What else could go wrong with my WDW plans :(

[jaw62901]

I swear I must be cursed or something. Everytime one problem with my Dec trip gets solved another one arises.

To make a long story short, On Thursday I had to go to one of those Emergency Care places and was told that I had really bad respitory infection, very bad bronchitis and very bad dehydration from being sick . They had to give me 2.5 bags of IV fluids to re hydrate me. I got a fever this morning and had to go back and have them give me a couple of anti-biotic shots to work against the infection. The doctor thinks that by me coming in when I did, it prevented it from becoming walking namonia.

This is one of those unexpected expenses that you don't think will happen when you sit down to form a budget for a trip.

Since this is the case, I am probably going to have to pay $500-$1000 to the 2 doctors visits, tests and medications, it looks like I will need to down grade for this trip from the Swan to a value resort (AS-Sports) or possible stay at CBR if I want to go at all.

I am really disipointed since I have been plaining this since March and makes me want to start crying. Thank goodness this is a solo trip and I only have to worry about my plans.

I am interested to find out what you would do? I still want to go, but will it be worth it having to stay at a non luxury resort. I have heard mixed reviews on these and was wondering if I should just take the hit on the airfare and plan it for 2004 or keep the plans and stay at either CBR or AS-Sports. I haven't been since 1980 when I was 6 and was trying to go all out with my reservation and plans.

I know that package deals also get mixed reviews, but I can stay at CBR everything included (food, tickets, tours, etc) for $3000 or $2500 at AS-Sports.

I can do either one of these, and want to find out what you guys think.

Thanks,

 

[HunnyPots]

Here's my opinion, for what it's worth: "Things" will always come up! There will always be illness, car repairs, home repairs, etc. If you cancel this trip and reschedule, another "thing" is bound to come up next time, as well.

Pay off your hospital bills and plan your trip with a budget you can afford. Budget for those "things" that happen, too. Don't plan a trip that will drain your savings dry.

There is nothing wrong with staying at a lower priced hotel. How much time do you plan to spend in that luxury room, anyway?

 

[palmtreegirl]

Before you change any plans go over to the Budget board here on Dis. They're wiz's at planning on a budget and I'm sure they'll be able to help you out with lots of great advice!

http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=22

I hope your luck turns around for you real soon!! (((HUGS)))

 

[diznee25]

I am interested to find out what you would do?

I would go and stay at CBR and if that wasn't in my budget, as a last resort I'd stay at AS-Sports. But I wouldn't cancel my trip if it was already planned!!! That would be too devestating.

BTW, I know what you're going thru with Emergi Care. I had to go to one a few years ago for a serious condition, and it ended up costing me a lot of money!! I'm sorry that it is costly for you, but I do hope you feel better.

Diznee25

 

[yecats]

First week of Dec. 2001, I was supposed to go on my first solo trip to WDW. Had it all planned. The week before I was supposed to go I got sick after returning home from a long work trip (3 weeks away from home). I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia which went into the first 3 days of my trip. Luckily a family member cancelled everything on time for me and all my money was refunded. I was so disappointed and depressed sleeping in that hospital bed and thinking I should've been in Disney.

Look into your options. Have you thought about purchasing Annual Passes (and attempting to get those deep resort discounts). Are you willing to use Priceline and attempt to stay at a resort hotel right off of property or at least in DTD. If you are interested in Priceline, check out its sister site biddingfortravel.com. Scroll down the initial screen until you see FL - WDW and click on it. Many people bid and win $60-$65 a night for Wyndham and Hilton in DTD. Occasionally, Swan and Dolphin pop up around $70 -$75 a night. However, the clue is that when you bid at the resort level, you have to be willing to take whatever resort accepts the bid. Make sure that you read all that you can on that site. Hotwire works almost the same way for bidding.

I encourage you to take some sort of vacation even if it is a smaller less expensive one. Things will get better. Get well soon.

 

[jaysue]

Jason, I hope you are feeling better - bummer on the illness. I would not jump the gun on changing your plans yet - wait a couple of weeks to put it into perspective.

