princesshannahsmom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
- Messages
- 331
Well, I have tried numerous times to write (and complete) pre-trip reports and trip reports, with ZERO success. This time, I am DETERMINED to complete BOTH!
In the last many years we have tried to squeeze in at least two WDW trips a year, it has worked out most years, but the last couple of years have not been great financially, so our last trip to WDW was in May of 2009. Needless to say, our Disney itch was becoming unbearable and we decided to book at least one trip this year.
We quibbled back and forth with exactly what kind of trip we wanted this one to be. Do we want to go minimalistic and go value (which we havent done in many years), go moderate, or just go all out and go deluxe. Believe it or not, these options were discussed in great detail over the course of several weeks, with me and DD being the most involved. DH typically doesnt care, as long we dont have to mortgage the house or sell an organ to pay for the trip! Although, he did want to throw in his two cents a few times when discussing the values, as he isnt much of a fan of those (to be truthful, none of us are)! Let me tell you why.
***SIDE STORY*** DH and I took our first trip about a year after we were married and he was hooked. I had been hooked having traveled there several times a year since the age of 10. We began our vacations going value all the way; we stayed at all of them, except All Star Sports. When DD came along, we continued the tradition of staying at the values, except for a few side trips to Fort Wilderness with my grandparents. However, when DD was about 4, we took one of our long weekend trips, staying at All Star Music. When we arrived we were met with one of the rudest CMs I or my DH had EVER dealt with. First, she claimed to not find our reservation, then she chided us for using the wrong discount, and then stomped off when I asked to speak to a supervisor; she was in general just a mean individual. We looked past it after a managerial type CM apologized and fixed the error with the reservation and we were off to our room. As soon as we opened the door, a horrific odor overtook ALL of us. DD claimed it smelled like the place was burning, DH claimed it smelled like burnt tea leaves
(some of you may know what might produce such a smell), and I just claimed I was NOT staying in that room. DH was brave enough to walk inside and call the desk and explain the problem. We trudged back up to the front desk, by this time our luggage was in tow, and the CM had new cards waiting on us. We marched all the way to the back of the resort to our new room and opened the door. I smelled a tiny bit of odor in the room, but, I had my can of Lysol and I figured I could defeat the minor smell. I proceeded to pull the bedspreads off (I will NOT lay on or under those spreads!), pulled back the sheets, did a quick inspection and DD lay down on one of the beds. She jumped up rather quickly and proclaimed it smelled like puke. I was sure she was exaggerating as little girls sometimes do, but I knelt down by the bed and sure enough, the smell was AWFUL. I pulled back the sheets and there was a ginormous stain in the middle of the mattress. At this point, not only were we tired, but I was extremely irritated. I called back up to the desk, asked to speak to whoever was in charge and explained our stressful night to them. We were asked to report back to the front, where, we were told we had been upgraded for all of our troubles. I wasnt asking for an upgrade, I wasnt asking for anything for free, I just wanted to get settled in a CLEAN room and start enjoying our little vacation. Anyhow, to make a long story even longer, we were sent to AKL for the duration of our stay and that was IT for us. We never looked back, we were hooked on deluxe and with the exception of the May 2009 trip and a few trips with the grandparents to Fort Wilderness, we have NEVER graced the doors of the values again! 
We have stayed at AKL numerous times, WL a few times, Saratoga Springs a few times and one special treat trip to the Contemporary. ***END SIDE STORY***
After much debating, we (mainly DD and me) decided since we havent had a trip in nearly two years, to WDW or otherwise, we deserved a deluxe vacation, it was Disney math at its finest, trust me!
We did some serious research on Deluxe resorts that we havent visited. We looked at the Poly and its proximity to MK and the TTC, but the atmosphere of the Poly, while very nice and laid back, really isnt our style. We knew without even looking that Grand Floridian was out, because, again, it is definitely NOT our style and we would feel completely out of place. We priced out the stay at the Contemporary, but we ruled it out, because we ultimately decided the theming wasnt fun enough for us! We knew we didnt want Wilderness, we were fairly certain that although AKL is our favorite resort, we wanted something different. At this point we had it narrowed down to the Epcot resort area, leaving us debating Boardwalk, Beach Club or Yacht Club. Since we do spend a ton of time at Epcot, any of these resorts made sense really. We ultimately decided on the Boardwalk, although our decision making process was a bit silly. We live on the beach, so we decided the Beach Club wasnt for us, we arent interested in yachts or yacht clubs, so that was out, but we do love the theming and atmosphere of a boardwalk area, so the Boardwalk won out. 
