Trip Report 5 Adults vs 1 ten month old. Guess who won?!

Hi All!
Back from another stay at WDW and it was different for sure!
We had a new traveler with us and definitely did Disney differently for that reason and a few others.

I would like to give you guys a heads up before you read any further.
If you have read my trip report from last year you may be aware that my husband (Gary) is being treated for cancer and there are some references in here to how he is doing, because that changed a lot of how we toured this year.
If you are uncomfortable following along because not everything is pixie dust in this report, I will not in any way be offended if you click away. (I much prefer a sexy vampire book myself to a story that has moments of sadness)!
Luckily there were some great family/baby/children moments that brought us joy and new memories were made!

So with warning given and to those who are going to hang around, let's begin!

Our group consisted of myself, Cindy, my husband Gary, my son Seth, my daughter Aleisha our son-in-law Julio and our now 10 month old granddaughter Una. (And PS, she is a crazy girl)!!
We stayed at Bay Lake Oct. 21-27th.

Cast and crew (and one of my favorite pics of the whole trip).

To arrive at Disney everyone was coming from different places at different times. Gary and I headed down from Pittsburgh with an afternoon flight. We left around 2:15 pm and got in close to 4:40 pm-ish.
Us headed to the air side on our version of the monorail.

We had time to eat at Friday's (I think it was). Gary had some potato skins that he liked and I had a kids mac and cheese and french fries that I thought tasted pretty good.

In the meantime my little sleepy head was headed to Orlando from Sacramento with her mom. They started out at 6 am-ish, west coast time.

She did seem to perk up to her usual nosy self once they were on board!

One thing you will notice this trip is a disproportionate amount of baby pictures!

Seth headed down from Georgia, deciding to drive.

As crazy as it sounds, our 2 flights landed within 6 minutes of each other and we were able to meet Una and Aleisha as they got off of the monorail thing!
So excited to see this Mickey 50th wrap on one of the cars.

And Grandpap and Una's airport meet up!!

Julio wouldn't be arriving till the wee hours of Saturday am so we don't have any travel day pics of him.
Next up, is grabbing 800lbs of luggage and off to the Magic Bus!

 

[BuckyMom]

I also have to believe that while she was looking into her crystal ball checking activity, she could also see that you are a repeat customer that brings your family and stays in their better accommodations. That should matter- particularly in a time when wdw is squeezing the dime. I'm so sad for Gary. I can only pray for better health for him.

 

[amjt660]

I also have to believe that while she was looking into her crystal ball checking activity, she could also see that you are a repeat customer that brings your family and stays in their better accommodations. That should matter- particularly in a time when wdw is squeezing the dime. I'm so sad for Gary. I can only pray for better health for him.

Your response is making me think

It comes down to what is the motivation to refund the money in this case.

If it is to try to continue the relationship to ensure repeat business then looking up visiting history and where you stay/ how much you spend to decide how to treat the customer is what I would expect

But I always thought/hoped that Disney work on a different level than that - that a genuine request for help or assistance deserves the same genuine response.

I do not believe that "the customer" is always right - but legit issues should be dealt with a high level of respect and care factor.


Max

 

[MickeyCB]

So sorry the CM was judgmental. I would often cringe when I would hear certain coworkers dealing with people that came to our reception office for information/assistance. Luckily the worst of them have now retired and the newer staff that have since joined the unit have a higher level of empathy.

I can understand why the CM at GR was looking up your activity on that day - there are too many people who are not honest.

And I am sure that the tone of your voice and the look on both your face and Seth's should have been enough for a good GR CM to see that you were being honest.

The method and tone of the conversation (based on your take) was unacceptable and warrants the follow up email that you sent.

It could have been handled so much better - gently asking questions/ showing compassion to understand why Gary's condition was declining as the trip went on and attending the Boo Bash was not possible.

I hope you get a reply and I truly hope that WDW uses it as a teaching opportunity - I have my doubts though - large companies often lose touch with both their customers and their workforce and do not take the time to communicate effectively / properly.


Max

There is pretty much nothing that makes me wilder than a rude person greeting you at a counter, etc.
I have a few rules. If I come up to you and you are busy, are on the phone etc., if you look up and acknowledge me for 1 second I am yours. I will wait however long it takes.
If I ask do you have item x and they say I don't know I feel like climbing over the counter after them. If they say I don't know, let me check, I'm theirs and will again wait however long it takes.

In this case I would have to say this chick was not necessarily rude, but rather displaying passive aggressive behavior and probably functions in her outside life like this. This wasn't an "I'm having a bad day" encounter.
Not the type who should be at guest services.

