DISNEY TRIP
ALL STAR MUSIC
DELTA Detroit-Orlando
YOUR RIDE VAN
ALL WDW PARKS
JUNE 15, 2002 Through June 22, 2002
CAST:
Rich aka Coldpony on the Boards. Husband to Melissa. Dad to Jacob, Katie, and Hannah. 31 year old Sales Analyst. 8th Trip to WDW. Status: MASTER TRIP PLANNER AND AUTHOR OF TRIP REPORT.
Melissa. Wife to Rich. Mom to Jacob, Katie, and Hannah. Friend to Tami. Soon to be 30 years old. Finance / Accounting Supervisor for our city. 7th Trip to WDW (pregnant during two of the previous trips...please, let's not have that happen again). Status: ADDICTED PIN TRADER
Jacob. Son to Rich and Melissa. Brother to Katie and Hannah. Friends with Becca and Michelle. Recent Kindergarten Graduate. 2nd Disney Trip (3rd if you include the trip in mommys tummy). STATUS: ROCK N ROLLER COASTER JEDI KNIGHT.
Katie. Daughter to Rich and Melissa. Sister to Jacob. Twin Sister to Hannah. Loves Becca and Michelle. Graduated from 1st year of pre-school. 2nd Disney Trip (3rd if you include trip in mommy's tummy).
Celebrating 4th birthday at Disney World. STATUS: EAGLE EYES FOR ICE CREAM CARTS.
Hannah. Daughter to Rich and Melissa. Sister to Jacob. Twin Sister to Katie. Loves Becca and Michelle. Graduated from 1st year of pre-school. 2nd Disney Trip (3rd if you include trip in mommy's tummy).
Celebrating 4th birthday at Disney World. STATUS: GOOFY BARNSTORMER NEVER AGAIN DADDY.
Tami. Friend to Melissa and Rich. Mom to Becca and Michelle. Thirty Something. Works at City with Melissa. 2nd Disney Trip. STATUS: CLASS A Get Richs Wife Addicted To Pin Trading (I think she must get commission from Disney for Pin Sales).
Becca. Daughter to Tami. Sister to Michelle. Friends with Jacob, Katie, Hannah. 11 Years Old. 2nd Trip To WDW. STATUS: TOP GUN COASTER PILOT soon to be PIN ADDICT.
Michelle. Daughter to Tami. Sister to Becca. Friends with Jacob, Katie, Hannah. 10 Years Old. 2nd Trip To WDW. STATUS: MAJOR CM LANYARD SPOTTER.
DAY EIGHT: SATURDAY JUNE 22 HOMEWARD BOUND...MAYBE...
We woke up at 5am, got dressed and showered. I headed to the front desk to return Life Jackets and get a luggage cart, no problems. Back to the room load everything up and head out. Checked out with no problems, Rabbit (Your Ride) was waiting patiently to take us away. On the way to the Airport, a huge storm moved in, we quickly unloaded at Delta curbside, said good by to Rabbit (HE WAS GREAT!), got checked in, through security with no problems, got to our gate, looked out the window and could not see a thing. We were delayed! So we got breakfast at Burger King and waited. We were only delayed about 30 minutes but that was enough to miss our connection in Atlanta. We gate checked the stroller in Orlando and never saw it again!!! Some how they lost it. As my wife was frantically trying to switch our flights out of Atlanta to Detroit (Which she handles wonderfully), I was trying to find out where the heck my stroller was!!! (Pinlissa said I had a meltdown). Anyway, apparently the stroller never got on our first plane, they didnt see it What ever, its a large, dark blue, Graco, Double, Side by Side, how can you not see it!!!
Anyway Pinlissa got us on the next flight to Detroit and we had no other problems. I was pretty worried about our luggage, but it was there waiting for us. We had a Sky Cab help us with the luggage and she got us a parking lot van right away. The van driver took us right to our car and helped us unload. We packed up the van (less one stroller) and hit the highway. We stopped at Wendys for lunch/dinner. And made it home with no problems.
WE ARE JUST LUCKY THEY LOST THE STROLLER ON THE WAY HOME AND NOT ON THE WAY THERE. I DONT MIND PROBLEMS ON THE WAY HOME, ITS BETTER THAN PROBLEMS WHILE YOUR ON VACATION!!!
