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

[DisEye]

Can't wait to hear what's up next

 

[Zookeeperof4]

You are to funny. We also do not tell the kids about trips we will take and then renig on. It means alot of careful planning as we know once we say yes it means yes. They have enough heartaches from the dad who says they will do fun things that never happen.
We just came back from Disney in Dec....once we went and saw we really COULD do it in a cost friendly way....my new HUBS said we can go back in Nov of 2011! I am soo excited....still not telling the kids but he knows me. I become obsessive about Disney and whe nhe says yes it means YES!!!
Great TR so far!

I have never done a trip report. No need, we have never had a trip before. I have decided to do a trip report of our Feb 2009 trip. You will see why I didn’t feel like doing it before now as the story unfolds.

The first instalment will be picture free. I don’t have as many pictures as I would have liked (more on that later) and I just want to get the first instalment written without having to tackle learning how to post pictures. I promise that I will post some pictures in upcoming instalments.

The title is “It all started with a whopping price error…” That’s not really true. It started much earlier. I would like to start at the beginning but I am not sure where that is so please forgive me if I jump around a little bit.

First of all the crew: there is me, Mama 43, Dada 46, DS turning 16 at the world, DD 9

One sunny Saturday morning when DS was about 4 years old Dada and he were talking over breakfast and somehow the conversation turned to Disney World, DS did not know that such a place existed and sat rapturously listening to Dada tell him how much fun it was and all the things he could recall from his sketchy memories of his 2 day trip to MK and Epcot in 1988.

Then it happened. Just like a car accident everything was in slow motion. It seemed like I should be able to stop it but for some reason I was paralyzed. I watched Dada’s lips moving the words were coming out. I wanted to stop them. I tried to say something but somehow I was mute. “We are going to take you there someday.” DS’s face lit up with joy. All I could do was temper it by saying. “It is very expensive to go there so we will not be going for a few years.

You see waaayyy back when I was a kid my father told me that we were going to take a trip across Canada. I was excited!! We grew up in a time and place where if you got in the car to travel 30 minutes to spend the day at the beach it was a BIG FREAKIN DEAL. I couldn’t wait to tell my friends. What I didn’t know was the difference between plans and dreams. This was a dream, one that was never fulfilled. I swore when I had kids I wouldn’t make any promises I couldn’t keep. Don’t get me wrong I don’t bear any ill will toward my Father for this. He didn’t know I would take it so seriously. I was more of a “note to self, kids take these things seriously, be very VERY careful” kind of moment.

To borrow a phrase from Zzub, I am “economically disciplined.” What does that mean? It means that I don’t buy things on credit card. I don’t buy designer when Old Navy will do. When I go to the grocery store I buy whatever is on sale and plenty of it so that I have enough to last until the next sale. Do I use coupons? Why yes I do and am proud of it. In short I try to stretch my dollars as far as I can and above all else I don’t spend money I don’t have. I have been living this way long long before it became fashionable. Problem with a trip to Disney is we don’t have the money!

Worse, I don’t foresee having the money any time soon. At that point we had a vague notion that we would be adding to the family. I had just started a new career. As a newbie without experience my salary was paltry. My salary paid the child care costs, my meagre work wardrobe and transportation (bus). What was left over afterwards was laughable. But I was working hard and learning and I knew that it was only a matter of time until I started making better money.

None of this matters. The words were uttered. The wheels were set in motion. No matter how long it took, we would one day go to Disney World.

So the years pass. We welcome DD into the world. I am making better money but I now have to pay double the childcare so still I am not seeing much more. More years pass and it is decided that since DS is a teen it will have to be 2008 or 2009. In 2008 we decide that we can swing it financially. DH and I (mostly me) excitedly start planning the trip.

Before I book anything we get the news that my Mother will need major surgery. Surgery is scheduled for early December 2007. She will need to spend a few weeks (turned into more than a month) in hospital. In total it will take about 6 months to recover. There is no way I am planning a trip now. My father is older now and very hard of hearing and like many men of that era, completely useless around the house. On top of this I have only one sibling; he is disabled still living at home with my parents. It will fall on me to keep their household as well as my own running. At the same time I will be taking care of my mother’s needs and be the primary family contact for her care at the hospital. On top of this it is Christmas. Santa has to come no matter how busy he is…

As if this were not enough the powerful drugs that they are giving Mom for pain is messing with her mind. She is very anxious and my normally cool calm and collected Mother is highly agitated when I am not there. We fear on several occasions that she will begin to rip out tubes and demand to be discharged. When I am there she feels safe and is calm. Once she is calm she sleeps, since she was too anxious to let herself sleep when I wasn’t there. Somehow we both make it through all of this. My enthusiasm for planning a Disney trip did not…


Up next: The WHOPPING online price error sends my Disney enthusiasm SOARIN!!!!

