How Often Do You Change Your Disney Vacation Plans?

by Nick

I know I'm not the only one.
I tinker and tweak my Disney Vacation right up until the day we go, and very often, during our trip.
Our upcoming trip in October 2014 may be a record breaker though.

It started off when I booked 3 nights at the Beach Club Villas (BCV) in November of 2013, for a Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night.

Why only 3 nights? Because we only have a very small 30 point Disney Vacation Club (DVC) contract there, and that is all I could book at the 11 month window.

The plan was to book 3 more nights at the 7 month window.

When that window opened up, the ONLY studio rooms available were at Saratoga Springs.
Now, I should have just booked 3 nights, and wait-listed them for the Beach Club.

But here is what happened instead.

I decided, spur of the moment, that we really needed to take a Disney Cruise!

A couple of things played into this somewhat hasty decision.

One, we had booked another DCL Cruise while on our Alaskan Cruise in 2012, but had to move it back as something had come up, so had a 10% discount and $100 credit to use.

Two, we had JUST gotten back from a Royal Caribbean cruise that my Father-in-Law had given us as gift, and I had cruise fever!

  The Disney Dream in Nassau. 

So here is what I did.

While speaking to Guest Services, I went online and saw that there was a 4 night cruise on the Dream leaving on a Sunday.
I told Guest Services I'd call back, and got on the phone with Disney Cruise Line (DCL), and booked the cruise! I then called DVC back, and cancelled 2 nights at the BCV.

When I told my wife Barbie what I'd done, her first response was "Awesome!" And then she asked "Didn't you book Beach Club because it's during the Food and Wine Festival, and you wanted to be close to Epcot?"

Oh my.

Yes, that is exactly what I'd done.

So, while I was excited about the cruise, I now had a bit of remorse that we'd only have one evening to enjoy Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival!

This remorse sort of stayed with me for a few days. 

So, a week later, I called DVC, and booked one night at the end of our cruise at Old Key West, which was the only thing available besides Saratoga Springs.
I'd have booked more, but we have a pet/house sitter, and we need to work around their schedule, so we only have Saturday-Friday to work with.

We really like OKW, but, again, Food and Wine is going on during that time, so I wait-listed Boardwalk and Beach Club.

A couple of days ago I got a letter in the mail (yes, snail mail, not email!) that we were booked for one night at the Boardwalk Villas! Our wait-list had come through very quickly indeed!

Every change that has been made has had me on the phone with DVC and DCL, and online with Southwest Airlines, changing flights, transfers, and Magical Express.
But I love it!

The plan as it is now.

Saturday: Fly in to Orlando in the afternoon. Check into the BCV. Walk around Epcot's World Showcase and eat and drink! Maybe spend a bit of time at the pool in the evening.

Sunday: Not sure what time the DCL bus picks us up. If we have time, we'll go to the Magic Kingdom. If not, we'll have an early breakfast at Cape May Cafe.
Cruise!

Monday-Thursday: On the Dream. Transfer from Cape Canaveral to BWV. Thursday evening at Epcot, hitting booths we missed. Depending on where our room is, we'll either stay at Epcot for Illuminations, or watch it from our room.

Friday: Magic Kingdom. Late flight home

How often do you change your schedule while planning a Disney Vacation?