Table for 1, or maybe 2, or maybe a few

[emelee1053]

Ive been going to Disneyworld since 1972, and will continue to go until they have to carry me out! Id never heard of a trip report until last Spring, but since then Ive read many, living vicariously between trips on the adventures of others kind enough to share their experiences. Most of the PTRs and TRs are written by folks planning and taking trips with younger children but I am at a different point in life and thought it might be interesting to write a trip report from my perspective.
Introductions: Im Mary-Lynne, 62, a single mom with 2 adult children.


DS32 and DD27 with me and Donald at Tusker House, October 2012.

I love Disney. It makes me smile. My favorite photo of my Dad is standing on Main Street under the clock in 1971 shortly after opening day at Magic Kingdom. Most of my favorite vacation memories and funny family stories include Disney. Ive worked in social services-related fields for 36 years. In my spare time I make jewelry, sew, scrapbook, and read, mostly murder mysteries and spy novels. Ive been a DVC member since 2008 and Saratoga Springs is my home resort.
Over the years weve had many trips to WDW, with group sizes ranging from 3 to 15, including me, my siblings, my parents, my children, nieces, nephews, friends and other shirt-tail relatives. For example, the trip in March 2012 was a party of 6, including my DD 27, her boyfriend (first timer) my sister and her grandchildren ages 7 and 10. I loved it! It was the kids first trip and the 7-year old was at the perfect age. For our trip in September 2012 we had ADRs for 10 including my DS32 and his college buddies, a couple of which were first-timers.



My DD27s boyfriend came for a brief surprise visit and she reconnected with a couple of old high school pals who live in the Orlando area.


As you can tell she takes being a Princess seriously!

An all adult trip was different from travelling with children, but it was a lot of fun. We did Food & Wine at EPCOT and MNSSHP at Magic Kingdom. Although there have been individual issues at times, how bad can it be if its at Disney?
This trip it will be me and my DS32. He may bring a friend for part of the trip but thats still up in the air. We will also be spending time with my long-time friend and her husband. She loves Disney almost as much as I do and has matched her travel plans to ours so we can do some parks and some meals together. This trip will also hopefully give me some quality time with my favorite niece and her significant other, a really nice guy with a quirky sense of humor. They live in Orlando. DN was a CM at DHS after doing the College Program, and is now a CM at Universals IOA. DDs going through some stuff right now and has not made plans to join us but that, too, could change the trip is still 5 weeks away.

 

[minnie411]

Joining in

 

[emelee1053]

Thanks! And if you or someone could tell me how to add pictures to the PTR, I'd be grateful!

 

[lovethattink]

Thanks! And if you or someone could tell me how to add pictures to the PTR, I'd be grateful!

Joining along too.

For pictures, you'll need a photohosting site such as photobucket or snapfish. Once your pictures are uploaded you clock the

 

[visitingapril09]

Joining in!!

 

[emelee1053]

Joining along too.

For pictures, you'll need a photohosting site such as photobucket or snapfish. Once your pictures are uploaded you clock the link and past that in your post.[/QUOTE]

I'll check that out tonight. Thanks.

 

[emelee1053]

As I've learned from all of you, planning is a big part of the process. I've done it, we've gone, but I never really thought about what went into it. Now, I do.

Planning: Step 1: Park tickets. Shortly after returning home from our September/October 2012 trip, we were discussing renewing our Annual Passes at the DVC renewal rate vs. waiting until we had another trip planned and buying new ones. Then I got a notice from DVC that members could purchase vouchers for PAPs at a ridiculously discounted price, about the same as we had spent purchasing the original APs, as long as we bought them before December 31, 2012. So of course I purchased 3 vouchers, one for me and one each for my son and daughter, as Christmas gifts. The vouchers could be traded for a PAP anytime before December 31, 2013. and the PAPs are good for 12 months from first date of use, so if we used them for the first time in the Spring2013, we could maybe get 2 or 3 more trips out of the same tickets. Our original APs were purchased Oct. 5, 2011 (my DD was in a wedding at Grand Floridian), and we used them for a 2-week trip then, a 10-day trip in March, 2012, plus a 2-week trip in September, 2012. They expired October 4, 2012. This was a good value for the money, I thought, considering we got 20+ park days out of them. And APs are a great way to justify more trips – because the park tickets, normally a major expense, are already paid for.

