disneyfan314
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2015
Hello everyone! Welcome to my trip report!!! I am very happy to have you here! Let me start off by introducing myself. I'm Kesha, a wife and mom of 2 girls (15 and 10), and a lover of all things Disney. I have been a long time stalker on the DisBoards and while I don't post very often, I am so thankful to all of you that do because it has helped make planning for my WDW trips much easier. I made a promise to myself that I would write a trip report after my late May/early June trip to just maybe help someone else who is planning a WDW vacation. So without further ado......here we go!!!!!!
(Here I am with the main mouse himself!)
So before I jump into this trip, let me give you some background info on how this trip came to be. Last June, we visited for the first time as DVC members. DH and I purchased 150 points at SSR in late 2015 (Merry Christmas for me!!!) The contract was loaded so we were able to get a 1 BR at BWV (with points to spare) and it was a wonderful trip. Here's a picture of us from that trip with Chewie!
Now, while I was deep in planning for that June trip, my youngest daughter and I started talking about making a return trip in September to celebrate her 10th birthday. Remember above where I mentioned I had points to spare.....it worked out that I could get us 4 nights at OKW. So, after doing some math, I realized it was cheaper to get her and I AP's (especially she was still 9 and got the child rate) instead of park hopper tickets. We had a wonderful trip in September even though we
rode out landfall of Hurricane Hermine and had to wear our ponchos quite a bit.
(A rainy, but fun day, at Disney!)
Now, it was my original plan to rent my points out this year because I promised my oldest daughter and husband that we could take a non-Disney vacation this summer (our last 4 summer vacations have been Disney in some form- 2016 WDW, 2015 Disney Cruise/Vero Beach, 2014 DL, 2013 WDW) and that they were in charge of planning it. Well, that didn't seem to happen and when my younger daughter and I were talking about the lack of planning on my oldest daughter and husband's part, I jokingly mentioned, "Wait, we could go back to Disney! Our AP's don't expire until June 4th." I was fairly confident I could fit in a trip between when my youngest DD got out of school for the summer and our AP's expired. My hubby kinda just cringed and said, "Not Disney again!!!" (he's kinda over Pixie Dust and just tolerates my obsession) but said, "You and Anna should go and use your passes." Well, that's all I needed to hear!!! I was back in Disney planning mode! I got on the DVC site and booked us a studio at Boulder Ridge Villas (or Wilderness Lodge Villas) for May 30-June 4. Keep in mind that this was prior to the announcement of the opening dates of Pandora, so we got really excited when it was announced it would open just days before we arrived!
One last thing to add before I get the actual trip report started. I decided to try a different strategy in planning the airfare part of this trip. In the past, I usually book our flights pretty soon after I get dates nailed down and our room booked. At some point during my planning phase, I read an article that said the best (cheapest) time to book airline tickets is somewhere between 3 weeks and 3.5 months before the scheduled date. So I decided to wait and test this theory. Around the 3.5 month mark I started looking at prices and on March 20, I got an email with special fares from Spirit. $24 one-way tickets on select dates in March, April, May, and June. So, I clicked the link in the email and PIXIE DUST!!! Our departure day, May 30 was one of the select dates! $24 for tickets to Orlando!!!! I booked them immediately! Unfortunately, our return day, June 4 was not a selected day, but June 6 was. Hmmmm, could we extend our trip a couple of days? I got online to see if anything was available through DVC (I still had some points I could use) and NOTHING was available for June 4-6. After sleeping on it, deep thoughts, questions to complete strangers on Disney DVC facebook pages, and discussion with my husband, I took a big leap of Disney faith and went ahead and waitlisted the final 2 nights at SSR and booked the return flight on Mar 21 (the last day of the sale) for June 6. I figured the worse thing that would happen was that I would have to find an offsite hotel for the last 2 nights if my waitlist didn't come through. In the meantime, while I was waiting for my waitlist to hopefully come through, I did what any sane DVC member would do, I started checking the DVC availablity tool multiple times a day! And pixie dust sprinkled on me again!!!! While checking on March 22 during my lunch break, there was availablity in a lake view studio at BLT. I immediately booked it Our trip was finally locked down! I had hotel rooms and flights booked. After making my Magical Express reservation, all I had left to do was wait for my Fastpass window to open!
