Part 3: WL, and skipping, hugging, and screaming at Boma.
OKAY, so where were we? Oh yeah, pulling up to the WL with a very chatty driver from Brooklyn (I know, Rosie ODonnell is from Long Island. They still sounded the same.) There are a bunch of people standing out there looking miserable. You know them....they are the Disneyfreude people. The ones who are leaving. And who hate us for arriving. AND who hate us even more because they thought this was their bus. For which they had evidently been waiting for a while. This one woman was NOT happy. You mean shes not picking us up?! Well, so sorry lady, but Ive got some checking in to do. Out of my way, please. And have a magical day.
We were one of the first off the bus. Good thing, too, as that meant a not-too-long wait at the front desk, or so I hoped. We walked, hand in hand, through the sliding glass doors and into that beautiful lobby. I love this feeling! But I couldnt bask in it for too long. A (half) bus load of people were coming up behind us. I went right over to the check-in line. Just a couple of people in front of us. Not too bad. I sent Jay over to watch cartoons. Okay, not really. But this is my schtick. I do front desks. Because Im usually the one who made the ressie. He was right there with me, though. I was a little nervous. Hoping for some pixie dust, but realizing it was late in the day (4:20 p.m. to be exact). I did not have hope for our requested king-sized bed. But as long as we got a renovated room (Are they all renovated now? If so dont tell me. Ill feel stupid.), and a higher floor, per MommyP, all would be right with the world. And the World, too. The lady at the front desk, well call her Bonnie Kindahelperish, pulls us up on the computer. Oh, she said, we have a package for you out back. Just a moment. I was excited, and nudged Jay. No, not just because of my liquids and gels that I sent to myself. ALSO because I was expecting a little sumpin sumpin from UtahMama, that wonderfully funny gift-giving, Diet Pepsi drinking DISer who sprinkled pixie dust all over the World when she was down there a few weeks ago. Sure enough, along with my UPS package, was a very prettily, Disney-font labeled package that I just KNEW was from UtahMama! I admit it, I was giddy. So, back to checking in. I asked about the King sized bed. Oh, no, those were gone a long time ago! says Bonnie. Yeah, well, I requested it a long time ago, but, whatever. No upgrade, a la ZZUB, either, but I wasnt really expecting that, so that was okay. I knew we wouldnt be spending much time in the room, so the view wasnt all that important to me. We got 4th floor, pretty darn close to the back elevators, the ones by Roaring Forks and the pool and boat launch exit. Not bad at all. Our room was lovely. We had some camera issues (more later), so I dont have pictures. Just look at the pics on ZZUBs report. Our room kinda looked like that, but with two queen sized beds and not nearly as nice a view. The flat-screened, tv, yeah, the light switches in the bed posts (which took us about an hour to find!), yeah, the curved shower curtain rod, oh yeah. We went out onto the balcony. Looked down. Into a couple of little bubbling springs of water and lots of mud. It kinda smelled funny, too. But, from the room, you could just see trees, and the top of the Contemporary through a hole in the trees. Later that night,..... well, never mind, Ill tell you about that when we get there. We were reasonably happy. And, when I opened UtahMamas package, I was more happy. Because it had the cutest little note in there. On a notecard with a Cinderellas castle hole punch, and two bags of yummy caramel apple taffy with lime green ribbon and lime green Home Depot Mickey paint samples with UtahMama written on them. Okay, was I descriptive enough? Again, I wanted to take pictures. But, the camera, well, didnt work, so I feel the need to paint a picture, so to speak. It was fun to get a gift! And such a creative and thoughtful one, at that. Thanks UtahMama!!
Oh, oh, a few steps back here. I had a little stress about our park tickets. You see, I was planning to upgrade us to APs. Since we were purchasing the free dining package, there was a slight chance Id have issues. My TA spoke with Disney Reservations about this, and they were less than helpful. She therefore called the WL directly and was told that we should get our park tickets separate from the room key/dining pass card thingy. This was repeated to me on two occasions when I called WL. I checked several times because I had seen some concerns posted on the DIS from people who were being refused the AP upgrade in combination with the free dining program. Made no sense to me, but it had been brought to my attention, so I was a bit concerned. Bonnie Kindahelperish looked at me like I had three heads when I explained it all to her. She had no intention of splitting anything up. Shed never heard of doing the park tix separately, and didnt understand why I thought I might have issues. She referred me to the concierge further down at the front desk. Because they know more about tickets. Fine. We went over to them when we were done checking in, and they thought I was an idiot, too. Thats okay. I wasnt offended. I just confirmed that I should be able to take these room key/dining pass/park ticket card thingies to a Guest Services window at any park and have it taken care of. They assured me that there would be no problem, but that it was probably a good idea to do it prior to using the tickets for admission to a park. Okay, fine. I decided we would stop at the MK before heading out to Boma. That would save us time in the morning.
