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October 30 - November 4, 2004
Participants
• Me - Steve, Disney fanatic and DVC member. Aging like
fine wine. As my wife says, “Men are like fine wine. They
start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the c**p
out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner
with.” That’s me.
• Barb – my bride of almost 32 years (Unfortunately,
that’s not her age. Just the number of years we’ve been
married). Aspiring Disney fanatic – she’s learning.
• The Goergens (Wayne & Sue) – Our long-time friends
and fellow Disney vets and DVC members.
• Appearances by Kristen (Sue and Wayne’s daughter)
and her boyfriend, Matt
Caribbean Beach Resort (1 night) & Boardwalk Villas Resort
(4 nights).
Planning
Yeah, we’re going to do it again. The four of us had taken
a 2002 trip for the Food & Wine Festival (F&W) and had a
great time – successfully navigating several trips around
World Showcase (WS) without staggering into kiosks, falling into
the lagoon or otherwise piquing the interest of the Disney police.
We never even needed the bail money that Sue and Wayne’s son
had offered.
For those that have written multiple Trip Reports: How the hell
do you keep them fresh? I’m only writing the Planning section
here but I’m already trying to overcome the compulsion to
explain in graphic detail how we secured flights, rooms, etc. Sheesh!
That even bores me. However, I do admit that planning a WDW trip
is my favorite thing.
Let’s suffice it to say that, after Barb and I returned
from a December 2003 trip, we checked with Sue and Wayne on their
interest. It took them 14 nanoseconds to decide that they were in.
We booked our respective studios at the BWVR, our DVC home. Later,
we booked flights on Southwest ($247 each) and Sue secured our Tiffany
Town Car reservations.
In late spring we learned that Sue and Wayne’s daughter
Kristin, and her boyfriend Matt, would be taking a trip spanning
our dates and staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR). While
they maintain this will be an independent trip, our collective children
have always looked to us as their WDW Tour Guides (and usually as
their financial backing as well) so I’m certain we’ll
run into Kristen and Matt on several occasions.
Sue asked if we were interested in attending Mickey’s Not
So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) on Halloween night. I had read
a number of mixed reviews and wasn’t so sure it would be something
we’d enjoy. In the end, we figured it was something we’d
never done before so we might as well take advantage of the opportunity.
Sue called in June and got us 4 tickets for October 31, Halloween
night ($139 for 4). We learned later that Kristen and Matt had also
purchased tickets so they’d be coming with us.
As often happens, we started to question our decision to travel
down on Sunday. After all, why spend a cold Saturday raking leaves
in the Northeast when you could be cruising the kiosks at Epcot
– drinking something you can’t spell and eating something
you can’t pronounce? We decided to travel down on Saturday,
October 30, and spend one night at a to-be-determined WDW resort,
basing our resort decision on prices when the AP rates were announced.
In August, I received an email from Disney with reduced rates for
Value ($54) and Moderate ($79) resorts. We booked 2 rooms at the
CBR for October 30 at a rate of $79. Barb upgraded them to Kings
for an additional $15 per room. She also tried for a PS at the Liberty
Tree for Halloween night but there was nothing to be had. We had
hoped to have dinner there and then hang out until the start of
the MNSSHP. I guess we’ll have to play that by ear –
maybe Tony’s or the Crystal Palace?
We have no PSs, which is actually our normal MO. We typically decide
on a restaurant based on how we feel at that time – not 90
days previous – and we don’t normally have problems
getting seated on a spur-of-the-moment basis at WDW restaurants.
Then again, we usually visit in off-peak times. We’ll see
if this works.
What are our goals for this trip? Not much, really. Relax and have
a good time which we always do at WDW. I’m sure we’ll
spend ample time at the F&W Festival, sampling whatever looks
good. We’ll probably visit all 4 parks although there should
be nothing new for us since our last trips in December/January –
unless we can take part in the soft opening for Stitch. We found
out recently that the AP preview for Stitch begins on November 5
– the day after we leave. We absolutely never get lucky on
this stuff. I do want to experience those things that were new on
our last trip that we only had a chance to do once – Mission:
Space, Mickey’s Philharmagic and Wishes.
One more change I’m planning is in the rating system. In
my TR for the 2002 F&W trip, I neglected to keep copious notes
on the prices at the Festival – essentially telling you all
that everything cost $28. In fact, most items were considerably
more – about $100. I also, for the sake of convenience (mine,
not yours), did a less-than-inspiring job rating the many tasty
and exotic food samplings at the Festival. Being the lazy slug that
I am, I simply told you if something was good or not (excepting
the chocolate truffles in France that were, quite possibly, the
best thing I had ever eaten. Especially, when accompanied by Remy
Martin VSOP Cognac.) This time around, things will be much different.
I shall endeavor to provide you accurate pricing on all items, giving
you, my faithful readers, the opportunity to judge for yourselves
exactly how much Disney is ripping us off. On the tasting side,
I have carefully charted out metrics that will allow me to accurately
convey the quality of everything sampled, using a scale of 1-10
with ‘10’ representing a chocolate truffle (the truffle
is actually closer to a 12) and ‘1’ being, oh, something
like sea urchin wrapped in monkey bladder. Get the picture? I’ll
attempt, where appropriate, to get evaluations from my traveling
companions as well. You lucky readers, you!
We spent the last week before departure getting things cleaned up
at work and making sure the house would sustain Stephen (or son)
and Gunnar (our dog) in our absence. That typically involves about
$3500 in groceries – none of which require cooking. Stephen’s
sisters (Michelle and Stephanie) will be looking in and helping
out as needed.
We made a few last minute trips to Wal-Mart for the odds and ends
that you always forget until the last minute. On Friday night, we
packed up the suitcases and loaded them in the car. We’re
ready.
Day 1...
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