Planning: Step 2: When to go. Once the decision was made to purchase the PAP Vouchers, I immediately began looking for special events, etc., to plan around. I know I don’t need a reason to go to Disney, but it makes me feel better. We’d been there for the Flower and Garden Show in March 2012 but it rained the day we went to EPCOT so I didn’t get to see much (see prior reference to individual issues here…) and since I’d already made my scrapbook page in anticipation of some really nice photos, I thought I’d really like to see more. I had treated my son to a May trip last year for Star Wars Weekend but could not justify the time/expense of going myself since I’d just been and already had a Fall trip planned, and I thought this was something else I would enjoy. Checking the schedules for 2012, I discovered that there was an overlap of the two events, so it seemed like…well, if you’re old enough, you will remember George Peppard in the original Mission Impossible television show saying, “I love it when a plan comes together”. And my plan was coming together! So we now had a timeframe to work with.

Planning: Step 3: Where to stay: I first started looking at DVC rooms. We stayed at Saratoga Springs (our home resort) in September 2012, and went to EPCOT on October 1, for the special evening fireworks to celebrate the park’s 30th anniversary. We left EPCOT through the International Gateway and walked the Boardwalk for awhile before taking a bus back to SSR. It was so pretty at night, I just fell in love with the atmosphere. Anyway, since I’ve never stayed at Boardwalk, I wanted to try for that. I was unable to get a regular studio (which I prefer because it’s fewer DVC points) but I was able to get a preferred room at Boardwalk Villas for 5 nights for the last days of the Flower and Garden Show and what would hopefully be the first Star Wars Weekend. Dates for SWW hadn’t been posted yet, but based on prior years, I was hoping. And since Boardwalk is adjacent to both EPCOT and DHS, how much more perfect could you get? Definite pixie dust here, folks.

 

[emelee1053]

Planning: Step 4: How to Get There: Living in Central Maine makes any trip to WDW a challenge. We having a local saying, “you can’t get there from here”, and it’s close to being true for trips to Disneyworld! It’s a minimum of 27 hours on the road, and takes up 4 days of vacation in driving time. The kids do it all the time, but it really requires 3 drivers to do it safely straight through, or at least one overnight each way. Plus sitting for that long is really hard on my arthritis. And gas isn’t cheap. So driving was out for this trip. Options for flying are also limited: Bangor is the nearest airport, but doesn’t have a lot of flights. There is only one airline, Allegiant, with a 3-hour direct flight, and it doesn’t fly to MCO, it flies to Sanford Since there is no Magical Express it requires a rental car or something to get back and forth. Delta and American fly to MCO and connect to Disney’s Magical Express, but it takes all freaking day to get there with travel time of 6-8 hours and layovers in New York or Philadelphia. Portland has more flights, especially now that Southwest Airlines flies out of there, but none of them are direct flights. It’s a 2-hour drive and airport parking is expensive so in the past we have opted for the Park at Fly at the local Howard Johnson’s but this adds significantly to transportation costs. Boston is a 4-hour bus trip from Bangor, which is NOT fun, and bus schedules do not always correspond conveniently with airline schedules. While I’ve done it in the past, I didn’t relish doing it again. Plus, my son is 6’5” and not a really good fit for bus travel.. So I started stalking the Allegiant website waiting for a sale. I caught it one Saturday when the prices dropped $50 for about 5 minutes, so I immediately booked my ticket for just under $300 including luggage fees. Since Allegiant only flies on Thursday and Sunday in May, I called my son to double check the dates with him. When I went back to book his ticket, the price on the return trip had gone back up. So now I had one ticket and needed to figure out a plan for him. But in the end it worked out perfectly. He was planning to go to Boston for an event on the weekend after the trip, so we decided we could fly down together and on the return trip he could take me to Sanford to the airport, and then drop the rental car at MCO and catch his flight from there back to Boston to meet up with his friends. See, the plan continues to come together. When I went to work on Monday, I put in for the time off, noting that I had already purchased the plane tickets. My boss signed off on the time off, but said “Next time ask first…” 6 months notice, after 23 years, and he still has to be a jerk. More on that later.
Planning: Back to Step 3: Since we now were going to be there from Sunday, the 12th of May through Thursday the 23rd, and we only had 5 nights at Boardwalk, I needed to book rooms for the remaining nights. I played around with using DVC points but additional rooms at Boardwalk were not to be found. I could get the whole trip at SSR but selfishly I didn’t want to give up the nights at Boardwalk. Then they announced the spring value prices, and the AP discounts were posted for our May dates. My daughter and I had stayed at All-Star Music at the beginning of our September 2012 trip and while it wasn’t my first choice, it was okay. It was kind of noisy and crowded, and the theme is really dominant. I guess from staying at DVC resorts, I’ve gotten a little spoiled because they are more subtle, more quiet, less frenetic. I argued with myself that we probably wouldn’t spend much time in the room anyway, plus our Tables in Wonderland card worked at the Food Court, and if the buses were inconvenient we would have our rental car. And I could save the extra DVC points for our Fall trip. So … I talked myself into it and booked 4 nights at All Star Music with the AP discount for $92 per night including taxes and everything. I still needed 3 more nights at the end of the trip but I’ll get back to that.

