E
erikthewise
Guest
Cast
Self (Richard): likes seafood, gets up too early, walks too fast. Thinks that entering a park after the scheduled opening is like walking in on a movie after its started. Can accurately estimate the duration of any sequence of activities.
DW (Julia): Family photographer. Hates seafood, likes to sleep in, walks too slow. Has no sense of time. Thinks its immoral if not illegal to arrive at a park before opening time.
DS9 (Jonathan): Tall enough to ride anything but doesnt like thrill rides. Loves computer games and arcades. Haven't told him about Disney Quest.
DS6 (Patrick): Fearless; will ride anything. Just barely tall enough to ride Space Mountain. Has the patience of a forest fire. Doesnt like anything that isnt a ride or a meal. Haven't told him about Tower of Terror.
We are staying 5 nights at Beach Club Villas in our first trip as members of Disney Vacation Club, followed by 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Also see restaurant report
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=303938
Sat Dec 7: Dickie Dodd/Disney Accounting 499
We had an early morning flight on America West. 8:30AM doesnt sound that early unless you live 75 minutes from the airport. We were looking at leaving home at 5:30AM, so we decided to spend the night before at a Hampton Inn right next to the Columbus airport. It worked out well because they had a park/fly offer where we could park for free, in addition to the usual free breakfast. At that breakfast, the hostess asked if we were going to Disney World (are we so obvious?!), then told us that she used to be married to a Mouseketeer -- Dickie Dodd, the son of Jimmy Dodd. (DW and I both clearly remembered Jimmy, but not Dickie. A little research after our return confirms his existence and Mousketeerhood.) This encounter was a little pixie dust in advance, an omen of a good trip.
After landing on time in Orlando we grabbed an Intrepid from the Emerald Aisle at National and headed on over to WDW. On the way to BCV we run into our first driving mishap. The exit off route 536 onto Buena Vista Drive is closed. Dont panic. Detour sign follows immediately. It has a vertical arrow, which means go straight (doesnt it?). I continue along Epcot Center Drive. DW says she thinks the detour sign meant to take the exit (to Community Drive). I say if they wanted us to take the exit, the detour sign would have had a right arrow, not a straight arrow. I am right in principle, but DW is right in practice, and I soon realize it. I miss a turnoff and end up headed into the Epcot parking lot. I throw myself on the mercy of the parking attendant, and he graciously gives us directions to get out without charging us $8.
We arrive at Beach Club a little before noon. After parking at the circle, DW says she doesnt want to take in any luggage if our room might not be ready. So I park the car in the lot, and we go in say hi to Art the Greeter. I ask him to have his picture taken with the others and tell him hes a celebrity of sorts.
At the front desk, we are helped by an Angel from Heaven, in the guise of a trainee (earning my ears badge). She tells us that our room is ready for us, and that its an Epcot view on the fifth floor. Just as I requested!! I could have kissed her.
We go to our one-bedroom suite, and when I look out the window, I let out a shriek. DS9 is frightened and wants to know whats wrong. I show him whats right: a spectacular view of Spaceship Earth! After we explore our room a bit, we head over to Boardwalk to scare up some lunch. I had planned to get sandwiches from Boardwalk Bakery, but its a little crowded and the boys dont like the offering there, so we try Big River Grill instead. I had not planned to eat there, and I was right. Its OK, but nothing special. Im still hungry after my turkey sandwich and chips, but were going to Cape May tonight and Ill make up for it then.
After we get back to our room, I figure out how to get the TV to display the signal from the DVD player, then start our Monster, Inc. DVD for the boys. Then I go out to buy groceries at Publix while they relax. As I stand in the Beach Club parking lot looking at a trunk full of groceries, it finally hits me. How am I going to get all this up to our room? How do all the other DVC members do it? Im still not sure. Im looking at two twelve-packs and four 2-liter bottles of soda, a gallon jug and a twelve-pack of drinking water, a half gallon each of milk, orange juice and ice cream, and an infinite number of little plastic bags full of groceries. Definitely more than one trip. The first trip goes well aside from nearly pulling my arm out of its socket. The second trip does not go as well. Im carrying nine plastic bags in my left hand and the twelve-pack of water in my right. As Im walking down the corridor on the fifth floor, burdened to the maximum, I lose control of the water, it drops to the floor, and the plastic holding the bottles together breaks; one of the bottles rolls out. I bend over and let the nine plastic bags on my left hand touch the floor. If I release them, Ill never be able to get the 18 plastic handles back over my fingers again
At this point a bellhop sees me and offers to help. Yes please! He must be related to the CM at the front desk. It turns out that I actually did some minor nerve damage to my middle finger by carrying so many plastic bags at once. It seems to be slowly returning to normal. Dont let it happen to you; ask for paper bags!
