17 Days of Wishes Come to Life- A Sept. 08 WDW and DCL Adventure 3/27 new link posted

[SkyGirl]

Here is DD meeting Roger Rabbit!!!

One of my best memories ever!

 

[Figment's Friend]

Oooo I love Halloween! Great parade pictures! The characters are so cute in their costumes and I also love the grave diggers! Don't you love not having to get off a ride on a night like that? Fun times!

(I don't have much memory of meeting Roger Rabbit but I do remember being crazy about him! That is one movie I haven't seen in forever, I'm sure I'd fall in love with it all over again.)

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

An overall wonderful dream-worthy day Jay! You plan such wonderful vacations for your family.

I can't wait until my family is no longer tied down by school schedules as I would love to travel to Disney in October to see all the Fall decorations and to attend MNSSHP, right now though with my two brothers in school and with myself going back to school in the fall it is just not possible, some day though!


Side Note: I met Roger Rabbit when I was really young, back in 89 my first Disney trip was to Disneyland.

 

[CJsMom]

I'm all caught up! I couldn't stop reading, seriously, every spare moment I had today I returned to the computer, especially when I got to the BIG day. Wow, is all I can say! I remember all your planning from the pre-trip report - and the actual day surpassed all of it! Just awesome - the boys and your friends will never forget it. I can't get over how happy the Little Prince looks in all the pictures. What a great baby! Aside from the scary cleaning (or non-cleaning) problem, this trip is wonderful so far...can't wait to see more!

 

[MouseTriper]

When we returned to dh and our LP, I snapped a picture of the LP sleeping so soundly in his stroller. One last time, let me point out how adorable the Nightmare Before Christmas outfits were! MouseTriper did a great job! *THANK YOU MOUSETRIPER!*

Oh my gosh look at your little sweetie fast asleep!! He is so cute!!! You are so welcome for the outfits Jay...I loved making them for the boys!!!

Now...I must say that your dream day was just FABULOUS...every single second of it. I was smiling reading all about it. I love how it's all the little things that catch you off guard too....the stuff that really sets the memory and makes your heart skip a beat!!! Your family is beautiful Jay!!!

 

[starrzone]

Somebody was enjoying the parade!

I love this picture; even though he can't talk, those wide-open eyes say more than any words ever could! Oh, and the cosume is just precious!

I am not sure why, but this picture cracks me up and it sends my mind to the gutter.

OK, this guy immediately made me think of the dancers from the first big "dance" scene in "Dirty Dancing"; the one where Baby carries the watermelon up the hill to the staff house. He certainly looks like he's loving his job!

 

[disneydusted]

What a great dream day!! You did well, Jay!! I enjoyed reading all of the details and seeing all of the pictures... very exciting day!
So I am thinking to myself, how can she still have more vacation left??? How can it get any better??? After such a wonderful day you must have been on cloud nine!!

 

[jaycns]

Here is DD meeting Roger Rabbit!!!

One of my best memories ever!

How sweet is that! Thank you for sharing such a precious memory with us! DD is cute as a button (as always).

Oooo I love Halloween! Great parade pictures! The characters are so cute in their costumes and I also love the grave diggers! Don't you love not having to get off a ride on a night like that? Fun times!

(I don't have much memory of meeting Roger Rabbit but I do remember being crazy about him! That is one movie I haven't seen in forever, I'm sure I'd fall in love with it all over again.)

You should rent it and watch it to prepare for your trip...you are almost able to do the double digit dance!! So you will have to hurry up and sneak in a viewing. Hmmm....I almost demand it!

An overall wonderful dream-worthy day Jay! You plan such wonderful vacations for your family.

I can't wait until my family is no longer tied down by school schedules as I would love to travel to Disney in October to see all the Fall decorations and to attend MNSSHP, right now though with my two brothers in school and with myself going back to school in the fall it is just not possible, some day though!


Side Note: I met Roger Rabbit when I was really young, back in 89 my first Disney trip was to Disneyland.

Fall is a great time to go to WDW. I am thinking we might just skip our usual early fall trip and head for a late fall/early winter trip next year...I NEED to see WDW at Christmas time! Now, please tell me, do those two Roger Rabbits (see yours and Figment's meetings with him) really have different color hair or am I just seeing things?