All the WDW resorts are reasonably nice places and I do not think you will be disappointed by any of them.

If I were going by myself and staying at a moderate as an adult I would go to CSR as it has the most adult atmosphere and a great pool.

But, wait a couple of weeks, let this thing pass and then you will have a clearer perspective

In the meantime, best wishes on feeling better

thanks
Jason

 

[cindyfan]

Great advise to check out the Budget boards!!
They have saved me lots of money.

Is your flight included in your price too? Is this a package deal with a travel agent?
If you break everything down and price things out yourself...that really saves a lot!
Also, do you really need tours, etc.?
You should be able to find some kind of resort discount by just watching these boards!

You still have plenty of time to figure out how to work with a tighter budget!

BTW.....CBR is awesome!!! I think you would be very happy no matter if you choose CBR or All Star!!

 

[Lexxiefern]

I think you will definately have a great time at any of Disney's resorts. Also, I am big into purchasing all the trip components separately. We took a trip in Nov 2001 to Port Orleans Riverside. It cost us $2400 for 2 people for 7 days. When we got home from that trip I really started to search online and found mousesavers.com. I realized that for my $2400 we could have stayed at a deluxe like the Beach Club!! So now I purchase everything separately. (this past january we stayed 3 nights at the Boardwalk Inn and 4 nights at the grand floridian for $2300! These totals include hotel, passes, airfare and rental car or transfers - and this last trip also included an extra airline ticket for our 2 year old)

Don't cancel!! Downgrade and then search online and see if you can get it cheaper! Good luck

 

[BethC1952]

WDW is WDW, whether you're in the most expensive suite at the Grand Floridian or in a tent at Fort Wilderness. The magic exists everywhere.

For the first time in all my Disney trips, I can afford to stay at a deluxe if I want to for the whole trip. It isn't worth it to me. We're splitting our stay among Port Orleans Riverside (5 nights) and All Star Music (3 nights) and Pop Century (2 nights). I can stay longer because I'm not spending all that money on a room. And the extra money? Hmmm---souvenirs, tours, etc. It's still going to be an expensive trip, since I'll have my 3 year old granddaughter with me, but this way I have lots more money to spend on her!

Beth

 

[PugLover]

I am very sorry to hear you were so ill, how frightening!

This is not really resort related, more regarding your bill from the emergency care center. DH and I have excellent health insurance however in April we went to Hilton Head, SC for a vacation. The third day we were there I woke up and couldnt feel my leg from my knee down. I was terrified. I called my dr. in NY and she said get to an emergency care clinic ASAP. There were 3 clinics near where we were staying and NONE of them took my insurance. At that point it didnt matter, I needed medical care one way or the other.

The bill was enormous (x-rays, MRI's and the like) and it turned out I had a pinched nerve in my neck, hence me not feeling my leg. The clinic allowed me to be billed at 1.5% interest on a 6 month payment plan until my obligation was met. Perhaps your clinic offers a low interest paymnt plan? Worth checking into, especially if this bill will really play havoc on your budget (trip or not). The clinic may be more flexible with this sort of payment plan if you offer to set up all the payments at one time, to be auto debited from a checking account over several months. That way the can be sure they will get their funds on time, as promised. Another option would be to take advantage of the many 0% interest credit card offers floating around, pay your medical bills with the card and pay it off, interest free, before the promo rate ends. You have to be very disciplined to do this but it can be done.

Also keep in mind if your out of pocket medical expenses exceed a certain percent of your income you may be eligible for a tax break. Keep all those receipts!

Hope your on the path to recovery!

 

[DEH3rd]

as Igor says in young frankenstein...."It could be worse.....It could be raining...." (cue storm clouds)

 

[jaw62901]

Thank you guys so much for the well wishes of my recovery that makes me . Thank goodness that I work at a place that gives paid sick time.

