[MissMousey]

How did my “Adventures by Disney” vacation turn into a self-guided week in Vermont ?

A few years ago DH and I decided we would love to go on a guided vacation somewhere we wouldn’t normally have the courage to go on our own—out of the country. So in 2007 we decided to bank all of our 2008 Disney Vacation Club points and skip our annual trek to WDW hoping to save up enough points to get at least 3 (out of 4) of us there on points alone. And the timing would work out well because we were going to be getting two new puppies in the spring (when we normally visit WDW) and would need to stay home to raise/train them. We looked into the Adventures by Disney and calculated that we could afford the Costa Rica trip where we would explore the rainforests, animals and take a canopy tour via zip lines. How exciting! I was over the moon about this trip. Everything was working out well. We just had to wait for the new points schedule and dates to be released and then we could book our trip. I keep checking and calling to ask when I could expect them to come out. And finally they came out! But, oh no! Wait, all the points have gone up. The only trips we can now “afford” with our points are right here in the U.S. I can’t believe this! We had already banked our points and they cannot be pulled back. Why is Costa Rica so pricey now? I decided to look up the resorts where we would have stayed and realized that there were a few resorts in Costa Rica that are part of the Interval International exchange group. And so is DVC So I kick into overdrive trying to see what activities can be booked through the resort and therefore would not require a guide. Hmm. Most of the things we wanted to do we could arrange to do ourselves. It certainly wouldn’t be as much fun and it may even be a little scary without a guide, but what the heck! In the fall I called member services and opened a search for a resort in Costa Rica which was just added to Interval’s lineup. They told me it would only cost us less than one year’s allotment of points—it’s sounding even better now as I might be able to fit in another vacation in 2009. So we put in our search request along with the dates we would like to travel. And then the waiting started.