Shamu vs Mickey: Who will get my vacation $ Memorial Day week? (I think we already know the answer)

[dayvewc]

Now it is time for Wednesday, and all the adventures and misadventures that happened therein.

Woke up this morning, got my morning ritual done and down to enter the DCA for the extra magic hour. The line to enter through the resort literally stretched out of sight. It went down the hall and around the corner, and I have no idea how much further. I asked one of the security guards if he knew how long the line was, and he said from his experience, it would take over an hour to get everyone processed through. Well, if it is going to take over an hour and the extra magic hour is only an hour, that means my extra magical experience this morning would be standing in line, if I stay here. Not happening. So, I turned around, left the resort, and entered the park through the normal gates. Didn't quite get in before 7 am due to the detour, but I was in the park around 7:15 am.

Went straight to Cars Land and got in line for Radiator Springs Racers. Even though the line was up to about 45 minutes, single rider was much faster than that, I think I waited about 10 minutes, and most of that was because I got shunted off to the disability loading area due to my ECV. I took a couple of pictures of the scenic route the racers take through the southwest on my phone see:







My car lost the race by a touch, but it's ok - we were all winners according to Lightening McQueen.

From there, I worked my way to Paradise Pier and rode California Screamin' (no pics there) and then the Mickey Fun Wheel.



You can't get good pictures through the cage that you are in, but I think you can tell.

I love the swinging cars on the Fun Wheel, but ooooooohhhhhhhh my. I was kind of grateful to have get back on solid ground when I did. I think much longer and they might have needed to call for a "Code Protein"

From Paradise Pier, I worked my way through Grizzly Peak and visited with the DCV booth, just because they are some friendly people working there, and then got in line at Soarin'. This whole area had been closed when I was there last March, so even though I know the ride is the same as at Epcot, I still wanted to experience it here. I actually have to admit, Soarin' in DCA was one of the only rides I noticed that did not fit my overall view that when the ride duplicates between DL and WDW, the wait in line is better in WDW but the ride is better in DL. The wait in line area of Soarin' I found to be more interesting than the one in WDW - and that was the only ride I can say that about. (The other ride that I don't think this is true for is Tower of Terror, and there I think the ride itself is better in Hollywood Studios).

By now, it is working on 10:30 or 11 am, and DCA is getting crowded, so I figured I would head over to DL and get in play for a while. No sooner was the plan made, than I enacted it.

Once in DL, I got FP for Indiana Jones, and then headed to Splash Mountain for a disability access pass, and then came back to ride the Doombuggies of the Haunted Mansion. I sat in the middle of the buggy, so that meant at the end when the "hitchhiking ghost" joined the buggy, he was occupying the same space, and I couldn't really see him.

Then it was back around the corner for Splash Mountain, and I like this ride better here in DL than in WDW. (Another ride that I missed out on last year during the refurbs). The layout is just a bit different, and it appeals to me a bit more. I also got in the back, so I didn't get completely soaked - just a little damp.

By now it is time for Indiana Jones, and when I got there I was informed that I didn't need a FP, I should have gotten a disability pass instead. Oops. I know that the rides that use alternate entrances are the ones that use the disability passes, but had forgotten that Indy used an alternate entrance. Oh, well. They still let me in, so it was good.

After being 'saved' from the Temple of the Eye, I went down and got on the Jungle Cruise - probably the cheesiest ride in all of Disney but for some reason my absolute favorite.

Then across the park to ride the Matterhorn Bobsled - left track again (and about an hour wait), and then back to Frontierland for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

By now, it is close to 3 p.m. so I figured I would go eat lunch. So to get there a touch quicker, I planned to grab the monorail, and on my way through Tomorrowland (Futureland, the Not-Going-To-Be Star Wars Land But-Everything-Is-Star-Wars-Themed-Right-Now-Land) I grabbed a FP for Star Tours (due back at 7:50) and a disability access pass for Hyperspace Mountain (due back at 4:50). However, right when I got to the loading platform for the monorail, the cast member informed me (and everyone else) that they were experiencing problems with the train and it was going to be closed, so I left DL the long way and headed down to RainForest cafe.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy eating at RFC? It is just such a great place, in my opinion.

After my late lunch / early dinner, I was feeling quite warm, so I went back to the resort and picked up my souvenirs from bell services and then went to my room to relax in the A/C for a little - probably about 45 minutes, and I should have plugged my ECV in to let it recharge a little - but didn't think about it as I was busy repacking all the souvenirs into my bags for the flight home so none of the (few) breakable ones would end the trip in pieces.

