DisneyTiger
Life is what happens between trips to Disney World
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2008
- Messages
- 1,283
Hello everyone. First, let me say that I am THRILLED that y'all have decided to read along! I just hope I don't let you down
I'll try to make this as exciting as possible
DH is laying in bed with DD and it's storming outside. A perfect setting to do a little TR'ing if I do say so myself!
So, I left off with the big reveal video. This was really such a magical moment for me. One of Aubrey's teachers even had tears in her eyes. It was a great moment
We ended up leaving around 1:00pm so we got a good 5 hours of driving in before we had to stop for dinner. Let me back up, I HAD to stop around 2:30 for some coffee. I have an internal coffee clock that tells my body it NEEDS coffee at this time of the day. Every day. It was time for a potty break anyway so we stopped and got some snacks and caffeine!
We made it to Podunkville, Fl for some dinner. I have no idea where this place was but it was scary. We were definitely the "outsiders." City folk, if you will
We ate at a McDonald's (Not my choice) so the kids were happy. The plan was to change the kids into their PJ's there so they would be all set for bedtime in the car. I had two new pairs of Disney PJ's for them which was another suprise. I didn't take pics of them but Brendan's were Cars and Aubrey's were Chip and Dale. They were thrilled
We loaded up in the car and got back on the road.
It was pushing 8:30pm at this point and DH and I were getting a bit sleepy. We decided to make one more coffee stop and let the kids potty again just in case. Well, let me just tell you that we all started to get a bit punchy! This video should explain itself...
I have to mention that you will not see me in any of our videos or pictures from this trip. I am VERY self conscious about my weight right now. I have gained a ton over the past year or so and it's very upsetting. This is the heaviest I've ever been. That is a bridge I'll have to cross when I'm ready. But until then, I will be the mystery voice behind the camera
Alrighty, so shortly after I shot this video, the kids crashed. I mean, they were wild one second and passed out the next. They both fell asleep at 9:30pm on the dot. It was pretty funny!
Now, it had started raining I think when we crossed the Florida line and hadn't stopped at all. It wasn't hard rain, but it was constant! I was amazed that my window paint was not coming off at all! It took everything for me to not turn on the back windshield wiper though. I kept wanting to do it but had to remind myself not to!
So, we drove and we drove and we drove and we drove. Finally, we came upon this wonderful sight!!!
It was funny because it was now around 12:30am and all the young folks were out partying at Pleasure Island (or whatever the world it's called now) and they were walking all around the streets. I felt like a big ole dork hanging my camera out the window to get this picture but oh well. I did it for my TR
After a few wrong directions from Samantha (our GPS) we finally ended up here...
Can I get a Haleluer!!!
The kids started to wake up because daddy and I were giddy with excitement and not being quiet! Once they figured out that we were truly there, they started to get excited too!
So, here's the deal with this night. I added this night on at the last minute about a month before our trip. I did it for room only. Our original plan was to stop in Tallahassee and drive in the next morning but it was killing me not getting a full day in the park. Sooooo, I added this night and prayed that the coffee and red bull would get us there safely, which it did
Now, I have already mentioned to y'all that we rented strollers from Magic Strollers. Two singles to be exact. We find that it's easier to maneuver the parks with two singles rather than one of those big honkin' doubles. The strollers were supposed to be there waiting for us so that we would have them to use bright and early the next morning.
The other item that was supposed to be there waiting was our Owner's Locker. For those of you who aren't familiar... www.ownerslocker.com is a great company!! I mean, why didn't I think of this!!! Anyway, we go to Disney quite often so it's nice to have all of our "stuff" there waiting for us. An example of things in our locker: all toiletries, shampoo, conditioner, medication of EVERY kind, wine, bottle opener, small fan for white noise... You get the picture. Stuff that we REALLY need for our first night there!
