RAPstar
Proud Redhead
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2008
Since I'm officially one month away from my trip 
cheer2
, I figured it would be a good time to start my Pre-TR.
I'm Robbie (but people around here call me Andy....its a long story). I'm a Disney/Universal/musical/movie/book junkie. lol I've been to both Universal and Disney every family trip we went to Orlando and love both equally. And one day I'll make it back and finally do a strictly Disney trip....eventually! lol Anywho, here's me:
There's a link to last year's TR in my siggie! And unlike last year, I haven't gotten a single speeding/traffic ticket all year...so far!
So it all started with last year's trip. While planning it, I had thought about going to HHN since it sounded like a blast. But I didn't know anything about tickets and such back then (I didn't know about the DIS then). So I decided not to go. Since then, I discovered the DIS and the many "homies" that go to HHN. So, I told myself then that I was going to go too HHN the following year (this year, lol). All was well in the world. And then Disney had to go and entice people with that Stay 4/3 Free offer. And the whole "Celebrate" thing. And at that time I was getting 6 hours of overtime a week. So I figured I could save on the hotel room, get a dining package, and have plenty of souvie money to boot. And I could swing in a day trip to Uni sometime in the week. Plus I would be celebrating my birthday in "the happiest place on earth". So, I changed my mind (you'll be hearing that a lot, trust me). Anywho, I made my deposit for a stay at the POP. I booked my airfare through Priceline, flying with AirTran (more on them later), and started to try to put back money for the trip and souvies. I also started the dreaded process of trying to decide what ADR's to make, on which day at which time. But was strangely content with doing that as it is an overplanner's dream. lol
All was well in the world.....until Universal had to release their summer Super Saver plan, which was I think 4/3 also, but I can't remember now. So I started thinking again. If I switched to Universal, I could get a better hotel and less stress for about the same price as Disney. Plus I could be at the parks when I wanted, instead of trying to bus everywhere. And I could still go to Disney on my birthday. So...I changed my mind (again). I switched my deposit over, adjusted my budet to add in daily food spending, and started to count down the days until June. But felt oddly empty since I had nothing to plan, since you don't really have to make any dining ressies at Universal.
All was well in the world. But then I started thinking. I really enjoyed my fall trip last year. The lines were nonexistant. Which is always nice. Plus, it probably wouldn't be as hot as June. And....I really really really still wanted to do HHN!!! So, I looked into seeing how much it would be to change my flight. Not much, right at $100, which I don't think would be too bad. But the hotel was going to be a lot more. But I figured I would be ok, assuming I'd still be getting the overtime I was getting. Plus, putting the trip farther back, I could use part of the money I'd already saved to get my car fixed. So....well I guess you know what goes here.
It wasn't long after that that I heard about the Superbowl hotel package. Which was a great deal!! Of course in the mean time, I traded in my car and was moved to another store, losing all of my overtime.
Oh well, I'd still be fine, I'd just have to watch how much I spend.
When I had made my ressie for the RPH, I was booked into a 2 queen room. Which would be somewhat lonely just by myself. So being the nice person that I am, I decided to invite a friend of mine from a different message board to come with, since I wanted to meet him in person and didn't know if I'd be able to. He agreed, since he had also gotten one of those Superbowl tickets. So, that was set and I started counting days and saving. We continued to discuss back and forth miscellaneous details about the trip, and I mentioned, since I had forgotten to, the parking fees the hotel charges, since he'd be driving down. He had almost to decided to back out seeing as he probably couldn't afford to pay that much for parking (and I honestly wasn't going to pay since I was flying down and walking to the parks), so I decided to look into different options. I was browsing www.hotwire.com and found an excellent price on a 1 bedroom resot condo not far from Universal, with free parking. Which in turn would work out, cause we could just trade off days of paying for parking at Universal (since he'd be toting both of us). Plus with the money I'd save for the hotel could be put to eating at some of the better restaurants and for more souvies (and maybe even a day trip to Sea World for their new coaster). So.....I changed my hotel.
All was well in the world......until my friend decides he can't afford to go at all.
And, since I booked through hotwire, my ressie is nonrefundable. So here we are finally. A month from my trip, I'm now staying at the Sheraton Vistana Villages on I-drive, having to either take a bus or cab back and forth to the parks, but I should have plenty of food and souvie money. Plus, I'm finally going to HHN!!!! I've got all my HHN tickets bought, my Superbowl ticket is waiting for me to show up with my ID, I have my Sea World ticket. Now I just have to save up the rest of my money and wait for October 5th to get here!!!!
cheer2, I figured it would be a good time to start my Pre-TR.I'm Robbie (but people around here call me Andy....its a long story). I'm a Disney/Universal/musical/movie/book junkie. lol I've been to both Universal and Disney every family trip we went to Orlando and love both equally. And one day I'll make it back and finally do a strictly Disney trip....eventually! lol Anywho, here's me:
There's a link to last year's TR in my siggie! And unlike last year, I haven't gotten a single speeding/traffic ticket all year...so far!
So it all started with last year's trip. While planning it, I had thought about going to HHN since it sounded like a blast. But I didn't know anything about tickets and such back then (I didn't know about the DIS then). So I decided not to go. Since then, I discovered the DIS and the many "homies" that go to HHN. So, I told myself then that I was going to go too HHN the following year (this year, lol). All was well in the world. And then Disney had to go and entice people with that Stay 4/3 Free offer. And the whole "Celebrate" thing. And at that time I was getting 6 hours of overtime a week. So I figured I could save on the hotel room, get a dining package, and have plenty of souvie money to boot. And I could swing in a day trip to Uni sometime in the week. Plus I would be celebrating my birthday in "the happiest place on earth". So, I changed my mind (you'll be hearing that a lot, trust me). Anywho, I made my deposit for a stay at the POP. I booked my airfare through Priceline, flying with AirTran (more on them later), and started to try to put back money for the trip and souvies. I also started the dreaded process of trying to decide what ADR's to make, on which day at which time. But was strangely content with doing that as it is an overplanner's dream. lol
All was well in the world.....until Universal had to release their summer Super Saver plan, which was I think 4/3 also, but I can't remember now. So I started thinking again. If I switched to Universal, I could get a better hotel and less stress for about the same price as Disney. Plus I could be at the parks when I wanted, instead of trying to bus everywhere. And I could still go to Disney on my birthday. So...I changed my mind (again). I switched my deposit over, adjusted my budet to add in daily food spending, and started to count down the days until June. But felt oddly empty since I had nothing to plan, since you don't really have to make any dining ressies at Universal.
All was well in the world. But then I started thinking. I really enjoyed my fall trip last year. The lines were nonexistant. Which is always nice. Plus, it probably wouldn't be as hot as June. And....I really really really still wanted to do HHN!!! So, I looked into seeing how much it would be to change my flight. Not much, right at $100, which I don't think would be too bad. But the hotel was going to be a lot more. But I figured I would be ok, assuming I'd still be getting the overtime I was getting. Plus, putting the trip farther back, I could use part of the money I'd already saved to get my car fixed. So....well I guess you know what goes here.
It wasn't long after that that I heard about the Superbowl hotel package. Which was a great deal!! Of course in the mean time, I traded in my car and was moved to another store, losing all of my overtime.
Oh well, I'd still be fine, I'd just have to watch how much I spend. When I had made my ressie for the RPH, I was booked into a 2 queen room. Which would be somewhat lonely just by myself. So being the nice person that I am, I decided to invite a friend of mine from a different message board to come with, since I wanted to meet him in person and didn't know if I'd be able to. He agreed, since he had also gotten one of those Superbowl tickets. So, that was set and I started counting days and saving. We continued to discuss back and forth miscellaneous details about the trip, and I mentioned, since I had forgotten to, the parking fees the hotel charges, since he'd be driving down. He had almost to decided to back out seeing as he probably couldn't afford to pay that much for parking (and I honestly wasn't going to pay since I was flying down and walking to the parks), so I decided to look into different options. I was browsing www.hotwire.com and found an excellent price on a 1 bedroom resot condo not far from Universal, with free parking. Which in turn would work out, cause we could just trade off days of paying for parking at Universal (since he'd be toting both of us). Plus with the money I'd save for the hotel could be put to eating at some of the better restaurants and for more souvies (and maybe even a day trip to Sea World for their new coaster). So.....I changed my hotel.
All was well in the world......until my friend decides he can't afford to go at all.
And, since I booked through hotwire, my ressie is nonrefundable. So here we are finally. A month from my trip, I'm now staying at the Sheraton Vistana Villages on I-drive, having to either take a bus or cab back and forth to the parks, but I should have plenty of food and souvie money. Plus, I'm finally going to HHN!!!! I've got all my HHN tickets bought, my Superbowl ticket is waiting for me to show up with my ID, I have my Sea World ticket. Now I just have to save up the rest of my money and wait for October 5th to get here!!!!
Just remember pictures. LOTS and LOTS of pictures!!
