The Last Minute(-ish) Pre-Christmas Trip....

[hematite153]

If I can figure it out, this post will be edited to link to the actual information (by post). But, you may end up just having to read it all -- including the crazy stuff that tends to get mixed in to all threads around here.

I've often thought about writing trip reports, or sharing my planning process with online friends, but, somehow it never happens. So, I figured I might start by trying to do it here with an audience who have shared their own journeys.

So, who are we? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34327635&postcount=2)
Finding Time for a Trip (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34328779&postcount=3)
The Balance Tipping Point (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34335872&postcount=7)
The Plan Begins to Shape... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34342925&postcount=17)
A Better Plan? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34348048&postcount=20)
And We Have a Plan! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34358001&postcount=24)
At Last We Agree... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34400865&postcount=25)
Success!!! ...oops... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34403527&postcount=27)
Reservations Fully Booked (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34434451&postcount=30)
Touring Planning Take 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34448263&postcount=34)
A Planning Change (a.k.a. Yay, Waitlists!) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34498601&postcount=43)
A Final Plan(?) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34507865&postcount=47)
A Question for my Readers (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34543545&postcount=48) & A Confession -- aka More about Us (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34573629&postcount=56)
Dining: Take 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34581049&postcount=64)
Our Travel Curse -- Sorry if you were also planning a pre-Christmas trip (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34592431&postcount=66)
Dining Plan Math: Part 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34594422&postcount=67)
Dining Plan Math: Part 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34605935&postcount=69)
Dining Plan Math: Part 3 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34691561&postcount=70)
We Leave Tomorrow!!!! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34702455&postcount=75)
The Last (Maybe) Final Plan (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34708914&postcount=77)
Mobility Issues: part 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34712494&postcount=81)
Dining Plan Math: Part 4 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34775434&postcount=84)
Dining: Take 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34775505&postcount=85)
How the Plan Finalized - Dining (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34850226&postcount=87)
Mobility Issues: Part 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34955661&postcount=88)
Packing (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34965407&postcount=93)
Responses to the Packing Mandate and Books! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34968455&postcount=95)
The Trip: Part 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34981196&postcount=105)
The Trip: Part 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35845187&postcount=110)
The Trip: Part 3 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35855056&postcount=111)

[hematite153]

Myself:
Turning 35 on the first day of this trip. I am a bit of an extreme interdisciplinarian and have been everything from a language teacher to a computer technician. At the moment I'm a high school science teacher, but, I still use lines like "in my other life" when describing things to students. As a teacher I can't normally travel to disney at the "best" times and since I hate crowds and heat it's challenging to fulfill my disney cravings.

I like planning and I like understanding systems and using my knowledge to gain an advantage. Thus, the complications of touring plans and the obsession with which people plan wdw vacations is likely what drew me in. I don't like "thrill rides", I get motion sickness easily (i.e. Carousel of Progress always leaves me queasy), I am terrified of heights and I enjoy the fact that wdw is set up such that I can have a good time and experience attractions despite these afflictions.

I have fibromyalgia and last year I tore a bunch of things in my knee. During a typical wdw trip I end up pushing myself through a bunch of pain. But, my fibro is such that pushing through the pain to the point of true exercise usually makes me feel better a couple of days later as compared to stopping when I'm in pain. However, standing or sitting still is fairly excruciating, so, I really hate waiting in lines for attractions and am very motivated to understand what to do when. I have some odd food allergies. (Odd in the sense that they are uncommon and people often express confusion that it's even possible to be allergic to these things.) Disney is generally good, but, I've had some weird conversations with chefs through the years. (More on this when I discuss food in a later post.)


DW:
(Has been feeling old this year, so, I figure it's not my right to share her exact age, but, we're not that far apart even though she's older.) Used to be a lawyer and is currently a policy consultant. She has an unusual genetic disorder that means her skin layers aren't properly attached and she blisters from things normal people wouldn't even notice as rubbing. So, a vacation on disney's concrete where normal people worry (and complain) about blisters leaves her unable to walk. (Seriously, we've had more than one trip where she thought she could walk this time and by the end of the first afternoon -- you know, the short afternoon where all you do is wander around DTD for an hour or so -- she was limping badly and wincing with each step.) So, a typical wdw vacation, for us, includes her accepting that she can't hide her disability as easily as she wishes and that she needs to use a wheelchair. (More on this when I discuss mobility plans in a later post.)

DW loves thrill rides, but, loves the story aspects of wdw attractions and designs even more than the thrills. She's forever convincing me to ride something because I "just have to see the story details". Loves good food and loves to let herself eat junk food on vacation that she won't eat at home. Loves the various night-time spectaculars.


Us Together:
We're an odd combination of very cheap and what I consider to be financially comfortable. I think what happens is that we always make our decisions (about life) with an eye to cost and cost effectiveness and the result is that it feels like we have enough money for all the things that really matter to us. My DW worries about money more than I do because she's more conscious of the fact that our actual income has been sporadic and our costs have been high. We've been trying to become parents for the past 6 years and have spent a FORTUNE on associated medical bills. But, somehow, we've always payed off every procedure before starting the next one. So, from a disney perspective, we gravitate towards value resorts because we're too cheap to pay for anything else. But, we got convinced (relatively easily when we did the math) to buy into DVC because we actually like the amenities of the nicer places. And, we recently purchased a 2nd DVC contract because we wanted to take advantage of the collapsed real estate market and we aren't paying for another IVF round until at least the spring.

We don't eat ANY of the same food. So, in our daily lives we rarely eat together and one of the things we like about vacation is eating out. Wdw is a place where we get to do this in restaurants where both of us enjoy our meals at the same time -- it's an impressive feat!

We are capable of getting up early and both like to swim, so, if we're going to the parks we usually hit rope drop and we have been known to swim lengths at the resort after walking for 12 hours in a park. Despite our best intentions, we have trouble staying through the night-time events and have been known to skip dessert (even when on the dining plan) because we were too tired to stay up long enough to eat it. We're also some of the odd people who've been known to use the exercise rooms in the resorts and we really appreciate the DVC pool/gym hopping perks.

We're Canadian and tend to think that Florida doesn't really get cold. So, we'll likely talk about how hot it is. Though we did, once, have the experience of getting really cold when the temperature dropped from about 20C to 4C while we were at the MK and we proceeded to stand around in the cold wind for several hours after getting wet in a mini rain. (Oh yeah, as a Canadian, you'll find that I'm likely to speak in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit.) Where being Canadian really comes into play for a December trip is that we once spent the day at Typhoon Lagoon with only around 20 other people and we thought that it was a really nice pleasant day to hang around a water park. (Granted, the other 20 people seemed to share our opinion since they came from Canada, Minnesota and the UK.)


Okay, hopefully, that's enough of a teaser to keep some of you reading and I'll try to add another post tomorrow.

[hematite153]

I spent several years not teaching and we were able to go to WDW during the fall and Jan. One of the things that we've been very aware of as I started teaching again is that getting to WDW was going to become much harder.

I get a week off in March. I get time off in the summer when it's crowded and way too hot. And, I get time off around Christmas. The catch to Christmas is that it's crowded, too expensive and we're religious so being at home at Christmas is important to us.

When we started thinking about buying a new DVC contract this fall, we started talking about when we could get there. We can't go in March because we're going to Hilton Head (yay!). My DW started talking about whether I could take a day off for us to go for a long weekend. But, we live kind of far away and the cost, vacation ratio for such a trip is just way beyond our cheap genes.

[TuckandStuiesMom]

AWESOME TR intro!:thumbsup2

[Hydani]

I agree with TuckandStuiesMom, I'm excited to hear the rest popcorn::

[hematite153]

AWESOME TR intro!:thumbsup2

I agree with TuckandStuiesMom, I'm excited to hear the rest popcorn::

Thanks, folks! I'll try to add another piece later today. I'm not sure if I can come up with enough to say, but, I'm thinking that a post a day would keep me really excited about the trip.

[hematite153]

As some of you know, we've recently become foster parents. Our first placement involved a teen who was misplaced and needed far greater supports than we were able to provide. The experience was one of the most challenging of my life and the aftermath has been a mix of self recrimination (because we didn't know enough to not trust the information we were given and because we weren't able to make a connection) and conviction that we actually have a lot of skills for dealing with kids in crisis. It didn't go as planned, but, we learned a lot about many things, including our own capacity to irrationally care for someone.

As we recovered from the placement we asked for a break before the next one, but, also started saying..."when can we go to Disney?" You see, Disney is our "happy place", the place where we go to get away from things. Plus, planning a disney trip can be so all-consuming that you don't have time to stress about other issues.

Clearly we needed a trip to plan and sooner seemed better -- doesn't it always?

[rosiep]

I haven't been on the boards much lately...but when I saw a pre trippy by you I knew I had to be "involved".

Keep it coming and I'll try to keep the hijacking to a minimum. :hug:

[OrlandoMike]

I'm in! popcorn::

[2GirlsMama]

Have a fantastic time! I hope you will get some much needed time for relaxation. I look forward to reading about your trip!

[hematite153]

I haven't been on the boards much lately...

Yeah...where've you been???? Haven't you noticed that I've been around a bit more??? (Okay, I'm still only dropping in a couple of times a week, but, it's better than it was last year.)

but when I saw a pre trippy by you I knew I had to be "involved".

I'm in! popcorn::

Have a fantastic time! I hope you will get some much needed time for relaxation. I look forward to reading about your trip!

Welcome! Hopefully, I'll keep you entertained.

Keep it coming and I'll try to keep the hijacking to a minimum. :hug:

Don't worry, the hijacking, around here, is generally fun.

[wallyb]

Checking in.
Start the ride! ;)

[dmwang9]

Great start to the TR -- count me in!

(I'm a teacher as well, so I also have restrictions on when I can travel. I have no idea what an uncrowded WDW park looks like...)

[hematite153]

Great start to the TR -- count me in!

Thanks!

(I'm a teacher as well, so I also have restrictions on when I can travel. I have no idea what an uncrowded WDW park looks like...)

Yeah, it's a bit more challenging than most people seem to think. An uncrowded park is really a wonderful thing.

My best recommendations on finding a lack of crowds are:
- Every now and then I have a week off after New Year's. We went to WDW the last time that happened and there were a couple of days (around the 3rd-ish) that were quiet.
- Try to travel in the midst of a big hurricane. We were there during Charley (damage to our car may not have been worth it) and it was easy to get on things. Another year we were there at the end of August in the midst of an expected serious hurricane strike, but, the storm passed to the side and WDW was just covered in heavy rain for the day. We hit the parks and walked on to everything -- even Dumbo in the middle of the afternoon -- we wanted...I think we averaged 5-6 attractions per hour for the entire day.

[OrlandoMike]

- Try to travel in the midst of a big hurricane.

The best part is you can watch the whole parade in 5 minutes! :rotfl2:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRywpEuc1Yg

[hematite153]

The best part is you can watch the whole parade in 5 minutes! :rotfl2:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRywpEuc1Yg

That's a nice speedy parade! (I do usually get bored before they're done, so, the next time I'm there during a rainstorm, I'll try to get over to watch.)

[hematite153]

As we asked ourselves the question of when we could go to WDW, I noticed that there was a week between my last teaching day and Christmas this year. Of course, people book their Christmas vacation at WDW more than a year out and their DVC Christmases at 11 months. Then, people use waitlists because they only realized that a relative wanted to join them when they were 6 months out, but, we thought...perhaps we can plan a trip at the last minute anyway. After all, there's this new section in the DVC forums where people post information about DVC availability and several resorts looked like they had availability for the week in question.

Of course, Christmas season air travel also books up early and gets pricey. So, we assumed we should drive. The drive takes 24 hours (of road time) and for a variety of reasons, we only drive rental cars when we go on vacation. (Check out a future post for details on our vacation jinx.) Our standard approach has become a drive down in 2 days (one really long one and one medium one such that we arrive mid-afternoon) and drive back in 3 days (usually with a half day hanging out at the pool, etc. before we get on the road).

