useakiss
Am I there yet?
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2017
Well, I think this is probably as good a time as any to start a new trip report! Yes, it’s still over 13 months out, but it IS officially booked!
Here’s how it happened…
After returning from my enjoyable week-long WDW trip with my Mom back in November of 2018 (see Just Mom and Me -- Our late November 2018 trip), things were a bit hectic and stressful for me at home. Within the month, my oldest cat, Hailey (only 9 years), began suffering from severe dental issues that didn’t respond to surgery and treatment and resulted in my being forced to make a heartbreaking decision. I also went through a very stressful and infuriating incident with the cat rescue with which I volunteer, which really upset me because I love working for them (fortunately it’s mostly resolved as of this week, but for months it haunted me). I also took on the adoption of a very young kitten—the youngest I’ve ever had at 11 weeks—which is both expensive and a dose of nuttiness (kittens be crazy!), but I love her. Finally, work continues to be crazy at times and I’ve worked several all-nighters, plus there was a sudden announcement of an organizational shift and change of roles, which is the ultimate stress-inducing event because you don’t even know if you’ll still have a job, or one that you like, when it’s all over. That’s still playing out and still somewhat uncertain, but I think that, at the very least, my job is secure.
Anyway, it’s been a mess. It’s part of why it took me so long to finish my blog report of that trip—I was struggling to find the frame of mind needed to summon up those memories and document them.
The accumulated vet bills I’d faced in the past 6 months (3 cat dental surgeries, 1 spaying surgery, multiple health checkups and rounds of shots, etc.) really set me back financially, wiping out my standing vacation savings, squashing my plans to travel home to Wisconsin in May. I do still plan a trip home in September for a cousin’s wedding and to see family, but that will be it for this year. However, since my 2017 trip, I’ve been loosely planning for a trip in 2020, possibly in the spring but probably in September again. It was a “Gee, I’d like to go back” sort of thing but nothing solid because my life is so unpredictable.
That’s when a bit of Disney Magic happened!
If you read my trip report from 2017 (see My 50th Birthday Solo Trip Blow-Out), I wrote about the friends I made in those last days as Hurricane Irma ripped through the end of my vacation, canceling my flight home, and extending my stay for an additional 3 days. Jane and Graeme Pierce were lodged in the room next to mine, but by sheer coincidence we’d actually struck up a conversation on the bus prior to learning we were neighbors. Call it Kismet. We spent much of the remaining time I was there together, talking and laughing and just enjoying the unique experience of being trapped in Disney World. We friended one another on FaceBook on my last morning before flying home, and we sort of half-jokingly said that maybe we should try to plan our next Disney World trip to coincide, so we could meet up again.
As time went on, we started toying with the idea more seriously, but for me it was still very up in the air because of my current situation and how difficult it was to plan or budget right now with everything sort of crashing around me.
Jump to a couple weeks ago. Out of the blue, Jane and Graeme messaged me and ask if I’d be interested in sharing a room with them in September of 2020! Disney begins offering truly stunning “free dining” package deals to UK residents far in advance of what I can book, and they were actively considering booking the 14-day/13-night package deal. The package includes a two-bed deluxe resort, standard dining plan, Magical Express, MemoryMaker (photos), park passes, park hopper pass, water parks and mini golf, etc. It’s an astounding deal, and when split three ways, my share would be the same as what it cost me just for the moderate room and park passes—minus perks and meals—during my 9-day solo trip in 2017! Let’s just say that I did not hesitate! I’m jumped right on that like the banshee ride in Flight of Passage!
We had a choice of luxury resorts, and initially were excited at the opportunity to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (on all our Bucket Lists), but agreed that even split three ways, it was too expensive to stay in a Savanna room for two weeks unless we added a fourth person and got a room with bunk-beds, but those rooms are too small for four adults for 14 days--we'd probably be at each others' throats by the end (I have two friends who expressed interest and had to turn them down because I value their friendships more). This meant we were limited to a Standard room, so we booked that and paid the deposit.
