Okay. Things are changing again. But it is all on the road to perfection!
We decided that since we want to do 8 nights, but you can only rent 7 nights at 11 months out via DVC, we will just do 7 nights at Boardwalk Villa, 1 bedroom standard view. But then, on our 8th night, we will get a studio room in the Contemporary resort (not BLT!) with theme park view. This will give us our ability to watch fireworks from our room our final night…something we had wanted to do anyhow.
Since we are making the switch, we don’t want to then have to wake up early next morning and start driving home. So instead, we will check out but stay around a while longer and then head to my parents for a couple nights. Originally we were going to do this before we arrived at Disney.
This moves our check in day from Thursday, December 3 to Tuesday, December 1!
Not sure how long this plan will stay intact. But it is more perfect than the one it replaces.
Love the new plan! We visited family after our trip and I loved having a few days to sit around and rest after all that walking! So I think visiting family after is a great idea!
Following up now with some reasoning for the changes.
I learned (here) that DVC owners (and therefore renters) are not allowed to book more than 7 days out from the 11 month mark. So, if we want to ensure we get a 1 Bedroom Standard view at the Boardwalk, we either book 7 days at 11 months out, or book 8 days one day later. While this MIGHT be fine, I’d hate to decide to wait and end up that we lose out on availability as a result. I contacted David’s about this, and sure enough, if we wanted to book 8 nights starting on December 3, they won’t try to make the reservation until January 4. But if we wanted to book 7 nights, they would try to make the reservation January 3. We’re just nervous, considering popularity, of losing out.
But, this kind of brought us around full circle. Some of you may recall that it had always been a dream of mine to stay at the Contemporary, with the monorail and all. Eventually, this turned into a BLT stay, split stay with BWV, and eventually just dropped the idea. We had even discussed doing a single night at the Contemporary just to experience it, but it no longer seemed worth the hassle since we would basically sleep in it and then leave the next morning early. So, when we decided to cut back our BWV stay to 7 nights, that means we needed to find a single night at some other resort. We discussed doing POR, since that is where we stayed on our honeymoon, or staying at one of the value resorts…but then the idea of the Contemporary returned. Final night, theme park view. Our last park day will be MK anyhow, so it seems ideal to be at a MK resort.
But, again, we didn’t want to just watch the fireworks at the Contemporary and then check out early the next day. Our plan was to get started on the long journey home (we drive, not fly). But my parents live 1 1/2 hours north of Orlando in Ocala. Our original plan had us staying with them for 2 nights BEFORE we arrived in Orlando. But what if we reversed it? This means the morning of our stay in the Contemporary, we don’t have to leave immediately. We can take our time, eat breakfast at the Contempo Cafe, get things packed in the car, and even spend more time in MK. Basically, we get all day. Then around dinner, we drive up to Ocala.
BUT, by NOT staying at my parents up front, it means that the first day we arrive to check in at the BWV, we’ve been driving all day (from Chattanooga). The entire day is shot, and now we have the problem of losing that first day before checking in. So, we will mooch off my parents. On the drive in from Chattanooga, we head straight to my parents. Arrive in the evening (probably 7:00-ish), say hi, sleep there, then head out the next morning to enjoy our first Disney day before checking in at BWV. My parents will be fine with this knowing we’ll be returning for a proper visit 8 days later.
Taking two days from the front of our trip and putting them on the back-end, however, means shifting our dates entirely. So, now our arrival date to BWV/Disney property is December 1 instead of December 3. That’s good news, because it means now instead of there being 646 days left to our trip, we cut that to 644 days! (It still seems like a long way away, but at least it is 2 days LESS than it was.)
Now I have to re-plan the days. The things we definitely want to include in this trip: Candlelight Processional, MK Dessert Party, watching Illuminations (or whatever it will be called by then), Star Wars Dessert Party, dinner at San Angel Inn, and experiencing all of SWGE. Everything else will be planned around those things.
The room at the Contemporary one night with theme park view will be expensive, but we’ll save one night at BWV…plus, the fact that we’ll be much more likely to get a standard view room at BWV means we save enough to offset that extra cost and still remain within our original budget. I’m not sure if Disney ever offers any room-only discounts on the Contemporary during that time period. I’m guessing not. I’ll have to be on the lookout if they do! But I can’t book until 499 days out anyhow.
(It still seems like a long way away, but at least it is 2 days LESS than it was.)