Celebrating Legacies, Love, and Jalapeno Pretzels: Anniversary TR (Replies 6/12)

[Stefy]

Ooh Tokyo Dining looks yummy and what an awesome table you got

I love the Mitsukoshi Store too, so many cool little things to look at. Did you check out the Sake bar towards the back left hand side?

 

[natebenma]

Fantastic afternoon so far!

Thanks for sharing your ride on Journey to Imagination with us. Your descriptions really brought all of the emotions you were feeling to life.

Aren't Fast Passes the greatest thing??? Even if the crowds are low and you don't need them, you feel like you scored a little victory whenever you get one!

Now, Test Track is a new ride for you, right? Soarin, too?

 

[jenneth79]

I swear, I'm still here! My life just got super crazy the past month, lots of travel and family time have taken up all my free time!


Soooo sorry, and look forward to sharing more very soon!

 

[Stefy]

Hey Jen don't worry about it, we're all still here waiting patiently

 

[heathsf]

No worries. I know I'm guilty of the same thing on my TR. It happens. We'll still be here...

 

[jenneth79]

Ooh Tokyo Dining looks yummy and what an awesome table you got

I love the Mitsukoshi Store too, so many cool little things to look at. Did you check out the Sake bar towards the back left hand side?

We did! Though it was on a different day of our trip.....

Fantastic afternoon so far!

Thanks for sharing your ride on Journey to Imagination with us. Your descriptions really brought all of the emotions you were feeling to life.

Aren't Fast Passes the greatest thing??? Even if the crowds are low and you don't need them, you feel like you scored a little victory whenever you get one!

Now, Test Track is a new ride for you, right? Soarin, too?

I am a firm believer in the FP now, both Mike and I swear they are the best things, especially in a park where you can grab a FP, then spend some time wandering around the World Showcase sampling food and beverage until it's time to ride!

Yes, Test Track was new for me and I really loved it. Soarin was... though... well, I'll give my opinions on that a bit later. Or a lot later, at the rate I'm taking this TR!

Hey Jen don't worry about it, we're all still here waiting patiently

Thanks! So glad you started your TR, just got caught up this morning!

No worries. I know I'm guilty of the same thing on my TR. It happens. We'll still be here...

I hope so, as soon as I find the notebook with my daily journal (burried under mounds of holiday decorations at home) I'll continue on with the report!

 

[jenneth79]

Chapter Four

In which our heroine gets her room, learns the joys of Photopass, and rides a very fast car.

Hello Dear Reader :waves:, I hope you haven’t given up on me just yet and are ready for another installment of our TR!

The walk from Epcot back to the Yacht Club was really very nice, and would be something we ended up doing quite a lot during our stay at Disney. I think this easy access alone would recommend the Beach and Yacht Club or Boardwalk Inn hotels to anyone!


We took the elevator back up to the Club Level and walked down the hallway to our room. We had an amazing water view that Buddha and Chester immediately decided to enjoy!

We also had a little bit of pixie dust!

Chocolate, balloons, and a lovely little Anniversary Wish! I thought it was a really nice touch, along with a little not-so-hidden Mickey towel animal. I went over and noticed our message light was blinking, and you can tell how happy the message made me.

It was Mickey and Minnie wishing us a Happy Anniversary! At the end, Mickey sings “….and many more…”. Just too cute. Mike had a little surprise of his own waiting for him….

A bottle of Macallan 12 (which I set up with the IPO before our trip…they wrapped it up so nice!) and a glass of Macallan 25 as a special treat for my DH. He’s a huge Scotch fan, and while the bottle was overkill and would never be finished in 9 days, it just felt like a nice Anniversary type thing to do!

As for the room itself, I thought this little detail was super cute!

Love the idea of Mickey Lamps!

We decided to freshen up a bit and head back out to enjoy Epcot some more before our ADR at San Angel Inn.

!!!!FORESHADOWING ALERT!!!!

When I was using the bathroom, I noticed that the toilet seemed to flush a bit slow, but didn’t really think much of it since a lot of hotels have those energy saving pluming setups that never seems to quite work the way they should.

!!!!!END FORSHADOWING SEGMENT!!!!!

Oh, and we had been given MORE buttons. Seriously, I think we brought home 6 or 8 Happy Anniversary buttons. I’m going to find something fun to do with them, once of these days.

We walked back down the hallway to the CL Lounge and checked out what “rush hour” was like there. Not too bad, lots of CMs walking around making sure things were cleaned up, everyone got seconds if they wanted them, etc. There was only one thing that I wasn’t 100% thrilled about, which is probably a nitpicking kind of thing, but still. There was no bottled water available.

I think I understand the logic behind this, but it still struck me as a bit odd. The fridge is stacked to the brim with beer, sodas, and juice, but no water. There were very nice large glass bottles of Evian and Perrier, which the CMs said we could certainly take back to our rooms, but nothing in a “grab and go” form.

I grabbed a Diet Coke instead and we made out way back outside and over to the International Gateway entrance to Epcot.

Coming up the bridge to France we noticed a Photopass Photographer set up, with only a single couple in line. I thought it was a good time to give it a shot (I pre-purchased the Photo CD before we left on our trip) and we got in line. I have to say, I’ve been pretty pleased with most of the pictures we got on our trip, with a few glaringly bad exceptions.

This was not one of them; the CM was very friendly and quickly took a few shots of the two of us in front of Paris:

Dear reader, my PP stalking began at that moment. Walking back over towards Future World and Test Track (which we thought we’d use our Fastpasses on before dinner) we spotted another photographer in front of the “big golf ball”.

(can you tell how awkward we are in these early photos? It’s like we forgot how to pose or something. “Mike, stop acting like you’re going to strangle me!”…. )

Once I was done playing Celebrity, we stopped by Test Track to see what all the fuss was about.

(it was around 6:30 that we walked in the FP line, but this is the Standby, which I think was still only 20 min or so wait.)

(I think I was trying to impersonate a very unhappy Crash Test Dummy. )

Within moments we were on the ride, and WOW, it really was a lot of fun. Both Mike and I love cars (he loves how they work, I love to drive them…)

Yeah, it was awesome, I especially love the ABS test. (If you haven’t been on this ride yet, I won’t spoil it for you!) Also, they let you download the ride photo to your Photopass card free of charge, bonus!

After the ride, I was unaware that it dumps you out onto a showroom floor. Uh oh. Two car fanatics and a Cadillac CTSV?

(I did NOT want to get out of this car….)

(neither did Mike….)

Ok, up next Dinner and Drinks to honor my Dad, and a very bad, no good night.

 

[Shannon84]

An update I am so happy I saw this!!

I love your photopass pictures, but I had to laugh at your comment about forgetting how to pose and not looking like you are strangling each other

uh oh I am nervous about that foreshadowing!!

LOVE the surprise in the room, very cool

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay another update!

Love the view from your room and am glad Buddha and Chester got to enjoy it as well

Don't you just love the little touches at Disney such as the welcome/anniversary messages? Oh no on the foreshadowing...doesn't sound good.

Great PP pics!

 

[jenneth79]

An update I am so happy I saw this!!

I love your photopass pictures, but I had to laugh at your comment about forgetting how to pose and not looking like you are strangling each other

uh oh I am nervous about that foreshadowing!!

LOVE the surprise in the room, very cool

We really were, it was just the most silly thing... I guess we haven't taken anything remotely resembling "formal" pictures since our wedding, so we were a bit rusty. I got into it the next day, thankfully, though I still looked like a fool.

Yay another update!

Love the view from your room and am glad Buddha and Chester got to enjoy it as well

Don't you just love the little touches at Disney such as the welcome/anniversary messages? Oh no on the foreshadowing...doesn't sound good.

Great PP pics!

I do love the little touches, I think that is one of my favorite things about Disney, just the attention to detail that no one else bothers to do. Keeps me coming back year after year!

 

[heathsf]

Yay I'm so glad to see an update! You don't look awkward in your pictures and you both look so happy!! (I would be too if my hotel was walking distance from Epcot!!! ) I'm looking forward to reading about your thoughts on San Angel Inn since I ate their too on my last trip. Can't wait for more!