But within the day, however, I started having second thoughts about that decision. I recalled a blog I’d read about pros and cons about different resorts, and one idea kept pinging my brain—that we’d regret staying at AKL if we stayed in the Standard room. The reason being that you’re paying a lot more than a moderate room, but still limited to the same views as non-staying visitors, so there was no advantage to the price difference other than proximity to their restaurants. Factor in the distance from everything else Disney (even Animal Kingdom still requires a bus ride), and it was losing its luster. Meanwhile, that blog had mentioned the Beach Club/Yacht Club resort as being a better deal if you can’t get a Savanna room. For example, Beach Club is literally within walking distance to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, not to mention the Monorail, the boats, and the new gondola service. That sort of positioning is priceless when you’re exhausted, plus it makes that mythical “break in the middle of the day” attainable, whereas that long bus ride to/from Animal Kingdom Lodge would get very old quickly. And with the International Food & Wine Festival going on while we’re there, this is a major advantage. Add to that the fact that the Standard room at Beach Club is actually BIGGER than the Standard at AKL, and it seemed a no-brainer to me.
I was doing laundry while all these thoughts were circling around in my head. Finally, I messaged my friends back and tentatively proposed the idea that maybe we should reconsider our resort choice. I asked if maybe we could split our stay—do a few nights from AKL and then switch to Beach Club for the rest of our vacation. I was very worried that they’d start seeing me as a trouble maker, trying to throw a wrench in the works by already causing problems, so I was very relieved when they were open and enthusiastic to the idea (not just about the better location, but because it meant we could check TWO resorts off our list). Graeme reached out to customer support with our questions and was informed that this package did not allow us to split our stay without a severe penalty (they would consider it a second booking and thus charge us for the second week of park passes, etc.), which defeated the entire purpose of the package deal. This meant we were locked into whichever resort we chose. However, it wasn’t too late to change our choice. We didn’t hesitate long in making the decision—we switched it to Beach Club!
So it’s now official. The dates are set for September 8th through September 22 of 2020! It’s about a week later than my last trip, so hopefully the crowds will be even lighter, although I have little hope of the weather being cooler. The odds of another hurricane hitting us again are slim (although we’re buying travel insurance all the same!).
Finally, I already have approval for vacation time at work. I have a different supervisor now, who is much friendlier about getting approvals. He did tell me that those above him are pushing a policy of not allowing PTO requests more than 3 months in advance, which is insane. I explained my situation here (the UK advance package deal), and that I had to pay my deposit now if I was going to do it, and that my friends were counting on me, etc. I told him that I was doing him the courtesy of giving him over a years’ notice of my absence, but if he would prefer I not tell him until three months before I go, I could do that, too, but I’m still going. He agreed and thanked me. Then he officially approved it. Sometimes you just need to stand up for yourself!
So now comes the waiting. And planning. But mostly the waiting…!
Here’s how it happened…
After returning from my enjoyable week-long WDW trip with my Mom back in November of 2018 (see Just Mom and Me -- Our late November 2018 trip), things were a bit hectic and stressful for me at home. Within the month, my oldest cat, Hailey (only 9 years), began suffering from severe dental issues that didn’t respond to surgery and treatment and resulted in my being forced to make a heartbreaking decision. I also went through a very stressful and infuriating incident with the cat rescue with which I volunteer, which really upset me because I love working for them (fortunately it’s mostly resolved as of this week, but for months it haunted me). I also took on the adoption of a very young kitten—the youngest I’ve ever had at 11 weeks—which is both expensive and a dose of nuttiness (kittens be crazy!), but I love her. Finally, work continues to be crazy at times and I’ve worked several all-nighters, plus there was a sudden announcement of an organizational shift and change of roles, which is the ultimate stress-inducing event because you don’t even know if you’ll still have a job, or one that you like, when it’s all over. That’s still playing out and still somewhat uncertain, but I think that, at the very least, my job is secure.
Anyway, it’s been a mess. It’s part of why it took me so long to finish my blog report of that trip—I was struggling to find the frame of mind needed to summon up those memories and document them.
The accumulated vet bills I’d faced in the past 6 months (3 cat dental surgeries, 1 spaying surgery, multiple health checkups and rounds of shots, etc.) really set me back financially, wiping out my standing vacation savings, squashing my plans to travel home to Wisconsin in May. I do still plan a trip home in September for a cousin’s wedding and to see family, but that will be it for this year. However, since my 2017 trip, I’ve been loosely planning for a trip in 2020, possibly in the spring but probably in September again. It was a “Gee, I’d like to go back” sort of thing but nothing solid because my life is so unpredictable.
That’s when a bit of Disney Magic happened!
If you read my trip report from 2017 (see My 50th Birthday Solo Trip Blow-Out), I wrote about the friends I made in those last days as Hurricane Irma ripped through the end of my vacation, canceling my flight home, and extending my stay for an additional 3 days. Jane and Graeme Pierce were lodged in the room next to mine, but by sheer coincidence we’d actually struck up a conversation on the bus prior to learning we were neighbors. Call it Kismet. We spent much of the remaining time I was there together, talking and laughing and just enjoying the unique experience of being trapped in Disney World. We friended one another on FaceBook on my last morning before flying home, and we sort of half-jokingly said that maybe we should try to plan our next Disney World trip to coincide, so we could meet up again.