Its time to wander up to the International Gate at Epcot and activate our annual pass vouchers. Fortunately the line is short. This wont take long. The CM at Guest Relations asks for our drivers licenses, and looks at our vouchers. Why do these two vouchers have different prices? he asks. I explain that one of the adult vouchers was bought before the September price increase, the other after. Hmmm.
He explains that he is going to have to perform a delicate accounting procedure and relates some of the details. Do I understand? I dont understand any of this, I reply. Actually I do understand what he has said, but I dont understand why it is necessary. The accounting has already been done! The vouchers have been paid for, they are each good for an annual pass, its that simple. Nothing he does can change that. Or can it? It occurs to me that Ive already said too much. This is like going through customs. Just keep your mouth shut and let him do his job. He has already stamped VOID on each of our vouchers. $1300 hangs in the balance. Cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. Our boys are asking why its taking so long. The people behind us are getting restless. Another window is opened for everyone else while our case is handled. After what seems an eternity, he produces a balance of $0.00, pulls out four annual pass sleeves, prints our annual passes, and hands them to us. I am so relieved! It only took about 15 minutes, but it seemed like an hour. Not until the next day did we notice that he misspelled our last name on all four passes, in spite of copying it off our licenses. Should we get it corrected? Not after that experience. Not in a million years.
After eating dinner at the Cape May buffet, DW discovers that I forgot three of the items on the shopping list. I volunteer to go back out and get them. Just for the adventure, I go to Winn-Dixie this time instead of Publix. I amaze myself by actually finding it, after dark. After watching Illuminations fireworks from our balcony, we go to bed in preparation for early entry at MK tomorrow.
Self (Richard): likes seafood, gets up too early, walks too fast. Thinks that entering a park after the scheduled opening is like walking in on a movie after its started. Can accurately estimate the duration of any sequence of activities.
DW (Julia): Family photographer. Hates seafood, likes to sleep in, walks too slow. Has no sense of time. Thinks its immoral if not illegal to arrive at a park before opening time.
DS9 (Jonathan): Tall enough to ride anything but doesnt like thrill rides. Loves computer games and arcades. Haven't told him about Disney Quest.
DS6 (Patrick): Fearless; will ride anything. Just barely tall enough to ride Space Mountain. Has the patience of a forest fire. Doesnt like anything that isnt a ride or a meal. Haven't told him about Tower of Terror.
We are staying 5 nights at Beach Club Villas in our first trip as members of Disney Vacation Club, followed by 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Also see restaurant report
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=303938
Sat Dec 7: Dickie Dodd/Disney Accounting 499
We had an early morning flight on America West. 8:30AM doesnt sound that early unless you live 75 minutes from the airport. We were looking at leaving home at 5:30AM, so we decided to spend the night before at a Hampton Inn right next to the Columbus airport. It worked out well because they had a park/fly offer where we could park for free, in addition to the usual free breakfast. At that breakfast, the hostess asked if we were going to Disney World (are we so obvious?!), then told us that she used to be married to a Mouseketeer -- Dickie Dodd, the son of Jimmy Dodd. (DW and I both clearly remembered Jimmy, but not Dickie. A little research after our return confirms his existence and Mousketeerhood.) This encounter was a little pixie dust in advance, an omen of a good trip.
After landing on time in Orlando we grabbed an Intrepid from the Emerald Aisle at National and headed on over to WDW. On the way to BCV we run into our first driving mishap. The exit off route 536 onto Buena Vista Drive is closed. Dont panic. Detour sign follows immediately. It has a vertical arrow, which means go straight (doesnt it?). I continue along Epcot Center Drive. DW says she thinks the detour sign meant to take the exit (to Community Drive). I say if they wanted us to take the exit, the detour sign would have had a right arrow, not a straight arrow. I am right in principle, but DW is right in practice, and I soon realize it. I miss a turnoff and end up headed into the Epcot parking lot. I throw myself on the mercy of the parking attendant, and he graciously gives us directions to get out without charging us $8.