As I said earlier, Christmas itself is important to us -- not the secular version of it that is celebrated at WDW, but, the religious one. Being part of our church community for the Christmas Eve service gives us a sense of belonging and of being important, loved family members. So, we need to get home by late afternoon on Dec. 24th.

If we left home early on the Saturday morning (after my last teaching day) and stuck with our usual driving plan, we'd arrive mid-Sunday afternoon and then turn around and start driving home midday Tuesday. We'd get one full day in WDW (park touring?), 2 half days and a bunch of days of driving.

Hmmn...this doesn't seem worth it, but, at the same time it sounds like there might be enough space (in the sense of time) and I really wanted to go.

So, my DW decided that the idea was crazy and should be abandoned in favour of trying to plan an August trip and I decided that I just needed to come up with a better plan.

[DOPEYLUVER]

So, my DW decided that the idea was crazy and should be abandoned in favour of trying to plan an August trip and I decided that I just needed to come up with a better plan.


So you give us a real pager turner here, but where's the next page? :santa:

[hematite153]

So you give us a real pager turner here, but where's the next page? :santa:

There's an earlier thread (plus the title of this one) that make it clear we're actually going.

The details of this trip will take a few more days to come out though. As I said, I'm trying to stretch things out so that I'll have something to say everyday...not sure I have enough, so, I'll have to leave you hanging periodically. (I'm glad you're interested enough to want to know what's coming, though.)

[hematite153]

Apparently I'm addicted...I couldn't help myself, I had to come back and think about this some more. Granted, spending lots of time thinking about it was sort of the point of writing this, so, I guess I should be happy about it.

So...the beginning of a better plan included looking for flights. We have a few US airports a 4-8 hour drive away. So, we looked for a flight that might let us arrive in WDW on Friday night. Not only couldn't I find a flight that would get us there on the schedule I was hoping for, but, I also couldn't come home on the 24th and get in early enough for the drive home to get us to Christmas Eve service and the prices were already out of control.

I also figured I might as well quickly look at flights from home and they were out of control pricey -- as expected.

So, could we drive down faster?

Well, my DW could pick me up from school and we could drive for about 8 hours on Friday night which would allow us to arrive around midnight on Sat night and/or early Sunday morning (with the goal of spending the Sat night very close by). If we were then willing to be dedicated to the drive home (the way we usually are with the way down), we could leave on the morning of the 23rd and get home in time for church. This newer plan would give us 3 full days at WDW and seemed like a really good idea to me. My DW still needed convincing and kept running numbers regarding costs for what was essentially a 3 day vacation bookended by heavy driving.

But, then, I noticed the dates! The Saturday in question was my birthday and the free admission on your birthday offer would still be in play. The current plan would have us arriving a few hours too late to take advantage of it, but, maybe we could modify something and change that....

[Hydani]

Oh my gosh, and you just keep handing us cliff hangers *faints*. This is a great story :thumbsup2

[rosiep]

I love it!!!

I love scheming and crunching numbers to figure out a way to get to Disney!!!

I'm mightily impressed by your determination..both to get to Disney AND to get to Christmas Mass.

Tell me more! popcorn::

[hematite153]

Oh my gosh, and you just keep handing us cliff hangers *faints*. This is a great story :thumbsup2

I love it!!!

I love scheming and crunching numbers to figure out a way to get to Disney!!!

I'm mightily impressed by your determination..both to get to Disney AND to get to Christmas Mass.

Tell me more! popcorn::

Thanks!

Yeah...when I feel like it I can be a VERY creative problem solver and it's hard to convince me to give up -- it took my DW MONTHS to convince me that it was impractical to live off the grid in a city that spends weeks at -40 every winter.

We are going...the question of how will come out...eventually.

[hematite153]

The Saturday is my birthday, which means both a very good present and free admission (hopefully the fun card instead since I do have a valid multi-day pass)...I just have to figure out how to get there (and home again).

As I said before, it's about a 24 hour drive...as long as we don't start out with a blizzard. If my DW picked me up on Friday, I could probably leave at 2:30. We have two drivers and other people do these drives overnight. So, I proposed it.

The major catch is that I'm not good at driving while other people in the car are sleeping. (Don't worry, I am good at pulling off the road before falling asleep. But, pulling off the road slows the forward progress.) In order for an overnight drive to work we'll have to be able to trade off driving and sleeping. Granted, we'll have a few extra hours to work with, but, not many. I figured, I'd just have to drink lots of pepsi and play some loud music (not ideal sleeping conditions for my DW, but, it's a trade-off).

The minor catch is that we'll arrive exhausted!

The advantages are probably worth it though. We'll now get three full days AND a half day (on the arrival day) at WDW. I'll get to show up at GR on my birthday and get a fun card. We won't have to pay for a hotel on the way down.

If we persist with the plan to drive home on the 23rd and 24th it starts to seem like a very good plan.

At least, I thought so. My DW was wavering and I was fairly convinced that I'd talk her into it...it was my birthday after all...plus, she was the one who started the whole thing by asking to take a trip to Disney in November. We did still seem to have a not great driving to vacationing ratio and the driving was now going to be hard driving, rather than relaxing time spent together. But, I was going to go to Disney for my birthday! :dance3:

[hematite153]

Whether she'd been truly convinced that the plan was a good one or simply decided that I wasn't going to give up and gave in, my DW finally said, "okay, I guess that's a workable plan."

However, she followed that up with a request that I check for flights from the US airports nearby. I had to remind her that I'd already looked and then I had to prove to her that there wasn't a viable option. (I did find one option out of one airport and then back into another one, but, that would only work if we had someone willing to drop us off and pick us up or if we drove 2 cars to the return airport, dropped one off and then drove past the departure airport on the way home. In other words, there were no viable options.)

Then, I checked for a flight from/to home. Everything was REALLY expensive! Plus, there's the reality that the taxes for a flight from home are roughly the same as the total cost of a flight within the US.

So, I took one last stab in the dark and looked for a points (airline points) flight -- when I've booked points flights for Christmas time in the past I've found that booking 6 months out still generally meant I couldn't travel when I wanted. So, I was checking just so I could say that I had with little hope of success. And, I had an odd sort of luck. There were NO flights for the regular 25 000 points (per person, return flight), BUT, there was a flight on the morning of my birthday that is direct, non-stop and gets us to Orlando before 10:30! The catch? 50 000 points (per person, return flight).

Well, this is where the cheap gene really starts to take over. 100 000 points for a flight to/from Orlando really isn't a good use of them. My DW started pricing the various options. How much would a rental car cost? How much would the hotels on the road cost? What would the airline taxes cost? Etc.? The reality is that we would come out spending about the same overall just in a different configuration. AND, we'd get an extra night at disney.

Now the bargaining really got going....

New Plan:
Direct flight on the Saturday morning, arrival at disney by about noon.
Full half-day at disney...resort, DTD or Water Park.
FOUR full days at disney.
Flight home, in time for church on the 24th.
:woohoo:

I just needed to convince my DW that it was okay to spend the extra points. (The thing about airline points is that they are worth something because you can use them for expensive flights, but, I view their greatest use as being available for use when you don't have the cash for a flight.)

So, I presented the options and waited about 24 hours before asking her to choose between the driving and flying options.

Her response?
"If we fly we get an extra day at disney?"
("Yes.")
"Okay, book it!"

[DOPEYLUVER]

"If we fly we get an extra day at disney?"
("Yes.")
"Okay, book it!"


YAAYYYYY:santa::santa::santa:

[hematite153]

So, we finally had a plan for how to get there and an agreement to go. But, there was still some concern about availability. After all, people get up and program their phones everyday 11 months out to book their Christmas visits. But, the DIS DVC - Resort Reservation Availability forums said that several resorts had studio availability for the nights in question, so, we figured it would probably work out as long as we were willing to switch resorts mid-vacation.

I decided that I should call member services while simultaneously booking the flights online. That way, neither would be irreversible until I knew that the other was still available.

So, I came home from work ASAP (I can't use a computer and a phone simultaneously at work) and sat down to make the reservation. I dialed member services and plugged in my membership number on the airline's site. Suddenly, the flight I wanted wasn't listed for double points -- remember the one that was direct on my birthday morning and would get me to Orlando before 10:30 am? It was listed as regular points! I got excited and booked it while I was still sitting on hold with member services. (I couldn't resist! And, I was excited!)

Then, MS answered and told me that of the 5 nights I wanted they only had the first night (at AKV savannah view, OKW, SSR and BWV) and the last night (at OKW, SSR and BWV). So, I had some resort choices, but, there were three missing nights.

I booked AKV for the first night and OKW for the last night. AKV because we've been trying to stay there since it opened -- we were supposed to stay in a Grand Villa about 6 months after the first phase opened, but, then they called us 2 weeks before our stay and offered us a really good incentive to switch to SSR because they were behind with construction. OKW because it's the lowest point values and therefore the easiest to cancel if/when a waitlist comes through and because we like the laid back atmosphere there. (I know that BWV is the biggest Christmas draw, so, I was shocked that there was availability there, but, I don't really like it. Granted, we only stayed there once and we had a pool view room which is usually my least favourite view. But, it just felt energetically off and there was mold growing in the hallway near our room which caused my asthma to flare. My DW keeps saying that she wants to go back sometime, so, I'll need to give it a shot sometime in the next couple of years, but, not this trip -- at least not unless I have to.)

Then, I put in two waitlists for the three middle days:
- OKW to match the day at the end of my stay
- AKV Kidani Standard because I figured there would be lots of waitlist requests for savannah view ahead of me already

Then, I booked a Member's cash reservation for the 3 days at OKW to connect with my night there. But, I only booked that because I was told that no downpayment was required and I could cancel it easily. I doubted that we would keep it because I figured our cheap genes would prevent it -- really I was balking at even booking it, but, I figured I should make sure I had something just in case I couldn't find anything else.

So, a combination of success with flights and a reservation "oops".

[DVC~OKW~96]

I've had great luck with wait lists in the past. I hope you get lucky with this reservation too!

I am another person who is not a fan of the BWV. Mold in the hallways and tatty rooms are just two of the problems there. The whole construction is shabby (the construction company really should be "sued"). I hate clowns so that pool area is like something right out of Stephen King for me! :eek:

Sending some PD for your reservations to work out! pixiedust:

[Hydani]

Oh wow, I love Disney stories :lovestruc I hope those ressies come through! Man, I had a huge smile when I saw the "Okay, book it !" written on my screen:goodvibes

Oh, and here's some Pixie Dust for you from me aswell :wizard:

[hematite153]

To recap:
1 night at AKV (Jambo, savannah view)
3 nights...OKW Member's Cash Discount...not likely to keep it
1 night at OKW

2 waitlists....

Sadly in the modern DVC era, you can only have 2 waitlists at a time and they don't have a way to make a waitlist say "any studio on property" nor even "any studio at OKW". Given the way they've programmed their software, covering all of the studios at OKW would take 2 waitlists and all of the studios at AKV would take SIX!

So, we began the game of calling twice a day to ask about any studios anywhere onsite for the 3 middle days. (Really, it seems kind of like a silly process. One of the 30--or so--DVC CMs I spoke to in the next week said, "well, the previous system was just too much work because we had to fill out the form so many times." I really wonder though how that can have been less work than searching through every resort several times a day after spending time verifying the identity of the person on the phone.)

We also took a couple of days and looked at other options. The Swalphin's website indicates a free night's stay on your birthday with a minimum of a 3 night stay. You don't seem to be able to book it online, so, this was a purely theoretical discussion. But, we strongly considered spending 3-4 nights at the Swalphin. People always seem to enjoy them and when else would we go there. But, this would have required the discount of the free birthday night to get it into a price range that I was willing to pay. A terrific offer, but, it would have meant giving up the savannah view for my birthday -- I admit, a desire for animals won.

