Updated Day 1: That's It. I Am Not Going To Disney Again.

[Jules76126]

That’s it. I am not going to Disney again. That’s my Dad’s favorite saying after every Disney World vacation. Actually in the last few years he tends to say this before we have even left for airport, again while at Disney, and once we have gotten back. He feels that we have experienced everything that there is to see and how could we possibly want to spend another vacation at this place. Plus the amount of money we spend there could have something to do with his reluctance to return. Yet, somehow we keep going back with my Dad reluctantly in tow.


Our most recent family adventure to the World took place about a year ago. Again my Dad claimed that he was all Disneyed out and that he didn’t want to come back to the World for a long time. Yet, I laugh to myself because coming up in January we are once again heading to Orlando to see; yup you guessed it… the mouse. So in preparation for that trip I thought I would relive the one that we took last year.


Here’s who went on this last trip to Disney:


My Dad: Definitely not a Disney fanatic. He mainly goes each year to appease his family. He complains that Disney takes all his money and that we don’t need to go again because we have seen everything there is to see. Yet once he’s there he loves the rides, seeing Illuminations every night, waking up in the mornings and walking around the resort, and just being on vacation. I am hoping one day he will see that Disney is the only true vacation.


My Mom: She is a true Disney fan. She loves seeing what is new and experiencing old favorites. She loves Epcot, especially walking around world showcase. She, unlike my Dad, never gets sick of the magic of Disney.


My Sister, Sarah 14: She loves Disney but hates vacation with the family; you know she’s at the age where it’s not cool to hang out with anyone but your friends. She also has a major attitude especially when things don’t go her way. Expect to here more on that later.


Lastly Me: I have been a Disney fan since the first time I went 18 years ago. I have even been to Disneyland Paris. Basically I feel we could never vacation to Disney too much.

Last year I was doing a College Program and my parents decided to come and visit me. My Dad didn’t complain as much about the ridiculous prices since they were staying for free through my grandmother’s DVC points and I could get them into the parks. Although he felt that he would end up spending more than usually on useless junk and food.


They came the last week of June and let me just say that it was hot, like you could fry an egg on the driveway hot. We’re from the Northeast. We experience more snow and cold winters that hot summers. My family was not prepared for the heat that awaited them in Florida.


And that’s where my dad said once more I am never going to Disney again. This is it… Sure it is Dad.

 

[LLWDW]

Can't wait to read more.

 

[scjo68]

Love your title- certainly got my attention!

 

[Jules76126]

The Arrival:

Now I was already in Orlando when my parents decided to come down. I had just spent the last six months working in Epcot at Spaceship Earth and to be completely honest I wasn’t much looking forward to this family vacation. I was having a blast hanging out with my friends, working, and just being in Disney. I didn’t want to take a week off just to see my family, I know the thought. But in the end I agreed to a visit, mostly because my mom threatened to come anyways and I needed them to take some of my junk home.

Now you must understand we know Disney. We know all the tips, tricks, scams, and whatever else there might be to know. And like any good Disney vacationers we had a plan for the week. But alas as they say the best laid plans… but we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

My parents had planned to fly in Sunday morning, pick up the rental car and then meet up with me in the afternoon. Sounds easy enough, right? If only things went like that. I was suppose to work that Sunday until Epcot closed. I was hoping to be released early. I basically pleaded, begged, and pleaded some more but it just couldn’t be done. Someone had called in (that was a surprise because someone calls in like everyday) and I was forced to work my full shift, which was only 6 hours anyways.

So when I knew my parents had landed, I gave them a call. Well it turns out that their day hadn’t been smooth sailing either. My dad is a magnet for spilling things on himself, especially when we go on vacation. You think we would have learned by now that we should pack an extra shirt in the carry on for him. For example my parents came down to Florida to help me move out of my college dorm. Well on the way down my dad spilled coffee on his shirt so he bought a new one in the airport. And on the way back to Boston it was his job to carry my printer. Well all was good until we landed and he took the box down from the overhead container. Turns out the ink had leaked and he didn’t notice until it was all over his shirt. So I think you get my point.

