WDW heart
01-29-2008, 04:45 AM
Anne Howard – January 2008 - Walt Disney World
Cast of Characters:
Anne Howard - age 39, Disney fanatic! Previous trips in Oct-’05, June-‘05, ‘02, '99, '95, '91, '89, '88, '81, '79, '77, '76, '74
Quinn Howard – age 11. Previous trips in ’05, '02, '99.
As some of you may know, I am in nursing school. I had a 6-week break this winter. I came up with the idea of Quinn and I going to WDW back in November when I was trudging through Fundamentals. The two of us are really the Disney fanatics in the family and I thought it would be great for us to have some time together before the craziness began again. I booked the airfare in November through Southwest. Then, I decided against the trip and figured I would cancel the flight at the last minute and get vouchers. I had never mentioned the trip to Quinn because I wasn’t certain and didn’t want to get her hopes up.
So the four of us were going to go to the Pennsylvania Pocono’s instead. The week before David found that he had work plans he couldn’t get out of and Beth had social plans she didn’t want to miss. By Monday the 21st, I did a 360 and decided to go through with my Disney plans since I already had the airfare.
Monday, I called Disney to book a room. The only rooms they had available were Saratoga Springs and Fort Wilderness cabins. I had stayed at the cabins before. I liked the campground and the cabins but the busses were very inconvenient. I booked Saratoga Springs not knowing anything about the resort.
I called back each day to see if they had anything else. I really wanted a moderate or The Contemporary for convenience to the Magic Kingdom. On Wednesday they had the Beach Club available for only $75 extra for the whole stay. I love the Beach Club and really liked being able to walk to Epcot so I booked that. They never had any other resorts available.
I booked the Pirate & Princess Party at the last minute for the 26th. I made some ADR’s but we ended up cancelling all of them.
Thursday January 24, 2008
I did not tell Quinn of our plans. She knew we were going away on Friday and that she would be missing school. I told her that she had an orthodontist appointment on Thursday and I would be taking her out of school early.
I assembled a packet of information with park maps, schedules, special events and information on the Pirate & Princess party. On the top I wrote Quinn’s Surprise trip to Walt Disney World.
David drove me to Quinn’s school. I signed her out of school. While walking to the car, she said, “Why is Dad here?” I told her that he was off today, which he was. So we drove to the airport. The dentist is about 2 minutes from school. David told her he had to run some errands. She accepted this and just read a book. When we started approaching the airport, she asked, “Is this the airport?” David said he had to drop something off. She seemed to accept this. So we finally pulled up in front of Southwest and stopped. She still didn’t seem to think anything was amiss. I handed her the packet of information. She read the first page and just looked confused. I said, “We are going to Disney World!” She smiled and was shocked. It was finally sinking in for her. She couldn't stop smiling. I got out and gathered my bags together. Quinn still thought we may be kidding and was catching up. She was very excited.
We checked our one bag at Southwest. Our flight was scheduled at 12:45pm. While waiting, she looked at all the information I had prepared for her. She was very surprised, excited, and couldn’t stop beaming. We ate muffins and tea at the airport. Our flight was uneventful. When we left Baltimore, it was 25 degrees outside.
To be continued……………
Cast of Characters:
Anne Howard - age 39, Disney fanatic! Previous trips in Oct-’05, June-‘05, ‘02, '99, '95, '91, '89, '88, '81, '79, '77, '76, '74
Quinn Howard – age 11. Previous trips in ’05, '02, '99.
As some of you may know, I am in nursing school. I had a 6-week break this winter. I came up with the idea of Quinn and I going to WDW back in November when I was trudging through Fundamentals. The two of us are really the Disney fanatics in the family and I thought it would be great for us to have some time together before the craziness began again. I booked the airfare in November through Southwest. Then, I decided against the trip and figured I would cancel the flight at the last minute and get vouchers. I had never mentioned the trip to Quinn because I wasn’t certain and didn’t want to get her hopes up.
So the four of us were going to go to the Pennsylvania Pocono’s instead. The week before David found that he had work plans he couldn’t get out of and Beth had social plans she didn’t want to miss. By Monday the 21st, I did a 360 and decided to go through with my Disney plans since I already had the airfare.
Monday, I called Disney to book a room. The only rooms they had available were Saratoga Springs and Fort Wilderness cabins. I had stayed at the cabins before. I liked the campground and the cabins but the busses were very inconvenient. I booked Saratoga Springs not knowing anything about the resort.
I called back each day to see if they had anything else. I really wanted a moderate or The Contemporary for convenience to the Magic Kingdom. On Wednesday they had the Beach Club available for only $75 extra for the whole stay. I love the Beach Club and really liked being able to walk to Epcot so I booked that. They never had any other resorts available.
I booked the Pirate & Princess Party at the last minute for the 26th. I made some ADR’s but we ended up cancelling all of them.
Thursday January 24, 2008
I did not tell Quinn of our plans. She knew we were going away on Friday and that she would be missing school. I told her that she had an orthodontist appointment on Thursday and I would be taking her out of school early.
I assembled a packet of information with park maps, schedules, special events and information on the Pirate & Princess party. On the top I wrote Quinn’s Surprise trip to Walt Disney World.
David drove me to Quinn’s school. I signed her out of school. While walking to the car, she said, “Why is Dad here?” I told her that he was off today, which he was. So we drove to the airport. The dentist is about 2 minutes from school. David told her he had to run some errands. She accepted this and just read a book. When we started approaching the airport, she asked, “Is this the airport?” David said he had to drop something off. She seemed to accept this. So we finally pulled up in front of Southwest and stopped. She still didn’t seem to think anything was amiss. I handed her the packet of information. She read the first page and just looked confused. I said, “We are going to Disney World!” She smiled and was shocked. It was finally sinking in for her. She couldn't stop smiling. I got out and gathered my bags together. Quinn still thought we may be kidding and was catching up. She was very excited.
We checked our one bag at Southwest. Our flight was scheduled at 12:45pm. While waiting, she looked at all the information I had prepared for her. She was very surprised, excited, and couldn’t stop beaming. We ate muffins and tea at the airport. Our flight was uneventful. When we left Baltimore, it was 25 degrees outside.
To be continued……………