Non-running Trip Details Update: A DISCOUNT...with a twist
I did a post about a month ago with details about our resort and ADRs for the marathon trip. Early on we had decided to take the plunge and stay at the Polynesian, all the while crossing our fingers and toes that a discount would come out at some point.
Yesterday the first one was released! (Thanks again steph0808 for letting me know about it...you're awesome!
)
Rather than call to update my reservation right away as I should have, I was a responsible worker and got some stuff done. These trips have to be paid for somehow, right?! As a result I didn't actually get on the phone with Disney until almost 3PM...
...
...do you see where this is going??
After about 3 minutes on hold I talked to a very nice CM who took a look at my reservation (4 nights at the Polynesian in the cheapest room they had) and informed me that there were no rooms in that category that could use this discount.
I actually wasn't too shocked by this. I know Disney only puts aside a certain number of rooms that can use these discounts, and I did take my sweet time calling...so it's possible that all of the discounted rooms in the category we wanted were already snatched up, or that there were never any discounted rooms in our category to begin with.
We'll never know.
The CM let me know that there WERE Polynesian rooms available with the discount, but they were themepark view rooms. The price from our original reservation would drop only $100 if we booked one. As tempting as it was to say "Heck yes! I want to wake up looking at the Magic Kingdom each morning!
" I turned that one down. At that point I asked her to give me some more prices and called Will to talk it over. We quickly made a decision (one that I probably could have just made when I was on the phone with the first CM, but I wanted to be a good wife and run it by Will first
) and then I called Disney back. This time I was on hold for 20 minutes!
Yikes! I guess word was out about the discount. But luckily the call went fine and we got the new room we wanted.
It's not at the Polynesian.
However, it is at...
..................................
(picture from disneyworld.com)
THE GRAND FLORIDIAN. THE GRAND FREAKIN' FLORIDIAN.
(Hmm...will I not fit in at the GF if I use the work "FREAKIN'"?
)
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed to not be staying at the Polynesian, but making the switch to the Grand Floridian saves us $400 with this discount. And let's face it, it's not exactly like we're taking a step down in resort quality, ya know?! Really, when one's biggest "problem" in life is "darn, I'm staying at the Grand Floridian instead of the Polynesian!" life ain't too bad.
The more I think about this resort switcharoo, the more I like it. We've wanted to stay at the GF for awhile now but never really thought it was possible ($$$), so we're pretty excited about this. I know there are people who find the place stuffy, but we don't (weirdly enough we felt more uncomfortable during dinner at the Contemporary in 2011
). And we still get to stay on the monorail - a first for us - meaning that I don't have to change any of our ADRs. So we'll still be at the Polynesian quite a bit. And I am SO looking forward to easy access to the Magic Kingdom (assuming the monorails aren't having work done at the point). Plus, I know that the marathon race course goes right by the GF, so Will can just stumble out of the room and watch us run by!
I do have a couple of concerns, the bigger one being the not-really-happening-but-come-on-we're-not-idiots-Disney DVC construction going on at the Grand Floridian. From what I've read it sounds like most of the current refurbishments going on now should be done by January, except for the spa...which I wasn't planning on using anyway. But you never know. And if I'm being 100% truthful, I'm nervous that the room decor is going to look like my grandma styled it. No offense to my grandma, but...ya know.
So that's the big trip news! I know people change their resorts all the time, but I am SO not like that. This is the first time we've switched it up (not counting 2011 when our point rental at Kidani fell through 1 month before the trip
and we switched to Jambo...but technically it's still the same resort...sort of)...so I have some research to do!
And we WILL stay at the Polynesian some day...I hope. Just not the right time I guess!
Happy Friday!!