WDW Poly Princess
Needs a Disney Fix
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2000
- Messages
- 4,873
Our Fabulous Cast:
Crystal- WDW Poly Princess- 23 year old solo traveler extrordinare. Front desk clerk, bellydancer, travel writer wannabe.
Stitch- Age unknown, small blue alien. His first trip back to WDW since I met him there last year.
Katie- Florida resident who I sucker into keeping me company. 25, with a job which will be constantly redefined on this trip!
Wow, is it already time to be writing a pre-trip report again? (And hey, ever notice that until you book your next trip, its been SOOOO long since your last trip! But as soon as the next trip is booked and approaching, it suddenly hasnt been all that long since you were there?)
Lets start out simply here. This is Stitch:
If you saw our thread on the Theme Parks board, you know that Stitch will be traveling with me to WDW.
Stitch has been doing his own research, and even took requests for things people wanted us to see or do on our trip. You can see that thread here.
If youve read any of my reports before, you know that Im a big fan of the resorts, and a major resort hopper. 5 resorts on an 10 day trip? Sure! Its the best way to hit your favorites, stay in deluxes without blowing the budget, and try out some new resorts all in one trip! So, this was the original resort plan for this trip!
Pop Century-Arrival night
WL (woods view)-4 nights
AKL (savannah view)- 2 nights
Polynesian (garden view)- 2 nights
POR- 2 nights
All of my favorites, the perfect trip! And thanks to AP rates, still affordable!
Then came Best Rate, and after a lot of trip planning crazyness, the above plan ended up as follows:
OKW Studio (rented from DVC member)- 4 nights
Swan- 3 nights ($129 + tax Mousefest Rate)
I can see you gawking. No WL? No Poly?! But they just refurbished the rooms! The Swan??? No way! Crystals been replaced by a Pod Person!
I thought so, too. But I did some rationalizing- Ive always wanted to stay at OKW, and Im only paying a little more per night there than I would at POR, so thats pretty good, right? And although Im convinced that the giant Swans are headquarters for some shady government operation, its still an Epcot resort, right? And who doesnt love being by Epcot? They have chocolate mousse there!
So, after checking airline rates, I find that its about $100 cheaper if I fly on the 26th instead of the 27th. No problem! Just add on a value for a night! Only about $55 with AP rates! No big deal .err..wait. Best Rate. Doh! Oh well, Ill call Disney and see how much it would be for a night at Pop. $99!? No way! Really? Oh. Back to the DVC Rent/Trade board!
The whole DVC/Swan thing was still freaking me out. I even decided to stop at a travel agency, in hopes that they could find me a room at one of my favorites for a slightly less crazy price. The travel agent I talked to had Disney stuff all over her desk. Oh, yay! She will understand my problems, right?
Im wondering if you can help me with a room for December? The new AP rate program screwed up my plans.
New program?
Yeah, the Best Rate thing.
Oh, I hadnt heard about that.
(travel agent taps some keys on her Magical Computer of Travel Knowledge.)
Which hotel? All Stars?
Um, Wilderness Lodge. Lodge View. (Shes starting out with the cheapest? I guess because Im going solo?)
(pause while she clicks on some things)
Lets see, for Fort Wilderness
Um, no, Wilderness Lodge.
Huh? Oh. Nothing available there.
Port Orleans Riverside?
(Travel agent phones Disney, on what I assume is the Super Secret Travel Agent Line. I wait eagerly, dreaming of a lagoon view Polynesian miracle room for ten nights for $50. It will look out to the castle, come with free room service, and entitle me to my very own monorail.)
They have a standard view for $134.
(sound of Crystal falling out of chair)
Per night?!
Would you like to book it?
Um can you ask about discounts? I know I cant get AP rates this close, but
(to phone lady) Shes wondering about discounts? Something about AP, have you heard of that? Or a new program? I havent heard anything about it, have you? Oh, okay.
(to me) No, no discounts.
(imagine me with a far-off look in my eyes as I remember the beautiful days before Best Rate, where I could call up and get POR for $89).
Can you check on a cruise for May while Im here? Weve been thinking about going then.
Sure
7 night Western Caribbean, May 6?
And you want an inside cabin?
Huh? Um, verandah. Category 6. (Who taught this lady how to market?)
(on phone again.) I need to check prices for the May 6th cruise on the Wonder?
(me) Magic.
Huh?
The Magic.
(phone again) Yeah, 7 nights on the Wonder, Western Caribbean?
A few minutes later, she hangs up the phone and quotes me a price. Its big.
Thats per person?
Thats for one person, yeah. They charge more if youre by yourself.
But I wont BE solo on that trip!
Im sure things were said after this point, some sort of faked politeness in which I thank her for her help, but I dont remember it. In that moment, I was deciding that I really need to finish my Travel Agent course, and get a job as one. The people need me.
So, now comes time to book airfare. After watching all of the major internet sites for several weeks, it finally became clear that flying out on the 27th was out of the question ($630 to fly on the 27th vs $250 to fly on the 25th!) I hadnt even thought about Thanksgiving when I had made my trip plans, but now it was having quite an effect!
Checking the airline websites, it seemed that if I booked to come home on the 4th as planned, I would be stuck on a 6am flight, so I considered leaving the 5th instead. Finally one morning, a fare for $229 leaving on the 25th and returning on the 5th popped up, and I snatched it up! I finally broke down and booked All Star Music through Travelocity for about $100/nt (I called CRO, but they said they had no value resort rooms left for my dates, but they were available through Travelocity- no rooms doesnt always mean no rooms!) and I rented OKW again for the night of the 4th. I was ready to go!
Crystal- WDW Poly Princess- 23 year old solo traveler extrordinare. Front desk clerk, bellydancer, travel writer wannabe.
Stitch- Age unknown, small blue alien. His first trip back to WDW since I met him there last year.
Katie- Florida resident who I sucker into keeping me company. 25, with a job which will be constantly redefined on this trip!
Wow, is it already time to be writing a pre-trip report again? (And hey, ever notice that until you book your next trip, its been SOOOO long since your last trip! But as soon as the next trip is booked and approaching, it suddenly hasnt been all that long since you were there?)
Lets start out simply here. This is Stitch:

If you saw our thread on the Theme Parks board, you know that Stitch will be traveling with me to WDW.

