"We're going wild - Disney style" - A Oct 15-25th Pre-TR (10/12...for the ladies!)

[skier_pete]

Hey there, everyone, and welcome to my PTR.

For those too impatient to read the whole thing - see a single post with our detailed plans HERE.

I am Skier_Pete, and I have been going to Disney since I was a wee lad of 2 years old in 1971 - the year they opened the Magic Kingdom. I went many times as a child, but not so much in my teen / college years. I met my now-DW in 1995, and upon discovering she had never gone to WDW, we planned our first-ever vacation together to Orlando. We went again in 2000, and at the time thought that was enough for a little while. After DD was born in 2003, we wanted to go back as soon as she was old enough, and returned in 2006 for our first on-site stay. We've been back every year since, and currently are in the midst of "The year of a million Disney Trips" in which we bought AP in December of 2009, and went again in April. This Pre-trip Report is looking forward to our trip in October, which as of today is only 4 months away.

2006 also co-incides with the time I was introduced to the DIS by a co-worker, and the point at which my Disney planning became hardcore. We are full on Mousejunkies (Disneyholics?) at this point, and I start my trip planning more than a year in advance. By the ADR point (180 days) I pretty much have gone over it so much, I have it perfected. I usually bounce ideas off my DW for making the best trip possible.

This trip is a little different. I have been planning this trip as a full-on surprise. Not a surprise as in "Hey, we are going to Disney," but a surprise in that DW and DD do not have any idea what the plans for this trip are besides the days we are going. It is all a surprise.

The one thing DW does know is that we are not doing this trip on the cheap. Pretty much every one of our 7 (seven - holy cow) Disney Trips we've taken in the last 13 years has been on a pretty tight budget. The closest we've come to splurging was on our first trip with DD in 2006, when we stayed at POFQ with only a slight room discount. Since then, we've done free dining three times, and the last two trips stayed at Value resorts. I can honestly say we have never spent more than $3000 on any of our trips, even one as long as 10 days, and that includes airfare for 3 people.

Well, this trip is NOT going to be a budget trip. No free dining. No Values (well, maybe 1 night) and it certainly isn't coming in under $3000.

So, why now? Well, I guess the real reason is DDs age. She just turned 7 in May, and will be 7.5 for this trip. To me, right now, she is at that age that I call the "Disney Wheelhouse". The perfect age for a child to go to Disney is between 6 and 9 years old. It's not that other ages are bad. But, 5 or younger, Disney is a bit overwhelming, and the kids are limited in what they can really do, even though they can have some truly magical experience. By six years old - they are willing to try new things more, yet they are still young enough to truly Believe - with a capital B. Mickey and Cinderella are still real to them,this is Mickey's Magic Kingdom. By the time they reach 9 (and sometimes younger) again they can still have a great time, but it becomes more a really great amusement park.

I the day coming soon when it's not as real to her anymore. I showed her Star Wars (episode 4) for the first time a couple weeks ago, and she was asking me..."Are they real?" and I had to say "Well, no, they are actors playing characters." I don't think she's made the connection to Disney characters yet, but it's only a matter of time.

Plus, we've going 3 times real close together, that won't continue, what better way to end the year than with something extra-special.

So, if you are DW, please read no further...there be SPOILERS ahead.

For my friends on the DIS - please read on...over the next few weeks I'll let you in on the secrets that my family don't even know about yet! And thanks for joining in, whether from my Trip Reports, or just coming along for the ride!

Quick links for those too impatient to read the whole thread:
Day 1 plans
Day 2 plans
Day 3 plans
Day 4 plans
Day 5 plans
Day 6 plans
Day 7 plans
Day 8 plans
Day 9 plans
Day 10 plans

Our trip by the numbers
Top 10 Must-dos

 

[If U Had Wings]

Can't wait to hear about all your plans!

 

[JLR]

I'm excited to hear all the splurges!!!!!!

