Disney Ella
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2003
- Messages
- 4,205
Me - trip planner, frequent visitor to any and all Disney-related websites
Grumpy - DH - likes Disney, but has no interest whatsoever in planning. Gets a glazed look in his eyes when I talk about it, the same glazed look I get when he insists on talking to me about cars.
Daisy and Minnie - DDs, both seven. Have been dying to return to Disney
After our first trip to WDW in December 2001, we immediately began making plans to return in March 2003 (March 8 - 16). During the week before our departure, we had anxiously been checking the weather, hoping that there would be no more snow to thwart our plans. US Air was charging almost double its usual fare for a non-stop flight out of Philadelphia, and with two kids, a non-stop was essential to us. We drove 1 ½ hours to Lehigh Valley International Airport and took a Southeast Flight to St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport (PIE). Southeast doesnt assign seats until you arrive at the airport. Going down, we were lucky and got row 15. Coming back, we were on a plane that originated in Orlando and the only available seats that were together were in the last row - no windows and very noisy. The flight took off on schedule and just over two hours later we arrived at PIE.
It took forever for the luggage to arrive, so Grumpy went to the National counter to complete the paperwork for the car while we waited for the luggage. When he returned with the keys to a Dodge Neon, we were still waiting for the luggage to appear. Eventually the luggage arrived, and we were off to Treasure Island. (I am including this part of the trip since people occasionally ask about Gulf beaches.)
When we travel for longer than one night, we like to get a one-bedroom unit so we can put the kids to bed in a separate room and keep them close to their regular routine. Most of the nicer hotels with one-bedroom units had a weekly minimum, so we looked at motels instead. The Tahitian Resort was right on the Gulf of Mexico, but was completely booked for one-bedrooms on that side. Instead we took a one-bedroom in their bayside building across the street.
The motel was furnished in the Grandmas Basement style of decorating, which is what we expected, but was fairly clean. The carpeting looked brand new and was very well-padded. In order to close the bathroom door, you had to stand as close as possible to the bathtub and then lunge at the door, slamming your body against it. Since I wasnt doing my regular exercise routine, this gave me the opportunity to get a workout every time I needed to use the bathroom. We noticed that we only had three pillows for four people and picked up a few extra when we went to check out the beach. After the kids were in bed, we unfolded the sofa bed and discovered that there were no sheets on the bed and none in the unit. I called the front desk, got no answer, walked across the street and found the office closed, despite the fact that the clerk told us that it stayed open until 10:00.
We called the Thunderbird, the sister motel of the Tahitian, and were told that we could come there (about two or three blocks away) and get sheets, but that they could not send someone over with the sheets. By now it was 10:00. It had been a long day and neither of us was impressed by this place. After Grumpy returned with the sheets, we discovered why there hadn't been any sheets. The bed was extremely uncomfortable and must have previously been used as a torture device. We could feel every coil; it felt like resting on a bed of screws. We gave up on the mattress, folded up the bed, and slept on the couch and loveseat. (The bed the kids slept on was comfortable.) At this point, we seriously considered finding a new motel, but all of the no vacancy signs that lined Gulf Boulevard quickly quashed that idea.
The next day (Sunday), Grumpy went to see the Clearwater Phillies play while DDs and I spent some time on the beach. The water was warm enough to play in and we decided that being in the water was much better than broiling in the sun at the baseball game. The beach at Treasure Island is very wide and full of tiny shells, which the kids enjoyed digging up.
Everyone was really looking forward to heading to Orlando on Tuesday. I kept telling them that the next hotel was going to be much nicer, and hoped that it was going to live up to its website pictures.
Grumpy - DH - likes Disney, but has no interest whatsoever in planning. Gets a glazed look in his eyes when I talk about it, the same glazed look I get when he insists on talking to me about cars.
Daisy and Minnie - DDs, both seven. Have been dying to return to Disney
After our first trip to WDW in December 2001, we immediately began making plans to return in March 2003 (March 8 - 16). During the week before our departure, we had anxiously been checking the weather, hoping that there would be no more snow to thwart our plans. US Air was charging almost double its usual fare for a non-stop flight out of Philadelphia, and with two kids, a non-stop was essential to us. We drove 1 ½ hours to Lehigh Valley International Airport and took a Southeast Flight to St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport (PIE). Southeast doesnt assign seats until you arrive at the airport. Going down, we were lucky and got row 15. Coming back, we were on a plane that originated in Orlando and the only available seats that were together were in the last row - no windows and very noisy. The flight took off on schedule and just over two hours later we arrived at PIE.
It took forever for the luggage to arrive, so Grumpy went to the National counter to complete the paperwork for the car while we waited for the luggage. When he returned with the keys to a Dodge Neon, we were still waiting for the luggage to appear. Eventually the luggage arrived, and we were off to Treasure Island. (I am including this part of the trip since people occasionally ask about Gulf beaches.)
When we travel for longer than one night, we like to get a one-bedroom unit so we can put the kids to bed in a separate room and keep them close to their regular routine. Most of the nicer hotels with one-bedroom units had a weekly minimum, so we looked at motels instead. The Tahitian Resort was right on the Gulf of Mexico, but was completely booked for one-bedrooms on that side. Instead we took a one-bedroom in their bayside building across the street.
The motel was furnished in the Grandmas Basement style of decorating, which is what we expected, but was fairly clean. The carpeting looked brand new and was very well-padded. In order to close the bathroom door, you had to stand as close as possible to the bathtub and then lunge at the door, slamming your body against it. Since I wasnt doing my regular exercise routine, this gave me the opportunity to get a workout every time I needed to use the bathroom. We noticed that we only had three pillows for four people and picked up a few extra when we went to check out the beach. After the kids were in bed, we unfolded the sofa bed and discovered that there were no sheets on the bed and none in the unit. I called the front desk, got no answer, walked across the street and found the office closed, despite the fact that the clerk told us that it stayed open until 10:00.
We called the Thunderbird, the sister motel of the Tahitian, and were told that we could come there (about two or three blocks away) and get sheets, but that they could not send someone over with the sheets. By now it was 10:00. It had been a long day and neither of us was impressed by this place. After Grumpy returned with the sheets, we discovered why there hadn't been any sheets. The bed was extremely uncomfortable and must have previously been used as a torture device. We could feel every coil; it felt like resting on a bed of screws. We gave up on the mattress, folded up the bed, and slept on the couch and loveseat. (The bed the kids slept on was comfortable.) At this point, we seriously considered finding a new motel, but all of the no vacancy signs that lined Gulf Boulevard quickly quashed that idea.
The next day (Sunday), Grumpy went to see the Clearwater Phillies play while DDs and I spent some time on the beach. The water was warm enough to play in and we decided that being in the water was much better than broiling in the sun at the baseball game. The beach at Treasure Island is very wide and full of tiny shells, which the kids enjoyed digging up.
Everyone was really looking forward to heading to Orlando on Tuesday. I kept telling them that the next hotel was going to be much nicer, and hoped that it was going to live up to its website pictures.
