If you had guessed that we were once again without any tip money, you were right. We might as well of had Dufus stamped across our foreheads. We travel often, and are quite familiar with tipping. We know you tip pretty much anyone who so much as touches your luggage. That is why we couldnt believe that it had not occurred to us throughout the afternoon that we needed to get our hands on some singles. This is how the moment went:
Jay: What do we have to tip with?
Me: < Blank Look >
Jay: You didnt get any change today? (With a bit too much
attitude)
Me: Uh, no. Did you see me purchase anything today?
Jay: Crap. Would it be tacky to tip in Disney Dollars? How about an M&M tube full of change?
Needless to say we did have enough couth to not tip with Hannahs spending money. When the bell-girl showed up with our luggage we explained our ignorance and asked if we could drop off her tip after we get dinner and get some change. She laughed and said sure. I am sure she thought she would never see us again, but we are honest people.
We had decided to head over to the food court to grab some dinner so we could get to the room quickly if Gardengrocer called. I am not a huge fan of the food court. I am not specifically picking on POFQ, I mean food courts in general. The food is okay. Kind of makes me think of how our food service was in college. We had the same set up. Throw in the odor of Polo cologne and stale beer and I might start to have flashbacks.
I had the ribs, Hannah had a hamburger and I think Jay had the Jambalaya. The ribs were good, but a little greasy. They actually came back to haunt me later. Other than that I dont really recall much about the meal. I dont even remember what the dessert was. Maybe because I was totally wrapped up in the conversation the employees at the food court were having.
Now this is going to make me sound like a Fruit Loop, but I could feel the bad Karma in the food court. I also feel the same way about the Kroger by my house. You can tell the employees are not feeling the magic, especially after I was privy to their conversation. Apparently they are way understaffed and working double shifts, and none to happy about it either. I can understand why they would be unhappy, because I have been a disgruntled employee a time or two, but I would never air my grievances in front of customers. They werent even whispering or trying to be discreet. They stood in the middle of the dining area, kvetching about how little money they make ($7.00/hr) and how that is not enough money for all they have to put up with. And call me paranoid, but I was sure they were talking about us after they had moved their conversation to the end of the room. They did that tandem glance thing. If you ever went to High School, you know what Im talking about. But then again it could have been the PMS talking.
We finished up and headed back to our room just in time to get the call from Gardengrocer. What a great service. I cant say enough nice things about them. Very professional and friendly. We had finally learned our lesson and we made sure we had a five to tip them. I had ordered 2 ½ gallons of milk, 2 cases of Aquafina , a small bottle of dish liquid and 2 quarts of cream. We brought cereal in the pre-packaged bowls, Oatmeal-To-Go and bagels so we could eat breakfast in the room. We are not big breakfast eaters, so we didnt want to waste dining credits or time eating in the food courts. On a side note, if you pack food in your luggage, make a point to not pack your fabric softener dryer sheets in the same suitcase. We ended up throwing the bagels away because they tasted like Snuggle. Blech!
I also did something this trip that I swore I would never do. I used the in-room coffee pot. I of course gave it a good once over and washed everything out with the dish liquid I bought. I chose not to think of the many uses the coffee maker and pot could have gone through with the previous occupants of the room. I brought our coffee and filters from home (thankfully I had not packed them in the same case as the Snuggle). I just could not spend 11 days waking up with Nescrape.
I know we all showered and got to bed in record time that night since we were all
exhausted, but I dont remember much about that. I really think I was asleep before my head ever hit the pillow. But I didnt sleep well because I woke up every time the A/C clicked on and I had a horrible case of Acid Indigestion from the ribs. At one time during the night I had worried about possibly ODing on Childrens Pepto tablets because I had eaten so many. Needless to say I didnt have the ribs at the food court again, and I really dont recommend them.
The next day we were up and out early to visit our park du jour. That evening we had ADRs at Boma. Jay was super psyched about this one. He loves Boma. I mean really LOVES Boma. Whenever he says Boma, it sounds like Homer Simpson when he says beer. Come to think of it Jay says beer the same way too.
Even though it was really busy, we were able to get in with only a 5 minute wait. We had a great server that kept our glasses filled and plates cleared. And the food was great. I love the Watermelon Rind Salad and the roasted chicken. After dinner we walked around the AKL for awhile and spent some time looking out over the Savannah. And of course we had to look around the gift shop. For our trek home we had decided to take a bus to DTD and switch to a POFQ bus. This was the last time we transferred busses at DTD because it took us almost an hour to go from AKL to POFQ. On the bright side, this was the absolute worst bus experience we had had.
This leads me to tell you about our second strange thing we saw at Disneyworld. We had just arrived at DTD where we got off at the shopping area. We had just stepped off the bus when I noticed a woman running down the sidewalk towards the bus area from the direction of Rainforest Café. I dont know why I noticed her; I mean people are always running towards the busses at Disneyworld. But something about the expression on her face told me something was wrong. I also noticed the man running up behind her with a similar expression on his face. The man then grabbed the woman and ripped her purse of her shoulder and gave her a big shove. I couldnt believe what I was seeing! There were literally 100+ people around and this guy was mugging this poor woman. But something was definitely not right because she kicked of her shoes and kept running across Buena Vista Drive and into the hotel across the street. We were shocked by what we had just witnessed. As we walked up to our bus stop, where one of her shoes still lay, we had overheard someone saying that she had tried to steal the mans wifes purse. Now it was starting to make sense. That is why she kept going. I picked up her shoe that was laying there and threw it in the garbage can. I cant stand thieves. As we waited for the bus, two men walked up with her other shoe. I mentioned to Jay that I thought that was strange that a man would pick up the shoe and carry it around. He said they were probably together and warned me not to say anything to them. I have to admit it was tempting, I mean I do like to poke the sleeping bear sometimes. But for the safety of my family I kept my cool. But next time you go to DTD, watch your stuff. Because these people did not fit the profile of someone you would be worried about. They blended in perfectly with the crowd.
On the bus I had asked Jay, Would you do that for me?
Of course, Jay answered.
Would you kick their butt, too? I asked again.
You bet, Jay answered again.
After I thought about it for a minute I said, Actually, I would just need you to catch them and hold them down for me.
I think the visual was too much for Jay. He laughed for pretty much the whole ride home.
-so this is just the ticket!
"Just hold 'em down for me". Bwhaa haha ha ha ha!!! I love your attitude!!
