TeresaNJ
Magic Begins With Me
- Joined
- Sep 13, 1999
- Messages
- 5,784
Trip Report May 10-16
Animal Kingdom Lodge/Villas at Wilderness Lodge
Cast of characters:
Teresa, DW, 44, Disney fanatic, trip planner & coordinator.
Harry, DH, 29 (don't ask, he is legal), new Disney fanatic by association with DW.
Mike, Teresa's DS, 20, inherited mom's Disney loving gene.
Dan, Mike's bud, 21, second trip to Disney with us in less than a year.
Prelude: Sometime in early January, after spending a somewhat depressing holiday season (long story, family feud with mother, brother and sister over care of sick relative), a little voice kept nagging in my ear telling me I should plan a trip to WDW in the near future. Nothing fails to pick my spirits up like a Disney trip in the works. I just love the planning stages. I can sit for hours pouring over my WDW guide-books, or reading the DIS, mapping out the days of my next trip to the world.
After reading all the newly published info about AKL, my DH said he would love to stay there. I read on the DIS that people were getting Upsell Rates, or Manager's Special's, so I called CRO, and sure enough was able to book a Savannah view room for a rate of $179 plus tax/per night. I didn't want to use up too many vacation days since we are going to Disney in October, so I thought six nights would be fine, enough to satisfy me until October. This trip was just going to be DH and I, or so I thought. I have three DC, Joe,21, Mike, 20, and Lauren, 15. They all enjoy going to Disney, but none more so than Mike. When I told him DH and I were going to WDW in May, he was excited for us, but I could tell was wishing he could go too. After teasing him for several weeks, and him telling me what a mean mom I was (he'd only been to Disney seven times in the last fifteen years, with an 8th trip to come in October, poor kid!!), DH and I invited him to come along. Although DH and I are scintillating company, I knew Mike would have a much better time if one of his bud's came, so we asked Mike's friend, Dan, if he'd like to come also. It took him about 3 seconds to think about it, and he said yes. DH and I would provide the accomodations, but the guys would have to pay for their airfare and park tickets. Well, actually, we gave Mike his airline ticket for his birthday, which was March 15, and we paid for his AP since I would be buying my daughter's for our upcoming October trip, and Mike just started a new job and didn't have much in savings. The boys also had to pay for their own food and incidental recreation. Of course, grandmom came through for Mike by giving him some spending money (we were speaking by then, still not to sister or brother though). Mike was very appreciative, and is a sweet, loving kid who is always in a pleasant mood, and is good company to take on vacation. Dan also is one of the nicest kids, and out of all my son's friends, we are closest to him. So it was no hardship to take them with us. My DD, Lauren, would have liked to go, but she had missed too many days of school, with being sick with a terrible flu for a week, and just plain old laziness, and not getting up in time. I told her her lackadaisical attitude toward school would come back to bite her, and it did. Her grandmother and one of her friends stayed with her while we were away. We had just gotten a puppy, (Winnie, a beautiful golden retriever, who was 4 months old by the time we went to Disney), so it was Lauren's job to feed her, and take her out, and babysit her. I was more than a little nervous, to tell you the truth, as I wasn't sure Lauren would be mature enough to take on the full responsibility of handling a puppy, and I was afraid our very good progress in house-breaking would backslide if Lauren wasn't diligent enough to stick to the schedule. I have to say, though, that Lauren did a great job. We came home to no major mishaps. DS, Joe, wasn't able to take off from work at that time, therefore, not able to go also.
Anyway, after it was decided that Mike and Dan were coming with us, we needed another room. I called CRO back, but by this time there were no more Manager's Specials, so we asked the guys if they would mind staying in a different resort from us. They said although they would prefer to be with us (yea, right!), they wouldn't mind. So we booked Coronado Springs for them at an AP rate of $99/night plus tax).
Over the next several weeks, DH and I started seriously thinking about purchasing an interest in the DVC since we go to WDW so often, and usually need two rooms. DH and I had stayed at Wilderness Lodge last May 2000 for our honeymoon, and absolutely fell in love with the resort. The Beach Club had been my favorite place to stay in the past, but WL bumped it to second place. After much discussion and several phone calls to DVC and lots of reading and asking questions on the DIS DVC Board, we took the plunge, and I'm so happy we did. We were closing in April, so we were able to book our first trip on points after that. Since DH really, really wanted to stay at AKL, we decided to shorten our trip to three nights there, and three nights at VWL on points. Since our payment for our AKL room was cut in half, I reserved a room for the boys at AKL also for the first three nights, and cancelled the CS ressies. I was able to book them a pool view room with an AP rate of $204/night including tax. We each stayed in our own studio at VWL on points. I was happy it turned out this way because although the boys are adults and would do fine on their own, I just thought it would be a pain in the neck trying to meet up, and we would waste alot of time trying to coordinate schedules while staying at different resorts.
The next step was trying to find affordable airfare. After literally spending several days and hours surfing the net, I came up with r/t direct flights out of Philly for $161, at the times I wanted, on US Air. Everything was set, and now all we had to do was wait. Believe it or not, the time flew by, and the day to leave was here. Stay tuned for the next installment and a trip to the
Emergency Room!!
