Well here we go again...
Pre-trip?
I don't know...
Pre-trip?
I don't know...
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Trip Report englanddg's Getting a bit Enthusiastic Escapade...
- Thread starter englanddg
- Start date
There aren’t a lot of pictures for this part because I don’t like taking random pictures of airports. Taking pictures of things, like the displays in ATL, sure. But just random pictures of crowds?
I feel it may raise some eyebrows from those who are paid to look for stuff like that. And, I don’t want to complicate their already complicated jobs!
Anyway, the ME bus volume was too low on the TVs...but it was the normal run of commercials.
We got to MCO without incident. I found an escalator and hopped on it. About 3 feet up, I looked back and the kid was still standing there.
Of course, that’s right! She doesn’t like to do escalators with her bag. This goes back to a rather traumatic experience she had at the ATL airport several years ago. She pulled her bag onto a really, really long escalator they have there in the car rental return office, and the bag tipped about halfway up. She didn’t fall very far (I was right behind her), but the bag scooted all the way down the escalator.
She...has had a thing about escalators and bags ever since. So, I apologized for overlooking that and scurried back down the escalator (not an easy task!) and grabbed her bag so she could follow.
And, MCO was insane! TSA was backed up 45 minutes (by their sign) and people were running around the general airport in random modes of panic.
I have never seen so many groups who were not ready to travel...
We found JetBlue, and waited in the appropriate line. I spotted this...
I wonder if the author or the sponsoring organization knows what “Dork” actually means. I suspect not. And, if you don’t know, I ain’t saying it here!
The poor manager here wasn’t understaffed, but man were they overwhelmed. It took us 45 minutes to get to the window. One family in particular, it seems, missed their flight (because they decided to show up late and didn’t factor in TSA, I gathered), and didn’t have the funds to pay the rebooking fees and overweight / extra baggage charges for their party.
Card after card after card was declined. Gramma was digging out cards, daddy, mommy...all of them, declined.
The Mom refused to believe this, so the JetBlue attendant (who was being very patient, I must say) actually turned the screen around so she could see, and then ran them all again. Still declined.
More cards got pulled out of deep recesses in massive purses. All declined.
During all of this, Gramma (who was in a mobility scooter, and I shouldn’t find this scene funny, but I’m sorry, it was) started wheeling over to some bellhops from curbside off to the side. This group, of about 5, from what I can gather, traveled heavy! Two whole cart loads. There must have been 10 or so large bags on those carts.
Mind you, that isn’t so unreasonable, especially for a long trip and a group that size. Except...they each also had another 5 or so large bags scattered around the service area with them.
Anyway, gramma started wheeling around to the bellhops, digging out dollar bills and waving them at the bellhops as cash to stay.
The “lead” bellhop of the duo was obviously flustered, and they got into a short and very...heated...discussion about that.
“Look, lady, our job is just to take the bags to the check in for you, not wait around all day!”
“I gave you your $15 boy, you better shut up and stay with our bags if you want any more!”
(I have edited that down quite a bit)
This interaction ended with the Mom coming over in a fury that the bellhop was being rude (granted, he was, but it was in reciprocity) to her mother, and the “Spanish switch” flipped.
I understand Spanish pretty well, and work with a company where it is very much the second language.
I will say I am glad my kiddo doesn’t understand it very well. Further amusing was, you could tell the people in line who understood it, from the look of shock on their face.
The bellhop obviously was fluent enough as well, and signaled to the other bellhop it was time to go. They unloaded the carts right in front of the service window, and wheeled their carts off.
Things went downhill from here (can it get worse/more strange? Yes...).
Having tried every piece of plastic currency they had, they whole family started dumping out purses, daybags, digging in luggage, searching for cash. Right there on the floor.
They scraped together enough scrunched up bills, it seems, to cover the fees, but then we’re informed that JetBlue doesn’t take cash. They would need to go to the debit card machine and add the cash to the card (seems this happens enough that JetBlue actually has a machine opposite the check in area that does this).
That, didn’t go over well, but the ire this lady felt seemed to be waning. They dragged their bags off to one side, blocking one of the staging exits, and the Dad went off to get their cash.
This entire mess had taken up the manager and 3 others, leaving only one person working her station, to keep the line moving. And, that person was dealing with a lady who didn’t want to pay to check her bag. (Rolls eyes).
But, after this family exited to the side, the manager waved us up.
We...were easy. I had all the paperwork (not forgotten this time!), and had already paid for the bag, which came in at 49 lbs (yay, no overweight charge triggered at 51 lbs, though I was prepared to pay it!).
Kiddo was done. But, this had taken longer than I expected. We had a bit over 1 hour until boarding started.
Normally not a big deal, you would think. Except, I needed to get checked in for my flight and get rid of my bag as well. No way would it go through TSA!
I asked the manager where Spirit’s desks were, because I swear they are not on the terminal signs, and she said...the other terminal side, far end.
So, we crossed the airport, in a speed walk, diagonally.
And, we found Delta. Flustered and watching the time tick by, I actually approached a pair of very nice police officers and they let me know I was on the right side, but the wrong end.
A rushed walk along the terminal, dodging groups who like to congregate in the walkways, we made it.
And, the check in kiosks had trouble finding my reservation.
Third kiosk, with the confirm number, worked though. My passes were printed (slowly...their kiosks are very slow!), and the screen instructed me to go to bag check.
So, we did.
And, this was a similar scene of confused and angry passengers.
Now, this is my first time flying Spirit, but the upcharges were no surprise to me. As a discount airline (a Greyhound of the Skies, if you will), they hook you with really low rates, but upsell or additional fee you any chance they get.
It is to be expected. And, they don’t hide these fees at all. They are very clearly indicated, and pushed to your attention multiple times during booking and check in.
I had already paid my bag check fee online. But, it seems, many others had not (even though they had the option at the check in kiosk as well...you couldn’t miss it. I had paid and it STILL asked me if I wanted to pay more and notified me of the weight limit, had me estimate my weight to see if I needed to pay an overweight fee (40 lbs is their cutoff, but I was under that for sure).
Point is, the only way these people didn’t know about the fees is that they actively ignored them.
In front of us as we waited was a very angry woman (also in a scooter, but that didn’t add to the scene like the lady at JetBlue trying to wheel herself around people to grease the palms of the bell hops) who was very angry that her extremely large “purse” (a satchel purse which had to be 3 feet by 3 feet or something...I think my carry on luggage back at the house I use for business travel is smaller) was too large to be considered a personal item.
She was furious they were making her pay the clearly indicated “carry on fee”.
The thing about discount airlines is that you often expect that to mean discount service staff...but, I have to say, watching the verbal beat downs these attendants were receiving (unfairly, in my opinion), they were top notch.
Calm, polite, but firm with their policies.
We were called and helped by a nice gentleman, Jamal. I know his name because I made it a point to ask...because, he wasn’t firm with policy for me.
See, I learned something. Airlines have a window for which they will actually accept a checked bag. My flight wasn’t for another 8 hours. Spirit has a window of 4 hours.
The manager at JetBlue had mentioned this could be an issue (JetBlue has a window of 6 hours). But, I really needed to get rid of this bag!
Jamal, understood my situation perfectly. He checked in the bag, but said he couldn’t put it on the conveyor yet (due to the window), but he would set it off to the side and when it hit my window, he would drop it on.
Thank you Jamal. Thank you so much!
Now, I fully expect that he may get busy and forget...and that my bag may be delayed or lost along the way, and I would get it a few days later. But, that is ok.
Off to TSA!
The sign said 20-25 minutes. We could make it (30 minutes from boarding now).
I eyeballed the TSAPre line. I am Pre. The kiddo, however, is not...
When we fly together, she gets marked with me, so we can use it. But, this is not the case this trip.
I looked at the crowds and, what appeared, general confusion, and thought...maybe we won’t make it.
Nothing to do at this point but wait it out and see...
In reality, I was being a bit paranoid, I know. We really had more like an hour. But, I am not the sort who likes to give air travel a short window. I show up way earlier than needed, and find something to do. I have for as long as I can remember.
That said, I have missed flights before. And, some airlines have really strange policies about closing their doors early (I am looking at you, American...I despise American. I had to fly them a lot to get to Dallas years ago, and grew a healthy disdain for their inconsistency).
But, TSA was on the ball! They opened up a new line and shuffled us through so fast the kiddo actually didn’t have time to remember to get rid of the soda in her backpack (which we knew about, but were moving too fast).
As a side note, I really do wish they would invest more in training people who don’t fly often how to get ready for the check through. Don’t fly often, or foreign families...both of which MCO has in large numbers.
A video or something.
See, I normally fly out of ATL, and we have TSA down to a science. It may look crazy at that central point, but man does it flow!
MCO was a lot more hectic.
Anyway, we boarded our train and were off to the gate!
The kiddo wanted some food, but the Burger King line was way too long. We did give it a shot, but they were moving too slowly.
So, she got a very healthy “lunch”.
Cold Stone Creamery!
We approached the gate. The time draws near...
And a few hugs and kisses...and she was headed off.
I feel it may raise some eyebrows from those who are paid to look for stuff like that. And, I don’t want to complicate their already complicated jobs!
Anyway, the ME bus volume was too low on the TVs...but it was the normal run of commercials.
We got to MCO without incident. I found an escalator and hopped on it. About 3 feet up, I looked back and the kid was still standing there.
Of course, that’s right! She doesn’t like to do escalators with her bag. This goes back to a rather traumatic experience she had at the ATL airport several years ago. She pulled her bag onto a really, really long escalator they have there in the car rental return office, and the bag tipped about halfway up. She didn’t fall very far (I was right behind her), but the bag scooted all the way down the escalator.
She...has had a thing about escalators and bags ever since. So, I apologized for overlooking that and scurried back down the escalator (not an easy task!) and grabbed her bag so she could follow.
And, MCO was insane! TSA was backed up 45 minutes (by their sign) and people were running around the general airport in random modes of panic.
I have never seen so many groups who were not ready to travel...
We found JetBlue, and waited in the appropriate line. I spotted this...
I wonder if the author or the sponsoring organization knows what “Dork” actually means. I suspect not. And, if you don’t know, I ain’t saying it here!
The poor manager here wasn’t understaffed, but man were they overwhelmed. It took us 45 minutes to get to the window. One family in particular, it seems, missed their flight (because they decided to show up late and didn’t factor in TSA, I gathered), and didn’t have the funds to pay the rebooking fees and overweight / extra baggage charges for their party.
Card after card after card was declined. Gramma was digging out cards, daddy, mommy...all of them, declined.
The Mom refused to believe this, so the JetBlue attendant (who was being very patient, I must say) actually turned the screen around so she could see, and then ran them all again. Still declined.
More cards got pulled out of deep recesses in massive purses. All declined.
During all of this, Gramma (who was in a mobility scooter, and I shouldn’t find this scene funny, but I’m sorry, it was) started wheeling over to some bellhops from curbside off to the side. This group, of about 5, from what I can gather, traveled heavy! Two whole cart loads. There must have been 10 or so large bags on those carts.
Mind you, that isn’t so unreasonable, especially for a long trip and a group that size. Except...they each also had another 5 or so large bags scattered around the service area with them.
Anyway, gramma started wheeling around to the bellhops, digging out dollar bills and waving them at the bellhops as cash to stay.
The “lead” bellhop of the duo was obviously flustered, and they got into a short and very...heated...discussion about that.
“Look, lady, our job is just to take the bags to the check in for you, not wait around all day!”
“I gave you your $15 boy, you better shut up and stay with our bags if you want any more!”
(I have edited that down quite a bit)
This interaction ended with the Mom coming over in a fury that the bellhop was being rude (granted, he was, but it was in reciprocity) to her mother, and the “Spanish switch” flipped.
I understand Spanish pretty well, and work with a company where it is very much the second language.
I will say I am glad my kiddo doesn’t understand it very well. Further amusing was, you could tell the people in line who understood it, from the look of shock on their face.
The bellhop obviously was fluent enough as well, and signaled to the other bellhop it was time to go. They unloaded the carts right in front of the service window, and wheeled their carts off.
Things went downhill from here (can it get worse/more strange? Yes...).
Having tried every piece of plastic currency they had, they whole family started dumping out purses, daybags, digging in luggage, searching for cash. Right there on the floor.
They scraped together enough scrunched up bills, it seems, to cover the fees, but then we’re informed that JetBlue doesn’t take cash. They would need to go to the debit card machine and add the cash to the card (seems this happens enough that JetBlue actually has a machine opposite the check in area that does this).
That, didn’t go over well, but the ire this lady felt seemed to be waning. They dragged their bags off to one side, blocking one of the staging exits, and the Dad went off to get their cash.
This entire mess had taken up the manager and 3 others, leaving only one person working her station, to keep the line moving. And, that person was dealing with a lady who didn’t want to pay to check her bag. (Rolls eyes).
But, after this family exited to the side, the manager waved us up.
We...were easy. I had all the paperwork (not forgotten this time!), and had already paid for the bag, which came in at 49 lbs (yay, no overweight charge triggered at 51 lbs, though I was prepared to pay it!).
Kiddo was done. But, this had taken longer than I expected. We had a bit over 1 hour until boarding started.
Normally not a big deal, you would think. Except, I needed to get checked in for my flight and get rid of my bag as well. No way would it go through TSA!
I asked the manager where Spirit’s desks were, because I swear they are not on the terminal signs, and she said...the other terminal side, far end.
So, we crossed the airport, in a speed walk, diagonally.
And, we found Delta. Flustered and watching the time tick by, I actually approached a pair of very nice police officers and they let me know I was on the right side, but the wrong end.
A rushed walk along the terminal, dodging groups who like to congregate in the walkways, we made it.
And, the check in kiosks had trouble finding my reservation.
Third kiosk, with the confirm number, worked though. My passes were printed (slowly...their kiosks are very slow!), and the screen instructed me to go to bag check.
So, we did.
And, this was a similar scene of confused and angry passengers.
Now, this is my first time flying Spirit, but the upcharges were no surprise to me. As a discount airline (a Greyhound of the Skies, if you will), they hook you with really low rates, but upsell or additional fee you any chance they get.
It is to be expected. And, they don’t hide these fees at all. They are very clearly indicated, and pushed to your attention multiple times during booking and check in.
I had already paid my bag check fee online. But, it seems, many others had not (even though they had the option at the check in kiosk as well...you couldn’t miss it. I had paid and it STILL asked me if I wanted to pay more and notified me of the weight limit, had me estimate my weight to see if I needed to pay an overweight fee (40 lbs is their cutoff, but I was under that for sure).
Point is, the only way these people didn’t know about the fees is that they actively ignored them.
In front of us as we waited was a very angry woman (also in a scooter, but that didn’t add to the scene like the lady at JetBlue trying to wheel herself around people to grease the palms of the bell hops) who was very angry that her extremely large “purse” (a satchel purse which had to be 3 feet by 3 feet or something...I think my carry on luggage back at the house I use for business travel is smaller) was too large to be considered a personal item.
She was furious they were making her pay the clearly indicated “carry on fee”.
The thing about discount airlines is that you often expect that to mean discount service staff...but, I have to say, watching the verbal beat downs these attendants were receiving (unfairly, in my opinion), they were top notch.
Calm, polite, but firm with their policies.
We were called and helped by a nice gentleman, Jamal. I know his name because I made it a point to ask...because, he wasn’t firm with policy for me.
See, I learned something. Airlines have a window for which they will actually accept a checked bag. My flight wasn’t for another 8 hours. Spirit has a window of 4 hours.
The manager at JetBlue had mentioned this could be an issue (JetBlue has a window of 6 hours). But, I really needed to get rid of this bag!
Jamal, understood my situation perfectly. He checked in the bag, but said he couldn’t put it on the conveyor yet (due to the window), but he would set it off to the side and when it hit my window, he would drop it on.
Thank you Jamal. Thank you so much!
Now, I fully expect that he may get busy and forget...and that my bag may be delayed or lost along the way, and I would get it a few days later. But, that is ok.
Off to TSA!
The sign said 20-25 minutes. We could make it (30 minutes from boarding now).
I eyeballed the TSAPre line. I am Pre. The kiddo, however, is not...
When we fly together, she gets marked with me, so we can use it. But, this is not the case this trip.
I looked at the crowds and, what appeared, general confusion, and thought...maybe we won’t make it.
Nothing to do at this point but wait it out and see...
In reality, I was being a bit paranoid, I know. We really had more like an hour. But, I am not the sort who likes to give air travel a short window. I show up way earlier than needed, and find something to do. I have for as long as I can remember.
That said, I have missed flights before. And, some airlines have really strange policies about closing their doors early (I am looking at you, American...I despise American. I had to fly them a lot to get to Dallas years ago, and grew a healthy disdain for their inconsistency).
But, TSA was on the ball! They opened up a new line and shuffled us through so fast the kiddo actually didn’t have time to remember to get rid of the soda in her backpack (which we knew about, but were moving too fast).
As a side note, I really do wish they would invest more in training people who don’t fly often how to get ready for the check through. Don’t fly often, or foreign families...both of which MCO has in large numbers.
A video or something.
See, I normally fly out of ATL, and we have TSA down to a science. It may look crazy at that central point, but man does it flow!
MCO was a lot more hectic.
Anyway, we boarded our train and were off to the gate!
The kiddo wanted some food, but the Burger King line was way too long. We did give it a shot, but they were moving too slowly.
So, she got a very healthy “lunch”.
Cold Stone Creamery!
We approached the gate. The time draws near...
And a few hugs and kisses...and she was headed off.
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I don’t like it either.That is not a good idea . . . first I've heard of this.
This is what I got (sorry, it got a bit scrunched in my bag)
I am ok that they print it, but they really shouldn’t hang it on the door for all to see.
Put it in the room, or something.
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Now was my turn to wait.
I caught up on work and walked the airport and did some shopping.
I ate dinner (Sbarro stuffed crust pizza...mmmm....though, I wish they had a side salad option. A Greek salad would go really well with this.).
I stopped by the Universal store and picked up a robe for the kiddos little sister. I had meant to do this at Uni, and then when that failed to happen, meant to do it before the kid flew out.
But, that didn’t happen either.
See, the kiddo bought her sister all sorts of stuff, but was insistent that “she won’t want a robe, she is a Tom Boy”.
I felt that was a mistake. So, I let her Mom know I would take care of it.
Anyway, when I get back home I will next day it up to them.
And, my plane was delayed.
We didn’t get out until an nearly an hour after we were supposed to.
This was my first time flying Spirit.
The seats don’t recline, but that doesn’t bother me. It is not as “finished” as some of the other airlines, with bare seat backs.
And, I found the “tray flaps” (those are NOT tray tables) really amusing.
Another strange thing. You don’t get refreshments. I mean, they serve them, but you have to pay. Oh, and, they really, REALLY push alcohol.
They have premixed cocktails in little sippy balls, a whole page of mini bottles + canned drink to mix your own drinks...in fact, all four pages of the “menu” basically pushed booze.
Guess they want their passengers snookered? They should rename the airline “Vegas”...
They also obviously don’t insulate the cabin as well as other airlines. Though the planes are rather new (I was on an Airbus A319), and they are proud of having the “youngest fleet in the business”, you can tell where they cut corners.
The most noticeable is the sound proofing. You can really hear the sounds of the APU / PTU, which I knew what those sounds were, but it alarmed several of my fellow passengers.
What are these? Well, here, I will let a pilot explain it:
On other airlines you can hear this, but it isn’t nearly as loud.
You can also feel the altitude in your inner ear.
None of these are very serious concerns for me, as the savings are reflected in the ticket prices. So, I will be looking at Spirit again in the future.
But, for now, I will keep flying the kid on JetBlue, which we both adore.
Very late, and very tired, I boarded the train.
And guess what! Jamal came through!
So, you may think this is the end of the report. And, it is (as far as travel). But, later tonight, over a glass of wine, I will review the trip, lessons learned, surprises found, and analyze that Dining Plan?
Did we come out ahead?
Stay tuned!
I caught up on work and walked the airport and did some shopping.
I ate dinner (Sbarro stuffed crust pizza...mmmm....though, I wish they had a side salad option. A Greek salad would go really well with this.).
I stopped by the Universal store and picked up a robe for the kiddos little sister. I had meant to do this at Uni, and then when that failed to happen, meant to do it before the kid flew out.
But, that didn’t happen either.
See, the kiddo bought her sister all sorts of stuff, but was insistent that “she won’t want a robe, she is a Tom Boy”.
I felt that was a mistake. So, I let her Mom know I would take care of it.
Anyway, when I get back home I will next day it up to them.
And, my plane was delayed.
We didn’t get out until an nearly an hour after we were supposed to.
This was my first time flying Spirit.
The seats don’t recline, but that doesn’t bother me. It is not as “finished” as some of the other airlines, with bare seat backs.
And, I found the “tray flaps” (those are NOT tray tables) really amusing.
Another strange thing. You don’t get refreshments. I mean, they serve them, but you have to pay. Oh, and, they really, REALLY push alcohol.
They have premixed cocktails in little sippy balls, a whole page of mini bottles + canned drink to mix your own drinks...in fact, all four pages of the “menu” basically pushed booze.
Guess they want their passengers snookered? They should rename the airline “Vegas”...
They also obviously don’t insulate the cabin as well as other airlines. Though the planes are rather new (I was on an Airbus A319), and they are proud of having the “youngest fleet in the business”, you can tell where they cut corners.
The most noticeable is the sound proofing. You can really hear the sounds of the APU / PTU, which I knew what those sounds were, but it alarmed several of my fellow passengers.
What are these? Well, here, I will let a pilot explain it:
On other airlines you can hear this, but it isn’t nearly as loud.
You can also feel the altitude in your inner ear.
None of these are very serious concerns for me, as the savings are reflected in the ticket prices. So, I will be looking at Spirit again in the future.
But, for now, I will keep flying the kid on JetBlue, which we both adore.
Very late, and very tired, I boarded the train.
And guess what! Jamal came through!
So, you may think this is the end of the report. And, it is (as far as travel). But, later tonight, over a glass of wine, I will review the trip, lessons learned, surprises found, and analyze that Dining Plan?
Did we come out ahead?
Stay tuned!
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It has been like this since her mother and I split when she was 5.
No need to go through details here, but it was a confusing time for her. That was when the trips to Disney started.
Basically, she was staying with me often, but when her mother moved to Maryland (to be near HER mother), weekend swaps were sortof out of the question.
Starting school (which, we held her back a year for Kindergarten), and my new business taking off, further complicated matters.
So, it became longer stays during school breaks and summers.
During these stays, I was paying for daycare, which is hella expensive! When I started crunching the numbers, I was like...heck, we could do a Disney trip for this.
And, that is what we started doing.
She still comes to visit for certain holidays, and spring break. Now that she is a bit older, I don’t feel bad leaving her around the house.
She enjoys it, too. She doesn’t get much time “alone” in her rather cramped step-family’s house.
But, when she stays with me in ATL, I feel compelled to actually work. I am not the sort who can do a “Staycation”...
This summer, she spent the majority of it with her grandmother in Seattle, and we had planned her to stay with me for a bit over a week in ATL. But, as we were mashing down dates in late July, I figured, on a whim, I would check on Disney.
And, that is what started this report.
And, even though I was apprehensive at first, I am very, very glad I made that choice!
Thankfully we live in an era of FaceTime and cell phones, which is part of why my kid has such a good cell phone...when I upgrade (which my business pays for), she gets the hand me down...but it is also our primary mode of communication.
I use it to do everything from help her with homework, to sharing life experiences as if I was there... so, kinda important to us.
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James J
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
It was the construction for the new Potter Coaster - Dragon Challenge closed in September last year, which bummed me out as was looking forward to riding it for the first time since 2015!
Looks like you had a great trip in the end!
Strange. I swore I saw tracks with trains running on them as we exited Hogwarts. I had assumed it was Dueling Dragons still.
Perhaps they were testing something?
Or I simply had too much Butterbeer! That is always a possibility!
Afteraction - The four Cs
“Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.” - Walt Disney
First, I'll start by saying I'm glad I thought to take screenshots of my resort detail charges before we checked out, because Disney wipes that from the app and the website (as best I can find) as soon as your stay is complete.
Yesterday, I could easily review all of my outstanding room charges. Today, not so much...it is gone! (edit - a few days after I posted this I got an email from Disney with the full hotel folio attached to it)
But, I have them all, detail listed, as screenshots on my phone.
So, with this in mind, lets run into the trip!
Booking early vs booking late?
I didn't do a MYW package this time because I got a good deal on the rooms. At $1031.40, this is about $129 a night, which is in line with other places we've gone, like New York.
The MYW stuff was a bit more expensive.
And, it was this savings that spurred this whole thing on.
That did mean I had to purchase tickets. For Disney, that was $1215 for 5 day hoppers. $160 was for the hoppers.
For Uni, it was $565, for 2 day hoppers. The hoppers added about $40.
I also spent an extra $200 for the Halloween Party and $50 for the Behind the Seeds tour.
This really isn't out of line with prices I have paid in the past. Sure, I probably could have booked earlier, or gotten a bit more aggressive finding deals on tickets (especially Uni), but, this really isn't bad.
Flights, likewise, I was able to find some rather good deals, getting each of us here for less than $800 (her being more expensive because I have to pay $100 each way for the unaccompanied minor), but Spirit was so cheap...I think my ticket was $75, and after baggage and other fees, about $125.
So, booking late really wasn't a major cost concern.
What I did miss out on was the ADR window and the FP window. This really didn't toss a crimp into our plans. Though, had we not lucked out with the lines and time of year, the FP window could have caused a problem. Were I to do this again, I'd snag the tickets earlier so at least I can can get the FPs booked a bit earlier, at least as placeholders.
