MVMCP - My Very Merry Chistmas Pre-Trip Report

[serene56]

Holy crap- I think I woulda hung up and did it myself.
(I got a travel out from Its a small world-- (I think thats the name of it)
I made final payment so I dont care what its called no more---LOL

 

[stephielela]

Wow! That does sound like an ordeal! I didn't realize you had to have park tickets in order to book dining until I booked our December trip. I had fully planned on upgrading my tickets to an annual pass in September and then not buying tickets for my December trip. I don't think it's fair, since your dining plan is dependent on your resort stay and not park tix, but whatever!

 

[Tinker_Tam]

Wow! Glad that wasn't my phone call or I would have most likely given up thinking its always like that.

 

[coteau_chick]

That was a crazy phone call. I hate when I feel like I know more than someone who I should not know more than. That sentence was more confusing than your phone call. LOL Do you use Tourguide Mike?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Holy crap- I think I woulda hung up and did it myself.
(I got a travel out from Its a small world-- (I think thats the name of it)
I made final payment so I dont care what its called no more---LOL

Hey, after spending an hour an a half on the phone, I was committed to finishing it. The final booking of the 3 ressies, park ticket order, and MVMCP order took forever. I think I had a new person or it might have gone a bit faster. Doesn't matter now, I'm all booked, although I do need to call to add the ME to my plans. That should only take an hour right?

Wow! That does sound like an ordeal! I didn't realize you had to have park tickets in order to book dining until I booked our December trip. I had fully planned on upgrading my tickets to an annual pass in September and then not buying tickets for my December trip. I don't think it's fair, since your dining plan is dependent on your resort stay and not park tix, but whatever!

I didn't realize it either, so she did know something I didn't know. Although I did notice online that I couldn't do the dining plan without tickets, but for some reason it didn't click.

Wow! Glad that wasn't my phone call or I would have most likely given up thinking its always like that.

I just assumed it was my fault with the split reservation. It is all Disney property, so I don't understand why I need to make separate reservations for one trip. I can see the one night room only since it was blacked out, but I should be able to book the rest as one package. Oh well, chalk that up to another Lesson Learned.

That was a crazy phone call. I hate when I feel like I know more than someone who I should not know more than. That sentence was more confusing than your phone call. LOL Do you use Tourguide Mike?

I've been on the other end of that call though. I used to have to take phone calls from customers where I work once in a while, but the questions were about stuff that I didn't deal with in my day to day job, so I really had no idea what I was talking about. I had one guy say to me "I don't mean to be rude, but can you transfer me to someone who can answer my questions. I think I know more than you do." He was nice about it, and I was more than happy to send him to someone who knew what they were talking about. Thank goodness I don't have to do that anymore.
I have seen TourguideMike. I know someone with an account and they let me use their log in and password, but I haven't spent much time on there. I'm sure I will get on there eventually to look around.

 

[Katie & Glen]

Wow, and I thought some of my phone calls with Disney CM's have been doozys! I think you have inspired me to start my own PTR.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Wow, and I thought some of my phone calls with Disney CM's have been doozys! I think you have inspired me to start my own PTR.

Be sure to put a link in your signature. I look forward to reading the Many Adventures of Winnie... um, I mean Katie & Glen.

 

[therussells08]

It's quite hilarious in hindsight, especially when you see in the video her leaning to the side to look around me, but man was I annoyed when trying to film it. Of course, I had no clue that Dora was on the tv or I would have paused it immediately. Just goes to show the best laid plans still aren't foolproof.
I am amazed at the lack of excitement I get from my family. My boss at work is going down September 12th. I was like "Great, which parks are you going to on which days, where are you eating, where are you staying, have you booked your flights yet..." I got a less than enthusiastic, "my wife is planning it." It is a little over a month away, he doesn't know what parks he is going to when, where he is eating, I asked him yesterday and he doesn't even know where he is staying... What is wrong with people? You're going to Disney. The happiest place on earth. How can you not be excited?

That makes no sense to me either! In my opinion, planning your trip to WDW is nearly as fun as going to WDW! Well, maybe not nearly as fun, but it's still really great! He's missing out! If my trip was only a month away I would be losing it!

Oh by the way... that phone call! That would have been an entire month of my cell phone minutes used up in one call!

 

[francis6306]

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.

You have an excel sheet for pricing out your trip?? Interesting.... oh... and I was told that you have to book at least ONE ticket for the dining plan...

