MVMCP - My Very Merry Chistmas Pre-Trip Report

[coteau_chick]

Two hours on the phone...........OMG! I am glad you will be there when we are maybe we can have a DISmeet. I met a few people last trip from my pre trip report. One lady I met recognized Grace's outfit I made. She had seen the picture of it in my pre trip report and she stopped me. We crossed paths all day. Her MIL joked that we were stalking each other. I met a couple of others too and also met up with lots of people from here that I didn't know would be there. Brennan's teacher was one and classmates also.

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Subscribing! Can't wait to hear about your fiasco of a phone call with Disney, two hours, eh? That's a pretty long time!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Great update!!! It's a shame that they blacked out that first week in Dec for the Pin Codes... This was the first year that they did that I believe! I have two theories as to why that it... One it is POP Warner week and 2 Disney met their quota on rooms being booked that week!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Great update!!! It's a shame that they blacked out that first week in Dec for the Pin Codes... This was the first year that they did that I believe! I have two theories as to why that it... One it is POP Warner week and 2 Disney met their quota on rooms being booked that week!

I agree, they probably are at the Quota. I read a post from someone that said they couldn't get into the POP resort that week. Bummer for me, but it really only pushes my vacation back a week. It does make it a little harder to have a Disney Christmas Card. Guess I will have to have them printed down there, and mail them out from Disney this year.

Subscribing! Can't wait to hear about your fiasco of a phone call with Disney, two hours, eh? That's a pretty long time!

Yea, the CM was nice, but she kept having to put me on hold to consult with other CM's, and I was able to tell her what the nightly rate would be before and after tax before she could look it up. Of course, that's because it was all in the spreadsheet that I had been working on for quite a while before calling.

Two hours on the phone...........OMG! I am glad you will be there when we are maybe we can have a DISmeet. I met a few people last trip from my pre trip report. One lady I met recognized Grace's outfit I made. She had seen the picture of it in my pre trip report and she stopped me. We crossed paths all day. Her MIL joked that we were stalking each other. I met a couple of others too and also met up with lots of people from here that I didn't know would be there. Brennan's teacher was one and classmates also.

We will definitely have to coordinate our schedules. Chances are we will be in the same park at some point during our trips.

Yikes... a fiasco? Always a scary set up for the next entry! I have been blessed so far in the Russian Roulette of CM's at the reservation desk. Only one time did I have an issue, so I just hung up and basically called right back. I KNEW what I wanted, she was just too ditsy to help me!

So we will be there the same time!! Should be fun! Oh... and I totally asked my friend Shelley about the Osbourn's and the light thing. I think it happens more often than not!

I hope I didn't set everyones expectations too high with the word Fiasco, although, I don't know what else you would call it when it takes over two hours to book your vacation. My extremely helpful CM wanted to price out all the options just to make sure there wasn't an option I didn't know I had.

I will try to get online tonight to write it up. This PTR has more pages than official entries, so I gotta catch up.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

I agree, they probably are at the Quota. I read a post from someone that said they couldn't get into the POP resort that week. Bummer for me, but it really only pushes my vacation back a week. It does make it a little harder to have a Disney Christmas Card. Guess I will have to have them printed down there, and mail them out from Disney this year.

Not sure if you knew this or not, but in most cases as long as you check before the last day of a promotion you get it for your entire length of stay . So basically as long as you checked in on or before the 4th you should be cool!

Yeah, I'm thinking get the christmas card printed and out before christmas might be a bit of a challenge for you this year! Good Luck! I know that is my plan this year is to use one of our pics from the trip for our chistmas cards this year!

 

[francis6306]

I agree, they probably are at the Quota. I read a post from someone that said they couldn't get into the POP resort that week. Bummer for me, but it really only pushes my vacation back a week. It does make it a little harder to have a Disney Christmas Card. Guess I will have to have them printed down there, and mail them out from Disney this year.

So, something I am considering... for the Disney Christmas Card! I'm hoping to have all my envelopes done and email a quick picture to my friend, who will then order & pick up them up as well as mail the cards for me!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Not sure if you knew this or not, but in most cases as long as you check before the last day of a promotion you get it for your entire length of stay . So basically as long as you checked in on or before the 4th you should be cool!