Now, we were a couple of hours behind schedule. Mainly due to our earlier-cited flight schedule change. It was about 4:45 p.m. or so, I think, and we had promised to try to get to AKL to see the girls at about 6:15. (Our ADR was at 7:20 p.m.) But first, I had a phone call to make. Drebert and Latoberg were staying at the WL and were heading out soon to
MNSSHP. I was going to TRY to see them in their costumes before they left, but I thought Id be here earlier. I called Dre and she told me they were just leaving. Since I had to hustle to get ready for Boma, and they were planning to ride EE with us in the a.m. anyway, we decided to meet up at the bus stop the next morning. 7:45 a.m. to be exact. Can never be too early for EE! I also figured that gave her another day for the antibiotics to kick in. Latoberg (a.k.a., Lacto) had posted on M2 (the current Maelstrom thread) the night before that Dre had been diagnosed with strep throat. I was hoping not to catch anything..... (J/K, Dre, LY/MI)!
Now that that was settled, I began the makeup and hair refreshing routine and changed out of my travel clothes and into a little all-purpose black stretchy dress from Old Navy that packs really well in a carry-on and is super comfy. All told, it took us about ½ hour or so to freshen up, plus another 15 minutes or so to unpack our carry-on. Keep in mind, when I say us, I mean me. Jay just kinda sat there and watched me. He mightve brushed his teeth. But that was it. No changes or fixes for him. Sometimes (not often, but sometimes) I wish I was a guy.
We hustled down to the boat dock to go over to MK. The boat waits were never long. However, we NEVER, the whole trip, got a boat that went straight to MK. EVERY MK boat we took stopped at Fort Wilderness first. I do not think that this is the norm. Lacto implied that it depended on the time of day. But, for us, it never happened. Our boat trips to the MK always took at least 20 minutes. Minor inconvenience. Not a trip destroying event, or anything. So, we got over to MK. Went to Guest Services awash in a semi-stampede of costumed MNSSHP revelers. But they were all going into the park. We just needed Guest Services. Jay had to stop to get his backpack searched, but I went on ahead and was promptly waited on by a lovely young woman. I told her that I wanted to upgrade our 5 day passes to APs. She didnt flinch, said no problem and went about her business. She explained that she would have to remove the park tickets from the card and put them on a separate AP paper ticket. That was fine. She then asked for our credit card and charged us the difference. I think it was something like $170 each. Now, way back at the beginning of my trip planning, I had figured out exactly what this upgrade was going to cost. However, that was before I decided to get us BOTH APs (originally, I was just going to get one for myself...long story) and before the Disney money-making machine decided to raise ticket prices for the 2nd time this year. So I wasnt sure what, exactly, the price difference was supposed to be today. $170 sounded just a smidge high. So, I asked the sweet young thing, just to clarify in my mind, what the price difference was between a 5-Day Non-Expiring Park Hopper and an AP. She paused a sec, and then gave me a little oops face, and said she owed me some money. She had missed the fact that we had already paid for Non-Expiring. So, after a little work on the computer, and a couple of questions to another CM, she processed a $114.00 or so credit for me. (Aside: I did not take any notes on this trip. Details such as exact charges and credits may not be right. Im working from memory.) At any rate, it just goes to show. Pay attention!! In all, the whole process took about 15 minutes, tops. Off we went to the AKL bus. Feeling, for some reason, that we had just saved money. And very happy that the whole AP switch went pretty smoothly.
