Just Mom and Me -- Our late November 2018 trip

useakiss

Am I there yet?
Joined
Jan 11, 2017
Mine is a small and getting even smaller immediate family (just Mom and my brother and one niece), and I currently live 1,000 miles apart from them. They live in central Wisconsin and I live in northern Virginia. For most of those decades apart, I've not had the sort of budget that allowed us to see one another more than once a year, if lucky, and those family visits were the extent of my "vacations" (and as you can probably guess, are anything but stress-free). In the past six years, however, my career has taken a dramatic turn and I've been able to afford more elaborate and extended vacations. Most of all, I miss my Mom and regret the loss of quality time with her. I usually fly her out to stay with me for 2-3 weeks in the spring (she loves the cherry blossoms, etc.) and we enjoy every minute together. I've been trying to think of something different to do, though, and at a time other than spring. I started testing the idea of meeting her down in Orlando for a quick "winter" vacation that allowed us both to get away from everything and actually go somewhere warm for a change.

Mom has been to WDW three times since it opened--twice on family trips (1980s) when my brother and I were children/teens, and once when just she and Dad were down there to visit friends and then drove up the coast to visit me. That was probably 20 years ago now, and she's never been to Animal Kingdom. I've been to WDW three times as well--those two family trips, and last year for my 50th birthday. I had such an amazing time on that solo trip as an adult that I talk too much about it and can't wait until I can go back again. I've been planning another big solo trip in 2019 or 2020, but this new opportunity landed in my lap and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make this little dream come true.

I got what I thought was a "great deal" on off-site housing at the Wynham Bonnet Creek/Grand resort in exchange for doing their 2-hour promotion tour for their timeshares (good friends of mine have a timeshare and have given me days there in the past, which is how they got my name). I won't go into the confusing details of this arrangement (I was told and promised a lot of things that have ultimately turned out to be a bait & switch, so it's not remotely the "deal" I thought I was getting). Let me just say that after fees and taxes, and being told I'm not actually staying in the room and building I was told I was getting, it's just as expensive but more inconvenient than if I'd just booked at PO:FQ again. I won't be making that mistake ever again. I'm working out my frustration and anger over this development now so that I can get over it and just enjoy my vacation when I'm actually down there.

Anyway, because at the time it seemed like a good idea due to the "cheap" lodging, I asked Mom to join me down there for the week following Thanksgiving. It took a little bit of convincing because she's worried about the cost (even though I'm paying for all of it), but she finally agreed. We'll have to fly separately and meet at the airport before taking a Lyft/Uber to the hotel.

Because she'll be 76 and I'll be 51 (both our birthdays are this week in August), we're calling this trip our belated birthday bash and plan to treat and pamper ourselves. We agree that even if we don't step foot in a park and just laze around the pool or shop at Disney Springs, we'll be happy enjoying the non-winter weather and being together.

We're also going to take it easy and not kill ourselves doing your typical marathon days. We're both veterans of the parks, so we have a good idea of what we do and don't have an interest in. For instance, she was never as much into EPCOT as my Dad and I, so we've decided to skip it this trip. Likewise Hollywood Studios (just not worth a full day ticket yet). Her favorite has always been the Magic Kingdom, and she's never been to Animal Kingdom, so we both agreed to focus on those parks and skip the others. We're doing 2 half-days at each, with a break-day in the middle and a break day at the end to relax once more before flying home. I'll break those down into more detail, along with the restaurant reservations I have so far, in my next post.
 
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Sounds like a long overdue trip for you and your mom! It sounds like it will be a great chance for you both to get away and spend time together!
 
Awww, this sounds like a wonderful trip, even with the room issues. I had so much fun reading your last one, so I'm excited for this!

I grew up in northwest WI, and currently reside in southeast WI! :)
 


WOOO!! So excited to join you on the pre trip report. I followed you over here from your last trip report and can't wait to follow along. You have a great writing style!
 
