~Well since I have 2 people following I am going to keep on going. Oh who am I kidding. I would have kept going and going until someone felt bad for me and stopped and left a message. Even if it was just a Mod. moving me to a different board. So lets continue shall we.
We were
NOT supposed to be going to Disney this year. Last year we went and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, club level, savanha view.
When we were booking that trip we said that we would not go again until 2010. Dh and I agreed. I promised not to bring it up but I did have my fingers crossed behind my back as I made the promise. Soooo technically I didn't really promise. We have been together for 15 years, married 10, so I feel that it is not my fault at all that when my mouth said "I promise" but my eyes said "yeah right" he didn't catch on. I always tell him this and then he always reminds me that we were on the phone while he was at work when I made the promise so he couldn't see my eyes. Whatever. Excuses, excuses.
We did a grand gathering in 2007 and had a blast! The whole family ~23 of us~ agreed that we would all go back in 2010. So the fact that we were going back in 2008 "was supposed to be enough" to hold us over until 2010. So one day the kids were at school and The Baby was napping so I decided to get out my scrapbooking stuff so I could look at it and put it back away. After that 28 seconds I decided to come on the DIs board and check out what was happening. I was planning on reading a trip report, looking at some food porn or praying for the poor Newbie that dared to ask if it was ok to bring the re-usable mugs that their parents had gotten when they went to Disney earlier in the year and if so could they re-fill them at other resorts while they were pool hopping. Poor dear soul. Hope you made it out alive. But before I could really get started, out of the corner of my eyes what did appear? No not santa and his 8 tiny reinder! It was the BUY 4 GET 3 FREE!! I could not believe it. I felt like it must be a prank. I didn't realize Disney gave you things for free. I mean one time while we were walking in MK one of the CM's stopped us and gave my sons a free strawberry/vanilla swirl ice cream. At the time we could not believe it. They just wanted us to take the ice cream and not give them money for it?? I was sooo confused that I looked around to see if the cast from MTV's Punked were running towards us. Once I saw the coast was clear~no cameras, no microphones coming our way~ I said thank you. So if a $3.00 free ice cream threw me for a loop imagine my shock when I saw they were giving hotel and tickets for free.
Once I started reading what people were saying that they were getting for deals I knew I had to find a way to convince DH that promises are for losers. And we are not losers! It was complicated. See I am the spender, Dh is the saver. I am the "screw the plan let's do what we want to" type and he is the "we already made a plan so why are trying to change it" type. This does not just pertain to disney. It is just part of our DNA make up. I guess it is a good thing b/c it means our kids will have college money and not just a closet full of mickey eyes and disney trading pins. So I knew that I needed to come up with the right approach or my idea would be shot down.
It just happened that my sister called the same day to say that she would not be able to make the 2010 trip. She was on of the heavy hitters. You know, the ones that you would really be bummed out if they could not make it. Then another heavy hitter found out she was pregnant with twins and would not be joining us. So at that point I sent an email to everyone that was supposed to be going on the 2010 grand gathering to see who thought that they would still be going. Well, well, well. Found out that most said they could not go, a few said we are not sure but probably not and one,yes 1 group said they were still planning on going. At least it was one of the heavy hitters! So now I had to decide if I was going to get ALL the info (hotel, price,etc...) and approach Dh or if I should do it in bits and pieces. Well that night while he was on the porch grilling steaks I went outside to keep him company and just talk. Out of no-where I hear someone say "guess what I read today. Disney is having a great special going on where they will give you 3 days for free if you pay for 4." From the look on his face and the fact that he is staring at me and well.....the fact that their was nobody else around......I could tell that I just said it. I was really mad at myself b/c I had still not decided how I wanted to go about telling him. Well the cat was out of the bag but I just decided to lean back on the deck chair and play it cool. I just leaned back on the back of the chair, folded my arms, crossed one leg infront of the other, steadied my voice and said ~wouldn't it be great if they bring that special back out in 2010. He says..Hell yeah! That's a great deal. I had to keep acting calm and cool but I was sweating b/c I know that if DH thinks something is a GREAT deal he is all over it. So since I felt like I was going to pop from excitement at the thought that maybe, just maybe we will go again I had to say that I thought I heard the baby waking up and had to go check him.
So the next day I decided that I would look at the website, get some quotes and then drop the bomb on him. I checked the BC/YC, WL, AKL, Contem. and the Poly. He has been saying that he wants to stay at the Poly (sorry Poly lovers but I just ain't feeling that place
) so I got a quote from them. Even though I have ZERO desire to stay at the Poly I am smart enough to know that if it comes down to staying at the Poly or staying home~after a second to think about it~ I would stay at the Poly. So after I got a quote from them I decided to get a quote for the Boardwalk and the other hotels listed. There are 2 places I want to stay. The Boardwalk and the Grand Floridian. I will stay at the GF but only on a trip when it is just me and DH. Well, well, well. What. Do. You. Know. The Boardwalk had our dates (Poly we had to play around with the dates) and the price was GREAT!!!! Others had our dates and good prices also. So that night I told him that I talked to everyone and only one other family is definatly coming in 2010. He says "oh really, that stinks." I say "yeah I know~with a sigh~" After about an hour I say. I was just thinking.......if no one else is really planning on going in 2010 why don't we see if the other family wants to go this year and we can take advantage of that B4G3 free promotion. He thinks about it and says "yeah but remember our plan" and I look at him and say "yeah but remember the great deal?" Now, a "great deal" usually always trumps a "plan" with him. So I then hear the words I was hoping to hear. Why don't you give our TA a call and see what kind of deals she can get. So I again act soooooo calm and tell him that I was wondering if the B4G3 promo was really a good deal or not so I had done some researching myself and called Disney to see what all the hype was about. I tell him that it really is a good deal and that I found out the last time they offered this deal was YEARS ago. Now a "great deal" trumps a "plan" but a "great deal that hardly EVER happens" trumps everything! So I go get my notebook and show him the dates, places, plan options and prices. We compare everything to each other and then compare it to the price of our last trip. That is when it happened. That is when I saw his eyes glaze over. I could tell that he was picturing the "Disney Drugs." And low and behold, he needed them. He wanted them. He realized just how far away 2010 really is. He realized he could not go that long "without get'en himself some of the stuff they were selling." So he stands up to walk out of the room and says the magical words...........Call the TA in the morning and book it!
Up next: Where are we staying? When are we staying? Why we picked this one as our final choice.