Everything is Satisfactual - A TR (9/22-9/31) Updated 12/9 Last Day

[Tinkerbellarella]

I'm going to give a call back and let him know if I don't hear back from him, I am just going to book it on my own tonight. I don't want to put this off until tomorrow when it opens up to everyone. If I am not able to get POFQ I'm going to be upset.

I completely understand that everyone has a personal life to attend to. Kids come first. Always.

HOWEVER...

I would be extremely perturbed as well and likely would've booked already myself. That's the part of me that likes to be in control. In addition to his personal life he does have professional responsibilities as well. If he's going to make the effort to try to help you, he should at least put 100% into that.

I commend you for using a AAA agent. The Disney control freak in me would never allow it, regardless of the discount!

 

[If U Had Wings]

When I was planning my trip to Disney last year I told myself I wasn't going to ever use an agent again. That wasn't an AAA agent, but one that specializes in Disney vacations. She was great, and got my discount on the day it was announced, but I hated not having control.

The mind plays tricks on you, and you start to forget these things for a discount so I thought I'd give an AAA agent a try this time. I thought he would be more on top of these things, he gave the impression that he would be.

Never again though! I have really learned my lesson this time.

 

[pajules]

It only got better as his voice mail to me tells me that the free dining offer had only been a rumor before now, and wasn't begining until today (Wed.).

Make you want to go outside and scream *$@#$!@#! doesn't it. Heck, maybe that's not such a bad idea. At least it might relieve some of the stress.

 

[micandminforever]

Love your report I know you will have a wonderful time with the 2 Princesses.

I am sending positive thoughts your way that everything will work out with free dining.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I finally got in touch with my agent this afternoon. (He was in the office - nice of him to call me back huh?)

He somehow convinced me to wait for tomorrow to have him call to book for me. If he called today I'd have to cancel my original reservation (and wait several days for the refund) and then place two new deposits down on my new reservations. I don't understand why the original reservation couldn't just be altered, but he said that the existing reservation couldn't be converted from a package to a room only and since it was an AAA package he couldn't change it to the Disney Visa package. Who knows if any of this is true.

Since I didn't have enough money (or room on my Visa) to put down two deposits currently I really had to wait. He said tomorrow he can adjust my current reservation. He promised I was top on his list of clients to take care of, and that he would call me at 9 when I get into work. We will see.

Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow!

 

[If U Had Wings]

Love your report I know you will have a wonderful time with the 2 Princesses.

I am sending positive thoughts your way that everything will work out with free dining.

Hi! I love your user name!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow!

Fingers crossed. I hope it works out for you!

 

[JKMJ441724]

Once upon a time there were 2 beautiful princesses who lived in a far off land known as Connecticut.

Those sure are some cute princesses ya got there.

 

[JKMJ441724]

Grumpy is due to have rotator cuff surgery as soon as workers comp gives him the okay, and was reluctant to book a vacation. Finally deceided that he was going no matter what. May be recovering while we are on vacation.

I work for an attorney and about 50% of our cases are WC. Just tell Grumpy to be carefull. One time (at band camp) we had our client's honeymoon photographs subpoenaed!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I've been having a rough couple of days, and was feeling very down this morning. It was just one of those days when nothing really seemed worth it, and even thoughts of Disney weren't helping much. The nonsense with the free dining offer had been getting to me. A Zopa loan I was hoping to use to consolidate my credit card debt was declined after I had originally been told everything with my credit check was fine, and just to round out everything my toaster oven caught on fire last night.

I was trudging into the office this morning, wanting nothing more than to turn around and crawl back into bed. There was a message on my voice mail waiting for me. (And no it wasn't the promised call from my TA). I thought it was from Ma Tink, but when I went to listen it was from my sweetie Princess Cin. She wanted to tell me how much she missed me, because I hadn't been to visit in awhile. I called Ma Tink back and talked to Cin for a few minutes. I was told I work way too much, and needed to be playing with her instead. I nearly started to cry. It was such a slap in the face, reminding me what was really important. Free Food, the toaster and even the ugly debt hanging over my head didn't feel quite so bad anymore. I will not let these things get to me so much. I'm a great aunt with two fantastic nieces who adore me, what more do I need?

And yes, still no call from my travel agent. I'm resigning myself to the fact that I'll be paying full price for food. I'll give him a break for now. He said he had 15 clients to take care of this morning so he's probably been on hold all morning. Really the fight has just left me.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

It was such a slap in the face, reminding me what was really important. Free Food, the toaster and even the ugly debt hanging over my head didn't feel quite so bad anymore. I will not let these things get to me so much. I'm a great aunt with two fantastic nieces who adore me, what more do I need?

Here. Have some hugging skittles

It's very easy to forget what is most important in life when everything starts to get out of hand. But we get the reminders we need, like you did, and we're able to re-focus.

I wouldn't despair about the free dining. I didn't call on Monday until noon and I still was able to book at two different resorts with no problem. Not to mention the fact that people book and cancel left and right.

I will say this, however, I'd lose the TA if you can. Or speak with his supervisor and see if they can transfer your account to another agent. At this point, it seems to be causing you more stress than anything else. His unresponsiveness would be driving me batty.

