Warning: Dates in Calendar Are Closer Than They Appear!... The TR - UPDATED: 7/3/10 Days 2 and 3 About This Page:

[debrabrown]

I'm hooked so I'll be back...

[TheMadonna3]

Part 5: The "Plans".

This term "plans" should be taken lightly. As with all of us, these are never in stone , unless you are Karen and have a "BASS". I am envious of such skills as it takes a large amount of commitment to be able to follow that through.

So far a few things have happened since the last update.

As stated, we are currently booked for CBR. We were going to stay in a Pirate room, but after realizing the distance, I saved myself the $375 () and went with a king room instead. I've played with numbers for AKL. I can barely pull off a regular view and a savannah view would choke me. I refuse to stay at AKL unless I have a savannah view. I won't chance booking a regular and hoping for an upgrade. Believe it or not, I've actually got myself psyched about staying at CBR. I am really looking forward to seeing the renovations of the pool and the rooms. That being said, if someone called and offered me AKL for the price of CBR I would jump on it, but I'm actually content.

Special needs called me yesterday. It took me a bit by surprise because I thought everything was set. She called to verify a few things on the reservation and asked if I needed some things, which I didn't, and confirmed that they have me in a room in Bldg 26. For those of you unfamiliar with CBR, let me show you why this is AWESOME



That's right, easy access to two bus stops, the food court is the next building over and the pool is right behind that. The last time I stayed here in 2007, I made a mental note to myself that if and when I did CBR again I would request Bldg 26. It's *right* there in the middle of it all. Part of knowing I am where I want to be makes me very hesitant to switch to another resort especially AKL because that's a pretty big place too. So, I think we're just going to stay put. Plus, Mikey is very happy with the thought of a "Nemo" room.

Now, for a brief story:

Anytime I ever spend money on something frivolous, something else ALWAYS goes wrong. Mr. Murphy and his law are always coming after me! But, this time I was prepared. I had socked away some money before I even put the deposit down on this trip. Usually, something goes wrong within a week. Well, I had gone about 10 days and I started to think I might have gotten away with it. . Just as soon as I started feeling secure, Mr. Murphy caught up to me As I was driving Mikey to school the other morning, my brake pedal just didn't feel right. It didn't feel like it does when a master cylinder is about to go, but I knew something wasn't right. I dropped him off and started driving home with the plan to have the car looked at on my day off, which was Friday. Well suddenly, I go to brake and I hear a few unfamiliar sounds and then the car makes this horrible noise and it swerves to the right. Ok, guess it can't wait until Friday. So I go to the shop and find out the brake pad on one side had cracked and come loose so the sound I heard was caliper to rotor braking and the strange sensation I felt in the pedal was the brake pad flexing and then eventually falling off. So, essentially I needed a new brake job with some rotors. Since I knew something would get me, I had enough that I had 2 new tires put on along with an alignment Not this time, Mr. Muprhy! To replace the emergency fund, I have some items up for sale on Craig's List. The trip remains safe.

Anyway, so I bought the unofficial guide so that I could have access to touringplans.com and little did I know it stopped being free with the book purchase So, that book went back to the store. I was hoping to use his information to help me plan, but after all of the experience I have with Disney I think I can do this plan with my own knowledge.

Day 1, Friday, May 21

• Leave Port Charlotte @ 6am
• Grab Chik-Fil-A breakfast before hitting I-75
• Arrive at CBR @ 8am
• Take bus to Typhoon Lagoon for 10am
• Back to resort to change by 5pm
• Hop to Epcot for EMH-E
  

Day 2, Saturday, May 22

• Head to DHS for EMH-M
• Leave by lunch or Eat and then leave
• Relax by Pool/Resort Time
• DTD for dinner and Entertainment (La Nouba?)

Day 3, Sunday, May 23

• Late Wake-Up/Breakfast at Resort
• Animal Kingdom
  
• Flame Tree BBQ for lunch
• DHS for Fantasmic or MK for EMH-E

Day 4, Monday, May 24

• Magic Kingdom OPENING
• Lunch/Swim/Nap break
  
• 9pm Spectromagic
• 10pm Wishes

Day 5, Tuesday, May 25

• DHS?

OR

• Epcot EMH-M
  
• Lunch at Beaches N Cream
  
• Hop to DHS for Fantasmic!
  

Day 6, Wednesday, May 26

• Epcot
• Hop to AK for EMH-E

Day 7, Thursday, May 27

• MK EMH-M
• ?

Day 8, Friday, May 28

• Check out of resort by 11am
• Head to DTD for lunch/shopping
• Leave by 3pm
• Home by 5-6pm

As you can see, I am pretty sure about the first day and the last, but the middle is still coming together. I'm sure as we get closer I will figure it out. I have to say already that I am enjoying NOT having to plan my park days around my ADR's or vice versa. So far I really think the QSDP will work for me. I asked Mikey tonight if he wanted to eat at any Disney restaurants and besides wanting a "dinner show" of some kind, he really has no other requests. So I think we'll squeeze in one sit down or dinner show on one of our light days. Other than that, we're going to have the challenge to see how "gourmet" we can eat on CS. I think the QSDP review will be a big part of the TR. Are you all interested in that?

*I have spent 2 hrs combing the internet to get all these little goofy things because I have ADD and if I don't have something to look at every now and then I can't remain interested. So, for others like me, you're welcome

Part 6: Financials

[Colexis Mom]

Great plans!

[Nick and Ryans Mom]

Originally Posted by TheMadonna3

*I have spent 2 hrs combing the internet to get all these little goofy things because I have ADD and if I don't have something to look at every now and then I can't remain interested. So, for others like me, you're welcome

As I was reading along I kept thinking what fun smilies and pictures you had!!! Love them! An exellent use of your 2 hours!!

[debrabrown]

Yes, excellent use of your 2 hours. on the car repairs needed but that you didn't get caught off guard $$ wise.

[KMB733]

The plans look great!

[mavisdavis]

Great plans - you have the best smileys!!!

[Cam22]

Glad you had a plan for when Mr. Murphy showed up! Your plans looks awesome! And I all your emoticons!

[B.M.]

Great plans!

[TheMadonna3]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great plans!

Thanks. I wish I had some more in the middle, but something has to be a surprise!

Originally Posted by Nick and Ryans Mom

As I was reading along I kept thinking what fun smilies and pictures you had!!! Love them! An exellent use of your 2 hours!!

I usually want to choke people who use smileys too frequently , but now it's just fun.

Originally Posted by debrabrown

Yes, excellent use of your 2 hours. on the car repairs needed but that you didn't get caught off guard $$ wise.

I always had an "we'll deal with it when it comes" attitude and I'm glad I changed that for the better.

Originally Posted by KMB733

The plans look great!

I really want to make time to relax and enjoy being with my son.

Originally Posted by mavisdavis

Great plans - you have the best smileys!!!

Thank you. I keep searching for more.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Glad you had a plan for when Mr. Murphy showed up! Your plans looks awesome! And I all your emoticons!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Originally Posted by B.M.

Great plans!

Wait until you've seen what I've gone and done.

[TheMadonna3]

*** WE INTERRUPT THIS PRE-TRIP REPORT FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ***

On January 30, 2010, I said:

if someone called and offered me AKL for the price of CBR I would jump on it, but I'm actually content.

... I'm a liar...somewhat.

But I blame it on MaryEL8775 Aka Mary.(That's right. This is all your fault!) She and I have been friends for a while and have been with each other through some good times and lately some bad. It's nice to have her as my late night chat buddy.

By some good fortune and a generous friend she was able to score 5 nights at BWV by changing her travel dates and shaving a few days off. It was incredible the emotion she and I both felt. It was relief and excitement. See, my friends trip was in jeopardy. And while Disney vacations are a luxury, sometimes they are a necessary luxury. I really wanted to help her find a way to do this for her family and I was glad she found a solution on her own.

I still was happy with my choices and actually was looking forward more and more to the trip. Something I haven't felt in a long time. It didn't feel like a chore to eat a few more sandwiches vs. steak to keep finances in check. Yet, something kept me from being satisfied.

I wasn't jealous of my friend . While I think BW is wonderful, it's a place I'd like to stay on an adults only trip when I can enjoy the nightlife a little more, such as Jellyrolls. (Jellyrolls is AWESOME btw. A must see) However, I just had this need to see if I could do "better" than what I already had. Our excitement over her first deluxe stay fed my fire even more. My research became an obsession.

Mikey and I talked about a stay at AKL. He was determined to stay in the "Nemo" room so I dropped the subject and looked forward to the stay at CBR. Then the other day, he was going through one of my Disney books and found the section about AKL. Now, I've shown him these pictures before and explained what AKL was all about, but he brings the book to me and says:

"Mommy, wouldn't it be cool if we could stay in a giraffe room?"
"A what?"
"Here, look. There are rooms with the giraffes"

He is looking at a picture with a giraffe in the foreground and balconies of AKL in the backround.

"That's Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, baby. Do you remember we talked about it, but you said you wanted a Nemo room?"

Get your tissues people... Go ahead. I'll wait.

Ready?

He said:

"But this vacation is for you too, Mommy, and I want you to be happy."



Yes. That actually happened.

I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I had to excuse myself from the room. Once composed, I came back and talked with him and said that taking him to Disney like he wanted would make me happy and I didn't care where we stayed, but I had a budget of what could be spent. It was all up to him.

"Let's stay at Animal Kingdom"

Well, crap. I was actually relieved when he chose CBR because I was very comfortable with the price. AKL would have really been stretching it. I would have had to eat my sandwiches with no meat. Just ketchup. Eew. I told him that if I could get a good enough deal on price we would stay at AKL, but if I couldn't then we would still stay in the Nemo room. He agreed and said he didn't care where we stayed as long as we were together at Disney.

I've always wanted to stay at AKL, but as I stated:

I refuse to stay at AKL unless I have a savannah view. I won't chance booking a regular and hoping for an upgrade.

I was on a mission.

I won't talk much about this because I don't know if it's taboo here or not, but after some discussions with friends I started debating "renting" points. It would allow my AKL stay for the price of the CBR stay. I continued to mull it over.

Last night at work, I am showing a coworker some pics of AKL and said how conflicted I was over the choice. She made it very clear for me by saying:

Her: "Is there a big price difference?"
Me: "If I was paying cash, yes."
Her: "When the economy gets better, could you afford to do this?"
Me: "....Um, actually... no"
Her: "Could you normally afford a stay a CBR?"
Me: "Well, yes."
Her: "What's the problem?"

That did it. I emailed my contact and now will enjoy 7 nights and 8 days at fabulous:






The stay at AKL is costing me a difference of negative five dollars. (-$5) That's right, I am actually SAVING $5 by staying at AKL, including the QSDP.

It's amazing and yet I am numb to it. This is one of my dream resorts and it doesn't feel real. Wow.

WE'RE GOING TO AKL!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Congrats!

[B.M.]

Congrats on AKL! And the fact that you snagged it for cheaper- Wow!

[lissybri]

Congratulations!!!! You are going to love it. We stayed there for the first time last year and can't wait to go back. I'm so happy for you.

[Cam22]

Congrats! AKL is my absolute favorite and that's why Luke bought me points at Kidani Village for my 50th b-day back in 2008. Hope you enjoy my second !