Well they made it to the airport alright and were waiting to board when my dad decided to get a coffee. He just couldn’t wait. So he gets his coffee, takes one sip, and spills the rest on his white shirt. Now he needs a new shirt. However, have you ever noticed at the airport that they charge twice what a normal item should cost in the real world? And the crazy thing is people are willing to pay these astronomical prices for something that they could buy for half the cost a mile from the airport.

So my dad goes in search of a shirt and there are plenty to choose from but finding one that is cheap is especially hard when you’re flying out of Boston. He finally finds one and grumbles about the price and meets back up with my mom and sister. Needless to say he didn’t get his coffee back and that he now owns like five shirts that say Boston on them.

The flight was uneventful and they were able to claim their luggage and find the rental car without much trouble. After that they made it to the Beach Club and checked in with little problems. We love the Beach Club and always stay there if we can. We all love the close proximity to Epcot and that you can see Illuminations from our balcony. My dad loves that he can walk around the lagoon in the morning and my sister loves the pool. I think the Beach Club is one thing that we all love about the vacation. Plus it’s free so my dad loves that even more.

My mom and dad then went out for some groceries and got lost trying to find the nearest supermarket. Now this shouldn’t have been a problem because there is a Wal-Mart five minutes from my apartment and our apartments are ten minutes from the Epcot resorts. Yet my dad for the life of him couldn’t remember how to get there. So instead they ended up at the market the closest to Downtown Disney. Let me tell you something about this market. It is not only pricey but the people there are rude. I have no idea why we go there every time but we do. My parents left 100 dollars poorer and a little agitated to say the least.

By this time I was finally out of work and I told my dad that I would walk over to the Beach Club and then he could drive me back to my apartment to get my suitcase. I was planning on spending the week with them, free food and laundry. What more could a college kid ask for. And I have to say I enjoyed my walk around Epcot after closing. See we don’t get out until 9:30 so by that time most of the guests have left except for a few stragglers. Plus I got to see them blow up the barge which I never knew they did.

Apparently they have to blow up the unused gas before they bring the barge in at night, sometime about international waters and such. I finally made it to the beach club, met up with my parents, and then headed to the car. Again this should have been a simple thing. But if you have learned anything so far nothing on this vacation is simple. Stay tuned to see if my dad and I make it to my apartment, and what we find when we eventually get there.

 

[GBShorts]

Hehehe this sounds like one of my family vacations except that ours were much fewer and farther between.


Can't wait to hear the next installment!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Great report so far. Keep it coming. It sounds like it will be a good one!

 

[reelmom]

Your Dad sounds like my DH. He tells me everytime that we are never going back. Which I always respond, "Fine, it will save me money if you stay home". So we are going back this Christmas.
Love your TR so far.

 

[Jules76126]

Getting to My Apartment

Getting to my apartment should not have been difficult at all. My parents had flown down with me in January and moved me in so my Dad already knew the location. Yet for some reason he couldn’t remember how to get there. Now I didn’t have a car when I was at Disney so I never really paid attention on how to get places, I just put my faith in whoever was driving whether it was the bus driver, my then boyfriend, or a friend. But now I had to give my Dad directions.

This is basically how it went:
Me: “Dad you need to get back on I-4 and then take the first exit towards Orlando.”
Dad: “the first exit, you mean the one we just passed?”
Me: Dad I told you it was the first one, now we have to go the long way.”

By this time I was slightly annoyed having worked all day and not having ate dinner yet. I figured I would just have to pay extra attention to make sure he made the next turn.

Me: “Okay Dad just continue along this road and you will go through two sets of lights. At the second set we are going to take a left okay remember that.”
Dad: “hey this looks familiar. Your mother and I came this way earlier today looking for the Wal-Mart but we couldn’t find it.”
At this point I was beside myself. “Dad are you serious right now?” When I saw that he was I just burst out laughing. He wanted to know what I found so funny. “Dad you were on the right road. At the second set of lights all you had to do was take a right and Wal-Mart was like a minute down the road. I can’t believe that you were that close and then gave up.”
Dad: Oh really, well don’t tell your mother that.” See although my dad complains a lot about the amount of money we spend when on vacation he is pretty laid back about things. He almost never complains and is more than happy to do whatever we want. His only request is that he doesn’t have to cook.

