"It all started with a whopping price error ” 10/24 The Perfect Storm of Opportunity

[A&Bmama]

A&Bmama,

Your report is so heartfelt, real and beautifully written. Thank you for opening yourself up to fellow DISers that understand and appreciate your journey!

My heart goes out to you and your family for your loss.



I'm really looking forward to reading more.
Thank you so much for sharing!

Thanks so much!

More coming soon.

 

[A&Bmama]

Yay, you're back!

Again, I can't believe you got so much done. My DH took my boys on the Dinosaur ride two years ago. He said it was horribly loud, and the kids screamed and cried the whole time.

I should have listened to the comments of others and skipped this. I just thought that DD might be old enought to handle it.

I have personally never done it, and I probably never will.

I don't think I will ever bother with it again.

That same year we also did ITTBAB, and they screamed the whole time in there as well. They hated animal kingdom because they were so scared. This last time we went, we didn't do either one of those rides, and they loved the animal kingdom.

Another one on my skip list. This one seem so much like they tried to cater it to smaller kids and just failed horribly. The theatre wasn't packed by any means when we were there but there but quite a few of the children were crying which scared DD even more. She couldn't wait to get out of there and I even had to carry her because she was scared something might get her feet.

I loved the Lion King show as well. That is so sweet that you help your daughter to see that she can aspire to be in that show when she gets older. She would be awesome at it since she has started so young learning to do all the Cirque stuff. What a great, supportive mom you are.

Aww shucks, thanks! Just seem like something that was suited to her since she is one part graceful ballerina, on part dare devil.

 

[A&Bmama]

Woo hoo another AK fan I love the AK, it probably ranks a joint 1st favourite with Epcot. Not many people seem to enjoy the park but I love way it's laid out, the array of animals and all the knowledge of the CM's - I could just sit and watch animlas all day
I'm so glad you got to enjoy it

I just love it because I think I could walk around all day and not do a single ride and still be happy to be there. I definitly want to spend more time taking in the details next time I get there,

And about the onsite/offsite debate, have you considered renting DVC points? There are many ways to rent them, on the DVC boards on here or one of the sponsors (Davids Vacation Club Rentals - I've heard positive things) and it means you can get a DVC room cheaper than the normal cash rate, I just found this which shows what you could save (depending on the time of year, which size room you got, availability and cost per point)

I had considered renting DVC but even then it seemed really expensive. I would really need a 2 bedroom since that is the only one that would accommodate my kids in separate beds. I am thinking hard about staying on site again though.

 

[A&Bmama]

great update...keep em coming!

Okay.

Coming right up

 

[A&Bmama]

Day 2 Continued:

We head back to the hotel for some R&R by the pool. I won’t embarrass myself by posting any bathing suit pics but here is one of DD.

We head back to our rooms for dinner.

I whip up a lovely dinner of Digiorno pizza and prepackaged salad like there was nothing to it... Now that the crew has been sufficiently fed, watered, and exercised we head to the MK to catch wishes.

I have to say that I get irritated with how long it takes to enter the MK when you drive there.

-Park the car
-Wait for shuttle
-Take shuttle to first monorail
-Wait for monorail
-Ride monorail
-Wait at bag check
-Wait at turnstile

Finally, we are in!

We see the last glimpses of Spectro finishing up. Wow, looks amazing! One look at DDs face and I knew I had made a mistake when I decided not to schedule this in.

Since this might be our only Disney trip I knew we had to pick our battles. Parades and character interaction didn’t make the list for us. We were at peace with that decision, until now. Until it’s too late!

Great…

We head out to find a spot for Wishes. There are so many people there it is hard to move around. We find a spot and wait.

DD waiting, good thing someone likes to have their photo taken​

.

I hear “When you wish upon a star” and am transported back to when I watched The Wonderful World of Disney as a child. I can see my living room with the intro playing on our small TV. I can even feel the texture of the fabric on our chocolate brown hide-a-bed.

I remember longing to go, but people like us didn’t go places like that. My mother explained to me that you need to travel on an airplane to get there. In my childish mind I believed that only people who were very rich traveled on an airplane. These same people also wore mink coats, diamonds and smoked cigarettes from a long holder.

