I didn't think it was abig deal, you only choked once!! Update 9/18 final thoughts

[dawnbu40]

I agree with the previous poster, I'm amazed that those pictures come from a disposable camera! They came out great!

I love the Cape May pictures! Reading about it in your trip reports has put it on my list for our Honeymoon! We want to stay at the Beach Club for the last few nights and we're excited to try Cape May!

Thank you. We were really pleased with how they came out.

I hope you enjoy Cape May and the Beach Club! Two of our favorites!!

 

[I Believe In Magic]

Hi Girls!! Just read both updates, very entertaining as usual. And no camera charger? YIKES!! No wonder she couldn't sleep.
I love to meet characters we've never met before, and my girls told me this next trip, NO characters. well we will see about that!!!

Can't wait to hear about the race!! I know that's gotta be a great report!!

 

[dawnbu40]

Hi Girls!! Just read both updates, very entertaining as usual. And no camera charger? YIKES!! No wonder she couldn't sleep.
I love to meet characters we've never met before, and my girls told me this next trip, NO characters. well we will see about that!!!

Can't wait to hear about the race!! I know that's gotta be a great report!!

Hi!

Thank you

No characters?!! You must change their minds! Part of the fun is seeing some characters anyway! At least check out Mickey in his new place. The theming is great!

The race was something

 

[Queenofallthings]

Great update Dawn!

I have a picture of Jas on that horse when she was 6....I will have to take it to my sisters (I don't have a scanner) and I'll post it!!

I love the pics with the Star Wars characters...that one female one looks scary I think Jas and I are going to share meals on our upcoming trip...there is really way to much food for one person to eat and since we're not getting free dining we'll do our best to make it as economical as possible!!

Your pictures look great btw!!!

 

[dawnbu40]

Great update Dawn!

I have a picture of Jas on that horse when she was 6....I will have to take it to my sisters (I don't have a scanner) and I'll post it!!

I love the pics with the Star Wars characters...that one female one looks scary I think Jas and I are going to share meals on our upcoming trip...there is really way to much food for one person to eat and since we're not getting free dining we'll do our best to make it as economical as possible!!

Your pictures look great btw!!!

Thank you

So that horse has been there all the time? Wow, how did we never notice

Caitlin loved meeting the Star Wars characters and the wait was definitely worth it!

So many of the restaurants have such large portions that we shared meals several times. It saves money and waste.

Thanks. There aren't as many of that day as we would normally have but I can't complain about the quality.

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Enjoyed your report! Haven't been to 50's in so long. My daughter is curious about how many pins you bring with you, and which ebay seller do you get them from? She loves pins and is excited to do more trading this coming trip!

I brought 50 this time and ended up trading them all. I found them for a great price though or else I definitely wouldn't have brought that many! I usually figure about 5 per park is good but it all depends on how much ebay sells them for. I wouldn't pay over $30 for a pack of 50 though so it just depends on how much you want to spend. Plus if you end up buying too much they can just be put away for the next trip! The seller I bought them from isn't up on Ebay right now because I went looking for him the other day. I haven't run in to any trouble buying pins though the only fakes I ever got off of Ebay were Disney Jibbitz.

 

[mousegear]

Nice update on DHS. I love the show the Aunt put at 50s Prime.
I can't believe those pics are from disposable camera. It seems that the quality of disposable cameras greatly improved since last time I used it. (Probably more that 10 years ago) I'm debating if I should bring along 2 cameras.

 

[dawnbu40]

Nice update on DHS. I love the show the Aunt put at 50s Prime.
I can't believe those pics are from disposable camera. It seems that the quality of disposable cameras greatly improved since last time I used it. (Probably more that 10 years ago) I'm debating if I should bring along 2 cameras.

Thank you. It was a really fun morning and lunch was great. We were impressed at the 50's that all the staff seemed very into their roles. We heard one waitress doing a Tarzan call in the other room

It had been years since we'd used one of those disposables too so I was really pleased with the way the pics came out. Don't forget batteries or a charger

 

[Conniesaurus]

I brought 50 this time and ended up trading them all. I found them for a great price though or else I definitely wouldn't have brought that many! I usually figure about 5 per park is good but it all depends on how much ebay sells them for. I wouldn't pay over $30 for a pack of 50 though so it just depends on how much you want to spend. Plus if you end up buying too much they can just be put away for the next trip! The seller I bought them from isn't up on Ebay right now because I went looking for him the other day. I haven't run in to any trouble buying pins though the only fakes I ever got off of Ebay were Disney Jibbitz.

Thanks for the info! My daughter traded on our previous trips, but not too much. She wants to trade more in July!

Thank you

We hadn't been to the 50's since Dec.2008 so it was nice to go back and we were pleasantly surprised by how much we liked it

I'm not sure about the pin questions so I'll let Caitlin answer that next time she's on.

We'll have to give it a try again-haven't been since 1995!!

My daughter and I were at SSR May 9-13 too! We went for a 2nd mother-daughter trip. We went in Sept for the Halloween party; if you haven't done it you must! It is so much fun. You two would love it; especially Caitlin with the different characters!!

 

[dawnbu40]

We'll have to give it a try again-haven't been since 1995!!

My daughter and I were at SSR May 9-13 too! We went for a 2nd mother-daughter trip. We went in Sept for the Halloween party; if you haven't done it you must! It is so much fun. You two would love it; especially Caitlin with the different characters!!

Wow it has been a long time since you've been there!

Oh wow we probably passed each other at some point! Small world!

