Participants
Me - Steve (52, God, it hurts to say that. Wasn't it just last week I was complaining about turning 50?), the planner, tour guide, official photographer, all-around great guy and Disney veteran. Director at an IT Consulting firm. DVC member.
Barb (40+), my better half (maybe ¾). Also a Disney vet but tends to forget things we've done there (or haven't done)
Michelle (26), Steve & Barb's daughter. Veteran of several WDW trips.
Stephen (16), Steve & Barb's son. Veteran of several (plus a couple) WDW trips. Has been there almost every year since he was 4.
Will (23), Michelle's boyfriend and WDW first-timer.

February 2-9 at the Boardwalk Villas Resort (BWVR).

Planning

Caveat - I've been accused of being somewhat anal-compulsive. I must admit there's some truth in that. I like things neat, orderly, and planned. Surprises are fine as long as they're not negative and kept to the bare minimum. I can also be somewhat prolific - attested to by those with the endurance to read last year's trip report. That said, if you're looking for a quick and easy, summary style report please move on. If, however, you enjoy visiting WDW vicariously and would enjoy immersing yourself in the finer details, sit back, put your feet up, grab a favorite beverage and read on.

For those that had the stamina to read last year's trip report, you know that we made the January 2001 trip with 12 people (Barb and I and our 3 children, my 85 year-old father who made his first airplane trip of any kind, and our friends, the Goergens, and their brood). I sub-titled the report "The Dirty Dozen Do Disney". Surprisingly, that trip came off (almost) without a hitch and we all had a predictably great time. I'm thinking of subtitling this report "The Filthy Five" but may see some objections. For those masochists who might like a peek at last year's tome, it can be found here.

Also, because I tend to repeat myself and will undoubtedly be referring to last year's report, I've decided on a new acronym, FTWRLYR (For those who read last year's report).

MARCH to MAY 2001 - The planning for this trip started almost immediately after the last one. We expected it to be just Barb, Stephen and me - the typical trip - and began by choosing the dates. We settled on February 2-9 to avoid school holidays and because our first choice, January, was impossible due to Stephen's school schedule of exams, etc. Being DVC members, we booked a 1 BR villa at BWVR, our home resort. Our other daughter, Stephanie, declined - feeling that she would graduate college in December and by February would either be actively pursuing a job or have already started her long career in journalism. Either way she wouldn't be able to afford the time off. My Dad, Pop, also declined - basically saying he's "been there, done that". Pretty aloof for an 86 year-old, don'tcha think? The Goergen's had their own trip planned for January.

In April, Michelle indicated that she and Will might like to go with us. This didn't pan out as Will was reluctant to vacation without his Mom, who had been badgering him to vacation with her. By late April, Will had discovered that his mom was OK with it so he and Michelle were in. I tried to change reservations to a 2BR villa and then things got complicated. Over the next 6 weeks, we had various changes that would include moving from BWVR to Old Key West (OKW), in various room sizes, etc. One of the issues was that I was too short on DVC points to book a 2 BR for the entire week.

We settled (finally) on spending the first 2 nights at the Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR) (one of our favorite resorts despite what Ron Ng says on RADP) and moving to a 2BR at BVR on Monday. I laid out a very tentative schedule for the week and called and booked the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue (HDD) for Wednesday night. It's a favorite show and we don't do it every trip but we figured it was Will's first time so why not? We usually don't book dinner reservations in advance because we like to do this on a whim and have never had a problem getting what we wanted while there. The last step was airfare. We had enough Frequent Flyer miles with USAirways for free tickets for Barb and I. I booked all 5 on Metrojet, which offers non-stop Albany to Orlando service ($204 per ticket). It's May and we're all set - nothing to do now but wait.

SEPTEMBER to NOVEMBER 2001 - Then came the tragedy of September 11. I won't dwell here but suffice it to say; everyone's life was affected. Over the next couple of months, the world changed. Travel plans were being cancelled at alarming rates, tourism suffered tremendously; cutbacks everywhere (including WDW) were the norm. I don't think there was ever a question of us going but there would be changes. USAirways dropped its Metrojet service so our tickets were changed and we now had connections through Pittsburgh (going) and Philadelphia (coming). Same price. This is not a serious issue but, if you've ever flown out of the Northeast in February, you know that every connection adds a possible problem due to the unpredictability of winter weather. Several years ago, we checked into the AllStar Sports at 3:30 AM!!! - due to ice in Washington, DC. See what I mean?

I used some Marriott Rewards points to get 5 passes for Universal's Islands of Adventure (IOA). We've been to Universal several times but never to IOA. The kids wanted the coasters and I had heard so much about Spiderman (the best ride in Orlando?) that we wanted to spend a day there.

We decided on Annual Passes for Barb, Stephen and me (a first). We figured that we could make next year's trip in December or January and get 2 trips on the passes. Two trips to the Disney Store and we had 3 APs ($354 each with the Disneyclub card). Based on my loose schedule, and the fact we'd be at IOA for one day, we figured Michelle and Will would need 6-day Park Hoppers and would buy them ($278 each with DC discount) in December to avoid an expected January price hike. This would also include a couple of Pleasure Island (PI) entries for them; Barb, Stephen, and I had a couple of PI entries left on last year's Hopper passes so we were set for the Comedy Warehouse.