A trip to Disneyworld was about as attainable as a trip to the moon. Like the moon, I knew that somewhere out there it existed and was real, but still completely out of reach.

Yet here I am standing in front of the actual castle, watching real life fireworks. It took awhile, but the dream did come true!

It was really windy that evening so we didn’t get to see Tinkerbelle’s flight. Luckily, I never mentioned that Tinkerbelle flies over the crowd to DD so she was none the wiser.

When the show is over we follow the crowd up Main St. toward the exit. DD spies a man selling balloons and asks if she can have one. I am tempted to say no since I am anxious to get out of there and into my bed. My kids have asked for next to nothing in the way of souvenirs so I don’t have it in me to deny her this.

As we approach we hear another guest telling the seller that his child’s balloon just blew away and he wants it replaced. The seller very nicely tells the gentleman that he should go to guest services and tell them what happened as he cannot replace the balloon free of charge. The man huffs away. The seller then turns to me and tells me, “his balloon didn’t fly away, I tie weights to them. There’s no way it flew away unless his kid chewed through the strings. He just thought it would be easy to score a free balloon.”

I have to say I was a little bit surprised that he would be so open about his thoughts. Maybe he had a long frustrating day.

I ask how much for the Mickey-balloon-in-a-balloon balloon. He replies 10 dollars. I gulp. I ask DD which one she would like and she makes her choice. He wasn’t kidding when he said he tied weights on! The man proceeds to haul out 3 flat heavy plastic Mickey head shaped weights and ties enough knots to make his Boy Scout leader beam with pride. I marvel at how he is able to do this while holding 100 other balloons that are trying to carry him off into the wind.

I squelch the economically disciplined beast within me and fork over the 10 bucks.

As we exit the park we catch the electric water parade in full swing.

See that Hucifer? That’s right. It’s the coveted blue Mickey-head-balloon-in-a-balloon balloon.

I’m going to do something you won’t see often.

I’m going to defend Disney’s pricing on that little puppy.

First, there are the 3 reusable heavy Mickey weights that came with it. Second, The outer clear balloon is thick, immpermeable and TOUGH! That balloon looked exactly the same as it did the night we bought it on the day we left. No comma-in-a-balloon balloon for us. In fact, DD only broke it after 10 minutes of bouncing on it like an exercise ball the morning we were leaving!

Do I think they should sell them a little cheaper? Yeah probably. Did I regret paying the 10 bucks? Not for a second.

Up Next: DHS can wait

 

[Mombits]

I've enjoyed reading your TR. I'm so sorry about your Dad.
When you were talking about your 10 yr old DD, I was thinking about what my 10 yr old DD will see in two weeks when we go there. I definitely plan to make spectro and hope we get to see Tink fly. We'll probably skip Dinosaur (thanks!).
I felt the exact same way about disney. I never even asked my parents to go there because I knew that it wasn't something that would ever happen for me. In fact, I took my mom there for her 60th b-day and it's something that both she and I will always remember as such a special trip. Now I get to take my own kids there. I am blessed.

 

[A&Bmama]

I've enjoyed reading your TR. I'm so sorry about your Dad.
When you were talking about your 10 yr old DD, I was thinking about what my 10 yr old DD will see in two weeks when we go there. I definitely plan to make spectro and hope we get to see Tink fly. We'll probably skip Dinosaur (thanks!). .

Thanks for reading my TR.

Spectro looked awsome! I'm really sorry that we missed it but on the other hand, I'm sort of glad that there a few new discoveries to be had on future trips. Is this your DDs first trip?

I felt the exact same way about disney. I never even asked my parents to go there because I knew that it wasn't something that would ever happen for me. In fact, I took my mom there for her 60th b-day and it's something that both she and I will always remember as such a special trip. Now I get to take my own kids there. I am blessed.

I would love to take my Mom but I know she would never get on a plane now. It's nice to be able to give our kids some experiences that we wished we had ourselves. I'm looking forward to taking grandchildren but that's not going to be anytime soon.

