This post is going to have a lot of history and no pictures. You'll find that I am a detail person and I like to talk. I also love it when readers chime it. I've made a lot of really good friends here on the boards so feel free to post comments.
During our 2008 trip to Disney, we took a day to visit the Wilderness Lodge and Pop Century as those were two resorts that we thought we might want to stay in one day.
While the Wilderness Lodge was pretty, it didn't impress us like we thought it would. I guess since we live in a log home and our home is decorated similarly to the WL, we weren't that awestruck.
We also drove over to Pop Century. It had a fun quirky feel to it and we were impressed by the resort.
During our long drive home, we decided that we'd give Pop Century a try. I booked the vacation just weeks after we got home from our 2008 trip.
When I booked our 2009 vacation, the plan was that it would be just John, Hunter and myself. Lacey hadn't gotten to go with us on vacation in two years because of her missionary work. This year would be no different.
I also booked the vacation with no discounts. Imagine my surprise when Disney extended the buy 4/get 3 free promo to include our August dates. I immediately called Disney and had them apply the code to our reservation. Saved us a lot of money.
I made lots and lots and lots of payments on the vacation using my ebay seller money. I didn't have to take any money out of "our" money. Ebay is my hero!
Lacey's mission group were attending a Christian concert/conference in Orlando and she talked them into going to Downtown Disney on their down time. She caught the Disney bug and wanted to go back. Without telling us, she started working her magic with the mission leaders to take time off and go to Disney with us. The mission college is not like a typical college. Yes, they do take college courses but they also have do do "x" amount of missionary work per week. Also, since she is working off part of her tuition by being children's church pastor, she had to line up enough lessons and find somebody to fill in for her. When she finally got permission, she called us up and asked what it would take to add her to the vacation.
I can't tell you how excited we were that Lacey was going to come along with us. We are a tight family and every time we go anywhere without her, we feel sad.
I called Disney and found out that it'd cost just $660.00 to add her to the reservation. I was still scared that the mission leaders would change their minds so I waited until almost the last minute to add her.
Then, John and I were outside playing with our dog, Oddball (I've need to find a picture of him to add.) and Hunter. We sat down on the back porch swing and started doubting our resort choice. We had always had concerns about the bus situation and the room size but now that Lacey was coming along we REALLY had room size concerns. After talking it over, I went in and got the phone to call Disney to see if we could change rooms.
I knew it was going to be a longshot because the buy 4/get 3 promo had expired long ago. Still, it was worth a try. The first call did no good. The second call did no good. I think I am remembering that I made one more call that afternoon. Nothing! Ugh! Oh well, we were still going to Disney and it'd work out.
Well, I've already told you I've worked in the legal field for 26 years and I have numerous Disney trips under my belt, so I knew that you could call ten times and get a different answer each time. On my way home from work the next day, I decided to give it just one more try. Just one more. If it didn't work, so sad. If it did work, yipee!
I took a totally different approach on the last ditch effort. I immediately said something like......"I sure hope you can help me. I want to upgrade my resort and even though I know the promo has expired, I do want to change. I will be spending more money so surely you'll try to help me out." The castmember asked me if I was ready to change right now and I said absolutely. She asked if I could hold and I told her of course. I held for just a little while and she came back to say that we could upgrade and still use the buy 4/get 3 free promo! I was so happy, I almost pee'd my pants.
So, our reservation was no longer for Pop Century but for our very favorite Caribbean Beach Resort. All I had to pay was an extra $450.00 for 9 nights. Not bad at all!
I told John what I was able to do and we decided not to tell Hunter or Lacey about upgrading our resort. Hunter has stayed at the CBR three times and Lacey had stayed there once. We knew that Hunter would be super duper pooper scooper stoked about staying at the CBR. Lacey really doesn't care where we stay. She has slept on cots, on floors, in churches, in shelters, etc. etc. She would be happy that she had a bed and an air conditioner.
Just about two weeks before our arrival date, we added Lacey to the reservation. Now, we were all set to go. All I had to do was buy a few last minute items.
Up next, the day we leave for the long drive.