"ENCHANTED TALES with ROB" - A Birthday/Christmas DISer Celebration! **NEW TR LINK**

[JessM]

Hey Rob! I'm a little late to the party but I'm glad to see I haven't missed much!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Hey Rob! I'm a little late to the party but I'm glad to see I haven't missed much!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

YAY, so glad you're here Jess. Nope, you haven't missed much at all.

 

[khertz]

I'm glad your travel day did not have any bumps in the road. I'm sure it can be nerve-wracking coming from a city that could be affected by winter weather. Traveling direct between New Orleans & Orlando, we don't usually have to worry about those kinds of problems, since for us, winter weather consists of the temperature falling below 60.

Oh man, small planes freak me out too!! My very first flight ever was one of those 2 & 1 seat configurations to go to Disney on our honeymoon in '07. Needless to say, I prayed the whole way there.

 

[Volunteer]

In late, but subbing! Thanks for writing!

 

[gracer9977]

Great update.

I used to take the puddle jumpers and cigar boxes all the time when I flew into Erie PA. The cigar boxes are even smaller than the puddle jumpers. There is only 2 rows of single seats, 8 on each side for a total of 16 passengers. There is no flight attendant or co-pilot. The Pilot does the safety pre flight instructions and flys the plane. Inside the plane rarely warms up in the 45 minutes you are in the air and yeah I agree about the sling shot theory. Feels like that. And at the end of the journey you get out on the tarmac and walk inside the terminal. Always an adventure.

Glad everything went well with your first day of travel and that you got to finally see the ME counter.

Looking forward to hearing about your first night in Disney and even better your first full day in the parks.

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I'm glad your travel day did not have any bumps in the road. I'm sure it can be nerve-wracking coming from a city that could be affected by winter weather. Traveling direct between New Orleans & Orlando, we don't usually have to worry about those kinds of problems, since for us, winter weather consists of the temperature falling below 60.

Oh man, small planes freak me out too!! My very first flight ever was one of those 2 & 1 seat configurations to go to Disney on our honeymoon in '07. Needless to say, I prayed the whole way there.

Thank you!! Yes, it actually was pretty smooth overall. That's exactly it. In the winter a storm can hit at anytime. Thankfully, at that point we stil had fairly mild temps. Not so much anymore.

Bahaha, it really didn't bother me that much once I was in my seat. But when you walk on and see how narrow the aisles are, it's pretty intimidating.

In late, but subbing! Thanks for writing!

Oh you are certainly not late, and THANK YOU for subbing abnd reading!!

Great update.

I used to take the puddle jumpers and cigar boxes all the time when I flew into Erie PA. The cigar boxes are even smaller than the puddle jumpers. There is only 2 rows of single seats, 8 on each side for a total of 16 passengers. There is no flight attendant or co-pilot. The Pilot does the safety pre flight instructions and flys the plane. Inside the plane rarely warms up in the 45 minutes you are in the air and yeah I agree about the sling shot theory. Feels like that. And at the end of the journey you get out on the tarmac and walk inside the terminal. Always an adventure.

Glad everything went well with your first day of travel and that you got to finally see the ME counter.

Looking forward to hearing about your first night in Disney and even better your first full day in the parks.

THANK YOU!!!

Yowza, now those are small planes. I do remember flights before where I had to go outside to get on/off the plane.

Yes, very smooth and YES the DME counter. Pretty exciting!!

Next update coming up...

Great update!

Thank you so much!!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

"THINK OF ALL THE JOY YOU'LL FIND, WHEN YOU LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND,
AND BID YOUR CARES GOODBYE..."
Day 1 – December 3, 2013 Part 2



HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!
As we enter each new year, it is commonplace to reflect on the year just past.
I would be incredibly remiss if I didn’t at least take a moment to reflect on what I truly believe is one of the absolute highlights of my 2013.
And that is the amazing New Friendships I’ve formed as a result of joining this board a mere 9 months ago.
THANK YOU for your continued support and all the best to you and everyone you care about in 2014.



I had planned to get to POP by about 9:00 pm, but I was making great time, so almost a full hour ahead of schedule, I was seeing this.

(Of course, this is meant to be a representation of my blurry, tired eyes after a long day of travel,
And NOT, as one might think, the result of a shaky camera taking a picture in the dark while driving... Safety First).

And then… finally... THIS!

I had only stayed on Disney property (and thus POP) once before, but everything just came flooding back in an instant.

I posted on Facebook that picture and the simple caption:
"HOME..."