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

OMG! I hate that!!!! I feel the same way- WHY am I telling the computer and YOU all this stuff? Seems like they would ask different questions. I also don't understand the "have you been to Disney world before" question. It bothers me. Yes, I have stayed ONE night at Pop back in 2005, but I don't count that, because this is my FAMILY's first trip. I never know how to answer that!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

You have an excel sheet for pricing out your trip?? Interesting.... oh... and I was told that you have to book at least ONE ticket for the dining plan...

I created my own sheet so I had a good idea of what the trip would cost. It wasn't hard to set up. I had a column with the dates, then a second column to enter the nightly rate. The third column had the discount. In my case 40% which I entered as .40. The fourth column multiplies the nightly rate times 1-the discount so I would get the discounted rate. For the blackout night I entered a 0 since there was no discount. The last column would multiply the previous column times 1.125 to show the rate including tax. I then set up rows with the Ticket total, and the cost of the Dining plan. I figure that out by going on Disney's site and creating a package without dining, but with tickets. Wrote down the price. Added the Dining plan, figured out the difference, and that is the price for the dining plan. It isn't that hard really. My current file I am using has the price for each day, the discounted amount, as well as the confirmation numbers and a subtotal for each reservation. I also have the down payment amounts for each reservation, and the remaining balance. I also have the ticket price, the price for the meals (character meals are a set price, others I estimated) so I have a good idea of whole trip is costing me, minus souvenirs. CRT and The Spirit of Aloha were also pre-paid, so I have that in the deposit column, and the unpaid meals in the remaining balance columns. So I know how much I have spent, and have a good idea of what is remaining. I even included the Disney Reward Dollars I currently have that will be applied to the Poly reservation. Right now I have $851 which covers most of the remaining balance for the Poly.

OMG! I hate that!!!! I feel the same way- WHY am I telling the computer and YOU all this stuff? Seems like they would ask different questions. I also don't understand the "have you been to Disney world before" question. It bothers me. Yes, I have stayed ONE night at Pop back in 2005, but I don't count that, because this is my FAMILY's first trip. I never know how to answer that!

I think they ask if you have been there before because they can just access the information about you, ie birthday etc... But the other stuff I already answered, why ask me again.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Oh by the way... that phone call! That would have been an entire month of my cell phone minutes used up in one call!

Lucky for me it was the house phone where I have unlimited calling. My cell phone hardly gets used, I have a pre-paid plan through T-Mobile. I don't think I spend 2 1/2 hours a year on my cell phone, so that call would have been a year's worth of minutes to me, and would have cost me close to $20.

 

[exwdwcm]

holy cow, that was a long call! but at least you got it how you wanted it. keep in mind a lot of these folks work remotely too, so they might not be in a call center in orlando and from my time as a cast member, i know how horrible communication can be.....i know it must be much worse for the booking agents with all the different discounts etc. flying around. Sometimes the guests know more than they do!

Glad you finally got it booked how you wanted. I was all excited you were going the same week as us, and then you changed on me! lol That's okay though. You will love AKL and i can't wait to try out the Poly- you will have to do a thorough review!

so do you have your meals all booked then?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

holy cow, that was a long call! but at least you got it how you wanted it. keep in mind a lot of these folks work remotely too, so they might not be in a call center in orlando and from my time as a cast member, i know how horrible communication can be.....i know it must be much worse for the booking agents with all the different discounts etc. flying around. Sometimes the guests know more than they do!

Glad you finally got it booked how you wanted. I was all excited you were going the same week as us, and then you changed on me! lol That's okay though. You will love AKL and i can't wait to try out the Poly- you will have to do a thorough review!

so do you have your meals all booked then?

Meals are booked. At least all the planned meals. Some days I'm not sure exactly what we are doing, or even where we will be so I didn't want to tie us down to a reservation. We can always do a counter service meal in a pinch.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I just noticed your Location: Pixie Hollow (Dallas). Does that mean the Cowboys are just a bunch of fairies?

 

[exwdwcm]

I just noticed your Location: Pixie Hollow (Dallas). Does that mean the Cowboys are just a bunch of fairies?

LOL.............funny! heck, some of them are. I am a cowboy fan, even when they suck, which is often. My sister dated Tony Romo back when he was still third string. just like two dates, but still funny. i am looking forward to all the traffic and fun for the superbowl too. at least I don't live near Arlington! I am in Plano- about 15-20 minutes northeast of DFW airport. and I am ready for football season!!!!!

 

[PoppyGirl]

Just out of curiosity, is your Olivia incredibly headstrong, and demanding? While it can be a pain at times, I have seen my 4 year old yelling at the teenage neighborhood kids if they are doing something wrong.

