nativetxn
<font color=teal>Moderator<br><font color=red>Hono
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2000
PROLOGUE
Cast:
Katholyn: Newly qualified for AARP. Fell in love with Disneyland when it was brand new-decided I loved WDW even more on a short trip in 1982, felt cheated with a 3 day trip in 1991. Will use any excuse to go back again.
Wilgus: My husband who is severely Disney impaired; thought WDW was nice but not interested in ever going back and who I love anyway.
Kim: My sister's 24 year old daughter who is going through a divorce-never been to WDW and can't wait
Dustin: Kim's 6 year old son and my surrogate grandson- never been to WDW
My husband told me in October, 1999 that he had a conference in Orlando in March, 2000. My first response was that I wanted to go! My second response was that I wanted to take my grand nephew, Dustin, a six year old sweetheart and my surrogate grandchild. My third response was, <b>"What do you mean we'll have 3 whole days! That's not enough time!"</b> He thought it <i>was</i> enough time and I thought I would have to settle for it.
In November he brought home the materials and the conference was scheduled at a Marriott in downtown Orlando. I started begging to stay somewhere closer to WDW and he finally agreed. I didn't know that there were so many resorts on site (hadn't found the DIS yet) and I had enjoyed the Buena Vista Palace a lot when we were there in 1991 so tried for that. <b>$315 a NIGHT?!?!?!?</b> I don't think so. Finally got a room at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista for $129 a night (better than $315). I think, ok that's not so bad at least there's bus service to WDW. But I was still unhappy that we would only have 3 days and 4 parks to see during the spring break season.
I didn't really know what I was doing planning this trip but I knew that if we were going to be there during the peak season we were going to face long lines and massive crowds and it was going to be very difficult to see much in only 3 days so I started hinting to my husband that we should stay longer (OK~ so I begged, nagged, pleaded, cajoled and used whatever womanly wiles I still possess). Finally at the end of January he relented and told me we could leave Michigan on March 24th and come back on April 3rd. Hooray!!!!I <b>LOVE</b> this guy! Now, I had to change hotel reservations and when I called I was told they were completely booked for those earlier days. OH NO! I don't want to have to spend valuable park hopping time switching from one hotel to the other. I decided that since we wanted to visit USF and IofA too, we'd stay somewhere close to Universal until we could move to the Best Western on March 29th. We'd just have to use our rental car to commute to WDW until we moved.
While surfing the net I came across a reservations company that claimed to have rooms available for sold out dates. Hmmm. I investigated and according to their site there was a really inexpensive hotel, Delta Resort, right across the street from Universal and we could get a room at Best Western for March 27th through the night of April 2nd for $30 less a night than my original reservation (Huh? I thought they were booked up?) So we took the reservations. The catch is you have to pay for your room before you get there. If this company was not reputable we'd be out of luck but we decided to go ahead and take the reservation. The other catch to this company is that if you have to change your reservation there is a $50 fee. <b>OK. WE'RE GOING TO WDW!!!</b>
The first week of February, I stumbled across the DIS site. I was hooked immediately. Through postings I learned bad things about the Delta Resort. Uh oh. Well, we decided, it's only 3 nights-we can suffer. Next time I will know all the secrets but this trip I had made reservations before I found the DIS site and I was flying blind. I learned so many things from this site. I asked lots of questions and got almost all of them answered. Our trip was enriched so much. We did things I wouldn't have known about until I got there and then it would have been too late. Knowing about the Illuminations cruise, La Nouba and all the other little secrets made our trip very special.
I made reservations for Kim and Dustin for e-ticket on Continental out of Houston and we had e-tickets for Detroit to Orlando via Miami. I was nervous about Kim and Dustin getting to Orlando with no trouble about their flight. I paid for the tickets. My niece doesn't have my charge card. I'll be on a plane when she is checking in for her ticket so I can't be reached. I'm nervous that they won't let her on the plane. How awful if she doesn't get to go. I had to trust that nothing would happen. Our plane was supposed to arrive in Orlando about 20 minutes before hers and we would have to find each other, of course, I worried about this too.
As I learned about the special things to do at WDW, I learned the importance of starting to plan very early. When I called about Illuminations, I was told there would be no available cruises until April 6th, too late for us. I posted a plea asking for someone willing to share their cruise with us. There were no responses. Dan Murphy posted a suggestion to keep calling, that I followed, and I was rewarded with a reservation for a pontoon boat on March 28th. <b>MORAL: Don't give up~ keep calling, there may be cancellations.</b>
I managed to get priority seating numbers for restaurants and character meals and started to concentrate on scheduling our days and nights. Since we were going to be off site there would be no early entry but according to CRO we would be able to do E-nights. Not so bad. If we checked out of Delta Resort very early, we could be checked in very early at the Best Western on Monday and still have almost 7 full days in the World.
I wanted to make this trip truly special for my nephew. He is going through a rough patch with his parent's divorce and I wanted to give him an extra special happy time on this trip. Thanks to some very helpful people on the DIS boards I learned about the Pirate's Cruise and got him a spot on one for our first WDW day. Well, now, this is beginning to look like a plan!
