3/29There's No Crying at the Guest Relations Counter..TheyTook Me Into the Back Room!

[appleorchard]

You have no idea how much I've enjoyed your TR! I love the sarcasm and your method of expressing it! I will be sorry to see this end. Looking forward to your next trip (oh, and mine, too).

Fortunately, for us Disney fanatics, there's always another trip lol. I've really enjoyed writing this because I can be more snarky than I can in my usual writing lol.

But I love Disney--I hope that's evident too!

 

[Enchantress01]

So sorry about clueless dessert party guy. So glad you recovered on the lower terrace though. That happened to us at Illuminations while I was videotaping it. So of course you can hear this guy's obnoxious narration, corny jokes and the occassional jitter of the camera every time he was ribbing me with his elbow. Sheeeesh! We caught a break the next night with an awesome location and it was perfect!

Your TR was amazing. I wish it could go on....cue Illuminations music - we go on...oh! sorry.

Enjoy the day and "see" you next TR

 

[appleorchard]

So sorry about clueless dessert party guy. So glad you recovered on the lower terrace though. That happened to us at Illuminations while I was videotaping it. So of course you can hear this guy's obnoxious narration, corny jokes and the occassional jitter of the camera every time he was ribbing me with his elbow. Sheeeesh! We caught a break the next night with an awesome location and it was perfect!

Your TR was amazing. I wish it could go on....cue Illuminations music - we go on...oh! sorry.

Enjoy the day and "see" you next TR

Oh, I still have one more update lol. Got to do the departure day and the final summation....

 

[appleorchard]

J was tired and ready to go home after this; it was chilly out and we still needed to pack everything up, so we didn’t linger when leaving.

Sometimes it’s better that way; when we linger too long, we get maudlin and it’s harder to leave. That’s why we never go to the park on the morning when we’re leaving; we always pick an earlier flight. It’s just a tease to go back one last time in the morning.

Besides, we had to see the Electrical Water Pageant one more time. Next time M, J and I go, we’re staying at Boardwalk. So the water parade won’t be part of our nightly ritual. I’m hoping that the street performers on the Boardwalk will make up for it.

See you in October, Boardwalk!

We got right to packing when we got in; M is like a whirlwind when it’s time to leave. I had to decide what to do with some extra drinks we had gotten a few days before. This is sort of a funny story I forgot to tell.

While waiting around for M and J for something one night, I was checking out the Dis boards. Lo and behold, someone had a post saying that they were leaving the next day and had some diet Dr. Pepper and some other drinks they were trying to unload before they left.

They were staying at BLT.

I had ordered regular Dr. Pepper for M instead of diet by mistake when I did our grocery order. She’d been going all week without any Dr. Pepper.

It was fate.

I emailed the person and then talked to her the next morning. Not only where they in our hotel, they were right across the hall and one door down.
So I gladly went and got the diet Dr. Pepper and other drinks, so M could be happy for a few days with her drink selections.

I know what a difference it makes. I’m miserable when I don’t have Fresca. Really. Miserable. I go to Romania for 12 days or so almost every summer. I'm sure it doesn’t surprise you to hear that they don’t have Fresca in Romania. In fact, getting any kind of cold drink is difficult; we drink big bottles of water while we’re there—lukewarm. Yum.

Romania has beautiful flowers, but no Fresca.

But it’s better than taking a chance with the ice. Not that we have ice, where we stay, because we don’t.

The first thing I do when I get home is to have a huge glass of Fresca. With ice.

We squeezed as much into my Owner’s Locker as we could. I always leave Fresca in there, too, and coke for DH. My OL was pretty full, though. We have a lot of stuff in there already, including a noise machine, bathing suits, a real towel for the pool, a pool noodle (you have to squash it, but it fits) liquid sweetener, makeup and a bunch of other stuff to make life easier.

Except on the night we’re packing. Then it’s impossible, trying to cram all this stuff back in.

We have to sit on it to get it closed. We’re probably not the only ones.

We did take out the Brita filter, though. We’ve found we almost never use it, despite our best intentions. And it takes up a lot of room. And it probably needs a new filter.

So we left it there. On the kitchen counter. With a note that said, “please throw away.”

Disney mailed it back to us the next week. LOL. Along with the shirt I left hanging in the bathroom.

