The Last Hurrah...Major Update, Page 6, post 86...guess who called??
The Last Hurrah…July 13-21
…or the final trip before I get married.
Yes folks this is the tale of my final trip to Walt Disney World as a single guy! Next May I’ll be tying the knot with my beloved fiancée and it just recently hit me that this past week will be the last time I go to WDW the same way. From now on things will be different, a good different, but nonetheless different. And to be honest, realizing this impending change, I’ve become increasingly emotional and reflective. So I’m putting together this trip report to share with you the fun times we had on our last hurrah!
First an introduction and some important background information:
The Players:
Dear Aunt (DA) – a 60 year old kid at heart, she has bad legs and has to use a scooter to get around, uses a handicapped parking permit. She’s the matriarch of these trips, taking her nieces and nephews along on her vacations to share with us the magic of Disney.
Dear Sister (DS) – a 23 year old with some pretty serious issues. She played a major and incredibly negative role in this trip, which I will probably leave out of this report due to its personal and negative connotations. Basically she has attitude problems that lead to emotional outbursts. Don’t be surprised if you hear little or nothing about her in this report.
Dear Cousin (DC) – My 25 year old partner in crime! He’s been my best friend for life, born three weeks before I was we’ve grown up together. We’ve been going to WDW with DA for several years and spent many a wonderful time!
Dear Fiancée (DF) – My 24 year old soul mate…the love of my life. We were engaged on April 1st, 2007 and have set a date of May 17, 2008 for our wedding. She’s been to WDW before, but only on day trips. Never stayed at a WDW resort and hasn’t been since 1997.
Me – 25 year old former WDW CM, worked on Main Street during my CP in early 2001, then took a full time position as a Fast Pass team member and eventually went part time while finishing college as a Jungle Cruise Skipper. I’ve been to WDW more than 20 times on vacation and still get emotional every time I have to leave that magical place!
The Setting:
Check-in: July 13, 2007
Check-out: July 21, 2007
DA, DS & DF stayed at the Hawaii Concierge building at the Polynesian Resort. It’s been our Disney home for the past 4 years.
DC and I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in a Standard View Room for the first time. DC was a last minute addition to the trip and due to maintain livable sleeping arrangements, we added a room at the WL for the two of us, this makes it easier for 5 single adults to sleep comfortably in their own beds.
The Prologue:
On Thursday July, 12, I woke up with a twinge of excitement that could mean only one thing! I looked at the date on my cell phone…then checked my date book….could it be??? YES! It was almost time to leave for our much anticipated annual trip to Walt Disney World. My bag was packed and I had a list of errands to run for the day before we could leave.
I stopped for lunch with my Mom at Pizza Hut then headed to my work to pick up my paycheck and say goodbye to my good friends there. Headed to the bank, home to pay my bills online and picked up my AAA TripTik. Picked up DC at this house, headed to target to pick up some wrinkle releaser for our clothes and dropped by the pharmacy to pick up some medicine for DF. Finally at 5pm DC and I met the rest of the crew at DA’s house and hit the road for our trip to WDW.
This was the culmination of almost 5 months of planning, done mostly by me. I was nervous for a few reasons. I know how my sister acts and I was praying that she’d keep her attitude/outbursts in check. I was nervous about staying at two separate resorts. I was dreading the 13.5 hour drive. I was nervous about how DF would enjoy WDW…hoping she’d love it as much as I do. I was nervous because I knew that this would be the last time I’d go to WDW like this…an all expenses paid, super deluxe vacation with the people I love the most.
In retrospect, the trip had some incredible highlights and sharing my favorite place in the world with my favorite person in the world was incredible. Unfortunately, this trip was also marred by a couple of major things: The valet service, the room and service at the Poly and those outbursts of my sister. I’ll talk about the first two problems as we go along, but I’m going to try and stress the positive times. I hope you enjoy my report and I look forward to sharing with you all!
I'll be updating with new posts throughout the day and the rest of this week...hope to have some pics available by the end of the week.
