Let's dump dad at one corner of the world and go to the other corner ourselves, PTR

[goofieslonglostsis]

Hi All,

after reading one too many tripreports of other DIS'ers, here's an attempt to make our own pre trip report. Let's hope I can do it. Who we are? That would be me. Or so I reckoned.

Me, Goofieslonglostsis, 30, and once a selfproclaimed "I don't get those folks that like Disney beyond the movies"-person. Can you say naive? A couple of years ago I started living according to the 'If I could dream and do anything, I would.....". For some reason, I came up with WDW. So back in 2007 started to research and did a 9 night solo stay at CBR. Since than 2008 brought a 14 day December CBR trip with mom and a friend of hers (which has been known as the how-GLLS-spend-14-days-sick-at-WDW-trip) and 2009 brought a 7 night AKL CL trip followed by a 7 night DCL cruise.

As always, I get the downer effect after a trip, so before I knew it I was seriously looking into a 2010 trip. After the trip last year, I was beginning to realise my number of future trips are coming a lot closer to 0 than expected. Health isn't perfect and any travel means a deteriation. A price I'm more than willing to pay for the joy of travelling but the price the 2009 trip came with turned out to becoming a rather steep price. This next trip might be one of the last ones, so I decided that it should be a good one and at a lower pace.

So it had to be a long one! Many days means less pressure of 'only so many more days to go, have to go and do a lot more now'. And besides, the more days in the sun the merrier. So, 3 weeks it was going to be.

I booked CBR thanks to getting the 20/30/40 PIN, booked myself the flight and got all the things arranged for flying with the wheelchair. Since then did some resort changing , ending up with 2 weeks CBR followed by a week at BC, being even closer to the action.

And so the long countdown can begin!

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

As stated before, mom joined me on a trip in 2008. I knew she really enjoyed herself, but reckoned she looked at it as one of those once in a lifetime things. Well, as soon as I started to talk about perhaps doing a 2010 trip again, I was in for a surprise. She told me she would love to go back to WDW once.

Sure mom, one of these days. I wasn't taking her to seriously, yet. She started to talk about it around Christmas. A lot. Too much, if you ask me. She was prepping both me and dad, knowing her. Dad, he doesn't "do Disney". And them not going on a trip together? The 2008 one was the first for them not going on a trip together after 33 years of marriage, and that was not by choice but because dad had something come up so he couldn't join us. So no way mom would see Disney soon, right? By then, my surrounding was 'in' on the fact that my travel fun might be coming to an end very soon. Mom was starting to proclaim she wanted to do a mom and daugther only trip and definately wanted to go on this trip with me. Sure mom. And what about dad? Do you know how much this trips will cost? Can you even get off from work?

But I knew right then and there she would go. If she really sets her mind on things, it will be done. Dad on the other hand? He also knew but had a moment to get used to the 'being alone at home without a major project to keep me busy'. Turns out he toyed a bit with mom. When she had her birthday in january, he looked at me and simply said 'oh, don't know if you want her along, but book your mom a flight and hotelroom.' Grin, you should've seen moms face.

So now let me introduce mom.

(Please don't mind me looking like hell on this pic, it's one of the best looks I had on that trip, was showing off the I'm-sick-look at my best. )

DMom, now 56, a loving mom, hard working woman who's developed an interesting softspot for WDW and alike. You can call her Tiny if you wish, not only is that her Dutch name, but she also is tiny as far as heigth goes.


I love my mom, she loves me, but sharing a room for 3 weeks? That would mean World War 3 for sure. So 2 rooms it would be. Did some math, deciding it would become too expensive to do 2 weeks at CBR and 1 week at BC for 2 rooms. So, 3 weeks at CBR it would be. We're set, we both love CBR and amazingly even my navigational challenged mom could find her way around CBR after some time.

Remembered mom of the fact that I had already upgraded my flight down to WDW to Business/First, knowing this would be better on my body. Unfortunately with too little miles left to upgrade her (heck, would've used those to upgrade my flight back before knowing she would come along otherwise ). No biggie she decided, she'll manage being behind the curtain. OK, so I book moms ticket. Add her to my reservation, so the airline will deal with us as one. We've got some extra things put into motion for my flight, which may result in the airline deciding to rebook me onto a different flight later on if that turns out to be better for my wheelchair and this way we're sure we'll be on the same flight at least.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

With mom being booked, that left dad at home for 3 weeks alone. Didn't look forward to that as unlike in 2008, he wouldn't have a big project to keep him busy. So I suggested why don't he also take a trip, prefferably one with a destination or theme my mom would never ever want to do. Like a sailing trip! His face went like with inspiration. He loves boats, always wanted to do such trips, maybe do it now? After some while, he decided against it and go solo to one of my parents favorite destinations; Thailand or Australia.

