The Last Hurrah

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

 

[Cara1210]

Wow! The whole deal with the A/C is totally unacceptable!:brick: 2 years ago we had a similar situation with the A/C at the Poly. We were in Rarotonga, though, and they came in and adjusted something above the ceiling tiles, and thankfully ours worked after that. I cannot believe that so many people dropped the ball on your situation, though! I have a lot of patience, but that situation would have definately broken me.
Keep those posts coming, still loving all of the detail you put into them!

 

[Sleeping*Beauty]

Wow! Your trip sounds great, if you leave out your DS and your hotel room. Hope those events didn't ruin your trip.

 

[Jungle Skipper]

Friday July 20 – The Final Day at Disney

Yes folks…its finally come. What began innocently enough one week ago -- our trip to Walt Disney World is finally coming to a close. No longer can we say “we can do it tomorrow” or “We’ve got so much time to do everything”, because there is no more time. This is it. Tomorrow we head back for Kentucky and the real world. And from the moment I wake up that morning I can tell it’s the last day…that last day always feels different doesn’t it? Like the opposite of that day before you leave for WDW…the antithesis of anticipation and excitement.

DC and I got up and dressed this morning. While he was in the shower I ran down to the Mercantile and purchased a framed drawing of the Wilderness Lodge, some really beautiful artwork of the backside of the building with the pool in the foreground. I think it will go quite well with my Animal Kingdom picture I bought at the AKL on Tuesday night. Art seems to be a theme for me this trip..

So we went to the Poly to pick up DA and DF, DS complained about not wanting to shop. She wanted to sleep in. Finally sick of her attitude, DA called maintenance and told them they could come whenever they like to fix the bloody AC. So DS headed for the pool.

This morning the rest of us have decided to head to the Downtown Disney Marketplace for some shopping….most of us hadn’t bought much for souvenirs for ourselves or our families. We’d shopped a lot, but mostly just looking, window shopping if you will. We knew that at the World of Disney we could get a good discount with our annual passes or our Disney Visa. After looking around for a while, DC could feel that he needed to eat something and take his pills (for diabetes…we skipped breakfast). So he and I escaped the Wal-mart of Disney and headed to the DTD McDonalds for a quick bite while the ladies shopped.

The restaurant was surprisingly empty upon our arrival. Way too expensive for McDonalds food. We each got some food then ate it in the restaurant and chatted about the week. Then decided on plans for the rest of the day before heading back to the WoD. We returned and found the snowglobe/picture frames room. DF bought a Mickey Mouse snow globe for herself and had a basket full of goodies for her family. DA had a massive basketful as well. Then we stumbled into the Jewelry and Pins Room…and so began a quest of epic proportions…

On one wall of the room there were several Art of Disney statues. I was surprise, because these are usually stowed away at the gallery stores. Then I saw it…the Pirate Mickey that I had first spied at MGM! But they only had the painted one, not the plain bronze one. I had decided I wanted to buy them both as they’d make a nice display together (mostly because I couldn’t decide which one I liked better. So I picked up the painted on and headed for the register along with a cheap picture frame I liked. By this point the ladies were done shopping as well. We all checked out, ringing up quite the tab! We even tagged on the add on items (buy so much stuff and get this framed coin set for $15 or this painted charger for $30)…DC and I fell in love with the adorable coin set…DA bought both items. We went a little overboard on goodies.

At the register I asked the gentlemen if he had seen the bronze pirate Mickey and he said not in this store but if we go to the gallery they would probably have it. I really wanted the little guy so we made our way across the Marketplace to the Art of Disney gallery store. I looked around, didn’t see it…started to get worried. It was not in the store! So I asked a nice lady in the store if they had any left. She apologized and said they had sold their last one just a few hours earlier. She then explained to me exactly what I was after!

Apparently the bronze, non-painted Pirate Mickey was an incredibly limited edition piece that was produced for the Pirates of the Caribbean event in late May. In fact it was a numbered and certified set limited to 150 pieces. Apparently 90% of them sold at the event and the other 15 finally made it to the Art of Disney shops around property and as far as she knew there were only 2 left to be purchased. One at Epcot and one at MGM. My jaw dropped. I was now kicking myself for passing on those figures earlier in the week. I had quite literally held both of them in my hands. :hurl: I now wanted this figure with all of my being!