In 2009 Dale and I went to Food and Wine and did the Halloween Party and loved it! You're so right that Caitlin would love MNSSHP but she won't be able to visit at that time until she's done with college and since she's now planning on law school it will be a long time!

 

[parkermichelle]

Fun, fun updates!! And I can't wait for the race either! I really want to do it next year! Yes, the horse has been there!! Love that horse! Hey, I wish it would move back and forth like they used to! Remember?! Fun memories!! We've got pictures over the years of our girls on him!!

 

[dawnbu40]

Fun, fun updates!! And I can't wait for the race either! I really want to do it next year! Yes, the horse has been there!! Love that horse! Hey, I wish it would move back and forth like they used to! Remember?! Fun memories!! We've got pictures over the years of our girls on him!!

Thank you

The race was quite an experience

Wow I don't know how we never noticed the horse

 

[meeko_33785]

I'm really not that big of a Vinylmation fan, but I love the Prince Naveen one. How cool.

Glad that you enjoyed Cape May. I know we loved it when we did it a while back.

Ohmygosh, what luck to see Chewie! And it wasn't even a Star Wars Weekend?

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm really not that big of a Vinylmation fan, but I love the Prince Naveen one. How cool.

Glad that you enjoyed Cape May. I know we loved it when we did it a while back.

Ohmygosh, what luck to see Chewie! And it wasn't even a Star Wars Weekend?

Caitlin had seen the Naveen vinylmation on someone's TR and was really hoping to find one available for trade so it was a lucky morning.


I had read the SW characters have practice days prior to SWW so we were on the lookout for them. It was quite an exciting find for us

 

[sahm2two]

I just got back from a SWW, you are super lucky to get pics with Chewie! The SW character lines were CRAZY... at least an hour wait at each one, if not longer. We didn't wait for any of the ones with lines (Darth Vader, Chewie, Darth Maul... I know they had more, but those were the ones we saw. They had Luke, Leia, and a few others)

 

[cannp123165]

Great updates! Great photos too - especially the Star Wars ones. Looking forward to hearing about the race.

 

[dawnbu40]

I just got back from a SWW, you are super lucky to get pics with Chewie! The SW character lines were CRAZY... at least an hour wait at each one, if not longer. We didn't wait for any of the ones with lines (Darth Vader, Chewie, Darth Maul... I know they had more, but those were the ones we saw. They had Luke, Leia, and a few others)

Wow I had no idea the lines got that bad at SWW. I hope you had a wonderful time!

 

[dawnbu40]

Great updates! Great photos too - especially the Star Wars ones. Looking forward to hearing about the race.

Thank you The Star Wars meets definitely were a highlight of our vacation.

 

[dawnbu40]

When I last left you we were leaving DHS and heading to race registration. My plan was to take the bus from DHS to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. That was my plan. Until we discovered that they discontinued the bus from DHS to ESPN

That meant we had to take a bus from DHS back to All Star Sports and then wait at Sports for the ESPN bus. Not the most fun way to spend an hour at Disney.

When we finally got to our destination

we were rather disappointed to see that the registration was set up outside. In the heat. The 90plus heat. I will readily admit that at this point in the day I was hot, tired from only 4 hours sleep and bordering on cranky. We had thought we'd spend a while looking around but since it was outside our new plan was hurry up, get through registration and get to the pool.

The area was set up with little photo-ops themed to Expedition Everest like this

They also had a billboard for participants to autograph

There were a lot of people there as you can see

but it didn't take long for us to make it through the line and finally it was our turn to check-in. That's when the fun started We were given our packet and then directed to another table to pick up our race tshirts. I asked the CM where we picked up the commerative pin I ordered and she said I could get that over there as well. So now we walk across the area and get in another line. When we get there we see the shirts are HUGE and when they offer me the medium I ordered, I request a small. I am told, "you have to take what you ordered". I am disappointed but completely understand so there's no issue. Ok, there's no issue until they also give Caitlin a medium after she ordered an extra-small If there is no trading why don't they have her order? Then when I ask about the pin I am told they "ran out" and if we "want a refund" we'll have to go to another booth (and another line) and request a refund. At this point I was mad. These races are not cheap to participate in and I think it's very reasonable to expect to recieve what you paid for months in advance.

We waited our turn and finally we were helped by a young woman named Sarah who works in the Run Disney office. I explained my frustrations and how disappointed I was because this experience did not seem to be meeting up to Disney customer service standards. She tried explaining to me that they "ran out because they didn't order enough" tees and pins. I asked why they kept taking orders then if they knew how many they had available. (seems like a logical question to me) She really couldn't offer an explanation but did offer me a full refund! She said for us to "compete in the race free of charge and just enjoy the experience". Wow! I was shocked and thrilled by her offer. A full refund was $170 and my mind immediately said "Disney Dooney Bag!" She had me fill out some paperwork and then we headed back to the bus for some relaxation at the pool.....Oh I left something out..............................remember that refund she offered me? I still haven't gotten it! I waited patiently for 2 weeks realizing this could take a little time. After 2 weeks I emailed them. I waited a week and I didn't get any response! Now for 2 weeks I've been calling and talked to various people who keep promising that refund that I have yet to see. If/When I see it I will let you know.


Next time....pool time and a tour of Sports

 

[mousegear]

I was curious about the race. I don't think I have heart to participate one since I don't do well in heat/humidity. I run 3 miles each day but I do that inside of airconditioned facility.

I'm shocked that they offered a full refund. That was very generous!!! Only need to show up on your credit card though.