faline
02-17-2011, 06:45 PM
Who: Girls only – my daughter and me
What: Mother/daughter getaway
Where: Bay Lake Tower Lake View Room
When: February 10 – 16
Background: The concept for this trip has been on my mind for quite some time. My mother passed away a couple of years ago and I never had the opportunity to take such a trip with her. Every time I read about a mother/daughter Disney World trip, it increased my desire to take such a trip with my daughter.
A few years ago, we made the decision to buy into Disney’s Vacation Club. We took the tour a couple of times when we were in Disney and did a fair amount of research. Ultimately, we decided to purchase in the resale market but put off the purchase while we saved as we were sure we did not want to incur a loan and/or have to pay interest on the purchase – particularly in these uncertain times. In the interim, it was hard to look at resales that we would have loved to express interest in but for which we were not ready financially.
Last summer, we found a sale we were interested in, spoke with folks from the Time Share Store and very quickly settled on a price. The entire process went smoothly and the sale was completed more quickly than we expected. In fact, the sale was completed shortly before our last trip to Disney World but, since that trip was so close, and everything had already been booked, we did not try to use points for that trip.
Since our sale included banked points, I was in the position of being able to make a mother/daughter trip a reality. Though I would have like to have booked 7 nights, we settled on 6 due to my daughter’s limited vacation time. I’d never used member services before and had often read that folks were unable to get into the properties they wanted for the dates they wanted. With these thoughts in mind, we decided flexibility would be key.
My daughter does not like to travel when it is particularly hot so we settled on three sets of dates (two in January and one in February). I also suggested we have three different accommodations in mind and, hopefully, would be able to book one of the sets of dates we had decided upon in at least one of the three accommodations.
Initially, my daughter picked Beach Club as her first choice but quickly changed that to Bay Lake Tower as her first choice after I provided her with some pictures and information on this property.
Member Services: So, well within my 7 month booking window, I called Member Services a bit apprehensive that I would not be able to get any of the dates I had chosen or any of the accommodations I had chosen. I started by inquiring about a Lake View accommodation at Bay Lake Tower. I provided my first set of dates – no go. Second set of dates – no go. Third set of dates – all six nights are available in the accommodation I want so a I booked it. I never even inquired as to our second or third choice of accommodations (Beach Club and Animal Kingdom by the way). Well, that was pretty easy!
On to Dining: With choices such as San Angel Inn or Boulangerie Patisserie; The Wave or Le Cellier; California Grill or Flying Fish; Narcoosee’s or Citrico’s; I ended up with dinner reservations for O’Hana’s; Le Cellier (My daughter was thrilled with this one as a woman in her department had been unable to secure a reservation to dine here); California Grill; Narcoosee’s; and Jiko. I have a Tables in Wonderland card which will be put to good use!
Flights: I was able to book a JetBlue flight out of Boston for a Thursday afternoon. This allowed my daughter to work a half-day that day so she wouldn’t use another day of vacation for the trip. We slated to arrive in Orlando in the early evening. It’s also possible that weather in Boston could be a bit milder than Manchester, NH which is important when traveling in February.
For our trip home, I booked a Southwest flight into Manchester, NH. After all, who cares about getting home when you’re in Florida in February?
General Park Plan: By time we arrive at our resort on our first day, the parks will be closed or soon closing and no-one has evening extra magic hours that evening. Therefore, the plan is to get checked in, unpacked and, perhaps, enjoy a cocktail before heading to bed. We will have one day devoted to each of the parks and one day with no specific plans. Our flight home leaves Orlando at 1:25 in the afternoon so there isn’t much opportunity to get in any park time that day. We’ll just plan to have a nice breakfast and get packed up and out.
Tickets: I have an annual pass so my tickets are taken care of. When we arrive, I’ll purchase a 6-day hopper for my daughter. It may be one more day than we need but it will provide us with maximum flexibility even if we want to go into the Magic Kingdom for an hour or two on the day we leave.
Other Considerations: This winter in New England has been unlike any other that I remember. I remember some major snowstorms including the granddaddy of them all – The Blizzard of ’78; and several major storms that came in quick succession one year, putting me out of school for the better part of a month. This year, storms have just continued to come in since Christmas and the snow has just gotten deeper and deeper. My office has closed, I think, one day per week for the last 5-6 weeks due to weather. So, when listening to the forecast six days before we were set to leave, imagine my distress when the weather person said she was watching what could be a “big storm” scheduled for the day we leave!! Oh no –snow!! I looked at seeing if we could push our leaving up to the day before but my daughter has a commitment on Wednesday which cannot be changed so we’ll need to take our chances with leaving on Thursday. The forecasts listed on weather.com and the National Weather Service for this area are more positive. On tv, with five days left to go, they’re showing snow Thursday evening into Friday which is looking more positive for being about to get out of here on that day. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and have pulled out the suitcases!
