Chapter 4: A Little Story about Buying Tickets
Like many planners here on the DIS Boards, I have never been completely satisfied with our lodging. I am constantly looking for a better place to stay and a better deal. I'm fairly sure we've got the best deal on Vistana and I'm happy with it... but that doesn't mean that when I get an email from All Ears that talks about a different resort with a different deal that I don't spend a few minutes reading it and considering.
And it doesn't mean that I don't watch the Codes & Rates board here... in the vain hope that Disney would release an awesome discount for our dates.
Readers, this really bugs my family. They don't understand the whole constant checking for a better deal/better place. It annoys them that I'm never happy with what I've got. I pull out examples of times where I wasn't happy and I got us a better deal or better lodging. They agree, and then tell me to stop anyway.
Last month, we were siting around talking about Valentine's Day. Dan, the budget man, is not a huge fan of V-Day. It's a made up holiday that requires him to spend money, so he's not a fan. He turns to me and says, "You know how you're planning our show schedule for Spring Break." Me, thinking of my handy spread sheet, "Yup." Dan: "Why don't you just go ahead and make all those reservations for your Valentine's Day gift?"
Does anyone see the problem I might have with this? Um, we're going to those shows whether or not there's a Valentine's Day in there. And I'm making those reservations -- if I choose -- regardless. (I actually decided to wait until we get there to make show reservations. We're going to go crazy and just fly by the seat of our pants.)
Nope, not fooling me buddyboy.
I counter propose. "Dude, that's not a Valentine's Day gift in any language. However, I will compromise. Let's go to AAA and buy our Disney tickets. Then we can go out to dinner at Panera. I'll consider that a lame Valentine's Day gift and let you off the hook."
You see... if we have our Disney tickets in hand, there will be no more hoping for free dining PINs. If we have our tickets, we will be staying offsite. I've researched enough to know that Vistana is the best offsite option for us. Purchasing the tickets would mean that I'd have to say to myself, "OK, we're staying offsite and we're going to make this the best offsite trip ever. It's going to be so much more awesome than if we'd stayed onsite. We shall make it so."
Dan the Budget Man has every Friday off. So one Friday after I got off work, I came home, everyone hopped in our aging Uplander and we drove to the west side of town to the AAA office. I made Dan drive because I hate traffic on the west side. Those drivers are crazy.
The kids waited in the van, and Dan and I went to buy the tickets.
Oh wait -- I should add here that in addition to my Branson spreadsheet, I of course have a Disney spreadsheet going. I have one break day in our Disney portion of the trip. However, I'd been thinking that with Test Track being down, we probably didn't need two full days at Epcot. While the kids and I will probably enjoy World Showcase, Dan's tolerance for anything educational/non-scream inducing is very low. So one full day is probably more than enough at Epcot. I had been tossing out ideas for what we could do with that second day I had scheduled. My favorite idea was going to Sea World. I thought my thrill seekers would love Manta and Kraken. I thought I'd love Sea World (even though I am fish-phobic, I love the whales and dolphins). (P.S. Stop laughing. There is too such a thing as fish phobia. Ichthyophobia. Look it up.)
Anyway... Dan was really not on board for the whole "let's go to Sea World" idea. More money, you know. So then I said, "Let's at least go to Aquatica."
We walk into AAA, they give us another spreadsheet with prices and ticket options. I walked in intending to buy 10 day MYW tickets. No options. Even though I only had 8 park days planned.
Dan looks at the spreadsheet and says, "Let's get 8 day tickets and add the Water Parks option. It's only $30/more per ticket from what we planned spending." Left unsaid was "and quite a bit cheaper than buying a ticket to Sea World and/or Aqautica."
Since my kids love water parks, especially Disney water parks, I decided that would be a fine idea.
So after 30 minutes of one lady teaching another how to ring up Disney tickets, and AAA being unable to ring them up as a group, but having to ring them up individually, then activate, and me getting constant texts from my kids who decided to stay in the car...
You should have seen how nervous I was with those things sitting in my purse during dinner at Panera and shopping at Target. I just knew some random shopper at Target was waiting to steal our Disney tickets right outta my purse.