We arrive at Beach Club a little before noon. After parking at the circle, DW says she doesnt want to take in any luggage if our room might not be ready. So I park the car in the lot, and we go in say hi to Art the Greeter. I ask him to have his picture taken with the others and tell him hes a celebrity of sorts.
At the front desk, we are helped by an Angel from Heaven, in the guise of a trainee (earning my ears badge). She tells us that our room is ready for us, and that its an Epcot view on the fifth floor. Just as I requested!! I could have kissed her.
We go to our one-bedroom suite, and when I look out the window, I let out a shriek. DS9 is frightened and wants to know whats wrong. I show him whats right: a spectacular view of Spaceship Earth! After we explore our room a bit, we head over to Boardwalk to scare up some lunch. I had planned to get sandwiches from Boardwalk Bakery, but its a little crowded and the boys dont like the offering there, so we try Big River Grill instead. I had not planned to eat there, and I was right. Its OK, but nothing special. Im still hungry after my turkey sandwich and chips, but were going to Cape May tonight and Ill make up for it then.
After we get back to our room, I figure out how to get the TV to display the signal from the DVD player, then start our Monster, Inc. DVD for the boys. Then I go out to buy groceries at Publix while they relax. As I stand in the Beach Club parking lot looking at a trunk full of groceries, it finally hits me. How am I going to get all this up to our room? How do all the other DVC members do it? Im still not sure. Im looking at two twelve-packs and four 2-liter bottles of soda, a gallon jug and a twelve-pack of drinking water, a half gallon each of milk, orange juice and ice cream, and an infinite number of little plastic bags full of groceries. Definitely more than one trip. The first trip goes well aside from nearly pulling my arm out of its socket. The second trip does not go as well. Im carrying nine plastic bags in my left hand and the twelve-pack of water in my right. As Im walking down the corridor on the fifth floor, burdened to the maximum, I lose control of the water, it drops to the floor, and the plastic holding the bottles together breaks; one of the bottles rolls out. I bend over and let the nine plastic bags on my left hand touch the floor. If I release them, Ill never be able to get the 18 plastic handles back over my fingers again
At this point a bellhop sees me and offers to help. Yes please! He must be related to the CM at the front desk. It turns out that I actually did some minor nerve damage to my middle finger by carrying so many plastic bags at once. It seems to be slowly returning to normal. Dont let it happen to you; ask for paper bags!
Its time to wander up to the International Gate at Epcot and activate our annual pass vouchers. Fortunately the line is short. This wont take long. The CM at Guest Relations asks for our drivers licenses, and looks at our vouchers. Why do these two vouchers have different prices? he asks. I explain that one of the adult vouchers was bought before the September price increase, the other after. Hmmm.
He explains that he is going to have to perform a delicate accounting procedure and relates some of the details. Do I understand? I dont understand any of this, I reply. Actually I do understand what he has said, but I dont understand why it is necessary. The accounting has already been done! The vouchers have been paid for, they are each good for an annual pass, its that simple. Nothing he does can change that. Or can it? It occurs to me that Ive already said too much. This is like going through customs. Just keep your mouth shut and let him do his job. He has already stamped VOID on each of our vouchers. $1300 hangs in the balance. Cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. Our boys are asking why its taking so long. The people behind us are getting restless. Another window is opened for everyone else while our case is handled. After what seems an eternity, he produces a balance of $0.00, pulls out four annual pass sleeves, prints our annual passes, and hands them to us. I am so relieved! It only took about 15 minutes, but it seemed like an hour. Not until the next day did we notice that he misspelled our last name on all four passes, in spite of copying it off our licenses. Should we get it corrected? Not after that experience. Not in a million years.
After eating dinner at the Cape May buffet, DW discovers that I forgot three of the items on the shopping list. I volunteer to go back out and get them. Just for the adventure, I go to Winn-Dixie this time instead of Publix. I amaze myself by actually finding it, after dark. After watching Illuminations fireworks from our balcony, we go to bed in preparation for early entry at MK tomorrow.
It's a long drive when you know you drove the wrong way. 