I'm all caught up! I couldn't stop reading, seriously, every spare moment I had today I returned to the computer, especially when I got to the BIG day. Wow, is all I can say! I remember all your planning from the pre-trip report - and the actual day surpassed all of it! Just awesome - the boys and your friends will never forget it. I can't get over how happy the Little Prince looks in all the pictures. What a great baby! Aside from the scary cleaning (or non-cleaning) problem, this trip is wonderful so far...can't wait to see more!

Awww...thanks for reading! I hope that none of the kids ever forgets that day. I know that I won't.

That non cleaning problem really was a bummer. I am actually getting quite antsy with Disney as I have yet to hear back from their guest relations about the issue. I wrote that letter weeks ago. GRRRR.

Oh my gosh look at your little sweetie fast asleep!! He is so cute!!! You are so welcome for the outfits Jay...I loved making them for the boys!!!

Now...I must say that your dream day was just FABULOUS...every single second of it. I was smiling reading all about it. I love how it's all the little things that catch you off guard too....the stuff that really sets the memory and makes your heart skip a beat!!! Your family is beautiful Jay!!!

Thanks! You say the sweetest things. And those outfits...I really feel in love with them and we had a lot of people stopping us and asking where we got such cute costumes from the NBC, I replied to everyone of them that "a dear friend made these" and each one was sad that they couldn't go and purchase them from a store at WDW. You should open up your own costume outfit business!

I love this picture; even though he can't talk, those wide-open eyes say more than any words ever could! Oh, and the cosume is just precious!


OK, this guy immediately made me think of the dancers from the first big "dance" scene in "Dirty Dancing"; the one where Baby carries the watermelon up the hill to the staff house. He certainly looks like he's loving his job!

I know...he was so wide eyed and for him it was so late. I love that he just couldn't let go and fall asleep until after that magical parade. I would have been sad if he had missed it. It was great to enjoy the parade as a family of six!


YES!! He reminded me of those Dirty Dancing dancers too! He just cracks me up!

What a great dream day!! You did well, Jay!! I enjoyed reading all of the details and seeing all of the pictures... very exciting day!
So I am thinking to myself, how can she still have more vacation left??? How can it get any better??? After such a wonderful day you must have been on cloud nine!!

We have TONS more vacation left! And I am excited to be able to share it with you all.

 

[DisneyJo]

What great parade photos and you had great luck on the rides

LP was so sweet and what a good boy staying up so late

 

[jaycns]

Day 6...A morning of frustration!

This morning found us rolling out of bed fairly late. It was after 9:00 by the time any of us opened our eyes. Our previous day had been jam packed with action, excitement and a very late night so we were taking it easy and letting our bodies catch up on the rest we needed.

Once we were finally up and going, I noticed that Stitch's shorts were not there. He had changed out of them on the yacht when he had put on his costume. Knowing my little scamp like I do, I was fairly certain that the reason why we didn't have his shorts was that he must have kicked them under the bed when he took them off (if anything disappears in our home, I just look under Stitch's bed ).

I made my way up to the club concierge area and asked the CM working if she could call the GF's marina for me. She told me NO!! That it wasn't open (???) and that my shorts wouldn't be there anyway as they would have ended up being taken to the central lost and found. I clarified that no, we were on the yacht, not a launch to MK or something and she said (and this is a direct quote). "His britches are not special for being on a yacht, if they found them, they would have turned them in to central lost and found"...I thought that was VERY rude. I told her I didn't think our britches were any more or less special than anyone else's but that I thought they might have a different system for returning shorts when they knew who they belonged to (we were one of only two groups to rent the yacht the day before and the second group was all adults). She rolled her eyes at me! And then I asked her if she could call over to Lost and Found for me. She told me that they didn't take calls (I knew that was not true, I had called over there before).

