This letter describes how we lose the Magic at Walt Disney World and how the great cast members at the Grand Floridian rescued it.
Our Disney History
You could call us a Disney World Family. Every year since the early 70s, my family has made what we would call the Disney Pilgrimage or a trip to Moms Second Home. Some years we visited the land of magic several times. At the beginning, we would visit the Parks by staying off-site. Most of our trips would happen by Mom saying, I want to go to Disney Norm. It didnt matter where we were vacationing, my father would re-map our trip to allow at least a one-day visit to the Magic Kingdom. As a family, the only way to travel was by a road trip of 12 to 20 hours long. Later on my family would start to stay on-site. We have stayed at almost every resort at Walt Disney World. My father loves the Fort Wilderness Camp grounds. So guess where I got to stay; a lot!
The Plan
Around January of this year I called the CRO and started to plan what I believed to be my Mothers day gift to my Mom. Nine months before, my Mom had been diagnosed to have a life ending condition. The Doctors told my Father that there was not much they could do. The plan was to give my parents the trip of their lives. I booked the Gold plan for five nights at the Grand Floridian. My parents would have never stayed at this resort. They were so budget conscious, they believed I was spending too much money on this trip. I told my parents not to worry about the money because they had given the best they could to me as a kid; this was my chance to give something back to them. I could only afford a garden view room and by utilizing the Gold Plan to cover all of our dining and tickets, we could play at the parks without worrying about money. Between Feb and May, I would stop by the Disney Store every two weeks and purchase a hundred Disney Dollars to pay for any shopping while at Walt Disney World.
The Journey to the Land Mickey Built
Our plans had changed some many times that I thought the CRO cast members were going to hurt me. But I have to say that the CRO was one of the best parts of planning this trip. At the last minute, I changed our travel plans from a 20-hour road trip, to a train trip on Amtrak. My mom went nuts. She had never a ridden train except for the train that encircles the Magic Kingdom. The train trip was long but a lot of fun. We arrived in Orlando Sunday May 4 at about 12 noon. A Mears Town car picked us up. Since we arrived a day early, I booked a one-night stay at the All-Star Sports Resort. The room was ready, and we dropped our bags at the room. My mom enjoyed the layout and design of this resort. While everyone got ready to go out for the afternoon, I went to the gift shop to buy a Pal Mickey. When I got back to the room, I showed the Mickey to my mom. The first thing it said when she pressed his right hand was Im so glad to be your pal. It brought a smile to everyones face. Since we had planned to do all of our shopping on Sunday, we headed out to Downtown Disney. We spent all day shopping and eating. It was a blast. I started my pin collection by getting a picture pin with all four of us in the picture. The cast member was so great in getting this completed. I will prize this pin for the rest of my life. My mom didnt want to get her picture taken. But after a little coaching from me, she had no other option. That evening we all had pizza in the café at the resort.
The Grand Floridian
The next day, we had the luggage moved to the Grand Floridian. We took the bus to the TTC and then the monorail to GF. Once we arrived at the resort, we checked into the nicest room we had ever had at Disney. The cast members made us feel at home. The room was ready at 8am that morning. We walked over to the room, just to check it out. As soon as we entered the room, my mom said, This is my bed. She wanted to sleep near the balcony. This was a great start to my moms last day in Walt Disney World.
Mom Meets Eeyore
We had a priority seating at the 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. During the breakfast, moms favorite character Eeyore came by our table. The last picture I took of my mom was Eeyore giving her a hug. She had a great breakfast that morning. During the day we went to several different parks. We all enjoyed ourselves as we always do. We had dinner that night at Fultons Crab House. Our waiter Chris treated us so well. He focused on my mom all night long. She said she had never had better evening in her life. After dinner, we all went back to the resort. My mom sat on the balcony talking with my wife for a couple of hours. My wife said that my mom seemed to be happy again for the first time in several months. We all went to bed that night very happy.
Mom hurts no more
Tuesday morning sometime before 6 am, Mom woke everyone up. She knew she was dying. I cant tell you why I believe this I just know it. Im not going to get into the details, just to say that when the Medics arrived, she was not responding at all. The first cast member on the scene was Joe (Guest Show Manager). Joe arrived at our room before the Medics. He helped consol my dad and I wail waiting for the Medics to transport my mom to the hospital. Before leaving for the hospital, I asked Joe to secure the room and to remove my moms wheelchair from the room and to have the room cleaned before we arrived back from the hospital. Joe arranged for my family to be driven by Chris to the hospital. Chris was a blessing to my family for the first hours of our tragedy. Chris did everything he could to comfort us. At the hospital, I was informed that my mom had pasted away. Once we were ready to leave the hospital, Chris came back to pick us up.
