steveanddonna
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2003
- Messages
- 664
On to Day 2...
Thursday we slept in (relatively speaking, as were normally up at 5:30 AM) and lingered in the concierge lounge before starting our day. We were happy to see many familiar faces back, including Ivette in the lounge and Kathy at the concierge desk. After chatting a bit with our Poly family we left for MGM. The crowds were better than tolerable and we visited all the attractions on our must-do list before lunch, including repeat rides on ToT and Aerosmiths RnR. Even at the decidedly middle-age of 44, RnR is one of my favorites. There were several rain showers during the morning, but we apparently had a pixie dust shield, as it only rained when we were inside - we only knew because of the wet pavement. After a quick lunch at the ABC commissary we headed back to the Poly for more swimming and general R&R. BTW, DH said the tabbouleh wrap is excellent; CM at the register for some reason felt it necessary to warn him that it was vegetarian, with an ominous tone embellishing the v word. Guess DH looks like a carnivore!
I stopped at the concierge desk to change some priority seatings while DH was attending to some business calls and checking e-mail. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and lounging, something we never feel we have time for at WDW. Im glad we decided to make this trip less about the parks and more about the whole experience.
We enjoyed hors doeuvres in the concierge lounge that evening (marinated chicken strips, fried rice and plenty of veggies) and had a nice chat with Chef Dick. What a pleasure to see familiar faces, especially when they belong to such charming CMs. We decided it was a grand night for mini-golf and so it was off to Fantasia Gardens for us. Apparently we think like everyone else - there was an hour wait for a tee time at the course. We wanted to make an early night of it, so we spent our evening at Downtown Disney Marketplace instead. We enjoyed a light supper at Earl of Sandwich - much better than when we dined at their pre-opening trials last November - and strolled along the water, people-watched, and window-shopped. After 5 Disney trips in 9 months buying was not on the agenda - you definitely can have too many Tinkerbell shirts!
We turned in early, with dreams of golf dancing in DHs head and dreams of a leisurely solo morning for me.
Day 3
DH left early for a 7 AM tee-time at Osprey Ridge, so I enjoyed breakfast in the lounge on my own. I was really looking forward to a morning of....NOTHING. This to me is the divine purpose of vacation. While entering the rest of our itinerary in my PDA I noticed that the CM the day before had made our CP dinner PS for the wrong day, and not cancelled what I had asked him to cancel. I headed downstairs to straighten things out. To my delight, Kathy was at the desk. This is one thorough, competent and smart CM - if you have any kind of request or problem she will solve it with ease and composure. She is the epitome of grace under fire, and I know this from a situation she handled for us on a previous trip. She quickly righted our PSs and we made some small talk. In May she had offered to send a thank you note and drawing from our niece through intermail to a CM on the monorail line. We never had the chance to do so, but in the interim I transferred the drawing to a t-shirt and brought it with. I asked her if that could go through intermail or if it was too large. She said she could do that, but thought we should present the gift in person. I told her it really wasnt necessary, but she insisted. While I shopped for a few gifts to bring home, she made some calls. When I returned to our room, Kathy called to tell me she had found the CM and sent me on my way to present the shirt. I arrived at the Poly platform and told the CM at the podium, Jeannette (who was masquerading as Susie that day), why I was there. What a doll - she was enthusiastic and helpful, and sincerely pleased to help another CM receive some well-deserved recognition. She invited me to step around the gates and join her on the platform to wait for monorail pink. When pink arrived I presented the shirt to the pilot, who seemed genuinely touched. I was really glad then that Kathy insisted on a personal presentation - never had a hug from a monorail pilot before! When I expressed my regret that my DH had missed seeing this CM, who has become one of our favorites, he gave me his schedule for the rest of our trip and told me to bring DH to see him so he could thank him as well. Jeannette asked if I would mind waiting a few minutes, as she had called her superiors to the platform, because she wanted them to hear some positive feedback. After a little bit, I was met by Shannon and Tony, two transportation supervisors, to whom I related the story of my nieces memorable monorail ride and the subsequent barrage of drawings. I emphasized how its CMs like Stan and Jeannette who keep us coming back to WDW year after year (or in the case of 2003-04, month after month!) Now, in spite of several years as a professional singer, I HATE being the center of attention when I am not on stage. When I realized how crowded the platform had become (it was near MK opening time) and how many stares I was getting, I wanted to disappear through the decking - certain that everyone thought I was a law-breaking rebel being thrown out of WDW! Hopefully Shannon and Tony didnt think I was a lunatic, as I tend to babble when mortified. DH and I did manage to see Stan later that afternoon, and rode up front with him all the way from the Contemporary to the MK. I think this made up for DHs mediocre round of golf - he was NOT happy with his score. We were greeted warmly by the CM at the podium, who knew about the shirt and everything. Its so easy to forget how such a small gesture can mean so much. Stan turned out to be a really neat guy, and we consider him now to be part of our Disney family, along with the Poly CMs who have been making our trips delightful for the last seven years.
We spent an hour or so strolling in the MK, and visited Timekeeper, which wouldnt be open later, then retired to the Poly for yet more swimming and relaxing. E-ride night was on our agenda for the evening, along with dinner at CRT. We returned to the MK after hors doeuvres at the Poly (my personal favorite - Chef Dicks spring rolls) and hit a few attractions before heading over to Cinderella Castle for dinner. We checked in (or tried, anyways) at the podium only to find that our PS had been inadvertently cancelled by the same concierge CM who had messed up our other PSs. We asked if we could still have dinner there and the CM said, in a snotty way, well youll just have to wait and see. I wasnt upset about the PS mix-up; mistakes happen. Both DH and I were very offended by the CRT CMs repeated comments implying that we were trying to put one over on him. I wont elaborate, but he suggested several times that we were just trying to get seated any way we could. Ultimately, we didnt have too long of a wait and we got to see Mary Poppins. CRT is just as pretty as I remember it from when it was still King Stefans and our food (filet for both of us) was beautifully prepared and presented. Our server was friendly and efficient, but we really liked the server at the table below ours, who greeted his guests as mlords and mladies then promptly forgot about the Renaissance and asked, Yall been here before? Only in Disney!
E-ride night enabled us to do every attraction in a short time, and some more than once. Perhaps its just our imagination, but does anyone else think Space Mountain is faster and way cooler at night? DH hit the wall about ten minutes before 1, so it was back to the Poly and more sweet dreams.
Gosh, how could there be so much to tell from such a short trip?
Thursday we slept in (relatively speaking, as were normally up at 5:30 AM) and lingered in the concierge lounge before starting our day. We were happy to see many familiar faces back, including Ivette in the lounge and Kathy at the concierge desk. After chatting a bit with our Poly family we left for MGM. The crowds were better than tolerable and we visited all the attractions on our must-do list before lunch, including repeat rides on ToT and Aerosmiths RnR. Even at the decidedly middle-age of 44, RnR is one of my favorites. There were several rain showers during the morning, but we apparently had a pixie dust shield, as it only rained when we were inside - we only knew because of the wet pavement. After a quick lunch at the ABC commissary we headed back to the Poly for more swimming and general R&R. BTW, DH said the tabbouleh wrap is excellent; CM at the register for some reason felt it necessary to warn him that it was vegetarian, with an ominous tone embellishing the v word. Guess DH looks like a carnivore!
I stopped at the concierge desk to change some priority seatings while DH was attending to some business calls and checking e-mail. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and lounging, something we never feel we have time for at WDW. Im glad we decided to make this trip less about the parks and more about the whole experience.
We enjoyed hors doeuvres in the concierge lounge that evening (marinated chicken strips, fried rice and plenty of veggies) and had a nice chat with Chef Dick. What a pleasure to see familiar faces, especially when they belong to such charming CMs. We decided it was a grand night for mini-golf and so it was off to Fantasia Gardens for us. Apparently we think like everyone else - there was an hour wait for a tee time at the course. We wanted to make an early night of it, so we spent our evening at Downtown Disney Marketplace instead. We enjoyed a light supper at Earl of Sandwich - much better than when we dined at their pre-opening trials last November - and strolled along the water, people-watched, and window-shopped. After 5 Disney trips in 9 months buying was not on the agenda - you definitely can have too many Tinkerbell shirts!
We turned in early, with dreams of golf dancing in DHs head and dreams of a leisurely solo morning for me.
Day 3
DH left early for a 7 AM tee-time at Osprey Ridge, so I enjoyed breakfast in the lounge on my own. I was really looking forward to a morning of....NOTHING. This to me is the divine purpose of vacation. While entering the rest of our itinerary in my PDA I noticed that the CM the day before had made our CP dinner PS for the wrong day, and not cancelled what I had asked him to cancel. I headed downstairs to straighten things out. To my delight, Kathy was at the desk. This is one thorough, competent and smart CM - if you have any kind of request or problem she will solve it with ease and composure. She is the epitome of grace under fire, and I know this from a situation she handled for us on a previous trip. She quickly righted our PSs and we made some small talk. In May she had offered to send a thank you note and drawing from our niece through intermail to a CM on the monorail line. We never had the chance to do so, but in the interim I transferred the drawing to a t-shirt and brought it with. I asked her if that could go through intermail or if it was too large. She said she could do that, but thought we should present the gift in person. I told her it really wasnt necessary, but she insisted. While I shopped for a few gifts to bring home, she made some calls. When I returned to our room, Kathy called to tell me she had found the CM and sent me on my way to present the shirt. I arrived at the Poly platform and told the CM at the podium, Jeannette (who was masquerading as Susie that day), why I was there. What a doll - she was enthusiastic and helpful, and sincerely pleased to help another CM receive some well-deserved recognition. She invited me to step around the gates and join her on the platform to wait for monorail pink. When pink arrived I presented the shirt to the pilot, who seemed genuinely touched. I was really glad then that Kathy insisted on a personal presentation - never had a hug from a monorail pilot before! When I expressed my regret that my DH had missed seeing this CM, who has become one of our favorites, he gave me his schedule for the rest of our trip and told me to bring DH to see him so he could thank him as well. Jeannette asked if I would mind waiting a few minutes, as she had called her superiors to the platform, because she wanted them to hear some positive feedback. After a little bit, I was met by Shannon and Tony, two transportation supervisors, to whom I related the story of my nieces memorable monorail ride and the subsequent barrage of drawings. I emphasized how its CMs like Stan and Jeannette who keep us coming back to WDW year after year (or in the case of 2003-04, month after month!) Now, in spite of several years as a professional singer, I HATE being the center of attention when I am not on stage. When I realized how crowded the platform had become (it was near MK opening time) and how many stares I was getting, I wanted to disappear through the decking - certain that everyone thought I was a law-breaking rebel being thrown out of WDW! Hopefully Shannon and Tony didnt think I was a lunatic, as I tend to babble when mortified. DH and I did manage to see Stan later that afternoon, and rode up front with him all the way from the Contemporary to the MK. I think this made up for DHs mediocre round of golf - he was NOT happy with his score. We were greeted warmly by the CM at the podium, who knew about the shirt and everything. Its so easy to forget how such a small gesture can mean so much. Stan turned out to be a really neat guy, and we consider him now to be part of our Disney family, along with the Poly CMs who have been making our trips delightful for the last seven years.
We spent an hour or so strolling in the MK, and visited Timekeeper, which wouldnt be open later, then retired to the Poly for yet more swimming and relaxing. E-ride night was on our agenda for the evening, along with dinner at CRT. We returned to the MK after hors doeuvres at the Poly (my personal favorite - Chef Dicks spring rolls) and hit a few attractions before heading over to Cinderella Castle for dinner. We checked in (or tried, anyways) at the podium only to find that our PS had been inadvertently cancelled by the same concierge CM who had messed up our other PSs. We asked if we could still have dinner there and the CM said, in a snotty way, well youll just have to wait and see. I wasnt upset about the PS mix-up; mistakes happen. Both DH and I were very offended by the CRT CMs repeated comments implying that we were trying to put one over on him. I wont elaborate, but he suggested several times that we were just trying to get seated any way we could. Ultimately, we didnt have too long of a wait and we got to see Mary Poppins. CRT is just as pretty as I remember it from when it was still King Stefans and our food (filet for both of us) was beautifully prepared and presented. Our server was friendly and efficient, but we really liked the server at the table below ours, who greeted his guests as mlords and mladies then promptly forgot about the Renaissance and asked, Yall been here before? Only in Disney!
E-ride night enabled us to do every attraction in a short time, and some more than once. Perhaps its just our imagination, but does anyone else think Space Mountain is faster and way cooler at night? DH hit the wall about ten minutes before 1, so it was back to the Poly and more sweet dreams.
Gosh, how could there be so much to tell from such a short trip?
!
