Dec '10 TR:I Will Not Stop Stalking ADRs Until I Get To WDW!(MARCH TR LINK) 3/26

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I WILL NOT STOP STALKING ADRS UNTIL I GET TO WDW!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Welcome to my 4th WDW TR of the year!!!

This trip was filled with ups and downs just like all of the other trips but at least this trip was during the happiest time of the year!

SIDE NOTE:
This will also be my PTR for my March 2011 Birthday Trip! Those updates will be shown as "OT:" followed by the title.

HAPPY READING!!!


CHAPTERS:

THE CAST AND TRIP INFO 12/31

TRAVEL DAY 12/31

BED BUGS AGAIN!!?? 1/1

DON'T WORRY, YOU'RE HOME NOW!! 1/8

ROOM 5005 AND A SURPRISE! 1/9

OT: NEW COUNTDOWN IN MY SIGGIE! 1/13

OT: MARCH 2011 TRIP CAST AND DATES 1/14

WCC DINNER, LIGHTS AT DHS, AND EMH AT EPCOT 1/15

OT: MARCH 2011 TRIP DETAILS + OLD SCHOOL DISNEY PICS 1/16

OT: MARCH 2011 RESORT REVEAL! 1/18

OT: MARCH 2011 RESORT CHANGE!!!! 1/19

EPCOT DAY!!! 1/20

OT:MARCH 2011 ADRS 1/21

CLP WITH WHOOPI!!! 1/23

OT: WHAT WOULD YOU DO HELP!!!!! 1/24

DTD AND MVMCP! 1/28

OT: MARCH TRIP IS PAID!!! 1/30

MVMCP PART I 2/1

MVMCP PART II 2/4

OT: MAKE A PAYMENT, SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, AND DDP LAYOUT 2/6

MVMCP PART III 2/11

OT: MICKEY MAIL 2/12

OT: ONE MONTH TO GO!!! 2/17

LAST FULL DAY AT WDW part I 2/19

OT: MORE MICKEY MAIL!! 2/20

WILL WE MAKE IT TO MK?! 2/25

OT: SHOPPING + MORE!!! 2/27

OT: 2 WEEKS TO GO!!!!!! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRO!!!! 3/3

LAST NIGHT AT WDW/DEPARTURE DAY/FINAL THOUGHTS OF THE DEC TRIP...3/5

OT: MOUSEKEEPING ENVELOPES + SHOPPING 3/6

OT: ONE WEEK TO GO!!! 3/10

OT: 4 MORE SLEEPS TILL 4 SLEEPS AT WDW 3/13

OT: 2 MORE SLEEPS TILL DISNEY WORLD!! 3/15

OT: 1 MORE SLEEP TILL DISNEY WORLD!!! 3/16

OT: HOME SWEET HOME 3/22

MARCH TR LINK!!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

TRIP INFO AND CAST:

Welcome once again to my Dec TR! If you read my PTR via my Oct TR, GREAT!! If not, here's some of the details you missed!

The trip started off to be a trip to see my bro who was working in FL in the college program with WDW. Sadly he was let go due to a curfew confusion with the housing apartments (still is such a stupid rule!) but since the trip had been planned since August, we had plane tickets and plans so we decided to go anyways!

CAST:

Me: Megan, 25yr old Pre-K teacher of 10 wild and crazy kiddos from Cincinnati, OH! I'm also a former CM: Worked at WDW BBB in the college program, at AK as an education presenter for a professional internship, and BBB as seasonal until my status was withdrawn in May from now working twice a year instead of once a year like I thought!

Bro: 23 yr old college student. He's about to enter his last semester of his master's degree. He is planning to return to FL and work/live until his ban is lifted with WDW and maybe pursuit that again.

Mom: SAHM, even though she doesn't have kids to stay home with anymore! She is a recent transplant to the Cincinnati area thanks to Dad's job so she is adjusting to a life here and missing her 24 yrs she spent in Pittsburgh!

Dad: Accountant of a major steel company in Cincinnati. He works hard for his $$$ and is addicted to his blackberry!

Here's us!

DATES:

Dec 9-14th 2010

RESORTS:

POP- Dec 9th (just Mom, bro, and I since Dad had work commitments and couldn't fly down on the 9th)

WL-Dec 10-14

FOOD:

FREE DINING!
ADRs:
-Dec 10th: Whispering Canyon Cafe 5:10pm
-Dec 11th: Chefs De France 3:50pm CLP Dinner Pkg
-Dec 13th: Teppan Edo 1:40pm Dad and I and San Angel Inn 1:30, Mom and Bro

PARK PASSES:
-I used my Annual Pass
-Bro, Mom, and Dad used Main Gate tickets via Bro's friends/co-CM's

TRAVEL PLANS:
(sorry, this is a late add because of all our different travel dates/people..I thought I should add this!)

-Mom and I flying from Cincinnati-Orlando...and back Dec 9-14
-Dad flying from Dayton-Orlando and back Dec 10-14, due to work meetings, he couldn't leave on the 9th.
-Bro driving from Cincinnati-Orlando and back so #1, we had a car = no rental car, #2 so he could see his friends/roommates on our off times, and #3 so he could have his car to go look at housing/apply for jobs since his plan is to move back down in a week or so (Early Jan).

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

TRAVEL DAY!!!

Once again, to my Dec Trip Report!

Before starting, I had a few titles that in the running as well as the one I chose:

-Bed Bugs, Cold Snap, and Bronchitis..OH MY!
-Don't Worry, You're Home Now!

..it might change to one of those..who knows!?


DAY ONE..TRAVEL DAY:
Wednesday DEC 8, 2010

Unlike every-other trip I've taken, I was not pleased with the weather that I had been seeing for weeks so I made a plan to pack the night before. Bad plan..it took me 4 hours to finally decide what to take and 4 different weather websites!

My bed was a disaster!

I finally gave in by 11pm after starting at 7pm and attempted to go to bed.

Of course like most every WDW trip, I didn't sleep the night before. I never do. I never sleep the night before and I never sleep the first night at WDW. I guess I make myself overly tired and then crash the next day but it works!

THURSDAY DEC 9TH, 2010

My day started off with work. I worked from 9-1 and gave my kids at school specific instructions on how to behave while I was gone and warned them if the behavior was not good. With it being a week before Xmas, what do you think

At 1pm, I rushed home, repacked for the millionth time, and we were planning on leaving at 1:30 for the airport. We ended up leaving at 1:45 which wasn't too bad. Being that it was Thurs, we knew the traffic into Cincinnati wouldn't be horrible so we were able to go that way and not waste 20 mins extra to take the by-pass! We walked out the door and I had a change of heart, ran upstairs, unpacked my crocs, and packed my tennis shoes..would I be glad I swapped them out at the last second??

Finally on the road, we ran into some traffic, more than we thought but we still got to the airport in 30 mins!

Bye Bye Cincinnati, HELLO KENTUCKY!

We got to the exit for the airport and took the wrong one! We had to circle the airport to get back out to the park/ride area and found the lot we needed. The bus pulled up right away and off we went! We got inside and it was dead! Up to the kiosk we went! I have the Delta CC so our bags were free! A couple next to us tried to tell me to check-in sep to avoid the extra bag fee like they had. I kindly told them, OUR BAGS WERE FREE!!

Security was a joke. It wasn't lined up at all and they didn't use the scanners. With over an hour to spare, we headed to Max and Ermas right beside our gate and got a snack. Drinks, pretzels sticks, and chicken fingers would hold us over till my dinner at POP!

We sat at the gate for 15 mins before we got on board!

I told mom to get ready for when they called group 4. I was nervous because we both had rolly bags and backpack bags + overhead space is limited as it is so when they called 4 we ran up there and got on to find 2 spots left for our bags and nothing else near us so it was a good call!

Thanks to Delta, they offered free wi-fi for the holiday season which was awesome! As we were eating snack, I thought to myself..why not try and see if there is an opening for WCC for the 10th. We wanted to eat there, it was booked, I tried and tried and tried for days...nothing.

I got on my Itouch, plugged in all the info and like some magic..a 5:10pm popped up for the 10th! If I wouldn't have been on the airplane, I would have screamed! I booked it and we started looking at menus!

...thus is where my title came from!!! If you read the PTR, you know that with booking this within 45 days of arrival, it was a nightmare booking ADRs, canceling them, rebooking them, and so on. I was a happy camper at this point!

We landed 20 mins early and since we put the DME tags on our bags, we headed down to check in at DME. A cute family was lost and followed us down. Their flight from Canada was delayed for 6 hours and they had tix for MVMCP..rookies you could tell! Hopefully they got their money back!

We were so happy that we were pulled from the line not even 5 mins waiting!

We got on the bus..and saw it was 1/2 empty

After 30 mins of sitting, we were finally off! First to CBR, POP, and AKL/Kidani. I felt bad for the Kidani people..some were not very happy!

We finally made it to POP at 7:30pm! We were off to check in! Would we get our request of building 6, upper floor??!!!

STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

I'm here Megan!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

So I see in your signature you're hoping to go in March...any idea when? If you do maybe it'd be the same time as me and my sister. Yay for March birthdays!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm here Megan!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

So I see in your signature you're hoping to go in March...any idea when? If you do maybe it'd be the same time as me and my sister. Yay for March birthdays!!

Yay for my first follower!!!

I won't be going around the same time as you unless rates/flights are cheaper. My birthday is the 19th so I'd be going the weekend before you. At this point, anything is up in the air. We were also talking about a possible Disneyland reunion for in April but now that's on hold so WDW it might be!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Woo Hoo another TR!!!

Can't wait for more...although I now have the heebie jeebies from the bed bug comment

 

[LisaKeys]

Glad to be at your TR (was at your ptr).

I'm with queen - I leave for Disney in 9 days (yay) and the bed bug thing has me quivering (lol).

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[eecteacher82]

I'm here! Great start! Can't wait to read more!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Woo Hoo another TR!!!

Can't wait for more...although I now have the heebie jeebies from the bed bug comment

Yes..sadly, here we go again! At least this time, we knew to look for them unlike in Oct when my 2 friends found out the hard way!!

Glad to be at your TR (was at your ptr).

I'm with queen - I leave for Disney in 9 days (yay) and the bed bug thing has me quivering (lol).

Looking forward to reading more!

We check all beds now for the critters! They are super easy to spot! I read a lot about them and tips of how to find them before we left. It was a great idea and saved us $$$ in the end I'm guessing!

I'm here! Great start! Can't wait to read more!

I'm off to stalk your TR, I read on FB that you were going to update it!!

 

[Nermel9]

Yay, a new TR! Great start so far, can't wait to read more!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Yay, a new TR! Great start so far, can't wait to read more!

Thanks!

 

[CPer'sMom]

Hey Megan ~
Glad to see that you've started a new TR! I'm curious to read how your days went since my DD and I were there at the same time. We didn't think the parks were bad at all crowd-wise. According to posts I'd read before we left I was expecting it to be very crowded!

Hope you have some time to post this weekend and ....... Happy New Year!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Hey Megan ~
Glad to see that you've started a new TR! I'm curious to read how your days went since my DD and I were there at the same time. We didn't think the parks were bad at all crowd-wise. According to posts I'd read before we left I was expecting it to be very crowded!

Hope you have some time to post this weekend and ....... Happy New Year!!

I hope you guys had a great time too! We thought the parks were actually very busy. We've been going the same weekend the past 2 years (08 and 09) and thought this was the busiest year so far. We pretty much did all the parks on the days we did in the previous years except we didn't go to AK at all but thought it was busier for sure! It didn't hinder our plans but the cold did a little bit!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

BED BUGS AGAIN?!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

I'm thankfully off today, tomorrow, and Monday so it looks like I'll be posting a lot of updates! I also have to start cleaning through my stuff in storage in the basement with the hopes that 2011 will get me a passed Praxis, my teaching cert, and a move back to FL!! I would also like to see Meet The Fockers and I'm possibly going to lunch or dinner with some co-workers at Cheeseburger In Paradise tomorrow!

Now for the update...

Thurs Dec 9, 2010 cont.

As I said in the last post, we pulled into POP around 7:30pm. I was happy for once to land at MCO and still see the shops open and people there! It seems like we never travel during the morning or afternoon anymore..always at night!

With that being said..we knew the food court at POP would be busy as we would be eating dinner at around 8pm and not 10:30 like we normally would!
..remember that...

As we pulled in, I told mom to wait to get our rolly bags and tip DME and I would go check-in. Bro had already made it there and was waiting in the lobby. There was one person in front of me at check-in

Soon it was my turn! I did not do online check-in because I had made a request for building 6 (any floor). Even though it was for one night, I'm not sure why I didn't bother with online but oh well! The CM was nice, from Australia I believe? Said the room was ready (I'd hope so at 7:30pm?) and wrote down a room on 2nd floor building 1. I didn't bother asking about 6 because it was 1 night and building 1 was next to the main building.

She gave us our room keys and off we went! After the terror of the Bed Bugs at CSR in Oct, we check the hotel rooms now! We mainly just check the mattresses and dresser drawers. We did bring the bags into the room but set them up while we checked.

I went to the bed next to the bathroom and checked the corner beside the nightstand..mom on the opposite side. I take the sheets off and look at the corner..NOTHING ...I un-do the flap of the mattress to look in the fold..BUGS!!!!!! I dropped it right away, told mom to look, told Bro to look and we got our bags and went back to the lobby. Now, I guess we should have called the front desk right away from the room but regardless of whether they were bed bugs or not, I was NOT staying in that room!

I get back to the front desk around 8pm and get the same CM. I told her the issue..DID NOT ASK FOR A REFUND, UPGRADE, OR RESORT CHANGE but simply a clean room that was bug-free. She brought over a manager. I won't spell his full name but it began with an E. I told him the issue, he says I need to inspect the room with another manager an that unless it was confirmed we were not getting another room since they were at 100% capacity for the night. I told him I understood that but I'm not going back to the room to show you there are bugs on the bed. I'm not staying in the room whether it's bed bugs or not! He then pretty much verbally attacked me saying his resort rooms are clean, inspected, and are bug-free. I asked for another room and he told me AGAIN I'd have to show another manager the bugs. When I asked for someone else to talk to, he walks to the back and sends out the CM girl and she said they were looking for another room. After 45 mins of standing at the front desk, we FINALLY have a room..building 8 the last room furthest away. We didn't care it was clean and bug-free! So without an apology from the front desk manager..we took our keys and went to the room.

We could not believe the level of customer service that we received. I have never thought of POP as a value resort until that night. We've stayed there 4 times since 2008 and never had an issue and always loved it's amenities for the price point! Now our views have been slightly spoiled by that!

We did inspect the room and found it to be bug free! Of course now I was nervous after the whole building 1 room but it ended up being fine. By that point it was after 9pm, we still didn't eat dinner so we went to the food court. We found it to be super busy as it seemed to be a theme that whole weekend with the crowds but there was a food and bev manager out in the middle making sure the lines were moving so that was great!

I got my fav of course!

After eating dinner, we were pretty much in limbo. We talked about going to DTD but at that point it was almost 10pm so that was out especially since Bro was taking the car to go meet friends. Mom and I decided to explore the gift shop and lobby!

A friend came back to the room with us too!

By the time we got back to the room, it was just after 10:15pm. Our bags had not arrived. The CM told me that the bags would be sent to the new room and they were not there. I called baggage and was told the bags were in building one, pulled out, and were in storage. She told me that the bags would be set up. By 11:15pm, the bags were not there. I called again to see how long it would take and was told the bags were in the bug room and were never pulled out and that a runner would bring them within 15 mins. 11:45 comes and the bags aren't there so I call again. The bags finally arrive by 12 midnight. We got ready for bed and were settled by 1am.

In true WDW fashion, I did not sleep. I got maybe an hour of sleep and jumped right up with the alarm went off at 6:45. I was excited to be at WDW, excited to leave the bug resort + the horrible manager + baggage issues, excited to check into WL, and excited to head to DHS!!!!

UP NEXT:

DON'T WORRY...YOU'RE HOME NOW!!!!!!!

 

[Trentmom]

Yay!!

You started

now back to read

 

[Trentmom]

WOW

I can't believe how rude that manager was at Pop

Did you email guest relations when u got home about him? I would. You did not deserve to be treated like that

Duffy is so cute

Can't wait to hear more

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

WOW

I can't believe how rude that manager was at Pop

Did you email guest relations when u got home about him? I would. You did not deserve to be treated like that

Duffy is so cute

Can't wait to hear more

I didn't write an email to guest relations because I'm not sure what email to use? I did type up a letter to send to the GM of the resort. I just feel like after our experience there, something needs to be done!

 

[luckylady]

Happy I'm reading another of your TR. Loved the ones from your CD and internship. I agree about sending a letter out about the manager, glad you did. Can't wait to start reading all about the rest of the trip.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Happy I'm reading another of your TR. Loved the ones from your CD and internship. I agree about sending a letter out about the manager, glad you did. Can't wait to start reading all about the rest of the trip.

We'll see if I get a response from the letters! I'm not looking for anything of course but a response would be sufficient.

The one year, my uncle wrote to Pop with concern to their bus situations while staying there and the timing of the buses and he was sent in the mail 4, 7 day park hopper tickets with no expiration!

I just couldn't believe the treatment we received when all I asked for was a clean room that was bug free, especially when I never asked for a refund, upgrade, or resort change.. I think I should at least get what I paid for which is hopefully a clean, bug-free room and you know very well that the resort WAS NOT at 100%. Unless most of building 8 was either asleep or at DTD, I don't know how they were at 100% for the one and only night we were there...enough rant..happy reading!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

SO funny. I just lurked on your report - bedbugs drew me in!

Then, when I read your post on my report, I saw your TR title. HAHA.

Sorry I was lurking. I will come out now!

Love that you were making an ADR on the plane! (Totally what I would do!) I am betting that you were happy that you swapped out the crocs!

Deb