience to a large extent. As Canadians typically stay for close to a week at Disney World, by the end of that week it sometimes feels like you've been eating junk food for as long as you can remember - at least if you normally eat vegetables at home...

While some people will miss all that comfort food, I'm also pretty sure there'll still be at least some options for heavily-processed, refined-sugar-enriched, saturated-fat-heavy, sodium-enhanced food for the masses! It's just economics... see how successful Las Vegas was at re-branding itself as a "family" destination?!! Exactly...

Get Mickey to call your kids on Christmas Day...

Walt Disney World announced a really nice travel-related feature a couple of weeks ago. I could have posted it immediately, but I wanted to check into a bit, just in case it was too good to be true. (No, it's not a new special rate or anything, but it's pretty cute.)

If you have Disney vacation coming up in the New Year, why not have Mickey Mouse himself break the news to your kids?

If you have a Disney World booking, you can go to a special website, enter your booking number and a few other details, and Mickey will call your house some time on Christmas Day to let your family know that a visit to Disney is on the cards in the new year.

There are a couple of potential problems with this service, but as far as I can tell, they are not stopping people from at least signing up for the service - (whether Mickey calls or not, is another matter, but kids can't be disappointed by not getting what they didn't know they would be getting, right?...)

The first is that it is supposedly for NEW bookings only (after the announce date of 28th November). I have been completely unable to get a definitive answer if that is correct or not, or whether if you add an existing booking number you can arrange for the phone call, but at least one client has been able to sign up with a booking made before November 28th...

The second problem is that the service is supposedly not offered in Quebec. (This must be to do with Mickey not being able to speak French!). However, again at least one of my clients (a resident of Quebec) was able to sign up, so you should give it a go anyway.

My goal is to email each of my clients with holidays booked for January through March, about this service, hoping not to cause too much disappointment if it doesn't work. However, if you happen to be reading this blog before you get your email from me - why not try to sign up!

The weblink is here...

You will need your Disney booking number also...

Hope it works for you all!!

Disney Tests a "Future Stay" Program at Walt DIsney World

It's a move that travel agents (especially Disney Specialists* like me) will be watching with interest...

Clients staying at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort Hotel in December this year, who book their next vacation before they check-out - can request that their travel agent (hopefully me, right!) receive credit (i.e. get paid commission) for that sale. Disney, while doing all they can to poach our clients with their overwhelming market reach, razzle-dazzle, liberal coatings of fresh pixie-dust etc. etc. are at least giving us the chance to make a final few dollars before we lose our clients for ever!!

No, seriously...
Disney have always been extremely good at direct marketing. They have also always supported travel agents. I suppose this new program does a bit of both - enabling our clients to take advantage of special prices (only offered at the time) but still have us work with them on their file.

This is a pilot project (at present) but if it is successful in generating lots of new bookings for Disney will likely go the way of the Disney Cruise Line, whereby you can get some significant savings by booking your next trip before you even get off the ship. While I have no problem with saving my clients money (I do that wherever I can) - I don't want to be cut out completely and not even be able to offer anything!

So - what do you need to know about this pilot program before you go...

You will be able to learn about the program through various materials - in-room marketing, signage and merchandising receipts - once you are in resort. The offer will be some kind of a reduction on your next trip, if booked there-and-then, some time before checkout.

The value will be real. There will be an advantage to booking before you leave. It may not be a giant benefit, however! And, know that the booking that you make while at the resort is restricted - i.e. you will not be able to make changes to date, resort, package etc after the fact. So be careful!

You are supposed to be asked whether you have a travel agent. If not, please leave me a comment here and I'll have words with Mickey...

Please remember your travel agent - if you got good service, useful advice, all-round value, help with airfare etc etc - and ask to have them credited. If you want them to be involved with the next trip you will need to contact them to let them know about the booking, as Disney will NOT contact them...

Know that if a better special comes along (which regular readers of this blog will know is very possible at certain times of the year) then you may have to cancel your original booking and re-book. This is something that we do on a regular basis, and we are very able to work out which package is better value for you, if you feel stuck or confused. Usually there are no change penalties, so do not assume that you will lose money.

Finally, if you FORGET to credit me (or another travel agent) all may not be lost. If, as mentioned above a better special comes along, then we can get back involved at that point.

Special offer over...

No more free pass upgrades...

As far as I can tell there are no "specials" going on for Disney packages these days - but continue to watch this space. As soon as I hear of anything - I'll post it!

Last Couple of Days for Spring Upgrade Special

Hi again! Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Just been too busy finishing up a lot of Disney bookings for the first few weeks of the new year. Amazingly, on selected dates, there is still availability on the Canadian upgrade special for travel Jan 1st through Mar 7th.

Last day to book (OR CHANGE) bookings is this Friday 15th Dec. So don't hang about.

Full details of the upgrade are described here.