Yeah, I'm thinking get the christmas card printed and out before christmas might be a bit of a challenge for you this year! Good Luck! I know that is my plan this year is to use one of our pics from the trip for our chistmas cards this year!

The split stay kind of messed that up though. I wouldn't have been able to get the discount when we moved to the Poly, which is the more expensive hotel.
The cards may be a challenge, but I will probably print off labels to bring with us, plus stamps. Get the pics taken, and order the cards the first or second day. Then I can just add labels and stamps one night during the vacation and mail them out the next day. Who doesn't like getting mail from the Lake Buena Vista area?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

So, something I am considering... for the Disney Christmas Card! I'm hoping to have all my envelopes done and email a quick picture to my friend, who will then order & pick up them up as well as mail the cards for me!

Man, I wish I had reliable friends like that. OK, I probably do, but I was checking out the cards online on the PhotoPass site. We already picked out which one we want. Now we just need to A) Get the picture taken and B) have Disney print out the cards.

 

[taymacsmom]

Hey! I just found your TR and read the whole thing in one sitting! (Is that bad?) Anyway, I am trying to remember all the things I wanted to comment on.

1. I agree on the car. We have never rented or brought a car and have never regretted it!. Yes, we have waited for busses a few times, but hey, we are in Disney, who cares!?! It is all part of the fun and the Disney experience.

2. I thought the same thing about Osbourne Lights. You are definitely not alone!

3. I would love to go at Christmas time. DH works for UPS and, needless to say, December is their busiest time of year and NOONE is allowed to take a vacation! I guess it will have to wait until retirement!

4. And most important, my DH was born and raised in Phoenixville! He moved away when he was about 11 but has many fond memories and lots of relatives still there! He loved the picture of you in your Eagles jersey. (I am a die-hard Giants fan so Sundays in the fall are interesting around our house!)

Looking forward to more planning with you!

Kelly

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Hey! I just found your TR and read the whole thing in one sitting! (Is that bad?) Anyway, I am trying to remember all the things I wanted to comment on.

1. I agree on the car. We have never rented or brought a car and have never regretted it!. Yes, we have waited for busses a few times, but hey, we are in Disney, who cares!?! It is all part of the fun and the Disney experience.

2. I thought the same thing about Osbourne Lights. You are definitely not alone!

3. I would love to go at Christmas time. DH works for UPS and, needless to say, December is their busiest time of year and NOONE is allowed to take a vacation! I guess it will have to wait until retirement!

4. And most important, my DH was born and raised in Phoenixville! He moved away when he was about 11 but has many fond memories and lots of relatives still there! He loved the picture of you in your Eagles jersey. (I am a die-hard Giants fan so Sundays in the fall are interesting around our house!)

Looking forward to more planning with you!

Kelly

Is it bad to read a whole PTR in one sitting? Nah, just last week I spent an entire afternoon reading PTR's to catch up. One was already over 20 pages long, and of course people who had replied to hers had their own PTR's, so I had to read them as well, which lead to even more PTR's. It's kind of pathetic how easily sucked in I am.

It's good to know I am not the only nitwit who thinks the Osbourne lights are related to Ozzy.

UPS is busy at that time of year? Who'd a thunk it.

It could be worse, you could be a Cowboys fan.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

The cards may be a challenge, but I will probably print off labels to bring with us, plus stamps. Get the pics taken, and order the cards the first or second day. Then I can just add labels and stamps one night during the vacation and mail them out the next day. Who doesn't like getting mail from the Lake Buena Vista area?

I hadn't even considered Christmas cards.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I hadn't even considered Christmas cards.

Adding money to your trip budget, Just one more service I provide.

The cards from PhotoPass are $29.95 for 20 5x7 cards , or $29.95 for 10 folded 5x7 cards. A bit more than I usually pay for cards, but hey, it is Christmas in Disney, the most expensive... err, I mean The Happiest Place on Earth.

 

[serene56]

Here is the place I was telling you about. We have used it in the past to make buttons, shirts, a book etc.

MUCH cheaper then what you can get at Disney- (i wonder if they use the same place---

you can get a 100 page scrap book for 49.99 the less pages the cheaper it gets-- you upload your own pics like you would do on a photo pass account but for a lot less money.

