Three strikes & you're out trip! 6/6-6/11/06 Updated 7/11 Day 6 Complete! About This Page:

[poohsgirl]

<font color="red"> Destination : WDW

Date : June 6th – June 11th 2006

Adventurers : Me (35) 12th trip, DS: Joey(14) 5th trip, The Havens : DFH: DearFriend Heidi (40ish), DFT: DearFriend Troy DFH’s Husband (40ish), DFD: DearFriend Dusty daughter #1 (15), DFS: DearFriend Stormy daughter #2(14)

Resort/Hotel : DFs are DVC members &amp; they are splitting their stay : WLV 6/4-6/8, SSR 6/8-6/12 &amp; going on to Vero Beach 6/12-6/15.
Joey &amp; I are staying at POFQ for the first time!

Celebration : Spending time together @our favorite place.

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Weird title, you say, it’ll become clear in time. I’ll be using baseball terminology; don’t worry if you aren’t a fan, you’ll understand! There were also a few homeruns, so stick with it.

Let me give you a little background on how this trip came about:
Let’s travel back in time, to August 2004. I’d planned a whopper of a trip to try and Disney-fy Joey (then 12 years old). DS has been to Disney a few times, but isn't a big fan. My younger sister, then 19 was to join us, but because of the impending hurricane (yes, we got stuck in Frances) my dad made her cancel. So it was just DS &amp; me. Not the ideal vacation for a pre-teen boy, at least not for my son.He does not want to hang with only mom! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

So, I did things that I knew he'd like. I took him to PI to catch a Comedy Warehouse show, because he loves "Who’s Line Is It Anyway". As fate would have it there was a very friendly teen, DFD, in front of us and she made conversation with us while we were in line. We had such a good time talking that we sat with her &amp; DFH her mom, during the show and ended up closing PI @2a.m. Long story short, we became fast friends and DS &amp; I spent Spring Break of 2005 in Colorado with them. We always knew we’d have to go to WDW together, since our previous time had been cut short by Frances , for more details see 2004 Trip Report (Yes, a shameless plug! )

We planned it for 2006. In the meantime, my little sister decided to study in Spain for a semester and my other sister &amp; I promised to visit her in Spring of 2006. In May of 2005, I went on the Infamous Girl’s Only (except for Bagman) Trip to Disney and became fast friends with Lynn, who was planning her 40th Birthday at WDW for 2006. I really didn’t think that our trip with The Havens’ would be smack dab in the middle of the other 2 trips, but that’s how it worked out. I couldn’t tell Joey that we wouldn’t be able to see our friends; due to the other trips I’d planned, because that wouldn’t have been fair to him. So I sacrificed &amp; budgeted to get us there for the beginning of June, when the Havens’ would be @WDW. School would be out in Colorado, but not in NYC, so I also made the decision to have DS miss a few days of school. We’d leave on an afternoon flight on Tuesday June 6th so that he wouldn’t miss the day and return late on Sunday June 11th, to have as much time with our friends as possible. It would be tough getting up the following day for school &amp; work, but we’d sacrifice it.

I bought a 5-day hopper with the no expiration option &amp; waterpark &amp; more option for DS. I renewed my annual pass that expired in May of 2006. It was a hefty sum, but I scraped it together.

In several phone calls with DFH, we’d planned on a day at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure (I still had tickets from 2004), a day at a waterpark and some time at Disney Quest (I also had unused tickets for this).

I’d asked DFH to see about booking a minivan &amp; I’d pay the difference in price, so that if we chose to drive somewhere we’d all fit.

About 3 months out, DFH calls to say that the rental of a minivan would be too much, so they went ahead and rented an economy. This is the first curve ball thrown, but it wasn’t a strike, because I was strapped for cash so this saved me money. Around this time she also informed me that they don’t plan anything, they just wing it. This was a cutter folks, as I am a planner and we were going at the beginning of summer crowds, but it still wasn’t a strike. I thought to myself that it would be a new experience and we’d still be enjoying eachother’s company.

About 2 months out I called to see if they’d purchased their park passes, to which the answer was no. They still didn’t know how many days they wanted to purchase. I asked DFH if she knew of the DVC discount on annual passes and she said [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] Okay, I say why don’t you call your DVC rep and ask how much of a discount it would be and it may just be worth it as opposed to getting a 4 or 5-day pass. She assures me that she’ll look into it.

1 week out and they still haven’t bought passes and have not looked into the DVC discounted annual pass.

Breathe Angie….Breathe….

UP NEXT: Strike one!
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[Eeyoresmom]

Great start Angie! Can't wait to hear more!

That would be my biggest fear about going with someone else - not being able to plan.

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple"> <u>Strike one</u>

On June 2nd, two days before they were headed to WDW, DFH calls to say that everyone is so excited to be going back and to get to see us again [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/applause.gif[/img] She also mentions that they have decided against going to Universal for a day, because with 4 disney parks to see and visiting a waterpark and Disney Quest, it wouldn’t allow much down time. They like to relax and enjoy the pool.
She did put up a good argument, but to make this decision or informing me of it so close to the trip, was definitely a strike.
She went on to say, that Joey &amp; I could still go, to which I replied that #1 we wanted to spend our time with them (read as Joey wouldn’t want to go without the girls) and #2 I’d have to get transportation to &amp; from the park.

Joey was a bit disappointed but not enough to go with just his mom! So I still have 2 unused 2 day 2 park passes for USF. I wonder if they expire?