Magic Rescued
Upon returning to the resort, cast members took us to a different room. They moved us to the Saga Cay Suite B. Ellen the Guest Services Manager gave me a call as soon as we arrived at the room. She gave us her condolences and arranged for breakfast to be delivered to the room. After about an hour, I meet with Ellen in person. Ellen and the cast members that work with her worked to make is so that we did not have to worrying about anything accept our family. She arranged for someone to pickup family members at the airport. The Disney cast members made my guests feel at home. In the morning Ellen made sure that my family got back to the airport. My wife and I attempted to rearrange our Amtrak trip to go back early but they were booked up. We decided to stay the rest of the week as planned. Ellen arranged it so that we did not have to checkout and go to the All-Star Friday morning as planned. She also arranged it so that we could have a late checkout on Saturday afternoon.
Our Last Night
One of your cast members at EPCOT arranged for my wife and I to have special seating for the fireworks Friday night because my wife is visual impaired. When we arrived at the English Pub, all the seats were taken for the evening. The Hostess Lori told us too hold on, she was going to look one more time. She came with a big smile on her face. The Best seat in the house just opened up. I have never been in a better seat to view the fireworks in all my years of coming to EPCOT. We found out later that a couple was seating at the table and just had a feeling someone else should get a chance to see the fireworks as they had seen them before. My mom would have loved the view.
One Last Shinning Moment
As my wife and I were departing on Saturday afternoon, Ellen and a couple of managers came in before their shift to see us off. I truly believe that Ellen and her team went out of their way in assisting my family.
I have written this letter in the hopes that the correct people at Disney will get a chance to personally read it. I have listed several cast members below. They Rescued my magic. Most people will not understand how I can enjoy a place where my mom died, but I know my mom will be a part of Disney forever.
Happy Mothers Day mom. I have your Pal Mickey and will take good care of it. Love you and miss you.
The Greatest Cast Members
Joe Kennedy, Ellen Flynn, Marisa Alexander, Wesley Lamb, Wil Wilmore,
Yarlin Tarczynski. Chris @ Front Desk
Paul N Blackwell III
Our Disney History
You could call us a Disney World Family. Every year since the early 70s, my family has made what we would call the Disney Pilgrimage or a trip to Moms Second Home. Some years we visited the land of magic several times. At the beginning, we would visit the Parks by staying off-site. Most of our trips would happen by Mom saying, I want to go to Disney Norm. It didnt matter where we were vacationing, my father would re-map our trip to allow at least a one-day visit to the Magic Kingdom. As a family, the only way to travel was by a road trip of 12 to 20 hours long. Later on my family would start to stay on-site. We have stayed at almost every resort at Walt Disney World. My father loves the Fort Wilderness Camp grounds. So guess where I got to stay; a lot!
The Plan
Around January of this year I called the CRO and started to plan what I believed to be my Mothers day gift to my Mom. Nine months before, my Mom had been diagnosed to have a life ending condition. The Doctors told my Father that there was not much they could do. The plan was to give my parents the trip of their lives. I booked the Gold plan for five nights at the Grand Floridian. My parents would have never stayed at this resort. They were so budget conscious, they believed I was spending too much money on this trip. I told my parents not to worry about the money because they had given the best they could to me as a kid; this was my chance to give something back to them. I could only afford a garden view room and by utilizing the Gold Plan to cover all of our dining and tickets, we could play at the parks without worrying about money. Between Feb and May, I would stop by the Disney Store every two weeks and purchase a hundred Disney Dollars to pay for any shopping while at Walt Disney World.
The Journey to the Land Mickey Built
Our plans had changed some many times that I thought the CRO cast members were going to hurt me. But I have to say that the CRO was one of the best parts of planning this trip. At the last minute, I changed our travel plans from a 20-hour road trip, to a train trip on Amtrak. My mom went nuts. She had never a ridden train except for the train that encircles the Magic Kingdom. The train trip was long but a lot of fun. We arrived in Orlando Sunday May 4 at about 12 noon. A Mears Town car picked us up. Since we arrived a day early, I booked a one-night stay at the All-Star Sports Resort. The room was ready, and we dropped our bags at the room. My mom enjoyed the layout and design of this resort. While everyone got ready to go out for the afternoon, I went to the gift shop to buy a Pal Mickey. When I got back to the room, I showed the Mickey to my mom. The first thing it said when she pressed his right hand was Im so glad to be your pal. It brought a smile to everyones face. Since we had planned to do all of our shopping on Sunday, we headed out to Downtown Disney. We spent all day shopping and eating. It was a blast. I started my pin collection by getting a picture pin with all four of us in the picture. The cast member was so great in getting this completed. I will prize this pin for the rest of my life. My mom didnt want to get her picture taken. But after a little coaching from me, she had no other option. That evening we all had pizza in the café at the resort.
