Splurge-abration 2010!!! An August PTR **Many updates 7/28**

[Tosie]

Regardless of what I have shared in this PTR, up to that point, the whole planning thing was actually quite easy. This is the tenth trip I am planning for my family and I have done others for friends so I am no stranger to the process.

Now we have had the privilege of staying at every resort level: Value twice, Moderate three times, Deluxe twice and DVC twice.

The Poly stay was really throwing me for a loop.

Here’s my theory.

If you read the Dis with any regularity, I’m sure you will agree that despite the few negatively skewed reviews, the Poly has a rep for being A, if not THE premier place to stay (duh). More than a few of you are die hard Poly fans.

I really felt like I had to do this right.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and book a room only reservation with the 40% code. In my calculations it was a much better deal than free dining.

That’s how I “met” Julie – one of the most fantastic CMs I’ve ever dealt with.

Julie explained the ins and outs of booking a room only (as I’d never done it before) including how to add tickets, etc. later on. Knowing I was a AAA member she even advised me to speak to them before I booked in case they could give me a better deal (they couldn’t – I checked later - they quoted me $1000 more).

Then I asked her to tell me a little about Club Level.

Club Level has its own check-in.

Heh heh.

Club Level has its own building.

Ooo la la.

Club Level has turn down service.

It is rather taxing to pull down your own sheets.

Club Level has food…just for you.

I love food.

I have a Lagoon View available.

I have my credit card ready.

Click.

Blink blink.

I lost power in my house. I was talking with Julie on a cordless phone and she was gone. It was dark and I could hear my family doing the flashlight scramble in the kitchen.

Ugh.

As I waited for the power to come back on, all I could think about was I have to start this process all over with another CM. Do-able, just a pain in the butt. And I really liked Julie.

My landline rang.

Yup.

It was Julie, CALLING ME BACK!!!!!!!!

THIS IS WHY WE KEEP GOING BACK!!!!

We laughed about what had happened, I explained about the power outage and we continued on our planning.

We canceled the package reservation and I booked my room only.

Later on I added my tickets and the dining plan (paid for this time, the room discount was a better deal) but we dropped the water park option. After reviewing Tour Guide Mike’s best days, I thought it would be fun to do some hopping in the evenings and only do one water park day, which we would pay for OOP.

We were finally good to go.

Up next: The fun stuff chapter 1…where to eat?

 

[Tosie]

I became a fan of Tour Guide Mike in 2005. I remember sitting at the computer, hemming and hawing about spending the money for a subscription to his site. Eventually I bit the bullet and paid the man.

He did not disappoint.

We had a great trip, with hoppers and ILs, and spent 9 memory-making days at POR.

I swore I’d never travel without him again. And I haven’t.

I know lots of folks don’t like to plan their vacation around where they might like to eat on some random date in the future.

I actually don’t mind one bit. Happily, neither does my crew.

So when I finally had all of Mike’s best days in hand, and figured out where we would be on each day of our stay, I hunkered down and started planning our ADRs.

Usually on our arrival day we tend to stay close to our resort. We live almost an hour from Newark airport and one of my ILs is kind enough to drive us there for our morning departure.

We land at MCO around lunchtime and by the time we get picked up, complete our grocery stop and arrive at the resort, it’s mid-afternoon. After checking in and settling in to our room, we are a bit beat and aren’t ready to run out the door to a park. Sometimes we crash, sometimes we swim, and sometimes we just explore.

I usually make a dinner ADR for around 7-ish.

Our first night ADR changed with every resort modification I made. They looked like this:

WL: Whispering Canyon Café
FW: Trail’s End
CSR: Maya Grill
FW: Trail’s End
Poly: Chef Mickey’s

You don’t think my first night ADR is done, do you?

Yeah…I knew you were smart.

I thought it might be nice to break from tradition and, being on the monorail, visit MK our first afternoon/night.

So I changed it to Crystal Palace. What better way to start your vacation than with a hug from Piglet? I can't think of one.

As of this writing we have ADRs at (in no particular order because my list is upstairs):

Garden Grill (kids have never eaten here)
Tusker House (lunch for Nemo Show)
Liberty Tree Tavern (one of our favorites)
Portobello (ate here on a whim last year and LOVED it $$$ but great)
Biergarten (new to us)
LeCellier (another favorite)
50s Prime Time (had a GREAT experience here in 2008)
Grand Floridian Cafe (had lunch here in 2008, now doing dinner)

I left our last day completely open as I'm not sure what we'll be doing. Counter service suits us just fine anyway.

Up next: The Countdown Calendar