Waldo on Wheels in a World of Rats in Pants & Fruity Booze. 10/29 Stick a fork in me.

[puggymom]

Way to go on the double update, I am loving it.

OK, so you made it all the way to the resort and still have Waldo, thought he might be a goner at the airport.

You are scaring me about POFQ. I am an admitted resort snob and only did a moderate once (CBR) and did not like it. Since I had carryover points on the DVC contract I bought and couldn't get a DVC room for all my nights I went with FQ (heard about the beignets) to use those carryover points up.

Love that TE wanted her dessert, I would have been mad too if my dessert was left behind, way to go on the staff sending it over.

Glad Maddie is feeling better.

Can't wait to hear about your first park day!

 

[apirateslife4evr]

We wait to hear our group #, which happened to be Group 6. As soon as they called for group #1, Waldo started to head toward our gate. Why? We couldn’t figure out why he wanted to stand and hover over by the gate.

OMG....the WANDERING has started........

We all head over to Side A to catch the ME, except there’s a problem. D’OH! ME is now on the B side! We get back to the elevators and when the doors open, there’s only room for one person. Can you guess who jumps in? Waldo. The one person who has no clue where he’s going decides to sail solo. We jump in the next elevator back to the 2nd or 3rd floor to cross over to the “B” side. No sign of Waldo anywhere........Waldo finally shows up after wandering the mall area for a bit.

Tracy, you MUST think about tethering him.......it's for his OWN good.....

We are quickly wisked off to our bus by our friendly bus driver, German, to sit. For 25 mins. It’s been 45 minutes since we’ve landed and now we’re sitting. And sitting. And waiting. And sitting......we continue to sit and wait. And wait and sit.

Again with the waiting.......is this a "theme" going on here......THESE PEOPLE MUST HAVE MISSED THE DIS MEMO !!!!!!

We’re on the road again and in a short time we are making our grand entrance to this, our home for the 10 days.

YAY......we're here !!!!

We jump off the bus and race each other to check-in. I use my stroller as a weapon and take out Max. Poof, he’s on the floor, but do you think his father waited for him or even helped him up? Nope… it’s a race and 2nd place is the 1st loser, baby. We open the lobby doors and notice no one is in line at check-in. Being the good DISer that I am, I zigzag my stroller through the queue, but Rick being the cheater that he is, walks up to the 1st empty window and plops his AAA notebook down and ID down! D’OH! Sucka!

I hope you got him BACK for that one........

My first impression of the hotel was….. eh. It was ok. My heart didn’t pitter patter. I kinda looked around hoping it would click, hoping my heart would soar. Yup. I got nothing for ya. I was not liking anything about it. Well, not completely true. It did remind me of New Orleans Square at Disneyland and I liked that. Oh and they have some kickin’ irons. Man, those things could steam a wrinkle out in seconds, baby.

Our row of rooms:

Yeah......comparing it to a Deluxe (like the Poly), it IS a bit of a letdown. But as far as the value/moderates......it is my FAV !!!!

We walked into our room and found this little guy waiting for us.

Here’s a photo of our room before it got riddle in kiddie crap.

I looked around and first thing I did was pull out the Clorox wipes and wiped all the hard surfaces. I think they owe me for that. By the look of the wipes that I used, I wonder when’s the last time they cleaned the phone or TV remote.

Note to self......remember the CLOROX wipes in December, <CHECK>

 

[apirateslife4evr]

Well color me happy, there was a boat waiting for us!

Aren't those boats just the BE-ALL, END-ALL......so convienient !!!

We docked and headed over to Boatwright’s. I pulled a move and high tailed it past the herd of buffalo who slowly meandered off the boat and went to check us in. But they couldn’t find us. I told them I had called Dining and they were to note the ressie that we were running late. They still couldn’t find the reservation, so they told me not to worry, they’d get us in as soon as possible. Would 20 minutes be ok? Heck yeah! What’s 20 minutes when you’ve been waitin’ 10 hours?

We took a seat in the waiting area and watched a mother wail on her kid. Apparently this kid hocked a loogey on some people and the people told the mother. I would say this kid was about 8 or 9 and knew better, I’m sure. The mother was wailing on this kid making a HUGE scene in the middle of the Mill area. He kept saying those people were liars and she kept shaking him about. Me and my family just sat there in shock at the whole scene. I can’t imagine what goes on in the privacy of their home with public behavior like this. Let me just say we saw a lot of this type of public spectacle.