And that is the biggest part of my Wednesday. I think this post is already reaching novella length, so I'm going to end here and pick up the rest of the day in the next post.

 

[dayvewc]

So after I got as much of my stuff repacked as I could, I checked the weather on my phone and realized that shorts and t-shirt might be a little too little for the anticipated temperature that evening, so I changed into jeans and grabbed my jacket. When I went to unplug the ECV, I realized I had never plugged it in, so I grabbed the charging unit to take with me with the intent of finding a place to watch the parade, and maybe fireworks, early that was near an electrical outlet and letting the ECV charge while I was trapped in the mass herd of humanity waiting for the same thing I was. (Is it just me, or does anyone else get the overwhelming urge to go "MMMOOOOOOOO" when everyone starts stampeding for the front gates after the fireworks?)

I arrived back in DL and headed straight to Hyper-Space Mountain, arriving just outside the end of my hour window, (about 5:55 pm) but the cast member let me in line anyway. I really kind of like the overlay they did with the Star Wars theme. I almost kind of wish that they will keep the overlay past the point that Star Wars Land opens. I think it is a better ride with the overlay than it was originally.

By the time I got off of HSM, it was close to 6:30, so I figured I had enough time to head over to the Tomorrowland train station - the trains aren't running, but that is one of the two smoking areas in DL right now, before slowly easing my way back to Star Tours and then beginning an active search for an electrical outlet. Oh, the gods must laugh when mortals make plans. I almost made it up the incline to the station when my ECV stopped. And I don't mean it slowed down and stopped, or coasted to a quick stop. It stopped and almost gave me whiplash from the suddenness of the lack of forward movement. I looked to doublecheck that 1) I hadn't run over something by accident (nope, all clear) and B) that someone had not grabbed the seat for the fun of it (again nope) before I looked at the power gauge. It was showing no power at all.

Normally, all of the ECV's I've used will begin to slow down, and not go as quickly, long before the power gives out. This one didn't. It had been going along fine, and now it wasn't. Had it not been for the helpfulness of a few other guests, I would have been stuck half-way up the incline to the station. Once I was up there, and while I was partaking of my enormously horrible habit, I and a couple of other guests looked for an outlet in the area to recharge from, but could not find anything. One of them did mention that he remembered seeing an outlet inside the Launch Bay at the foot of the incline to the station. So, I used all the tricks I have learned in being confined to an ECV and managed to almost get to the Launch Bay.

Had it not been for the incline up to the entrance, I would have made it. As it was, I wound up having to stumble alongside the ECV up the last bit to the platform, where a couple of the cast members were just watching the drama. (And this is where - in my opinion and based on past experience - DL began to fail to live up to the high expectations I have come to expect of Disney through visiting WDW).

I asked one of the cast members if he could direct me to an electrical outlet inside, as I needed to recharge my ECV and another guest had mentioned that he had seen outlets in the building. The cast member said that, yes there were outlets, but no I was not allowed to plug in to them as DL had changed the voltage running through the wires and it would not be safe to plug anything non-Disney into an outlet. Let's just skip all the fundamental safety violations inherent in what he just said, if he didn't want me to plug in there that is fine, but don't make up some BS that is pure BS for the fun of it. So I asked him if he knew of anywhere close by that I might be able to plug in and recharge, and he said that the only place he knew of that had electrical outlets was off Main Street at the lockers.

Ok, it is now 6:50, if I can get to the lockers in any sort of reasonable amount of time, I will be able to get enough of a quick charge to allow me to come back to my Star Tours FP midway through the window (7:50-8:50) which should still give me time to find a place to watch the parade (9 pm) and fireworks (9:30). And right on Main Street would probably be a decent place to watch from.

Remember what I said about plans and gods and laughter? Yep. What is normally a 5 minute (or less) walk became a 20 minute ordeal trying to get to the lockers. And when I got there, they don't actually have electrical outlets, they have lockers that you can rent with universal cords to charge your phone, while it is locked inside the locker. Not really going to work for what I need.

As I was leaving the locker area, I looked for a cast member to ask if I was just missing the outlet when I ran across the most helpful cast member I met while on this trip. She did not know of an electrical outlet, but she went in the nearby stores to see if they had one I could use, came back and told me they didn't but to stay where I was (like I could really go anywhere) she was going to find an answer. She came back a few minutes later and said that there were electrical outlets in the area, but required the approval of security for a guest to use them, "wait here while I get in touch with security". A few minutes later, "I can't get in touch with anyone in security, but I have a call in to someone else who could provide approval to use the outlet. Wait right here". And finally, "I just spoke with the park manager. He said that you cannot use any outlet here, but if you can make it to the ECV rental station out front, they will let you plug in and recharge there".