So we eventually make it my apartment complex. Now the thing about these apartments is that they are guarded by security, like Fort Knox type security. Okay not really but they are pretty attentive to who goes in and out. Anyone that is not on the college program must be signed in, a copy of their license taken, and they must be out by 1 Am no exceptions. Plus there is absolutely no way to get into the complex without passing the security hut. I had already filled out the form letting them know my parents were coming so my dad only had to show his license when we got there. I then directed him to my new apartment since I had moved since January.

Now I knew nothing about my roommates. Like absolutely nothing. Well okay I knew that they were slobs who didn’t clear up after they cooked, who let the dishes pile up in the sink until you couldn’t fit anything in, who came home at four am and then acted like it was perfectly okay to yell and turn the TV up. I mean what was I thinking sleeping at four am? Who was I to tell them to clear the kitchen or shut up? So I suppose I do know some thing about them but if you asked me where they were from or their favorite color I totally would have had to make it up. See I had only been living in this new apartment for about a week. I was forced to move out of my old apartment when I lost some roommates. The only one I was friends with was the girl I shared a room with since we had been together since the beginning and moved to this new apartment together. But seeing as I am such a nice person I warned everyone that my parents were coming to visit and would probably be stopping by the apartment that night.

My dad and I made our way up the stairs and I noticed that the guys who lived across the hall had their door open and that my apartment door was slightly ajar. Now that isn’t really unusual since people are always in and out. But what we saw when I walked in stopped me cold.

My kitchen counter was doubling as a bar. There had to been at least five bottles of liquor on the counter along with numerous cups. The stereo was blasting music and the TV was on. I felt like I had just walked into Club 1908 (our apartment number). Everyone was gathered around drinking including the guys from across the hall and they all froze when we walked in. See none of us were 21 and Disney has strict rules about underage drinking. Basically they go like this: you get caught, you’re terminated. Like you have-24-hours-to-pack-your bags-and-get-the-heck-out-of-Vista terminated. No second chances. I was highly surprised to see that they had been careless enough to leave the door open.

They all relax once they realized my dad wasn’t security and proceeded to act like there wasn’t enough alcohol on the counter to open a bar. I basically made small talk and hurried to get my bag and then made a bee line out of there because even if you’re not drinking you are still guilty by association. Luckily my dad thought the whole thing was hilarious. He wanted to know why we weren’t invited to stick around and partake in the fun.

We made it back to the hotel without any problems. When we walked in the front door I found a sandwich made in the fridge with a note from my mom that said I thought you would be hungry so I made you a sandwich. See you in the morning, love Mom. Okay I thought, maybe this week wouldn’t be so bad after all. Well that is until I went to bed.

We were staying in a one bedroom villa. My parents took the bedroom and my sister and I were sharing the pull out couch. No big deal, there was plenty of room for both of us. Well it turns out that the couch had a hole in the middle of it. Like the springs had given out. Like when you laid down you rolled right into the middle of it. To make matters worse my sister was already asleep in the middle of the bed. And the only blanket not in her death grip was that icky disease ridden bedspread. Like I was going to risk my life with that thing. I would rather be cold. So now I had to not only push her to the side but also wrestle a piece of the blanket from here. Let’s just say this became a nightly thing. One of us was always pushing the other out of the hole. We made sure to relay the message to the front desk before we left that a new couch was needed pronto.

Up next: Day 1 aka Do what ever Sarah wants day because it’s her Birthday!

 

[GBShorts]

You know, maybe this makes me mean, but I would have been letting security know about the litte party going on in your apartment...

You shouldn't have had to put up with people like that!

 

[Shir Kahn]

Great start! I like your writing style and especially the way you've enlarged and changed the font, makes it much easier for me to read.

 

[Jules76126]

You know, maybe this makes me mean, but I would have been letting security know about the litte party going on in your apartment...

You shouldn't have had to put up with people like that!

Yah I understand what you're saying. However, it was only that one time and since I was leaving with my dad I didnt feel the need to get everyone terminated since that is what would have happened.

 

[Boudica]

Enjoyng the read.

