BOOKing It Back To Disney - Once, Twice, Thrice in '17 *6/13 Trip #2 Travel Woes*

[Raeven]

I'm still sad that we'll miss you by a couple days.

Unfortunately, I work in insurance operations. Our Super Bowl is October 15th - December 7th every year, and we are prohibited from taking any type of vacation from September 15th through December 7th every year.

Not sure why because business doesn't really change during this time but we can't take off Oct and Nov which pretty much narrows us down to May, Sep, Dec as choices because we don't want to go during spring break or summer and Josh doesn't get his time off until March.

 

[emilyhuff]

Following! We will be at the Poly from Aug 30 - Sept 5th!!! I think the food and wine festival actually starts on Aug 31st!!! I know you won't be there until Sept 1 anyways.. I've heard that the Labor Day crowds aren't too bad so I am hoping it'll be the same for Food and Wine!!

 

[JessRose]

I'm still sad that we'll miss you by a couple days.



Not sure why because business doesn't really change during this time but we can't take off Oct and Nov which pretty much narrows us down to May, Sep, Dec as choices because we don't want to go during spring break or summer and Josh doesn't get his time off until March.

Uh! Sometimes being an adult is silly! I agree though - my trip last weekend was the first ever trip where the kids were out of school. NO. WAY. again.

Following! We will be at the Poly from Aug 30 - Sept 5th!!! I think the food and wine festival actually starts on Aug 31st!!! I know you won't be there until Sept 1 anyways.. I've heard that the Labor Day crowds aren't too bad so I am hoping it'll be the same for Food and Wine!!

You're right - it is the 31st! I second guessed myself because it seemed odd to start it on a Thursday. As far as crowds go - I think we're preparing for the worst, hoping for the best. At least if it is nuts/insane, there's wine to drink

 

[JessRose]

3.1 - Trip #3 Reveal

At long last, its time to reveal plans for trip number 3. While I'm so grateful that this year has and will be sprinkled with so many trips to Disney, having a series of short trips sometimes means there isn't a whole lot of time for stopping and smelling the roses or packing in special experiences like dessert parties, tours, etc.

I'm happy that trip number three allows us to do just that - as well as cross off a HUGE item on my Disney bucket list - quite possibly the first Disney bucket list item I ever had. I view this trip as our 'crown jewel' of the 3.

We'll be kicking things off as soon as my open enrollment period for work ends, departing Saturday December 9th.

Because what better way to celebrate a grueling season at work, than by going to Disney for Christmas festivities!

We'll be there for 8 glorious, amazing nights - plenty of time to pack in some amazing, incredible experiences to kick off the holiday season.

We're also getting the opportunity to stay at a resort I've wanted to for a long long time!

Photo Credit: lifewithoutpink.com

I've always wanted to stay here, in one of the gorgeous mansion buildings...

Photo Credit: blog.wdwinfo.com

Having the Royal Rooms here truly makes this an experience fit for a princess! I can't wait to stay in the Princess rooms - even though I wish they offered a King bed options. Adults like princesses too Disney!

Photo Credit: allears.net

Who: Me (of course) and my better half Eric. He's getting exposed to Disney via our "Disney Lite" trip in September, but this is his first time to dive head first into Disney!

When: December 9th - December 17th. Christmas!!

Where: Port Orleans Riverside - Royal Room. Woohoo! Can't wait to see this resort at Christmas!

Dining: Deluxe Dining Plan. Our ADR window opens tomorrow and I haven't even figured out our park days yet! I better get on that, yeah?

Discounts: I booked this one on a bounce-back on my first trip in March. I'll continue discount checking as I always do - but given the 40% off we received, I doubt anything else out there will be better!

 

[Raeven]

When: December 9th - December 17th. Christmas!!

Those are the dates we went last year (just about) and the crowds and weather we're great!

Where: Port Orleans Riverside - Royal Room. Woohoo! Can't wait to see this resort at Christmas!

Ooo I can't wait to try a royal room sometime!

 

[JessRose]

Those are the dates we went last year (just about) and the crowds and weather we're great! QUOTE]

That's reassuring. Judging by our ADR fiasco - its going to be crazy busy that week. I will cover what happened in a later post, but basically, not a very magical experience.

Ooo I can't wait to try a royal room sometime!

Everyone should stay in a royal room at least once, right? That's how I justified the additional cost, even though I know Eric won't be thrilled. Thankfully, he's pretty complacent "whatever you think" when it comes to planning. Right now he doesn't know any better, but he might wise up in the future so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[JessRose]

2.2 - Travel Woes and Real Life Gets in the Way of Disney

I typically avoid posting real life updates, and try to focus on the task at hand – planning awesome trips to Disney – but this one happens to impact our trip in a fairly significant way.

I think every Disney lover who plans the first trip to Disney with their not-so-Disney significant other hopes and plans for a memorable and wonderful experience.

A few months ago, I learned I would have to (unfortunately) take a “temporary” job re-location to Charlotte, NC to fill in for a co-worker who was no longer able to fulfill the role. I say temporary with a grain of salt, because it’s currently a 3+ month assignment.

Currently I’m scheduled to depart Charlotte and return home on…September 1st. Which is, as you may have already realized, “Disney Day” for our Food & Wine trip. Due to the fact that I am going to be gone for an extended period of time, I will be in corporate housing, which I need to vacate by 9/1.

While my company does pay for my travel from Charlotte to my home city – they won’t, for obvious reasons, pay for my travel from Charlotte to Orlando.

This means, I need to schlep all of my belongings I’ve had with me for the last 90 days in Charlotte along with me to Florida, before we fly home.

So, I’m trying to figure out the best way to go about doing this without – 1) having to pay two arms and a leg for airfare, 2) having to haul three months-worth of belongings with me and back and 3) being able to coordinate for Eric and I to somehow manage to “kick off” our trip together, as he’ll be flying in from our home airport.

So far, the best plan I’ve come up with is this -

I hope I can get as much of my stuff moved back during weekend trips home, so that I'm down to one Charlotte suitcase and one Disney suitcase when I travel. Multi-leg tickets are CRAZY expensive, so my thought is to move everything out of the apartment and into suitcases, on the night of the 31st. I'll fly out first thing in the morning to Orlando. While I would have the luxury of booking a direct flight out of Charlotte to Orlando, if I'm willing to take a connection, Eric and I could at least fly together from Atlanta to Orlando and start our Disney trip off right. We can fly home at the same time as well through Atlanta, and then I'll head on to Charlotte where I'll take my company paid flight back home the next day.

The other alternative is for Eric to fly to Charlotte. He could fly in Thursday, and then we could road trip it (seriously) from Charlotte to Orlando Thursday night - it's about an 8 hour drive. Since we were renting a car anyway in Florida - we could pick up a Charlotte instead, drive down together and then fly home together as well. The major downside with this option is the additional time we have to take off work, which could impact our December trip.

With the days ticking away, we don't have much time to make this decision and I honestly don't know which option is best.

 

[Raeven]

It must be a little busier because I did still want to go for the weekend but the airfare was crazy! Josh would stay in the royal rooms, but I feel kind of bad because I know he wouldn't enjoy it as much as I would.

Aw I like option 1 better, but I vote for anything that doesn't involve driving