Where Pixie-Dusted Birthday Dreams Come True! A July Trip Report! PTR Link! Pg. 116

[wigdoutdismom]

Still here and reading along, just so stinkin' tired from school and then physical therapy after school. UGH...

 

[MEK]

Just checking in to see how the work grind is going? Hope things are off to a good start this school year.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hi

I have just read first page. I found you on Princess V's report and can not wait to read more. The Mickey Ice Creams look sooooooo good.

Subscribing

Welcome! Glad to have you along!

Still here and reading along, just so stinkin' tired from school and then physical therapy after school. UGH...

Oh, I understand completely! School is making me rather tired this week, too! I need the weekend to come along and save me!

How's the physical therapy going?

Just checking in to see how the work grind is going? Hope things are off to a good start this school year.

The work grind is taking some getting used to! I am just a walking zombie at this point!

 

[momof2TNboys]

Hope school is going well! Have a great rest of the week!

 

[pooh'smate]

Somehow I became unsubscribed to your tr. I am all caught up now and am surprised about Charles. I hope the weekend gets here for you quick. I remember the first couple of weeks of school were always rough on my mom until she got back into the routine.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

I'll tell you the PT isn't much fun.
I've run out of pain meds so it's all quite "real" now.
My therapist is a 30 minute drive each way with a 45 minute session so it's a chunk of time after school three times a week.

I've been coming home and falling asleep on the sofa.
Not a good way to start the school year.

 

[floridascgirl]

Another tired back-to-school teacher here. My week has been filled making home visits to all of my students. When I got home today, I actually scared myself when I looked into the mirror!

I've been behind on your TR, so when I saw that Chelsea lost her camera, I quickly sped ahead through all of the pages to see if it was found. I see that you are leaving us hanging though...shame on you! It's very stressful.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Well, if these last few days were a type of road, I would have to say they most resemble a gravel driveway! Very bumpy! Thanks for thinking of me, though.

Oh no! I hope that road gets PAVED!

 

[HockeyMomR]

Just joining in....we were also at Epcot on Monday, July 19. Also had dinner at LeCellier that evening. 5:00 dinner ressie.

Fortunately we did not have to deal with the front entrance. International Gateway entrance is the place to be in the morning. Easy walk from our favorite place to stay Y&BC!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hope school is going well! Have a great rest of the week!

Thanks! I am so excited it is the weekend! I was finally able to type up the next update!

Somehow I became unsubscribed to your tr. I am all caught up now and am surprised about Charles. I hope the weekend gets here for you quick. I remember the first couple of weeks of school were always rough on my mom until she got back into the routine.

I was surprised about Charles, too!

Getting back into the routine is really hard!

I'll tell you the PT isn't much fun.
I've run out of pain meds so it's all quite "real" now.
My therapist is a 30 minute drive each way with a 45 minute session so it's a chunk of time after school three times a week.

I've been coming home and falling asleep on the sofa.
Not a good way to start the school year.

Ugh, sorry to hear that the PT is such a pain -- both literally and figuratively!

I have been falling asleep on the couch a lot this week.

Another tired back-to-school teacher here. My week has been filled making home visits to all of my students. When I got home today, I actually scared myself when I looked into the mirror!

I've been behind on your TR, so when I saw that Chelsea lost her camera, I quickly sped ahead through all of the pages to see if it was found. I see that you are leaving us hanging though...shame on you! It's very stressful.

I am so tired at the beginning of school. The transition from summer to working again is never easy. I scared myself one morning when I looked in the mirror as well. LOL!

I have the update now! I really didn't think I would have to wait a week in between posting.

Oh no! I hope that road gets PAVED!

Thanks! It's the weekend, so maybe that will make everything all better!

Just joining in....we were also at Epcot on Monday, July 19. Also had dinner at LeCellier that evening. 5:00 dinner ressie.

Fortunately we did not have to deal with the front entrance. International Gateway entrance is the place to be in the morning. Easy walk from our favorite place to stay Y&BC!!!

Welcome!!! We probably passed each other at Le Cellier. Our reservation was for 6:00!

 

[Native NYer]

Hope your first week with students went well!
Will there possibly be an update this weekend?

 

[Charleston Princess]

July 19, 2010: Part Two

I didn’t really mean to leave everyone hanging about the fate of the camera, but this week has been truly crazy with the start of school. However, because I couldn’t seem to find the time to update, you are in for a special treat.

In my 8th grade language arts class, we have been working on travel writing. Students were supposed to choose one event or experience from a trip and expand it into a written essay. Chelsea just happened to choose the camera incident, so I thought it would be fun to do this update through the eyes of Chelsea herself and in her own words (you will see some overlap from my last update). Of course, I won’t be able to help interjecting my own comments here and there. My comments will be in purple (of course).

So, without further ado, Chelsea’s take on this experience…

Walt Disney World: The Happiest Place on Earth. Or maybe not.

Disney World is pretty hot in the summer. I think it was hottest during the summer break of 2010.

The flower bed edge that my brother Connor and I were sitting on was near the coffee stand where we had just gotten our frozen cappuccinos. My parents were standing next to us. I had just pulled out my brand new camera to take a picture of the Epcot ball. You know, it looks like a golf ball? Yeah, that one.

(She also took a picture of the Universe of Energy.)

We all got up, Momma was going to get Test Track Fast Passes and the rest of us were going to ride Mission: Space. Momma doesn’t like roller coasters/scary rides, so she wasn’t really caring that she didn’t get to ride Mission: Space with us. (Nope, I didn’t care a bit.)

The ride was awesome, like always, and we were back on the flower bed edge. That’s when I opened my bag and found my camera gone.

I was terrified, really and truly. My parents were always going on about how irresponsible I was, and this was definitely irresponsible. (She is the most forgetful child I have ever seen.) Dad was furious, and Mom was speechless. (I was thinking, “This is it. The trip is going to go downhill from here.") Poor Connor was stuck in the middle.

Momma said, “Well, I’ll go see if they found it in your simulator. Do you remember what number it was?” Daddy told her since I couldn’t talk between my slightly loud sobs. (I couldn’t believe Charles actually remembered that it was simulator nine because normally he doesn’t notice things like that.) I half expected some passing stranger to ask me if I was okay by the looks they were giving me.

After a little bit, Daddy and I went to look for Mom and Connor (Connor had wanted to come with me.) We went in through the gift shop, with me trying not to be too loud, and found them talking to a cast member. The man said, “We found a camera on simulator nine. (A flash of hope.) It’s in a bag, right, and is a disposable one?” (So much for that hope.) Both the answers were no. They told us they didn’t have it.

By now we had decided that I had most likely left my camera on the flower bed ledge when I had taken it to take the picture of the Epcot ball. Which meant some random person had probably picked it up and said, “That’s mine now.”

We had pretty much lost all hope. The only place left to look was the lost and found, so we made our way to the Guest Relations building. Once we got there, we went straight up to the desk since no one was in line. I tried to control my large sobs, (yes, she was still crying and her make-up was all smeared at this point) and Momma described my camera to the blonde Brazilian lady on the other side of the counter. “It’s a Nikon Coolpix L20. It’s red and it doesn’t have a case,” she explained. The lady nodded and walked into a door on the right. She wasn’t back there long when she came out with a camera -- my camera. (I cannot begin to describe the wave of relief I felt when I saw that camera in the Cast Member’s hand.)

She began filling out a piece of paper and said, “Can you show me a picture of you on here?” My mother turned it on and showed the lady a picture I had taken of Mommy, Daddy, and Connor just that morning.

I was so relieved, I could not stop telling the lady, “Thank you! Thank you!” (We were all beside ourselves with gratitude.)

The lady then smiled at me and said, “It’s okay! Wait here and I’ll be right back,” and walked out another door, this time on the left. (I assumed she was going to get a tissue for Chelsea.) She came back with two Disney spray fans, one for me and one for Connor!

I guess you get free stuff when you cry, huh? (Leave it to my daughter to say that!)

The whole experience is just one more reason I love Disney as much as I do! Someone was kind enough to turn in the camera, and then, the lovely Cast Member went above and beyond her job description to cheer up Chelsea and Connor.

Happiness restored, Charles went to get another coffee drink, I went for Soarin’ Fast Passes, and we rode Test Track.

Connor insisted on getting one of those Test Track driver’s licenses with some of his souvenir money, and everyone played in the cars.

Connor with his license.

At this point, it was getting hot, so we checked on the wait time on The Sum of All Thrills, nixed that idea, played with a display, and headed back to the resort for a break.

We headed to the pool where Chelsea encountered her 11-year-old stalker again, I dealt with rude people shoving my chair aside, and we ignored them all with pina coladas and enjoying the fabulous pool. (Chelsea had a non-alcoholic one.)

About 5:00 we headed back to Epcot for our Le Cellier reservation and parked at the Beach Club again.

Connor loved the old car out front.

UP NEXT: World Showcase Adventures!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hope your first week with students went well!
Will there possibly be an update this weekend?

Um, the kids were fine, but it was a rough week.

I just updated. Enjoy!

 

[Dancegrl624]

So happy to hear that you found Chelsea's camera. What a relief! What a lovely CM too (my DD always wants one of those spray fans).

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

I loved reading about the camera incident from Chelsea's perspective. So glad they had the camera at lost and found!

I'll have to remember that "you get free stuff when you cry!"

 

[DisMomAmy]

Yay for the camera!! I don't know if you remember our 2009 story of the lost wallet... We got it back in the mail a week or so after our trip. Gotta love Disney - anywhere else & a camera and/or wallet would never be seen again!

I love hearing it from Chelsea's perspective.

 

[lovegrumpy]

Glad she found the camera. I loved how she wrote her story.

 

[jenjolt]

Jackie, I just loved reading this update from Chelsea's perspective!!! She did a great job with the details! I'm so glad that camera was found!! And YAY for a great CM who was able to add that special pixie dust that makes Disney Disney for us!!

Hope you have a calmer week next week!!!! Thinking of you!!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I LOVED this update!! So great to hear from Chelsea's perspective. I tell you, even though I knew the fate of the camera through FB I still had a knot in my stomach. And if I were you and Charles I would have gone for a drink stronger than coffee after it was resolved no matter the time of day.

What a great CM to make it all better with spray fans!

Looking forward to hearing about your Le Cellier dinner... hopefully Connor got over his 'guilt.'

 

[Native NYer]

Sorry about the rough week
But you're one week closer to summer vacation 2011

I enjoyed reading about the camera incident from Chelsea's perspective. And I love travel writing. What a great way to start the school year. I may try that with my third graders this year.

Thank goodness someone was kind enough to turn the camera in. That was so nice of the CM to sprinkle a little pixie dust on Chelsea and Connor. Things like that make Disney a wonderful place