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View Full Version : Part 1: Our trip, Background..."What will we do with these vouchers?????


Bob NC
06-25-2002, 08:40 AM
Background:

I’m Bob, my wife is Jane, (Yes, those names are real). I refuse to do the whole DH, DD, DW, DS stuff. Makes no sense to me and I don’t think ANYONE knows what it stands for. Is it Disney Husband?....Dear Husband?...Deer Hunter?...what? Geez, for a long time I thought DDW stood for “well endowed wife”. I say if you’re not going to use a term in your regular speech, why use it when typing? Have you ever met a friend at the mall and said, “Oh, Hi Doris, have you met my DH Bob?”....”Nice to meetcha Bob, what ball team are you a designated hitter for”?

My wife, our 2 kids and myself flew to Boston last July for a Cape Cod vacation. On the return flight we took a bump and got 4 round trip vouchers for the inconvenience of getting home to North Carolina an hour and a half later than planned. Cool, huh? These tickets are transferable, so of course we transferred the kid’s two tickets to us and went to Vegas in November. After Sept 11 there were some amazing deals to be had, we stayed at The Venetian for $59 per night...but, that’s for another trip report.

Now our quandary is what, oh what to do with the other 2 tickets. We went on the “Super-duper extended family annual reunion vacation” to the Contemporary from April 26 - May 5th. Before we left to come home from this trip we stopped by the Animal Kingdom Lodge to have a look around. Well, we really, really liked the place. The lobby looked great, the pool was huge, the animals were...well the animals were animals, but you see where I’m going with this. It wasn’t long after we got back that we decided what to do with those freebie airline vouchers.

Using airline vouchers is kinda like trying to use Monopoly money. They are worth something to someone, but the airline doesn’t seem to want to be the banker in this game. I FINALLY find some flights where there is room for voucherpeople. It’s really funny how valuable we were to USAirways the day we gave up our seats, doing them a favor....Compared to how utterly useless we are to them now that we want to redeem that favor. “Why thank you for giving up those 4 confirmed seats during our busiest season on one of our more popular routes during the most popular time of day. In exchange for that we’d like to fly you wherever we want to fly you at the most inconvenient times, all while treating you like the second class citizen you know you really are”. We are scheduled to leave Greensboro, NC at 7:15 pm on June 20th, arriving at Orlando at 10:35 that night after a stop in Charlotte to change planes. Our return schedule is a true delight....We leave Orlando at 5:45 am on June 24th, arriving back in Greensboro at 9:59 am after the obligatory stop in Charlotte. Ohhhh, things are looking good now, huh?

Ok, where to stay? We have stayed at the Poly, Contemporary, Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, SOG, Fort Wilderness Cabins. After seeing the AKL though, we knew we had to give the joint a try. I called and secured reservations for the 20th until the 24th at $204/night, Savannah view, tax included.

I originally had arranged to have Tiffany Towncar transfer us. BUT, with the early hour of our return to the airport, my anal self was worried about them not showing up on time or some other such problem. I cancelled Tiffany the day before the trip and reserved a car with National. Using my Emerald Club membership, my rental came to a total of $191. I could have done a little better with another company, but I love being able to pick the car I want and having them onsite so I don’t have to mess with a shuttle.

Now, you’re all probably wondering what’s up with us leaving our kids at home during a Disney vacation. Well, we were all just there a month ago, and being the horrible, selfish parents we truly are....We decide to leave them with Grandma & Grandpa while we are gone. They hate going to G & G’s house because all that candy, eating out, and staying up late really gets old after awhile....riggggggght!

I should also interject at this point that while I have always been a Disneyholic, my wife hasn’t shared that particular personality flaw. She has basically just gone along to go along and after every trip she says...”Maybe we should skip next years Disney trip and give it a rest”. I usually feign deafness when she starts this blasphemy, hoping that sooner or later the Disney bacteria will fuse to her synapses and she’ll join the rest of us Stepford’s. It has finally happened!! She actually WANTS to return after being gone just a month.....She has started collecting Disney Collectables figurines.....She drinks out of a Disney thermal coffee mug in the car every morning.....Someone has waved the lanyard back in forth in front of her eyes and recited...”You are getting Goofy, you are getting verrry Goofy.....”

OK, we gots the tickets, we gots the room, we gots the car....Lets go!

Part 2 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222461)
Part 3 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222827)
Part 4 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=223518)
Part 5 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=224544)
Part 6 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=225270)
Part 7 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=228960)
Part 8 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=242802)

pumba
06-25-2002, 11:43 AM
and yes....dear Tiffany is always there whatever time you ask them to be.....they are good .....thanks for your report

Belle1962
06-25-2002, 11:57 AM
Loving your report---off to see Part 2

Annie&Hallie'sMom
06-25-2002, 12:55 PM
Great report so far. I am loving your style.

And I can sympathesize with your airline vouchers, I once "won" 2 roundtrip airline tix as part of a prize package. The other part was 2 free nights at a hotel and 2 day tix to a convention. BUT the airline tix were NOT good during the time of the convention. After we finally got that squared away (not easy), the airline had the nerve to go on strike the day we were flying out! You wanna guess when the strike ended? You have to work hard for those "freebies!"