I guess that family FORGOT their DISNEY MAGIC.......so sad

Poor Maddie was cold and shivering. I just so happened to bring Evan’s blanket, so I wrapped her shoulders, but noticed she was a bit pale. She probably just needed to eat. When she finished, she was now turning a lovely shade of green. Uh no! I had already finished my meal, except for dessert and told Andy and the others that I should get Maddie out of the restaurant as I thought she was going to get sick soon.

Awe, poor Maddie.....sick on the FIRST day at Disney...... I'm glad she ended up ok......

I asked Andy to please have our desserts boxed to go and I would meet them at the room........We started to head back to our room, when my phone rang. Andy was calling to say that they were on the boat and heading back. I asked about our desserts and he told me they had forgotten them at the restaurant. No worries, I told him, forget about it. When I hung up, I told TE what had happened and she was mad at Waldo and wanted me to call Andy and tell Waldo to go back and get hers. I did just that and Waldo said no way, he’s not going back. Uh oh… another battle has begun!

Wow, sounds like "Battle of the Boatwright Dessert-Stars".......

Boatwright’s had called and said they had the desserts and were having them sent over and the FQ concierge would bring them up. How nice, eh? I guess that extra tip they gave our server paid off.

Wow, I gotta remember that one too........<CHECK>

 

[daisy_77]

I loved the mommy-pile pic! So cute!

Waldo and his wanderings just make me laugh. I can't wait to hear what he does next.

Poor Maddie----I am so glad that she felt better. No sick kiddos at Disney....that would be just too sad.

I am wondering if you upgraded.

 

[Avivasmom]

You have me laughing...love your report so far...hope your day at Epcot goes well.

Sorry you are not liking POFQ but I can relate now that we stayed at Boardwalk and have BCV and AKL coming up.

Looking forward to more.

 

[Goofyluver]

Whoa! I'm glad you dodged the bullet on Maddie getting sick! I couldn't believe that she would get sick on your first day!!!

Can't wait for more chica!

And I hope something good cures you of your POR let-down!

 

[cmp1111]

You pull your empty van in,
You pull your full van out,
Waldo realized he left his glasses on out.
You do the van shuffle
And you choke your dear ol’ dad.
That’s what it’s all about.

Oh, dear...

The security guy let me know that Evan would need to be wanded. What? A 3 year old needed to be second searched?

I have a story about this! When the boys were about 14 months, we flew out to northern CA to meet a bunch of DH's family. On the way home, my BIL - a very nice looking young man who ALWAYS gets the "random" search - was carrying Buzz through the security - he was just starting to walk, so he couldn't go through on his own. Yup, sure enough, BIL gets asked to step aside. He tried to hand Buzz over to me, and they wouldn't let him. The 14 month old had to be searched, too. No joke. Sigh. Then, we tried to take a picture of the 14 month old getting wanded (because, honestly, it was so funny/ridiculous) and they got REALLY upset. Oops.

I turn around and have my first DIS sighting. It’s Lisa aka CastilloMom!

Woohoo!

As soon as his little body touched the chair, his eyes popped open and it was all over! He was awake. For the entire 5 hour flight. Oh jeez!

Oh, no! Go figure...

The flight was uneventful and Evan and Maddie were pretty good.

Pshew!

Waldo. The one person who has no clue where he’s going decides to sail solo.

Oh, Waldo, Waldo...

It’s been 45 minutes since we’ve landed and now we’re sitting. And sitting. And waiting. And sitting. I start to feel like LL’s Tony.

Sorry, LL, but you describe it so well...

I notice Lisa and her group get on their Poly bus and they’re off to happy Deluxeville in 2 shakes of a rats tail.

Shouldn't that be "mouse's tail?"

My first impression of the hotel was….. eh. It was ok. My heart didn’t pitter patter. I kinda looked around hoping it would click, hoping my heart would soar. Yup. I got nothing for ya. I was not liking anything about it. Well, not completely true. It did remind me of New Orleans Square at Disneyland and I liked that.

I'm sorry to hear this - as I mentioned before, one of my "real life" friends just booked POFQ for April...

Or was it over? : Could I upgrade us? And at what cost? Remember this for later.

Hmmm, what are you up to?

We started on the path and Maddie said she was feeling much better. Her color had returned and she even seemed perfectly fine. I think maybe her blood sugar had dropped so low that it needed time to stabilize after her meal.

Pshew, I thought we were going to have a repeat of Jo's incident!