So, what else could we do? Well, I started looking around again and found a code for 30% off a value or 40% off a moderate. So, we had a discussion of POP/AS versus mods and decided that since we were planning to spend a fair bit of the vacation at the resort we would be willing to pay for the price difference (at the discounted rate) for a moderate resort if we could also get queen beds -- i.e. CSR. (My DW has always wanted to stay at POFQ, but, I haven't found it to be as great a draw.) CSR seemed like a good choice since it's one of the pools we've used our DVC pool hopping perks to visit and we've enjoyed hanging out there.

So, I tried to book it online...and the system crashed (as it seems to do EVERY time I try to book something online). The next day I called to make a reservation. Once I had the CSR reservation (for the 3 middle days) I meant to cancel the OKW cash reservation on my next DVC call. But, the next morning, I got lucky. The last 2 nights were available at SSR. So, I booked them as well as dropping all OKW nights.

New plan:
1 night -- AKV (Jambo, savannah view)
2 nights -- CSR
2 nights -- SSR

New waitlists:
2 middle nights (SSR or AKV Jambo savannah view)

And, we're still calling regularly because we would prefer a DVC stay to CSR and because we'd happily take one of the nights if it came through on its own.

(After some discussion we also decided to use our other contract for two other waitlists (OKW and AKV Kidani savannah view), but, we were concerned because they couldn't link those to cancel the others automatically. I.e. two waitlists could have come through simultaneously and both ended up booked. So, we were checking online rather compulsively.)

This last minute trip planning is tiring!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

This sounds like the trip we took in Aug. '08. :rotfl2:
We started in a concierge room at AKL (room, not villa), moved to SSR, moved to the Poly, moved to a studio at AKV. I booked and cancelled all kinds of crap before it ended up that way. There were WL nights, OKW nights, all sorts of calling and switching. It's exhausting!!

But I am really enjoying reading all of your insanity! :)

[hematite153]

This sounds like the trip we took in Aug. '08. :rotfl2:
We started in a concierge room at AKL (room, not villa), moved to SSR, moved to the Poly, moved to a studio at AKV. I booked and cancelled all kinds of crap before it ended up that way. There were WL nights, OKW nights, all sorts of calling and switching. It's exhausting!!

But I am really enjoying reading all of your insanity! :)

Yep, sounds about the same! (I've made changes before, but, nothing along these lines.)

Thanks for reading (and for posting)!

[DOPEYLUVER]

This last minute trip planning is tiring!

Your planning is pretty typical of my planning for my family. I have recently rediscovered an old friend and he does all the planning and I do nothing. I kind of love it but it is new to me.

[hematite153]

Last March we planned a short notice trip (without all the drama of this one) for which we debated ticket options. We started with the idea of just getting a 5 day expiring ticket and then compared that to the cost of a 10 day non-expiry park hopper with which we would only visit the parks twice. Ultimately, this second option seemed cheaper. Yes, more expensive at the time, but, in terms of how much we'd spend per vacation, it was cheaper. Once we did that, we added the "Waterparks & Fun" option too. We also have one leftover plus from the last time we got one of these types of tickets.

Thus, for this vacation we're debating how many days of tickets to spend. The one time we headed down at New Year's we only went to the parks on Jan 1st (the whole trip came up because they announced that the Wonders of Life pavilion would be open and the 1st was the last day) and hit all 4 parks in one day with a rope drop start and a 1am stop (the goal was 2, but, I got too tired).

Dec. 20th is set up to work with a similar schedule...9am rope drops and MK EMH until 2am. It's a Sunday, meaning that it would normally be a day we'd avoid in favour of a weekday. But, surely, as we approach Christmas it'll just get more crowded by the day. Won't it?

If this works, then we'll only spend one day's worth of tickets...it'll make one crazy commando day and several resort hang-out days...plus, DTD, Blizzard Beach ($5 per visit given the pluses), mini-golf, meeting locals (if they have time and the inclination), etc.

I.e. Dec. 20th

9:00 DHS
- I run to Toy Story Mania for fastpasses.
- DW follows, walking her wheelchair or leaving it locked to something (we always lock it now -- see later post on this issue) near the entrance depending upon her skin status at the time, and meets me to get in the standby queue.
- We do something else while waiting for FP window to open (Sounds Dangerous if it's open for the holidays, otherwise whatever seems interesting at the time, or just streetsmosphere)
- FP queue for TSM

Leave DHS
- Head to AK
- Get FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Try to hit: FOTLK, DINOSAUR, Dinoland games (yes, we're weird...but, I love these), most of the walks and whatever else feels like fun at the time.

Sometime after noon either head to the resort for a nap (necessary if we're changing resorts this day -- if room's not ready, we can nap at the pool) or head directly to EPCOT depending upon timing and tiredness level. (I don't nap well -- a side effect of my fibro -- and can take hours to feel normal after a nap. So, although a nap sounds wonderful, I'm never convinced that I'll awake functional and therefore generally prefer to just stay up and then relax the next day.)

EP:
- Kim Possible
- Dinner
- Soarin' (if the line isn't too long and/or if we decide to ignore the posted times...we once got in the line when it said "120 min wait" and the wait was less than 10 min)
- Living with the Land
- Mission Space Race Games
- Anything else that seems fun at the time.

Around the time everyone's gathering to watch Illuminations, we'll head to the Monorail and to the MK.

MK:

Mostly we'll do what seems least busy and most available. We'll probably skip the parade and Wishes in favour of doing other things at those times. Favourites that we're more likely to wait in lines for include: POTC, Tiki Room, Splash Mtn, BTMRR, Buzz, Peter Pan, TTA. My experience last time was that just as I was running out of steam the whole park was emptying out. So, I reckon 1am - 2am is the prime time for this evening.

Dec. 21st Sleep in, hang out at resort

Dec. 22nd Blizzard Beach, dinner out, drinks out somewhere in the evening

Dec. 23rd Hang out at resort, DTD

Thoughts on our insanity?

[OrlandoMike]

Three parks the first day? Too much! Just my opinion....

[dmwang9]

Three parks the first day? Too much! Just my opinion....

If I'm reading it right, it's four parks on the first day -- something I've always wanted to try, but I've never been able to convince myself to actually take a swing at.

[hematite153]

Three parks the first day? Too much! Just my opinion....

Did you miss it...FOUR parks!

Yes, we're crazy!

Part of the problem is that the first plan only had us actually in WDW for 2-3 days. Now, we've gained days, but, not necessarily the willingness to skip things.

It's a little bit that we're cheap and don't want to pay for a 2nd day in the parks and a little bit that my fibro works best at overwhelm/relax rather than heavy days back to back.

I don't know...we'll likely end up doing 4 parks in one day whichever day we head to the parks. But, we may be able to convince ourselves to do 2 park days....

It really was much easier before TSM when I would happily skip DHS.

[Hydani]

Oh man... your trip seems VERY full, but it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun :) Have some fun down there for me will ya? :upsidedow

[hematite153]

If I'm reading it right, it's four parks on the first day -- something I've always wanted to try, but I've never been able to convince myself to actually take a swing at.

Yep. We did it the one time and it worked out fairly well. Because we'd seen everything that was important to us in the parks we spent the next 4 days relaxing at the resorts (split stay). It does mean spending the day on the run most of the time, but, it's hard to decide that a 2nd park day is worth an extra $100.

(I also sort of want to try the MK Ultimate Touring Plan sometime. I'm oddly new goal oriented sometimes. The thing that's been stopping me -- other than my DW thinking it's nuts -- is that I'd have to ride the Tea Cups. Believe me, I'd be doing them last regardless of recommendation, but, I still think I'd end up sitting on the ground for at least an hour afterwards.)

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The Tea Cups are not that bad IF you don't turn the wheel in the middle. I can't spin. The Astro Orbiter almost killed me the ONE time I rode it. But as long as I am in a Cup by myself I can tolerate that just fine. DS likes the spin the cup like a centrifuge - I do NOT ride with him. ;)

[hematite153]

The Tea Cups are not that bad IF you don't turn the wheel in the middle.

Yes, but, don't you just about always end up with SOMEONE who wants to spin? (When I was a kid and used to ride those types of things I always felt like the goal should be to use the wheel to balance the spin so that the ride had a minimum of spin power -- others never seemed to agree.)

The Astro Orbiter almost killed me the ONE time I rode it.

:scared1: Oh god, I forgot I'd have to ride that again too!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Yes, but, don't you just about always end up with SOMEONE who wants to spin? (When I was a kid and used to ride those types of things I always felt like the goal should be to use the wheel to balance the spin so that the ride had a minimum of spin power -- others never seemed to agree.)



:scared1: Oh god, I forgot I'd have to ride that again too!

If you tell the CM loading the Cups that you are by yourself you don't have to share. We usually ride during AM EMH and there are empty cups - they don't care if we each have our own. There was one time that the CM got snippy and told me I couldn't have my own, so we all rode in one cup and I wedged my knee against the center thing so it wouldn't spin. :rolleyes1

I HATED the Astro Orbiter. That hot, tiny little elevator is almost as bad as the flippin' ride. DH went in the rocket with DS, and when the ride stopped he came to help me out of my rocket. I said "DON'T touch me!" I just wanted to sit there for a minute to collect my bearings. I will NOT ride that again. :scared1:

[hematite153]

So, when we last left the plan, we had DVC waitlists with two different contracts not linked to self cancel if one came through. So, we were checking online obsessively to make sure we didn't end up with multiple reservations. We were also still calling obsessively to cover the other options that we weren't allowed to waitlist. (Yes, we were booked at CSR and I've always liked the idea of staying there someday, but, a DVC stay would cost us LOTS less in immediate cash outlay and generally less overall as well. And, we're cheap...so, we wanted the cheaper option.)

Because I have limited phone and computer access when I'm at work (and it's impossible for me to use a phone and a computer at the same time at work) my DW needed to understand our goals and learn how to make reservations. Yes, she's capable of doing things like this...it's just that I generally do it and she claims to get confused because of that -- I (sometimes) think that's just an excuse to get out of it though.

(Mini vent here: despite the fact that I'm always the one who calls and always the one who makes reservations and alphabetically before her, DVC registered us with her name as primary owner. So, when I login to the member website it says "Welcome <DW's name> Family". When I call MS, roughly half of the CMs try to use her identifying information with me (and claim that I haven't properly identified myself yet) even though I say my FULL name TWICE for them in the opening conversation. Most of our Reservation Confirmations come with her name as the primary guest even though I'm the one who made the reservation. And, then, I once had some stuff mail ordered and delivered to the resort. It came addressed to me and the concierge desk called up to tell us that there was a package for her. I knew that I'd ordered it and tried to go get it. They refused to get it for me because "we only give mail to the person it's addressed to even if you're staying in the same room". So, I went back and got my DW. We went to pick it up together and the mail was (as I'd expected) addressed to me, but, the resort had added a tag with her name on a post-it note and they were now only willing to give it to her even though both packages were CLEARLY addressed to me. Argh!)

So, my DW called twice a day and I called once a day for the next couple of weeks. And then, my DW emailed me at work saying "call me ASAP". I called her and she said, "it looks like our waitlist came through, I'm confused though...fix it!" Fortunately, this conversation all happened at a moment where I actually had 30 min in which I could make some phone calls. So, I checked the dvcmember website to figure out which waitlist had come through, then, I called DVC to cancel the other waitlists, etc.

Want to know the new plan???










1 night AKV Jambo Savannah View
4 nights SSR

(Waitlist for the 2nd night only for AKV Jambo Savannah view because a 2/3 split seems preferable to a 1/4 split.)

Woohoo! Waitlist success!

[Hydani]

Oh, I'm so glad everything came through for you ! :thumbsup2 I think a 2 night stay at AKV Jambo would be better than just one :laughing: Have fun on your trip. When do you leave again?

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Did you miss it...FOUR parks!