What made me particularly intolerant of it was I asked a simple question, you can honor it or you can't. Do not make me beg for the refund. I don't need it, but if you can return it, I will be grateful. My family has enough on their plate right now without your silly stuff.

And with the email I sent I also took the time to point out several CM's names and locations that literally went above and beyond for even the simplest requests.

And Max, I agree wholeheartedly on your comment regarding companies losing touch. I think some of the many problems Disney is currently creating for itself is for this reason.
I just retired from a medium size hospital and personally knew, broke bread with, the admin types and remain shocked at how disconnected they were with staff members jobs, their efforts and how much they contributed to the success of this hospital. I remember praising a woman who worked in the HR department and was told, "she's doing her job"! Absolutely shocked at their unwillingness to acknowledge how hard she worked and how efficient she was.

 

[MickeyCB]

I also have to believe that while she was looking into her crystal ball checking activity, she could also see that you are a repeat customer that brings your family and stays in their better accommodations. That should matter- particularly in a time when wdw is squeezing the dime. I'm so sad for Gary. I can only pray for better health for him.

Your response is making me think

It comes down to what is the motivation to refund the money in this case.

If it is to try to continue the relationship to ensure repeat business then looking up visiting history and where you stay/ how much you spend to decide how to treat the customer is what I would expect

But I always thought/hoped that Disney work on a different level than that - that a genuine request for help or assistance deserves the same genuine response.

I do not believe that "the customer" is always right - but legit issues should be dealt with a high level of respect and care factor.


Max

There is usually built into businesses the idea of repeat customers and acknowledging them, but I do agree with Max that every single customer should be dealt with the same way.
It's probably not realistic when you see how celebrities are kowtowed to compared to us peons, but I never felt like a peon in the old Disney days.
I've seen people on threads on here sort of making fun of us old timer Disney goers with us lamenting the service of old, but there is definitely a difference in customer service in the last 5 years or so.

And thank you for your kind thoughts for Gary, I think it really does help knowing people are pulling for him.

 

[Pirate Magic]

You tell Gary to hang in there. It is tough going down to Disney with Cancer, I know that from personal experience. I am a Cancer survivor and for two years I was in a wheelchair. I am doing well now, and so will Gary!!

Cathy

 

[MickeyCB]

You tell Gary to hang in there. It is tough going down to Disney with Cancer, I know that from personal experience. I am a Cancer survivor and for two years I was in a wheelchair. I am doing well now, and so will Gary!!

Cathy

Thank you very much for your kind thoughts. And I am glad you are doing well and certainly hope you continue to do so.

 

[MickeyCB]

DAY 5-LET'S GO TO BREAKFAST!

The day dawned slightly overcast but as they say, a rainy, hot, snowy, hurricane day at Disney is better than a day at home!!
I was to be found, of course, on the balcony, feet up with a cup of java in hand. Ohh I love those mornings!!
You can see the remains of last nights rain on the balcony railing. But these balconies are deep and all of the chairs remained dry.

Una decided to join me on the balcony. Babies in jammies are meant to be squeezed!

After the squeezing was over we got dressed and crossed the bridge to the Contemporary and took the monorail to the Polynesian for breakfast in one of Gary's absolute favorite places to eat.
He is so very fond of the Poly for many reasons. One is he was in Samoa with the Peace Corps as a young adult and loves so much about their culture.

A little side trek here. He lived with "his family" in Samoa and they sent him home with many hand made treasures. This is a piece of hand made Tapa Cloth they made for him (above our not Samoan Tiki lamp)!
We bought that lamp at the Polynesian several years ago and it is a story by itself. We had it shipped home because we were flying and it took 3 attempts by Disney to get one to us without it's head whacked off!
The round items on the table, not sure if they were to function as a placemat of sorts, were also hand made. Hard to believe these things are probably 50 years old by now.
He also has a beautiful hand carved wooden Kava Bowl that I use in the kitchen.

But, I digress... the real reason (in addition to the food) he loves eating at Ohana is this!
This grown man adored the character breakfasts with Lilo and Stitch!
And I had to be the bearer of bad news that they didn't have the characters there any longer!
This was from 2017.

But, we all still like the food and wanted a breakfast there. We rode the 2 stops to the resort and got off.
We were just in time for our reservation and were seated within minutes of our arrival.
After we were seated the waitress took our photo for us.

And another of those pics that I loved from this trip.
Excuse me, waitress ma'm, could I please have some of that POG juice, please?!