Well, it sounds like a fairly good travel day. No one got permanently lost, your flight was good, even if it was late, you still got to eat, and at least you got towel animals!

Thanks for all the updates! Wow! Love the pictures, too!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

It is always a downer when you find that your hotel is not everything you were expecting.

That was great that Boatwright's was able to seat you even though they claimed the ADR was missing and how nice of them to send your desserts to your room.

So glad that Maddie didn't get sick and I know exactly how they felt about wanting everything in the gift store, I am the same way!

 

[MeLaNie9]

Loving your report so far. I'm glad Maddie bounced back quickly! I've really enjoyed your previous TR and pre-trippie - can't wait for Waldo's antics!
With your report thus far, I am glad that I switched us from POFQ to CSR...now I just hope that we like CSR. I definitely felt that Magic at Poly but didn't at YC, so we'll see....
Looking forward to more

 

[boysmom5150]

WOW, you are quick. Im away for 2 days and you already have this party started!!!
Ok Im a little late but.....IM HERE.
So glad you are back and cant wait to hear of your adventures. Dont have time to multiquote everything as you are already on page 5 with like 3 or so updates, you are the bomb T.
1st and foremost, I cant believe you had the same experience with the wipes at POR. We stayed there for 2 nts in Jul and had to switch. It was so dirty. I am a big germ-o-phobe as DS5 has lots of contact allergy issues. No matter how much I used those clorox wipes, it NEVER got clean
Ok now that I got that out of the way....
Glad all worked well with Andys ticket and that the kids were good on the plane. I cant believe Even didnt sleep a wink on the plane.Glad to know these things jusst dont happen to us.
Happy to hear Waldo hasnt gotten lost as of yet, is that a record??
Glad Maddie got over being ill so quick not fun to be sick at all but especially on 1st day wth all the extra excitement.
TE cracks me up wanting her dessert and Waldo is even funnier for not going to get itThey sound like my parents
Ok cant wait to hear more, you arent even there for 24hrs yet and I LOVE this so much.
Again glad your back

 

[Disneygrl36]

Off to a great start Tracy....can't wait to hear about your first day in the world.

Sweet tea..........the nectar of the south. Glad you likey.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

You know, I like nice short updates!

I'm trying to drag it out a bit until my Photopass CD gets here.

And, I tracked your flight all across the country and it looked like a fine flight to me!

That's right! You did, didn't you... I remember seeing your updates on the pre-TR! You so cray-say!

So sorry to hear about the delayed flight. That BITES! Especially when you have dinner plans.

That soooo BITES! I was not a happy camper. I could have used a Lapu at that point.

I'm in, too!
Hopefully your pre-flight part of the trip was the most stressful part!
I now have the Hokey Pokey in my head. Thaaaaanks.

Being the Poly Princess that you are, you must feel my Moderate pain and longing for the Poly, eh? Oh, sorry about the Hokey Pokey, but that's what it's all about.

Excuse me while I interrupt, but I think we are in the World at the same time Michelle, I am there the first weekend in October. Boysmom5150 is coming in that weekend too I think.

Don't worry Mo. We'll wait.

What exactly is the night night juice? I have tried a certain sumpin sumpin on our last trip but it was a failure.

Did you not get the recipe from the PTR? I'll repost for you. It works like a charm. Unless your flight is delayed. Then you're SOL, my friend.

So what was the delay from? Did you demand a voucher? Did you cause a stink?

Ah yes, the delay was due to a delay from Hawaii to LAX, thus making the continueing flight to Orlando delayed as well. The pilot didn't know exactly what the delay in Hawaii was, but assured us it wasn't a mechanical reason. Whatver, just get me to my happy place, pronto dude!

Glad to see you got Andy's ticket and and so far no Waldo wandering, that makes for a pretty good morning, No?

I think Waldo was on his best behavior due to fear of being left behind. See this time my brother was with me and he really has no patience for Waldo waiting. Which was great for me.

Sounds a fun game

Uh, yeah.... not so much.

Why in the world would that make a difference?

Thank you. At least I'm not the only one who didn't understand why this was a requirement.

Do you guys not like sitting on chairs?

Sorry, us Californians will cop a squat anywhere.

Wand a 3 year old. Are they out of their minds!?

I know! I wished them luck right before he cleared security.

for ignorant people.

Get ready.... it gets worse.

WooHoo! I'm posting first. I'm loving this report. Keep up the great work.

Excellent work on being first PaMom & thanks for liking it thus far.

