Final and Complete Trip Report with Photos Updated 1/29 page 13

[athenna]

Thanks for the update Susan And let him know his report is being read

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Thanks for the update Susan And let him know his report is being read

Well thank you athenna.

Happy Halloween everyone

Wow, there are a few lerkers out there. Thank you.

Just an update on the La Nouba tickets, a couple of weeks ago when WDW did that software update that basically shut down all of DVC and WDW. So on Oct 14th I called WDW dinning at 9 to get some tickets for La Nouba. The wonderful CM started to help me find tickets and told me the credit card payment progam was down.

So at 11 am I call again and get the same problem. (Doesn't Disney beta test before running?) I had found 3 seats in 3 different areas in the lower area. DW and I were looking to get close to the action without paying too much. Well after a 4th call and the same damn answer, I decide to call MS.

Now, the CM here did all of the normal stuff (member # and all of the safety info) then helped me with buying the La Nouba tickets. At this point I found 3 tickets in row c front and center. I called DW and told her what I was looking at. She got excited. Well, the wonderful CM tried to tell me there were no tickets for the front and center section. Come on I see them on the WDW/La Nouba website.

They had been there all day. So after 45 mins of being on the phone and looking up tickets and trying to get great seats for La Nouba the MS CM then asks for the credit card # and when I tell her it was a Mastercard she tells me her system will take every card but that one. Come on, isn't this supposed to be the "Happiest place on Earth"?

The MS CM tells me she will call me back when her superviser looks into the problem on their end. While all of this is going on,DD was at school needing a ride home from after school activity's. And to make things worse, my cell battery was about to die. I was on the way to pick her up when I notice her walking home. That was a suprise. I told her I was on the phone with a job interview.

Well the wonderful MS CM calls me back finally, after I get DD home, with a La Nouba sales superviser.. She tells me the software update was taking more time then anyone had planned. So after 6 hrs of wanting Cat 1 tickets and liking the front and center row c tickets, she asked if there was anything else she could look for. (Heck, why not ask for front row? suprise DW)

So long story short the wonderful superviser found me 3 tickets next to the stage. If anyone owns the La Nouba DVD or has seen it live you know they pick someone from the crowd, usually in the front row, to mess with during the show. It could happen. Ya never know

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

see. DW leaves a post and 2 responses. And I get nothing.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Monday Night Football!!!!!!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Get out and vote people. It's your right to do so. They say only 15-20% of Americans will vote today. What a shame. I voted!!

I will be posting and update later this evening since people ARE reading and just now saying anything. I want to thank you for at least looking at it.

 

[athenna]

Hey, I got read and do all the replying, too? Put me on the payroll

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Hey, I got read and do all the replying, too? Put me on the payroll

I'll have to pay under the table. ok?

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Here is it as promised:



So here is today’s edition of “As my stomach churns” Nov 1st 2010


Well, it looks like the price of the rental car has hit the lowest point of the year so far. It started with a Mustang rental at $465 for 10 days. Now we are looking at a mid/full size car. We really don’t want a gas hog but 32 MPG’s is better than 18-24 MPG’s right? Should keep the speeding tickets away too. So the cost of the rental is now down to $267 for 10 days. Not bad if I do say so myself. This is how I like to save money on this trip to help pay for La Nouba tickets.

I don't know why I’m going to say this (time to kill I guess) But with PTR's there are stories. And here is mine to fill in the extra time:

