KylesMom
07-17-2007, 11:42 AM
OK, 15 times of writing it & I realized I spelled Odyssey wrong! :blush:
Cast of Characters:
Me, 41 (Favorite Character Mickey)
DH, 41 (Favorite Character Grumpy)
DS, 9 (Loves Both Mickey & Stitch)
Day 15 – Saturday, June 23, 2007 – Final Day
As suspected, I awake at around 4:45 and decide to get up. I may regret this later, but I don’t want to waste another moment of our last day here. I shower, pack away a few more personal items, let DH know where I’m going, grab my camera and I’m out the door at 5:40 am.
Before the hotel is bustling with activity, I want to get some “quiet” pictures, and I also want to see the sun rise over Bay Lake. This truly is a magnificent resort, and although I see a few CMs working to get the resort ready for the day, I don’t see any guests as I walk out to snap some photos of the pool, lobby, courtyard and boat dock. Oh, but I’m going to miss this place! :(
After the sun makes it over the horizon, I check to see if the Airport Check-In desk is open (it is), and head back to the room. DH is already showered, and when Mickey calls to wake DS up, I ensure he’s awake enough to remember our last call. We all finish getting ready, pack every last thing that will fit in the suitcases and carry-ons, and decide what has to stay. Not bad. I quickly scan our Express Check-Out documents, which seem to be in order. Interestingly enough, they renewed our credit limit when it got to $1,500, but never notified us to come down & sign off on the bill. This is a first.
We call Bell Services at around 7:30, and they come right to our room to take our luggage down to Airline Check-In. This is where I really mess up! First, I do not have our outbound flight printout information, as the Skycap took it when we checked in at O’Hare. I should have had duplicates and didn’t. In my trip planner, I had LAST YEARS information for the return flight – so when they tried to check us in, they realized that the American Flight did not exist that I was telling them we were on. When we finally figured out the right flight, when they tried to print out our boarding passes and baggage claim tickets, the system froze. Apparently this happens with the first American check-in of the day? At any rate . . . no go.
They could not check us in, and tell us to come back in a bit to see if the printer kicks out the documents we need. We leave our luggage in their capable hands, but it’s not locked up and I’m not entirely comfortable just letting it sit there.
We finish packing our carry-ons and go back down. Nothing has spit out of the printer, and both DH and I are getting tense. We realize that it’s not the CM’s fault, and so we remain pleasant if not a bit urgent. At this point I’m feeling guilty because other guests are waiting.
In the most brilliant of moves, our Airline Check-In CM actually calls Fort Wilderness, where their system has no problem producing our documents. He then travels to Fort Wilderness to get our boarding passes and baggage tickets. :thumbsup: Can you believe it? I wait for him to return while DH puts the carry-ons in the rental car. I am truly astounded at this level of service, and I’m sorry I didn’t write his name down to send a complimentary letter to WDW. This is customer service of an unbelievable magnitude, and it truly made our day. :cool: I’m so happy I almost hug the guy! Instead I give him an insane tip, :number1: and thank him profusely for making our return trip home trouble free. We’ve had some tense times trying to maneuver through the Orlando airport from the rental car area with luggage and a kid in tow, and so we ensure that we fly major carriers to utilize the Airport Check-In service to make our way home trouble (and line) free.
What’s next, you ask? Why, jumping on the boat for Magic Kingdom! :mickey: Believe it or not, it’s only a few minutes after 9:00. Space Mountain is down! This happens every year – SM is down on our last day. We grab FPs, then head over to Buzz. DH convinces DS to ride solo, and he gets his best score ever – I don’t think he’ll be riding with either of us anymore – he likes controlling his own spinning motion! On a whim we decide to check Space Mtn one more time – and they open it while we’re standing there. We walk right through, and are boarding our craft in moments. We blast through space, hustle back off & through the queue again for one more trip before we move on. How cool – 2x on Space, with a FP in our pockets! We cross the park at the hub & go right to Big Thunder Mountain – 2x in a row, with another FP in our pockets. We decided to skip Splash Mountain altogether today because we don’t want to ride home on the plane in wet clothes, so we head over to Pirates where the wait is minimal. One last view of Captain Jack, and then on to Agrabah, where they’re loading people en masse. Back across the park for a FP for Buzz, and we realize we’re awful hungry! We grab a quick lunch at the hot dog stand near the Lunching Pad, then take a spin on the TTA while waiting for our FP return time for Buzz. DH is victorious once again, although I did pretty well – Space Ace again!
