Update 5/30. I'm going to Club 33 with 43 other DIS'ers PTR! W/photo's! ABD BSM Tour.

[aspen37]

I'm still planning on doing a trip report so I will give the Readers Digest version.

When we got back to our room at 11:30 that night and opened our door to find our room empty.

Our luggage was lost!!!!

It never arrived at the hotel. I have a few theories on what happened but essentially it never made it on the ABD bus and Mom and I were without out luggage until 6 pm the next day when we had to retrieve it from Bell Services ourselves. Our Guides were somewhat helpful that night but essentially dropped the ball in some aspects. They brought us a bare basics toilitries kit and two t-shirts to sleep in that night but by the time it was determined that our luggage was not at the Grand Californian at 1:30 am it was too late to do much. I was not a happy camper to be wearing the same underwear the next day. Not. One. Bit. (This is when I need a foot stomping, arm crossing, bottom lip pouting princess smiley)

If this had happened to me I would have had a FIT!!! You would have heard Kim thru the entire hotel if this had been us.
You two handled this grace. The next day you two seemed in good spirits and not pissed off.
I would have been REALLY MAD! I think they should have done more for you two.

Kim said that South West Splendors she checked her room to make sure they took her luggage. If you are worried leave breakfast a little early and check and make sure they took your luggage. If they take your luggage and don't put it on the bus then checking your room won't do any good though. I was very happy when I heard they found your luggage.

 

[aspen37]

Here are some more pictures. Sorry these were taken with my iphone so I could post them strait to FaceBook.

Robin and Dave waiting for some wine. Flattie Dave was being a bad boy and took off Flattie Robin's shirt off! Oh this was the second incident of flatties being bad. The first one was at the commissary and I could not post that photo so I didn't take that picture. The position they were in uses two numbers. Now figure it out. It wasn't Robin and Dave though.

Jen and Tracey in Steakhouse 55.

Don, Chris and Aaron in Steakhouse 55.

Jen is diving into Kim's Wine!

 

[Tonya2426]

If this had happened to me I would have had a FIT!!! You would have heard Kim thru the entire hotel if this had been us.
You two handled this grace. The next day you two seemed in good spirits and not pissed off.
I would have been REALLY MAD! I think they should have done more for you two.

Kim said that South West Splendors she checked her room to make sure they took her luggage. If you are worried leave breakfast a little early and check and make sure they took your luggage. If they take your luggage and don't put it on the bus then checking your room won't do any good though. I was very happy when I heard they found your luggage.

Our Guides were pretty lucky that the lost luggage was ours and not a few others in our group. (I'm not mentioning any names but you know who you are.)

Thank you for saying we handled it well. Both Mom and I were exhausted from only getting a few hours of sleep. I was a bit teary in the morning but was trying to be a good sport about it since I was at Disneyland and going to Club 33. My one consolation in the entire ordeal was that the guides got less sleep than we did that night.

And trust me when I say that if they hadn't recovered the luggage, our Guides would have seen both my Inner Princess and Julia Sugarbaker unleashed and they would have trotted themselves over to Downtown Disney to buy me all new makeup at Sephora and a replacement Dooney & Burke bag plus a trip to the mall for new shoes, clothes - and underwear.

The one thing that saved the Guides is that when we were packing our luggage before we left for breakfast I convinced Mom to put her medicine in her carry-on bag and not the luggage. Mom has to take her cancer meds at the same time each morning - I would have been all over their butts and down their throats if she had put her meds in the luggage. They would have been waking up doctors and pharmacists all over Southern California to fix that problem.

 

[3guysandagal]

So we head over to our room and I start taking pictures of the room and I went outside and took pictures of all of us looking over the balcony. John is hanging off the balcony asking if the other DVC owners received a gift bag. I asked Kim if she got one and she hadn't. I told her I would complain to DVC about it. Off she went to the DVC desk. She talked to them and they didn't know what she was talking about. They didn't know of any gifts left for guests. We found out by Heather the next day that it was left their by one of her friends for Katherine and John and not DVC, they didn't read the card she left with the bag. Kim felt bad that she went and complained about not getting a gift bag when DVC had nothing to do with it.

I felt soooo bad after finding out the gift bag came from Missy (Tothesea) and not DVC. THANK YOU MISSY!!!
But, in our defence, the front desk TOLD us it was from DVC, and to this day, we have never found the tag in any of our "stuff".
Wish I had a pic of it, it was very well done, and quite honestly, I had no doubt it was something DVC would have gave out.

OH! And congratulations Missy on becoming a DL CM!!!

 

[aspen37]

I felt soooo bad after finding out the gift bag came from Missy (Tothesea) and not DVC. THANK YOU MISSY!!!
But, in our defence, the front desk TOLD us it was from DVC, and to this day, we have never found the tag in any of our "stuff".
Wish I had a pic of it, it was very well done, and quite honestly, I had no doubt it was something DVC would have gave out.

OH! And congratulations Missy on becoming a DL CM!!!

