My tenth trip and still so many new things! A February 2016 Disneymoon PTR *Last Updates 2/10*

[PhoenixStrength]

Hello all and welcome to my latest PTR! For those that haven't read any of my TRs or PTRs before, welcome! Please feel free to reply, I love hearing from everyone as they read along! To get this started let me introduce the players:

My actual name is Stephanie, and I live in Kanab, Utah. I am a Customer Service Representative for a retail location. I am 31 years old and I am engaged to a fantastic, amazing, wonderful man named George, and this trip will actually be for our honeymoon!

George is 27 and is a Customer Service Representative for a bank. He and I met while we worked together for a vet clinic back in Maryland. He is absolutely the sweetest, funniest and most wonderful man I have ever met.





We don't have any two-legged children (and don't plan on having any!), but we do have 4 furry children. We have a dog, Phoenix, who is an 11 year old Beagle/Belgian Malinois mix. Sadly he was diagnosed with prostate cancer (carcinoma) last September. This type of cancer is extremely aggressive and there is very little they can do for him. For now he is on a pain medication and an steroid and those two seem to have him feeling good and acting like himself still. The vet who diagnosed it gave him 2-3 months, but he is almost at 11 months now and is still going strong!

Jag, a 13 year old Maine Coon/Ragdoll mix. He was a rescue from the local animal control when he was 11 weeks old. He is mister laid back and is good buddies with Phoenix.







Turk, a 13 year DSH. His momma was found, while pregnant, by a woman working in Baltimore who was very allergic to cats. She didn't want her to give birth in the city, so she caught her, brought her home, put her in the basement, and told her husband that he had to care for her and the kittens once they were born . She gave birth a few days later. I got Turk at 8 weeks, and she had named him that as all the kittens had been named after Disney movies, so I kept it, with a slightly different spelling!






And finally Sweetie. She is an 9ish year old DSH tabby. I found her when I was living in the boonies, and she adopted me. She went from injured and feral, to healed and sweet as can be in 3 weeks. She is difficult to get pictures of as she never stops moving, but here she is playing, which is her favorite activity!






This trip will be my tenth WDW trip and George's third. This is our second trip there together, our first being December 2014. As I said earlier, this trip is our honeymoon, so it's extra special!

So now that you met George and I, how about we get this PTR started? Any questions or comments please let me know!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

reserved

 

[Pluto0809]

Here! Out of town visiting my Mom right now so I'll be back next week to read and comment.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Woo hoo!!!!! Can hardly wait to hear about the honeymoon trip plans! So glad to hear that Phoenix is doing so well.

 

[afwdwfan]

Hi! Replying on my phone while away from home so sorry for the short comment but I look forward to reading about your plans.

 

[KatMark]

I'm here. I can't promise I'll be here often, but I'll read when I can.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Here! Out of town visiting my Mom right now so I'll be back next week to read and comment.

Hi Ariana! Hope you and your Mom are having fun!

Woo hoo!!!!! Can hardly wait to hear about the honeymoon trip plans! So glad to hear that Phoenix is doing so well.

Thanks Lisa! I can't wait to share our plans, and we are so thankful that Phoenix is doing so well too.

Hi! Replying on my phone while away from home so sorry for the short comment but I look forward to reading about your plans.

Thanks for joining in!

I'm here. I can't promise I'll be here often, but I'll read when I can.

Hey Kathy, thanks for stopping in! I know you aren't here as much so I appreciate anytime you pop by!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

So, let us get this PTR going! We haven't actually booked the trip yet (more on that later) but here is the plan right now, which most of which won't change!

Who: George and I, of course!
What: Honeymoon trip
Where: Walt Disney World
When: February 15-27, 2016

The reason things are still a little bit up in the air is George's sister, Claire. Back story first though: We got engaged April 9th of this year and our original plan was to have our wedding here in Utah at the end of May so we could then take a Disney Cruise to Alaska as our honeymoon. We want a very small wedding, only parents, siblings (with significant others) and grandparents. We decided on our wedding date before the end of April and told everyone our date with no trouble and everyone said the date worked fine for them.

All of a sudden a few weeks ago Claire, George's sister, asked us what our wedding date was again. When I told her she said she couldn't get off work for that date and wouldn't be able to come. She is a pre-school teacher at a private school and they are strict about taking time off. She cannot take any time off the first 6 weeks or last 6 weeks of the school year, so she couldn't get off in May at all. We, of course, wanted her to be able to come so George and I started to rearrange our wedding so she and her husband, Zach, could come. She told me any other time of year was fine so by the end of that same day we decided on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. That is the anniversary of our first date, so we liked that date. We asked everyone again if that date would work and all, Claire included, said it was perfect. Since we could no longer take an Alaskan cruise right after our wedding (they are only offered the end of May through mid August) we knew we wanted to go to Walt Disney World. All seemed fine and we have been planning out of honeymoon details since, until.....