So, I walk in and am the only guest checking in. There was another woman in the lobby. I must tell you about her. She was some poor, strung out looking woman who was complaining to security about something to do with Cinderella. I was trying SO hard not to listen in on their conversation but it was dead quiet in there! You could hear a pin drop, so it was kind of unavoidable Anyway, she was saying something about how rude Cinderella was to her in the park today. She was literally in tears. And the poor little security guard was just staring at her, letting her speak her peace. It was truly entertaining.
Anyway, I started the check in process with the CM there. It was 1:00am on the dot. I did not get her name. I was sleep walking.
I do remember her going in and out of Pixie-ness. She was sweet at first, then rude, then sweet again. I wanted a good room. I wanted a convenient room. You would have thought I was asking for her first born. But, it WAS 1am so I was cutting her some slack. I'm sure she was tired too. After we got all the room stuff straight, I mentioned to her that I needed to pick up our strollers and our locker. She nonchelantly tells me "Oh, bell services are closed for the night so you'll have to get that in the morning." Um, no. I need my toothbrushes! I need my contact solution. I need my WINE! lol. kidding. It seems that no one ever told me bell services closes at 10pm at the value resorts
Only value. Not moderates or deluxes. (reason number 1 of the trip to not stay at a value again - for us. No flames please ) She also informed me that no one had signed in on the roster that strollers or a locker had been delivered. Now, Owner's Locker and Magic Strollers are owned by the same people. A VERY nice man named John. I had gotten a text earlier in the day from John saying that our strollers and locker were delivered safely for us at ASmo. Hmmmmm, interesting.
The CM then told me that she could call someone with bell services to come over and check the room to see if they were there. There is a guy on call but it may take him a while to get here. Mmmm, ok. Well, I need my toothbrushes so get on the horn! What seemed like an eternity passes by and she then proceeds to take out a key and walk over to the bell services room, unlock it, and check for herself
Seriously??? You had a key this WHOLE time yet you tell me you have to wait for "your guy" to get here! I was not a happy camper.
Turns out, there are NO strollers and NO lockers in the room. She told me that I needed to contact OL to find out what the deal was. Then, she turned on the pixie factor again and gathered us some toiletries! She got us toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, shave cream... all without us asking! I was very appreciative.
We loaded back in the car and drove around to our room. It was in the Fantasia building. On the map, it did not look like a preferred room location but it turned out being very convenient. Not only was it convenient, it was renovated!!
And I'm talking very recently renovated. Like, I think we were one of the first ones to stay there. I say that because many of the rooms around us were being worked on so ours had to have been completed recently. And everything smelled brand new! That was refreshing since I got some disturbing reports of roaches from a friend and I was super paranoid!!! No roaches. But guess what was there when I opened our door??? Our locker!!!!!
I had called OL and left a message. I knew it was the middle of the night and would have to wait until the morning before I heard from anyone. WRONG!!! John called me back immediately. I could tell he was dead asleep. But he offered to come over there to look for the locker since he delivered it himself! Thankfully, that was not necessary since I was on the phone with him when I walked into the room and saw our purple friend.
Now, where were our strollers?? John said that I would have to wait until the morning to figure out that one because someone else delivered them. Not two minutes after I hung up the phone with him, someone knocked on our door. It was bell services with our strollers!!! Wahoo! Things were turning around. This was going to be a great trip!
We proceeded to unpack a bit and get settled in our beds. We all layed down and crashed. It was around 2:30am now. Well, I should say that everyone ELSE crashed. My red bull and coffee were still racing through my system. I actually had to take a sleeping pill (found in my handy dandy owners locker) to fall asleep. Crazy. Eventually I drifted off and slept really well. There were no wake up calls, no alarms, no rope drops for us to catch. We slept until our bodies told us to wake up. This because a theme for us on this trip.
Up next, checking out then back in then hitting the road to MK!!!
I'll try to make this as exciting as possible DH is laying in bed with DD and it's storming outside. A perfect setting to do a little TR'ing if I do say so myself!