With ADRs, we had no trouble getting into restaurants. Even Be Our Guest was doable (though, we won't be doing the dinner again...the kiddo preferred lunch, and wasn't prepared for what she got with dinner being all "fancy"...though she still enjoyed it).
Which, brings me to another take away. If we do a ticketed event again, I will not do an ADR during it. We can grab something from QS or snack our way through. Even though we both enjoyed it, it was really a massive waste of time when the parks have lesser crowds and lower lines.
This was the kiddo's only "gripe" about it. I didn't really expand upon it during the report very much, but she wasn't too thrilled with us sitting down for a stuffy meal when all that excitement was going on outside. I should have thought about that, but I didn't until we were already there. I did offer to speed things up and pay, so we could leave, but she decided to stick it through.
It was, really, her choice and her request, after all.
So, lets get into Dining Plans.
Every trip prior we have done the Deluxe Dining Plan. I like the freedom and peace of mind it gives me, to know everything (MORE than enough) is paid for in advance. That way, the only "money" I keep tabs on during the trip is our gift expenses and other things.
And, now that they've added alcohol as a choice with meals, it is even a better deal (as I probably wouldn't spend quite so much on specialty drinks...though, I probably would. I'm not much of a "drinks with meal" type person unless it is a very special meal, and a night meal...which is why I didn't have wine or a beer at Tiffins).
So, by plan.
QS would have gotten us:
36 QS Credits, 36 Snack Credits for $105 per night ($945)
Regular Dining would have gotten us:
18 QS Credits, 18 TS Credits, 36 Snack Credits for $150.98 per night ($1358.82)
Deluxe would have gotten us:
54 TS Credits, 36 Snack Credits for $232.50 per night ($2092.50)
We would have used:
16 QS Credits, 18 TS Credits (mostly eaten up by the two times we did in room dining), and 37 Snack credits
We spent $850.42. $890 if you include the resort mugs (which easily paid for themselves during the trip with my coffee alone).
So, none of the Dining Plans would have been a value to us.
At Universal we spent about $150 between the mugs, snacks and meals.
And, I must say that, even though we would have gotten a lot more food, we likely wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves nearly as much. We came to like sharing breakfast and meals. The QS portions are so large, it really is easy to do.
In the future I will look harder at the Dining Plan, because for us (now that she isn't a "kid" anymore), it just doesn't seem to make sense. Mind you, if you dig back through the forums, I'm a huge fan of the DP concept, for a variety of reasons. But, that difference in cost is noticeable. So is the flexibility allowed by not feeling hampered to make ADRs to get the value of it, or to keeping those ADRs lest you miss the 24 hour window to cancel them.
I did, however, miss the sortof "traditional" last minute dash through various shops buying all sorts of snacks to take home (like...Rice Krispie Treats!) just to burn out the remaining credits.
In all, this trip was amazing. I don't know when we'll be back, exactly. Right now, I'm thinking next year we may do a short trip to Uni and do the Halloween Horror Nights (though, we might do a weekend jaunt later this year...we'll see...the next two months are going to be very hectic for me)....
What started as something I was a bit apprehensive about, turned into one of the best trips I've had in years.
Thank you Disney, thank you Universal, and thank you all for following along.
I hope you enjoyed joining me!
Tee Tee a Fin, Tah Tah for Now!
“Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.” - Walt Disney
First, I'll start by saying I'm glad I thought to take screenshots of my resort detail charges before we checked out, because Disney wipes that from the app and the website (as best I can find) as soon as your stay is complete.
Yesterday, I could easily review all of my outstanding room charges. Today, not so much...it is gone! (edit - a few days after I posted this I got an email from Disney with the full hotel folio attached to it)
But, I have them all, detail listed, as screenshots on my phone.
So, with this in mind, lets run into the trip!
Booking early vs booking late?
I didn't do a MYW package this time because I got a good deal on the rooms. At $1031.40, this is about $129 a night, which is in line with other places we've gone, like New York.
The MYW stuff was a bit more expensive.
And, it was this savings that spurred this whole thing on.
That did mean I had to purchase tickets. For Disney, that was $1215 for 5 day hoppers. $160 was for the hoppers.
For Uni, it was $565, for 2 day hoppers. The hoppers added about $40.
I also spent an extra $200 for the Halloween Party and $50 for the Behind the Seeds tour.
This really isn't out of line with prices I have paid in the past. Sure, I probably could have booked earlier, or gotten a bit more aggressive finding deals on tickets (especially Uni), but, this really isn't bad.
Flights, likewise, I was able to find some rather good deals, getting each of us here for less than $800 (her being more expensive because I have to pay $100 each way for the unaccompanied minor), but Spirit was so cheap...I think my ticket was $75, and after baggage and other fees, about $125.
So, booking late really wasn't a major cost concern.
What I did miss out on was the ADR window and the FP window. This really didn't toss a crimp into our plans. Though, had we not lucked out with the lines and time of year, the FP window could have caused a problem. Were I to do this again, I'd snag the tickets earlier so at least I can can get the FPs booked a bit earlier, at least as placeholders.