Awww, this sounds like a wonderful trip, even with the room issues. I had so much fun reading your last one, so I'm excited for this!

I grew up in northwest WI, and currently reside in southeast WI! :)

Cool, a fellow Cheesehead! I grew up in a little village named Embarrass, and my Mom now lives in Clintonville, the town nearby.
 
After my experience last time with having a freelance travel agent assisting with my bookings, I debated on how to handle things this time. I definitely did not want to hand over so much control and decision-making again--that drove me nuts, riding in the back seat the entire time, and it's how I ended up with my break day on my FIRST day there. :crazy2: I have found that while I love the planning stages--the research and the decision-making of which restaurants and Fastpasses I want, etc. But I don't enjoy the mad scramble for booking those reservations. Plus, because I'm not staying at an actual Disney resort, I don't get that earlier booking window opportunity, so I realized I would prefer to leave that work to someone who's paid to do it.

Just as I was making that decision to find another agent, one sort of fell into my lap! While posting on one of the Disney-related Facebook pages, a different freelance travel agent reached out to me and offered her services. I asked her a series of questions to test out her methods, etc., and was happy with her responses, so I decided to take another leap of faith and "hire" her, even though her services are free to me.

I made the right decision--she's been great all around. She's communicative and timely in her responses, and she uses MY own DisneyExperience account rather than setting up something under her name that uses her email, etc. I can actually pop into my account at any time and double-check reservations or change things on my own terms if I wish. What a novel feeling!

This agent has also done a bang-up job at landing all the restaurant reservations I'd requested, even if it took a week or two of trying because they were already booked solid. This is exactly the sort of service I was hoping for--someone who had the time and tenacity to keep trying while I'm super busy at work with Busy Season in full swing right now.

Here's the itinerary I've mapped out for the week we're there:

Monday, Nov 26 - Fly in, meet at airport, travel to hotel, unpack and explore resort, then depending on time, hit Disney Springs for dinner and to purchase Magicbands (I didn't realize that you don't get them if you stay off-property)

Tuesday - MK for rope drop, leave early afternoon, tour Grand Floridian and have Afternoon Tea at Garden View Tea Room @ 3:45 pm, then back to resort poolside and relax

Wednesday - Lazy morning, visit Poly for breakfast (Kona Cafe @ 9:15 am), then MK for afternoon and evening fireworks

Thursday - "Break day", do Time Share presentation (11 am-1 pm), then to Disney Springs, and then visit Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner (Boma @ 6:40 pm)

Friday - AK for rope drop, lunch at Satuli Canteen, leave early afternoon and then poolside rest of day or Disney Springs for dinner

Saturday - Lazy morning, head to AK @ 10 am, late lunch (Tusker House @ 1:55 pm), spend afternoon and catch evening show (Tree of Life or Water Show)

Sunday - Relax at resort, head to Disney Springs for late lunch and shopping (Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' @ 3:30 pm)

Monday - Fly home​

Now it's just biting my nails and wait for my 30-day window for Fast Passes to open. It sucks and I know now just how spoiled I was when I stayed at PO:French Quarter last time. I'm praying that what I do manage to get doesn't totally blow these plans out of the water. I'm determined not to let these things force us to run from one end of the park to the other (neither of us are up to that), cancel meal plans, or abandon the half-day plan, so if I can't get reasonable times that fit the windows for when we'll be in the park that day, we'll just deal with a line for what we really want to ride.

For the life of me, I don't understand why there's such a disparity between the booking windows for restaurants and FPs. It really does make planning these things nearly impossible, particularly when you're down to just 30 days. Again, this is where I'm perfectly happy leaving the scramble for FPs to my agent. I just don't have the patience for that sort of exercise in frustration.

I know that the attractions Mom likes most at MK are the same for me--Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Pirates. I suggested that we skip Space Mountain this time because it's a bit harsh (I heard my neck crack last time). I also think she'll probably be okay on Big Thunder Mountain and Seven Dwarfs (new to her) because they're pretty smooth.

