Everything's Going to be Different This Time 8/20-8/25 (w/pix)

[solgent]

1. Why is everything going to be different this time?

This is my first trip report. Therefore it seems necessary to provide some backstory.

I visited WDW twice and DL twice as a kid/young adult. Then in the fall of 1998, at the age of 32, I found myself living in Miami with my husband, three young children (ages 4, 4 and newborn) and a year off from work (without pay, don't get too envious). It was time for Florida Resident Seasonal Annual Passes. We went on 6 long weekend trips that year and had a fabulous time.

We moved away from Miami less than a year after those passes expired. We happened to be in California for a wedding in January 2001, so we of course stopped by DL.

All these trips were taken on the cheap. I was raised by a champion tightwad and am a fierce penny-pincher. We stayed in Days Inn and brought picnic lunches into the parks. The only thing we'd buy all day was one Mickey bar per kid, because you can't pack those!

By last summer I was getting pretty impatient to return. One fateful day, I was reading the Sunday New York Times travel section. Every week there is a feature on people whose vacation homes share some sort of characteristic
-- in the mountains or on a golf course or whatever. This particular week described a couple with a Disney time share.

The idea intrigued me.

I had never given much thought to time shares. My association with them is (1) hard sells and (2) beach resorts, which I am not into. Looking back, I realized that we'd walked by DVC booths when we visited in 1998-1999, but I had always just strolled right on by thinking "Not for us."

I felt I had to learn more, and a few days later Google led me to... the DISboards!

After many hours of research and fantasizing, I became convinced that DVC was right for us. We wanted to stay on property to avoid renting a car and to have nicer surroundings. With a kitchen, we could eat in. Our family of five would have plenty of space. My 40th birthday and a long-awaited promotion were coming up. This would be my gift to myself and my family.

My next step was to persuade my husband. I thought I'd succeeded, but when I told him I'd put down a deposit, he seemed to think that he had not approved that step. I said that we could cancel, that I'd rather give up the $500 than have him mad at me. But he knew I was lying! He laughed and said if I thought that we could swing it financially, he trusted me. Thank you sweetheart for your confidence in me!

So that brings us to August 2006:

We're going to visit WDW for the first time in nearly seven years. It's been more than 5 years since we were at any Disney park (Disneyland). Our DDs are now 11, 11 and 7.

And this time we're going in style! Staying on property for the first time! Eating at a table service restaurant for the first time! Going to Cirque de Soleil! Everything is in place for a fantastic, magical, unforgettable experience!

In my next post I will answer

2. What four key tips did I get from the DISboards?

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!
We're eating at table service restaurants for the first time on our trip this time, too. So, I know what you mean when you say it's going to a REAL, magical, exciting vacation!

 

[keliblue]

Congrats !!!

I am still trying to talk DH into time shares... ahhhhh some day

 

[solgent]

2. What four key tips did I get from the DISboards?

a. Use a mister fan to keep cool.

Cheapskate version: Buy it ahead of time, not at the parks.

Of course, I knew about mister fans, but I probably wouldn't have thought about this ahead of time and come prepared.

b. Dress your kids in matching outfits for better photos and ease of spotting them.

Such a thing had never crossed my mind before seeing some threads on the DISboards!

Cheapskate version: Do not buy special outfits for this purpose. Look in the dresser and see what they already own that coordinates. For example, they had all tie-dyed shirts from a camp they had attended and they all had blue Bronx Zoo t-shirts that they had received as a gift.

c. Trade pins.

Cheapskate version: Buy pins on eBay. Do not pay retail.

My girls love things that are cute, pretty, shiny. They love to collect. Pin trading is an activity that seems made for them. I bought two batches of pins on eBay at an average price of about $3 each (including shipping). I gave them 4 each ahead of time and brought along others to give them each one more every day of our trip.

d. Wear ear protection.

My youngest daughter does not like fireworks on account of the noise. The rest of us love fireworks. I was concerned about how we were going to handle this until I came across a thread on ear protection. I bought a pair of ear protectors. They do not eliminate noise but they make things much quieter.

I don't really have a cheapskate version of this except that I shopped around online and got them on Amazon for much less than the first price I saw on another site.

In my next post, I will answer:

3. Why would my husband have to stay behind while I took the girls to the parks?

 

[solgent]

3. Why would my husband have to stay behind while I took the girls to the parks?

Because he hurt his leg two weeks before we were due to leave! He refused to go to the doctor, said he just needed to rest and stay off it... but he didn't rest or stay off it much before we left. So that was his agenda for our vacation.

But the truth is, he always said that what he wanted in a vacation was to relax at a nice hotel with cable TV, a steam room, sauna and hot tub. (As opposed to me-- I like to run around and see a ton of sights.) So I didn't feel too guilty about the way things worked out for him.