So, I left off with the big reveal video. This was really such a magical moment for me. One of Aubrey's teachers even had tears in her eyes. It was a great moment
We ended up leaving around 1:00pm so we got a good 5 hours of driving in before we had to stop for dinner. Let me back up, I HAD to stop around 2:30 for some coffee. I have an internal coffee clock that tells my body it NEEDS coffee at this time of the day. Every day. It was time for a potty break anyway so we stopped and got some snacks and caffeine!
We made it to Podunkville, Fl for some dinner. I have no idea where this place was but it was scary. We were definitely the "outsiders." City folk, if you will
We ate at a McDonald's (Not my choice) so the kids were happy. The plan was to change the kids into their PJ's there so they would be all set for bedtime in the car. I had two new pairs of Disney PJ's for them which was another suprise. I didn't take pics of them but Brendan's were Cars and Aubrey's were Chip and Dale. They were thrilled We loaded up in the car and got back on the road. It was pushing 8:30pm at this point and DH and I were getting a bit sleepy. We decided to make one more coffee stop and let the kids potty again just in case. Well, let me just tell you that we all started to get a bit punchy! This video should explain itself...
I have to mention that you will not see me in any of our videos or pictures from this trip. I am VERY self conscious about my weight right now. I have gained a ton over the past year or so and it's very upsetting. This is the heaviest I've ever been. That is a bridge I'll have to cross when I'm ready. But until then, I will be the mystery voice behind the camera
Alrighty, so shortly after I shot this video, the kids crashed. I mean, they were wild one second and passed out the next. They both fell asleep at 9:30pm on the dot. It was pretty funny!
Now, it had started raining I think when we crossed the Florida line and hadn't stopped at all. It wasn't hard rain, but it was constant! I was amazed that my window paint was not coming off at all! It took everything for me to not turn on the back windshield wiper though. I kept wanting to do it but had to remind myself not to!
So, we drove and we drove and we drove and we drove. Finally, we came upon this wonderful sight!!!
It was funny because it was now around 12:30am and all the young folks were out partying at Pleasure Island (or whatever the world it's called now) and they were walking all around the streets. I felt like a big ole dork hanging my camera out the window to get this picture but oh well. I did it for my TR
After a few wrong directions from Samantha (our GPS) we finally ended up here...
Can I get a Haleluer!!!
The kids started to wake up because daddy and I were giddy with excitement and not being quiet! Once they figured out that we were truly there, they started to get excited too!
So, here's the deal with this night. I added this night on at the last minute about a month before our trip. I did it for room only. Our original plan was to stop in Tallahassee and drive in the next morning but it was killing me not getting a full day in the park. Sooooo, I added this night and prayed that the coffee and red bull would get us there safely, which it did
Now, I have already mentioned to y'all that we rented strollers from Magic Strollers. Two singles to be exact. We find that it's easier to maneuver the parks with two singles rather than one of those big honkin' doubles. The strollers were supposed to be there waiting for us so that we would have them to use bright and early the next morning.
The other item that was supposed to be there waiting was our Owner's Locker. For those of you who aren't familiar... www.ownerslocker.com is a great company!! I mean, why didn't I think of this!!! Anyway, we go to Disney quite often so it's nice to have all of our "stuff" there waiting for us. An example of things in our locker: all toiletries, shampoo, conditioner, medication of EVERY kind, wine, bottle opener, small fan for white noise... You get the picture. Stuff that we REALLY need for our first night there!
So, I walk in and am the only guest checking in. There was another woman in the lobby. I must tell you about her. She was some poor, strung out looking woman who was complaining to security about something to do with Cinderella. I was trying SO hard not to listen in on their conversation but it was dead quiet in there! You could hear a pin drop, so it was kind of unavoidable
Anyway, she was saying something about how rude Cinderella was to her in the park today. She was literally in tears. And the poor little security guard was just staring at her, letting her speak her peace. It was truly entertaining.Anyway, I started the check in process with the CM there. It was 1:00am on the dot. I did not get her name. I was sleep walking.