 

[jenneth79]

Chapter 5

In which our heroine cries, wants to go home, and helps our hero drink his Scotch.

Dear reader, this installment of our story might offend you. It will probably disgust you. It will almost certainly make you widen your eyes in horror. I hope it also makes you laugh. For we experienced a night at Disney I wish no one here ever has to experience, and it almost ruined our whole trip.

I’m getting ahead of myself; first let’s go back to where we left off….

Mike and I finally dragged ourselves away from the lovely shiny new cars that we’ll never be able to afford and walked over to Mexico for our ADR at San Angel Inn. You can read my full review of the dinner HERE.

Just walking into the Mexico pavilion, and that perpetual twilight, brought tears to my eyes. This is where my father always made sure we sat down for a meal, this place that in so ways never changes, it just brought those moments back to me, with a smile, and made me instantly glad we decided to have our first dinner here to honor him.

We walked over to the Gran Fiesta Tour and there was no wait whatsoever. We had our pins with us, and people were constantly telling us “Happy Anniversary”, it was pretty awesome. It never really got old during the whole trip! The ride itself has changed since I was last there, but I think the new 3 Amigos “storyline” is pretty cute. I’m partial to Donald, what can I say?

Mike pointed out towards the end of advanced the special effects must have been when the ride first opened, and how they were still pretty relevant today.

We went up to the podium to check in for our ADR. Our table was not ready, so we ducked into La Cava del Tequila and discovered what was to become one of our favorite places in Disney. I simply adore this place, almost more for the atmosphere than the drinks! It’s warm, cozy, and everyone in there is super friendly. (You can read my review on our drinks HERE.)

We decided to do a tequila shot in my dad’s name, and the bartender it turns out gave it to us free of charge. The setup is super cool:

I really didn’t want to leave Cava, but we were certain to return at least once more on our trip! After more than an hour wait, our buzzer went off and we were shown to our table.

We had an AMAZING table location, right on the water. The food was really just OK for us, nothing special, but we both really enjoyed checking out the details on the pyramid behind us and the little special effects I hadn’t noticed before.

In fact, if you look to the left (as you are facing the pyramid) in the night sky and you will see one very bright “star”. You know what? That’s the North Star, at least according to my iPhone….. there also looked like there were a few shooting stars…which made me feel like my Dad was watching over us.

If I only realized his sense of the absurd was lurking over us as well…..

We returned to the YC late and quite full, but there was one surprise which awaited us! I had arranged ahead of time with Disney Florists to set up a very romantic “From Mickey and Minnie with Love” package. It really looked AMAZING! Here are some pictures:

An awesome, autographed and matted picture of Mickey and Minnie with simply GORGEOUS roses (and chocolate!):

The bed had rose petals in a lovely shape of a heart:

Tinkerbell speading her pixie dust!:

Towels with our names embroidered on them:

And a spa gift basket with all sorts of fun stuff, along with three electronic candles:

Truly, it was an amazing setup and worth every penny. I took some pictures and walked out on the balcony while Mike used the restroom.

This is where things went south.

Fast.

Not two minutes later, he comes running out onto the balcony, with a panicked look on his face. The toilet is overflowing. It won’t stop. The WATER won’t stop. He runs back over and throws down towels at the doorway to try to stem the flow from coming out onto the carpet. I run to the phone and call maintenance and tell them we have a plumbing emergency. They say they will be right up.

Five minutes pass….

Mike tries to get the water to stop at least running into the toilet to try and stem the sewage filling up the bathroom and making its way into the carpeted area. He takes the top off the tank and there is black *Stuff* all in there. Looks like ashes or god only knows what. Cigarette butts, maybe?

Five more minutes pass…..

I call back to maintenance; they assure me someone is on the way. I call downstairs to the front desk (CL is closed) to ask them to get a manager to please help. They say they will take care of it.

Ten more minutes pass. Mike finally manages (HIMSELF) to get the water to stop running, but it has made it over our dam of towels and is saturating the carpet. The place stinks. I’m getting worried about all our stuff on the floor of the closet, so I pull everything out and put it on the chair on the other side of the room.

No one has arrived.

I run downstairs to the front desk while Mike waits for someone to show. I talk to a manager; he calls maintenance and tells them to send someone over immediately. I explain the gravity of the situation and ask him if he can get us a different room that isn’t covered in human waste.

He tells me the hotel is full. I explain to him again that our room cannot possibly be sanitary or safe at this point to stay in.

He looks around for a bit. Finds a few rooms. Standard view, non CL. At this point, I’m willing to make the switch, but ask him if they will credit us the difference in our room. He offers to give us access to the CL but not anything else. All of you who know the difference between the cost of a Standard View room and a Lagoon view club level room will realize how ridiculous this is. Mike calls down to say maintenance has arrived, put TOWELS DOWN TO MOP IT UP. And have left.

The manager offers to credit me ½ our night’s stay. That’s it. At this point, it’s almost 1 AM and I’ve been up for almost 20 hours. I gave up and went back upstairs. When I got back to the room, Mike explained to me that maintenance had shown up but not housekeeping. We called, yet again, and housekeeping showed up. I hoped with bleach. Nope. Just more towels.

At this point, I looked around the room and saw our lovely flower petals, slowly being saturated by dirty toilet water. I am not proud to admit it, but I started crying and told Mike I wanted to go home. He brought me out on the balcony of our room, shut the door, and handed me a scotch and ginger ale. He kept it together when I was about to lose it. That’s why I married him. We sat out there and discussed our options, found something to laugh about, eventually just agreeing to call housekeeping one more time to swap out the towels on our soaked floor, and deal with it in the morning. We weren’t going to let one night ruin the next 7…. We were going to make the most of it.

We wore flip flops if we needed to go to the bathroom during that night, which we threw out the next morning, needless to say.

Of course, during all that drama, I had to do SOMETHING, so I redecorated the rose petals:

See? Told you I had a sense of humor buried down deep!

I had hoped the Mousekeeping staff would understand the next morning….sadly, it was not to be.

The next morning, we immediately asked the Concierge Desk what was being done about it, but they hadn’t even heard there was an issue. Perhaps no one thought it warranted attention? They managed to get housekeeping to clean the carpet, but even that took all day to complete. I will admit that the smell of carpet cleaner in our room was overpowering, but still better than the alternative. There was also a healthy dose of bleach in the bathroom, which made me feel a wee bit better. Housekeeping continued to be a disappointment, and it took four days of repeated requests to get the carpet (and old rose petals) vacuumed off the floor. No one in management ever contacted us for the rest of our stay about the issues, but I also was just looking to move forward and enjoy the rest of our time!

That’s the last you’ll hear about that drama though, because we have much better things to focus on, starting with Day Two coming up soon!

(You should all know that this did NOT ruin our trip, and well after the trip I have had multiple calls with Disney Resort Management and I feel that they have made an effort to really understand the problem and make steps to fix it for both Mike and I as well as future guests.)

 

[natebenma]

Looks like you guys had a fun afternoon and evening at EPCOT and made great advantage of the easy walking distance from the resort.

I think your photopass pictures are fantastic and I LOVE your dress! Beautiful color. Very festive for your dinner.

Here's my story:

My favorite photopass location is that bridge overlooking Paris. I had never seen a photographer there before and I thought it was a beautiful spot to have a family picture taken. Imagine my delight to see a photographer here as we walked by the bridge on the way to dinner. Maybe this will be our Christmas card photo!!!

Maybe not.


Very nice surprises in your room. The anniversary balloons and treats were a nice touch. We had those when we checked into our room at the Beach Club on our first stay. A couple of balloons, some candy bars and a card from Mickey that said "Happy Birthday, Mike!" Unfortunately, nobody in my family is named Mike. So we tried to return them to a CM because we didn't want poor Mike to miss his birthday cheer, but they assured us that we could keep the goodies.

********************************************

I'm sorry that your meal at San Angel was somewhat disappointing and even sorrier about what happened later.