Regarding AK, I think she'll be okay on Everest, but I'll let her make that call after she sees it. Ditto for FoP. Going to the big zoo in Milwaukee was an annual family trip for us back in the day, so I know she'll love this park and in particular the safari and nature trails.

I'm on the fence with the wet rides (Splash Mountain and Kali River) for logistics reasons and being wet the rest of the day, etc. I've never actually been on either yet.

That's where things stand at the moment. I scored all the restaurants on my list for this trip, and for the most part within the time frames I requested, so I'm satisfied on that end. I still have two months of waiting before my FP window opens. So my next priority at this point is shopping for airfares. I'm not too worried about getting a cheap flight from Washington DC to Orlando--that's a quick and common flight so prices can average under $200. The bigger worry is about flying Mom from Appleton/Green Bay down to Orlando, because there's basically nothing cheap or easy with flying out of central Wisconsin. I'll be lucky to find something for under $600, and that's still an hour drive from where she lives. I'm more worried about the logistics of GETTING her down there than once we're in Orlando.
 
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Cool, a fellow Cheesehead! I grew up in a little village named Embarrass, and my Mom now lives in Clintonville, the town nearby.

Go Pack Go! (Wait... are you still a Packer Fan :) )

I know Clintonville! I grew up across the state, on the other side. A little town called Frederic, near the MN border. Couple hours south of Duluth/Superior, couple hours north of the Twin Cities. Currently living a bit southwest of Milwaukee.

I must say, though..... all my life..... I never knew there was an Embarrass, WI. Not gonna lie. Who the heck named that town??
 
...Regarding AK, I think she'll be okay on Everest, but I'll let her make that call after she sees it. Ditto for FoP. Going to the big zoo in Milwaukee was an annual family trip for us back in the day, so I know she'll love this park and in particular the safari and nature trails....

...The bigger worry is about flying Mom from Appleton/Green Bay down to Orlando, because there's basically nothing cheap or easy with flying out of central Wisconsin. I'll be lucky to find something for under $600, and that's still an hour drive from where she lives. I'm more worried about the logistics of GETTING her down there than once we're in Orlando...

Wow - really small world! I work at Froedtert Hospital. Currently, they are growing so quickly and hiring so fast, that many folks have to park offsite and shuttle in to campus while they build a new parking structure. I am one of those lucky ones, and we park at.... wait for it.... Milwaukee County Zoo. :)

Secondly, is there any way for your Mom to get down to Milwaukee? Southwest is doing direct flights from MKE to MCO, which is what we're using in February when we go. I know it's a quite a haul to get down there, just thinking out loud!
 
Secondly, is there any way for your Mom to get down to Milwaukee? Southwest is doing direct flights from MKE to MCO, which is what we're using in February when we go. I know it's a quite a haul to get down there, just thinking out loud!

It's definitely frustrating that the only place you can get direct flights is out of Milwaukee. I've wracked my brains on how to get her flying out of there, but home is over two solid hours (over 110 miles) each way, plus driving on those "crazy" highways through the city, etc. I think it's too much to ask or put her through. The only other reasonable option would be for my brother to take two days of vacation to drive her there and pick her up. We used to have more options of airlines--and better fares--before the 2008 economic crash. If we weren't already 1,000 miles apart, I'd just pick her up and drive us to FL together and consider it a girls' road trip.
 
Following along! Here's hoping you get the FP's you want. Sounds like you have a much better TA for this trip, so I'm betting it will happen. :cool1:
 
Another fellow Wisconsinite.

My friend just flew DELTA out of Appleton, but it had connecting in Atlanta.
Allegiante flies out of Appleton, but lands in Sanford. You could order her a Uber for the price of a rental to bring her to Orlando.
 
I'm only 16 days out from Disney time and figured I'm due for an update on here. :)

I'm still debating whether or not I want to write up my experiences with the hotel/time share booking fiasco. Do you want the gory details or has enough been said already?

