MrandMrsJoeFriday
HEYYYY YOUUU GUUYYYYSSS
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2013
It all started June 16th, we headed up to Orlando from South Florida, and looked forward to our 2 night stay at POP Century. We had our custom "STAY OUT OF THE DAMN LAKES" Magic bands waiting for us, along with Mine Train, and Anna and Elsa Fast Passes already selected. The drive went smoothe, the check in process was flawless, and for the first time ever at POP Century, we got a King bed. The next morning we headed out for out first of two days in the parks. After arriving at Magic Kingdom, we immediately headed to Mine Train to use our Fast Passes, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Afterwards we headed over to small world, little Mermaid, and finished off the park with a Meet and Greet with Anna and Elsa.
Once it became to hot for our daughter, we decided to leave the park for lunch, and so we headed over to our favorite off property spot, Ale House. After we were all relaxed from our scrumptious lunch, my wife wanted to stop by Coronado Springs on the way back to our hotel, so that we could pick up one of there yummy M&M cookies for our daughter, because she had been so well behaved the entire day.
(Here is where the sequence of events changed the course of our trip forever).
Instead of just going to Coronado, getting the cookies, and heading back to Pop century for a little break before we do an evening park visit, I had to open my big mouth and say, "Hey let's stop by Downtown Disney really quick, and check out the new Disney Co-Op store". Reluctantly, my wife said "Fine", and so I proceeded to enter the battle zone that is DownTown Disney Parking. After battling it out for a parking space just east of the World of Disney store, I got a spot fairly close, and proceeded to remove my daughter from her car seat, along with her most prized possession in the ENTIRE WORLD.
That possession is a small, flat, and colorful Panda Bear, that was given to her 18 months ago at her baby shower. The bear featured 2 hands and 2 feet, which were made out of a soft rubber material for babies to teeth on. On the tummy, it was embroidered "I LOVE MY MOMMY", and most importantly was the Tag on the back, which over the last 17 months has been Held, and rubbed on, until it's present state, which is nothing more than a few strands of silk. To her, this is the equivalent of a child's Blankie, and is a must when she is relaxing, taking a nap, watching Pocahontas and frozen, and going night night.
At this point in the story I will simply refer to the bear by his given name, which is "ACHOO". After getting my daughter out of the car, I handed ACHOO to her, which she placed in her left hand. As we walked towards the restrooms behind World of Disney, I held her in my right arm, and for once had my iphone in my left front pocket, which was able to be accessed by my left hand, which was free. Usually my keys and phone always seem to be on the side where my hand is occupied. Anyways, as we walked up to the bathroom, my wife needed to make a visit, so I told her I would stand right out front and wait. As she headed into the bathroom I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to listen to a little of the DisUnplugged podcast which had just gone out live a few hours prior. So, with my DD in my right hand, I pulled out my phone with my left, and began to listen. Approx. 4 minutes later my wife returns, at which time I put my phone in my pocket, and then look at my daughters hands to make sure she still has ACHOO. Immediately my heart sinks, and I ask my wife, "WHERES ACHOO"? She basically says, what do you mean where's ACHOO?
Immediately we are in a CODE RED situation, retracing our steps, checking garbage cans, bushes, water drains, peoples hands... You name it, we checked it. Every single cashier station was checked from T-Rex to RainForest cafe. And included it that was the wonderful Disney Co-Op, although it was not the way I wanted to be seeing the store. After running around like mad people in the summer heat for 3 hours, several trips to Guest relations in both DTD and world of Disney turned up NOTHING. Our hearts were broken, and so were out daughters.
At this point she was ready for her nap, and in a sweet, innocent, and exhausted voice,she had begun to ask for ACHOO. Once again our hearts sunk even lower than I ever thought they could have. To her, ACHOO was everything. During the hunt for ACHOO, I was also on Ebay frantically trying to find one for sale anyplace within driving distance, and unfortunately there was nothing.
Just after she was born, and had fallen in love with ACHOO, I had searched for another back up ACHOO for this exact reason, and found a small community via google, of parents that all were having trouble finding a replacement for this small toy that had capture the love of there children. Not long after I successfully located one on ebay for a whopping $30.00 bucks (clearly the seller was aware of its value to desperate parents). So anyways the back was 3+ hours away at home, and Our DD needed him now. We made a mad dash for Walmart to see if they had anything close to ACHOO, and ended up purchasing a similar style elephant toy. After giving this to our DD, it worked... For about ZERO SECONDS. At this point we knew it was going to end our trip.