Seriously, there is one yacht in all of WDW. How many lost kid's shorts come off of that one yacht in one day? I would think it would be an easy look to see if it's there sort of item. Over all, this was the laziest, most rude WDW CM I have ever encountered. Her entire attitude screamed "DO NOT BOTHER ME!! I KNOW MORE THAN YOU!" I asked her for the phone number for lost and found so that I could call over using my cell phone. She would NOT give it to me! She told me I was not going to get anywhere by calling and if I wanted the shorts, I had better head over to central lost and found and hope that they ended up there. Well, thanks a heck of a lot for the help lady! You did so much to make my day magical...NOT!!

However, I sucked it up, we were on vacation (I hate upset ruining my magic) and we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom anyway so a stop at Lost and Found was only a few steps out of our way. Knowing we had an extra stop before we would get to MK, we chose to grab a quick late breakfast at Roaring Forks. It was a tasty meal (although I cannot remember what anyone had). It was the only meal we ate there all week due to the fact that we either ate in the lounge, WCC, AP or ordered room service for the rest of the meals that we enjoyed at the WL.

And then we were off. We drove over to the Lost and Found area where I was immediately told that "Items found on the Grand 1 NEVER come here, they stay at the GF." Had the lazy CM at the WL actually picked up a phone, my assumption that the shorts were not sitting in the central Lost and Found would have been proved correct. He told me that I would need to head to the front desk at the Grand Floridian and inquire about their lost and found department. He at least had tried to call over their for me and been told that nobody was in right now. Thank you Lost and Found CM for doing your job!

I really needed to track down those shorts as we had a week and a half left to vacation and Stitch would need to wear those shorts again. They were one of only two "dressyish" pairs of shorts he had packed and I had lots of plans for him to wear them. Also, they were an expensive pair of shorts (at least to me, I rarely pay full price for anything, I LOVE SALES ), I had purchased them at full price at the Gap. I wasn't going to just leave those floating around somewhere at WDW.

So, we hopped on the monorail and headed over to the Grand Floridian. It was then I started to get very frustrated. If yesterday morning had been the dreamy start to a dream day, this morning was anything but a dream. Upon arrival, I inquired at the front desk and was told that I could have just called *GRRRRRR* and that their was no answer in their lost and found department anyway. I would just have to fill in a form and leave it with her at the front desk. I was NOT happy at this point and asked her why she couldn't go and check. I explained how I had been all over this morning trying to track down my shorts and she did offer to send someone to check at that point. They came back down and told us that the shorts were not there. She again told me to just fill out a form and they would let me know if they were found. I know that's the pat answer to a lost item. I appreciate why it is. However, I KNEW where the shorts most likely were. They were not in an area where the general public could have gotten to them, or they could have fallen in the trash or lake or anywhere else. I also knew that I couldn't just stroll up and get to where I thought they were myself either. SO...I asked her to please just call the marina, that I was all but positive that the shorts were on the yacht and also fairly certain that they were under the bed in one of the bedrooms. She called over to the marina and was told that no shorts had been left on the yacht. I KNEW that they had been (or at least I was 98% sure). So I asked her to call them back and ask them to check under the bed (she had neglected to pass on that portion of my request the first time she called them). I then told her that I was going to walk out to the marina and check for myself as well. This was getting more then a bit silly. The first CM I spoke to at the WL should have called the marina as I asked, relied my message that the shorts were missing and most likely under a bed and the marina people could have just taken a quick peek at that point. It would have taken me all of five minutes to track down the shorts if we had done it "my way".

The front desk CM at the GF walked with me to the yacht (I don't know if I looked a bit crazed or if she felt badly for me at that point). Dh and the boys followed and we ended up back down at the marina. The CM at the marina stood there holding the shorts. He was laughing because just like I said, the shorts had been pushed under the bed (thanks for being so predictable Stitch ). He was a really nice CM and after hearing all of the trouble we had gone through, he asked us if we would like to have each of the boys pick out a special souvenir. I thought he would give them their choice of pins or maybe packs of candy or something. Instead, he led them up to the store inside the GF and told them to each pick out any one thing! And he told us to pick something for our littlest guy. As "un-Disney" as the WL CM had been, he exemplified what makes Disney special and turned what was becoming a not so great memory of our vacation into one of our favorite vacation surprises. THANK YOU KIND MARINA CM! Goofy chose a plastic bank in the shape of a taxi with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald in it. Stitch picked a Chip and Dale pin. Aladdin picked a small porcelain Jiminy Cricket (he had just started collecting those). We chose a baby Pluto wrapped up in a blanket for our Little Prince. I was shocked that the kids had picked such "low" priced things. Why don't the shop like when we are spending our own money?! Seriously though, even the CM checking them out and the marina CM asked them if they were sure about their picks and told them again they could pick any one thing. But they each stuck with what they had. To top off the magical shopping spree, the CM behind the counter pulled out a pin for each boy and threw those in the bag as well! By the end of our impromptu shopping spree, I was once again totally in the Disney spirit and well on my way to feeling like Disney really was the happiest place on earth.

