marias
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 11, 2004
- Messages
- 121
Planning
Well, lets start at the very beginning its a very fine place to start .. This trip started life following two weeks in Summer 2007 (well it was reported to be Summer given that it was August) stuck in the house toilet training an 8-week old puppy.
Bad weather, followed by more bad weather, no sleep and a desperate desire to escape sent us scuttling for the holiday brochures.
Our long-term holiday plan was (and still is) to go to Hawaii in 2009 to celebrate 20-years married and my 40th birthday (aarrgghh where did that spring from?) and as we thought DD would be too old for holidaying with her ageing parents it would be a holiday for two. It since turns out that DD will be having a trip of a lifetime in 2009 as she will be travelling with the school for a winter activities holiday to Slovenia (at a cost that made me weep
).
So back to the bad weather ..and a mountain of holiday brochures nowhere in Europe really appealed and the prices were a bit steep remember were saving for Hawaii. So how the heck did I manage to convince everyone that going back to WDW was better for the bank balance? Well let me tell you there wasnt much convincing needed, the words hadnt escaped my lips fully when the I wanna eat at ., can we go to Test Track started. But totting up the figures for 2 weeks was a bit out of our reach. So what to do:
7/14 days with a travel operator
7/14 days independent booking
1 calculator and much manipulation later we came up with the idea of 9 nights booked independently (which incidentally was a lot less than 7 nights with a travel operator).
So armed with dates and a budget we contacted Dreams Unlimited and asked for a quote to stay in Disney for the duration I think perhaps we were a bit optimistic asking for the Contemporary Tower Magic Kingdom view
Anyway after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, messing with the dates etc. we agreed on All-Star Movies from 28th July 6th August on the proviso that we could get the flights.
As soon as the window for booking the flights was open we had reservations and e-tickets for 3 returns to Florida (woo-hoo!!).
Spring forward to April and we have flights (paid), accommodation (part-paid), car-hire (paid), insurance (paid), airport parking (paid), but no currency or tickets organised as yet .still plenty of time for the piggy bank to refill (either that or we have to live in hope that the tree at the bottom of the garden starts sprouting tenners
).
So, messing around in the manage your flights section of Virgin Atlantics website and out of the corner of my eye, I do spy Upgrade to PE one-way for £83 and I am intrigued. After a bit of discussion as in do you think we might get some sleep on the way back we did it so the return home is in PE never done it before and hope that it doesnt spoil us for future economy flights
UPDATE - We cant quite believe that we are down to 95 days, but with the year we have had we are really looking forward to the break. And guess what, we have discovered that there is a pool bar at the hotel selling cocktails so in the words of Garth Brooks Give me 2 Pina Coladas, one for each hand .
At day +41 we finally scrape enough pennies together to buy the precious 7-Day Premium Tickets (Mercury again), pay off the balance on the hotel and order the Photopass CD using the pre-visit offer. So now apart from spending money for which I am hoping the rate increases a weeny bit we are almost done, and the excitement is building.
Well at +40 days the rate increases to 1.9120 and I place the order for cash/trav chq and money card trying to cover all eventualities. Collecting the money from the airport is a huge landmark in the countdown but this year things transpire to make it a little tense.
First the bank thinks theres some fraudulent use on our account - given the vast sums I am transferring in and out of various accounts - and put a block on the payment. We manage to get this sorted but then the card we used to ordered the currency, manages to lose itself whilst buying petrol
and therefore the order has to be changed to payment on collection. Now nothing is ever easy and although the money is yet to be debited from our account we have to wait for a credit before we can pay again! Would you believe in this day and age it takes another 4 days for payment to be taken and credit organised. Never mind, we are nearly there now and so long as the replacement debit card arrives before this weekend we can go and collect the currency. So after a long and fairly unhappy weekend we are back on track again. Money and travellers cheques duly collected and no more mishaps thank goodness.
So never one to let sleeping dogs lie I have to tinker with the arrangements made, and decide that it would be a great opportunity to have the Grand Floridian photo shoot (having pre-ordered the CD it is at a reduced cost). It has been a while since we had a nice family photo taken, and bearing in mind that cost almost £700 (nice frame-fat face), this would be a lovely update, in a superb location and with any luck we will have the smidgeing of a tan (and of course if we turn beetroot photoshop can do wonders these days). So with Shirley at Dreams on the case we are waiting to see if she can secure not only the photo shoot but also a reservation at Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. Watch this space .. woo hoo
, breakfast booked for 7.40am and photos at 9.00 now must remember not to spill anything down our fronts.
UPDATE - So we are 7 days out and I think we are prepared, just need to get through 4 more working days ..wish us luck!
See you when we get back, trip report updates will be the first job after shopping, unpacking, washing (yeuch!) but most importantly edit the photopass piccies and ordering the CD.