Oh yes!!! Headstrong and demanding describe her to a T!!! Must be something with the name! The sad thing is that she is only 2 (she will be 3 on November 11), so I am thinking it can only go downhill from here! She really is a good kid though, just lets you know what she wants, when she wants it and how she feels about a situation!

I think it is definitely the name. I know some other people who have kids named Olivia, and they all are very headstrong and demanding. She can be adorable, sweet and loving, but has a bit of a mean streak in her. When my wife drops her off at daycare the kids like to run up to her, but she isn't a morning person, and the teacher says to give Olivia her space.

I have an Anna OLIVIA and although her name means "grace and peace"...."stubborn and NOT peaceful" would be more like it! So I'm totally with you on the name!

My first thought is “IT’S NOT LIVE! I’VE BEEN DUPED!” After I calmed down a bit my next thought is “OMG! I AM THINKING OF GOING THE FIRST WEEK, I CAN BE PART OF THE CHRISTMAS PARADE AND THEN I CAN WATCH IT ON TV!” Please let the taping be Dec 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, please let the taping be Dec. 4, well you get the idea.

I didn't realize it was taped either, until I started planning this trip and read it on the disboards. I wouldn't know ANYTHING if it weren't for the disboards! It cracks me up how excited you were about being in the parade during taping and then watching it on TV. Too funny!



I'm LOVING your PTR! You are funny!!!

We also took our first trip in January 2007....and I started planning our next adventure as soon as I got home!

Loved your whole post about the mistakes/blunders you made the first time. The biggest one I remember from our first trip was scheduling HoopDeDooRevue on our first night. The kids were so tired that they were practically falling asleep watching it. It definitely would have been more fun later in the week after a good night's sleep!

And we too were in the nosebleed section of the Nemo show. I really don't ever need to see it again, but DH lives for the shows. He was SO disappointed last time we went when he didn't get to see it. *sigh* If you met him, this would totally make you laugh. He just doesn't SEEM like the kind of guy who would be into the shows at Disney.

And your 2 hour reservation call... Guess I should not be laughing at your pain....sorry! Why DO they make you tell them everything you just told the computer? Arrgh! Very annoying.

Can't wait for the next installment!

Oh, and by the way, how do you add the links to the sections of your report?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I'm looking forward to the season. Not sure what to expect from the Eagles since they traded McNabb. I don't know if Kolb is going to be successful, or a complete bust. So, I can see the Eagles being anywhere between 5-11 and 11-5.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I'm LOVING your PTR! You are funny!!!

We also took our first trip in January 2007....and I started planning our next adventure as soon as I got home!

Loved your whole post about the mistakes/blunders you made the first time. The biggest one I remember from our first trip was scheduling HoopDeDooRevue on our first night. The kids were so tired that they were practically falling asleep watching it. It definitely would have been more fun later in the week after a good night's sleep!

And we too were in the nosebleed section of the Nemo show. I really don't ever need to see it again, but DH lives for the shows. He was SO disappointed last time we went when he didn't get to see it. *sigh* If you met him, this would totally make you laugh. He just doesn't SEEM like the kind of guy who would be into the shows at Disney.

And your 2 hour reservation call... Guess I should not be laughing at your pain....sorry! Why DO they make you tell them everything you just told the computer? Arrgh! Very annoying.

Can't wait for the next installment!

Oh, and by the way, how do you add the links to the sections of your report?

Thanks, as with most things in life, I always looks for the humor in a situation. Life is too short to be taken seriously.

Looking at my plans, I can see some future lessons learned in the making. We have a 6:45 am flight, and I am planning on seeing Fantasmic the first night. Lucky for us it is in December so it starts at 6:30. Hopefully the kids can hold out, although my kids seem to have an endless supply of energy, I swear they take it from me.

I wasn't big on the Nemo show, maybe my disappointment with the seats has clouded my judgement, but it isn't on the schedule this time. I like watching the shows though because it is nice down time without taking naps. It's the same reason I do so many character meals. You get an hour break, plus you get to eat, and meet the characters. It just costs you a little bit more than the already rediculously priced food.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Shoot, forgot to add. To put a link for each entry in the first one, just click on the post number after you post. This should open up that post in a new window/tab. Copy the URL, then go to the first post, click the Edit button. Add the post title. Highlight that, then click the insert link icon and paste the URL.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Oy I've had phone calls just like that one. I'd heard you can just say 'agent' twice and get thru to a real person without all the questions. Nope. Doesn't work.

The last call I had like that ended up with one of my reservations timing itself out and cancelling because the CM forgot to process my deposit. I've had great CMs too but those awful ones sure stick with you.