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January 16-21, 2006
Boardwalk Villas Resort
The Cast
Steve & Barb –WDW veterans and DVC members since 1999.
Planning
This may very well be the most complicated planning process I’ve
ever been through – and I’ll try to spare you from
at least some of the gory details but, if you’re not interested
in planning (or pain), feel free to skip down to Day One.
PLAN A: After our trip in January 2005, I had been hoping for
a December 2005 trip (we missed the Osborne Lights during our only
other holiday trip in 2003). Plans changed when we learned that
our daughter, Michelle, was scheduled to deliver our first grandchild
in late November. Barb didn’t want to leave town so soon
after the baby’s birth so we settled on two shorter trips – one
in early October 2005, during the Food and Wine Festival, and a
second in February 2006. We took that October trip and then planned
for February – booking 5 nights split between the Boardwalk
Villas (BWVR) and Old Key West (OKW) Resorts (mainly due to availability
problems) and, unfortunately, part of it during Presidents’ Week..
PLAN B: Our grandson decided to take advantage of a FastPass
and came into the world 4 1/2 weeks early on October 18, 2005 .
That, coupled with our experiencing some fairly heavy crowds on
our trip in October told us that we could now move the February
trip up to a less crowded time in January. So we planned that one
- booking 5 nights (January 12-17) at the Saratoga Springs Resort
(SSR), due mainly to nothing being available at the Boardwalk.
I also booked our flights on Southwest. The best I could do was
a direct flight (one stop) going down with a non-stop coming back – at
$333 total. After applying $180 in credits from re-booking our
October trip, the cost for two round trips was $153.
PLAN C: Can you see it coming? In mid-November, Barb learned
that she had to take a job-required test on Saturday, January 14 – right
smack dab in the middle of our trip. No problem – on to Plan
C. At this point I not only knew the DVC phone number and menu
options, I could also recite my member number and fill in their
verification questions before they were asked. I got on the phone
with DVC while I was on Southwest’s web site to see about
rebooking. Our first choice was to move the dates to Sunday-Friday.
A quick check with Southwest and I learned that would add over
$200 to the airfare. I quickly moved the dates to Monday-Saturday
and found Internet Fares available that would actually drop our
cost by $6.40 (round trip fares came to right around $163 each).
DVC had nothing available for the Boardwalk (our home resort and
our favorite) but did have OKW open so I took that with a wait-list
for the Boardwalk and Beach Club Villas (BCV). We now only have
one (not two) of the more expensive weekend nights, so I wind up
also saving some DVC points. Life is good.
At this point, I also signed us up for the Magical Express (ME)
service. I did this with some trepidation – even though ME
is a free ride. Most reviews I’ve read have been positive
or neutral but, there are enough negative comments to cause some
concern. We’ll decide as we get closer but I may opt for
a rental car or Town Car service.
During the October trip, we had poor luck getting into our choice
of WDW restaurants. I believe some of that was due to the heavier-than-expected
crowds but… I’m betting most of it was due to increased
reservations being made by folks on the Magic Your Way (MYW) Dining
Plan. Anyway, I had called DVC Member Services and set a personal
record by making five Advance Dining Reservations (ADR). This from
the guy that makes most trips with one or none. I booked lunches
at Whispering Canyon and the Brown Derby - and dinners at LeCellier,
Teppanyaki and ‘Ohana. Then, after we changed dates, I canceled
and re-booked them. This trip had better be a good one because
we’re certainly logging an awful lot of planning activity.
PLAN D: Not done yet. In late November, I received another of
those Southwest emails and re-booked our flights for the 3 rd time.
I managed to snag a non-stop on the way down and the same non-stop
(as what we had already booked) for the return for $115 each. We
now have $102 in Southwest credits that, unfortunately, may go
unused. Two days later, I received a phone call from DVC that our
wait-lists came through. I had my pick of a studio at the BWVR
or BCV and chose the Boardwalk. I don’t think I’ve
ever planned a trip with so many changes but, hopefully, this is
the last one.
Lastly, we need passes. Our Annual Passes (APs) expired shortly
after the October trip. With DVC discount the cost of a renewal
is $298 and the cost of a new AP is $314. Not really a huge difference.
It made no sense to renew when we’d probably only get this
one trip on them. We looked at the 5-day MYW ticket but… it
looks like we’ll be planning another ‘whole family’ trip,
all our kids and the new grandson, in January 2007. Assuming we
book it for early January, we’ll be able to get 2 trips on
a new AP – so APs it is. We planned to buy them after arrival
but, on New Year’s Eve, I check Mousesavers and saw a warning
about a price increase on January 1. I bought our two APs online
($314 each including tax and with DVC discount) and, sure enough,
the prices increased the following day. Mousesavers saved us about
$40. I set us up to pick up the passes at ‘Will Call’.
In the days leading up to the trip, the weather in the Albany
area was downright balmy – almost Spring-like. On Saturday
the 19 th, the temperature hit 56 degrees. Then it started to rain – hard.
By Saturday evening, the temps stared to plummet and the rain became
ice. Then it turned to snow. On Sunday, I was clearing 6” of
fresh snow, over a layer of ice, in 15 degree temperatures with
winds gusting to 40 mph. Will this trip ever get here?
Day 1...
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