KC's Western PRE trip report

[King Charming]

WARNING: I'm extremely long winded, cheap, and eagerly anticipating our 1st cruise.
Sub-Titled: A free cruise is gonna cost WHAT??? with other budgetary & planning concerns. Plus some history, humor, an antidote, a few observations and mumblings.

I've never won anything of value, and still haven't. But DW aced it this time. A seven day Disney cruise!!! Whoa... all the things that first come to mind... how soon can we go? Where will the ship take us? How much will it all cost? Holy Cow, I've been to "the world" for a week, staying "on property" and it cost a ton and a half of money!! I don't care what the commercial says 'cause I spent WAY more than $ 1600. And everyone knows a cruise costs MUCH more. Just what have I gotten myself into? Can we even afford a "free trip"? What follows is one man's account of how he prepared to again struggle with a mouse over money we both think we have a right to. There will also be a follow-up covering the ACTUAL costs, so you'll know in advance how much cash to keep in your pocket on any given day for things like cab fare, booze, or T-shirts. I expect to finish up right before our 4/19-26 western cruise. Of course this means I only think I know what I'm talking about, and I'm sure some areas could have been re-written with hindsight. Also, because I wrote this in real time, but didn't post it till many weeks later, there might be times when a responder touches upon a subject that I didn't write about until much later, if at all. Please bear with me when the inevitable happens. Rather than edit this narrative to include these comments, it will be simpler to plow through unchecked. Even though I had to wait 4 months for our cruise, it made no sense to make anybody else wait that long. I also promise to post often and complete this report because we both know how rude it is to do otherwise.

 

[MassDisLovers]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[pwgs]

Can't Wait!

 

[Tinkified]

Hey there King Charming! You got your own cheering section here! Looking forward to meeting you on board! Michelle

 

[King Charming]

That's right, WON IT!!! one of those lightning strike odds type of thing. DW, in either preparing for a 6 day "world" trip w/ Mom (a "you gave me the world growing up by raising me, now I can give it back" theme), or for her Disney/Scouting related web site, got registered by having her question answered during a Disney related pod-cast. Sponcered by that company and a Disney related travel agency, (you've heard of them both), a yearly grand prize of sorts was announced on Christmas. I'd like to take a moment to again thank these nameless companies and/or organizations, but as they very politely explained when I wanted to send a press release to my local newspaper, they control all aspects of the contest/drawing and would appreciate having ALL control in advertising either their corporate names or the contest. Since I know it's all on the up n up, and since it is FREE, my family has agreed to do it their way (wouldn't you?).

 

[anty30]

Subscribing. Sounds good so far.
Anty

 

[Hypermommy]

Yes, I'm a bit biased but let me tell you, you guys are going to love this TR. I've read most of it already but I'll be reading it here becuase I can already tell he's editing it a bit as he goes. King Charming has a wonderful sense of humor (he has to, right? I mean, he does live with me and that definitely takes a sense of humor ). So I'm very much looking forward to reading this account of his ongoing strugle with the Mouse.

Just remember he's the sane one in our marriage -- you know.... the one that says we should purchase a fulltime house before we purchase a partial real estate interest (otherwise known as DVC). Personally, I'd happily plunk down dollars for a DVC becuase it's Disney, but he's the one that reminds me of the responsible things we should do. Somehow, though, he does it with such finess that he makes me feel totally free and totally protected all at the same time. Go figure! Guess that's what rates him a King Charming instead of a mere Prince.

So sit back and enjoy this wonderful pre-TR .... otherwise known as the struggles of a sane man against a woman so addicted to the Mouse that money has become just numbers on a page... and everyone knows that numbers are infinite.

 

[King Charming]

To establish the fact that this trip has not been bestowed upon the uninformed or unimpressed, our Disney "history" is also included. Prior to meeting DW, I had been to Mickey's place on a couple of occasions with various friends and family members. It can be said that the wife and I have always been Disney fans, driving down there from Tallahassee for our honeymoon in 91 and staying the third week of Dec. We watched "the arm" being erected at the Epcot sphere in Sept 99; which was thankfully removed last year. We became Disney "fan"atics when we bought Florida resident passes in March 06. We had planned for a trip in Dec 06, so when extra funding became available in March the spring break week from school became the first time we ever stayed at a Disney hotel. I think we were there for 6 nights (yeah, we must have been feeling rich). I was finally able to kick back and really enjoy the parks in a brand new way. No longer "going commando" and trying to see everything at once, I knew there was always tomorrow to go back and finish seeing this or that. We also knew we'd be back in 9 months, during Dec., my favorite time, because the parks are all dressed up for Christmas . My work as an independent carpentry sub-contractor usually drops off then, and more importantly, it is one of the few times of the year when attandance is low (relative to Disney standards).