We are able to experience for the last time Peter Pan (FP), the Carousel, Philharmagic, Small World, Snow White, another Big Thunder Mountain ride, one last Space Mountain ride, Mickey Bars (of course) and a few photo opps near the Wishing Fountains. We also get one last FP for a souvenir – Space Mountain, of course! The last purchase I must make is a Year of a Million Dreams Mickey Mouse plush in all his finery. DS finally spots one in the Donald store adjacent to Philharmagic. Yay – my shopping is complete! Now if I can only fit him in one of our carry-on bags . . .
We reluctantly decide around 3:30 that it’s time we say goodbye to the MK. We’ve been able to experience many more things than I thought would be possible today! Once again, timing is everything, and a boat is just arriving at the dock. We make it back to WL in short order, where we take one last trip to the Mercantile for some Powerade, and sit in the lobby for a bit, postponing the inevitable. DS finally breaks down, and I have the Kleenex ready. :cry: I let him sit on my lap for a few minutes, and we quietly talk about what a great trip we’ve had, and that we’ll of course be back. Trying to lighten the mood, we even joke about having to buy him an adult A/P next year. We both dry our tears and, with DH, decide it’s time to go.
We cool the car down, and begin our trek back to Orlando International Airport, stopping at the Hess Station to refuel the car. We have driven 221 miles during our stay. We arrive at Orlando International without problem, and although it’s a bit tricky to find where we need to return the rental car, we make it to the terminal. Ooops, I forgot that we put Kyle’s Goofy Sour candy in the carry-on bags which have been sitting in the car all day. Now they’re a gooey mess (in a ziplock bag-phew!). Tossing the mess away, we stop by the Disney store to pick him us some more. The CM at the store offers DS a bunch of stickers (his first time this trip) and it’s enough to cheer him up a little. Let's be honest here - we're all a bit melancholy.
We decide to make our way through security and to our gate. However, now we can’t find the boards for American on where our flight is loading! Airport personnel assure us that we need to go through them and we’ll find our American gate – and thus begins the trek through security. Orlando is not near as “vigorous” as O’Hare, and we’re through with our shoes back on in short order. We find our gate (which they change) but board on time and arrive back in Chicago as scheduled. We see mom pull up in my van, and off to home we go. We make the hour-long drive, and as we walk through the front door at 10:30, realize our World of Disney purchases have made it home before us once again! What more could you ask – presents from Disney upon our arrival.
Thus the Darcy’s Disney Odyssey comes to an end. I’ll be back to share my final thoughts – and I’m going to try to post a small portion of our pictures online if I can. Between DS and I, we took over 1,700 pictures and a few hours of video tape! :blush:
Cast of Characters:
Me, 41 (Favorite Character Mickey)
DH, 41 (Favorite Character Grumpy)
DS, 9 (Loves Both Mickey & Stitch)
Day 15 – Saturday, June 23, 2007 – Final Day
As suspected, I awake at around 4:45 and decide to get up. I may regret this later, but I don’t want to waste another moment of our last day here. I shower, pack away a few more personal items, let DH know where I’m going, grab my camera and I’m out the door at 5:40 am.
Before the hotel is bustling with activity, I want to get some “quiet” pictures, and I also want to see the sun rise over Bay Lake. This truly is a magnificent resort, and although I see a few CMs working to get the resort ready for the day, I don’t see any guests as I walk out to snap some photos of the pool, lobby, courtyard and boat dock. Oh, but I’m going to miss this place! :(
After the sun makes it over the horizon, I check to see if the Airport Check-In desk is open (it is), and head back to the room. DH is already showered, and when Mickey calls to wake DS up, I ensure he’s awake enough to remember our last call. We all finish getting ready, pack every last thing that will fit in the suitcases and carry-ons, and decide what has to stay. Not bad. I quickly scan our Express Check-Out documents, which seem to be in order. Interestingly enough, they renewed our credit limit when it got to $1,500, but never notified us to come down & sign off on the bill. This is a first.
We call Bell Services at around 7:30, and they come right to our room to take our luggage down to Airline Check-In. This is where I really mess up! First, I do not have our outbound flight printout information, as the Skycap took it when we checked in at O’Hare. I should have had duplicates and didn’t. In my trip planner, I had LAST YEARS information for the return flight – so when they tried to check us in, they realized that the American Flight did not exist that I was telling them we were on. When we finally figured out the right flight, when they tried to print out our boarding passes and baggage claim tickets, the system froze. Apparently this happens with the first American check-in of the day? At any rate . . . no go.
They could not check us in, and tell us to come back in a bit to see if the printer kicks out the documents we need. We leave our luggage in their capable hands, but it’s not locked up and I’m not entirely comfortable just letting it sit there.
We finish packing our carry-ons and go back down. Nothing has spit out of the printer, and both DH and I are getting tense. We realize that it’s not the CM’s fault, and so we remain pleasant if not a bit urgent. At this point I’m feeling guilty because other guests are waiting.