Regarding flights, I managed to finagle our flights close enough together so that we're scheduled to arrive within 30 minutes of each other in Orlando, and leave within an hour apart on the return trip. That added to the cost, but gives her more reasonable departure/arrival times and us more time together, so it's worth it. I was close on my guess regarding prices. I have a direct flight on JetBlue for $250, and Mom is flying out of Appleton, WI on Delta for $641. While I was somewhat prepared for that, the total price once I added in the travel insurance for both of us (me for $89 and Mom for $251!) make me choke a bit. But honestly, after my previous experience with Hurricane Irma, and Mom's needing to reschedule her return flight last spring due to a blizzard back home, I'd be crazy not to get the insurance. Still...

We're both scheduled to arrive before 6:30 pm on Monday, Nov. 26. With any luck, we'll have our bags and be at the hotel before 8 pm. I'm assuming it'll probably be too late for us to do much beyond exploring the hotel and maybe hitting the pools/lazy river if the weather is decent.

My travel agent continues to do a great job, and I'm so happy I took that leap of faith on trusting another complete stranger to arrange so much of this. Despite that short window of time, and the ongoing issues with the My Disney Experience website, she managed to score nearly all of the Fast Passes I had on my list within the tight time frames we have for each day. Sadly, as of this moment, we still do not have anything for Flights of Passage or 7 Dwarfs, but I'm not at all surprised by this--she is still trying, and we may still luck out.

Here's our daily plan and Fast Pass situation right now (along with other things we're considering must-do's):
Tuesday (MK)
Character meet w/ Tinkerbell (depending on wait time)
FP 9:00-10:00 am Jungle Cruise
Enchanted Tiki Room
FP 10:25-11:25 am Haunted Mansion
FP 12:00-1:00 pm Under the Sea -- Little Mermaid
2:00 PM Festival of Fantasy Parade
3:00 PM Leave for Afternoon Tea @ Grand Floridian @ 3:45 PM
(MK closed at 6 pm for party, so maybe hit Trader Sam's @ Polynesian resort)

Wednesday (MK)
9:15 Breakfast reservation @ Kona Café
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
It's a Small World
Mickey's PhilharMagic
FP Wed 3:05-4:05 pm Pirates of the Caribbean
FP Wed 4:40-5:40 pm Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Carousel of Progress
Tomorrowland People Mover
Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor
FP Wed 7:35-8:35 pm Peter Pan's Flight
9:00 PM Happily Ever After Fireworks
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (if line is short)

Thursday
6:40 pm Dinner reservation @ Boma

Friday (AK)
FP
9:05-10:05 am Expedition Everest
FP 10:30-10:45 am Festival of the Lion King
Kilimanjaro Safari
FP 11:50-12:50 pm Kali River Rapids (will probably cancel)
Flight of Passage (if reasonable wait)
Finding Nemo musical
Dinosaur

Saturday (AK)
Flight of Passage (whenever we arrive if missed day before)
Explore trails
1:55 PM Lunch reservation @ Tusker House
FP 4:20-5:20 pm Kilimanjaro Safari
FP 5:40-6:40 pm Na'vi River Journey
FP 6:50-7:15 pm Rivers of Light

Sunday (Disney Springs)
3:50 pm Dinner reservation @ Chef Art Smith's Homecomin

I really tried to plan things around these FPs to cut down on excess walking, but Animal Kingdom is horrible, no matter what you do, because of the way it's laid out. I'm also aware of how easily it is to fall behind on a schedule at WDW, so this is just a loose guideline. While the heat/humidity should not be as big of an exhausting factor as it was on my last trip, it's still a lot of walking and standing. When you also factor in time for shopping, deciding on unscheduled meals, and just taking breaks, it's very possible we'll have to abandon certain things at some point. But after my recent experience, I do think this is manageable for the most part.