Pirate Mickey
06-27-2002, 09:33 AM
Bob,
Great start to the trip report. I think you need to encourage a certain NC connection to get her trip report online. ( Betsyfun are you reading this???? )

I hope the future installments of your report will include some good stuff without the kids. I'm trying to convince my wife (DW for those online initial-aholics) to take a trip to WDW without our 4 little-uns. I actually got her to go to Orlando a couple years back without the kids but she would not go to WDW. We spent the entire trip at Universal & IoA.

I've never had the voucher issues but I did run into the same level of helpfullness trying to book frequent flyer miles.

Thanks for the report. I can't wait to read on...

TimeforMe
06-29-2002, 02:15 PM
Great report thus far. When I LOL (or laughed out loud for non-initial readers) and sat back in my chair, I knew I was in for a treat. On to Day 2....

(you are too funny!)

Micca
06-30-2002, 03:34 PM
Bob I am the Disneyphile in our household too. My wife is converting now that our daughter is a CM. Could we please have our own abbreviation indicating that we are males and are bigger Disney fans than our DWs and DDs?

swankybeth
07-02-2002, 09:29 AM
Great start, can't wait to read the whole trip report!

Deb8821
07-02-2002, 03:12 PM
Thanks for the great report I could not stop laughing - I can't wait to read the next installments. PS. It has taken me weeks to figure all this DH, DW, DD stuff out!! I too have had the airline voucher from hell trip - it always seems like a great deal at the time - until you try to make the reservations!! Thanks again.

RobinMarie
07-04-2002, 09:53 AM
I love the sarcasm!

Thanks

Bennet
07-04-2002, 01:56 PM
Great work Bob - wish I had writen these.
RobinMarie - I love the sarcasm!

What! there is sarcasm here?! No! Where?

Liz
07-04-2002, 10:21 PM
I enjoyed reading this 1st installment of your trip report! I'm glad your wife has been bitten by the Disney bug!!!

Bennet
07-08-2002, 06:11 PM
:Pinkbounc :bounce:

nuke
07-30-2002, 08:43 AM
Great start!

lainaf
08-13-2002, 06:37 PM
I read Parts 7 and 8 first, so I had to find Part 1 and start from the beginning.

nativetxn
10-29-2002, 12:51 PM
LOL! I should try waving my lime green lanyard before my husband's eyes and see if I can hypnotize him. He is so severly Disney impaired it's pathetic.

Love your sense of humor and really enjoyed reading this--it's a great beginning. Can't wait to read about the trip itself :)

Katholyn

QJ411
10-29-2002, 01:20 PM
Bob, GREAT report so far, can't wait to keep reading...too funny!!!:teeth:

jwill
11-10-2002, 02:22 PM
Bob: I enjoyed reading your first installment,LOL at times. I received $100 worth of vouchers from US Air from my July trip and fortunately didn't have the problems you had when redeeming them.

Bob NC
03-21-2003, 07:38 AM
Okay...The countdown is on....3 more months until my next report. Do I include the Hard Rock Hotel portion on this board?

tmq2766
03-21-2003, 08:53 AM
Hey Bob I read your last trip reports and laughed the whole way through.... Can't wait to read more......

TeresaNJ
03-21-2003, 06:27 PM
Definitely one of the best trip reports I've ever read. I'm so glad you posted your update so I could read all your reports. I can't tell you how many times I laughed. Can't wait until you go again.:D

ehagerty
03-21-2003, 07:52 PM
I still hand out a copy of your trip report (6/02) to anyone going to the World. Laughed out loud then. Still chuckling almost a year later. Definitely want to make sure I follow the saga this year.

2bemarried
03-21-2003, 11:01 PM
I've only read the first post thus far....and am looking forward to the rest since a fellow NC'er is writing them. :-) :D :p

PattyH804
03-25-2003, 02:48 PM
Hi Bob,
I don't think I can wait 3 more months
for a report from you!
I vote for yes, we want to read about
your whole trip, Hard Rock Hotel and all!
Patty

UncleKyle
03-26-2003, 09:50 PM
Wow, great report so far:)

p-nut
04-01-2003, 10:35 AM
Cannot wait to read the rest of your reports. Wish my husband would catch the Disney bug.

CarolynU
04-01-2003, 12:20 PM
Great read Bob. Gotta go out now, but will catch up on the rest soonest. Every Xmas we have almost been bumped off our transatlantic flight, and I have heard many stories about how the airlines are desperate for your seat at the time, but seem to have very short memories when you come to redeem the vouchers.

Minniespal
07-25-2003, 04:29 AM
Thanks for sharing ~ Wonderful reviews!!!!!

zurgswife
07-26-2003, 10:25 AM
Can't imagine that I didn't post the first time I read this but...I still loved it now...

lwestwise
03-25-2004, 10:40 AM
I had to bump this back around again. I love it.