Yes, we're crazy!

Part of the problem is that the first plan only had us actually in WDW for 2-3 days. Now, we've gained days, but, not necessarily the willingness to skip things.

It's a little bit that we're cheap and don't want to pay for a 2nd day in the parks and a little bit that my fibro works best at overwhelm/relax rather than heavy days back to back.

I don't know...we'll likely end up doing 4 parks in one day whichever day we head to the parks. But, we may be able to convince ourselves to do 2 park days....

It really was much easier before TSM when I would happily skip DHS.

Insanity -- yes; but also FUN!!!!! :goodvibes Totally loving your TR!

[hematite153]

Insanity -- yes; but also FUN!!!!! :goodvibes Totally loving your TR!

:) Thanks!

We figure the rest of the trip sounds nice and laid back, so, what's one crazy day? (After all, we have lots of days that crazy in our regular lives--last year I was working full time, working part time and a full time student.)

[hematite153]

A couple of days after the waitlist triumph getting us 5 consecutive DVC nights at only 2 resorts it occurred to me that I could also waitlist the first 2 nights (together) for an AKV Kidani Savannah view room. After all, we've never managed to stay at AKV, so, we don't really care whether our first stay is at Jambo House or Kidani -- just that it include a savannah view for my birthday. :woohoo:

So, I logged on to the member website in the morning before leaving for work to write down our membership IDs to take with me to work and I noticed...












...a waitlist marvel!

We now had:
2 nights AKV Jambo Savannah view
3 nights SSR

:yay: :yay: :yay:

It was so exciting that I went and interrupted my DW's shower to tell her about it. (She wasn't so happy when I opened the door, but, she was excited and happy too once I told her the news -- I think I was forgiven for letting in the cold air.)

I called later in the day to add 2 waitlists (3rd night only AKV Jambo Savannah view; first three nights together AKV Kidani Savannah view), because, if you recall, our planned park visit is on the day we'll now want to spend at AKV doing activities, etc.

I'm still checking online obsessively, but, I doubt this one will come through -- after all, we've already been really lucky -- but, I figure it can't hurt to try.

So, for now, we're debating what to do about our park plans. Do we just go on another day and accept that there won't be as many hours in the evening (might not be bad since we'll get tired anyway)? Do we consider spending the money to go to the parks on two days? That way we could go to DHS (for TSM only) on the Sunday, then AK until we wanted to head back to AKV. After spending the afternoon at AKV, we could still head to MK for the late EMH if we wanted, but, we'd have the option to do many things at AKV during the day. If we combine that by sticking close to AKV on Saturday and Monday (until midday) we'd probably get to see and do lots. But, we'd probably also end up feeling the need to spend another day's worth of park tickets and that might make us cranky. If we just moved our park day to Monday then AK has a morning EMH so we'd HAVE to start there. (I get stressed by crowds at AK on the best days, so, arriving late on an EMH morning would really be a problem.) But, if we start at AK, then, by the time we made it to DHS the lines for TSM would be too long and the FPs might even be gone. There's actually an evening EMH at DHS that night. But, that's probably just going to increase crowds. People have told me about seeing them restart FP machines at the start of evening EMHs, but, I've never encountered that -- any chance of it close to Christmas? (Is there anyway I could just convince all the other people to spend the day at their resorts?)

[hematite153]

My DW thinks that I'm making her out as a grump and casting her in a bad light.

My goal is simply to create humour and point out just how committed I was to making something that seemed like a silly idea on the surface turn into a reality.

Which version are you reading?

Does it sound like she's a grumpy, controlling person that I have to convince of things? Or, does it sound like we have a loving relationship in which we accept each others insane ideas and support each other in pursuing our dreams?

[DOPEYLUVER]

My DW thinks that I'm making her out as a grump and casting her in a bad light.



Nooooooooo.

I think it's all pretty humorous.

[hematite153]

Nooooooooo.

I think it's all pretty humorous.

Good! Thanks for the reassurance. :)

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

You are not casting her in a negative light at all! I am loving your report! :thumbsup2

[DVC~OKW~96]

Seriously? No! You are just relating your experiences, and no one is coming across as being negative, or anything else derogatory! :hug:

Your report is fun to read. ::yes::

[Hydani]

I agree with the rest of them, your DW doesn't come off in a bad way in your pre-trip report :) It's just showing how dedicated you are to make Disney SOUND like a good idea :laughing:

[hematite153]

You are not casting her in a negative light at all! I am loving your report! :thumbsup2

Seriously? No! You are just relating your experiences, and no one is coming across as being negative, or anything else derogatory! :hug:

Your report is fun to read. ::yes::

I agree with the rest of them, your DW doesn't come off in a bad way in your pre-trip report :) It's just showing how dedicated you are to make Disney SOUND like a good idea :laughing:

Thanks all. I didn't think I'd been harsh, but, she'd commented a couple of times that I was "painting her as the villian" and though I understand that as a prose formula it wasn't my intention.

Hopefully you'll keep enjoying my ramblings.

[rosiep]

No, no...not a villian at all!!! I'm enjoying the adventure...the give and take...the plotting...the intrigue....You're DW sounds like the perfect foil. :hug:

[hematite153]

Before I met my DW, I'd never even considered going to WDW and I didn't like the basic concept of Disney.

:scared1:


My in-laws took my DW to WDW when it was newish and she was 5. She maintains that it was the perfect age and that she fell in love with the place and the concept for life. She spent her whole life trying to convince someone to go back with her.

When we were planning our wedding and started talking about a honeymoon my DW suggested WDW and I looked at her in confusion. Ultimately, we decided on a cruise that left from Miami and agreed that a leisurely drive down to Florida would give us an opportunity to see some other parts of the US (including giving me a chance to show my DW one of the places I'd lived for awhile -- we drove through on our trip home last March too) and my DW suggested we go a few days early so that we could go to Disney.

I agreed on the condition that we also allow ourselves time to visit Cape Canaveral. We also discussed how long she needed and she assured me that a single day would be enough. We looked at where to stay and decided that on-site prices were out of control and booked a "nice" cheap place in Kissimmee.

My DW spent a bit of time researching and planned our day whereas I just kept saying, "okay...whatever you say..." with regards to Disney.

At the end of the one day in the MK, I'd had a good day, and my DW said "can we come back?" We also had other things to worry about since we'd been run over by Charley in the midst of things. So, the conversation was put off until later.

A year and a half later, my DW convinced me that we should plan a 3 day trip to WDW and stay on-site. Once the trip was booked she started convincing me to add a day since there were 4 parks after all. I agreed. Then, during the drive down she talked me into asking at check-in if there was a 5th night availability.

So, you can see that really she was the one who seemed destined to eventually appear in this trip report whereas, without her involvement in my life I might have never discovered the joys of Disney addiction.

[2GirlsMama]

It sounds like you are going to have a great adventure! I hope you have a great trip!

I hope the weather is nice and warm!!!

[hematite153]

It sounds like you are going to have a great adventure! I hope you have a great trip!

I hope the weather is nice and warm!!!

Thanks!

(I don't think we'll have a hard time finding the weather warm given that the currently "cold" weather would be nice and warm to us.)

[DOPEYLUVER]

Before I met my DW, I'd never even considered going to WDW and I didn't like the basic concept of Disney.

:scared1:




WOW, I have to say that I am shocked by this revelation. :laughing:

I am married to one of those people who really doesn't get the whole Disney obsession. So now that I've hooked back up with an old college friend, I will be making my 4th trip to WDW in 2009. Leaving hubby and the kids home. DH is fine with this; the kids, well not so much.

[hematite153]

WOW, I have to say that I am shocked by this revelation. :laughing:


I told you it was a confession! (Can you imagine what a big hole my life would have had my DW not been so good at sneaking wdw into my experience???)

[TuckandStuiesMom]

I told you it was a confession! (Can you imagine what a big hole my life would have had my DW not been so good at sneaking wdw into my experience???)

Don't feel bad -- I avoided WDW for years too because I thought it seemed sorta hokey and artificial. My parents took our kids every year but I was always able to wiggle out of it. I finally ran out of excuses, went one time in the early 80's and have been hooked ever since. :lovestruc

[hematite153]

Don't feel bad -- I avoided WDW for years too because I thought it seemed sorta hokey and artificial. My parents took our kids every year but I was always able to wiggle out of it. I finally ran out of excuses, went one time in the early 80's and have been hooked ever since. :lovestruc

:) Glad they got you hooked, since we'd never have "met" otherwise.

[TuckandStuiesMom]

:) Glad they got you hooked, since we'd never have "met" otherwise.

Same back atcha, Dear Friend! :hug:

[hematite153]

My DW and I made a deal awhile back:

When we stay at AKV we can eat breakfast AND dinner at Boma during the same vacation.

So, we were going to be spending ONE night at AKV AND we've been looking forward to getting to try out Sanaa, so, the deal seemed impractical, but, still worth thinking about.

We booked Sanaa for lunch on our arrival day and Boma for dinner -- crazy, but, necessary if we were going to try to hit our favourites. Then, we stopped and said...hmmn...we could get the deluxe dining plan for the one night and add another meal sometime on the Sunday for not much more...likely to cost us less than what we'd end up paying OOP for counter service.

So, since the plan was to spend the Sunday in all 4 parks we needed to figure out order and rough timing. We made an early dinner reservation for Tokyo Dining.

(I've wanted to go to Tokyo Dining since the renovation since it sounds more like a "real" Japanese restaurant now and they are practically impossible to find in North America. But, I've heard bad things about their ability to deal with allergies and Japanese culture in general doesn't make it easy to deal with food allergies. In Japan I did okay because although they thought I was odd they were able to accommodate me and most restaurants didn't even have my most common allergens in the kitchen since they aren't Japanese foods. But, in order to accommodate a mostly American clientele, Tokyo Dining has lots of dangerous (for me) items on their menu. The one previous time that we had Tokyo Dining booked, I got sick from my meal at Rose & Crown the day before and was feeling too shaky to try a risky meal, so, we went elsewhere instead.)

Given the course of the rest of my report so far, you can probably guess that this plan is going to change. But, can you guess how?

Where do you think we're going to end up eating?

Are we going to end up getting the DDP? QSDP? DxDP?

[hematite153]

Same back atcha, Dear Friend! :hug:

:upsidedow Ahhh...thanks! :hug:

[hematite153]

A little over 6 years ago, my DW and I took our first trip together. We only planned a couple of months in advance and we wanted to fly on points instead of pay for the flights given the seasonal costs. We probably would have just driven somewhere except that we were combining vacation with a trip to meet some bio-relatives we'd only just made contact with. We couldn't get flights exactly where we wanted to go, but, since the closest airport was still a 3 hr drive it seemed like we might as well fly into one airport a 6 hour drive away and fly out of another airport an 8 hour drive away and spend time seeing the places in between. Of course there was still the challenge that we had to fly from an airport 4 hours from our home and we were on different flights on the way out. But, for some reason it all seemed worthwhile at the time. What it should have been was a warning sign....

Two days before we were due to leave we put the dog in the car to go for a walk by the river and discovered that ALL of the traffic lights were out. It seemed so wide-spread, that we turned on the radio in the hopes that they might be mentioning it and discovered a very odd broadcast. Anyone know where I'm going?




The power had gone out across much of Canada and the US Northeast. (The Wikipedia article seems to include a much smaller region than I recall.) It had actually been out for about 5 hours, but, since it was summer and the Sun was just beginning to set, I hadn't noticed. The power was out for weeks in some places and the airports were non-functional for about 40 hours.

