TooGoofy
06-29-2007, 10:11 AM
Cast: Meg: 43: trip planner and tour guide; 6th trip to the world
Dave: 51: general all around great guy: 6th trip to the world
A special note: Dave suffered a stroke in 2003 due to untreated high blood pressure. He is 99.9% recovered (thank God), but he has some trouble with his balance and needs his rest periods. Therefore, we tend to take it slow and easy when we go to WDW. Don’t expect a commando trip from us!
How this trip started: We had been planning to go back to WDW in 2007 anyway, plus after our quick trip after the AP Annual Conference last summer, we had AP’s and wanted to use them! We came home last July, unpacked, did laundry, and immediately started planning our trip for this year. We chose July, because 1) I am a teacher and we are pretty much restricted to the summer months to travel and 2) we wanted to stay at AKL concierge and we knew that the value rates would start July 8. Honestly, it was hot last July, no one can deny that, but it was bearable. Our strategy was to hit the EMH park in the morning, stay until about 11 or 12, head back to our hotel to shower and nap, and then head out at around 5 pm or so to the evening EMH park. It worked great for us!
Our Resorts: While we liked Caribbean Beach Resort well enough last year, we wanted to try something different this year. Our friends had gone to Coronado Springs Resort twice and loved it, so we started looking at that and quickly decided that we would stay part of our trip there. We requested casitas and paid for a king bed room. The other part, we would be heading back to our beloved Animal Kingdom Lodge, this time on concierge level! We desperately wanted to do the Sunrise Safari. When the AAA rates come out in August 2006, we quickly contacted Magical Journey’s and made our reservations. CSR from July 2-9 and AKL concierge from July 9-14. Our moment of Zen came when we heard about the construction at AKL. Would it bother us or the animals? We emailed concierge, and they told us it shouldn’t be a problem. OK then…we’d be Zen about it. Go with the flow.
We were all set…or so we thought.
We board our dogs at our vets while we are away. They used to be open every day, but recently they have closed on Sundays. Our flight would get back too late on the 14th to pick them up. We wouldn’t be able to get them until Monday! We couldn’t do that, so we changed our departure date to August 13 instead. We also realized that we would have to put the dogs in the kennel (or the spa, as we like to call it) on Saturday June 30, but we would not be leaving until July 2. So, we decided to drive down to Manchester, NH on July 1 and stay overnight there. We would then be able to leave the hotel at 8:15 and still be two hours early for our flight! I would also save Dave from a lot of fatigue. He would be much better rested!
Our flights: We fly Southwest exclusively. We love their service, punctuality and cheapness! We booked our tickets when the airfare first came out, thinking that we would be getting the cheapest fares. To our surprise, the cost was about $675 round trip for the two of us. Oh well, we figured with gas prices the price of flights had to go up. I had just gotten my tax refund, which was $700.00, so that went to airfare. In May, we were able to take advantage of two sales on Southwest. Our airfare went from $675.00 round trip for two to $216.00 round trip for two! We ended up with a $450.00 credit on Southwest, and we are now in the process of planning a possible December trip!
Our plans: We have two big things planned. On July 5, I am going to be taking the Dolphins in Depth tour at Epcot. Dave gave me this tour for my birthday this year. And then, on July 12, we are going on the Sunrise Safari. We also, plan on going to Epcot on July 4 to catch the Voices of Liberty and American Vybe. Other than that, we will probably follow the EMH’s. Or maybe not. Perhaps, in true Zen fashion, we will get on the first bus we see and go wherever it takes us!
Our meals: OK, here are our ADR’s.
You didn’t catch that? That’s right, we have none. Zero, zilch, nada. Call me crazy, (I can hear you all now, shouting, “You’re crazy!”) but we felt too constrained by our ADR’s last year. We felt like we couldn’t have a snack because it would spoil our appetite. We couldn’t try places we wanted to, because we were going to be eating somewhere else soon. So we have decided to just do CS places this time. Again, another moment of Zen. If we are hungry, we will eat. If I want a funnel cake, I will get one…or two….:eat:
So that is our pre-trip report…see you all in a couple of weeks! :mickey:
Dave: 51: general all around great guy: 6th trip to the world
A special note: Dave suffered a stroke in 2003 due to untreated high blood pressure. He is 99.9% recovered (thank God), but he has some trouble with his balance and needs his rest periods. Therefore, we tend to take it slow and easy when we go to WDW. Don’t expect a commando trip from us!