The Grand Floridian
The next day, we had the luggage moved to the Grand Floridian. We took the bus to the TTC and then the monorail to GF. Once we arrived at the resort, we checked into the nicest room we had ever had at Disney. The cast members made us feel at home. The room was ready at 8am that morning. We walked over to the room, just to check it out. As soon as we entered the room, my mom said, This is my bed. She wanted to sleep near the balcony. This was a great start to my moms last day in Walt Disney World.
Mom Meets Eeyore
We had a priority seating at the 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. During the breakfast, moms favorite character Eeyore came by our table. The last picture I took of my mom was Eeyore giving her a hug. She had a great breakfast that morning. During the day we went to several different parks. We all enjoyed ourselves as we always do. We had dinner that night at Fultons Crab House. Our waiter Chris treated us so well. He focused on my mom all night long. She said she had never had better evening in her life. After dinner, we all went back to the resort. My mom sat on the balcony talking with my wife for a couple of hours. My wife said that my mom seemed to be happy again for the first time in several months. We all went to bed that night very happy.
Mom hurts no more
Tuesday morning sometime before 6 am, Mom woke everyone up. She knew she was dying. I cant tell you why I believe this I just know it. Im not going to get into the details, just to say that when the Medics arrived, she was not responding at all. The first cast member on the scene was Joe (Guest Show Manager). Joe arrived at our room before the Medics. He helped consol my dad and I wail waiting for the Medics to transport my mom to the hospital. Before leaving for the hospital, I asked Joe to secure the room and to remove my moms wheelchair from the room and to have the room cleaned before we arrived back from the hospital. Joe arranged for my family to be driven by Chris to the hospital. Chris was a blessing to my family for the first hours of our tragedy. Chris did everything he could to comfort us. At the hospital, I was informed that my mom had pasted away. Once we were ready to leave the hospital, Chris came back to pick us up.
Magic Rescued
Upon returning to the resort, cast members took us to a different room. They moved us to the Saga Cay Suite B. Ellen the Guest Services Manager gave me a call as soon as we arrived at the room. She gave us her condolences and arranged for breakfast to be delivered to the room. After about an hour, I meet with Ellen in person. Ellen and the cast members that work with her worked to make is so that we did not have to worrying about anything accept our family. She arranged for someone to pickup family members at the airport. The Disney cast members made my guests feel at home. In the morning Ellen made sure that my family got back to the airport. My wife and I attempted to rearrange our Amtrak trip to go back early but they were booked up. We decided to stay the rest of the week as planned. Ellen arranged it so that we did not have to checkout and go to the All-Star Friday morning as planned. She also arranged it so that we could have a late checkout on Saturday afternoon.
Our Last Night
One of your cast members at EPCOT arranged for my wife and I to have special seating for the fireworks Friday night because my wife is visual impaired. When we arrived at the English Pub, all the seats were taken for the evening. The Hostess Lori told us too hold on, she was going to look one more time. She came with a big smile on her face. The Best seat in the house just opened up. I have never been in a better seat to view the fireworks in all my years of coming to EPCOT. We found out later that a couple was seating at the table and just had a feeling someone else should get a chance to see the fireworks as they had seen them before. My mom would have loved the view.
One Last Shinning Moment
As my wife and I were departing on Saturday afternoon, Ellen and a couple of managers came in before their shift to see us off. I truly believe that Ellen and her team went out of their way in assisting my family.
I have written this letter in the hopes that the correct people at Disney will get a chance to personally read it. I have listed several cast members below. They Rescued my magic. Most people will not understand how I can enjoy a place where my mom died, but I know my mom will be a part of Disney forever.
Happy Mothers Day mom. I have your Pal Mickey and will take good care of it. Love you and miss you.
The Greatest Cast Members
Joe Kennedy, Ellen Flynn, Marisa Alexander, Wesley Lamb, Wil Wilmore,
Yarlin Tarczynski. Chris @ Front Desk
Paul N Blackwell III