We were lucky, our first flight was scheduled for about 12 hours after the airport started functioning "normally" again. Their approach was to send people out on their scheduled flights and deal with the thousands of people whose flights had never left by putting them on the standby lists. My DW had hoped to standby for the earlier flight that I was on -- that was clearly not going to work since there were people who'd already been in the airport for 48 hours! I boarded the plane without her with all of our luggage checked under my name and planned to meet all the later flights throughout the day. Apparently, just after I boarded a guy came to the gate looking for someone willing to switch seats with him (he'd gotten a boarding pass for the next flight after waiting for two days) because he'd already missed being the best man in his brother's wedding and wanted to at least make it to the reception. My DW told him that her girlfriend would be willing to switch, but, that I'd already boarded. A flight attendant agreed to go ask me, but, then never did. I still feel sorry for that guy.

Later during this same vacation, we found ourselves in the midst of forest fires -- at one point we were surrounded by burning on three sides. One of the campsites we were supposed to stay in called to leave a message at our home because it was actually on fire and they wanted to tell us not to come. We'd already figured out that the route wasn't a good idea given the fire path, but, 97% of that forest was gone by the time the fire stopped.

---

A year later we headed off on our honeymoon and, as I've already mentioned, we were run over by Hurricane Charley. We got 4 hours at wdw before it closed, then, we saw several mini-tornados on the road on our way back to our off-site hotel. (If I were doing it again I'd know better than to be on the road -- we were lucky!) The back window of our car was smashed in (and other more minor damage) and we spent a chaotic day trying to get out of Orlando, get to Miami and find a way to safely leave our car somewhere while on the cruise since the port parking lot was no longer a viable option since we couldn't lock the car. Yikes! (Now that I know Disney better, I've wished we'd stayed on-site because even though I suspect the WDW parking lots were also the site of smashed windows, I've figured that being at Disney would have been less traumatic.) I will say that I spoke to people I probably never would have without being in the midst of shared chaos and ever since I've had a better sense of acceptance for the people within the part of US society that claim I shouldn't have been allowed to be on my honeymoon. (I am now more able to separate their beliefs -- with which I disagree -- from the rest of who they are, because, I've seen how caring they can be.)

---

After our next trip to WDW (the one that started as 3 nights and stretched to 5), we were driving home and making good time when something sounded strange and the engine seemed to disengage. Thus began a nightmare that lasted THREE months as a tow-truck driver (sent to us by AAA) took 4 hours to show up AFTER he told them that he was 10 min from our location and then took us AWAY from the dealership that AAA had said he was taking us to so that he could deliver our car to his buddy's auto-shop that wasn't going to be open for another 48 hours. That progressed to us having to call CAA at home to get a supervisor to authorize us being towed again and this time ending up with our car at a dealership (not the one we were originally closest to) that claimed to be able to fix it, then, couldn't, then took 2 months before they said we could come get it, then, lost the key to it, etc. We had to involve the Better Business Bureau before we got our car (and money to replace the key) and paperwork explaining what they'd done.

---

After a trip to WDW about 2 years ago, we had a problem with a torn airline identifying sticker while passing through customs. Although we brought it to the attention of the baggage handlers while leaving customs they said it wouldn't matter and told us to put it on the belt. Of course, it did matter, and the bag got lost. We'd had some weird conversations with the airport employee in Orlando when he was checking us in. It didn't make sense at the time, but, once we had to figure out how to find the missing bag in the computer system we figured out that he had crossed our names and made a bit of a mess of our check-in making it hard to indicate the bag as lost. The next day we got a call that the airline was bringing the bag. Then, we got a call saying that they hadn't been able to locate it. Turns out, the bag had an old Star Alliance Gold tag of my DW's on it and thus they'd called her to deliver the bag to her, but, they hadn't connected it to the missing bag report.

---

Last year I went to a conference in Washington, D.C. and my DW came along for a brief vacation. On the day we headed home, several other people successfully flew home without encountering any problems. We had booked a connecting flight for some reason and encountered more weather problems than I would have believed possible. First, as we taxied to take-off in D.C., the plane suddenly powered down and the pilot came on to explain that there was lightening above us and we had to stop and turn off all power. We sat for about 90 minutes. Then, we took our flight and after landing, before we made it to the gate, we powered down and had to wait while lightening passed overhead. We'd missed our connecting flight and were rebooked on the next one. Once that flight boarded, we had to stop and wait for a storm to pass. Then, we flew home, landed and then waited on the runway for 2 hours for lightening to pass overhead before we could deplane. In the end, we could have driven home in the time it took to fly.

---

We have had other travel problems, but, minor ones in comparison. But, there is still a fear that there is a curse travelling with us and we have friends who've refused to travel with us.

So, if a blizzard hits WDW just before Christmas you'll be able to blame it on us.

[hematite153]

QSDP $29.99/night
- 2 Quick Service Meals
- 2 Snacks
- 1 Resort Mug

- Resort Mug is essentially useless to me...I don't like Coke products and I don't like high-fructose corn syrup which is used in the US for just about everything...before you mention the diet drinks, I'll add that I'm teetering on the allergy edge with aspartame...splenda's okay, but, coke zero and sprite zero have both and diet coke and diet minute maid lemonade have aspartame only. Before they took the cream away from the resorts in favour of coffee creamer (ugh!) I could have used a mug for tea or hot chocolate, but, tea with coffee creamer is an icky concept I don't even want to contemplate. (I will occasionally use a resort mug if I have it, but, I'd happily drink water if I didn't have it.)

- 2 snacks...I generally find a way to use WDW snacks, but, the "savoury/healthy" options seem to keep getting cut, so, I basically consider these extras that aren't worth considering in my calculations.

- 2 Quick Service meals...hmmmn...let's see:
AK -- I can only eat at Pizzafari:
Cheese Pizza $7.99
Chocolate Milk $1.99
Dessert -- they used to let me get the side salad, but, that seems to be harder to get and I don't even see it on the current menu -- so, I'd probably end up with kids grapes ~$.99
Total (inc. tax): $11.68
(And realistically, I'd have likely been happier eating a PB sandwich and nuts that I brought with me.)

DS -- I have yet to find a QS that I like here

EP -- Sunshine Seasons
Roasted Beets and Goat Cheese Salad $7.49 (generally good)
Fancy Dessert (up to) $3.99
Chocolate Milk $1.99
Total (inc. tax): $14.35

MK -- Columbia Harbour House
Anchors Aweigh Sandwich $8.09
Chocolate Milk $1.99
Dessert -- the yogurt has aspartame and the cakes are too sweet -- so, I'd probably end up with kids grapes ~$.99
Total (inc. tax): $11.79

Average (for me) QS Meal Price: $12.61
Thus, Average price for 2 QS Meals: $25.22 (and it comes with a bunch of food I don't really want and is low on protein -- hence the chocolate milks)

The math doesn't work! You have to have VERY different tastes from me in order for the QSDP to be worthwhile.

[dmwang9]

Right there with you on the QSP. It just doesn't match my eating habits/food allergies.

[hematite153]

DDP $39.99/night
- 1 Quick Service Meal
- 1 Snacks
- 1 Table Service Meal

From my earlier post:
Average (for me) QS Meal Price: $12.61

1 snack...I generally find a way to use WDW snacks, but, the "savoury/healthy" options seem to keep getting cut, so, I basically consider it an extras that isn't worth considering in my calculations.

Meaning that the value of my meal needs to reach $27.38 in order to make it worth paying for the price of the plan. Divide out tax and I need to order $25.83 in food.

Depending where you eat and what you order this isn't too difficult. I mean, a drink, a fancy entree and a dessert can easily add up to that at Disney restaurants. But, as I've already indicated the drinks and desserts don't excite me too much.

Looking at what we've already talked about:
Boma Dinner: $30.88 (worthwhile)
Boma Breakfast: $18.99 (DDP costs $7 extra)
Sanaa Lunch: $14.99 (for Vegetarian Sampler) plus extras that I would order only if on the DDP (probably not going to be worthwhile)

The math quickly leads up to an explanation for why people start ordering the most expensive item on the menu and why they focus on getting dinner ADRs. But, overall, it might work out to be worthwhile if you are willing to eat according to the right combination of food.

Personally, I'm not a huge dessert fan -- I enjoy a good dessert, but, not the QS ones and not at quite the rate intended. Plus, although Boma is worthwhile (I'm starting to get scared off by others' reports) and although most of the breakfasts have good food, the prices are high and the food quality doesn't seem to properly match the prices. (We've been surprised places though -- for instance it took me years to try Sci Fi because it's reported to be not great and a "stick to burgers" place, but, I discovered accidentally that it has one of the few decent vegetarian protein options in the basic TS repertoire.

I like many of the signature restaurants, but, without the inclusion of an appetizer that means that my entree, drink and dessert need to have a value of $51.66. As a vegetarian, that rarely happens.

So, the DDP is probably worthwhile for some people, but, in its current configuration it's unlikely to be worthwhile for me.

[hematite153]

DxDP $71.99/night
- 3 Table Service Meals
- 2 Snacks
- 1 Resort Mug

From my earlier post:
Average (for me) QS Meal Price: $12.61. Thus, this plan isn't likely to be worthwhile if I got QS meals. So, even though they list it as 3 meals anywhere, I only think of it as 3 TS credits.

2 snacks...The Resort Mug...(see earlier posts)

Meaning that the value of my meal needs to reach $23.99 in order to make it worth paying for the price of the plan. Divide out tax and I need to order $22.53 in food (or $45.06 for a signature meal).

The first thing I notice here, is that the cost per meal is LOWER than with the basic dining plan. AND, I get to order an appetizer again. Wow!

So, just after it was first announced, we booked a bounce-back free dining trip (bouncing back from our first free dining trip -- I doubt we'll do another free dining trip again, but, it was fun to do twice) and upgraded it to deluxe dining. With the free dining discount, our food worked out such that we were basically paying for one regular meal and getting a free signature meal daily. It was great! We went to lots of restaurants that we'd always wanted to try and ate really good food everyday.

But, there was TOO much food! It sounded like eating 2 meals (TS breakfast or lunch and Signature Dinner) and 2 snacks per day wasn't that much, but, when it came to eating all of that food we were stuffed and couldn't get around to using the snacks.

We talked about it afterward and decided that the only dining plan that makes economic sense is the deluxe one. But, how do we deal with the quantity of food? (And of course, there's also the fact that Disney has now convinced people (us?) to spend more money on food than they would have otherwise.) Well, we decided that the DxDP would be worth considering if we were to have a 2 night DVC stay since it would mean 6 credits over 3 days and one signature meal per day for 3 days is a much more reasonable amount of food.

Hmmn...we're going to be at AKV for 2 nights and SSR for 3 nights...hmmn...it's my birthday, should we splurge?

[rosiep]

The Deluxe Dining plan intrigues me.....Think of all the room service you can have ....:cloud9:

[wallyb]

The Deluxe Dining plan intrigues me.....Think of all the room service you can have ....:cloud9:
:rolleyes:

[OrlandoMike]

The Deluxe Dining plan intrigues me.....Think of all the room service you can have ....:cloud9:

Ummmm ya, at two table service credits a whack! And that's even for a pizza! :eek:

[hematite153]

The Deluxe Dining plan intrigues me.....Think of all the room service you can have ....:cloud9:

Yeah, but, ...

Ummmm ya, at two table service credits a whack! And that's even for a pizza! :eek:

::yes::

I've never used credits for room service, but, I do like the signature meals....
(I can see the appeal to room service though...)

[hematite153]

Apparently, I had more Pre-Trip stuff to say than I realized because I'm not done and we're leaving in less than 12 hours!

[2GirlsMama]

I hope you have a really great time! I am looking forward to reading about your trip.

[hematite153]

Well, we’re actually in Orlando, pulling away from the airport so I hope it’s the final plan. But, we always leave ourselves room to change as we wish. For me, part of the fun of Disney is the intricacy and complications of planning. Then, if I have a detailed plan, I get to decide which steps to follow and which ones to skip or change.

Saturday:
Get up EARLY!
Direct Flight to Orlando
ME to AKV – Jambo
Check-in
Bus to AK Guest Relations to get my birthday fun card! (Yay, Disney’s giving me a birthday present – I’m thinking sweatshirt and baseball cap.)
Lunch at Sanaa
Swimming & Animal Watching
Dinner at Jiko

Sunday:
Sleep in and enjoy the early morning animal viewing from our room.
Late breakfast at Boma
Enjoy animals, more swimming and other AKV activities.
Dinner at Narcoosee’s (we should be there for both Wishes and EWP)

Monday (Crazy Theme Park Day & Resort Moving):
Pack and give our bags to bell services asking them to transfer them to SSR (and try to remember to do the online check-in before leaving AKV).
Head to AK for rope drop (8:00 EMH).
At AK: Kilimanjaro Safari, Lion King, Dinosaur, DinoLand Fun Games, walking tours and anything else that seems exciting at the time.
Lunch at the Wave.
Walk to MK.
At MK: HM, Space Mtn, TTA, Hall of Presidents, Princess Tiana’s Riverboat if possible and anything else that seems exciting at the time. (My DW wants Splash Mtn to be on the high likelihood list, but, I figure trying to get on both Space and Splash could be tough given our arrival time.)
Depending upon when we decide we’ve had enough of MK we’ll either skip EP, or head there next.
At EP (if we go): Kim Possible, Soarin’ depending on time, Holiday Stories, new Innoventions stuff and whatever else seems exciting at the time.
Head to DHS for the evening EMH.
At DHS: Stand in line for a LONG time, possibly more than once in order to do TSM.
Late, Late, head to SSR.

Tuesday:
Sleep in a bit.
Late breakfast at Kona.
If we’re lucky, we’ll stop in to meet ConcKahuna.

Tuesday & Wednesday:
Hoping to see other things we haven’t done yet, wander around DTD a bit, spend a few hours at Blizzard Beach, play a round of mini-golf somewhere, eat at Earl of Sandwich, swim at SSRs assorted pools, etc.

Thursday:
Up early to head home with a stopover in my Dad’s city and a possible lunch with him enroute.



As for all of the food choices, you may have guessed from the number of reservations that we got conned into the DxDP. Not only that, but, for those of you who can count, we’ve got an extra meal in there.

My DW loves Jiko and I used to love the Grains, Peas & Barley meal, but, all of their current vegetarian offerings are full of cooked tomatoes which I’m not a fan of. So, I might just pay OOP for that meal and order one or 2 appetizers and get a soup (with snack credit) at Mara. But, I’ve heard good things about the Halibut at Jiko and think I should consider trying it. In which case, it would probably make more sense for us to pay OOP for my DW at lunch at Sanaa (where she isn’t too excited by the menu) and for one of our Boma breakfasts. But, are we going to have too much food???

On Disney property now, so, signing off from typing. I’ll post this once we have a room and internet access.

[Hydani]

This PTR is one of the most interesting I've read in a while. I just keep coming back to read it. I really hope you and your DW have a lot of fun while in Disney! Come back to us with a TR :teeth: We're all very excited

[hematite153]

I hope you have a really great time! I am looking forward to reading about your trip.

Thanks!

This PTR is one of the most interesting I've read in a while. I just keep coming back to read it. I really hope you and your DW have a lot of fun while in Disney! Come back to us with a TR :teeth: We're all very excited

Thanks -- I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Here's hoping you have as much fun as we did, Friend!:goodvibes

[hematite153]

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I have fibromyalgia. There are posts all over these boards from people trying to figure out how to deal with fibro and a Disney trip. Many end up deciding that an ECV will make things possible. The catch is that fibro is a disorder which manifests differently for every sufferer. If I tried to sit on an ECV, my thumb (the one that needs to keep doing the same thing all day) would scream at me within an hour. (Well, it actually only took 10 minutes before I was in pain when I tried it last year, but, I think I could have put up with the pain for about an hour.) If I wanted to use a wheelchair, I'd probably end up in pain from inactivity -- plus, I'd need to come up with someone to push me.

My fibro generally likes exercise. Of course, because fibro can't be kind the whole way, my fibro hurts while exercising and immediately after it hurts even worse. But, the next day, or two days later, I feel better if I've exercised heavily than I would if I hadn't. It's a bit of a challenge to push through and in the last couple of years I've been struggling with it more and more. But, when we first came to Disney I'd just (in the previous year) finished running a half-marathon and I was able to remind myself that my body hurts now, but, will feel better later.

Last January, we decided that we needed to go to Disney during my break week in March and we made some last minute plans that rivaled this set. Then, at the beginning of March (last year), I had a Curling mishap and tore lots of things in my knee. I was on crutches until just before our trip and then borrowed a cane from a friend. (I maybe should have kept using the crutches longer, but, I'd gotten lazy and kept putting them down -- the cane seemed like a good compromise because I could actually convince myself to use it most of the time.)

-----

My DW has a genetic disorder that keeps the layers of her skin from sticking together properly. It's something she's dealt with all her life and as invisible disabilities go, it's not too bad. But, she gets blisters from any sort of friction on her skin and once they start, they just keep growing. If a "normal" person tells you that their foot hurts and they think they might be getting a blister, you can walk slowly and then stop to look at it 15 min later and you'll probably see a small blister. With my DW, if you spent these next 15 min walking, the blister would now be bigger than a quarter and still growing (even without any more walking at that point). So, when she says that she needs to stop, we need to stop -- right there!

It took me awhile to get used to this issue, but, I think I'm finally there. In our regular lives she's able to manage things well and though she gets the occasional blister it's not too bad. (Likely 3-5/month and only one of those seems bad.) But, at WDW, there's all that cement (to deal with the crowds) and all those things that she wants to see that you have to walk to.

When we planned our first WDW trip together (the one after our honeymoon, where we were only coming to FL for WDW), she was asked, "how are you going to do that" and she replied, "I'll just have to walk slowly and wear my magic boots (a pair of hiking boots that she gets fewer blisters in than other footwear)."

Well, we arrived at our resort around 1pm and she'd figured things out such that she said, "let's go to DHS (then MGM) for the afternoon and evening because they have an EMH." She'd planned the trip and I said, "sure". We got to the park by 2:00. Her planning was good, with some running around (for me) to get FPs she was walking slowly and generally only purposefully, but, by 4 or 5 she was saying that her feet were sore. By 8:00 when the EMH started, she sat on a bench rather than coming with me to get a wristband -- fortunately, the CM took pity on me and gave me one for her (this was back in the day when they actually scanned the card before handing out the wristband). By the time we left the park at 11:00, I was noticing a two-year-old walking along in typical distracted two-year-old fashion who seemed to be speeding past my DW and I realized that we had a problem.

So, I detoured at the exit to ask the Stroller & Wheelchair people about w/c rentals. She told me that I could get a length of stay card at my resort that would be cheaper than just renting daily. My DW still kept saying, "I'll be okay," but, I argued that it was worth getting the card, "in case". So, I went in to the front desk when we got back to POP and the CM said, "I can just lend you a w/c if you'd prefer". I said that was fantastic and headed back to the car with a w/c. By the next morning, my DW had trouble getting dressed because of the need to use her feet (believe me, they looked bad!) and was willing to give the w/c a try. By the end of the vacation, she agreed that we couldn't have done it without the w/c and she'd gotten somewhat used to my pushing her.

Over the years, her using a w/c and my pushing have become a standard of our WDW trips.

See the next mobility installment to learn about how we dealt with my busted knee last March, our assorted w/c experiences and what we're doing this trip.

[hematite153]

Here's hoping you have as much fun as we did, Friend!:goodvibes

Hey there! Are you home now?

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Mobility challenges are not something I am looking forward to. But I have a bad disc in my back so I am sure that one of these trips I will end up in a w/c.

Loving your report! Keep it coming! :thumbsup2

[hematite153]

Once we realized that we were going to have a 2 night stay at AKV we looked at our dining plans for those two days and added up what we were likely to order at Sanaa, Jiko and Tokyo Dining and figured we'd basically get 2 extra meals, 4 snacks (each) and drink mugs for the same price.

We held off on putting it on the reservation because I still had the waitlist for a third night and we knew that 3 nights of deluxe dining was more than we'd want. But, about 5 days before we left we gave in and called to add it.

Piles and piles of food...but, since you get to spread 2 days of food over 3 days it's not too bad.

[hematite153]

About 3 weeks before we left, when we started talking about the DxDP, I fiddled around with the new online reservation system and made a bunch of bookings for places that we might want to eat at.

I confess -- I made far more reservations than we could possibly use and I even made some for the same meal in each of our names using my DW's work number. A part of me felt guilty, but, another part of me figured that the person who picked them up after I released them would be happy to get them and I knew that I'd release the ones I decided not to use.

Places I included in this mad-booking extravaganza:
Boma (breakfast and dinner on multiple nights)
Sanaa
Jiko
Narcoosee's
Raglan Road
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
Kona (breakfast & dinner)
Wolfgang Puck Cafe
(and a couple of others that I didn't find availability for)

Yes, I went a little crazy!

[Hydani]

Haha I totally understand why you booked so many restaurants. I love booking them. Once I have 180 days until my trip, everything will be booked :)

[hematite153]

About 10 days before we were due to arrive, we sat down and said that we really needed to take some time to figure out a final plan. Yes, we actually waited until the online check-in was open BEFORE we finished our planning.

At that point we were staying at AKV for 2 nights and had three meals planned. We took a look at the menus and at what we'd likely order under various circumstances and decided that the DxDP would only cost a small amount more for an additional 3 meals -- plus, it would take away pressure to order things we could share.

(Remember, back at the beginning, when I said that we don't eat any of the same food? If we pay OOP, the cheap gene rears it's head and I start suggesting that we share appetizers and desserts (I know it's not even worth trying to share entrees). But, the things we both eat, aren't the favourites that either of us dream about. So, knowing that we can simply get what we each want without debating the cost every time is worthwhile -- note: it's only worthwhile because I've already done the math to know that regardless of what I order, I'll come out ahead.)

So, as you know from the final plan (in post #77), we had to re-discuss dining options. And we came up with:

Saturday - Lunch at Sanaa
- Dinner at Jiko

Sunday - Breakfast at Boma
- Dinner at Narcoosee’s
- Some snack credits

Monday - Lunch at The Wave
- Most snack credits

DxDP, 2 days, 2 people: 12 TS credits, 8 snack credits
There's actually a need for 14 TS credits to cover everything we've booked, so, there will still be some discussion as we go. (My DW has also said a few times that she figures we'll need to be willing to spend more for food on the Monday, but, I think she's forgetting just how full you can get on the DxDP.)

Narcoossee's was a lucky ADR. When we decided to get the DxDP, we said that we should eat at 2 signatures...Jiko was obvious and Narcoossee's was our favourite from our previous trips (well, Artist's Pointe might well be tied for favourite, but, we've eaten there 3 times and Narcoossee's only once). I looked for any ADRs during our entire trip at Narcoosee's and the only one I could find happened to be on the night we wished at a time that would include both the Electric Water Pageant and Wishes. :woohoo:

Kona has also been on our list as a "need to get around to getting to" place; it just never seems to fit our schedule. So, we looked at the menus, decided that we were most interested in breakfast and booked that for the mornings we're waking up at SSR. (Yes, at this point we still booked it twice because we were hoping to be able to meet ConcKahuna and I didn't know his schedule. I contacted him about his schedule and then we picked the date and cancelled the extra Kona ADR)

Then, I went about the complicated process of using the online system to cancel many, many extraneous ADRs. Believe me, it took awhile! (Believe it or not, I still had to look for a new Boma reservation since the time we ended up wanting to go, was not one of the many I'd already made.)

In the next couple of days, I checked that our waitlist for the 3rd night at AKV didn't come through (we wouldn't have wanted 3 days of DxDining, so, everything would have needed to change again) and actually got around to adding DxDP to our reservation.

