useakiss
Am I there yet?
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2017
Mine is a small and getting even smaller immediate family (just Mom and my brother and one niece), and I currently live 1,000 miles apart from them. They live in central Wisconsin and I live in northern Virginia. For most of those decades apart, I've not had the sort of budget that allowed us to see one another more than once a year, if lucky, and those family visits were the extent of my "vacations" (and as you can probably guess, are anything but stress-free). In the past six years, however, my career has taken a dramatic turn and I've been able to afford more elaborate and extended vacations. Most of all, I miss my Mom and regret the loss of quality time with her. I usually fly her out to stay with me for 2-3 weeks in the spring (she loves the cherry blossoms, etc.) and we enjoy every minute together. I've been trying to think of something different to do, though, and at a time other than spring. I started testing the idea of meeting her down in Orlando for a quick "winter" vacation that allowed us both to get away from everything and actually go somewhere warm for a change.
Mom has been to WDW three times since it opened--twice on family trips (1980s) when my brother and I were children/teens, and once when just she and Dad were down there to visit friends and then drove up the coast to visit me. That was probably 20 years ago now, and she's never been to Animal Kingdom. I've been to WDW three times as well--those two family trips, and last year for my 50th birthday. I had such an amazing time on that solo trip as an adult that I talk too much about it and can't wait until I can go back again. I've been planning another big solo trip in 2019 or 2020, but this new opportunity landed in my lap and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make this little dream come true.
I got what I thought was a "great deal" on off-site housing at the Wynham Bonnet Creek/Grand resort in exchange for doing their 2-hour promotion tour for their timeshares (good friends of mine have a timeshare and have given me days there in the past, which is how they got my name). I won't go into the confusing details of this arrangement (I was told and promised a lot of things that have ultimately turned out to be a bait & switch, so it's not remotely the "deal" I thought I was getting). Let me just say that after fees and taxes, and being told I'm not actually staying in the room and building I was told I was getting, it's just as expensive but more inconvenient than if I'd just booked at PO:FQ again. I won't be making that mistake ever again. I'm working out my frustration and anger over this development now so that I can get over it and just enjoy my vacation when I'm actually down there.
Anyway, because at the time it seemed like a good idea due to the "cheap" lodging, I asked Mom to join me down there for the week following Thanksgiving. It took a little bit of convincing because she's worried about the cost (even though I'm paying for all of it), but she finally agreed. We'll have to fly separately and meet at the airport before taking a Lyft/Uber to the hotel.
Because she'll be 76 and I'll be 51 (both our birthdays are this week in August), we're calling this trip our belated birthday bash and plan to treat and pamper ourselves. We agree that even if we don't step foot in a park and just laze around the pool or shop at Disney Springs, we'll be happy enjoying the non-winter weather and being together.
We're also going to take it easy and not kill ourselves doing your typical marathon days. We're both veterans of the parks, so we have a good idea of what we do and don't have an interest in. For instance, she was never as much into EPCOT as my Dad and I, so we've decided to skip it this trip. Likewise Hollywood Studios (just not worth a full day ticket yet). Her favorite has always been the Magic Kingdom, and she's never been to Animal Kingdom, so we both agreed to focus on those parks and skip the others. We're doing 2 half-days at each, with a break-day in the middle and a break day at the end to relax once more before flying home. I'll break those down into more detail, along with the restaurant reservations I have so far, in my next post.
Mom has been to WDW three times since it opened--twice on family trips (1980s) when my brother and I were children/teens, and once when just she and Dad were down there to visit friends and then drove up the coast to visit me. That was probably 20 years ago now, and she's never been to Animal Kingdom. I've been to WDW three times as well--those two family trips, and last year for my 50th birthday. I had such an amazing time on that solo trip as an adult that I talk too much about it and can't wait until I can go back again. I've been planning another big solo trip in 2019 or 2020, but this new opportunity landed in my lap and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make this little dream come true.
I got what I thought was a "great deal" on off-site housing at the Wynham Bonnet Creek/Grand resort in exchange for doing their 2-hour promotion tour for their timeshares (good friends of mine have a timeshare and have given me days there in the past, which is how they got my name). I won't go into the confusing details of this arrangement (I was told and promised a lot of things that have ultimately turned out to be a bait & switch, so it's not remotely the "deal" I thought I was getting). Let me just say that after fees and taxes, and being told I'm not actually staying in the room and building I was told I was getting, it's just as expensive but more inconvenient than if I'd just booked at PO:FQ again. I won't be making that mistake ever again. I'm working out my frustration and anger over this development now so that I can get over it and just enjoy my vacation when I'm actually down there.
Anyway, because at the time it seemed like a good idea due to the "cheap" lodging, I asked Mom to join me down there for the week following Thanksgiving. It took a little bit of convincing because she's worried about the cost (even though I'm paying for all of it), but she finally agreed. We'll have to fly separately and meet at the airport before taking a Lyft/Uber to the hotel.
Because she'll be 76 and I'll be 51 (both our birthdays are this week in August), we're calling this trip our belated birthday bash and plan to treat and pamper ourselves. We agree that even if we don't step foot in a park and just laze around the pool or shop at Disney Springs, we'll be happy enjoying the non-winter weather and being together.
We're also going to take it easy and not kill ourselves doing your typical marathon days. We're both veterans of the parks, so we have a good idea of what we do and don't have an interest in. For instance, she was never as much into EPCOT as my Dad and I, so we've decided to skip it this trip. Likewise Hollywood Studios (just not worth a full day ticket yet). Her favorite has always been the Magic Kingdom, and she's never been to Animal Kingdom, so we both agreed to focus on those parks and skip the others. We're doing 2 half-days at each, with a break-day in the middle and a break day at the end to relax once more before flying home. I'll break those down into more detail, along with the restaurant reservations I have so far, in my next post.
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