“It's a dangerous thing, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet,
there's no knowing where you'll be swept off to." – Bilbo in “Fellowship of the Ring”
Let’s start off with a little background for this trip, shall we? I’ll just pretend I can hear you agreeing! Originally, I booked a trip for February 2004, but my dad had a stroke in December 2003, so I didn’t want to go away with the possibility that he would pass away while I was gone. I rescheduled my trip for May, and my dad passed away in March, so I decided that May was just too soon. I finally decided to reschedule for early December, so that I could be in the World both for Mousefest and my birthday. If only December weren’t so far away!
The original version of this pre-trip (posted on the DIS-boards) way WAY longer, so feel lucky.
I got an e-mail in August with a pin code for value resorts for $49, so I decided that since I’d had so much bad luck trying to get a trip plan to work, I’d just go against all lucky odds and book my trip on Friday the 13th. I almost waited till 1pm (13:00) to call, but patience has never been my thing, so I called up while I was working. Due to the hurricane (going on while I was calling, of course) , Disney had significantly cut back the number of CM’s working that day, so I was on hold for about half an hour. I danced around and sang along to “Everybody wants to be a cat”, the POTC music (complete with ghostly voice warning “Dead Men Tell No Tales!”), Spoon Full of Sugar, and the Tiki room song, until the lovely Carol Lee answered. Strangely enough, I think that the CM who booked my last trip was called Carol Lee, but I don’t think it was the same one! I gave her my pin # and she quickly found me a room at All Star Music for the 5th of December! The strange thing is that I told her that I’d recently moved, but she didn’t update the computer with my new info! I’m guessing she was a little distracted by the impending weather, though! She also didn’t tell me what my total with tax was, so I had no idea how much my card was charged until I got the confirmation mail a week or so later (sent to the old address, forwarded to the new Casa Crystal). The important thing, however, was that I had my first reservation ready to go!
I like to stay at a value resort on my first night because I usually book my flight through Hotwire, or another cheap online flight service, which means I’m never sure what time I’ll be arriving until I book the flight. Since I usually don’t get in until the evening of the first day, I’m happy with a cheap place to crash for the night! I fell in love with ASMu on my last trip, so back there I go again!
So, next thing you know, it’s Saturday, August 28, and I’m laying by my back door to keep an eye on my cat while she’s outside for a few minutes, so I grab a notebook to sketch out a calendar for my trip. I can’t remember when the Hidden Mickey Hunt led by HM Author is, so I run to the Passporter site to check the Mousefest schedule. Well, while I’m there, I decide to check the boards, starting with the Resort board, and… WHAT? AP Rates are out ALREADY? After a few squeals of delight, and a little dancing around the room, my fingers are dialing the ol’ 407-WDISNEY that we all know and love. I don’t have to hold at all! I don’t think this CM gave her name, but unlike the last one, she DID update my address and phone number, so she gets a cookie! She puts me on hold for a minute while the computer system updates with my new info, and I can’t help but giggle with delight- the first thing of hold music I hear is “There it is, Wendy! Second star to the right and straight on till morning!” This is exciting for me, because my website is called Straight On Till Morning. What a coincidence for that to be the first thing I hear!
After being on hold for about a minute, the CM comes back and says that I can get two nights at WL, Woods View, with AP Rate for $270! This comes out to $134.92/night, which I am pretty sure is the cheapest I have EVER gotten WL! Hooray! Giddy with the joy of reservation making, I ask her to check the Polynesian for the 10th and 11th, and voila! Garden View Poly, two nights for $466. I hesitate for a moment, because I had expected an AP rate of about $210/night, so $466 sounds like a lot. The CM tells me that it’s $209/nt plus tax. Is it just me, or is that a LOT of tax?
This whole “Where I’m Staying!” bit is getting much too long, so I’ll sum it up here!
Arrival Night: ASMu
2 nights at WL
2 nights at PO-FQ
2 nights at the Poly
2 nights at PO-R
The only other things I needed to do pre-trip were schedule the two tours I wanted to do (Wild by Design and Hidden Treasures of the World Showcase), which was easy as pie. A few weeks before leaving, I read Delswife’s post on the Theme Park board about her upcoming trip, so I decided to buy MVMCP tickets so that I could meet her clan. After watching airfare that seemed way too high for weeks, it finally dipped down to a reasonable amount, and so a week before my trip, I bought my airfare, and was finally ready to go!
Will I actually make it there in one piece? Find out soon!