And did you notice that diamond lane parking pass? I casually asked about it, knowing that some AAA offices only give them out if you book a package through them. "Oh, sure," said the nice lady behind the counter. "We've got a whole stack." It's a little perk from AAA. We still have to pay for parking, but that was in our budget anyway. The diamond lane card will simply get us parking closer to the front if it's available. I'm guessing we're going to be some of the first cars in the lot each day, so I doubt we need it, but it might be nice to have if we leave and come back later.
Came home that night and redid my Disney spreadsheet. Had to drop one ADR, but we're OK with it. Next up is refamiliarizing myself with the water parks. We've been to both parks -- and if you're in the mood, you should read about our day at Blizzard Beach in 2007 -- but I always felt like I lost my sense of direction once inside the park. I'm determined not to let that happen again.
I think I'd promised some ADR talk this weekend, but I just felt like the ticket story was ready to come out of me. ADRs in the next week, I promise!
Can't wait to hear all about your ADRs.
I see that I strike another mention in someone elses TR or PTR! I am starting to get a rep...is that good or bad. I am already plotting and planning our next trip...and I want it to be a surprise again. My family really does not get into the planning so the secret and the planning are my fun. 
I saw on the news about a tornado there last night...I hope too much of the town wasn't damaged...it was a great place.
Funny you mention Branson...my mother has been wanting to go back (we have not gone since I was expecting Boo...that was what almost 13 years ago)!
I too work for schools...I spent 16 years in an upper elementary classroom and now 5 years out of the classroom working with teachers to improve instruction...after the day I had today, I am really thinking I would prefer a room full of discipline problems than my staff!
I promise to come back later and comment more.
Hi Kim. Just wanted to pop in and say how much I am enjoying your PTR so far. We are going to WDW in June as well. We are from the SW MO area and spend a lot of time at Silver Dollar City too.
I finally convinced him to get a trim. I basically told him he had to get a trim to clean it up or it was getting cut short again. He didn't really put up a fight. But then again, he is only 11 and knows that what we say goes.
I completely agree!
I perfected the art of threatening a long time ago on my brother and sister (5 and 7 years younger than me) who I basically raised early on and they both towered over me once they hit their teens. Did I mention that my 11 year old son is almost as tall as I am. Actually, I'm afraid to measure him anymore because he might just be a bit taller than me now!
Dis meets are fun!
I know how you feel. At the end of last summer, an F3 twister went through my hometown. The house and street where I grew up were completely gone. The downtown area was destroyed. I spent a lot of time looking at pictures of the devastation. It broke my heart to see the destruction that was caused in less than 5 minutes. But it was also nice to read about so many people going and helping with the cleanup and rebuilding. I am sure that the same will happen in Branson. And in the other areas that were hit yesterday - so much destruction!
So sorry you've had a rough day. Hope tomorrow is a brighter day.
I know how you feel with the tornado damage---It will be a year in April that those devastating tornados went through Alabama. I remember just being glued to my tv, not believing what I was seeing.
On a lighter note-YAY for new iPhones!
On a lighter note we will be at WDW June 2nd -10th. We would love to meet up if you are there at the same time
Jealous about your IPhone... Jealous beyond belief. If you want to know how jealous I am - there's probably 10 pages of my PTR dedicated to it a few weeks ago. LOL Unfortunately, I am locked into a contract with Tmob for another 4 months... as soon as our contract is up - I am outta there and off to ATnT for an Iphone.
Again, so thankful that you all are safe.