I had done online check-in,

So I jumped into that non existent line and was greeted by a lovely young lady from Australia.
I mention this mainly because this was just the first of MANY encounters with Australian CM’s (and I have a doozy of a story to share later).

THEY’RE TAKING OVER PEOPLE!!!

I got REALLY excited when she presented me with this.

I was really eager to try this out. It has a Mickey head so is therefore awesome.

When I did online check in, I had placed the two allowed requests… 50’s Section and Lake View, and I got BOTH!!!

Finally, I asked her where I could get my birthday button, as I wanted that piece of accoutrement ASAP.
Happily, she had some right there and filled in my name with some adorable Mickey Ears on my “O”

I had read a brilliant tip that Lia (AKA _disneygirl, YOU KNOW WHO I MEAN) had posted on her TR,
So I also asked if she had any tape nearby, and she instantly knew why.
Placing some tape over the name on the button provides fantastic protection, and it worked for the entire duration of the trip.
Since I was planning on wearing it EVERY SINGLE DAY, I knew this would be necessary.
No smudging, nothing, and it still looks exactly as it did when I initially received it that day.

Thank you SO MUCH Lia for the AWESOME TIP!!!!

I made my way to my room and, let me tell you, it was a splendid location.
I was on the fourth floor, but the walk to the car in the parking lot was maybe 2-3 minutes PLUS, the walk to Everything POP was maybe 2-3 minutes.

Just tremendous!!!

As mentioned, it was a quick walk to my room AND BONUS… A room number extremely easy to remember…
Even for simple folk like me.

Hmmmm, I wonder if that was done on purpose.
"Oh you're Canadian??? I have the PERFECT room for you!"

I quickly unloaded my bags, did a quick tidy, and of course, procured the required mirror selfie complete with Birthday Button,

And then OF COURSE flipped on the TV to check in with the wife before heading for some grub.
Only… I was greeted with a bank screen where Stacey should be.

SERIOUSLY????!!!!

Put me in a room with no view, torn carpeting, ripped wallpaper, various wildlife, and bad smells… but do NOT take away Stacey.
I was not happy with this at all, but I just didn’t have time to deal with it right now.

Oh all right, I looked like this...

Also, my room safe was broken... But that paled in comparison to the injustice that was no Stacey on my TV screen.

I took the aforementioned ridiculously short walk over to Everything POP for some food.
But first... A welcome mat photo because I am obsessed with Disney resort welcome mats.

The POP tree was up and waiting for me to take a picture.

Upon my arrival in the food court, I realized I wasn’t really starving and just wanted something quick,
So I grabbed a pre-made turkey sub, a tie-dyed cheesecake, and a Rapid-Fill mug to take back to the room.

Amusingly, the cashier initially wasn't going to charge me for my mug, assuming I had already purchased it.
For some reason they took away the little plastic tab that they take off when you buy to show that very fact.
But I'm an honest person, so I paid, though I "may" have regretted that when I was charged the $17.99 "length of stay" rate.

A couple comments here.

While I had no issues at all with the mugs, I think the concept of a “refillable mug” where you have to wait a period of time between refills is just annoying.

And the “new” tie dyed cheesecake container… SUCKS!!!

Lets compare, shall we?

We went from this…

To THIS.

I know Disney has to make back some of the money spent on MyMagic+, but don’t do it at the expense of the tie dyed cheesecake.
That’s just wrong... And mean... And... Stupid.

Speaking of MyMagic+, the following was found in my room.

For those who don’t want to read it, I’ll paraphrase…

“We are currently testing MyMagic+ and you will LIKE IT whether you want to or not because we spent a crapload of money.
We appreciate your feedback
And encourage you to take out any frustrations you may have on the innocent CM’s on the front line who actually had nothing to do with it.
They enjoy it… Really they do.
We in management would prefer not hear about it directly as we are currently busy calculating our bonus cheques.”

After eating, but before calling it a night, I ventured outside just to see what I could see from my floor.
Just a few doors down, I fell in love with this window with all the various Mickey heads each with a Holiday greetings in many different languages.

One Mickey head in particular caught my attention with the inscription, “Do You DIS? - www .disboards.com.”
I thought that was pretty awesome.

Another few steps show the location right beside the stairs. That would be Classic Hall right there on the left.

A turn and a view across the lake at AoA.

And just around the corner was Bowling Pin Pool.

I returned to my room to settle in for the night, still Stacey-less, and prepare for an early morning.

When I wake up, it would be my birthday, and there was only one way I was going to start my birthday trip.