 

[ramsfootball92]

Where to start?! Thank you so much for your report. It is the most engaging I have read by far! I must say that it has taken me on quite a ride this afternoon. I lost my mom at the age of 52 quite suddenly a week before Christmas in 2008. She had planned on joining my 3 children and me (this was prior to my marriage) to WDW in April 2009. Your second trip brought back many memories. Being a single mother, I had been very frugal on my 2 previous family trips. The trip that my mother was to take with us was something we were all looking forward to. When the time came, I threw caution to the wind. Garden View teas were planned, desserts at California Grill, massages scheduled, kitchen sink sundaes ordered, appetizers, desserts and milkshakes were had by all I don't regret a moment of it! Thank you for reminding me that it's okay to cry sometimes, margaritas come in handy and DISboards have amazing, supportive people. My mom was an English Literature teacher but I never had the knack. You do Please keep it up. Tell me that your seasonal job is in the authoring/journalisn field....

 

[quadsthen1]

Subscribing!

I found your TR this week and I have read it all the way through! You are a great writer and have had in laughing, in tears, and making my husband stop what he's doing to listen to me read parts of it! Keep it coming!! I'm addicted!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

We grab FPs and notice the wait time is 10 minutes, we decide to hop on standby and wiz through the queue not even getting to pay too much attention to the details since we don’t want to hold up the people following behind. We wait less than 5 minutes until we set of on out expedition. Note to self. STOP stressing about wait times!!

I freakin love, love, loved every second of this ride!

The Safari is nice but it feels really rushed. It would be nice to stop for 10 seconds or so at a few points along the way so you have a chance to get some decent photos. Our guide must have been really tired of giving the spiel because she sounded almost robotic. We still thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have completely and utterly fallen head over heels in LOVE with Animal Kingdom. Not because of the rides, not because if the animals, because of the way I feel as I walk around the park. It soothes my soul and energizes me all at the same time.

I ponder mythical future trips and wonder if staying on site with dining plan would ever make sense for us? Offsite I have the luxury of so much more room and amenities for much less money. I can cook some meals and buy others. Not only will that save even more money but I suspect we would all enjoy it more. We are not a family that is used to eating out. We eat at a table service restaurant maybe twice a year and have some sort of take out 2 or 3 times a month. The rest of the time I cook. Eating every meal out for an entire week might get old quickly. Also, DD is not a big eater but would be over 10 so I would be forced to put her on the plan as a 4’2”, 60lb adult. Doesn’t make much sense does it? The plans are undeniably a great value if you want to eat all the food you’re entitles to. If you don’t, you’re giving up the value. We only eat desserts on special occasions most the desserts that most QS restaurants served were more of an obligatory mass produced product that fulfilled the requirements to offer a dessert. Not much of a treat. Not something I would ever consider purchasing if we were paying OP the whole way.

But on the other hand; it is different staying off property. When I stayed on property I felt as if the parks were our neighborhoods personal playground. Off property I felt like a guest. A welcome guest but a guest none the less. Is this the Disney magic people speak of? How they magically make you happy to shell out so much more cash for so much less than you could receive elsewhere?

This is it. I have found it. This is my most favorite thing in all of Disney!!!!!!!!! I had to control myself. I wanted to sing and dance right along with all of the performers! I swear to god I could not, wipe the goofy grin off my face for the whole show. It was a completely, utterly joyful experience. It made me want to cry happy tears.

When the bird flies, OMG so beautiful! It seems like was looking at a vision of what my DD could be one day. If you are wondering why, I refer you back to the pictures from cirque school to see for yourself. I turn to DD and whisper in her ear. “I can picture you doing that one day.” She beams brighter than a thousand watt bulb and my heart nearly bursts. These small precious moments, this is why we come. This is why we are here. Genius Walt, pure genius.

So much to say!

I love Everest! I especially love it with a short line! It's amazing how quickly they load this ride.

I agree that the Safari goes quickly. I have taken a lot of blurry animal photos on this ride. A LOT. They have changed the spiel since the ride first opened. There was some "mission" involved about saving a baby elephant from poachers. I believe there's still a reference to Little Red, but it's not embedded throughout the entire ride like it used to be.

I am not crazy either about Dinosaur or It's Tough to be a Bug, but I do love the Animal Kingdom and I really enjoy walking around the trails and just soaking in the atmosphere and watching the animals.

I think the Lion King show is my favorite of the shows at WDW; I love the moment you had with your DD while watching it.

