Worst Ending to a Disney Trip EVER! (and other things that happened) - UPDATE 6/22!

[Brittni__duh]

I could see other people on the balconies also watching the wedding. It was kind of fun – like we got box seats at the theater. Then, the people below us must have just gotten to their room. I hear the balcony door slam and a very loud shout: “HEY! HEY! THERE’S A VIOLIN OUT HERE! <pause> A VIOLIN! GET OUT HERE!”

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? Some people are just so disrespectful. I'm sure they didn't mean to be, so maybe it was just a total lack of self-awareness. If I was in the wedding (or a guest) and I heard them, I would not have hesitated to turn around and stare right at them.

I wanted to go in and just check it out. I asked about the gluten free, dairy free selections and they had like three options. So we decided to have some ice cream.

Three options is quite impressive! Maybe it only impresses me because here in Central IL, it can be hard to just find soy milk in a small town grocery store. I have to drive 25 miles just to get a good dairy free ice cream Do you remember if they had more dairy free options that maybe weren't also gluten free?

 

[Clio]

it was too bad that people on the balcony where so rude. You just know that the wedding party had to have heard them if you could.
Sorry you couldn't see Illuminations from your room.
I hate those rooms where the bed is so close to the wall. I usually get that bed since I'm so small.
It sounds like you has a good first day. I always enjoy walking around the EPCOT resorts.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I tried to find a gif to go here with someone squeezing into a small space and I found this instead lol

Awwww. It's perfect. It's like a baby Sirius!!!!!

The parking lot

Haha. You're probably right.

I was so confused for a second but that makes sense!

To say nothing for how confused we were! It also would make sense that you would take pictures somewhere other than your ceremony location. Duh.

I feel like I get what you mean. After planning for so long it can be tough when things are less than perfect while you're there. Like you feel like you should be enjoying everything but you're not...but you should be...but you can't 100%.

This is it exactly! I often feel like this and it can be hard to move past. But it is possible! For me, it just takes a little bit.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? Some people are just so disrespectful. I'm sure they didn't mean to be, so maybe it was just a total lack of self-awareness. If I was in the wedding (or a guest) and I heard them, I would not have hesitated to turn around and stare right at them.

Yeah, I'm sure they were probably like: Disney Vacation! WOOOOO! But sometimes I wish I could actually personify this to someone:

Three options is quite impressive! Maybe it only impresses me because here in Central IL, it can be hard to just find soy milk in a small town grocery store. I have to drive 25 miles just to get a good dairy free ice cream Do you remember if they had more dairy free options that maybe weren't also gluten free?

It is impressive! We've been really lucky here in MN because it used to be hard to find soy milk but now there is soy, almond, and coconut. My mom's favorite ice cream is coconut milk. As for Ample Hills, I thought that there was one other dairy free option but when I looked at the menu, the only dairy free was the sorbet. I wonder if they have a couple of rotating flavors that aren't on the regular menu.

it was too bad that people on the balcony where so rude. You just know that the wedding party had to have heard them if you could.
Sorry you couldn't see Illuminations from your room.
I hate those rooms where the bed is so close to the wall. I usually get that bed since I'm so small.
It sounds like you has a good first day. I always enjoy walking around the EPCOT resorts.

They would have had to been deaf not to hear them! I am so glad that they didn't stay too long on the balcony. This time....

 

[Raeven]

Awwww. It's perfect. It's like a baby Sirius!!!!!



Haha. You're probably right.



To say nothing for how confused we were! It also would make sense that you would take pictures somewhere other than your ceremony location. Duh.



This is it exactly! I often feel like this and it can be hard to move past. But it is possible! For me, it just takes a little bit.

I was actually thinking that looked like your cat when I found it haha

 

[smiley519]

Great update! That was cool that you got to watch the wedding from above on your balcony. Can't wait to read more!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Great update! That was cool that you got to watch the wedding from above on your balcony. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you! It was one of those many fun surprises that always pop up during a Disney trip!

 

[sailored]

Sounds like the trip is going great so far, and you were able to witness a wedding!

 

[sue_88]

Fun report so far. And Doctor Who references!!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Oh fun! I love all your little Memes. Huge Harry Potter fan (almost as much as Disney) so I especially love those. Looking forward to more!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Sounds like the trip is going great so far, and you were able to witness a wedding!

It was so crazy but really special, too!

Fun report so far. And Doctor Who references!!

Thank you! I LOOOVE Doctor Who. I have some 10th Doctor (if you're going by the old numbering system, which I am) gifs saved up for later...

Oh fun! I love all your little Memes. Huge Harry Potter fan (almost as much as Disney) so I especially love those. Looking forward to more!

Thank you! Harry Potter also holds a special place in my heart. There are so many things that I really love and enjoy (Disney, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, dinosaurs) that it is fun to put them all together!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Day 2 Part 1 - Give Kids the World Village

AHHHH!!!!!!

We woke up late!!!!!

I didn't sleep well because I was worried about getting up in time and about what I was going to be doing the next morning. So then I overslept and woke up at 6:30am - right as we were supposed to be out the door!

I woke up my mom and we got ready as quickly as we could. Luckily, I had built in a 15min window but we were supposed to be at GKTW village between 7:00-7:15am. We were going to be lucky if we made it by 7:15am.

Of course, it's freeway some of the way and then lights most of the rest of the way. It was not a fun car ride at all. We were to be volunteering at the Ice Cream Palace. We have never scooped ice cream or made milkshakes before. We really didn't know what to expect, which was making us nervous. Plus we were late and not really woken up completely.

And my mom was having a really rough morning. Apparently, they hadn't told me everything about what was happening with our family member and though it was not life threatening exactly, it was worse than I had thought.

I felt a little resentful that she even shared the information with me because there was nothing we could do. Even if we were at home. But I know she felt like she needed to unburden herself so....yeah.

Not exactly the right frame of mind to be going into the morning. I felt incredibly responsible for making sure that we did a good job volunteering on top of the worry about the family member and my mom's worry too.

As you can see, I don't do anything in half measures.

We got to GKTW village at about 7:14am. We went through the security gate and he told us to park ahead. So we parked near the main building and went in. They directed us to a building further down the way. We passed the Ice Cream Palace on the way so we knew where we had to go after checking in.

We checked in at 7:19am. Oops! They showed us on a map where to park our car and I said that we were parked over by the main building, was that okay. They said since there were other open spaces near us, it should be fine.

Whew! Because we did NOT have time to move our car!

I told my mom that it the Ice Cream Palace probably didn't open at 7:30am because that would not be enough time to train us in.

There was a GKTW village food and beverage employee waiting for us inside. He showed us what to do and where things were to restock. Also in the Ice Cream Palace was the Express Breakfast. A mom and her daughter were working there. We were in the stockrooms when the mom came back to tell us we had a family out there wanting some ice cream for breakfast!

Yikes!! They DO open at 7:30am.

So I put on my best professional smile and went out to bullsh** my way through ice cream scooping, milkshake blending, and banana split making.

Our very first WISH family was from England! They said where they were from and I think they said Twickham??? But I can't be sure. I tried to repeat it back to them but they kept correcting me and I kept saying it wrong. And then they said, "You know, where the rugby cup just happened."

Ahhhhh.

No.



Sadly, I do not follow rugby! But I smiled and nodded because it seemed like the thing to do!

They were SOOO nice. It was a mom and dad, their WISH kid, and three other kids. One of the other kids was also special needs. This was their very first day and they were so excited to be eating ice cream for breakfast!

They all just wanted ice cream in cones and cups. Whew!

We chatted with them for quite some time. They had never been to WDW and their first stop was MK. I could not stop gushing about how awesome WDW was. The mother looked taken aback by my enthusiasm at first but then she got really excited and asked me a lot of questions.

After a bit, they needed to get on their way. I wished I was going with them to see them experience MK and the castle for the first time!

Well, we were off to a great start!

And then we waited.

And waited. And waited. Made fresh coffee so it would be ready for visitors....waited.

The food and beverage guy came by to check on us. We were fine. It was pretty slow. He said that the village was only at half capacity. And then he implied that they only come once a week for breakfast ice cream. Huh. How would you know? We don't keep track of the families at all. Or the ice cream, etc, for that matter.





We had another family come in and they wanted milkshakes! Yikes!

I was not good at that. I kept getting proportions of ice cream to milk wrong. My mom was even worse! I did eventually get better so I made the milkshakes. There is definitely an art to it.

Most of the families seemed to be from outside the US. Several English families. One asked for lollies! She corrected herself and said popsicle but I told her that I watch British television and knew what she meant!

She also asked for a banana split as she had never had one nor even heard of one before! I wanted to talk to her more about the differences in our cultures but they had to eat and we were actually getting busy!

They could have whatever they wanted and one of our last families really went to town! Each of them tried two things and the little girls kept coming back for just M&Ms and crushed Oreos (toppings) in a bowl. It was hilarious. Every time we turned around, there they were back at the counter!

We had about 10 families total visit us. We saw a lot walk by - most likely on their way to the parks.

The hardest part was actually having to bounce some kids. By GKTW village rules, we were unable to serve any kids that did not have a parent along. It was because of allergies. You just don't know what is safe. Though, there were no nuts anywhere. I was so glad for that. I didn't want to have to worry about cleaning properly for a nut allergy!

They also asked us to stay a half hour later - until 12:30pm. Apparently, a family of 6 canceled and they were short now. So we stayed and eventually got relieved by some regular workers, it seemed.

Selfie on the way out!

We had to wear hats to keep our hair in place.

All in all it was a good experience. There was a lot of down time, though. The mom and daughter at the Express Breakfast brought some of her SAT prep books and were studying. It was also really cold in the building. And extremely hot outside so it was hard to get comfortable. And my mom was still worrying a lot.

I'm glad I did it but I'm not sure I would do it again. It's hard to say, though, because there were a lot of outside factors that impacted our experience.

We stopped at Target on the way back to the Swan. I was exhausted so I took a nap. My parents went to the pool and I was relieved for the time alone, even if I was just sleeping.

Whew! It's already been a long day but there's way more to go!!

Up next....

Day 2 Part 2 - Rain, Rain, Go AWAY - I NEED to Ride EE!!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Wow! I love that you helped at the GTKTW Village! I hadn't heard of it until someone from here on the Dis held a DisMeet/fundraiser in a neighbouring province. I've gone to 4/5 of them. Sadly, I couldn't make it this year, but I made sure to forward her a donation.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Wow! I love that you helped at the GTKTW Village! I hadn't heard of it until someone from here on the Dis held a DisMeet/fundraiser in a neighbouring province. I've gone to 4/5 of them. Sadly, I couldn't make it this year, but I made sure to forward her a donation.

GKTW is a GREAT organization! Every time I go on a trip, I make a point to donate some money to GKTW. I so so so enjoy the Parks and I think that those kids absolutely deserve to have that experience as well!!

 

[Raeven]

As you can see, I don't do anything in half measures.

I always say why do things halfway when you can get very anxious and worry about things outside of your control all the way! (Okay I don't say that but I do that too).

"You know, where the rugby cup just happened."

Ahhhhh.

No.

I guess that's an English thing

I was not good at that. I kept getting proportions of ice cream to milk wrong. My mom was even worse! I did eventually get better so I made the milkshakes. There is definitely an art to it.

Did you have to make them look nice? Like for banana splits and stuff. I've never worked with ice cream either so I'd probably be like plop here you go!

 

[ariane37]

That's wonderful that you volunteered at GKTW! I'd also never heard of them before joining the Dis. How do you volunteer? Do you just call to set it up?

 

[BellaBaby]

So great that you volunteered at GKTW!! I would love to experience that with my family. I wonder how young the volunteers can be? My youngest is 11 y.o.

 

[KathyM2]

Love your TR so far. What a cool thing that you did volunteering at GKTW. I never knew you could do that. Sorry you had so much on your mind on this trip. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of it though.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I always say why do things halfway when you can get very anxious and worry about things outside of your control all the way! (Okay I don't say that but I do that too).

Agreed! My sister found this ages ago and we really think it sums us up well. And she's a superhero so...

Did you have to make them look nice? Like for banana splits and stuff. I've never worked with ice cream either so I'd probably be like plop here you go!

Well, not really nice but you had to get the right consistency and make enough to fill the cup. That was the hardest part. Hopefully they also wanted whipped cream so you could fill up the cup the rest of the way and put sprinkles on it and make it look really good. It takes time to add more ice cream...then whoops, too thick, add more milk...whoops, too thin, more ice cream....

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

That's wonderful that you volunteered at GKTW! I'd also never heard of them before joining the Dis. How do you volunteer? Do you just call to set it up?

Thanks! I decided to volunteer after reading a post on the DISUnplugged forum. There is a sticky here: GKTW Volunteering Post that explains how to volunteer. You basically go on the website, submit an application, tell them what date(s) you are available and they contact you with open volunteering opportunities. They are very nice. Here is the GKTW Village website volunteering information.

So great that you volunteered at GKTW!! I would love to experience that with my family. I wonder how young the volunteers can be? My youngest is 11 y.o.

It was really great. And it's not at all sad. Everyone is so happy to be there! The youngest they allow is 12 years old with an adult. Here is the GKTW Village website volunteering information.

Love your TR so far. What a cool thing that you did volunteering at GKTW. I never knew you could do that. Sorry you had so much on your mind on this trip. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of it though.

Thank you! I think I'll give it a go again - without the drama this time!