UP NEXT… "YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO WISH UPON A STAR"​

 

[katt789]

Yay updates!! Awwe, thank you for the friendship too! And as if you’ve only been on the boards for 9 months! It seems so much longer than that lol!!

Yay for getting both your requests, and having a birthday button that wouldn’t fade/rub off, it’s always great to have that!!

Oh no!!! As IF STACEY WAS GONE!! I hope the tv got fixed pretty quick, I had a broken tv at CSR last year! Looks like a pretty good start to a night, minus that though. I did notice the tie dye cheesecake was changed in Oct, made me sad, but I guess I’ve moved on from that love lol!

Excited to read all about this

 

[lovelygirl1975]

Okay so first of all great pics. The pics of Pop at night were so pretty. But, I love most of Disney at night.

Soooo based on your last trip repot I was so planning to try that cheesecake but now ughhhh not really. That was just a cheat after the first piece.

I can't believe the wifey was missing from the TV. And your reaction...DH gave me the crazy face because I was lmao at that one.

Yeah, I swooned over a Christmas tree...what can I say. I still have my birthday button from Aug on display in my house right now.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Happy New Year!!

Awesome room location! Room 3456.. how neat is that? But that totally stinks that the tv wasn't working and you couldn't watch Stacey! Bummer!

I love the Pop Christmas tree!

I'm not sure if I like the new refillable mug system either.

 

[jrj]

Rob,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

You gotta warn a sista, before including reactions like that in your TR

I'm recovering from back surgery and after seeing your reaction to the wifey not being on TV, almost lost stitches due to breaking out in laughter
the entire family ran in here to see why I was laughing, crying + saying ouch and help me at the same time

OMG! I also now need a new laptop, since this one has been spewed on with water

YOU ARE CRAZY!!

Luv your TR... keep it coming

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Love the room number! :good vibes

I was laughing at the first phrase in that note about My Magic+: "As you probably know by now" Yeah, we DISers have known about it for oh about 5 months!

And I agree with you, that cheesecake downsizing is pretty ridiculous.

How did you resist the urge to knock on that door with the window decoration that declared themselves as DISers? I would have been yelling "I DO DIS!"

 

[ElenaJane]

Such a cliffhanger! Did you get Stacey back?!

Great chapter. Your Stacey meltdown had me laughing out loud or LOL as the kids call it. Looking forward to your day of birth celebration!

 

[jash08]

NO STACY????????????????????????? Oh man, what a shock to the system. She starts out EVERY vacation.

We love the Pop. We have always been placed in a room by Baloo. The down grade in cheesecake is RIDICULOUS. That just looks cheap. As much as everything else costs (and I pay it gladly), you could at least get a whole piece of cheesecake.

I can tell that this report is getting good!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Clark Griswald would be proud of the good time you made

Yeah! - for getting the upgrades you wanted!

Boo! - for no Stacey

I mean, I can't think of a single reason why she won't appear for you. No, not one reason .....

 

[emmysmommy]

Hey Rob! My new Dis pal for which I can hopefully brag that I'm one of those amazing new friends! Ok, I do think so highly of myself yeah....

I will say that between the orange MB and the adorable Mickey ears "O" on your birthday button you are altogether ready to start celebrating. I did notice that your button was un-smeared the entire time. I thought you were touching it up at night as you were spending time with Stacy.

And speaking of Stacy.....Boo, no Stacey TV!!! I'm surprised you didn't get on the phone right away with maintenance to have them fix that post haste. Seriously a 911 if I've ever see one. And yes, your "reaction" is exactly what I would expect. No less.

I know your last TR had a mascot - not sure anyone remembers "Tammy" but I wonder if you'll have a new one for this trip?

Great wrap for Day 1.

 

[deedee2177]

I agree with Brenda...I'm surprised there wasn't an instant call made to get the No Stacey TV turned into All Stacey All the Time

 

[IheartDDuck]

I am shocked that you didn't have a conniption over the lack of Stacey TV. That's just a travesty!

Also a travesty is the lame tie dyed cheesecake! What....the....mark.....(I may or may not use random words when I can't use the one I'm truly thinking of....). That's just unfortunate. And sad. That's barely enough tie dye to color your tongue with!

 

[annie170]

Happy New Year, Rob!

I'm surprised you didn't get someone up there immediately to fix the Stacey issue. Goodness, they must not have known her future husband was staying in the room with the broken tv!

Considering the lights were on in the "dis room," did you think about knocking on the door and introducing yourself?

Downsizing the tie dyed cheesecake?! What's next? By the way, are the different colors flavored or just food coloring?