Not J’s Beauty and the Beast CD, though. That, they couldn’t find, even though I told them it was in the CD player.

We’ll have to wait until they release it again in 2040 (or whenever) to get another one. Maybe it’s on Netflix.

Eventually, we did get done packing and watching the parade. We took the Not-so-magical Mickey mail and read it through again, so we wouldn’t miss our bus.

We thought we would the first trip, because M’s suitcase was overweight. Like, majorly so, because she’d bought out the contents of numerous gift shops.

So we had to open my suitcases and J’s, and M’s DH’s and transfer clothes and toys around in the lobby of the Port Orleans French Quarter until we finally got the weights balanced.

We didn’t need to worry about missing that bus, though.

It never showed up. Neither did the next one.

Ever.

By the time a bus finally showed up, 60 minutes later, a group of people who had missed the bus before ours because they were at the regular bus depot waiting for it there. So now they were over an hour late leaving for the airport.

Even though it was their own fault, Disney put them on the bus and went straight to the airport with them, so they’d get there on time.

The rest of us, they made wait, because there were too many of us to get on the bus.

Not an auspicious introduction to the joys of the Magical Express for M’s DH, let me tell you.

But that won’t happen to us in the morning. It will happen to a family whose father gets stuck on the bus lift halfway up in his wheelchair, though.


Next chapter

 

[shalom]

I enjoyed your dessert party story. Made me feel better about deciding against doing it last time.

Sorry to hear about your foot. My eldest daughter has some condition with one leg that the doctor says he generally sees with serious athletes -- can't even remember what kind of athletes, since eldest is, and long has been, about the most sedentary person I know. But now she has an excuse, I guess.

 

[bumbershoot]

great reminder about instructions to young children. Never thought of this

Along with "CM with a name tag", add in "behind or next to a cash register". Because they make, or used to make, nametags that you could buy and personalize that LOOKED LIKE CM nametags. Totally fun for the normal average Disney fan, but absolutely terrifying if you think a leetle bit too much about it.

So "look for a cast member with a nametag who standing at a cash register or popcorn cart" is going to be a good direction. Although they should also stand in that spot, and visually look for the CMs and get their attention.


DH was looking at a map once as a child at Disneyland, and when he put the map down his family was gone. He stayed still, but looked very lost, and it was during that magical 70s time when characters roamed the parks alone. All of a sudden Captain Hook came up to him, DH indicated that his parents were missing, and Hook stayed with him until DH's family came back. DH still loves Hook for that.

So staying put and getting the attention of a CM is good.

Then again, maybe in that area, because the sight lines are so bad they are used to a panicked parent who finds their kid two minutes later so they don't jump right in anymore.

That playground is terrible for finding your kid. I highly doubt we would have ever taken DS in there when he was younger. Last year at 7 it was bad enough; and this year he, and therefore we, discovered the Boneyard we'd heard about but never seen. Up the stairs/ramp, OVER the walkway, and into a totally different area! Oh what a joy it was looking for him!

Luckily we've always encountered CMs who were on the job when it came to watching kids. I was just about to go "tell on" some kids in that playground when the CM I was heading for started calling out to them to stop doing what they were doing.

But it is indeed a place where it's easy to get lost, and yep I bet the CMs think kids can't get out and therefore get relaxed. Alas they do get relaxed at that in/out spot.

There's no reason to have a CM at the entrance--put her next to the exit! And actually, they're right next to each other there--I think. I've honestly tried to block the playground out of my mind!

They are right next to each other, and they should have someone on both sides. And of course you guys get the awesome fun of being of different races (well, I assume you are not Asian...maybe I'm assuming wrongly?). DH once had the police called about him while he and DS played at the playground of our apartment complex. He heard the woman say "there's a man here who doesn't match any of the children". At the time we were living in a city KNOWN for the Korean population, and we feel that the lady could have been a bit broader in her concepts of family, or at least watched for when little red-headed DS would go to check on his black-haired dad every 2 minutes (as he did when he was 2).

So even if they were looking, they might not have gotten the right "who is the grandma" or even "who is the mom" answer, because the little bit of J's face that I can see beyond the crown doesn't look overly like the little bit I can see of M's face in the pictures. And of course you know this from your own experiences, probably, with assumptions I'm making (and in the picture you posted on the first page the whole group appears to be caucasian and I think you said you're in that group), from when M was young.

