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Participants
• Me – Steve - Disney fanatic and a DVC member. Planner,
financier, luggage hauler and your humble narrator
• Barb – my bride and fellow WDW traveler.
• Michelle – Daughter #1. WDW vet.
• Will – Michelle’s husband and our #1 Son-In-Law
(so far). One trip, with us, in 2002.
• Stephanie – Daughter #1A. WDW vet.
• Stephen – Number One Son. WDW vet.
Boardwalk Villas Resort
Planning
Our last ‘full family’ trip was in 2001 so we figured
it was time. Michelle and Will came with us on a trip in February
2002. Stephen was with us for the 2002 trip as well as a trip in
January 2003. He’s also taken trips in May and August 2004
with his girlfriend and her family. He’s really getting use
of the Annual Pass we bought for him in May. Barb and I have taken
an additional three trips either solo or with friends. Stephanie
has attended once since 2001 – a short business trip where
she only had time for one evening at the Studios. This was a private
affair with limited open attractions – but she did sprain
an ankle while running for a ride on Tower of Terror. She’s
her father’s daughter.
In February, we booked a 2-BR villa at BWVR. In late summer, I
started scouting out airlines. We typically try for Southwest because
they offer the only non-stop flights between Albany and Orlando.
In mid-year, US Airways initiated non-stop flights on Saturdays
so I checked with their web site and snagged 6 seats at $215 per.
Southwest had cost Barb and me $247 each for our trip in November
2004. The only potential glitch came when US Airways again filed
for bankruptcy protection. I read a number of articles speculating
on the outcome – none of them painted a rosy picture –
but, it appeared they wouldn’t expect any serious cutbacks
in schedule or services until mid-February. We hoped for the best.
We had a brief planning session in October. The intent was to lay
out a loose schedule so the ‘kids’ could buy Park Hoppers
in advance. Stephen had his AP from May; Barb and I had APs from
our trip in November. Stephanie, Michelle and Will would need PHs.
We decided we would spend one day at Universal and may attempt to
hit both parks (USF and IOA) the same day. I’ve heard of a
1-day hopper that is only available at the gate. We’ll see.
We figured we’d take one day of ‘down time’ (no
parks) so it appeared that 5-day PHs would do the trick.
I thought we’d like to try the Illuminations Cruise. In 2001,
we had taken the Fireworks Cruise at MK and enjoyed that so…
I vowed to call at 7:00 AM at our 90-day window and try to book
one. On the first day (a Saturday), I forgot completely. D’oh!
On the second day, I remembered at around 9:00 AM (even though I
was up well in advance of 7:00) and learned they were already booked.
Double d’oh! On day three, I called at 6:59, got through the
menus quickly, and booked our cruise for January 10.
As we got closer to the trip, it was interesting to see the anticipation
levels. Michelle, in particular, was ‘chomping at the bit’.
She was really looking forward to the trip and couldn’t wait
to go. Stephen was also anxious, but Steph seemed somewhat indifferent
- neither up nor down. We’ll see if her attitude changes as
we get closer.
About 60 days out, I called to make several dinner PSs –
Teppanyaki, Boma, and the Liberty Tree Tavern. As she was booking
the first one, the very nice CM asked me if we had any birthdays.
I started to say “No” but then remembered that Stephanie’s
was coming up soon. On our very first trip to WDW, we flew down
on Steph’s 5th birthday. While you may think that a trip to
WDW is a great birthday present for a 5 year old, I don’t
recall us doing anything special to commemorate the day. We didn’t
even visit the parks until day two. Not only did the CM note the
birthday on all the PSs but she also arranged to have something
waiting for Steph in our room upon check-in (Don’t hate me.
Steph’s birthday is just a few weeks away). I thanked her
profusely for being so nice and she said “I love doing things
like this”. Steph may kill me but it will be worth it. It
may take me 21 years to deliver on a birthday, but I get it done.
On December 2, the bomb fell. Disney announced the new ticket plan
– Magic Your Way. I caught wind of it when I checked RADP
after work and then visited MouseSavers and AllEarsNet to get details.
It seemed very confusing at first but, as I got into it, I realized
that Michelle, Stephanie and Will would be able to purchase the
equivalent of 7-day Park Hoppers (without the no-expiration feature)
for less than they would have paid for the 5-day PH. It seems unlike
Disney to essentially drop prices like this but who am I to argue?
With a week to go we had our traditional ‘pizza party’
to handle last minute details. I had read some less than favorable
reviews on Teppanyaki, especially since their menu change, and…
the Jets (my team) would be in a playoff game on Saturday night,
when we were booked for Teppanyaki, so I called and changed that
PS to Monday at the Cape May Cafe. We made a few last minute scheduling
changes to allow for the Jets game, and the addition of Extra Magic
Hour (EMH) evenings. We’re almost ready.
I haven’t rented a car since our trip in 2000 – we’ve
been using Tiffany with great success. However, we wanted to make
the Universal trip and Tiffany’s had a price increase. It
would cost $110 RT for a van to/from the airport and another $70
RT to Universal. Add on tips and you’re over $200. I used
a code I got from Disney Visa and booked a minivan through National
for $230 after taxes and other charges. I did a check on MouseSavers
and found another code that dropped this to $190 – thanks
MouseSavers.
On our trip in November, Barb and I were surprised that it cost
us $55 to park at the airport for 6 days. The rates there seem to
be going up frequently and considerably. We would need to park 2
cars so we’re talking $110 or more for the week. I scouted
around and found a local shuttle service that will run us round
trip from my house to the airport for $75. We’ve never used
this service before and I’m a tad nervous… they need
to pick us up at 6:00 AM. We’ll see.
On January 2, Michelle called the Disney Store and was told that
they were selling the Magic Your Way tickets. She and Stephanie
went there but found that there was a ‘glitch’ in the
system and they were not able to buy their passes. Steph stopped
back on Monday, January 3, and the glitch was still there. I should
point out here that Steph’s excitement level has increased
quite a bit as we get closer to the trip.
I know, from experience, that the one thing you really can’t
plan is the weather. Particularly, in January. I’ve checked
Accuweather and, I know you can’t rely on an extended forecast
but, the highs for our week range from 78-82 degrees with no forecasted
precipitation. My fingers and toes are crossed.
The last week dragged by as we attended to those last minute details:
buy film; stop the newspaper and mail, etc. Barb has the task of
dropping Gunnar at the kennel on Friday afternoon and she’s
trying to enlist assistance because she knows she’ll be sobbing
uncontrollably when she leaves him. As it turned out, Stephen was
probably more distraught.
Day 1...
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