Using My Powers for Good - 4/29-5/7 - Thread 1 - thru Day 4 About This Page:

[Caldercup]

<u>Using My Powers for Good</u>
Or, Why would anyone have to prove that Walt Disney World can be fun?

<u>A little background:</u>
If you’ve read my other trip reports, you know that I lost my mother 5 years ago to a sudden illness. After 41 years of marriage, it took my father a while to come out of his deep grief. Luckily, he was introduced to a lovely widow named Joan and they married a year later. The two families mesh well together and their five kids and 10 grandkids get along very well – especially the Lloyds and the Esterles, who have boys that are 19 days apart and good friends.

You may also know that I got Annual Passes (APs) last May when Calder and I went on our "Surprise Mother's Day Weekend" trip. We used them again when we "Avoided Hurricane Ivan" in September. The last time I thought they would see use was for the only planned trip of the year – "My Birthday with the Mouse" in November. I figured they’d sit in a drawer until they expired this May, &lt;sigh&gt; since I had no excuses to take Calder down again to finish the year off.

Well, rewind to Christmas. I was happily sipping some nog when Joan’s son Frank approached me. He and his wife wanted my “expert” opinion on whether they should go to WDW with their three boys (12, 9 and 4) for Easter break. Knowing that the crowds were expected to be larger this year because of the timing of spring breaks and the actual Easter week, I’m sure I grimaced a little. They both jumped in before I could say anything and added that they didn’t mind taking their kids out of school if they would have a better time on the trip. &lt;BIG SIGH&gt; “Excellent”, I said, “because I’d go in the off-season and that way you’ll have a much better time.” I told them that I preferred mid-November to any other time I’ve gone, but they were too excited and wanted to go before summer. So, I suggested May… and I joked that Calder and I would come down and hang out with them one afternoon if they went before May 7th. They jumped on this idea and were very excited to begin planning.

Let me stop the narrative here to tell you that I’m a Plan-a-holic and that my Disney World obsession can get, I’ll admit, a tad overbearing. My husband is generally accepting of this, but I worry that I’ll make other people crazy by chattering away about planning a trip. So, I wanted to be very low-key about talking to them or suggesting that CJ and I would join them. Well, I needn’t have worried as Frank’s wife Donna matched me obsession-for-obsession when it came to making decisions and we ramped up each other’s excitement for going. They begged us to come for the entire week they were going to be there.

I gave Donna my old 2003-2004 Passporter and the woman devoured it. I got my new Deluxe 2005 Passporter and started making notes, gathering ideas and generally trying to make this as memorable a trip as I could.

&lt;More to come&gt;

[travismom]

Don't you just love planning a trip?? When I didn't get to plan this trip we are going on in May, I felt so lost. Can't wait to hear about your trip. I enjoyed your last reports.

[Jennifer2003]

OMG!!! My AP expires May 7 too!!! And I was there for Mother's Day AND near Hurricane Ivan, too! How did I not notice this before????

Anywho...great start! I can't wait for more!

Use those powers!

Jennifer

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple"> you are my hero, Eileen! I read about your Disney bash and the attention to details you have are incredible! Your family is going to have a blast on this trip(I know you'll be too)! I can't wait until you share how magical it all turns out! </font>

[Caldercup]

<u>The Early Planning Stages</u>
Frank and Donna had already talked with her brother Jimmy – who’s a great fan of WDW and has the obsessive planning streak in him. (*Hi, Jimmy – I know you’re a Passporter…. I hope you approve of my planning!*) They also had contacted a travel agent who gave them estimates for a package at Port Orleans Riverside, since they have 5 people in their party. I told them that I could probably get them better prices if they went without a package and if I could get us AP rates on the rooms. They were cool with handing the planning/reservations over to me. (Yippee for me!)

Around this time, the launch of one of DHs rides ( pics here ) was delayed by two weeks and our scheduled Spring Break trip to D.C. and Williamsburg had to be canceled. Poor DH – he really needed a break. I was thrilled that he wanted to tag along with us on the May trip – even if it was just because he wanted to get away from everything, no matter where we went.

The last week of February, I called CRO and started the reservation process. Imagine my surprise when the CM told me he was going to transfer me to the Grand Gathering team since we had 8 people in our group. In the ten seconds I was on hold, I’d logged on to the Disney World website and was reading the page on the GG special events that had never been open to me before!! Wow, a safari, a Wishes cruise…. This was gonna be great!

