Lucky #3 in June 07

[stacey_leah]

Ok, so this is my first ever trip report. Here goes...

Intro
My husband Chris (hitting the big 3-0 this month) and I (Stacey/26) are planning a trip to Disney World for the first week of June 07. I'm an engineer at a chemical facility and he runs our small business (car audio, electronics, wheels, tires, etc). We live in Southwest Louisiana with our 2 great danes. (No kids yet, but I'll get to that later.)

Our Disney-moon
Our first trip was May 00 for our Honeymoon. I'd never been before and Chris went with his uncle and sisters when he was 10. It was the first time flying for us both.

My mom just couldn't understand how I could be more excited about the honeymoon that the wedding. Hello?!? The Castle! Mickey! Fireworks! What's not to love?

My level of planning was nearly non-existant compared to what it is now. To summarize: I bought Birnbaum's book and made some reservations. We paid rack rates for our room at AllStar Movies. And I nearly fainted when I saw the bill from our first table service restaurant!

All the same, it was a magical trip that I will never forget.

 

[dragonflydoll2]

Looking forward to reading more....this June we will also be taking our 3rd trip to WDW and my husband is also Chris...it is a small world after all.

 

[stacey_leah]

The Hurricane Trip
Our second trip was in October 05. Since the Disney-moon I'd graduated college, struggled to find an engineering job for a year, finally got that job, and eventually paid off all the bills I'd accumulated during that year of low-paying temp jobs.

I found the Unofficial Guide and the DIS Board and ratched my Disney planning waaay up. I had spreadsheets and reservations and dining plans. There were just a few small things to take care of before leaving.

Guess what? Even the best laid plans can't prevent natural disasters. A week before we were scheduled to leave for Disney, we evacuated to Dallas cause Hurricane Rita was headed our way. Six days before our planned vacation Rita hit my hometown.

Even though I'd evacuated a few times in the past and even though I had family that had evacuated from Katrina several weeks before, I still never thought it would happen to us.

We slept on the floor with our 2 dogs at mu uncle's house in Dallas for a few days. The 3rd night we decided to drive home. Entry to our entire parish was blocked by the National Guard. Even so, we managed to sneak in.

Luckily, our house was relatively un-damaged. We spent the next 2 days in miserably hot and humid weather cleaning our yard (and our fridge - yuck!) and inspecting family's homes.

Neither of us could go to work (everything was closed and there was no electricity or phone service) and it's way too hot to live in Louisiana without air conditioning for days (or weeks). So I called Disney and added a couple days to our trip.

The only other problem we had was the dogs. We'd planned to have my parents watch them, but they'd transplanted to a hotel in Arkansas. Do you know how difficult it is to find a kennel that will keep your dogs without any shot records? And I couldn't get the records cause my vet had evacuated along with everyone else. I finally found a vet/kennel that was willing to re-vaccinate them, so we were set.

Chris absolutely hates flying, so we drove. It took a bit longer because we had to bypass Katrina-damaged roads. And when we reached Baton Rouge there was already tons of traffic from people that were returning to New Orleans. But my dogs were extremenly well-behaved for the long trip. The Motel 8 we stopped at didn't even know they were there!

After all that, it was such a relief to finally get to Disney. We had free dining and stayed the first few days at Coronado Springs. We spent the remaining trip in a Savannah View at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

I doubt we'll ever go back to Coronado. It is a beautiful property, but Chris got sick from the counter service restaurant and threw up most of our first full morning. Yuck! But I loved loved loved the AKL!

Highlights from our trip were watching Wishes three times, attending MNSSHP (and dressing up!), Luau at the Poly, our first Cirque du Soleil, the Illumintions Cruise, eating at Whispering Canyon, and watching giraffes from our balcony.

 

[stacey_leah]

Lucky #3

Things haven't been great since that trip. Dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane is a pain.

In December 05 I found out I was pregnant for our first child (and my parents' first grandchild). I was ecstatic. Unfortunately I lost the baby at 12.5 weeks. It was absolutely devastating.

Two months after the miscarriage, my grandmother died.

One month after that the union at my plant went on strike. Since I am a salary employee, I was required to remain in the facility. During that first stretch, I worked 28 straight days without leaving. I missed my husband terribly. The strike lasted for 100 days.

Things are closer to normal now. Chris quit his job to run our business. It can be stressful, but so far we've managed to pay the bills. We've been trying to get pregnant again for the last 6 months and it's not working.

We've been talking about another trip for awhile, but with all the drama of last year it just never happened. Then finally we decided that June would be a good time. And I'm so excited! I've dubbed this trip Lucky #3 - 3rd time's a charm plus we've got some lucky 7's in the mix as well (2007 and our 7th year of marriage).

 

[The Sweetness]

I will be in WDW the first week of June as well. (arriving may 31. I hope you have a great time. Sure sounds like you need a break. Where will you be staying this time? I will be at ASMO, and have a little pre- trippie as well

 

[stacey_leah]

We really like the ASMo when we stayed in 2000. Hope you have a great time!

Only 38 more days!!!

