Mrsabbott--thank you! Windsor Hills: we love it there, but I don't have anything to compare it to, it's the only place we've rented from. We feel safe, the owner we rent from is meticulous in their cleaning and upkeep of the furnishings. Now, at the WH website I have seen some units that don't look as nice, so I think it all boils down to the attention of the owner. And the moving sidewalks-- my son does like them, but he has been on numerous ones at various airports we've been to. He was on such a vacation high though, he was loving everything!
SUNDAY....EPCOT DAY
I started my day feeling good! I got a good night's sleep. The kind of deep sleep you get when you wake up and aren't sure of where you are or even what day it is. THAT kind of deep sleep! After a long shower and a cup of tea I woke the rest of the family up. I think breakfast for the kiddos was a banana and a pop tart, mine was a square of Entenmann's coffee cake. Vacation splurge in calories!
Sunscreen, loaded backpack, sunglasses, and we were off! And at a good time, too..... 7:45 if I remember correctly.
Hubby and I had talked the night before about adding a 3rd Disney day. As it was we had originally planned 2 Disney days and 2 Universal days. Our 2 Disney days were going to be Epcot and Magic Kingdom, but honestly it was so hard to miss going to Animal Kingdom, so my sweetie told me to go ahead and add a 3rd day for us. The plan was to get to to Epcot a little earlier than planned and head to the ticket booth to purchase the extra day for us. This plan ended up erasing ALL reserved Fast Pass times, but ended up being the best thing that could've happened. I'll explain in a little bit.
So we arrive and park, and sheesh is it hot!! t 8:00 a.m. It was already HOT and humid! Now, we like the heat, but this morning was stifling!
We get through bag check, I drop hubby and kiddos off in line, and I head over to the ticket booth. I got a girl who had just opened up, Maddie. Her name tag said Maddie, University of Kentucky. KENTUCKY!! She was from UK, a mere hour down the road from me! We were so excited to see someone from home we started chit chatting.... Then finally we get to business. She tells me I'm her first guest, on her first day! Awwww!!
So I tell Maddie that we have 4 two-day tickets, and I'd like to add on a 3rd day to each of them. I hand her our 4 credit card-type tickets (since we were off site we didn't have Magic Bands). So she takes them, scans them, and tells me my total is $91.00. ??
"Are you sure? I think it should be closer to $396.00 or around there."
Maddie: "Oh yes, Disney pricing is awesome.... Add a day and save money!"
My brain took in what she said, but after 3 "Are you sure's?" And 3 "Oh yes's!" I hand her my credit card and she charges it, hands me back our 4 tickets, tells me it was so good to see someone from home, wishes me a good day, and I leave her line to go join my family in the main line.
But my brain....my DIS brain....knows this isn't right. I tell hubby what took place. We look at each other and I don 'to want to cause sweet Maddie any trouble on her first day, but I just know this wasn't right. I run back to Maddie's line.
"Maddie, while I love your math, I don't think this is right."
I explain. She listens. I explain some more. Her face falls and she suddenly gets it.
So she takes my tickets back and attempts to add a 3rd day to the other 3 tickets. Something's wrong. She attempts it again. Her face doesn't look so happy anymore. She calls her supervisor, Dave. Dave comes over, I explain it to him, Maddie explains it to him, and he attempts to add a 3rd day to the other 3 tickets. It won't allow him.
He grabs 4 brand new credit card type tickets, and loads them with 3 park days on each.
He gave us the 3 extra days for free.
I told him I'd gladly pay for them, I was prepared to pay for them, and besides, I believe in what fairness and it's only fair to pay for them.
"No no, these 3 days are on Disney, enjoy Animal Kingdom, it's really ok. We messed up the order." There was a little more back and forth, and finally I accept his graciousness, am feeling very lucky and blessed, and they hand me my 4 new credit card type tickets and again, I head back to my family who is still waiting in line, the line that is now starting to move because it is 8:55 a.m. I see them allowing others to go ahead of them while they wait on me.
I relay the whole story. We are all feeling humbled by their generosity and start to feel excited because our first Fast Pass time is at 9:00 a.m.--- Test Track baby!! Yay!! Let's go!!
Wait. Fast passes?
Our FP reservations were all linked to the bar code numbers on the back of our original tickets. The tickets they took from me. The ones they replaced with brand new ones.
Oh no. I literally felt sick. We went from exhilaration to defeat---thinking about not only Epcot's 3 FP's we'd lost, but also Magic Kingdom's 3 FP's. I had gotten on the computer at exactly 30 days out from our trip. I had planned which attractions, park plans, etc.
Ok. We're not entering the park guys, not just yet. I have to go back to Maddie!
The family finds a place to sit to wait on me.
"Maddie!! Oh Maddie. I think all of our FP's are gone. Is there anything you can do?? I had 3 FP's for today, and 3 FP's for Wednesday, our Magic Kingdom day."
She pulls up my
MDE account. Nothing is there. It's all wiped out. Gone.
Her poor face. It probably looked like mine. She calls Dave again. Dave checks my MDE account. Nothing.
Not to fear though! Disney can fix this! Dave gave us a yellow slip of paper. This magical yellow slip of paper allowed us 3 free FP's to use on our Epcot day.
Wow!!!
Then he said he would type a note into our account that would explain everything once we got to the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. He told me to go to their Guest Services on Wednesday, they would pull up my account, read his note, and issue us another yellow slip of paper, good for 3 FP's to use that day.
Wow!
They made good! I was a tad worried about Wednesday. Would his note be there? Would they honor it? But, I wanted to enjoy today so after a ton of thank you's, I took this magical yellow slip and we headed into the park to enjoy our first free FP, Test Track!
Little did I know what would happen next....