The next step was deciding when to go. Our decision making process had taken us in to early April, and we had the 180 day dining window to think about, so we were already pushing in to September/October time frame. Although I dont make it habit to take DD out of school for ANY vacation, she is a straight A student, and doesnt miss any school during the year under normal circumstances, I decided that 5 days out of school really wasnt going to affect her educational career! So, not having to worry about school breaks, we started thinking of the time of year that would work for us. We started out thinking that we would like to go during the time the Christmas decorations are out and since the weather is typically moderate during that time period, that was weighing heavily on our decision, as we DO NOT like the steaming Florida heat (we are Florida residents though, so that makes NO sense!). However, DD and I both agreed that MNSSHP might be fun to attend as well, and we had already been to MVMCP once before and we loved it, so we started thinking sometime in October might work well for us. We discussed the two options with DH and he was pretty set on October because, first, it was sooner and second he thought it might be nice to see the fall decorations for once instead of the Christmas decorations. We decided that the first week in October would work best for us and we typically like to make our stays over an eight day period, leaving on late Friday afternoon and checking out early the following Sunday morning.
The next thought process brought us to our dining plan options, we knew for SURE that we did not want the QSDP, as we must have AT LEAST one sit down meal a day, we use that time to unwind and talk about the days events and activities. We volleyed back and forth about the Regular dining plan versus the Deluxe Dining plan, but we ultimately decided to go all out and do the deluxe plan. We do like to make our typical sit down meal a later dinner seating, but we are a HUGE fan of early breakfasts, and we figured the cost of adding a second sit down meal (breakfast) for three people for a minimum of 4 days, the Deluxe dining plan really was the way to go. Add to the fact that we always buy new resort mugs and we love so many of the snack options, Deluxe just made sense for us.
Tickets were a no brainer, because we are planning a family reunion at WDW for some time in February, 2012, which meant APs would work best for us. We like the Premium Annual Passes, because, although we dont frequent the water parks, we do like DisneyQuest and we DO NOT like blackout dates!
So, with our resort decided, our dates agreed upon, dining plan decided and tickets discussed, I contacted the travel agent with those dates, resort options and ticket and dining plan needs, and waited for the painful email with the grand total! It wasnt as awful as I expected and within a day or so, I had confirmed the reservation and made the deposit! WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!
Coming up next . Cast introductions and some photos and planning strategies!
In the last many years we have tried to squeeze in at least two WDW trips a year, it has worked out most years, but the last couple of years have not been great financially, so our last trip to WDW was in May of 2009. Needless to say, our Disney itch was becoming unbearable and we decided to book at least one trip this year.
We quibbled back and forth with exactly what kind of trip we wanted this one to be. Do we want to go minimalistic and go value (which we havent done in many years), go moderate, or just go all out and go deluxe. Believe it or not, these options were discussed in great detail over the course of several weeks, with me and DD being the most involved. DH typically doesnt care, as long we dont have to mortgage the house or sell an organ to pay for the trip! Although, he did want to throw in his two cents a few times when discussing the values, as he isnt much of a fan of those (to be truthful, none of us are)! Let me tell you why.
***SIDE STORY*** DH and I took our first trip about a year after we were married and he was hooked. I had been hooked having traveled there several times a year since the age of 10. We began our vacations going value all the way; we stayed at all of them, except All Star Sports. When DD came along, we continued the tradition of staying at the values, except for a few side trips to Fort Wilderness with my grandparents. However, when DD was about 4, we took one of our long weekend trips, staying at All Star Music. When we arrived we were met with one of the rudest CMs I or my DH had EVER dealt with. First, she claimed to not find our reservation, then she chided us for using the wrong discount, and then stomped off when I asked to speak to a supervisor; she was in general just a mean individual. We looked past it after a managerial type CM apologized and fixed the error with the reservation and we were off to our room. As soon as we opened the door, a horrific odor overtook ALL of us. DD claimed it smelled like the place was burning, DH claimed it smelled like burnt tea leaves
(some of you may know what might produce such a smell), and I just claimed I was NOT staying in that room. DH was brave enough to walk inside and call the desk and explain the problem. We trudged back up to the front desk, by this time our luggage was in tow, and the CM had new cards waiting on us. We marched all the way to the back of the resort to our new room and opened the door. I smelled a tiny bit of odor in the room, but, I had my can of Lysol and I figured I could defeat the minor smell. I proceeded to pull the bedspreads off (I will NOT lay on or under those spreads!), pulled back the sheets, did a quick inspection and DD lay down on one of the beds. She jumped up rather quickly and proclaimed it smelled like puke. I was sure she was exaggerating as little girls sometimes do, but I knelt down by the bed and sure enough, the smell was AWFUL. I pulled back the sheets and there was a ginormous stain in the middle of the mattress. At this point, not only were we tired, but I was extremely irritated. I called back up to the desk, asked to speak to whoever was in charge and explained our stressful night to them. We were asked to report back to the front, where, we were told we had been upgraded for all of our troubles. I wasnt asking for an upgrade, I wasnt asking for anything for free, I just wanted to get settled in a CLEAN room and start enjoying our little vacation. Anyhow, to make a long story even longer, we were sent to AKL for the duration of our stay and that was IT for us. We never looked back, we were hooked on deluxe and with the exception of the May 2009 trip and a few trips with the grandparents to Fort Wilderness, we have NEVER graced the doors of the values again! We have stayed at AKL numerous times, WL a few times, Saratoga Springs a few times and one special treat trip to the Contemporary. ***END SIDE STORY***After much debating, we (mainly DD and me) decided since we havent had a trip in nearly two years, to WDW or otherwise, we deserved a deluxe vacation, it was Disney math at its finest, trust me!
