The Moist Exhausting Free Trip Ever - Link to Part II Thread pg. 244

[Flossbolna]

Don't know about the milk one, but the story with coffee is that an Ethiopian goatherder saw his goats getting all hyped-up after eating the beans of a coffee plant. Apparently it looked like fun.

I think that potatoes were a "New World" food, from South America.

Oh with the milk I was talking about cheese... And thanks for the story about the Ethiopian goatherder, sounds like a good story.

Yes, potatoes are new world!

 

[glennbo123]

Actually, Jordan's snacks at Mitsukoshi is exactly what I'd buy too, in a heartbeat!! Wasabi peas and spicy rice crackers are the bomb!!! I can't wait to get some!!!

You're getting closer every day!

Oh with the milk I was talking about cheese... And thanks for the story about the Ethiopian goatherder, sounds like a good story.

Yes, potatoes are new world!

Oh, cheese! Duh! For some reason I was thinking cottage cheese, but wasn't sure. Yes, I don't know where the inspiration to eat that came from!

 

[All7OfUs]

Actually, Jordan's snacks at Mitsukoshi is exactly what I'd buy too, in a heartbeat!! Wasabi peas and spicy rice crackers are the bomb!!! I can't wait to get some!!!

Quoting myself, and hoping that not only am I getting closer to great snacks, but also to better grammar along the way- or at least verbal agreement in my sentences.

 

[glennbo123]

Quoting myself, and hoping that not only am I getting closer to great snacks, but also to better grammar along the way- or at least verbal agreement in my sentences.

I hadn't noticed. It's hard to get agreement these days, in so many ways.

 

[All7OfUs]

I hadn't noticed. It's hard to get agreement these days, in so many ways.

Good one. Is it a consensus thing you're fighting against?? You haven't already started the next vacation discussions have you??

 

[nittanyliongirl02]

Hi Glenn....I'm signing on to follow you and your family on your trip around the world. I believe I had been following your previous TR. Now, I must follow this one, especially because you too are a PSU alum!

WE ARE....

(p.s......got my season football tix coming soon!)

Bring on the TR!

 

[glennbo123]

Good one. Is it a consensus thing you're fighting against?? You haven't already started the next vacation discussions have you??

That wasn't what I was going for, but now that you mention it.... We're thinking we may take a trip to see the Grand Canyon next year. We told James that we may not go to Disney next year and he was like "Wha???" I'll probably still make a reservation with DVC at AKV, to make sure we have a room, since plans are not anywhere near firm, but not sure what we'll be doing at this point. It seems like a long way off.

 

[glennbo123]

Yahooooo! nittanyliongirl02!

Hi Glenn....I'm signing on to follow you and your family on your trip around the world. I believe I had been following your previous TR.

Yes, I believe you did. How ya been? Thanks for joining in again!

Now, I must follow this one, especially because you too are a PSU alum!

Yes you must! That's reason enough for me.

WE ARE....

PENN STATE!

(p.s......got my season football tix coming soon!)

I'm jealous! If there's ever a time you can't use them....

Bring on the TR!

Check back later today.

 

[KatMark]

Of COURSE you do Jordan....


Sorry KatMark but Swiffer already has a girlfriend.

Pixel!

But I'd have to agree Cookie is very cute!

Cookie is very old; but Pixel is absolutely adorable (Cookie used to look more like that when she was a lot younger).

Ahhhh, okay.

Remind me about your PTR if I don't get there soon. So many threads, so little time!

I saw you posted over there...catch up when you can.

Quoting myself, and hoping that not only am I getting closer to great snacks, but also to better grammar along the way- or at least verbal agreement in my sentences.

Liesa, just blame it on the hand.

 

[glennbo123]

Going back to commentary after the last chapter....

I like Pepper Market, especially when I am on the DDP.
Really good value for a CS credit.

I have had people refer to it as Pepper Market Bingo with the card.

Still not sure why the car has squares on it since none of the food stations stay in their square.

I hope you had a chance to taste the desserts.

Poolrat, thanks for the reference. I'm going to use it in the chapter I'm about to post!

 

[glennbo123]

Day 1 - Part 3

While we were dining in the Pepper Market, I received a text that our room was ready and telling me what our room number was. Earlier, when we had checked in, we received our room key-cards and were told what building we’d be in, but not the room number. I suppose we could have walked over to the building and started trying our keys in every door, but that’s a good way to get kicked-out. Or at least, so I’m told. Anyway, we finished eating, I gathered-up all of our Pepper Market “bingo cards” and went to the cashier station. I asked the cashier if they accepted the Tables in Wonderland card. She said, no they didn’t, but the Maya Grill next door did. I said, “what about an annual passholder discount or DVC member discount?” She smiled, and said, “No”. Then I really dug deep, looking for anything, “how about AAA, or Blood Bank of Delmarva?” (I was thinking of what cards I had in my wallet in case I actually had to produce identification in the unlikely event she said “Why, yes! Yes we do give a Blood Bank of Delmarva discount!” I thought about asking about my grocery card, but I have that under a pseudonym, “Bob Frapples”. Think Halloween.) This cashier had obviously been trained very well by the Disney negotiating team.

After settling our bill, we went to the shop next door to buy some refillable drink mugs. Each kid got their own color lid, the same colors as last year. Then we excitedly set out in search of our room. I realized I was beginning to get a pretty decent headache and asked Judy if she had any Advil. I was hoping that that wasn’t something she had forgotten to bring along in the limited time that she had to pack. Fortunately, it wasn’t, and I downed one. I don’t usually get headaches, and very rarely take anything for them, so I was hoping that one Advil would do it.

We were in search of room 3452, in the Casitas section, which is the section nearest the Convention Center. Despite trying to follow signs which showed where various room numbers were located, we still wound around buildings, and made a few wrong turns. We went up one set of stairs, but it only went to a second floor on that particular building, and our room was a third floor room. Back down again. The good thing was, we happened upon some nice courtyards, with beautiful fountains and scenery. We eventually found a courtyard with an elevator! We got on it and pushed the button for the third floor. Getting off the elevator, Lauren started leading us to the “2” building instead of the “3”, but after correcting that, we soon found our room. We entered, and as I usually have to do, I had to keep everyone from running amok and throwing their things all over the place until I could get at least a couple of pictures of the nice, clean room.

Judy making a call. I think it was to bell services!

I’m a woodworker by hobby, and I love the woodwork on the headboards and the doors to bathroom area. The runners on the beds and the long cylindrical pillows are nice, but a pain to deal with at night.

The mirror near the front of the room. Hey, my camera bag has made an appearance in the TR!

The mirror and sink in the bathroom area.

We needed to check-in with the PChef travel people, but they were on a break until 3, so with nothing to do for a few minutes, and as exhausted as we were, we all laid down on the two beds. Lauren and Marlene took one bed, and Judy, James, and I rested on the other. Not long after, at 3 o’clock, there was a knock at the door from bell services. Muhahaha, give it up baby! You had your time, now it’s our turn again!

With luggage now back where it belonged, Judy and I set off to the Convention Center to check-in with PChef. Lauren decided to tag-along, but Marlene and James stayed in the room, watching TV. At the Convention Center, the PChef travel people were set up in a “front desk” kind of area. There was a line of other PChef people waiting to check-in and get their tickets, and we got in line. While we were standing there another PChef person came in who had apparently already checked-in and started talking to the person behind us. She was saying something about a getting water park tickets as a bonus. My ears, of course, perked up. She was saying they were going to add a day to their trip, blah, blah, blah…and I was thinking, “was it a bonus given to everyone?” I didn’t want to get too excited until I knew for sure.

We got to the counter and BOOYAH! Yep, PChef had thrown in a free waterpark or DisneyQuest day for everyone! Awesome!

The Typhoon Lagoon day that I had planned for Tuesday, had just become a freebie!

(Later in the week I was thinking that this worked out well for us, but I wonder about people who made travel plans around the park tickets they knew they were getting and hadn’t allowed extra time to take advantage of this. I mean, it was a very nice surprise, but there may have been people who couldn’t use them. It’s kind of a big surprise when you have air and hotel reservations involved. Anyway, enough about those poor schmucks. This is my TR.)

After the merriment of our free waterpark tickets died-down, the travel person handed Judy our park hopper passes. Judy glanced at me to take the ball on this one.

Now, before I go any further, I better back up a little for anyone who didn’t follow along with my PTR. I actually had a master plan regarding park passes, including these particular park passes, dating back to the summer of 2008. It went like this…we’d take our first DVC trip in late June/early July of 2009. I’d get annual passes on that trip, which we’d use for both 2009 and June of 2010. The PChef trip for 2010 hadn’t been announced yet, but I figured it would be Disney since they have had the trip to Disney every 5 years, like clockwork. So, we’d use our annual passes during the PChef trip, but sock the PChef tickets away for next time. Everything was going according to plan until earlier this year when, at some point while planning this trip, I was talking with the PChef travel agents and they told me that the tickets we’d receive from PChef were special tickets, negotiated with Disney, and they’d have to be used during June 2010. I thought that couldn’t be right. They had to be worth something, that I could upgrade, exchange, give them away…something! I made several phone calls to the PChef travel people and the Disney ticketing people, but couldn’t get any straight answers regarding whether we’d be able to hold the tickets for later, upgrade the tickets, give them to friends or family, or anything. The problem was, nobody physically had the tickets in front of them to look at the all-important coding on them, which would answer how they could be used. In my PTR I called them the “tickets to nowhere” since they could quite possibly be worth nothing to me.

So, I explained our situation to the PChef travel person. She said that she wasn’t a Disney rep., and I’d need to talk to someone over at the Concierge desk regarding possibly upgrading the tickets, but she pointed out that tickets were good until the end of the year. Once used, they’d have to be used within 14 days, but they were valid until year-end. Hmmm, that was some new information.

She also said that we’d have to come back the next day to get our PChef shirts. Okay, now that wasn’t very efficient. We were in DisneyWorld for cryin’ out loud. Who wants to stand in lines all day? I mean lines that don’t lead to rides. Or food. Oh, you know what I mean!

So we left there and started walking to the hotel lobby. Along the way, we started talking about possibly taking a trip in the fall in order to use the tickets -- what a great excuse for a trip, huh? Lauren chimed in that she was not willing to miss any school, and would forego a Disney trip if it came to that. (She’d had a bad experience after missing several days of school to go on a cruise with us a couple of years ago.)

We arrived at the Concierge desk and CM Stephanie, who checked us in earlier, was now working at the Concierge desk and we stepped to her window. We once again explained our situation and Stephanie asked, “have you used these tickets?” I said, “Oh, no absolutely not! I knew not to use these tickets until I had talked to Stephanie!” She smiled and keyed the codes on our tickets into her computer system. She soon looked up from her terminal and announced, “Yes, you can upgrade these tickets to non-expiring. Would you like to add any days, as well?”

<insert Hallelujah chorus here>

We rejoiced and breathed sighs of relief and a bunch of other things like that.

Stephanie typed away, researching what our costs would be depending upon how many days we added. At that point I noticed a familiar shape adorning Stephanie’s hand. I said, “Is that a Mickey engagement ring Stephanie?” She said, “Why, yes it is! It’s not everybody who has their boss on their engagement ring.” It was pretty cool. Her engagement ring was a large round diamond, with two smaller diamonds forming a not-so-hidden Mickey. I really wanted to take a picture of it for this trip report, but I couldn’t get the nerve to ask her if she’d mind. So, you all will just have to imagine. It shouldn’t be too hard, you know the shape.

Stephanie gave us the amounts it would cost us at various numbers of days and we mulled it over for a minute. This is what I really wanted to do at home, if we had known what options we had with our tickets. We eventually settled on 7-day park-hopper, non-expiring tickets, which cost $138 each, after allowing for the 3 days that were provided by PChef. We would have liked to have gone with the 10-day tickets, since prices will keep going up, but they would have been over $200 each. The non-expiring option really adds a lot of cost. Again, I wish we’d had the chance to weigh our options ahead of time, but I think we did all right. (The only bad thing is -- there will be no trip this fall to use the tickets, since we were able to make them non-expiring.)

A more senior CM came over to help Stephanie with the transaction. They weren’t sure what to do about the waterpark day, since they were embedded in our original tickets and our new tickets weren’t “water parks and more”. We told them we planned to use the waterpark day this week so they were able to give us a separate, “comp” type of ticket. The senior CM called the person they needed to get the comp tickets from, but she wasn’t available so they told us we’d have to stop back at the Front Desk later. To pick up free tickets, we said “No problem”, we’d stop back.

We left to go back to our room, very happy with the outcome of our “tickets to nowhere”. We hadn’t walked very far, only about to the Pepper Market, when we heard, “Ma’am! Ma’am!” It was the senior CM, running after us, huffing and puffing. She had our comp tickets so that we didn’t have to make a return trip to the Front Desk.

We found our way to the elevator that we’d used before to get to our floor and a maintenance worker also got on the elevator. He was very nice and asked us where we were from, and if we’d just arrived and those kinds of questions.

Then when we got off the elevator he held the door and said, “Do me a favor”.

Yes?

“…..Enjoy!”

We took a few steps and Lauren said, “I love Disney!” I said, “I know! Where do they find these people?!”


Up next: Our first casualty
Link to next chapter

 

[All7OfUs]

Holy Cow!! What a GREAT update!!! I am so retroactively excited for you, I can hardly stand it!!

OK, more tom. AM!!!

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Glenn. I'm SO glad the "tickets to nowhere" worked out so well for you. And I love the part about Stephanie's ring (I'll have to look for her in September). Great room pics, too!

And a big maintenance worker!

 

[onelilspark]

Hmmm...think I can persuade my boyfriend that I need that kind of engagement ring???

 

[vamassey1]

Such a happy update! Ticket to nowhere are now tickets for your next trip. The room looks so nice. We just had our first stay at a moderate and now I'm wanting to try this resort. The details are so nice.

 

[eandesmom]

What a GREAT update! I am so happy that I was wrong and they were not tickets to nowhere! That's just outstanding. And free WP & DQ tix? How incredibly cool is that?

Your route to your room is what I fear about that resort, hours of wandering to find my room. Did you get a rollaway? Wondering how you are sleeping 5 in there.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Oh, wow - a Mickey shaped engagement ring. What a lucky girl!

And for getting what you wanted in regard to your tickets and for getting TL for free! You are one lucky fellow!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Thanks for the room pictures at CSR. We are planning on staying there Feb/Mar 2011 for the first time.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Delightful update, Glenn! so glad the "tickets to nowhere" worked out so well!

Has me longing for a Disney trip and all those lovely folks, wanting nothing more than for guests to have a happy day!! Gosh I miss those family trips when the kids were young...sigh...thanks so much for sharing yours!

Every time I see a CSR room it gets me hankering to book!

I can hardly wait until my 22 mo old DGD will be old enough for a visit - she is super shy and would not do well with the characters or so many people around all time (surely telling her how adorable she is ). She will be 2 in Sept, so am hoping for 3, but might be 3 1/2 or 4. We're thinking a long weekend to visit MK and AK for her first trip.

Ready for more, please!

 

[jenbear123]

After months of worrying, you finally got the answer you wanted for those tickets. I'm so happy for you! This calls for some banana man dancing

We were in the Casitas section when we stayed at CSR, although it sounds like you got to see a bit more of the area than we did Great update!