With ADRs, we had no trouble getting into restaurants. Even Be Our Guest was doable (though, we won't be doing the dinner again...the kiddo preferred lunch, and wasn't prepared for what she got with dinner being all "fancy"...though she still enjoyed it).
Which, brings me to another take away. If we do a ticketed event again, I will not do an ADR during it. We can grab something from QS or snack our way through. Even though we both enjoyed it, it was really a massive waste of time when the parks have lesser crowds and lower lines.
This was the kiddo's only "gripe" about it. I didn't really expand upon it during the report very much, but she wasn't too thrilled with us sitting down for a stuffy meal when all that excitement was going on outside. I should have thought about that, but I didn't until we were already there. I did offer to speed things up and pay, so we could leave, but she decided to stick it through.
It was, really, her choice and her request, after all.
So, lets get into Dining Plans.
Every trip prior we have done the Deluxe Dining Plan. I like the freedom and peace of mind it gives me, to know everything (MORE than enough) is paid for in advance. That way, the only "money" I keep tabs on during the trip is our gift expenses and other things.
And, now that they've added alcohol as a choice with meals, it is even a better deal (as I probably wouldn't spend quite so much on specialty drinks...though, I probably would. I'm not much of a "drinks with meal" type person unless it is a very special meal, and a night meal...which is why I didn't have wine or a beer at Tiffins).
So, by plan.
QS would have gotten us:
36 QS Credits, 36 Snack Credits for $105 per night ($945)
Regular Dining would have gotten us:
18 QS Credits, 18 TS Credits, 36 Snack Credits for $150.98 per night ($1358.82)
Deluxe would have gotten us:
54 TS Credits, 36 Snack Credits for $232.50 per night ($2092.50)
We would have used:
16 QS Credits, 18 TS Credits (mostly eaten up by the two times we did in room dining), and 37 Snack credits
We spent $850.42. $890 if you include the resort mugs (which easily paid for themselves during the trip with my coffee alone).
So, none of the Dining Plans would have been a value to us.
At Universal we spent about $150 between the mugs, snacks and meals.
And, I must say that, even though we would have gotten a lot more food, we likely wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves nearly as much. We came to like sharing breakfast and meals. The QS portions are so large, it really is easy to do.
In the future I will look harder at the Dining Plan, because for us (now that she isn't a "kid" anymore), it just doesn't seem to make sense. Mind you, if you dig back through the forums, I'm a huge fan of the DP concept, for a variety of reasons. But, that difference in cost is noticeable. So is the flexibility allowed by not feeling hampered to make ADRs to get the value of it, or to keeping those ADRs lest you miss the 24 hour window to cancel them.
I did, however, miss the sortof "traditional" last minute dash through various shops buying all sorts of snacks to take home (like...Rice Krispie Treats!) just to burn out the remaining credits.
In all, this trip was amazing. I don't know when we'll be back, exactly. Right now, I'm thinking next year we may do a short trip to Uni and do the Halloween Horror Nights (though, we might do a weekend jaunt later this year...we'll see...the next two months are going to be very hectic for me)....
What started as something I was a bit apprehensive about, turned into one of the best trips I've had in years.
Thank you Disney, thank you Universal, and thank you all for following along.
I hope you enjoyed joining me!
Tee Tee a Fin, Tah Tah for Now!
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Rista1313
Well-Known Member
Thanks! Links are in my signature. I have some others floating around, but they are trips that fell through for one reason or another (so...pre-trips), or uncompleted (which, I really need to go through and clean up...like the Nick / Halloween one, I don't think I finished that one).GREAT trip report! I think this is the first of yours I’ve read, I might have to dig back for some more (during the next @Tuvalu drought). Lots of detail and lots of ground covered! Glad that everything exceeded your expectations!
2012 and 2013 are rather good, though, but much longer than this one (as the trips were longer).
DisSplash
Well-Known Member
Great trip report, and glad you had a great time with your daughter - that is Disney’s ideal, after all! Families having fun together.
I appreciate your tabulation of costs at the end. We have found that while it is nice to have food prepaid, paying out of pocket really is the cheapest and most flexible option for us as well. When we did Uni last year, we even got out in town a couple of nights to try DelTaco for the first time (loved it!!) and had our cheapest dinner of all at a place called NYPD Pizza, which was pretty good (for FL)! But even when we only eat on property like we did a couple of weeks ago at WDW, we still never hit dining plan costs. Even with a couple of character meals thrown in. Breakfast in the room helps a lot!
Well, have fun planning - or not planning - your next jaunt to Orlando!
I appreciate your tabulation of costs at the end. We have found that while it is nice to have food prepaid, paying out of pocket really is the cheapest and most flexible option for us as well. When we did Uni last year, we even got out in town a couple of nights to try DelTaco for the first time (loved it!!) and had our cheapest dinner of all at a place called NYPD Pizza, which was pretty good (for FL)! But even when we only eat on property like we did a couple of weeks ago at WDW, we still never hit dining plan costs. Even with a couple of character meals thrown in. Breakfast in the room helps a lot!
Well, have fun planning - or not planning - your next jaunt to Orlando!
This is 2015...not finished.
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/englanddgs-real-life-or-is-this-just-fantasy.898837/page-26
2013
Pre Trip - https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...rip-trip-report-aug-2013.862481/#post-5402205
Trip - https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/englanddgs-surf-and-turf-experience.870261/#post-5634039
2012
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/englanddgs-magical-mystery-tour.847588/ (this was actually an archive from another forum where I did the live report)
2011 and 2010 are videos only
There are others floating around....
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/englanddgs-real-life-or-is-this-just-fantasy.898837/page-26
2013
Pre Trip - https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...rip-trip-report-aug-2013.862481/#post-5402205
Trip - https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/englanddgs-surf-and-turf-experience.870261/#post-5634039
2012
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/englanddgs-magical-mystery-tour.847588/ (this was actually an archive from another forum where I did the live report)
2011 and 2010 are videos only
There are others floating around....
MinnieM123
Premium Member
Thanks for a great TR!! So happy that you and your DD had such a wonderful time!!
As for the departure airport "experience" , that was wild. The people that work there must have the patience of saints. But aside of the family (with multiple issues) that you mentioned, I do blame the airlines for creating most of the mayhem, nickel and dime-ing passengers with all these upcharges, sometimes without much notice. They've created a monster of their own doing; and unfortunately, it's the front-line people who take the brunt of it.
I found your expenses breakdown interesting--you did some serious number crunching prior to your trip. I think you planned everything quite well, and kudos! (I'm already looking forward to the next TR--whenever that may be!)
As for the departure airport "experience" , that was wild. The people that work there must have the patience of saints. But aside of the family (with multiple issues) that you mentioned, I do blame the airlines for creating most of the mayhem, nickel and dime-ing passengers with all these upcharges, sometimes without much notice. They've created a monster of their own doing; and unfortunately, it's the front-line people who take the brunt of it.
I found your expenses breakdown interesting--you did some serious number crunching prior to your trip. I think you planned everything quite well, and kudos! (I'm already looking forward to the next TR--whenever that may be!)
Tashifer90
Well-Known Member
A brilliant trip report! It looks like you've had a brilliant time. I think your way of having some things planned and seeing how you feel for the rest is a the way forward for me and the other half
I actually didn't do much at all. But, MYW was closer to 2800 (I wish I'd written the actual price down), so I made out with the hotel deal + tickets instead. That was about as far as I got!Thanks for a great TR!! So happy that you and your DD had such a wonderful time!!
As for the departure airport "experience" , that was wild. The people that work there must have the patience of saints. But aside of the family (with multiple issues) that you mentioned, I do blame the airlines for creating most of the mayhem, nickel and dime-ing passengers with all these upcharges, sometimes without much notice. They've created a monster of their own doing; and unfortunately, it's the front-line people who take the brunt of it.
I found your expenses breakdown interesting--you did some serious number crunching prior to your trip. I think you planned everything quite well, and kudos! (I'm already looking forward to the next TR--whenever that may be!)
Again, though, I probably could have been more aggressive finding discount 5 day hoppers for Disney, and maybe Universal.
The Dining Plan I sort of winged it. I suspected we would be doing a lot more QS and snacks than the last few trips, based on the Halloween Trip and how much I was trying to avoid ADRs this trip. I did consider the QS plan, but looking at the costs, decided to give it a try without it and see how we came out.
As it turned out, I saved about $50 doing that (more really, because we actually did have TS in there, so I would have had to pay for those out of pocket). I would have come out a bit ahead with QS Dining (probably) had we not done two days at Universal.
There's no way I could have made the Regular, and certainly not the Deluxe, work...however.
This doesn't turn me off to Dining Plans in any way. I have to admit sticker shock at meals was something to get over, after years of watching the bill "magically" disappear come time to pay.
It just falls in line with what I've always said about them. It...depends on the trip, depends on the family.
With where my kid is at, though, I don't see us doing a Dining Plan for any upcoming trips we may take. Maybe when she's a young adult, her tastes will start to change, and she may be interested in more TS experiences than...well...chicken strips.
Not that she doesn't like TS (she does)...but, once (or more than once) a day is a bit much.
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
You had mentioned perhaps being interested in pursuing discounted tickets for WDW and Universal, perhaps for a future trip.
I recommend taking a look at Undercover Tourist.
They offer some good deals and are a authorized reseller that deals directly with Disney.
They also send you actual, real tickets and not vouchers that you need to exchange.
E-tickets they can also send you, as I noticed you used that option for Universal.
Worth a look periodically throughout the year.
You can often score a 'buy three days, get one free' or other similar offers.
I recommend taking a look at Undercover Tourist.
They offer some good deals and are a authorized reseller that deals directly with Disney.
They also send you actual, real tickets and not vouchers that you need to exchange.
E-tickets they can also send you, as I noticed you used that option for Universal.
Worth a look periodically throughout the year.
You can often score a 'buy three days, get one free' or other similar offers.
I've looked at them in the past. Quite familiar with their frog logo.You had mentioned perhaps being interested in pursuing discounted tickets for WDW and Universal, perhaps for a future trip.
I recommend taking a look at Undercover Tourist.
They offer some good deals and are a authorized reseller that deals directly with Disney.
They also send you actual, real tickets and not vouchers that you need to exchange.
E-tickets they can also send you, as I noticed you used that option for Universal.
Worth a look periodically throughout the year.
You can often score a 'buy three days, get one free' or other similar offers.
Great advice! I really should make a habit of checking on them every few weeks to see what deals are out there.
Thanks!