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<font color=green>Check out this Mug!<br><font col
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2000
- Messages
- 153
I had a dilemma - my employer was forcing me to take a vacation! You see, I had four carry-over vacation days I had to use by June, or I would loose them. The nerve of them, making me take time off when there is so much work to do! How dare they! But before I was able to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, my wife came to the rescue.
My wife called me one afternoon after having one of her soaps interrupted with an ad for Southwest Airlines, promoting their Friends Fly Free promotion on packages to WDW. The deal was if you booked a minimum of three nights, you got not only a free ticket for your friend, but discounts on your room and rental car. We priced out a package for three weeknights at the All Stars, and including a mid-sized rental car, the total price came to $600! Not bad, but did we want to go back to WDW?
You see, we spent 10 days in WDW on our honeymoon in November 2001. This wasnt just any trip to WDW this was the be all, end all, blow-out WDW trip. You name it, we did it, as long as it was legal. Backstage tours (four total), Cirque Du Soleil, Victoria & Alberts Chefs table, an Illuminations cruise, a Gift of a Lifetime presentation, and dinner at the Luau were among some of the things we did. We even found time to go to all of the WDW parks! So why go back?
Short end of a long story 9/11. Because of 9/11, park hours were cut drastically and show schedules, and we wound up needing two days per WDW park. We really wanted to go to the two Universal parks on our honeymoon, but couldnt find time. So we skipped them, and vowed we would return one day for a visit.
That day would be now.
But before we booked our package, we decided to upgrade to a moderate after hearing how All Stars is home to cheerleaders, school trips, foreign soccer fans, kids with too much energy, and giant dolls that give you nightmares. So we switched to Port Orleans Riverside for an extra $50, and decided that was a small price to pay for some peace and quiet.
But in my exuberance, I accidentally checked the box that upgraded us to a water view room! Total package price was now up to $700 still not a bad price considering that a POR room rack-rate for three nights w/ water view is $477 plus tax!
To further save some money, we had a friend of ours buy us some Universal tickets at the government rate, decided to take our own breakfast (Pop Tarts!) and lunch (those cheese and cracker sandwiches), and make full use of the refillable mug program. We also decided that we would do a load of laundry in the middle of our trip this allowed us to take half as many clothes, which meant being able to use a carry-on bag, which further meant no checked luggage. But we would run the risk of incurring the wrath of the security gods at the airport. Once again, this was a small price to pay for the convenience.
The final part we agreed upon was not making any plans. None. We would take each day as it came, make no reservations, and just play it by ear. We did the whole plan-every-day-hour-by-hour, call-exactly-six-months-in-advance-for-reservations, conduct-military-precision-commando-style-raids thing on our honeymoon trip, so we had no masochistic desire to do a repeat performance. Our only goal was to visit the two Universal parks.
The day after we made our reservation, my wife finished packing her bag, nearly two months before our trip. My bag wouldnt be packed until the day we leave. Im a guy, its what we do.
So our trip was set leave Monday morning April 28 and return Thursday afternoon May 1. Four days and three nights in WDW how would it go and what would happen? Stay tuned!
Next Up Day 1 Of Our Return To WDW How To Make A U-Turn At The Airport
My wife called me one afternoon after having one of her soaps interrupted with an ad for Southwest Airlines, promoting their Friends Fly Free promotion on packages to WDW. The deal was if you booked a minimum of three nights, you got not only a free ticket for your friend, but discounts on your room and rental car. We priced out a package for three weeknights at the All Stars, and including a mid-sized rental car, the total price came to $600! Not bad, but did we want to go back to WDW?
You see, we spent 10 days in WDW on our honeymoon in November 2001. This wasnt just any trip to WDW this was the be all, end all, blow-out WDW trip. You name it, we did it, as long as it was legal. Backstage tours (four total), Cirque Du Soleil, Victoria & Alberts Chefs table, an Illuminations cruise, a Gift of a Lifetime presentation, and dinner at the Luau were among some of the things we did. We even found time to go to all of the WDW parks! So why go back?
Short end of a long story 9/11. Because of 9/11, park hours were cut drastically and show schedules, and we wound up needing two days per WDW park. We really wanted to go to the two Universal parks on our honeymoon, but couldnt find time. So we skipped them, and vowed we would return one day for a visit.
That day would be now.
But before we booked our package, we decided to upgrade to a moderate after hearing how All Stars is home to cheerleaders, school trips, foreign soccer fans, kids with too much energy, and giant dolls that give you nightmares. So we switched to Port Orleans Riverside for an extra $50, and decided that was a small price to pay for some peace and quiet.
But in my exuberance, I accidentally checked the box that upgraded us to a water view room! Total package price was now up to $700 still not a bad price considering that a POR room rack-rate for three nights w/ water view is $477 plus tax!
To further save some money, we had a friend of ours buy us some Universal tickets at the government rate, decided to take our own breakfast (Pop Tarts!) and lunch (those cheese and cracker sandwiches), and make full use of the refillable mug program. We also decided that we would do a load of laundry in the middle of our trip this allowed us to take half as many clothes, which meant being able to use a carry-on bag, which further meant no checked luggage. But we would run the risk of incurring the wrath of the security gods at the airport. Once again, this was a small price to pay for the convenience.
The final part we agreed upon was not making any plans. None. We would take each day as it came, make no reservations, and just play it by ear. We did the whole plan-every-day-hour-by-hour, call-exactly-six-months-in-advance-for-reservations, conduct-military-precision-commando-style-raids thing on our honeymoon trip, so we had no masochistic desire to do a repeat performance. Our only goal was to visit the two Universal parks.
The day after we made our reservation, my wife finished packing her bag, nearly two months before our trip. My bag wouldnt be packed until the day we leave. Im a guy, its what we do.
So our trip was set leave Monday morning April 28 and return Thursday afternoon May 1. Four days and three nights in WDW how would it go and what would happen? Stay tuned!
Next Up Day 1 Of Our Return To WDW How To Make A U-Turn At The Airport
