I Want to Quit This Whole Disney World! -- (Update 2/20)

[trickiwoo]

~SIL needs to design add-on accessories for strollers. Ginny had it made with fans blowing on her all the time!

If she could design something similar for adults too that would be awesome!

~I need to start scheduling a "resort/rest day" in the middle of the trip to rejuvenate.

I came to the same realization on my trip!

 

[oboedm]

I forgot to respond to your question about February. Joe and I LOVE it in February. The heat of September is getting to us actually, especially to my mom and she usually comes with us. We love being able to walk around in hoodies during February. If there is one thing that is frustrating, it is having to either wear layers, or go back and change clothes. We started our days in hoodies and shorts. By mid-day,we were in T-shirts and shorts and then during the evenings, we had jeans on too, hoodies and on some nights, even coats. But it was so nice to walk through the parks without heat exhaustion.

Thanks for the info! We are going to go in late Feb... we will be sure to bring layers! I am assuming that we would go back to the hotel for a mid-day break, but we will see.

Great jumble of thoughts!

Thanks! I am going to post a real update tonight. Day 1 of the trip, so stay tuned!

I teach online classes, so I had to check in and answer questions as well as grade a few papers. I could have made it so I wasn't doing anything, but I liked having the extra money!

I will be bringing my DBiL &DSiL, along with their tempermental 5yo, on our next trip in 2011. I am very interested in hearing the details of your vacation!!

It was SO MUCH FUN with him! He had a few issues, but it was mostly his parents. There were many disagreements about how to parent him, which was REALLY uncomfortable.

Definitely with you on the not enough pictures! I took 536 our last trip and don't think it was enough! Like PP said, I took too many of some things (hello, 40 pictures of small world) and none of others (not a single picture of anything in Adventureland. None!).
I can't wait to hear your reason for not wanting to make a dining reservation on the first night. Ours is-- no fancy dinner the last night. We were at Yachtsman and I starting sobbing-- last night blues (I was itching to get to MK) and personal stuff, too. Not a good combo!
We agree about the mod, too. True, we are rarely in the room, but it truly makes a difference to us.
Congrats about the Premium AP's!! So lucky!

Yes! I had the same issue! When I was bored I took more picture to keep myself busy-- I had no pictures of the exciting parts! I can't wait to get my pictures back from my SIL. I don't know half of what she took with her camera, so it will be exciting to see!

We did eat at Raglan Road and really enjoyed our meal. Now I know why we didn't see you!
We enjoyed the family sitting next to us much less. Stay tuned to my report for the details on that...


I've been in January and it was a good trip... I don't remember if we ever went swimming... I do remember being chilly at rope drops, but being comfortable later in the day. Definitely bring a jacket!

Oooh! Can't wait to hear about the family-- so glad it wasn't us, LOL! Thanks for the Jan info! We are going to plan late Feb, early March. A bit more comfortable, weather and money wise!

If she could design something similar for adults too that would be awesome!


I came to the same realization on my trip!

Totally! It was like the child was in air conditioning while she was sleeping. I was SOOO jealous! Resort day is a must! I think it is worth the extra night just to have a resort day. Both this year and last year I needed a sleep in day on day 5 or so... a must do the next trip!

 

[oboedm]

Day 1: Part One—Will We Ever Get There?

The first day of our trip started out early. We woke up around 3:15 so we could leave at 4. I actually slept well the night before we left. When we went in 2009 I couldn’t sleep at all—I think it was a combination of excitement and nerves. This year I was excited but not nervous as WDW was a “known” place. We were up late packing so I probably only got 5 hours or so of sleep, but I was wide awake once the alarm went off.

The area in which I live was hit hard by the economy and foreclosures, so I sent an email message to my church’s Google Group and offered to pay someone to take us to the airport. I paid them the same amount as it would cost to park our car at an off airport lot. Essentially they earned $30 for a 40-minute ride (x2) and a gallon of gas. It was worth it because I got to help a family and I didn’t have to bother my family for a ride to the airport. I hate doing that.

I will probably do the same thing when we go in February/March, although we will probably need someone with a van and a lot more cargo space—we will have 6 people and a load of luggage!


This is a picture of me at 4:00 in the morning! I can’t believe that I actually got up to do my makeup.

We arrived at the airport around 4:40 a.m. We had done online check-in, so we just had to give them our bags. Delta charges $23 each way for each bag! That is a bit ridiculous in my mind. For the Feb/March trip I am thinking of flying Southwest because they have nonstop flights and you can check two bags without additional fees.

