DVCTiff's Pre-Trippie - The One Where They Save Money!

[DVCTiff]

So we're heading off in a few days on a trip that was rescheduled from Oct '08 because SIL/BIL had a little "boo-boo" (her words, not mine) during the East Coast power outages, and she'll now be giving birth in October instead of riding the teacups (though I understand that the sensations are similar).

This trip will be me, DH, SIL #1 (preggers), BIL, BIL's DDad and DMom, DNiece, DNephew, and SIL #2. We're staying at VWL in a two-bedroom lock-off, and the folks are staying somewhere else (I've forgotten - Caribbean Beach? I didn't pay attention b/c I just know they have to find us every morning).

This trip is very special for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that 5 months ago DH got a new job with, wait for it, ESPN. Who is owned by, say it together, Disney! I will not list all the perks that come along with being a Disney employee for fear of endless ignore, but one of the better ones is free park passes. Yes sir-ree. You can have your free dining (or dinning for some of you). The beauty of this is that I can eat economically, but I can't control how much they charge for those precious park passes. I won't say how many free park passes we get because it will make some of you cry. So this trip is all about the savings of the monies, as we say in our household (we're seriously so delusional).

According to my color-coded Excel SS, our plan looks like this:

Day One: Arrive on the red-eye after a co-worker's wedding. Completely bad plan but the only way it would work. Using an Alaska Airlines companion ticket, two RT tix Sea-MCO= $636.75*. [Not included in this equation: Dog kennel @ $31/night, Cat Sitter @ $155/week, Airport Parking @$15/day] Can you see the savings already?

Lunch at Coral Reef because we're the only people who've had a good meal there, and we like to press our luck.

Meet up with the rest of the crew for the P&PP that evening wearing suggestions, rumors if you will, of costumes though I wanted to go full out. At the end of the day, I'm wearing a striped top from LL Bean. That describes me perfectly: I'm a LL Bean Pirate! (I will also be sporting an AWESOME Pirate necklace that I bought on EBay, photo to follow).

Plan could go horribly awry b/c SIL #1 insists on taking kids (4 & 2) to SeaWorld all day prior to party, but, hey, meltdowns will be her department. Not mine.

Day Two: Sleep in, Epcot, monorail to dinner at Park Faire. Niece is HUGE Cinderella fan, and I suspect that seeing the Prince will blow her mind. Can't wait. Staying far away from Strawberry Soup. No thanks.

Day Three: Whatever park we didn't do the day before. I don't even think we have an ADR for this day. What was I thinking? (I have an ADR to cancel at Prime Time so I must have been thinking we were doing Studios, but now not so much!) Hmmm, I might need to make some calls. ETA - Settled on MK - see below.

Day Four: Animal Kingdom. SIL #1 made ADR at Rainforest. Sometimes you have to loosen the reigns and hand over the ss to someone else. It pains me still but I'm learning to be okay with not being in control. Why are my teeth gnashing?

Day Five: Breakfast @ Chef Mickey's. We're virgins. At Chef Mickey's. Guess today we'll go to whatever park we missed. I think SIL might have made an ADR for Kona either for tonight or the night before. ETA - Studios in the afternoon. Looks like we never will see Fantasmic! but I'm kinda okay with that. I'd love to take Niece into B&tB though. She'll love it!

Am I making you guys nervous? I know this looks like a loose plan but this is the way we're gonna roll on this one. We're not even gonna need my patented laminated bookmarks with the day's itineraries on them! (Okay, they're not patented b/c my lawyer's really backlogged. With his trip report.)

A loose plan that will get filled with more trips to see the ponies at Fort Wilderness than I probably would like (though it is free). But this one's all for the kiddies.

And for the savings!

*Moment of silence for SONG and all the airlines we used to fly from NY to MCO for just over $100 each RT. *Sob*

 

[DVCTiff]

So I called Disney Dining when I got home (it's 84 degrees outside, in Seattle, and there I was sitting inside calling DD - kee-razy!).

We added Crystal Palace Lunch to Day 3 (less than two-weeks out people, for a party of 9. Boo-yah!), and I tried for lunch or dinner in the Castle but no luck. "Ming" said, "Oh I should check for you because we have cancellations all the time." She actually got my hopes up, and then NOCASTLE for you! Would my niece think that was lame seeing Cinderella AGAIN after just seeing her the night before? I'm saying YES just to make myself feel better.

I added Kona to Day 5 even though SIL made Ohana reservations (who books Ohana on the same day as Chef Mickey's? That's lunacy! Rookie!). We have probably two buffets too many as it is.

I also added Whispering Canyon on our last morning, just DH and me. He wants to spend our last day at a water park. We'll be checked out so this seems terribly inconvenient, but maybe we'll devise a plan. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[DVCTiff]

This morning I printed out our Ultimate Packing List which has been customized to our needs after all our trips. The suitcase will come out tonight!

Don't laugh but I've actually been training for this trip! Four weeks ago I started a bootcamp that meets at 5:30 am 3 x week (they actually meet for 5 but I only do 3. I'm only masochistic to a point). I've never gone to WDW this heavy. It's a bummer but at least I made some effort before I left. I will also watch what I eat while I'm there (consciously but not too crazy). I figured if I was going to carry this extra 30 lbs to Disney with me, I'd better strengthen up. At least this time we'll have the kids so our pace will be a little slower.

More to follow - off to work and then Cirque. Crazy that those words even rhyme!

 

[DVCTiff]

What I love about WDW is that it's different every time you go. There's always something new, and, if there's not, you are different even in subtle ways that make each trip a little different.

I'm looking forward to celebrating my SIL & BIL's 5 year wedding anniversary and making them wear pins that say so. (Free dessert will be lost on them, but it will still be fun).

I can't wait to watch the kids explore the World and meet the characters. They are doing autographs this year so I'm fully prepared for a lot of standing around this trip. If DH and I have to take some alone time, there will be plenty of opportunities.

Just an aside, DH and I are child-free by choice. May seem like a strange combination for Disney fans but, believe me, there are plenty of us out there. Every day I have reassurance that not having kids was the right decision for us. By the same token, I get great pleasure in reading parents' trip reports and hearing about all the great things their children did and said. I know that they are better parents than we ever could have been. It was just not the right job for us.

The luggage comes out tonight! We saw Corteo last night, which I highly recommend to everyone when it comes to your town. Okay, I'll admit, we got to see it for 30% off so it was really worth it for us.

I'm telling you, I do love me some discounts!

 

[DVCTiff]

I'm happy to report it's T minus 2 days till the World.

Today is take the dog to the kennel, pack, and get a facial day! Whoohooo!

We should find out today is SIL is having a boy or a girl. I'm bringing a small gift that could go either way (though it does say COWBOY on it). Gotta get to wrapping our other small gifties for the kids.

I had more to say but it's a little early and I've only had one cup of coffee.

This morning I was fretting about the monorail, because I can never remember how to take it to Epcot. I'm not panicking - chances are we won't have to do it that way.

Off to prepare! Probably won't come back to this before we go so thanks to my lurkers!

We're off!