I booked our two rooms at the rack rate of $161 per night (tax included) with the hopes that the AP rates would bring that down considerably (this time last year, the AP rates for moderates were $79/night). I then reserved the Safari dinner for the group and tried for a Wishes cruise. Oh, well, no openings on the cruise, so I booked the Illuminations dinner too – thinking that I’d probably be vetoed on price and would have to cancel at least one of these. I didn’t have to pay until March 17th, so we’d all have time to talk about things.

I made my chart of the days we’d be there and started researching the EMH times and parks and the projected park times. I didn’t want to make too many Priority Seatings (PSs) until I knew what the other family wanted to do. I did arrange a Chef Mickey’s breakfast because it’s just not a WDW trip for us if we don’t get to do a little napkin waving.

<u>The Grandparents</u>
Now, my father is a wonderful and fun guy… just not the “Disney” sort. To him, WDW is a place for kids and he’s never understood my love of going back again and again. In fact, we have a standard interplay between us. He says, “How come you’re going to Disney again?” And I reply, “How come you’re playing golf again?” (It’s our way of forming a truce.)

Well, for his wife, Joan… the magic of Walt Disney World is well understood – especially if four of her grandchildren were going to be there! I could tell from the beginning of our discussions with her son’s family that she was dying to go, but was reluctant to push my dad into anything. Imagine my surprise when they suddenly wanted to join us for the last few days of our trip!! My dad was skeptical, but willing to give it a try.

YAY!!!! I was being given the opportunity to “explain” my obsession to my dad.

&lt;more to come&gt;

[Cam22]

Your report is so exciting and enjoyable to read! I'm with you on the planning -- so what if it's an obession!

[Caldercup]

<u>The Mid-Point Planning</u>
Frank had some frequent flyer miles on USAir so he handled his own airfare. I got flights for us and also for Dad and Joan’s leg of the trip. (I even managed a layover in Atlanta where my brother lives. He is going to bring his twin boys to the airport so we can all have lunch together!)

When I called the GG coordinators to add my dad and Joan’s room, I remembered to ask about the AAA rate. Wonderful – our nightly rates were down to $140.50 (tax included).

I put together a budget for each family and Joan hosted a lunch to go over the ideas. Donna really wanted a sense of what they could do each day so I made a tentative “touring” plan that outlined, according to the park hours and the events scheduled (Grad Nights, In-line Skating weekend, the 50th press days, etc.) the places that made the most sense to be each day to mitigate any crowd problems.

They were all up for *both* GG events – so we were a go for the safari and the Illuminations dinner. Donna really wanted the Wishes cruise, but even when I called to add Dad and Joan, they were booked solid.

I called and joined Disney’s Dining Experience on March 3rd. I got the e-mail with the expiration of April 30th. As of April 27th, I have yet to receive the cards – even though my credit card has been charged. Ah well, I’ll have to go to the Epcot window and pick up temp cards while we’re on property.

Now I just had to wait for AP rates to come out. Well… they came out and they weren’t very impressive. I had been hoping to wow everyone by halving our nightly rates… but they only came down to $109 a night (or $121.50 with tax). &lt;sigh&gt; It was still a significant savings from rack rate, so they were all impressed nonetheless, but I was bummed.

On March 16th, I called the GG coordinators to pay off the GG events. Oh, my goodness, they’d dropped our reservation because we hadn’t paid yet. I told the CM that my confirmation letter said I had until the 17th to pay and she couldn’t figure out why it had been dropped. She started digging around and was able to recreate both events for us and I paid them off – phew, that was close!

Blithely, I asked if there had been any Wishes cruises added for the time we were there. She started looking around with no luck and then asked me if it was okay to put me on hold. (I think she wanted to make up for the “dropped” reservation fiasco and was willing to go the extra mile.) After about ten minutes of my listening to crackling “hold music,” she came back on the line and said she didn’t have room for 10, but that there was *some* availability on Sunday, May 1st for a smaller party. Ooooh, we didn’t need 10, we only needed 8 because Dad and Joan wouldn’t be in Florida on the 1st. Zowie, she had exactly 8 spaces and, suddenly, we were booked for a Wishes Cruise!!! I had hoped to keep this a surprise, but she already sent our payment to the computer and Donna would receive a notification that they were on the cruise. Ah, well…. I probably couldn’t have kept the surprise since I stink at that!

Phew… this planning stuff can be stressful!

&lt;more to come&gt;

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple">Oh, you've got so many terrific events planned! </font>

[zacksmom_1993]

Eileen-

Have a great time! I'll be on the lookout for you for the first few days. Can't wait to read all about your fabulous trip!