This is where I tell you a little bit about myself. I like to plan a vacation so we can get the most bang for our buck and also for the worst case scenario. You know $5 to $7 a gallon for gas (2008 trip). Because you never know when Murphy’s Law will show up. When planning a trip to WDW I try to make the most of our time and still have a vacation. And if we can save any extra money for the trip, we try to do it. You know like, saving all of the daily change from your car or pockets into jars for trips. Not just to WDW either, for anything like baseball games, concerts, or to use on a gift. I once used a 1 gallon milk jug to hold all of my daily change and left over weekly paper money that was in my pocket and gave it to my brother for a Christmas gift. He told me there was over $400 in $20’s alone. I always like to look for way’s to get to WDW the cheapest. (And this is before becoming DVC Member's of course) Since we have always taken our own cars down and always packed WAY too much, like you haven’t on your first few trips before finding the DIS. LOL
I have been a truck driver for nearly 20 years. I have driven close to 1.6 to 1.75 million miles in my career. As a driver in the early 1990’s you were expected to know how to get from Greeneville Tn to Las Vegas Nv.( one of the craziest trip I tell ya. But I don’t think you want to hear about that one).Back then, you were expected to know everything for your trip, the routing, where to get fuel and places to eat and/or shower , get trailer or tractor permits, and most importantly, where to stop every night safely (you could only drive 500-650 miles a day Not that I will EVER do it again, I have had a few days where 800+ wasn’t out of the norm) As long as the roads were open and the music was on, it was Hakuna Matata. You had to look at the cost for fuel. You would look for stops that were in your approved list of fuel stops, and you knew what truck stops had the better deals for food or supplies that you needed. Unlike getting a flat in a car, were you can call AAA to help with the flat, you could be waiting hrs on the side of the road as a truck driver. And yes, I liked to sometimes eat on the run. I know it isn’t good for ya but you had to do what you had to do some times. When a shipper holds you up for 3-8 hrs longer than normal (after many years of driving you learn what the norm is) you have to still drive those miles you were told to drive. Some shippers don’t want you resting/sleeping in your truck at the time of loading and you have to sit and watch them load it too. Go figure. Then the company you are delivering to wants you there at certain time, so you have to make choices. Some of which I hope I never have to make again. You also had to listen on the CB for bad traffic and weather. Last but not least, there are scales and cops to worry about..

This was the life of a truck driver back in the 1990’s. You waited at a truck stop or rest area and called your dispatcher every so many hours for a load or waited by a phone for hours. Today it’s all cell phones, in cab messaging, texting, Laptops, DVD players and Satellite radios. Most people today would get lost without GPS. Seems like today, most truck drivers are told where to fuel, park and shower. And even one company does your logbooks for ya. Hmmmmmmm So, after all the years of driving, I have learned how to get the most out of a dollar. I’ve had the Bald eagle on a quarter making noise.. I did whatever it took to get by and even brought food on the road with me from home to save some extra money.


So, let’s get back to the planning again. I knew the rough miles driving from Louisville Ky to WDW before we even made our first trip(857 miles one way). I would always ask my trucking company to send me to Ga or Orlando so I could see the roads. Learning some of the ways around traffic jams and seeing where the problem construction is (you know, before GPS). And knowing where all the good gas stations and places to stop if you want to sleep are. I even learned where every Starbucks and HD shop is on the trip. DW likes to call me Mr. Rand McNally. I love my job as a truck driver. It has a wonderful view that is always changing. NOW back to the story . I look back at the cost of gas, how it’s gone up over the years. Our first trip in 2003 gas was $1.54. In 2004 it was $1.83 and 3 Hurricanes hit Florida that year. In 2005, it jumped to over $5 in Louisville thanks to Katrina. In 2007 it was over $3 and rising. Thank goodness it dropped in Oct. before that trip. In 2008, I had planned that trip for $7 a gallon. At $150 a barrel it was hard to want to go. Right after summer was over oil just dropped and by the time we left town it was down to $1.89!!

Since I live in Louisville, we have a few choices for airports, Louisville, Lexington and Owensboro. We have to take into account the cost to drive and park at these airports or to have family drive us there or to the Louisville airport. And now airlines are charging for everything, even snacks while on the plane. (No more free peanuts and soda?) So what to bring and not to bring with you on a plane; that is the question. And all of this type of planning was before DVC and OL. So now we could fly on JetBlue, but that would make us have to leave on a Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday. No big deal. And there is the drive to Lexington (could get a hotel nearby and take a taxi if family drops us off). Other air carriers are up and down on a daily price for tickets. Too bad we are not a “Direct” Nonstop city to Orlando like it is in Atlanta or in NJ. I try look for round trip prices versus one ways deals. It's a 1.5 hr drive to Lexington Ky and it costs $10/day for parking. Which still means getting up even earlier while on vacation? We could rent a car to drive to drive down in, we’ve been there and done that. We have tried renting on every WDW trip. And like some out there, whenever the money got tight, we always gave up something and that usually meant the rental car. I just guess it helps when you try to plan with some 12-18 months for saving the money for a trip. In 2004, I was looking forward to driving down in a Chevy Monte Carlo. A big V8. It looked like a Nascar car at the time. We even planned the price for gas based on the Monte, but that fell through. Now for the current trip, renting makes the most sense. Both of our cars have made many trips to WDW. And have lots of extra miles on them. You know cars just aren't build like they used to.

