Now a Trip Report!!! Will We Stay or Will We Go? A Thanksgiving Pre-Trip/Trip Report

[mousescrapper]

Thanks Julie! I think I may be finished with fiddling around with our ADRs now! And the potential Dismeet with you is top of the list!

I think the Santas around the world starts on the 27th. Is that right? That's something I definitely want to do before we leave that day...go around to the different countries and see the storytellers/Santas and get pictures.

yes that is our plan too to see all or almost all of the Holiday storytellers and maybe the Candlelight Processional too at Epcot on that last Sat (27th)

 

[Charleston Princess]

I think it was a great idea to change from the castle dinner to the Norway one. Hannah will still get to see the princesses, and it is so much nicer when you know you aren't using 2 TS credits for each person.

 

[jillyb]

I think it was a great idea to change from the castle dinner to the Norway one. Hannah will still get to see the princesses, and it is so much nicer when you know you aren't using 2 TS credits for each person.

Yeah...I wasn't looking forward to having to pay OOP for so many TS meals, especially at the holiday rate! Even though she wanted to eat in the castle I think she'll like this meal better because she'll actually get to see more Princesses at this meal.

 

[jillyb]

Hmmmmm....there's a strange wind blowing that may be bringing some changes.

 

[Poolrat]

Thanks Julie! I think I may be finished with fiddling around with our ADRs now! And the potential Dismeet with you is top of the list!

I think the Santas around the world starts on the 27th. Is that right? That's something I definitely want to do before we leave that day...go around to the different countries and see the storytellers/Santas and get pictures.

I did that last year. We got there on the on the last day the storytellers were out. We made to every one. They are really great and so much fun.

 

[Poolrat]

Can't wait to see what the wind blows in.

 

[jillyb]

Can't wait to see what the wind blows in.

That smiley is hilarious!!!

I can't wait to see what it blows in either!!!

 

[pooh'smate]

Looking forward to seeing what the changes are.

 

[jillyb]

I saw a thread where someone had gotten a Snow White pin code for free dining that was 10/03/10-11/23/10 and some other dates for later in the year. Well, that got me to daydreaming about our trip and I had a moment. The pin code I got was for 20% value, 30% off moderate and 40% off deluxe. Wonder what 40% off at AKL or WL would be? So, I call WDW Travel and get a quote for both. WL is out of the question but my dream resort AKL is doable...money would be a bit tight but we could probably do it. I then asked the CM if we might have any other pin associated with our name. Lo and behold she comes back and tells me that there is, in fact, a pin attached to our household. Only problem is the system won't let her apply free dining because our last day of travel has to be 11/23. . What’s a girl to do??? Have the CM put a complimentary hold on it of course!

Then I think…hmmm…if our last day of travel has to be 11/23 maybe we can do a split reservation or a split stay! Wonder how the numbers would crunch if we did that? We could do a split reservation at AKL for 11/20-11/23 with free dining and then 11/24-11/27 paying for the DDP. Or we could stay at AKL for the free dining and stay at POR for the rest of our trip. What to do? What to do? Call WDW of course! The next CM I talked didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. Matter of fact, he seemed clueless in general. I think when I told him I wanted to do some “finagling” with my reservation he thought I was trying to do something unethical! He came back and told me that I had the pin but I couldn’t use it until July 13. Huh??!! OK…I’ll call back on the 13th. We all know that the CMS are notorious for giving out wrong and/or bad information so naturally I had to call back a few days later! LOL This time I explain myself a little better and don’t mention that I want to do some finagling! The CM was very nice but she, too, said that I would have to wait until July 13 to use the pin. OK…I know when to call it quits. In the meantime, the deadline for paying the deposit was quickly approaching and I had to decide whether to stick with what we’ve got or go for the gold. I decided to hedge my bets and picked both! LOL I now have a reservation at POR with the TA and a reservation at AKL (standard view room) in our name.