We did some serious research on Deluxe resorts that we havent visited. We looked at the Poly and its proximity to MK and the TTC, but the atmosphere of the Poly, while very nice and laid back, really isnt our style. We knew without even looking that Grand Floridian was out, because, again, it is definitely NOT our style and we would feel completely out of place. We priced out the stay at the Contemporary, but we ruled it out, because we ultimately decided the theming wasnt fun enough for us! We knew we didnt want Wilderness, we were fairly certain that although AKL is our favorite resort, we wanted something different. At this point we had it narrowed down to the Epcot resort area, leaving us debating Boardwalk, Beach Club or Yacht Club. Since we do spend a ton of time at Epcot, any of these resorts made sense really. We ultimately decided on the Boardwalk, although our decision making process was a bit silly. We live on the beach, so we decided the Beach Club wasnt for us, we arent interested in yachts or yacht clubs, so that was out, but we do love the theming and atmosphere of a boardwalk area, so the Boardwalk won out. The next step was deciding when to go. Our decision making process had taken us in to early April, and we had the 180 day dining window to think about, so we were already pushing in to September/October time frame. Although I dont make it habit to take DD out of school for ANY vacation, she is a straight A student, and doesnt miss any school during the year under normal circumstances, I decided that 5 days out of school really wasnt going to affect her educational career! So, not having to worry about school breaks, we started thinking of the time of year that would work for us. We started out thinking that we would like to go during the time the Christmas decorations are out and since the weather is typically moderate during that time period, that was weighing heavily on our decision, as we DO NOT like the steaming Florida heat (we are Florida residents though, so that makes NO sense!). However, DD and I both agreed that MNSSHP might be fun to attend as well, and we had already been to MVMCP once before and we loved it, so we started thinking sometime in October might work well for us. We discussed the two options with DH and he was pretty set on October because, first, it was sooner and second he thought it might be nice to see the fall decorations for once instead of the Christmas decorations. We decided that the first week in October would work best for us and we typically like to make our stays over an eight day period, leaving on late Friday afternoon and checking out early the following Sunday morning.
The next thought process brought us to our dining plan options, we knew for SURE that we did not want the QSDP, as we must have AT LEAST one sit down meal a day, we use that time to unwind and talk about the days events and activities. We volleyed back and forth about the Regular dining plan versus the Deluxe Dining plan, but we ultimately decided to go all out and do the deluxe plan. We do like to make our typical sit down meal a later dinner seating, but we are a HUGE fan of early breakfasts, and we figured the cost of adding a second sit down meal (breakfast) for three people for a minimum of 4 days, the Deluxe dining plan really was the way to go. Add to the fact that we always buy new resort mugs and we love so many of the snack options, Deluxe just made sense for us.
Tickets were a no brainer, because we are planning a family reunion at WDW for some time in February, 2012, which meant APs would work best for us. We like the Premium Annual Passes, because, although we dont frequent the water parks, we do like DisneyQuest and we DO NOT like blackout dates!
So, with our resort decided, our dates agreed upon, dining plan decided and tickets discussed, I contacted the travel agent with those dates, resort options and ticket and dining plan needs, and waited for the painful email with the grand total! It wasnt as awful as I expected and within a day or so, I had confirmed the reservation and made the deposit! WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!
Coming up next . Cast introductions and some photos and planning strategies!
, but his soon to be ex does want her. Ex Wife is living in a condo with her brother who is allergic and asthmatic, so she can't have her right now. I guess we are "fostering" her for now, but she has quickly become a member of our family. She is a 3 year old yellow lab, and is just a little too active (hear hyper) to catch a good photo. I will try and find one and post it later.
We will start with an early morning ADR at Kona Café, head over to MK and visit our favorites one more time, we will probably park hop over to Epcot, to do a few of our favorites and then catch the monorail back to TTC and then to Contemporary for our late ADR at Chef Mickeys. 
