[jhoshowski]

I started sending Fred links to hotel descriptions and pictures at work. Thank goodness for All Ears Net! It didn’t take us long to decide that we wanted to go with a moderate hotel. We would love to do a deluxe (Fred is a bit of a hotel snob), but the budget wouldn’t allow for it. After lots of review and discussion, we agreed on the Caribbean Beach Resort. I contacted a former employee of mine, and had her book us October 20 – 28 (got that extra day in there) with nine day park hoppers and the meal plan. We decided to pay extra for a preferred room location. I don’t like the idea of have a long walk between our room and the food court, so this was a necessity for us.

Well, not long after that I found my wonderful Passporter friends. I became an active member of the boards, sharing what knowledge I have, and learning lots more in return. One thing I learned – everyone seems to love Port Orleans French Quarter. And although I wasn’t reading anything BAD about CBR, it didn’t exactly seem overly popular. So, I went on All Ears Net to read the reader reviews. CBR was rated the LOWEST of the moderates. EEKK! A frantic phone call to Fred later (which included the usual “whatever you want, honey”), I had changed our hotel. Since a preferred room location was no longer an issue, that put money back in our pockets. All set, right? Well, not exactly.

Umm . . Meap testing would be going on at school when we were scheduled to be at Walt Disney World. You know, important state testing stuff. And I started hearing the rumblings about free dining. So, I grabbed the calendar. My family had planned for WDW in late September, and my parents are supposed to dog sit for us. Fred wants to go to MNSSHP – he says if he can’t, we aren’t going to WDW. Quick calculations led me to the dates September 8 – 17. Another e-mail to Mistie at AAA (sorry, Mistie)! Bonus – this puts us in value season instead of regular. More money in the pocket! Now we are at 180 days – so I jump on the phone and get our ADRs taken care of.

Finally, all set, right? Right? Well, I am a worrier by nature. I knew that Disney Visa cardholders got a jump on the free dining. And why don’t I have a Disney Visa, I am asking myself. So, what do I do? I get one. I sit and PRAY that it will come in the mail before free dining is offered, and it does. I send an e-mail to Mistie so that I can cancel my package and rebook, putting the deposit on the Disney Visa. I get a response that Mistie is out indefinitely – her father is dying. I quickly go on the Disney website, book a new package using the Disney Visa, and then call and cancel my package with AAA. Then I wait.

The day that free dining is offered, I am hunched in front of the computed, surfing the boards with way more people than would normally be there at 6:30 AM. I start dialing at 6:50. Hit redial. “Sorry we are not open”. Hit redial. “Sorry we are not open”. Hit redial. “We are experiencing unusually large call volumes. . .”. I held for about 20 minutes, and apparently, I was one of the lucky ones. I read horror stories on some boards of people who held for HOURS. Finally, all of our ducks were in a row. We were going to Disney World.

Up next, okay, we are just changing one more thing, I swear. . .