JANUARY 2002 - Over the last several months, I've waffled on whether to rent a car or not. Last year we used Tiffany Town Car and were extremely pleased. This year, we had the IOA trip to consider plus I want to make a grocery run when we check into BWVR. I also suspected that a car would make our resort move a little more palatable. I shopped prices and went through a series of reservations and cancellations with National, Dollar, and Avis. At one time I had settled on Tiffany Town Car (TTC) along with a 2-day SUV rental from National at the Dolphin.

Then mousesavers.com came through with a code for a $189.99 weekly rate for a minivan with Dollar. Done. BTW, it you've ever rented a car at MCO you know that, after taxes, airport access fees, refueling, etc. the $189.99 will approximate the GNP of Argentina.

MID-JANUARY 2002 - I'd been calling CRO on a regular basis inquiring about AP discounts for a 2BR Villa at BWVR for our first 2 days. Nothing available and if it was, it would be expensive. They did have a 2BR at OKW but that would still involve a move and we really like the BW. Then on January 14, I called CRO and they had a 2BR available at BWVR with an AP rate ($319 per night). Done. I requested a continuous stay (same room) and then called DVC and did the same - hopefully this will work out. Now we have the entire trip in one room (hopefully) at the BWVR. No moves, no hassles, etc. Next question - do I need the rental car?

Probably not. I cancelled what must be my 14th rental car reservation and called Tiffany. I reserved a van (5 people plus luggage is more than a Town Car can handle comfortably, IMO) from the airport to BWVR ($90 round trip minus the $5 coupon from their web site) and a van to take us to IOA on Tuesday ($60 round trip). This will save me about $110 over the Dollar deal and helps me justify the additional cost of the BWVR over CBR (as if I needed to).

I updated our agenda and decided that we're (finally) all set. The plan looks like:
Saturday February 2 - Fly in, groceries, check-in to BWVR, Epcot
Sunday February 3 - MK, Super Bowl, Pleasure Island (?)
Monday February 4 - MGM, MK
Tuesday February 5 - Islands of Adventure, Pleasure Island
Wednesday February 6 - AK, Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
Thursday February 7 - MK, MGM (Fantasmic)
Friday February 8 - MGM, MK or Epcot
Saturday February 9 - Shopping at Downtown Disney (DD) and travel home

We're not commandos but we do tour with a purpose. We get to a park at opening so we can hit the bigger attractions without waiting. Each afternoon is free for lounging by the pool, visiting other resorts, going to a park, whatever you feel like. Typically, we're back at a park by 4-5:00 as most of the day's crowd is exiting, and looking weary. The plan is only there as a guide to ensure we do the things we want to do. It can, and will, change on the fly to accommodate circumstances and whims.

There are also several things that we'd like to do that are not on the schedule but we'll try to work them in as time permits. I'd like to get a look at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL) with a meal at Boma's; Stephen wants to eat at Wolfgang Puck's; and we'd like to view the villas at the Wilderness Lodge. We'll see.

FTWRLYR, you know that last year we acquired our first dog, a Black Lab named Gunnar. It was very traumatic, especially for Barb, to leave him with a kennel last year. She cried when dropping him off but, then again, she cries at everything. We investigated a new kennel this year that offers something called "Pampered Pet" service. For those with pets, you may know of this type of thing, but it was a complete shock to me. Your dog gets his own room with a bed (spring and mattress), a TV with cable tuned to the Animal Planet, a closed circuit TV camera in the room, and a door to his private outdoor area (used for the obvious). I was dumbfounded! I'll be staying at the BWVR while Gunnar enjoys Grand Floridian ambience!

As we left the kennel after the tour, I glanced at Barb and - you guessed it - she was crying. This made the decision easier. Gunnar would stay with Steph for the week. Steph asked for time-off from her waitressing job and we'd give her the money we would have spent on the kennel to offset her loss of earnings from waitressing. Phew!

Friday February 1

Earlier in the week (Tuesday), I faxed a request to the Room Assignor at the BWVR. I politely asked for the continuous reservation and, if possible, an upgraded view. I noted that a had only reserved a Standard view, and realized a BW view was probably out of the question, but if there was a lagoon view available, I'd love it.

I left work early (around 2:00) and hustled home to scrape the driveway. From Thursday night through Friday morning we received 2-3 inches of snow followed by ice and sleet. For anyone who lives in cold weather, you know what this is like. I was shoveling 2 inches of ice that was covered by slush and water. Very heavy and back breaking work.

We finished some last minute packing and set the alarms for 3:00 AM!!! The flight leaves at 6:55. We need to be there 2 hours early so that's 4:55, which means we leave home at around 4:20. Thus, a 3:00 AM wake-up. Sheesh! The things we do.

Day 1...

 

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