Brave Attempt at a First PTR/TR!

[TheColtonsMom]

Glad the little man is coming along well at 6 months. Glad you got back to your TR after all you inspired me to start mine.

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

I'm so glad you came back to this TR of yours!

Wow, I am so sorry to hear about the baby stress. That must have been so hard to be going through that while putting on your "vacation face" and being away from home and your own doctor. (Was it your own doctor that gave you the misdiagnosis over the phone? If you don't mind my asking that is.) I'm glad that all is well now.

You're off to a great start!

Yes, it was my own doctor. The same doctor that told me to go home and wait for a miscarriage when I saw her after returning from our vacation. I demanded a recommendation to another doctor and was sent to a specialist who basically told me that my doctor was off her rocker.

Thanks! Pictures are to follow shortly. I wasn't able to get them loaded earlier today.

 

[HollyannHeck]

Enjoying the trip report so far, and glad the baby is doing well! How sad that you had to go through thinking you were miscarrying on vacation. Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[Goofy_Mom]

I take it, the doc didn't deliver your older children. What a quack. I'm not a fan of Carousel anymore either. They used to be a good hotel. . . 10 years ago. Can't wait to see more.

 

[FlameGirl]

I am so sorry you had that kind of stress during your trip. I can't even imagine.

Also sorry to hear your hotel was unpleasant. We were considering the Carousel for our trip at the end of the year but decided to go with BWPPI again. Sounds like it's the right choice.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

Suite with three queen beds and two bathrooms

First bathroom

Second bedroom with one queen bed

Second bathroom


Looks nice, right? Just wait.. it gets better.

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

We pulled into what seemed to be a very disorganized and tiny parking lot, which was valet parking only. This makes sense after seeing that they parked cars two deep down an alleyway that had no room to turn a vehicle around in. I walked into the lobby to check in while the family unloaded bags. The lobby was clean and eye catching... very deceiving after we saw our “suite”. I checked in and received keys for room 410 aka the worst hotel room I have ever stayed in. The hotel was undergoing a never ending remodel. We sat and waited for the one elevator, the stairs were closed and the second elevator wasn’t operating. The hotel website did mention that they were undergoing renovations, but they did not mention that the entire building was under construction. It was dirty, loud and the paint fumes were enough to get a person high.
After waiting in line for the elevator for ten minutes, we had finally made it to our suite. The room was a little run down, but I didn’t expect it to blow me away to begin with. Nothing compares to the GCH. We picked beds, unloaded suitcases, freshened up and then head to the park.
It was almost 3pm so we had a little bit of time to spare before our reservations at the Carnation Café.

Our first stop…
POTC! It’s a tradition that we always ride this ride first and last. I don’t know how or why the tradition started, but it seems to be a must do with everyone. The line looked a lot longer than it actually was. We rode it once and then let the guys head over to Space Mountain, which I couldn’t ride and mom refuses to ride. Mom and I shopped around a bit and then sat out front of the Golden Horseshoe to people watch. The park was very busy and the crowds were very entertaining. As we sat we put added our own dialog to those who walked past us. This is very entertaining if you find people who use hand gestures or facial expressions while talking. After the boys were done riding Space Mountain they hopped onto the Matterhorn, caught a Captain Eo showing and rode Storybook Land Canal. Once we all met up it was time to make our way back to Main St. and check in for our dinner reservations.

We were seated at two separate tables, which sat back to back, but right up against the railing and Main St. We took our time to order as we knew that the last Celebrate! Parade was due to start and we wanted to have the perfect place to watch it from while enjoying our meal. DH, Mom and Brother all ordered the Café Steak Melt, while I ordered a Turkey Sandwich and bowl of Potato soup to split with Aidan. Brennan had the Mac N Cheese. Everything was very good, but I found the sandwich a little on the dry/plain side, but what the sandwich lacked the soup more than made up for. It was to die for! I find my mouth watering as I type.

The timing of our meal was perfect. We were able to sit and watch the parade. People were not allowed to stop and watch from the sidewalk in front of us so the only people we had to watch through were those who sat on the curb. It was very easy to see directly over their heads. It was great to be able to experience the very last Celebrate! Parade.

After dinner we split up again to let the guys go ride some of the faster rides that I was not able to ride. Mom and I walked up Main Street and soaked in the beautiful holiday décor. I had experienced it all the year before, but it was a first for Mom. She may be an even bigger Disney fanatic than I am so to see the look on her face was very exciting for me. We walked and shopped for another hour or so and then met up with the guys. We wanted to get a good night’s sleep so that we could be up and at ‘em bright and early the next morning. What we didn’t know was that there was a surprise (if you could call it that) waiting for us back at our room….

It was around 9:30 and as we slowly made our way back to the hotel we begin to realize just how tired we all were from the day of travel and excitement. We entered the room and the boys plopped down onto the beds. They probably would have been asleep almost instantaneously if it hadn’t been for Mom’s scream. She had walked into the second bathroom looking for the light switch and almost fell due to a large amount of water on the floor. The ceiling was leaking! At first we weren’t sure if it was sink/tub water, water from the pipes, or from an overflowed toilet. I immediately called the front desk who said they would send maintenance. 30 minutes later he shows up and claims that this tends to happen if they shower in room 510 with the shower curtain outside of the shower. I was floored! This is clearly a known issue yet they still booked the room? I watched as he pushed on the ceiling around the leaking spot, which had begun to sag due to the weight of the water in the ceiling. There was no way this could be from a single shower! I couldn’t imagine the amount of water that was still trapped between the two floors. The maintenance man put a garbage can under the drip, told us he would report it to the manager tomorrow morning and left. No extra towels, no clean up of the puddle, nothing!! By this point it was well past 10pm, 11pm back home, and I was not only tired, but extremely PO’d. Needless to say, the water continued to drip drip drip all night long!

Finally, after tossing and turning all night, I got out of bed at 5am and emptied the standing water in the garbage can. The ceiling was still leaking and beginning to sag even more than it had the night before.. I decided that after a cup of coffee I would call the front desk and demand to speak to the manager.

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

Dont mess with a pregnant woman!!! So I will now put that hotel on my list of places to not stay at! I could only imagine the mold! sorry you had such an awful time- glad to hear the baby is doing great! Cant wait to read more!

 

[burly]

OMG
What was your doctor thinking, telling you that, while you were out of town.
The Hotel room! What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





KIM

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

Okay I’m back! Who knew being pregnant could be so much work!! On March 11th at about 3 am in the morning I woke up to use the restroom (sorry if this is too much info for some of you). After using the restroom I was returning to bed when I felt a huge gush. I thought for sure my water broke, but I was only 30 weeks and figured it there was no way possible. So, I went back to bed. In the morning I went into the hospital, not my doctor’s office, and was told after an examination that I had wet myself. Really!? Boy did I feel dumb. I was given a steroid shot and some terbutaline to stop the mild contractions I was having. Doctor’s orders were bed rest. I returned the following morning for my second steroid shot and went back home to my bed. At about 11pm that night after leaking throughout the day I decided I needed to go back to the hospital. After a second examination by yet another doctor we discovered that my water DID break on the 11th. At this point I was in active labor again. My contractions were stopped and I was sent in an ambulance to a hospital in another city, which had a NICU. Here I was told that if I were to go into labor again it would not be stopped. Well one day in the hospital turned into one week, which turned into a month in the antepartum wing. Talk about BORING!! I should have been writing my TR, but the thought never crossed my mind. I thought I’d go crazy for sure. Long story short I made it to 34 weeks and at about 5 am the morning of induction day I went into labor. Kiptyn was born 4/4/11 at 8:54 am weighing 5lbs 2oz and measuring 22inches. He didn’t need any assistance breathing and scored a 9 on his apgar. He couldn’t have been healthier! It was amazing to think that he had been without much amniotic fluid for almost 4 weeks. Good thing he was so cute after such an ornery pregnancy! He spent 17 days in NICU and went home 3 days before Easter. I’ll share a few pics I took below.

SO… as you can see, I have a perfectly good reason for taking so dang long to finish this TR! Between work, family/baby, and summer I promise I will finish even if it takes me an entire year!! Hopefully it will be finished before our next trip rolls around in November!

Stay tuned.. TR to be continued in the next post!

 

[starshine514]

Wow! Love the picts - your kids (all of them) are adorable. Sorry about the difficult pregnancy. I also had a hemorrhage (on vacation - yup, had to get cleared to fly at the hospital before catching a plane) while pregnant with my second. I was about 2.5 months along and sure I was losing her. Turns out the placenta was just moving (it had been blocking the escape route). They made me take it easy the rest of the pregnancy, which is why I gained an extra 10 lbs w/DD2.

Looking forward to reading the rest about your horrible hotel!

 

[kylie71]

Loving it so far! Your boys are adorable!
Please continue!

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

"I promise I will finish even if it takes me an entire year!! Hopefully it will be finished before our next trip rolls around in November& I have to laugh when I read this segment from my last post. An entire year, huh& well lets try 2 years later and it still wont be officially completed.

I had every intention to complete this PTR/TR, but never got around to it. I have felt awful about starting it and not completing it. I really wish I had completed it so that our entire experience would be documented. Pictures are a great way to capture memories, but TRs can capture so much more of the little details that we tend to forget after time.

