Spring Break is a Great Time to Head Home: A Pre-Trip Report - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Spring Break is a Great Time to Head Home: A Pre-Trip Report
First let me say that I really enjoy reading Trip Reports. I have many favorite TR authors and I am on the TR forum here on Pass Porter daily. I have wanted to write a TR before but somehow my good intentions never materialize once I get back from a trip. I have decided that maybe if I post a pre-trip report I will be more likely to follow through with an actual Trip Report (peer pressure and all). So here I go…. The Cast: Me, Holly (45): Teacher, planner, Disney nut, 5 previous trips to WDW. DH, Ted (47 in April): HVAC Tech, rock hound and fisherman, 3 previous trips. DS, Josh (10): Middle School student, loves video games, 4 previous trips. http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...1&d=1329761848
Ted and I http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...1&d=1329761848
Josh (trying to avoid having his picture taken)
When: April 15-22, 2012
Choosing our dates was easy. Josh and I have the same spring break this year, Easter is earlier in the month, and Ted won’t go to WDW in the summer (ever, ever again, he says). The stars don’t always align this way! We’ve been to WDW in April once before and it was our favorite trip to date . So April it is! The only downside to an April trip for us is that the airfare tends to be a bit pricy.
Why: Our first DVC trip!!!!
I can’t believe that I’m able to write that! I have been toying with the idea of DVC for several years now. I took the DVC tour in August of 2010 (alone…remember, Ted won’t go in the summer ever, ever again ). I was impressed and convinced that it was for us. Josh took one look at the BLT 1 BR model unit and said, “We are so doing this!” (Really, when does a nine year old boy care about stuff like that?) But as Ted wasn’t on that trip and he didn’t get a chance to be awed by the model units, a DVC purchase was put on hold. It wasn’t until Ted wanted to buy a new boat last spring that DVC fell into perspective for him. Really, if you think about it, the purchases aren’t much different. They are both investments in fun and family time. The financial commitments are similar. And there was no way he was going to get to buy a new boat and I was not going to get to buy into DVC . C’mon, fair is fair! I said as much to him. His reply: “Yeah, that’s pretty much the word around my shop, too.” His coworkers were chiming in on that inequity! In actuality, I think it went more along the lines of, “Your wife is never going to go for that.” Smart guys. As he really wanted that new boat, we are now proud DVC members .
Up Next: 11 Months: Will we be able to book what we want? Yikes, we’ll have to purchase airfare Sunday to Sunday!
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Oh and your son reminds me of mine. He can be a ham for the camera at times, but he has to be in the right mood and mostly avoids the camera like a plague. LOL!!
__________________
Me- Self proclaimed Disney nut. Love everything and anything to do with Disney.
DH- Not as obsessed as me, but still rather obsessed. Can talk like Goofy, but only does it to annoy his son
Chris 5 years old MNSSHP...2002
great start I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
__________________
Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
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WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
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Great start! Can't wait to hear more about your plans and I will be looking for that TR when you get back. No pressure.
Thanks for the encouragement. And really, I might need pressure!
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Originally Posted by buzzspal2
Great start.
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Originally Posted by chezp
Great start!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by CatNipRules
Great start!! I can't wait to read more.
Oh and your son reminds me of mine. He can be a ham for the camera at times, but he has to be in the right mood and mostly avoids the camera like a plague. LOL!!
Josh doesn't ever really like having his picture taken. At least he seems to be over the phase where he sticks his tongue out every time! Shame, too, as he's pretty photogenic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
great start I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
Thanks so much!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ariel14
Great start!!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start Holly!
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Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great start!
Thank you!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Great start! Congrats on your first DVC visit home!
Thanks, Cam. I am so happy to be going "home"!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sc507
A boat for DVC? Sounds good to me! Way to work a deal . Looking forward to hearing about your plans!
Ted knew that there was NO WAY he was going to pull off a new boat without agreeing to DVC.
