mickeysaver
<font color=blue>WINNER of the world's worst limer
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2002
- Messages
- 6,207
For those of you that have seen my signature block over the past few months, there was a very cute penguin named Tux that we planned to take to Disney with us. Well, he went and had a great time. He even scored some nifty Mickey Mouse ears that I really seems to have become attached to. I hope to add some pictures soon to these reports, but that requires going out into the real world and I am just not ready for that yet. lol The other players in this tale are Me, aka Maggie (38) and Gabby, aka my honey (32). Both of us are large toddlers.
Before we ever made the journey to the most magical of destinations, we had a few things to accomplish in our time off. At 3pm on 12/07/05, I began my vacation. After coming home and changing clothes, we waited for our house/petsitter/friend, Billy to arrive. He was running late, so instead of taking MARTA to the Frosty the Showman concert, we drove and made great time. Luckily, the show was running a few minutes behind, so we did not miss a minute of the Pussycat Dolls, which was the first "big" name act. Gabby loves the Pussycat Dolls, so she had a blast watching them. We then endured the Backstreet Boys.....yes, I say endured. The BSB sang well and did a pretty good show, but their music is so overplayed that I just am sick of them. Then came the grand entrance, Will Smith in Santa's souped up hot rod sleigh flew in over the audience and landed on stage. WOW! That was an amazing entrance. He put on a great show. There was even a bit of a Disney connection. Q100, the radio station behind this concert, does a promo during the holidays called Hope for the Holidays. Will asked if there was a family that he could do something special for and they set him up with a great family. The lady was not prepared for what she got, but her sons both got a couple of big $$$ gifts and she got $$$ to take care of some bills and to take the kids to WDW as she had wanted to do to reward her oldest son for all of his hard work in school and at home. The show was definately worth the $55 ticket price and I would do it again next year, if the acts sound good. Tux opted to skip on the concert. He preferred to remain at home and stay well rested for the trip. He had more sense than we did about sleep throughout the trip.
The next morning, we woke up early, so that we could go to get the rental car. Gabby had a job interview.....well, she more or less had the job, she had to go through the motions. So, once she had the car, she headed out and I set off to do a few last minute errands. After arriving home, I walked the dogs. I ended up locked out of the house. Now, this would not have happened except Billy, being security conscious, locked a lock that we normally leave unlocked so that we can come and go with the dogs without worrying about keys during the day when we are home. So, Gabby is about 80 miles from home at a job interview, Billy is in downtown Atlanta in a conference with legal at Earthlink, and I am locked out of the house in 40 degree weather with 3 Chihuahuas and it's about to start raining and all that I have on is a light weight polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Not good! I was able to put Beanie, my Chihuahua with the bad heart through the pet door, so that she could be inside and warm. Bean has used the pet door before, we don't encourage it because while she can get out, she usually can not manage to get back in due to the storm door that she also has to navigate on the way in. Perdita went in through the pet door too, but did put up a bit more of a fuss. Deuce, my 14 lbs monster sized Chihuahua was having nothing of it. He refused to go in. By this time, the drizzle has started and I have to do something. They had all had baths the day before Billy came, so they still had no collars on and of course, with a fenced in back yard, I don't leash them to go outside. So, I picked up Deuce and took him out of the backyard and sat in a chair in our carport with him. He was ok for awhile, but then he just got so cold that he started to cry. It ripped my heart out to know that he was so miserable. I decided to try again to put him through the pet door. I did it, but it was by forcing him in backwards. I didn't like the process, but at least he was inside safe and warm with the girls. So, I returned to the carport. I don't know if the temp bottomed out more or if Deuce was just that good of a heater, but it felt a lot colder without him. I talked off and on with Gabby on my cell. She finally made it home and met me with her jacket that she had been pumping hot air into.....I was so cold that I was shivering hard and teeth chattering. I am usually a warm natured person, but 3 hours in 40 degree weather without proper attire is my limit. lol I took a long hot shower and still felt cold, but we had to load the car. So, we left about an hour later than we wanted to. We forgot nothing, this time, which is an improvement over our 2003 trip when we realized that we had forgotten the Disney Dollars at home when we were almost to the FL line and had to drive back home to retrieve them, but that's another story. lol Tux kept apologizing for not knowing that I was locked out of the house. He said that even if he had known, there was no way for him to reach the lock, because he is so short.