D~
I know how you feel. At the end of last summer, an F3 twister went through my hometown. The house and street where I grew up were completely gone. The downtown area was destroyed. I spent a lot of time looking at pictures of the devastation. It broke my heart to see the destruction that was caused in less than 5 minutes. But it was also nice to read about so many people going and helping with the cleanup and rebuilding. I am sure that the same will happen in Branson. And in the other areas that were hit yesterday - so much destruction!
won't eat onions, peppers, or tomatoes. He'll eat salsa, or ketchup, he just won't eat any of those things in a recognizable form.
won't eat fish. Dan says I'm picky, but that's really my only line I won't cross. 
is a Vegetarian. Just a regular old "I don't eat meat" vegetarian. It's been a learning curve for me to figure out what to have in the house for him so that he could get enough protein. Going out to eat takes a little more thought because we have to make sure that the restaurant has a decent vegetarian option. We went to Applebee's once and he ended up eating onion rings. It was the only non-meat option that sounded good to him. We need to make sure he has some choices over those two weeks.
eats healthy. She likes fresh ingredients, non-processed food. She does not usually eat with the family if we eat fast food. She'd prefer to stay home and make a salad or peanut butter sandwich (on whole grain bread, of course). I don't know how she does it. I eat healthier now, but I get really cranky if I can't eat a cookie if I want.
Girl is an All-American eater. She doesn't have to flip through a menu for a half hour to find something acceptable. Give her a burger and fries or some pizza and she's a happy girl.
We've eaten at each place you listed during past trips, but for this trip we are eating at Sci-Fi and 'Ohana! We do one of the last sittings too!
Looks as if we have the same dining tastes.
I'm also going to try to book the Wishes dessert party as a surprise for my family. Hoping it will open up for May bookings soon!
Our current ADR list includes:
Crystal Palace for breakfast before the park opens. We really enjoyed getting into parks before opening last trip and our favorite was CP. I thought this was probably Dan would want to cancel (he feels our kids are too old for character meals), but I said something about it and he told me not to cancel it yet. That tells me he still likes the idea of getting into the parks early. We have this scheduled for our first morning. Hoping we decide to keep it.
We really enjoyed the early entry to the park too...and the food was not bad either...one of the better meals we had!
Prime Time Cafe for Father's Day. This is Dan's favorite place to eat in the whole world, so why wouldn't we eat there for Father's Day? He loves home cooking.
We had ADR but the family was running on empty the last day and we skipped it.
Tusker House lunch. My teens really pushed for Boma for this one, but I really feel that is too far outside Dan's comfort zone. So Tusker House it is. Not sure how I feel about it being a character meal, but the teens are so excited about it that I now we won't cut this one.
Plaza at MK for dinner. If I can get us the Wishes dessert party, this one will get cut. I really want the dessert party. Kiah really doesn't. I'm going to win this one because I'm the mom. I have yet to actually be able to sit and see fireworks at Disney. We've watched them from behind the castle, from the bridge to Splash Mountain, from everywhere but the hub. And I like dessert. I have my heart set on the desssert party. And Dan the budget man said I could book it. Kiah really likes the menu at the Plaza, but I think we could probably get the same sandwiches, etc. at Panera. So it goes.
I think the dessert party was Goo's favorite meal of the entire trip...he still wants to go back and do it again. I have to admit is was a really good place to watch the fireworks and see tink fly right about you.
Sci Fi Dine In. This is Tater's favorite place and frankly, the CS options at Hollywood Studios are just not good. I went ahead and made this ADR, knowing we might need to drop some and thinking that this would be one that I wouldn't miss too much. So basically I knew Dan would want to cut 2 or 3, and I needed to give him 2 or 3 that wouldn't break my heart.
This was one of our worst meals and service of the entire trip...so disappointed
Ohana breakfast. Ches loves Lilo & Stitch and this was the last TS meal we did on our last trip. We went to MK, did rope drop and a few things we loved, went to Ohana for the last possible seating, had an excellent, relaxed brunch, then back over to MK to see Philharmagic... and then we said goodbye to Disney. We want that to become a tradition, so I've booked us the last seating for breakfast. We won't drop this one.
Did not do breakfasy, but loved dinner here!
Mythos at Islands of Adventure. Mythos gets such rave reviews that I thought we should give it a try. I know Dan will be all over the fried chicken wrap with mashed potatoes inside. That is the stuff his dreams are made of.
The meal was good, you should find lots of selections to please everyone in your group here. It was a little too snobby food for my dh. There is a great salad with blueberries and greens...
So that's pretty much it. We're only doing one Epcot day and plan to snack our way through the day. .