Back to this trip… we planned on going through SLC and meeting BIL, SIL, Hayden and Ginny there. We both took earlier flights so that we could take the flight to Orlando together.

Anyway, about 10 minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart, they announced over the loudspeaker that the plane had mechanical issues. They said it would only take about 20 minutes to fix, but that the mechanics had to drive to Phoenix because it was Mesa something or other doing business as Delta.

A picture of DH at the airport.

We had to go up the counter and talk to them because we had a connecting flight we were going to miss. This was so stressful! I was so worried and DH couldn’t really calm me down. After waiting for 20 minutes (20 minutes that felt like 8 decades) we were at the front counter!

They offered us a flight that would get into MCO at 11:30p.m. – leaving from Phoenix in the early afternoon. I wanted to cry right then and there—that was 8 hours from now! I would go insane waiting in the airport that long. Additionally, we had ADR for Cinderella’s Royal Table for 6:45 p.m. and we couldn’t cancel this soon—we would be charged.

We told the Delta lady that the later flight wouldn’t work. After asking 85 million questions of the person next to her, she searched the system… I quickly texted SIL to let her know our flight was delayed and we would not be meeting them in SLC. We were sad, but smiled in the picture we sent for Hayden, telling him that we couldn’t wait to see him!

Would the slow-as-molasses Delta lady find an earlier flight for us? Find out in the next installment!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Offering to help out a family by paying them to take you to the airport was so very sweet of you.

I would have been majorily stressing out if our flight had been delayed! I am on pins and needles waiting to see how this plays out.

 

[hlrababy]

Hey!!! Just joining in! I am anxious to see how Ginny did on this trip because when we go in February, our youngest daughter will be 6 1/2 months old!

 

[annmarieda]

Oh no! I am nervous for you! I can't wait to hear if you made an earlier flight!

As for the bags, I too am thinking SW may be the way to go for us on our next trip. Bag fees that end up adding $120 to the cost of our flights. (for 3 people) is a bit crazy! I almost booked my mom and oldest dd on sw this last trip just so they could check our bags. Given how things went between them...in retrospect...I am SO glad I didn't. It would have been nice to not pay those bag fees though.

Very cool helping out the family by having them help you!

 

[tankgirl427]

I'm so anxious if you got anything earlier or stayed on your original flight and missed the connection. This is way I hate connecting flights.

 

[klacey1]

That was very sweet to hire someone from your church to drive you guys. I'm sure they felt very blessed.
Ahhh, I would have been freaking out if I were you! I hope Delta pulled through for you guys! $23 a bag is INSANE!

 

[oboedm]

Offering to help out a famiy by paying them to take you to the airport was so very sweet of you.

I would have been majorily stressing out if our flight had been delayed! I am on pins and needles waiting to see how this plays out.

I was completely stressed... almost in tears! And the fact that we got the most incompetent Delta employee in Phoenix didn't help one bit! It was taking twice as long to get us and the person next to us through the line because she had to keep asking questions. It would have been much quicker had she not even gotten to the counter!

Hey!!! Just joining in! I am anxious to see how Ginny did on this trip because when we go in February, our youngest daughter will be 6 1/2 months old!

Ginny was GREAT this trip (aside from the fact she was teething). Orajel fixed that. The only other issue was the heat-- and her mom took care of that as best as she could. February would be good weather, I think! She loved looking around at everything and especially loved the shows like Philharmagic, even though she wasn't wearing glasses! =)

Oh no! I am nervous for you! I can't wait to hear if you made an earlier flight!

As for the bags, I too am thinking SW may be the way to go for us on our next trip. Bag fees that end up adding $120 to the cost of our flights. (for 3 people) is a bit crazy! I almost booked my mom and oldest dd on sw this last trip just so they could check our bags. Given how things went between them...in retrospect...I am SO glad I didn't. It would have been nice to not pay those bag fees though.

Very cool helping out the family by having them help you!

Yes! I am glad you didn't stick them on a flight together either! The drama would have started way before you got to Florida-- although, that would have given you a few extra hours of peace, LOL!

We figure it may be worth it because it would save us $15 per person per bag each way. That is $180 total. We can check two bags, which means we wouldn't have to have carry on luggage with us-- less hassle. Plus they have direct flights, which is also good since SIL is terrified of flying.