[hematite153]

Over the years we've used a variety of resort wheelchairs and learned that their maintenance leaves a lot to be desired. We've also learned that airports involve a LOT of walking and that my DW usually arrives at WDW with blisters if we fly and she walks.

So, we located a medical supply company near home and we usually rent a w/c from them to bring with us. The first time we rented from them they talked us into a transport chair (4 small wheels) because it was cheaper. It worked reasonably well -- except for the time my DW pulled herself through a doorway when I was holding the door open (behind her) and not holding the chair and she went down a small hill in Pangani without any way of stopping herself.... So, the next time we rented we insisted on a full chair.

A couple of years ago we were travelling with some friends and flying out of a US airport a few hours away. We wanted to be able to drive a single car for fuel efficiency reasons and they had an infant with a large stroller and were bringing scuba gear. So, we decided to use a resort chair and if necessary call an Orlando-area company for a rental. We checked in at POR and they said that they didn't have any chairs available. But, POFQ did, so, we walked over there to pick one up. At the end of our 2nd last day we were watching Wishes from the train station on Main St. and left the wheelchair in stroller parking with a fair bit of personal markings on it -- a hat with a name on it and a bright orange bandanna. We came down the stairs after Wishes to find that the wheelchair was gone. We looked everywhere, several staff members tried to help us, etc. It was gone. Many people on the disboards seemed to think that it was stolen because it was a resort chair and that someone figured it was fair game. But, honestly, why would ANYONE think that stealing a wheelchair was okay, regardless of what type of chair it was???? Don't you understand that if a wheelchair is there then there is someone who needs it?

Because it was a Disney chair that was stolen, CMs were able to make it such that we didn't get charged for it. But, it's made us nervous everytime since then about renting a chair from home. So, now we always travel with a bike lock as well to use to lock the chair to itself and prevent an unthinking person from stealing it -- and there've been many times when it's looked like someone did try to walk away with the chair before getting stopped by the lock. It really boggles my mind!

Last March when I couldn't really walk, I obviously couldn't push my DW. So, we didn't rent a wheelchair. I tried to talk to her, before we left home, about what she was going to do and she simply said, "I'll walk." Well, on our arrival day we headed over to DTD for a few hours and even though she was walking next to hobbling me using a cane and moving slowly, she had to admit that night that her feet were already bothering her. So, at 10:30 that night we called Buena Vista Rentals and they said that they could get us an ECV by 8:00 the next morning that we could use for 3 days (we were only planning 2 park days) and then return it to another resort (we were changing resorts on our 2nd park day). It worked out pretty well, but, my DW definitely used her feet up more with an ECV than she does when I push a wheelchair. This problem became obvious as we tried to move our stuff into VWL at the end of our 2nd park day as my DW took over my cane because I'd gotten faster than her.

One of the things we've really struggled with is the number of people on here who seem to believe that anyone using an ECV who is overweight must simply be lazy rather than understanding that disabilities which have mobility challenges often lead to weight gain. So, on several occasions my DW has commented that she feels like people take her need more seriously because she's using a w/c than they would if she were using an ECV. As we maneuvered around the crowds at AK on that first ECV day, we both noted that the fact I was walking with a cane seemed to mitigate any other comments we might have run into -- I mean, if I was willing to walk with a cane, then, obviously, she must be worse!

So, after our usual debate and fears of having it stolen and ending up responsible for paying for it, and some brief discussion of simply renting an ECV for our long park day because my DW was worried about wearing me out, we rented a wheelchair from home for this trip and prepared to get back to our standard routine.

[TuckandStuiesMom]

YAY! Another installment!:thumbsup2

[hematite153]

YAY! Another installment!:thumbsup2

Thanks!

Thanks for commenting too, knowing that people are reading helps me want to post.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

People post ALL THE TIME about strollers being stolen (personal strollers, not rentals!) so the fact that people steal resort wheelchairs shouldn't shock any of us. There are some TACKY people out there. :mad:

I hope renting the chair from home didn't cause any issues!
So come on now, tell the rest of the story!!! :banana:

[hematite153]

People post ALL THE TIME about strollers being stolen (personal strollers, not rentals!) so the fact that people steal resort wheelchairs shouldn't shock any of us. There are some TACKY people out there. :mad:


No kidding!


I hope renting the chair from home didn't cause any issues!

Well, there was the time that we landed in SF and they didn't bring the chair up from gate check and just said, "oh, it's probably on the baggage carousel...." We did find it, but, I think it was a fairly lucky find since it was just sitting beside a random baggage carousel that wasn't the one where the luggage from our plane was delivered and it's not like SF is a small airport.

(I did mention our travel curse, right? In fact, if I weren't certain that I am currently at home I'd wonder how I caused snow to fall in Orlando.)


So come on now, tell the rest of the story!!! :banana:

Isn't it more fun when I drag it out?

[hematite153]

In order to go on vacation, one must first pack some bags -- well, either that or have enough money to send someone out shopping for clothes once you arrive.

In our household, packing seems to always be a point of contention. We don't have any of the usual problems that I hear from others -- we have similar ideas about keeping weight down and a willingness to do laundry on certain trips, but, not others. But, somehow, the actual act of packing is something that we do quite differently and we both get stressed out by.

My DW used to travel for a living, so, she had Star Alliance Gold status (we're going to miss it now that we're in the first year without it) and was allowed to bring extra baggage at no charge. But, we have rarely needed her extra allowance...we have used it though to check everything under her name so that it gets priority service.

A few years ago we got new luggage and got a large and medium sized bag. We discovered that packing the large one was generally a challenge in terms of weight. So, we got another medium sized bag a few months ago. This meant that we were planning to have less physical space than on our previous few trips and we weren't sure if it would be a problem or not. Thus, we wanted to bring an extra bag in case we wanted a third bag for expansion purposes on the way home.

We also used to have a set plan for carry-on luggage, but, my DW wanted to bring my computer with us -- now that DVC owners get free internet access it seems more worthwhile to bring the computer and stay connected. (Plus, last March I'd had to bring my computer and work during our trip so she'd gotten used to us having it.) Bringing my computer necessitated a different carry-on bag decision.

We'd lucked out and gotten a flight that would land us in WDW by noon on the Saturday right after I was done working. For flights from Canada to the US you clear customs in Canada. So, combining all of this we needed to leave home by 4:20 :scared1: (yes, we worked it out precisely).

So, we came up with a plan that involved packing on Thursday night. This plan seemed reasonable until I got to thursday afternoon and looked at the amount of work I needed to bring home -- remember, I'm a teacher, so, I work many hours most evenings. And I knew that we were likely doomed.

We also had this idea that when we dropped our cat off on Friday night we would go out to dinner with the person who was taking care of him for us. So, friday night around 9pm we knew that we had to get up in 7 hours and we weren't packed yet. Oops! :sad2:

The next morning as we pulled away from home, we finally felt safe to say it aloud and noted that it was the first time we'd packed for disney without fighting. (Whew! This trip seemed to be off to a good start.)

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

HOLY CRAP! :scared1:
Don't you know about the Packing Mandate? The Mandate states that for any and all WDW trips you must be packed in full a minimum of 12 days prior to departure. Whilst packing you are to consult the Master Packing List.

Your laptop goes in your "personal item" which is a Crocs backpack for me. I also have a Baggalini laptop case, but the backpack works better.
Carry-ons contain your necessities for the first 3-4 days. This is especially important if you are switching rooms, because then you only need to dig in the carry-on until you have switched rooms. Of course the exception to that is the stuff in the Shoe Bag. Each person is to have a fully packed 29" bag. Small people like DS can get away with a 25" bag. The Shoe Bag is the mandatory 4th checked bag that holds shoes. And other stuff. Like coffee, tripods and other camera stuff that DH can't cram in his "personal item" camera bag, full size liquids like sunscreen, pool towels, etc. Of course now that we have an Owners Locker SOME of the Shoe Bag stuff will stay in Orlando. But not all of it. :rolleyes1

DH doesn't mind doing laundry on vacation. I prefer to simply pack at least 2 complete outfits for every single day of the trip. Yes, I do have that many outfits. So does DS. No, my bag has never gone over 50 lbs. Close, but not over. ;)

[hematite153]

HOLY CRAP! :scared1:
Don't you know about the Packing Mandate? The Mandate states that for any and all WDW trips you must be packed in full a minimum of 12 days prior to departure. Whilst packing you are to consult the Master Packing List.


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl2: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I'm pretty certain that I don't have enough clothing to be packed in full 12 days prior to departure...I barely have enough clothing to get away without doing laundry DURING the vacation.

Master Packing lists are a great idea and I know that I should create them. But, every time I have to make a packing list I get VERY cranky -- I blame it on conflict with my mother and packing lists while growing up. Maybe, you can help me overcome my psychological aversion to them?


Your laptop goes in your "personal item" which is a Crocs backpack for me. I also have a Baggalini laptop case, but the backpack works better.
Carry-ons contain your necessities for the first 3-4 days.

I know that I'm ALLOWED both a personal item and a carry-on, but, we usually try to have a SINGLE carry-on/personal item bag between us. I have a small waist-pack that we often pack inside our larger carry-on bag so that it can be pulled out to have travel documents handy when needed. But, we can also put it in the other bag to get it out of the way.

Even though a wheelchair doesn't count against our carry-on allotment, it does create functional limits to what we can bring. I need to be able to carry it all AND push a wheelchair at the same time. (I can put a certain amount on my DW's lap, but, I can't stack above her head -- or, at least, I don't think I should.)

We made sure our swimming suits and a change of clothing for the evening were in our carry-on luggage, but, after that, if our luggage didn't arrive we wouldn't make it 3-4 days without starting to smell.


Each person is to have a fully packed 29" bag. Small people like DS can get away with a 25" bag.

I believe that the bag we've deemed too large is a 28" bag. We were travelling with two 25" bags. We've learned to mix our stuff together when packing. That way, if one bag goes missing we should both have some of our stuff and be missing some stuff.


The Shoe Bag is the mandatory 4th checked bag that holds shoes. And other stuff. Like coffee, tripods and other camera stuff that DH can't cram in his "personal item" camera bag, full size liquids like sunscreen, pool towels, etc.

Believe it or not, we fit all this stuff into our two 25" bags. Doing so requires a fair bit of planning as to how the suitcases are organized. Because we were short on time, I wasn't paying as much attention to the packing organization as I usually do and I was worried that things wouldn't fit. But, I got it all in -- plus an empty backpack that we like to use for the parks so that one of our carry-on bags on the way out could be converted to a third checked bag for the return trip.


No, my bag has never gone over 50 lbs. Close, but not over. ;)

I'm impressed! Part of why we designated the 28" bag as too big was that it took such careful packing to keep it under 50 lbs. As it was my two 25" bags were about 40lbs each. (Granted the scale they were weighed on said 1.5 lbs with nothing on it so it may not have been accurate.)


Books
I forgot to mention our problem with books. It used to be that I travelled with a single book. Then, I would usually buy a book or two on vacation and I'd sometimes make use of the book exchange shelves that you can find all over the place. But, my DW has been working hard in the last year to convince me to use the library instead of buying all books -- she's right, and I've gone through library phases before, it's just hard for me because I'm rather addicted to reading. (It's an addiction that we share, but, my DW is better about having to wait a few days when she gets a craving for a particular book -- as long as it's not a Harry Potter book.)

When we went to Europe this summer, my DW convinced me that we could take library books with us on vacation. This was a big step for me...I'd used libraries, but, always kept the books at home. It just seemed like a big risk to travel with books belonging to someone else. As we were packing for Europe, my DW had a pile of FOUR books (and two of them were hardcover books) that she wanted to bring with her. I tried to talk her down and then ended up giving up and bringing four of my own -- but, at least mine were all paperback. Then, I read them ALL and bought 2 more for the trip home.

So, as we packed this time, I had a stack of books I wanted to read -- I believe there were 14 books in the pile. My DW identified her 4 books (3 hardcovers this time) and I ended up with a pile of SIX books that "I just HAD to bring".

So, not only were we packing in bags that were apparently too small, we were also trying to include TEN books! :scared1:

Can you believe that we got out of the house without fighting?

[OrlandoMike]

12 days? :scared1:

i'm lucky if I'm packed 12 hours before a trip!

[hematite153]

12 days? :scared1:

i'm lucky if I'm packed 12 hours before a trip!

::yes:: I certainly didn't get done 12 hours before the trip.

[zeitzeuge]

12 days? :scared1:

i'm lucky if I'm packed 12 hours before a trip!

I'm like you. We've got packing for a trip to DL down pat. Takes us an hour to grab all of our Disney shirts we've made, one sweatshirt, one hoodie and a pair of shorts for each day, plus one pair of jeans if needed.

We figure we'll buy more stuff at the park, so we bring just enough so we have room to take back all the stuff we buy.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Tsk, tsk, tsk. You boys should be ashamed. But then again, DH likes to torment me by waiting as close to departure day as he can before he packs. :sad2:

Hematite, I used to have 2 Packing Lists. One Summer, One Winter. I apparently deleted the Winter one before this most recent December debacle. If I hadn't already deleted it, I would have by now!

There is NO WAY I could do just a personal item as my carry on. The REASON my checked bag doesn't go over is because I pack my carry-on to about 30 pounds. I have traveled with ONE hardcover library book. But we don't read once we get to WDW so I just pack magazines. If I do happen to read while we are there I just leave the magazines I have finished in the hotel room when we leave. If I finish one in flight I tuck it in the seat back pocket of the plane and leave it there.

Pushing a wheelchair while wheeling a 30 pound carry on would be a challenge. Perhaps I should perfect that maneuver now, before I need it. Remember that we take our long trips in the summer, so I have about 20 pairs of shorts and 20 shirts, a couple of swimsuits, that sort of thing in the 29" bag. I count the outfits as I pack. I also pack DS in the order he will need the outfits. For example, I alternate T-shirts with collared shirts in his bag so he won't have to rummage each night before dinner. For my stuff I alternate "park wear" with "dinner attire" to some extent, but mostly I just count to make sure I have 2 outfits for every day. But then there will be other stuff that would be sad if I left it home (NEW stuff, usually) so in the bag it goes.

We have the "souvenir duffle" that folds flat and goes in the Shoe Bag. We typically check one of the carry-ons full of dirty laundry coming home, and I carry the souvenir duffle.

[hematite153]

There is NO WAY I could do just a personal item as my carry on. The REASON my checked bag doesn't go over is because I pack my carry-on to about 30 pounds.

You do know that there are weight limits on carry-on baggage too, don't you?

I was just looking for the actual weight limits to quote it to you (it's apparently different for every airline) and discovered that on future trips to WDW I won't be allowed a carry-on at all! :scared1:

I am allowed to bring a book, my computer, my camera, and outer garments, but, I'm no longer permitted to bring a bag to carry all of these items because doing so supposedly slows down security. Ummn...has it occurred to anyone how much it will slow things down to have people carrying everything in their hands???


Pushing a wheelchair while wheeling a 30 pound carry on would be a challenge.

Ahh...now remember that we also have to be able to manage EVERYTHING before we check-in. (Even though we drove this time, we usually take the bus to/from the airport.)


Remember that we take our long trips in the summer, so I have about 20 pairs of shorts...

I think I only own three pairs of shorts....

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Pretty sure the carry on weight limit on American is 40 lbs. The thing is, I have a bad disc in my back and I am not allowed to lift more than 30 lbs. ESPECIALLY to lift it over my head. Of course that's why DH is in charge of stowing all carry on luggage...

I think I have about 40 pairs of shorts. BUT I don't have 2 separate work and casual wardrobes. I wear shorts and flip flops to work all summer. I used to like denim shorts, but now I have switched mostly to twill. I wear the denim for the 12 days leading up to departure since all of my "good" shorts are packed. :rotfl2:

I'm sorry about the international restrictions for carry on items. That sucks. I hope they change it back! :wizard:

[hematite153]

Pretty sure the carry on weight limit on American is 40 lbs.

Wow! I'm used to 10-20 lbs.


I'm sorry about the international restrictions for carry on items. That sucks. I hope they change it back! :wizard:

Yeah, liquids were originally completely banned and then they changed it.

Plus, the recent attack involved explosives sewn into the guy's underwear. So, how is not bringing a bag going to help?

I really am all for security, but, sometimes things just seem like knee-jerk reactions instead of thought-out policies.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I thought I had read that they did reverse the new restrictions, but maybe it varies by airport/airline/country.

You know, the thing about the weight of your carry on is to just ACT like it isn't heavy. I have never, EVER had to weigh my carry on. I have had to prove it fits in the little measuring device, but I have never had to prove it doesn't weigh 100 pounds. :rolleyes1

[hematite153]

I thought I had read that they did reverse the new restrictions, but maybe it varies by airport/airline/country.


According to the current airline websites no carry-on luggage for people on flights traveling to the US.


You know, the thing about the weight of your carry on is to just ACT like it isn't heavy. I have never, EVER had to weigh my carry on. I have had to prove it fits in the little measuring device, but I have never had to prove it doesn't weigh 100 pounds. :rolleyes1

I have had to weigh my carry-on more than once. I even had someone pick it up off my shoulder once and declare without weighing it that it was "too heavy" and needed to be checked. (They then let me take my computer, camera and book out of it to carry on without a bag leaving a bag with a sweater in it to be checked.)

[hematite153]

We got out the door on schedule, made a brief stop halfway down the street to check for our passports, and then had an uneventful drive to the airport.

We got lucky and found a parking spot in the first row we tried and caught the shuttle from parking to the terminal while we were still unloading the car.

(As I said earlier, we usually prefer to take the bus to/from the airport. Not only is it cheaper, it's also more environmentally friendly. But, for some reason there aren't any buses that arrive in time for the early morning flights unless you take the last bus of the night before which is WAY TOO EARLY and I'm no longer cheap enough to do that. So, we drove.)

to be continued....

[wallyb]

Happy Trip! :flower3:

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

According to the current airline websites no carry-on luggage for people on flights traveling to the US.



I have had to weigh my carry-on more than once. I even had someone pick it up off my shoulder once and declare without weighing it that it was "too heavy" and needed to be checked. (They then let me take my computer, camera and book out of it to carry on without a bag leaving a bag with a sweater in it to be checked.)

Bummer. I think Canada is too strict!
I have never even seen somebody ELSE have to weigh their carry on. Ever. And the only reason that shrew of a woman made me put my carry-on in the measuring rack was because we were in the International terminal. The people in the domestic terminals don't give a rat's tushy how much my carry-on weighs OR if it fits in the rack. Which OF COURSE it fits in the rack because this is the carry-on I have been using for YEARS.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I just checked American's website. 40 lbs. for carry ons. So even if they DO make me weigh it at some point it won't be over, because I can't lift that much to even get the suitcase down from the bed.

[hematite153]

Bummer. I think Canada is too strict!


Actually the new security restrictions are imposed by US regulations.

I do get frustrated by inconsistencies sometimes. A few years ago I flew to San Francisco during "heightened security risk" according to US Homeland Security. Because of the heightened risk I had to go through THREE separate security screening before I got to my gate and then AT the gate there was another full screening of every other person boarding the plane.

Four days later on my return trip through the SF airport, I got through security with a pocket full of safety pins (I'd completely forgotten they were there) and NOBODY checked my id or my passport until I landed in Canada.

Ah well...I used to cross-stitch whenever I flew and it could keep me entertained for hours. Now, I'm not allowed to travel with a needle and scissors and I've generally gotten used to it. I'm sure I'll get used to the new restrictions eventually too.

[hematite153]

I know, it seems like I abandoned this report. But, I've been thinking about it. The catch is that this next installment is still making me cranky and so I haven't wanted to write it.

We arrived at the airport pretty much exactly on the schedule we were hoping for. There was a longish line for check-in, but, due to my DW's Star Alliance Gold membership we got into the First Class (and other special people) line. We had tried to check in at home, but, it hadn't worked. Of course once we got to the counter we were told that we had already checked in. (The distinction between home check in and airport check in for direct to the US flights seems to be the shape of your boarding pass since you have to wait in the exact same lines to get clearance to go through to the customs and immigration area with your bags. But, apparently, there is some other computer difference because it took her awhile to "fix" things.)

She also seemed perturbed that we hadn't indicated "Special Instructions" for the wheelchair when we booked our flight. But, there isn't anywhere on the form that you can say, "we will be gate-checking our own w/c", only a check-box that says "W/C assistance needed", which is not the case. They never seem perturbed when other people ask for gate-check tags for their strollers. (Oh well!) We asked for gate check tags and she gave us two, plus another baggage tag linking the chair to us that also indicated gate check. (This chair was now well labeled.)

As I filled out the customs form it clearly said one form per family living at the same address. So, I filled out one form. We stood in line to hand off our checked luggage, waited in the designated spot while it was scanned and then were given the go ahead to move to the personal screening area. We took off our shoes, told the 3rd person that yes this well labeled chair was ours, not the airport's and finally got someone to ask about how they wanted to scan it, took it through the scanner and then shut down security. Yes, our shoes and wheelchair were on the other side of security from us and our bags and it was completely shut down. The customs agents seemed to be in some sort of funk (or looking for something very carefully) and the line had backed up too far, so, nobody else was allowed to enter.

We finally got through security (without losing our shoes or wheelchair) and waited a long time in the line for the customs agents, watching while they photographed and fingerprinted roughly half of the people in front of us. And now for the really cranky making part...

We've turned in a single customs form numerous times despite the stupidity of US local laws, they have generally been willing to acknowledge that other countries have the right to set their own laws. But, apparently they were on a homophobic rampage and we were told that we are not family members because "the US doesn't recognize same sex marriage". I couldn't help myself and asked, "what about the NY State case that upheld the federal law saying you need to honour foreign marriages if they met the laws of the country where they were performed?" His response? "That's a state decision, we're federal." Ummn...yeah, BUT, it's a FEDERAL statute! And, it's been used to enforce marriages of twelve year olds who were married at their parents' behest against their own will. Surely, if you accept that because it was legally performed where it was performed, you ought to accept it when an adult gets married of their own free will in another legally performed ceremony! Urgh! I'm still really :mad::headache: about this issue.

[hematite153]

We got through customs (after filling out a second form) and proceeded to the waiting area...it's pretty small and boring for international flights since our local airport isn't one of the big ones and this was the section for people who are already considered to be in the US. My DW sat down and I stood in the longest Tim Horton's line imaginable to get us some muffins for breakfast.

Shortly after I got out of the line it was time to board our plane. We boarded in the first wave (post small children and guests requiring assistance) because of my DW's status and the fact that the airlines seem to like to see the wheelchair early in their gate checking. When we got to the end of the gangway, we took the feet off of the chair and then I waited until there was an employee to point out the chair to. My DW thought I was being too cautious, but, I don't want to lose it.

After sitting down I went promptly to sleep. I think we went for de-icing and were slightly delayed, but, I was only partially paying attention. Shortly after we were airborne, the lead flight attendant came over to tell us that the w/c was on-board, but, had been left sitting on the tarmac when they first closed the hold because the ground employees were convinced it was an airport chair -- despite the 2 gate check tags, the personal baggage tag and the fact that it was in the gate check clump of stuff. So, in the end, it was lucky that I'd insisted on speaking to a crew member about it because she had asked the ground crew to confirm that they had our w/c. I woke up briefly for this conversation and then went back to sleep. I put a movie on to watch, but, have no idea what happened.

We landed ahead of schedule in Orlando, got to ME without incident (unlike the time we were both convinced that it MUST be on the other side of the terminal), did the new faster check-in, got on a bus and were on our way to WDW within record time. While on the bus, I wrote an update to this report with our schedule. Woohoo!