In my next post I will answer:

4. What was my first mistake?

 

[solgent]

4. What was my first mistake?

Our trip began on Saturday 8/19 with a 3 hour drive to Manchester NH. It's much cheaper to fly Southwest out of Manchester than other airlines from closer airports, even including the cost of spending the night there. We arrived at the Quality Inn at the Wayfarer at about 4:00 and checked in quickly. This hotel has a conference center and it seemed to be mostly deserted. DH took the kids to the pool while I went out in the car to fill up the tank and to scout out possible dinner locations. There wasn't much. Fast food & some chain restaurants and some dubious local places.

Upon my return, I encouraged the kids to get their outfits ready for our very early departure the next morning. At which point I discovered my first mistake: I hadn't packed any socks for my youngest DD.

But never fear, while I was driving around & looking for restaurants I had noticed a Target. She needed more socks anyway, right?

We had dinner at Applebee's, which we had never eaten at before. It was OK but we wouldn't go back. We're vegetarian & there is very little on the menu that we want to eat. My husband got a fish & chips and I got a Cajun tilapia. The kids got mac and cheese and grilled cheese. At Target I bought the socks and a box of doughnuts for the following morning.

Our flight was at 7:25 am. Which meant leaving the airport on the 5:45 am shuttle bus. Which meant setting the alarm for 5 am. Ugh.

Unfortunately I was a bit too anxious and excited to sleep. I woke up lots of times. I worried about being tired and tried to take comfort in the fact that the others in my family were getting adequate rest.

In my next post, I will answer:

5. What sorts of seats do you get when you're a family of 5 in the dreaded group C?

 

[jlcd]

Enjoying your report so far! Can you please tell me what type of ear protectors you bought. DS has very sensitive ears and I would love to have something that would help at fireworks etc. Thanks!!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Great report so far! And your girls are beautiful!

 

[solgent]

Dear jlcd,

I was so happy with the ear protectors. We brought them along for Fantasmic, the fireworks, Cirque de Soleil, so she could put them on whenever she felt bothered by the noise level. I think that in the past when we've seen fireworks she has gotten stressed partly by whatever noise that just happened but also by worry about what was going to come next. This time she had the protectors if she wanted them and she didn't always put them on. And I didn't have to worry about her getting upset!

When you have these ear protectors on, you can still hear everything, such as people talking to you. It's just really quiet.

Here is a photo of her wearing them.

I think this is the link to the product at Amazon, where I got them.

AO Safety 97315-80000 Select Slim Blue Ear Muffs

 

[solgent]

Thank you Poly Princess! Everyone always says people's kids in the photos are beautiful, so I figure if nobody says it you're really in trouble! So thank you for reassuring me that my kids are every bit as gorgeous as the other DISboard children.

5. What sorts of seats do you get when you're a family of 5 in the dreaded group C?

I was worried... I guess I do a lot of worrying as you'll continue to see! My husband is 6' 6" (and I'm 5' 3" by the way) and he really needs to sit on an aisle. I was worried that we'd all be stuck in middle seats and scattered throughout the plane.

I thought that you could only check in online after midnight, and I wasn't going to stay up to do that what with the 5 am wakeup, so there we were in group C. (Later I was told that you can check in online 24 hours before your flight, so I could have done that before we drove to Manchester.)

But it turned out quite well. We all got aisle seats behind each other. My youngest was in front of me and my Dh was behind me, then the other two were across the aisle from him. So we could communicate and pass things back and forth during the flight.

The very last people to board were two families with quite young children, maybe 4 years old, and the flight attendants asked passengers to move to permit them to have seats together. Which people seemed to do willingly.

Our flight was smooth and on time. There was a line at the Magical Express counter but it moved along briskly. We had a bit of a wait for our bus... I think it was more than 5 but less than 10 minutes so not bad at all. And then, we were on our way!

In my next post, I will answer

6. The moment of truth: Were we crazy to buy into Saratoga Springs without ever seeing it or even staying on property before?

 

[teentoddlermom]

Wow! Great start. Looking forward to the rest!

 

[kab407]

6. The moment of truth: Were we crazy to buy into Saratoga Springs without ever seeing it or even staying on property before?

Can't wait to hear the answer to this one since I did the same exact thing. Let's see....one add-on later...can you guess my answer?????

 

[solgent]

Dear lauren_elizabeth, keliblue, teentoddlermom & Kab407, thanks for reading and posting!

So, we were on

6. The moment of truth: Were we crazy to buy into Saratoga Springs without ever seeing it or even staying on property before?

Heck, no! We loved, loved, loved the resort.

I had read quite a bit of negativity on the DVC DISboards. And even while we were there I overheard a woman in Artist's Palette announce to her companion, "I know this is our home base, but I don't ever want to stay here again. I can't stand this resort!" But we, not being used to luxury, are quite easy to please. We thought it was beautiful, wonderful, fabulous.

There was no line at check-in. The CM knew it was our first time and said she would try to make it magical for us. She offered me a room in Congress Park with a view of DTD. I knew she wanted me to be happy about it, but I said, trying to be very nice, that we had hoped to be closer to the main pool. I had put that in as a request, and I know requests aren't guaranteed, but especially with DH's leg injury it was important to ask. She rechecked and said she had a room in the Springs area, but she cautioned me that it didn't have a water view. I said I thought that would work better for us. A view is always welcome but location is the priority.