Wow, I'm so proud of myself that I figured out the multi-quote thing! Now I need to work on inserting photos. It won't be so important for this PTR, but it will for the actual TR. I think I need to open a photobucket account or something. Can I link pictures from my Shutterfly account? Let me try:
11 Months; will we be able to book what we want? Yikes, we’ll have to purchase airfare Sunday to Sunday!
With my new DVC member number in hand, I was prepared to call member services as soon as they opened on May 15, 2011 (11 months from my selected vacation dates). I had in my head that April 15, 2012 (when the 2012 point charts went from peak season to regular season) was a Saturday. It wasn’t until I was getting ready to call that I realized that April 15 was a Sunday. Yikes! Spring break airfare was going to be bad enough, and now we were going to have to fly Sunday to Sunday! We fly Southwest whenever possible and I know that Sundays are the most expensive days to fly on SW. I started to worry that we would be looking at a pretty big airfare bill .
Even as I dialed member services, I was having a dilemma over which type of room to book. Our home resort is AKV. We bought there rather than at SSR or BLT because there were 2 room types available at AKL that we were interested in: concierge and value. I knew I would most likely need the 11 month booking advantage to have a shot at either one of them during our available travel times (namely school vacations). I was trying to choose between a concierge studio and a value 1 BR for this trip. On the pro side for the studio –fewer points, access to the club lounge snacks and drinks, and the ability to book the Sunrise Safari. On the pro side for the 1 BR, more space (and a chance to “Wow” Ted ), a full kitchen, washer and dryer in the villa, and a Jacuzzi tub! After going back and forth between the two, I decided that I would try to book the studio first, figuring that would be the more difficult to get of the two. If it wasn’t available, I would waitlist it and book the value 1 BR. I was really fine with either choice so this was a win/win in my book.
Well, I was right in suspecting that the concierge studio would be hard to book! There was one available for some of the nights of our trip, but not the first two so I couldn’t book any of the remaining available nights for another 2 days. There was a concierge 1 BR available for the whole week but it would take a good number more points than I was prepared to use at this point. I decided to book the value 1 BR for all 7 nights and waitlist for a concierge studio. I know that it’s really unlikely that one whole week in a concierge level studio will open up for our dates. If it does, it will be an extra surprise but I’m certainly not counting on it. There will be other opportunities to stay concierge. AKV owners, any recommendations? I know many people stay only a few nights in concierge. Do you have to be staying CL the night before the Sunrise Safari to be able to participate in the safari So many questions!
I’m pretty happy with what I’ve booked. I know that we’re going to love staying at the AKL. It’s been on Ted’s “must do” list for several years now.
The only fly in the ointment is that Sunday-Sunday thing. Well, I would price out the airfare when Southwest opened our dates in the fall. I set a tentative back-up plan of booking a room-only reservation with cash, on property or off, for Saturday night if that would help us save on airfare.
Up Next: Fast forward to October….What’s the price of airfare going to be?
About This Page: 
. So April it is! The only downside to an April trip for us is that the airfare tends to be a bit pricy.
). I was impressed and convinced that it was for us. Josh took one look at the BLT 1 BR model unit and said, “We are so doing this!” (Really, when does a nine year old boy care about stuff like that?) But as Ted wasn’t on that trip and he didn’t get a chance to be awed by the model units, a DVC purchase was put on hold. It wasn’t until Ted wanted to buy a new boat last spring that DVC fell into perspective for him. Really, if you think about it, the purchases aren’t much different. They are both investments in fun and family time. The financial commitments are similar. And there was no way he was going to get to buy a new boat and I was not going to get to buy into DVC 
. C’mon, fair is fair! I said as much to him. His reply: “Yeah, that’s pretty much the word around my shop, too.” His coworkers were chiming in on that inequity! In actuality, I think it went more along the lines of, “Your wife is never going to go for that.” Smart guys. As he really wanted that new boat, we are now proud DVC members 
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Pixie Dust
No pressure. 
PassPorter Guide Author
. Looking forward to hearing about your plans!
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So many questions!
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