We will have to see, but they are looking like the way to go! I just have to wait for a better deal. It is $169 each way now... I am hoping for $138. Even $159 would save us $120. We shall see. Delta does have a good amount of leg room, which is great for my DH. He is 6' 4"

I'm so anxious if you got anything earlier or stayed on your original flight and missed the connection. This is way I hate connecting flights.

I know! In the past we have usually just taken flights to CA... this past year we have been flown to WDW twice and Montana. They are the worst, especially when the first plane leaves late! ARGH!

That was very sweet to hire someone from your church to drive you guys. I'm sure they felt very blessed.
Ahhh, I would have been freaking out if I were you! I hope Delta pulled through for you guys! $23 a bag is INSANE!

I could not believe the bag charge! The only reason we flew Delta is so we could get the connecting flight in SLC (SLC is a hub). Delta is pretty much the only airline who flies into the Missoula airport, so that is who we went with. Next time we will just meet everyone in Orlando. Arranging a connecting flight with someone is too much of a hassle!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I really do hope you make it to CRT!! I can't believe they would delay your flight for so long. I would be extremely stressed too. Why do they always hire the slowest people in the airline industry?

I can't wait to hear more!

 

[LisaKeys]

Great start to your TR - looking forward to more! (Including the 'isms)

 

[LisaKeys]

Although I had the last post, I posted it while on the first page!

We also fly Delta (now that Northwest merged). However, for us, we prefer to pay the $23 dollar luggage charge in return of having specific seats. I've read too may TRs where families cannot sit with one another because of "group seating".

I thought the idea of paying a church member to take you a great idea!

Read ya soon!

 

[oboedm]

I really do hope you make it to CRT!! I can't believe they would delay your flight for so long. I would be extremely stressed too. Why do they always hire the slowest people in the airline industry?

I can't wait to hear more!

I knos, right? If this country was run by airline people and those hired by the post office, we would have collapsed in 1777-- before we even got off the ground as a country!

Although I had the last post, I posted it while on the first page!

We also fly Delta (now that Northwest merged). However, for us, we prefer to pay the $23 dollar luggage charge in return of having specific seats. I've read too may TRs where families cannot sit with one another because of "group seating".

I thought the idea of paying a church member to take you a great idea!

Read ya soon!

Good point about the specific seats. I didn't even think of that! I wonder how old your kids have to be to do the "pre-boarding" with them... we are flying with an 8 year old and 7 year old in February, so maybe we will try and do that. The 8 year old has some residual psychological effects from foster care, so maybe we can just use her anxiety and abandonment issues as the reason why need to pre-board.

 

[oboedm]

Day 1: Part Two— Please Help Us, Incompetent Delta Lady!

The Delta lady was typing, I was holding back tears, our plans seemed to be in shambles. We had just asked the slowest Delta lady on the planet to check for an earlier flight as we had reservations that evening. We also told her we were meeting someone in Orlando and they didn’t know their way around. We NEEDED an earlier flight.

She found one.

She wanted to know if we minded not sitting by each other. Of course we didn’t mind! We have been married for 8 years… the honeymoon is clearly over! Now book us those seats!

She went through the entire process and then somehow deleted that process with a single keystroke. I was worried that in the time it took to re-book the flight, the seats would be gone.

Luckily, the lady next to her practically took over the process and booked the flights. Whew! We were on our way, due to arrive in Orlando 20 minutes after BIL’s family!

The only issue was our plane change in Memphis. We only had 20 minutes to get to our new gate, and I didn’t know how big that airport was. Additionally, we left Phoenix 15 minutes late. AHHH!

Here is a shot of our plane at the PHX airport. We will never fly Mesa doing business as Delta again!

Right before we left PHX, SIL texted me back with a cute picture. They were sad we wouldn’t be able to share their flight from SLC to MCO.

The flight was good. We had a smooth takeoff and the pilot made up the time in the air. We actually arrived 30 minutes early…plenty of time to use the restroom before boarding our next flight.

We got off the plane, rushed to our new gate and they were boarding already. DH allowed me to use the restroom (even though that meant he would have to use the airplane bathroom and he is quite large). How sweet!

This ride was also uneventful. Evan I sat in the same row, across the aisle from each other. He was in an aisle seat, I had the window seat on the other side. The couple in between DH and me offered to move, but I didn’t mind. I actually got a lot of work done and prepared materials for my upcoming class. It worked out great!

We arrived 20 minutes early to Orlando. I called ME and let them know we arrived on a later flight so they needed to get our bags from this one. I texted SIL to let he know we were here! They were waiting at ME for us.

