PEPCM #0112 - April 2011
4dortego braved Disney World with several teens to celebrate her son's 18th birthday in March 2011. What a great way to celebrate a special milestone!
How far in advance did you start planning for your trip? What was the planning process like - stressful, simple, overwhelming? In what way was I able to assist you with the planning stage?
We started planing only 3 months before our trip. This was our 5th trip in 7 years and this is the first time I used a travel agent. It was a lot less work on my part. All I had to do was tell the Pink Ear Pixie when and where and she made it happen (which I know wasn't easy because we were late in booking). I usually start planning and making ADRs 180 days out!
How did you tell your family about the trip? Was it a surprise?
It was my son's 18th birthday and he chose the destination!
Which Disney Resort did you stay at? What did you think of the resort?
We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. This is the second time we stayed at this particular resort. It is beautiful. Peaceful. My favorite part is on the days we don't stay late in the parks, you can see the fireworks from Epcot and Fantasmic while laying in a hammock relaxing with an adult beverage while the kids go to the arcade or the pool with dad.
What are your family's favorite Disney characters? Did you have interactions with them while on vacation?
Stitch- and we got to visit him at the Ohana breakfast! We also love the characters from Monsters Inc. We got to visit Sulley and Mike on the Back Lot.
What restaurants did you dine at?
Ohana - for breakfast. We love Lilo and Stitch! And the breakfast is great.
Teppen Edo - in Japan in Epcot. The show and food are fantastic!!
The Crystal Palace - We wanted to try this restaurant and were disappointed. The food was OK and my kids aren't into Winnie the Pooh and friends. And I thought it was VERY over priced! We were on the dining plan but I would definitely not eat there if we were not on the dining plan.
Wolfgang Pucks - in Downtown Disney. We really liked this restaurant. We had eaten here before and were pleased!
What was your family's favorite ride or attraction? And why?
Splash Mountain! It's sooo fun!!
What was the greatest advantage of booking your vacation with me as your travel agent?
I didn't have to make all the phone calls for dinner reservations and the Pink Ear Pixie got us a better deal than what I was offered though the Disney website.
Share one moment during your vacation that will always be a favorite memory.
Eating at Teppen Edo!! Our chef was soo funny!
What was one thing that really surprised you during your vacation?
My son was surprised he liked Tower Terror as much as he did. His friends made him ride it and after he was like let's go again!
Did you go through Disney withdrawals when you returned home? What was the best remedy?
YES!!! Looking at our pictures!!
Have you started planning your next Disney vacation? What will you do differently next time?
Yes. Nothing!!
How far in advance did you start planning for your trip? What was the planning process like - stressful, simple, overwhelming? In what way was I able to assist you with the planning stage?
We started planing only 3 months before our trip. This was our 5th trip in 7 years and this is the first time I used a travel agent. It was a lot less work on my part. All I had to do was tell the Pink Ear Pixie when and where and she made it happen (which I know wasn't easy because we were late in booking). I usually start planning and making ADRs 180 days out!
How did you tell your family about the trip? Was it a surprise?
It was my son's 18th birthday and he chose the destination!
Which Disney Resort did you stay at? What did you think of the resort?
We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. This is the second time we stayed at this particular resort. It is beautiful. Peaceful. My favorite part is on the days we don't stay late in the parks, you can see the fireworks from Epcot and Fantasmic while laying in a hammock relaxing with an adult beverage while the kids go to the arcade or the pool with dad.
What are your family's favorite Disney characters? Did you have interactions with them while on vacation?
Stitch- and we got to visit him at the Ohana breakfast! We also love the characters from Monsters Inc. We got to visit Sulley and Mike on the Back Lot.
What restaurants did you dine at?
Ohana - for breakfast. We love Lilo and Stitch! And the breakfast is great.
Teppen Edo - in Japan in Epcot. The show and food are fantastic!!
The Crystal Palace - We wanted to try this restaurant and were disappointed. The food was OK and my kids aren't into Winnie the Pooh and friends. And I thought it was VERY over priced! We were on the dining plan but I would definitely not eat there if we were not on the dining plan.
Wolfgang Pucks - in Downtown Disney. We really liked this restaurant. We had eaten here before and were pleased!
What was your family's favorite ride or attraction? And why?
Splash Mountain! It's sooo fun!!
What was the greatest advantage of booking your vacation with me as your travel agent?
I didn't have to make all the phone calls for dinner reservations and the Pink Ear Pixie got us a better deal than what I was offered though the Disney website.
Share one moment during your vacation that will always be a favorite memory.
Eating at Teppen Edo!! Our chef was soo funny!
What was one thing that really surprised you during your vacation?