My latest Disney seminar re-cap

I just finished a travel agent webinar with Jennifer Raymond from Disney Parks. Much of the information presented was familiar to me, though some was new. I'm posting the highlights here, so that you can continue to be informed of what you may expect from Disney in the upcoming weeks and months...

First - the winter offer - the one that we have known about for quite a while... here's the reminder - free ticket upgrades are available from the Magic-Your-Way base ticket to go up to a Premium ticket, along with a discount on the room rates. The booking window is up to Dec 15th and the travel window is Jan 1st - March 8th, (though I know that most of the rooms are already gone for the beginning of Jan...)

I got to see the new designs for the Magic Your Way tickets - rather groovy actually...

More details on the "Year of a Million Dreams" - it was described as like entering a sweepstake, just by walking into the parks! Dream surprises - random acts of magic... examples: free Mickey Mouse ice-cream, a Dream FastPass - bypass all the lines for all rides all day, the royal chamber inside Cinderella's castle (which was originally planned to be an apartment for Walt Disney, but was never completed) is being offered to a family per night, to dine and stay there, hosted by Cinderella herself...
The presenter pointed out that most of Disney's special celebrations have been based on their own dates - 50 years after opening of Disneyland etc. - for this one, they have turned it around and put the focus on you and your dreams!!

Find out more at www.disneyparks.com

There are lots of new immersive entertainment experiences - which can happen in the parks randomly at any given moment... for example you might find yourself in the middle of a pep rally with characters fom "High School Musical", or a rodeo with Woody and friends. Or Captain Jack Sparrow's pirate tutorial - again, at random somewhere in the parks - teaching everyone how to be a "proper pirate" or Woody's cowboy camp.

New attractions:
Epcot:

Walt Disney World has updated their Living Seas attraction - now "The Sea with Nemo and Friends" - a really cool ride with animated Nemo, Dory etc actually swimming with the real fishes...

Animal Kingdom:

Finding Nemo the Musical - opening late November - with singing fish (operated by onstage puppeteers) - looks as though it will be really cool!

Magic Kingdom:

New "Laugh Floor - Comedy Club" with Mike Wiskowski and Sully from Monsters Inc.

Also, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride has been totally updated, includng animatronic versions of Captain Jack (and other characters from the recent movies). I have actually done this ride... it is definitely "improved" over the old version, but I should warn you that because it is more realistic, and more dramatic, it is significantly scarier than before. I wish that I had not taken my small kids on this ride as my wife was not particularly impressed by the fact that I had told her "It's not scary..." as we held our hands over their eyes and ears..

Disney World documents - stuck at the border??

It seems that the US-Canada border is getting tough to cross, even for documents! Our agency has 16 separate files with Walt Disney Travel company departing between now and Jan 5th 2007. All documents have been issued. None have arrived!

Apparently Canada Post, or Canada Customs are delaying certain Disney travel documents, and we are not the only travel agency affected... (It's weird that we receive Magical Express transfer documents, by next-day courier...)

To be fair, the docs that Disney send are not really necessary, and duplicate copies will be sent to the resort. But it is hard for us to have to explain to our clients why they have no documents for their (often multi-thousand dollar) Disney vacations... someone needs to smarten up!

Just for your info, over the years we have had a number of clients traveling to Disney sans documents. Everyone got what they paid for - no exceptions. So, if you are affected, and have no Disney documents, please accept our apologies - on behalf of Disney/Canada Post/Canada Customs/US department of Homeland Security etc. etc. - and assurances that even if you don't have our package in advance, it will be safely waiting for you on when you arrive.


Update - 24th November - One arrived today after all, in good time to give to the guest - so hopefully we will be receiving the rest in time too, if a bit late.... Still, better late than never...

Year of a Million Dreams - what's that all about?

Disney Parks (notice the new branding?) have adopted a new worldwide tag-line "Where Dreams Come True". Complementing this new re-branding is the latest celebration as all Disney parks worldwide. While, of course, Disney need to continually re-think themselves and re-position their product and have to keep coming up with new ideas to get people to visit and re-visit their parks, this celebration has some really nice, unique features which are pretty eye-catching...

During this "year" of a million dreams - it already started in October 2006 and goes through the end of 2007 - a million dreams will be given out at Disney parks worldwide. The majority of these "dreams" are being handed out at Walt Disney World in Florida (as it is so much larger than the other parks) but all parks (Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney, Hong Kong Disneyland) are participating.

Disney park staff - they call them "cast members" - will randomly select people and give them stuff. Some of this stuff is small and fun, other dreams are pretty amazing. Some examples:

a dream FastPass enabling you to jump the lines for a whole day

a night in Cinderella's castle (yes, there is now a luxury suite inside the castle, and every night one lucky family will get this rather special room upgrade...)

there is a grand prize of visits to ALL of the Disney Parks worldwide

While you are not going to go to Disney World just to hope that you will get one of these special dreams, just imagine how you would feel if you got a tap on the shoulder and were offered a whole day Fastpass, or even the whole theme park all to yourself! That happened to one family - link to article

Link to the Year of a Million Dreams.