AFTER THOUGHTS:
Weather: The rain was frustrating, but just keep going and ignore it as much as possible. We were talking last night, now that we have been home a few days, and the rain doesnt seem like such a big deal now. Buy ponchos before the rain starts or else the poncho lines get huge!!! Dont forget duct tape for poncho repair.
Night Shows: Three years ago we went to all the night shows. This Trip we didnt do any of them. If you dont mind missing them, it is a great time to ride with very short to no waits.
Transportation: The busses were great with the longest wait less than 10 minutes. YOUR RIDE with RABBIT was fantastic. We will recommend him and use him again.
CMs: All CMs were very helpful and friendly that I encountered.
Food: We saved tons of $$$ by eating breakfast in the rooms and by snacking throughout the day trying to eat at one Nice place a day.
PINS: Set a pre-set limit on how many Pins you can buy a day. Look at discount stores around home for pins that say Disney on the back. CMs suggested that K-mart has cheap pins and that they (CMs) have to trade if it says Disney on the back. The cheapest pins at WDW are $6.50.
Parades: Waiting for parades stinks!!! Wait till they start and stand in back to watch them, unless you have little kids, then you dont have a choice. Remember, Parades never start right on time!
ALL STAR MUSIC: This is really nice resort and is very comparable to the moderates in my opinion (I have stayed at all of them). I will always stay at All Stars from now on. However, I will pay the extra $10 a night for the preferred building while I still have young children / strollers. If you see how often we are in our room, I see no reason to pay $100 more a night for a moderate which would equate to $700!!!
***Last night (4 days later) our stroller showed up on our back porch...sort of...it was unbelievably dirty with what looked like 'skid' marks all over it. The foam handle looked like it had been attacked by a pack of rats. The rubber on wheel had been rubbed away all the way down to the plastic like someone took a sander to it!!! My wife will be on the phone with Delta today and it won't be a pretty picture. Part of her job with the city is 'collections' so she has some pretty good techniques for dealing with situations similar to this...who knows, we might end up with a Mercedes by the time sheis done with them. I'll let you know...
ALL STAR MUSIC
DELTA Detroit-Orlando
YOUR RIDE VAN
ALL WDW PARKS
JUNE 15, 2002 Through June 22, 2002
CAST:
Rich aka Coldpony on the Boards. Husband to Melissa. Dad to Jacob, Katie, and Hannah. 31 year old Sales Analyst. 8th Trip to WDW. Status: MASTER TRIP PLANNER AND AUTHOR OF TRIP REPORT.
Melissa. Wife to Rich. Mom to Jacob, Katie, and Hannah. Friend to Tami. Soon to be 30 years old. Finance / Accounting Supervisor for our city. 7th Trip to WDW (pregnant during two of the previous trips...please, let's not have that happen again). Status: ADDICTED PIN TRADER
Jacob. Son to Rich and Melissa. Brother to Katie and Hannah. Friends with Becca and Michelle. Recent Kindergarten Graduate. 2nd Disney Trip (3rd if you include the trip in mommys tummy). STATUS: ROCK N ROLLER COASTER JEDI KNIGHT.
Katie. Daughter to Rich and Melissa. Sister to Jacob. Twin Sister to Hannah. Loves Becca and Michelle. Graduated from 1st year of pre-school. 2nd Disney Trip (3rd if you include trip in mommy's tummy).
Celebrating 4th birthday at Disney World. STATUS: EAGLE EYES FOR ICE CREAM CARTS.
Hannah. Daughter to Rich and Melissa. Sister to Jacob. Twin Sister to Katie. Loves Becca and Michelle. Graduated from 1st year of pre-school. 2nd Disney Trip (3rd if you include trip in mommy's tummy).
Celebrating 4th birthday at Disney World. STATUS: GOOFY BARNSTORMER NEVER AGAIN DADDY.
Tami. Friend to Melissa and Rich. Mom to Becca and Michelle. Thirty Something. Works at City with Melissa. 2nd Disney Trip. STATUS: CLASS A Get Richs Wife Addicted To Pin Trading (I think she must get commission from Disney for Pin Sales).
Becca. Daughter to Tami. Sister to Michelle. Friends with Jacob, Katie, Hannah. 11 Years Old. 2nd Trip To WDW. STATUS: TOP GUN COASTER PILOT soon to be PIN ADDICT.