We were thinking a shorter stay at POFQ for next year, but we decided we wanted a longer stay so it is value for us. After your description I am kind of glad.

I seriously think that Disney Moderate "resorts" are a sham. What's really the difference between a value and a moderate? A stupid pool slide and possibly 5 cubic feet of more room space? Give me a break. I would have rather stayed in a value, because at least it stands for what it is. Values are no frills and that's fine. But these Moderate resorts are BS. They should be changed to Values and leave it at that. Ok, sorry Janet, rant over.

Yep, I guess you gotta worry about the "toddler taliband".....(watch, I'll be permanently on the WAND checklist for THAT one.... )

Seriously... I emptied his flippin' sippy cup, so I know he had no contraband on him!

Don't these freakin' airlines KNOW we DIS'ers have a SCHEDULE to keep......THE NERVE !!!!

I guess they missed that memo.

Way to go on the double update, I am loving it.

I'm trying to keep up with you and Jo!

OK, so you made it all the way to the resort and still have Waldo, thought he might be a goner at the airport.

I tried. I did successfully lose him at Costco the other day. I left him and went outside to have an ice cream bar. Which I must say are DA BOMB!! Yeah, can you tell I fell off the diet wagon?

You are scaring me about POFQ. I am an admitted resort snob and only did a moderate once (CBR) and did not like it. Since I had carryover points on the DVC contract I bought and couldn't get a DVC room for all my nights I went with FQ (heard about the beignets) to use those carryover points up.

I'm not going to start ranting again, Mo but..... if your an admitted resort snob you're not going to be happy. I know I went from the Poly to the FQ and that's a HUGE step, but still if it was a least clean, it'd be ok. It was nasty. More on this later... oh and I do a "test" for the mousekeepers too! Stay tuned!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Tracy, you MUST think about tethering him.......it's for his OWN good.....

Just wait....it's coming.

Note to self......remember the CLOROX wipes in December, <CHECK>

Most definately!

Waldo and his wanderings just make me laugh. I can't wait to hear what he does next.

At the moment it drives me nuts, but in time we have alot of laughs with his wandering antics.

I am wondering if you upgraded.

You have me laughing...love your report so far...hope your day at Epcot goes well.
Sorry you are not liking POFQ but I can relate now that we stayed at Boardwalk and have BCV and AKL coming up.
Looking forward to more.

Thanks, Dori. You know the funny thing is some people just love POFQ, infact my brother thought it was great and he's stayed at 5 Diamond resorts with me as well. He thought the themeing was fantastic. To each his own. Maybe I would have liked POR better? I dunno.

Whoa! I'm glad you dodged the bullet on Maddie getting sick! I couldn't believe that she would get sick on your first day!!!
Can't wait for more chica!
And I hope something good cures you of your POR let-down!

From your lips to the Disney Resort gods, Gluv!

I have a story about this! When the boys were about 14 months, we flew out to northern CA to meet a bunch of DH's family. On the way home, my BIL - a very nice looking young man who ALWAYS gets the "random" search - was carrying Buzz through the security - he was just starting to walk, so he couldn't go through on his own. Yup, sure enough, BIL gets asked to step aside. He tried to hand Buzz over to me, and they wouldn't let him. The 14 month old had to be searched, too. No joke. Sigh. Then, we tried to take a picture of the 14 month old getting wanded (because, honestly, it was so funny/ridiculous) and they got REALLY upset. Oops.

That's fantastic. I would have taken a photo as well!

Shouldn't that be "mouse's tail?"

I suppose, but it really wouldn't got with the whole "rat" theme now would it?

I'm sorry to hear this - as I mentioned before, one of my "real life" friends just booked POFQ for April...

Like I said in the previous post, CE, they may like it. It just was not for me.

It is always a downer when you find that your hotel is not everything you were expecting.

ITA - and heck I was at Disney, so really that's all that mattered, right?

So glad that Maddie didn't get sick and I know exactly how they felt about wanting everything in the gift store, I am the same way!

Me too! I start making notes of what I need. Well, I don't need it, I want it!

Loving your report so far. I'm glad Maddie bounced back quickly! I've really enjoyed your previous TR and pre-trippie - can't wait for Waldo's antics!
With your report thus far, I am glad that I switched us from POFQ to CSR...now I just hope that we like CSR.

Yeah, I wonder if I would have like CSR better. :

I definitely felt that Magic at Poly but didn't at YC, so we'll see....
Looking forward to more

Ooooh... funny you should say that. When we went to the Boardwalk for dinner, I didn't feel the magic there at ALL! Strange how we all have our little quirks, no?