Claire and Zach live in Maryland and decided to take a 2.5 week road trip as their vacation this year. They visited family all across the country and came to stay with us this past weekend. Actually, they left at 5:30am this morning We had a fantastic time with them, they are our best friends, but Claire through another curveball at us yesterday morning. We all went ATVing in Bryce Canyon National Park yesterday morning and on the drive there we started talking about our honeymoon plans. Claire then tells us that since our wedding is the week after Easter she may not be able to get off and asked us to change our wedding date again. Now, I adore Claire and so does George, but that made us mad as I had asked her if any other dates wouldn't work and she said no, any other time would be fine. She also hasn't even asked her boss yet so she may be able to get off but still wanted us to move our wedding to the week of a holiday so she would already have off work and knew she could come. Her husband even pointed out that she should ask when she goes back next week and he thinks she could arrange it. To be honest, George and I talked about it alone and we don't plan on changing our wedding date again, so she better be able to get off work for it!

So, with that out of the way, the honeymoon plans! Our plan, at least for now, is to get married early in the day on April 5th, probably in the 10am to 1pm range. Most guests will probably be heading back home that evening due to their work schedules. My sister, Lisa, will be staying at our house while we are gone to take care of our pets and the house so that afternoon we will show her where everything is and then get everything ready for our honeymoon! We will leave the next morning to fly out to Orlando. Now for the actual WDW stay...

Originally we decided to book at a value resort and then if we were able to save more than that amount we would upgrade our resort. Otherwise we would be happy staying at the value since we plan on lots of park time and other activities not at a resort. On a whim though I looked at the rates for that time for DVC rental and was surprised to see that it was not much more at all to go from the value to staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge in a value studio room. So the plan now is to do that, though we haven't booked it yet. We do plan on booking it soon though!

So, this is way longer than I thought it would be, so I'll leave it at this for now. I'll be back soon with more updates!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Um, so not nice to ask you to change your wedding date not once, but twice. I've looked into renting points and wondered exactly what a value studio room was. I'm anxious to hear more!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Um, so not nice to ask you to change your wedding date not once, but twice. I've looked into renting points and wondered exactly what a value studio room was. I'm anxious to hear more!

Yeah, we were not happy about that at all. Of course we want her there, but she should have said she couldn't get off that week when I asked her what times would work for her!

Try YouTube! I found a video tour of a Animal Kingdom Value Studio there. The user DVCRENTAL has a lot of videos of the dvc rooms at different resorts. We are shocked that it will be over $450 cheaper to stay at a Deluxe resort using dvc rental than it would to stay at CBR!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm just such a scaredy cat when it comes to renting points. I'm so afraid that something will come up and we won't be able to go and then I'm out that money.

 

[KatMark]

Seriously, cannot believe your future sister-in-law asked you to change your date...AGAIN!

I am so happy you are doing DVC rental. As you know, we have done this the last four years and we absolutely love staying at the DVC villas. I don't even think I could go back to my beloved Coronado after more than 12 stays at DVC.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm just such a scaredy cat when it comes to renting points. I'm so afraid that something will come up and we won't be able to go and then I'm out that money.

That's another reason we are waiting to actually book it, we want to make sure nothing comes up because if so we'd be either out of the money or going no matter what!

Seriously, cannot believe your future sister-in-law asked you to change your date...AGAIN!

I am so happy you are doing DVC rental. As you know, we have done this the last four years and we absolutely love staying at the DVC villas. I don't even think I could go back to my beloved Coronado after more than 12 stays at DVC.

Yeah, I love her, I really do, but she really made us both mad with that. The first time she didn't ask us to change it, she just told us that the new school policy wouldn't let her off then and we offered to change it since we want her there. This second time though she flat out said we should change it, we should make it over a holiday so she wouldn't have to take off work days to come, tried to say George's Dad couldn't get off then either (he already told us he absolutely could!) and asking why we chose that date as it was inconvenient to her. She even got her husband a bit miffed at her and he told her she should try asking her boss first and not make so many assumptions.

We are happy and excited too! Thanks for the help you already gave me, I'm sure I'll come up with more questions at some point for you!

 

[afwdwfan]

Claire then tells us that since our wedding is the week after Easter she may not be able to get off and asked us to change our wedding date again.

Oh no... Really????

She also hasn't even asked her boss yet so she may be able to get off but still wanted us to move our wedding to the week of a holiday so she would already have off work and knew she could come. Her husband even pointed out that she should ask when she goes back next week and he thinks she could arrange it.

I'm so sorry about all of this. I can't believe she didn't even ask about getting the time off. To ask you to change your wedding date not once, but twice is just a bit much! I hope this date works for her and she definitely needs to make sure to check on it and ask for that time off right away!

On a whim though I looked at the rates for that time for DVC rental and was surprised to see that it was not much more at all to go from the value to staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge in a value studio room. So the plan now is to do that, though we haven't booked it yet. We do plan on booking it soon though!

Looks like a great plan, but you probably need to verify your dates and get something booked ASAP. My understanding is that these things go fast because they don't take as many points.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Oh no... Really????