During the time that she was attempting to find an answer, there was a cast member who drew portraits talking to another cast member who had just walked out from backstage, and they were making continual comments to the effect of "If you had just rented from Disney, they would bring a new one to you and replace it." and "This is what happens when you go with an outside company." and "I guess next time you'll reconsider where you get the ECV from." - Ok, none of this was helpful, and renting an ECV from the park does not do me any good when I need to go to my room at the resort, or if I want to go to DownTown Disney. Don't you think I'd much rather not be stuck in one of these if I could avoid it?

So, luckily, Main Street slopes down, so other than the normal avoiding people on the go, I made it most of the way to the front - only running into problems going up the small incline from the street to the sidewalk to go underneath the train tracks. Thank God for helpful guests. I get to the front of the tracks, and realize that the ECV rental station is OUTSIDE the park. Now, I'm going to have to leave the park, and reenter later. Not a big deal in and of itself, but yes slightly irritating.

I get to the ECV station about 7:20, and that is when I am informed that, yes they do have electrical outlets, and yes, they will plug my ECV in to let it charge, but I have to surrender it to them and get a claim ticket as they will take it back-stage where they charge the Disney ECV's and I can come back to reclaim it anytime before midnight. Ummmm, excuse me, but what part of "I need an ECV to get around" translates to "Sure, I can walk and stand for hours on end"? I, relatively politely, told the cast member thank you for charging the ECV, but considering that I can't walk the distances required I will just remain seated here on the planter close by long enough for it to have enough of a charge to finish out the rest of my evening.

So, now I'm stuck outside the park, seated on a planter, and waiting for the ECV to charge where I can't really see or enjoy anything of the park I traveled across half a continent to appreciate. I don't know about you, but that felt like time for another smoke. I did check, and there were no guests or cast members within 10 feet of me when I lit up, so I smoked in peace seated on the planter. After I finished my cigarette, I stumbled to the trashcan about 20 feet away to throw away the butt and then returned and began making notes on my phone of what was occurring. I'm used to WDW, where I have had cast members in Epcot climb into planters to plug and unplug the charger while I'm seated to watch Illuminations. Where cast members in stores in both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will move a display rack to reveal an outlet and just ask me to stay as close to the wall as possible to allow traffic through. Where while dining at the Grand Floridian, when I had forgotten to bring a charger with me, cast members would "borrow" a charger from a similar ECV stored in bell services so mine could charge while I was eating. Where cast members in general go out of the way to be helpful and allow me, as a guest, to enjoy as much of the experience as I can within the limitation of remaining stationary while the ECV charges. This "I don't know what you can do, and we aren't going to do much to help" was really disconcerting.

Anyway, after about 30 minutes (it's now about 8:10) I've got most of everything to this point in my phone, cause, yeah - I'm going to Guest Services before the night is over. I'm *cough cough* 40 something *cough cough* and have positioned myself to be able to enjoy trips like this as much as possible. But there are other people - children, individuals with specialized equipment, etc. - that may only get a trip like this once in a lifetime and if nothing else, they deserve the assistance that WDW gives, not the indifference that DL delivered.

So, I have everything in my phone, and decide, after looking around and seeing that again there is no one close by, to have another cigarette. I'm just a touch stressed and irritated and agitated and disappointed with how everything has happened over the last 90 minutes, and making sure I wrote down everything just made it a bit worse, and I'm hoping that a smoke will calm me down and help me center a little bit. No sooner have I lit up, when one of the cast members from the ECV station (and I will grant she was not there when I dropped off my ECV) came over and, to my less-than-happy state of mind, rudely informed me that I could NOT smoke there. "If you want to smoke, it has to be on the other side of the monorail track, but you will not be allowed to remain where you are and smoke." The other side of the monorail track, where I had had to stumble to earlier to throw away the previous butt, and does not have any benches close by. Sure, whatever. You just got my nomination for the "Blind Obedience without any Consideration" award. But I complied, stumbling back to the trash can and propping myself up on it for the 5 minutes it took to finish my smoke. Which in this case did NOT calm me down or soothe me in any manner at all. Finally, about 8:45 pm I reclaimed my ECV and headed back into the park. Sure enough, by this time there are no available locations along Main Street where I could park and see the parade, which makes it highly unlikely that I would be able to secure a place to see the fireworks from either, but at least I have the Star Tours FP. So I went and let C3PO try to fly me away from my troubles. Didn't quite work.