I’m really looking forward to seeing some green plants and blue water!!
What: Mother/daughter getaway
Where: Bay Lake Tower Lake View Room
When: February 10 – 16
Background: The concept for this trip has been on my mind for quite some time. My mother passed away a couple of years ago and I never had the opportunity to take such a trip with her. Every time I read about a mother/daughter Disney World trip, it increased my desire to take such a trip with my daughter.
A few years ago, we made the decision to buy into Disney’s Vacation Club. We took the tour a couple of times when we were in Disney and did a fair amount of research. Ultimately, we decided to purchase in the resale market but put off the purchase while we saved as we were sure we did not want to incur a loan and/or have to pay interest on the purchase – particularly in these uncertain times. In the interim, it was hard to look at resales that we would have loved to express interest in but for which we were not ready financially.
Last summer, we found a sale we were interested in, spoke with folks from the Time Share Store and very quickly settled on a price. The entire process went smoothly and the sale was completed more quickly than we expected. In fact, the sale was completed shortly before our last trip to Disney World but, since that trip was so close, and everything had already been booked, we did not try to use points for that trip.
Since our sale included banked points, I was in the position of being able to make a mother/daughter trip a reality. Though I would have like to have booked 7 nights, we settled on 6 due to my daughter’s limited vacation time. I’d never used member services before and had often read that folks were unable to get into the properties they wanted for the dates they wanted. With these thoughts in mind, we decided flexibility would be key.
My daughter does not like to travel when it is particularly hot so we settled on three sets of dates (two in January and one in February). I also suggested we have three different accommodations in mind and, hopefully, would be able to book one of the sets of dates we had decided upon in at least one of the three accommodations.
Initially, my daughter picked Beach Club as her first choice but quickly changed that to Bay Lake Tower as her first choice after I provided her with some pictures and information on this property.
Member Services: So, well within my 7 month booking window, I called Member Services a bit apprehensive that I would not be able to get any of the dates I had chosen or any of the accommodations I had chosen. I started by inquiring about a Lake View accommodation at Bay Lake Tower. I provided my first set of dates – no go. Second set of dates – no go. Third set of dates – all six nights are available in the accommodation I want so a I booked it. I never even inquired as to our second or third choice of accommodations (Beach Club and Animal Kingdom by the way). Well, that was pretty easy!
On to Dining: With choices such as San Angel Inn or Boulangerie Patisserie; The Wave or Le Cellier; California Grill or Flying Fish; Narcoosee’s or Citrico’s; I ended up with dinner reservations for O’Hana’s; Le Cellier (My daughter was thrilled with this one as a woman in her department had been unable to secure a reservation to dine here); California Grill; Narcoosee’s; and Jiko. I have a Tables in Wonderland card which will be put to good use!
Flights: I was able to book a JetBlue flight out of Boston for a Thursday afternoon. This allowed my daughter to work a half-day that day so she wouldn’t use another day of vacation for the trip. We slated to arrive in Orlando in the early evening. It’s also possible that weather in Boston could be a bit milder than Manchester, NH which is important when traveling in February.
For our trip home, I booked a Southwest flight into Manchester, NH. After all, who cares about getting home when you’re in Florida in February?
General Park Plan: By time we arrive at our resort on our first day, the parks will be closed or soon closing and no-one has evening extra magic hours that evening. Therefore, the plan is to get checked in, unpacked and, perhaps, enjoy a cocktail before heading to bed. We will have one day devoted to each of the parks and one day with no specific plans. Our flight home leaves Orlando at 1:25 in the afternoon so there isn’t much opportunity to get in any park time that day. We’ll just plan to have a nice breakfast and get packed up and out.
Tickets: I have an annual pass so my tickets are taken care of. When we arrive, I’ll purchase a 6-day hopper for my daughter. It may be one more day than we need but it will provide us with maximum flexibility even if we want to go into the Magic Kingdom for an hour or two on the day we leave.
Other Considerations: This winter in New England has been unlike any other that I remember. I remember some major snowstorms including the granddaddy of them all – The Blizzard of ’78; and several major storms that came in quick succession one year, putting me out of school for the better part of a month. This year, storms have just continued to come in since Christmas and the snow has just gotten deeper and deeper. My office has closed, I think, one day per week for the last 5-6 weeks due to weather. So, when listening to the forecast six days before we were set to leave, imagine my distress when the weather person said she was watching what could be a “big storm” scheduled for the day we leave!! Oh no –snow!! I looked at seeing if we could push our leaving up to the day before but my daughter has a commitment on Wednesday which cannot be changed so we’ll need to take our chances with leaving on Thursday. The forecasts listed on weather.com and the National Weather Service for this area are more positive. On tv, with five days left to go, they’re showing snow Thursday evening into Friday which is looking more positive for being about to get out of here on that day. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and have pulled out the suitcases!
I’m really looking forward to seeing some green plants and blue water!!