Sure, we had a not so great morning, but I think the shopping spree had more than made up for it! We were the ones who had lost the shorts in the first place. It was nobody's fault by our own that they were missing. That CM at the WL did need a lesson in guest relations however. And I really wish that any of the CMs we had dealt with had just called the marina or given me the direct number to call the marina directly myself. The "great shorts hunt of 2008" didn't need to take up an entire morning. In retrospect, I wish I would have just gone back to our room and hunted down the number for the marina myself. But I thought that would take longer. HA HA HA.

When the marina CM was asked to look under the bed, they found the shorts in less than five minutes. Talk about frustration!

BUT...putting that detour behind us, we walked out to the monorail platform and headed over to MK.

It was almost noon by the time we actually walked through the turnstiles. And although we hadn't had the most fun morning of our vacation, we had enjoyed a special surprise, found the missing shorts and we were now ready for some big time Magic Kingdom fun!

 

[jaycns]

Day 6...The Fun Continues!

Our first stop? Adventureland! We had largely skipped over the entire area during the party the night before (other then sneaking in for a quick ride on the PotC right before the parade started).

As soon as we had crossed the bridge, we saw two of our favorite characters with nobody to visit them. We had to help two lonely characters out! So we made our way off to the side and had a nice visit with Timon and Rafiki. Here you see Stitch giving them high fives.

And our Little Prince did not surprise us...he was once again enthralled with the characters!

The characters seemed to be drawn to him as well. Who could resist a little 'nugget' (thanks Skygirl for that cute term of endearment) who is overjoyed at the sight of you? Both Timon and Rafiki lavished him (and the other boys as well) with attention. Rafiki ever had dh hold our LP up like he (Rafiki) held Simba up on Pride Rock. It was really funny! Both Timon and Rafiki started bowing and then clapping and jumping when dh did it. It always amazes me just how much the characters can communicate without using any words at all!

After our animal fun, we continued on into Adventureland. First up? Goofy had requested a date with some singing birds. So to the Tiki Room we went.

Once again our LP surprised me by doing so well with the loud noise and flashing lights. I guess by that point, it shouldn't have surprised me. And maybe surprise is the wrong word, maybe I was just still very appreciative of the fact that he was doing so well with everything WDW had to offer. I was well aware of the fact that many babies would have had trouble coping with all of the new and sometimes very intense sights, sounds, smells, sensations and everything and else that makes WDW the magical place that it is.

After our time with the squawking birds, we made our way over to the flying carpets. And made it on to the very next carpets to go up! What a treat! No line!! I love to ride Aladdin's Flying Carpets!! They are so much fun (why I like them better then Dumbo I could not logically explain, but I do). I love the water spitting camel. I love the story of Aladdin. I love the movie. I love Abu and then their are the views...WOW. I think the best views are Adventureland are the ones you get while flying high on a carpet.
Here are some of the pictures I took while doing just that.

Upon exiting the ride, I saw a Safari Mickey (aka "Adventurer Mickey" to us) stuffed animal sitting in the Agrabah Bazaar. Dh took the three younger boys while Aladdin and I went in to purchase him. While we were checking out, Aladdin noticed a sign behind the register.

He told the CM working at the register that her tiger's name was Raja. We thought it was just a trivia question, but upon giving the right answer, Aladdin was allowed to pick out four polished rocks from the polished rock stand in the store. He was also given a Magical Moments certificate. Here he is with the CM who awarded him the prize.