By the time I got out of ST, the parade was well underway, I'm further back in the crowd than I was Monday night, so I thought this would be a good time to go visit Guest Services. I managed to cross Main Street moving with traffic between two of the floats of the parade, and took the backstage ally to the front and went to City Hall. Right after I entered, I heard the *BOOM* from the first fireworks explosion, and the cast member behind the counter asked what he could do to help. Right now, I'm tired, I hurt, I've maxed out my painkillers for the day, the gods are at me, I'm feeling very emotional, and when I try to tell him I can feel my throat close up and realize I'm about to lose it and breakdown and cry, so I simply say, "Let me let you read" and handed him my phone with everything written down in it. See, occasionally being anal-retentive is really a coping mechanism. He looked at it, then scrolled down, then scrolled down, then scrolled down again, and said "Can I see your phone to read this all?" I replied in the affirmative, that "That was why I wrote it down, so nothing would get left out."

He read, and read, and read, and then said, "I can definitely understand why you are feeling frustrated, but what can I do to fix this?" I told him that I was not aware that he could actually do anything to return the lost time to me, when he offered FP's. I thanked him, and told him that at this point I had done everything I wanted to on my trip, except manage to see the parade, the fireworks, and World of Color. And that mostly I just wanted to make someone aware that things like this happen, and they shouldn't happen this way. He asked how long I was going to be at DL, and I told him that I had one more day, and then was flying home on Friday. He said that due to the timing there would be no way I would be able to see both World of Color and the fireworks, but he had an idea, so which would I prefer. I told him that I had come out to celebrate the DL 60th, so the fireworks would be the priority, and he said ok, can I have your name. I gave him my room key, since it had my name on it, and he copied it down and went backstage telling me to "wait right there, I have an idea."

A few minutes later, he returned and asked if I knew where the north spoke of the Hub was. I told him I knew there were spokes on the Hub, but that my sense of direction was laughable. He grinned and kind of chuckled at my feeble joke and got a map and pointed out that the north spoke was the one directly in front of the castle. He then said, "This is our priority seating for the fireworks. Be there tomorrow before the fireworks, I have gotten your name added to the list. As for the parade, it will run again at 10:45 <it was probably after 10 at this point> and there is a disabled area just across the square from here and right where the parade comes out from backstage that should give you a great view of it."

I thanked him, and stressed that I really appreciated the offer and that I had not expected anything other than to make someone aware of what had happened so maybe it wouldn't happen to someone else. He smiled and said it was the least he could try to do to make up for some of the frustration I had to be feeling over the matter.

So, I headed over to the disabled viewing area, and while it was a good spot to view the parade, Disney did not actually turn off the lights on the porch, so as a place watching a parade of lights, this was less than perfect. Also, because of where this area was positioned, there would be absolutely no view of the fireworks, but you know what I did discover in the area? An electrical outlet. Yes, if someone had known or pointed this out 4 hours ago, I could have plugged in to recharge and watched the parade from a great spot, and then been close enough to maybe get a good viewing spot of the fireworks from the Main Street train station.

After the parade was over, I went back to City Hall and found the cast member and informed him that the viewing area was good, though less than ideal due to the light issue, and oh yeah, there is an electrical plug RIGHT THERE!!.

Then I headed back to the room, and crashed. Forgetting to do one of the most important things possible. Plug in the ECV to recharge.

 

[dayvewc]

WOW, that last post was a novella!!!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh wow.....

Frustrating.......heartbreaking.......unbelievable......like honestly.....I am ashamed the CM's (mostly) were so unhelpful and very ashamed of those two who were making snide remarks!!!!! As for the one who told you off for smoking, well a polite "I'm sorry sir, this is not a designated smoking area" would have sufficed over her *****y comments

I am glad that you finally found a decent CM at city hall, irony of ironies finding that outlet at the end of the night!

As for forgetting to plug it in when you got back to your room....well, you were stressed out!! I'm crossing my fingers you were able to charge it first thing Thursday morning!

PS. I had to laugh at 'code protein' is that seriously what staff say when someone pukes on a ride? I remember doing the swinging car in 2006.....I screamed SO loud that people on the ground heard me and laughed Never again! I still go on it but a non-moving one! But at least no one had to call a code protein for me, though it smelled like someone had when we were entering our car

 

[dayvewc]

Oh wow.....

Frustrating.......heartbreaking.......unbelievable......like honestly.....I am ashamed the CM's (mostly) were so unhelpful and very ashamed of those two who were making snide remarks!!!!! As for the one who told you off for smoking, well a polite "I'm sorry sir, this is not a designated smoking area" would have sufficed over her *****y comments

Yeah, that was kind of my thoughts too. The helpful CM's i made a point to fill out compliment cards and mentioned by name in my email. The rest of them i just gave a time and location, except the one. I seriously told them she deserved the blind obedience award.

