The Eighteen Years in the Planning Pre-Trip Report About This Page:

[tinker_me_happy]

DD Alicia is a dancer. She has been dancing since she was 3 years old. When she was 10 we left the dance studio she had been with for 7 years to follow a teacher we both loved who was opening her own studio. 2001-2002 dance year Alicia has her first solo! November 2001 Alicia breaks her leg . We go to dance every single day for the 12 weeks she is unable to use her leg. She cries the entire 25 minute ride home every time. In May she asks if we can go to Nationals if she wins Title. Since the studio doesn’t go to Nationals, and they are being held in Virginia Beach I promised her I would take her. I had driven to VA to visit my sister with just the kids, so why not.

She was first runner up. Alas, no Nationals. Jump ahead to 2007. After years of being first runner up (yes years!) Alicia Finally wins Title! Though I hadn’t promised after the first couple of years, how could I say no now? Only this year Nationals are in Orlando Florida! We convince the studio owner and a few other girls to join us and off we go!

My dear friend has been to Disney several times. After torturing her to the point where she finally agreed to come with us to Nationals, she said, “Well if we are going to Orlando, we have to go to Disney!” NO COMPLAINTS from me! We only had two and a half days at the World. Day one we had an ADR for Sci-Fi Café for lunch at 2:10pm. I waited outside with the girls (my DD Alicia and my Dfr’s DD Haley (12) ). DARN that DVC kiosk just sitting there! So I get to talking to the very nice man just standing there minding his own business (yea, right!). I convince my DFr Pauline that we should go on the tour. She says NO we don’t have time! BUT the four instant fast passes (each) we would be given to compensate us for our time sounded very appealing. After lunch we took the tour. Returned to the park, and we were able to get just about everything done we wanted to that day, including Fantasmic! We saved the FPs for our last day when we would only have a half a day.

I was convinced to buy DVC. The selling point that had me hooked? Nothing anyone at Disney would probably ever think to use as a selling point. A way to FORCE my family to go on a vacation TOGETHER! I could afford the monthly payments myself, and with just a little bit of OT a month, it wouldn't impact the budget at all. Heck, I worked years of OT for everyone else, why not do something for me for a change! It took quite a bit of convincing before DH agreed, but I finally wore him out and we purchased in August 2007. Well now that we have a Disney time share, I guess we HAVE to go! Again, and again and again!

DD Alicia will be graduating from HS June 1. Mom finally gets to take her family to Disney World, and Alicia is thrilled her graduation vacation is going back to see the Mouse!

to be continued...
BUT in case you were wondering...How did Alicia do at Nationals? She won Senior Title!! And her three duets took highest score for all duo/trios (first, second and third place!) They had so much fun the teacher decided to take the entire studio to Nationals again this year. But sadly it is being held in Philly not Orlando.

[B.M.]

Wow, I did not see the DVC ownership thing coming! I think I will be expecting a lot more TR's from you even after this one! Can't wait to hear how much your family enjoys Disney!

[emtpej]

Originally Posted by tinker_me_happy

They had so much fun the teacher decided to take the entire studio to Nationals again this year. But sadly it is being held in Philly not Orlando.

Not that there is anything wrong with Philly!
(It's just not near the world)
There's lots of neat stuff in Philly... I'll have to post a TR on our trip from last summer.
Congrats on getting into DVC!

[tinker_me_happy]

Originally Posted by B.M.

Wow, I did not see the DVC ownership thing coming!

Neither did I! But when I get an idea into my head... Aside from forcing my DH and for a short time my Dkids to take real vacations, I am determined to bring my grandchildren (if I ever have any...and I am MORE than willing to wait!!) to Disney as often as possible!

[Colexis Mom]

Congrats to Alicia And on DVC

[greentie]

Originally Posted by tinker_me_happy

BUT in case you were wondering...How did Alicia do at Nationals? She won Senior Title!! And her three duets took highest score for all duo/trios (first, second and third place!) They had so much fun the teacher decided to take the entire studio to Nationals again this year. But sadly it is being held in Philly not Orlando.

Wow! Congratulations to Alicia! And to you for doing something for yourself by buying into DVC.

Looking forward to reading more...

[DyanKJ130]

WTG, Alicia!! You must be very proud of her!!! Congratulations on your DVC!

[piratefreak]

Wow how amazing. it took a long time to get to your DVC home but I am sure that will make you love and appreciate it that much more.

[disneydani]

Congrats on the DVC....you may have waited 18 years but sounds like it is worth it!

danielle

[mcc0313]

Congratulations on your DVC purchase.
(I am hoping that soon I will be able to buy in )

This sounds like it is going to be a wonderful, long overdo trip...

[chezp]

Congratulations to Alicia - and on the DVC purchase!

[tinker_me_happy]

The t’s were crossed and the i’s were dotted. I was officially a DVC owner! I figured out how to set myself up on the member page and off I went. Time to plan our First Family trip to Walt Disney World! But the member page is very busy with a lot of useless information and difficult to navigate. I figured out what I needed to know for basic DVC membership and started looking for other websites to help me plan. I wasn’t a big fan of the WDW webpage either. Again a lot of information and not easily navigated. (I am ultimately a very impatient person). Somehow I stumbled across allears.net and I was thrilled!!! What a wonderful resource. So for a few weeks I spent a lot of my computer time going back to the site and reading as much as I could. Guess what I found on the allears website?! YUP you guessed it… PASSPORTER! I was thrilled! I joined the passporter community and finally felt like I was not alone in my crazy obsession with Disney!

I had been going through my DVC book and trying to decide where and when we should stay. June looked good, but based on attendance and points cost, the week I wanted to go could potentially be a problem if we had too many snow days. Which as it turns out we did! July was out, and we had to go before the kids went back to school. August is perfect! DH’s birthday is in August too! I booked my home resort AKV as soon as I decided. But it was not where we (I) really wanted to stay. I thought the Beach Club Villas made more sense since we would be spending a lot of time at Epcot (more on why later). I spent agonizing months waiting for the seven month window to try and change to BCV. Some people will book night by night, but it was all or nothing. The last week waiting was a killer! Finally the day arrived when I could call and try to switch resorts. HOORAH!! They had a 2 bedroom available for my dates at BCV and we switched! The room is set!

Now the waiting and the watching begins for airline tickets. I have a price in mind for how much I want to pay. I had been watching airline sights online since August 2007 to get an idea of costs. Anything $250 or less per person would be perfect! The odds were we would fly SW since they are at 3 of the 4 airports within a 2 hour drive from home. Jet blue was at one. The big names were considered, but since there are 5 of us, and the kids are teens, I was more concerned with price than actual airline. For anyone who travels on / watches SW airlines, you know how frustrating it can be waiting for them to open dates. I waited impatiently for my dates to open. Jet blue was slightly higher than I wanted to pay, but I was watching them like a hawk. The major carriers were ridiculously over priced. Only checked in there every couple of weeks. Little changed. And THEN my dates for August opened up on SW!

The date was right and more importantly the price was right! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Run…Grab the credit card…start clicking on buttons!!! I booked our airfare! Total: $995 round trip including taxes for FIVE! WOW do I feel like I got a bargain! And because of SW’s credit program if the ticket prices go down, I frequently check my flights. I wasn’t holding out any hope for a reduction in price, but I like to look. Had I booked today (as of this writing) the same exact flights that we will be on would cost me $1765. Timing is everything.

to be cont...

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update!!

[B.M.]

You got your flight and your BC Villa- Looks like your all set! Can't wait to hear more.

[piratefreak]

How awesome that you were able to switch to BC. We love it there. Can't wait to hear more plans.