Arizona Travel Agent
Our ownership in the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) gave us many fun family vacations. We started our email discussion dvctalk in 1998 – a list that has grown to over 4,000 subscribers. We recently caught up with our dvctalk list sponsor and DVC Resale broker, Shontell Crawford, to get the latest on the resale market and DVC.
by Tim Larison
In our travel business we get a chance to meet lots of interesting people. Recently I talked to Dave Lukinuk of Victoria BC about his Antenna Topper Collection. Dave says he has 2500 to 3000 “toppers” in his collection with many from Disney.
“While we were at Castaway Cay on the last day of our Disney Magic cruise (December 20-27, 2008), a familiar-looking ship (the Disney Wonder) just happened to cruise by the island and toot its 7-note horn in greeting. Captain Tom told us it was only the 3rd time in his 8 years that the Magic and the Wonder had been together like that. That was a neat treat.”
by Tim Larison
For the past three years I have attended the Luxury Travel Expo at the Mandalay Bay Conference Center in Las Vegas. This event, held in early December, is one of the biggest travel “trade” shows around. Every year I marvel at how many different travel suppliers and destinations are represented on the huge trade show floor. It is a challenge to manuever around the many travel agents in attendance, too (the photo above is of the trade show floor).
Short lines for rides, a terrific parade, free candy, awesome fireworks – we liked these features and more for our first time ever attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) on a Thursday night in October.
In our many trips to the Orlando area we have spent most of our time at Disney World with occasional visits to Universal Studios. In October 2008 we decided to try something different – a two day SeaWorld Orlando experience. We enjoyed our time at SeaWorld very much and found it to be a fun alternative to the other theme parks in the area. In this report we’ll tell you our opinions of the different attractions at SeaWorld.
Our 6th time sailing with Disney was one of our best! In this report we’ll tell you the story of our October 2008 Disney Wonder Cruise. While we won’t attempt to describe everything you can do on a Disney Cruise (there are whole books devoted to that topic) we’ll discuss the activities/features we enjoyed most.
In the summer of 2008 I was excited to try a new cruise experience – sailing the Danube through parts of Hungary, Austria, and Germany on the Avalon Artistry. After sailing on 18 different ocean cruises I had some questions about my first river cruise:
Those of you who fly frequently are no doubt aware that many airlines are now charging a fee for a 2nd checked bag. Recently US Airways announced they are implementing a $15 fee for your first checked bag!
All Inclusive resorts in the United States are virtually non-existent, but we found a good one in Florida – the Club Med Sandpiper – for an early summer vacation. We had a great time at this resort! We enjoyed the sports activities offered and the excellent meals at the buffet – all included in our resort fee. Below we describe the highlights of our four night stay here.