20 photo xmas cards were like 10 bucks.

http://www.artscow.com/

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Yea, the CM was nice, but she kept having to put me on hold to consult with other CM's, and I was able to tell her what the nightly rate would be before and after tax before she could look it up. Of course, that's because it was all in the spreadsheet that I had been working on for quite a while before calling.

Holy Hannah that's a lot of pre planning!!! it's good to be prepared though, I hate being put on hold, I understand it's necessary but they do seem to like to leave you hanging for quite some time

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Holy Hannah that's a lot of pre planning!!! it's good to be prepared though, I hate being put on hold, I understand it's necessary but they do seem to like to leave you hanging for quite some time

Yea, but I like to be informed. It took me a while to figure out why a room only reservation online cost more than the room * the number of days until I realized I wasn't including tax on my spreadsheet. I calculated the tax to be around 12.5%, so I created a formula in my spreadsheet to multiply the room rate cell by 1.125 so I could find out the after tax amount. Then you just need to plug in the amount, and viola, after tax amount is shown as well.
I can even include a cell for the number of days, then add a formula that muliplies the after tax amount by the number of days. For my 7 nights I was off by $0.02. Not too bad if I do say so myself.
The great thing about being on hold with Disney is you get to listen to Disney music while waiting, so it keeps you in good spirits, assuming you like Disney music that is.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Here is the place I was telling you about. We have used it in the past to make buttons, shirts, a book etc.

MUCH cheaper then what you can get at Disney- (i wonder if they use the same place---

you can get a 100 page scrap book for 49.99 the less pages the cheaper it gets-- you upload your own pics like you would do on a photo pass account but for a lot less money.

20 photo xmas cards were like 10 bucks.

http://www.artscow.com/

I will check it out when I get home. I got a message saying I needed to download a newer version of silverlight. I don't think my work wants me downloading software onto their computers. Of course, they might not appreciate me being here either.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

The split stay kind of messed that up though. I wouldn't have been able to get the discount when we moved to the Poly, which is the more expensive hotel.
The cards may be a challenge, but I will probably print off labels to bring with us, plus stamps. Get the pics taken, and order the cards the first or second day. Then I can just add labels and stamps one night during the vacation and mail them out the next day. Who doesn't like getting mail from the Lake Buena Vista area?

Yeah that make total sense!!!

And I have to agree sending your cards from Disney is a pretty good idea!!!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

As promised, here is the story of the never ending phone call. It started out innocently enough. I have my laptop with my spreadsheet open with the different prices. I had broken down the packages. I knew what the rooms cost, as well as what the price would be with the 40% off coupon, how much the park tickets cost, how much the dining plan costs, so I had a pretty good idea of what my package deal would cost, but since I had a pin code, and was planning on a split stay, plus checking in on one of the blackout dates, the best thing would be to call Disney directly.

Wow, how many prompts do I have to go through before I can talk to a real person? Is all this really necessary? Ah, finally got… Nope, put on hold for the next available CM. No problem, I will just sit here and enjoy the Disney music. Ah, now I have someone I can talk to. 1st I have to confirm all the information that I covered in the prompts… Why am I telling you the same stupid stuff I told your computer? Isn’t it on the screen in front of you? OK, whatever, if I have to do this to get my trip planned so be it. How long can it take to book the package now that I am talking to someone?

So I let the nice CM lady know I have a PIN from Disney, so I proceed to give it to her. She says to hold on a moment while she figures out what the pin is for. Back on hold, more Disney Music. . Odd that the CM’s don’t know what the current offer is. Well, I guess they have all the ones that are still going on, and they are always coming out with new ones so I guess I shouldn’t expect them to know all of them. Ok, she’s back. I tell her my plan, 3 days at AKL arriving on the 11th, then 4 days at the Poly starting on the 14th. No problem she says, and she starts entering stuff on her end so she can figure out the price. She starts with AKL, and she prices a 3 day package full price with the Dining Plan and a 3 day park hopper pass. 3 day pass?
Whoa, wait a minute; did you say you were booking the 3 days at full price? Hold the phone, ok I have a pin for 40% off, why would I want to pay for 2 nights at full price. Can I get a 1 night at full price, then get the 40% off for the next two nights, then book the Poly for 4 nights at 40% off? Please hold a moment more Disney music….