Up next: We're going to Disney World today!!!!
(Here I am with the main mouse himself!)
So before I jump into this trip, let me give you some background info on how this trip came to be. Last June, we visited for the first time as DVC members. DH and I purchased 150 points at SSR in late 2015 (Merry Christmas for me!!!) The contract was loaded so we were able to get a 1 BR at BWV (with points to spare) and it was a wonderful trip. Here's a picture of us from that trip with Chewie!
Now, while I was deep in planning for that June trip, my youngest daughter and I started talking about making a return trip in September to celebrate her 10th birthday. Remember above where I mentioned I had points to spare.....it worked out that I could get us 4 nights at OKW. So, after doing some math, I realized it was cheaper to get her and I AP's (especially she was still 9 and got the child rate) instead of park hopper tickets. We had a wonderful trip in September even though we
rode out landfall of Hurricane Hermine and had to wear our ponchos quite a bit.
(A rainy, but fun day, at Disney!)
Now, it was my original plan to rent my points out this year because I promised my oldest daughter and husband that we could take a non-Disney vacation this summer (our last 4 summer vacations have been Disney in some form- 2016 WDW, 2015 Disney Cruise/Vero Beach, 2014 DL, 2013 WDW) and that they were in charge of planning it. Well, that didn't seem to happen and when my younger daughter and I were talking about the lack of planning on my oldest daughter and husband's part, I jokingly mentioned, "Wait, we could go back to Disney! Our AP's don't expire until June 4th." I was fairly confident I could fit in a trip between when my youngest DD got out of school for the summer and our AP's expired. My hubby kinda just cringed and said, "Not Disney again!!!" (he's kinda over Pixie Dust and just tolerates my obsession) but said, "You and Anna should go and use your passes." Well, that's all I needed to hear!!! I was back in Disney planning mode! I got on the DVC site and booked us a studio at Boulder Ridge Villas (or Wilderness Lodge Villas) for May 30-June 4. Keep in mind that this was prior to the announcement of the opening dates of Pandora, so we got really excited when it was announced it would open just days before we arrived!
One last thing to add before I get the actual trip report started. I decided to try a different strategy in planning the airfare part of this trip. In the past, I usually book our flights pretty soon after I get dates nailed down and our room booked. At some point during my planning phase, I read an article that said the best (cheapest) time to book airline tickets is somewhere between 3 weeks and 3.5 months before the scheduled date. So I decided to wait and test this theory. Around the 3.5 month mark I started looking at prices and on March 20, I got an email with special fares from Spirit. $24 one-way tickets on select dates in March, April, May, and June. So, I clicked the link in the email and PIXIE DUST!!! Our departure day, May 30 was one of the select dates! $24 for tickets to Orlando!!!! I booked them immediately! Unfortunately, our return day, June 4 was not a selected day, but June 6 was. Hmmmm, could we extend our trip a couple of days? I got online to see if anything was available through DVC (I still had some points I could use) and NOTHING was available for June 4-6. After sleeping on it, deep thoughts, questions to complete strangers on Disney DVC facebook pages, and discussion with my husband, I took a big leap of Disney faith and went ahead and waitlisted the final 2 nights at SSR and booked the return flight on Mar 21 (the last day of the sale) for June 6. I figured the worse thing that would happen was that I would have to find an offsite hotel for the last 2 nights if my waitlist didn't come through. In the meantime, while I was waiting for my waitlist to hopefully come through, I did what any sane DVC member would do, I started checking the DVC availablity tool multiple times a day! And pixie dust sprinkled on me again!!!! While checking on March 22 during my lunch break, there was availablity in a lake view studio at BLT. I immediately booked it Our trip was finally locked down! I had hotel rooms and flights booked. After making my Magical Express reservation, all I had left to do was wait for my Fastpass window to open!
Up next: We're going to Disney World today!!!!
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