My fathers brother lives in Australia, a place we all fell in love with. Uncles husband lives in Thailand, a place my parents have also fell in love with. So much so, they have been there at least every year since, or multiple trips a year. Looking at my uncles schedule, we learned he would have R/R during our planned dates. (uncle works straight for 3 weeks, than has 3 weeks off, etc.) Now only to decide where to go. After a talk with uncle, he and husband decided they would be in Thailand for that time being. So, Thailand it would be. I booked my dad his flights, and all of us are set to go!

We'll be doing WDW sept 16th-oct 7th, arriving back home on the 8th. Dad will have to work a bit longer, so will be leaving on the 18th and arrive back home on the 7th, thus being back home again to pick us up.


Did I mention already that I've been resort changing? Turns out the changes weren't done just yet. I remembered learning on the DIS all about WDTC UK. With us being Dutch, we can also book through them. I allready decided on using them for the 21-day Ultimate Park Tickets. Basically a 21 day park hopper ticket. Ideal! WDTC UK has their own offers and discounts. I glared them over for the other trips, but never were they even close to the price WDTC USA could give me with a PIN. Didn't expect them to do now either, but what the heck.

I decided to price out a 2-bedroom villa at SSR and OKW, knowing they would be offered with both a roomdiscount and free dining. After doing some pricing out and math turning the pound into $, into € etc. I learned that booking a 2-bedroom villa with free dining would be about $800,- more expensive than our room only ressies at CBR. Hang on a sec........ No way we would be able to eat for a total of $800,- for 3 weeks for the 2 of us. While the DDP has been watered down since 2007, it still would be more than enough food for the 2 of us.

Being the neurotic person I am, I wasn't sure about changing. I knew I couldn't just cancel with WDTC UK without paying a fee. I knew we love CBR, not sure about the DVC resorts. What if we don't like it? But then again; a lot more room, the bathroom , cheaper, having dining prepaid, it does have it advantages.

Talked it over with mom, who is of NO help. She's way too easy. Trusts me completely to have our best interest in mind and make decisions. Only thing she asked for is to be in the same resort as me and go eating at CRT. After about a week, I decided to go for it. Couldn't let that deal pass me down, right?

I went to the WDTC UK website, wanting to book. But lo and behold; SSR only has studios left with the offer. Didn't want to book those, less space and more expensive. OKW was still available, but really had a hard time trying to sell myself on that resort. By then I was starting to develop a real soft spot for SSR. Oh well, guess it wasn't ment to be, right?!

I checked with WDTC UK every day or so, with nothing showing up. Didn't really give it a big shot. Then one day it showed up; studio, one bedroom, two bedroom and treehouse villas available! I was shaking; this was a sign! I got on the phone with WDTC UK, seriously hoping for them to not only have this availability but also availability for a 2-bedroom with a roll in shower. After being on hold for some time while the CM talked to the special needs department, I learned there was availability. Booked the whole thing then and there. Than called WDTC USA and gladly cancelled our 30% off CBR rooms.

The result so far? Rack rate for 3 weeks SSR 2-bedroom room only; almost $14,000. Our rate comes down to about $6000,- for the 2-bedroom villa AND dining. That is even cheaper than renting DVC points. We added on 21 day Ultimate Tickets and are all set!


Next up; 180-day mark on March 20th, where do we want to eat?

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi there! I just saw the link to your PTR in your signature and checked it out to find out that it is brand new!

I have seen you around on the boards and always loved your humor. It will be interesting to read a PTR from a fellow European! I did not know that even if you aren't from the UK you can book through WDTC UK. I guess if it works for you from the Netherlands, it would work for me from Germany as well??

Three weeks at WDW sound wonderful and you got a fantastic deal! I will be looking forward to read about your ADR plans.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

I have seen you around on the boards and always loved your humor.

Thanks for the compliment. You actually are one of those folks that inspired me to get going. Have been lurking for a while, so to say.

I did not know that even if you aren't from the UK you can book through WDTC UK. I guess if it works for you from the Netherlands, it would work for me from Germany as well??

It definately should! They allow any of us within the EU to book and take advantage of the offers they've got going on. They do have some different rules than WDTC USA though, so before hitting the 'book' button, take a look at the terms and conditions. Most important differences I've found are a changing fee (waved if you change to something more expensive) and having to have paid in full at 56 days out.

