Disbug
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2003
- Messages
- 3,036
Friday, December 16th, Evening: THE ARRIVAL!
I've made good time on my drive into Orlando. AHH, there's the DOLPHIN! If you've ever seen the silhouette of this hotel have you noticed that it's shape is like a giant triangle on the horizon? That is the same shape as the Greek Letter "Delta"... being a Charter Member of the Sigma Delta Sorority~ we tend to assign special meaning to that and do not believe the designer Michael Graves did not have that in mind from the beginning!
Timing is everything and LOOK there is an empty spot right by the front doors! I pull my car up and can't get my driver's door open before I am greeted like visiting royalty... WOW! I wonder if that was before the Bellman saw my mountain of luggage? (He doesn't know I am a good tipper!
) I press the auto "unlock" master button and the mini-van doors SPROING open like a guy loosening his belt at the end of a Thanksgiving feast! My poor guy looks like he has been run over! Uhmm, I'll be right back, think I'll see if my room is ready! BTW, I'm parking valet. I leave him to contemplate the Domino effect, that is my luggage.... one bag pulled out of order, can mean certain death to an unsuspecting Bellman! I'll wait to see how he manages before I present his tip... I may have to forward it to his widow!
Well, speaking of timing, I see my mother roll by with a Bellman attending to her luggage cart~ and woh, Dad! Hey, you just walked by your daughter! Yeah, it's me, your daughter... why yes, with makeup!
TIP: WHEN WALKING INTO THE DOLPHIN BE SURE TO LOOK UP. IT IS THE MOST MAGICAL CEILING IN ALL OF DISNEY WORLD. THERE ARE ACTUALLY SHOOTING STARS! DON'T FORGET TO MAKE A WISH!
Passing the BellStand, lo and behold I recognize several fellows from my last trip to the Dolphin in October. YOOHOO! They smile when they see me because they remember from that last trip I approached the Bellstand with handmade gift bags and laughingly said, "OK...I pay with cash and CHOCOLATE!" I received immediate excellent service. Which is what I got this trip as well!
I walk up to the Registration Desk. BIG HAPPY FACE! Announce our name and keep the happy face on while the reservationist seems to have trouble finding our reservation. I start spelling my name just in case of a spelling snafu. I try different spellings of my name "Maybe Y instead of I"? I try saying my name with a FRENCH accent!! Surely I DO HAVE A RESERVATION? I am thinking of making a run for it as I see the doubt on everyone's faces...I know at this point they are wondering...DID SHE MAKE a reservation? Was it for THIS hotel? Was it for THIS week?
A light bulb appears above my head and I ask them to check under my friend's name who had originally made the reservation for me... AHHH, yes now we're getting somewhere. I now have the LAST NAME correct but, not the FIRST name! Oh, dear Lord... it shouldn't be this hard. It is at this point I am beginning to wonder about the Cosmic Karma disturbance from yesterday.... Luckily, I do remember my friend's HUSBAND's first name and we are saved! During the check-in process, my sister and BIL walk up so, we are almost all here... My DH should be checking in shortly. Well actually, the reservationist corrects herself to say that one of the 3 rooms in the suite is ready. The Queen bedroom, which will belong to my Sister's family. So we decide to get the keys to that room and take my parents and sisters luggage up. If my luggage came up too, no one would be able to get into the room... so I opt to leave it at the bell stand with a guard! lol!
Well this was fun at first getting all cozy in my sister's room, and then my DH arrived with my kids. That added another 4 people to the room... getting cozier still! We decide to check on the other rooms, and find that neither room has even been started. I call the Front Desk. Well, they send one poor woman to clean both rooms, and she already looked exhausted~ so I said nothing to her. By this time we are checking our watches because we have a reservation at the Grand Floridian for tea before heading over to the Contemporary Resort to catch our boat for a WISHES FIREWORKS cruise! By this time, we have been quietly checking on the progress of the rooms (ear to door and peeking down hallways and around corners!) and even though I was told they would call when we could access the rooms, no news was bad news!
I found the maid working on the last room and she said she had already punched our room, but we had not been notified. I know how long it took her to do our room and I was very worried that it would not be clean, but we were just glad to get in so we didn't agonize over that point. I went back to the front desk to get our keys and she ended up erasing the keys my sister and BIL had in the process. THAT IS NOT GOOD!
Well, our bags arrive and we move over into the next room and have to make a decision... we also have CLUB level access, so do we really want to rush to the GF or do we want to meander upstairs and enjoy the offerings up there? As I see all the males from my sister's family (and my father to boot) all stretch out across the queen beds I decide the answer lies within! We opt to go up to the CLUB. I think my mother was disappointed (and so was I) but I was content to not have to rush... after all this trip is about being together and not just RUSHING from place to place!
While I went down to the Bell Stand to point out which carts contained our luggage... plus my husband had his own cart I inquired about getting the rest of the keys. I was presented with 2 keys for my parent's room and I merrily went along my way to unpack and head up to the CLUB LOUNGE for some relaxing food and drink...
You can guess what happened next, right? When they made MY keys it cancelled my sister's room keys. And when they made my parent's room key, it cancelled all of our keys again!
This was so AWFUL it was funny.... I figured this out when I was at the BellStand staring at the LONG line of people checking in at the Front Desk. I could not believe I was going to have to stand in line again! There was no one manning the Starwood Preferred Guest check-in and that feeling of doom was starting to settle in before I remembered my friends at the BELLSTAND! When I presented my case to them, one of the guys says "NO PROBLEM" and he takes my keys to the back to be remade. While waiting, I am enchanted to witness the evening's CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY and it is phenomenal! If I had to wait, this was the PERFECT reason to be in the Lobby.
I am GLAD I was able to witness this show! As it was over, the Bellman presented me with the two new keys and I sadly handed them back to him, realizing that he had just cancelled our other room keys all over again! I spelled out that I needed 10 new keys in order to ensure that NO ONE was locked out of their room! ( I sure hope these keys are cheap because we had a ton of them for souvenirs... plus, they all had my friend's husband's name on the keys... so I hope they wouldn't ask for ID from anyone! I think it's just about time to head out for our WISHES cruise! Let me go round up my posse!
I've made good time on my drive into Orlando. AHH, there's the DOLPHIN! If you've ever seen the silhouette of this hotel have you noticed that it's shape is like a giant triangle on the horizon? That is the same shape as the Greek Letter "Delta"... being a Charter Member of the Sigma Delta Sorority~ we tend to assign special meaning to that and do not believe the designer Michael Graves did not have that in mind from the beginning!
Timing is everything and LOOK there is an empty spot right by the front doors! I pull my car up and can't get my driver's door open before I am greeted like visiting royalty... WOW! I wonder if that was before the Bellman saw my mountain of luggage? (He doesn't know I am a good tipper!
) I press the auto "unlock" master button and the mini-van doors SPROING open like a guy loosening his belt at the end of a Thanksgiving feast! My poor guy looks like he has been run over! Uhmm, I'll be right back, think I'll see if my room is ready! BTW, I'm parking valet. I leave him to contemplate the Domino effect, that is my luggage.... one bag pulled out of order, can mean certain death to an unsuspecting Bellman! I'll wait to see how he manages before I present his tip... I may have to forward it to his widow!Well, speaking of timing, I see my mother roll by with a Bellman attending to her luggage cart~ and woh, Dad! Hey, you just walked by your daughter! Yeah, it's me, your daughter... why yes, with makeup!
TIP: WHEN WALKING INTO THE DOLPHIN BE SURE TO LOOK UP. IT IS THE MOST MAGICAL CEILING IN ALL OF DISNEY WORLD. THERE ARE ACTUALLY SHOOTING STARS! DON'T FORGET TO MAKE A WISH!
Passing the BellStand, lo and behold I recognize several fellows from my last trip to the Dolphin in October. YOOHOO! They smile when they see me because they remember from that last trip I approached the Bellstand with handmade gift bags and laughingly said, "OK...I pay with cash and CHOCOLATE!" I received immediate excellent service. Which is what I got this trip as well!
I walk up to the Registration Desk. BIG HAPPY FACE! Announce our name and keep the happy face on while the reservationist seems to have trouble finding our reservation. I start spelling my name just in case of a spelling snafu. I try different spellings of my name "Maybe Y instead of I"? I try saying my name with a FRENCH accent!! Surely I DO HAVE A RESERVATION? I am thinking of making a run for it as I see the doubt on everyone's faces...I know at this point they are wondering...DID SHE MAKE a reservation? Was it for THIS hotel? Was it for THIS week?
A light bulb appears above my head and I ask them to check under my friend's name who had originally made the reservation for me... AHHH, yes now we're getting somewhere. I now have the LAST NAME correct but, not the FIRST name! Oh, dear Lord... it shouldn't be this hard. It is at this point I am beginning to wonder about the Cosmic Karma disturbance from yesterday.... Luckily, I do remember my friend's HUSBAND's first name and we are saved! During the check-in process, my sister and BIL walk up so, we are almost all here... My DH should be checking in shortly. Well actually, the reservationist corrects herself to say that one of the 3 rooms in the suite is ready. The Queen bedroom, which will belong to my Sister's family. So we decide to get the keys to that room and take my parents and sisters luggage up. If my luggage came up too, no one would be able to get into the room... so I opt to leave it at the bell stand with a guard! lol!Well this was fun at first getting all cozy in my sister's room, and then my DH arrived with my kids. That added another 4 people to the room... getting cozier still! We decide to check on the other rooms, and find that neither room has even been started. I call the Front Desk. Well, they send one poor woman to clean both rooms, and she already looked exhausted~ so I said nothing to her. By this time we are checking our watches because we have a reservation at the Grand Floridian for tea before heading over to the Contemporary Resort to catch our boat for a WISHES FIREWORKS cruise! By this time, we have been quietly checking on the progress of the rooms (ear to door and peeking down hallways and around corners!) and even though I was told they would call when we could access the rooms, no news was bad news!
I found the maid working on the last room and she said she had already punched our room, but we had not been notified. I know how long it took her to do our room and I was very worried that it would not be clean, but we were just glad to get in so we didn't agonize over that point. I went back to the front desk to get our keys and she ended up erasing the keys my sister and BIL had in the process. THAT IS NOT GOOD!
Well, our bags arrive and we move over into the next room and have to make a decision... we also have CLUB level access, so do we really want to rush to the GF or do we want to meander upstairs and enjoy the offerings up there? As I see all the males from my sister's family (and my father to boot) all stretch out across the queen beds I decide the answer lies within! We opt to go up to the CLUB. I think my mother was disappointed (and so was I) but I was content to not have to rush... after all this trip is about being together and not just RUSHING from place to place!
While I went down to the Bell Stand to point out which carts contained our luggage... plus my husband had his own cart
I inquired about getting the rest of the keys. I was presented with 2 keys for my parent's room and I merrily went along my way to unpack and head up to the CLUB LOUNGE for some relaxing food and drink...
You can guess what happened next, right? When they made MY keys it cancelled my sister's room keys. And when they made my parent's room key, it cancelled all of our keys again!
This was so AWFUL it was funny.... I figured this out when I was at the BellStand staring at the LONG line of people checking in at the Front Desk. I could not believe I was going to have to stand in line again! There was no one manning the Starwood Preferred Guest check-in and that feeling of doom was starting to settle in before I remembered my friends at the BELLSTAND! When I presented my case to them, one of the guys says "NO PROBLEM" and he takes my keys to the back to be remade. While waiting, I am enchanted to witness the evening's CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY and it is phenomenal! If I had to wait, this was the PERFECT reason to be in the Lobby.
I am GLAD I was able to witness this show! As it was over, the Bellman presented me with the two new keys and I sadly handed them back to him, realizing that he had just cancelled our other room keys all over again! I spelled out that I needed 10 new keys in order to ensure that NO ONE was locked out of their room! ( I sure hope these keys are cheap because we had a ton of them for souvenirs... plus, they all had my friend's husband's name on the keys... so I hope they wouldn't ask for ID from anyone! I think it's just about time to head out for our WISHES cruise! Let me go round up my posse!