And here he is with the Magical Moments certificate (I added the bow to block out his name...HA HA HA, it didn't come with a bow on top. ).

About this time, the Jungle Cruise was calling our names. We hadn't ridden it yet this vacation and we were not wanting to miss out on some good humor (well, the good part is subject to opinion) and some wacky adventure (this part is pretty much guaranteed). Lucky for us, we had less than a five minute wait in line!

 

[jaycns]

Day 6...The Fun Continues Part 2

Each year, I pick a ride or two and go a bit crazy with the picture taking during the ride. I plan to use all of those pictures to put together a ride scrapbook someday. This day, I chose to take loads of pictures of the Jungle Cruise. So...I will let the pictures speak for themselves...I couldn't remember half of the witty (again open to your own opinion ) things the guide said anyway.

Up closer so you can read:

Okay, that last one wasn't a ride picture. But you can see that our LP was teething during our vacation. I had been worried that he would teethe then and that it would make him very crabby. Once again, we were very lucky and he was not cranky while teething. In fact, if he hadn't have been chewing his fingers (and anything else he could get near his mouth) like crazy, we wouldn't have even noticed he was cutting teeth! And one more picture of him chewing his finger. I love this one because he looks like he is just about to really enjoy himself. I can totally see the anticipation on his face. For him, the entire trip was filled with one big surprise after another.

YES, I did take all of those pictures before we even boarded the cruise. Below are the ones I took while on the cruise.

Inspiration Falls.

 

[jaycns]

Day 6...The Rest of the Jungle Cruise

As we approached the sacred temple, our guide got too scared to pilot the cruise! She asked Aladdin to step in and steer them through to safety. He thought that was a lot of fun!

Once Aladdin had saved the day and guided us through, our tour continued.

"Today only he's having a sale that's to die for! Two of his heads for only one of yours!" That line still cracks me up!

Our guide right before she told us to all "just get out".

Don't worry, I had my flash off so as not to bug other guests. I just went a little bit snap happy.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[29apr00]

Every picture you have of LP he has a huge smile on in it!! He must be the happiest baby at Disney World!!

UGH on that annoying CM at WL concierge!! I hope you stopped by her desk later that day after you had the shorts and told her how extremely unhelpful she was and that the shorts were found EXACTLY where you told her they woudl be!! What a PITA!

 

[CJsMom]

Don't you just hate those little annoyances on vacation? What a pain that you had to spend an entire morning tracking down shorts! Time for WDW is too short! But it was so nice of the CM to give the boys a treat. And sounds like the day was fun for all of you - I just can't get over all the smiles on the LP's face! Great pics of the Jungle Cruise - we never made it on last December (too many trips on BTMRR I think) - so I hope we can get to it next trip.

 

[momoftriplets]

Goodness, Jay! How frustrating that you knew EXACTLY where the shorts were & no one would listen. I would have been fit to be tied. You handled it very nicely, though.

Thanks for the pictures of the Jungle Cruise. I have been on it YEARS ago, but my family never has. We were in MK 3 times during our 2005 trip, but never made it on the cruise. It is a definate must-see next time!

Thank Goodness Aladdin was there to pilot the cruise & save the day!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm glad that you found those shorts Jay, how frustrating! I would have definitely reported that WL CM to a manager. There was no excuse for her behaviour and to think she is a CONCIERGE CM, they are supposed to be the best of the best.

 

[MovienutNiffer]

I hope you reported that concierge! Even in my last 6 months working retail (the worst 6 months of my life!!!) I would have NEVER treated any customer like that and WDW CM's are supposed to be above that! Besides isn't helping guests her job??? Oh well. At least the marina CM totally made up for it! After reading your TR and this other one (where the son got sick and had to go to the ER and the next day when the family got back to the room the kids had some suprise toys) I just can't imagine anything better!

 

[jaycns]

Every picture you have of LP he has a huge smile on in it!! He must be the happiest baby at Disney World!!

UGH on that annoying CM at WL concierge!! I hope you stopped by her desk later that day after you had the shorts and told her how extremely unhelpful she was and that the shorts were found EXACTLY where you told her they woudl be!! What a PITA!