We got to ME at 4:55p.m. and practically ran towards their family, bursting with excitement. After four months of planning, we were here! Hayden was happy to see us, but I think he was tired and overwhelmed by everything. This trend continued throughout the trip…

ME was pretty empty. We were at the front of the line and I was worried that we would have to wait awhile for an ME bus to arrive. It was about a 15 minute wait. We were in line with people going to OKW, SSR and Fort Wilderness. OKW and SSR made sense to me, location wise, but not Fort Wilderness. You would think we would share a bus with Riverside…

I failed to take a picture of the outside of the bus, I am unsure why. However, I did get a picture of our view. We were in the front seat! I started going to the middle when we got on the bus, but DH reminded me that I wanted to get a good picture of the sign. What a sweetheart!

I remember that Hayden was a bit disappointed because he wanted a Disney Cruise Line bus, but he got over that relatively quickly. He started getting excited once we were on the bus.


I think this point was when he said “10 minutes awesome” for the first time. The bus was “10 minutes awesome”. Here he is telling his mom all about it.

DH and BIL sat by each other discussing videogames and movies, I think. There were excited to be on the bus, as evidenced by this picture.

SIL was also excited to be on the bus. Hayden wanted to sit by her, but she had too much stuff on the other side of her.

DH took this picture of me and Ginny. I have several of these types of pictures. When I had braces, my 4 year old niece asked what they were for. I told her that they were for eating babies. She was a bit frightened, but also intrigued. She wants braces for her fifth birthday.

Although I don’t have braces anymore, I had to get a picture. Poor Ginny looks exhausted in this picture.

Hayden was a little bored at this point, as we had to wait about 20 minutes for the bus to depart. He started to take pictures. Here are is pictures… the next Su-Lynn, perhaps? LOL!

We were finally on our way! Hayden kept wanting to stand up to see out all of the windows. He was more interested in the scenery than the ME video.

We were officially at WDW once we saw the sign.

We first stopped at OKW. The bus driver didn’t stop at SSR because no one on the bus was staying there. As such, POFQ was the second stop. Wahoo!

We got to POFQ around 6:10 p.m. Our CRT reservation was for 6:45p.m. While there was no line at check-in, SIL make the process last 85 hours longer by trying to request a new room. They put us in building 7, riverview (upgrade!), 3rd floor (we requested top floor). She wanted one closer… essentially, it was the farthest part of the farthest building.

Would we get a closer room? Would we make it to our CRT reservation? Stay Tuned for the next installment!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

I have no idea why they have incompetent airline employees working at the airports. Put them on the phone or something. Not in front of people that are trying to get somewhere. It is frustrating and I hear about it alot. I'm just glad th at you got to MCO before BIL.

Anxious to hear if you made it to your ADR. Sounds like if you did, it had to be close.

 

[klacey1]

I'm so glad the airline issue got worked out! I can understand why your SIL would want a closer room, but I definitely agree that that would have been an argument for another time-- when you didn't have a half hour to get to an ADR!

 

[oboedm]

I have no idea why they have incompetent airline employees working at the airports. Put them on the phone or something. Not in front of people that are trying to get somewhere. It is frustrating and I hear about it alot. I'm just glad th at you got to MCO before BIL.

Anxious to hear if you made it to your ADR. Sounds like if you did, it had to be close.

I don't know if they should be on the phone, either! They should just be shoveling luggage into the plane. =)

I'm so glad the airline issue got worked out! I can understand why your SIL would want a closer room, but I definitely agree that that would have been an argument for another time-- when you didn't have a half hour to get to an ADR!

I know! The thing is, I don't think she realized that this was the SMALLEST resort ever, either. It took 5 minutes to get to our room and we got a riverview-- why was she worried?

 

[mickeystoontown]

I was relieved to read that they were finally able to find you another flight and were able to meet up with the family relatively on time.

I love Hayden's "10 minutes awesome". I may need to steal that one 'cause it's too cute.

 

[Joyciemc]

These are some tense updates, Paula!

Can't wait to find out what happens next... your report is 10 minutes awesome!

 

[SimmerBaggins]

This is a VERY cute report -- don't we all have issues when we go to WDW? It's either the process, or the people...or sometimes both!

Too bad we can't all just take clones of ourselves on our trips! You'd never wonder why someone was "like that"!

But to be honest, there's something about being able to share a trip with those you care about.