blueroses
always planning the next trip
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2005
- Messages
- 448
Title: I am woman, hear me rationalize!
Last minute trip to the World at the beginning of February
Cast: me! Solo trip. My husband (1) doesn't have the time to take off work, (2) thinks it's weird to visit twice in 3 months, and (3) truly is just not that into it and goes because I like to.
Staying at POP Century
Reason for trip: because it had to be done
Pre-trip report: This is the trip that had to be taken. There were so many reasons to do it that it would have been criminal NOT to <g>
Reason #1 - My AP expires in March - of course I want to get another trip in on it - no admission costs!
Reason #2 - I'm already going in May for the Minnie Marathon. Ah, this sounds like a reason *not* to go doesn't it? Don't be an amateur. In May I'll be distracted with the race. If I go in February, I'll get it out of my system beforehand.
Reason #3 - I'm not working right now. Again sounds like a reason not to go - no money! However, for some very boring reasons that will not be interesting to anyone, if I didn't find a job this month, it makes more sense for me to wait to work in about a month. So I decided to embrace unemployment and not think about getting a job until mid-February (notice this rationalizes both not working as well as the trip).
Reason #4 - I got the price down to $613 including airfare for a 6 night trip. All that's left is food, souvenirs, and any tours I decide to take.
So I start poking around, playing with airfares using my miles and looking at AP rates. Plus I have a $200 credit with Expedia that I need to use, but it has to be flight + hotel. Actually, since the last trip we booked with Expedia was with my husband's account HE is the one who had the credit. So I price out airfare w/ miles, airfare w/o miles on Expedia, AP rates, and figure out about how much it's going to cost. I figured out that I could book the same package with Expedia using the $200 credit and have it turn out roughly the same price as booking separately and not have to burn 15K air miles booking it.
I'd told my husband before that I wanted to go to WDW when he went to Toronto for business in March so he knew I'd been thinking about it. When he got home from work yesterday I told him he needed to book me on Expedia so I could use his credit. Why do I get to use it and not him? It's for a limited time, and he's busy between now and then. You know, working so I can do things like go to WDW. So we book the flight, and then I talk him through the hotel. So my husband, who claims to just be along for the ride on these trips, is all, "you're staying at POP?" So he has been paying attention. But, the fact is, I can stay at POP for 7 nights for less than it would cost to stay for 2 nights at Yacht, so POP it is. And then I explain that since POP doesn't have a table service restaurant I can use my DDE card at the food court, and then his eyes start to glaze over. This is the reaction I expect. My husband shouldn't even know what POP is. We've never stayed there and he lets me do all the planning. Then again, he surprised me on the last trip when he knew that the best coffee closest to the Magic Kingdom is at the Poly. He even called it "The Poly" and not The Polynesian.
So that's it. I get to take a trip by myself. I can get up at the crack of dawn to catch the very first bus to the park of my choice. I can hop to three parks in one day if I want. I don't have to play vacation police getting us to our tours or ADRs on time. It's going to be great. He doesn't have to hear "we can do something spontaneous at the appointed open time in our schedule." Yeah, that's a real quote from a real vacation.
I'm a little wary of staying at POP. Being able to walk/monorail/boat to the nearest park is a big deal to me. The buses work out OK, but I don't drive very much in general so I already spend quite a bit of time in real life on public transport. During my vacation I like to get away from that. On the other hand, POP looks very cute, and the room size won't be an issue since I'll be alone. I'm a little worried about finding myself assigned near a smoking room. The smell of smoke makes me really really ill. But I suppose that's the chance you take at any Disney resort and it hasn't been a problem on any trip yet.
I hope to take the AK Wild by Design tour on this trip. I'm a big fan of the tours. Last time I did the Segway tour with my husband and Backstage Magic alone.
BTW, at this moment: temperature in Seattle - 31°, temperature at WDW - 72°. That's what I'm talking about.
Last minute trip to the World at the beginning of February
Cast: me! Solo trip. My husband (1) doesn't have the time to take off work, (2) thinks it's weird to visit twice in 3 months, and (3) truly is just not that into it and goes because I like to.
Staying at POP Century
Reason for trip: because it had to be done
Pre-trip report: This is the trip that had to be taken. There were so many reasons to do it that it would have been criminal NOT to <g>
Reason #1 - My AP expires in March - of course I want to get another trip in on it - no admission costs!
Reason #2 - I'm already going in May for the Minnie Marathon. Ah, this sounds like a reason *not* to go doesn't it? Don't be an amateur. In May I'll be distracted with the race. If I go in February, I'll get it out of my system beforehand.
Reason #3 - I'm not working right now. Again sounds like a reason not to go - no money! However, for some very boring reasons that will not be interesting to anyone, if I didn't find a job this month, it makes more sense for me to wait to work in about a month. So I decided to embrace unemployment and not think about getting a job until mid-February (notice this rationalizes both not working as well as the trip).
Reason #4 - I got the price down to $613 including airfare for a 6 night trip. All that's left is food, souvenirs, and any tours I decide to take.
So I start poking around, playing with airfares using my miles and looking at AP rates. Plus I have a $200 credit with Expedia that I need to use, but it has to be flight + hotel. Actually, since the last trip we booked with Expedia was with my husband's account HE is the one who had the credit. So I price out airfare w/ miles, airfare w/o miles on Expedia, AP rates, and figure out about how much it's going to cost. I figured out that I could book the same package with Expedia using the $200 credit and have it turn out roughly the same price as booking separately and not have to burn 15K air miles booking it.
I'd told my husband before that I wanted to go to WDW when he went to Toronto for business in March so he knew I'd been thinking about it. When he got home from work yesterday I told him he needed to book me on Expedia so I could use his credit. Why do I get to use it and not him? It's for a limited time, and he's busy between now and then. You know, working so I can do things like go to WDW. So we book the flight, and then I talk him through the hotel. So my husband, who claims to just be along for the ride on these trips, is all, "you're staying at POP?" So he has been paying attention. But, the fact is, I can stay at POP for 7 nights for less than it would cost to stay for 2 nights at Yacht, so POP it is. And then I explain that since POP doesn't have a table service restaurant I can use my DDE card at the food court, and then his eyes start to glaze over. This is the reaction I expect. My husband shouldn't even know what POP is. We've never stayed there and he lets me do all the planning. Then again, he surprised me on the last trip when he knew that the best coffee closest to the Magic Kingdom is at the Poly. He even called it "The Poly" and not The Polynesian.
So that's it. I get to take a trip by myself. I can get up at the crack of dawn to catch the very first bus to the park of my choice. I can hop to three parks in one day if I want. I don't have to play vacation police getting us to our tours or ADRs on time. It's going to be great. He doesn't have to hear "we can do something spontaneous at the appointed open time in our schedule." Yeah, that's a real quote from a real vacation.
I'm a little wary of staying at POP. Being able to walk/monorail/boat to the nearest park is a big deal to me. The buses work out OK, but I don't drive very much in general so I already spend quite a bit of time in real life on public transport. During my vacation I like to get away from that. On the other hand, POP looks very cute, and the room size won't be an issue since I'll be alone. I'm a little worried about finding myself assigned near a smoking room. The smell of smoke makes me really really ill. But I suppose that's the chance you take at any Disney resort and it hasn't been a problem on any trip yet.
I hope to take the AK Wild by Design tour on this trip. I'm a big fan of the tours. Last time I did the Segway tour with my husband and Backstage Magic alone.
BTW, at this moment: temperature in Seattle - 31°, temperature at WDW - 72°. That's what I'm talking about.