 

[Jules76126]

Day 1 aka do whatever Sarah wants because it’s her Birthday

Yes that’s right, my family first full day in the World was my sister’s 15th birthday. Now you think that any child would be happy to spend their birthday in such a magical place. No not my sister. She was upset that she had to be there at all. Apparently she would have rather stayed home and spent it with her friends. I will never understand her.

My parents were up bright and early already enjoying their morning coffee. My dad has learned that if he wants good coffee than he needs to bring his own and make it himself and that is exactly what he did this trip. He had also already gone on a walk around the hotel and my mom had been enjoying the sunrise on the balcony.

My sister and I woke up and disentangled ourselves from the blankets and climbed out of the hole. We then processed to have breakfast, which consisted of the things my parents had bought at the market the day before. Now I have to say I love vacation for many reasons but mainly because we eat things that we would never in our day to day lives eat. Normally I try to eat healthy but on vacation all diets, health foods, etc goes out the window.

So our choices for breakfast included donuts, cinnamon buns which my mother refers to as lard buns, bagels, and cereal for my sister. I chose to partake in a lard bun. I figure it was a nice way to start off the day. And to accompany it my dad had already filled up our refillable mugs. Yes we are the type of people who reuse refillable mugs. I know it’s scandalous. But hey my dad likes that it saves us money and it makes him happy.

Shortly after we headed to the bus stop. Can I just say that whenever you go somewhere it seems like every bus except the one you want shows up? And as you’re waiting more and more people begin to arrive. So now you have to think about how you are going to get in line before all these people do. So then every time a bus comes everyone rushes to curb to see if it’s their bus only to be disappointed when its not.

And since it was Sarah’s day she chooses to go to the Magic Kingdom. So now there are about twenty families waiting, most with small children and strollers. Finally the bus arrives and everyone runs to form a line. We do make it on but are forced to stand which is okay by me since it is so early in the morning. My dad ended up helping some guy with his stroller. That’s us always willing to help someone else out. And my dad was wearing a Red Sox shirt that day so we proceed to get harassed about New England sports teams especially the Patriots. Ahh nothing like sports to bring random strangers together.

We make to MK and head right for the cast member entrance. We head right inside and don’t even stop for a map. No need to when you have been so many times. First stop Space Mountain. The line was about a twenty minute wait. Now my mom will not ride Space Mountain. We assure her every time that she will be fine, that it’s really not that bad, that she would probably enjoy it if she just gave it a shot. But alas she is stubborn and won’t come. Some instead we devise a spot to meet her when we were done.

We enjoy our ride and exit to the spot where mom is supposed to be. No such luck. See the woman can never stay put. She feels the need to always be somewhere other than where we said we will meet. Sometimes she is heading to the bathroom, other times to get a snack, or sometimes just because the people that were sitting next to her were annoying so she moved. Whatever the reason, we end up spending the next twenty minutes looking for each other.

We finally find her and proceed to Buzz Light year Spin. From there we hit the new Laugh Floor. We thought it was cute and something we would do again. Next we headed into Fantasyland. Now we tend to only go on the rides here that have a short wait. Sometimes pooh, sometimes snow white or peter pan depending on the day. We always do Philharmonic because it’s a favorite of ours.

And of course Small World for two reason. One because it brings me back to our first trip when I was three years old and everything really was magic and pixie dust and number two its air conditioned. Enough said.

After small world it was time for a snack. We’re snack people. As you will see we eat a lot throughout this trip and frequently too. We always carry a backpack filled with bottles of water and some snacks to eat throughout the day. Saves money hehe. Next stop was to get a fast pass at Splash Mountain. Mom and Sarah head to the bathroom and Dad and I get fast passes. Dad and I always get the fast passes, it’s like our thing. See on all the rides I sit with my mom and Sarah and my dad sit together. It never changes. Even when walking through the park I tend to walk with my mom while the other two speed on ahead, who knows why since they are just going to have to wait for us anyway.

We decided to hit Thunder Mountain next since the line was only ten minutes. Well mom took forever in the bathroom and we noticed that people coming off the ride had dream fast passes around their necks. This had to have gone on for a good ten minutes. We came to realize that if mom hadn’t taken so long in the bathroom we could have been on the ride and off with fast passes in hand.

