The mad girlie spur of the moment trip
Well, this is something I didn't think would ever happen, 2 Pre Trip reports on the go at once! I mean, like most Disney enthusiasts I'm always thinking ahead to the next trip but to actually have one booked and in the planning and then to book another is pretty special (and something I'm not sure will ever be repeated!)
So I guess I should start with explaining is exactly how this trip came about.
Its freezing cold here right now We are having a serious storm that's causing severe damage, mainly flooding, friends are being evacuated from their homes as they are so under water its awful! But I'm damn miserable cause of the weather not just because its cold and yucky, but as soon as it gets cold my health deteriorates So I'm miserable cause its cold but also cause I'm not well and not able to go out very far and do anything - I mean at the moment, even a food shop is taxing
So to cheer myself up I do what any normal person does, I went to plan an imaginary trip to WDW. I found flights for 450 GBP (I cant put the symbol up as for some reason the forum doesn't support it), that price is pretty damn cheap! Especially when compared to our flights for October (650). I put a tongue in cheek facebook post about how cheap it was and who was coming with me then my best friend commented saying she would come, only she was being serious and not joking! As lovely as that was, with our trip in October coming there was no way I could afford the flight, plus hotel and spending money. But then I starting thinking... well we are DVC members now so I *could* borrow in some of next years points to cover the accommodation... But then my friend drops in that her dog has eaten her passport so she needs to get that sorted and the flights I had seen were for a few days later so her passport wouldn't be back in time. Ah well, there goes that idea then. But then I was searching to see if there were any other cheap flights around and I found some indirect flights from London, stopping at Dublin with Aer Lingus so we would go through immigration there and thus making our landing in Orlando pretty swift and easy (sometimes the queues are so bad that they keep people on the plane as there's no room to even join the queue!! The wait can be hours and hours). Those flights were for 350 GBP! The downside is, they leave on my mum's 60th but that was the ONLY day that had them under 450. I had a quick check online with DVC and there was room at Saratoga Springs for the whole week so after a few messages back and fourth between me and my friend we decided that I would cover the hotel and she would cover both flights. I then had to gently broach the subject with Sy...
This was a little harder as I would be borrowing in DVC points from next year and we are already down to half of our points after this years big trip... I used some of my womanly charm though and he came around Nah I lie really, He's been worrying about my health too so he wants me to go and get some sun and feel better. He is pretty sad that he's not coming but I've cushioned that blow a little by letting him buy a surround sound system that he's been after for ages LOL I had been telling him we don't need it (I'm such a big meanie!), but hey, if he's this selfless with me, I could hardly deny him.
This all happened at the weekend but there was still a spanner in the works, we couldn't book anything until my friend's passport was sorted. So Monday morning came and we met up at my parents house so that my dad could sign my friend's passport picture to prove who she is (as he is a retired policeman) and sent the passport off with the post office. We then went back to their house and booked the flights I then went on to book the DVC, as we were sat there I suggested I look at other resorts just to see what was available, unfortunately nothing else was available for the whole week but there was 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge in a standard view so we booked that for the last 3 nights and Saratoga Springs for the first 4 nights.
I'm not exactly thrilled at the thought of SSR, it was always my last choice of DVC. I'm sure we will have a fab time and lets face it, its still a deluxe Disney resort! I just find the theme a bit meh and its a spread out resort which I'm not a huge fan of, I also don't really care for DTD so the proximity there isn't a pull. I will keep checking on the off chance something else comes up in one of the other resorts but being a month away now I'm not holding out any hope.
So that was it! We were booked 7 nights flying on the 13th March, leaving London at 9am and getting Orlando 6pm local time. I did speak to my mum before we booked to make sure she was okay about me going on her birthday but she was fine, she has been saying for weeks that she doesn't want to do anything to celebrate so I didn't think she would mind.
Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa