Day 3, Sunday Dec. 2
The day dawned fresh and pretty once more at POR and it was a most bittersweet goodbye as we packed the car up and headed out of the Bayou for some seaside revelry.
The plan for the day had been an extra-early wake p so as to check in to the Boardwalk Inn and get to MGM close to park opening. The plan was an utter failure. Gramma was moving slow. Leo was moving slow. Traffic at the BWI was moving slow. It was soon apparent that we would not be doing as much at MGM as I’d have liked. Much to my surprise, however, I wasn’t completely freaking out and more or less decided we’d just see how long it took to check in and then decide if we wanted to bother bringing luggage in or just head over to MGM.
The CM checking me in was pleasant, though not very personable. She reiterated the requests I’d made – a room on the 3rd floor or higher, near the lobby – and handed over the keys. OH BOY, I was finally an actual
guest at the Boardwalk!
ASIDE: I’ve probably spent more time at the BWI than any other resort. But, until this trip, never overnight. First off, flame away, but we were THOSE people. When my not-so-DexH and I had Epcot After 4pm Annual Passes, we regularly parked at the Boardwalk to avoid paying for parking. (Gasp!) When we upgraded to the FL Seasonal Passes, we still parked there to avoid the parking toll. (Horror!) Secondly, the Boardwalk happens to be the point of entry to Atlantic Dance Hall. Many years ago, not-so-DexH and I stumbled into Atlantic Dance and found a whole lot of kids our age swing dancing to a live band. We were instantly smitten and, upon our return home, took lessons so we could dance like that, too. We became part of an amazing dance scene that included our home region as well as that of Orlando and came back to dance at ADH too many times to count. I still dance and count amongst my dear friends quite a few people I met thanks to that chance first visit to Atlantic Dance Hall. ADH is no longer a swing dance venue, I’m sad to say, but the memories live on and I had to get a picture with my beloved dance hall!
I rounded up Gramma and Leo, handed over the car to a valet and the luggage to bell services and we set out to find our room. The first thing we found was that it was on the 3rd floor, but it was no where near the lobby. In fact, it was the last room at the end of the hallway. Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all, right? We were at the BWI – that’s a DELUXE resort baby! – what could be wrong?
We walked into the room and within seconds, my nose was twitching. There was a distinctly perfumy scent in the room. I’m not good with flowery, perfumy scents thanks to my allergies, but we figured the room had just been cleaned and housekeeping probably sprayed some kind of air freshener, which would go away in a short while.
We checked out the room while we waited for our luggage to arrive. I wasn’t real impressed with anything. The wallpaper was peeling at most seams and the décor just wasn’t doing much for me. I opened the sheers to check out our “balcony” and found two disturbing things: 1. Only 1.75 people could fit out there, standing; and B. the wall area between the window and French door was so wet it was literally crumbling where I touched it. I shut the curtains back over it, hoping to erase the sight from my mind and we headed out for some fun at MGM.
Have you taken the boat from the BWI to MGM? It takes forever! Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice little journey, if you’re not in a hurry.
We
were in a hurry and arrived at the MGM dock a mere 2 minutes before our ADR at the Sci Fi Dine In. The park was pretty busy and, by the time we made it to the Sci Fi, we were late. But we were seated within 5 minutes, so maybe it pays to be a tad late.
Lunch was pretty fun! My BBQ chicken sandwich was fairly atrocious, but Gramma’s Reuben was yummy and Leo enjoyed his pita pizza sans chicken. Most of all, he totally dug eating lunch in a car, watching monster movies.
He was completely engrossed and I don’t think he spoke more than two words the whole time! I’m not in any rush to go back, but I’m glad we went.
As charmed and pixie dusted as our previous days had been, this day was definitely
not. Our mojo was way, way off that day. If we got in line for Little Mermaid, we’d miss seeing Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater. If we went to see them, we’d miss the Power Rangers. Leo was whiny and having a hard time making decisions. Gramma was tired and not participating in any conversation I attempted to start.
In the end, we rode Star Tours. That’s it. Oh, and Leo got a light saber. Notice the color? That’s my boy!
We took the 3 hour cruise back to the BWI with the intent to rest a bit, then get ready for an evening at Epcot.
I unlocked the door and Leo walked in first.
“Mommy, what’s that
smell?!?!”
OMG, the perfumy smell was overpowering.
It was like a hyacinth bomb went off in there. My lungs seized up and I was soon gasping for breath. I retreated to the hall, took a few puffs on my emergency inhaler and a crisis was averted. But we clearly could not stay in that room. Gramma was convinced it had to be an air freshener and looked around for something. Sure enough – there was a brand-spanking new gel air freshener installed behind the armoire.
Meanwhile, I was on the courtesy phone explaining to the front desk our problem. No worries – they were setting me up with a new room even as we spoke, just come on down and get the new keys.
It only took a few minutes at the front desk and, new keys in hand, we decided to get into the new room first, then go back for the luggage. Hey, Room #2 was much closer to the lobby – bonus! We opened the door, Gramma stepped inside…. And shook her head. No way. This non-smoking room reeked of smoke. ((sigh))
Back to the front desk we went. On my way, I saw a man in a Suit who asked if I was taken care of. Well, not really. The Suit listened as I explained what had transpired and he assured me this would be taken care of. I voiced my concern about the air freshener we found, and the Suit explained that they do not use them and deduced that a previous guest must have put in up. Really? Okay.
It took a lot longer this time, and there was much discussion between the CM and another Suit about where to put us. Several times Suit 2 tried a room and the CM pointed out that that would be an upgrade.
Suit 2: “Oh, thanks for catching that! What’s their room category again?”
Yes, this was really said in front of me. Several times. I was dying to say, “Listen, I’m not looking for an upgrade, but I want a room that doesn’t give me an asthma attack. If that means putting me in a room that’s valued higher than my AP discounted rate, so be it. Just get it done, already!” But, instead, I smiled my Disney smile and let them do their job.
An appropriate room was eventually found, and now skeptical, I insisted that I see (smell) the room before it was officially assigned. Gramma and an increasingly cranky Leo hung out in the lobby while the CM and I checked out Room #3. Can you guess? Yep, perfumy again.
Not as powerful as Room #1, but bad enough to start my lungs tightening.
Back to the front desk again. Suit 1 voices his concern that I’m allergic to the cleaning products they use and they use them at all the resorts. Uh huh, so why has this never happened before, and I’ve stayed at all but 3 of the WDW resorts? Suit 1 didn’t have an answer to that, but he did suggest that I mention my sensitivity the next time I make reservations so they can clean my room with non-chemical cleaners. Sure, whatever, thanks for the tip. To their credit, everyone was pleasant and seemed to want to fix the problem. They just weren’t
understanding the problem. Finally, Suit 1 said they’d find a room “in the right category”
that hadn’t been cleaned yet and have it cleaned with non-chemical cleaners. If that didn’t work, they’d see about moving us to another resort.
I should have just insisted on being moved to another resort at that point, but I just didn’t want to deal with moving yet again. I agreed to give this a try and we rested in the lobby another 20 minutes.
Suit 1 waved me over to bell services, where Jose was waiting to transfer our luggage to the new room. Jose was the absolute BEST. He insisted on showing us the room first, so we could make sure all was okay, then would go back to Room #1 for our luggage, either to bring to Room #4 or to our car, depending on the results. Thank you Jose, have a Magical day!
Gramma entered first. Sniff, sniff, sniff… she thought it was okay! I entered and, though there was a faint scent of something floral, it wasn’t bad. And, it came with a towel animal. We’ll take it!
Back up to Room #1, Jose started to put in the key and stopped dead. His face said it all, but he also verbalized his shock – he could smell the air freshener through the door. As we were standing there in dismay, the housekeeping manager happened to walk by and Jose stopped him. Jose asked if they put air fresheners in the rooms…
Housekeeping manager: “Yeah, they’re behind every armoire.” I resisted the urge to call Suit 1 and say “I told you so!” When we got back to Room #4, we located the air freshener behind the armoire and noticed it was almost depleted. That’s why this room wasn’t so bad. We took the remaining gel out and left it on the porch outside.
After all that excitement, we barely had time to change before heading over to Epcot. But I still wasn’t freaking out. Because, after Epcot, I had BIG plans. Big, lime green plans.
Coming soon: Is that a pineapple or are you just happy to see me?
Again...smart move to take the car. Glad you had good parking vibes. We never had trouble finding a parking space at POR. 
Boma is one of our favorite restaurants, too! But, I have to ask, WHY WHY WHY didn't you get a press pot of Kenyan AA coffee??? You could have saved yourself from the "Nescacrap" and had one of the best coffees on property! 
(or did you mean Boardwalk Inn? - if so, then that's OK.)
Have a fantastic time, and tell us all about it when you get back! 
My DD's wouldn't have lasted as long as Leo. What a trooper! Hopefully your next day went a lot better. Can't wait to read the next installment, once again a "TV" worthy cliffhanger!! 
I'm reading.
it was a pleasant meal!! Cruella and Horace were actually pretty quiet as well!!! 
I have a hard time walking thru the perfume area of department stores. During the holidays, when they are "spritz" happy, fugettaboudit!
