So, to clear up the pricing situation. In the three days following the AP purchase, it kept lingering in my mind that something wasn't right. Well, I finally found the receipt and looked it over. Mind you, there were so many gift cards that she had the receipt folded over 4 times and stapled together. I found where it listed the pass type and sure enough, she had charged us for Platinum PLUS APs. That explains it. See, she said Platinum when she was doing her thing on her PC, so I knew something had to be off. Regardless, at the end of the night when I found the error, I went to Guest relations while Amy and the kids hung out at the west rose garden. I can't remember the CMs name, but she was a very nice young lady from Japan and she not only reversed the excess charge on my CC, but also gave us a gift card with the balance AND she gave me celebration buttons with "come visit us" in Japanese for my kids. I had told her that the kids love anime and they want to go to Tokyo some time. Very awesome guest service on that part.
Now let me get the negative stuff aired out. Yeah, sorry guys, there will be negative stuff and you know I don't hold back. For starters, the security folks at the T&TC. This isn't about them as a whole, just a few select ones. Attitude like I don't know what. As you all know, you go through the bag check and then some folks get randomly selected to go through the detector. Well, the issue with the detector part is that if you have a stroller, they want you to park it in this taped off square and go through. Harmless enough, right? Well, not with us. You see, you'll be leaving your stroller+baby about 8-10 feet away while you go through. As the security officer, do you know who's in my party? No, you don't. So who's to stop someone from coming up and taking my stroller + baby while I'm messing with the detector? Yeah, sounds pretty out there, draybook, that would never happen. Well, tell that to the thousands of kids who disappear every year.
Anyhow, Amy had talked to guest relations about it as she was not thrilled about having to leave her child to the side like a piece of luggage. They told her that they really shouldn't be asking you to do that and to ask to be wanded next to the stroller if it happened again. t did happen again, and again, and again. The first time it happened again was at the T&TC. Come to think of it, that's the ONLY place we were asked to do it. Not once were we asked to do it at the other 3 parks. Anyhow, this incident was comedic. So, the guy asks her to put the stroller in the square and go through. She tells him what guest relations said and we'll be 100% honest, she was a bit upset when she said it. So, she asked for the supervisor as instructed by GR and he comes over. Let me tell you that this guy had an attitude when he walked up. Mind you, I'm actually over at the other detector line and I was asked to do the same thing. I told that guy no and walked over to where Amy was at. I listened to this supervisor(Jeff) get kind of mouthy with her and he told the one officer to wand her. As she walks over to be wanded, she tells him that she'll be contacting a manager when she gets over to the MK. He said, and I quote, "contact whoever you want". They don't know that I'm with her and as soon as he turns around, I asked him who HIS supervisor is. He tells me the guy's name and I told him, "that's not how you speak to guests/customers". He says ok and that was that.
We got to GR at the MK and Amy went in. I'm standing outside checking my wallet for bail money, just in case. Please note that the last statement was exaggerated sarcasm. Simply noting that she's fuming at this point and she should be. Anyhow, the manager made some calls on the radio and went down there to speak to Jeff and his crew and they gave us 3 FPs each for any ride. That's cool. We're not looking for handouts or anything, we just want less attitude and a better procedure for checking folks with strollers. If I left my stroller unattended 10 feet away off-site, CPS would be on the scene in 5 minutes. And again, a moment is all it takes for a child to be snatched, especially in a place where they don't know who's with who. Anyhow, this was the first of three incidents we had with them. It seems like it was only on the night shift at the T&TC. The second incident was actually funnier that the first.
The second time, the guy I got had a really bad attitude. Billy from Bartow. I told him I wasn't leaving my stroller to the side so he told me to "come over here" to be wanded. I told him I wasn't leaving my stroller and child alone. He tried to get stern and I reaffirmed my original statement. So, he wands me and of course my belt is the only thing that beeps. He asks to see my buckle, which I show. He then tells me to flip it inside out as if I'm hiding a 249SAW inside my $10 WalMart belt buckle. You could tell he was doing this to be petty to try to "show me who's boss". I told him no and that I'm not undressing for his silliness. Then I told him I wanted to speak to his supervisor. That guy came over and I told him the business and took their names and hometowns. I asked if Jeff was on duty and he said yes. I told him they should probably expect another visit from the manager from the other day. I actually made a running joke out of it though. Every night, Billy seemed to be one of the officers closing(standing at the exit). So, when walking past him, I asked if he wanted to check my belt. Yeah, I'm the part of your body that emits feces, but somebody has to be. I don't like being treated differently than others and I especially don't liked being singled out. Sorry if you feel otherwise. But to me, customer service is customer service. I handle customer service for a Fortune 500 medical supply company. If I treated our customers the way these few officers spoke and treated guests, I'd be looking for a new job by the end of that same day.
On to another gripe, traffic. To borrow from Tim Tracker, HOLY MACARONI. Leaving DHS is a NIGHTMARE at closing. We were parked towards the very back of the music rows, I think it was. We sat there for 10 minutes and didn't move an inch. We were right where the cones turn into concrete barriers. Just as I was about to hop out and move some cones so we could merge with the two outgoing lanes, the passenger in the car in front of us had the same idea. Within 30 seconds, we were out and about. Other than that, it wasn't too bad.
The crowds. Man, was it busy. However, we didn't really get into the parks until 5pm or so every day. We enjoyed sleeping in. At the MK, it really clears out right after HEA.
Well, the babies are up now so I'll have to continue this later. Thanks for following along, folks!
Wow.