Stitch has been doing his own research, and even took requests for things people wanted us to see or do on our trip. You can see that thread here.

If youve read any of my reports before, you know that Im a big fan of the resorts, and a major resort hopper. 5 resorts on an 10 day trip? Sure! Its the best way to hit your favorites, stay in deluxes without blowing the budget, and try out some new resorts all in one trip! So, this was the original resort plan for this trip!
Pop Century-Arrival night
WL (woods view)-4 nights
AKL (savannah view)- 2 nights
Polynesian (garden view)- 2 nights
POR- 2 nights
All of my favorites, the perfect trip! And thanks to AP rates, still affordable!
Then came Best Rate, and after a lot of trip planning crazyness, the above plan ended up as follows:
OKW Studio (rented from DVC member)- 4 nights
Swan- 3 nights ($129 + tax Mousefest Rate)
I can see you gawking. No WL? No Poly?! But they just refurbished the rooms! The Swan??? No way! Crystals been replaced by a Pod Person!
I thought so, too. But I did some rationalizing- Ive always wanted to stay at OKW, and Im only paying a little more per night there than I would at POR, so thats pretty good, right? And although Im convinced that the giant Swans are headquarters for some shady government operation, its still an Epcot resort, right? And who doesnt love being by Epcot? They have chocolate mousse there!
So, after checking airline rates, I find that its about $100 cheaper if I fly on the 26th instead of the 27th. No problem! Just add on a value for a night! Only about $55 with AP rates! No big deal .err..wait. Best Rate. Doh! Oh well, Ill call Disney and see how much it would be for a night at Pop. $99!? No way! Really? Oh. Back to the DVC Rent/Trade board!
The whole DVC/Swan thing was still freaking me out. I even decided to stop at a travel agency, in hopes that they could find me a room at one of my favorites for a slightly less crazy price. The travel agent I talked to had Disney stuff all over her desk. Oh, yay! She will understand my problems, right?
Im wondering if you can help me with a room for December? The new AP rate program screwed up my plans.
New program?
Yeah, the Best Rate thing.
Oh, I hadnt heard about that.
(travel agent taps some keys on her Magical Computer of Travel Knowledge.)
Which hotel? All Stars?
Um, Wilderness Lodge. Lodge View. (Shes starting out with the cheapest? I guess because Im going solo?)
(pause while she clicks on some things)
Lets see, for Fort Wilderness
Um, no, Wilderness Lodge.
Huh? Oh. Nothing available there.
Port Orleans Riverside?
(Travel agent phones Disney, on what I assume is the Super Secret Travel Agent Line. I wait eagerly, dreaming of a lagoon view Polynesian miracle room for ten nights for $50. It will look out to the castle, come with free room service, and entitle me to my very own monorail.)
They have a standard view for $134.
(sound of Crystal falling out of chair)
Per night?!
Would you like to book it?
Um can you ask about discounts? I know I cant get AP rates this close, but
(to phone lady) Shes wondering about discounts? Something about AP, have you heard of that? Or a new program? I havent heard anything about it, have you? Oh, okay.
(to me) No, no discounts.
(imagine me with a far-off look in my eyes as I remember the beautiful days before Best Rate, where I could call up and get POR for $89).
Can you check on a cruise for May while Im here? Weve been thinking about going then.
Sure
7 night Western Caribbean, May 6?
And you want an inside cabin?
Huh? Um, verandah. Category 6. (Who taught this lady how to market?)
(on phone again.) I need to check prices for the May 6th cruise on the Wonder?
(me) Magic.
Huh?
The Magic.
(phone again) Yeah, 7 nights on the Wonder, Western Caribbean?
A few minutes later, she hangs up the phone and quotes me a price. Its big.
Thats per person?
Thats for one person, yeah. They charge more if youre by yourself.
But I wont BE solo on that trip!
Im sure things were said after this point, some sort of faked politeness in which I thank her for her help, but I dont remember it. In that moment, I was deciding that I really need to finish my Travel Agent course, and get a job as one. The people need me.
So, now comes time to book airfare. After watching all of the major internet sites for several weeks, it finally became clear that flying out on the 27th was out of the question ($630 to fly on the 27th vs $250 to fly on the 25th!) I hadnt even thought about Thanksgiving when I had made my trip plans, but now it was having quite an effect!
Checking the airline websites, it seemed that if I booked to come home on the 4th as planned, I would be stuck on a 6am flight, so I considered leaving the 5th instead. Finally one morning, a fare for $229 leaving on the 25th and returning on the 5th popped up, and I snatched it up! I finally broke down and booked All Star Music through Travelocity for about $100/nt (I called CRO, but they said they had no value resort rooms left for my dates, but they were available through Travelocity- no rooms doesnt always mean no rooms!) and I rented OKW again for the night of the 4th. I was ready to go!