I also recognize that it was the end of a long day, of several long days, and i was tired and in a lot of pain so may have been a bit more sensitive than normal. But i still feel that 1 or maybe 2 CM's i could overlook, but it was a total of 10 or 11 that i dealt with, including the 2 "good" ones. To me, that's indicative of a problem and not just an over reaction on my part.

I am glad that you finally found a decent CM at city hall, irony of ironies finding that outlet at the end of the night!

Me too. And part of the sad thing was after i found the outlet, i remembered it from last year charging and watching the afternoon parade.

As for forgetting to plug it in when you got back to your room....well, you were stressed out!! I'm crossing my fingers you were able to charge it first thing Thursday morning!

That's part of Thursdays story. You'll just have to wait and see.

PS. I had to laugh at 'code protein' is that seriously what staff say when someone pukes on a ride? I remember doing the swinging car in 2006.....I screamed SO loud that people on the ground heard me and laughed Never again! I still go on it but a non-moving one! But at least no one had to call a code protein for me, though it smelled like someone had when we were entering our car

I know I've read somewhere that things like that and kids peeing etc. are labeled protein spills. Or they were when i read it.

 

[dayvewc]

So Thursday morning, I woke up and went through my morning rituals and got ready to leave my room about 6:30 to make sure I was in line to take advantage of the early hours. It was now that I realized that the ECV was not plugged in to recharge.

I knew there was no way it would make it very far, so I gave up on the extra hour and plugged it in. Since I wasn't headed to the park now, I used the time to finish re-pre-packing as much of my stuff as I could. While I did so, I reviewed the options for what I could do. It would take about 6-8 hours to fully charge, which meant I would miss the slightly less crowded time, but I couldn't walk the parks, and it was a waste of money to rent an ECV from Disney. Finally, about 7:30 it dawned on me that most scooters have removable batteries and the place I rented from might exchange them.

So I called the company and managed to get a person. I explained what had happened, that it was my fault, and asked if it would be possible to change out the battery. The guy I talked to said he wasn't in the office, so wasn't sure which model I had, but that most of the ones he rented the batteries were not removable. But give him a few minutes to get to the office and he would call me back.

About 10 minutes later, I received a call back from someone else in the office and she said that the records showed that my ECV was to be returned that morning. I questioned her about it because my plans had always been to stay in the parks through Thursday and fly out on Friday. She read the contact back to me where it stayed the rental was from Monday, May 30 took Thursday, June 3. I pointed out that the rental was til June 3, but today, Thursday, was June 2. She apologized for the mistake, but then said if I kept a scooter for the extra day it was an additional $20 because she had counted the days instead of dates when she charged me for it initially. (Well there went the super good deal in the scooter, but still not a bad deal) so I agreed and she said the driver would have a new one to the resort bell services by 9 a.m.

That gave me about an hour to kill, so I loaded everything that was packed into the scooter and took it to the car and placed it all in the trunk. Then I came back to the lobby and just kind of lounged about until 9 when I took possession of the replacement scooter.

From there I headed to DL and spent the morning riding Hyper-Space Mountain, Star Tours, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, and Indiana Jones. In my way back to Indy from Splash, The custodian from last night saw me and stopped me to ask if everything had worked out. I told her it was a mixed bag, but that I was very appreciative of what she had done to try to help, and that I had given a positive comment last night to Guest Services in appreciation of her help and that I also intended to send an email. She thanked me profusely and apologized that she had not been able to do more.

After Indy, I went back to City Hall and submitted another compliment for her, because she had appeared genuinely interested and had remembered me and thought to ask.

From there, I went to Down Town Disney and ate lunch at Naples Pizza. Good, but not up to the hype in my opinion. After eating, I went to the parking lot because I had this nagging feeling that I had neglected to close the trunk of the car that morning. I was wrong, it was closed and my stuff was still there. Phew.

So then it was back to Down Town Disney to take the monorail back to DL - somehow it seems I had only been riding the monorail out of the park, lol. Now I got to see the rest of the route.

Once in the park, it was about 5:30, so I headed over and got in a last ride at Haunted Mansion, remembering to sit to the side to see the hitchhiking ghost. Then I went to Frontierland and picked up a few last pins (special edition DVC member) and one last souvenir. Then went on a last ride on the Matterhorn and made my way to the hub add it was shortly after 8 p.m.