PS. If you would like to hear more could you please post a reply. I feel like I need the encouragement.

 

[smithpack]

This sounds all too familiar! When my dd was finally tall enough to go she LOST IT once they got inside and the lights went out, a CM had to come get her and my dh out of the ride so they could exit!

I heard a lot of kids crying when I was in there. Plus, you are locked in for a long time. Be glad they got out when they did. I wish someone would have let us out.

 

[smithpack]

Looking forward to the next update!!!

 

[smithpack]

Signing up! Great TR! I agree that posts make it easier to continue, I see the reads on my TR going up but not the posts and it is a little disheartening.

Amazing mistake on the deal! I would have been shaking so hard I wouldn't have been able to type in the CC number!!!

How do you see how many reads you have?

 

[A&Bmama]

Looking forward to the next update!!!

Stomach Flu just went through my house. Oh Joy!

We are all better now but I am a little behind. I hope to get the next update done tomorrow or Wednesday.

How do you see how many reads you have?

It is on the main page that lists all of the trip report threads. If you look over to the right there will be one column that tells you how many post in your thread and the next column will tell you how many times it has been read.

 

[smithpack]

Stomach Flu just went through my house. Oh Joy!

We are all better now but I am a little behind. I hope to get the next update done tomorrow or Wednesday.



It is on the main page that lists all of the trip report threads. If you look over to the right there will be one column that tells you how many post in your thread and the next column will tell you how many times it has been read.

There is nothing worse than the stomach flu. I am glad to hear you are all better.

I can't believe I have never noticed the line that tells you how many times it has been read. Now I feel dumb.

 

[A&Bmama]

Epcot and how starve at Disney while on a Dining Plan.


Again I wake before the alarm. At least I got 7 hours of sleep which is a welcome relief after 2 nights in a row with only 4 hours.

We snack on the breakfast items we have in the room, get ready and head to the lobby to meet the others.

Once we have everyone together in the same place at the same time we head out for Epcot. Did we make rope drop? No, again we are a little late.

The first order of business is Soarin. My family and I have heard about this and it is the one attraction that we are most looking forward to.

We arrive in the land and see that the wait is not too long so we get in the standby line. Here is we find there are some benefits to having a group this large. Once it is our turn the CM asks how many in the group, we tell him 11. He asks us to stand along the wall and wait for the next flight while he fills the available seats with smaller parties. Once it is our turn we find that the middle section is 11 seats wide and since we are first in line for the next flight we are front row centre!!

We take off for our flight and it is everything I hoped it would be. Once we exit we agree that we must do this again today and pick-up some fastpasses for later. We browse through the gift shop and plot our next move. It is decided that next we will do Living with the Land. I really enjoy this attraction. The kids think it is too heavy on education too light on fun.

Once we exit living with the land someone suggests that we get a snack at Sunshine Seasons. I didn’t eat anything that morning and had only eaten about a ¼ of hamburger combo for supper last night so I am very hungry. Although I do want to eat I was hoping we would wait a little longer and have an early lunch because I really want a good meal. My body seems to be crying out for protein and complex carbs. The majority of the party wants to stop now, and my hopes for an early lunch fizzle, so I resign myself to getting a little something to keep me going until I get a meal. I take DD with me and we go to pick something out. I decide on key lime pie while dreaming of pork chops and chicken, I think DD got a cookie and we head for the cash.

We are the first ones through so we head to pick out some seats for our group and begin to eat our snacks. Now I apologize to those who love the key lime pie but I didn’t like it. I don’t think it has anything to do with the quality/taste of the pie but more to do with the fact that sugary simple carbs is not what I wanted and needed. I was simply eating it to keep me going until lunch. I choke back as much of it as I can eat, maybe about 1/3 of the piece. It will have to do.