I guess I forgot to mention that emergency care I went to does take my insurance and after the $100 deductable they cover 80%. I know that with the 2 doctors visits, the IV's,the x-rays the tests, medications, anti-biotic shots, etc it will be atleast $500 comming out of my pocket. The Doctor told me to be very careful after I go back to work, who I am around. It will take a couple of weeks for my amune system to get back to 100% and if someone is sick I will likely catch what they got .

To the WDW stuff. You guys once again where really helpful with my plans. The fact that I probably won't be spending alot of time at the resort is a plus, but the idea of being able to go back and rest is also a plus.

I will take your advice and think about it for a couple of weeks, wait till insurance pays what they are going to and then take it from there. It is not like I am going next week. I have 8 months before I go and enough time to adjust my budget to compensate for this.

However, if anyone has any good ideas of a place for a solo traveler to stay that I would enjoy please either post it here or send me an e-mail at wombjas@aol.com

Thanks,

 

[momof2inPA]

Have you checked with the airline about changing your flight? Many will only charge a set fee, $75 or $100, so you could push back your vacation and not lose your entire airfare.

 

[Kallison]

When we were first married Dh and I were on a tight budget. We took a monthlong cross country trip and went to Disneyland. 5 months later our friend as spending a prolonged business trip in Orlando and we had a free place to stay. We didn't have the extra cash for airfare or tickets but I whined and pleaded. We went, I remember the trip being over $1K for the week and we didn't buy one souveneir and ate cheaply!! That was 15 years ago and I remember that trip like yesterday. I don't remember being short on cash afterwards. Like another poster said something will always come up, go and have a good time. Can you make up a little extra cash with a yard sale or selling on Ebay? I hope you work it out.

 

[jaw62901]

momof2inPA,

I got my $181.50 airfare from Chicago (ohare) to Orlando 4 weeks ago on expedia since it was such a bargin for Dec 26 to Jan 3. It does say that I can cancel for a $75 fee plus what ever the difference would be in price for a different time.

I had put in for this vacation time last November of 02, and unless something happens like if I get sick like this again (knock on wood

), then I am going, but just not going to stay at as nice of a place as I was going to originally. I am sure that nothing is wrong with CSR, CBR or even AS-Sports.

Thanks for your advice,

 

[Trinity721]

Don't get discouraged. At least you have your health now, and you're getting better. That is most important. I wouldn't cancel your trip, it's in December which is still several months off and you have time to financially get back on your feet. Keep your plans for the CBR, and if you can't fit that in your budget get AllSp. And if worst comes to worst, stay offsite... it won't be a total loss and there are a lot of cons for staying offsite. You'll still be near the Magic, and besides being at the parks is what you're there for above all.

I hope you get better soon, and definitely follow doctors orders. Wash your hands a lot, and maybe encourage the people who are around you a lot to do the same. Your immune system is probably very sensitive right now. And good thing you don't have walking pneumonia, because my friend had that once and it really slowed her down. Good luck and let us know how it works out!

 

[*Fantasia*]

I would rather down grade rather than not go at all. I would pay the bill first, this way when you get back from Disney, you're not coming back to any huge bills.

 

[jaw62901]

I know that I have said this over and over, but thanks again for your support. It really stinks (cleaned up) when your plans start to go south because you get very sick.

Since I am going in December, my medical bills will be paid off way before that. I also want to have my vacation taken care of before I go, so that I won't have to pay for that either when I get home .

I think that my insurance should cover alot of the expense, but not all of it.

I am sure that I will have a great time even if I down grade to CBR or CSR. I know that there isn't anything wrong with the All-Star resorts and if I have a choice between no trip and staying at a value resort I will stay at a value resort. I really don't want to stay offsite because I will not have a car and I have heard bad stories about offsite hotel transportation to the parks being owful.

Thanks,

 

[Donnainnj]

Jason,
I would try CSR as a single. The food is a little more adult in the "food court" . The pool is great, and I have heard more then one adult praise the slide. Room service is more available here then the other moderates.
Keep up the mending and enjoy your trip.