I got to the north spoke, and one of the cast members told me to move along as the area was reserved. I told him that I was supposed to be on the list. He checked and said he didn't see my name and then spelled my last name for me, incorrectly. I told him that he was looking in the wrong place and gave him the correct spelling. He found my name and let me in. I figured out where I would like to sit, and asked if I would have time to get some popcorn before the parade.

He said I should have time as it wasn't quite 8:30 and let me out. I went around the hub and got in line at the popcorn stand and realized about halfway through the line that the stand was on the sidewalk and there was only a curb, no incline for the ECV. At about the same time I realized that, the person behind me also did and offered to get my stuff when she got hers.

I thanked her, gave her my credit card, and did not visibly bite my nails off hoping she didn't run off with it. She didn't. and the cast member even apparently asked who the card belonged to because she pointed me out and I could hear her say she was getting that for me since my ECV could not get up the curb.

After I got my snacks from the helpful guest, I headed back to the viewing area and waited to watch the parade (good view, not great - there was a tree and a speaker pole in the way) and then the fireworks (amazing view. Awesome view. I don't think I can emphasize how great that view was).

After the fireworks, I headed back to City Hall and left a compliment for the cast member who had put me in the reserved seating area. By the time I had made it to City Hall and through the relatively short line, it was still almost 10:30 so I went back to the viewing area from last night and watched the parade again.

Then it was back to my room for my last night on vacation.

 

[bcwife76]

While not a perfect last day it sounds like things went fairly well. That was really nice of that CM to see you and ask how you were doing! You know, I have never been to city hall to leave a compliment for a CM - I think for future trips if I find one that goes the extra mile I absolutely will!

So kind of that lady to get your popcorn (and glad she didn't abscond with your card ) all in all is sounds like a pretty nice way to end your trip! Or well....your last night since you haven't actually LEFT yet and who knows....maybe you have more tales to tell us before you got back on the plane home!

 

[dayvewc]

While not a perfect last day it sounds like things went fairly well. That was really nice of that CM to see you and ask how you were doing! You know, I have never been to city hall to leave a compliment for a CM - I think for future trips if I find one that goes the extra mile I absolutely will!

So kind of that lady to get your popcorn (and glad she didn't abscond with your card ) all in all is sounds like a pretty nice way to end your trip! Or well....your last night since you haven't actually LEFT yet and who knows....maybe you have more tales to tell us before you got back on the plane home!

After my 3rd trip to Disney, when I finally started doing research to find better ways to visit, I took advantage of a vistaprint.com promotion of 500 free business cards. I had them printed up to say "thanks for making my visit more magical" and then I give one to any CM that does something nice - whether for me or if I see them spreading magic to others. That gives me a reason to get close enough to easily read their name tag, and the ones who do something really outstanding I make a point to go tell Guest Services.

Just on principle, I try to submit at least one person every trip. I figure that I'll see the things I look for, so if I'm looking for a CM who does something great I'm more likely to notice it. (Likewise, if I look for negative things in more likely to see them, so I like to concentrate on the positive).

And based on some of the things I've read here on the boards, it's a really good thing for a CM to be recognized by a guest. I've had guest services tell me that the management teams read all of the comments, and will on occasion make a big to-do in presenting the compliment card to the CM.

 

[dayvewc]

So, this brings us to Friday morning.

Woke up and went through my morning rituals.

Finished the last minute packing of my dirty clothes from the day before, went through the room to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, and loaded my bag onto the scooter. Drove it down to the car and dropped the bag into the trunk, then returned to the lobby for a last look around. Went to the counter and verified that I was checked out and didn't owe anything, then dropped the scooter off with bell services and made my way back down to the car. And I was on the road for the airport by a little after 7.

I have always heard about how horrible traffic is in LA, and so far on both of my trips I had not really experienced the gridlock. I won't say that there was absolute gridlock this time either, but the traffic was much, much worse than at any other time I had driven in it.

Got to the Dollar return about 9 am, and caught the shuttle to LAX. Arrived at the terminal right about 9:30, almost exactly 2 hours before my flight, got my bag checked in and was through TSA in about 20 minutes. That was the fastest I've ever gone through security at LAX, and I had been hearing all the horror stories of backed up lines.

The rest of the day was wait, wait, and wait. Wait for the flight, wait to get on the flight, wait through the layover in Dallas (for 4 hours), wait for the luggage delivery belt to bring me my bags in Memphis, wait for the FastPark shuttle, and eventually arrive home about 1 am on Saturday.

And, that was my trip.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Ugh, can't believe how rude those CMs were!! Way worse than anything we experienced there, and definitely completely unacceptable for anyone who is handicapped/disabled. I hope you get a response from DL.