Oh, last but not least, there's been a new development! We have some family friends that go way back, to the late-1960s when my Mom and Dad met this other young couple when both men were in the Navy. They live in Crystal River, FL, and all of our family trips to WDW in the past involved spending a few days with them at some point. Sadly it didn't occur to me until after I'd already booked reservations for everything that we could maybe meet up again. I did reach out to them last week, though, to let them know Mom and I would be nearby, and which days would be best if they'd be willing to drive over and meet up. They said "ABSOLUTELY!" They plan to drive out on the Sunday morning of our last full day there, then spend the whole day with us in Disney Springs. They tried to book a room in our same hotel, but the joint has a 2-night minimum for a ridiculous price, so they've booked a room at the Holiday Inn a couple miles away. This way we'll be able to have plenty of time to spend together, and I've upgraded our reservation at Homecomin for 4 people! While Mom has seen them relatively recently (they travel a lot and occasionally pass through Wisconsin), I haven't seen them since the mid 1980s when I was still a teenager! It's going to be a little bittersweet since my Dad can't join us, but he'll certainly be in our thoughts and conversation. We're all looking forward to this, and already talking about future trips and get-togethers.

So that's where things stand at the moment. Still holding out hope that we may get those Fast Passes for FoP or 7Ds at the last minute, but at least we've built in time in case we don't and have to wait in line.

Overall, I'm fine with how things have fallen together, and like before, I'm determined that we have a nice time. My motto is to be prepared for contingencies, that way you already know how to recover quickly if things don't go according to plan. :smickey:
 
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Your plan looks good! Yeah, it sucks to not have FP for FoP, but you'll make it work. I'm not expecting to get any on our very short trip, either. Seems like people dont often get them at 60+1 or 2.

Great job on the flights! Expensive, sure... but it will all be worth it.
 
Pre-Trip Lodging Nightmare
Before I start the daily reports, I feel like I probably should write up an explanation for the lodging situation after all, because it does play a role in our overall experience on this trip.

It started back in April of 2018, when my Mom came out to visit me for a few weeks. Some good friends of mine, who happen to own a timeshare with Wyndham Resorts, learned that we were planning to spend time down in southern Virginia at Colonial Williamsburg (Mom’s been there several times now and loves the place), and they kindly offered me several nights from their plan. It was very generous of them because it was a beautiful resort, and we stayed there for three nights; it had everything we could need, from two bedrooms and a full kitchen to a washer and dryer, etc. Best of all, because we were guests of my friends, we were not required to attend any time share presentation, although we did have to register under my name.

About a month later, I received a phone call from Wyndham, offering me a “deal” for another 3-night stay at any of their resorts for only $150, plus a $100 gift card, in exchange for attending their 90-minute timeshare presentation. Having done one of these things many years ago, I knew exactly what that sort of deal entailed, so I debated if my time was worth the exchange. Due to many reasons, I have no interest in buying a timeshare and knew it would be a painful endurance test because they always do a hard sell, and at $150 for three nights, plus getting $100 of that back, it seemed too good to be true. I was about to turn it down when the lady mentioned that they had a fantastic resort location in Orlando right inside Disney territory and next door to the Caribbean Resort! That got my attention! I’d been briefly toying with the idea of a Disney trip with Mom, but had nothing solid planned and little saved up yet—and suddenly this seemed the perfect opportunity to do it sooner and on the cheap. After all, not only would it be just as close as the Disney resorts, but we could prepare some meals in our room and save on food as well. I spoke with this woman a long time, asking pertinent questions and taking notes, specifically about the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort (I’d pulled up the website she’d directed me to so that I could see what she was talking about). It showed pictures of suites just like what we’d stayed in earlier, plus lots of awesome pools and even a couple of lazy rivers. I asked—more than once—if this was what I’d get, and she assured me multiple times that yes, we’d be staying in the “Wyndham Grand at Bonnet Creek.” After over 30 minutes, I finally gave in and agreed to purchase the package. Then I called up Mom and told her to start thinking about a new trip!