So the nice CM at DTD called Epcot and inquired about their figure, then made a disappointed face. Apparently they had sold theirs shortly after I looked at it on Thursday. So she tried to call MGM…busy signal. Tried again….busy….DC and I decided we would run to MGM and see if we could find it there. She gave us the phone number and said to keep calling while we drove. So DC and I set off on a journey and the girls headed to the Christmas shop and Once Upon a Toy, we decided to meet up at the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop.

. DC kept trying to call the MGM store…busy! Curses! So I called central merchandise, hoping they could help me find the item and at least tell me if it was still there. The CM said he found the item but it said there was only one item left on property and it was in fact the one at MGM. However..he said that just because it was in the system didn’t mean it was in the store. He offered to give me the number to the store, which I thought I had, but apparently the DTD CM gave me the wrong number! So we tried this new number…answering machine. :brick: I left a frantic message.

I’m such a geek. :lol: I tried again as we were pulling into the handicapped parking lot. Answering machine. I tried a 3rd time as we walked through the security checkpoint and to my surprise a persona answered. I told him what I needed, he said he didn’t remember seeing it there, but would go check. My heart sank. What felt like an eternity later, he returned with a chorus of angels singing…”Yes sir, I have it right here. Number 38 out of 150, it’s the only one left.” I thanked him profusely and begged him to hold the item for me as I was coming to buy it as soon as I could get to the store. He gladly complied.

DC and I took off in a dead sprint for the Animation Courtyard, laughing the whole way about what geeks we were! We entered the store and I saw that beautiful black box with my name on it sitting behind the register! I bought it and we chatted with the CMs in the store about our geeky moment and how excited I was to have this incredibly limited piece. They were some of the best CMs I saw all week. :sohappy:

We then headed out of the park and back to DTD. As we were walking past the security area, I saw something I’ve never seen before…a Disney Security Dog. The handler was wearing some green Disney security outfit and his nametag. The dog had the name Disney on its attire as well. I was perplexed and amused…but more so excited about my new acquisition! We made it back to DTD and picked up the girls as they finished their ice creams.

After we loaded up the van, we unloaded at the Poly and dropped off DA! DF, DC and I were heading to Epcot now! As we drove there, DA called to tell us that the room had been worked on and the air was FINALLY working right (knock on wood). :sohappy:

First stop at Epcot was Test Track. The line was nearly empty…at 3 in the afternoon that seemed odd. We went through the single riders line, but the regular queue was just as short. We walked past the preshow and right into the line. We were seated almost immediately…wait time less than 5 min. That was a pleasant surprise.

Afterwards we headed back to the World Showcase to finish what we’d missed. We waited about 25 min for Malestrom...unfortunately we were behind one of those nice, quiet, well mannered Brazilian tour groups….Ugh. If I hear Ole Ole Ole Ole one more stinkin’ time! :brick: :ROFLOL:

We then dropped by Germany, where DF purchased Mickey and Minnie champagne glasses and stopped by the fast food stand for a Braut. We then made our way to mo and saw the great MoRockin’ perform. Loads of fun! We shopped some in France, but didn’t indulge in pastries…too close to dinnertime.

Finally we spent about an hour at Canada and the UK. Took lots of pictures of the pavilions today and just relaxed…didn’t realize we’d made the whirlwind trip around the world in less than 3 hours...it was fun! I’d miss Epcot the most of all the parks this time. I just didn’t get enough time here as I wanted to. Sigh…hopefully I get to come here more on our honeymoon.

Well folks, that’s all the energy I have left for now. I need sleep. So I’ll pick up with the rest of Friday over the weekend! I sure hope you guys are having fun and enjoying! Feel free to ask any questions...I’m hoping we can have some good discussion after I finish this report.

Next up…Another dinner at O’hana, My sister is crazy, Hey we can put the sodas back in the refrigerator cause the room’s not an icebox anymore!, The Carousel of Progress, Wishes, the Wedding Cake Topper, Engraving on Main Street, MK EMH, the never ending line at Expo Hall, that awful feeling in your stomach.

Then…packing, restless sleep, Breakfast at O’hana, the outburst to end all outbursts, and the drive home to end all drives home.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Keep us posted on what Disney does for you as far as your room situation at the Poly. That's completely unacceptable!!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

This is my favorite trip report of all time. I can't believe your experience at the Poly. Very unacceptable. Your attention to detail is incredible. We leave in 49 days for our 8 night trip and I hope I can recall one quarter of the details.:lol:

Will you be posting any pictures?