How this trip started: We had been planning to go back to WDW in 2007 anyway, plus after our quick trip after the AP Annual Conference last summer, we had AP’s and wanted to use them! We came home last July, unpacked, did laundry, and immediately started planning our trip for this year. We chose July, because 1) I am a teacher and we are pretty much restricted to the summer months to travel and 2) we wanted to stay at AKL concierge and we knew that the value rates would start July 8. Honestly, it was hot last July, no one can deny that, but it was bearable. Our strategy was to hit the EMH park in the morning, stay until about 11 or 12, head back to our hotel to shower and nap, and then head out at around 5 pm or so to the evening EMH park. It worked great for us!
Our Resorts: While we liked Caribbean Beach Resort well enough last year, we wanted to try something different this year. Our friends had gone to Coronado Springs Resort twice and loved it, so we started looking at that and quickly decided that we would stay part of our trip there. We requested casitas and paid for a king bed room. The other part, we would be heading back to our beloved Animal Kingdom Lodge, this time on concierge level! We desperately wanted to do the Sunrise Safari. When the AAA rates come out in August 2006, we quickly contacted Magical Journey’s and made our reservations. CSR from July 2-9 and AKL concierge from July 9-14. Our moment of Zen came when we heard about the construction at AKL. Would it bother us or the animals? We emailed concierge, and they told us it shouldn’t be a problem. OK then…we’d be Zen about it. Go with the flow.
We were all set…or so we thought.
We board our dogs at our vets while we are away. They used to be open every day, but recently they have closed on Sundays. Our flight would get back too late on the 14th to pick them up. We wouldn’t be able to get them until Monday! We couldn’t do that, so we changed our departure date to August 13 instead. We also realized that we would have to put the dogs in the kennel (or the spa, as we like to call it) on Saturday June 30, but we would not be leaving until July 2. So, we decided to drive down to Manchester, NH on July 1 and stay overnight there. We would then be able to leave the hotel at 8:15 and still be two hours early for our flight! I would also save Dave from a lot of fatigue. He would be much better rested!
Our flights: We fly Southwest exclusively. We love their service, punctuality and cheapness! We booked our tickets when the airfare first came out, thinking that we would be getting the cheapest fares. To our surprise, the cost was about $675 round trip for the two of us. Oh well, we figured with gas prices the price of flights had to go up. I had just gotten my tax refund, which was $700.00, so that went to airfare. In May, we were able to take advantage of two sales on Southwest. Our airfare went from $675.00 round trip for two to $216.00 round trip for two! We ended up with a $450.00 credit on Southwest, and we are now in the process of planning a possible December trip!
Our plans: We have two big things planned. On July 5, I am going to be taking the Dolphins in Depth tour at Epcot. Dave gave me this tour for my birthday this year. And then, on July 12, we are going on the Sunrise Safari. We also, plan on going to Epcot on July 4 to catch the Voices of Liberty and American Vybe. Other than that, we will probably follow the EMH’s. Or maybe not. Perhaps, in true Zen fashion, we will get on the first bus we see and go wherever it takes us!
Our meals: OK, here are our ADR’s.
You didn’t catch that? That’s right, we have none. Zero, zilch, nada. Call me crazy, (I can hear you all now, shouting, “You’re crazy!”) but we felt too constrained by our ADR’s last year. We felt like we couldn’t have a snack because it would spoil our appetite. We couldn’t try places we wanted to, because we were going to be eating somewhere else soon. So we have decided to just do CS places this time. Again, another moment of Zen. If we are hungry, we will eat. If I want a funnel cake, I will get one…or two….:eat:
So that is our pre-trip report…see you all in a couple of weeks! :mickey: