Let’s put lover...errr TGM to the test.
I am a true Dis-er at heart. Lime green blood runs through these veins, baby.
However, one cannot plan a trip for 10 on the Dis alone. Last year I discovered the greatest automated planning guide, Tour Guide Mike. Hello, lover! I am in love with Mike.
Everything I need to know, Mike provides. He is my oxygen. Well, like I said, I used TGM last year and his advice was perfection. It WAS value season, so we didn’t see any crowds, but his advice was invaluable. This year, I decided to put TGM to the test. We’re going during a more crowded time of the year, and I’m going to really depend on TGM to get us through this. His website is perfect for the uber planner.
It’s now around November and I start gathering my planning materials. TGM subscription renewed, check. UOG subscription renewed, check. Passporter and 2007 UOG purchased, check.
I start perusing the airline websites, checking out fares. They’re way out of line from last years airfares of $267. American is listing the airfare at $388, Continental $368. No way, I’m not biting. I know they’ll go down. December comes around and the flights are still too high. Now it’s the first week of January, the flights drop to $318. Ok, so I’m thinking the lower trend will start and we should get to the coveted $267. Right? No. The following week the flights climb to $328. The next week, $348. The next week, to $368. Panic sets in. I’ll blow the budget if the airfare climbs any further. I discuss the situation with Waldo and Donald. They both think I should decide when to buy. I finally just bite the bullet and buy the tickets when the price drops to $328.
I purchase all 10 tickets and now have the wonderful job of picking out seats. I notice my favorite row is already taken. Darn it!
Who else buys their plane tickets this far in advance? Remember that sentence, you will be tested later. I pick out seats for everyone, and now the whole flight shizzle is done. We have our flight. It pretty much seals the deal. No refund. No exchange.
I can’t help but check back every few days to see what the current prices are. They keep jumping around, but not lower than $328. UNTIL…. Last week. I checked the aa.com site and holy carp; the flights are all the way down to $268.
I start yelling every name in the book at my monitor… #(%^)(#!! (*U&%$)(!!! Do I tell everyone we just lost $600? I start to panic. Wait a minute, no one knows but me. Oh, and the neighbors who surely heard the loverly words I just spewed out. I file the last few minutes away in my “death bed confessions” file. And move on.
Now it’s time for duh, duh, duhhhhhhhhhhh….. ADR’s. Since we’re doing the dining plan, I know we’re going to need ADR’s. I laugh like a mad woman, just remembering all the dining drama we’ve had. I don’t like fish, I don’t wanna eat this, I don’t wanna eat that, I wanna eat in the castle. No that wasn’t Maddie, it was actually Donald! LOL The only person who I actually
have to consider is The Enabler. She is deathly allergic to shellfish. No crab, no shrimp, no mussels. Sucks to be Mom, yes?
I buy the Duck family the WDW Guide to Dining and tell them to email me 10 places they’d like to try and I’ll put together a similar list and well go from there. I only insist on 2 places, Boma (Mmmmm!) and LeCellier (Waldo’s fav). Those lazy Ducks. They read the book, but don’t want to make decisions. Great. That is until I email them the list I’ve compiled. Oh NOW they want to make decisions. Why or why did I do this to myself? Back and forth, and I only threw the book at Donald once!
A little side: As I previously stated, Donald works in the ER. One night, he was working and met a retired couple from Florida who had worked at WDW. He mentioned his up coming trip and got a bunch of advice on where to eat and what to see. This couple told him to be sure to eat at CRT and Tony’s Town Square. I wasn’t thrilled on eating at CRT after looking at the menu. DH is very picky, worse than a child, and I didn’t see anything he’d like. Now as far as Tony’s goes, I haven’t read anything good about that place. I reluctantly agree to CRT and Tony’s as long as we pay OOP for CRT. I don’t want to waste 2 TS credits on that.
We finally narrow it down to the following:
My Choices: Donald’s Choices:
Boatwright’s Alfredo’s
Boma Coral Reef
Hollywood & Vine CRT
Le Cellier Tony’s
Rose & Crown
Crystal Palace
Journey into the Mind of Serious OCD:
It’s mid February and I’m chompin’ at the bit waiting for lover… errr… Tour Guide Mike to post his late August best days.
I’m like a fiend, an addict, waiting for TGM. I’m on his site, 2 or 3 or 6 or 8 times a day.
Wishing and hoping and praying…. Sorry I broke into the opening song for My Best Friends Wedding. I love the crab scene!
Ah, sorry, where was I? He finally posts all my dates and voila!
Instant itinerary! Have I mentioned I love TGM? Since The Duck Family has never been to WDW, the itinerary is all up to me, oh, and TGM. Oh, here's when it gets sticky.
I prefer to split our days in half at different parks with a nice 3-4 hour break midday to keep everyone hap, hap, happy! We technically have 10 days, but 2 of those are set aside as traveling days, thus leaving us with 16 half days. Am I losing you? Of those 8 mornings, we will need at least 2 sleep in mornings and 1 full day off (or 2 halves off, 1 am half and 1 pm half) Stay with me now. You’ll notice we’ll be at Epcot A LOT. I love Epcot; it’s my favorite place in the whole wide world. That’s my happy place. Epcot.
Our schedule looks a little like this:
Day 1: AM: Travel Day!!! Whoo Hooty!! We’re going to Disney World!!
PM: Dinner– Possibly boat to DTD
Day 2: Epcot/Break/Epcot Alfredo’s for lunch
Day 3: Animal Kingdom/Break/Disney Studios
Day 4: Epcot/Break/Free Evening
Day 5: Sleep In/Brunch/Lapu’s with Dis-ers!!!
Day 6: Magic Kingdom/Break/Epcot
Day 7: Sleep In/DTD/Magic Kingdom
Day 8: Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom
Day 9: Free Park Day/Break/Epcot
Day 10: Magic Kingdom/HOME =(
I’m so excited about this trip. Not only because I’m going to Disney World for 10 days with my crazy family, but because I get to meet…… my Dis-friends! It all started when…. Well, I’m not really sure how it started. I’ll have to ask V, she’s the one with brains. Anyway, I’ve been chatting with V and Lauralee, S'late and Jo for a while now on the Focker Boards and we became geeky Dis-friends. Well, V and Lauralee (who both, by the way, have some great trip reports!) actually had a great meet in December and I was very jealous! See, I had just missed V by a few days on my Sept. trip and was not a happy mama. So, I convinced her to come and have a Lapu with me in August. We then convinced Lauralee to come join us. Only to find out DisneyJo will be there at the same time. We've got S'late on the fence, still, I think. C’mon, 2’s fun, but 5? Now that’s a P-A-R-T-Y!!! After much deliberation and convincing of a few of the DH’s who thought their DW could be walking into an axe murdering trap, we decided to set up a loverly evening with dinner and cocktails to follow. (LY,MI Jo!) I cannot wait, as I am sure it will be the highlight of my trip and trip report!
UP Next: Coincidence or conspiracy?
) try Sport Authority or Sports Chalet. I've seen them at both places.
) They are so excited that they get to wear them outisde at WDW next week. Yup, I only have 5 more sleeps!
I ordered myself the black ones with the red strap!
I'll have to work that into my TR.!!
Hey, I wonder if lime-green Vans exist!
Where is everyone???? 
Although I think DW and I will need to wait a few more years before that can happen in our household... 
I'm happy to hear you read my last trip report. That means you're well versed in Waldoism!
Remember, tell no one of this, you must take it to your grave! I too have the habit of checking every week to see how full the flight is plus I check if there are any time changes. I cringe any time I see a price drop.
I wish they had a little fried egg smilie guy...
You betcha bayyyybyyyy