We headed back to the hotel, all while my wife is i in tears and constantly asking me " how could you let this happen". Later on at night, I rushed over to DTD Guest Relations once last time to see if ACHOO had been found, but unfortunately he had not. On the way back to the hotel, my wife text me a link to ebay. I opened it and was immediately overjoyed. Just 1 hour away in Tampa, was a brand new ACHOO for sale for $14.99 or best offer. I immediately skipped wasting time with the best offer, and hit buy it now, paid paypal immediately, and followed by writing the seller a message, asking if I could pick up the ACHOO replacement in person. For the first time in 7 hours, we finally had some hope of turning this trip around, and bringing ACHOO back for our DD.
If we weren't already sad enough, in the middle of the night, our DD woke up asking for ACHOO, and after handing her the elephant in the dark, she felt it for two or three seconds, dropped it, and said " Not ACHOO". The next morning I awoke to a email from the ebay seller that made me so happy. The retired husband and wife selling the new ACHOO basically said they completely understand our predicament, and were even willing to meet us out on I-4.
After a quick breakfast we promptly checked out, and headed west on I-4 towards tampa. About 55 minutes later we arrived at the Burger King at exit 16, and were greeted by Bob, the seller, who could not have been a nicer, and more genuine person. After talking with Bob for about 10 minutes, during which time my wife and DD were waiting in the car, my DD caught a glance of ACHOO's bright colors from 20 feet away, and immediately shouted "ACHOO". At this point my wife couldn't make her wait any longer, and brought her over to reunite her with her beloved bear. I proceeded to hand over this sparkling new ACHOO, free of spit and recent ketchup stains, and one paw that had been slightly nibbled on by our dog Layla. My DD looked at the front of it for a few seconds before turning it over to grab ahold of the time ravaged time, only to find a brand new tag in its place. After a few seconds of visible confusion, she dropped the bear and said " Not ACHOO". We were crushed.
On the way back to Orlando we began the task of integrating the new ACHOO into our family, mostly by playing games with him, and feeding him French fries. Eventually the new ACHOO fit right in, however after getting back to Orlando with the new ACHOO, my wife just wasn't in the mood to go to the parks anymore, knowing that the real ACHOO was somewhere out there. We decided to head back home while our DD was still napping in the car, and since that trip the new ACHOO has been absolutely perfect. We have yet to plan our next trip yet, but hopefully we will return one day soon to make up for the unfinished vacation. Btw, we called lost and found everyday for 7 days but ACHOO was never turned in. This just highlights the fact that if you find something, no matter how insignificant you may think it is, turn it in. Because one persons trash is another persons treasure. If you have a similar story please feel free to share with the rest of us DISers. Thank you
Once it became to hot for our daughter, we decided to leave the park for lunch, and so we headed over to our favorite off property spot, Ale House. After we were all relaxed from our scrumptious lunch, my wife wanted to stop by Coronado Springs on the way back to our hotel, so that we could pick up one of there yummy M&M cookies for our daughter, because she had been so well behaved the entire day.
(Here is where the sequence of events changed the course of our trip forever).
Instead of just going to Coronado, getting the cookies, and heading back to Pop century for a little break before we do an evening park visit, I had to open my big mouth and say, "Hey let's stop by Downtown Disney really quick, and check out the new Disney Co-Op store". Reluctantly, my wife said "Fine", and so I proceeded to enter the battle zone that is DownTown Disney Parking. After battling it out for a parking space just east of the World of Disney store, I got a spot fairly close, and proceeded to remove my daughter from her car seat, along with her most prized possession in the ENTIRE WORLD.
That possession is a small, flat, and colorful Panda Bear, that was given to her 18 months ago at her baby shower. The bear featured 2 hands and 2 feet, which were made out of a soft rubber material for babies to teeth on. On the tummy, it was embroidered "I LOVE MY MOMMY", and most importantly was the Tag on the back, which over the last 17 months has been Held, and rubbed on, until it's present state, which is nothing more than a few strands of silk. To her, this is the equivalent of a child's Blankie, and is a must when she is relaxing, taking a nap, watching Pocahontas and frozen, and going night night.
At this point in the story I will simply refer to the bear by his given name, which is "ACHOO". After getting my daughter out of the car, I handed ACHOO to her, which she placed in her left hand. As we walked towards the restrooms behind World of Disney, I held her in my right arm, and for once had my iphone in my left front pocket, which was able to be accessed by my left hand, which was free. Usually my keys and phone always seem to be on the side where my hand is occupied. Anyways, as we walked up to the bathroom, my wife needed to make a visit, so I told her I would stand right out front and wait. As she headed into the bathroom I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to listen to a little of the DisUnplugged podcast which had just gone out live a few hours prior. So, with my DD in my right hand, I pulled out my phone with my left, and began to listen. Approx. 4 minutes later my wife returns, at which time I put my phone in my pocket, and then look at my daughters hands to make sure she still has ACHOO. Immediately my heart sinks, and I ask my wife, "WHERES ACHOO"? She basically says, what do you mean where's ACHOO?