About a month later, once I’d had time to make plans with both her and arrange vacation time from work, I called Wyndham back to book my specific dates for our stay at Bonnet Creek. That was when things started to go wonky. As the person read back my booking, she stated a “two-bed room in the Grand hotel” and I stopped her and asked, “Wait a second, this should be for a suite with two bedrooms suite with full kitchen.” She then went on to explain that no, actually, this package was for a standard two-bed hotel room in the “Wyndham Grand” hotel which is NEXT DOOR to the Wyndham timeshare resorts. This was the first time I learned that there were actually two different entities involved, and that I’d basically been promised one but sold the lesser. It was a bait and switch! I still had my handwritten notes from the initial call and it was very clear that I’d been told what I wanted to hear in order to get the sale, and that she’d never once made an attempt to explain that there were two different properties located there, and that she’d lied about the type of room I’d be getting. I was understandably furious and asked for a refund, only to be told that the deadline for a refund was passed. I angrily asked to speak with a manager, which turned into an hour-long call. We went around and around, and finally he said “What can I do to make you happy?” I said I’d like my money back. He said he couldn’t do that, but he did eventually approve to give me a $75 gift card in addition to the $100 already promised. I asked if that would be in writing because at this point I didn’t trust them at all, and he promised (I got his name just in case).

Still very unhappy with the situation (I’d given up all the perks of staying at a Disney resort because I’d thought this would save us money, but that was looking less and less likely now) but unwilling to just write off the $150 as a loss, I called the hotel back and finished booking the dates for the initial 3-night package. That’s when I was informed that the “minimal fees” I’d originally been told would be added to each night added up to $46.38 per night, which meant that rather than the apparent $50 per night they sold me, it was actually $96.38 per night. Yes, it’s still cheaper than Disney or anywhere else, but it’s also not what was implied because no reasonable person would consider fees that add up to your actual room cost to be “minimal”.

I sighed and agreed, and then asked how difficult it would be to tack on additional nights to our stay so we could make it a week-long vacation, otherwise we’d pack up and transfer to an actual Disney resort after the first 3 nights. She said it wouldn’t be difficult, although they would charge me their usual rate of $187.83 (including fees). Since it was still cheaper than Disney and it meant we wouldn’t have to relocate, I agreed and we made the additional booking.

A month before our trip, I got a confirmation email from the hotel that just listed the first booking, but no mention of the additional days. Once again I had to call them and get everything straightened out. At one stage they even had us SWITCHING rooms within the same building! It’s very clear that these two entities (timeshare and hotel) did not communicate with one another and this endless back and forth with both as I tried to ensure that we’d have a place to sleep was frustrating and stressful, and if it wasn’t already too late to book at Disney and because I’d already purchased our airline tickets, I would have just cancelled the entire thing and ate that $150 as a life lesson. Needless to say, I'll never do anything like this again--it simply wasn't worth the stress, frustration, and anger it generated on a vacation I'd tried so hard to make magical.

There’s more to come about the hotel situation, but I’ll mention that in the daily reports to follow…
 
Well, Mom and I arrived home safely two days ago, after our week-long belated birthday blowout Disney World trip. Aside from one nearly disastrous incident on our very first day, our trip was fun and pretty much exactly what I’d hoped it would be for both of us. I’ll admit that I didn’t take nearly as many photos or detailed notes as I did last time, in part because I was busy staying in the moment with my Mom, and because a little of the novelty had worn off since this was only little over a year since my last trip and it just didn’t occur to me at times to bring out my phone until it was too late.

As with my previous trip blog, I’ll be breaking this one up into daily reports, and probably breaking those up a bit due to photo limitations. Bear with me as I continue to process my thoughts and the photos, and as I resume work during a very busy proposal season…
 
Welcome back, looking forward to hearing all about it! I'm glad you elaborated on the hotel situation - what a mess!!
 
Sorry to hear about the issue with the hotel stay! Hoping you enjoyed your visit there after all! I have been contemplating booking the Wyndham Bonnet Creek location for our next trip to save money but decided to rent points instead for our October '19 trip. Anxious to hear all about your trip!
 

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