Unfortunately, we had a rather long wait for transportation to DTD. I dont think I would stay at an All Stars resort again because I didnt realize how far out of the way it felt when traveling on the buses anywhere except AK!
Once on, we were excited to show my mom around. Boy was it busy! Made our way to Earl of Sandwich and enjoyed some very tasty sandwiches! I love the Earl Grey Lemonade
not too sweet and very thirst quenching! My mom had heard so much about this place, and it didnt disappoint! It has to be one of the best bangs for your buck at WDW!
Shayna was commenting on how she came here shortly after she arrived to enjoy a sandwich, but it made her feel pretty homesick being there all by herself instead of with her family. We always seem to snag the round booth in the corner there and she said that when she looked over and saw a nice family sitting there, she started to cry. Guess what table she was able to get for us
you guessed it! The round, corner booth! What a great way to start our trip!
We wandered around DTD and couldnt get over how hot it is in June. We have always traveled in February or March, so the heat was definitely intense! As we neared Le Cirque, I suggested we see if they had any tickets available. CMs can get deeply discounted tickets on the day of a performance. They did have them available, but Shayna realized she didnt have her ID on her. So much for that, but its probably good, because we are hoping to all go and see it in August before she comes home.
The realization that she left important stuff at her apartment, prompted us to hail a cab (never done that before!) and travel to Vista Way, the apartment complex that houses the ICP summer students. The security there is great (both my mom and I had to present our Drivers Licenses to be copied) but boy, it was hard to see how not homey the place is. From what I gather, its a pretty hard-partying place, and its age is showing. No Disney magic there! Its a shame, because Disney has 3 complexes and Vista is the oldest and is completely separate from the newer complexes. I guess I was expecting something a little nicer
No roomies were home, we grabbed her stuff and were out of there in less than 5 minutes! Didnt even take pictures, except for one outside her door. No wonder she wanted to stay with us!
Back in a cab (yuck!) and back to DTD, where we wandered around and then headed back to the resort. Couldnt believe that my mom (a very young-at-heart 65 year old) was up at 5 a.m. and didnt hit her bed until 11 p.m. that night! That sure wouldnt happen at home!
Our plan for Sunday was to hit AK at regular park open and we were all up and eager to go! I had actually brought a coffeemaker in my carry-on (we had no checked luggage) and enjoyed brewing some Tim Hortons coffee first thing in the morning. I bought both Shayna and Jarrett their resort mugs the day before, because I wanted them to feel just like it was a normal vacation. This seemed to be really important to Shayna.
As much as she wanted this experience, I think the reality of her housing, difficulty meeting people/making friends because of schedules, and being homesick really hit her hard. The fact shes used to Disney being a vacation and that were all there together has been much harder to get over. Fortunately (or unfortunately) depending on how you look at it, shes had this idea of what Disney is and what it means to her and the reality of working for the mouse doesnt jive with her dream. Know what I mean? Hard to explain, and people here at home have commented that maybe shes spoiled and a bit immature about the whole thing, but I just think she has so many wonderful memories wrapped up in the place, and experiencing it in a different way has been harder for her than she thought it would be.
We were hearing weather reports that tropical storm Alberto was brewing up some bad weather. No rain to start the day though, thank goodness! I wasnt sure how the free park pass thing was going to work (CMs get a number of park passes free for family and friends) but it was great! There is a line to one side specifically for CMs and when Shayna presents this blue card, they issue regular one-day park hoppers! WooHoo! After spending loads in the place over the years, was it ever nice to be treated! The nice thing was, that Shayna needed to be with us to issue the passes, but once issued, we could travel around with or without her, which worked out well because she would have to work that night and we could still enter the parks!
Another neat thing I did notice, was that I have always been the all-knowing Disney person in our family, but Shayna was the one knowing as much (and probably more) than me! Shes officially the all-knowing Disney person now! Ive passed the torch and shes holding it high! I could tell she was pleased!
It was interesting that they allowed guests into the park but kept everyone back behind ropes and when the park officially opened, they WALKED the crowd to EE. No one was allowed to travel faster than the CMs. Crowd control I guess. Stops people from stampeding to EE. One comment
it wasnt until we traveled pretty much to EE, that the CMs said that the ride was down
huh? We would have hit something else first had we known, but instead grabbed a fastpass and then backtracked to Ksafari which was the best yet! We saw lots of animals and my mom loved the ride!
I must say it was so much fun watching my mom experience Disney attractions for the first time! Made the trip!
We hit ITTBAB with no wait, and didnt tell my mom anything about it beforehand. Again, she loved it! She could have spent more time looking at the Tree of Life she was in awe of it!
We traveled back to EE and while we were walking, my mom was trying to decide if she would do it or not. Shayna had already done the ride and was encouraging her to go on. Guess what? She went on! We had to take a picture with a big thumbs up afterward. She was pretty pumped!
Enjoyed The Festival of the Lion King and had a really tasty lunch at Tusker House. We all had the salmon except for Jarrett, who had the Chicken wrap I think
The salmon was very tasty and a really nice change from burgers. Jarrett enjoyed the chicken wrap. I would definitely eat there again! We enjoyed watching and listening to the African drummers while we ate!
Afterward, we wandered around and took my mom on Primeaval Whirl. Gosh, I love that ride! We laughed so hard it hurt! The kids got such a kick out of seeing their Grammi hitting the rides like a trooper!
Decided to leave and head back to the resort for a bit of a rest. Didnt even find the pool to be refreshing because of the heat, so we all had nice cold showers and we were ready to go! Shayna had to work at 5:30 p.m. so we all decided to head to MK.
Shaynas job at WDW is in Mickeys Toontown Operations/Attractions. She primarily runs Goofys Barnstormer and also greets people inside Mickeys house. She loves standing outside Mickeys house and talking to guests. I keep telling her thats why she wanted to work there in the first place! Considering all the possible jobs, she landed a pretty good one!
Someone posted about jobs for Cpers the International College Program kids have a much wider variety of jobs available to them far more than the one or two areas that the regular Cpers have
Anyway, once at MK we traveled to Frontierland and had a bite to eat at Pecos Bills. Love the burgers there and they didnt disappoint! Shayna ate and headed off to work. We got such a kick out of going over to Toontown and seeing her in her costume and interacting with guests. Its what this whole adventure has been about! Took some pictures and checked out a few attractions before heading back to the resort.
Shayna finished work at midnight and met us back at ASSports around 1:15 a.m.! This arrangement was going to work out great!
Next up
Mondays plans go amuck!