I guess the light bulb lit on her end, she now understands why I would want to have it set up that way. Why would I pay an extra $250+? OK, she will book a 1night room only, then a 2 night deal with dining plan, and park tickets. She gives me the price for that, now she will look at the Poly side.

Good news, there are rooms available. OK, so she is going to book a 4 night stay at the Poly with Dining plan, plus a four day park hopper pass… WAIT A MINUTE. Why do I need to get a 3 day park hopper pass, then get another 4 day park hopper pass? Times 4 people? This is when I find out that to book a package with the dining plan requires tickets. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. How did I not know this? It makes sense, no wonder I could never add the Dining plan to a room only reservation online. OK, she sees my point. ? Please hold a moment more Disney music….

Wow, this is getting ridiculous. OK, she comes back, and she thinks she has a plan. 1 night room only, no tickets. 3 nights at AKL, with a 6 day park hopper pass, then a 4 night ressie at the Poly with a 1 day park hopper pass.

Whoa, hold up. Four 1 day park hopper passes? Do you know how much four 1 day park hopper passes cost? I lose any savings I may have gotten with the Pin code just to get that 1 day pass for the four of us.

OK, we are over 90 minutes on the phone, and I don’t have anything booked. It’s time Ursula took matters into her own tentacles… I mean, time for me to just tell the CM what to do. I know she is trying to be helpful, but every plan she comes up with gets more and more expensive.

I want a 1 night reservation on the 11th for the AKL, since that is a blackout date. Then I want a 2 day room only reservation for the AKL for the 12th and 13th. OK, then I want a 4 day room only reservation for the Poly (yea, I could have gotten the package here with tickets, but didn’t want to deal with trying to figure out 4 days of the dining plan), and I want an 2 adult, and 2 kids park tickets good for 8 days with the park hopper option. In case you are wondering why I want 8 day park hopper tickets, we plan on getting a 8 am flight down and a late afternoon/early evening flight back, so I want the option of going to a park every day that I am there. I initially thought a 6 day would work which would give us time to visit different resorts, and go to DTD, but since it is only $24 more for the two extra days, I might as well just add them. So she looks in the system, 1 night at the AKL at full price will be… I tell her the price, she says, Oh yes, that is correct. Now two nights Savannah View at AKL with the 40% off will be… Again I give her the price. This really surprises her; I let her know that I already priced everything. Four nights at the Poly is going to be… Again I tell her, but to my surprise her price is lower, by two cents. Must be a rounding issue. That price jump on the last day probably did me in.

Oh yea, I also need 4 tickets for MVMCP on the 16th. No problem she says, although it may take a while because she has to book each item individually. OK.

So she enters the first ressie, confirms with me what I want, and I give her the CC information.
Then she enters the second ressie, confirms with me what I want, and I again give her the CC information.

I basically spend the next half hour listening as she books the remaining reservations, each time I have to give her my CC number because they are not permitted to write that information down, although it would be a time saver, I understand why they won’t allow that.

At the end she asks if I needed anything else, I say, No, and thank her for all of her help. I skip the option of a survey, Lord know how long that would have taken.

Phew, I am beat, and all I did was make a reservation. Well, it is done. All I need now is to make the flight plans. Too bad Southwest isn’t releasing their fares until mid June, so I can’t do anything yet. It is still more than 180 days out so I can’t make reservations. I have some time so I guess I will just figure out what parks to do each day.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

OMG!!! I am exhausted just reading what you had to go thru!!! I will say that it is very annoying all the prompts that you now have to go thru to finally talk to a stinking CM!!! That CM had to be new or something!!! Man it is not rocket science here!! Geese! Glad you got what you wanted in the end!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

OMG!!! I am exhausted just reading what you had to go thru!!! I will say that it is very annoying all the prompts that you now have to go thru to finally talk to a stinking CM!!! That CM had to be new or something!!! Man it is not rocket science here!! Geese! Glad you got what you wanted in the end!

I agree. If I had known this is what I would have gotten, I could have booked it online, then just called and had the PIN added. Ugh. I guess I have to take some of the blame since I wasted to do the Split stay thing.

And all those prompts questions you have to answer, then the CM asks you the same fricken questions.

Future entries will be much easier to read.