On the bus, my phone rang. It was Horsegirl, telling us that they would be at the AKL pool bar instead of Victoria Falls. I told her that we were on the bus, and should be there shortly. This was a LONG bus ride. I was amazed at how far away the AKL seemed. Its a lovely hotel, though not too dramatically different from the WL (same architect and all). But I dont know that Id want to stay there without a car. Its pretty much all busses, all the time. And those bus rides can get long. Anywho, we arrived. We strolled through the lovely lobby, and down the stairs, past Victoria Falls, past Boma (with a really long check-in line), and out to the pool. And we walked around, found the bar, walked around some more, and could not find the girls. I called Horsey. Voicemail. I called Sheridac. Voicemail. Which is really weird, because she always answers her phone on the first or second ring. In fact, I had never heard her VM message before. And, Im a little embarrassed to say, I started talking to it, thinking it was her. Until I realized that it was VM. I stopped abruptly, hoping Jay hadnt noticed me make a fool of myself. He probably did, but he was nice enough not to act like he had. (In other words, he refrained from laughing at me...) We had been ditched! I was puzzled. We asked a CM if there was more than one pool bar. Nope. We decided to head back in. Although it was about 45 minutes before our ADR, Jay decided to check us in. Then, my phone rang. It was Horsey. They had been seated already. Evidently, they were getting settled, perhaps had ordered a drink or two, and she all-of-a-sudden remembered that we were meeting them at the pool. I have to call Susan!, said she. So, yeah, we kinda had gotten ditched. But it was an accident. I think. I told her we were right there and I walked over to the restaurant entrance, trying to see them, while talking to her. I couldnt really hear what she was saying (found out later it was Are you wearing a black dress?), and I couldnt see them. WHEN, all of a sudden, I see this little Irish pixie girl catapulting herself into the air, arms high about her head. Literally, she just POPPED up from the sea of restaurant-goers that I was scanning. Jay even saw it from his place at the check in desk several feet beyond me. Sheridac, of course. She came running, screaming, hugging, etc., followed shortly by Horsey, Jamal, and Grammyof2. It was so fun to see everyone! Of course, the minute Sher was done greeting me, she demanded to be directed to Jay. I pointed him out waaay over at the check-in, and she proceeded to run over to him, arms flapping away. I said to the others Hes not gonna know what hit him! According to Sher, though, he was very gracious. I should mention here, that Sher was kinda the first DIS personality that Jay became familiar with during the trip planning. Anytime I mentioned her, hed say, "shes the flirt, right?". She was also trying her best to get shoes for Cali Grille that would let her be tall enough for Jay. As you can see, it was a lost cause.
Yes, even standing on a chair, Sheridac is an inch or two shorter than Jay. Ha! Those wouldve had to have been some stilt-like shoes!!
So, back to the excitement. We got to meet & greet everyone, and it was so fun to see them all in person. Also met Shers friend B, Jamis friends M & S, and Grampyof2!! We were all trying our best to use real names, but then Grammy introduced herself to Jay as Grammy, so that one kinda stuck for the weekend. She didnt seem to mind too much! We then posed for a quick picture before we went to our own little table for 2.
Looks like fun, doesnt it?! It WAS!! Do you need a map? Okay, from left to right:
Grammy, Horsey, Jami's 2 friends (#7 & #1), Jay, Me, Jami, Sheridac, Sher's friend B, and Grampy!!
The great thing about this meal was that, because its a buffet, we were bumping into each other every time we went up to get more food. And, we did get up to get more food frequently! It was really yummy. Even Jay, who is a bit picky, found plenty to eat. Between the steak and chicken, rice, potatoes, salads, etc., he had plenty to choose from. I eat just about anything, so I had even more choices! And I ate several desserts, too. I think I actually ate more than him that night..... (Note: Tried the oft-lauded zebra domes. They were okay. Not something Id write home about. I preferred some other chocolate thing I ate. Cant remember the specifics...sorry!) Got a nice big pot of really hot water with 3 or 4 tea bags, too. For a tea drinker, thats a big deal. Our waitress won me over with that one!
We did a little musical chairs, too. I went over to chat with the rest of the crew while Sher visited with Jay. Jay and Grampy had a few conversations, too. The heads of the poor non-Disers, especially M, S, & B, mustve been spinning. But they were very friendly, too, and we all got along famously. It felt like we were all old friends almost immediately. I had a good feeling about the rest of this weekend!
Little aside: We paid for this meal, as we needed to use two TS credits for Cali on Sunday night. We later found out that this got messed up, and they charged us TS credits instead of charging the bill to our card. It wasnt a big deal, and we got it fixed eventually (after a couple of times visiting the concierge), but I heard from others that this happens a lot. So watch your credits. Jay claims that he wouldve caught it when it happened, except he was paying while Sher was visiting, and he got a bit confuzzled. So, it was her fault!! Flirt!
A couple of hours later, we said our good nights and headed back to the WL. We were tired from the long day of travel and running around, and knew wed need to rest up for the remainder of the weekend. Again, it was a loooonnnnngggg bus ride back to the MK. Boat ride wasnt bad, though, as the WL is the first stop when youre leaving the MK. Very shortly after getting back to the room, we heard some BOOM noises from Wishes. Jay said, Think we can see the fireworks from here? I thought that was unlikely. But, lo and behold, we could!! A little obstructed by the trees, but not a bad view at all. Unfortunately, though, we were out of earshot of the Wishes music. Cool, though, nonetheless. And...this was the only night we would be home early enough to enjoy this spectacle. The craziness was about to begin......
Stay tuned for Saturday - EE, Volcanos, Pineapples and Wishes from the Beach!