Karen

[Caldercup]

<u>The Final Planning Stages</u>
I had done an exhaustive comparison of the ticket options for DH and the other families (CJ and I have AP’s, remember.) After making complex charts and entering in all the info from AllEarsNet.com and checking out the discounted rates for Mousesavers newsletter subscribers, I finally settled on the prices for TicketMania at Mousesavers rates. Bob only needed a 7-day Hopper with 5 pluses. The Esterles needed 9-day Hoppers with 5 pluses. My dad and Joan needed 3-day Hoppers (no pluses). The funny thing is that the price difference between the 9-day and the 3-days was only $80 per ticket. Wow! You really save by getting more days! I decided to also get some DisneyQuest tickets for Calder and me. We’ll need some tickets for water parks, but we couldn’t buy them through TicketMania, so we’ll wait until we’re on property.

The rest of the group was up for more PSs to be made – I had given them print-outs of some of the restaurants that I thought would work out well for all of us. Donna’s only concern was that she didn’t think the kids would put up with too many meals that would take them out of the “action.” That meshed perfectly with our preferred method of touring since we mostly do counter service and sprinkle a couple of sit-down meals throughout our trip.

I booked Whispering Canyon Café for lunch on the 30th – our first full day together with Frank’s family. I think the kids will have a blast and will love taking the boat from the Magic Kingdom. This bunch can get very rowdy, so I’m hoping our server is outgoing and funny to really ramp ‘em up!

We’re doing a Chef Mickey’s breakfast mid-week and I know that their youngest will get a kick out of this meal.

I booked Le Cellier for our dinner on the first night that Dad and Joan would arrive. Despite several attempts, I have never been able to get to eat here and I’m so excited about it! At our kick-off dinner, I had jokingly referred to Le Cellier as the “second-best” steak house on property and my dad, a notorious skin-flint but total jokester, said, “don’t we rate the top steak house?” I replied that we could go to the Yachtsman Steakhouse but that he’d have to mortgage the house to pay for it. He yelled, “Le Cellier it is then, folks!”

I decided to book a PS for Boma on the morning of our big day at AK. I wanted to show everyone the AKL because it’s just so awesome (and I mean that in the true sense of the word!) I’m considering booking a taxi to get us there easily since it’s an early PS and the AK has evening EMH that night – not sure about transporting all 10 of us using the buses and still making an early PS.

A wonderful idea occurred to me… with all these adults and kids going, no one would notice if I slipped away to take a tour! KEYS TO THE KINGDOM, HERE I COME. I’m scheduled for May 2nd and I can barely contain my excitement. Calder’s a little miffed that he can’t join me since he’s only 9 years old. (I’ve promised him a 16th birthday trip and we’ll take the tour then!)

A few weeks ago, we watched a DVD of a Cirque de Soleil show and Calder was finally interested in seeing it. Since I knew DH was jonesing to see La Nouba, I talked to Frank and Donna about it. The price was a little much for all 5 of them to come, but Frank was interested in maybe going solo and joining us. The only night that would work was May 3rd and we figured we could “wing it” and pick up tickets that day – just in case they wanted to splurge and join us. Well, here’s where my husband is convinced that WDW has the word “sucker” in bold letters at the top of my file. I called the GG coordinators to clarify something about our reservations and the lovely woman noted all the cool things we were signed up for. She asked if we were interested in La Nouba and I explained our situation. “Well,” she says. “Let me just check on the seats I have for just the three of you.” I hear some clickety clicking and then she, honest to God, squeals in my ear. “Oh, honey! I can get you front row seats! ” I don’t know what came over me. I know that the theatre is small and that there’s no bad seat in the house, but….. Suddenly, in my mind’s eye, I see the look of wonder and joy on my husband’s face as he watches the German wheels doing their thing. I say, “I’ll take ‘em.” The tickets arrived last week. &lt;sigh… “sucker” is right!&gt;

Okay, now for the final, nitty gritty items.

Disney’s Magical Express service doesn’t start until May 5th and they can’t do a “soft opening” for insurance reasons (or something the CM explained that I can’t remember right now.) So, we had to arrange for transportation to the resort from the airport with Tiffany Towncar, who we’ve used in the past and really liked. We’re all signed up for DME on the return day. Well, I started thinking that we’d be spending enough money on Tiffany for our leg plus my dad’s mid-week leg that it might make sense to rent a car. I checked out all the rental companies and spent an hour plugging in coupons and ID codes and finally settled on Alamo for $119 for the 9 days – pretty smokin’ good rate. (Taxes, of course, really nailed us and our total will be for $161.89.) Well, it meant that I could try for a trip to the outlets on my way to pick the grandparents up on Wednesday. Plus, I feel better knowing that we have a car to get to a grocery store – four growing boys need lots of snacks and in-room eats!!