So here I sit, looking at such a sad and incomplete TR thread. I figured the least I could do is post some of the pics from this vacation. It really was a great time regardless of the crappy hotel and pregnancy issues I am hoping that by posting the pics I will be able to give this thread (and myself) a little bit of closure before I attempt another PTR/TR here on Dis! I am bound and determined to finish it this time!! So please feel free to hop on over and subscribe. I will post the link once I begin. I would love for you to support me through my second attempt at a PTR/TR!

With that said, its picture time!

Headed into the park for this first time this trip. Don't look so excited guys!

Time to get a pic with the mickey head bench! Brennan's trip tradition.

Brother and hubby singing "When you wish upon a star"

All together now!

Finally inside the park and Mom decides that it is time to find a job. Elephant trainer?! Perfect!

Had to stop for a family picture in front of the beautiful tree.

Brennan in line for POTC, our traditional first ride of any trip.

Mom and I waiting for dinner at the Carnation Cafe

Brennan's dinner at Carnation Cafe

A peek at the delish steak melt

Gigantic strawberry!

Way to go Idaho! My mouth waters looking at this bowl of potato soup.

The not so exciting turkey sandwich that accompanied my soup.



Parade Pics:

I didn't have many additional pictures on my camera after this point of the night. We split up so the guys could ride a few rides and then headed back to the hotel to rest up (or to try to rest up) for our first full day in the park.

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

Hotel Issue Resolved:

In the Carousels defense they did resolve our issue, but they did not make it easy on us.
I called the lobby and was eventually patched through to a very rude manager who promised that our bathroom would be fixed by the time we returned midday for our rest/swim. I was a little thrown back by our conversation. He made it very clear that this was not the first time someone had complained about this issue or the room. This blew me away! Why continue to book this room if you know it has issues? Take the time to close it down and properly fix the ceiling vs patching it for a temporary quick fix. He made several excuse and also said that he would tell the family in the room above us to keep the shower curtain in the tub and to LIMIT their shower time. Again, I am floored by this and I can only imagine how well this went over with the guests in room 510! Not once did he apologize or even offer to come assess the damage himself. I hung up with him and just shrugged my shoulders.

Not a very good ceiling shot. The ceiling was literally sagging from the built up water.

We were not going to let this rain on our parade. We proceeded to all shower in one bathroom (not all at once of course) and get out the door and on our way to the park in a fairly reasonable amount of time given that there were 6 of us. It helped that we still had the usage of two full vanities and two sinks.

It was shortly after 2 o'clock when Mom and I decided that we needed a nap by this time. A busy day at the park and last nights lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on us. We returned to our suite to find that the bathroom was WORSE than we had left it. No one had stopped by to fix it and the water was still drip, drip, dripping! Unbelievable!!

The guys were headed to another hotel to swim because the pool was also under construction. Perhaps that's where all the water was coming from! They went to the lobby as advised and were told to wait outside for a shuttle. 35 minutes later and still no shuttle so they decided to walk. Again, unbelievable, but at this point nothing surprised us. Mom and I laid down for a short rest.

Maintenance showed up about 25 minutes into our nap, took one look at the ceiling and admitted that there was no way that he would be able to fix the problem. He even poked the area around the leak and you could see the actual drywall give away to the pressure. I tried to explain this to the manager earlier that morning and had he taken 15 minutes to wait for the one elevator and personally came up to our room he would have known that it was much worse than just a small leak. I figured he would report this to the manager and we would receive a call, but 30 minutes pass and NOTHING! By this time I have had enough of this room. I head down to the lobby to talk to the manager. He explains to me that they are packed and there are no empty suites, but they could move us the next day. Which was fine. We were so over room 410!

Some more photos taken from our trip:

In que to ride Soarin

My brother thought he would tape non-stop or until the camera died. This last about 20 minutes before my husband confiscated the camcorder.

Mom and I discovered Vinylmation key chains this trip and went a little crazy!

Waiting for our first viewing of WOC to begin!

Checking out the hair

Checking out the shirts

Which one is you?

Minnie and Me (and baby in the oven!)

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

More pictures from our trip...

Start off the day with a greeting from Donald!

Had to say "hello" to the porch

Little brother!

Stopped by to pay Santa and his reindeer a visit...

Blue Bayou for Lunch!

Okay, now my mouth is watering!


After lunch we headed back to a NEW room!

First room with 2 Q beds

Second room with 1 Q bed

Second NON-LEAKING bathroom!

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

A for Alex

C for Chance

Such a poser

Dinner at Redd Rockett's Pizza Port. I believe we were eating Starfield of Greens, Count Down Chicken Fusilli and a slice of Mega Pepperoni pizza.

Starfield of Greens

I believe this was their Supernova Pizza Special and Lunar Cheese pizza

Visiting Pixie Hollow

The rental van

PARADE TIME!