The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[bhg469]

We get the deluxe dining plan. I know everyone says this is the biggest waste of money, but I am curious if I am the only one who will admit to getting it. We are big eaters. But more importantly, it allows us to get out of the heat 3 times a day and sit down at nice restaurants. Those breaks are what keeps us going on our trips. Plus eating at places like Le Cellier, Be Our Guest, Cali Grill, etc are fun and interesting. Anyone else do this or are we the only nutbags?

I am an eater and I can't put down the food, maybe it's because I rarely eat breakfast..
If I could afford it I would but I think I personally would be wasting money. I do like to mix it up and eat off site too so again it would be wasted on me.

 

[Cesar R M]

That's what makes it such a great idea, it's something never done before and something that would require a group of people brave enough to push the envelope and get it done. If this is the ride Disney would make in Star Wars Land it will blow away everything Universal has done with Harry Potter and would easily be the new best theme park attraction in the world.

Yeah, until WDI gets again hit by the classic "make it cheaper" thing D:

No, that is exactly the point. Your smartphone might be locked to a certain service provider, but you can still access the internet by wifi and wifi is provided by Disney throughout all the parks. Hence you can get the MM + app to work. That's certainly one big reason why Disney invested heavily in the huge free wifi network they installed.

No, you still missed the point. Probably because you're not seeing this as a international phone user.
The phone is a brick, I will definitively not waste space/weight by bringing it to a trip where I know it wont work other than WIFI.

Id go with a Ipad/tablet or just use the kiosks there.

Plus, as someone who as been hit by very abusive rates of international roaming. You dont even know when you will get charged with the phone just roaming from tower to tower and getting a SMS.

 

[71jason]

I believe those numbers are easily attainable, unlike attendance which is very secret and you nor I will ever know.

This is very true. Also, not entirely surprising--Contemporary and Grand rely a lot on conventions, and nobody does conventions this week, it's family vacay time. (This is why TDO chose such a seemingly busy week to refurb the main building of the Grand.) But even given that, 60% has to be heart attack inducing.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I understand this, but we always get expensive food at almost every meal and feel we save a lot doing it this way. Our bill at Le Cellier last trip was $823 alone.

Wall Street says you must pay cash!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I understand this, but we always get expensive food at almost every meal and feel we save a lot doing it this way. Our bill at Le Cellier last trip was $823 alone.

How many people are in your group?

 

[randyrut]

I am an eater and I can't put down the food, maybe it's because I rarely eat breakfast..
If I could afford it I would but I think I personally would be wasting money. I do like to mix it up and eat off site too so again it would be wasted on me.

I have no problem admitting when I may be making a mistake. And in this case I may be a bit, but after figuring our costs last trip, we saved over $1000 on meals with the Deluxe Plan. Is it overkill? Probably, but we love the breaks. And it gives us incentive to really get back on the treadmill when our vacation is over.

 

[WildcatDen]

I have yet to hear anything bad about those hotels other than you can't get the dining plan.. whoopie!

Are there daily parking fees at the Swan and Dolphin? I know it does not add too much cost but that is a price that is sometimes hidden when doing comparisons. Also, with the parking, do they have "In and Out Priveledges"

 

[Cesar R M]

I got you're point, but you we're confusing two different things. You're smartphone not working as a phone has nothing to do with its ability to connect via WiFi. It is two separate things and WiFi is not controlled by the carrier.

No I'm not.
and I know they are different signals with different way of working.
You guys still do not seem to get my primary point.

Read em' and weep Uni lovers.

A memo is circulating that one if the mist common questions asked to team members is, " Can you help me with my Magic Bands?".

Universal Orlando will have a "RDIF convenience system" in place by the end of next year. This is from a rock solid Universal source.

Hang on.. does this means some dumb visitors are really asking Universal CMs for help on their MagicBands? or am I reading wrong?

 

[GeneralZod]

Swolphin rooms are normally around $179/night and those hotels compare with any deluxe room Disney offers with walking to both Epcot and DHS.

Good point. I think there is a bit of sensationalism here just as there is on the other side of the coin, but good point nonetheless. I haven't stayed here, but I have heard decent things about it. We did eat at one of their restaurants and it was pretty subpar.

So if this hotel is far cheaper and not "ungodly" expensive, I would be curious to know if the occupancy rate is substantially higher. If swalphin is on par with the boardwalk resorts (room, amenities, etc) and is 70% the cost, then I would assume it will be much higher than the other three in that area.

 

[randyrut]

How many people are in your group?

4 adults, 2 teenagers and one child

 

[Lord_Vader]

Swolphin rooms are normally around $179/night and those hotels compare with any deluxe room Disney offers with walking to both Epcot and DHS.

They also charge for parking, the resort fee and do not have ME which add up to a lot of value for many people. Just checking, one night in the cheapest room S&D has is $225 per night with resort fees, taxes, etc. but not parking or airport transportation.

 

[Cesar R M]

An RFID upgrade would be only natural. Doesn't mean they'll go the whole Magic Band/FP+/App route. I'll actually prefer having a plastic card rather than a paper one for my AP anyway. Who knows, maybe they'll fix the finger scanners too because for whatever reason they haven't worked at all for me ever since I renewed my AP even though I tried multiple times to fix it with the team members running them.

Are you sure you are not a CIA, a Men in Black or maybe.. GAASP! James bond in disguise? (aka erased finger prints )

Is it just me or do these long dormant WDWMagic accounts keep popping up around the same time other (previously) long dormant accounts get chased away?