I felt bad also because I convinced Kim to go to the DVC desk and complain.
When Heather told us the story it sounded like you guys were so excited that you didn't read the card. If you didn't have a card to read you would not have known where it came from. Did Heather ever get her bag? From what I remember Missy dropped off a bag for Heather too, but she never received it.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Great updates!!!!
I too felt like Lucky was real. I love the pictures the guides took of us with him because you can see how awestruck I was.
Loved all your pics at the Archives & the video of the bird that your fellow adventurer shared.
Glad you found Gus.
Check in at the Grand was different for you guys & looked way more chaotic. When we got there, there was a CM with folders for us & they got our credit card for incidentals & we got our keys & it took almost no time. Wonder why they have changed that? And we had to go to the front desk Sunday to re-check in for our extra nights which was not a big deal really-or problem was they didn't show our DVC reservation for the room-so we had to go get our confirmation & then one of our guides dealt with it so we could go on to breakfast. That was our only issue the whole trip.
Funny you guys got the out on the balcony pics of your fellow adventurers too. I was cracking up when we all ended up on the balconies @ the same time.
We were exhausted at the end of that day too...........it's just go, go, go on this trip!

Keep up the good work. Ready for more.

 

[aspen37]

Great updates!!!!
I too felt like Lucky was real. I love the pictures the guides took of us with him because you can see how awestruck I was.
Loved all your pics at the Archives & the video of the bird that your fellow adventurer shared.
Glad you found Gus.
Check in at the Grand was different for you guys & looked way more chaotic. When we got there, there was a CM with folders for us & they got our credit card for incidentals & we got our keys & it took almost no time. Wonder why they have changed that? And we had to go to the front desk Sunday to re-check in for our extra nights which was not a big deal really-or problem was they didn't show our DVC reservation for the room-so we had to go get our confirmation & then one of our guides dealt with it so we could go on to breakfast. That was our only issue the whole trip.
Funny you guys got the out on the balcony pics of your fellow adventurers too. I was cracking up when we all ended up on the balconies @ the same time.
We were exhausted at the end of that day too...........it's just go, go, go on this trip!

Keep up the good work. Ready for more.

We were surprised that we had to check-in ourselves all so. Not sure why they changed that either. It would have been easier if the 3 of them passed out the keys and packets.
We wouldn't have been upset if we booked the room separate from ABD, but we paid them so it should have been under one reservation. The guys at the front desk didn't even show that we were staying Sunday night and that is really what was freaking people out.

I was cracking up thinking of your photos when I took the ones of everyone out on their balconies.

I'm leaving for WDW early Wednesday morning, so I'm not sure how much more I'll get done before I leave. I will try and get up Club 33 at least before I leave.

 

[knewton64]

We were surprised that we had to check-in ourselves all so. Not sure why they changed that either. It would have been easier if the 3 of them passed out the keys and packets.
We wouldn't have been upset if we booked the room separate from ABD, but we paid them so it should have been under one reservation. The guys at the front desk didn't even show that we were staying Sunday night and that is really what was freaking people out.

I was cracking up thinking of your photos when I took the ones of everyone out on their balconies.

I'm leaving for WDW early Wednesday morning, so I'm not sure how much more I'll get done before I leave. I will try and get up Club 33 at least before I leave.

Ya gotta save me a Rice Krispy treat from Goofy's!

Yum!


Lovin' readin more about your trip.



T.T.F.N.

 

[aspen37]

Ya gotta save me a Rice Krispy treat from Goofy's!

Yum!


Lovin' readin more about your trip.



T.T.F.N.

Thanks!

 

[aspen37]

Day five Friday April 16. Theme for today is "Walt's World". Word of the day is"Attraction".

Today is Club 33 day!!!!!!!!

We had to get up early again today. We were meeting in the lobby of the GC at 7:00am. Breakfast at Club 33 starts at 8:00am, but before breakfast we get to take pictures in front of the castle before the general public is let in.

Kim and I get down to lobby around 6:55. We leave the lobby around 7:10, and the walk thru DTD was pretty empty. When we get to bag check there was already a line!!!! These people are crazy!!!!!!!!!!

We get to walk by them and go wait in the plaza in between DL and DCA.
It was pretty cool being the only people there except CM's.

Kim and Chris

Waiting to enter DL!

Here are all the people who had never been to DL before last night. They get a first time button, except for Kim she has been to DL before. I just caught her walking near the group.

WooHoo we are in!!!

Walking into DL and not having tons of people there was REALLY COOL!! The next thing that hit me was how quiet it was.

 

[aspen37]

Here is Jamie taking pictures of us.

This duck thought he would walk down Main Street with us, how Disney.

Jamie told us to check these guys out, that they will give us a hard time. He was right. They made a big deal about hurrying and getting behind chain. I think they said the other people better hurry or something. Kim and I were like these guys need to lighten up. You would think that they new we are allowed to be there.