As time went on, we started toying with the idea more seriously, but for me it was still very up in the air because of my current situation and how difficult it was to plan or budget right now with everything sort of crashing around me.
Jump to a couple weeks ago. Out of the blue, Jane and Graeme messaged me and ask if I’d be interested in sharing a room with them in September of 2020! Disney begins offering truly stunning “free dining” package deals to UK residents far in advance of what I can book, and they were actively considering booking the 14-day/13-night package deal. The package includes a two-bed deluxe resort, standard dining plan, Magical Express, MemoryMaker (photos), park passes, park hopper pass, water parks and mini golf, etc. It’s an astounding deal, and when split three ways, my share would be the same as what it cost me just for the moderate room and park passes—minus perks and meals—during my 9-day solo trip in 2017! Let’s just say that I did not hesitate! I’m jumped right on that like the banshee ride in Flight of Passage!
We had a choice of luxury resorts, and initially were excited at the opportunity to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (on all our Bucket Lists), but agreed that even split three ways, it was too expensive to stay in a Savanna room for two weeks unless we added a fourth person and got a room with bunk-beds, but those rooms are too small for four adults for 14 days--we'd probably be at each others' throats by the end (I have two friends who expressed interest and had to turn them down because I value their friendships more). This meant we were limited to a Standard room, so we booked that and paid the deposit.
But within the day, however, I started having second thoughts about that decision. I recalled a blog I’d read about pros and cons about different resorts, and one idea kept pinging my brain—that we’d regret staying at AKL if we stayed in the Standard room. The reason being that you’re paying a lot more than a moderate room, but still limited to the same views as non-staying visitors, so there was no advantage to the price difference other than proximity to their restaurants. Factor in the distance from everything else Disney (even Animal Kingdom still requires a bus ride), and it was losing its luster. Meanwhile, that blog had mentioned the Beach Club/Yacht Club resort as being a better deal if you can’t get a Savanna room. For example, Beach Club is literally within walking distance to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, not to mention the Monorail, the boats, and the new gondola service. That sort of positioning is priceless when you’re exhausted, plus it makes that mythical “break in the middle of the day” attainable, whereas that long bus ride to/from Animal Kingdom Lodge would get very old quickly. And with the International Food & Wine Festival going on while we’re there, this is a major advantage. Add to that the fact that the Standard room at Beach Club is actually BIGGER than the Standard at AKL, and it seemed a no-brainer to me.
I was doing laundry while all these thoughts were circling around in my head. Finally, I messaged my friends back and tentatively proposed the idea that maybe we should reconsider our resort choice. I asked if maybe we could split our stay—do a few nights from AKL and then switch to Beach Club for the rest of our vacation. I was very worried that they’d start seeing me as a trouble maker, trying to throw a wrench in the works by already causing problems, so I was very relieved when they were open and enthusiastic to the idea (not just about the better location, but because it meant we could check TWO resorts off our list). Graeme reached out to customer support with our questions and was informed that this package did not allow us to split our stay without a severe penalty (they would consider it a second booking and thus charge us for the second week of park passes, etc.), which defeated the entire purpose of the package deal. This meant we were locked into whichever resort we chose. However, it wasn’t too late to change our choice. We didn’t hesitate long in making the decision—we switched it to Beach Club!
So it’s now official. The dates are set for September 8th through September 22 of 2020! It’s about a week later than my last trip, so hopefully the crowds will be even lighter, although I have little hope of the weather being cooler. The odds of another hurricane hitting us again are slim (although we’re buying travel insurance all the same!).
Finally, I already have approval for vacation time at work. I have a different supervisor now, who is much friendlier about getting approvals. He did tell me that those above him are pushing a policy of not allowing PTO requests more than 3 months in advance, which is insane. I explained my situation here (the UK advance package deal), and that I had to pay my deposit now if I was going to do it, and that my friends were counting on me, etc. I told him that I was doing him the courtesy of giving him over a years’ notice of my absence, but if he would prefer I not tell him until three months before I go, I could do that, too, but I’m still going. He agreed and thanked me. Then he officially approved it. Sometimes you just need to stand up for yourself!
So now comes the waiting. And planning. But mostly the waiting…!
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