Three weeks at WDW sound wonderful and you got a fantastic deal! I will be looking forward to read about your ADR plans.

Knowing me I'll change those like 10383 times before september even comes close.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

So, the 180 day mark is approaching. Finally! Great, but that does mean having to come up with a clue of what we want. Mom is of no help again, she leaves it all up to me. Great to take advantage of. Not so great when trying to come up with a list of ADR's that fit all the criteria of food both of us like, not too many being in one place, not too many in the same park/resort right after one and other, trying to fit as many of the more difficult to get ADR's within the 180+10 day period. Oh and did I add allready that I'm one of those overplanners? No? Nobody notices, I'm sure! But I am, none the less. I know mom doesn't like all kinds of food and eventhough she's saying "I'll be fine, you decide", I don't want to run into situations where she looks at the menu and goes 'mwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'.

I could manipulate one ADR from her. For her birthday, I gave her a 'pick your own gift'. She could choose from 3 clues, being Royalty, Pumpkin and Jawdropping. Royalty for eating at CRT, Pumpkin for doing the MNSSHP and Jawdropping for the Wishes Dessert Party. Within no time she was driving herself crazy wandering what the clues would stand for. I just went untill she picked.

She picked Royalty, thus CRT. Turns out it was the option she liked the best, especially after seeing some pics of the dinner my friend and I had there last year. So, CRT it'll be! By now of course we are on the dining plan. We'll be arriving at night and leave early on our last morning so that kinda leaves 1 TS extra. Just great for using the 2 TS credits at CRT! But, that leaves me back to the drawing table for a gift for mom. I'll probably go back and forward a lot of times, at the moment I think the options are to get her a custom cake (preferrably at CRT), having a giftbasket for her in the villa or getting her a personalized Disney tote (she has a tote addiction).

Where was I? Oh right, ADR's. The list at the moment?

Fri sept 17; dinner at CRT
Sa sept 18; lunch at Chefs de France
So sept 19; Fantasmic package Mama Melrose
Mo sept 20; lunch at Kona (fav of both)
Thue sept 21; breakfast at Tusker House
We sept 22; dinner at Boma
Thur sept 23; lunch at The Plaza
Fri sept 24; lunch at Sci-Fi Dine Inn
Sa sept 25; dinner at Le Cellier
So sept 26; lunch at Turf Club
Mo sept 27; lunch at Yak&Yeti
Thue sept 28; lunch at 50's Prime Time Café
We sept 29; dinner at Planet Hollywood
Thur sept 30; dinner at Akershuys
Fri oct 1; lunch at Tusker House
Sa oct 2; breakfast at 1900 Park Fare
So oct 3; dinner at Biergarten
Mo oct 4; dinner at Crystal Palace
Thue oct 5; dinner at Turf Club
We oct 6; happy birthday to me. lunch at Kona Café



Not sure of all of the ressies, though. For instance Biergarten is one I'm still contemplating. Reviews are good, but I'm wondering if it wont be too much like home. Germany aint the Netherlands by far, but it comes close to home for me. Oh well, we've got enough time to think things over.

I know mom wont be too fond of 50's Prime Time if she'ld knew the show the 'cousins' can put up, but I'll inform her of that on a later date. A lot later.

As you can see, relatively a lot of lunches. We find this works the best for us with the heat and my body. It's nice to have a place to cool down between park time. I tend to only do a couple of hours at a park and then go back to the resort for a rest. If things are OK, I'll do some evening time at a park. With lunch, it is the easiest to combine, whether I end up going to a park in the morning of afternoon. For mom it's an easy way to have her enjoy more parktime if she wishes. She's not too much into going to a park alone, but does stay longer once she's there and I leave. So lunches it is for us, unless we like the dinner menu better. And of course occasionally a dinner to combine things with the evening shows etc.

After doing some wrestling with this, I realised the UK package comes with some different extras. For instance a preferred firework viewing for Wishes and Illuminations!. Nice, but yet another thing to think over. Which day will it be? I doubt they'll run out of availability as quick as some of the most desired restaurant ADR's, but for this they also use the 180 day booking window.

To make things more interesting, my mom decided to turn tables on me. I'll be at WDW on my birthday. So she told me to go ahead and decide what we'll be doing for my birthday. Go and pick some kind of activity, tour, party, something special. Whoohoo! But what to pick?


Up next; is there a world outside of WDW?

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Finally the 180-days mark is here!