I'm curious as to how you felt about the Fastpass system at DL compared to FP+ at WDW. I think I'm one of the few that doesn't have any complaints about FP+ and enjoyed booking my rides in advance when we went to WDW last April. However, I always see many saying they hate it and there's no spontaneity anymore, so I thought perhaps I would enjoy the old FP style when I got to DL. DH and I both HATED it. I felt like we had to run to Space Mountain as soon as got there to try to get a FP, and I felt like we spent a good portion of the day going "well I know we want to ride this later, so we better get over there and try to get a FP so it doesn't interfere with our dinner reservation." I don't know, I just didn't enjoy it, definitely liked the planning of FP+.

 

[Gena001]

A few glitches, but I enjoyed reading your report! You know, I don't care to read a TR unless I have a "vested interest" in the individual! I've started to read many TR's, but never get through them.

What/when is your next trip @dayvewc ?

 

[bcwife76]

Well your last day home was fairly uneventful, albeit long! Hate those long layovers Thanks for writing a TR, entertaining (and informative!) as always

 

[dayvewc]

Ugh, can't believe how rude those CMs were!! Way worse than anything we experienced there, and definitely completely unacceptable for anyone who is handicapped/disabled. I hope you get a response from DL.

Thanks. That is kind of how I felt/feel. I haven't heard anything back from DL yet. I think tomorrow is the 5th business day since I sent the email, and the automated response said I should hear something by the 5th day. I figure if I haven't heard by Wednesday, I probably won't, so do I want to try to contact them again or just let it go?

I'm curious as to how you felt about the Fastpass system at DL compared to FP+ at WDW. I think I'm one of the few that doesn't have any complaints about FP+ and enjoyed booking my rides in advance when we went to WDW last April. However, I always see many saying they hate it and there's no spontaneity anymore, so I thought perhaps I would enjoy the old FP style when I got to DL. DH and I both HATED it. I felt like we had to run to Space Mountain as soon as got there to try to get a FP, and I felt like we spent a good portion of the day going "well I know we want to ride this later, so we better get over there and try to get a FP so it doesn't interfere with our dinner reservation." I don't know, I just didn't enjoy it, definitely liked the planning of FP+.

I have a bit of a skewed view since I have to travel with the ECV. Between the two, I prefer the scheduled FP+ at WDW over the legacy FP at DL. Trying to get to where you scan your ticket and then come back later is a touch more difficult when I'm having to maneuver the ECV around people - especially like this last visit when it was really crowded the whole time. Plus, there are a couple of rides (Looking at you Splash Mountain) that if you don't know (and a cast member doesn't tell you) about the alternate entrance, if you get a FP and then come back, they can actually prevent you from entering because there is only so much room to park the ECV's. So, you wind up getting a FP to get a shortened return time. To be fair, the CM only had me wait until another ECV had exited and then he let me enter, so it was maybe 5 minutes, and I wouldn't have gotten on a log any faster had he let me enter. It just wound up that I spent more of my FP line-wait time outside the ride than in the line.

And I completely agree about having to schedule the day around when you want to have the FP for, so you have to schedule when you need to go get the FP. I much prefer the scheduling capabilities at WDW. Though, I do wish they had sufficient capacity to offer more than just the initial 3.

A few glitches, but I enjoyed reading your report! You know, I don't care to read a TR unless I have a "vested interest" in the individual! I've started to read many TR's, but never get through them.

What/when is your next trip @dayvewc ?

Thanks!! I'm glad you liked reading it. I like writing them (and when I make my memory books of my trips, I use the TR as my rough drafts for the story lines) but I always feel a little self-conscious writing them. I appreciate that others enjoy reading them, and that you now feel you have a "vested interest" in me. Though, I always thought I was more of a sweater than a vest person.

Tentatively, my next trip will be mid- to late October, going to San Antonio. That would let me accomplish something I've wanted to do for 12 years now - visit all 3 SeaWorlds in the same calendar year. Don't ask me why that's on my bucket list, but it is.

After that, I don't have anything planned, though I am considering Spring Break next March - probably back to WDW / US / SW. Unless I push it to mid-Summer instead.

Well your last day home was fairly uneventful, albeit long! Hate those long layovers Thanks for writing a TR, entertaining (and informative!) as always

Thanks. I'm glad you found it entertaining and informative. And yeah, those long layovers are a killer. The funny/sad part was that I had 3 options for when I could fly out of LAX, but only 1 option for when I'd land in Memphis. So, the 4 hour layover was the shortest one possible. (Flying Southwest. I'm sure there were different departure/arrival times on other airlines, but Southwest always gives me the best deal).

