Several months ago my wife and I made the fateful decision to treat our two kids, ages 8 and 3, to a Disney World vacation over Christmas break.
Via news from me [1], “Walt Dismal World: Part 1 [2]”
And that was his first mistake. It gets worse:
Next we looked for air transportation–and struck out. Delta and Southwest both offer nonstop Raleigh-Orlando service, but Delta wanted $700 per ticket for the 80-minute nonstop flight (less expensive seats were available for an ATL connection). Southwest was cheaper by far, but still set me back $1200 for four tickets.
Gulping hard again, I ponied up the fare.
Lastly, I checked on Walt Disney World tickets. As every parent on earth but me knows, there are four parks at WDW (Walt Disney World): Magic Kingdom; Epcot; MGM (Metro-Goldwyn Mayer) Studios; and Animal Kingdom. My local AAA (American Automobile Association) agency educated me on the ins and outs of WDW ticket options, and we settled on "Magic Your Way" tickets for two adults and two kids with no "Park Hopper" option (if you don't know, don't ask) for five days.
Total Disney ticket cost: $774. I gulped again and proffered my Amex card to the nice AAA lady.
Via news from me [3], “Walt Dismal World: Part 1 [4]”
And it gets even worse from there. I read parts of this aloud to Bunny, and as I was reading she was imploring me not to read anymore, lest I hate travel [5] even more than I do now. “You don't need to read stuff like that,” she said.
But as I read further (it's a three [6] part [7] article [8]) I began to realize that Will Allen III [9] was particularly stupid in planning his trip to the Kingdom of the Rat God [10] in Central Sheol [11]—this from someone who can find safe taxicab services in the Sudan. Although, I guess when you are used to arranging reliable private overland transport from Mandalay to Bagan in Myanmar, going to Walt Disney World, the American Mecca for kids, during the Holiday Season, appears as a no-brainer.
Hah!
Little did he realize.
[1] http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_12_30.html#012682
[2] http://allenontravel.blogspot.com/2006/12/walt-dismal-world-part-1-
[3] http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_12_30.html#012682
[4] http://allenontravel.blogspot.com/2006/12/walt-dismal-world-part-1-
[6] http://allenontravel.blogspot.com/2006/12/walt-dismal-world-part-1-
[7] http://allenontravel.blogspot.com/2006/12/magic-kingdom-meltdown-part-2
[8] http://allenontravel.blogspot.com/2006/12/disney-experience-in-rear-
[9] http://allenontravel.blogspot.com/