WDW Trip Reports

October, 1999
The Surprise the Nephews Adventure

Dates of trip: October 9-17, 1999
Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
Resort: All-Star Movies Resort

Note: this report covers planning only as the trip is still months away!

The Players:

Tara, 28, a corporate communications/administrative assistant-type who loves Walt Disney World AND type-A, borderline-obsessive/compulsive planning AND Mickey ice cream bars. After a dry-spell of 12 years, I’ve been to WDW twice in the last 6 months (and will have another weekend trip under my belt by October).

Joe, 30, my husband, a geology Ph.D. student, lifelong pennypincher and kid-at-heart. He’s been to WDW twice, once as an “I’m too cool for this place” high-school sophomore, and more recently as a “I thought I didn’t like this place, but I guess it is really cool” honeymooner. (He’ll also have the April trip and perhaps an August weekend trip under his belt by then.)

First of all, let me say that Joe likes to pretend he doesn’t like Disney. And whenever I mention a trip, he moans and groans that I can go by myself because he’s NOT going again. “Because I don’t like it” he says is the reason, but I know it’s really because he’s a cheapskate! But even as cheap as he is, he realizes that a trip to Disney beats a day at the beach hands down and (his words) “Disney just knows how to treat people – they don’t do anything halfway.” (Of course, he still fantasizes about a Disney horror film where the dolls from It’s a Small World run amok…)

We honeymooned at Wilderness Lodge in June 1998 and, despite his best efforts, he wore a smile most of the time and accidentally uttered words of praise and laughed out loud with glee on several occasions. When I started planning a 1999 trip for either March or October, he still grumbled a bit, but otherwise went along with my ideas, agreeing wholeheartedly that we should stay at one of the Epcot resorts and telling me he preferred the Boardwalk.

March was quickly eliminated, and we settled on October 9-17 as the best dates. I called the MKC reservation line and found that only water-view rooms at the Boardwalk were available for those dates, and all other Epcot resorts were booked solid. I guess I could have tried to do a combination of a moderate and a deluxe. But I was still feeling spoiled from the honeymoon at Wilderness Lodge, and the memories of the bus rides to and from Dixie Landings in August were still fresh in my mind, so the option of switching resorts never occurred to me. Since I was already sitting down, I steeled myself and asked what the rate would be. Gee, only $2020 (including tax) for 8 nights. Right. Now that it was clear that what I really wanted was going to be pricey, I thought, “Why not go all out and stay at the Grand Floridian?” I was shocked that the rate was actually cheaper - $1859 for a garden view room. I made a couple more inquiries and found that the Polynesian was only $1703 (only!) for the 8 nights. In a moment of “frugality”, I booked the Poly, willing to forego the Boardwalk for a $300 savings.

That night, Joe noticed my notes by the telephone and innocently asked if I had booked anything. I told him the details and the doctors say he should be coming out of the catatonic state soon!

No, really, he was uneasy about the prices (he’s uneasy about the price of toothpaste, what’s new?) but not shocked. I guess I’ve prepared him well! In fact, he suggested that if we were going to spend $1700, we might as well spend $300 more and stay at the Boardwalk. (His childhood memories of Cape May and his grandparents’ home helped in this regard, I’m sure.) So we agreed to switch resorts and a phone call later it was done.

That said, I have to confess that I’m a bit evangelical in my love for WDW. It’s not that I’m crazy about all things Disney. (I’ve never even seen “The Lion King” – please don’t tell anyone, though!) I absolutely love the parks, mainly because we used to go every summer during my childhood. I love being a member of the Magic Kingdom Club; I love obsessively planning every detail of a trip (though once the plan is complete I’m not obsessive about following it); and, most of all, I love telling others about the fun I had and the money I “saved”.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving. Joe and I visited his family, spending the last day before heading home at this sister Liz’s house. There we finally showed her our honeymoon photos and talked a lot about that trip, the Disney weekend I treated my sister to in August, and our upcoming trip. Liz has been dying to take her boys to Disney, but wasn’t sure if that would be possible since she now also had little 2 month-old Brett. Her husband, Scott, was willing to take the time off from work and take the kids out of school, but didn’t want to spend a fortune.

Joe said it would be so much fun if they could all come with us, and Liz agreed that that time of October would be convenient, but I knew that staying at the Boardwalk would not be an option, so I yanked out my MKC card, dialed the 1-800 number and started investigating cheaper options. As luck would have it, I was able to get two rooms at All-Star Movies for only $74.56 per night (including tax). Since the rooms are small, we’re going to try for connecting rooms and let one of the boys “camp out” with us each night.