Of course things shifted around some since, chancing seems a never ending saga. And mom did came a bit more involved, good time to do so. Did my math and found I could start making the ADR's online at 11.00 AM our time. Not bad, not bad at all!

This morning; picture a laptop all set up and logged in on the disney website right before 11 am. Ready to make those ADR's! NOT. Workphone rings. And of course not for those short 30 seconds calls, but the call lasted about 25 minutes. So, at 11.25 I could finally start make ressies.

To be honest; I really like the online option! Gives a better overall picture of the possibilities. If a desired time is not available, it seems to look at an hour earlier and an hour later and everything in between. Not that I needed it much. It was a very easy system to use, only downside I found was when proceeding from a ressie to the next one, they wouldn't direct you straight back to the menu where you pick the restaurant but have to go there yourself. Oh well, the website has been way worse than this I guess.

Did I ran into anything not available at the desired time? Yes, much to my surprise it was the Plaza off all places! Wanted to get us a 6 pm ressie there on our first real day, the 17th. Not available. Checked 7 pm; nothing. Checked 5 pm; closest they had was 4.05 pm. Not the best, but took it. You never know, we can always cancel and hopefully something will open up later on.

That first day is 'planned' to do some shopping off-site. We should be back in time for that 4 pm ressie, but doubt it we'll be back in time to have a rest in between. Time will tell, for now I'm counting on something opening up.

Couldn't make online ressies for our preferred firework viewing for Epcot and MK, so will call in for those when the lines open up. Nice perk for booking the UK package.

So, what did we get so far?

sept 17th; 4.05 pm The Plaza
sept 18th; 12.20 pm Chefs de France
sept 19th; 6.05 pm Mama Melrose
sept 20th; 8.05 am CRT breakfast
sept 21th; 9.30 am Tusker House
sept 22nd; 12.15 pm Kona Cafe
sept 23rd; 6.10 pm Captain's Grille
sept 24th; 12.30 Sci-Fi Dine Inn
sept 25th; 12.35 Akershuys
sept 26th; 12.30 Yak&Yeti

A couple of days ago, I decided to tell mom a bit about 50's Prime Time and what can be going on there at various times. Might not have been the smartest move on my part. She actually had a nightmare about being spoonfed her food yet being naucious so full of food. Hopefully she wont back out before the day actually arrives. Already tried to reassure her, telling her it's Disney, come on, it's not like they'll start to forcefeed you as if you're a goose being kept for making goose liverpate.

Curious how they ressies for the pref. firework viewing works, but I'm sure I'll be learning in a short while!

 

[Flossbolna]

Finally the 180-days mark is here!

Of course things shifted around some since, chancing seems a never ending saga. And mom did came a bit more involved, good time to do so. Did my math and found I could start making the ADR's online at 11.00 AM our time. Not bad, not bad at all!

This morning; picture a laptop all set up and logged in on the disney website right before 11 am. Ready to make those ADR's! NOT. Workphone rings. And of course not for those short 30 seconds calls, but the call lasted about 25 minutes. So, at 11.25 I could finally start make ressies.

To be honest; I really like the online option! Gives a better overall picture of the possibilities. If a desired time is not available, it seems to look at an hour earlier and an hour later and everything in between. Not that I needed it much. It was a very easy system to use, only downside I found was when proceeding from a ressie to the next one, they wouldn't direct you straight back to the menu where you pick the restaurant but have to go there yourself. Oh well, the website has been way worse than this I guess.

Did I ran into anything not available at the desired time? Yes, much to my surprise it was the Plaza off all places! Wanted to get us a 6 pm ressie there on our first real day, the 17th. Not available. Checked 7 pm; nothing. Checked 5 pm; closest they had was 4.05 pm. Not the best, but took it. You never know, we can always cancel and hopefully something will open up later on.

That first day is 'planned' to do some shopping off-site. We should be back in time for that 4 pm ressie, but doubt it we'll be back in time to have a rest in between. Time will tell, for now I'm counting on something opening up.

Couldn't make online ressies for our preferred firework viewing for Epcot and MK, so will call in for those when the lines open up. Nice perk for booking the UK package.

