Hi, friends...thought I'd share the story of some pretty crazy last-minute thoughts and plans that worked out...it's pixie dust at work for sure! And all goes to prove that w/some flexibility, patience, and willingness to make daily phone calls, even "impossible" last-minute plans can work out!
Last August we made plans to take two good friends w/us to BWV 1/7-1/12. We got a std view 1-br for the Mon-Thurs night portion of the stay; a preferred view for Sunday night and WL'ed for the std view Sunday night. Well, the WL hadn't come through by the time I'd lose my points if I changed over to a std view (I have a Feb UY, so getting 6 points back in January would just waste the points), so we just left things as is.
Then, on December 17, S & I decided we'd like to go 2 days early, to have some time together and because we are now addicted to Disney for a week at a time (not so long ago, we viewed 5 days/4 nights as a "treat"...now anything less than a week seems like a hardship! Oh, what DVC ownership does to one's "need" for Disney!!!)...
Well, I knew that the Marathon was happening that weekend, and that chances for getting anything weren't real good...but, I'd messed up w/some T-giving trip planning and so had 8 points I would lose if I didn't use them by 1/31, so it seemed worth trying to add the extra nights...all it cost to try was a phone call, so I tried...
It took til yesterday (12/28), with me making phone calls every couple of days until 12/23, and then every day 12/26 & 12/27, and then two phone calls yesterday...but it has all worked out positively magically.
First, we snagged a reservation at the Dolphin for Fri-Sat...definitely ok and definitely better than not going...but the Dolphin is not Disney; it didn't "save" my 8 points; we couldn't take ME, and it was a $600 (give or take) cash "hit"...so I took the reservation, but decided to keep trying for either a DVC studio or a CRO cash reservation...
Next day, we got SSR on points for Sat night. Yay. That saves us $300 AND keeps me from losing those 8 points!...but for Friday I still have to take "paid" transportation to the Dolphin from MCO (I find that for me, ME is worth a lot more than the $19 one-way ticket cost on Mears...there's just something psychologically valuable about being taken by ME to & from...I LOVE Magical Express!!!)....
I kept calling; some days there was nothing available; some days there was a room but a room that made no sense--e.g., a $700+ "junior suite" at CSR...then, last night we got a studio at OKW (cash ressie, thru CRO) WITH AN AP DISCOUNT!!!!!!
Then, I called to change our airplane tickets...knowing I'd incur a $200 "change fee" ($100 for each of us)...well, I did incur the fee...but the price of the tix had gone down by $190 since I paid for them last August, so it cost only $10 in "new money" to change our flight to MCO!
We're so happy right now we're dancin' in the family room...OKW ($200/cash) Friday; SSR (on points) Saturday; BWV (on points) Sunday-Friday...
And I'm just "in shock" that it all worked And SO excited about going back to our favorite spot in the world next week!
Happy New Year everyone...
Last August we made plans to take two good friends w/us to BWV 1/7-1/12. We got a std view 1-br for the Mon-Thurs night portion of the stay; a preferred view for Sunday night and WL'ed for the std view Sunday night. Well, the WL hadn't come through by the time I'd lose my points if I changed over to a std view (I have a Feb UY, so getting 6 points back in January would just waste the points), so we just left things as is.
Then, on December 17, S & I decided we'd like to go 2 days early, to have some time together and because we are now addicted to Disney for a week at a time (not so long ago, we viewed 5 days/4 nights as a "treat"...now anything less than a week seems like a hardship! Oh, what DVC ownership does to one's "need" for Disney!!!)...
Well, I knew that the Marathon was happening that weekend, and that chances for getting anything weren't real good...but, I'd messed up w/some T-giving trip planning and so had 8 points I would lose if I didn't use them by 1/31, so it seemed worth trying to add the extra nights...all it cost to try was a phone call, so I tried...
It took til yesterday (12/28), with me making phone calls every couple of days until 12/23, and then every day 12/26 & 12/27, and then two phone calls yesterday...but it has all worked out positively magically.
First, we snagged a reservation at the Dolphin for Fri-Sat...definitely ok and definitely better than not going...but the Dolphin is not Disney; it didn't "save" my 8 points; we couldn't take ME, and it was a $600 (give or take) cash "hit"...so I took the reservation, but decided to keep trying for either a DVC studio or a CRO cash reservation...
Next day, we got SSR on points for Sat night. Yay. That saves us $300 AND keeps me from losing those 8 points!...but for Friday I still have to take "paid" transportation to the Dolphin from MCO (I find that for me, ME is worth a lot more than the $19 one-way ticket cost on Mears...there's just something psychologically valuable about being taken by ME to & from...I LOVE Magical Express!!!)....
I kept calling; some days there was nothing available; some days there was a room but a room that made no sense--e.g., a $700+ "junior suite" at CSR...then, last night we got a studio at OKW (cash ressie, thru CRO) WITH AN AP DISCOUNT!!!!!!
Then, I called to change our airplane tickets...knowing I'd incur a $200 "change fee" ($100 for each of us)...well, I did incur the fee...but the price of the tix had gone down by $190 since I paid for them last August, so it cost only $10 in "new money" to change our flight to MCO!
We're so happy right now we're dancin' in the family room...OKW ($200/cash) Friday; SSR (on points) Saturday; BWV (on points) Sunday-Friday...
And I'm just "in shock" that it all worked And SO excited about going back to our favorite spot in the world next week!
Happy New Year everyone...
. You are so lucky!! I'm glad everything worked out...have fun and I hope you do another trip report...they are really interesting and informative.