 

[emelee1053]

1

 

[emelee1053]

Got some help so now I can bore you with my photos too!

Planning: Step 5: ADRs. Weve never done the Dining Plan, and eating at Disney has never been a big focus for us. We eat out fairly often at home so its not a big deal and none of us are foodies. Over the years weve done most of the restaurants at Disney (at the parks, at Downtown Disney, and Saratoga Springs resort) on a hit or miss basis, and we know which ones we like. Having gotten bit by the trip planner bug when I subscribed to tourguidemike.com, I made ADRs for the last two trips (Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Teppan Ido, Wave, Biergarten, and a couple of others) They were really convenient, plus it justified the expense of the Tables in Wonderland that we purchased on our last trip. So I started trying to figure out which restaurants we wanted to eat at, and on which days for which meals. My son was absolutely no help. Every time I talked Disney to him, he tuned me out after about 5 minutes. But I persevered. Our first day there would be Mothers Day and I wanted to eat at Tonys at Magic Kingdom. Eating at Tonys is something of a family tradition and even though my daughter was not coming with us this trip, it felt right for our first Disney meal. I knew I wanted to try Be our Guest with my niece and her boyfriend,



My niece and her boyfriend with us at MNSSHP 2012


and I wanted to go back to Crystal Palace. I love Pooh. And chocolate Mickey waffles with whipped cream. We hoped that one of my sons friends would be able to go with us, since hes never been, and we thought hed enjoy watching IllumiNations from the Rose and Crown. We knew we'd need reservations for at least one meal during the days at SWW and Sci-Fi Diner and Mama Melroses looked good (Brown Derby was not a big hit with my son on a previous trip). I even booked the character breakfast there just in case we needed it for early admission. As in past years, well also probably eat at Earl of Sandwich and Rain Forest Café, and Yak & Yeti quick service at AK. Id like to try a breakfast at BOMA, and a dessert and beverage at Top of the World for MK fireworks. Ive been reading all the dining reviews at easywdw.com and Chip& Co. and the Disney Food Blog, and making notes on what to try. My son likes Raglan Road, and Boardwalk has a lot of different places to try. With the addition of the food booths at the Flower & Garden show, maybe food will be a bigger part of this trip than in past. And certain adult beverages at EPCOT are calling: a margarita from the Cantina in Mexico, a Grey Goose Slushie from France, and a spiced rum Dole Whip. I rarely drink alcohol at home because Im a diabetic, but being on vacation calls for a little break from the routine, right? And theres always the fridge and microwave in the room, with a trip to the Turkey Lake Road Wal-Mart on the way from the airport to All Star Music.

Intermission: Somewhere along about here, I connected with some really nice folks on a couple of FB pages, got a few more pointers about planning, packing, etc. We've got a group challenge going on one page for who can generate the best pixie dust for someone else's trip while at WDW. Hopefully when people get back, they'll tell all and I can pick someone to win a messenger bag I got from Black Paws of New York for their next Disney trip. I was getting bored, though and needed something else Disney to do. Since I had come up with a design for an inexpensive lanyard for kids (originally done for my great-niece and nephew for our March 2012 trip



My great-niece with her lanyard, my daughter (boyfriend lurking in the background) and me.

and continued for my niece's trip with 8 kids in January 2013) and had some materials left over, I offered to make some if anyone in the fb group wanted them. Kids being kids, I made them with a Velcro break-away point, and a tag for name, phone numbers, etc., in case anyone got separated from their group. They worked well for giving the kids their own photopass cards and gift cards to carry. As people are sending me their self-addressed stamped envelopes, I am happily sending them lanyards. Its my own way of contributing a little bit of pixie dust to someone else's vacation.


