Trip Report Whose Trip Is It Anyway?

It's mine. But it wasn't supposed to be.

The vacation to celebrate my <number redacted> birthday with my beloved Woody was supposed to happen at the end of January and included time with @lindawdw, @ajrwdwgirl and a few other forum friends. But a predicted ice storm and a couple other extenuating circumstances caused us to cancel our plans two days prior to departure.

This trip was supposed to be a belated birthday celebration for my mother during winter break for my brother's family. I was going to accompany her and assist with her mobility challenges. The day after we canceled my birthday trip, Mom announced she no longer wanted to go to WDW and insisted Woody take her place since the resort was already paid in full. (She did have several local celebrations on and around her actual birthday.)

Our airline tickets were refunded and since Woody prefers driving from Atlanta we added a couple nights to our trip. No spoilers yet, just a math problem.

Winter break + Presidents' Day + Mardi Gras + Lunar New Year + Snowbirds = A crowd collision of massive proportions

When: February 14-19, 2026
Where: Disney's Art of Animation Resort
Who: Tuvalu and Woody, with family introductions to come

 

[brifraz]

Saturday, con’t

Woody was gone a long time. When he returned he opened the car door and handed me a piece of paper saying, “You are about to experience one of the joys of staying in a Marriott property.”

His tone was sarcastic.

View attachment 909576

“What’s this?” I asked him.

“It’s a letter to give to the Front Desk at the Residence Inn. We have been bumped from the Springhill Suites.”

“But we booked our room three weeks ago,” I protested. “One with a fireworks view!”

“Doesn’t matter,” Woody replied. “Marriott properties are notorious for overbooking their hotels.”

Woody traveled a lot during his career. Where he stayed depended on the company he was working for. He preferred Hilton over Marriott because Hilton guaranteed his room. Many times he showed up at a Marriott only to learn he’d been moved down the street or across town - typically in the evening when it was dark, because he hadn’t checked in by 6 pm (despite having paid the deposit!)

“Will we get a comparable room?” I asked, knowing that the Residence Inn was across the main road and further away (and unlikely to have a fireworks view.)

“Sometimes it’s a better room to account for the inconvenience. But it can be a lesser room. In that case we may get a partial refund,” Woody said.

We made our way to the Residence Inn. Woody went inside while I again waited in the car.

He was gone twice as long as he was the first time. Apparently there was chaos at the Front Desk and the clerk was on the phone.

Why the chaos? The Residence Inn was overbooked. We were being bumped for the second time, to the Fairfield which was adjacent to the Residence Inn.

Sorry I'm late to this party! Haven't been on the boards very much the past few weeks, but I was getting prepared to do my Princess Half Trip Report and saw that you had a new (-ish) TR that I hadn't seen. So, now I'm getting caught up! I can't recall how much I shared from my last (yes, LAST) trip with 100+ high school kids, but... we had booked the Springhill Suites and at 7pm the night before check-in, I called from a bus on I95 to verify the room assignments and halls since we had specific layout of rooms with kids rooms and chaperone rooms. I'd talked to them on the phone at least 10 times in the preceding weeks and months and everything appeared to be in order, but I wanted to verify. And, of course, none of the people that I had ever spoken with were available and they were moving us to the Residence Inn with rooms scattered across 4 floors instead of 2 floors in a block together.

I have sworn off Marriott properties ever since, hence upcoming Hyatt and independent hotel bookings.

I cannot even imagine how I would have reacted if my party of 120 had been bumped twice!!!

 

[SMJS]

That missing right arm would not be acceptable to my second born. LOL she would be probably make me lodge a complaint