This day was a fairly hectic and stressful day. In fact, I think this is probably one of THE most hectic and stressful days of the trip.
as evident by only having 11 pictures taken the entire day and no notes, I would say this day was a doozy. However, the good news is I bet I can barrel through and get the entire day into one update.
The day started out as many disney mornings do. Nothing to suggest that we had quite the day ahead of us. Then as I began to get ready I checked my wallet to make sure I had my DV with me. I am not sure what made me think I might not, but I checked. Low and behold, it was not in my wallet. All cash, id's and other cards were there. JUST the DV was gone.
Following this discovery, I began to retrace my steps the day before. Easy enough since I only dug my wallet out a couple times all day. The ONLY time I used my DV was at breakfast though. So my first call was to 1900 PF. They of course did not have it and they directed me to GF lost and found. They too did not have it. This then led me to consider the only park we had been to the previous day, DHS. I called to their lost and found. Nothing. They directed me to the main lost and found as well as telling me that I could check back later with them since the park had not actually opened yet.
Meanwhile, the girls continued to get ready. Once we were all ready it was decided that I would travel to DHS as they went to Epcot. Then we agreed I would meet them in Epcot.
So off we went in different directions. Once I got into the park, it was a quick left turn to guest relations and then immediately back out as they did not have my card. The poor cm at the entrance even noticed that I barely was in the park. Kinda blinking and saying "didn't you walk through here?"
I decided to take the boat from DHS to Epcot. This I thought would give me time to call chase card services. For whatever reason the boat was going super super slow. It also was not nearly as quiet as I had thought it would be. When we finally arrived at the swan/dolphin I hopped off to walk the rest of the way to Epcot. (really, a surprisingly short walk) While on this walk I chatted with a very nice agent from card services.
It is funny how much a credit card company can tell about your activities before you even tell them. She could see that I had checked into WDW. Since the card had been attached to my KTTWC, she instructed me to not cancel the card just yet. This would allow me to still use the card via my KTTWC while on vacation. (although, it would mean I couldn't get my discount on merchandise, or my free 5x7 pic in Epcot or go to the special F&W lounge
) She noted that it had been lost and flagged it to not allow any transactions that were not from Disney. She let me know that as long as I kept an eye on transactions it would be fine because I would not at all be responsible for anything I did not in fact charge. She told me the card could be canceled immediately if I noticed anything odd. I guess it should be noted that I do not carry a debit card for my chase account. I do not have checks for that chase account. I use my DV as a way to access those funds. So not having this created a bit of a hardship since I would not have anything beyond the cash I had on hand. So this plan to use my KTTWC as an extension of my DV was a good option.
In case you are wondering if I figured out where I lost this card.... As darkness fell over the amphitheater the previous night, Zoe had wanted some thing from one of the vendors. I remember pulling my wallet out for cash and as my excited daughter (who I told could go up and pay the vendor all by her self) jumped around me, she bumped my wallet and it fell open and onto the cement below me. The lighting was so dim at that point that I guess I must not have seen that my DV probably lay on the floor beneath my feet. It was never found. I did check several times a day (thank you iphone ap) to watch for charges and none ever appeared. The plan worked exactly as the agent from chase had said it would. It could not have been more easy to go on using my card without actually having it physically present. If it were not for needing it to get the discount on merchandise or for the picture I could see not ever bringing it to the park again.
So to continue on. At this point in the day pretty I stressed out. Not to the point of freaking out, but definitely not laid back. I needed to get to the girls and pick up Zoe so that she and I could go back to POFQ where we would meet up with someone from the second room who was arriving.
So as I continued to walk toward Epcot (maybe not such a short walk after all
) After getting off the phone with card services, I called Kira to see where they were.
They were in WS enjoying F&W.
Ok, so at this point I was a tad jealous. I believe that they had just ordered lobster claws to enjoy when I met up with them. This was their lunch
I think. I am not a fan of shelfish so I really didn't want to try it. So I went to the American pavilion to get myself some lunch.
I got steak, broccoli and potatoes. Who knew you could get a pretty good steak for a cs credit.
For dessert I got some sort of chocolate cupcake.
After I gobbled up my food, it was time for Zoe and I to head back to POFQ.
Kira and Amanda left to go to AK. I am not sure all they did, but they did take the pp+ card with them.
Meanwhile, Zoe and I met with a person from our groups second room. This becomes hard to write about since this was a person I had become very close with and due to events on the trip and shortly after I lost as a friend. I am not sure how much I should add about who this was or activities that involved both of us. I tend to be an over sharer IRL and I definitely am more so on the dis... and so I am not sure how to continue some of this TR without over sharing. So my apologies go out to anyone who may read this and find it offensive. I am will just try to stay to the facts... just the facts. (as I see them
)
Zoe was extremely excited to meet up with my friend. While this friend lived on the other side of the country, she had become a very active part of both mine and Zoe's lives. The three of us had spent time together during a previous WDW trip and talking several times a week was not uncommon...and texting everyday was a must.
Once together at POFQ, we made our way to the rundisney buses. It was the day of the ToT 10 miler expo and the three of us needed to pick up our bibs.
I took no pictures of the expo. I was SERIOUSLY overwhelmed. There were so many people. I was going to say that I didn't think I was "misbehaving" but I know that between the stress of the morning and the "omg, am I really about to run a 10 mile race" I was on edge and... well, I
might have over reacted a tad when the shirt I was given for the race was not the right size and I
might have thrown it down on the table and said I didn't need it.
In my defense... it was quite a bit too big for me. I don't need things snug, but this would have fit me more like a sleep shirt. My friend picked it back up for me though, thankfully. It is nice to have even if I dont wear it.
My friend (ok, not friend now.. but I will just for the sake of the TR say "my friend" cause she was my friend then
) and I submitted times to get our coral placement changed. There were 4 corals and since neither of us had ran a race before, we were placed in the last one. Having ran a 10k over the summer to submit was great because it bumped us up by one coral.
My friend then started to encourage me to sign up for the PHM. I was very nervous about doing this. Not knowing if I could get the time off from work. Not knowing if I could afford another WDW trip so close to the last one. Not knowing if I could FINISH the race that was before me...and not knowing how well the two of us would do running together all played into my hesitation. Zoe noticed that I was under distress and asked what the trouble was. After one last "blow" from my friend in telling Zoe that I was just trying to make her run the phm alone... I relented and registered. It was a good deal too since the fee had gone up, but in registering at the expo not only did I get the previous price, but I got the active registration fee waved.
Now I was even more stressed from the "OMG, did I just sign up for a half marathon?! " thoughts. So when my friend wanted to start looking at buying "I did it" shirts I was instantly out of sorts. I just couldn't bring myself to get a shirt before I had actually finished the race. I couldn't bare the thought of having a shirt saying I did it, if I had not actually done it.
It was about this time that we decided to head out to the buses to return to POFQ. However, there was a HUGE downpour happening. No one was going anywhere. I thought the previous day's storm was bad, but it was NOTHING compared to this day. So add in a pinch of stress because I needed to get back so that I could meet up with Kira and Amanda for dinner.
THEN I got a call from Childrens Hospital in Seattle.
My friend was nice enough to keep Zoe occupied while I navigated the very long phone call. It was some social worker... who wanted our family to mentor another family. It was a fairly stressful conversation. I am amazed that I could even breath at this point.
However, my friend was in good spirits and she helped to keep us laughing. She decided we should just make a run for it in the rain. We didn't make it very far before we were SOAKED. We still had so far to go to get to the buses and the line of taxis were too inviting. My very generous friend got us a taxi and we were on our way and back to POFQ in no time.
We said our good byes for the time being. We each had different plans for dinner.
Zoe and I then got dried off and made our way to AKL to meet Kira and Amanda.
We got checked in for our dinner at Boma and soon were were enjoying a (stress free) meal.
The first moment of the day to be lacking in stress was short lived though. Once dinner was over and we were about to board the bus back to MK, I made a comment. It really was not meant to
but it did and Kira was INSTANTLY
with me. The bus to MK was the most horrible ride I have ever had. Three of us sat as Kira lost her mind with me.
Getting off the bus, Amanda stayed with Zoe and I. She wanted to make sure that I was ok.
:yes:: it was THAT bad
) Kira then went off on her own to "cool down" which meant call her husband and cry until she felt better.
Then as IF this day couldn't get any more stressful...
(I laugh now..literally.. cause it is almost hysterical how bad this all was..but I assure you it was a nightmare of a day and NOT funny then) my friend just happened to be on the same bus as Kira. She sat behind her and listened to Kira as Kira cried and whined and otherwise acted immature while on the phone to her dh. So as soon as I got back to POFQ my friend wanted to talk to me about it. As bad as my dd had been, I knew there were reasons behind her behavior. (the fight the day before, shortage of sleep, stress of Zoe's nighttime routine, being without her dh, closing on the house the night before the trip, her dh moving into the house without her and yes, finally my comment that was meant to be funny but only came across as snide) My friend was having none of the "excuses" though and I believe that this set the tone for how she viewed Kira and how she approached her. See the two had never actually met in person, so while my friend knew it was her on the bus... Kira had no idea that the person who we would be spending much of our trip together with was sitting behind her.
Next Up:
9/29 - Day 5 Part 1