Liz was thrilled at the rate, but Joe was practically jumping for joy. The fact that his picky, spoiled (yes, I admit it, I’m spoiled) wife would give up the Boardwalk to stay at one of the All-Stars AND save $1424 in the process made him almost giddy. His Disney grumblings since then have been almost non-existent and when he starts moaning and groaning, all I have to say is “Just think, honey. We’ll practically pay for our entire vacation on what just the room alone at the Boardwalk would have cost!” That gets him every time!

Then we hopped on the computer and started checking airfare. I was sure there would be US Air Metrojet service or Delta Express service from Philadelphia to Orlando, but that was not the case. The cheapest round-trip direct air was on US Air for $238 – not the $191 I’d just paid for Albany to Orlando in August, but not too shabby.

Liz said that never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that they could get airfare for 5 and a room for 8 nights for less that $1800. (Neither did I really, but it just worked out that way.)

Update to The Players:

Liz – age 34, sister to Joe, stay-at-home-mom, totally laid back and easy going and willing to let me make all the plans – never been to WDW

Scott – age 35, husband of Liz, pharmaceutical manufacturer operations manager – never been to WDW

Christopher – age 9, Thomas – age 7, Evan – age 5 (all ages at time of trip) no Disney trips yet, either!

Then I told Liz I had an idea for surprising the boys. I suggested that Joe and I would drive down on 10/08 after work (a 3.5 hour drive that we’ve done a million times it seems). Liz would secretly prepare everything, make the school arrangements, and pack everyone’s bags. We would spend the night there under the pretense that Joe and I had a flight out in the morning, and we would all load up in the van and the boys would think they were just going along to watch the planes. We’re still sketchy on how to get checked in with all the luggage without tipping them off, but we’ll figure it out somehow (any suggestions would be helpful). Anyway, once we get to the gate, we’re going to tell them the big news. That way they won’t drive Liz and Scott buggy until vacation time arrives and they won’t be distracted in school beforehand. Of course, Joe is probably wondering what tactic will keep ME from driving HIM buggy before then…

Over Christmas came a bit of helpful news – Scott’s mother agreed to keep baby Brett for the week, so Liz and Scott will have a slightly smaller handful to manage! Liz probably feels a little guilty about leaving him behind, but she also realizes that at 12 months he won’t remember the trip and, though he might enjoy the visual stimulation at times, he won’t really “enjoy” the trip. Plus having mom and dad to themselves for the trip will be like a reward for the older boys who have helped so much with the new baby and have been really good at adjusting to sharing their parents!

With the rooms and airfare booked for all of us, I next made a reservation with Tiffany Towncar for pickup at the airport. A van for all of us is only $80 round trip, a huge savings over Mears and much more convenient. I used this service for my trip in August and it was very nice. My sister was totally impressed by the driver waiting with my name on a sign and I took great pleasure in counting all the Mears vans we passed along the way, knowing we were going straight to the front door of our resort!

Next came figuring out what admission options were best for everyone in the group. As for me, I have two days remaining on a 5 Day Hopper, so I’m cashing them in for credit towards an Annual Pass (AP) when we go for a weekend in February. To that I’m adding the Pleasure Island (PI) annual pass. With my MKC discount and the credit for the extra 2 days, it should only run around $275!! I considered a premium annual pass (PAP), but I’m not really interested in the water parks, though I still might change my mind, since the cost with MKC and the credit would only be about $325. (I’m not even applying the AP cost to this budget since the money will be spend and the pass will be activated in February.)

As for Joe, he is very interested in the water parks, so I know the 8 night/9 day Length of Stay (LOS) pass would work for him. I told him that at $313, an LOS was more than an AP, so it would be wise to invest in the AP or even the PAP. His response was “It seems kind of silly to get an AP when I won’t be going more than once a year.” Ready and waiting, I responded, “But, say you get an AP for our mid-October 1999 trip. We can go again in early October of 2000, the AP’s will still be good. Plus the cost of renewing is less than a 6 night/7 day LOS or a 7 day AIO.” That did the trick, so now the plan is to get an AP for him, too!

As for Liz, Scott and the boys, they've bought 5-day All-In-One Hoppers, but they'll convert them to 5-day Park Hopper Plus passes when we arrive. This way they can do two separate water parks without cutting into their 5 days of major park touring. That still leaves two days free to visit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

With part of Joe's family coming along, I was getting wistful about our family WDW trips of long ago and wish some of my family members could come along as well. Since my dad is retired from the Navy, he's eligible for great deals at Shades of Green, an onsite resort owned by the Department of Defense. It used to be the deluxe golf resort and was called the Disney Inn. I didn't think my mom would be too keen on making the trip, especially since they would have to drive from northern Alabama as she won't dare get on a plane!

