Tiiiigergirl
<font color=red>Had to be rolled out of the restau
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2000
- Messages
- 782
Cast of Adventurers
Me: Shelly Disney Nut and wanting to go back to WDW for 12 plus years.
DH: Warren Converted Disney Nut
DS: Brandon, Age 7 Being raised right (a Disney Nut)
When we woke up that morning none of us wanted to get out of bed but we had to because we had set up an appointment to look into becoming DVC members. We also had to finish packing. We ate the last of the Nutter Butter cookies, fruit and pop tarts. I tossed the unopened box of Raisin Bran in my suitcase. We had everything basically ready when the DVC driver came to pick us up.
We got our first close-up look at the Boardwalk. It was truly delightful. Brandon loved going in the playroom and we sat and drank juice while waiting. We toured the property and considered joining but decided that it was too much of commitment considering how far away we live from Florida. Now if they opened up a property in California we might have done it, but as it is using the points to spend in CA was just not economical. All three of us were waiting back at the DVC office for the driver to come pick us up when the girl mentioned that we might want to get a move on because the driver was waiting for up front. Great we had been sitting there looking at our watches thinking he would come get us. We hustled it back to the front where sure enough he was there.
We raced back to Dixie Landings on to find out that we had missed our bell hop pickup time. My sweet husband looked like a deer caught in the headlights at the thought of having to move all of our luggage himself. We had a great deal of luggage to begin with and we had only increased its numbers. We explained that we were delayed at the DVC presentation and that Tiffany was coming in just a few minutes and could they possibly help us out. They were very gracious and again I started throwing massive quantities of dollar bills at people for looking at our luggage.
Now I wish I could remember the name of the driver that took us the port because he was great. He was friendly and helpful. We mentioned that we were picking up a rental car and would be spending our last morning in Florida at Downtown Disney. He carefully explained which roads to take and was a very pleasant conversationalist. No sticking my tongue out at him and I was very pleased to tip him.
As the drive was about an hour I was hoping that Brandon would settle down and take a nap. I think the whole novelty of going to be on a cruise ship kept him awake. It seemed a lot longer than an hour. Brandon did kick out of going through the toll booths. He'd never seen one before as they do not have them in the intermountain west. I have to confess that I thought it was a novel experience too although I'm sure if I lived in an area where I had to pay all the time it would get old really fast.
Finally we arrive at the Wonder. OK I know I over packed they did not need to point it out. We had the maximum number of pieces of luggage allowed. We checked our two bags each but that still left a garment bag, two carry-on bags, my purse and the stroller. We looked like we needed a pack mule. One of the cast members came up to us after we had checked the other bags and suggested that we might want to check our luggage. We smiled and said, "Oh, thanks we just need to find a bathroom first and then we'll look into it." I didn't have the heart to tell her that we had already checked the maximum.
I took the boys picture by the ship model and then we stood in line. We had already checked in at the hotel for the cruise so check-in was a breeze. We were exited to board the ship but if you look at the picture they took of us as we boarded we look wasted. We had a kind of stoned / glassy eyed kind of look. I'm kind of surprised that they did not check us for illegal substances.
The directed us to the Beach Blanket Buffet and we grabbed a table outside in the shade that was right by the Mickey Pool. I sat with the stuff while the boys got a tray and then we traded. Brandon was too exited to eat. We decided to put him in his trunks that we had packed in his carry-on and he got to slide down the Mickey slide dozens of times. The life guard even let me lurch up to the top so we could get a picture of him all by himself in the pool with that great big Mickey. Wow!
We were relaxing and noshing until it finally dawned on me that we needed to find out when we were eating Parrot Cay so we could make our Palo's reservation. We kicked it into high gear and dashed to our room. We picked up our meal tickets and realized that we needed to make it for tonight. We split up and I sent Warren to make the Palo's reservation and I headed to the spa for cabana massages and the surial bath. I told Warren to make the reservation for the same time as our dinner would be.