Michelle. Daughter to Tami. Sister to Becca. Friends with Jacob, Katie, Hannah. 10 Years Old. 2nd Trip To WDW. STATUS: MAJOR CM LANYARD SPOTTER.
DAY EIGHT: SATURDAY JUNE 22 HOMEWARD BOUND...MAYBE...
We woke up at 5am, got dressed and showered. I headed to the front desk to return Life Jackets and get a luggage cart, no problems. Back to the room load everything up and head out. Checked out with no problems, Rabbit (Your Ride) was waiting patiently to take us away. On the way to the Airport, a huge storm moved in, we quickly unloaded at Delta curbside, said good by to Rabbit (HE WAS GREAT!), got checked in, through security with no problems, got to our gate, looked out the window and could not see a thing. We were delayed! So we got breakfast at Burger King and waited. We were only delayed about 30 minutes but that was enough to miss our connection in Atlanta. We gate checked the stroller in Orlando and never saw it again!!! Some how they lost it. As my wife was frantically trying to switch our flights out of Atlanta to Detroit (Which she handles wonderfully), I was trying to find out where the heck my stroller was!!! (Pinlissa said I had a meltdown). Anyway, apparently the stroller never got on our first plane, they didnt see it What ever, its a large, dark blue, Graco, Double, Side by Side, how can you not see it!!!
Anyway Pinlissa got us on the next flight to Detroit and we had no other problems. I was pretty worried about our luggage, but it was there waiting for us. We had a Sky Cab help us with the luggage and she got us a parking lot van right away. The van driver took us right to our car and helped us unload. We packed up the van (less one stroller) and hit the highway. We stopped at Wendys for lunch/dinner. And made it home with no problems.
WE ARE JUST LUCKY THEY LOST THE STROLLER ON THE WAY HOME AND NOT ON THE WAY THERE. I DONT MIND PROBLEMS ON THE WAY HOME, ITS BETTER THAN PROBLEMS WHILE YOUR ON VACATION!!!
AFTER THOUGHTS:
Weather: The rain was frustrating, but just keep going and ignore it as much as possible. We were talking last night, now that we have been home a few days, and the rain doesnt seem like such a big deal now. Buy ponchos before the rain starts or else the poncho lines get huge!!! Dont forget duct tape for poncho repair.
Night Shows: Three years ago we went to all the night shows. This Trip we didnt do any of them. If you dont mind missing them, it is a great time to ride with very short to no waits.
Transportation: The busses were great with the longest wait less than 10 minutes. YOUR RIDE with RABBIT was fantastic. We will recommend him and use him again.
CMs: All CMs were very helpful and friendly that I encountered.
Food: We saved tons of $$$ by eating breakfast in the rooms and by snacking throughout the day trying to eat at one Nice place a day.
PINS: Set a pre-set limit on how many Pins you can buy a day. Look at discount stores around home for pins that say Disney on the back. CMs suggested that K-mart has cheap pins and that they (CMs) have to trade if it says Disney on the back. The cheapest pins at WDW are $6.50.
Parades: Waiting for parades stinks!!! Wait till they start and stand in back to watch them, unless you have little kids, then you dont have a choice. Remember, Parades never start right on time!
ALL STAR MUSIC: This is really nice resort and is very comparable to the moderates in my opinion (I have stayed at all of them). I will always stay at All Stars from now on. However, I will pay the extra $10 a night for the preferred building while I still have young children / strollers. If you see how often we are in our room, I see no reason to pay $100 more a night for a moderate which would equate to $700!!!
***Last night (4 days later) our stroller showed up on our back porch...sort of...it was unbelievably dirty with what looked like 'skid' marks all over it. The foam handle looked like it had been attacked by a pack of rats. The rubber on wheel had been rubbed away all the way down to the plastic like someone took a sander to it!!! My wife will be on the phone with Delta today and it won't be a pretty picture. Part of her job with the city is 'collections' so she has some pretty good techniques for dealing with situations similar to this...who knows, we might end up with a Mercedes by the time sheis done with them. I'll let you know...
! Thanks so much for taking the time to share it. Sorry to hear about your stroller. Our stroller ended up breaking at Disney (luckily on our last day). I was so glad we only had to pay for a rental one day 