Day 2: A trip to the ER and stranded at MCO
Animal Kingdom Lodge/Villas at Wilderness Lodge
Cast of characters:
Teresa, DW, 44, Disney fanatic, trip planner & coordinator.
Harry, DH, 29 (don't ask, he is legal), new Disney fanatic by association with DW.
Mike, Teresa's DS, 20, inherited mom's Disney loving gene.
Dan, Mike's bud, 21, second trip to Disney with us in less than a year.
Prelude: Sometime in early January, after spending a somewhat depressing holiday season (long story, family feud with mother, brother and sister over care of sick relative), a little voice kept nagging in my ear telling me I should plan a trip to WDW in the near future. Nothing fails to pick my spirits up like a Disney trip in the works. I just love the planning stages. I can sit for hours pouring over my WDW guide-books, or reading the DIS, mapping out the days of my next trip to the world.
After reading all the newly published info about AKL, my DH said he would love to stay there. I read on the DIS that people were getting Upsell Rates, or Manager's Special's, so I called CRO, and sure enough was able to book a Savannah view room for a rate of $179 plus tax/per night. I didn't want to use up too many vacation days since we are going to Disney in October, so I thought six nights would be fine, enough to satisfy me until October. This trip was just going to be DH and I, or so I thought. I have three DC, Joe,21, Mike, 20, and Lauren, 15. They all enjoy going to Disney, but none more so than Mike. When I told him DH and I were going to WDW in May, he was excited for us, but I could tell was wishing he could go too. After teasing him for several weeks, and him telling me what a mean mom I was (he'd only been to Disney seven times in the last fifteen years, with an 8th trip to come in October, poor kid!!), DH and I invited him to come along. Although DH and I are scintillating company, I knew Mike would have a much better time if one of his bud's came, so we asked Mike's friend, Dan, if he'd like to come also. It took him about 3 seconds to think about it, and he said yes. DH and I would provide the accomodations, but the guys would have to pay for their airfare and park tickets. Well, actually, we gave Mike his airline ticket for his birthday, which was March 15, and we paid for his AP since I would be buying my daughter's for our upcoming October trip, and Mike just started a new job and didn't have much in savings. The boys also had to pay for their own food and incidental recreation. Of course, grandmom came through for Mike by giving him some spending money (we were speaking by then, still not to sister or brother though). Mike was very appreciative, and is a sweet, loving kid who is always in a pleasant mood, and is good company to take on vacation. Dan also is one of the nicest kids, and out of all my son's friends, we are closest to him. So it was no hardship to take them with us. My DD, Lauren, would have liked to go, but she had missed too many days of school, with being sick with a terrible flu for a week, and just plain old laziness, and not getting up in time. I told her her lackadaisical attitude toward school would come back to bite her, and it did. Her grandmother and one of her friends stayed with her while we were away. We had just gotten a puppy, (Winnie, a beautiful golden retriever, who was 4 months old by the time we went to Disney), so it was Lauren's job to feed her, and take her out, and babysit her. I was more than a little nervous, to tell you the truth, as I wasn't sure Lauren would be mature enough to take on the full responsibility of handling a puppy, and I was afraid our very good progress in house-breaking would backslide if Lauren wasn't diligent enough to stick to the schedule. I have to say, though, that Lauren did a great job. We came home to no major mishaps. DS, Joe, wasn't able to take off from work at that time, therefore, not able to go also.
Anyway, after it was decided that Mike and Dan were coming with us, we needed another room. I called CRO back, but by this time there were no more Manager's Specials, so we asked the guys if they would mind staying in a different resort from us. They said although they would prefer to be with us (yea, right!), they wouldn't mind. So we booked Coronado Springs for them at an AP rate of $99/night plus tax).
Over the next several weeks, DH and I started seriously thinking about purchasing an interest in the DVC since we go to WDW so often, and usually need two rooms. DH and I had stayed at Wilderness Lodge last May 2000 for our honeymoon, and absolutely fell in love with the resort. The Beach Club had been my favorite place to stay in the past, but WL bumped it to second place. After much discussion and several phone calls to DVC and lots of reading and asking questions on the DIS DVC Board, we took the plunge, and I'm so happy we did. We were closing in April, so we were able to book our first trip on points after that. Since DH really, really wanted to stay at AKL, we decided to shorten our trip to three nights there, and three nights at VWL on points. Since our payment for our AKL room was cut in half, I reserved a room for the boys at AKL also for the first three nights, and cancelled the CS ressies. I was able to book them a pool view room with an AP rate of $204/night including tax. We each stayed in our own studio at VWL on points. I was happy it turned out this way because although the boys are adults and would do fine on their own, I just thought it would be a pain in the neck trying to meet up, and we would waste alot of time trying to coordinate schedules while staying at different resorts.
The next step was trying to find affordable airfare. After literally spending several days and hours surfing the net, I came up with r/t direct flights out of Philly for $161, at the times I wanted, on US Air. Everything was set, and now all we had to do was wait. Believe it or not, the time flew by, and the day to leave was here. Stay tuned for the next installment and a trip to the
Emergency Room!!
Day 2: A trip to the ER and stranded at MCO
