All Alone in the Night

Some notes on Lileks' piece. He stayed at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, one of the value resorts (meaning they're only really expensive, as opposed to hideously expensive). In addition to the Caribbean Beach, Disney also offers Port Orleans and Coronado Springs in this category. I have stayed at the Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs, and they're both nice, although I preferred Coronado Springs. They're budget resorts, but if you're going to be spending most of your time in the parks, they're more than adequate. Although I can't endorse the full service restaurant at the Caribbean Beach; despite Lileks' experience, I found it to be marginal at best, and good food is one of the great things about WDW.

From his description, it also sounds like they used the Disney Dining Plan. This plan allows you to pay a fixed price and then get one full service meal, one counter service meal, and one snack per day per member of your party. Unless you eat a lot, the plan isn't worth it. I ran the math prior to our last visit, and while we would have gotten more food than we normally do, we don't get that much food for a reason. Still, if you have big eaters in your party, it might be worth a look. Disney's menus with prices can be found online, so it's a good idea to look at them and see what you'd be likely to buy with your own cash, then compare that amount to the cost of the plan before making a decision.

Like a lot of people making short visits, Lileks' hit the parks hard. The wife and I no longer do that; for one thing, we've seen just about everything there already, so we know what we really like and what we can safely ignore. For another, we can't stand waiting in lines for very long any more. When I'm on vacation, I want to enjoy myself, and being on my feet for twelve hours is not conducive to enjoying myself. So we usually get to the parks well before opening, hit what we can before they get too crowded, and then head for our hotel, where there are always other things to be done. The great thing about WDW is that there are so many things beyond the parks to be seen that so many people never get around to.

The women wearing white veils that Lileks suggested might be nuns are usually newlyweds. They also offer black top hats with mouse ears for the men, although generally you're more likely to see women wearing the veils than men wearing the hats.