My last minute but still planned Pre-Trippie!

[bunkkinsmom]

Hi All!

Welcome to my last minute but still planned Pre Trip Report! We didn't get to go to The World this year because we took the in-laws on a 50th anniversary cruise in September. I've been trying to speak a January trip into existence for the last 15 months, but it's been a long road. I just started in the Real Estate business a little over a year ago, and really didn't know how we were going to pull this off!!

Well........... I had an incredible first year and did so well that my commission split got bumped up starting December 1! Which means my December 12th closing will be enough to book the S/P/D deal before December 31st!!!!!

Now, decisions........

Luckily, in trying to speak things into existence, I went ahead 5 months ago and made dining reservations, picked the week I wanted to go, and started making preparations. So at least my dining ressies are done (although I'm sure there'll be some changes!)

Here's the rub: I will make enough to book a Mod, but just barely, and Christmas is around the corner. I have another closing in December, but it's on the 23rd, so that's not in time for presents. Can anyone advise if I put money down how much that will be, and then how soon to the ressie date do I have to pay it off? To throw another wrench into the pot, I have a buyer looking at a multi-million dollar home and wants to close in cash by the end of the year. When that happens, I'll be able to upgrade to OKW, our favorite resort!

So my first question would be: If I book a value, can I upgrade to a Mod even if I upgrade AFTER the S/P/D discount expires?? And then, can I add park hoppers at the park?

There are 8 of us going, so I will need to book 2 rooms to start, and was hoping to get a 1BR and studio at OKW. I'm thinking of starting off with a value just to get the ressie.

Sorry for the short first post, but I need to get the kiddos up and moving. What do you guys think my best course of action is? Proposed dates are 1/25-2/1.

TIA!

 

[njpyro]

We are arriving January 29th for s/p/d and our final payment is due December 15th. Hope that helps.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

We are arriving January 29th for s/p/d and our final payment is due December 15th. Hope that helps.

Thanks! It does! It's been a roller coaster ride (no pun intended) thus far. I haven't called to make reservations yet, I'm just a bit nervous about getting it done. Normally I'm all paid up by now and just waiting..... and waiting..... and waiting.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along....

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Following along....

Well come on in!!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

So all is going well... Mr. Big (That's what I call my 7 figure buyer) has pretty much made up his mind. Now it's time to get him to write an offer!

The cast of characters include myself, DH, DD11, DS9, DD7, DMIL, DFIL, and DSisIL. We've done this trip twice together as a group and we always have a blast!!!

Just to give you a glimpse of the 5 of us in my immediate family..... In Jan of 12 we surprised the kiddos with a trip. We took them out to eat after school and then killed some time for a couple of hours. We then handed each of them their DS and told them we had to drive to a friend of my Grandmother's house to run an errand. We told them it would be a while so to just settle in and get comfy. I think we left Greensboro around 7. Once they started dozing off, we stopped and got gas, grabbed some snacks, and just kept driving. The plan was to stop about two hours out of WDW and tell them we were in SC and wanted to get a hotel. They're pretty used to that, once in a while we get a hotel for the night and order out dinner, just for a change of scenery. So none of that would seem odd.

We stopped for a potty break for DH and I just before midnight and we decided to just try and get all the way to Orlando. I called reservations and got a room at POR where are original ressies were to be sure we could crash when we arrived. Meanwhile, kiddos are still asleep. We arrived at POR about 5 AM. And here's how we told them.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhIhiHjxBxk

My son absolutely cracks me up!!!!

So the last time we went I did an interactive live dining review. I posted a thread in the dining review forum and listed the restaurants we would be dining at. Then I asked dissers to choose an entree that they wanted reviewed. Whichever entree got the most votes, we ordered and did a video review of. Here's an example of a mixed review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B3ZHESSWyA

And a fun one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRuCfzswY6k

And another just for kicks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-szJ3zBG3SA

So i want to do this again this year!! What do you guys think?

I have my restaurants planned from several months ago, but I may change a few. I was thinking of upgrading to Deluxe this year.......... advice? Maybe a split stay deluxe? Deluxe for the first 3 days, DDP the other 4?

This year we are taking Amtrak down. We've done this a couple of times and it works out great. We drive to Cary (bout an hour) have dinner and hop on the train. We watch a movie, fall asleep, and wake up in Florida. We normally get to Orlando around 10. I have a car service pick us up and drive us to the resort, check in, and get started! The return trip is overnight as well, so it allows us to get rest on the way down and spend our last day as a full day in Disney before we head back.

I should be able to actually make my reservations next weekend, and hopefully by then I'll know if we will get to stay OKW or not. Thinking about the last minute aspect of this trip makes me nervous!!! Normally I'm completely done 6 months out!! Pray for my sanity this week!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Still no word from Mr. Big..... patiently waiting!
I priced out 2 OKW studios with DVC points and YES tickets, and came up with a decent savings, so if worse comes to worse, I'll go that route. I would rather book through Disney if I can upgrade later, but I'm not sure yet. I got online yesterday morning and the booking agent for the site was down. When I went to the "Live Chat", the CM said that they cannot look up booking or reservation info. I'll try again here in a few.

At least I know there are options!