So this year, on April Fool’s Day, after watching 5-6 of the online DVC sales pitches, we planned on buying cause we had the extra money as our cars are now paid for. The wonderful CM that helped us with our DVC Membership was Doug. What a wonderful guy. He has a job I would love to have. Get paid to not pressure you to buy, but to chat with ya about all things Disney in hopes you buy in to DVC. So now we are going on our first ever DVC vacation thanks to Doug. With the month or so of waiting for the “you are now DVC members” we did a quick plan. We are so excited about going on this trip. DW is so looking forward to the massage.(boy does she ever need it.) When Doug let us know that we were “official” members, he asked if we wanted to get a room for an upcoming vacation. So we said yes excitedly. The trip was somewhat already planned. LOL
It seemed like I wanted to stay at every resort on this first trip. I didn’t want to stay at just one resort like we have always done in the past. But on this trip, I wanted to visit 3 different DVC resorts. I had put together a few ideas that even included 2-3 nights at Poly. The plan was 2-3 days at AKV, then spend 2 days at BWV - BW view (or at the Poly) and 4 days at BLT. DW didn't want us to move so much LOL. So I got her to do a split stay on this one, 4 days AKV and 4 BLT. . We now have a Purple Box. So that means we can travel with less from now on. (Still got to get the stuff down there right?) Thank goodness for Publix and Wal-Mart being nearby. So this trip we will relax while on vacation. Eat breakfast in the room some mornings. DW’s BFF (like this is a word that means something) is coming along to relax and spend a few days just relaxing poolside or in the room. She has also said she will help cook meals since she will spend little time in the parks while at AKV.

How many times have you gone on a vacation and forget something that cost's 5X's more than at home? Have you seen what a gas station charges for Tums lately? Ouch!! After all, we don’t want to drive the car once we’re at AKV or BLT. I guess you can say a dry run for the first DVC vacation. I figure once we get our feet wet we should get this down to an easy trip. I’m just wondering how to plan for DVC Hawaii? We are already starting to plan for DD sweet 16 party . This should be a blast. We are thinking since DD loves MGM and Epcot we could stay at BCV or BWV. But that will be at a later time.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

So is everyone enjoying the updates?

 

[athenna]

I'll have to pay under the table. ok?

Fine, I don't want to deal with any tax headaches anyway

Nice update, love the costumes!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

I will tell everyone one thing about Ebay, if the seller has less then 100 sales BEWARE. Thank goodness for buyer protection. The seller from California sells Disney trading pins. 60 pins for $34.99 and free shipping. We won the pins on Oct 24th and paid the bill and then waited 2 weeks with NO response from the seller and Ebay has since cancelled her account.

Good thing we are able to find another seller that responds to my messages. Now we will have 50 pins for trading at WDW. There is something about pin trading that is soooooooooo much fun. I hope to get another update on this slow but exciting PTR.

Does anyone have any questions?

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Happy Veteran's Day!!!!!

I intend to try to put a video together from our 2007 trip and try to doing a video trip report. Well at least try!!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Oh yeah, I now have less the 28 days til we head fer the world ya'll.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Well, this is for the one's reading

Here are a few disappointing updates.
The space shuttle has been postponed til Feb. We hoped and it didn't fall through. And here is the BIG one!! DW BFF is now getting cold feet on going to WDW. Her 13 DS lost his cellphone at school for using it there(Doh!) and BFF will be leaving her DS at her EX's house. Now BFF is worried about not being able to talk with her son. I asked her if she is worried when DS is at the EX's while she is at family's (70 miles away). The answer is NO.

So why worry now? I think it's the "feel guilty" feeling. Now if she doesn't go, the plans made in the first place were made without her in mind. I have seen enough TR's that had family or friends bail out at the last minute. RED ALERT RED ALERT if you are a DVC member and you got a 2Br villa and want to save the points so you can come back for another trip. Then you find out all studio's at the resort's you like are booked and only 1Br villa's are at a resort you don't like or even worse, you have a 8 day trip and you are moving every2-3 days.

We picked up a new video camera in case of the shuttle liftoff. It's a Sony HD video camera. Now I have just days to learn how to use it. Easier said then done. But I'm learning as fast as I can.

And to top it all off for the last days before our vacation, here is what it looked like outside right before I went to bed on Thanksgiving day

And this is what it looked like in the morning on Black Friday. (it was 67 degs here on turkey day)

And this is what it looks like this morning, just a few days before we go on vacation.