I do remember her going in and out of Pixie-ness. She was sweet at first, then rude, then sweet again. I wanted a good room. I wanted a convenient room. You would have thought I was asking for her first born. But, it WAS 1am so I was cutting her some slack. I'm sure she was tired too. After we got all the room stuff straight, I mentioned to her that I needed to pick up our strollers and our locker. She nonchelantly tells me "Oh, bell services are closed for the night so you'll have to get that in the morning." Um, no. I need my toothbrushes! I need my contact solution. I need my WINE! lol. kidding. It seems that no one ever told me bell services closes at 10pm at the value resorts
Only value. Not moderates or deluxes. (reason number 1 of the trip to not stay at a value again - for us. No flames please ) She also informed me that no one had signed in on the roster that strollers or a locker had been delivered. Now, Owner's Locker and Magic Strollers are owned by the same people. A VERY nice man named John. I had gotten a text earlier in the day from John saying that our strollers and locker were delivered safely for us at ASmo. Hmmmmm, interesting. The CM then told me that she could call someone with bell services to come over and check the room to see if they were there. There is a guy on call but it may take him a while to get here. Mmmm, ok. Well, I need my toothbrushes so get on the horn! What seemed like an eternity passes by and she then proceeds to take out a key and walk over to the bell services room, unlock it, and check for herself
Seriously??? You had a key this WHOLE time yet you tell me you have to wait for "your guy" to get here! I was not a happy camper. Turns out, there are NO strollers and NO lockers in the room. She told me that I needed to contact OL to find out what the deal was. Then, she turned on the pixie factor again and gathered us some toiletries! She got us toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, shave cream... all without us asking! I was very appreciative.
We loaded back in the car and drove around to our room. It was in the Fantasia building. On the map, it did not look like a preferred room location but it turned out being very convenient. Not only was it convenient, it was renovated!!
And I'm talking very recently renovated. Like, I think we were one of the first ones to stay there. I say that because many of the rooms around us were being worked on so ours had to have been completed recently. And everything smelled brand new! That was refreshing since I got some disturbing reports of roaches from a friend and I was super paranoid!!! No roaches. But guess what was there when I opened our door??? Our locker!!!!! I had called OL and left a message. I knew it was the middle of the night and would have to wait until the morning before I heard from anyone. WRONG!!! John called me back immediately. I could tell he was dead asleep. But he offered to come over there to look for the locker since he delivered it himself! Thankfully, that was not necessary since I was on the phone with him when I walked into the room and saw our purple friend.
Now, where were our strollers?? John said that I would have to wait until the morning to figure out that one because someone else delivered them. Not two minutes after I hung up the phone with him, someone knocked on our door. It was bell services with our strollers!!! Wahoo! Things were turning around. This was going to be a great trip!
We proceeded to unpack a bit and get settled in our beds. We all layed down and crashed. It was around 2:30am now. Well, I should say that everyone ELSE crashed. My red bull and coffee were still racing through my system.
I actually had to take a sleeping pill (found in my handy dandy owners locker) to fall asleep. Crazy. Eventually I drifted off and slept really well. There were no wake up calls, no alarms, no rope drops for us to catch. We slept until our bodies told us to wake up. This because a theme for us on this trip.Up next, checking out then back in then hitting the road to MK!!!
I think I am going to start my trip report tomorrow.
The stroller thing was an inconvinience to day the least!! 
If you find a magical weight loss wand, let me know. K? 
and we had a big "family" luau that night. Saturday we hung out with my out of state inlaws, and Sunday was Aubrey's "friend" party at Chuck E Cheese. Needless to say, it's taken me a few days to recoop. So glad I don't have to worry about Brendan's birthday until March
)