My son was surprised he liked Tower Terror as much as he did. His friends made him ride it and after he was like let's go again!
Did you go through Disney withdrawals when you returned home? What was the best remedy?
YES!!! Looking at our pictures!!
Have you started planning your next Disney vacation? What will you do differently next time?
Yes. Nothing!!
PEPCM #0110 - Jan/Feb 2011
Disney Diva is a mom of three young children. She shares her thoughts and memories of her family's first visit to Walt Disney World in September 2010. How far in advance did you start planning for your trip? What was the planning process like - stressful, simple, overwhelming? In what way was I able to assist you with the planning stage? I think we started planning around March/April. I contacted you and we met with all of your wonderful brochures and information. We looked through it and decided what we wanted our budget to be - aka moderate resort. We were waiting for some type of deal to come out, such as free dining. As soon as that happened, we booked. I wouldn't say it was stressful planning, but definitely overwhelming at times. There is so much to look into, decide on, plan for. However, every time I had a question, I would just email and get a response back within a couple hours. Sometimes this was multiple emails a day! Pink Ear Pixie helped us with dining reservations, our room, and gave us great ideas on what to visit within the park complex. I definitely wouldn't have been nearly as prepared without that help. How did you tell your family about the trip? Was it a surprise? We made the mistake of telling our kids (7 and 4) after we confirmed the trip. So having to hear "is it time to go to Disney yet?" every day for 5 months perhaps was not the smartest decision ever. However, it was fun to watch Disney reviews on TV and we got the DVD so we would pop that in and see what the park looked like. They really had fun deciding who they were going to see and what they were going to ask from their favorite characters. As my son Ben said one day "I want to meet the Little Einsteins, so I can tell them I'm a fan". Which Disney Resort did you stay at? What did you think of the resort? We stayed the Carribean Beach Resort, which is a moderate. It was lovely - clean, easy access to buses, great waterpark. It was a tad farther out though and when we decide to go back, I would either spend the extra money to stay closer or stay at a value resort since you really don't spend a lot of time at the resort. When it comes to Disney, it is all about time management! What are your family's favorite Disney characters? Did you have interactions with them while on vacation? We saw a ton of characters and I made sure my kids had signature books so every time we saw someone we could get an autograph. My daughter loved the princesses, and I think my son liked Buzz Lightyear and the Little Einsteins. We did a couple of character meals which were big hits. And we did the classic pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. What restaurants did you dine at? It felt like we were all over! We did a princess dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot, a breakfast at Animal Kingdom in the Tusker House, Lunch at Hollywood Studios, and a bunch of other places. PEP helped by offering suggestions based on our kids' ages and preferences. And when we had to rearrange some things, she was right there making changes. I think our daily planner changed at least six times and not once did I ever worry that something wouldn't come out right. I don't think we had a bad experience at any restaurant. What was your family's favorite ride or attraction? And why? As a family we loved the Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear rides. That was a big hit. My son, who is not much of a daredevil, loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the Magic Kingdom. He still talks about it. My daughter liked all the rides where you got to "fly" and go up and down. And both kids participated in the Lion King Show at Animal Kingdom, which was cool to see. What was the greatest advantage of booking your vacation with me as your travel agent? The best advantage to using PEP is that you took care of all the reservations, and transfer issues coming off the plane and onto the resort. I loved not having to worry about that. And to just be able to say "we want to do this on this day and that on that day" and PEP just takes care of it. Otherwise, I would be on the phone constantly trying to get reservations and spending a lot of time being frustrated I'm sure. Plus PEP is always "in the know" when it comes to deals and savings. That is a HUGE help and advantage. Share one moment during your vacation that will always be a favorite memory. Well it is hard to pick one, but as a family we rode the Kali River Rapids and got completely soaked. I mean, literally head to toe soaking. We had so much fun that as soon as we got off, we cut over and asked if we could get back on. Since there was not a crowd, they let us go again. The kids just loved it and had smiles from ear to ear. What was one thing that really surprised you during your vacation? I was surprised about the pin trading. We kind of found out about this right before our trip so we quick bought a set of pins online before we left. The kids got into trading and going up to Cast Members asking to trade. One thing I would do next time is decide on a theme of pins. Our daughter decided she wanted Princess pins and it was a lot more fun trading when we had a goal in mind. At the end of the trip she had one pin of each princess. That was cool! Did you or anyone in your family have 'tears of joy' during your trip? Okay so this was tears of joy/I'm so exhausted/I'm overly emotional moment: Our first night there we went to the Wishes Dessert Party. Awesome just for the seating. I would not suggest doing it when you were up at 3am that morning in order to get the flight down to Disney, but it was the only time we could do