I landed here about 14 months ago. It was 10 days before my trip and I was overwhelmed. As a matter of fact, that was pretty much the title of my first post. From the first thought that we should do WDW to departure it was just about 8 weeks.
I was so afraid I was going to mess it up. And I did - in a spectacular and very EXPENSIVE fashion before we even departed. My master plan was to red eye into MCO and spend that first day just getting acclimated. Well…because there was so much back and forth about the dates - and the flight being a red eye - and which airport we were going to depart from…we showed up at the airport and there were NO flights out. Our flight was actually for the next day.
While a one day delay might not be too big of a deal, it was the red eye. We would’ve left out the next night and gotten in the morning after that. And instead of having a whole day to adjust, we would’ve had to go straight to the park to keep our schedule…or skip one of the parks.
So after paying a handsome fee - changing outgoing airports AND splitting up our routing - dh took one flight - ds and I took another. We arrived in MCO about the same time. We boarded the ME and we were back on schedule only about 4 hours late and with much much stress.
Now I’m planning next years trip and looking back, I can say that without the touring plans and the members here that helped me get a visit strategy in place our trip would’ve been a NIGHTMARE! The stress from the botched flight, having to fly separate, the $$ it took to make those changes happen. It would’ve been a big cloud over our entire visit if we had to wing the whole trip too.
I beat myself up a lot over the mistake. I tried to heh heh let it go, but that’s just not me. Thankfully the touring plans and ADRs had been set and we just started to follow the plan.
I don’t think I even came back here afterward to thank everyone for their help. I know I didn’t. I should have and I am sorry that I didn’t. I would like to offer a very belated “thank you” to everyone that helped me out last year. And I would like to let those that are new here know there is a lot of knowledge and experience here and everyone is so generous with their time and thoughtfulness in their responses. I’m looking forward to planning with you over the next year. And I can’t wait to do a trip report.
16 Likes
What an adventure you had! You’ll talk about that and eventually laugh about it someday. At least you weren’t a day late. Now that would have been a tragedy.
I’m so glad to hear all worked out for you. I think we all put so much pressure on ourselves to make the trip perfect (that’s why we’re here making all these plans) that we forget that just being with our families makes it perfect. I hope your next one is great, as well.
All the best to you.
2 Likes
Oh my gosh! I remember those posts! So glad you made it work out.
I agree with the other reply… with time you will cringe less at most of the small missteps (even expensive ones), and laugh at the others. Glad you’re planning another trip! 
Thanks for sharing your story. I hope your next trip is awesome!
1 Like
We all make mistakes! I think that is what life an adventure! Thank you for such a lovely post! It is the first one I am reading this morning and it is a wonderful way to start the day. I hope you share your plans for your next trip here!
1 Like
Thank you everyone! I’ve been toying with the idea of doing…I don’t know what you’d call it…I guess a “where are they now” version of a trip report. I didn’t do a trip report when I got home, and I should have. But I’m thinking I’d like to see what stands out a year later. Sure the snafu with the flights was memorable. But so was how since DS and I arrived about 20 minutes before DH, we ran over to his gate, whipped up an impromptu sign and “eagerly awaited his arrival”.
I’d like to just go through with the strongest memories. Then revisit my touring plan to see that that helps recall. What we’d like to do again, what worked, what didn’t. I mean I am planning another trip right now. It might be useful.
We have our flight TO MCO booked already - our return date hasn’t opened for booking yet (3 more days). But I booked the hotel reservation - then before I clicked to book the flight, I showed it to my dh, I took a picture of it and texted it to ds. I ran over to work (it’s less than 1/2 a block away) and showed the picture to a friend/co-worker along with the reservation confirmation. I double and triple checked myself, then I had 3 different individuals check my work, then I checked myself again. Why repeat mistakes when you can make new ones.
I also think from now until winter break I’m just going to gather info. Ds will be home from college and we can make some decisions - mostly about dining. Then I can start getting into which parks on which days. And ds will then come home from college a few weeks before FP+ reservations get made. I’m really enjoying this process so far. It’s something I wasn’t able to experience last time due to the abbreviated time frame.
1 Like