We arrived at the Days Inn in Ocala, FL. This is the one on Silver Springs Blvd. We both noticed a sign at the entrance advertising for housecleaning help. That worried us, but we were not going to buy trouble. I should have known that we were in trouble when the one thing that they asked me to sign at check in was a damage waiver. The room had been booked through a pre-pay and save deal. The room was right at $50 for the night.....it was a better deal than the AAA discount, but I regretted this prepaid deal. The hotel has interior corridors, which I hate. The corridor was smoky. We both have asthma and our room was a non-smoking room. The room had a mildew/musty smell. I wasn't pleased, but it was only for one night and I was exhausted. We had only a 3 or 4 hours sleep the night before because of the concert, so I basically was mostly interested in a clean bed. The bed appeared to be clean. There was a lawn furniture plastic chair in the room for seating. There was a wooden table in the room with at least two broken legs that we propped up a bit more straightly so that the table would not collapse. There were holes burned in the carpet like something spilled and/or burned it. There was no lock on the patio door on the back of the room.....this was a ground floor room. There was a charlie bar, but it was not original equipment and even with it in place the door did not fully close flush to the frame of the door. There were two pictures above the bed. One of them was missing the glass and the print was damaged. There was water damage to the ceiling along the length of the room and there was wood rot from water damage to the bottom of the bathroom door. Ok, so we were not impressed with the room at all, but we were totally exhausted and basically needed a meal and a bed. So, we went to Olive Garden and shared a meal and returned to the room. We basically changed into night clothes, set the alarm and fell asleep within minutes. The next morning, we inspected the shower and found that it had mildew and there were dried/caked on body fluids on the bathroom wall. OMG! No showers for us! We left that place ASAP that morning. I went to check us out and was told by the clerk that there was no manager on duty and that he was the closest thing to a manager as I was going to get.......can you say I am writing a letter to Days Inn Corporate? I informed him of the nightmare that was our room. He asked why we stayed in that room, I tried to explain our exhaustion and that we did not fully appreciate the level of ickyness until that morning, but he didn't listen and did not care. I explained that I was not looking for a refund, but really just wanted them to inspect the room and fix those things that needed to be fixed and clean the things that needed to be cleaned. Again, he could have cared less. So, not all Days Inn are created equal, lodger beware. Tux opted to sleep in the car, since it was cooler and cleaner. I have to say that Tux made a wise decision that night.
So, it's now Friday. Friday, the day that I got to meet Gabby's grandmother. Think Maxine from the Hallmark cards with more money than most and friends in high places, like Janet Reno. After being with Gabby for 6 years, she finally decided that I am family and wanted to meet me. Honestly, I had less fear in meeting her than I did in meeting Gabby's mom years ago. Her Grandmother was actually pretty sweet to me. I saw her grumpy side during our visit, but thankfully, it was not being directed at me. Basically, she is a frail old woman that needs more help than she will ever accept. She is opinionated and stubborn.......and a lot like me. Gabby adores her grandmother and except for the money issue, we are definately cut from the same cloth, so it gave me a little more insight into why Gabby loves me. Tux doesn't do family drama, so he opted to hang out with Pal Mickey for the day and play some games in the back seat of the car.
When we left there, we headed on down to Orange City, FL. On the way, I recieved a message from Billy. The cleaned up version is something like, Karma is alive and well and living at our house. He locked himself outside accidentally wearing only PJ pants and a wife beater. He had stepped outside to take a smoke and when he tried to come back in the storm door created a vacuum that sucked the door shut. He had to do some creative moves to gain access to the house, but he would have never managed it without the help of Beanie. She actually helped bring the keys to him. Beanie is usually the last of our dogs to play any games like fetch, so this was a shocker. But, Beanie saved the day. It was in the 30's and he was cold out there. lol
In Orange City, we had another Days Inn prepaid deal waiting for us there. We had stayed there in 2003, and it was ok then, but after the nightmare in Ocala, I was scared of what we might find. Upon check-in, I talked with the lady at the desk and told her about the room in Ocala. She kept saying, "Are you sure that was a Days Inn?" lol She couldn't believe that any Days Inn was that bad either. She also encouraged me to contact corpporate. We got to our room and it was everything that I expected from Days Inn, clean, bug free, safe, and air conditioned/heated. The bed was comfy and the bathroom had lots of hot water for a couple of much deserved and much needed showers. We ate dinner with Gabby's sister, Launda and her husband after they opened their Christmas presents. We returned to the room and slept like babies. Tux didn't wish to disturb our rest and was so sugar shocked from eating too many gummy bears that he didn't realize that the world was turning until Sunday morning. Pal Mickey and Tux are sugar junkies and should never be left around snack products unattended.
Saturday, we took Gabby's sister, Becca, and her children's gifts to their home. The kids were home alone and Becca was in Jacksonville with her boyfriend. The kids opened their gifts and we left. We met up with Gabby's mom and exchanged gifts. Then, we went out to dinner with some of Gabby's high school buddies, Jenny & Jackie (twins) and Heather. Jenny brought her little boy and Jackie brought her husband and daughter. After dinner we returned to the room and repacked the car for our trip to WDW the next day. We slept like babies again.