I did stop by the club desk later that night. When I described her, they told me she was really a front desk CM down in the "real" lounge and that she was just filling in. I think they thought that was supposed to make it all better. I really wasn't upset about it anymore, I just figured I should point out what happened so it didn't happen to another guest. When they didn't care, I wasn't sweating it. We had already settled the issues hours before and even gotten a really sweet shopping surprise out of the entire mess, so I wasn't going to waste any more time over it.

Our LP was so happy! I honestly didn't even hope for him to handle everything so well. It was a great surprise for our entire family when he did!

Don't you just hate those little annoyances on vacation? What a pain that you had to spend an entire morning tracking down shorts! Time for WDW is too short! But it was so nice of the CM to give the boys a treat. And sounds like the day was fun for all of you - I just can't get over all the smiles on the LP's face! Great pics of the Jungle Cruise - we never made it on last December (too many trips on BTMRR I think) - so I hope we can get to it next trip.

He was such a happy baby almost the entire time. We did have a few semi-upset times...but for the most part, he just went with the flow and enjoyed all that WDW had to offer.

I am glad you enjoyed the Jungle Cruise pictures. It's a ride we sometimes forget to enjoy, but every time we ride it, we are glad that we did.

Goodness, Jay! How frustrating that you knew EXACTLY where the shorts were & no one would listen. I would have been fit to be tied. You handled it very nicely, though.

Thanks for the pictures of the Jungle Cruise. I have been on it YEARS ago, but my family never has. We were in MK 3 times during our 2005 trip, but never made it on the cruise. It is a definate must-see next time!

Thank Goodness Aladdin was there to pilot the cruise & save the day!

I think I would still be a lot "hotter" over the issue if we hadn't gotten the cool surprise shopping spree and even more than that, if the CM hadn't come out holding them laughing and joking around about how kids can hide things in the darndest places. His happy attitude was hard to resist. He just made everything feel better AND he really listened to how annoying our morning had been (and while he may not have really cared, he acted as if he truly did) and was very understanding. Honestly, even if he had not taken the final super special step of the shopping spree, I would have been happy. It was the understanding and happiness that he shared that made all of the difference.

And yes, THANK GOODNESS he was there. What if we had been stuck on the jungle cruise with those jokes going on and on forever?!

I'm glad that you found those shorts Jay, how frustrating! I would have definitely reported that WL CM to a manager. There was no excuse for her behaviour and to think she is a CONCIERGE CM, they are supposed to be the best of the best.

As I said above, she supposedly wasn't a "real" concierge CM. In any case, she was a real CM and I have never met a more "put out" CM. I know she might have been miffed that she had to go up there and fill in or that she might have just dealt with someone full of spit and fire or that she may have had a hundred and one personal problems going on that day...I just don't think she needed to take it out on me. If she just gave me the phone number, she could have gotten rid of me much sooner then having the whole discussion over what, where and who has the best britches.

I hope you reported that concierge! Even in my last 6 months working retail (the worst 6 months of my life!!!) I would have NEVER treated any customer like that and WDW CM's are supposed to be above that! Besides isn't helping guests her job??? Oh well. At least the marina CM totally made up for it! After reading your TR and this other one (where the son got sick and had to go to the ER and the next day when the family got back to the room the kids had some suprise toys) I just can't imagine anything better!

I have found Disney to be exceedingly good at throwing in extras to make up for mistakes, bad experiences, etc. For me, it's the fact that they go the extra mile. Not really what they give or we get out of it...but the fact that them offering such things makes our family feel as if Disney really does care. And honestly, it's great for them in return. I keep coming back and spending more and more money.

 

[SkyGirl]

Oh Jay, I know how frustrating that day was for you (and how RUDE RUDE RUDE that CM was) ..... but .... to be completely honest ..... I smiled all the way through it, just imagining Stitch kicking off his shorts under the bed!!! Something about that little boy/mischevious grin of his makes it too funny. And knowing how badly he was hurting from that migraine -- I couldn't help smiling knowing he was well and so happy!!