- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
Ready or not we went... and survived! Fantasy Oct 26-Nov 1
- Thread starter tow-mater-1
- Start date
Chilly
RIP Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
Say it ain’t so. The official OFFICIAL last day
Well today is the day… the day we get off the ship. I did not sleep well at all! I was awake around 4:30 and I thought about getting up to wave at the crazy Parlayers that get up early to watch the ships come in but I did fall back asleep. (Sorry Nancy..I did think about you and the gang
) We all got up at 6:00 to get ready and make sure we left nothing in the cabin this time around. On our first cruise I was all over the kids about not forgetting to pack anything and it turns out I just plain forgot to pack! I got a call a few weeks later from Disney stating that there was a few items left in the cabin and asked if I would like them to ship them to me. I of course said yes. I pretty much forgot EVERYTHING and I didn’t miss it because it was all summer clothes, which I didn’t need at the time. Anyway after the cabin inspection we headed to breakfast and enjoyed our last meal to the fullest. I left Nate with the kids so I could meet my mom and we could pick up our pictures at Shutters. It was quite a hopping place! After that we grabbed our bags and got in the extremely long line to leave. We met up with my parents as we were taking a shuttle together and heading to Animal Kingdom. It gets quite crowded there on the sidewalk waiting for shuttles! We got a shuttle from Around the Clock and they were right on time. We had decided that we would stay an extra night after getting off the ship since it is always a long travel day after being up at 6:00. We rented points from the rent trade board and we got a 2 bedroom villa at Kidani Village with a standard view for one night. This was just going to be a relaxing day to lounge around the pool and chill instead of waiting around in an airport. Well it was cold and rainy! Ugh. We arrived at AKV at around 10:00 and I have to say I just LOVE this resort!
I was thinking of our options of what we were going to do for the day since it was so miserable out. I went to check in and I was told that it looked like housekeeping was our room right then so we should be in within the hour!
Sweet! They would just send a text with the room number and we could head right up. We have a few friends in Orlando that we were hoping to meet up with so it was going to be nice to be able to get settled before we decided what we were going to do. We waited for an hour and the boys were starting to get hungry since they don’t usually eat so early. We had to catch a shuttle to go over to Jambo house to get some food. It was quite a long wait and when the shuttle did come it was pretty full and we had to sit on the floor in the back of the van lol. Once we were at Jambo we made our way to the food. It was your run of the mill take out food which of course the boys love. Before heading back to Kidani we decided to check out the shop there and Cass bought the cutest purse!
We hopped on the shuttle and again it was a long wait and we had to sit on the floor. Still no text and it was about 12:30 by this time. I went to the desk and asked if they had my correct cell phone number, which they did. She informed me that housekeeping was in our room so it should be ready anytime. I said it must have been really dirty since they have been working in it since 10:00! Well that was fine so I go back to my family and find a spot on the couch and wait and wait and wait some more. By 2:30 we were all very tired and starting to get a little grouchy. Nate then went to the desk and asked what was going on with our room. The lady then said “Well sir, you do know that check in isn’t until 4:00” He said he understood that however they lead us to believe that the room was going to be ready by 11:00. She apologized and said that guaranteed we would be in our room by 4:00. What’s another hour and a half when you’ve been waiting 4 ½ already. Well 4:00 came and went and we were still in the lobby. Nate asked to see a manager and they told us he would come out to meet us, which he did. He informed us that the room that was assigned to us had a broken dishwasher. Nate was pretty upset at this point and said “So you are telling me that we have been waiting for 6 ½ hours because the dishwasher is broken? If you had have told me that 5 hours ago I would have told you that I didn’t care!” At this point I added “ And I’ll tell YOU something. This was supposed to be a relaxing day after getting off the cruise ship so we wouldn’t have to wait in an airport all day. Well I’d rather have waited in the airport because we would have been home by now!”
He really didn’t know what to say to all these 8 grumpy people looking at him and asked Nate to follow him. The manager went behind the desk and disappeared…. So when then person at the desk asked to help Nate he told him that the manager had asked him to follow him but now had disappeared! He definitely sounded annoyed and the manager ran back from another room and said. “I’m here, I’m here.” Anyway he then said “Sir how about we give you a credit of $600 toward your room and whatever you don’t use we will send you a check.” To which Nate replied (and he was in somewhat disbelief). “Let me get this straight… YOU are going to give ME a credit of $600?” 
I think he still sounded a bit annoyed because the manager stepped back and then said…”Will that be alright sir?” Nate of course accepted and I was quite happy to say the least. We did not PAY $600 for the room! 
That definitely made me a happy camper again.
We got our room and it was beautiful… broken dishwasher and all. Although all I wanted to do at this point was relax which was pretty easy to do here.
