With introductions made, its now time for everyones favorite party game:
How Many Resort Changes Will V Make Before May 1st???
The answer is
2! Not bad, eh?
Heres how it all played out
.
As soon as our dates were set, Gramma and I had a little chat. Which translates into I babbled on to Gramma while she tuned me out, but made sure to insert an occasional Oh? and Yeah
. I explained how much I really, really want to stay at the Poly, but May is not Value season and I just cant swing the rack rate. And my chances of scoring an Annual Passholder discount were slim and none.
I went on to say that Ive always been able to get a good AP rate at the Wilderness Lodge, and hey weve never had a chance to use their fancy-schmancy pool. Lo and behold, Gramma responded with We liked the WL, didnt we? Why dont we stay there again?
Look how easy that was! We had our resort chosen in about 10 minutes flat.
Next, I had to decide what to do about reserving it. Pre-DIS, I waited for the AP discount codes to show up on Mousesavers, called WDW and took whatever hotel had a discount and sounded desirable. But that methodology was completely messed up by my DISing. I couldnt possibly
wait another few months to make a reservation
How would I plan our transportation to the parks? How would I choose meal locations? How would I research every nook and cranny of the resort before arrival? HOW would I start a pre-trip-report??
And. I was worried that Id miss out on the AP discount, since I wasnt on the computer until 10am the day codes came out for my last trip. By that time, all my resort picks were gone. I was hit with a brilliant idea
. make my ressie through
Dreams Unlimited!
Thats exactly what I did, and the fantabulous Rhonda assured me that shed be on the horn first thing in the morning when codes came out, trying to get my room rate adjusted. It was perfect! I had my ressie and a safe bet that Id get a discount without babysitting the computer for days on end.
Know what? Perfect never happens, even in the Land of Mouse. It was a great plan. It was beautiful plan. It was a plan ripe for changing.
I happened to be home with the flu when the AP discount codes for early May came out. And I fidgeted around my house, sending all the pixie dust I could muster to Rhonda in the hopes that she was scoring me a terrific deal on my beloved WL reservation. I emailed her to check in and see if she got it
..
Nope. Nein. Nada.
Not for lack of trying, I tell you Rhonda was on the phone at 6:58am working her magic! But. The Mouse had other plans for me, I guess. And they did
not include a discount at the WL.
I pondered the situation for a day.
(Possibly two remember? I had the flu. I take no responsibility for anything I may have said or done during that week.) There was just no way I could rationalize paying rack rate for the WL. I really, really love the place, but Disneys idea of deluxe and my idea of deluxe, relative to price, bear little or no resemblance. For the record, I wouldnt consider myself a hotel snob; Ive enjoyed stays at Red Roof, La Quinta and Motel 6. But. Ive also stayed at the Park Plaza and Four Seasons in Toronto, and THOSE are some deluxe hotels, baby! Worth every cent in amenities and luxurious room décor.
(Of course, it wasn't MY cents paying for them, but still...) Disney deluxe? Not so worth every cent, IMHO.
What Im trying to say is, there was no way in heck I was about to pay rack rate at the WL. So I got online to see where I
could stay with an AP discount. And as I sat there, I realized this may have been a blessing in disguise. Thanks to being ill, I really needed to cut my trip down a day, and saving some money at a moderate would really help the bank account. Discounts were available at every Mod, but it was a pretty easy choice for me: POR in winter was lovely I had no desire to see what the imitation bayou felt like in the heat of May; wed just done POFQ and I wasnt ready for a return yet; CBR wasnt getting the best reviews and Id heard bad things about their noisy AC units
I was all over Coronado Springs! I stayed there for one night last Food & Wine Festival and it was terrific quiet, relaxed, beautiful, and with central AC.
So I booked online and sent an email to Rhonda apologizing profusely for having to cancel my WL ressie and asking how this would affect the ADRs shed already made for me.
(Never fear Ill be covering the ADR circus in gory detail later in the TR
) Well, no problem canceling WL, but Id lose all my carefully-planned ADRs. But I
could transfer the CSR reservation I made to Dreams and Rhonda could still be my agent, AND Id get to keep all my ADRs! Honestly, I was more worried about Rhonda losing out on a commission than losing my ADRs, so Im so glad we were able to work this out. Im not so sure how Rhonda feels, though. Lets just say my ADR changes far outnumber my resort changes. And theyre still in motion.
Anyway, if youre keeping count thats one resort change made. And heres something really interesting
I wasnt feeling badly about my downgrade at all. In fact, I felt rather relieved. Which was strange. For me. I wasnt sure what to make of it. A few days later, I did.
To be continued...
(Yeah, my co-workers already think I'm nutty, so they weren't very shocked. 
(thank goodness only up to page 3).Anyway, as usual love it and
Folks, you have no idea what LL put up with from me while I sorted out my thoughts on whether or not to buy in. She deserves a medal! Or at least a Lapu Lapu or 21. 