 

[BrandyC1974]

Hey. I read your last trip report. It was interesting so I came over for this new trip. I can't wait to see what surprises you have in store for your family. I don't think I could ever do any sort of surprise trip. Both my girls and my self love talking about Disney. I don't think I could not tell them what I have planned. Plus, they are constantly asking me where, what, when, who, and how about our next trip.

I can't wait to read more.

 

[skier_pete]

Can't wait to hear about all your plans!

I'm excited to hear all the splurges!!!!!!

Hey Crissy and Julie and ...thanks for joining me here! I would start to feel lonely without my friends.

I'll get to the updates soon, but actually, it might not sound like a splurge to a couple of ladies that just stayed at the Beach Club and Boardwalk!

 

[skier_pete]

Hey. I read your last trip report. It was interesting so I came over for this new trip. I can't wait to see what surprises you have in store for your family. I don't think I could ever do any sort of surprise trip. Both my girls and my self love talking about Disney. I don't think I could not tell them what I have planned. Plus, they are constantly asking me where, what, when, who, and how about our next trip.

I can't wait to read more.

Hey Brandy! Thanks for joining! I'm kind of excited to share my plans with SOMEONE. I've been keeping it a secret from everyone, even friends, as I don't want it to get back to DW. It's nice to have virtual friends to share this with.

Well, for us, I normally plan 99% of the vacation, and then I just go to my DW with the plans and she says "Sounds good!" She usually has some input as to what restaurants she wants to try and such, and she enjoys talking about the plans. Surprisingly, she so far seems fine with knowing nothing.

DD is only 7 and still too young to be interested in planning. She is starting to grasp a little bit that things happen at certain times at Disney, and you have to plan in order to see those things...but she HAS been the one asking me where we're going. "Please! I promise I won't tell Mommy!" But, she is lousy at secrets, so no hints for her.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Hey Crissy and Julie and ...thanks for joining me here! I would start to feel lonely without my friends.

I'll get to the updates soon, but actually, it might not sound like a splurge to a couple of ladies that just stayed at the Beach Club and Boardwalk!

Remember though, I only get to splurge like that because I get someone else to pay half the bill. On my own I'd be value all the way.

 

[skier_pete]

Remember though, I only get to splurge like that because I get someone else to pay half the bill. On my own I'd be value all the way.

I never thought of that! I guess that does help quite a bit to look at it that way!

 

[skier_pete]

This is only my second PTR - but I'm going to try and tell this as a story, from the beginning to end. I find PTR harder to read that TRs, because they tend to be a bit dry and boring - and this will probably be no different - but thanks to those who stick with me.

The planning for many of our vacations - not just to Disney - often start more than a year in advance. In this case, the idea started shortly after our Disney trip in August, 2008. We had 16 months until our planned December 2009 trip, and I got to thinking about 2010. I knew when DD was old enough I wanted to go for a MNSSHP, and thought 7 would be a good age. I also crunched some numbers, and figured that if we went two times within one year, we could buy APs for our little family. We don't normally HOP - but I did want hopping ability for the December 2009, and once you added hopping, the AP became a cheaper option that two separate multi-day hopping tickets. So that decided the date of October 2010.

The dates were decided like this - we wanted to go as late as possible in the fall, but not so late that we were away for ACTUAL Halloween. Thus, we landed on the week before Halloween - October 16-24. This is actually the SAME week we went in 2006, and also in 2000. Both very good weather- and crowd- wise. (Both weeks started out with travel problems, but we won't go there.)

At the same time in August, 2008...I decided to see if I could allow myself a little extra money for the 2010 trip by paying off the AP in 2009. So, I started socking away money in 2008. I give myself a $100 a week spending cash money budget for miscellaneous things (golf, movies, dinner) and normally, at the end of the week if there is money leftover, I just carry it over to the next week. Well, back then in 2008, I decided that instead, any leftover money at the end of the week would go into a tin as "Disney savings". Some weeks I saved nothing, other weeks $10, other weeks maybe $50. Short story - December 2009, I had save about $850 this way. It was enough to pay for 1/2 the AP, so I applied 1/2 the AP to my 2009 vacation budget and 1/2 from my "Disney Tin". As

Suddenly, the cost of our 2010 Disney trip dropped by $750. As I was starting to think about my plans I thought - "How about a deluxe trip - why not?"

 

[skier_pete]

The real planning for our Disney trips start about a year in advance. I get the calander information off the Disney web-site for October 2009 - and I project that calander to the following year. I find doing this is about 98 % accurate in park hours, and is a great planning tool as opposed to waiting for park hours to come out at the same time as the ADR booking window opens.

It was at this time that I started thinking about where I wanted to stay...could we afford to go deluxe? I looked at the prices and thought - probably not. Even the cheapest of Deluxes run $300 a night - assuming I good get a reasonable discount - say 30% - that would still be more than $200 a night after taxes...really a bit rich for our blood. Looks like it was back to POFQ.

But then I started looking at an alternate - renting DVC. Since there were only the 3 of us, we would only need a DVC studio, and when you look at the points rentals and what it can cost, it's really not too bad. It looked like I could get away with around $170 a night (which would not be taxed on top of it). Suddenly, it wasn't THAT much more than staying at a moderate.

So, if we were going to stay DVC, there would be three places I was most interested in trying - Animal Kingdom (AKV) Wilderness Lodge (WLV) and Beach Club (BCV), the latter mostly for stormalong bay. Well, I knew we'd be coming during Food and Wine festival - and I had read the BCV is almost impossible to get into during F & W. DD absolutely loves animals and I knew she would LOVE AKV, but I really always wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge since ate breakfast at WCC back in 1997. So, I decided I would plan out a split stay at WLV and AKV, with 4 nights each.

As I looked a little closer, I discover that getting a Savannah View room was not a lot more than a standard view - and I figured we just HAD to do that.

So, I started making my trip plans - I structed out the trip from start to finish - with what parks and restaurants we are going to go to each day. In fact - I ended up planning out FOUR trip structures with the following two variables: Friday vs Saturday arrival and MNSSHP on Sunday vs Tuesday. I had the trip all planned out - now I just had to wait until the 11-month window opened to get the DVC points....

 

[skier_pete]

Late November arrived, and I wanted to try and book the AKV portion of the trip. I had decided I wanted to even try for Conceirge Level (CL) - not that I cared so much about the lounge or anything - but I wanted to book the Sunrise Safari - and the ONLY way you can get the Sunrise Safari is if you are staying CL. Well, I quickly found out that if you want to stay CL - you better not book with DVC points. There are only FOUR rooms that are DVC and CL, and they get snapped up by DVC'ers like *THAT*....so PLAN A was out the window. But plan B wasn't much different and, I found someone renting points on the DIS here from AKV, and was able to book that way.

For a Savannah View in October – it costs 14 points per day midweek (Sun-Thurs) and 20 points per day Fri-Sat. I booked a SV room in Jambo house (that’s the name for the main building – whether staying in the hotel or DVC). It cost $11 per point, so for four nights (starting Wednesday Oct 20th through Saturday Oct 24th), it cost me $748, or an average of $187 per night. I figured with the other nights being slightly less at WLV, I would be able to average under my target of $175. When I booked this, I was sooo excited. I so much wanted to tell my family. I remember making the payment for the booking on Thanksgiving day while DW and her mom were in the kitchen cooking.

We were only a few weeks away from our Disney trip, and as part of that trip, we stopped at Animal Kingdom Lodge. As we're looking around and commenting on the beauty and everything - I was commenting to my wife - "Too bad it's so far out of our price range"....knowing that we were already booked to be coming back! I honestly wonder how much she'll slip out when she see's we're staying there. I know DD will be thrilled. (She has already tried to get me to admit that's where we are staying - but I refuse to budge.)

Next up...booking our flights and Plan B falls apart...

 

[If U Had Wings]

How exciting! I got to stay at AKL back in 2003 when Disney bumped us up from POFQ. We all loved it! I think having Savannah view is definitely worth it staying there. My mom and I loved ending our day sitting on the balcony watching the giraffes feed. Your DD is going to love it.

And I just want to say that I'm terribly jealous that you are going to be at Disney on my birthday! I had been planning on being there for my 40th this year, but then they had to go and put the 1/2 at the begining of the month. Sigh. One of these years.

 

[skier_pete]

I next returned to the trip in March, looking at booking our flights. I hadn't booked the first portion at WLV yet, because I still hadn't decided if I would try and fly in on Friday night (10/15) or get our usual Saturday morning flight.

We fly Southwest a lot. Our two main travel destinations of late seem to be Orlando and Phoenix - where my mom and step-dad live - and both have DIRECT flights from Buffalo on Southwest with very reasonable fares. I've learned that you gotta book those fares the hour they open them up to get the best rates. I got $145 round trip for April 2010, and was hoping for something close, so on that day in March when the flights opened up, I was on-line. (I'd actually blocked off time on my calander at work - so no-one could bother me.)

Well, first I went to the arrival flight - if I could fly Friday night for the same price as Saturday morning, we'd stay the extra night. Hallelujah! The flight down I could get on Friday for $114 per person - only about $10 more than a Saturday morning flight. Book it,baby!

Next, the return flight - I really wanted the late Sunday direct return flight - but when I went on Sunday - EVERY FLIGHT was high - like $170 each or higher! Ouch! Well, I though, what about Monday - I'd already paid for Saturday night so I couldn't cut back a day. Monday flights - supercheap - only $103 each, but I couldn't get a direct flight. I actually called DW about this....do we take the extra day? If we stay our last night at a "Value" hotel - it would actually be about $100 CHEAPER to stay another day. Truthfully - that decision wasn't that hard.

So - now we had nine FULL days on this vacation - arrival on Friday 10/15 - leave on Monday 10/25. Our longest Disney vacation EVER - we've never had nine FULL days at Disney.

Now that I knew when I was arriving, I could book the DVC. I again went here on the DIS - and tried to find someone that would take $10 a point - I DID after a few tries - and told him what I wanted. WLV for 5 nights. He came back to be - NOT AVAILABLE!!!! And it wasn't like one of the end nights wasn't available, it was several of the nights.

So - what else is available? Any chance BCV or YCV? Nope - only Old Key West, Saratoga Springs and AKV. Hmmmm....now I had to make a decision...do I (A) book somewhere I don't want? (B) wait to see if WLV opens up or (C) just stay at a Moderate those 5 days? And since I can't talk things out with my better half - I have to decide myself....what to do...what to do.

That's when it struck me - it would only cost about 6 extra points ($60) to stay at AKL - savannah view the WHOLE TRIP. While it wasn't my first choice, I knew no-one in my family - including myself - would be disappointed staying there. So I did it...I booked AKV for another 5 nights - this time only costing $748 for the 5 nights. It brought my average nightly cost down to $176.97. That's a "pre-tax hotel" rate of $157.30 per night. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

The only problem - my plans had been based on staying at WLV first and going to MK and Epcot then, and then switching to AKV mid-way, and focusing the second half of the trip on AK and DHS. I had to now take all four versions of my plan and throw them out. Whoo-hoo! Time to start planning all over again - and I have three weeks to make those plans - because my 180 day ADR window was fast approaching!

Next up - new plans, new plans!!!! (That's probably it for today though...)

 

[skier_pete]

And I just want to say that I'm terribly jealous that you are going to be at Disney on my birthday! I had been planning on being there for my 40th this year, but then they had to go and put the 1/2 at the begining of the month. Sigh. One of these years.

Awww darn! You should've come for your birthday. Who needs more running around when your at Disney? We would've had a celebration dinner! Well, you'll have to let me know the date and I'll tell DW and we'll lift a glass in celebration.

 

[Disneychix]

Awesome deals!! I too am from WNY and we will be going to WDW for some of the same dates. Right now we are staying at SSR but we may switch to the Dolphin. Not too sure yet!

I can't believe you're still keeping the secret from you DW! I would've spilled the beans by now

 

[skier_pete]

Awesome deals!! I too am from WNY and we will be going to WDW for some of the same dates. Right now we are staying at SSR but we may switch to the Dolphin. Not too sure yet!

I can't believe you're still keeping the secret from you DW! I would've spilled the beans by now

Hey there and fellow Western New Yorker! If you run into us at Fantasy Island or something - don't say anything to the wife!

Actually - if any of our day plans overlap and you would like to meet at one of the parks for a bit - I love meeting fellow DISers. I'll be over checking out your TR shortly.

 

[khertz]

We were only a few weeks away from our Disney trip, and as part of that trip, we stopped at Animal Kingdom Lodge. As we're looking around and commenting on the beauty and everything - I was commenting to my wife - "Too bad it's so far out of our price range"....knowing that we were already booked to be coming back! I honestly wonder how much she'll slip out when she see's we're staying there. I know DD will be thrilled. (She has already tried to get me to admit that's where we are staying - but I refuse to budge.)

PLEASE have your camera ready to capture the looks on their faces when they realize you are staying at AKV!!! What a great trip it is going to be for them as the surprises unfold.

That is too bad that it didn't work out for you for WLV. If something opens up, do you think you'll be able to switch? Or is that more of a hassle? I'm not really familiar with DVC and renting points. But a Savannah view room is definitely not a step down from your original plan, so I guess some things still work out great, even if it's not how you imagined things.

Great flight prices, too! And how exciting that it just happened to work out cheaper to stay another day. I definitely don't mind when THAT happens!!

Enjoying the plans so far. I can't wait to hear more of the surprises in store for DW & DD!

 

[skier_pete]

PLEASE have your camera ready to capture the looks on their faces when they realize you are staying at AKV!!! What a great trip it is going to be for them as the surprises unfold.

That is too bad that it didn't work out for you for WLV. If something opens up, do you think you'll be able to switch? Or is that more of a hassle? I'm not really familiar with DVC and renting points. But a Savannah view room is definitely not a step down from your original plan, so I guess some things still work out great, even if it's not how you imagined things.

Great flight prices, too! And how exciting that it just happened to work out cheaper to stay another day. I definitely don't mind when THAT happens!!

Enjoying the plans so far. I can't wait to hear more of the surprises in store for DW & DD!

Hey and mom-to-be! (I just realized I don't know your first name!) I've pretty much resigned myself to no WLV. With renting DVC points, you have to rely on the person who rented you the points to make any changes - and once you've paid them I can imagine some might be resistant to put in a whole lot of helpful effort. So, I didn't think I would pester the guy - especially now I have restructed the trip completely based on AKV. Anyways, once I thought about it and was OK with the increase in cost, I like the idea of a whole week at AKV. We are all big animal fans in our family, not just DD, so this will be a wonderful trip. I hope I can capture the look of surprise on the family's face. I will tell them I've been asked to take a picture. I figure the longest I can hold them off finding out is when we get in line for the Magical Express.

And extra day = I have so far resisted planning ANYTHING that extra day. I am such a planner it is hard to do...but I want to leave it for a "what did we miss" day. We never seem to have those free days. I am trying to plan a lot looser trip with much more time at the resort. This is harrd for me. Maybe partly why I've started thinking to 2011.

 

[Disneychix]

Hey, I just got season tickets to FI so we just may bump into eachother! I'll keep my mouth shut!

 

[skier_pete]

Hey, I just got season tickets to FI so we just may bump into eachother! I'll keep my mouth shut!

Ha! That's too funny. Actually DW and DD have the season tix, I don't...but maybe we'll see you there sometime. June is "bring a guest free", so I go with them a few times this time of year. Should I wear my Lime Green Mickey Head? haha!