Sept 4-8 2005 Wonder S.S. Member Cruise! Part 3

[ohiominnie]

Hopefully this time, Madison won't get sick.

Well, if she does, you know where you can come!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

My Ohio geography is a little off (ok, nonexistent) but yet another TZ moment.....DH is from Ohio near Columbus, originally from Marion, and his parents currently live in Mansfield and his brother in Bucyrus. Any of these places sound familiar? All I know is that we go there a little more often than I'd like to and I kick and scream the entire 8 hours in the car! But we get to go to the Zoo!

Columbus is smack dab in the center of the state. I grew up near Cleveland though. Right now we live about 30 minutes west of downtown Columbus. Marion is about an hour north of me. Bucyrus....it's north of me somewhere. I was only there once, and that was just to pass through. We go to Mansfield all the time...either through it to get to my parents, or we stop there for food or for the carousel they have. Also have been there to tour a potato chip factory Will probably go there to ski this winter as I don't think our week ski trip is in the plans.

 

[alikat99]

Well, if she does, you know where you can come!!!

Well, thank you!!! Hopefully we won't need to use your services next time!!! Again, we thank you SO, SO much for taking some time from your vacation to look at my little princess!!!

 

[alikat99]

BTW Karen - I know that you're trying to catch up, but do you want to be involved in our picture CD swap? If so, PM me and we can swap addresses.

 

[cgcw]

See Dan's bus was definitely clean!! Although between Emma and Julia, our windows definitely needed some Windex!

Here's why I'm hesitant to complain.....First of all, I'm typically not a "complainer" and I think complaining about a snack is stupid. So what, I didn't get a snack....I'm far from starving to death. DVC and DCL did a phenomenal job in a crappy situation with the whole re-route through Port Everglades....me whining about my snack seems like a tiny grain of sand in the hourglass. I was actually alot more freaked out about the dude chatting it up on the cell phone really, but like I said.....it's not illegal in Florida so why shouldn't he chat while driving my precious children in a God knows how many thousand pound bus 70 mph down a highway for 4 hours?? But like I said, it's really not DCL or DVC's fault "Dan likes a clean bus". What would have been funny is if Walker (who was sitting behind me, not feeling to well) would have messed up Dan's bus!!

Okay, I haven't gotten to the end yet, but this was definately my thought.

What if he had lost it in Dan's bus. As it turned out, we were the first stop so that was good for Dan's side of things. I was sweating it there for a a while. More because that is not my area of expertise to deal with. And, I'm certain Walker wouldn't have been the only one getting sick on the bus.

I remember the comment about the clean bus. The thing is, if Gary didn't call me from the PC bus, we probably would not have known that they even had snacks. Like Diana, we didn't really need it and my kids had some pizza when we stopped at the rest stop (as did Dan I noticed), but the bottle of water sure sounded good at times. From what I gathered from Gary, they received the fruit and water as well as granola bars, cookies and maybe peanuts. I know it would have kept Walker a bit entertained having a snack.

Diana, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only conversation Dan had with us was that we were going to make a 1/2 hour stop. I could be wrong, but I think that's all he said along the way. I would have preferred to not stop also.

 

[cgcw]

Glad to hear you had such a great time.

We watched 101 Dalmatians too! And then Free Willy, which was not exactly the movie of my choice. See we didn't even get water! And by the time we got dropped off at WL we had logged 5 hours on our bus. I always seem to be jealous of you, Amy!

Free Willy wasn't our choice either. I was very thankful for the couple sitting behind us offering Walker their Stitch DVD to put in our portable DVD player. If he hadn't, I'm not certain Dan's bus would have stayed as clean.

 

[Diana Lyn]

Diana, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only conversation Dan had with us was that we were going to make a 1/2 hour stop. I could be wrong, but I think that's all he said along the way. I would have preferred to not stop also.

You are correct. Dan mentioned at the beginning we'd be stopping at Fort Pierce rest area for a half hour. Then when we stopped, he said be back in a half hour....and make sure you get on the right bus! I don't think Dan had much time to chat with us, seeing as he was having his own private conversation on the phone!

 

[Diana Lyn]

What if he had lost it in Dan's bus.

I, too would have lost it on Dan's bus, seeing as he was sitting right behind me. But I defintely would have found it in myself to yell up to Dan -- So much for that clean bus buddy!!

 

[WDWLVR]

Wow - such a difference in busses and drivers. I guess we ended up with a really great one. The only downside to ours was the no video but that didn't bother us at all. Plus except for that one family I don't think we had a lot of kids on our bus.

Our driver didn't talk too much but was very helpful. Heard him talking to one of hte DCL agents and when asked how many he could hold he said "we can hold 57 but we were told to only take 45" Whether this had to do with the snacks, luggage or what I don't know but the bus wasn't 100% full. Like I said before he did a good job of keeping a good radio station on (changed it a total of 3 times I think). At the rest area he gave everyone 10 minutes and then did a check of the bus to make sure everyone was on before leaving. Someone asked him about trash at that point and he took out a large garbage bag and set it up on the front of the bus. The only time we heard him talking was when he was on the radio to his dispatcher a couple of times checking in to where he was at.

 

[cgcw]

You are correct. Dan mentioned at the beginning we'd be stopping at Fort Pierce rest area for a half hour. Then when we stopped, he said be back in a half hour....and make sure you get on the right bus! I don't think Dan had much time to chat with us, seeing as he was having his own private conversation on the phone!