Well, lets start at the very beginning its a very fine place to start .. This trip started life following two weeks in Summer 2007 (well it was reported to be Summer given that it was August) stuck in the house toilet training an 8-week old puppy.
Bad weather, followed by more bad weather, no sleep and a desperate desire to escape sent us scuttling for the holiday brochures.
Our long-term holiday plan was (and still is) to go to Hawaii in 2009 to celebrate 20-years married and my 40th birthday (aarrgghh where did that spring from?) and as we thought DD would be too old for holidaying with her ageing parents it would be a holiday for two. It since turns out that DD will be having a trip of a lifetime in 2009 as she will be travelling with the school for a winter activities holiday to Slovenia (at a cost that made me weep
).So back to the bad weather ..and a mountain of holiday brochures nowhere in Europe really appealed and the prices were a bit steep remember were saving for Hawaii. So how the heck did I manage to convince everyone that going back to WDW was better for the bank balance? Well let me tell you there wasnt much convincing needed, the words hadnt escaped my lips fully when the I wanna eat at ., can we go to Test Track started. But totting up the figures for 2 weeks was a bit out of our reach. So what to do:
7/14 days with a travel operator
7/14 days independent booking
1 calculator and much manipulation later we came up with the idea of 9 nights booked independently (which incidentally was a lot less than 7 nights with a travel operator).
So armed with dates and a budget we contacted Dreams Unlimited and asked for a quote to stay in Disney for the duration I think perhaps we were a bit optimistic asking for the Contemporary Tower Magic Kingdom view
Anyway after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, messing with the dates etc. we agreed on All-Star Movies from 28th July 6th August on the proviso that we could get the flights.As soon as the window for booking the flights was open we had reservations and e-tickets for 3 returns to Florida (woo-hoo!!).
Spring forward to April and we have flights (paid), accommodation (part-paid), car-hire (paid), insurance (paid), airport parking (paid), but no currency or tickets organised as yet .still plenty of time for the piggy bank to refill (either that or we have to live in hope that the tree at the bottom of the garden starts sprouting tenners
).So, messing around in the manage your flights section of Virgin Atlantics website and out of the corner of my eye, I do spy Upgrade to PE one-way for £83 and I am intrigued. After a bit of discussion as in do you think we might get some sleep on the way back we did it so the return home is in PE never done it before and hope that it doesnt spoil us for future economy flights
UPDATE - We cant quite believe that we are down to 95 days, but with the year we have had we are really looking forward to the break. And guess what, we have discovered that there is a pool bar at the hotel selling cocktails so in the words of Garth Brooks Give me 2 Pina Coladas, one for each hand .
At day +41 we finally scrape enough pennies together to buy the precious 7-Day Premium Tickets (Mercury again), pay off the balance on the hotel and order the Photopass CD using the pre-visit offer. So now apart from spending money for which I am hoping the rate increases a weeny bit we are almost done, and the excitement is building.
Well at +40 days the rate increases to 1.9120 and I place the order for cash/trav chq and money card trying to cover all eventualities. Collecting the money from the airport is a huge landmark in the countdown but this year things transpire to make it a little tense.
First the bank thinks theres some fraudulent use on our account - given the vast sums I am transferring in and out of various accounts - and put a block on the payment. We manage to get this sorted but then the card we used to ordered the currency, manages to lose itself whilst buying petrol
and therefore the order has to be changed to payment on collection. Now nothing is ever easy and although the money is yet to be debited from our account we have to wait for a credit before we can pay again! Would you believe in this day and age it takes another 4 days for payment to be taken and credit organised. Never mind, we are nearly there now and so long as the replacement debit card arrives before this weekend we can go and collect the currency. So after a long and fairly unhappy weekend we are back on track again. Money and travellers cheques duly collected and no more mishaps thank goodness.So never one to let sleeping dogs lie I have to tinker with the arrangements made, and decide that it would be a great opportunity to have the Grand Floridian photo shoot (having pre-ordered the CD it is at a reduced cost). It has been a while since we had a nice family photo taken, and bearing in mind that cost almost £700 (nice frame-fat face), this would be a lovely update, in a superb location and with any luck we will have the smidgeing of a tan (and of course if we turn beetroot photoshop can do wonders these days). So with Shirley at Dreams on the case we are waiting to see if she can secure not only the photo shoot but also a reservation at Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. Watch this space .. woo hoo
, breakfast booked for 7.40am and photos at 9.00 now must remember not to spill anything down our fronts.UPDATE - So we are 7 days out and I think we are prepared, just need to get through 4 more working days ..wish us luck!
See you when we get back, trip report updates will be the first job after shopping, unpacking, washing (yeuch!) but most importantly edit the photopass piccies and ordering the CD.
. Finally, with Shirley on your case, I'm sure you'll get everything sorted. 
