puffkin
DVC Owner- SSR & AKV
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2001
- Messages
- 9,848
Buzz and Woody- Pre Trip Report
Cast:
Woody- planner, 23-year Accountant/Disney nut- 4th trip
Buzz- 25 year old fiancé and Billing Coordinator/night college student- 3rd trip
Dates: July 19th July 26th, 2003
Our story:
I can hardly believe it myself, but here I am about to embark on a very unexpected July trip to Walt Disney World. For those of you who may not remember my previous trip reports, I have links to them below in my signature. Our story kind of picks up where the June 2002 trip report left off. I must throw in a disclaimer now: BEWARE, I TEND TO RAMBLE AND MY REPORTS CAN GET LENGTHY. Consider yourself warned. I pack a lot of detail and observations into my trip reports, so if you are still interested, here goes
When we had embarked on our trip last June, we were in the process of buying a house. I had just graduated from college and didnt start work at my public accounting firm until September. It was supposed to be a nice relaxing summer highlighted by a trip to WDW before I entered the real world and became an office drone. Well, it ended up being a very exhausting year! Shortly before we left for our June trip, we saw a cute Cape Cod in a neighborhood we like go up for auction. We got pre-approved for a mortgage and went to the auction two Saturdays after we returned from WDW. Well we got the house and were homeowners much sooner than we anticipated.
The house was built in the 1950s and needed a lot of cosmetic work inside such as new flooring, paint and some electrical work. So, we spent the summer ripping up carpet, scraping off wallpaper, spackling, painting and sanding. The house turned out really nice, but it was a lot of work.
On top of the housework, I was studying for my CPA exam. For those of you unfamiliar with the exam, it is a two-day exam consisting of 4 parts. It is given twice a year, in May and November. Once you pass the exam and have two years of accounting experience, you can become licensed as a Certified Public Accountant. Well, I signed up for a review course, which began in mid-July. So I had class 2 nights a week for 4 hours a night, plus about 20-25 hours of studying to do each week. In September, I started work full-time as an auditor for a public accounting firm, so I lived and breathed accounting. Buzz also kept busy because he transferred from the local community college and began taken accounting classes at a nearby college.
After months of studying, I took the exam in November. Then the holidays flew by and I was deep in the heart of tax season (my busy season) at work. During the winter, I got the results of the exam (I passed!) and Buzz interviewed for and received a large promotion at work. All in all, it was a pretty busy and stressful year.
However, the deciding factor in taking this trip occurred in February when I was outside helping Buzz shovel 2 feet of snow off our driveway. I HATE the cold weather and we had a horrible winter here in the Northeast. It was miserably cold and we had a lot of snow and ice. I was so SICK of it and I casually mentioned to Buzz that we should go to Florida this summer. He said okay, but I think he just said it so I would feel better and keep shoveling.
Well, of course my little mouse gears started turning and I started scheming to figure out how we could go during the summer. We were already planning a December 2003 trip where we were taking my Mom for the first time, as well as our late June/early July 2004 honeymoon. My mom had said that she would buy us annual passes for our Christmas presents so that we could use them in December and on the honeymoon. Well, I did some calculating and determined that if we activated our passes after July 11th; they would be good for all 3 trips.
It took a little arm-twisting, but I got Buzz to agree. He was a little hesitant to go to WDW 3 times in one year, but he finally agreed since he really wanted to get away. My mom grudgingly agreed to buy our passes early. We had originally planned to drive down to save money, but the day after we decided to go, I received an award from college for $500, which we used for airfare.
Well, summer took forever to arrive in the Northeast, and my work never slowed down, so the trip came up quickly. On top of everything else, we got a Beagle puppy (Murphy) in March, who has proven to be quite a handful. I made all of our priority seatings around the 60 day mark and anxiously awaited AP rates. Of course, the first time I have an AP, a fantastic package deal comes out, but fortunately the AP rates were decent and we upgraded from All Star Movies to Port Orleans Riverside. I also arranged the Keys to the Kingdom tour a few weeks before we left.
