Because I'm his "Best Girl" - Live from the World

[mumto2]

Like most people here, I adore Disney. I did not start this addiction until my early thirties, and DH swears I've been making up for lost time

DH likes our trips, but mostly because of how much the kids and I love them. So when he asked for a year off to try a beach vacation, I had to say yes. But even then, I managed to get a little magic into the trip - we went to St. Augustine, home of a Character Premiere Outlet

The joke in our family was that the reason behind my first ever PIN code email this fall is that there must have been panic in the WDW home office, profits falling, stock prices plummeting... all because it had been over a year since a certain family had been through the gates...

The kids (DD11 and DS4) are certifiable Disney junkies, just like their mama. From the time she was old enough to write, DD has been making trip grids with me - planning ADRs, scouring Birnbaum's for insider information. DS's first haircut was in the MK barbershop, and he's been hooked ever since.

So when DS, at the age of 3 started talking about having his 5th birthday at WDW, no one was surprised.

Something you should know about my little fella...he has a way with words. From the time he was old enough to talk, he has put one chubby hand on each of my cheeks...looked into my eyes and told me "Mommy, you are my best guwl." And I melt. Literally.

So when that PIN came to my inbox, DH completely understood why I had to see what I could make work. I tried everything I could think of to get a family trip together, but it just wasn't working. DD started middle school this year, so taking her out of school is not really an option. Then DH suggested that with such a great discount that DS and I spend some time together on an abbreviated trip - and then we'd take a family trip as soon as school let out for the summer. Wait, DH just said we could have TWO trips in ONE year???? I'm on it!

Coming up next: DS falls in love with Lego AND Toy Story...

 

[mumto2]

So just before Christmas, DS starts talking about Lego. A lot. Santa brought him several of the new City sets, and he spends the next week and a half completely immersed in Lego construction - I've never had so much quiet time! Then DD, who didn't know about future WDW plans, starts telling DS about the lego store at DTD. So DS decides that this must be the most magical place at the most magical place on earth.

Santa also brought the Toy Story Mania Wii game. This was a family favorite on our last trip to the world (although, sadly, my shooter was clearly not calibrated correctly, as evidenced by my score in comparison with the rest of the family's )

Since it will be just the two of us, I decided that a value made the most sense. Given DS's feelings about Toy Story, and my desire for a preferred room to be closer to the food court and bus stop, ASMo made logical sense. We've never stayed at a Value before, mostly because we do usually spend a lot of time at the resort, so we like a little space to spread out. But for this trip, the theming at ASMo make it perfect. Plus, I'd be lying if I didn't say that the lack of a slide means I can hope that DS will be less likely to want to go for a swim (although that hope is slim at best - DS would go in a pool if there were ice cubes floating in it).

So the resort picked, I still need to figure out how we are getting there. Allegiant flies out of our local airport, but into Sanford. The fares are so low, I expect the flight attendant collects donations for gas money as you board. But, there is no good way to get from Sanford to ASMo. Rental cars, shuttles and taxis all cost so much as to negate any savings on the airfare. So I start looking at other nearby airports. We live in a city with three airports (2 smaller and one major) within an hour of one another, so I started keeping an eye on fares with Bing Travel. Talk about needing nerves of steel!

Bing has a great feature - a fare predictor that advises you to buy now or wait, along with a confidence level for the prediction. A couple of times, I chose to wait, only to have the fare go up. And then, I started to get really nervous because while it would go down a bit, it never seemed to go down to the historic low level that I had decided wasn't low enough. Was I going to regret my decion to hold firm???

Then, just as I was beginning to think that DS and I were going to have to hitchhike or use pixie dust, USAir had a sudden drop in fares!

 

[mumto2]

So the excitement is building with only 6 days to go. For me anyway - DS is still clueless.

Finally able to take the pressure of the airfare watch no more, I hit the buy button on the USAir site at what I thought was a great fare. Of course, then I couldn't resist the twisted urge to keep checking to see if the fare had gone any lower (because apparently, I enjoy torturing myself). Fortunately, not only did the fare not get any lower, as of this morning, it is 3.5 times what I paid!

Now it has occurred to me that I need to figure out what DS can do on the flight. Because while the thought of flying will thrill him beyond measure, the actuality of leaving our house at 5 am to drive an hour to the airport so that we can wait another hour and a half to board will mean that the being thrilled to be on a plane will last for about 5 minutes after take off. I plan on bringing some snacks and buying some juice (or should I say being extorted for juice) once I pass security. I've also got some Color wonder markers (the kind that only work on special paper - that way I know USAir won't be sending me an invoice to re-upholster the seats in our section ) I'm also going to try to bring his Leapster (and headphones), but I'm very limited as we are bringing on only carryon luggage.

On a roll following my airfare success, I call CRO to pay the balance on our room only reservation at ASMo. I ask to confirm our Toy Story building request (we have a preferred room), and that DS's birthday celebration is listed on our reservation. The CM actually SIGHED and said "Both these requests are already listed, maam" Like I was putting her out by asking her to read the screen.

Then I call Magical Express and let them know we'll be bumming a ride to the resort. Afterwards, it was kind of a let-down, because what else is left to do? Of course, being the Disney junkie that I am - I found something! I actually went to our departure airports homepage and looked up my parking options - and got a coupon for a park and ride vendor for a daily discount and the offer of a car wash while they keep my car

 

[disneylovin24]

Sounds like it will be a nice trip!

 

[cmp1111]

Great start! Two trips in a year sounds great to me!

I stayed in ASMo back in the summer of 2000, in a Toy Story room. I think your DS will adore it!