SnackyStacky
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 29, 2002
- Messages
- 6,799
So I tried a trip report for my September 2008 trip that got one whole response, so I figured I must have done it wrong.
I didn't do it the way most do - I wrote the whole thing and posted installments one after the other. So I'm going to try the whole pre-trip report thing.
When in Rome!
My wife was laid off in April of this year. While we weren't planning on a trip anyway, we knew that the nail was in our Disney-vacationing coffin.
But then, the pixie-dust gods smiled on us, and I won a trip. Had to be used up this year, or it might not be able to be booked. With resort, admission and dining covered - the huge portions of the trip were good to go. I had surprised my wife with a spot on the Podcast cruise. In order to keep the surprise, I opened up a jetBlue AmEx so she wouldn't see any of the payments. Opening it up added 50 points to my trueblue account, plus all the payments made toward the cruise - and we had a free roundtrip flight for one of us. We figured that we could do this!
Let's start with the cast, shall we?
Me: Dan. Just turned 30 this year. My first trip to Walt Disney World was waaaaaay back in August of 1986. Here I was with my grandparents:
Fell immediately in love with the place, but it would be years before I'd get back; 10 years....to be lying. It was more like 16 years. I wouldn't get back until January of 2002. But I made up for lost time. Between then and now, I've visited 9 times.
Anyway, here I am now:
DW: Thirty fdniswnjdf years old. (That was me running my hand over my mouth while mumbling). She loves Disney. Very much. But nothing like I do. She really wants to take vacations elsewhere - but is humoring me in the meantime. She is my best friend, and the best mother I've ever seen. Truly.
Here's the 2 of us:
DD: She's 3. Born during value season, when crowds are low, and the food and wine festival is JUST beginning. Now that's what I call family planning.
She's got a mind of her own; which I think will be an asset to her as a woman. But as my daughter, I really could deal without the independent streak! 
Here she is:
BFF: The trip was for 4, so DW's BFF will join us. She loves Disney, but is all about Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights. So she'll be staying on through after us to check that out. She is a junkie for the Tower of Terror. We rode it 9 times straight last trip. Meaning we viewed our picture at the exit, and hoofed it hard through the gift shop right back to the line. We got a bit stupid. We started cheesing for the camera.
Here we are doing the YMCA:
And the Dr. Evil grin:
And Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil:
Having made our way through the characters, let's get a bit into the specifics, shall we?
When? September 15 - 22. Because this was a prize, there were restrictions on dates. We had initially tried September 22 - 29, to go for DD's actual birthday. But that was a no go. To minimize airfare, I wanted to check in and out on a Tuesday, which is why the entire date set was shifted by a week. The free part was for 6 nights - so we're going to spend our extra night either at the Dolphin (phenomenal rate!) or an off site condo (for free!!!).
Where? Caribbean Beach Resort. I had mentioned that that was a preference, but I don't know if that had anything to do with where we were placed. The only moderate where we've ever stayed is Port Orleans French Quarter. I've been wanting to try another, so bully!
How to get there? jetBlue!!! A free seat, and pretty cheap fares for the other 2. Total for 3 seats: $400.
Then, a midsize for National's Emerald Aisle. We weren't able to get Magical Express with the package, so we're going with a car rental rather than a towncar or other transfer service.
That covers the basics.
I didn't do it the way most do - I wrote the whole thing and posted installments one after the other. So I'm going to try the whole pre-trip report thing.
When in Rome!
My wife was laid off in April of this year. While we weren't planning on a trip anyway, we knew that the nail was in our Disney-vacationing coffin.
But then, the pixie-dust gods smiled on us, and I won a trip. Had to be used up this year, or it might not be able to be booked. With resort, admission and dining covered - the huge portions of the trip were good to go. I had surprised my wife with a spot on the Podcast cruise. In order to keep the surprise, I opened up a jetBlue AmEx so she wouldn't see any of the payments. Opening it up added 50 points to my trueblue account, plus all the payments made toward the cruise - and we had a free roundtrip flight for one of us. We figured that we could do this!
Let's start with the cast, shall we?
Me: Dan. Just turned 30 this year. My first trip to Walt Disney World was waaaaaay back in August of 1986. Here I was with my grandparents:
Fell immediately in love with the place, but it would be years before I'd get back; 10 years....to be lying. It was more like 16 years.
I wouldn't get back until January of 2002. But I made up for lost time. Between then and now, I've visited 9 times.Anyway, here I am now:
DW: Thirty fdniswnjdf years old. (That was me running my hand over my mouth while mumbling). She loves Disney. Very much. But nothing like I do. She really wants to take vacations elsewhere - but is humoring me in the meantime. She is my best friend, and the best mother I've ever seen. Truly.
Here's the 2 of us:
DD: She's 3. Born during value season, when crowds are low, and the food and wine festival is JUST beginning. Now that's what I call family planning.
She's got a mind of her own; which I think will be an asset to her as a woman. But as my daughter, I really could deal without the independent streak! Here she is:
BFF: The trip was for 4, so DW's BFF will join us. She loves Disney, but is all about Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights. So she'll be staying on through after us to check that out. She is a junkie for the Tower of Terror. We rode it 9 times straight last trip. Meaning we viewed our picture at the exit, and hoofed it hard through the gift shop right back to the line. We got a bit stupid. We started cheesing for the camera.
Here we are doing the YMCA:
And the Dr. Evil grin:
And Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil:
Having made our way through the characters, let's get a bit into the specifics, shall we?
When? September 15 - 22. Because this was a prize, there were restrictions on dates. We had initially tried September 22 - 29, to go for DD's actual birthday. But that was a no go. To minimize airfare, I wanted to check in and out on a Tuesday, which is why the entire date set was shifted by a week. The free part was for 6 nights - so we're going to spend our extra night either at the Dolphin (phenomenal rate!) or an off site condo (for free!!!).
Where? Caribbean Beach Resort. I had mentioned that that was a preference, but I don't know if that had anything to do with where we were placed. The only moderate where we've ever stayed is Port Orleans French Quarter. I've been wanting to try another, so bully!
How to get there? jetBlue!!! A free seat, and pretty cheap fares for the other 2. Total for 3 seats: $400.
Then, a midsize for National's Emerald Aisle. We weren't able to get Magical Express with the package, so we're going with a car rental rather than a towncar or other transfer service.
That covers the basics.
She was actually horrified...she didn't realize what would happen...or so she said...little stinker...she never did it again though!! I think she was more upset than we were! 