 

[tink68]

I am loving your trip report so keep it coming. Are you going to post pics? I would love to see the 2 pictures that you just had to have also. You are not the only one who has those Disney geek moments of having to have something you see there. :lol: Sorry you had such a bad experience at the Poly but it sounds like you still had alot of fun. :wave: Sheri

 

[Jungle Skipper]

Keep us posted on what Disney does for you as far as your room situation at the Poly. That's completely unacceptable!!

I definately will. I'll probably break the rest of the report into two more sections...Friday night and then Saturday morning. Then I thought I'd talk about my letter to Disney and keep you all updated on how all that goes...hopefully I hear from them soon. Hoping we can turn this TR into a good long discussion!

This is my favorite trip report of all time. I can't believe your experience at the Poly. Very unacceptable. Your attention to detail is incredible. We leave in 49 days for our 8 night trip and I hope I can recall one quarter of the details.:lol:

Will you be posting any pictures?

Why thanks for the compliment! You guys are awesome here! I haven't had time to mess with my pictures yet, hopefully this week I can have some. I d on't know if any of them are really great, I didn't really take many, DF hijacked the camera all week!

I am loving your trip report so keep it coming. Are you going to post pics? I would love to see the 2 pictures that you just had to have also. You are not the only one who has those Disney geek moments of having to have something you see there. :lol: Sorry you had such a bad experience at the Poly but it sounds like you still had alot of fun. :wave: Sheri

Thanks bunches! Hope you continue to enjoy! Its been fun writing this and remembering the good times...unfortunately those bad times really put a damper on the whole time. Hopefully that gets fixed!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Ravenclaw87]

Yes... you MUST post pictures of your Pirate Mickeys. It sounds like a very cool set that I am insanely jealous of!

 

[spectrodanny]

when will we see the rest of this tale of disaster?

 

[Jungle Skipper]

Sorry I haven't had time today....tomorrow we are going ot visit my fiancees family and thats an all day thing. Should have the next installment on Sunday night or Monday afternoon.

sorry to keep you all waiting!

Question...has anyone hear ever written to guest communications? How long did it take for you to hear from them?

Cheers,
Josh

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Question...has anyone hear ever written to guest communications? How long did it take for you to hear from them?

I wrote to Guest Communications once after a horrific stay at POFQ. I'm not one to write a letter of complaint, in fact, this was my first one ever. A very nice man from Disney called me in 3-5 days (I can't recall exactly how long it was). He listened to me and asked a lot of questions, but that's all he really did.

 

[madge]

Question...has anyone hear ever written to guest communications? How long did it take for you to hear from them?

Cheers,
Josh

I sent an e-mail to guest communications in January 2006 - it was a few weeks before I heard back. My issues weren't nearly as complex as yours, though.... if they had been, I'm not sure if I could be that patient! I didn't mind waiting, and honestly wasn't sure if I'd hear anything.

Do you have a phone number you could use, to contact them directly?

~ Madge
a fellow Kentuckian :wave:

 

[MinnieMommy]

Oh my gosh, this is the best trip report ever!! I have to say, your DS and my DS would probably get along splendidly. They could sit and grumble together and perform synchronized outbursts! Seriously, I wrote a journal during our trip in December and every day she had at least one meltdown. Most of our home videos only show her rear end 10 feet in front of the rest of us, periodically turning to shout, "Hurry Up" or "Come On". By our last day, she completely lost it at, of all places, Epcot. I mean people were staring she made such a scene.
Sorry about your A/C luck. It seems like on top of that you encountered some CMs who need a fresh sprinkling of pixie dust!
For others like me who can forget trip details easily, I kept a journal on our last trip. I kept a little notebook on hand and would update it each night before bed. Then, I bought my favorite Disney Journal before we left. When we arrived home, I was able to use my notes from the trip to write a really great journal to have and read whenever we miss WDW!!
We are in suspense here for the rest of this Disney Adventure!!! Can't wait for more!!! :sohappy: :wave:

 

[Jungle Skipper]

Hey all! Spent all day in my DF's hometown in Indiana visiting her family. I'm beat now and heading to bed momentarily. I plan to have the next installment in here between 11:30am and Noon Monday!