And the forecast here for the rest of the week is highs in the low 30's to upper 20's and the lows in the teens. Yet in Florida, they are complaining about high temps in the 60's. I look forward to the warmer weather down there. The current highs in KY are 5-10 degs cooler then the lows at WDW. I hope you have enjoyed this PTR. I hope to give updates if something changes.

 

[Cyndibear]

Love the updates!!! Have a safe trip to FL and can't wait to read about your trip adventures!!


Cyndi

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Love the updates!!! Have a safe trip to FL and can't wait to read about your trip adventures!!


Cyndi

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Ok. I'm sitting hear at home feeling sorry for the cold people in Miami. 40 in the tropics is down right funny to me. It's still in the teens and low 20's here. I think that's CCCCCCold. And the way things are looking, we may be looking at either a very cold, or white winter.

This is what I saw on local TV the day before we left for Florida. I then thought, I've heard it's a different type of cold. Thank goodness for DVC.

Here is a little about me right now, I'm typing the PTR thinking about ways to get DW to leave early on thursday. I'm watching the weather channel seeing how the weather is looking and have my favorite band Jammin' on the PC system. \m/ Yes i'm in my 40's and still love to listen and jam in the car Metallica.
Here is a photo of what it looked like outside 2 days ago. Now remember, we in the Louisville area have had one of the driest summers on record. We do need the water. Be-careful what you wish for.

See only 4 days til we leave in this pic

Oh yeah, here is the update about the BFF, she will not be going. And we understand why. We will again try to invite her on another trip.

Any who, I was waiting for the dishwasher guy, you know, "we will be there from 8 am to 4 pm or 8 am to noon or today noon to 4. I tell ya, these new "green" electronics just aren't built fer sheit. But yes terday I was waiting when I looked over at my cat TIGGER.

These pics where taken with in 2 hr span. Now for the ahhhhhhhhh in the crowd Wait........wait.......wait for it.......Drum roll please.............................................................................................................................................

And a few minutes later.I just can't figure him out.

Doh!! As you see in the back ground, these were taken on sunday. I see football on the TV.

And why not not, one more to tug at the heart.

Here is what he did yesterday, this is the strangest cat I have even seen.

How the heck is he not killing himself? Go figure.

Opps be right be, I need a soda and lunch. I'll give you something to entertain you while i'm making lunch Video 1 And here is Video 2 Enjoy!!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Yummy. I enjoy it when it's cold outside. This is something I never knew as a kid.
Around the house this is Sandy. I have been calling her momma since we had her.

Back to the story.

Where was I, oh yeah Tigger. One of a kind cat I tell ya. So, this morning I have added QSDP for our first part of our vacation. We feel sorry for the people in Miami with the rare cold weather.

Here is what the Weather Channel is calling for here in Ky. Look a heat wave at the end of the week

And here is the weather for the area code for WDW 32830 (why do I know this? And why do I need FP for TSM when we want to ride RnR and ToT first, so we and enjoy BBTB live on stage with 4 for a $. We miss then. They sang to us last time we went without the kids.

WARMING UP!!

BRB I'm going to make a youtube video to show the local weather LOL

If you listen to the whole video, they mention WDW.
Click here

This is what it looked like this am. and still very very very very cold.

Here is our stuff waiting and packed. I tell ya. A person who likes Metallica in a 2010/2011 rental, I am going to test the bass with the Metallic ...And justice for all Album If you have One and a MP3, play it with the bass turned up.

This PTR stuff is hard if ya don't know what people like I guess. I do know that some people get soooooo many reply's What is it i'm a doing wrong?

I can handle it. I grew up in the 80's with parent's from the 50's!!

 

[Cyndibear]

Love the kitty photos!! Cute! I have a co-worker leaving Friday for the World. She's concerned at how cold its gonna be. I told her to pack heavier clothes and enjoy. She may not get as much pool time but she will have a great time. Following your report, can't wait till you are there!! (bet you can't either)

Cyndi

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Love the kitty photos!! Cute! I have a co-worker leaving Friday for the World. She's concerned at how cold its gonna be. I told her to pack heavier clothes and enjoy. She may not get as much pool time but she will have a great time. Following your report, can't wait till you are there!! (bet you can't either)

Cyndi

Cold in Florida is nice compared to KY or even up in Pa. Thanks for enjoying!!