<u>The Havens’ arrive Sunday June 4th</u>

They were flying in from Colorado and arriving very late on Sunday. DFH said they would probably just do some food shopping and hang by the pool, so that we could tour the parks together. Awe , okay that was very thoughtful.

I called DFD on Monday June 5th to see how their flight had been. She was just heading in from the pool and they were about to go do some for the week.
She had suggested to her folks that they go play miniature golf, but her mom said no we have to wait for Angie &amp; Joey to do everything! I thought that was a bit much and would end up being kind of an ironic statement.

I had asked if we could take it easy on arrival day being that Joey &amp; I both get up very early to go to work &amp; school. They didn’t balk at the idea.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] They planned to drive over to POFQ, after we checked in to eat dinner with us and spend some time at the pool.

Up Next: Day 1 Arrival &amp; Nothin’s free anymore!

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[Grammy Grumpy]

Yea, another Angie report!!! Can't wait for more and can't wait to be a part of your October TR!

[mac]

I'm so glad you're doing a trip report Angie! Looking forward to more! Especially with that title [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img].....

[lauren-roxy]

Great start Angie!!! Can't wait to read more!! It's always a little difficult to mesh families together, even when you get along great!!

[travismom]

A great beginning, Angie!!! Can't wait to read more...

[statelady01]

More please m'dear!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Angie [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[PrincessSharon]

Great start! Can't wait for more!

[DawnDenise]

Great start Angie!! Really looking forward to reading more!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[DrDolphin]

Great start!

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple"> Day 1 Arrival &amp; Nothin’s free anymore!

<u>Tuesday 6-6-06 </u>
My friend picked me up from work at 1:45p.m. We got to my house and waited for DS to arrive from school to leave for LGA. The airport is about a 10-minute drive from my house and our flight was due to depart at 4:45p.m, so we were good for time. After Joey changed out of his uniform and into his Jessica Rabbit t-shirt[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] and shorts, we were on our way. Got to LGA at 3p.m and was informed by the Skycap that it is now a $2 charge for curbside check-in! Anyone know if this imposed by the airline or the airport?

I paid the fee and gave a $1 tip as I was only checking in one bag. I had a small rolling suitcase with our swimsuits &amp; toiletries, so that we wouldn’t have to wait for DME to deliver our bags to go swimming.

We waited in a very short line for security. I learned that my slip-on shoes have metal in them?!? bare feet on that dirty airport floor.

Our gate, as always was the very last one. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] We settled in for the wait to board; Joey with his PSP and me with a TR I’d printed up at work.

This was the first time that my excitement didn’t pump me full of adrenaline, because I found myself every few minutes. I went to buy some coffee to wake me up. Unfortunately I had to settle for something other than Starbuck’s, the only negative about LGA!

At one point, Joey &amp; I sat amazed at the amount of coins a lady next to us had in her carry-on. That thing must’ve weighed a ton! Either she was ready for those pressed penny machines or she was planning on doing a lot of laundry!!![img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]

We boarded on time, but there was a wait for access to the runway. The pilot announced after 20 minutes of being idle, that we were 9th in line for take-off. Finally 45 minutes after our intended departure time, we were in the air. The pilot did say that due to wind direction he should be able to make up the time in the air and true to his word, we arrived at exactly 7:35pm. Now that’s a homerun! Oh, AA didn’t offer a free snack on this flight, only a beverage and the option of purchasing a snack box for $4.

I bought one for Joey &amp; I to share, as I had packed him a sandwich for the flight and I had snacked before hand.

We made our way to the DME counter. Why can’t they put it near the center of the airport, instead of all the way in west bubba-ville (no on this site, but you substitute the correct word in your heads)? Thankfully there wasn’t a soul in line. I went straight up to a CM, who checked me in and directed me to the line for our bus. We were the only ones in that queue, so there was a bit of a wait to board, and then we sat on the bus for another ½ hour to allow for more guests to arrive. I kicked myself later for not taking pictures of our bus during all this down time. I called DFH’s cell to tell her we had landed and would be on our way shortly. She tells me that they are waiting by Boatwright’s for me. I remind her that she is at POR and I’m staying next door at the FQ. I had explained all of this previously and she had stayed at those resorts before. It took her a few minutes to grasp that they are 2 different resorts, but once she did she said they’d head to FQ to wait.

At 8:15p.m were headed to the first stop, which was SSR. They are expanding this resort so fast! It is getting enormous. I told DS that The Havens’ would be transfering to this resort on Thursday, but he didn’t seem impressed. POFQ was the next stop![img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] After that the bus would make stops at POR, OKW and the driver mentioned WLV, which I thought was odd as that’s on the M.K resort route and we were on the DTD route, but it was after my stop so

We arrived at the resort at 9p.m and on my way to check-in I get a call from DFD and I tell her I’m about to check-in. They are out by the pool and will head in.
There is no one in line at check-in. Mariham takes my information and while she is access the ressie in the system I ask if the room assignor happened to receive my room request that I’d faxed a few days earlier.

For those of you, who have read my other post, know the answer to this. For those of you who haven’t, [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shameonyou.gif[/img] cheating! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Up Next – Day 1 part 2- Were my requests met? And a plan for Day 2 is discussed.



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[statelady01]

Ang-

You were on American right? (Forgive me if I missed that)- and I was charged the $2 per bag too at MCO for my return trip home. It appears to be their policy. Check this out:

AA Curbside Check In

I tipped the skycap extremely well because he informed me about the charges up front and stated emphatically it was not he who was assessing the fee. I think that's probably a tough spot to be in.

Anyway, great reporting and I am curious to hear about your check in!

[DrDolphin]

Great update Angie!