Fate was on my side, though! My mom's sister - Aunt Vicki - and her husband (a Lt. Commander in the Navy) were recently transfered to Tampa - about a 45 mile drive away from WDW. Since my parents had driven down to visit them many times when they were stationed in Pensacola, it only made sense that they'd drive a little further to see them in Tampa. A great rate at Shades of Green would make tacking on a few Disney days a no-brainer! So, I pitched the idea to my folks and they said yes! Many phone calls later I had secured them a room at All-Star Movies for $66/night for Oct 11-14. Then they decided they wanted to arrive on October 12 and leave on October 17, so I had to scramble but finally managed to get them a few extra nights at Dixie Landings for $95.20 plus tax a night.

My sister Jillian wasn't about to be left at home during all this, so I bought her a plane ticket and she arrives on Sunday, October 10 and will stay with us or my parents in some combination until she leaves with us on October 17.

As for touring, I’m beginning to get a rough idea of what I specifically want to do. As for myself, I don’t plan on leaving WDW property, so I’ll have the 9 days at my disposal. Joe may or may not go with them to Universal for one day, so I’m trying to plan things that I can do if (when) I’m on my own. (I know at some point I’ll be alone – over the course of 9 days, there is no way 7 people can agree on what to do every single minute!) Here’s my list of must-do’s:

So that’s where I am in planning the Surprise the Nephews Trip. I’m reading up on Disney touring with kids now and investigating the different kids’ clubs and babysitting services that will help the adults in the group have at least one night out on the town (Pleasure Island, that is). Joe is very impressed with my “expertise” so far, and even more impressed that the trip will just cost the two of us $1700 plus food and souvenirs. (He even laughed heartily yesterday when I called to tell him I’d just saved us $200 on our yearly car insurance bill by telling State Farm we’re married now – something he’d neglected to do. I mused, “I wonder what $200 will get me at the Grand Floridian Spa…” and he actually laughed and said, “Probably not much, but you go for it anyway!”)

Update! Liz and the boys came for a visit in early August and we decided to tell the boys a little early so they could mentally prepare. Here's how it went:

We had originally planned to have a scavenger hunt, but the boys (ages 9, 7 and 5) caught sight of our board games and decided they wanted to play Taboo - a word guessing game pretty much beyond their abilities. So we hid a video tape (actually the 1999 vacation planning tape) in a gift-wrapped box and then decided to let the boys win the game. After we played for awhile, we let them go in search of their big prize for winning. They found it and opened the box to find the tape with a label that read "Play Me" and "Now that the hunt is over, watch this video tape to find out what your big prize is."

They were so caught up in the mystery and asking a million questions...like is this our prize or does the tape tell us the prize...can we keep the tape...etc.

Of course, first we had to rewind the tape (some goofy person - me - forgot that little detail). Then we turned on the TV, started the tape and the "Make a wish" screen lit up, followed by the Walt Disney World logo. When that appeared, everything went silent! They were in shock! As the tape played, they kept asking if that was their prize - going to Disney. Evan (5) was jumping up and down and screaming "yahoo!" and Chris (9) was just staring at the screen - still shocked. As it really sunk in, Thomas (7) turned to me and said, "Aunt Tara, do you give this to everyone who wins Taboo?" (priceless, huh?)

Then it got really wild and crazy with the kids celebrating and dancing and ooohing and aaahhing over the video. Thomas asked if we could stay 2 days and so I held up two fingers and said, "this many days" and he said yes. I then said, "no, I think we should stay this many days" and started raising each finger as they counted along 3, 4, 5 (their eyes getting wide now) 6, 7 (jumping up and down and yelling out the numbers now) 8, 9!! Nine days seems like a lifetime to them! I thought their mom was going to bawl!

They drove home later and called very late to say they made it home just fine. (They had planned to stay until Saturday but Chris was getting a cold.) Liz said they watched the video over and over in the van on the trip home and Thomas kept saying "Aren't you guys glad I said we should play Taboo!"

Anyhow, it was great to see the surprise and excitement on their faces...and we were all relieved to not have to keep it a secret any more!

Ack – if this trip planning report is this long, I can’t imagine how long the actual report will be! Stay tuned!

Update!

I've planned, scheduled, fiddled, tweaked and come up with a few trip itineraries, one of which is pretty darn close to perfect and covers most contingencies (like when any E-Ride nights will be in October - still waiting for that information).

Here's what my itinerary grid looks like:

October Trip Itinerary

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