Sunday and the rest of the time at WDW will follow. Maggie
Before we ever made the journey to the most magical of destinations, we had a few things to accomplish in our time off. At 3pm on 12/07/05, I began my vacation. After coming home and changing clothes, we waited for our house/petsitter/friend, Billy to arrive. He was running late, so instead of taking MARTA to the Frosty the Showman concert, we drove and made great time. Luckily, the show was running a few minutes behind, so we did not miss a minute of the Pussycat Dolls, which was the first "big" name act. Gabby loves the Pussycat Dolls, so she had a blast watching them. We then endured the Backstreet Boys.....yes, I say endured. The BSB sang well and did a pretty good show, but their music is so overplayed that I just am sick of them. Then came the grand entrance, Will Smith in Santa's souped up hot rod sleigh flew in over the audience and landed on stage. WOW! That was an amazing entrance. He put on a great show. There was even a bit of a Disney connection. Q100, the radio station behind this concert, does a promo during the holidays called Hope for the Holidays. Will asked if there was a family that he could do something special for and they set him up with a great family. The lady was not prepared for what she got, but her sons both got a couple of big $$$ gifts and she got $$$ to take care of some bills and to take the kids to WDW as she had wanted to do to reward her oldest son for all of his hard work in school and at home. The show was definately worth the $55 ticket price and I would do it again next year, if the acts sound good. Tux opted to skip on the concert. He preferred to remain at home and stay well rested for the trip. He had more sense than we did about sleep throughout the trip.
The next morning, we woke up early, so that we could go to get the rental car. Gabby had a job interview.....well, she more or less had the job, she had to go through the motions. So, once she had the car, she headed out and I set off to do a few last minute errands. After arriving home, I walked the dogs. I ended up locked out of the house. Now, this would not have happened except Billy, being security conscious, locked a lock that we normally leave unlocked so that we can come and go with the dogs without worrying about keys during the day when we are home. So, Gabby is about 80 miles from home at a job interview, Billy is in downtown Atlanta in a conference with legal at Earthlink, and I am locked out of the house in 40 degree weather with 3 Chihuahuas and it's about to start raining and all that I have on is a light weight polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Not good! I was able to put Beanie, my Chihuahua with the bad heart through the pet door, so that she could be inside and warm. Bean has used the pet door before, we don't encourage it because while she can get out, she usually can not manage to get back in due to the storm door that she also has to navigate on the way in. Perdita went in through the pet door too, but did put up a bit more of a fuss. Deuce, my 14 lbs monster sized Chihuahua was having nothing of it. He refused to go in. By this time, the drizzle has started and I have to do something. They had all had baths the day before Billy came, so they still had no collars on and of course, with a fenced in back yard, I don't leash them to go outside. So, I picked up Deuce and took him out of the backyard and sat in a chair in our carport with him. He was ok for awhile, but then he just got so cold that he started to cry. It ripped my heart out to know that he was so miserable. I decided to try again to put him through the pet door. I did it, but it was by forcing him in backwards. I didn't like the process, but at least he was inside safe and warm with the girls. So, I returned to the carport. I don't know if the temp bottomed out more or if Deuce was just that good of a heater, but it felt a lot colder without him. I talked off and on with Gabby on my cell. She finally made it home and met me with her jacket that she had been pumping hot air into.....I was so cold that I was shivering hard and teeth chattering. I am usually a warm natured person, but 3 hours in 40 degree weather without proper attire is my limit. lol I took a long hot shower and still felt cold, but we had to load the car. So, we left about an hour later than we wanted to. We forgot nothing, this time, which is an improvement over our 2003 trip when we realized that we had forgotten the Disney Dollars at home when we were almost to the FL line and had to drive back home to retrieve them, but that's another story. lol Tux kept apologizing for not knowing that I was locked out of the house. He said that even if he had known, there was no way for him to reach the lock, because he is so short.
