creativeamanda
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
I have actually thought of moving over to POFQ. Or CBR. Never done CBR. HMMMMMM. . . .It's a good thing it's already 11:00pm, or I'd already be on the phone.
I have actually thought of moving over to POFQ. Or CBR. Never done CBR. HMMMMMM. . . .It's a good thing it's already 11:00pm, or I'd already be on the phone.
Ok. That might already be the teensiest bit of a lie. There have been resort changes...
Well, only one real change, the others were just add-ons.
And that's it. There won't be any others. AT ALL. Ever. For this trip. I think. Probably. Maybe.
I fully admit that I have drunk the Mouse's Kool-Aid and am a snob about staying onsite when visiting Walt's Kingdom. So much so that when we visited those OTHER parks ::shhhh!:: I wanted to stay on property there too. I know that not everyone feels the same way, but I have made the decision in the past to simply not go on a trip because I couldn't afford a Disney resort.
Though I truly believe I can have a great Disney trip staying anywhere (yes, even off-site), I do find that where I choose to stay lends a certain flavor to my vacation. I make park, dining and down-time plans based on where I decide to hang my Mouse Ears for the duration.
For me there's just something about waking up "in the show," whether I'm watching the sun rise from a Polynesian beach, greeting the day in the Bayou, or walking to breakfast on the field of a giant foosball table. There's not much like returning "home" each evening with tired feet and a whole new batch of Disney memories for a dip in a pool with a sandy bottom or to watch the enormous pelicans settle in by a watering hole in the moonlight.
It seems silly to some, paying boku bucks for what is physically no more than a box with a bed and a bathroom, but for me many of my strongest memories are ones at the resorts:
~ Going to my first character breakfast at The Laughing Kookaburra and the Mickey Mouse phone in our room at the Buena Vista Palace (by Downtown; I think it's a Wyndham now)
~ Swimming not in the Pirate pool, but the quiet pool in Trinidad North, with my brother and grandfather, while my grandmother read the latest Danielle Steele novel in the shade of an umbrella table
~ Watching my BF "get" Disney my way for the first time as he watched the giraffes stroll over to have some lunch, about 100 feet from our balcony
~ Kat and I racing back to our room at CBR, splashing in every puddle along the way, feeling not like adults, but FREE like children
~ Sharing that initial awe the AKL lobby brings with my sweet friend LegoMom; thinking back on that, I'm pretty sure I was holding my breath as we first walked in
~ Coffee-walking at the Poly, just me, the bunnies, the ducks and the peace of a quiet, misty morning
All of these reasons and many more make shelling out the pesos 100% worthwhile.
When it was time to decide where we would stay for this trip, Amanda and I were completely in tune on two things for sure - we wanted to stay at an Epcot-area resort and we wanted to stay Deluxe. As I had recently returned from a rather unsatisfactory trip that included a stay at the Yacht Club, and as Amanda was not quite feeling the Beach Club was "it" for this trip, we decided on the Boardwalk.
A villa at the Boardwalk to be exact.
I'd had a great experience renting DVC points in the past from a private renter I found here on the boards, and this time around I decided to use a company, The DVC Rental Store. It's a great way to stay Deluxe for less than almost any discount can get you. In a matter of about 24 hours we had a confirmation # and a signed rental contract for a Garden/Pool View Studio at the Boardwalk.
A stay at the Boardwalk meant perfect proximity to Epcot (my favorite park) and the Italian Margarita at the Tutto kiosk in Italy. It meant being able to walk to DHS too! It meant built-in race transportation (as BW is an official race resort). It meant being able to check out the (kinda creepy clown pool) and those ULTRA creepy chairs in the lobby. (I'm still not sure about the last one.)
Not only did I feel like this would be the *perfect* resort for this trip, I could also cross a new resort off the list.
What list?
The "I Want to Stay at Every Disney Resort at Least Once" list.
So far, I've stayed at:
POP Century
All Star Music
All Star Sports
Caribbean Beach
Port Orleans French Quarter
Coronado Springs
Dolphin
Swan
Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House)
Polynesian
Yacht Club
and now
Boardwalk!
That was it! We were locked in! No resort changing angst!
Until Amanda mentioned she was adding some nights onto the beginning of her trip. Three nights to be exact. At POP.
I had total extended stay envy. And that never leads to anything good. Except when it leads to an extended stay of my own.
Two nights at Port Orleans Riverside (and ANOTHER resort to add to the list)!
(I love lists. Almost as much as the lovely Lady Lallie. Where IS LL, by the way???)
Done and DONE!
Except when you're not done.
Because Disney releases a new deal that allows for an affordable upgrade to a Mod which prompts someone ::coughAMANDAcough:: to make a(nother) change.
Our trip now breaks down as follows:
2/18/13-2/21/13: Amanda at Coronado Springs
2/21/13-2/26/13: Me and Amanda at Boardwalk
2/26/13-2/28/13: Me at Port Orleans Riverside
And to me it looks practically perfect in every way just the way it is.
Although it would only cost me a total of about $34 to upgrade to one of the new Royal rooms...that doesn't count as a resort change.
Right?
RIGHT??
