We Don't Play Nice With Others. (Complete!)

[teekathepony]

I'm joining in!!

Brenda!! Thanks for stopping in (and I Hope you're having a great trip!)

I'm here, Wendy. Love the intros and can't wait to hear all the details I missed.

Kathy!! So happy to have you here!

I'm here Wendy! Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for coming, Danielle, and

I'm here!

Megan!! Thanks for coming!

I'm in!

Jill in CO

Jill! Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm here! Can't wait to read all about your trip

 

[teekathepony]

YAY Wendy!!! Totally here and totally ready to see how the other parts of the trip went.

Hi Rob!! Thanks for coming! I think you'll like some of this report, there's this pretty cool Dis'er who stars a couple of times.

Oh Wendy, Wendy, Wendy - You don't play nice with others? Now that's surely a warning of what is to come.
Hahaha Oh Mary Ellen, sad but apparently true I'm afraid!

I am looking forward to seeing condo pictures, but with all those people I suspect there still may have been some overcrowding. Just sayin!
You've hit the nail on the head. Nonetheless -- to my newest report and thank you for joining me again!

I'm in! Can't wait to hear all about it and I hope you managed to have a good time!

Dani!! Thanks for stopping by!

BWAHAHAHA!!!!

You had me at the title!

Actually you had me before you left for the trip, but in any event...

I'm in!

Dee! Thanks for coming!! and I know, the title. So foreboding!

Love the title. Can't wait to read about the trip.

to my report! Thanks for coming! I had a good chuckle (and some hesitation) when posting the title. Glad I did.

 

[teekathepony]

After following along with some of your Facebook statuses, I'm VERY curious to read this TR.

Alicia, thanks for coming!! Yes it was a bumpy ride this trip, should make for some good stories!

I'm here... And I am loving this TR title!!! Hang on tight!!!

Hang on tight is right! and thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm in!!!

Thanks for joining me, and

I'm in. Can't wait to hear all about it!!
Lee

Lee, thanks for stopping by!

 

[teekathepony]

Uh oh your title has an ominous sound to it!!

I'm going back to read! Thanks for letting me know that you started your TR!

Ominous indeed, but entertaining too, I hope!
Bridget!! So happy to have you here!

Oh I can't wait to read this one!

Hahaha ahh Mims, the stories you'll hear. You'd probably hear more over scrapbooking supplies though. Just... casually throwing that out there.
And of course,

I'm in! I love your reports I lurk a lot lol so i don't always comment but i'm here!

and thanks for un-lurking to say hi! I hope you'll do it more often.

I am here!

And oh how I LOVE your title. Except well, I don't love that it had to be your title.

at the MIL graphic, that's a riot.

Hahaha thanks Cynthia! Now that the whole thing is behind me, I can see how this thing will afford some laughs. It was a bumpy ride. So with that, I you aboard!
I actually showed MIL that graphic. She got a kick out of it too!

I'm here! Can't wait to read all about your trip

Hi Krysten! to my newest report!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Thank you so much of the heads up...I went on today to update mine and when I saw your message, well, it just made my morning!! Cannot wait to hear all about this one and I have to say, it was so nice to be able to follow along on FB while you guys were there

 

[teekathepony]

Thank you so much of the heads up...I went on today to update mine and when I saw your message, well, it just made my morning!! Cannot wait to hear all about this one and I have to say, it was so nice to be able to follow along on FB while you guys were there

Jacquie!! Thanks for coming! I just checked out your signature and spotted your new one so I hopped right over. Forgive my lateness?

 

[teekathepony]

Wow, the Dis has been having quite the hissy fit last night and today! I had a little window today where it worked so I squeezed out some replies. Hoping it keeps working so I can also squeeze out an update.

<--- Squeeze.

A few housekeeping items today before I really get started.

You may notice a brand new shiny ticker which was pretty much up before I had two feet on the ground back here in Cape Breton. Yep, next year's trip has been in the planning stages since our honeymoon in 2010 so we're working with some tentative dates and plans already. I'm going to wait until this is finished before really starting a PTR, but I'm sure you'll hear a few plans up until then.

As the title (and some PTR posts, and some Facebook posts) might indicate, this was NOT the smoothest of trips. Never fear, our bumps make for some pretty funny stories and you will be entertained. I hope!

Some alternate titles for this report included the following:

"Sharing is caring and- WHO TOOK MY FOOD?"
"Co-Habitation and Other Tales from the Crypt"
"Pros and Cons and Cons and Cons"

I went with the one I did because ultimately it seemed to cover everything pretty well.

As I alluded to in the intro (and mentioned in my PTR if you were there) I did NOT bring my camera on this trip. Nope! Didn't bring it. All I had was my phone. I opted for surpreme comfort and convenience on this trip.

What I'm basically saying is this -- if you're here for the photographs, I'm very sorry, but you'll be disappointed.

Some of the travel day was long and boring and I have very few pictures, but the stories are so crazy sometimes that I'll try to make it entertaining.

So without further ado, here we go!

 

[teekathepony]

Chapter 1: A Rough Start

Saturday, Sept. 20

Johnny and I were up and ready to go fairly early, roughly 6am. We dropped the dogs off at my parents' place, gave some last minute instructions about feeding the horses, dogs, cats, and fish, and drove to MIL and S-FIL's house. We grabbed some breakfast on the way. There we met Billy, Shellie and the kids, all of whom were ready to get going.

Fast forward to the Sydney airport. I love this airport. It has two gates -- arrivals and departures. You walk across the tarmac to the plane. Everyone working there knows Johnny's name because he did the plumbing for their renovation, and the person who checks you in at the desk is the person who checks your boarding card. It's just my speed.

At check-in we ran into our first set of problems. We were informed that our plane from Sydney to Halifax was fine, but from Halifax to Toronto was delayed and would land a mere 30 minutes before our flight from Toronto to Orlando was due to leave. That meant running as fast as we could through customs and security, and we were told we probably wouldn't make it.

MIL steps up to the plate.

On the phone with Air Canada she went and straight into Travel Agent mode. She spent the whole time on the phone with them trying to re-arrange something in our flights to get us to Toronto on time. When we went through security, she was still on the phone so she put her phone in the bin and begged the agent to stay on the line through the x-ray scanner. In the end they worked something out, but there were 37 people from various flights (many on ours) who were also trying to make the Orlando connection. We were told to run to Customer service ASAP in Halifax.

We boarded the plane with some jingling nerves.

Our flight to Halifax was smooth, very good considering it was Billy's and the kids' first flight ever!

We landed in Halifax and ran to Customer Service.

Our flight from Halifax was further delayed and wouldn't even land in Toronto until a half hour after our next flight left. We were a long time there but eventually we got something to (sort of) work. We had to split up. A flight from Halifax would take half of us to Montreal, another would take the other half to Ottawa. We would each get another flight with a fairly quick connection to Toronto, meet there, and still only have a half hour to RUN through customs. We were told that although Air Canada would hold the plane for us, our big worry was customs. Apparently they close at 9pm.

What kind of major international airport CLOSES customs?? At 9pm?

More jittery than ever, we split up (poor PrincessD11 had to go with MIL and S-FIL because they bought her ticket, while her brother and Billy and Shellie were with us!) and got on our flights. We got to Montreal ok. Then on our flight from Montreal to Toronto we explained to the stewardess just how tight our connection was. On our descent, they made an announcement that there was "a family at the very back of the plane (of course we were) who [were] trying to get to Disney World and [had] a VERY tight connection so if everyone could please stay seated and allow them to deplane first I know they would be very grateful."

That was nice.

Next announcement?

"We're going to have to circle for about 10 minutes, our runway is closed and the only available one is currently too busy."

I turned around to look at Billy and Shellie and said "There goes our chance. We're spending the night in Toronto."

And I REALLY believed it.

But we made a plan to try, nonetheless. Johnny and I would run first, get off the plane, find our bearings and which direction we had to go and then wait for Billy and Shellie and PrinceC6. They would be as close behind us as possible with a 6 year old and some carryon bags. (Johnny and I only had one backpack and my purse.)

We did just that. We ran (I mean Home Alone style guys) through the Toronto airport.

I heard people calling out and making fun of us, some others expressing concern, but none of it sunk in. I was on top form reading signs at top speed and running. I had a minor heart attack and just kept going. We got to customs and there were agents there waiting for us -- they knew we were coming. The Ottawa flight (with my MIL) got in first. We ran through customs, through security, and to the gate. We were nearly the last people on, everyone looked at us like we were warty toads, but we were on that flight and we were going to make it to Orlando.

Once on board, we looked around to check and see if all of our carryons made it, check! Kids? Check! All adults? Present and correct. Holy canoli we did it.

Landed in Orlando and many bags from our flight were missing. MIL & S-FIL had theirs, Billy and Shellie got theirs, but Johnny and I did not.

Up we go to the Air Canada desk to file a claim. That took a long time. We finally got that cleared up as much as we could, went downstairs to pick up our rental vehicles. We were booked for two cars, but got free upgrades to vans instead, and they added the second driver on for free too. Score!

I should note that it was about 2am at this point and when we got in our vans and on the road, we suddenly realized how ravenously hungry we were. You see, with all the fast airport changes, we hadn't had a chance to eat since breakfast. But were we too tired to eat? Or too hungry to sleep?

Hungry won out when we spotted a McDonalds.

We pulled in squealing tires and I could hear Billy's "Hallelujah!" from the other van. We ate on the go, finally finding the Contempo head office. Used the code to get into the lock box, got the key, then stopped at the adjoining gas station for a tooth brush and some other essentials for Johnny and I. They had exactly one toothbrush so we bought it. We turned set out to find the Bella Piazza condos. We found them ok, found our unit and went up. Assigned bedrooms and did a quick bed bug check. Nothing short of an infestation would keep me from sleeping. No bugs were seen, so we crashed hard. Time? 3:30am.

Now that's a long travel day.

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

Wow Wendy, I was nervous reading about your travel day!!

I'm glad you made it, but yes bugs would also not keep me out of a bed if I had a travel day like yours

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh Lord, even though I know the story, it's still so unbelievable.

Seriously???? People were MAKING FUN OF YOU???? They've never seen someone run though an airport before??? That would never happen in Canadia!

Actually seeing all this in print is mind boggling. You hear about travel horror stories, but WOW!

... And to be honest, I think I might just skip my travel day in my TR altogether. Way too boring (and yes, obviously preferred.... unless you want a great TR story).

 

[Queenofallthings]

I think my blood pressure remained elevated thru that entire post! Goodness girl, you guys had your work cut out for you! Even know there were issues reading it word for word gives a whole new meaning to what you really went thru!

 

[KatMark]

I knew parts of that horror story, but not all of it. I think I would have just sat down and cried at one point. Kudos to you, Johnny and the family for making it. I think hunger would have won for me too, no matter how tired I was having not eaten since breakfast.

 

[amazingact21]

Wow, I don't even know what to say to that travel experience except that it sounded awful. Worse, it sounded stressful, and certainly not a great first flight experience.
I think the thing that added insult to injury was the fact that you had to stop in the middle of the night to buy a dang toothbrush. Like THAT'S what you needed.

 

[Sorrel]

I just want to say I am in on following this My heart was in my mouth reading about your travel day! I am never going to complain again about my journey from England! Well, unless it ends up pretty much like yours, then I will indeed complain. But hey

Looking forward to the MIL after seeing your meme for her.....

 

[Valgoof]

Oh my what a stressful travel day!! I am so spoiled by direct flights!

 

[jedijill]

OMG! That is the travel day from hell. I'm so glad you finally got there...hope your bags finally catch up!

Jill in CO

 

[natebenma]

Wow! I knew you had a rough start, but I didn't know things were as bad as they were.

What a masterful telling of an excruciatingly stressful travel day!

But hooray for the people who helped you along the way:

Your MIL- "stay on the line while the phone goes through xray"
The flight attendants who asked your fellow travelers to give you a head start
The airport employees who helped speed you through

PHEW!!!

I'm glad everyone arrived in one piece.

Sorry you couldn't say the same for your luggage.

 

[BridgetR3]

I'm tired just from listening to your travel day. Glad you did end up making it onto your flight!

I can't imagine how exhausted you must have been when you finally got to crash into the bed!

 

[teekathepony]

Wow Wendy, I was nervous reading about your travel day!!

I'm glad you made it, but yes bugs would also not keep me out of a bed if I had a travel day like yours

Oh it was quite the workout for nerves and muscles! I was terrified I would see a ton of bugs and have to sleep in the tub.

Oh Lord, even though I know the story, it's still so unbelievable.

Seriously???? People were MAKING FUN OF YOU???? They've never seen someone run though an airport before??? That would never happen in Canadia!
Hahaha visual there, Rob steps up on his soap box, shaking hands and kissing babies and saying, "In MY Canadia..."
But yes, two separate "Run Forest, Run!" shouts and a few more laughs. Like you said, never seen someone run through an airport? I see it every time I'm in any airport! (Except for Sydney, because if you started running in there you'd hit a wall pretty fast. )

Actually seeing all this in print is mind boggling. You hear about travel horror stories, but WOW!
Not my first travel horror story, but definitely my worst.

... And to be honest, I think I might just skip my travel day in my TR altogether. Way too boring (and yes, obviously preferred.... unless you want a great TR story).
I thought about skipping travel day, but I just had way too many stories to tell. Next time I hope it's much more boring.

I think my blood pressure remained elevated thru that entire post! Goodness girl, you guys had your work cut out for you! Even know there were issues reading it word for word gives a whole new meaning to what you really went thru!

Oh Jacquie, it took quite a while for my own blood pressure to finally sink too. What a day!

I knew parts of that horror story, but not all of it. I think I would have just sat down and cried at one point. Kudos to you, Johnny and the family for making it. I think hunger would have won for me too, no matter how tired I was having not eaten since breakfast.

Kathy, I'm not too ashamed to admit that I DID sit down and cry for a minute. When we got to Orlando without our bag and everyone else was up at the counter getting the rental car, I went off to the side and sat in a chair and cried from sheer exhaustion. McDonalds cheeseburgers made it a little better.

Wow, I don't even know what to say to that travel experience except that it sounded awful. Worse, it sounded stressful, and certainly not a great first flight experience.
I think the thing that added insult to injury was the fact that you had to stop in the middle of the night to buy a dang toothbrush. Like THAT'S what you needed.

I couldn't help but think of Billy and the kids and what a horrible way to introduce them to vacationing and flying. PrincessD thought it was great, her first time flying and she was on 4 airplanes in one day!
I agree with you about stopping for a toothbrush adding insult to injury, but the ultimate kick in the teeth was that they only had one in stock and we had to share.