I made a couple of changes today...or I guess you could say just one change.
I had to call Disney to update my Magical Express information, AGAIN! I was a bit nervous because the CM I got was pretty new, or at least that's the way it seemed. When she answered the phone she said, "Thank you for calling Disney", and then stopped talking. I don't think I've ever had someone answer the phone that way. It's usually a much longer spiel of "Thank you for calling the Walt Disney World Resort, my name is XXXX, how can I help you today?" I didn't even know what to say so I just barked back at her, "Hi". Then it was awkward for a few moments while we both got our bearings.
Then I went and overwhelmed her by saying that I had a few things I needed to do. So as not to go completely nutso, I took it one step at a time.
1. Update DME flight numbers. That was mostly painless, thank god.
2. Check for a LTT lunch or WCC dinner on my Magic Kingdom day. This would replace the Plaza dinner I already had scheduled. As I kept looking at the menu, I wasn't as impressed as I was originally. I don't really like sandwiches and prefer to snack on appetizers most of the time when I go out to eat.
My preference was WCC for dinner. I really wanted to get the skillet since I'm a BBQ addict. Unfortunately, the two times I have checked it was full for dinner time and I didn't want to eat there for lunch. It was on to Plan B - LTT for lunch. I like the appetizer menu here and also would love to try the sticky toffee thing that is available for dessert. The CM kept asking me if I wanted the dinner, even going so far as to read off times. I kept saying - no, lunch please. It took a good few seconds of this before she finally got what I was saying. Oy...but it finally went through her brain and I secured a 1:10pm reservation for that.
3. Make a payment on my reservation. First she wanted to know if I wanted to pay $X amount. I said, uh, that's my deposit, it's already been paid. "Oh yeah" she says...
So then I ask what the balance is and she tells me. I decided I'd pay off about half of it now while I've got the money and then I'd leave the rest to either get paid off in smaller increments or at check-in. That's one thing that I love about room only reservations by the way, you only pay for one night of your stay and tickets (if you've ordered any) up front, then the rest isn't due until check-in. None of that 45 day nonsense to worry about.
Back to what I was saying, she gives me the remaining balance and I take a few seconds to pull out my calculator and figure out what half would be...that seemed to completely throw her off.
It ended up working out, and I gave her my credit card and all was well. I never did get a new email confirmation though, every CM I have ever spoken to about my reservation ALWAYS at least offers to send me an updated itinerary. This one, nope. And unfortunately I didn't realize this until the end of the conversation. So I had no idea if my payment actually went through and thus spent about 12:30 (when I called) until 7pm tonight wondering if I accidentally called bizarro Disney CRO and this was in fact a crazy lady that stole my credit card information. It would explain the weirdness on the phone after all. But all was well and when I plugged in my confirmation number on Disneyworld.com I could see that my payment went through.
In the next post I will put an updated itinerary. The bulk of my planning is finished, which is kind of disappointing since I have more than two months left. I am looking for things to keep me busy in the meantime though. I'm considering getting a new passporter since I really like having all the pockets and stuff to save receipts, put ADR confirmation numbers, tour confirmation numbers, etc. But I'm also leaning towards a binder approach that I saw in someones trip report...sorry, I can't remember who or I would give them credit! I also want to create a visual itinerary, with pictures of the various things I am doing each day. I saw this on a trip report as well, maybe even the same one, and it looked cool and fun to put together. And last buy not least I need a countdown calendar! I have one from last year that I can steal, but I think I will do an all new one. That will probably not be used until August when I get 30 days before my trip. 30 days always seems like a good place to countdown from.
So I made myself feel better by getting a ticket to the MNSSHP!
You've got lots of great plans, and both of you girls have me jealous and wanting a solo trip! 
One of these days...