I'm so sorry about all of this. I can't believe she didn't even ask about getting the time off. To ask you to change your wedding date not once, but twice is just a bit much! I hope this date works for her and she definitely needs to make sure to check on it and ask for that time off right away!

Looks like a great plan, but you probably need to verify your dates and get something booked ASAP. My understanding is that these things go fast because they don't take as many points.

Supposedly she was going to ask last week but we still haven't heard anything from her. We hope she can come too, but we aren't going to change the date again. She will have to make it work!

We should be booking the dates within the next 3 weeks. We had to dip into the saved money for an emergency (nothing serious at all, just expensive and unexpected!) but should have the money back within the next few weeks. We know they go fast, so we are trying to get it together as fast as possible so we can get it!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Just a quick life update!

Right now I am working as a CSR for a retail location here in Kanab, but in 2.5 weeks I will be starting a new job! I am actually moving to the company George works for and will be a CSR for a local bank. We won't work directly together and our schedules will be slightly different but I am very excited. The job has better pay, more hours, a regular schedule, much better benefits and seems to be something I will enjoy doing much more. Oh, and this company has an awesome overtime policy where they email out the overtime availability each week and you can just sign up for any you want! You don't have to do any, or you can work as much as you can sign up for, they don't care. So, if we need some extra money or want to save up for more stuff to do at WDW, we easily can! George has actually been working about 8 hours of overtime each week for the last few weeks already.

We are both very excited about this career move for me. And more money means more we can save for and do at WDW! More on those plans coming soon!

 

[KatMark]

Just a quick life update!

Right now I am working as a CSR for a retail location here in Kanab, but in 2.5 weeks I will be starting a new job! I am actually moving to the company George works for and will be a CSR for a local bank. We won't work directly together and our schedules will be slightly different but I am very excited. The job has better pay, more hours, a regular schedule, much better benefits and seems to be something I will enjoy doing much more. Oh, and this company has an awesome overtime policy where they email out the overtime availability each week and you can just sign up for any you want! You don't have to do any, or you can work as much as you can sign up for, they don't care. So, if we need some extra money or want to save up for more stuff to do at WDW, we easily can! George has actually been working about 8 hours of overtime each week for the last few weeks already.

We are both very excited about this career move for me. And more money means more we can save for and do at WDW! More on those plans coming soon!

Awesome news, Stephanie.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Awesome news, Stephanie.

Thanks Kathy! We are both very excited.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Trip Update:

Guess what happened on Wednesday? That's right, Claire (George's sister) texted him saying she couldn't get off work for our new wedding date because it was teacher evaluation week and her boss wouldn't let her off. I wish we were shocked, but we definitely weren't. We were both at work but we can occasionally text each other and so we started talking about what to do. Our initial thought was anger and oh well, we are not changing it. Once the initial anger wore off though we thought about it and realized that no matter how annoying it was, we would regret not trying to see if there was another date where she could come. We would regret not having her (and her husband Zack) there more than we would regret changing the date.

That night George and I talked and compared rates for flights, WDW stay, etc for different dates in that time period. We remembered Claire saying that over holidays, when she would already be off work, would be easier for her. The two holidays in that time period would be President's Day and Easter/Spring Break. The cost for Easter/Spring Break was a ton more for everything, while President's Day was actually cheaper than our original April dates. When looking at the date for President's Day weekend we also discovered that it was Valentine's Day too. We thought we would try for that weekend over Easter since it would be cheaper.

Over the course of Wednesday evening, Thursday morning and early Thursday afternoon George and I both texted back and forth with Claire. What she told both of us was that she didn't think she could take of any time during the school year. When we told her we would be willing to get married over a holiday so she wouldn't have to take off work she then changed to saying we should get married in Maryland instead. After telling her no to that, for reasons she already knows, she then came up with a new, flimsy medical excuse that probably won't keep her from flying, but there is a very small chance it might. After we pointed out to her that she most likely would have no trouble flying she stated that we didn't know everything and we haven't heard from her since, over 24 hours ago.

So, we tried and all we got was more excuses and demands from her so we are done trying. We did decide to move the wedding to February 14th so that it is a holiday weekend and we hope she can come, but that's it. If she doesn't come than it is on her. We did all we could but it's our wedding and we have to do what we want. This did put me in a bit of a panic as that is already within the 180 day ADR window, so I quickly made those that I could (our last 3 days there aren't open yet) and was able to get all we wanted except one, which we should be able to get on one of the days not yet open for reservations. All in all we are actually quite happy with the new date so it's not all bad!

So, this was a lot longer than I anticipated it would be! Short version, Claire made more excuses why our wedding date wouldn't work for her, we changed it, she still doesn't know if she can come, but oh well! I'll be back very soon to start on our plans!

Edit to add 8/29: Claire actually texted us this morning saying that she does have that weekend off and will be at our wedding, so hopefully all of this craziness and drama from her is over.

 

[KatMark]

Can I go slap the woman? Seriously this is not about "her". You are a saint to deal with this. At least you get to get married on Valentines Day and Geitge can't possibly forget your anniversary