Pretrip
Back before inflation went crazy, in the winter of this never ending school year, I took advantage of some offers I had and booked airfare for a summer Disney trip. There wasn’t really a question as to whether or not I was going there this summer; it was just a matter of specific details. Eventually the Disney+ discount came along, and I made it official; I booked myself at All Star Sports. Cheapest option, because that’s how I roll for summer solo trips.
But then…it became evident that I was working a TON of hours this summer. AND they had to increase our summer pay to get people to work. And…this year was kinda wild and ridiculous and awful. So…why not treat myself? I crunched a lot of numbers and booked the Dolphin for this trip around the time that school was letting out.
Summer started and was just as wild as the school year was, making me glad I was treating myself. But then…plot twist…thanks to a thread on that message board that shall not be named, I discovered that Marriott was raising resort fees at the Swan and Dolphin, immediately, with no exceptions for those that had already booked. And they were removing benefits from their resort fee. Also…they didn’t bother to notify those with reservations, other than adjusting the resort total price in the app. No thanks!
So I played with Disney’s website some more, and a standard view at Port Orleans French Quarter had become available. For $300 cheaper than my Dolphin reservation for the duration of the stay. I booked it and felt pretty good about the situation (and waited until almost the last day to cancel without losing my deposit before canceling that Dolphin reservation, because even though Marriott can most certainly survive with one room unsold, I still felt better about sticking it to them just a little bit).
I started making adjustments to my plans given that I’d be staying in a different resort area. And then the biggest plot twist! Jessie, an OT I work with, who is a fellow Disney dork, and my vacation planning and after school margarita buddy, decided after us saying for awhile that “sometime” she should join one of my summer trips, that sometime was now. She booked her plane tickets and park tickets, and suddenly the majority of this trip became a girls trip!!!
The last month before the trip was filled with texts, food and wine festival wish list making, and lots of planning. Oh…and a lot of summer school chaos too! But eventually summer school ended and the countdown reached a point where I could start packing. Jessie and I were both incredibly excited and maybe a little in disbelief that this trip was really happening! The final day, I ran around doing last minute errands, packing, and avoiding Gizmo’s pout as best as I could. I set the alarm for wicked early, and was ready!
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