Last trip we stayed at AKL (which I loved!) but Chris really liked the WL when we stopped by to eat at his new favorite Disney restaurant (Whispering Canyon). I think he'll like WL more because of WC & all the water-related activities. I'm hoping to spend a few hours with one of the boat rentals...or maybe hook him up with a fishing excursion (but I haven't gotten that far yet).

This trip we're arriving at WL on 6/1 for 8 nights. At first I'd bought us both 8-day MYW tickets with DDP. We were booked in a woods view ($2610). Estimated total price (tickets, meals, room, Cirque, gas, souvenirs, etc.) was $5381.

When I saw the AP discount for early June, I bought an AP for me & an 8-day pass for him. Now we're booked in a courtyard view with bunk beds ($2196). Estimated total price (tickets, meals with DDE, room, Cirque, gas, souvenirs, etc.) is $5225.

So, good savings on a better room, but the higher-priced AP ticket decreases the savings. I'm hoping to change the AP discounted room back to woods view (and a king bed instead of bunks) to save some more money.

As soon as I get the AP voucher I'll start searching for woods view rooms on-line every day. Anybody know how long it'll take to get the voucher?

I just hope the decision to go AP/DDE isn't going to be dissapointing after last trip's DDP.

 

[roxannensteve]

Hi, I had to come check things out on my Louisiana friend's page.


We have alot in common - our Disneymoons, miscarriage, hurricanes, etc. I already feel like I know you.

You know, we had to evauate for Katrina, not Rita & I hated the mess do deal with after too but we were one of the lucky ones. Some damage, but not near as bad as our friends in New Orleans. I live about an hour away from New Orleans.

Girl, 6 months is long to try to become pregnant with no hope after a miscarriage, have you seen any fertility doctors?

I loved your pictures from AKL - here I am saying I don't think I'd like staying there but your pictures done it justice. The pool looked great!!

Thanks for stopping by my PT Report, come on back sometime & I'll be here waiting for updates from you as well. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[stacey_leah]

Thanks for visiting! I'm glad you liked the AKL pics.

My OB happens to be a high-risk doc. At my December visit he said to try for 6 more months before I come back, but I negotiated him down to 4 months. I'll probably call him Monday to set up the next appointment.

Back to Disney...and the resort dilemma
I got my AP voucher in & spent an hour last night on the AP site looking at different resort dates and locations. And now I'm less decided than I was last week! We're about to buy another atv so now I'm considering going cheap. (I'm tired of riding on the back of Chris's - I want my own!!)

The only value option was ASSp and the only mod was CBR. Those are probably the 2 resorts on the bottom of my list! I'd save $500 at CBR and $1500 at ASSp. Or I could save $300 at SS or OKW. Honestly, I'd never really considered staying at any of these resorts, so I'm going to do a little reading. For now, I'm keeping the WL.

Park Days
Right now, here's our day-by-day schedule. I'm sure it'll change:

5/31 - leave home, stop once in FL & spend the night in a hotel
6/1 - check in, short day at AK
6/2 - EP (Flower & Garden Festival)
6/3 - MGM (Star Wars Weekend!)
6/4 - MK
6/5 - MGM
6/6 - TL, Cirque
6/7 - AK
6/8 - EP
6/9 - MK, leave Disney, maybe stop at another hotel on the drive home

Side trip to Universal?
I just saw that the Blue Man Group will be opening a show at Universal Studios during our trip. We've always wanted to see them, so I'm trying to get tickets and set aside some time to see them. (I may change Chris's ticket from 8-day to 7-day and only spend 1 day at MGM.)

More stuff I need to do...
I still don't have ADRs or tickets for Cirque. I'm trying not to do a lot of switching parks. Last time it felt like we wasted way too much time between hopping & changing hotels.

Only 33 days to go! Have a good Monday!

 

[popcenturycp07]

sounds great! cant wait to read more!

 

[stacey_leah]

This'll be a short post since I'm supposed to be at work in, oh, SIX hours. (Looks like tomorrow will be a hi-coffee day! )

We've had some money issues come up this week, so I'm considering changes to our trip.

Change #1 - switch to a less expensive hotel
Change #2 - fewer days

I'll wait to see how things go next week before I make a decision.

But, I did buy tickets to two shows tonight (yet another reason to cut down on costs).

We're going to Cirque du Soleil at 9 PM on the 6th. Section 206, row AA. Last time we were front & center so I hope these seats aren't a dissapointment.

On the 7th we'll sleep late and hang around the hotel most of the day. That night, we'll drive to Universal Studios to see the Blue Man Group at 8 PM. Zone 4, center row Q. This will be the first time we've left the Disney resort on our trip. (Hey, maybe we'll be able to eat a reasonably-priced meal!)

So, since it's after midnight - only 29 more days to go!!! (unless I shorten the trip and we leave later...)

 

[DisneyDadFaNaTic]

So the old ma.......I mean your DH is turning 30? The thing I remember the most about turning 30 is the fact that I wasn't in my 20s anymore. That really seemed to bother me for some reason!

We, too, had a difficult year and like you guys we decided to head to Disney to do something about it. Hears hoping it works for both of us!

Love the report so far! Keep em coming!