In the most brilliant of moves, our Airline Check-In CM actually calls Fort Wilderness, where their system has no problem producing our documents. He then travels to Fort Wilderness to get our boarding passes and baggage tickets. :thumbsup: Can you believe it? I wait for him to return while DH puts the carry-ons in the rental car. I am truly astounded at this level of service, and I’m sorry I didn’t write his name down to send a complimentary letter to WDW. This is customer service of an unbelievable magnitude, and it truly made our day. :cool: I’m so happy I almost hug the guy! Instead I give him an insane tip, :number1: and thank him profusely for making our return trip home trouble free. We’ve had some tense times trying to maneuver through the Orlando airport from the rental car area with luggage and a kid in tow, and so we ensure that we fly major carriers to utilize the Airport Check-In service to make our way home trouble (and line) free.
What’s next, you ask? Why, jumping on the boat for Magic Kingdom! :mickey: Believe it or not, it’s only a few minutes after 9:00. Space Mountain is down! This happens every year – SM is down on our last day. We grab FPs, then head over to Buzz. DH convinces DS to ride solo, and he gets his best score ever – I don’t think he’ll be riding with either of us anymore – he likes controlling his own spinning motion! On a whim we decide to check Space Mtn one more time – and they open it while we’re standing there. We walk right through, and are boarding our craft in moments. We blast through space, hustle back off & through the queue again for one more trip before we move on. How cool – 2x on Space, with a FP in our pockets! We cross the park at the hub & go right to Big Thunder Mountain – 2x in a row, with another FP in our pockets. We decided to skip Splash Mountain altogether today because we don’t want to ride home on the plane in wet clothes, so we head over to Pirates where the wait is minimal. One last view of Captain Jack, and then on to Agrabah, where they’re loading people en masse. Back across the park for a FP for Buzz, and we realize we’re awful hungry! We grab a quick lunch at the hot dog stand near the Lunching Pad, then take a spin on the TTA while waiting for our FP return time for Buzz. DH is victorious once again, although I did pretty well – Space Ace again!
We are able to experience for the last time Peter Pan (FP), the Carousel, Philharmagic, Small World, Snow White, another Big Thunder Mountain ride, one last Space Mountain ride, Mickey Bars (of course) and a few photo opps near the Wishing Fountains. We also get one last FP for a souvenir – Space Mountain, of course! The last purchase I must make is a Year of a Million Dreams Mickey Mouse plush in all his finery. DS finally spots one in the Donald store adjacent to Philharmagic. Yay – my shopping is complete! Now if I can only fit him in one of our carry-on bags . . .
We reluctantly decide around 3:30 that it’s time we say goodbye to the MK. We’ve been able to experience many more things than I thought would be possible today! Once again, timing is everything, and a boat is just arriving at the dock. We make it back to WL in short order, where we take one last trip to the Mercantile for some Powerade, and sit in the lobby for a bit, postponing the inevitable. DS finally breaks down, and I have the Kleenex ready. :cry: I let him sit on my lap for a few minutes, and we quietly talk about what a great trip we’ve had, and that we’ll of course be back. Trying to lighten the mood, we even joke about having to buy him an adult A/P next year. We both dry our tears and, with DH, decide it’s time to go.
We cool the car down, and begin our trek back to Orlando International Airport, stopping at the Hess Station to refuel the car. We have driven 221 miles during our stay. We arrive at Orlando International without problem, and although it’s a bit tricky to find where we need to return the rental car, we make it to the terminal. Ooops, I forgot that we put Kyle’s Goofy Sour candy in the carry-on bags which have been sitting in the car all day. Now they’re a gooey mess (in a ziplock bag-phew!). Tossing the mess away, we stop by the Disney store to pick him us some more. The CM at the store offers DS a bunch of stickers (his first time this trip) and it’s enough to cheer him up a little. Let's be honest here - we're all a bit melancholy.
We decide to make our way through security and to our gate. However, now we can’t find the boards for American on where our flight is loading! Airport personnel assure us that we need to go through them and we’ll find our American gate – and thus begins the trek through security. Orlando is not near as “vigorous” as O’Hare, and we’re through with our shoes back on in short order. We find our gate (which they change) but board on time and arrive back in Chicago as scheduled. We see mom pull up in my van, and off to home we go. We make the hour-long drive, and as we walk through the front door at 10:30, realize our World of Disney purchases have made it home before us once again! What more could you ask – presents from Disney upon our arrival.
Thus the Darcy’s Disney Odyssey comes to an end. I’ll be back to share my final thoughts – and I’m going to try to post a small portion of our pictures online if I can. Between DS and I, we took over 1,700 pictures and a few hours of video tape! :blush: