Western Magic 10/21/06 - 10/28/06 Trip Updated 6/21 Chapter 17: the final chapter!

[APinCA]

"Where are my things?"

Silence, and THE LOOK.

Been there. Done that. (The LOOK, that is)

 

[DisneyZell]

OK, you get a bonus entry today because I'm bored at work. Hopefully no one will tell my boss. anyway, hope that I haven't bored you all silly, but if I have I will refund every dollar of the fee you paid.

Now on with the story...

Chapter 4: Budget from hell, and MNSSHP

When I last left you (which, *ahem* was about, oh, an hour ago. Take that Sleepydog!) we had gotten off the plane. We split up and went our separate ways.

We had decided that renting a car would be the best and most efficient way to get around and to the Port. We had read that Budget was one of the closes with a free shuttle to the Port, so that's the direction we went.

Now, note that I'm a frequent traveler. I belong to pretty much every frequent travel club, etc. that is out there for the things that I use. When we signed up for Budget I had no intention to sign up for their frequent renter club because, frankly, I didn't think I'd ever use it again.

***WARNING***WARNING***BIG TIP ABOUT TO BE POSTED****
I recommend you join the frequent renter program of whatever car company you choose. You will very quickly see why.

So I come down the escalator, glance to the right and see a couple rental counters, but not Budget. Being a frequent renter I know that sometimes they don't have counters, they only have busses that you get on to go out to the rental location. So I walk outside. Huh. no busses?

AH! a sign! glorious signs. we love those. They sometimes tell you where to go. I continue to trapse along with our carry on luggage, up the escalator, wander the garage for hours (ok, it was probably 50 feet, but who's counting). I get to the booth, wait patiently in line, and then it's my turn. I'm thinking "wow, that was easy, I'll have to drive around in a circle a few times while DW waits for the luggage". I step up.

"Can I help you sir?"
"Yes! I need to pick up my car."
"Are you a Fastbreak member (see note above)?"
"Uh, no."

I mentioned THE LOOK in my previous entry. In this case I experienced THE YOU ARE THE BIGGEST MORON IN THE HISTORY OF MORON's LOOK. Apparently there was a counter inside the building. I tried to state my case, that I just didn't see it...but to no avail. I am banished back to the line with the common people (that's what they call those without the fancy free card).

Now, as mentioned, I'm a frequent traveller. and would have gotten annoyed if I was a card carrying member of {insert program name here} and had to wait behind the moron who didn't know you had to first go to the counter. Did that make me feel better? notsomuch.

anyway, I meander back into the terminal and take a look at the line. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? The line was longer than any ride line at Disneyworld. Holy crap was I in trouble. I register in my brain for the first time that I better give DW a call on her cell phone and let her know this was going to take a while. I dutifully get in line, pull out my phone and place the call. Her phone goes right to Voice Mail. I'm thinking "how can she possibly not have turned on her phone????". no point in leaving a message since her phone isn't even on. I assume she will turn her phone on at some point. Remember that.

so while in line I'm one of those people who make witty comments like "boy, looks like they were surprised that all the people who made reservations showed up to pick up their cars" and things like that. Truely the life of the party. But I actually did enjoy talking to the couple in front of me who were there on a Honeymoon, hearing about what they would be doing, etc. The husband was a crackup and did a nice job of keeping us entertained after I ran out of my witty one liners (which took about 3 minutes). I tried DW again on the phone, still off.

45 minutes later the couple in front of me got to the front when we noticed that a strange thing was happening (and I had called DW 5-6 more times...still off! ). Some people, after waiting in line had to move to the side and wait some more. We began to call this the penalty box and were really hoping to avoid it (phone call again...still nada ).

Finally my turn...and yes...off to the penalty box. It seems they had started the day with fewer cars than expected (I have no idea what that means), so we had to wait (and call...no answer...and call...no answer..and call...no answer). 20 minutes later, finally a car.

Now note that we got in at 5:30pm and I finally got the car around 7:00pm. again I call...and again no answer.

Note that I could probably have walked up and found them...to see what was going on, but I was a tad worried about losing my car. After being in the penalty box for a while, you don't want to lose your place in line.

So I drive around to the baggage claim, and there they are, my family! waiting patiently with our luggage. Interestingly, i'm getting THE LOOK again. Huh. I think smuggly that when she turns her phone on and sees the 450 missed calls she will realize it is her fault for not turning on her phone. We quicky discuss what happen, and I quickly point out that she should have turned her phone on so that I could call her.

Hmmm. Go back to earlier in this post where I mention that I had the carry on bags. Ahem. Guess where her phone was? Yeah. I had it. did I mention that on occasion I have been known to be a moron?

So...we have the car...and head down the road. A quick stop at McDonalds (yes AGAIN) on the way as we have a party to get to!!! DW tells the kids that we hear there is a halloween party around here...should we go? They both think that is a great idea...and it dawns on DS8 that we aren't going to DC. We ask him if it's ok with him and it is...but he still wants to go someday!

off to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! (MNSSHP for those of you who like Acronyms. of course I can't spell...so all of these long words are killing me.

couple of suggestions and comments about MNSSHP.

1. Check the weather. we were in jeans. not smart as it was hot as heck. you never know at that time of the year, but verify so you don't cook!
2. GO! this is a great event. they limit the number of folks who are there, so there were little or no lines on all the rides and it appeared they were all open (except Pirates which broke down while we were there). It's just Magic Kingdom, but do it!

Here is a picture of me and my boys:

Ha ha! just kidding. I don't look that bad.

Here is a picture of our family the only one we ordered from Disney:

yeah, that's me, the big orange pumpkin.

Highlights:
1. you each get a bag to collect candy. throughout the park there are candy stations where you can trick-or-treat. We ended up with more than enough candy for the Cruise, which was pretty cool.
2. here are the rides we hit: Stith's Great Escape (pretty cool), Space Mountain (woohoo!), Buzzlightyear (always a favorite). We tried to go to Pirates, but as mentioned it was broken down. The picture we tried to get in front didn't work...there was some pretty strong fog coming out of the building and it ruined any hope of a picture.
3. The fireworks show was unbelievable. it was set to spooky music and was really well done (as most fireworks shows are that Disney puts on).

it was a blast...we can't complain at all. It was tiring, and if you read earlier installments you saw that I was envious of our neighbors who got to relax before the cruise, but it was fun.

Still the kids did not know we were going on the cruise. they didn't even know what we would do the next day. so we piled in the car (after getting off the monorail) and headed to the Raddison at Port Canaveral for the night.

Next up: Chapter 5 - Getting ready to board the ship!

 

[hank56]

Good report, we were on this cruise also. Hope you had as great a time as we did.

The whole Agony Air (US AIR's first nickname) and car rental experience is one major reason I drove the RV there and back.

 

[FatherForce]

Wow, getting to go to MNSSHP before the cruise.
That's Cool.

I'd still have tried to blame the wife for the phone.
As the smarter one, she should have KNOWN she'd need her phone

 

[DisneyZell]

FF--this is DW speaking now...don't worry, he did try to blame me for not having my phone. However, he got the better end of the deal. I had a 4 year old and 7 year old with 6 pieces of luggage and a porter guy waiting to get paid...all the while we are waiting outside at the curb in the most humid weather I could imagine! So, he gets the blame on that one.

 

[FatherForce]

 

[DisneyZell]

this is DH now...and just for the record, I believe I put in the TR that I tried to place blame, but then accepted all. FF, thank you for your support and I agree with you that she is much smarter than I...so you can extrapolate (geez, is that even a word) from there!!!

 

[FatherForce]

Personally, I always assume that the wife is smarter than the husband.

I know my DW is a genius.

She married me.

 

[sejejoemmiev]

Great start, can't wait to read the rest! Please make a point to mention how dropping the rental off at Port Canaveral went as I am about to book with Budget to do the same. Thanks!

 

[Dixielady908]

totally enjoying your report.....please dont make us wait too long....

Denise

 

[mruhaak]

I love it.... husband and wife bickering on the message boards...

 

[DisneyZell]

Good report, we were on this cruise also. Hope you had as great a time as we did.

The whole Agony Air (US AIR's first nickname) and car rental experience is one major reason I drove the RV there and back.

Oh my...Agony Air...I'm definately going to steal that one. that's a classic. Actually this trip wasn't too bad on USScare...how far did you drive the RV?

Personally, I always assume that the wife is smarter than the husband.

I know my DW is a genius.

She married me.

I couldn't agree more re: my DW!

Please make a point to mention how dropping the rental off at Port Canaveral went as I am about to book with Budget to do the same.

That will be in my next installment...sometime this week. Please do yourself a favor, though, and read my recommendation about joining their frequent renters club! no one deserves to go through that much waiting. Well, maybe Sleepydog...but only for leaving the daughter behind!

I love it.... husband and wife bickering on the message boards...

We don't bicker, we exchange loving comments.

 

[hank56]

Only drove the RV from Maryland, it was great staying at Jetty Park in PC the night before the cruise. All in all it was well worth the extended drive.

For those who don't know USAIR was originally Allegany(sp) Air, hence agony air, amazing I still remember that from the sixties.

 

[J&ADisneyMom]

Hi Dzell, great report... you're cracking me up.

We were at MNSSHP on Thurs and then on the ship, too. Actually, we were almost directly across the ship from you. You were in the 8000's port side, aft, right? I walked by your room one day and saw your door signs. We were 8598 starboard, aft. You and Hank were neighbors. He was 8034, midship port side-right near the mid ship elevators. Did you make the dismeet? I was there long enough to meet Smooch and Hank.

Hi Hank, welcome home. I watched you pull out of the parking lot at the port in that big beautiful RV of yours. Glad you had a safe trip home. I'm bummed I never got to see your suite. Do you have pictures? (sorry for the highjack!)

Shell

 

[mruhaak]

We don't bicker, we exchange loving comments. [/QUOTE]

Oh, yes, of course! We exchange lots of "loving comments" too...
I could really relate to the waiting in line/cell phone situation. It sounded just like us...

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Subscribing. Keep going!

 

[APinCA]

no one deserves to go through that much waiting. Well, maybe Sleepydog...

For making us wait for his next installment!!!!

 

[DisneyZell]

My excuse for not posting every single day is that I can't post part of the TR from work...as no good post is worth the time unless you can at least post a picture. As the pics are all on my PC at home...we all have to wait. But anyway, thank you all for your kind comments. for those that were sincere, thank you, for those of you that are lying, thank you as I need all the positive feedback I can get.

I left off as we had gone to the Radisson. Not a bad place to stay. Nothing fancy either, and unfortunately we didn't know at the time that the Residence Inn was open. We are Disney fans first, and Marriott second, so that would have made sense. But it all worked out for us.

Unfortunately for our neighbors, not so much. When they checked in they went to their room to be greeted by bugs (they think they were ants) in the bathroom. They called the front desk who sent someone up to take a look. At that point they were willing to have it sprayed and taken care of. But while waiting for the guy to come DNW (Disney Neighbor Wife for those of you not following along) pulled down the bedspread and out run more bugs. EWWWWWWWW.

Needless to say when the guy arrived spraying was no longer an option. Now, a couple things here. One is that for the most part DW did the planning, so the fact that out neighbors were even staying there was because of us. The second is that if we had found the bugs we wouldn't be staying there any longer. This did turn out OK, though. They ended up getting a clean room (read that: without bugs), and got the room for free. so this of course helped the old vacation budget.

But I digress.

the next morning we trade phone calls. At this point our kids know we were at WDW, but have no idea that their best friends and neighbors are somewhere in that same hotel. We agree to meet at the lobby. We got there early and waited in our car. DW hopped out to get the reunion on video (we are sick that way). They ended up pulling up and parking and then walking toward the lobby. BOTH of their kids look straight at me in the car and say "hey, isn't that Mr. Zell?". Their parents play it off nicely "oh that's just someone who happens to look like him.

I hop out of the car, open the back door and get the kids to hussle out and go see their friends. Then, it was Pandemonium.

OK, not really. They actually didn't act as excited as I expected. I think it was the shock. Not 100% sure, but that had to be it.

We made a quick executive decision. They still didn't know they were going cruising so we decided we would tell them. DW had made these cool T-shirts...each kid had a character (that conveniently matched their characted on the door signs, but that comes later) on the front and the back had Disney Cruise and all the Classic characters. here is what it looked like:

Cute, huh? This is DW's forte, if that is a word. She does creative. I'm lucky to have her. oh I can do door signs and computer stuff, even some video stuff, but she is a scrapbooker like you have never seen. But again I digress.

So we pass out the t-shirts and they all finally DO get excited!

So now we were down to the important hours. We had alot of discussions and research about what time we should be at the terminal. I realize that folks on the boards say no reason to be there before 10am, but we really wanted to upgrade. The first cruise we took we had a balcony, but here had booked a porthole room. Not that there is anything wrong with a porthole room, but we really wanted to upgrade. Really. I believe at some point when we booked I was one of the posters who got flamed for asking about free upgrades.

Tip: don't ask about free upgrades. you might get one...and definately share that here, but if you ask about free upgrades on this board, prepare to be flamed. it's not fair and doesn't make sense...but people get very upset when you want somethin' for nothin'.

We had decided to drop the wives off, and that we (the hubbies) would drop cars and get a few other essentials. DNH and I wanted to drop the ladies at 8. I mean...they would have no kids...would be hanging out chatting...you can't beat that, right? DW and DNW wanted to go at 9.

So we drove over around 8:45 (give or take a few). The best part was rounding the corner and seeing the ship. Naturally this was the second time for us seeing this (from Cruise #1), but it was cool. The kids loved it...and of course that's all that matters. We dropped off the ladies, headed back to Cocoa Beach when my Cell phone rings. Somebody (DNW) forgot to give somebody (DNH) the luggage tags . As they were going to be inside that just wouldn't work. So it was Deja-vu again as we went to see the ship again.

Quick side note into what the Wives dealt with. Well, they went and asked the guard where to stand. He pointed out that the terminal didn't open until 10. They agreed, but told him they wanted to get in line anyway. He laughed. Can you believe that? He laughed and then pointed them over to another woman already standing in line. Did I mention that DNH and I wanted to drop them at 8???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? someone else beat us there. Terrible.

sorry, I keep getting sidetracked. So we drive to Cocoa Beach and hit IHOP (no point in rushing back to the terminal only to wait), ate a nice breakfast (I recommend the stuffed waffles...they are very good, and yes, the diet has been dying a slow and painful (actually tasty) death).

By the time we finished it was after 10. We had figured out that it would be nice to drop our luggage while we still had 2 rental cars, so we headed to the port.

*WARNING****TIP COMING****WARNING**** (don't worry, I'll get sick of doing this eventually)

GREAT IDEA! we bumped into a few folks on the rental car van that had not dropped their luggage and then would have to deal with that at the port. so if you rent a car (and can have someone go inside to wait so you get your cool boarding number), drop your luggage. you actually go inside the gate and right to the wherehouse (which is underneath the terminal). The porters are there (wonderful creatures) who pull it out of the car and in minutes you are on your way. (but don't forget your luggage tags!)

I had rented my car from Budget (if you didn't remember that, read that painful episode in the airport from earlier in this TR), and DNH from Avis. So we dropped my car off and we all piled in their mini-van. After the fiasco of picking up the Budget car...I have to say I was impressed. They were helpful, friendly and I was out of there very quickly.

Then, being the males that we are we head for the grocery store to pick up the essentials (alcohol). DW had scoped out the rolling collapsible coolers and both families had scored a New England Patriots cooler! woohoo! (probably not as exciting for those not in NE).

We hit the grocery store there (can't for the life of me remember the name, but can't imagine it's very important to this portion of the story). We hit the beer Aisle. Now, note that compared to Sleepydog and FatherForce we are lightweights. A beer, maybe 2 a night. That's it. So don't expect alot of drunken stories here. So I picked up a 12 pack, he picked up a 12 pack. we picked up a 12 pack of some fru-fru drink (Bacardi something or another with fruit flavors) for the ladies. We also picked up 2 big bottles of Marguerita mix, 1 bottle of Strawberry Daqueri (do they have to spell these things so weird???), and 1 bottle of Pina Colada mix (with some of that liquid Coconut woohoo!). Now, we are two families of 4 (that's a total of 8), and 4 of those can't drink. Hmm. Do we have enough?

At that point we realize that the grocery store does not sell hard liquor. bummer.

*****WARNING*****TIP COMING*****WARNING****** (maybe I won't)

If all you are going to buy is Beer and Alcohol, just go to the ABC liquor store up the street from the grocery store. Talk about your wasted trip. while the liquor store might have cost a bit more, we could have gotten other things like the Daqueri mix that already has alcohol...live and learn.

So we ventured to the liquor store and bought one of those huge bottles of rum. you know, the kind that you have in your liquor cabinet for years? Did I mention we were going on the Magic for 7 nights?

With everything packed we headed to Avis to drop the car and catch the shuttle back. Here is where we bumped into a family that had not dropped their luggage and I'm pretty sure were crusing 3-4 back to back cruises. they really filled up the bus. Frankly I don't think we would have been able to get on if we had our luggage too. Live and learn. And yes, we felt it important to point out that they could have dropped their luggage. This is what we do.

We had called and found out that it was a no-go on the upgrade

We arrived and went inside, sliding our rolling coolers (clink, clink) through the xray with no issue. The only problem we had was having DNS9 (Disney Neighbor Son 9, come on everyone) carry the Rum. Huh. Guess that makes sense.

We waltzed up and stood in line. We then heard that because our wives were so early they didn't have boarding cards downstairs yet...they were told to get them upstairs. so they did...and here is what they got.....wait for it.....

wooohoo! a #1! you can't get that unless you are on the Concierge level...wait...no way...they didn't....

they said no upgrade. And let's just say we didn't end up on the Concierge level (dont' know if that's what you even call it). Bummer. but it was cool to have a #1 anyway. A couple pictures...

DNS9 (Chris), DS7 (now 8, Nick), DS4 (Connor), DND6 (Kathryn). Aren't they cute???

Inside the terminal. you can kind of see the characters on the front. Oh yeah, we all had them by the way. if you were with us on this cruise you probably saw us!

OK, that's it for now, sorry for the length, but had to get us to this point...

Next up: Chapter 6: Getting on the ship, to eat or not to eat and where to eat it...

 

[MickeyD]

Finally! Geesh, what is with everyone being so sloooooow with their reports? Don't you all know that those of us that don't cruise for a while need these reports to keep us going?

Seriously now, you had no issues with the rolling cooler? How big was it? I keep thinking we need to this next time, just for the water...(yeah that's right...water )

Nuther question: How did your dwife do those adorable shirts?

Lisa

 

[jsfein]

Just started reading your report ... its really good and you're not even on the ship yet. I just started mine and hope to knock it out quick before I forget what we did.

A quick question for you or anyone else in the know. How do you quote more than one upthread post when you post your response to multiple posts? I haven't figured that one out. TIA.