I was successful and so was he. He made the reservation for 6:30, the earliest possible sitting. Warren then took Brandon back to the pool and I headed to the clubs to enrol Brandon. I was very focused on advising them of his special needs and I really did not feel that they were understanding me. Then it started to go downhill from there. I found out to my horror that the club did not open until 7pm. That was a big problem.
I raced up to Palo's to see if we could switch our time and they very firmly said that no we could not. Now anyone who truly knows me will not believe I did what I just did. I paced the ship muttering expletives that do not bare repeating. I found Warren but I was inconsolable so I left and started wandering. Then I did the unpardonable. I was standing on Deck 5 outside the clubs and started crying. Even as I write this I cringe. Really give me a break. Not going to Palo's would not have ruined our cruise and I really don't think we would have starved. I also could have tried going down to guest services and explained the situation and that they don't warn you anywhere that there is half an hour that can create a problem. No I just start bawling.
One of the counselors saw me and asked what was wrong. I blubbered it out about the reservation snafu and about my worries about how Brandon would do in the club. He said let me see what I can do. They said that this was not a new problem. Part of me wanted to know why if it was a problem then why didn't they warn us but mostly I just wanted it fixed. Another counselor from his age group came over and said that he would be willing to watch Brandon if it was OK with the supervisor since he would have to miss a meeting. Unfortunately that counselor kind of treated me like I was some kind of blubbering idiot for the rest of the cruise.
It was getting close to time for the lifeboat drill and so I met the guys back at the cabin. Brandon had an ear condition where he was not supposed to get his ears wet. His ENT doctor suggested that when he wanted to go swimming we use silly putty to close over the hole. We tried it at home several times and it worked like a charm. We also live in one of the driest states in the country. When silly putty meets a more humid climate it melts and is very unstable. When it came time to remove the putty all of it did not come out. Some of it was stuck in his ear. Great! I went over my options and they all stunk. I really did not want to pay the ship's doctor, I didn't want to leave and I did not want to try to pull it out with tweezers. We did opt to gently try with the tweezers first because it wasn't down very far. All of us were scared. Warren dislodged most of it while I held Brandon down and tried to speak to him calmly. We were able to get the rest out with ear drops. We decided to keep his head out of water for the rest of the trip. That was too close. In retrospect I can't believe I did that. Even though it all came out OK we were pretty stupid and I know we wouldn't make the same choice again.
By this time I was a wreck. I actually wanted to leave but only if I could teleport myself back to my own home and bed. I saw all these happy people wandering around and I just couldn't get with the spirit of it. Warren and Brandon went to the deck party and after a bit I did too. We grabbed some chicken fingers for Brandon for dinner and headed back to the room to change. We dropped Brandon off and headed to Palo's.
Our server at Palo's was wonderful. Her name is Georgia and she was from Italy. She asked if we were celebrating anything special and we mentioned that it was our anniversary in two days and also that I had just graduated. She fussed and suggested and basically spoiled us. I was finally getting into the spirit of things and relaxing when our beeper went off. Instantly we tensed but it was just a message from the kids program telling us that Brandon had fallen asleep but that we should stay and enjoy our dinner. Too bad it made our blood pressure rise. I could have gone all night without having the beeper go off.
We had a great meal. The chocolate mousse is devine. Now I'd heard of chocolate being described as sensual before but I never really knew what they meant until now. It was rich and yummy and absolutely decadent. I want more! She also brought out a plate that was decorated with strawberry sauce that said Happy Anniversary and Congratulations on Graduating. We gave her a very generous tip.
We walked the long way back to the kid's club and picked up Brandon. We went to the show Voyage of the Ghost Ship. I kept falling asleep. The stress of the day had caught up to me. Warren noticed and whispered, "Do you want to leave?" He put me and Brandon to bed and he went back to finish watching the show. It finally occurred to me that I did not need to ask for a wake up call. I didn't even hear Warren when he slipped in beside me. I guess even theme park commandos break down every once in awhile.
Me: Shelly Disney Nut and wanting to go back to WDW for 12 plus years.
DH: Warren Converted Disney Nut
DS: Brandon, Age 7 Being raised right (a Disney Nut)
When we woke up that morning none of us wanted to get out of bed but we had to because we had set up an appointment to look into becoming DVC members. We also had to finish packing. We ate the last of the Nutter Butter cookies, fruit and pop tarts. I tossed the unopened box of Raisin Bran in my suitcase. We had everything basically ready when the DVC driver came to pick us up.
We got our first close-up look at the Boardwalk. It was truly delightful. Brandon loved going in the playroom and we sat and drank juice while waiting. We toured the property and considered joining but decided that it was too much of commitment considering how far away we live from Florida. Now if they opened up a property in California we might have done it, but as it is using the points to spend in CA was just not economical. All three of us were waiting back at the DVC office for the driver to come pick us up when the girl mentioned that we might want to get a move on because the driver was waiting for up front. Great we had been sitting there looking at our watches thinking he would come get us. We hustled it back to the front where sure enough he was there.
We raced back to Dixie Landings on to find out that we had missed our bell hop pickup time. My sweet husband looked like a deer caught in the headlights at the thought of having to move all of our luggage himself. We had a great deal of luggage to begin with and we had only increased its numbers. We explained that we were delayed at the DVC presentation and that Tiffany was coming in just a few minutes and could they possibly help us out. They were very gracious and again I started throwing massive quantities of dollar bills at people for looking at our luggage.
Now I wish I could remember the name of the driver that took us the port because he was great. He was friendly and helpful. We mentioned that we were picking up a rental car and would be spending our last morning in Florida at Downtown Disney. He carefully explained which roads to take and was a very pleasant conversationalist. No sticking my tongue out at him and I was very pleased to tip him.
As the drive was about an hour I was hoping that Brandon would settle down and take a nap. I think the whole novelty of going to be on a cruise ship kept him awake. It seemed a lot longer than an hour. Brandon did kick out of going through the toll booths. He'd never seen one before as they do not have them in the intermountain west. I have to confess that I thought it was a novel experience too although I'm sure if I lived in an area where I had to pay all the time it would get old really fast.
Finally we arrive at the Wonder. OK I know I over packed they did not need to point it out. We had the maximum number of pieces of luggage allowed. We checked our two bags each but that still left a garment bag, two carry-on bags, my purse and the stroller. We looked like we needed a pack mule. One of the cast members came up to us after we had checked the other bags and suggested that we might want to check our luggage. We smiled and said, "Oh, thanks we just need to find a bathroom first and then we'll look into it." I didn't have the heart to tell her that we had already checked the maximum.
I took the boys picture by the ship model and then we stood in line. We had already checked in at the hotel for the cruise so check-in was a breeze. We were exited to board the ship but if you look at the picture they took of us as we boarded we look wasted. We had a kind of stoned / glassy eyed kind of look. I'm kind of surprised that they did not check us for illegal substances.
The directed us to the Beach Blanket Buffet and we grabbed a table outside in the shade that was right by the Mickey Pool. I sat with the stuff while the boys got a tray and then we traded. Brandon was too exited to eat. We decided to put him in his trunks that we had packed in his carry-on and he got to slide down the Mickey slide dozens of times. The life guard even let me lurch up to the top so we could get a picture of him all by himself in the pool with that great big Mickey. Wow!
We were relaxing and noshing until it finally dawned on me that we needed to find out when we were eating Parrot Cay so we could make our Palo's reservation. We kicked it into high gear and dashed to our room. We picked up our meal tickets and realized that we needed to make it for tonight. We split up and I sent Warren to make the Palo's reservation and I headed to the spa for cabana massages and the surial bath. I told Warren to make the reservation for the same time as our dinner would be.