Appreciate your thoughts and input everyone! Love the comments and discussion.

Starting to worry about Disney fixing these problems we had. I hope to hear from them soon.

See you Monday!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Cara1210]

Can't wait for the next installment!:sohappy:

 

[danipooh]

Hi! I just discovered your trip report and got caught up! It was very fun to read! I would be livid with the service at the Poly--especially for the money that room cost. Lately I've heard nothing but negative reviews about that place. Did I read that you were considering staying there for your honeymoon? I wouldn't go back! DH and I stayed at GF for our honeymoon and it was great. It's a very romantic place for a honeymoon!

And about your sister...I have two younger sisters who have major attitudes. They were actually ok the last time we all went to WDW, but they have daily attitudes and it is SO frustrating!!! :brick:

 

[Jungle Skipper]

The Final Evening.

After our super fast, whirlwind tour of Epcot, DC, DF and I headed back to the Polynesian. DA had arranged for us to have one last nice dinner at WDW, once again visiting one of her favorite meals – O’hana. We hopped in the car and arrived at the Polynesian with 7 min to spare before our reservation. When we arrived on the 2nd floor DS was furious that we took so long to arrive…as if we were late. Looking at my watch and cell phone we were exactly 5 min early! She was ticked to high heaven and wouldn’t talk to us. I was getting sick of this attitude.

About 15 min after our scheduled reservation time, we were seated. DS still not speaking to anyone, only huffing and puffing. We sit and our waitress comes to the table. Unfortunately she’s not the greatest server in the world, but certainly not an experience I would have remembered as bad. However, my ridiculous sister, a former waitress (who subsequently has been fired twice for a bad attitude) who thinks she’s God’s gift to the restaurant world, felt the need to belittle and critique every move this woman made. It was quite frustrating. About half way through the meal I quit biting my tongue and commented, “Goodness, can we stop griping yet? It is not like she’s the worst service we’ve ever had…not even close. I for one would like to enjoy my meal.”

DS didn’t speak again the rest of the meal. Even in asking for things. At one point, she sat silently pointing rudely at the wonton chips like a child who doesn’t speak yet. I looked up and she pointed angrily. I said, “I’m sorry, are you asking for something?” Instead of speaking she just got up and got them herself. Good for her. I wasn’t going to listen to her BS anymore! :brick: As we were eating, a whole bunch of fireworks went off near the Wedding Pavilion. IT was a nice surprise show! Pretty and VERY close! Congratulations to whoever just got married!

After dinner, DC, DF and I ran back to the room to drop off some packages. For the first time on our entire trip, the room was simply comfortable. Not hot, not cold, but nice and comfortable! Too little too late if you ask me! DF kept the toasting glasses so we could take them for engraving on Main Street. We went to the restroom and headed for the Magic Kingdom. Upon arrival we got in line and picked up our EMH bracelets.

Once on Main Street, we headed for Arribas Bros. and dropped off our glasses to have our wedding date…May 17, 2008…engraved on the glasses. The manager said congratulations and told us the engraving was on the house. Very nice of him. While they were doing this, DF, DC and I headed out to Main Street just in time to catch Wishes for one last time. It was so nice finally seeing the show in the park…the room view is great and all, but from inside the park is something extra special.

Afterwards, we ducked into the Main Street Jewelers and bought a porcelain Mickey and Minnie Bride and Groom Figure that we want to use as our Wedding Cake Topper. Then the three of us ducked into La Chapeau to pick up a hat for DF’s dad, and a pair of mouse ears for DF’s niece and nephew. It was crowded in there, but we finally got some help and got the kiddos names sewn on the hats.

As we were leaving the shop I received an angry and berating phone call from DS wanting to know “Where the #@$! Are you?” I told her we were making our way back to meet them in Tomorrowland. “Well hurry the %$@ up!” then she hung up on me. I hate that. That’s so rude. I’m almost 100% through with her at this point.