Gosh my replies in your TR are long.

After we got home, I sent Disney a calm, detailed email about this whole thing. They had someone call me who sounded about as old as the first CM. She did not try to minimize things and told me she would make sure it was appropriately dealt with.

Well THAT is good at least! And FWIW I'm 43 and my voice sounds like I'm 12. So maybe she was much older than you thought. Hope hope hope.

But that won’t happen to us in the morning. It will happen to a family whose father gets stuck on the bus lift halfway up in his wheelchair, though.

 

[appleorchard]

I enjoyed your dessert party story. Made me feel better about deciding against doing it last time.

Sorry to hear about your foot. My eldest daughter has some condition with one leg that the doctor says he generally sees with serious athletes -- can't even remember what kind of athletes, since eldest is, and long has been, about the most sedentary person I know. But now she has an excuse, I guess.

I fall pretty much into that sedentary category, too lol... and I love the song We Go On at the end of Illuminations!

Along with "CM with a name tag", add in "behind or next to a cash register". Because they make, or used to make, nametags that you could buy and personalize that LOOKED LIKE CM nametags. Totally fun for the normal average Disney fan, but absolutely terrifying if you think a leetle bit too much about it.

So "look for a cast member with a nametag who standing at a cash register or popcorn cart" is going to be a good direction. Although they should also stand in that spot, and visually look for the CMs and get their attention.


DH was looking at a map once as a child at Disneyland, and when he put the map down his family was gone. He stayed still, but looked very lost, and it was during that magical 70s time when characters roamed the parks alone. All of a sudden Captain Hook came up to him, DH indicated that his parents were missing, and Hook stayed with him until DH's family came back. DH still loves Hook for that.

So staying put and getting the attention of a CM is good.




That playground is terrible for finding your kid. I highly doubt we would have ever taken DS in there when he was younger. Last year at 7 it was bad enough; and this year he, and therefore we, discovered the Boneyard we'd heard about but never seen. Up the stairs/ramp, OVER the walkway, and into a totally different area! Oh what a joy it was looking for him!

Luckily we've always encountered CMs who were on the job when it came to watching kids. I was just about to go "tell on" some kids in that playground when the CM I was heading for started calling out to them to stop doing what they were doing.

But it is indeed a place where it's easy to get lost, and yep I bet the CMs think kids can't get out and therefore get relaxed. Alas they do get relaxed at that in/out spot.




They are right next to each other, and they should have someone on both sides. And of course you guys get the awesome fun of being of different races (well, I assume you are not Asian...maybe I'm assuming wrongly?). DH once had the police called about him while he and DS played at the playground of our apartment complex. He heard the woman say "there's a man here who doesn't match any of the children". At the time we were living in a city KNOWN for the Korean population, and we feel that the lady could have been a bit broader in her concepts of family, or at least watched for when little red-headed DS would go to check on his black-haired dad every 2 minutes (as he did when he was 2).

So even if they were looking, they might not have gotten the right "who is the grandma" or even "who is the mom" answer, because the little bit of J's face that I can see beyond the crown doesn't look overly like the little bit I can see of M's face in the pictures. And of course you know this from your own experiences, probably, with assumptions I'm making (and in the picture you posted on the first page the whole group appears to be caucasian and I think you said you're in that group), from when M was young.

Gosh my replies in your TR are long.




Well THAT is good at least! And FWIW I'm 43 and my voice sounds like I'm 12. So maybe she was much older than you thought. Hope hope hope.

You're right, I'm Caucasian, M looks Korean(naturally) and J looks --well, maybe 1/4 Asian; her dad's genes are pretty strong! That's why I showed them the picture of her; I knew they'd never connect all of us otherwise! I had J at swimming lessons a few days ago and another mom--Asian -- asked me exactly what J was!

I bet people have trouble figuring out E, since he doesn't seem to look Asian at all. My sister-in-law's husband is Lebanese, and her oldest son had bright blue eyes and bright red hair as a baby. Everyone took him as Irish, not half Lebanese!

 

[Enchantress01]

Yay! Another update!