WOW, you are quick. Im away for 2 days and you already have this party started!!!
Ok Im a little late but.....IM HERE.

Yay! You're here! You're always going out of town! Lucky girl!

1st and foremost, I cant believe you had the same experience with the wipes at POR. We stayed there for 2 nts in Jul and had to switch. It was so dirty. I am a big germ-o-phobe as DS5 has lots of contact allergy issues. No matter how much I used those clorox wipes, it NEVER got clean

OMG, T. You're going to love the installment where I give mousekeeping a "test" to see if they really do clean the room or just fix the bed and throw new towels on the toilet. Which, BTW grosses me out. Why would you put fresh towels on the poop shoot?

TE cracks me up wanting her dessert and Waldo is even funnier for not going to get itThey sound like my parents

Oh my it was so funny!!! She was ranting and raving, it was fantastic!

 

[rentayenta]

Nice update. I really like the pic of your kids dog piling you on the plane! I am scared to have the same reaction to the POR. I have read so much positive but is there anyway for it to live up to the hype? I am sure hoping so!

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[LurrrvtheDuck]

I really hate flying AA because of all their flight delays. Unfortunately they're one of the cheapest carriers for flying to Puerto Rico and we have no other choice. I feel your pain though and was panicking for your ADR as I read the installment. So glad you were able to make it on time. Score on them sending your dessert to the resort .

Thank goodness Maddie didn't get sicky on you what a bummer that would've been for both of you.

Sucks about POFQ, everyone on the DIS always has such high remarks about POR, I wonder how much different it is from POFQ. I feel your pain on the resorts though. After having stayed in 2 fairly large rooms the last 2 trips where there were 2 bathrooms I was definately suffering in a regular room. I was quite disappointed in it though because it was a Deluxe Resort studio and it wasn't that much bigger than a regular hotel room. So glad I didn't shell out big bucks for that sucker.

Wow Waldo has fairly behaved himself so far.

 

[HotMama]

Okay, I'm out of lurking. You've got me hooked. Can't wait to read more

 

[coltink]

I'm lurking too. Can't wait to read more!

 

[princessjv]

T-

You made it! But not with great fan fair... So POFQ was not up to Par? That sucks! After having stayed in all levels of accommodations at WDW, I truly feel that there is not much difference between the value & mod's...not enough lets say for $50-75+ a night. We added on to our last trip and stayed at POP for 2 nights and we were kinda thinking it wasn't toooo much different than the 3 other mod's we'd been too (room wise).


I am so happy that Maddie averted the yuck! Know that would have not been a very good start...

I can't wait to hear more.

 

[DisneyJo]

I wait for no one. Everyone was given an itinerary and knew where we would be and at what time we would be there. Can’t keep up or chose to deviate from the plan, read your itinerary and you’ll find us. Now everyone say “Ay, Ay El Capitan!”

You tell em T and from the little while I toured in your large group I don't know how you've got any hair left

Can you guess who jumps in? Waldo. The one person who has no clue where he’s going decides to sail solo.

Trust Waldo!

Us Moderate folks will probably be asked to push the stinkin’ bus.

My first impression of the hotel was….. eh. It was ok.

Not the Poly huh

When she finished, she was now turning a lovely shade of green.

Oh no!!!!

Hmmf… resort they call it? I think not. They sure use that term rather loosely around here.

So I'm getting the feeling that you loved this place

I asked about our desserts and he told me they had forgotten them at the restaurant.

What, you look after sick Maddie and he forgets your desserts

sent over and the FQ concierge would bring them up. How nice, eh? I guess that extra tip they gave our server paid off.

Ahhh that was really nice, now would you get that service at the Poly?

Up Next: Our First Day in the World!

Ooooooo can't wait

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

Hey Tracy! It's me, Michelle, mlill, trying out my new screen name. (I wanted to change it before I start my new TR for our October trip.) Wow, I'm stressed out after reading your updates! I think you needed some Lapu's after the travel day you had! Sorry you didn't like POFQ! I know how hard it is to shake that disappointed feeling!!! Here you are, on vacation, and you're upset on your first day! I'm crossing my fingers that you worked some DIS magic with your room situation. I'm glad Maddie pulled thru the sick feeling. Poor baby! I'm looking forward to hearing about your first day in the parks!

Waitin' for more!
-Michelle

P.S. puggymom - I'll PM you and boysmom5150 to see if we can set up our own DIS Meet!