While waiting for the 13th to roll around I decided to check on the e-mail account I set up for Clay and there was another e-mail pin code! This pin would give us 35% off for a moderate so I quickly sent an e-mail to the TA to see if we could get the 35% off instead of the 30% we currently have. She got back to me the next morning and told me that there was no availability so we couldn’t use the 35% off. I guess I could have asked her to check availability somewhere else but I just thought about it! LOL Also, the public offer free dining was extended and we can’t get in on that action either. Man! I just can’t get a break! LOL

When I got to work yesterday morning I called to apply the pin for free dining and to do some number crunching to see which would be the better deal. The CM puts me on hold for a bit then comes back and tells me there is no pin.  What???!!! Did it just disappear??!!! I have seen others post that they were initially told they didn’t have the free dining pin but then called back later and it was there. At this point I’m just tired of worrying about it and messing with it so I’m going to leave things the way they are.

Now the only thing I have to decide is: will I keep the POR ressie with the 30% off or go with my dream resort AKL with the 40% off? I’ve already paid a pretty good bit on the POR ressie and it will be paid off soon. Does anybody know how it works when you cancel a ressie? If I cancel POR I know I’ll get my money back and I can then take that money and apply it to AKL. I’m just wondering how long it takes to get the refund.

(*NOTE: I would like to thank Poolrat for her support and assistance during the initial free dining frenzy!*)

I’ve got some pictures from the 4th of July and some miscellaneous pictures that I’ll try to post later tonight.

 

[jillyb]

The quote at the end of this article made me laugh...only a 5 year old boy!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/07/15/1563364/zoo-looking-at-surprising-crowds.html

 

[jillyb]

We didn't do much over the holiday. Alison was with her Mom and Stepdad so it was just the 3 of us. On Saturday, July 3rd, Hannah and I went to the local 4th of July celebration. Here's some pictures from that day:

Butterflies on my buttefly bush

Hannah gave me this lily for Mother's Day last year. It really took off this year!

Sitting at the stoplight I looked over and saw this:

It looked like the dog was driving so I had to take a picture!

This ride is a combination of the tea cups (it has a wheel in the middle that makes the tea cup spin) and swings. I got a bit woozy on this ride and have come to the conclusion I can't take spinning rides anymore.

Hannah got me on the ferris wheel. I HATE the ferris wheel!

These were really cool! You rubbed the wooden stick from back to front and it sounded just like a frog!

We enjoyed ourselves and, as you can see, there was hardly anybody there. It was hot but not uncomfortably hot. We stayed about an hour and a half then headed home to get cleaned up. Clay's Grandmother's birthday was on July 2nd and we had to go over to his parents house that night for her birthday party. We hung out there for a few hours then it was back to the house and to bed.

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

Clay's parents, sister and her two girls came over late in the day on the 4th. We had hot dogs, hamburgers and ice cream. Clay had been in Georgia earlier that week and stopped on his way home to buy some fireworks and sparklers. As it got dark, we all went outside and had our own fireworks show.

Yes...that is a blow torch in his hand.

Clay's sister and his Mom

It was then time to go see the real fireworks! We quickly cleaned up the mess and headed to our perfect viewing spot. We discovered this last year and I refuse to tell any of my friends about it because it's not very crowded and the people that are there aren't complaining. Our perfect viewing spot is in a graveryard directly across the street from the park where they set of the fireworks! We brought a blanket and some chairs and I had glow necklaces and bracelets for the girls. This year I was a bit uncomfortable in our spot.

We sit in the far back part of the graveyard where there are no graves...until this year. A few months ago a young hometown boy was killed in the war. He was married but I don't think they had any children. When his body was brought home they had a procession down through town with flags on the telephone poles, businesses closed down and people lined down the street to pay their respects and honor this young man. His family were marshalls in the parade on the 4th. His grave is in the very back of the graveyard....close to where we were sitting...and his wife and parents were there. We were a respectable distance from them but I just felt odd sitting there while they were grieving.

Here's some pictures and video of the fireworks:

It was a pretty good fireworks show and it took us no time to get home and get to bed.

 

[Poolrat]

Poop on no changes. Keep calling about the 35% off the moderate. sometimes availbility opens up.


Meet for lunch next week sometime?

 

[jillyb]

Poop on no changes. Keep calling about the 35% off the moderate. sometimes availbility opens up.


Meet for lunch next week sometime?

I know. But I do have 2 ressies right now!
Maybe I'll call myself and see about availability at any moderate with the 35% off.