I had given Donna my version of the Ultimate Packing List and she was amazing at finding great prices on everything for their family. She’s a girl after my own heart!! I stopped at their house several times on my way home from work to answer questions and give advice – and marvel at her money-saving tricks! I think they’re pretty well set to go now. We even ran into each other at Costco last night as she was buying a digital camera – and I was there picking up a 1 gig memory card for our new camera. (DH finally splurged two nights ago on an upgrade to our Canon ELPH and *really* splurged and bought a Canon digital camcorder too! Ahh, if only he’d done this two weeks ago, we would’ve had $16 more Disney Reward Dollars from our Disney Visa! Oh, well, he just got a nice bonus for the launch of his latest ride.)

This past Sunday, I held a kick-off dinner (all the juicy details are here ) and that got all the boys really psyched – not to mention my father, who seemed genuinely excited to go. I asked the kids if they had any questions about WDW that I could answer, they all started bombarding me with questions about rides and attractions they’d been reading about. The very last question came from the Esterle’s eldest – “Can we leave tomorrow?” Sorry, Brian… you’ll have to wait until Friday.

Ahh… Friday…. How will I last that long?

&lt;more to come&gt;

[jakenjess]

I can't wait to hear all about your trip! It sounds like it will be so much fun!!

I do have a question for you. How many rooms could I book if I purchased an AP? We're planning a fall trip with extended family and will need either two or three rooms, depending on which resort we settle on. If I'm the only one to buy an AP, could I get the AP rate on more than one room? I didn't think I could, but that's what it sounded like you were able to do. I think it would be worth buying one for all the discounts.

Your planning is inspirational! Thanks for sharing!

[SHEANA1226]

Good start I can't wait to read the rest!

[Caldercup]

jakenjess,

You can book up to three rooms on a single AP.

Hope your planning goes well and thanks for the kind comments.
Eileen

[Caldercup]

<u>Using My Powers for Good </u>
Well, I guess I should explain the title of this trip report.

The other day, the phone rings and DH picks up the phone. He gets this big smile and says, “Oh, she’ll love talking to you!” He hands me the phone and I’m greeted by this shiny, happy little voice from Grand Gatherings.

“I called to tell you that the venue for your International Dinner and Illuminations Dessert Reception has changed.”

“Oh,” I said. “Where has it changed to?”

“It’s now going to be in a special place right between the Canada Pavilion and… oh, what’s the one next to that…?”

“The United Kingdom.” I offer, thinking she must be new.

“Yes,” says the shiny, happy voice. “The United Kingdom. It’s called the Showcase restaurant.”

“The Showplace,” I correctly sweetly.

“Yes, you’re right. It’s called the Showplace,” she says, a little surprised that I caught her slip.

“Oh, okay.” I said, “I guess I already knew that since you’re using the Odyssey for the press event and probably have to get it ready for the Hero’s breakfast the next morning.”

“The Hero’s what?”

“The new ‘boys’ breakfast you’re testing out that weekend.”

“We are?” She now sounds totally confused but a little impressed. I spend a moment telling her the details of the breakfast.

“That sounds so cool. I didn't know about that.” She pauses a moment. “How did <u>you</u> know about that?” she asks me.

“Oh, I’m on this great Internet group called Passporter and I get all kinds of details about what’s going on at The World.”

I then asked her to check something on our reservation. On my confirmation letters, I only saw the request for the trundle beds and I wanted to make sure they had the notation of my Multiple Sclerosis and walking difficulties – I really need a room close to a bus stop and the food court.

“Can you make a notation that we’d like building 14?” I asked.

At this point, I can tell that she’s totally freaked by how much I know. “How do you know all this stuff? Are you a travel agent?”

I just laughed and told her that I’m just a WDW fanatic and spend waaaay too much time on the Internet!

When I related this conversation to my husband a few hours later he said, “You know, you should become a travel agent. <font color="blue">That way you could use your powers for good." </font>

&lt;still more to come -- if ya can believe it!!&gt;

[Colexis Mom]

What a great start Eileen Keep it coming