We made it to Tomorrowland and met up with DA and the angry one at the Carousel of Progress…one of my all time favorites! It was wonderful as always…although halfway through the second stage the sound went down and there was a announcement something like “the cars will remain moving immediately, please remain seated as the cars will begin moving immediately.” Thought that was odd…nothing else happened, the ride kept going as normal. DC and I laughed about it. :ROFLOL:

Afterwards we headed for the TTA and took one last lap around Tomorrowland. Afterwards we headed for Fantasyland and took DA on Peter Pans Flight…another sentimental favorite for me, followed by a spin on the happiest cruise ever: It’s a Small World. From hear DS just left, didn’t really say anything to anyone, she just walked off and went back to the room. We still had 2 hours left in the park and initially intended to stay the whole time, but some of the big ride lines were pretty long tonight. DA, DC, DF and I headed back to Pirates for one last Caribbean cruise and then DA bought some stuff at the pirates bazaar for one of her nephews.

At this point we were getting exhausted. :snore: We knew that tomorrow morning was an early rise and we all still had to pack our bags, and then make that 13 hour drive home. Ugh. Upon that thought, as if right on cue, that sick feeling in your stomach, the one that just wants to well up into an emotional wreck about leaving the happiest place ever, it came to life in my tummy.

DF and I held hands and we strolled toward Main Street, saying goodbye to this dreamland. On Main Street we had our picture taken in front of the castle. Then the three of us (DC, DF and I) had our picture taken looking down Main Street toward the entrance. This was kind of like the goodbye to the park. From here we headed toward the Expo hall. DA asked us to stop by and purchase the Photopass CD, but when we arrived there was a horribly long line at the photo place. We waited in line for right at 30 min and still weren’t halfway there, add to that that the AC had been turned off and we were all sweating profusely packed into a line that didn’t seem to move. So we found out we could buy the disc later online, so we promptly hopped out of line and made that final walk out of the park.

Outside of the turnstiles, that pit feeling intensified. I turned to look at the park one last time, feeling tears well up in my eyes…tears of sadness for leaving, tears of happiness for the wonderful time we’d had, tears of pity for my DS who couldn’t let herself have fun, tears of excitement and nervousness about the future. For this was the last time I’d ever step foot in the MK as a single man. The next time, I’ll be married. I’m such geek…such an emotional wreck.

We escorted DF back to her room at the Poly and DC and I made the drive back to the Lodge. Along the way we talked about how great we’ve had it over the years. The good times we’ve had and about how we hope in the future, more times will be there. We talked about one day splitting a room at the WL and one day bringing our own kids down to partake in the magic. Hopefully one day we can make these things happen. It was a good talk, an emotional one. Somehow, we’d officially grown closer this week, and what made me even more excited was that DC and DF had bonded as well…they now considered each other good friends. That made me feel all mushy inside…in fact, writing this last few paragraphs has brought those feelings back…got those darned tears in my eyes. I’m such a wuss!

We got back to our room…6108…and packed our bags. I was exhausted and my packing process simply meant squeeze everything back into the suitcase…deal with it when you get home. I didn’t want to mess with it tonight. Within 30 min we were packed and in bed trying to go to sleep, almost an impossible task. But we pulled it off.

Seems like my head hit that pillow and I was lost in thought…the next thing I know my alarm is going off. That gut feeling…10x worse. It’s the last few hours at WDW. We’ll get to that in a bit….

Next up…leaving the Lodge, breakfast at O’hana, How did we end up with all this stuff? How do we get it all in the van? And….DS-zilla…the outburst to end all outbursts.

Then…the drive home and the e-mail to guest communications.

So we’re almost to the end of my TR…hopefully we can get some good discussion going afterwards and hopefully Disney will be back in touch so I can have more to report. It’s sad that this is coming to an end!

Thanks for reading! Keep the comments flowing!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Jungle Skipper]

Hi! I just discovered your trip report and got caught up! It was very fun to read! I would be livid with the service at the Poly--especially for the money that room cost. Lately I've heard nothing but negative reviews about that place. Did I read that you were considering staying there for your honeymoon? I wouldn't go back! DH and I stayed at GF for our honeymoon and it was great. It's a very romantic place for a honeymoon!

And about your sister...I have two younger sisters who have major attitudes. They were actually ok the last time we all went to WDW, but they have daily attitudes and it is SO frustrating!!! :brick:

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!

I was really disappointed and hope they step up and make this right!

As for the honeymoon, we're actually hoping we can make it to the WL...but its not set yet...Disney's got some work to do to convince me to come back for the honeymoon.

As for DS...she really did it this time...I'll explain more in my next installments, but it was really too much.

Thanks again!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Jungle Skipper]

It's time for saying goodbye...

“Under pressure…pushin’ down on me, pressin’ down on you no man ask for. Under pressure, that burns a building down, puts people on streets…”

Crap, my alarm clock! David Bowie and Queen…Under Pressure…an appropriate song for an alarm clock, but I’ve not dreaded it so much in ages. The song blares in my ear…I turn it off…roll over in bed and groan…that sickness in the pit of my stomach, that sentimental ache, burns like a fire in my belly.

DC and I take our turns in the shower, pack away our sleep clothes and toiletries. After a last minute check of the room, we confirm we have all of our stuff and we head for the lobby. After all of the problems I’ve had out of the valet and bell services all week (some I’ve touched on, but most was too repetitive and hard to explain for this TR, so I omitted a lot of it) we managed to get all of our own bags down stairs…it was kind of amusing because we had 5 bags a piece at this point.

DC ran to pull the van around and we loaded it under the awning, no one even stopped to offer any assistance. Sad. I really think that outsourcing the valet is one of Disney’s BIGGEST mistakes and it really changed the resort experience for us. We then headed to the Polynesian to meet the ladies for our final Disney meal…O’hana’s Character Breakfast.

We arrived about 15 min early but had trouble parking the van. Made it to the restaurant right at 9am for our reservation. However, DS, being the incredibly patient and happy go lucky person she has been all week didn’t want to wait for us. In embarrassing fashion, she apparently barked at the CMs and told them to seat the 3 of them without us…as if we’d been horribly late or something. To me that is amongst the most rude thing she has done (to that point)…I don’t understand what kind of hurry she was in, let alone the ridiculous anger and venom she projected toward everyone else.

Breakfast left something to be desired, it’s a traditional stop for us on our last day, but this time it just didn’t have the charm it used to. Our server was pretty bad…had to ask 3 times to get some drinks other than the juice (which I can’t drink because I’m allergic to passion fruit and guava). The food quality was good, but the service wasn’t and the characters ignored us because we had no kids with us. I didn’t really care about Lilo and Stitch, but I was really looking forward to seeing Mickey and Goofy! They just seemed lackadaisical.

At the end of the meal, I used our DDE card one last time before putting it away for the winter…looking forward to using it in May 2008 for the honeymoon. DA informed us that all of the luggage had been taken by bell services, but all of the souvenir bags had been left in the room. She needed to go to the GF and try to find some baby clothes for a friend and was hoping we’d go ahead and pack the van. DS ignored the rest of us and went with DA on the monorail.

DC, DF and I headed to the room and tried to get all of the bags, but there were far too many. Uh oh….how are we going to get all of this and 5 people into the van?? Yikes. So I called the bell services people and asked them to help us with these bags as well...about 15-20 min later someone was there to help. We loaded everything into the golf cart and headed to the front. DC got the van and the bellhop brought our luggage from storage.

And so began the biggest puzzle in history :brick: …trying to get all of our stuff in the van. On the ride down, DA and I drove, DC sat up front with me when I drove and I sat up front while DA drove. DF sat in the middle seat and DA/DC rotated out the middle passenger-side seat. Then DS had the entire back seat to herself…in which she sprawled out and slept the whole way...After loading the van and unloading it two times, we realized this wasn’t going to be possible. We’d amassed far too much stuff for the trip back. Souvenirs for 5 people and their families/friends…as well as luggage…it just wasn’t all going to fit without some changes in seating. So DC and I made the executive decision to put down one of the seats in the back row. DS would now have 2 seats instead of 3, and in a brand new Honda Odyssey, that should still be plenty of room to be comfortable.

We put the seat down and finally go everything into the van, we still had to put a couple of breakable bags up between the front and middle seats and I had to hold one bag on my lap for the entire trip home, but we got it all in, with enough room for everyone to be mostly comfortable. Then DA called saying they were upstairs and heading our way, I told her what we had to do and she agreed that all should be fine.

About 2 min later, with all of the rage and tact of the stampeding wildebeest from the Lion King, DS arrived on the scene. She went into an absolute tizzy over the seating arrangements…she didn’t have enough room to lay down...then she exploded. I swear I saw a mushroom cloud about the van. She was yelling and screaming, a tantrum worse than I’ve ever seen out of a two year old…but add to that the foul mouth of a weathered sailor. She started yelling at all three of us… “this is bull@#$, F-this, F-that, F-you...” Then started throwing things in the van, including the laptop from the back seat to the front seat, kicked at my painting of the Animal Kingdom (busted the matting) and then cussed out DF and called her some wholly inappropriate and uncalled for names. She was screaming and crying (DS..not DF)…all in front of other guests (including kids), the CM’s, valets and DA. :lookaroun ...awkward...

