The Dark Side of Disney - Leonard Kinsey [13]
So we finally get down there and our shoes and socks are ruined from the swamp mud and I end up calling our resort back at Disney because I have no idea where we are and I’m not sure what else to do. Luckily they know exactly where we are, obviously having received this same phone call many times, and call a cab for us. The cab ends up costing over $120, which is almost as much as the fucking tickets cost (more if you count our ruined shoes). We end up getting back to our resort almost 6 hours after we’d left, so we basically wasted a whole day of our vacation. Plus, we missed our La Cellier reservations. FAIL!
My wife and I laugh about it now, but at the time it wasn’t funny and nearly ruined our vacation. Totally not worth it. Although, from what I’ve been told the DVC tours are quite nice, the sales people are ultra-low pressure, and you even get ice cream and Fast Passes. But they still get pissed if you tell them you’re going to buy resale instead.
Befriending a 15-Year+ Cast Member:
First of all, just finding someone who has worked at WDW for fifteen years is nothing short of a miracle. The pay is shit, the working conditions are restrictive, and frankly they don’t treat their staff very well. But some people just love Disney, and are willing to overlook all of the crap to maintain their dream of working for The Mouse.
Anyway, if you’re lucky enough to find a “lifer”, you should immediately become good friends with that person. Because they are in possession of the coveted “Silver” Main Entrance Pass, which allows them to bring three people a day into the parks for free (some blackout dates do apply)!
An authentic Silver Main Entrance Pass
To be fair, full-time CMs who have worked there for more than 3 months but less than 15 years get “Blue” Main Gate passes, which allow entry for three people 16 times during the year. But my experience is that these CMs are really stingy with their 16 entries, usually because they think that despite their poor financial status and crappy, irregular working hours, they’ll still somehow find a non-staff boyfriend/girlfriend to take to the parks. Think again, losers!
And that’s why I don’t have any friends who are CMs.
Reseller Scams:
Okay, so you’ve decided you don’t want to jump the gates and go to Disney Jail, and you don’t want to waste a day doing a timeshare presentation and possibly getting stranded in a swamp. You also either live nowhere near the parks or you’re a big loser and/or an insensitive and cruel person like me, and thus you have no CM friends to get you into the parks for free. So you’ve given up, and are ready to hand over your wallet to Disney so it can make sweet love to your cash and leave some tickets on the nightstand when it’s done. Not so fast! Why are you giving up so easily? Why are you so eager to prostitute out your hard-earned cash?!
It turns out that there actually are reputable ticket resellers who will sell you WDW tickets for moderately cheaper than the standard gate prices! My authorized reseller recommendation is Undercover Tourist (http://www.undercovertourist.com). I’ve used them multiple times and have always received friendly service and the correct tickets, which show up in an unmarked envelope and come wrapped in plastic. These are actual WDW tickets, not the vouchers you’d get at a timeshare presentation, and they work perfectly.
As of this writing, the standard Undercover Tourist discount on a 6-day Adult Park Hopper is $16, which isn’t bad, especially if you have a large family. However, you can get an even bigger discount ($22) from them if you sign up for the MouseSavers newsletter at http://www.mousesavers.com/newsletter.html . This monthly newsletter is a great compendium of current discounts/closures/news for both WDW and Disneyland, but more importantly, it contains a secret “newsletter only” link to Undercover