Have you ever taken a spontaneous trip to WDW?

[ufgator]

We have. In Dec, we booked the hotel for 3 ngihts less than 2 weeks before; then we added an extra night on the way there. Years ago, we went to Bok Tower for the day and then started driving to WDW; we called in the car and made reservations - didn't get our first choice though. We usually don't plan that far in advance, but we also live in South Florida so it's easy for us to get there.

 

[4mykids]

One of our best trips (and we have been over 20 times) was on the spur. We were running from a hurricane several years ago. We decided that we were sick of going to a hotel and watching the Weather Channel to see if our home was being blown off the map. We had APs that year and my husband (gasp!) said let's go to WDW! Before he had the first syllable out of his mouth, I was on the phone with CRO. Told them our situation and she found us an AP rate. We didn't tell the kids until we were on the road.

As far as dining, we put together our PS on the road. Did just fine.

My kids seem to to better when the trip is a surprise. We have been other times when we didn't tell them. Got all the way to Orlando before my 10 year old figured out where we were. My 6 year old was asleep and woke up just as we drove through the DW gate. Much screaming then!

We are planning another ambush this Feb. Taking the kids during Mardi Gras!

 

[Alexander]

8 days prior to departure. I was actually surprised to find flights. Couldn't take the cold and snow one Feb. and hopped a plane to WDW! Actually got a great deal at the Dolphin too!

 

[tubachick]

We were on a FL vacation, over Christmas and since that was a last minute decision in itself, never thought we could go. On our drive down, we stopped at the Disney Information Center in Ocala, and got a room for 4 nights at the alstar Sports, a little noisy, but we got a room, tickets, and even priority seating for newyears eve and day!! It was very spontanous and FUN FUN FUN. I would do it again. --- Our planned trips are just as much fun, but it was neat to feel like we just squeeked in for the new years count down!!

 

[Abba98]

Wish we could,but we live in Nova Scotia and have to book our airfare well in advance!But,I'm envious of those who do go last minute!Good for you !Can't wait to get back to the magic!

 

[CrazedDisFan]

We did! Our very first trip!!! We decided on a Sunday to leave on Weds. for Disney. This entailed a LOT of quick planning. I had to find flights from snowy, cold Michigan. I booked a hotel offsite, bought park hoppers at the Disney Store. We told the kids the night before we left. It was FANTASTIC!!!

We have been back once and are planning trip #3 right now for the end of February.

 

[debbiedoo]

Definitely!!

Have a 4day weekend,jump in the car and go!! DH drives while I am on the cell phone getting ressies! Always an adventure!! Have not done this in a while, you are giving me that itch!!

 

[tinker-kyle]

our last trip 7/04 ... we had flown down to grandma's empty condo in ft lauderdale for a "cheap" vacation

told ourselves "we are NOT going to WDW this trip" (had last been 10 days in 1/04 - only 6 month before)
ends up granny's upstairs neighbor had a pipe burst ... so needed a hotel anyway ... call CRO sunday at 3pm

and at 6 am monday we were on our way ... it was supposed to be for just two nites ... but at BC (my dream)

we spent the whole first day swimming in SAB - next day at MK and last day at TL (we tend to travel in winter and had never had a warm enough day)

ended up booking one more nite at pop coz we didnt want to leave TL and drive 3-4 hours back to granny's house.

on departure day ... we toured SSR and bought 250 pts at DVC !

we have our next three disney trips planned (2 in 2005 and 1 in 2006)
dont think we have room for any more spontaneous trip sin the budget

i envy those close enough to hop in there car!

 

[disneyfan5]

We have been to disney many times, the end of this month will mark four times in a year.. and our last for our passes.. We have taken 2 last minute trips so far.. they are so exciting, dont get me wrong I love the planning part too, but just to jump and say lets go when its unexpected sends goosebumps down your spine. lol. The first was a couple years back my husband had gotten his ankle broke at work and was out on workers comp. and it happen to be the last day of school in May. well around 1:00 in the afternoon with the kids gonna be home in 1 1/2 hours,, we were sitting there and I looked over and said, hey,, kids will be home soon,last day of school, your off for awhile,, lets get the stuff together and when they get here,, go to disney.. about a 7 hour drive... he looked at me, kinda funny, and said your kidding, I said nope, he said what about my ankle, I cant walk, I said we can rent a scooter.. he sat there a minute, then said ok, lets do it.. so off we went, so was fun... The next time was well the day after Hurrican Ivan totally ripped through us,, we live in Pace, Fl.. we already had a vacation planned for the next week, a week and disney and a week cruise.. well the day after the storm, I said hey lets just pack and go, it was terrible outside,, trees all down, lost all of our fridge and freezer stuff, no power or cable, and wouldnt be for weeks they said, so we just left, and that got us 2 weeks at disney then the week cruise instead of a week and a week, now that way a awesome trip we will never forget,, along with getting hit by hurricane jeanne while we were there. lol but that was nothing compared to what we went throught with Ivan.. The parks were so slow for awhile to, so that added to the perks.. I hope you enjoyed my story.. brings back good memoires..

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

We were in another part of Florida for something (me, DH and my brother), and we got bored with what we were doing so we decided to drive to WDW instead. We made the decision at dinner one night, and we were there when Magic Kingdom opened the next morning. It was early January, cold and raining most of the time, and it turned out to be one of my favorite trips anyway!!

