The Tale of the Grow Walk .Hunh?

[jenseib]

The ice cream and Beignets look yummy!

It was a nice snack!

Ooooh....that ice cream looks yummy (if it wasn't only 70 degrees out right now, I'd go get some).

I wasn't a fan of the Beignets but glad you enjoyed them.

I liked them...but they are not something that will make me go out of my way to get them again, but if I am there, I would order them again!

Hi Jen! I just read all of your updates and I'm definitely along for the ride! I'm working urgent care hours here at the hospital tonight and your trip report is helping pass the time.

So sorry that yall had tons of trouble with the rental car companies, but at least that's over and done with and you're now at the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!

Can't wait to read more!

Well I am so glad to help you pass the time!
I will just stay away from Hertz from now on. Without my sister inlaws discount, it really does not compare in price to the cheaper places and for me, I just need a cheap car when I use one. Every so often we need something better, but normally I go with a small, cheap model.

I'm joining in too

Funny coincidence (well actually not funny at all actually), we were in the USA late March early April this year and booked all of our rental cars with Hertz; Miami, Chicago and LA. We have booked with them on previous trips and never had an issue before, but this trip we had major issues at every single depot! Long waits in every line, the longest being over an hour in LA, then every single one didn't have a car for us once we finally got to the counter, so we then waited another 20-30 minutes for a car!! The worst thing was that there was no apology from anyone, if anything the staff were actually quite rude about it
We are normally very easy going laid back Aussies but this really tested us!

UGH! I am going to pass this on to SIL when I see her. I know Hertz is always getting rid of employees, etc and she has to work doing extra things to keep cars available and honestly from what I hear on her end, the company is not a nice one to work for anymore.
Of course she has been there many years and is in charge of the whole area here, so she doesn't want to lose her job, but they make her jump through hoops at times.

We loved the beignets when we stayed at POFQ! Alexa was just turning 2 so you can imagine how messy they were. Pool pictures are great! Sounds like a relaxing night exploring the resort and meeting up with friends!

LOL...Yeah, Claire was messy with just the one she ate and she is 9.
It was nice to be there and just let out that sigh of relief. We did have a good week...but it was crowded!

We haven't stayed at POFQ since Michael was about 2, but I would love to go back. It's one of my favorites...sort of like a deluxe for a moderate price.

This time, the boy in charge asked for a monorail resort and I'm indulging him since I know it might be a while before we go back. I'm hoping to talk them into Universal for any next future trip to Florida. And possibly DL if we are able to swing a visit to CA this summer.

One of these days I will...I just can never justify the price for as little as we are at the resort.
I hope you can make it to DL next year...I know you all will like it.

How nice that you got to see Ellen and Katie!

I know what you mean about sneaking around sleeping people. I am usually the last one up and the first one awake in our family. But most of the time I try to get ready first and start making noise so everyone gets up so we can go to the parks!!

I love the nighttime shot of the POFQ all lit up! So pretty - like Paris!

It was nice to see them.
My parents just don't get moving on vacation like I do. Claire doesn't either, but I don't care if I bother her....1 because she will sleep right through it and....2 I want her up and moving so we can get a start on the day.

I wish I knew what Paris looked like at night lit up.

 

[jenseib]

March 22, 2014, Saturday

As I usually do on vacations, I woke up at the crack of dawn. My body just knows there is too much to see and do to have time wasted on sleep.

I got dressed and grabbed my camera for a walk outside for more pictures. Unfortunately in March at 6:45 AM it is still dark outside.



I peeked into the arcade for a few quick shots while I was in the area.







It was so quiet while I went around and took pictures.







I played the trombone many years ago, so I always like to take pictures when they have one shown.







They were set up for breakfast.

 

[Beth D]

I finally made it here! What is it with Detroit and delays? We had issues in Feb when we went on our cruise. See the little cone things on the wing in the picture above? The day we departed it was snow/sleet/storming in Detroit, and thunder snow/raining. The plane kicked up a chunk of ice when it landed, and it flew up and broke the little cone thingie (phalange for you Friends buffs) and we had to wait 2 hours to see if the flap gear inside the cone thingie was broken or not. They finally figured out 2 hours later that we were OK, and we took off (minus the cone phalange thingie). Hooray!