ON DECK: Fly Like an Eagle (a.k.a. Early Bird Check-in=Best $10 Ever Spent)
Ok, and.....Miss Amanda -- you do know that creepy clown lives at the BW??! I was slightly shocked, I admit, when I heard that you guys were staying there, of all places! Seems to me you had once sworn you'd never stay there, because of said clown. Just sayin'.....
And yes, I'm officially envious.
Ugh. Are you saying I'm the one who changed? Moi?!?
Okay. Guess I did.
Wug-evah! I see one coming from you.
After all, aren't we still wait-listed for BCV?
Wow. That's exactly what it's all about.
Truly.
And I'm still not sure about the pool.
And I have total POR envy on this one, because my family won't be with me. So glad you are going!
Okay, so this one is totally and completely my fault. I even stayed on the phone for my commute to work to lock in CSR.
Sounds like there won't be a resort change on the cards AT ALL. Ever. For this trip. I think. Probably. Maybe.
I like POR. Some people say that it is too big and there is a lot of walking from your room to the main facilities. But I didn't find it that bad. I hope you enjoy it there.
You know, when we approached the AKL lobby (after being chauffeured in a luxury SUV, I might add!!), and the CMs smiled and said "Welcome home!", I'm pretty sure that I was willing to scrub the lobby top to bottom with a toothbrush, for a living, if that meant I could, indeed, call that my "home."
Even if it also meant I had to be "Mr. Tink" for 2 days.....
Ok, and.....Miss Amanda -- you do know that creepy clown lives at the BW??! I was slightly shocked, I admit, when I heard that you guys were staying there, of all places! Seems to me you had once sworn you'd never stay there, because of said clown. Just sayin'.....
The airline gods, rather like the firework gods, are deities that I just prefer to stay under-the-radar with. I feel like if I'm out of their line of sight, I won't be in their firing path.
Gosh, I hope your flight home is better this time. I actually toyed flying this time. Even now, I've played with them again. And while I can get a good incoming flight. The return? It sucketh.
I mean, royally. Like one flight that is direct and the ones not direct have layovers in Atlanta. And that one is ubber-expensive.
Yeah, I'll drive.
You've no idea how green with envy I am at the thought of being within driving distance of the World. I'm not sure I'd ever entertain the thought of flying again! LOL
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
Nope. It's just my flight to Disney.
That's not to say that's the only way I could reach the House of Mouse.
Actually, one day I'd like to take the train all the way down! It's on my Disney Trip Bucket List.
And I've driven down. Once. In the back of an RV. In a baby-sitter/nanny capacity. Over Easter weekend. And stayed off-property in Kissimmee (which I always feel like I'm spelling wrong. I always feel it should look more like Mississippi...moving on...)
I would totally drive down again, cutting the 22-24 hour trek into two days with a stop somewhere in the Carolinas. It would likely have to be a solo trip as BF wouldn't want to be in the car that long. And I honestly wouldn't mind. I love to drive!
But that is not for this trip. This trip I will be entrusting my transportation, as I almost always do, to Southwest and their usually entertaining crew. My brother does a ton of air travel and he likes to call them 'Southworst' (and 'Air Trash'). Keep in mind, though, this is the man that's often traveling 1st Class. (Jerk.) I, for one, have not once EVER had an isse with Southwest - price, schedule or crew. I can count the number of times they've been late on one hand and would need fingers and toes (and maybe then some) to count the times they've gotten me in early.
For those of you who know all this and use Southwest and Early Bird regularly, here's something I found out after talking to Customer Service once: You could've been the first person to book and purchase Early Bird the day your booking window opened (giving you what you think would be the first boarding position) but if someone books, even up until a day ahead, at a higher rate and gets Early Bird, they will receive a better position than you.
It's all about the $$$. Color me surprised.
Also, I booked one way using points and the other way at a great discount so you simply can't beat it. I think it worked out to $70 each way out of pocket (OOP).
ON DECK: ::cue choir of angels:: The Annual Pass (a.k.a. The Year I Spent in Disney)
You know, the vehicle comes in handy, too when you want to sleep just another hour before your lunch ADR at a resort and you can because you have a car there.
Oh, yeah, I was wondering. . .do you have a Tables in Wonderland Card?
And more importantly, will you be using it to get us a discount at our common meals?
I have looked into this and it always, always seemed to land me in some major hub for a 5-hour layover between the hours of 1- and 6:00am. Uh...no thank you.
Ooh! Ooh! ME!! Pick me!! I would totally drive down with you!!!!! I, too, love to drive. I'm all about the road trip. With two teeny exceptions: no more road trips with the fam (sorry, I love you all, but June pushed my sanity to the brink of failure!), and no more road trips unless I'm in a rental car (or, someone else's new/-ish car....). Again, I defer to the June trip. And that's all I have to say about THAT.
I added the EB for our flights next month
You. Suck.
Moving on.....
Aaaaand, you still suck!!
Some days, I would give my left arm (I'm a lefty, so giving my right arm isn't such a sacrifice ) to go to WDW as often as you do. ::sigh:: Maybe someday when I'm old[er] and gray[er].
This is totally so besides the point, but I'm left handed, too.