So, what did we get so far?

sept 17th; 4.05 pm The Plaza
sept 18th; 12.20 pm Chefs de France
sept 19th; 6.05 pm Mama Melrose
sept 20th; 8.05 am CRT breakfast
sept 21th; 9.30 am Tusker House
sept 22nd; 12.15 pm Kona Cafe
sept 23rd; 6.10 pm Captain's Grille
sept 24th; 12.30 Sci-Fi Dine Inn
sept 25th; 12.35 Akershuys
sept 26th; 12.30 Yak&Yeti

A couple of days ago, I decided to tell mom a bit about 50's Prime Time and what can be going on there at various times. Might not have been the smartest move on my part. She actually had a nightmare about being spoonfed her food yet being naucious so full of food. Hopefully she wont back out before the day actually arrives. Already tried to reassure her, telling her it's Disney, come on, it's not like they'll start to forcefeed you as if you're a goose being kept for making goose liverpate.

Curious how they ressies for the pref. firework viewing works, but I'm sure I'll be learning in a short while!

Sounds like you were pretty succesful!! Your mother really shouldn't worry. in my three visits to 50's I never had a waitress who made any fun things with us. I think as soon as they realize that you aren't from the US they really tone things down a lot!! Because our waitresses made a lot of fun things with other tables, so it wasn't that they weren't into that thing...

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Sounds like you were pretty succesful!! Your mother really shouldn't worry. in my three visits to 50's I never had a waitress who made any fun things with us. I think as soon as they realize that you aren't from the US they really tone things down a lot!! Because our waitresses made a lot of fun things with other tables, so it wasn't that they weren't into that thing...

She definately should be OK. Her accent is thick enough and she's one of those kind of people that will get that 'please not me!'-look on their faces. Already read on the DIS that the CM's at 50's PT are great with recognizing those with such a look and going to the folks that do like participation. Wouldn't have booked it otherwise, know mom appreciates not being the middle of entertainment.


Changeritus still hasn't left my system. After making the ressies, it began to sink in; 2 breakfast ressies on consequetive days. Both caracter. Hmm, not the smartest idea with me liking my sleep ins and not wanting a caracter overload. So I switched our Tusker House breakfast to sept 26th and Yak&Yeti lunch to sept 21st.

Also got the preffered fire work viewing ressies without any problems. For now it's set on sept. 20th for Wishes at MK and sept. 25th for Illuminations at Epcot. Will probably chance the one at MK to a later date near the end of the trip in a couple of days when the 180-day mark opens up, but at least we've got a ressie for it in case that wouldn't work out.

 

[disneykiwi]

Hi there

I am on the other side of the world to you but am thrilled I found your PTR - I use a manual wheelchair fulltime and travelling to Disney World from 19th Sept till 3rd Oct. So am really interested in hearing what you found was good and what wasnt wheelchair access wise and if you went on many rides the last time you went.

I havent found alot of trip reports from wheelchair users on the boards but it could be that I am not doing the correct search.

Maybe we will see you around on your Sept trip.

Toni

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Hi Toni,

have you checked out the disABILITIES part of the DIS yet? ( http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20 ). Moderator Sue has put up amazing stickies with all the info anybody could dream about when researching about WDW with a wheelchair. Pics and all included.

I haven't been further than Australia yet, so can't compare to NZ accessibility. I'm of no help on that department unfortunately. Having said that, the US and WDW in particular are great when it comes to accessibility.

I've done WDW solo on my first trip and there was just about 'nothing' that I couldn't do with regards to accessibility. Last trip was with a friend who also uses a wheelchair (manual with emotion wheels). She had the same overall feel. One thing that comes to mind is the PeterPan ride (although Cheshire Figment has updated some info, which would make it doable for me) and Pirates of the Caribbean. The latter will require you to use a manual chair in line. I use a powerchair to get around the parks and can't navigate a line in the rentals they had sitting around the ride. A CM on his break took me around the back in a rental allowing me to do the ride anyway, above and beyond! Down side to this ride is that you have to get pretty far down to get into the boat at the loading area.

I don't do a lot of the 'thrill' rides as my body doesn't like sudden jerks that much. Do know from the research I've done they are very accessible though. All in all there's never really been anything that I have to 'think' about when at WDW, or feel like doing so. I simply do whatever I feel like doing and in one way or another about almost everything is accessible for wheelchairs.

Be honest to yourself about transfer abilities. For instance if you get drained when making 15 transfers per day; safe that energy for the transfers you can not avoid. Simply tell castmember you can not transfer at rides. Multiple rides have got accessible vehicles where you can simply drive into with chair and all. The info on these rides are in the above mentioned stickies. It might mean you'll have to wait longer for such a vehicle to become available but it's a lot better than draining yourself where not needed.

Where are you planning on staying?

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

And it's about time for another update. Let's see, what have we been upto since the last update?

