nocruisecontrol
Where it all began....
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2008
- Messages
- 224
I'm a planner. So that is why I was checking out the Dis Boards on March 17th - planning on September 2009 vacation. Room was booked, cruise was booked - couldn't do ADR's because of the new policy, but list of ADR 'wishes' was complete.
I'm not certain how it happened. I think it was reading all the posts from Spring Break travelers whose excitement was contagious. I went from the Dis Board to the Disney website - just looking, ya know? My granddaughter, who is my best Disney travel partner, would be off on spring break at the end of the week. Like in 4 days.
Could I get off work? Probably not. I had a meeting scheduled for the 24th. Could I reschedule it? We generally drive down - so transportation wasn't an issue. I asked her parents, could they? Would they? After their initial shock - they realized I was serious.
I played with the dates - found room at POP. We'd never stayed at a value resort - would we be happy? Waited to discuss it with my daughter and then went to book. Room gone. OK - moving along, we found CBR. Bigger room - looks nice. What the heck. I click the book it button. I need to run down for my credit card. When I come back to the computer, it's timed out. I sign back in and now the standard room I had found is gone - but there is a preferred room available for less than $100 more. I'm not taking any more chances. Booked it. We've been talking about trying the dining plan forever - but could we even get reservations any place on a weeks notice? Well, let's try. Added the dining.
My first attempt at ADR's netted The Wave for breakfast on Monday morning when we would arrive. It also got us SCI FI for a late dinner on Wednesday and Crystal Palace for a late dinner on Tuesday. Not so bad! We're not early risers and even booking 90 days out, I would have not been unhappy with the late dinners. I wanted 1900 Park Fare and Chef Mickey but none to be found.
I called again the next day during my lunch break at work and was able to snag Prime Time Cafe for lunch on Wednesday - so obviously Wednesday would be our Hollywood Studios day. Still no Chef Mickey or 1900 PF but I did get Le Cellier for lunch on Thursday. Cool!
My thoughts were that we would go to Downtown Disney on Monday and eat a late lunch or early dinner there. I was still hoping for a CM or 1900 PF. We still needed breakfast or lunch on Tuesday and dinner on Thursday and breakfast on Friday. Some of these could easily be counter service meals.
On Sunday morning, just before we left, I gave it one more try. Still no Chef Mickey or 1900. We could get breakfast at Whispering Canyon (we'd never been there) on Tuesday so I took it and made a ressie for Nine Dragons on Thursday night. On this particular attempt, I didn't have the most patient CM - he seemed annoyed as soon as I asked him to check CM and 1900 PF explaining to me that these are the most popular reservations. Yeah, I knew that. Just before I was ready to give up I heard a surprised 'oh' from the CM. He had a character breakfast on Friday at 8:00 AM at Tusker House in AK (where we had planned to be!). This was great!
So we now had:
The Wave - breakfast on Monday
Whispering Canyon - breakfast on Tuesday
Crystal Palace - dinner on Tuesday - Magic Kingdom
Prime Time - lunch on Wednesday - Hollywood Studios
Sci Fi Dine-In - dinner on Wednesday - Hollywood Studios
Le Cellier - lunch on Thursday - Epcot
Nine Dragons - dinner on Thursday - Epcot
Tusker House - breakfast on Friday - Animal Kingdom
8 ADR's - all booked within a week of our trip and except for The Wave, we'd never been to any of them. Of course we're only on the regular DDP so half of these are OOP unless we go Deluxe but that seemed like way too much food.
Sunday morning countdown:
luggage carrier filled with luggage
cooler in back
granddaughters disney 'stuff', ie. pins, personal fan, mickey ears
I was way beyond excited. Monday would be a lay around and go to the pool day and one day I wanted to squeeze in the DVC tour. While we love the rides and attractions we don't rush through the parks and try to fit it all in. We go to a few favorites and then try to do some things we've never done before. I probably plan 'backwards' letting the dining reservations guide our park visits - but it works for us.
And then we waited, and waited and waited for my daughter to finish packing. The plan was that we would leave no later than 2:00 PM. We actually got her out the door and into the car at 5:45 PM.
Less than a mile from home she announces that she has forgotten her camera. We turn around and go back.
Around 6:00 AM I realize we're never going to make our breakfast reservation at THe Wave. I wait until 7:00 and call to cancel. I again check for CM and 1900 PF - nothing. On the spur of the moment, I ask about Hoop-D-Doo Review for dinner. Yes, they have availability. I grab it. We love this place and since it looks like it's going to be our main meal for the day, I'm OK with paying for it.
As we drive into the Disney area - it's raining. I'm hoping for the weather to improve but it's really overcast. We hit the hotel at about noon. The area in front of the lobby is jammed with cars and no place to park. Every one seems out of sorts - guests and hotel staff alike.
We make our way into the line - which is actually relatively short and moving pretty well - a pleasant surprise. We reach the desk and our room is ready - another pleasant surprise - almost. We'd requested a first floor room and we have one. The clerk is giving us directions and since I've done my Dis Board reading I am expecting that the preferred room that I paid for would put us in Martinque or Trinidad North but that's not what she is telling me. So I ask and she says no, I reserved (online) a standard room. I told her yes, I had tried to do that but when I went to pay for it, it only showed the preferred room and that rate and that is what I paid for. She leaves and goes to speak to someone. When she comes back, she tells me that her supervisor has 'granted the upgrade'. I'm like, huh? However, the only room they have is a second floor room. So, OK. At least we've got the room that I've paid for - why is it that I'm not feeling so magical yet? I love Disney - I do. My granddaughter is grinning and singing 'a spoonful of sugar' and I can't help but laugh. She is often my magic.
