A bit more info on the Walt Disney World packages for 2010

I have been snooping around to fill in the blanks on the new 2010 packages for Walt Disney World, and to see if they have added anything and/or made any changes. In general, most things are the same. A summary of differences is given below (if anyone has found any others, please let me know)...

Ticket prices:
Ticket prices did go up at the beginning of August, as I predicted - I will try to get the list of new rates posted on our agency website in the next couple of days. This price increase will be reflected in the package rates, as well as for those buying tickets individually.

Clarification:
Not all resorts are available to book for all dates in 2010, just yet. Some of the "Disney Vacation Club" properties (such as the Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort) are not be able to be booked until 8 months in advance of travel... so some of you will still have to wait a bit, if booking for next summer. Winter bookings are, of course, no problem...

2010 Dining Plans - approximate costs:
The inclusions in the various dining plans are the same as 2009, but the prices have increased just a little (deluxe plan prices are unchanged).

New costs (for most of the year) are:

• Under $42 US per adult per night, under $12 US per child (3-9) per night on the "regular" Disney Dining plan
• Under $32 US per adult per night, under $10 US per child (3-9) per night on the Quick Service Dining plan
• Under $69 US per adult per night, and under $20 US per child (3-9) per night on the Deluxe Dining Plan (price unchanged from 2009)

One additional note on dining.
Disney has introduced "seasonal pricing" for the dining packages, meaning that if you are travelling at certain peak season times, the cost of your dining will actually be higher than these amounts. As it will be built into your package price, which isn't "broken down" into component pricing, most of you are unlikely to notice this change, unless you choose to check the room rate, and pass cost separately. Then maybe you will notice that, like lots of restaurants, the prices on the menus go up a bit at their busiest, most popular (and most profitable!) times. At the time of writing, I am not certain when these "seasons" are, and/or how much extra the dining will really cost... I am thinking Christmas/New Year fo' sho'

Finally, for video game enthusiasts...
in 2009 each package came with a voucher for 30 minutes of consecutive play at the resort video arcade. This inclusion has been significantly improved, to 100 "game credits" which can be used non-consecutively. This may make some of you happy!