Guess that's why we didn't get to sing the Disney songs like your bus ride to the Port.

So much for that big tip Dan was thinking about.

Actually, I did give him a tip after he had to find all of our luggage. Just like we kind of thought, one of our bags (the one that didn't match -- the black bag, not green) was in a different spot on the bus. Poor Dan had to help me find it. But, I would have tipped better for above the norm service.

 

[MarkRG]

One thing to think about; were the buses without snacks the ones going to WDW via the turnpike? The turnpike has full service oasis with restaurants and such. We stopped at a regular roadside rest area with limited vending. Maybe they thought people stopping at the oasis would prefer to acquire their own instead.

 

[ohiominnie]

One thing to think about; were the buses without snacks the ones going to WDW via the turnpike? The turnpike has full service oasis with restaurants and such. We stopped at a regular roadside rest area with limited vending. Maybe they thought people stopping at the oasis would prefer to acquire their own instead.

our bus had snacks and we stopped at some sort of rest area that had a cinnibon and a sbarro (maybe more, but these are the only two i remember b/c we got things at both)... it was the same rest stop cindy stopped at b/c i saw her there!

 

[cgcw]

One thing to think about; were the buses without snacks the ones going to WDW via the turnpike? The turnpike has full service oasis with restaurants and such. We stopped at a regular roadside rest area with limited vending. Maybe they thought people stopping at the oasis would prefer to acquire their own instead.

As we were walking into the rest stop, my cell phone rang. It was Gary calling to say they were stopping at a rest stop as well. I asked him if it was Ft. Pierce and he said they didn't tell them where they were. Sure enough, who comes walking in the door but Gary.

Karen, you are right, we did see you there (as well as Trails End ). It was strange to meet up with Gary and dine at Sbarros (aka cardboard ) and then have Gary go one way and us go another.

 

[ohiominnie]

Karen, you are right, we did see you there (as well as Trails End ). It was strange to meet up with Gary and dine at Sbarros (aka cardboard ) and then have Gary go one way and us go another.

Yup, we kept bumping into each other, didn't we? I wish I'd have known you were at Trails End. They started to seat us upstairs and then 1/2 way up the stairs they changed their mind and took us down. If I knew you were up there I'd have asked to stay up there!!

 

[cgcw]

Yup, we kept bumping into each other, didn't we? I wish I'd have known you were at Trails End. They started to seat us upstairs and then 1/2 way up the stairs they changed their mind and took us down. If I knew you were up there I'd have asked to stay up there!!

They were probably spreading the diners amoung the servers. I think there were more CM's then guests the night we were there.

I've never seen it so empty. Trails End is one of our favorites. Anyone who hasn't tried it, it's really good. We've done breakfast, lunch and dinner there (not in the same day ). Although it may not be as convenient as some other locations, we haven't had a problem getting there either on the boat from WL or driving and taking the bus.

Karen, didn't you dine there twice that week?

 

[alikat99]

They were probably spreading the diners amoung the servers. I think there were more CM's then guests the night we were there.

I've never seen it so empty. Trails End is one of our favorites. Anyone who hasn't tried it, it's really good. We've done breakfast, lunch and dinner there (not in the same day ). Although it may not be as convenient as some other locations, we haven't had a problem getting there either on the boat from WL or driving and taking the bus.

Karen, didn't you dine there twice that week?

We'll have to try that next time we're at Disney. We keep hearing about Trails End, but we've never made it over there.

 

[WDWLVR]

We will too. I've heard great things about Trails End but have never eaten there.

 

[Diana Lyn]

One thing to think about; were the buses without snacks the ones going to WDW via the turnpike? The turnpike has full service oasis with restaurants and such. We stopped at a regular roadside rest area with limited vending. Maybe they thought people stopping at the oasis would prefer to acquire their own instead.

Besides seeing other folks who got snacks at our rest stop. the impression I got when the lady was giving her "sending off" speech to the bus, we weren't getting snacks because....."Dan likes a clean bus" I really think that should be my new tag! I find myself cracking up every time I think of it! I need to get out more!!

 

[ohiominnie]

Karen, didn't you dine there twice that week?

Nope. Only once. By the time I had eaten all of that cruise food I was so happy at Trails End to just have a big salad and a bowl of chili. I didn't eat any of their entrees or side dishes! We did concoct a "Hoop-de-doo-like" strawberry shortcake by using a biscuit, putting their strawberry topping on and then asking our server for whipped cream!!

 

[ohiominnie]

....."Dan likes a clean bus" I really think that should be my new tag!

Nick was a total crack up on this trip....he's going to do just fine in life with his chosen occupation (he wants to be a skipper on Jungle Cruise)

I have to tell you this story....
We were going up in the elevator at VWL. There was myself, Nick, KT and another couple. The doors opened at 2 and the couple got off and greeted a man who had been waiting there for them (he was out of my sightline, but the kids saw him) The lady in the elevator hugged him and said "CONGRATULATIONS!!!" Well, the doors close and the kids and I continue up to 4. We speculated why this man needed "congratulations." Ideas flowed...."maybe he just got married." "maybe he won an award of some sort." "maybe...." and Nick very matter of factly says "maybe he just broke out of prison!!!" We just all cracked up laughing That became one of our oft repeated lines!