...to be continued
I'm not certain how it happened. I think it was reading all the posts from Spring Break travelers whose excitement was contagious. I went from the Dis Board to the Disney website - just looking, ya know? My granddaughter, who is my best Disney travel partner, would be off on spring break at the end of the week. Like in 4 days.
Could I get off work? Probably not. I had a meeting scheduled for the 24th. Could I reschedule it? We generally drive down - so transportation wasn't an issue. I asked her parents, could they? Would they? After their initial shock - they realized I was serious.
I played with the dates - found room at POP. We'd never stayed at a value resort - would we be happy? Waited to discuss it with my daughter and then went to book. Room gone. OK - moving along, we found CBR. Bigger room - looks nice. What the heck. I click the book it button. I need to run down for my credit card. When I come back to the computer, it's timed out. I sign back in and now the standard room I had found is gone - but there is a preferred room available for less than $100 more. I'm not taking any more chances. Booked it. We've been talking about trying the dining plan forever - but could we even get reservations any place on a weeks notice? Well, let's try. Added the dining.
My first attempt at ADR's netted The Wave for breakfast on Monday morning when we would arrive. It also got us SCI FI for a late dinner on Wednesday and Crystal Palace for a late dinner on Tuesday. Not so bad! We're not early risers and even booking 90 days out, I would have not been unhappy with the late dinners. I wanted 1900 Park Fare and Chef Mickey but none to be found.
I called again the next day during my lunch break at work and was able to snag Prime Time Cafe for lunch on Wednesday - so obviously Wednesday would be our Hollywood Studios day. Still no Chef Mickey or 1900 PF but I did get Le Cellier for lunch on Thursday. Cool!
My thoughts were that we would go to Downtown Disney on Monday and eat a late lunch or early dinner there. I was still hoping for a CM or 1900 PF. We still needed breakfast or lunch on Tuesday and dinner on Thursday and breakfast on Friday. Some of these could easily be counter service meals.
On Sunday morning, just before we left, I gave it one more try. Still no Chef Mickey or 1900. We could get breakfast at Whispering Canyon (we'd never been there) on Tuesday so I took it and made a ressie for Nine Dragons on Thursday night. On this particular attempt, I didn't have the most patient CM - he seemed annoyed as soon as I asked him to check CM and 1900 PF explaining to me that these are the most popular reservations. Yeah, I knew that. Just before I was ready to give up I heard a surprised 'oh' from the CM. He had a character breakfast on Friday at 8:00 AM at Tusker House in AK (where we had planned to be!). This was great!
So we now had:
The Wave - breakfast on Monday
Whispering Canyon - breakfast on Tuesday
Crystal Palace - dinner on Tuesday - Magic Kingdom
Prime Time - lunch on Wednesday - Hollywood Studios
Sci Fi Dine-In - dinner on Wednesday - Hollywood Studios
Le Cellier - lunch on Thursday - Epcot
Nine Dragons - dinner on Thursday - Epcot
Tusker House - breakfast on Friday - Animal Kingdom
8 ADR's - all booked within a week of our trip and except for The Wave, we'd never been to any of them. Of course we're only on the regular DDP so half of these are OOP unless we go Deluxe but that seemed like way too much food.
Sunday morning countdown:
luggage carrier filled with luggage
cooler in back
granddaughters disney 'stuff', ie. pins, personal fan, mickey ears
I was way beyond excited. Monday would be a lay around and go to the pool day and one day I wanted to squeeze in the DVC tour. While we love the rides and attractions we don't rush through the parks and try to fit it all in. We go to a few favorites and then try to do some things we've never done before. I probably plan 'backwards' letting the dining reservations guide our park visits - but it works for us.
And then we waited, and waited and waited for my daughter to finish packing. The plan was that we would leave no later than 2:00 PM. We actually got her out the door and into the car at 5:45 PM.
Less than a mile from home she announces that she has forgotten her camera. We turn around and go back. Around 6:00 AM I realize we're never going to make our breakfast reservation at THe Wave. I wait until 7:00 and call to cancel. I again check for CM and 1900 PF - nothing. On the spur of the moment, I ask about Hoop-D-Doo Review for dinner. Yes, they have availability. I grab it. We love this place and since it looks like it's going to be our main meal for the day, I'm OK with paying for it.
As we drive into the Disney area - it's raining. I'm hoping for the weather to improve but it's really overcast. We hit the hotel at about noon. The area in front of the lobby is jammed with cars and no place to park. Every one seems out of sorts - guests and hotel staff alike.
We make our way into the line - which is actually relatively short and moving pretty well - a pleasant surprise. We reach the desk and our room is ready - another pleasant surprise - almost. We'd requested a first floor room and we have one. The clerk is giving us directions and since I've done my Dis Board reading I am expecting that the preferred room that I paid for would put us in Martinque or Trinidad North but that's not what she is telling me. So I ask and she says no, I reserved (online) a standard room. I told her yes, I had tried to do that but when I went to pay for it, it only showed the preferred room and that rate and that is what I paid for. She leaves and goes to speak to someone. When she comes back, she tells me that her supervisor has 'granted the upgrade'. I'm like, huh? However, the only room they have is a second floor room. So, OK. At least we've got the room that I've paid for - why is it that I'm not feeling so magical yet? I love Disney - I do. My granddaughter is grinning and singing 'a spoonful of sugar' and I can't help but laugh. She is often my magic.
...to be continued