She didn’t see what the big deal was. I mean we had already ridden a great deal. As she said “you know fast passes aren’t everything. Look at this great vacation you get to take. Many children would kill for a chance to travel like this.” Okay mom we get.

After Thunder and Splash we decided that we had enough for one day and decided to head out through adventureland. But my parents had yet to ride the new Pirates of the Caribbean so we decided to stop and do it since it was a short wait and once again air conditioned.

After that we saw that Jungle Cruise had a short line and decided to do it. Now I haven’t been on the Jungle Cruise in probably 18 years. Back then I was 3 years old and everything on that ride was cool to me. That was before Disney created their over glorified zoo that doubles as a sauna. But now the Jungle Cruise is just outdated

However today was different. I remember that our driver introduced himself as Chuck when we boarded. We were told to move all the way to the front of the boat. See being experienced at the whole Disney thing my mom did what she was told. However, Chuck thought she was just a little too close.

Chuck: excuse me, but I don’t think we know one another well enough for you to sit that close to me. What’s you name?
Mom: it’s Eileen
Chuck: Are you married?
Mom: “yes”, pointing to my dad.
Chuck: Well you can just move to the back of the boat then. Hehe

But wait it gets better. Once everyone was on the boat Chuck began his lame spiel about how we were going to see many dangerous beasts and hope to make it out alive. However, there was this one girl on her cell phone. And she wasn’t talking quietly either.

Girl on phone: Yah babe Im on some jungle ride. It’s pretty lame.
Chuck: Excuse me miss, Could you please end your call. It’s rude to those sitting around you.
Girl on phone: Yah I know. Well I was thinking that I would come back for a swim later or something. Gawd it’s hot.
Chuck: Miss please end your conversation so we can get on with out tour.

By this point we all were all laughing, yet the girl had no idea that we were laughing at her. See Chuck had kept up his spiel while picking on her. So she just kept on talking.

Girl on Phone: So did you want to go to Pleasure Island tonight? Hm yah I see.
Chuck: Listen lady this is the last time I am going to say this. Please hang up the phone. The animals can hear you and might think we are their next meal.
Girl on phone: hm yah im still on the ride. Still lame

By this point Chuck had enough. He walked down to where she was sitting. “Excuse me miss but could I see your phone.” She handed it over. Chuck:” Can I ask who I am talking to? Yes well see your girlfriend is on a jungle boat right now and the animals will eat her if she doesn’t get off the phone and be quiet. She’ll call you if she makes it back alive. Thank you and good bye.”

With that Chuck handed her the phone back and went on with his spiel. It was probably the funnies thing I had ever witnessed before. I couldn’t believe that someone can be that into themselves. We enjoyed the rest of the ride and exited happy that we had decided to ride.

At this point we are ready to go and Sarah was beginning to have an attitude But all of a sudden my dad realized that he had misplaced his park ticket. Where could it be?

 

[mom3sonstt]

Day 1 aka do whatever Sarah wants because it’s her Birthday

Yes that’s right, my family first full day in the World was my sister’s 15th birthday. Now you think that any child would be happy to spend their birthday in such a magical place. No not my sister. She was upset that she had to be there at all. Apparently she would have rather stayed home and spent it with her friends. I will never understand her.

Ok - I haven't read past this sentence yet and have to reply. What is it with 15 year olds??? My son will be turning 15 on our trip this year and you would think we are taking him out and beating him with sticks all day instead of going to Disney World. Although if the attitude keeps up sticks are a definite possibility!! I'm kidding........ I think

 

[Bamadisdreamer]

Subscribing to your TR

 

[Jules76126]

I would like to say that we just celebrated my sister's birthday exactly the way she wanted, at home with friends. So all was apparently right in the world this year.

Hope to update again soon.

 

[WDWFan4Life]

Hmmm so you need to budget some time to finish your TR.

 

[OhMari]

It's been a couple of months, I hope you come back and finish.

 

[Jules76126]

Yah it has been a long time. I was very busy this fall with school and i am currently applying to phd programs, unforutantely that leaves less time for disney, And i am also leaving for a CP in 5 weeks but ill try and make time to finish before i leave.