 

[toystoryduo]

Wow. I am so sorry that you had to deal with those rude cast members! I hope you get a response from DL soon.

I enjoyed reading your report! Thanks again for the info on Sea World San Diego vs Sea World Orlando.

 

[chewysmom]

Wow, what a stinky attitude those CMs had. They could certainly take some hints from the WDW CMs.

I'm glad the rest of your trip was better though. (But I tell ya, how ironic that at the end of your crappy day you forgot to charge your ECV that night. Sorry, but that made me giggle. That is totally something I would do!)

 

[dayvewc]

Wow, what a stinky attitude those CMs had. They could certainly take some hints from the WDW CMs.

I'm glad the rest of your trip was better though. (But I tell ya, how ironic that at the end of your crappy day you forgot to charge your ECV that night. Sorry, but that made me giggle. That is totally something I would do!)

Yeah. When I saw what I hadn't done, there were a few adult words spoken, and a lot of laughter at myself

 

[dayvewc]

Update.

So, late night 2 weeks ago, I sent the initial email to Disney Guest Relations about the issue that I ran into during my visit.

I did not receive a reply other than the instant automated response, so a week ago, on the afternoon of the 14th, I resent the email. It was really easy since I had copied the original and pasted it into a word document. On the followup email, I preceded the original with an explanation that this was the second time I was attempting to contact them, and would greatly appreciate acknowledgement of receipt of what happened beyond the automated response.

This morning, about 11:40 central time, I received a phone call from guest services. She started the conversation by stating that she had printed out the entire email so that she could read it and take notes. She also wanted to inform me that what had happened should not have, that she had felt very frustrated on my behalf as more and more things kept happening, and that she was very happy and relieved to see that I did eventually run across a CM who attempted to be helpful.

She also asked if I remembered specific CM names beyond the ones I mentioned in the email (I only mentioned 3, the custodian who was helpful, the CM in City Hall who tried to make up some of the trouble, and the one who had the fit with me smoking outside the park.), specifically did I remember who was in the Launch Bay and had directed me to the rental lockers to begin with. I apologized and told her that at the point that I had that conversation, (since it was the first interaction on this issue) I had not paid attention to his name tag. That I had not started taking names until I met the really helpful CM and wanted to make sure that she received recognition. I did confirm the approximate time and location where that interaction occurred, and that while I had spoken to a male cast member, there had been a female cast member there as well. (Actually, I just asked the question on where the outlet was, and he was the one who answered.)

Anyway, after a short chat, she asked what kind of ticket I had, and whether I still had it. I told her that it was a 4-day park-hopper, and that I was fairly sure that I had it still. She then said that she wanted to do something for me, and could either refund a portion of the ticket, or provide a replacement ticket that would be good for 2 years - and extendable beyond that if it turns out I can't return in that time frame. I thanked her, and said that I had not expected anything, that I had sent the email to let them know what happened, because if it happened to me then it could happen to someone else.

She thanked me for bringing the problem to their attention, but insisted that I choose one option or the other - so, I have (or will soon) a voucher for a 4-day park-hopper ticket to use on a return visit to DisneyLand. Guess I need to start figuring out how / when I can manage to return.

At the end of the conversation, she explained that they do have a few "black and white" rules, but that they had been misapplied to me. The outlets in the Launch Bay, for example, the CM have been instructed to prevent guests from plugging in and charging their cell phones. And that there should have been an alternative offered to me at the ECV rental station beyond just waiting, though she did not say what that alternative might be.

She also mentioned that my letter/complaint/issues would be forwarded to several different managers/departments for additional training, and that she would ensure that the custodian received recognition for her helpfulness.

So, I guess this answers @Gena001 question of when my next trip is: sometime in the next 2 years.

 

[chewysmom]

Well, that is awesome! I'm glad they finally got back to you, and that they genuinely seemed to want to fix it,as best they could, after the fact.

 

[dayvewc]

Well, that is awesome! I'm glad they finally got back to you, and that they genuinely seemed to want to fix it,as best they could, after the fact.

Yeah. I wasn't expecting them to do anything beyond what they had already done. My only intent in getting someone to contact me was to ensure that someone knew of the problems I had faced. It was completely a case of "this shouldn't happen to any one, so let me make you aware of it so it never happens to someone else."

That said, I still sent them the information they asked for. Haven't heard back, yet, but I'll be surprised if I hear anything in less than a week.

 

[toystoryduo]

I'm glad to hear that Guest Relations finally contacted you! That's great that she listened to what you had to say, and that she will be forwarding the information to the other departments and managers as well. That is awesome that she offered you a 4 Day Hopper voucher!