We arrived at the Days Inn in Ocala, FL. This is the one on Silver Springs Blvd. We both noticed a sign at the entrance advertising for housecleaning help. That worried us, but we were not going to buy trouble. I should have known that we were in trouble when the one thing that they asked me to sign at check in was a damage waiver. The room had been booked through a pre-pay and save deal. The room was right at $50 for the night.....it was a better deal than the AAA discount, but I regretted this prepaid deal. The hotel has interior corridors, which I hate. The corridor was smoky. We both have asthma and our room was a non-smoking room. The room had a mildew/musty smell. I wasn't pleased, but it was only for one night and I was exhausted. We had only a 3 or 4 hours sleep the night before because of the concert, so I basically was mostly interested in a clean bed. The bed appeared to be clean. There was a lawn furniture plastic chair in the room for seating. There was a wooden table in the room with at least two broken legs that we propped up a bit more straightly so that the table would not collapse. There were holes burned in the carpet like something spilled and/or burned it. There was no lock on the patio door on the back of the room.....this was a ground floor room. There was a charlie bar, but it was not original equipment and even with it in place the door did not fully close flush to the frame of the door. There were two pictures above the bed. One of them was missing the glass and the print was damaged. There was water damage to the ceiling along the length of the room and there was wood rot from water damage to the bottom of the bathroom door. Ok, so we were not impressed with the room at all, but we were totally exhausted and basically needed a meal and a bed. So, we went to Olive Garden and shared a meal and returned to the room. We basically changed into night clothes, set the alarm and fell asleep within minutes. The next morning, we inspected the shower and found that it had mildew and there were dried/caked on body fluids on the bathroom wall. OMG! No showers for us! We left that place ASAP that morning. I went to check us out and was told by the clerk that there was no manager on duty and that he was the closest thing to a manager as I was going to get.......can you say I am writing a letter to Days Inn Corporate? I informed him of the nightmare that was our room. He asked why we stayed in that room, I tried to explain our exhaustion and that we did not fully appreciate the level of ickyness until that morning, but he didn't listen and did not care. I explained that I was not looking for a refund, but really just wanted them to inspect the room and fix those things that needed to be fixed and clean the things that needed to be cleaned. Again, he could have cared less. So, not all Days Inn are created equal, lodger beware. Tux opted to sleep in the car, since it was cooler and cleaner. I have to say that Tux made a wise decision that night.
So, it's now Friday. Friday, the day that I got to meet Gabby's grandmother. Think Maxine from the Hallmark cards with more money than most and friends in high places, like Janet Reno. After being with Gabby for 6 years, she finally decided that I am family and wanted to meet me. Honestly, I had less fear in meeting her than I did in meeting Gabby's mom years ago. Her Grandmother was actually pretty sweet to me. I saw her grumpy side during our visit, but thankfully, it was not being directed at me. Basically, she is a frail old woman that needs more help than she will ever accept. She is opinionated and stubborn.......and a lot like me. Gabby adores her grandmother and except for the money issue, we are definately cut from the same cloth, so it gave me a little more insight into why Gabby loves me. Tux doesn't do family drama, so he opted to hang out with Pal Mickey for the day and play some games in the back seat of the car.
When we left there, we headed on down to Orange City, FL. On the way, I recieved a message from Billy. The cleaned up version is something like, Karma is alive and well and living at our house. He locked himself outside accidentally wearing only PJ pants and a wife beater. He had stepped outside to take a smoke and when he tried to come back in the storm door created a vacuum that sucked the door shut. He had to do some creative moves to gain access to the house, but he would have never managed it without the help of Beanie. She actually helped bring the keys to him. Beanie is usually the last of our dogs to play any games like fetch, so this was a shocker. But, Beanie saved the day. It was in the 30's and he was cold out there. lol
In Orange City, we had another Days Inn prepaid deal waiting for us there. We had stayed there in 2003, and it was ok then, but after the nightmare in Ocala, I was scared of what we might find. Upon check-in, I talked with the lady at the desk and told her about the room in Ocala. She kept saying, "Are you sure that was a Days Inn?" lol She couldn't believe that any Days Inn was that bad either. She also encouraged me to contact corpporate. We got to our room and it was everything that I expected from Days Inn, clean, bug free, safe, and air conditioned/heated. The bed was comfy and the bathroom had lots of hot water for a couple of much deserved and much needed showers. We ate dinner with Gabby's sister, Launda and her husband after they opened their Christmas presents. We returned to the room and slept like babies. Tux didn't wish to disturb our rest and was so sugar shocked from eating too many gummy bears that he didn't realize that the world was turning until Sunday morning. Pal Mickey and Tux are sugar junkies and should never be left around snack products unattended.
Saturday, we took Gabby's sister, Becca, and her children's gifts to their home. The kids were home alone and Becca was in Jacksonville with her boyfriend. The kids opened their gifts and we left. We met up with Gabby's mom and exchanged gifts. Then, we went out to dinner with some of Gabby's high school buddies, Jenny & Jackie (twins) and Heather. Jenny brought her little boy and Jackie brought her husband and daughter. After dinner we returned to the room and repacked the car for our trip to WDW the next day. We slept like babies again.
Sunday and the rest of the time at WDW will follow. Maggie