It takes a long time for the others to show up and when they do what do they have?

FULL FREAKIN BREAKFASTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, Has Browns, Biscuits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were going get a snack but the breakfast was too tempting. Once one decided to get it they all decided to get it!

I know this is petty but it really ticks me off. Couldn’t someone have told DD and me what they were up to? Since they have all had a large meal so late in the morning I doubt that they are going to want to stop for lunch at all.

I steal a piece of bacon from DH’s plate but it does little to sweeten my sour mood as I sit and listen to them rave about how good the breakfast is and how it is the best thing they have eaten at Disney so far. Grrrrrrrrr.

We leave the land and I suggest that we head over to Test Track. Jason says that it is all the way over on the other side of the park and suggest that we do something closer like Honey I shrunk the Audience and head to the other side later. I wonder just how big this park is that it is sooo far to walk to test track but decide to not sweat the small stuff and agree to see this attraction.

Maybe it was the hunger. Maybe it was the fact that I really wanted to go to test track. Maybe it was the fact that it was starting to get quite hot but I find myself growing more and more irritable. Seeing Honey I shrunk the Audience did nothing to sooth my irritation. I might have liked it if I had been in a better frame of mind, but I wasn’t and I didn’t.

After we leave we discover the fountains where streams of water seem to skip from one place to another and from one fountain to another and stop to play here for awhile. This I like much MUCH better than the attraction I just saw. Once we move on from here the smokers decide that we need to find the smoking area. This takes 20-25 minutes and my irritation is growing again. I suggest that we go back to the hotel to swim since it is getting quite hot (and we are getting nothing done anyway) and come back to Epcot for supper at Sunshine Season and a couple of attractions and then illuminations. Hallelujah they agree.

With dreams of a hot meal at the Mara and a cool dip in the pool dancing in my mind we exit Epcot.

We arrive at AKL make our way to our rooms. I get myself and DD ready, assemble all of our stuff and we head to the pool. DD doesn’t want anything to eat and by the time I get a chance to go to the Mara it is 2 PM and I decide if I eat a big meal now I won’t be hungry for the Pork Chop I am dreaming of so I fill my mug and head back to the pool to have a couple of handfuls of chips to hold me over.

We spend a lovely afternoon enjoying the pool and animal viewing areas.

EPCOT: Take Two

We arrive at Epcot and head again to the land, first up, Supper at Sunshine Season. I make a beeline for the object of my desire, the pork chop of my dreams with masked potatoes and carrots. It has been about 3 days since I have had what I consider a real meal so I am shoveling this back like someone who is starving because frankly, I am starving. Once I have eaten I am in better spirits I feel satisfied and restored. I am glad we had this meal here as it turns out to be the last real meal I have for several days.

We ride Soarin with our fastpasses from earlier in the day. We are given front row centre again. The flight is just as wonderful the second time around.

We are the off to Space Ship Earth. I don’t remember reading about this on the Dis before we arrived. I knew it existed but didn’t know exactly what it was. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and is firmly on my must do list now.

Once we exit I am tempted to suggest that we head over to test track but I suspect that I will be told that it is too far away and that the wait time is likely too long. I keep my mouth shut and although it is still very early we head into the world showcase to stake out a spot for illuminations.

Illuminations proves to be worth the wait.

All in all it was a good day; not a great day but it had its moments.

UPNEXT: Why didn't I want to go to Hollywod Studios? This park ROCKS!!

 

[hucifer]

It takes a long time for the others to show up and when they do what do they have?

FULL FREAKIN BREAKFASTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, Has Browns, Biscuits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were going get a snack but the breakfast was too tempting. Once one decided to get it they all decided to get it!

I know this is petty but it really ticks me off. Couldn’t someone have told DD and me what they were up to? Since they have all had a large meal so late in the morning I doubt that they are going to want to stop for lunch at all.

It would have made me mad, too. I am way too anal-retentive about eating times (think low blood sugar issues), so this little move would have irritated me because now I'm on my own for lunch.

And yes! Soarin' is one of WDW's finest attractions. A real winner to most guests, no matter what the age. Did you see any hidden Mickeys?

 

[Zookeeperof4]

Ok so you have reminded me why we must travel alone...LOL

After all this you never got to do Test Track????