*tinfoil hat time*

It makes me wonder if WDWmagic tracks the ips of the logins of each account.
And it is no surprise that people who are hated alot.. just switch accounts to continue the same.
But usually.. they are easily found; Because the typing of each person is very specific.

 

[Stevek]

That got deleted? Because I stuck up for people who aren't around to defend themselves? Because I actually think its wrong to instigate and make fun of people from twitter?

It wasn't just yours that were deleted...basically the entire discussion, the initial post, your defense and everything up, down and inbetween. Probably for the best just to get rid of it all.

 

[doctornick]

I agree, and if room occupancy was that low, TDO would be offering great AP discounts across the board and not in the very limited quantities and in the least desirable rooms.

The room occupancies are not "that" low. They are low compared to WDW's historically very high occupancies rates, which were the envy of the industry. Now, they are more in line with typical accomodations -- still high, but nothing out of the ordinary.

That's not to say that things are ideal -- Disney can and should find ways to increase occupancy and maximize revenues. That may be changing room rates or discounts or offereing more incentives to stay on property (increased FP+?). But the idea that Disney hotels are somehow "empty" is pretty suspect IMHO.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

4 adults, 2 teenagers and one child

Makes more sense then. You probably did save with it.
I couldn't handle getting a bill for $800+ on one meal. I'd faint.

 

[Jennifer66]

They also charge for parking, the resort fee and do not have ME which add up to a lot of value for many people. Just checking, one night in the cheapest room S&D has is $225 per night with resort fees, taxes, etc. but not parking or airport transportation.

We stay at the Swalphin for the rates, location, food, drink, pools--not to mention the SPG points. And yes, while there are parking and resort fees (not uncommon in resorts), they have great discounts (who pays rack rates?). For example, our stay in a king room at the Dolphin over Labor Day weekend is costing us $139 a night + resort fees. So for under $170 a night we get deluxe (ish) accommodations and the ability to walk to 2 parks. We also do not care for ME, so will will get a towncar.

 

[doctornick]

Very true, and it's right in the middle of a few disney hotels. I have yet to hear anything bad about those hotels other than you can't get the dining plan.. whoopie!

The Swolphin do not participate in Magic Express either. For some, that has significant value (especially since part of the benefit for that location is not having to have a car due to easy access to the parks).

 

[truecoat]

We get the deluxe dining plan. I know everyone says this is the biggest waste of money, but I am curious if I am the only one who will admit to getting it. We are big eaters. But more importantly, it allows us to get out of the heat 3 times a day and sit down at nice restaurants. Those breaks are what keeps us going on our trips. Plus eating at places like Le Cellier, Be Our Guest, Cali Grill, etc are fun and interesting. Anyone else do this or are we the only nutbags?

Nutbag? Rutbag maybe.

All kidding aside, if you have the dough, why not? It's your money and if it makes you happy, go for it.

 

[Rteetz]

Are there daily parking fees at the Swan and Dolphin? I know it does not add too much cost but that is a price that is sometimes hidden when doing comparisons. Also, with the parking, do they have "In and Out Priveledges"

Yes they have parking fees, and those daily water and wifi fees. Even with that added in when we stayed in 2012 it was cheaper than Port Orleans Riverside for our family of 5.

 

[TalkingHead]

After some sleep, just a few more stray thoughts from my visit yesterday:

-I'd expected that Diagon would be crowded like Hogsmeade is -- difficult to navigate with the crowds. I was pleasantly surprised to find that's not the case. Diagon is much more spread out. The pathways never really felt cramped like they do in Hogsmeade. The only two shops that were really crowded were Weasleys' Wizarding Weezes and Borgin & Burkes. All the other shops were pretty easy to get around.

-Ollivanders had no wait in the late afternoon -- I guess having three showrooms is going to really help that location.

-There's one restroom in Diagon, and it's located a considerable distance from Leaky Cauldron. The proximity between Three Broomsticks and the restroom in Hogsmeade is a little more convenient.

-We saw both of the live entertainment shows -- they were great diversions, much better than the entertainment in Hogsmeade.

-Interactive wands looked fun, and the spots weren't as crowded as I thought they'd be. But there were a lot of kids using the interactive wands.

-Something I realized about Diagon: there's only so much that we see of it in the movies, but Uni Creative was able to build on the feel of the movies' Diagon and improve upon it while fleshing out the area. Everything around Carkitt Market feels perfectly at home in the Potter world, and yet it's all original to the park. Just goes to show how rich this franchise is -- it really allows the creative minds to have fun. Not sure if another IP has the same richness of place.

-Both times we were in line, there was significant downtime for Gringotts. The first ride there was a good hour when the ride wasn't running. Both times we got to the load platform, there were delays in dispatching the trains. Last night, they were using both sides of load, but it only looked like three trains were running. Sounds like they didn't open the ride today until 11:00 or so.

-I'm sure Universal has staffed HP 2.0 with their A-team, but we ran into a lot of great TMs yesterday. Some of the TMs at Knockturn Alley are playing up their part like the CMs do at Haunted Mansion. It's a great addition to the atmosphere. The Hogwarts Express TMs are very friendly and the ones in London play along when you ask them about Harry Potter. (They'll play ignorant if you ask about anything Potter-related.) Even the TMs we encountered in other parts of the park seemed more enthusiastic than normal. Maybe that's what having a new world-class expansion will do to employee morale?

-Ministry of Magic must be a foregone conclusion at this point, right?