Next report: Getting to Orlando or Just How Bad IS the Delta Resort?
Cast:
Katholyn: Newly qualified for AARP. Fell in love with Disneyland when it was brand new-decided I loved WDW even more on a short trip in 1982, felt cheated with a 3 day trip in 1991. Will use any excuse to go back again.
Wilgus: My husband who is severely Disney impaired; thought WDW was nice but not interested in ever going back and who I love anyway.
Kim: My sister's 24 year old daughter who is going through a divorce-never been to WDW and can't wait
Dustin: Kim's 6 year old son and my surrogate grandson- never been to WDW
My husband told me in October, 1999 that he had a conference in Orlando in March, 2000. My first response was that I wanted to go! My second response was that I wanted to take my grand nephew, Dustin, a six year old sweetheart and my surrogate grandchild. My third response was, <b>"What do you mean we'll have 3 whole days! That's not enough time!"</b> He thought it <i>was</i> enough time and I thought I would have to settle for it.
In November he brought home the materials and the conference was scheduled at a Marriott in downtown Orlando. I started begging to stay somewhere closer to WDW and he finally agreed. I didn't know that there were so many resorts on site (hadn't found the DIS yet) and I had enjoyed the Buena Vista Palace a lot when we were there in 1991 so tried for that. <b>$315 a NIGHT?!?!?!?</b> I don't think so. Finally got a room at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista for $129 a night (better than $315). I think, ok that's not so bad at least there's bus service to WDW. But I was still unhappy that we would only have 3 days and 4 parks to see during the spring break season.
I didn't really know what I was doing planning this trip but I knew that if we were going to be there during the peak season we were going to face long lines and massive crowds and it was going to be very difficult to see much in only 3 days so I started hinting to my husband that we should stay longer (OK~ so I begged, nagged, pleaded, cajoled and used whatever womanly wiles I still possess). Finally at the end of January he relented and told me we could leave Michigan on March 24th and come back on April 3rd. Hooray!!!!I <b>LOVE</b> this guy! Now, I had to change hotel reservations and when I called I was told they were completely booked for those earlier days. OH NO! I don't want to have to spend valuable park hopping time switching from one hotel to the other. I decided that since we wanted to visit USF and IofA too, we'd stay somewhere close to Universal until we could move to the Best Western on March 29th. We'd just have to use our rental car to commute to WDW until we moved.
While surfing the net I came across a reservations company that claimed to have rooms available for sold out dates. Hmmm. I investigated and according to their site there was a really inexpensive hotel, Delta Resort, right across the street from Universal and we could get a room at Best Western for March 27th through the night of April 2nd for $30 less a night than my original reservation (Huh? I thought they were booked up?) So we took the reservations. The catch is you have to pay for your room before you get there. If this company was not reputable we'd be out of luck but we decided to go ahead and take the reservation. The other catch to this company is that if you have to change your reservation there is a $50 fee. <b>OK. WE'RE GOING TO WDW!!!</b>
The first week of February, I stumbled across the DIS site. I was hooked immediately. Through postings I learned bad things about the Delta Resort. Uh oh. Well, we decided, it's only 3 nights-we can suffer. Next time I will know all the secrets but this trip I had made reservations before I found the DIS site and I was flying blind. I learned so many things from this site. I asked lots of questions and got almost all of them answered. Our trip was enriched so much. We did things I wouldn't have known about until I got there and then it would have been too late. Knowing about the Illuminations cruise, La Nouba and all the other little secrets made our trip very special.
I made reservations for Kim and Dustin for e-ticket on Continental out of Houston and we had e-tickets for Detroit to Orlando via Miami. I was nervous about Kim and Dustin getting to Orlando with no trouble about their flight. I paid for the tickets. My niece doesn't have my charge card. I'll be on a plane when she is checking in for her ticket so I can't be reached. I'm nervous that they won't let her on the plane. How awful if she doesn't get to go. I had to trust that nothing would happen. Our plane was supposed to arrive in Orlando about 20 minutes before hers and we would have to find each other, of course, I worried about this too.
As I learned about the special things to do at WDW, I learned the importance of starting to plan very early. When I called about Illuminations, I was told there would be no available cruises until April 6th, too late for us. I posted a plea asking for someone willing to share their cruise with us. There were no responses. Dan Murphy posted a suggestion to keep calling, that I followed, and I was rewarded with a reservation for a pontoon boat on March 28th. <b>MORAL: Don't give up~ keep calling, there may be cancellations.</b>
I managed to get priority seating numbers for restaurants and character meals and started to concentrate on scheduling our days and nights. Since we were going to be off site there would be no early entry but according to CRO we would be able to do E-nights. Not so bad. If we checked out of Delta Resort very early, we could be checked in very early at the Best Western on Monday and still have almost 7 full days in the World.
I wanted to make this trip truly special for my nephew. He is going through a rough patch with his parent's divorce and I wanted to give him an extra special happy time on this trip. Thanks to some very helpful people on the DIS boards I learned about the Pirate's Cruise and got him a spot on one for our first WDW day. Well, now, this is beginning to look like a plan!
Next report: Getting to Orlando or Just How Bad IS the Delta Resort?
