Impetuously Impulsive or Shrewdly Spontaneous?

"We need to get away!"

My wife said that in February as our jobs had become more demanding and more stressful. In the year leading up to that comment things had gone from intense to downright crazy. We would sit around in the evening and compare notes on our days, seeing who had the worse one.

"You're right. We should get away." But here we were in August, stressed out and still talking about it.

It was a little after 9:00am when I pulled myself away from the work computer. I had just spent more than 3 hours answering emails, text messages from my team and phone calls. I needed a break, so I walked over to the personal computer. Let's see what emails I have in this mailbox.

Great deal on a bikini wax. Tempting, but I'll pass.
A note that a classmate is trying to contact me. He's waited 40 years, he can wait a bit longer.
Buy 1, get 3 free on herbal supplements.
An interesting business proposition from a Nigerian prince. Not sure, but it may be a scam.
A great deal on fast food.
A great deal on a diet plan. Ever notice how these last two emails always come together.
Our lowest Airfares of the Year
The Disney Store
Allears Newsletter
Free Oil Ch...... wait. How low are those airfares?

It's 9:17 on a Tuesday morning. Start the clock. The 25 hour WDW planning adventure is about to begin!

More to follow.

Allie,

Belated congratulations on your little one.

Here's a thought for your Penny.

9:17 am

I find the deleted email and begin reading.

Southwest Airlines. Blah...Blah...Blah
Probably won't have my home airport

Rapid Rewards Members. Blah...Blah...Blah
Probably only deals to cities like Bangor and Butte. Not that there's anything wrong with Bangor and Butte.I just picked two cities. I could have picked Boise and Bakerfield. Not that there's anything wrong...Focus!

Best rates of the Year. Blah...Blah...Blah
Probably only on flights that leave at midnight and return at 5:00 am

9:23 am

I log onto the Southwest website. I need to enter dates to find the rates. I pick dates for a 5-day/4-night stay. Mid-September. Heat and crowds should be down and before work gets crazy with the holiday season.

9:26 am
They do have rates for my airport.
They do have rates to MCO
They do have flights at decent hours.

A seed is planted.

10:04 am
Check the Disney Visa. There are enough points to pay for meals and Christmas shopping. That will come in handy in selling her on the idea that this won't be a real expensive trip.

10:16 am
Log onto the Disney website and check room rates. If I do value, I just may be able to pull this off.

10:31 am
Send her an email.

10:34 am
She emails back

10:35 am
I respond

10:36
She sends

10:37 am
I get back to her with

11:01 am
I have the idea to check about renting DVC points. I check and the price would be more than a value but less than a moderate. I like the idea. But it's going to be short notice. If it doesn't come through, we'll stay value.

11:33 am
Email from wife.

11:34 am
I answer

11:35 am
She writes back

11:36 am
I respond with one word

More to follow

Sorry for the delay. Work.

11:51am I book flights on Southwest. We get in to MCO late morning, which should have us eating lunch at a park by 1. We leave late enough on the 16th that we will have a few hours in a park before we head out.

11:53 am Submit a request for DVC points. BW is my first choice, OKW is second, AKL is third.

12:01 pm Email from wife. "Seriously?"

12:02 pm Her "... and before you answer that, be aware that I'm a quart low on coffee and not in the mood to be joked with."

Now for those of you that read my last trip report,you know I described that the female expression 'Seriously' can have several, very different meanings. This 'Seriously?' was not like that. This was a question. A question of disbelief, filled with hope.

12:07 pm Me "Yes. Seriously. I just booked the flights."

12:09 pm Her "With the boys?"

Ooooh. Here's a little landmine that I didn't foresee. I just assumed she would think it was just the two of us.

I typed 'What boys?' but quickly deleted it. (refer to the aforementioned caffeine deficiency)
12:11 pm Me "Just the two of us. They went a couple of month's ago."

After a long delay, she sent me this.
12:33 pm Her "Perfect."
Landmine tiptoed around.

2:07 pm I hear back about our DVC rental. They can get us into OKW. They want to know if I want them to proceed.

2:08 pm I email back, "Book it!"

2:47 pm I receive an email from AAA. I have always booked park passes directly through WDW. I price them out on AAA, and while the savings isn't a lot, it is enough to take care of most of our bar tab, er, lunch one afternoon. I order them.

3:33 pm I start working on one of those neat spreadsheets you see on this site. But I quickly give up, when I find that I have entered the same thing for all 5 days. "Wherever, Whatever, Whenever." Our ideal is to travel the World with very few plans, to just let the trip unfold. That's the way we like it.

5:45 pm She arrives home from work. I tell her we need to think about meals at WDW. She says she needs to think about that for awhile..

7:14 pm After some thought, she says that she has 3 requests.
She wants to go back to Yak & Yeti. While we normally like to try places we haven't been, this makes sense. Last time we only ate in the bar area. The food was great, but we want to see the place.
She wants one nice, leisurely dinner. After much deliberation we decide on Sanaa.
But the place she really wants to eat, was a return to Kona for breakfast. It was so relaxing, so stress-relieving that it remains one of her favorite meals. (and I get to have the Samoan again)

We also agreed to explore the resort, by starting with breakfast at Olivia's.

While I was online booking these, I added a couple of surprises. Dinner at Chefs de France and a late lunch at Tony's Town Square.

Next Day

7:47 am I order a card from Chase Visa with our Disney points on it.

9:02 am An email saying that our DVC is done, All I have to do is sign the paperwork and return it.

9:05 am Fax paperwork

10:14 am Receive an email with final confirmation of DVC, We are officially booked at OKW.

There you have it. In 25 hours I have gone from start to:

Booked flights
ordered park hoppers
ordered spending money
booked accommodations
made ADR's

We leave in 5 days.

More to follow.

Thanks for your interest and apologies for the delay. And welcome to a great place to visit. Might I suggest that you head out to the main forum page and introduce yourself to the group. Lots of nice people here. They would love to meet you.

We will give it a try.

Halfway there

4:20 came early. If had been for any other reason but Disney, we would have been miserable getting up at that hour.

The flight from CLE to BWI was quick and easy. We left and arrived early. although taking off in the darkness felt a little strange, but we got to see a beautiful sunrise.

Now it's on to MCO. We are really excited to get there and get this trip started.

More to follow.

In line for Magical Express..

Two great flights have us a bit ahead of schedule..