benefit sale

[sheri236]

I just saw that the benefit sale at downtown disney is happening this year on nov 5th during our vacation. can anyone who has done this in years past tell me about it? the hours are 5:30am to 9:30 am and unfortfunately that is our ak day and we have an adr at th at 8:15. I am trying to decide if it would be worth it for my dd and i to go just for 1.5 hours or so. thanks in advance for any info you can share!!

 

[Feralpeg]

If you want to get any of the bargains, be in line early. The line will be enormous. Be aware, not all merchandise is on sale. It is really a way for Disney to clear out some of their seasonal merchandise to make room for new stuff. Be prepared to wait in very long lines to check out.

I did this once and I won't ever do it again. By the time I got in the door, it looked like a swarm of locust had attacked the sale merchandise. It was completely picked over. People were very pushy and rude. It just wasn't worth it to me.

Of course, I won't do Black Friday sales either...not my thing.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

The sales do not get good reviews from your casual Disney fans, alot of reports complain about ebay scalpers and such snatching all the good deals and that the really good deals are few and far between.

I personally wouldn't waste precious rope drop/morning touring time to go to one of the sales based on what I've read about them, and we get to go to WDW pretty often 1-2 times a year.

Here is an entry from easywdw.com where Josh went to one of the AP sales, a little different but similar.

 

[Brandilovesdisney]

Does anyone know if Disney arranges bus transport that early in the morning?

 

[disneycr8zy]

Does anyone know if Disney arranges bus transport that early in the morning?

My travel agent called to try to find out the answer to that very question. She said that "Disney" isn't aware of anything going on that weekend and that the buses to DTD will start going 1/2 hour before normal opening time.

We are taking a taxi.

 

[Feralpeg]

The sales do not get good reviews from your casual Disney fans, alot of reports complain about ebay scalpers and such snatching all the good deals and that the really good deals are few and far between.

I personally wouldn't waste precious rope drop/morning touring time to go to one of the sales based on what I've read about them, and we get to go to WDW pretty often 1-2 times a year.

Here is an entry from easywdw.com where Josh went to one of the AP sales, a little different but similar.

The review pretty much summed up my experience, only I got there just before opening. Even so, the line was enormous to get in. Once inside, very little was on sale. Of the t-shirts I found on sale, the sizes were odd. They were all extremely small sizes. It was a total waste of my time. They make it sound like a huge sale. It's not.

 

[JDUCKY]

we managed to snag Space Mountain for 75% off last year. $50 for a $200 item? Yes, please!

 

[nytimez]

we managed to snag Space Mountain for 75% off last year. $50 for a $200 item? Yes, please!

I'd pay the full $200 if I could bring Space Mountain home... not sure where I'd put it, though.

 

[sheri236]

I'm glad I asked! doesn't really sound like it would be worth it for me, especially since I have time limitations. Thanks for the info

 

[nytimez]

I'm glad I asked! doesn't really sound like it would be worth it for me, especially since I have time limitations. Thanks for the info

visit one of the nearby Disney outlets instead -- less stress, slightly better selection... and occasionally a few gems.

 

[rlovew]

I went last year- there was not transportation from Disney early enough. I found a ton of deals- but they were spread around DTD and you needed the map of what was where. I got sippy cups with the gel in them for $1 each, t-shirts for $5, luggage for $5, barbie size dolls with horses for $7.50, all of these and plenty more were in the tents in Pleasure island not in World of Disney. The biggest problem I had was transportation- DH dropped me off before he headed over to class. He dropped me off about 45 minutes before the sale started and I was about 30-50 people back in line for the tent. When I went to leave I was waiting for a bus. The bus took more than 45 minutes to get there- I was going to the Dolphin but there were people going to the Swan, the Boardwalk (for a wedding- there resort had sent them through DTD to get there) and a group of people parking at DTD and wanting to go to the Beach Club to get out of paying fopr parking at Epcot. When the bus pulled up the driver said he was only going to the Swan and not any of the other resorts. I figured I wasn't waiting for a bus to the Dolphin- I could just walk. I told the couple going to the wedding to get on the bus with us and I would show them the way to walk to the Boardwalk. As soon as we arrived at the Swan the driver said his route had changed and he was going to all the Epcot resorts. It took about 1.5 hours to get back to my hotel from DTD because buses jsut were not running. I would only do the sale again with a car.

 

[disneydork]

My travel agent called to try to find out the answer to that very question. She said that "Disney" isn't aware of anything going on that weekend and that the buses to DTD will start going 1/2 hour before normal opening time.

We are taking a taxi.

I emailed DVC and they checked with the transporation dept and found out that they are not planning on running busses to the sale. She said I could check back a couple days before the sale to see if anything had changed, but it doesn't seem very likely.

 

[granmanh603]

I emailed DVC and they checked with the transporation dept and found out that they are not planning on running busses to the sale. She said I could check back a couple days before the sale to see if anything had changed, but it doesn't seem very likely.

Any updates the sale is tomorrow morning and no way to get there yet.

 

[JDUCKY]

The sale was apparently a big bust.

My fiancee didn't buy a single thing. No big sales, no big specials, no great doorbusters.

She said there weren't as many people this year either.

 

[granmanh603]

The sale was apparently a big bust.

My fiancee didn't buy a single thing. No big sales, no big specials, no great doorbusters.

She said there weren't as many people this year either.

Yes I saw the same thing on a thread on another board that the sale was not good...the weather with cold and windy could have held down traffic but the 25% off thing could have too....last year they advertised bigger discounts but don't know if they materialized at all last year too...I am glad I did not waste my time going...thank you for answering.

 

[JDUCKY]

Yes I saw the same thing on a thread on another board that the sale was not good...the weather with cold and windy could have held down traffic but the 25% off thing could have too....last year they advertised bigger discounts but don't know if they materialized at all last year too...I am glad I did not waste my time going...thank you for answering.

weather wasn't as bad as last year, though. My fiancee said the wind didn't really pick up until later. But, she layered better this year than last.