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay....My oh My Zoo's family is coming to stay!!!

 

[Zookeeperof4]

Ok so you have reminded me why we must travel alone...LOL

After all this you never got to do Test Track????

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay....My oh My Zoo's family is coming to stay!!!

 

[sue and co]

That was a great deal and this is a great trippie.

We have never been to Disney with anyone else as I know I couldn't stand having to compromise my plans or hang around waiting for everyone else!

Look forward to the next instalment.

 

[lynner]

Loving your trip report! So happy I stopped by today to read it. Can't wait for the next installment. You were truly lucky to get the deal you did, and you guys are certainly making the most of it!

 

[cmhale]

This is the first time that I have posted on DIS. After reading your trip report I just had to try so hopefully it works. We took friends, husband, wife and 2 daughters with us on our annual trip during October. What a HUGE mistake. It will never happen again. There were 3 girls, One 14, mine who is 13 and the other daughter of friends is 12. They begged to go with us. The oldest and my 13 year old are good friends at school. This is all she talked about 4ever. All she did was complain the whole trip. She may have rode one ride the whole trip and that was Soarin, and cried before it started. She absolutely did not want to do anything but get her pictures taken with princeses. We took the youngest one and the dad with us and did as much as we could, so I feel your pain. Lesson learned for us.

 

[A&Bmama]

This is the first time that I have posted on DIS. After reading your trip report I just had to try so hopefully it works. We took friends, husband, wife and 2 daughters with us on our annual trip during October. What a HUGE mistake. It will never happen again. There were 3 girls, One 14, mine who is 13 and the other daughter of friends is 12. They begged to go with us. The oldest and my 13 year old are good friends at school. This is all she talked about 4ever. All she did was complain the whole trip. She may have rode one ride the whole trip and that was Soarin, and cried before it started. She absolutely did not want to do anything but get her pictures taken with princeses. We took the youngest one and the dad with us and did as much as we could, so I feel your pain. Lesson learned for us.

Welcome to the Dis!

I am sorry to hear that your trip was so frustrating. It is true that it is hard to get a group of diverse people to stay on the same track about what to do and when, Luckily most of the time we were somewhat in sync but when we weren't it was frustrating. I think the best thing if you are going to go with a group is you have to be willing to split the group us at times so that people can do the things the others are not interested in.

We do get some park time later on with just our family which was nice to go at our own pace on our own agenda, but we missed having the others to share it with. When all is said and done I would definitly travel with another family again if I though we had mostly the same goals, but I would insist that there we scheduled some time apart to do our own thing.

 

[smithpack]

I totally am with you on being irritable if I do not get to eat a good meal. I would have been so mad to if I had gotten a snack and everyone else comes back with a full meal.

I am glad you got to do Soarin! I like Living with the Land, and suprisingly so do my kids. They are like me, they love to look at food.

Please tell me you got to ride TT later in the week. Do I have to wait and see? Did you go back to Epcot on another day?

I am glad to know you liked Hollywood Studios, and I can't wait to hear what you did there.

Another Great Update!

 

[DisEye]

We have gone to Disney with other people many times. Thankfully we have always gotten along well, but you do have to compromise more when you have a larger group. We probably don't get as much accomplished as we would by ourselves, but I think it's worth having the companionship.

 

[smithpack]

What are you doing reading on my TR? You are supposed to be over here giving us an update!!

We want more! We want more!

Inquiring minds want to know, did you or did you not make it on TT?

 

[A&Bmama]

What are you doing reading on my TR? You are supposed to be over here giving us an update!!

We want more! We want more!

Inquiring minds want to know, did you or did you not make it on TT?

A lot happens in the next couple of updates for my trip report. I am taking my time reflecting on the events that happen next and want to write it carefully. I am hoping to have the next installment ready on Monday and maybe another on Tuesday since I think they need to come in quick succession.

As for TT the answer is both No and Yes. I'm sorry I am being evasive but it is a long story.

 

[miprender]

A lot happens in the next couple of updates for my trip report. I am taking my time reflecting on the events that happen next and want to write it carefully. I am hoping to have the next installment ready on Monday and maybe another on Tuesday since I think they need to come in quick succession.

As for TT the answer is both No and Yes. I'm sorry I am being evasive but it is a long story.

So you are still leaving us in suspense....