The response from everyone at the resort was just so unacceptable!!! I can't believe that they were not able to accomodate you better. I'm glad that you did not let it spoil your trip and that you followed up and at least feel like someone finally listened to you (even though it was after your trip).

I love what you did with the rose petals!!! VERY FUNNY!

 

[jecskc]

Stopping in to say hello !!

GGS - also my favorite. If you ever get the chance to go to the Food and Wine festival, get a Parisian Cosmo Slush. Suuuppperr yummy !!

You DO NOT have a double chin !! Whatevs !! You are so pretty !!

Loved all of your gifts.

LOL on what you did with the rose petals.

OMG on what happened with your plumbing.

Glad you made the best of it.

Can't wait to read more. Going over to the dining review to read now.

 

[Nermel9]

Yay updates!

Your anniversary things in your room are so cute! And your photopass pics are lovely, you guys don't look awkward at all!

Test Track is so much fun! I can't stand the ABS part, though!

Love honoring your Dad with dinner and drinks in Mexico! I'm still looking for a way to do something like that in Disney for my Dad, but so far, nothing seems right!

AHHHH OMG, what a nightmare in YC! I can't believe none of the CM's cared, that's awful. They really should have moved you to another CL room, or credited you the difference if they made you move down to a standard room. That's disappointing, how un-Disneylike. I'm glad you managed to find the humor in the night and still have a great trip after!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I can't believe that happened to you at the YC and that none of the CM's seemed to care about the issue. I'm glad that you made the best of it (I would have done the same thing), but I would have been furious. Absolutely furious. I feel so horrible for you.

 

[swwake]

I have to say the room at the YC looks just beautiful and the decorations and romance package were also gorgeous. So sorry to hear you had to deal with the toilet incident. You had me tearing up when you were out on the balcony and your hubby brought you a scotch and ginger ale and talked you through it, making it all better!

I would be a little disappointed that they couldn't have moved me - maybe even to CL at BC or another resort? But I am glad you made the most of it after all!

 

[heathsf]

Oh my gosh!! That is absolutely horrendous! I can't believe that the manager was *so* unaccommodating! That makes me so upset for you. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, and the CMs are usually so great at helping accomplish that. I can't believe that they couldn't find a room for you, even if it was an upgrade! And worse, they were willing to downgrade you and NOT credit you your money! That is ridiculous! I'm so glad you didn't let it ruin your vacation because that would have been a very difficult thing for me to get over. I'm glad that you feel Disney has done all they can to make it right for you after the fact when you spoke to them when you got home. That is just truly awful. So has it been long enough that you can now look back at this and laugh...or is it still too soon?

 

[jenneth79]

Yay I'm so glad to see an update! You don't look awkward in your pictures and you both look so happy!! (I would be too if my hotel was walking distance from Epcot!!! ) I'm looking forward to reading about your thoughts on San Angel Inn since I ate their too on my last trip. Can't wait for more!

Awww, thanks! I am certainly glad we purchased the Photopass CD in advance, I'll probably do that every trip from here on out, there were a few really great shots!

Looks like you guys had a fun afternoon and evening at EPCOT and made great advantage of the easy walking distance from the resort.

I think your photopass pictures are fantastic and I LOVE your dress! Beautiful color. Very festive for your dinner.

Thanks! I absolutely love Target for stuff like this, lots of easy to pack and frankly I live most of my summer in them. (the part that they cost so little doesn't hurt either!)

... Imagine my delight to see a photographer here as we walked by the bridge on the way to dinner. Maybe this will be our Christmas card photo!!!

Maybe not.

Oh. My. Goodness! Don't you just love little boys?

Very nice surprises in your room. The anniversary balloons and treats were a nice touch. We had those when we checked into our room at the Beach Club on our first stay. A couple of balloons, some candy bars and a card from Mickey that said "Happy Birthday, Mike!" Unfortunately, nobody in my family is named Mike. So we tried to return them to a CM because we didn't want poor Mike to miss his birthday cheer, but they assured us that we could keep the goodies.

You should have asked for a Happy Birthday pin to go with it, if you were going to be Mike and all for the trip..... the same thing (kind of) happened to us. Our last day, we were delivered our checkout folio....except it was for the wrong person! When we dropped it back off with the CMs all I could think was of the poor soul who must have been delivered our folio and nearly had a heart attack from the charges!