I was successful and so was he. He made the reservation for 6:30, the earliest possible sitting. Warren then took Brandon back to the pool and I headed to the clubs to enrol Brandon. I was very focused on advising them of his special needs and I really did not feel that they were understanding me. Then it started to go downhill from there. I found out to my horror that the club did not open until 7pm. That was a big problem.
I raced up to Palo's to see if we could switch our time and they very firmly said that no we could not. Now anyone who truly knows me will not believe I did what I just did. I paced the ship muttering expletives that do not bare repeating. I found Warren but I was inconsolable so I left and started wandering. Then I did the unpardonable. I was standing on Deck 5 outside the clubs and started crying. Even as I write this I cringe. Really give me a break. Not going to Palo's would not have ruined our cruise and I really don't think we would have starved. I also could have tried going down to guest services and explained the situation and that they don't warn you anywhere that there is half an hour that can create a problem. No I just start bawling.
One of the counselors saw me and asked what was wrong. I blubbered it out about the reservation snafu and about my worries about how Brandon would do in the club. He said let me see what I can do. They said that this was not a new problem. Part of me wanted to know why if it was a problem then why didn't they warn us but mostly I just wanted it fixed. Another counselor from his age group came over and said that he would be willing to watch Brandon if it was OK with the supervisor since he would have to miss a meeting. Unfortunately that counselor kind of treated me like I was some kind of blubbering idiot for the rest of the cruise.
It was getting close to time for the lifeboat drill and so I met the guys back at the cabin. Brandon had an ear condition where he was not supposed to get his ears wet. His ENT doctor suggested that when he wanted to go swimming we use silly putty to close over the hole. We tried it at home several times and it worked like a charm. We also live in one of the driest states in the country. When silly putty meets a more humid climate it melts and is very unstable. When it came time to remove the putty all of it did not come out. Some of it was stuck in his ear. Great! I went over my options and they all stunk. I really did not want to pay the ship's doctor, I didn't want to leave and I did not want to try to pull it out with tweezers. We did opt to gently try with the tweezers first because it wasn't down very far. All of us were scared. Warren dislodged most of it while I held Brandon down and tried to speak to him calmly. We were able to get the rest out with ear drops. We decided to keep his head out of water for the rest of the trip. That was too close. In retrospect I can't believe I did that. Even though it all came out OK we were pretty stupid and I know we wouldn't make the same choice again.
By this time I was a wreck. I actually wanted to leave but only if I could teleport myself back to my own home and bed. I saw all these happy people wandering around and I just couldn't get with the spirit of it. Warren and Brandon went to the deck party and after a bit I did too. We grabbed some chicken fingers for Brandon for dinner and headed back to the room to change. We dropped Brandon off and headed to Palo's.
Our server at Palo's was wonderful. Her name is Georgia and she was from Italy. She asked if we were celebrating anything special and we mentioned that it was our anniversary in two days and also that I had just graduated. She fussed and suggested and basically spoiled us. I was finally getting into the spirit of things and relaxing when our beeper went off. Instantly we tensed but it was just a message from the kids program telling us that Brandon had fallen asleep but that we should stay and enjoy our dinner. Too bad it made our blood pressure rise. I could have gone all night without having the beeper go off.
We had a great meal. The chocolate mousse is devine. Now I'd heard of chocolate being described as sensual before but I never really knew what they meant until now. It was rich and yummy and absolutely decadent. I want more! She also brought out a plate that was decorated with strawberry sauce that said Happy Anniversary and Congratulations on Graduating. We gave her a very generous tip.
We walked the long way back to the kid's club and picked up Brandon. We went to the show Voyage of the Ghost Ship. I kept falling asleep. The stress of the day had caught up to me. Warren noticed and whispered, "Do you want to leave?" He put me and Brandon to bed and he went back to finish watching the show. It finally occurred to me that I did not need to ask for a wake up call. I didn't even hear Warren when he slipped in beside me. I guess even theme park commandos break down every once in awhile.
It makes me so angry when I do that, so I cry more because I cry when I'm angry too 
Glad to hear it eventually worked out in the end! 