So, we set off to our room. I was so pleased that our room was ready (it was not yet noon!) and that we were in the Springs.

Here are some pictures of the room. I took these just before we checked out, when all our stuff was out of the way. The bed in the master bedroom was not made so I didn't take a picture of that.

Living/dining area:

Kitchen:

We dropped our backpacks and returned to the main building for lunch at Artist's Palette. We purchased the infamous refillable mugs. I had the roasted vegetable flatbread. DH had lobster bisque and a croissant. Kids had PB&J and mac & cheese meals. Everything was fine. Somewhere between decent and super. (Sorry, that is not very descriptive, is it? I guess I am just not cut out to be a restaurant critic.)

In my next message I will answer:

7. What was my next worry that didn't come true?

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

You do have great looking kids. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[jlcd]

Thanks so much for the ear protector info! I hope I can convince him to wear them. Looking forward to more of your report!

 

[Avivasmom]

Great report so far....your girls are gorgeous. We staying at SSR for Aviva's 6th bday a surprise...hoping to buy into SSR by next summer.

 

[Catrin]

I am LOVING your trip report!

I think any resort is what you make of it! It sounds like you are SO Grateful just to be at Disney - and that is the kind of attitude that makes wonderful vacations.

Love your report format - very original and informative!
Catrin

 

[mytwotinks]

Great report! So, how often do you guys plan on going to DW not that you are DVC owners?

 

[solgent]

Dear Mouse's Shadow & Avivasmom, thank you so much for your kind words about our girls.

Dear Catrin, thanks for your post! I am going to write more about my feelings and I think you are very perceptive. We did feel so happy to be there that it was just not possible that we could have a bad time.

Dear mytwotinks, between the kids' school schedules and my school schedule (I'm a university professor) and wanting to avoid the most crowded times, it can be a bit tricky to find a good time to go! We're thinking once a year for the near future.

OK, so

7. What was my next worry that didn't come true?

With lunch out of the way it was time to hit the pool!

I took this photo one morning before it opened.

We returned to our room to change and discovered... our luggage waiting for us! Hurray. We had brought our swimsuits onto the plane but because of the new restrictions I'd had to pack the sunscreen in the checked luggage. I didn't expect it to arrive so soon and I figured we'd just tempt fate and go without until we received our luggage. (None of us is prone to burning.) But here it was, so we could be responsible parents.

So what was I worried about? I confess that I am a control freak. This leads to me want to prepare and know everything but this also causes worry since I become aware of things that wouldn't have crossed my mind. The DISboards is a two-edged sword in this regard. You can pick up so much helpful information, but you also read the complaints and find out about things going wrong. Can you believe that I worried that the pool would be too crowded or the water too warm to enjoy!?

Once again my fears were groundless. Sure there were other people there, but I wouldn't describe the pool as crowded. And this is not just me looking on the bright side: it was easy to find available pool chairs, so it couldn't have actually been crowded. The water felt great and the kids immediately started exploring all the features.

At this moment I felt complete joy and satisfaction. Enjoying the pool and knowing that we had our vacation ahead of us and knowing that we'd be back in the future was the best feeling in the world. I knew that the work DH and I had put in to earn the money and build up the savings had been worth it. We were in the exact place on earth we wanted to be.

DD7:

DH exits the slide:

After a couple of hours of pooltime, the next step of my plan was to investigate DTD with the girls. DH would stay at SSR, in particular being present at 6 pm to accept delivery of the groceries we'd ordered through Wegoshop. I offered the girls the choice of remaining at the pool, but they were excited about making their first foray into pin trading. We changed and found our way to the boat dock.

In my next post I will answer

8. Why did we wait so long for a boat to DTD?

 

[solgent]

8. Why did we wait so long for a boat to DTD?

Because I made a mistake. The woman who runs Wegoshop does not take credit cards, only checks or cash. I knew this and I said to DH as we left the pool that I would leave a check for him. But I forgot to do it. Luckily, I realized my oversight while we were waiting at the boat dock. I left the girls there, hastened back to the room (again thankful that we had that great location so near the pool and the main building), handed DH the checkbook, and rushed back. Of course, a boat had come and gone in my absence. Oh well.

Another boat came along and we were on our way. Here is one of my older (twin) DDs with her lanyard.

As we stepped off the dock, what did we see but Goofy's Candy Co. I had read about this and I knew the girls would love the custom treats. The place was rather empty. The girls quickly selected

*fudge cookie dipped in white chocolate with rainbow sprinkles and caramel drizzle
*marshmallows dipped in dark chocolate with crushed PB cup and milk chocolate drizzle.

I think the marshmallows are one of the greatest Disney bargains. You get a custom-made treat and a sturdy Mickey straw to keep afterwards, for $2!

Here you can see the CM dipping the cookie:

And the finished products:

This purchase took longer than expected but no matter. Next it was on to the World of Disney and the Lego stores.

In my next post I will answer

9. What was my next mistake?