I'm sorry you had such issues with the rental car companies!

I'm loving this TR so far, can't wait to see how it turns out!

Oh and an update to your "free ladies hardware on Disney property" list. The General Store bathroom at the Wilderness Campgrounds does NOT have free supplies in their bathroom. We visited our neighbors there during our recent off site trip - they were in a cabin. Stopped in the store as a shortcut, and no freebies. I checked!

 

[KatMark]

Great photos around the resort.

I love when no one is around and everything looks fresh and clean.

 

[MEK]

Those beignets really ARE a mess, aren't they? Powder everywhere. A little too messy for me, but yummy all the same.

I love that you always get up nice and early and use your time taking pictures before the crowds appear. Nice work!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love this trip report as always. The car rental troubles is one of the reasons that and cost of airline tickets is one of the reasons I have chosen to drive in January. 11 hours in a car with mom...I'll let you know what I think in mid January.
Love the FQ pictures.
Claire may not like the freebies now...tell her to wait a few years and she will understand the laughs.
Great report as always, Jen!!

 

[jenseib]

I finally made it here! What is it with Detroit and delays? We had issues in Feb when we went on our cruise. See the little cone things on the wing in the picture above? The day we departed it was snow/sleet/storming in Detroit, and thunder snow/raining. The plane kicked up a chunk of ice when it landed, and it flew up and broke the little cone thingie (phalange for you Friends buffs) and we had to wait 2 hours to see if the flap gear inside the cone thingie was broken or not. They finally figured out 2 hours later that we were OK, and we took off (minus the cone phalange thingie). Hooray!

I'm sorry you had such issues with the rental car companies!

I'm loving this TR so far, can't wait to see how it turns out!

Oh and an update to your "free ladies hardware on Disney property" list. The General Store bathroom at the Wilderness Campgrounds does NOT have free supplies in their bathroom. We visited our neighbors there during our recent off site trip - they were in a cabin. Stopped in the store as a shortcut, and no freebies. I checked!

I have probably more delays on the Orlando side....I just wish I knew about delays ahead of time when there so I could've stayed put a little longer. It's not fun sitting in a plane or airport for 2 hours, but I would love 2 more hours at the resort!
I have found that WDW does NOT provide freebies.

Great photos around the resort.

I love when no one is around and everything looks fresh and clean.

I love that alone time in the mornings!

Those beignets really ARE a mess, aren't they? Powder everywhere. A little too messy for me, but yummy all the same.

I love that you always get up nice and early and use your time taking pictures before the crowds appear. Nice work!

Yes, we were messy and we were sprinkled with white spots.
I do love the early mornings.

Love this trip report as always. The car rental troubles is one of the reasons that and cost of airline tickets is one of the reasons I have chosen to drive in January. 11 hours in a car with mom...I'll let you know what I think in mid January.
Love the FQ pictures.
Claire may not like the freebies now...tell her to wait a few years and she will understand the laughs.
Great report as always, Jen!!

Thanks! I am going pretty slow with this so far. I just haven't been in the mood this week to write up more..plus I have been busy.
Good luck on that drive. Yeah things sound good when you plan it, but then when it comes time to do it, it's not always so great. I have done many drives down there .....of course my drive is twice as long...and I vow I never want to drive again!

 

[jenseib]

My walk this morning was actually pretty fast, even though I have a lot of pictures.











And here is the entrance to the arcade from the inside.





I must’ve made a potty break.





I was really disappointed that it was still dark outside.





I had really hoped to get some photos outdoors in the daylight, but it just wasn’t going to happen this trip.