I don't do the Dining Plan. Like you, it doesn't make sense for me. I don't eat that much food!

I have never stayed off site at Disney World; I prefer to stay onsite and use their transportation, ship packages back to my resort, and take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours. I also like that the room key and the park pass can be combined, and I can charge things to my room all over WDW.

I whip up a lovely dinner of Digiorno pizza and prepackaged salad like there was nothing to it...

We see the last glimpses of Spectro finishing up. Wow, looks amazing! One look at DDs face and I knew I had made a mistake when I decided not to schedule this in.

Yet here I am standing in front of the actual castle, watching real life fireworks. It took awhile, but the dream did come true!

First, there are the 3 reusable heavy Mickey weights that came with it. Second, The outer clear balloon is thick, immpermeable and TOUGH! That balloon looked exactly the same as it did the night we bought it on the day we left. No comma-in-a-balloon balloon for us. In fact, DD only broke it after 10 minutes of bouncing on it like an exercise ball the morning we were leaving!

I really loved this entire post!

I'm sorry you missed Spectro. It is one of the better Disney parades, in my opinion. I'm glad you got to see Wishes.

The story of you wanting to go to WDW and finally your dreams came true was nice.

And I'm amazed at the strength of the balloons! They LOOK so flimsy!

It sounds like your Day 2 was another great day! I hope the remaining days are just as good as 1 and 2 were!

 

[Normangirls]

Did I regret paying the 10 bucks? Not for a second.

And how many times do we realize that at WDW? All it takes is the right look on the kids' faces, and we're completely happy to pay that Disney Visa bill.

And if it's a good enough look, at just the right moment, it sends us scurrying to the DVC booth for a tour!

Anyway, that was a lovely installment, as always. Thanks!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Day 2 Continued:

I hear “When you wish upon a star” and am transported back to when I watched The Wonderful World of Disney as a child. I can see my living room with the intro playing on our small TV. I can even feel the texture of the fabric on our chocolate brown hide-a-bed.

I remember longing to go, but people like us didn’t go places like that. My mother explained to me that you need to travel on an airplane to get there. In my childish mind I believed that only people who were very rich traveled on an airplane. These same people also wore mink coats, diamonds and smoked cigarettes from a long holder.

I was the same way! I remember watching the Wonderful World of Disney and dreaming of going, but I never bothered asking, as I have 9 siblings! I knew the answer. I also imagined only rich people travelling... Now I've been to Europe 3 times (and I'm going again next year), plus Disney World 3.5 times, etc.

That image of the rich person... change it to a spotted black and white coat and I picture Cruella DeVille!

 

[A&Bmama]

Where to start?! Thank you so much for your report. It is the most engaging I have read by far! I must say that it has taken me on quite a ride this afternoon.

Wow, I truly appreciate your encouragement. I actually read your message last night when I was feeling a stressed and discouraged. Reading this was a true pick-me-up! Thanks for lifting my spirits.

I lost my mom at the age of 52 quite suddenly a week before Christmas in 2008. She had planned on joining my 3 children and me (this was prior to my marriage) to WDW in April 2009. Your second trip brought back many memories. Being a single mother, I had been very frugal on my 2 previous family trips. The trip that my mother was to take with us was something we were all looking forward to. When the time came, I threw caution to the wind. Garden View teas were planned, desserts at California Grill, massages scheduled, kitchen sink sundaes ordered, appetizers, desserts and milkshakes were had by all I don't regret a moment of it!

I am sorry to hear about your Mom but I happy to hear that you had such a nice trip afterwards. I think we have to live our lives in balance. It's great to have the shoestring budget trips while you are being fiscally responsible but every now and then you have to just let go and treat yourself. When you splurge in moderation you appreciate it so much more.

Thank you for reminding me that it's okay to cry sometimes

Try as we might, there is no getting away from it.

margaritas come in handy.

Yes Mam, they do.

DISboards have amazing, supportive people.

Never truer words were spoken.

My mom was an English Literature teacher but I never had the knack. You do Please keep it up.

Thanks. I wrote a story in school once and when the teach passed it back she commented that she thought she would one day be reading novels I had written. I never forgot it.

Tell me that your seasonal job is in the authoring/journalisn field....

Sorry, closest I get is writing business correspondence.

 

[A&Bmama]

Subscribing!

I found your TR this week and I have read it all the way through! You are a great writer and have had in laughing, in tears, and making my husband stop what he's doing to listen to me read parts of it! Keep it coming!! I'm addicted!

I'm so glad to hear that you are enjoying my TR. I've gotten so many compliments on my writing that I am starting to think I should try my hand at a short story. On the other hand, maybe I should just take another trip so I can write a new TR.

 

[gatormommy07]

How was MK? Were you just there the one day?

I hate to admit it, but my family is in agreement that MK is our least favorite park. I think it is probably because my kids, especially DS, are older and that none of us had been there as small children so there is no sentimental attachment to it.

I am looking forward to having grandchildren to take there so I can see it through their eyes. I think when the day comes that we can take a little one we won't want to leave MK.

I am still enjoying your tea and DH has been known to have a glass or 2 as well!

It was so much fun!! My 2 year old walked almost the entire time!!! It was super busy, but we still managed to do everything we wanted to! EPCOT is definitly our family fav., but MK is almost tied!!

I am so glad you guys are enjoying the tea!!!

Finally got caught up again earlier! can't wait to read the next part!

 

[A&Bmama]

And how many times do we realize that at WDW? All it takes is the right look on the kids' faces, and we're completely happy to pay that Disney Visa bill.

And if it's a good enough look, at just the right moment, it sends us scurrying to the DVC booth for a tour!

Anyway, that was a lovely installment, as always. Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it.

You are so right!! It's amazing how easily we are parted with our hard earned money when it is for something that make our families happy.

Disney is a master at this. We have our vacation, splash out more cash than we ever dreamed possible, all while wearing a grin on our faces. When it's over we can't wait to do again.

 

[A&Bmama]

I don't do the Dining Plan. Like you, it doesn't make sense for me. I don't eat that much food!

I have never stayed off site at Disney World; I prefer to stay onsite and use their transportation, ship packages back to my resort, and take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours. I also like that the room key and the park pass can be combined, and I can charge things to my room all over WDW.

My son was telling me the other day that when we go again he would like to stay onsite with a dining plan again. He loved it. I think if we did stay onsite I would probably do the QSDP again since it seems a better fit for my family.

We never did try Disney transportation but I don't think I could skip the rental car. I would feel too "trapped" if I did.

And I'm amazed at the strength of the balloons! They LOOK so flimsy!

I was asking DD about that balloon last night. She got this big grin on her face and said "that balloon was awesome." I was thinking I might have been exaggerating when I said she bounced for 10 minutes before it broke, but she told me she bounced on it a lot longer than that.

 

[A&Bmama]

I was the same way! I remember watching the Wonderful World of Disney and dreaming of going, but I never bothered asking, as I have 9 siblings! I knew the answer. I also imagined only rich people travelling... Now I've been to Europe 3 times (and I'm going again next year), plus Disney World 3.5 times, etc.

Back then my whole world consisted of about 9 city blocks. Everything we need could be found within those boundaries. I'm sure it was no better on the Island.

I don't know if I will ever visit Europe. I don't know if I could handle being on a plane that long. My best friend and her daughter went last summer and the pictures were so amazing it made me start thinking about if I could ever do that.

That image of the rich person... change it to a spotted black and white coat and I picture Cruella DeVille!

I was picturing more of a Grace Kelly type, but you're right, sound like I could have been describing Cruella DeVille!

 

[A&Bmama]

It was super busy, but we still managed to do everything we wanted to!

I have to learn to relax about the crowd. I have to start trusting that I do know what I am doing in the parks and know how to use fastpasses effectively so I will be fine. Yet somehow I know that when the time comes that we are able to go back I will stress over crowds and wait times anyway.

 

[teach22180]

Thanks also for sharing your trip report with us. Add me to the list of folks who lost my dad suddenly from a distance. That phone call is engraved in my memory; only those of us who have received it can understand that.

Your picture of the cheetah is very special; most of us only get to see them way far away, hiding in the underbrush!

AK was where I spent the most time last trip, so I'm glad you did end up visiting there. I just adore EE!!