WestJet Vacations - new to the Disney mix...

A couple of months back WestJet (the airline) announced that they were getting into the package vacation business. They have done quite a bit of advertsing in Ottawa lately and a number of you have been asking me about them, particularly for their well-priced Disney vacations. I have a few thoughts...

The way that our agency chooses to book your Disney vacation offers a number of significant advantages (see below), and is usually also the cheapest way to book. However, recently, WestJet Vacations have challenged this, and there are occasions where you can save quite a lot with their packages.

They are new to the market - and are trying to get some "market share" so a lot of their packages are really, really agressively priced. This is good for the client. (I have booked one package where the package including flights, accommodation and Disney passes cost less than the VERY SAME flights, purchased alone).

However, there are some significant down-sides to their packages over the regular way that we book Disney. While these are not going to be important for all people, for others these will be significant. They are:
1. WestJet Vacations only offer the Disney value resorts. (Which is fine for some people but not for others.)
2. They have very limited availabilty and some weird short durations. (The same package that I mentioned above was for 4 nights only, and there was no way to add additional days to this.)
3. You cannot get the Disney Dining plan. (There is no way to "upgrade" their package directly with Disney either. I know. I tried!)
4. Like other package vacations (sun destinations etc.) we cannot "hold" anything for you. It is instant purchase, and price and availability can change by the minute.
5. The full price is required up front, you are immediately subject to penalties, and the entire package is 100% non-refundable within 21 days of travel. (So you would lose more money in the event of a cancellation and/or your insurance premiums will be higher.)

In short, you CAN get some good deals, but you need to be prepared to buy exactly and only what they offer you, and you can't change it after the fact (if a "special comes along later").

The way that our agency chooses to book your Disney vacation offers many advantages:
1. we can "hold" the Disney booking, and often the air space, to give you time to get the time off work and/or coordinate everything properly
2. we can offer any duration of stay (subject to normal availability constraints)
3. you can get any type of Disney package that you like (including the very popular Dining plan)
4. you can get any Disney resort that is available.
4. if a "special" comes along later, we can get it for you (always as long as it is available, of course) - with no penalty .
5. and usually, it is still cheaper to get us to "make" a package for you anyway, especially when you consider that you are actually getting what you want...

In summary...
We like WestJet, and see no reason not to like WestJet Vacations either. As far as making Disney bookings are concerned we will happily book them for you if they offer what you want, and will happily book you in a different way if they don't!

Easy!

WestJet seat sale to Orlando still on

I just booked a client on the direct flights to Orlando from Ottawa for the 20th-27th of DECEMBER, for $344.25 CAD TAX-IN!!

With a on-site package - their family of 4 paid around $4400 CAD total including passes and dining plan at an All-Star resort.

Almost unbelievable for that time of year to still have space - and at such a great price.

Just wanted you to know - Disney at Christmas - still possible...


Seat sale good until 15th Nov for some destinations and til Nov 30th for others. Obviously, space is very limited, (and non-existant for lots of dates).

Disney World Canadian Ticket upgrade special

Hello, Disney Fans,

As a Disney Specialist travel agent, booking Disney vacations daily, I often find that I don't have time to post these specials in a timely manner on our regular site - I am hoping this blog will help... as you can see I am still busy enough BOOKING the packages that I haven't had a chance to PLUG the specials all that much. Bear with me, though, I intend to make the blog a really handy resource...

Disney World Canadian Resident Ticket upgrade special

This particular special may not be news to some of you - after all it was announced a few weeks ago now - but it is still valid and we have another few weeks to make use of it.

The particular offer gives your the "Park Hopping", and the "Water Park Fun and More" tickets for the price of Disney's most basic "Magic Your Way Base Ticket". It is available only as part of a package (including Disney on-site accommodation) and must be booked by Dec 15th... Travel dates are "most dates" from Jan 1st to March 8th 2007, depending on availability. By no means all rooms at all resorts are available on this speical - so it is still sensible to book as early as possible...

This free upgrade is worth approx $90 USD per person, which is pretty significant for a family.

It is also available including the Disney Dining Plan...

My Disney Cruise Blog - updated for easy reading...

For any of you that were following my Disney Cruise vacation blog, you can now read the complete blog in a more logical and user-friendly format.

For those of you that missed it while "live" - Sept 30th-Oct 17th 2006 - I invite you to check it out. While describing and illustrating my experiences while on the cruise with my young family, it also gives lots of extra insights on the Disney Cruise experience which would be of interest to anyone considering a Disney cruise for their next family vacation...

The link is http://lttkdisneycruise.blogspot.com

It is now displayed in chronological order with extra linking included.

Please check it out!!!