Oh right, changeritus. I'm still infected, so dining things have been tweaked and played with.

With 3 long weeks at WDW and such a nice villa, I can already imagine spending some great times just at the resort, in and around the villa, reading and doing nothing. So I decided it was time to get myself an E-reader. No lugging around heavy books. After doing some research, I got myself a Kindle a couple of weeks ago. And boy, am I addicted already! What a great novelty. It's going to be heaven to just relax at the resort, some sunshine, a drink and a nice book.

Mom doesn't know it yet, but I've been making some t-shirts for the trip with thanks to a couple of amazing DISisgners on here. Got us matching 'mom-daugther-shirts in a princess theme and matching 'it's my/her birthday'-shirts with a muppet theme.

Mom (and me, duhuh ) is already contemplating on what she's going to get herself on one of the shoppingsprees we're planning on. Fingers crossed by then the European economy will settle down a bit. Doubt it with all the probs some countries are having, but I'm hoping anyway. Don't like what this has done to the value of the Euro one bit. About a year ago, one euro would get us $1.52 . At the moment, it's down to $1.27. Looks like no longer dirt cheap shopping. Oh well, things could be a lot worse. We're going back to Disney!

 

[WDWFOREVER]

Just found this! Very funny.

Jackie

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Thanks, Jackie.

Well, the Euro is becoming dirtcheap itself by now. But! Good news! I payed off my part of the reservation. Also put away some money on my creditcard as dollars for some good old spending. Not the best rate by far, but expecting it to drop even to worse so whatever I can get now, I'll get it.

And I've earned myself a title this week. I'm now officially the Queen of Airtravel. At that moment I was booked onto not one, not 2 but 3 flights to MCO and 3 flights back home. Yep, all scheduled on the same day. Treatment fit for Royalty. Have I become that fat, you say? No, I haven't. Nor have I found myself a single Prince of Orange-Nassau. No, I've booked the best airline in the world. Let me explain;

I've had some bad experiences with airlines doing damage to my powerchair. Seems like they can even damage a wrapped in tank-lookalike. That's one thing, but apparently not all airlines are willing to take responsibility and deal with damage appropriately like paying a bill. Last year, I flew on another US-carrier. After arriving home, I did find I had some damage. Not totally amazing with my homeairports reputation. But this airline, they took care of me. They took care of the damage and the bill in such a great way, it made me decide to fly them again this year. Things can go wrong, but they'll take care of it.

Since then, the airline basically gave me total acces to staff that normally only tends to businessclass flyers. My contact is there to make sure things go smooth from now on without any damage to begin with. Great service when you consider most airlines don't even offer this service for businessclass flyers, let alone never mind in which class I end up booking.

Fast forward to thuesday. I checked my ressie and noticed there were now 2 flights in there. One through NewArk and one through Houston. I already reckoned it was my contact working on some things. Yesterday, I logged back on to see what had happened and noticed I was now booked onto a 3rd flight. But not just any flight? It was the only direct flight from Amsterdam to MCO, operated by another airline. Not just any other airline. No, an airline they do not work with, that is not part of the larger alliance. No, that airline is part of the biggest competitor when it comes to flights between the Netherlands and the US. Did I see that right? Nah, must be a computermistake.

Today I talked to my contact. Sure enough, those 3 flights were in there with a purpose. They are looking which options are out there to get me to MCO with the least risk of damage to any of my chairs. Going so far, they are even willing to book me onto a competitors flight thus removing the need to chance flights. That option was out of the window quickly though as I informed the airline that that specific flight is known for many cancellations, days delay, bad service, let alone any service when it comes to flying with a wheelchair. I'm now rebooked onto the second flight after me OK-ing it. To Houston the risk of damage is the smallest it can be. From Houston to MCO they're not sure yet what to do. I'll fly on a 738 as of now, but powerchair might just be booked onto a cargoflight for that same day. Again, to reduce risk of damage. Fine by me, great, the chair will be there the same evening as me. And all free of charge, eventhough it would've cost me a small fortune extra if I would've booked this myself.

Next, they're rebooking my mom who's on a different ressie, again free of charge. AND; got her seats next to me, eventhough standard protocol doesn't allow it for these specific seats. Can you say unbelievable beyond normal service?

Things can change around again before the actual flightdate, but who cares!? They're keeping me up to date, don't do anything without me being fine with it and are bending over backwards to make this a uneventfull flight.

If this is any prediction of how our trip will be, oh my gosh! This will be the best trip ever. Can you say fairytales? I sure can!