parrotheadlois
07-19-2005, 08:56 PM
We had the saddest thing happen to us on our trip. As you can see, we were going with my son and his family. My husband and I checked in on Saturday, July 16th at Port Orleans Riverside (still our favorite moderate), then on Sunday we checked into Old Key West for our first stay as DVC members in a bigger unit (we've stayed twice before as members, but in a studio which isn't much different than staying in the resort as a resort guest). But after waiting quite a while to check in, and while we were doing so I picked up our Hoop-Dee-Doo tickets for that night, we went outside to wait for my son (they were driving over), I noticed that we had had a phone call from my husband's parents. I had my phone on discreet and hadn't noticed the call. He returned the call, unfortunately, my mother-in-law who has been suffering from stomach cancer had died. Now our room isn't ready (it's only about 1 o'clock) and we're in turmoil, first we needed to cry and absorb what happened and then figure out what arrangements we needed to make. The CMs at OKW were great, particularly Concierge Christine and (I don't know his title) Justin. Justin arranged for us to use the OKW conference room so we could be by ourselves. But anyway, I know you all can understand that after planning this trip for almost 2 years, we were now in the situation of having to go home. This was Sunday, the earliest we could get out (without a ton of penalty charges from Continental Airlines - there doesn't seem to be any kind of bereavement policy), but that's a different story. I had to change the (pre-paid, non-refundable) Hoop-Dee-Doo. Needless to say, my husband and I were not in the mood for that, which was scheduled for that night. Thanks to Christine, they agreed to refund the money for my husband and me. Now I had to deal with the Princess Breakfast - the person making the reservations has to show photo id, they wouldn't budge, it was either cancel, or I had to show up. With a 7 year-old with her Snow White costume all ready there was no way we were cancelling. So the next day, we got up and took our car to the Magic Kingdom. Walked to the castle, explained, rather loudly why I was there and they just said it's ok, don't worry about it (they wanted me out of there and fast - they never looked at my id)....I actually would've gone to the breakfast, but my husband was with us (I also wouldn't leave him alone) and he didn't feel up to it so I didn't go. The kids (my daughter-in-law told me later) were upset when they realized we had left (I of course was then upset because they had gotten upset).
Then, because it was the one ride I had wanted to try and we were already out and about and it wasn't too hard to do, we rode the monorail to EPCOT and got fast passes for Soarin. Then we went to The Living Seas and saw a cute new animated film starring a turtle character (I bet you all know about it, I didn't). We saw a line, we had time to waste till our fast pass time, so we went. It was SOOO cute. Make sure you take your little ones - I will not say anything else! And then we went on Soarin which I just loved - it's too short - but I loved it. Then we walked around the countries, usually I like to shop but feeling like we were (very down and VERY hot), we just went back to OKW were I did go in the pool to cool off.
I'm sorry, I'm digressing, so I'll end here, bottom line, we're now home, the wake is tomorrow and the funeral Thursday.
Oh, I'm sorry, please indulge me one more digression - I was not only lucky enough to get Cindy's Breakfast at 8:20, I was lucky enough to get a Grand Villa 7 months out (OKW is not my home resort) and I was extremely lucky and got an Illuminations cruise for Thursday night and the boat will be decorated for my grandson's birthday, which is Saturday. Some of these things at the time I was so upset about, I just couldn't talk...I hadn't told any of my son's family, I was just gonna tell them where to park and walk to the dock and have them all see the boat. I of course had to explain the whole thing to my son and they'll still keep it a secret for my grandson.
Thank you for indulging me. (PS The Villa was gorgeous, OKW was so nice, we will have to try again some time). My son and his family are at least getting to use the villa, obviously I still wanted them to have the best time ever. And (ok, grandmas), I didn't even get a chance to say good-bye to the kids (cause of much crying this morning) because last night was Extra Hours at the Magic Kingdom - believe it or not - with a 7, 8 and 9 almost 10 year old, they were at MK till 2 o'clock AM!!! I had tried to wait up for them and then just couldn't. My son helped us with our bags today and (with all the crying going on) offered to wake them up but I said no (I didn't think seeing their hysterical grandma would be good for them)
I'm sorry to have such a downer story, it's just that I knew you all would understand all the emotions - the extreme sadness over my mother-in-law's death, she was just the best, I really loved her and then the almost 2 years in planning the vacation which, for us, is now over.
thank you all.
Then, because it was the one ride I had wanted to try and we were already out and about and it wasn't too hard to do, we rode the monorail to EPCOT and got fast passes for Soarin. Then we went to The Living Seas and saw a cute new animated film starring a turtle character (I bet you all know about it, I didn't). We saw a line, we had time to waste till our fast pass time, so we went. It was SOOO cute. Make sure you take your little ones - I will not say anything else! And then we went on Soarin which I just loved - it's too short - but I loved it. Then we walked around the countries, usually I like to shop but feeling like we were (very down and VERY hot), we just went back to OKW were I did go in the pool to cool off.
I'm sorry, I'm digressing, so I'll end here, bottom line, we're now home, the wake is tomorrow and the funeral Thursday.
Oh, I'm sorry, please indulge me one more digression - I was not only lucky enough to get Cindy's Breakfast at 8:20, I was lucky enough to get a Grand Villa 7 months out (OKW is not my home resort) and I was extremely lucky and got an Illuminations cruise for Thursday night and the boat will be decorated for my grandson's birthday, which is Saturday. Some of these things at the time I was so upset about, I just couldn't talk...I hadn't told any of my son's family, I was just gonna tell them where to park and walk to the dock and have them all see the boat. I of course had to explain the whole thing to my son and they'll still keep it a secret for my grandson.
Thank you for indulging me. (PS The Villa was gorgeous, OKW was so nice, we will have to try again some time). My son and his family are at least getting to use the villa, obviously I still wanted them to have the best time ever. And (ok, grandmas), I didn't even get a chance to say good-bye to the kids (cause of much crying this morning) because last night was Extra Hours at the Magic Kingdom - believe it or not - with a 7, 8 and 9 almost 10 year old, they were at MK till 2 o'clock AM!!! I had tried to wait up for them and then just couldn't. My son helped us with our bags today and (with all the crying going on) offered to wake them up but I said no (I didn't think seeing their hysterical grandma would be good for them)
I'm sorry to have such a downer story, it's just that I knew you all would understand all the emotions - the extreme sadness over my mother-in-law's death, she was just the best, I really loved her and then the almost 2 years in planning the vacation which, for us, is now over.
thank you all.