I do enjoy their breakfast here. And if you'll notice something on my plate?
Bacon isn't on the menu for some reason, but I learned on one of the threads here if you ask for it they will bring it out. I'm not sure why it was removed (pre-covid) I think, but they will add it if you ask for it. Not everyone cares for sausage.
And no fine Disney meal is complete without a Mickey waffle!!

The kids commented that the POG juice didn't taste the same. I couldn't tell but I do know a lot of the places said they weren't able to get it over the year prior.
Una likes most anything you put in front of her. I did quickly turn her on to the Mickey waffles. Yumm!
Our little baby bird!

Our plans were a little up in the air for today. I had booked HS for a second day, back when we still had to do the boarding pass dash for RotR, in case we weren't able to get a pass for the first day. We kept the reservation initially because we had only ridden RotR and MMRR yesterday. I wanted Julio to be able to see a little more of Galaxies Edge and we didn't do any of Toy Story land, but we all decided that since Seth had to leave early and we hadn't been to MK in the day yet that we would see if we could change park passes.

I went to the front desk of the Poly and an incredibly helpful CM Scott was able to cancel our HS passes and rebook us all for MK.
We checked out Moana Mercantile, always a favorite but ended up not buying any treats.
We went up and took the monorail over to the MK.

 

[Swissmiss]

I so love your morning routine … which sounds surprisingly similar to my own

 

[TheMouseFan]

I was just reading that the POG juice was different. Coke/Minute Maid usually supplies it, but I believe they said Nestle was supplying it for awhile when it was unavailable from Coke. Coke/Minute Maid is now supplying it again, so hopefully it tastes like the POG juice we all know and love!! And I agree with Gary, 'Ohana breakfast is fantastic!! (but definitely better with the characters!)

 

[MickeyCB]

I so love your morning routine … which sounds surprisingly similar to my own

 

[MickeyCB]

I was just reading that the POG juice was different. Coke/Minute Maid usually supplies it, but I believe they said Nestle was supplying it for awhile when it was unavailable from Coke. Coke/Minute Maid is now supplying it again, so hopefully it tastes like the POG juice we all know and love!! And I agree with Gary, 'Ohana breakfast is fantastic!! (but definitely better with the characters!)

Ahhh maybe that was it! I don't have the most discerning palate and it tasted fine to me. But both Aleisha and Seth commented on that.
I'll share this with them, thanks.
Definitely miss the characters at that meal and I think Una would have loved seeing them.

 

[MickeyCB]

DAY 5, continued...

We made our way to MK via the monorail.
It wasn't too horribly crowded and we stopped for a few photos on Main Street.

Dad, this is awesome!
And today I am cooperating with shoes.

Same pic from the first page of this report, but one of my favorites.

And as we went up Main Street, we saw instead of the usual Mickey pumpkin wreaths decorating the posts they
had these special Cinderella carriage ones for the 50th.

I have always loved the Mickey pumpkin ones they have up in the fall and this year before Halloween I DIY'd one on my own. I found a slightly vintage Mickey trick or treat pumpkin bucket at our local flea market. Then while it hurt a little, I had Gary saw the back end of it off and made this wreath out of it.

And with it being cut open in the back I was able to stick a light in there.

With the craft show over, we will resume our MK tour.
We headed towards Adventure Land to ride Pirates.
On the way we ran into a @DisneyGigi duck just cruising along. Probably looking for some dropped popcorn.

We also ran into one of Aleisha's favorites on the way to Adventure Land!

 

[MickeyCB]

Day 5 continues...

We made our way to Pirates and Una slept through the entire ride queue!

Then she slept through the whole ride!

After Pirates we decided to try to get the kids "wall" photo.
She's still sleeping as we try to obtain this years picture!
I really wanted her to be awake for her first photo on the wall, but we all know the commandment of thou shall not wake a sleeping baby.
So first photo on the wall, age 10 months, fast asleep and you can barely see her!
Aleisha is now 33 and her first photo was at age 3!

Hard to believe Seth is 21 now and his first photo was also at age 3!

This is Julio's first photo on the wall as an official family member and he cooperated nicely!

I have this at home with their age progression photos from "the wall". Looks like I will need to update it after this year!
Seth and Aleisha's first photos are on the bottom at 3 years old each.

After this with I think only one ride accomplished, we headed out of the park as we were going to Downtown Disney (I know), for a late lunch and a little shopping before Seth had to take off.

So pretty, majestic, awesome!

And Mickey got in one last MK photo!

So, off to lunch and a little shopping!

 

[Adventure]

Day 5 continues...

