QuickGold
Studios Superman
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2002
- Messages
- 3,187
I got inspired by Debbie's TR so I decided to write my own for my upcoming trip.
Da Crew: Me, 20 year old college student attending Pace University in New York City, but originally from Connecituct. I'm a Disney Nut(or as my parents call me, Disney Nazi).
Allon "Spock" Moore: Fraternity Brother who is coming with me down there. It took some doing, but I got him to go.
Gary "Gumby" McKiever: Another fraternity brother who I got to go somehow.
Lodging: Off-site @ Ramada Eastgate for $21/night
Duration: 3/11-3/16
Transportation: Spirit Airlines on 3/11 @ 6pm to Orlando. Taxi's/complimentry shuttle service from there on out.
Details: This trip was originally slated to go from 3/10-3/17 and was planned months ago, however, my friend, Spock, dropped out because we were staying onsite and paying way too much for his blood(close to $1,000).
Basically, I dropped all hopes of going on a trip to Disney anytime before the summer. So time passes, blah, blah...school, homework, girls, blah, blah
1 week ago(3/1ish) I found a site called Hotwire.com, which claimed to be a better Priceline. I investigated it and just for fun, I put in my spring break dates, condensed a few days to make it cheaper to see what I could get. I should note previous to this, I had been toying on and off with other sites, looking for a deal. However, wherever the destination may have been, I always said to myself, "It aint Disney World and I know that I wont be happy going somewhere else when I could be in WDW".
Anywho, I got a price of $21/night and almost had an accident in my pants. Quickly computing the price, I realized the trip could be VERY cheap. I grabbed my cell phone and began trying to find someone to go as the price was only good for 1 hour. Spock wasnt answering my calls, so after calling half my fraternity, I found Gumby, who jumped at the chance. I went back to Hotwire only to discover the price had expired!
I called customer service and spoke with a real nice guy. He looked up my account, saw my quoted price and asked if I still wanted it. I agreed and he completed my order(BTW, a little side note, not even the people who work at Hotwire know which hotel the rates for until they submit a completed order). I got my confirmation and hunted for a good airline price.
Hotwire had at the cheapest $300 for a ticket. I then checked the usual places, Expedia, Travelocity & Orbitz. Only Travelocity(which is a first as they always tend to lag in pricing wars) had the better price of $165 on Spirit. I booked 2 tickets and was very happy.
Finally, I called Spock who was at work, and told him about the deal and asked if he wanted to hop on. The kid however, tells me he allready has a ticket to Buffalo, NY!(Dont worry folks, if you saw him on the list of the cast, he'll eventually make it
)
Appealing to his cheapness, I pleaded with him to reconsider. He wouldn't budge. I knew I had to pull something out of my sleeve and did what anyone who desperatly need something would do.....I bribed him.
Quickly accepting my bribe, he took the loss of his Buffalo ticket and and bought a ticket for the same flight.
Lessons learned thus far: How can I have learned anything, you ask? You'd be suprised:
1). EVERYONE has a price
2). When buying airfare, ESPECIALLY close to the date, check the airlines individual page in addition to the "big boys"(i.e. Expedia, Orbitz, etc). Had I bought my tickets(like Spock) from Spirit directly by going to their website, I could have saved $10.
3). Never underestimate any travel website. I've booked tons of trips to tons of places online in the past and never has Travelocity given me anything except what price not to take. Go figure they have the better price.
4). Booking a last minute trip to Disney has its advantages. I booked 8 days before and the great thing is....its only 8 days! No waiting and counting down, "Gee, only 329 more days!". It's very exhilirating!
Hope this was good as it is my first TR and I hope I'll actually go through and do the whole thing.
Da Crew: Me, 20 year old college student attending Pace University in New York City, but originally from Connecituct. I'm a Disney Nut(or as my parents call me, Disney Nazi).
Allon "Spock" Moore: Fraternity Brother who is coming with me down there. It took some doing, but I got him to go.
Gary "Gumby" McKiever: Another fraternity brother who I got to go somehow.
Lodging: Off-site @ Ramada Eastgate for $21/night
Duration: 3/11-3/16
Transportation: Spirit Airlines on 3/11 @ 6pm to Orlando. Taxi's/complimentry shuttle service from there on out.
Details: This trip was originally slated to go from 3/10-3/17 and was planned months ago, however, my friend, Spock, dropped out because we were staying onsite and paying way too much for his blood(close to $1,000).
Basically, I dropped all hopes of going on a trip to Disney anytime before the summer. So time passes, blah, blah...school, homework, girls, blah, blah
1 week ago(3/1ish) I found a site called Hotwire.com, which claimed to be a better Priceline. I investigated it and just for fun, I put in my spring break dates, condensed a few days to make it cheaper to see what I could get. I should note previous to this, I had been toying on and off with other sites, looking for a deal. However, wherever the destination may have been, I always said to myself, "It aint Disney World and I know that I wont be happy going somewhere else when I could be in WDW".
Anywho, I got a price of $21/night and almost had an accident in my pants. Quickly computing the price, I realized the trip could be VERY cheap. I grabbed my cell phone and began trying to find someone to go as the price was only good for 1 hour. Spock wasnt answering my calls, so after calling half my fraternity, I found Gumby, who jumped at the chance. I went back to Hotwire only to discover the price had expired!
I called customer service and spoke with a real nice guy. He looked up my account, saw my quoted price and asked if I still wanted it. I agreed and he completed my order(BTW, a little side note, not even the people who work at Hotwire know which hotel the rates for until they submit a completed order). I got my confirmation and hunted for a good airline price.
Hotwire had at the cheapest $300 for a ticket. I then checked the usual places, Expedia, Travelocity & Orbitz. Only Travelocity(which is a first as they always tend to lag in pricing wars) had the better price of $165 on Spirit. I booked 2 tickets and was very happy.
Finally, I called Spock who was at work, and told him about the deal and asked if he wanted to hop on. The kid however, tells me he allready has a ticket to Buffalo, NY!(Dont worry folks, if you saw him on the list of the cast, he'll eventually make it
)Appealing to his cheapness, I pleaded with him to reconsider. He wouldn't budge. I knew I had to pull something out of my sleeve and did what anyone who desperatly need something would do.....I bribed him.
Quickly accepting my bribe, he took the loss of his Buffalo ticket and and bought a ticket for the same flight.
Lessons learned thus far: How can I have learned anything, you ask? You'd be suprised:
1). EVERYONE has a price
2). When buying airfare, ESPECIALLY close to the date, check the airlines individual page in addition to the "big boys"(i.e. Expedia, Orbitz, etc). Had I bought my tickets(like Spock) from Spirit directly by going to their website, I could have saved $10.
3). Never underestimate any travel website. I've booked tons of trips to tons of places online in the past and never has Travelocity given me anything except what price not to take. Go figure they have the better price.
4). Booking a last minute trip to Disney has its advantages. I booked 8 days before and the great thing is....its only 8 days! No waiting and counting down, "Gee, only 329 more days!". It's very exhilirating!
Hope this was good as it is my first TR and I hope I'll actually go through and do the whole thing.
But, we're staying six nights at CSR (or AKL if I can get a good AP rate) and three nights at the Hard Rock Hotel! We're also doing Discovery Cove....needless to say, I needed more time to save for this trip!