Stay tuned for Day One of Buzz and Woodys Summer Escape.
Cast:
Woody- planner, 23-year Accountant/Disney nut- 4th trip
Buzz- 25 year old fiancé and Billing Coordinator/night college student- 3rd trip
Dates: July 19th July 26th, 2003
Our story:
I can hardly believe it myself, but here I am about to embark on a very unexpected July trip to Walt Disney World. For those of you who may not remember my previous trip reports, I have links to them below in my signature. Our story kind of picks up where the June 2002 trip report left off. I must throw in a disclaimer now: BEWARE, I TEND TO RAMBLE AND MY REPORTS CAN GET LENGTHY. Consider yourself warned. I pack a lot of detail and observations into my trip reports, so if you are still interested, here goes
When we had embarked on our trip last June, we were in the process of buying a house. I had just graduated from college and didnt start work at my public accounting firm until September. It was supposed to be a nice relaxing summer highlighted by a trip to WDW before I entered the real world and became an office drone. Well, it ended up being a very exhausting year! Shortly before we left for our June trip, we saw a cute Cape Cod in a neighborhood we like go up for auction. We got pre-approved for a mortgage and went to the auction two Saturdays after we returned from WDW. Well we got the house and were homeowners much sooner than we anticipated.
The house was built in the 1950s and needed a lot of cosmetic work inside such as new flooring, paint and some electrical work. So, we spent the summer ripping up carpet, scraping off wallpaper, spackling, painting and sanding. The house turned out really nice, but it was a lot of work.
On top of the housework, I was studying for my CPA exam. For those of you unfamiliar with the exam, it is a two-day exam consisting of 4 parts. It is given twice a year, in May and November. Once you pass the exam and have two years of accounting experience, you can become licensed as a Certified Public Accountant. Well, I signed up for a review course, which began in mid-July. So I had class 2 nights a week for 4 hours a night, plus about 20-25 hours of studying to do each week. In September, I started work full-time as an auditor for a public accounting firm, so I lived and breathed accounting. Buzz also kept busy because he transferred from the local community college and began taken accounting classes at a nearby college.
After months of studying, I took the exam in November. Then the holidays flew by and I was deep in the heart of tax season (my busy season) at work. During the winter, I got the results of the exam (I passed!) and Buzz interviewed for and received a large promotion at work. All in all, it was a pretty busy and stressful year.
However, the deciding factor in taking this trip occurred in February when I was outside helping Buzz shovel 2 feet of snow off our driveway. I HATE the cold weather and we had a horrible winter here in the Northeast. It was miserably cold and we had a lot of snow and ice. I was so SICK of it and I casually mentioned to Buzz that we should go to Florida this summer. He said okay, but I think he just said it so I would feel better and keep shoveling.
Well, of course my little mouse gears started turning and I started scheming to figure out how we could go during the summer. We were already planning a December 2003 trip where we were taking my Mom for the first time, as well as our late June/early July 2004 honeymoon. My mom had said that she would buy us annual passes for our Christmas presents so that we could use them in December and on the honeymoon. Well, I did some calculating and determined that if we activated our passes after July 11th; they would be good for all 3 trips.
It took a little arm-twisting, but I got Buzz to agree. He was a little hesitant to go to WDW 3 times in one year, but he finally agreed since he really wanted to get away. My mom grudgingly agreed to buy our passes early. We had originally planned to drive down to save money, but the day after we decided to go, I received an award from college for $500, which we used for airfare.
Well, summer took forever to arrive in the Northeast, and my work never slowed down, so the trip came up quickly. On top of everything else, we got a Beagle puppy (Murphy) in March, who has proven to be quite a handful. I made all of our priority seatings around the 60 day mark and anxiously awaited AP rates. Of course, the first time I have an AP, a fantastic package deal comes out, but fortunately the AP rates were decent and we upgraded from All Star Movies to Port Orleans Riverside. I also arranged the Keys to the Kingdom tour a few weeks before we left.
Stay tuned for Day One of Buzz and Woodys Summer Escape.