 

[edk35]

My THEN boyfriend (I lived in Pensacola then)said one Sat. morning "let's go to Disney World"...and I said "yeah right"....and he was dead serious. My roommate thought I had lost my mind. SO we went to a travel agency at the mall closeby....and within a couple of hours we were flying to WDW for a couple of night. I can't remember. I am sure I had to make up some lie for work on MOnday when I didn't show up!!!! At that time there was just MK and EC....but still a lot of fun. My WDW memories SURE LASTED LONGER THAN THAT BOYFRIEND. LOL


Denise

BTW....that was my 2nd trip to WDW

 

[CindyBella]

I call it spur of the moment but we book most of our trips 2-4 weeks prior to arrival. In October we booked a DisneyLand trip in 2 weeks. I would like to have breakfast CRT but it looks like that may never happen. We are going back to DisneyLand for the 50th celebration in May. Guess I should book something!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We did! Just this last Sept. my dh FORGOT my birthday!!!! I actually had to remind him! So, he says "Whatever you want to do this weekend, we'll do it so I can make it up to you." I was on the phone with CRO right then, made reservations, drove down after work on Sat. and came home on Sun.

 

[Spring Break Couple]

When I was little, my Dad came home from work one day and told my mother that we were going to Disney with some other friends. He had already booked the flights and found reservations at the Poly. We were leaving in a week.
My sister and I were just getting over a bad case of walking pneumonia and my Mom was pregnant with my little brother. My mother was able to get it all together despite being tired from the pregnancy and taking care of her sick children.
Well, we arrived without a hitch, but the first night there, my Mom came down with the pneumonia . Because she was pregnant, she could not take any antibiotics to speed her recovery. She was a real trouper and didn't let the fact that she didn't feel well get everyone down. The weather was cold and rainy, which made her feel worse, but she kept going to make sure we all had a great time. She even slept in the bath tub at the Poly so that we could all get some sleep while she coughed all night.
We all had a good time in spite of Mom being sick. When we returned back home, it was snowing big time and we ended up being snowed in the house for three days and Mom had to be put to bed to get better. The baby ended up being fine and my little brother is now 17 years old.
We have had lots of Disney trips since then, but I will always remember that spontaneous trip as being one of the best!
I am currently planning another spontaneous trip (see my other post), and I hope this trip pans out and is the best ever! Any advice about this trip would be much appreciated.

 

[tmfranlk]

I did a few years ago and it was great! Wednesday morning brought an e-saver email from Boston to Orlando. With in 2 hours I had a flight, hotel room with discount, a park hopper from the DS a coupld of blocks from work and - miracle of miracles - a ressie for breakfast at CRT. 36 hours later I was waiting for Fantasmic to start! It was the best solo trip! I am notorious in my family for spontaneous travel, but this was the biggest and best I had ever pulled off.

 

[Philadisney]

when i was 11 my mom and i were on our way to hawaii to meet up with my dad for thanksgiving. due to an american airlines strike, we got stranded in anaheim for 24 hours...so we went to disneyland! i had never been before and was so elated....poor dad, he got stranded in canada!

 

[jiminyfan]

I decided to surprise the family with a last minute vacation (12 days away actually) to WDW. WE decided to visit Disneyland in 2004 and take a break from WDW. but, come October the entire family - wife and 5 yr old son - was getting bummed about no WDW. So, I sent my wife a quick message at work asking her if I should book a Verticle wine tasting for her. She called me really fast and said - yea right. that is when I informed her I was going to take the family on a mini-vacation and she could go taste her wines. She gave me a few rules before I could book - Frequent flier airfares only, AP discount rooms and she had to get into the verticle tasting. I wondered if I could pull off all three with less than 2 weeks to go. but amazingly I got them all except one night AP rate. She left me go on that one. It was one of the best WDW trips we ever had. 4 days of unexpected fun and enjoyment. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

:jumping4:

 

[disney52676]

My best friend (Amy) called me up one Friday night and said "Do Ya wanna go to Florida?' I was undecided. First of all, my kids would be missing school . We ended up deciding at 1:30 in the morning that we would go at 12:00 in the afternoon. I had to get my 11 yr. old daughter, cause she was sleeping up the street at a neighbor's house.We started packing at like 2:30 am, we only got a couple of hours to sleep, then we were loading up Amy's car with our luggage. Luckily, she has an escalade, so we were not crowded on the way there. It was a long drive there but we made it. But on the way home a lady from "OnStar" gave us the wrong directions. We ended up in Alabama ! We called "OnStar" back and they told us that we were 1,000 miles away from home! It was a long drive back, but we finally arrived 1 day later than expected. Sure it was agervating at the time, but now we look back at it and laugh
From:
Heidi - 28
Haley - 13
Samantha -11
Now we are taking another trip to DW on Feb 24, 2005(but we are sticking w/ flying) It will be my 28 time. Haley's 14th time, and Samantha's 12th time.

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[Cass]

I did a spontaneous Disney Cruise & stay.. booked on Wednesday to sail Saturday it was quite a whirlwind getting ready & packed.

 

[Leota]

I had plans for a rather last minute 3 day trip in a week and a half - but Influenza had other plans for me....

Oh well, if another cheap airfare & AP rate comes along, I'm grabbin it!