I was fed up. I told DA I wasn’t going to listen to her ridiculous diatribe any longer. I said if it was that big a deal I’d sit in the back and she could sit in one of the other seats. I pointed out she had more than enough room to lay down, more room than anyone else had…but she was long gone by that point…started yelling that we’d been treating her horribly all week and she hated us all...and somehow we ruined her vacation. Sigh...someone is horribly detached from reality.

DC and I were about 2 seconds away from renting a care and driving ourselves home, leaving DS to rearrange everything herself…but DA was fed up with DS and told her to shut up and stop the tantrum. She wasn’t going to listen to it anymore. Then, DA, DC and I went to look again at the stuff. She knew we were right, it was the only way to get it all in there. And DS had plenty of room…she just refused to be happy and couldn’t let anyone else enjoy anything either.

We piled into the van, listening to DS gripe and moan to one of her high class trashy friends back home on her cell phone about how we were all horrible people and she was cramped up with now room…DA turned around and said “Why don’t you just go buy a billboard so everyone can know how mistreated you are…” After stopping for gas, DF was really upset with DS about the things she’d called her and the way she’d been yelled at…it was absolutely uncalled for. If I’d heard some of the things that came out of her mouth…well, lets just say, she’s lucky I’m patient, cause if it were anyone else, I’d have knocked them out. You do NOT drop the c--- word at my DF or the f-bomb at her or my DA. :fork: Totally without class.

Usually when I pull out of the WDW resort and head out of town, I get choked up and emotional. Wishing we had just one more day…but after this outburst I was just ready to be home. I knew what kind of drive home we were going to have. Most of the drive DS slept. When she was awake she moaned and complained. We stopped twice for food, a Chick-fil-a in Georgia and a Wendy’s in TN. DS knocked an employee to the ground at the Wendy’s after kicking the bathroom door open. Absolutely disgusting.

When we finally got to DA’s house back in KY, DS almost pushed DC to the ground trying to get out of the van. DC, DF and I helped unload the van while my spoiled brat DS stomped around and finally announced to all “I’m leavin’…” before flipping me off and speeding off to one of her friends houses.

I was irate that she didn’t even tell DA thank you for the trip. DC’s parents picked him up and DF and made sure DA was settled in before leaving. DA and I talked about DS for a bit and how ridiculous and offended I was. It was inexcusable. We thanked DA and gave her big hugs and told her we’d see her Sunday. I helped DF get her stuff into the apartment, said goodnight and headed home. It was over…

So the time has finally come, my trip to WDW is over. No it hasn’t been the best trip I’ve ever been on….in fact with all the problems we’ve had with the room, the service and the valets, I’d say due to those events alone, this trip was less than wonderful and easily qualify for the worst Disney experience ever! However, this was the first time I’ve been to WDW with the love of my life, and the last time I’ll go like I’ve been going to WDW for years. That’s special, and despite all those things and the side show act that was my sister, the opportunity to visit this magic place and to be a kid again, was phenomenal. And as I mentioned in my last installment, the opportunity to share that magical place with my DC and DF…my two best friends in the whole world, and to have the three of us take our friendships to whole new levels…that was the best part of it all!

I want to thank you all for reading my trip report. I’ll be back this evening to talk about the events of the days following my trip including my DS’s continued craziness and our official falling out. Plus I’ll talk about the letter I sent to WDW guest communications and hopefully I can update you on how this experience goes…hopefully they will attempt to make things right and then I’ll be able to move forward and start a new pre-trip report for planning the honeymoon for May 2008.

As I’ve said before…thanks for reading! I really appreciate your comments, thoughts and feedback. I hope we can continue our discussions here about this trip. I’d be glad to answer any and all questions…so let’s keep this thread alive and pumping! :sohappy:

Thanks for sharing in my Last Hurrah!

Next up….the aftermath and the letter to guest communications and hopefully some pictures late this week.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Turcicus]

Great report! I'm sorry your sister acted the way she did.

Next up….the aftermath and the letter to guest communications and hopefully some pictures late this week.

We definitely need pictures!!