 

[TotallyAngelic]

I am going to enjoy this I can tell - I can't believe you actually won a cruise - that is amazing!

 

[VacationKicks]

What a great start. How awesome that you won a cruise!

We are going on a western cruise in 2009 and love hearing what others do/plan on the western route.

 

[King Charming]

I am a highly economical (CHEAP!) person, and there is always a money factor. There is really no such thing as "extra funding becoming available" although I thought it was a cool term. What really happened that March is that DW is a computer master who works as a programmer. She was wasting away as a state employee and floating the idea of doing free-lance programming work, starting a company, being self-employed, that kind of stuff. Then she landed a part time gig for people she had previously known and worked for. At $70.00 per hour!! Holy Cow, that adds up pretty quick, no matter how conservative she insisted on being. Then she says (oh so sweetly) "since I earned it, can I do anything I want for the family with it?" And silly me said yes; BAM, it was just like that end of the Super Bowl commercial. "DW, someone has just handed you a check for 3 grand, what are you going to do next?" Duh!! How excited was she about a week in "the world"? She made scrapbook pages about PREPARING for the trip! So we stayed at the All-Stars and bought the yearly passes. Having the extra thousand dollars relieved the expenses you normally run up prior to such a trip. But even being T-shirt rich, I'm sure we were quite the scene setting up the room with our own frig, microwave, coolers, bins of cereal & bowls, bread and booze.

 

[Hypermommy]

We probably were quite the scene but it's called being thrifty! Since King Charming and I don't eat breakfast but the kids definitely need it or you'd think they were going to drop down dead of starvation right there, we decided cereal in the room was a good idea. And we had to have the dorm fridge to keep the beer cold. And a microwave makes for wonderful popcorn in the evening and mac and cheese or beefaroni snacks. It's just how we help make those numbers infinite!

 

[Mozart]

I would suggest posting a link to this over on the podcast board. The team will probably be happy to read this, and many of the posters over there are preparing for the podcast cruise.

Congratulations on winning the cruise. Noone here is jealous or anything.

 

[King Charming]

Another benefit of having passes and living 4 1/2 driving hours away is the weekend or spur of the moment visit. Hypermommy would take DS14 & DS12 and stay at the HoJo's on Sat. nite. And I'd stay home, Hooray! I'd rather have a weekend off from parenting. Plus I've got a steady Sat. night gig; Poker nite w/ the guys. Nickel/dime stuff w/ lots of bluffing. As much as I enjoy Mickey, his pull on my money is alot like gravity. It's constant & a little bit is good, but too much kills you. But DW kept on billing, abet a lot less now that it was down to fine tuning the programs. She was the one getting up at 4am, the bills were getting paid, and she wanted to "immerse herself in the Disney magic", so she could spend it anyway she wanted to. This led to trips down in May, June, 2xJuly, sept, Oct w/ me, and Nov prior to our blow-out trip in Dec. She got quite good at cutting expenses on most trips, which was how she went so often. Although I had a great time with you dear, I still cringe when thinking about the eight hundred clams we blew that weekend without the kids at Epcot. They had the food & wine thing going and we would walk around eating small plates of 5 or 7 dollar foods while drinking 5 dollar wines at the 20 or 25 places that offered 2 or 3 "National" dishes. We kept a master menu and between us must have eaten/drank half of it during our 2 day visit. Gosh, it was a fun weekend, capped off with a day at MK on Sunday. We stayed at the All Stars again, used Disney transportation, and took FULL advantage of letting someone else drive. I'm not sure how much "research" for her website got done, but she sure does know her way around down there now.

