Grandpa Mohawk & BroganMc's NYE Live Trip Report

[BroganMc]

Hi fellow DISsers,

I'm here frantically trying to get ready for our flight tomorrow as I slowly freeze to death in my wind-battered house in Maryland. It suddenly occurred to me I had failed to announce the return of our infamous (or not so) travel blog.

Some of you may remember, my dad (Grandpa Mohawk) and I had to cancel all our trips from the summer on due to his hip replacement surgery (August, Friday 13) and subsequent recovery (Sep/Oct/Nov).

We really missed our regular Autumn trek in October, which has become my favorite way to celebrate my birthday (Oct 2) and Halloween (GM dresses up as a gladiator). This year was far too dull what with trips to PT and doctors then work. Next year should be better with another of our big family Grand Gatherings.

But since we had to cancel the October trip and our early December trip (for the aging aunt & uncle), we opted to extend our NYE trip. We'll be heading down tomorrow afternoon and staying until next Tuesday night.

And this year will be extra special because my sister is joining us with her family (DBIL, and 2 nephews ages 9 & 11). I wisely booked a second studio last February as soon as I realized the holiday was over the weekend and one of my siblings families might be able to join us.

My sister will be staying until Sunday. Her boys, miraculously, do not know they are going anywhere. She and DBIL and hoping to surprise the kids tomorrow by telling them they will be heading down to our family beach place in Ocean City and springing it on them in the airport. My fingers are crossed the surprise goes over well.

My cousin will also be joining us. And we'll head down in two waves: the GM core posse at 2pm and the DSis entourage at 8pm. We'll converge on SSR.

So far the itinerary calls for:

• Tuesday - arrive and settle in SSR
• Wednesday - animal Kingdom, the Lodge and Bomas for dinner (DSis request)
• Thursday - Magic Kingdom, lunch at Crystal Palace, holiday parades, fireworks and the preNYE bash at the park
• Friday - Lunch at 50's Primetime and park hopping between DHS & EPCOT for the NYE festivities. My sis and I are looking forward to time spent at Osborne Lights together.
• Saturday - dinner at Raglan Road and a day just hanging at SSR and DTD.
• Sunday - sis heads home so we're flexible what we do
• Monday - Meet up with some Disney friends for tea at the Grand Floridian (I soooo missed that for my birthday this year)
• Tuesday - wrap up and fly home at night

Weather forecast calls for bonechillin' cold tomorrow both here and down there, slightly warmer Wednesday and mid 70's the rest of the trip. After weeks of 35 degree highs we'll be looking forward to real warmth. My arthritic knees and ankles haven't hurt this much in years.

So far I've packed up my warm dorm comforter (never go to Disney in December without it), a selection of long pants, long sleeve shirts, tshirts and sweaters and lots of fuzzy socks. Had to locate an old bathing suit since I left mine at the beach over the summer when I came home to help take care of dad.

I will do my best to blog as we go. I have added a few techie gizmos to my bundle (a MiFi card and iPod Touch) so perhaps I can do a lil while lost in the crowds at Disney. I suggest you all follow my Twitter feed for the latest updates: @BroganMc or the official blog for my more detailed stories later.

Wish us luck! We missed this weekend's blizzard (OC got it instead) but the wind has been howling since last night. I don't fancy a bumpy take off (or rather my stomach doesn't). Nor do I fancy the airline breaking my powerchair, GM's scooter dying in the middle of EPCOT or being assigned a room without a shower I can use (all these things happened on past December trips). Had the powerchair repairmen out today to look over and tighten screws on my chair. GM's scooter batteries were replace two weeks ago. And supposedly DVC Member services has confirmed I am in an ADA room.

Hope you can join us, at least virtually.

 

[kikiq]

So glad to see you back. Have been worried about both of you, but I'm so looking forward to your trip report. Can't wait to hear how your sister's surprise goes.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Best wishes. Across the Potomac here in Virginia...I'm jealous! Enjoy.

 

[BroganMc]

Oh I forgot to mention we will be leaving our own personal version of a Christmas snowglobe here. See my dad and I always host the family Christmas gatherings. This year was no exception, well except the fact we extended it to more people: neighbors, friends and extended family. In fact, the weekend after we return from Disney we will be having another Post-Christmas gathering for the sibs, kids, aunts & uncles & grown cousins. Then we're smack dab into Ravens playoff season.

A few holiday treats to share:
Preview video of our train garden

 

[toocherie]

Yay! you're back!

 

[rascalmom]

Can't wait to read along! Safe and happy travels - we'll be waiting eagerly for your posts.

 

[Cee]

Have a NYE blast! I'm in Occoquan, VA now, but hail from PG Cty, off of Riggs and University Blvd.(near Tick Tock!).