I hope your day gets better.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Oh My Goodness! I receive a daily e-mail from this great site. It's all about perspective and finding peace and all of that good stuff. I believe today's was meant for you:

April 10, 2008
Finding The Gift
Bad Days
We all have days when it feels like the world is against us or that the chaos we are experiencing will never end. One negative circumstance seems to lead to another. You may wonder, on a bad day, whether anything in your life will ever go right again. But a bad day, like any other day, can be a gift. Having a bad day can show you that it is time to slow down, change course, or lighten up. A bad day can help you glean wisdom you might otherwise have overlooked or discounted. Bad days can certainly cause you to experience uncomfortable feelings you would prefer to avoid, yet a bad day may also give you a potent means to learn about yourself.

You may consider a bad day to be one where you have missed an important meeting because your car stalled (Tinkerbellarella edit: or you are stressed about not getting FD because your TA is somenotniceword) or the dryer broke (Tinkerbellarella edit: or your toaster oven caught fire) or you received a piece of very bad news earlier in the morning. Multiple misfortunes that take place, one after the other, can leave us feeling vulnerable and intensely cognizant of our fragility. Although bad days can only have a long-term negative effect on us if we let them. It is better to ask yourself what you can learn from these kinds of days. The state of your bad day may be an indicator that you need to stay in and hibernate or let go of your growing negativity.

Bad days contribute to the people we become. Though we may feel discouraged and distressed on our bad days, a bad day can teach us patience and perseverance. It is important to remember that your attitude drives your destiny and that one negative experience does not have to be the beginning of an ongoing stroke of bad luck. A bad day is memorable because it is one day among many good days. Otherwise, we would not even bother to acknowledge it as a bad day. Know, too, that everybody has bad days. You are not alone, the world is not against you. Tomorrow is a brand new day, greet it with love and watch it unfold into perhaps, a better day.

Now...isn't that interesting.

 

[skier_pete]

Hi there!

I think I posted in a separate thread where you were talking about the split stay...I just wanted to say that I think this is a great report. Since we will be there at the same time and the same resort, I will keep up-to-date on your pre-planning, and give you a wave from across the pool!


Anyways, I just wanted to mention, being a knowledgable DIS'er, I never use a travel agent. You can book directly with a CRO and give them your AAA # and you get the AAA room rate. We did this for our extra night stay on the 23rd. I could be wrong, but I don't think AAA gets you any rates you can't get on your own.

SkierPete

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I just wanted to mention, being a knowledgable DIS'er, I never use a travel agent. You can book directly with a CRO and give them your AAA # and you get the AAA room rate. We did this for our extra night stay on the 23rd. I could be wrong, but I don't think AAA gets you any rates you can't get on your own.

I should've said this before also!!! And I forgot! Bad DISer! Slap my hand!

Iv'e booked with AAA before and got the same thing booking on my own as I would have with the agent.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Hi there!

I think I posted in a separate thread where you were talking about the split stay...I just wanted to say that I think this is a great report. Since we will be there at the same time and the same resort, I will keep up-to-date on your pre-planning, and give you a wave from across the pool!


Anyways, I just wanted to mention, being a knowledgable DIS'er, I never use a travel agent. You can book directly with a CRO and give them your AAA # and you get the AAA room rate. We did this for our extra night stay on the 23rd. I could be wrong, but I don't think AAA gets you any rates you can't get on your own.

SkierPete

Hi! Glad you came by!

I tried to book the AAA discount on my own. I could have booked a room only rate with the AAA discount, but to get a package with the discount an AAA agent needs to call. Who knows if I had talked to someone else on the phone I probably would have got a different answer.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Good news I got free dining at POFQ!!!

I am very happy. My agent called me after lunch with the good news. We have 2 nights with a room only rate, and then the package for the rest of the trip.

Woo Hoo! Can't wait to get back to my home away from home!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Good news I got free dining at POFQ!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

[buffy0214]

Good news I got free dining at POFQ!!!

I am very happy. My agent called me after lunch with the good news. We have 2 nights with a room only rate, and then the package for the rest of the trip.

Woo Hoo! Can't wait to get back to my home away from home!

I'm so glad you got it I would really feel "out of touch" not doing everything myself, also. I'm glad you posted about the AAA. I was thinking of joining AAA just for the discount. But if you can only book a package using them, maybe I'll have to think a little longer on that.

I think you are right to go on-site, too. I know I would miss the atmosphere. We are able to drive to Disney and we still always stay on-site. It just really immerses you in the experience and makes the vacation feel like a vacation.

 

[skier_pete]

Excuse me for getting the thread slightly off track...but perhaps miss Belle can enlighten me...what extra discount do you get for booking the package with AAA. Booking room only you get 15 % of the room rate, at least for Mods. Do you get a better room rate for the package, or do you get additional ticketing discount?

Just curious. We are in the same boat as you as we arrive on August 23rd, so I booked 1 night with the AAA room discount, and 7 nights free dining.

SkierPete

 

[If U Had Wings]

You get the % off of the room rate, and the tickets and dining package are their normal prices.

We wanted the dining package no matter if it was free or not, so we were told if we wanted the AAA discount with the dining package it had to be booked through AAA. For a room only discount you can get the AAA discount booking on our own. If that makes sense.