Immediately we are in a CODE RED situation, retracing our steps, checking garbage cans, bushes, water drains, peoples hands... You name it, we checked it. Every single cashier station was checked from T-Rex to RainForest cafe. And included it that was the wonderful Disney Co-Op, although it was not the way I wanted to be seeing the store. After running around like mad people in the summer heat for 3 hours, several trips to Guest relations in both DTD and world of Disney turned up NOTHING. Our hearts were broken, and so were out daughters.
At this point she was ready for her nap, and in a sweet, innocent, and exhausted voice,she had begun to ask for ACHOO. Once again our hearts sunk even lower than I ever thought they could have. To her, ACHOO was everything. During the hunt for ACHOO, I was also on Ebay frantically trying to find one for sale anyplace within driving distance, and unfortunately there was nothing.
Just after she was born, and had fallen in love with ACHOO, I had searched for another back up ACHOO for this exact reason, and found a small community via google, of parents that all were having trouble finding a replacement for this small toy that had capture the love of there children. Not long after I successfully located one on ebay for a whopping $30.00 bucks (clearly the seller was aware of its value to desperate parents). So anyways the back was 3+ hours away at home, and Our DD needed him now. We made a mad dash for Walmart to see if they had anything close to ACHOO, and ended up purchasing a similar style elephant toy. After giving this to our DD, it worked... For about ZERO SECONDS. At this point we knew it was going to end our trip.
We headed back to the hotel, all while my wife is i in tears and constantly asking me " how could you let this happen". Later on at night, I rushed over to DTD Guest Relations once last time to see if ACHOO had been found, but unfortunately he had not. On the way back to the hotel, my wife text me a link to ebay. I opened it and was immediately overjoyed. Just 1 hour away in Tampa, was a brand new ACHOO for sale for $14.99 or best offer. I immediately skipped wasting time with the best offer, and hit buy it now, paid paypal immediately, and followed by writing the seller a message, asking if I could pick up the ACHOO replacement in person. For the first time in 7 hours, we finally had some hope of turning this trip around, and bringing ACHOO back for our DD.
If we weren't already sad enough, in the middle of the night, our DD woke up asking for ACHOO, and after handing her the elephant in the dark, she felt it for two or three seconds, dropped it, and said " Not ACHOO". The next morning I awoke to a email from the ebay seller that made me so happy. The retired husband and wife selling the new ACHOO basically said they completely understand our predicament, and were even willing to meet us out on I-4.
After a quick breakfast we promptly checked out, and headed west on I-4 towards tampa. About 55 minutes later we arrived at the Burger King at exit 16, and were greeted by Bob, the seller, who could not have been a nicer, and more genuine person. After talking with Bob for about 10 minutes, during which time my wife and DD were waiting in the car, my DD caught a glance of ACHOO's bright colors from 20 feet away, and immediately shouted "ACHOO". At this point my wife couldn't make her wait any longer, and brought her over to reunite her with her beloved bear. I proceeded to hand over this sparkling new ACHOO, free of spit and recent ketchup stains, and one paw that had been slightly nibbled on by our dog Layla. My DD looked at the front of it for a few seconds before turning it over to grab ahold of the time ravaged time, only to find a brand new tag in its place. After a few seconds of visible confusion, she dropped the bear and said " Not ACHOO". We were crushed.
On the way back to Orlando we began the task of integrating the new ACHOO into our family, mostly by playing games with him, and feeding him French fries. Eventually the new ACHOO fit right in, however after getting back to Orlando with the new ACHOO, my wife just wasn't in the mood to go to the parks anymore, knowing that the real ACHOO was somewhere out there. We decided to head back home while our DD was still napping in the car, and since that trip the new ACHOO has been absolutely perfect. We have yet to plan our next trip yet, but hopefully we will return one day soon to make up for the unfinished vacation. Btw, we called lost and found everyday for 7 days but ACHOO was never turned in. This just highlights the fact that if you find something, no matter how insignificant you may think it is, turn it in. Because one persons trash is another persons treasure. If you have a similar story please feel free to share with the rest of us DISers. Thank you
this is a huge fear of mine. 
Now that is funny!! My DH probably would have done the same thing though!