 

[marynvince]

Glad to hear you've got a great trip home planned. Sounds great!

 

[PKWallaby]

Count me in...hope everyone arrives safely with little delays or other bumps along the way

 

[LocustPoint]

Is GM going to get his Ravens Purple Mohawk in honor of the playoffs this trip? Have a great time and enjoy the short reprieve from the cold.

 

[LIFERBABE]

 

[dianeschlicht]

Have a GREAT trip, and make up for lost time!

 

[5forDiz]

Oh I forgot to mention we will be leaving our own personal version of a Christmas snowglobe here. See my dad and I always host the family Christmas gatherings. This year was no exception, well except the fact we extended it to more people: neighbors, friends and extended family. In fact, the weekend after we return from Disney we will be having another Post-Christmas gathering for the sibs, kids, aunts & uncles & grown cousins. Then we're smack dab into Ravens playoff season.

A few holiday treats to share:
Preview video of our train garden

This absolutely MAGICAL !! Thank you so much for sharing How much time does it take to set up the Train Garden ?

Have a wonderful trip & safe travels to you, GM & your family

 

[BroganMc]

Mixed reviews for our first day. Travel to the airport was fine. Flight was smooth all the way. No problems with my powerchair or GM's scooter. Did a little shopping in the Orlando airport. Had to check out the new Harry Potter stuff from Universal.

Fell alseep on the bus twice en route. Once from the Old Key West bus stop to SSR's bus stop. But our luck ran out on check-in.

Seems Special Needs royally screwed up this time. They blocked a room for me, alright, but it was not handicap accessible. No roll-in shower, no low profile bed = no place for me to shower or sleep.

SSR Front Desk spent 2 hours trying to work out a fix for us. Seems the database is wrong of what is accessible and what isn't. This new computer system has it all mucked up. The architectural schematics show what are true accessible rooms but the new system has a completely different database.

First I was told they'd put us in Grandstand. Then the manager checked the room when I questioned it's accessibility. I've been here enough to know which rooms have showers. Then they thought they'd put us in Congress Park, but that room had a tub and now shower. So then they had no rooms for me tonight, but tomorrow they could fix it.

That's when I threw up the red card. No, don't tell me I can't shower! So back to the drawing board they went. They had a room in a corner of the Paddocks near the pool. It is out of service since the construction is right next door. But it was accessible. Ok, that's fine. And tomorrow we'd move back to Grandstand with my sis' family in a proper room. But then we had plans for Animal Kingdom and the Lodge tomorrow. So still a hassle packing.

I did ask they comp the first night's points if I was to be stuck in a non-HA room. By then time they finished working their magic we had an HA room and they offered to comp us 2 nights stay for the hassle. Very generous, I thought.

So we sleep tonight, call Bell Services in the morning and begin all over again. Other than that it is bone-chillin' cold. You can see your breath in the air. and even with winter coats my fingers and cheeks were frozen by the time I walked to Paddocks.

But my sis is here, her boys are jumping off the walls with excitement and we can sleep and bathe in the morning. And our luggage did find us from Magical Express. Got my warm dorm blanket. Time to crawl into bed.

Night DISers!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Wow - so sorry to hear about the room troubles!! It's just amazing how and what Disney IT can mess up.

Here's wishing you much better luck and lots of fun on the rest of your trip!

 

[Harlemgirl720]

So sorry you are having such a hard time with the room situation. At least they comped you two days.

 

[littlestar]

Sorry to hear about the handicapped room problems. Too bad DVC can't do it like Wyndham does - with Wyndham's online booking system, you know when you book online if you're booking a handicapped unit and that's what you'll get at check-in. DVC could take a lesson from Wyndham (especially if they start online booking soon).

It should be warming up over the next few days. Have fun.

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

Patiently waiting for more, sorry to hear about your troubles, we had a few on our recent stay and ended up with $100 credit on my KTTW card to help take some of the sting out of it. 2 nights point comp is even better. Hope to hear that things improve.

 

[toocherie]

Ugh! So sorry you had issues on the HA room. (Been there--done that--even before the computer upgrade--it's not a good system at all.)

Here's hoping for warmer weather, lots of good food and drink and great times with family and friends!

 

[franandaj]

So sorry to hear about your issues with the HA room. My DP has HA issues as well, but what a lot of people don't realize is that there is not a "one size fits all HA solution". We stayed at the THV in an HA unit last year, and while it would work for a "low profile" bed situation with a wheelchair, my DP needs a higher bed because her RA makes it difficult to get out of a bed when her butt is below her knees. She needs higher solutions as opposed to lower, so everyone is different. I wonder if ever there will be a realization for different needs and they might be accomodated.

Anyways, I hope that you have a WONDERFUL trip and the rest happens as best as possible. I'm looking forward to hearing more!