I love what you did with the rose petals!!! VERY FUNNY!

Yeah, that was my little form of rebellion. We were calling it the "mood killer" for a few days as a laugh.

Stopping in to say hello !!

GGS - also my favorite. If you ever get the chance to go to the Food and Wine festival, get a Parisian Cosmo Slush. Suuuppperr yummy !!

You DO NOT have a double chin !! Whatevs !! You are so pretty !!

Loved all of your gifts.

LOL on what you did with the rose petals.

OMG on what happened with your plumbing.

Glad you made the best of it.

Can't wait to read more. Going over to the dining review to read now.

Welcome welcome welcome!

I saw a picture of that Cosmo Slushie.... F&W is now on my list of times we must visit, it looks sooo good!

 

[jenneth79]

Yay updates!

Your anniversary things in your room are so cute! And your photopass pics are lovely, you guys don't look awkward at all!

Test Track is so much fun! I can't stand the ABS part, though!

Love honoring your Dad with dinner and drinks in Mexico! I'm still looking for a way to do something like that in Disney for my Dad, but so far, nothing seems right!

AHHHH OMG, what a nightmare in YC! I can't believe none of the CM's cared, that's awful. They really should have moved you to another CL room, or credited you the difference if they made you move down to a standard room. That's disappointing, how un-Disneylike. I'm glad you managed to find the humor in the night and still have a great trip after!

I think it never really works to "seek out" the right way to honor someone, it just sort of comes to you when its ready. There was another, random moment during our trip which I'll cover later that really made me feel like I was truly honoring my dad, and it wasn't something at all we had planned.

You will know when it's right.

It really was so unlike anything I've ever experienced there.... guess I caught everyone on a bad week?

I can't believe that happened to you at the YC and that none of the CM's seemed to care about the issue. I'm glad that you made the best of it (I would have done the same thing), but I would have been furious. Absolutely furious. I feel so horrible for you.

Thank you.... It was a really crummy experience, but I have to say (knock on wood) I doubt that would ever happen again. Unless we are cursed, I'll let you know after February's trip.

I have to say the room at the YC looks just beautiful and the decorations and romance package were also gorgeous. So sorry to hear you had to deal with the toilet incident. You had me tearing up when you were out on the balcony and your hubby brought you a scotch and ginger ale and talked you through it, making it all better!

I would be a little disappointed that they couldn't have moved me - maybe even to CL at BC or another resort? But I am glad you made the most of it after all!

My husband is my Hero. Truly.

I did wonder about that later, especially after speaking to one of the Directors when I got home. I guess the person on duty just royally screwed up, and I was so done with it at that point I didn't press the issue while we were still there. (By that time the room was clean again, so for me it didn't make much sense.)

The only lasting thing has been my fear of hotel bathroom toilets!!! Seriously, I panic when I go to a hotel now. My own version of PTSD!!!!

Oh my gosh!! That is absolutely horrendous! I can't believe that the manager was *so* unaccommodating! That makes me so upset for you. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, and the CMs are usually so great at helping accomplish that. I can't believe that they couldn't find a room for you, even if it was an upgrade! And worse, they were willing to downgrade you and NOT credit you your money! That is ridiculous! I'm so glad you didn't let it ruin your vacation because that would have been a very difficult thing for me to get over. I'm glad that you feel Disney has done all they can to make it right for you after the fact when you spoke to them when you got home. That is just truly awful. So has it been long enough that you can now look back at this and laugh...or is it still too soon?

So I know we were in the best room you could get non-suite... and I do know there was a VERY large tech conference going on while we were there, but yeah, I wondered that too about the upgrade. My view on it is this:

1. They really WERE completely booked, due to the upgrade.
or
B. (come on, you know you laughed...) Because we still had 7 nights to go, they weren't willing to give up a large suite for that long.

Either way we were really laughing about it by the third day or so. My family has a pretty twisted sense of humor though, so we'll find something to laugh about in just about any situation....eventually.