It was now 5:00 and we were all very tired and there was no chance of us getting together with our friends. We still had to connect with my sister since we had to make plans for the next day when she would need to pick up Evan for the long journey home. She arrived around 7 and we ordered a pizza for supper…. I was already missing all the wonderful food on the Fantasy. **sigh** It was great to see her and my nieces and nephew. She said this trip was probably her best Disney trip yet! I was so glad to hear this. She left around 10 as she had to be back first thing in the morning to pick up my Evan. We picked up a few groceries while we had the van so we could make some breakfast and some lunch before we had to head out. We had a wonderful sleep on those beautiful beds and got up early to see poor Evan off. See ya tomorrow night kiddo! We slowly and sadly made our way down to the lobby to get on the magical express to head home. The flight was slightly delayed but no biggy…. We were among the last to get our luggage again… whatever… and then we got lost! Apparently the GPS forgot where we lived.
Then the line up to the border was insane! We flew into Buffalo and apparently there was a football game, which meant crazy CRAZY traffic at the border. I had estimated that we would be home around 9ish but we didn’t get home until midnight! We were so glad to be home and so was my baby Max! We had a hard time getting in the door with 160 pounds of this guy all over us welcoming us home!
This is my furry baby, Max
So this brings us to a close of this awesome Disney cruise…. But it’s not all sad. Cass (Timon) just set us up on another cruise THIS October for the Eastern on the Fantasy…. WITH NO KIDS! I will finally get to see Serenity Bay! So instead of “THE END” I should say….. “TO BE CONTINUED”
Well today is the day… the day we get off the ship. I did not sleep well at all! I was awake around 4:30 and I thought about getting up to wave at the crazy Parlayers that get up early to watch the ships come in but I did fall back asleep. (Sorry Nancy..I did think about you and the gang
) We all got up at 6:00 to get ready and make sure we left nothing in the cabin this time around. On our first cruise I was all over the kids about not forgetting to pack anything and it turns out I just plain forgot to pack! I got a call a few weeks later from Disney stating that there was a few items left in the cabin and asked if I would like them to ship them to me. I of course said yes. I pretty much forgot EVERYTHING and I didn’t miss it because it was all summer clothes, which I didn’t need at the time. Anyway after the cabin inspection we headed to breakfast and enjoyed our last meal to the fullest. I left Nate with the kids so I could meet my mom and we could pick up our pictures at Shutters. It was quite a hopping place! After that we grabbed our bags and got in the extremely long line to leave. We met up with my parents as we were taking a shuttle together and heading to Animal Kingdom. It gets quite crowded there on the sidewalk waiting for shuttles! We got a shuttle from Around the Clock and they were right on time. We had decided that we would stay an extra night after getting off the ship since it is always a long travel day after being up at 6:00. We rented points from the rent trade board and we got a 2 bedroom villa at Kidani Village with a standard view for one night. This was just going to be a relaxing day to lounge around the pool and chill instead of waiting around in an airport. Well it was cold and rainy! Ugh. We arrived at AKV at around 10:00 and I have to say I just LOVE this resort! I was thinking of our options of what we were going to do for the day since it was so miserable out. I went to check in and I was told that it looked like housekeeping was our room right then so we should be in within the hour!
Sweet! They would just send a text with the room number and we could head right up. We have a few friends in Orlando that we were hoping to meet up with so it was going to be nice to be able to get settled before we decided what we were going to do. We waited for an hour and the boys were starting to get hungry since they don’t usually eat so early. We had to catch a shuttle to go over to Jambo house to get some food. It was quite a long wait and when the shuttle did come it was pretty full and we had to sit on the floor in the back of the van lol. Once we were at Jambo we made our way to the food. It was your run of the mill take out food which of course the boys love. Before heading back to Kidani we decided to check out the shop there and Cass bought the cutest purse!We hopped on the shuttle and again it was a long wait and we had to sit on the floor. Still no text and it was about 12:30 by this time. I went to the desk and asked if they had my correct cell phone number, which they did. She informed me that housekeeping was in our room so it should be ready anytime. I said it must have been really dirty since they have been working in it since 10:00! Well that was fine so I go back to my family and find a spot on the couch and wait and wait and wait some more. By 2:30 we were all very tired and starting to get a little grouchy. Nate then went to the desk and asked what was going on with our room. The lady then said “Well sir, you do know that check in isn’t until 4:00” He said he understood that however they lead us to believe that the room was going to be ready by 11:00. She apologized and said that guaranteed we would be in our room by 4:00. What’s another hour and a half when you’ve been waiting 4 ½ already. Well 4:00 came and went and we were still in the lobby. Nate asked to see a manager and they told us he would come out to meet us, which he did. He informed us that the room that was assigned to us had a broken dishwasher. Nate was pretty upset at this point and said “So you are telling me that we have been waiting for 6 ½ hours because the dishwasher is broken? If you had have told me that 5 hours ago I would have told you that I didn’t care!” At this point I added “ And I’ll tell YOU something. This was supposed to be a relaxing day after getting off the cruise ship so we wouldn’t have to wait in an airport all day. Well I’d rather have waited in the airport because we would have been home by now!”
He really didn’t know what to say to all these 8 grumpy people looking at him and asked Nate to follow him. The manager went behind the desk and disappeared…. So when then person at the desk asked to help Nate he told him that the manager had asked him to follow him but now had disappeared! He definitely sounded annoyed and the manager ran back from another room and said. “I’m here, I’m here.” Anyway he then said “Sir how about we give you a credit of $600 toward your room and whatever you don’t use we will send you a check.” To which Nate replied (and he was in somewhat disbelief). “Let me get this straight… YOU are going to give ME a credit of $600?” I think he still sounded a bit annoyed because the manager stepped back and then said…”Will that be alright sir?” Nate of course accepted and I was quite happy to say the least. We did not PAY $600 for the room! That definitely made me a happy camper again. We got our room and it was beautiful… broken dishwasher and all. Although all I wanted to do at this point was relax which was pretty easy to do here.
It was now 5:00 and we were all very tired and there was no chance of us getting together with our friends. We still had to connect with my sister since we had to make plans for the next day when she would need to pick up Evan for the long journey home. She arrived around 7 and we ordered a pizza for supper…. I was already missing all the wonderful food on the Fantasy. **sigh** It was great to see her and my nieces and nephew. She said this trip was probably her best Disney trip yet! I was so glad to hear this. She left around 10 as she had to be back first thing in the morning to pick up my Evan. We picked up a few groceries while we had the van so we could make some breakfast and some lunch before we had to head out. We had a wonderful sleep on those beautiful beds and got up early to see poor Evan off. See ya tomorrow night kiddo! We slowly and sadly made our way down to the lobby to get on the magical express to head home. The flight was slightly delayed but no biggy…. We were among the last to get our luggage again… whatever… and then we got lost! Apparently the GPS forgot where we lived.
Then the line up to the border was insane! We flew into Buffalo and apparently there was a football game, which meant crazy CRAZY traffic at the border. I had estimated that we would be home around 9ish but we didn’t get home until midnight! We were so glad to be home and so was my baby Max! We had a hard time getting in the door with 160 pounds of this guy all over us welcoming us home! This is my furry baby, Max
So this brings us to a close of this awesome Disney cruise…. But it’s not all sad. Cass (Timon) just set us up on another cruise THIS October for the Eastern on the Fantasy…. WITH NO KIDS! I will finally get to see Serenity Bay! So instead of “THE END” I should say….. “TO BE CONTINUED”
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
So, NOW we know why we didn't get one of those cool carriage baskets a week later.
The things you learn about your friends
Char, I just can't get over how your little guy looks so much like Nate! They could be book ends!
I know it's crazy!
Can't wait to see all those pictures of you guys up on deck on Saturday morning (around 5:00 am) taking pictures of us waving at you from the pier close to Grills.
I DID think about it... does that count?
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
It is so fun!
Claire, we've got the game now. I'll teach you next time you come down
haha... that's awesome!
No problem...glad you found it useful.
jedijill
Chiefs fan living in Bronco country
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2005
Ah, so sad you got kicked off the ship and its over. That sucks about the wait for the room....glad the manager finally made it right though! I love those 2 Bedrooms at AKV!
Yay for booking a child free cruise! You will love the Serenity Bay!
Jill in CO
Yay for booking a child free cruise! You will love the Serenity Bay!
Jill in CO
cntkg1
<b><font color=blue>Runs with Scissors!!<br><font
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2005
Picture it....Port Canaveral...2013.....
Chuck and I, Mike and Robin waving frantically from a shaky pier at our friends who were supposed to be waving at us. It was spooky and dark but there we were....waiting....and waiting....
Where are our friends?, we asked. We even watched until the Fantasy was just a dot in the distance just in case we'd still catch a glimpse of you.
Tearfully, we hung our heads and walked back to the car.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nah, we forgive you! LOL!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
Wow, what a finish Char! 
I'm so sorry they made you wait around all day for your room but WOOO HOOOO on the $600 credit
Did they mail it to you like they said they would?
We love AKV too, especially the pool area
We've never taken the shuttle though, we just walked over to Jambo House, it's really quick and peaceful, beautiful walk!
And then going home over the border with the lines! UGH!
I remember doing that when I was a kid going from Montreal to Florida. 
Oh and you saved the best part for last....
MAX!!!!
He reminds me a little of our Stitch, more like a big grizzly bear than a dog
I bet he loved seeing you guys again
LOVED your report. Sorry to hear about all the bumps along the way BUT before long you will be lazing the day away on Serenity Bay with no cares in the world
I'm so sorry they made you wait around all day for your room but WOOO HOOOO on the $600 credit
Did they mail it to you like they said they would?
We love AKV too, especially the pool area
We've never taken the shuttle though, we just walked over to Jambo House, it's really quick and peaceful, beautiful walk!
And then going home over the border with the lines! UGH!
I remember doing that when I was a kid going from Montreal to Florida. Oh and you saved the best part for last....
MAX!!!!
He reminds me a little of our Stitch, more like a big grizzly bear than a dog
I bet he loved seeing you guys again
LOVED your report. Sorry to hear about all the bumps along the way BUT before long you will be lazing the day away on Serenity Bay with no cares in the world
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
So sad you are finished but so glad you have booked again - and that you will get to see the beautiful Serenity Bay
I love those two-bed villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge - totally awesome. Sorry about the hassle you had at check-in too. Glad they saw you right.
Hopefully we will se you and Nate in October
I love those two-bed villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge - totally awesome. Sorry about the hassle you had at check-in too. Glad they saw you right.
Hopefully we will se you and Nate in October
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
I am SOOOO excited to finally see Serenity Bay... and Skyline... and hang out at the adult pool
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
Picture it....Port Canaveral...2013.....
Chuck and I, Mike and Robin waving frantically from a shaky pier at our friends who were supposed to be waving at us. It was spooky and dark but there we were....waiting....and waiting....
Where are our friends?, we asked. We even watched until the Fantasy was just a dot in the distance just in case we'd still catch a glimpse of you.
Tearfully, we hung our heads and walked back to the car.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nah, we forgive you! LOL!
Bahahaha.... maybe YOU should write a trip report with you fantastic literary skills.
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
Wow, what a finish Char!
I'm so sorry they made you wait around all day for your room but WOOO HOOOO on the $600 credit
Did they mail it to you like they said they would?
The did! It took around 2 weeks to get to us but yes.
We love AKV too, especially the pool area
I know! Which is why we chose AKV instead of trying some place new. I just the weather hadn't been so crappy
We've never taken the shuttle though, we just walked over to Jambo House, it's really quick and peaceful, beautiful walk!
We did the last time we were there too but it was cold and rainy.
And then going home over the border with the lines! UGH!
It was awful to be so close to home and then just the sudden halt.
Oh and you saved the best part for last....
MAX!!!!
He reminds me a little of our Stitch, more like a big grizzly bear than a dog
I bet he loved seeing you guys again
He was over the moon when we walked in!
LOVED your report. Sorry to hear about all the bumps along the way BUT before long you will be lazing the day away on Serenity Bay with no cares in the world
I can't wait! I'm already in full out planning mode!
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
So sad you are finished but so glad you have booked again - and that you will get to see the beautiful Serenity Bay
I know... I'm sad to be finished too.Writing about it felt like an extension of the trip! It was nice to have the next one booked before this TR was finished... although I think writing about it heavily swayed our decision to go Disney instead of Carnival lol.
I love those two-bed villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge - totally awesome. Sorry about the hassle you had at check-in too. Glad they saw you right.
Me too Joh!
Hopefully we will se you and Nate in October
You will absolutely be seeing us in October.
tow-mater-1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2008
A pretty rubbish end to the cruise waiting around in a lobby all day but $600 is pretty nice.
Yeah for adults only cruise
I NEEDED that $600 after this cruise! I felt like I won the cabin crawl only better!
(minus the getting really mad part lol) I am so pumped over this cruise coming up.... I've already got 2 volunteers to host for the cabin crawl!
Dyerneeds
chics dig the scar
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2005
Picture it....Port Canaveral...2013.....
Chuck and I, Mike and Robin waving frantically from a shaky pier at our friends who were supposed to be waving at us. It was spooky and dark but there we were....waiting....and waiting....
Where are our friends?, we asked. We even watched until the Fantasy was just a dot in the distance just in case we'd still catch a glimpse of you.
Tearfully, we hung our heads and walked back to the car.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nah, we forgive you! LOL!
Yep, we were there with beads in hand waiting for you girls to wave at us.
Not to worry though, Robin earned every strand of those beads after you ladies didnt show.
as you'll read in my report if I ever decide to write one.Ok so this might be weird but I'm really glad you guys found your wallets and ID's. We were at Nachi Cocum that day too (I actually made it into the background of one of your pics at the beach haha) and my parents overheard that you guys were frantically looking for it all. In our family, my mom is THE FINDER. She can find anything (she once found a tiny green earing in the grass). She actually was walking around the beach and pool looking for it for you and was bummed she couldn't find it. I just texted her and she said "that made my day". Haha.
Anyway, it sounds like you guys had a great cruise and you got some great pics! It was our first and we are hooked!
Anyway, it sounds like you guys had a great cruise and you got some great pics! It was our first and we are hooked!
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