That view of the Boardwalk is beautiful. I can't wait to hear about your stay there and about the performers too! I loved staring at that view when we stayed at the Beach Club. It looks so pretty all lit up at night.

You're brilliant and That's so crazy that you were able to get M's soda just by checking the Dis and crazier that they were just across the hall! We left soooo much food in the fridge because we couldn't stuff down all of that free dining. I still dream about the uneaten lemon meringue and cappuccino cupcakes we left there.

Too funny they returned your Brita, but magical that they returned your shirt!

That balcony in Romania is beautiful. You are so fortunate to go so often. You're right about the refrigeration in Europe though, its range of lukewarm goes from "sitting in the car too long" to "left out on the counter all day."

Some great tips here on child safety in the parks. And it was smart of you to show a picture. I'll have to remember that with my grandcuties. Considering our twisting and bending family tree, I'm sure I'll be going through the "you can't possibly be their grandmother" looks with them at the parks like I did with my kids. Stores, playgrounds, airports, you name it are always fun with us!

 

[McDuck]

Good tips for educating the littles, and I will be sure to photo my DD every morning on my cell so I can show exactly what she has on should she wander off.

I am struck by the CMs blase attitude. I was at an Off Kilter performance when a little boy went missing and every CM around sprang into action, including Jamie who started calling for the boy from stage!

Been reading along and enjoying it, curious what happened with the wheelchair.....

 

[appleorchard]

The poor wheelchair guy--I'll get to him tonight!

I just wanted to tell everyone how absolutely fantastic J was today-- she needed an MRI because she still has febrile seizures. We went fully prepared for her to need sedation for the procedures, not only because it's her head--hard to hold still-but also because it's so long.

She was so cooperative with the doc doing the sedation that he suggested trying her without it--he said he'd never seen a 5 year who took a deep breath when told to and not let it out until he said it was ok!

She's very obedient with stuff like this, so we tried it, although the tech was huffing and puffing about it--I understand, she didn't think she'd be able to stay still and then they' have to redo part of the scan and sedate her anyway.

Well, J did GREAT! She watched a movie, never moved a muscle and they did the test with no problems and without anesthesia! We--especially M -- were thrilled!

 

[appleorchard]

We left. What more can you say about the morning you have to leave? Plenty, as it turned out.

I don’t know what it is with the Magical Express lately. We always seem to witness these crazy occurrences. This one was no exception.

We were early getting down to get out luggage situated, so we knew that we weren’t on the next bus, but the one after. It was a nice day and we were happy to sit there and look at Disney World rather than getting to the airport early.

But then a sort of bus déjà vu occurred.

The ME bus before ours was loading an older man and his family on first.. We knew it was the bus before ours because the bus driver yelled it, saying something like,

“This is the 9:30 bus. If you’re on any other bus, I can’t take you.”

Now, I’m an RN and I work right now for a home health agency. Some of the cases I do are what’s called bus runs. I ride with my clients to and from their schools on the bus. I’m there only for medical emergencies. But I get to watch and participate in a lot of wheelchair lifts onto the buses. And I’ve seen problems with the lifts.

But I’ve never seen one get stuck halfway in the air. Until this one did.
They worked on the lift for a while; a pretty long while, actually. Then finally, they got the poor guy down.

But of course they had to call for another bus for him. And make sure the lift worked. And during that time, our bus showed up. But he wouldn’t come into the circle and pick us up while the other bus was there making sure the lift worked and getting this poor guy and his family on the bus.

So we waited. And finally, the other bus left and our bus came in to pick us up. By that time, there was ANOTHER ME bus behind ours, and mass confusion about who belonged on which bus reigned.

Eventually, everyone got on some bus and we all departed for the airport—after we stopped and picked up two or three other hotels, of course.
It was kind of a relief to at least be on the bus, to tell the truth.

I’m getting a little bit nervous about Magical Express.

But we made it safe and sound and our trip home was completely uneventful. I told M we should go on another trip this summer and she said,

“That’s what I was thinking, too!” So we talked about how we could do it and when. And whether, if we went in August, if we’d run into a hurricane again. That took up most of the plane ride home. J watched a movie on M’s phone.

M’s DH was waiting in baggage to pick them up. My DH was waiting in the cell phone lot for me to call him when I was ready to be picked up.