Cheers,
Josh
The Last Hurrah…July 13-21
…or the final trip before I get married.
Yes folks this is the tale of my final trip to Walt Disney World as a single guy! Next May I’ll be tying the knot with my beloved fiancée and it just recently hit me that this past week will be the last time I go to WDW the same way. From now on things will be different, a good different, but nonetheless different. And to be honest, realizing this impending change, I’ve become increasingly emotional and reflective. So I’m putting together this trip report to share with you the fun times we had on our last hurrah!
First an introduction and some important background information:
The Players:
Dear Aunt (DA) – a 60 year old kid at heart, she has bad legs and has to use a scooter to get around, uses a handicapped parking permit. She’s the matriarch of these trips, taking her nieces and nephews along on her vacations to share with us the magic of Disney.
Dear Sister (DS) – a 23 year old with some pretty serious issues. She played a major and incredibly negative role in this trip, which I will probably leave out of this report due to its personal and negative connotations. Basically she has attitude problems that lead to emotional outbursts. Don’t be surprised if you hear little or nothing about her in this report.
Dear Cousin (DC) – My 25 year old partner in crime! He’s been my best friend for life, born three weeks before I was we’ve grown up together. We’ve been going to WDW with DA for several years and spent many a wonderful time!
Dear Fiancée (DF) – My 24 year old soul mate…the love of my life. We were engaged on April 1st, 2007 and have set a date of May 17, 2008 for our wedding. She’s been to WDW before, but only on day trips. Never stayed at a WDW resort and hasn’t been since 1997.
Me – 25 year old former WDW CM, worked on Main Street during my CP in early 2001, then took a full time position as a Fast Pass team member and eventually went part time while finishing college as a Jungle Cruise Skipper. I’ve been to WDW more than 20 times on vacation and still get emotional every time I have to leave that magical place!
The Setting:
Check-in: July 13, 2007
Check-out: July 21, 2007
DA, DS & DF stayed at the Hawaii Concierge building at the Polynesian Resort. It’s been our Disney home for the past 4 years.
DC and I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in a Standard View Room for the first time. DC was a last minute addition to the trip and due to maintain livable sleeping arrangements, we added a room at the WL for the two of us, this makes it easier for 5 single adults to sleep comfortably in their own beds.
The Prologue:
On Thursday July, 12, I woke up with a twinge of excitement that could mean only one thing! I looked at the date on my cell phone…then checked my date book….could it be??? YES! It was almost time to leave for our much anticipated annual trip to Walt Disney World. My bag was packed and I had a list of errands to run for the day before we could leave.
I stopped for lunch with my Mom at Pizza Hut then headed to my work to pick up my paycheck and say goodbye to my good friends there. Headed to the bank, home to pay my bills online and picked up my AAA TripTik. Picked up DC at this house, headed to target to pick up some wrinkle releaser for our clothes and dropped by the pharmacy to pick up some medicine for DF. Finally at 5pm DC and I met the rest of the crew at DA’s house and hit the road for our trip to WDW.
This was the culmination of almost 5 months of planning, done mostly by me. I was nervous for a few reasons. I know how my sister acts and I was praying that she’d keep her attitude/outbursts in check. I was nervous about staying at two separate resorts. I was dreading the 13.5 hour drive. I was nervous about how DF would enjoy WDW…hoping she’d love it as much as I do. I was nervous because I knew that this would be the last time I’d go to WDW like this…an all expenses paid, super deluxe vacation with the people I love the most.
In retrospect, the trip had some incredible highlights and sharing my favorite place in the world with my favorite person in the world was incredible. Unfortunately, this trip was also marred by a couple of major things: The valet service, the room and service at the Poly and those outbursts of my sister. I’ll talk about the first two problems as we go along, but I’m going to try and stress the positive times. I hope you enjoy my report and I look forward to sharing with you all!
I'll be updating with new posts throughout the day and the rest of this week...hope to have some pics available by the end of the week.
Cheers,
Josh