The more I think about it, right now I'm leaning towards letting the AKL ressie go and applying that $200 deposit towards our current ressie. I got an e-mail from the TA today telling me she'd made my weekly payment and that she will make the 7/23 payment next week but from 7/28 to 8/11 she will be on vacation and won't be making the 7/30 and 8/6 payments and asking if I'd like for her to double up on the 8/13 payment. I told her "no" but if I cancel the AKL ressie I might could do that. The only thing is she's using my Visa card to make the payments and I put the deposit on Clay's Mastercard (shhh...he doesn't know! ) I don't know if she'd be able to use his card to make the double payment since all the others have been with mine.

Definitely can meet for lunch next week. The only day I can't is on Monday but the rest of the week is free.

 

[mousescrapper]

These were really cool! You rubbed the wooden stick from back to front and it sounded just like a frog!

see the little red/orange one in the front? My DS has that exact frog


looks like you had a great fireworks view ans 4th...understand how the spot might have felt a bit weird too.

sorry the changes didn't work...if you change resorts maybe they can autimatically apply your payments to the new place JAT

 

[jillyb]

see the little red/orange one in the front? My DS has that exact frog


looks like you had a great fireworks view ans 4th...understand how the spot might have felt a bit weird too.

sorry the changes didn't work...if you change resorts maybe they can autimatically apply your payments to the new place JAT

Cool! I thought about getting one for Hannah but decided against it. I liked the pink, blue and yellow frog.

I wish the changes had worked out but whaddya gonna do? I'm still toying with the idea of calling and seeing what the availablity is for any moderate with the 35% off pin.

 

[MeMom]

The butterfly pictures and the flower pictures are beautiful!

It is sad that a family has to visit their son/husband in a cemetery. My heart goes out to them. I'm sure they didn't fault you for celebrating our country, though. I know it must have felt a bit awkward, still.

 

[jillyb]

The butterfly pictures and the flower pictures are beautiful!

It is sad that a family has to visit their son/husband in a cemetery. My heart goes out to them. I'm sure they didn't fault you for celebrating our country, though. I know it must have felt a bit awkward, still.

Thanks MeMom! Walking out the front door is an adventure since I never know what beautiful buttefly I'll see next!

 

[jillyb]

OK...channeling my inner Dora the Explorer there but...I did it!!!!

I called WDW Travel, told them I had this pin for 35% off a Moderate, that I had a current reservation at AKL that I wanted to cancel and that I wanted to check for availability at POR for 11/19 to 11/27 with the 35% off. My new best friend Snyder came back and said there was availability so I changed the AKL ressie to a POR ressie with 35% off! Granted, 40% off is better than 35% off but it still makes me happy!

So instead of staying offsite the night of the 19th we'll get to sleep in and wake up at WDW on our first full day!!!! We can still sleep in and take some time before we head to Epcot on our first full day. I just got to thinking that it's crazy to have a room offsite for one night. I think that Clay was worried that our reservation would be canceled if we weren't there at the normal check-in time. I really don't think they're going to cancel our reservation if we're not there at the 4:00 check-in. I suppose I can always call them around check-in time and let them know that we're on our way and give them approximate arrival time. That way we can be sure they don't cancel.

Now here's what bothers me. My TA said we couldn't use the 35%; and I do understand availability issues. BUT...why didn't she ask me about whether we could change our arrival date to 11/19 instead of 11/20? Because if I can get it going through WDW Travel weeks after getting the pin, she could have done it very easily. She already has our room requests and she could have made a notation that we would be arriving late. Maybe somebody canceled and that opened up some rooms. I don't know. At any rate, I'm closer and closer to just firing the TA and working directly with WDW Travel myself.

So, should I just contact her and tell her to cancel the reservation we have with her and to apply the payments to the ressie I made? I've never done this before so not sure how it works.

 

[Poolrat]

YAY for a discount.

I have used a AAA a couple of times but she could/would never really look for a discount or be able to apply it. So I use WDW travel now.

I think the agents have a certain number they call and maybe the availability is not there for them. But if you call yourself that TA restriction does not apply.


As for the late check in- Do online check in and they will ask you arrival time. Just put when you think you are getting there. I think they have been using that so if you are early your room is ready. The past few times my room has been ready if I arrive early.

Thursday for lunch?