And that night, I thought about why we’re so drawn back to this place. What is it about Disney World that makes us want to spend so much time there?

• We didn’t have particularly good customer service this trip. In fact, at some points, you could say it was awful.
• We had reasonably nice weather, but an island probably would have been warmer.
• None of us are all that attached to Mickey.

I didn’t come up with an answer—at least, not one that made much sense. The magic lives there, but I don’t really know why. I suspect – and I think many of us suspect – that we bring it with us, but that doesn’t explain it either. Why there, and not Sheboygan, for example?

I think it must be something they put in the water.

 

[OrangeJuice]

So sad to see your TR come to an end, loved reading along. Not sure what it is that keeps us coming back but I would live in wdw if I could.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us

 

[Backstage_Gal]

It's the water for sure!

I really enjoyed your report and would like to invite you and any other readers to one that I reallly enjoy as well, this guy has written for years and it is a fun report every time with great people:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3023093&page=99

 

[Li Li]

I will definitely miss your trip report! Hope you do another and that I find it when you do!!!

Thanks!

 

[Robbi]

Thanks so much for your trip report! I looked forward to reading each chapter. You're quite the comedienne.
Can't wait for your trip reports on future trips!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

What a great report! Hope you enjoy the next trip with your family.

I think a lot of the magic for me is nostalgia. We visited WDW 3 times while I was growing up. I love to share the rides and characters that I loved with my own children.

When we visit Disney we focus on each other and not our jobs or school or homework. We don't watch tv news back in our room. It really is a place to escape the troubles of the world.

 

[appleorchard]

So sad to see your TR come to an end, loved reading along. Not sure what it is that keeps us coming back but I would live in wdw if I could.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us

Me too! My DH would love to buy one of those 1.5 million dollar houses on(or near) the property, but I can't move that far away from J--and, of course, we can't afford it either lol.

It's the water for sure!

I really enjoyed your report and would like to invite you and any other readers to one that I reallly enjoy as well, this guy has written for years and it is a fun report every time with great people:

I LOVE Nebo's reports! I read his faithfully, but I'm not very good about joining in with the banter, I never seem to have enough time. I also used to love ZZUB's report a long long time ago and HappyHaunts too. There are lots of really clever writers here!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3023093&page=99

I will definitely miss your trip report! Hope you do another and that I find it when you do!!!

That's the hard part, finding reports from the same people again! I promise not to change my screen name so you can find me again lol.

Thanks!

Thanks so much for your trip report! I looked forward to reading each chapter. You're quite the comedienne.
Can't wait for your trip reports on future trips!

What a great report! Hope you enjoy the next trip with your family.

I think a lot of the magic for me is nostalgia. We visited WDW 3 times while I was growing up. I love to share the rides and characters that I loved with my own children.

When we visit Disney we focus on each other and not our jobs or school or homework. We don't watch tv news back in our room. It really is a place to escape the troubles of the world.

We never turn on the news either when we're there! It's like we don't even think about it. I'm fairly certain Disney pumps in subliminal messages while we sleep at night that make us not care about anything else lol.

I hope to catch you all on your own trip reports! They're really fun to write, I promise!

 

[pktbMouse]

loved your trip report...look forward to the next one, thank you so much.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I've been lurking& I, too love your writing style, just the right amount of snarkyness!

I was in the middle of a lost child event during our 2011 trip. A small boy of about 4 or 5 came running out of TofT into the gift shop. He suddenly realized his parents weren't around. He ran out the door to the out side. I followed him out, as I went out I told the CM that chile seemed to be lost. The CM rushed out, picked up the boy, brought him back into the shop. To make matters worse the boy didn't speak English. The CM was being very helpful, gave the boy a plush to calm him down. In a short while the family came out if the ride. They had stopped to look at the photos & hadn't noticed the boy had run out. All ended well, thankfully.

I just wanted to relate there are some CMs that do care about small children being separated from their family.

 

[appleorchard]

That's good to hear! I think the problem in the playgrounds is that parents and grandparents probably misplace kids constantly! It's so hard to keep track in there. The CMs probably get a little casual about it, because they assume the kids are in there somewhere and that the parents just don't see them. 99 out of 100 are; ours just happened to be the 1 out of 100 that wasn't.