I then headed back to the room and got showered and ready and Claire ready as well. Mom and Dad were in no rush and didn’t plan to head out till later. I, on the other hand wanted to get to the park at opening, or as close to it as I could. I also had to pick up my ticket beforehand, so I needed to get moving.
My boss did text me and told me she was finishing up some work, but they would be taking their bags out to their car soon and we could try to meet up then. I forget her timeframe, but if we could meet up during the earlier part it would work, otherwise we would be heading out.
In the meantime, Claire and I loaded our car up with our bags. We were leaving the car here all day and taking the bus over to Epcot, but we would be switching resorts today, so we needed to have everything out of the room. I made sure I had my voucher for my ticket in my backpack…I even double checked it…you know just in case……..

We never saw my boss and we just had to finally give up on that idea. Claire was anxious to get to her first park of the vacation….and who am I kidding…I was too.











At least I was able to get a few shots on the way in the daylight.

 

[KelleyK75]

Great pictures around the resort! I just now realized I was there the same time as you!!! We were at Port Orleans Riverside from March 22-29. I don't know if I missed you posting the date before or not, but I wish I would have known. I am curious to see if our paths cross.

 

[FancyNancy]

Great shots of the resort Jen!

 

[jenseib]

Great pictures around the resort! I just now realized I was there the same time as you!!! We were at Port Orleans Riverside from March 22-29. I don't know if I missed you posting the date before or not, but I wish I would have known. I am curious to see if our paths cross.

Oh wow! Look for yourself in the back ground!

Great shots of the resort Jen!

Thanks

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Mmm beignets! I love 'em! Have you been to New Orleans and had the ones from Cafe Du Monde? YUMMMM <3

It's always so nice walking around the resorts early in the morning... everything is so quiet and peaceful You got some awesome pictures!

Yay! You're on your way to the first park! That's always so exciting!

 

[KatMark]

More great pictures around the resort, Jen. Sorry you never got some during the day.

I can't wait to see where you went first.

 

[jenseib]

Mmm beignets! I love 'em! Have you been to New Orleans and had the ones from Cafe Du Monde? YUMMMM <3

It's always so nice walking around the resorts early in the morning... everything is so quiet and peaceful You got some awesome pictures!

Yay! You're on your way to the first park! That's always so exciting!

I have not been there. It's never been a spot that sticks out for me to visit, but I wouldn't be opposed to going either.
I do love walking around in the mornings by myself.

More great pictures around the resort, Jen. Sorry you never got some during the day.

I can't wait to see where you went first.

I know, I wish that was where we stayed the whole week....but staying free at the timeshare was just a better money saving option for us.

 

[jenseib]

Off to the buses



This guy was handing out some Mardi Gras money. I wanted Claire to pose with him, but she wouldn’t.









We plopped down on a bench and waited for our bus.



And waited…



And waited…

I did see one of the new buses for the first time.



Katie, my co-worker, walked by and we said hello again and talked a bit. She was heading off the MK before she had to leave for home later.

Finally our bus arrived after some more waiting and we were on our way.



We soon arrived at Epcot and made our way towards the Guest Services.



I pulled my voucher out of my bag for my ticket….and my heart sunk. I brought the voucher for our Sea World Tickets for later in the week. OMG! How could I be so stinking stupid. I even looked at it twice.

I told Claire we would have to go back to the resort and get the right one…but then I thought about it and said let’s just try it out first. My voucher is in my name and I had all the ID info with me, so there was a good chance they could look it up.

BINGO! She found me. Whew! I was going to be so mad at myself if we had to bus it back to POFQ.

She takes my magic band and connects my ticket to it. No paper ticket is given. I asked if there would be a problem and she said no. OK…good!
So I then tell her I need all of Claire’s FP’s copied to my ticket as well. I was told by Disney CM’s this would not be a problem at all when I called. So she copies todays for me and that’s it. I told her the system allowed me to pick FP’s for the whole week, even though we were only staying onsite for one night (at this time offsite guests could not pick FP’s till they got to the park and went to the kiosks). She said she couldn’t as the system wouldn’t allow her to do it and in fact she could not see any of Claire’s other FP’s. I was NOT happy. I pulled up my app to show her Claire’s FP’s and noticed that some of hers were not showing up on the App either. Good lord…NOT a Fan of FP+.
She told me I could go in and see if the app would copy us, but that was the best she could suggest.

We then headed to the lines and I worked on copying Claire’s FP’s over to me. We got through the gates easily enough. And I took a few quick pictures as I walked….also working on the app and also texting my friend Deb and telling about the ordeal.

Sadly this picture turned out super blurry and is the only one I took of these the whole trip.









We had one thing that was a must do first thing this morning…..Soarin’.



Because of the extremely stupid tiering of FP’s at Epcot, we could only pick either Soarin’ or Test Track. We chose Test Track because it has been many years since we have been on it. In 2012 it was down for refurbishment, so we had yet to see the new version. So our plan was to get to Soarin’ first thing before the lines got too long. It was a good plan too!







In the meantime, my friend Deb said she would go into my MDE account and look to be sure everything copied. Of course once I got into the building I lost reception, so I was having issues getting her my password. The people we were standing by inline said they had full wifi, but my phone wasn’t. I found out if I went in and turned the wifi off and back on it would then reconnect. I had this issue a lot with Disney wifi over the whole trip.

I think we only waited about 15 minutes or so and then we were standing here.



Claire loves this ride…and so do I and we had a wonderful time on it. Sadly the screen does look pretty crappy these days, but we didn’t mind.

After that we were hungry. I hadn’t really eaten anything this morning. Claire was worried we would be wasting precious time by getting food, but I assured it was fine. She said I wasn’t allowed to get a full meal or I would be wasting time. So we decided on juice and strawberry shortcake. Claire said she would just want a bite, so we decided to share….Claire lied!



Claire started with the strawberry and then we fought forks the rest of the way through. I knew she was hungry and I knew we both enjoyed this cake….I should’ve gotten 2!

Time to make our way out.





A lot of the little water features were drained at Epcot…I am not sure why, but I took a few pictures of them here and there.



The fountain was working though.



I was back in contact with my friend Deb. She said that not all my FP’s copied correctly. Some had overlapping times and the one …the most important one….did not copy at all. That was the new Festival of the Fantasy Parade. I about had a heart attack and this was something we really wanted to see….and more than once.
She did me a huge favor and contacted tech support…who could not fix it, but they told her to tell me to go to the FP entrance that day and tell them the situation and they would most likely let me in, as they weren’t going to let a child go in by herself. I was nervous, but I knew that it would work…..as I was not going to allow it to not work. They also gave us an extra FP for the viewing area of MSEP for that night as well (this would be for Monday), but I had no intentions of using it as we have seen the parade many times and it’s just not a favorite or a must do this trip.
With all that taken care…..thanks to Deb….we moved on.

 

[MEK]

Wow Jen - FP fiasco. I have only stayed on site so I guess I don't understand the whole "copying" thing. But I am glad you got you pass worked out and you didn't have to go back to the room.

More beautiful pictures of the resort.

Strawberry short cake - breakfast of champions!

Soarin is a great way to start the trip. Sorry the bus wait was so stinking long.

I hope you will now be able to enjoy your day without the FP worry!

 

[KatMark]

Sorry you had such issues with the FP+ and the copying. I personally enjoyed the FP+...we had only one minor issue and that was our fault.

Glad they could find you in the system and you didn't have to go back for your voucher.

Great pics as always. And Soarin' is always a great way to start the day.

 

[mom2rtk]

I enjoyed the early morning walk around your resort. As always. I've been on so many early morning resort walks I feel like I was there with you!

I won't sully up your trip report with a big discussion on FP+. Let's just say I knew you had problems at the time. And all these months later I'm still ticked off on your behalf!

I want a piece of that strawberry shortcake. NOW.

We love Soarin too. But we skipped it at DCA next year. So we're coming up on 2 years. I think we need to put it on our "to do" list this time again. I just love that sensation of flying over things.

 

[jedijill]

Ugh on the FP debacle....I hope it gets better!

Jill in CO

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Wow, what a PITA - waiting so long for the bus, then not having the right voucher then the FP+ problem! Sheesh!
I sure hope these "glitches and kinks" get worked out soon. I still hear that the app doesn't work well.