 

[Hypermommy]

I had a great time with you too, dear... but you have to remember that it was not all about being at F&W (although being with my one and only in my most favorite place in the entire world was absolutely wonderful!!!)..... remember also that this was the first trip we'd taken without kids since the boys were born. And if I'm going to be completely honest, I have to admit that I keep hoping we can find a way back to F&W again, just us. Remember, we're "making memories, making memories...." and those numbers are infinite!

But I digress from your most excellent trip report. Forgive me, O my liege, for interrupting your saga.

 

[King Charming]

Then in Dec. there was the saved for and extremely well planned 9 nite stay at Pop Century. Lets just say I love Disney buses. The family went down for the "Mickey Mouse Convention" weekend (I love that term), then after poker I went down too. Although they don't call it that, the "Disney-ites" really do gather early in Dec every year. It was sorta fun to ask DW about crowd levels and lines since she was there so often. In fact, I loved teasing her about being a 9 percenter. That's right, during the year she had the pass, she was in one of the parks on 34 different days! (A Mickey Month).
I haven't been back since then, however the wife and kids did go back a last time in Feb 07 before the passes expired. Only DW is a current pass holder, having gone for a "research trip" weekend in Oct, and for a week last Dec for the annual convention/Mom's vacation/ and of course "for research" (wouldn't it have been great to have the guts to write these trips off for tax purposes?) Since it is such a money drain, I hadn't planned on another 7-10 day stay for AT LEAST another year. How strange to actually have a (real) savings account with something in it one day! With Christmas and giving Mom "the world", spending thousands more a few months later on the mouse shouldn't be anywhere in the picture. You are supposed to save for these type trips ya know. I feel like I was thrown into the deep end on this one. BUT, they couldn't have found a more appreciative person/family to award this to if they looked for years. This fantasy even ranked ahead of staying in the castle suite.
Up next Let the planning begin

 

[kalel29]

 

[King Charming]

Oh Lordy, we won!! And it's been confirmed two different ways! A DISNEY cruise!!! Not one of those quickies either. For seven long nights. TOO COOL!!!!
So I asked the wife if she'd like to do it for her birthday, and she said no way would she wait 4 months for her new "dream vacation". Seems she had been asked to go cruising with some of the other adult scout leaders, but knowing there was no way we could afford it, merely replied that she was saving herself for Mickey. Initially I was scared of the prospect of coming up with fifteen hundred dollars in the next 30 days to be able to actually go somewhere. I mean, how much does a "free trip" cost? But slow down, let's find out more about this. The deal was any 7 day, cat 6 for two, or cat 11 for four. Do we have to take the kids? Really? Oh alright, but what is the difference between an eastern or western? The western has such cool ports (IMHO), and she did ask me, so we're going to Mexico! Ever the planner/organizer, Hypermommy immediately set the wheels in motion. What do you mean these boats, oops, I mean ships, fill up fast? HOW FAST?? Dang, a 4 month wait is suddenly acceptable. That means we'll be at sea on DW's birthday! That works out good all around. I suddenly have a 100+ day notification on my savings plan. OK, we can do that, that's only $15 a day. It's the slow time of my work year, but we should be able to do that. (I build wood fences and decks). I also have several cords of seasoned firewood left, having sold half of my stock so far for about a grand. Good, we can go forward now, go ahead and confirm our western cruise date of 4/19.

 

[King Charming]

OK, time to start looking at some actual costs to see how close the estimate was. First up was the tips issue. We have to pay tip, taxes, tariffs, and such. Hey, I knew it wouldn't be totally free, and it's really great that they are so up front about who and when to tip the staff. You pay your $ 305 (7 days X 4 persons) and are given tickets to give the staff at the end so they know they haven't been forgotten. Another cost that we found out about right away was the US Passports. One day soon everyone will need them to cruise. DW and I went the rounds for a week as to whether we needed them. Cheap, ah, er, frugal me said they were not needed and proved it. The boss countered with there was no way she would allow such a trivial matter stand in the way of such a fabulous opportunity. Just the idea of being turned away at the port because we didn't have the right paperwork was all I heard. So with credit card in hand, off we went to be certified, documented, and stamped. POW, four hundred bucks, and I still have one hundred more days to figure out what else I'll be spending money for. At least I know what I'll be spending half my money on.

 

[Hypermommy]

Well, at least they didn't put us on the group W bench, right dear?