We made our way to Pirates and Una slept through the entire ride queue!
View attachment 605006

Then she slept through the whole ride!
View attachment 605005

After Pirates we decided to try to get the kids "wall" photo.
She's still sleeping as we try to obtain this years picture!
I really wanted her to be awake for her first photo on the wall, but we all know the commandment of thou shall not wake a sleeping baby.
So first photo on the wall, age 10 months, fast asleep and you can barely see her!
Aleisha is now 33 and her first photo was at age 3!
View attachment 605007

Hard to believe Seth is 21 now and his first photo was also at age 3!
View attachment 605008

This is Julio's first photo on the wall as an official family member and he cooperated nicely!
View attachment 605009

View attachment 605010

I have this at home with their age progression photos from "the wall". Looks like I will need to update it after this year!
Seth and Aleisha's first photos are on the bottom at 3 years old each.
View attachment 605015

After this with I think only one ride accomplished, we headed out of the park as we were going to Downtown Disney (I know), for a late lunch and a little shopping before Seth had to take off.

So pretty, majestic, awesome!
View attachment 605014


And Mickey got in one last MK photo!
View attachment 605012

So, off to lunch and a little shopping!

Una may have slept through Pirates but Mickey was wide awake in Seth's hands. Great photos through the years!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I love your wreath!! I may have to try to make one for next year!

 

[mpaulam]

Your wreath is awesome!
Una is adorable
I love your display of the "wall" photos.

 

[MickeyCB]

Una may have slept through Pirates but Mickey was wide awake in Seth's hands. Great photos through the years!

Thanks!
I can remember back with that first photo, trying to take a photo somewhere that we thought would be permanent moving forward. As I've seen so many changes at Disney over the years I think we lucked out on our location.
Something I noticed only tonight as I posted that was how the background did change. First grass then small plants and now fairly large bushes.

 

[MickeyCB]

I love your wreath!! I may have to try to make one for next year!

Thanks! It wasn't too painful. If you don't already have some, this is a good time of the year to hit the craft stores with their serious discounts to get some of the fall picks you'll need.
And if you make one please post it!

 

[MickeyCB]

Your wreath is awesome!
Una is adorable
I love your display of the "wall" photos.

Ty very much. I've always loved the fall ones they have in the MK.
This was the inspiration.

And thank for your comment on Una and the photos. She is clearly going to be a handful!

 

[MickeyCB]

Day 5 continued...

We left the MK and walked back over to BayLake to catch the bus for Disney Springs Downtown Disney.
It wasn't too long of a wait and we were dropped off at the springs bus depot. We were headed for lunch at The Boathouse. We ate there several years ago and had a fabulous meal that we all still remembered so we were looking forward to this.
We didn't have to wait long to be seated and were in the main dining area near the boat.

And somebody finally woke up!
Her kisses are enthusiastic and gross!

This kid sleeps hard, plays hard and eats very well!

Except when she chooses to be quite silly!

I sadly can't remember what everyone ordered. The only thing that stands out is Gary ordered lobster and devoured it! He still remembers it and how good it was!
It had taken a really long time for dinner to come out and apparently we had a training helper. He was very nice but we constantly had to ask for water etc.
Then it took forever for the check to come so Aleisha went to change Una and Seth decided to run back to Gideon's to see if he could get in. He had checked on the way over but there was no virtual queue and the line was 45 minutes. He came back and said he was in a queue now which was good.
It seriously took 20 minutes or more to get the check, the waiter come get it, and then after that they hadn't put our AP discount on and had to start over again. I was getting a little irritated by then.
I had told everyone else to start to head to World of Disney and I would catch up with them. They were almost there before I even left the table!

The details are a little blurry about the order of the next events, but we went to World of Disney which was quite crowded. Gary was tired so I told him to sit outside on the brick wall and wait for us. I actually double told him to stay right there till we all regrouped because after that we were going to go to the Christmas store. (This becomes important later).

Seth wanted a jersey that I told him I would track down for him, because at the same time his place in the queue at Gideon's had come up. (I really wanted to see the place but it wasn't in the cards for this trip).

And just let me give you all a little piece of advice regarding Gideon's. DO NOT send a young man with a magic band in there without supervision. He bought, no lie, $120 worth of cookies. Who the H**l buys $120 worth of cookies?!
But Mom, I couldn't decide. And I gave them a tip.
Let me give you a tip boy.
If I had know about the great cookie caper he wouldn't have been getting a black jersey for Christmas!

Apparently Mickey got to see both the inside and the outside of Gideon's.

So I found the jersey for Seth, Aleisha and Julio and Una had disappeared, and Seth was still cookie capering. Gary was supposed to be sitting on the red brick wall.
What do you think happened next? Little hint, it didn't involve a straight walk to the Christmas store. Stay tuned.