it. Anyway, the show starts and Tinkerbell flies from the castle and we are positioned so that she literally is flying over our head, and she waves to my daughter. That, was priceless! Did you go through Disney withdrawals when you returned home? What was the best remedy? I went through a withdrawal - my remedy was to start planning for our next trip in 4 years. Have you started planning your next Disney vacation? What will you do differently next time? Oh my goodness, I already started my list on what to do differently. We would definitely stay longer - at least 7 days, preferably 10. I would take one day in the middle and not go to any park, but just putz around at the resort. I would get the Park Hopper option so that we had a little more flexibility. I would stagger my table service meals so that on an evening we were out late, we wouldn't do anything early the next day. I would definitely bring strollers again, do the pin trading, and I would purchase the Disney app for a smart phone so I had a heads up on more things. And I am really glad that we planned ahead and had decided what rides we were going to do and what shows/events we wanted to target. That saved a lot of time and we weren't just wandering aimlessly trying to figure out what to do.  |
PEPCM #0111 - March 2011
Disney Mom is a mom of two sets of twins - 3 girls and 1 boy. As a Disney fanatic herself, she shares the memories of her first trip with her children in January 2011. How far in advance did you start planning for your trip? What was the planning process like - stressful, simple, overwhelming? In what way was I able to assist you with the planning stage? I started planning the trip in June of 2010. I started early because I wanted a Princess Meal at the Castle and I knew I had to book it 180 days from the trip. The planning process was fairly simple, because I knew what I wanted. Amanda was very helpful in getting me a room reservation before my 180 day mark even through Disney had not released pricing for that time period. Once the pricing was released Amanda modified my reservation so I could take advantage of the free dining . How did you tell your family about the trip? Was it a surprise? We surprised the kids by having Mickey Mouse send them a letter inviting them to Disney World. Once at the resort the kids got a letter every night from the Characters they would be having a meal with the next day. The kids couldn't wait to go back to the room to see who sent them a letter and where they would be eating the next day. Which Disney Resort did you stay at? What did you think of the resort? We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. The room was nice. I didn't see much of the resort because when we got back from the parks we were so tired we went to bed. What I did see of the resort seemed nice. What are your family's favorite Disney characters? Did you have interactions with them while on vacation? My girls love the princesses and fairies. We saw all of the princesses except Snow White. Each interaction was great. The princesses and fairies spent lots of time with the kids. It made them feel so special to get to have time with their favorite characters. We never felt rushed during these interactions. They were all so magical. What restaurants did you dine at? We ate at the Tusker house for Donald's breakfast. We ate here because we wanted to meet Donald and his pals. It was nice, but a little crowded. We ate lunch at Hollywood and Vine for the Playhouse Disney meal. This was great because we had lots of interactions (each character came around at least 4 times). We also had lunch with the princesses at the castle. This was the only meal that was not a buffet. I felt very rushed at this meal, because they seated us late even through we arrived on time. The kids thought this was a great meal and they said it was their favorite. We had dinner at 1900 Park Fare with Lady Tremaine and the step sisters. This was fun and different since we got to meet characters you don't usually see. The last meal we had was at the Crystal Palace. The little ones really enjoyed seeing Pooh and Friends. What was your family's favorite ride or attraction? And why? We enjoy the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. We love these because they are classic rides. What was the greatest advantage of booking your vacation with me as your travel agent? When I needed something I could call the same person to help out. When you call Disney to make the plans you talk to different people every time. Share one moment during your vacation that will always be a favorite memory. There were so many magical moments: Sharing one of my favorite childhood memories with the kids by watching the Main Street Electrical Parade. The look on the girls face after they got their hair done at Bibbidy Bobbity boutique. Seeing Jacob warm up and sit on Goofy's lap. What was one thing that really surprised you during your vacation? My father wanted a picture of the group in front of the castle wearing matching vests. My daughter Lily decided that she was going to have a classic two year old tantrum. She did not want to wear her vest. The Photopass person walked over to a guest relation cast member and they both tried to convince Lily to wear the vest. We ended up getting ice cream bars for everyone because Lily had a tantrum. Did you or anyone in your family have 'tears of joy' during your trip? I almost cried while watching the Main Street Electrical Parade. When I was a kid we always ended our day at Disneyland with this parade. Whenever I heard the music from the parade it would remind me of our trip and Disneyland. I was so happy to be able to share this magical parade with my kids. Did you go through Disney withdrawals when you returned home? What was the best remedy? Making a scrapbook of the trip. Have you started planning your next Disney vacation? What will you do differently next time? No we haven't started planing our next trip. But next time i will try to plan more down time. |