A Princess lanyard

I bought a Disney binder at Wal-Mart, at the groups suggestion, but haven't managed to organize anything in it yet. I learned about Mousekeeping envelopes, so I made a bunch of those for our hotel stays, and I made some similar for the porters who assist with luggage We will be changing hotels twice, and even though we only have 1 suitcase and 1 carry-on, I'm sure when we add groceries, it, it will be a bunch of stuff for them to transport. They read "Thanks for handling our luggage with care", just in case we end up with a Samsonite gorilla at some point or am I the only one old enough to remember that commercial? Because the CMs work hard, and are an important part of making vacations at WDW magical, I also made up some Caught you cards to turn into Guest Services as a thanks to CMs who have gone above and beyond which a lot of them do. I still remember Jason from our first MNSSHP Parade (2011), and how much fun he made it for us while waiting for the parade to start.
Intermission Over - Back to Planning

 

[BridgetR3]

I notice that you are using Photobucket for your photos. Click the photo you want to share and use the IMG code instead of the HTML code. You almost had it!!

 

[emelee1053]

I notice that you are using Photobucket for your photos. Click the photo you want to share and use the IMG code instead of the HTML code. You almost had it!!

Thanks to you! It worked!

 

[emelee1053]

Where did the pixie dust go?
On March 19th, I was told that my position at work was probably going to be eliminated and replaced by a part-time job. I freaked. I’m 62, I have been there 23+ years, and I have a mortgage, bills, and a vacation planned! Holy crap! I run at $750,000 a year program that assists 150 families to pay their rent to conventional landlords who can then afford to keep their apartments in habitable condition. I have managed over the years to create systems and procedures that allow me to do the job in 40 hours a week, most weeks, and a few more in really busy months. I’m responsible for inspecting all the apartments, ensuring that they continue to meet inspection standards, screening the families, verifying their incomes and determining their share of the rents. I negotiate leases and contracts with the landlords, and enforce program rules. I deal with other agencies including Legal Aid, mental health services, and DHHS. I do the financial reports for the program, and the data submissions to the Federal Government. And I have 100% ratings on all evaluations including audits and applicable Federal Standards. When HUD needed someone to demonstrate a specific program to another agency, they came to me to do it. And still I’m losing my job, I worry about my clients, the tenants and landlords I serve. I worry about the integrity of the program I’ve worked so hard to achieve. And I worry about how I will survive on unemployment with no health insurance. Pretty scary place to be at 62. But I don’t think I can survive all these changes without my vacation. Plane tickets are paid for, park tickets are paid for. DVC rooms and the deposit on ASMusic rooms are paid. I’m going! It may be my last trip for awhile but I’m not going to let him win. Nobody takes away my Disney!
On April 10, 2013, I met with him to discuss the proposed change in position: After much stress and worry, I’m still not sure what’s going to happen. My boss said he hopes I’ll stay because he needs me to do the job, but he’s pretty sure of himself because he states” I told myself not to lose any sleep over it because she can’t afford not to take it.” Nice huh? Screw me, just because he thinks he can? I’d rather collect unemployment – which he forgets I can get. Add that to my retirement money and it wouldn’t be much of a change, except for having to buy private insurance. Only unemployment won’t last for 2 ½ years til I can get Medicare, so… still a lot to think about.

 

[BridgetR3]

Ouch!! So sorry to hear this!!! It's so tough out there in the job market right now! I hope you are able to work it all out so that you can keep going to Disney! That is the most important thing right?

Just joking but in all seriousness, I hope it all works out for you in the end!

 

[emelee1053]

It's been 6 months since I worked on this trip report, and a lot has happened since then. On April 20, 2013, my DD28 was killed in a car crash (passenger in a single car crash with a drunk driver) and my world came to an end.



And I lost my job, even though I fought it, getting a lawyer and all, but it was too much. So I'm ineligible for unemployment, and living on my pension, and waiting for the Court system to move oh, so slowly, on the accident front. Criminal charges against the driver are pending.

I'm not going to finish this trip report, and just couldn't manage one for my trips in May 2013 and Sept/Oct. 2013, but instead, I'm going to try for a new one for my trip coming up in March 2014. Going back to Disney is a bittersweet experience, because my daughter loved it so much there and we'd been going there forever so I have a lot of memories that come up. But it also helps heal the pain in my heart. I dedicated the last 2 trips to her, and will continue to carry her with me (on my lanyard and in my heart), and try to make new memories to add to the old ones. Thank you all.

 

[BridgetR3]

I pray for you each day and think of you often. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I completely understand your decision to not complete the trip report. If you do decide to create one for you upcoming 2014 trip, I will join you there.