 

[aspen37]

At this point it dawns on me that other than the CM's WE ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE in DL!!!!! How Awesome is that?

Katherine and I had a churro from this cart very late the last night of the trip.

It's a baby duckling! It was sooo cute.

John and Katherine

 

[aspen37]

These next three pictures are pretty funny. I was the last one to ask for my picture in front of the castle. Michael asks if I wanted to do a different picture and I say what do you mean? He said jump up like they do at the end of movies like Grease. I said sure! Now I should have had my camera set on manual because it couldn't focus and take the picture on Automatic. If John is around later this week maybe he will pst the Video of Michael and I sort of jumping together. It was pretty funny.
So here are my pictures.

The group was waiting for us i Frontierland. When we got over there I was asked what we were doing and I had to show them. Someone took a picture and Kim said it was pretty good, so someone has a picture of me doing the jump.

We are on our way to Club 33!!!

Here we are at Club 33!

Hi John!

Kim and find a place to sit. After I take a few pictures we are told we might want to go get our merchandise now.

 

[franandaj]

Oooooh that's so cool so far.....to be the only ones in the park like that....I hope you're still posting! I don't want to be left hanging here!

Totally cool!

 

[Tonya2426]

Jamie told us to check these guys out, that they will give us a hard time. He was right. They made a big deal about hurrying and getting behind chain. I think they said the other people better hurry or something. Kim and I were like these guys need to lighten up. You would think that they new we are allowed to be there.

Those security guys were just awful. They were acting like we were criminals and late for the boat to Alcatraz. And to top if off, they followed us!!!!! I saw the guy in the hat lurking around New Orleans Square when we left Club 33. That was over 2 hours after we entered the park. They were acting like we were hoodlums off the street. Made me appreciate the friendly WDW Security a little bit more.

 

[aspen37]

Here is the line waiting to get our merchandise. I want to say that these poor people were not ready for us. They had merchandise, but trying to get it was the most disorganized thing I've seen in a while. We were supposed to have Club 33 for our group till 10:00. Kim and I got in line around 8:15 and at 8:40 she had finally got to place her order. I wasn't worried because we had an hour and twenty minutes before we had to leave. Then Joey comes up and says we need to leave by 9:15!!!!! All of us were saying NO WE have till 10:00! Joey said we need to be at our next location by 9:30. We were not happy. I told Kim to please eat for me because I was not leaving till I got my merchandise!!!!! Kim went and sat down and about 8 minutes later they took my order for my merchandise. Just before that they decided it would be faster if they took our order and then we went and sat down to eat, then they would bring our stuff to us.

I took these while standing in line.

Here is Kim and Dodie waiting for their stuff.

Kim striking a pose while wait we are still waiting.

WooHoo! I got my order in and was heading back to the table so I can eat.

Just as I sat down with my food and started eating Pete announced that the boys (guides) made some calls and we didn't have to leave till 9:45!!!! I wqs so excited because now I could take some picture of Club 33.

Everything I ate was really good!!!! I wish I had ate more.

The waiter comes over and asked if it was Kim's birthday. Kim said No it wasn't. Then the waiter said he was told that someone at our table was having a Birthday, so we ask and everyone said it wasn't them. The waiter then said we could just keep the dessert. I ate a little of it and it was REALLY GOOD!

 

[aspen37]

Those security guys were just awful. They were acting like we were criminals and late for the boat to Alcatraz. And to top if off, they followed us!!!!! I saw the guy in the hat lurking around New Orleans Square when we left Club 33. That was over 2 hours after we entered the park. They were acting like we were hoodlums off the street. Made me appreciate the friendly WDW Security a little bit more.

Jamie said they act like that every time they come with the ABD group. They need to get a clue. Jamie said that on a prior tour when they moved the chain people/person made a run for it. I'm not sure where they thought they were going, maybe they thought they would be the first inline for Space Mountain. Now just because some idiot did that doesn't mean everyone is going to do it. It would have been funny if we all rushed them

 

[aspen37]

Oooooh that's so cool so far.....to be the only ones in the park like that....I hope you're still posting! I don't want to be left hanging here!

Totally cool!

I'm still hear.
Are you at DL now? How was F&W this weekend, did you see any good Chef's?

 

[Tonya2426]

Jamie said they act like that every time they come with the ABD group. They need to get a clue. Jamie said that on a prior tour when they moved the chain people/person made a run for it. I'm not sure where they thought they were going, maybe they thought they would be the first inline for Space Mountain. Now just because some idiot did that doesn't mean everyone is going to do it. It would have been funny if we all rushed them

Someone/people in the ABD group made a run for it?!?!?! Where were they going? They were on a group tour!!!!

 

[aspen37]

Now here are some pictures of Club 33.

The famous bathroom.

Does someone know the story behind this phone booth?

The Trophy room.

The famous microphones in the chandeliers.

Ok I'm seeing a patter here... I'm taking alot of pictures of John and Kim!

The view out of the window in the Trophy room.

The flatties hanging out in the Trophy room.