We have been DVC members for almost 4 years now. We bought at Saratoga Springs and 2 years ago we added on at Animal Kingdom Lodge. The first year we made 1 trip to WDW, and since then we have managed to fit in about 2-3 trips to WDW a year. All but 1 have been meticulously planned out well in advance by yours truly. Last minute trips are not supposed to be the norm with DVC.
Last week my husband and I were trying to think of someplace to go for a short Summer vacation this year with the kids. I know, I know, you’re saying “You’re just thinking of this now? You should’ve started planning for this months ago!” Well, the truth is, we did start thinking about this months ago, but all the options we kept coming up with met luke-warm responses. We live in the Twin Cities, so to drive anywhere cool is at least a full day’s drive each way, and neither of us is looking forward to that with a 6 year-old and a 3.5 year-old. Maybe in a few years.
Eric’s mom lives near Ft. Myers, FL, so we thought maybe we can fly down to visit her for a few days at the end of June and maybe head to WDW for a couple days too? I called DVC member services and was able to get a room for the 2 nights we were looking at. Very cool! Two months out, and I was able to get rooms! I love my DVC! Then we started pricing out airfare and rental cars, and reality set in. I don’t think we can pull this off. We’re looking at spending close to $2000 for less than a week! Not to mention we’d be in Florida in late June. We’re used to visiting in the Winter, so not sure how excited I am about being ridiculously hot all day long, and the lines at the parks at WDW? Ugh, maybe this isn’t such a great idea.
Then on Thursday this week, I was reading @KidaniKatie’s blog on The DVC Life about to car rental or not to car rental and one of the comments mentioned that flying in and driving out in the Spring could save a lot of money because of the car rental companies’ desire to move cars out of Florida for the Summer. I went back to my Alamo deals email I had recently received and read the blurb about the $10/day rentals out of Florida. Awesome! Only catch is, you have to pick up the car before May 31st. Crap, we’re not going until June.
Wheels are turning… ”What if we go the end of May instead?” Sure, our oldest will miss a couple days of school, but he’s in kindergarten, how bad will it really be (that’s another blog post)? So, I price it out, and we can fly into Ft. Myer’s (and visit Grandma) for $100 per person, and we can rent a minivan for $15/day! Plus, with my DVC membership, I can save an additional 10% off the rental! Holy crap, we could fly in and drive home for like $500 total! There’s still that long drive home, though. Do we really want to spend 26 hours and 2 days of our vacation in the car? Sure, it’s better than driving both ways, but still. Then, while talking on the phone with Eric, we start to think, “Hey, it doesn’t say we have to drive the car to MN, we just need to drive it out of FL.” Wheels are turning again… Atlanta isn’t really that far of a drive from Orlando, and it’s a Delta hub (as is MSP – where we live)! Back to Kayak, and we found we can fly into Ft. Myer’s and out of Atlanta for $204 per person! Pretty much a done deal, right?
Not so fast. First we need to make sure Eric’s mom is ok with us coming down the end of May instead of the end of June. Eric makes a phone call, and a few minutes later, it’s a go on that front. Next step is to call DVC member services and see if we can get a room.
I make the call… My head is down, and I’m not really hopeful. We are 30 days out after all. There’s no way they’re going to have room for us. I get through to a cast member right away. So far, so good. I give them my dates, and the person on the other end asks “Where would you like to stay?” I say “Why don’t we start with what’s available instead, because that will probably make my decision for me.” Smile on my face, chuckle in my voice. ”I’m sure my options are pretty limited at this point.” She chuckles too, then a pause. Success! She has the room we want for the dates we want at either Old Key West or Saratoga Springs! Of course those are the only 2 resorts available (other DVC members will appreciate this), but hey, I don’t really care. Both are very nice places to stay, and yay, suddenly we’re going to Disney World in less than a month! Have I mentioned that I love my DVC? So, I booked the room at Saratoga Springs, because the kids have never stayed there, and they are going to LOVE the pool there (especially at the end of May).
So now, in a matter of hours, I went from being not so sure about a Summer vacation to Florida to ecstatic about an almost Summer vacation to Florida for about half the price we were originally looking at spending. Thank you @KidaniKatie and The DVC Life for asking the question about car rentals at Disney World this week!
Now my only concern is how the heck are we going to handle all the crowds in the parks? We’ve never needed them before, but TouringPlans.com, here I come.
