faline
09-18-2008, 11:06 AM
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Plan for the Day:
Fly to Disney World
Take Quicksilver to Wilderness Lodge
Meet Mary (Mauimouse)
Dinner at Artist Point
What Actually Happened:
I think I set the wrong time for my wake up call as the phone never rang. Good thing we also set the alarm clock! At 3:45 a.m., we were up and off to the shower. At 4:45 a.m. – right on time – we headed downstairs to check out and take the shuttle around the corner to our terminal.
We’re quickly deposited at the Southwest curb where we deposit our checked bags and head upstairs to Dunkin’ for a cuppa and something to eat.
Security is quick though Gene’s belt buckles get extra scrutiny as that bag is pulled aside and opened. As this has happened before, we were prepared for this possibility and had packed them on top so they could be quickly viewed.
Our gate is very crowded as there is an earlier flight leaving from the same gate that has not yet boarded. They clear out and by 6:25 a.m., we are on board for our 6:40 a.m. flight.
The flight is smooth and we are on the ground in Orlando at 9:30 a.m.! Our Quicksilver driver is waiting for us at the end of the escalator. Even the luggage arrives quickly (which is a surprise for Orlando) and we’re at Wilderness Lodge by 10:30 a.m.
To check into Club Level, we need to stop first at the Bell Services desk. Here we find someone from the same city Gene works in. In fact, they both used to work for the same company!
We’re told a manager will be “right out” to take us upstairs. We wait and then we wait some more. People standing in the regular check-in line arrive, finish checking in, and leave. We’re still waiting. A man finally appears and says he’ll be “back in two minutes”. He disappears. More waiting. So far, not a very good first impression of concierge level! We could have checked in several times over while waiting in the regular check-in line. After many more seconds of waiting, we check in again with bell services and he goes in search of our elusive manager.
Finally, he reappears and thanks us for our patience. He does not apologize for making us wait so long. He tells us our room is ready, escorts us to the elevator and explains how to use our room key to access the 7th floor.
As we exit the elevators on the 7th floor, there are two desks to our right. The person at one desk assists us with officially checking in. While we are in the middle of checking in, the manager who escorted us upstairs reappears and announces he “found it” apparently referring to a check-in packet that had been prepared for us. It leads us to believe he spent all the time we were waiting downstairs looking for our packet and ultimately preparing a new packet for us on the fly. He doesn’t explain any of this, though, simply drops off the packet with the person assisting us, wishes us a good vacation and disappears once again into the elevator. Our packet contains anniversary pins for each of us, a birthday pin for me (which I never end up wearing as it feels like overkill), information on the operating hours for the Old Faithful Club (concierge’s food and snack center), and a customized itinerary, detailing all the arrangements concierge has made for us for dining, etc.
We’re told our room is a Magic Kingdom room and ready immediately. I’m a little concerned about this as I had heard that there were some noise issues with folks who had this view. In the end, this is not an issue. Only occasionally do I hear back-up beeps from below and it never interferes with our ability to rest when we want. We’re shown around the floor and the places we can eat as well as tv and couch areas. Our room is 7062. It is just around the corner from the ice and vending machines and a very short walk to the Old Faithful Club. We take a quick peek around the room and at the view. We can see the Contemporary (http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/7997/2385031430104031159S600x600Q85.jpg), Space Mountain, and the Grand Floridian (http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/42635/2937541980104031159S600x600Q85.jpg)quite clearly from our room. We can also see Cinderella’s Castle but only the tip top of it through the trees. We’re not able to linger as we have plans for this afternoon! Gene calls for the bags and they are brought up right away. We take just enough time to reorganize a few things so we’re ready to head into the park. Unpacking will need to come later.
As we leave our room, the aroma of chocolate chip cookies is very strong! We find the Old Faithful Club is open. Gene grabs two chocolate chip cookies “for the road”. I can’t resist taking one myself!
When I was able to turn my phone on again as we were disembarking from the plane, I had a voice mail message from Mary (Mauimouse). This was Mary’s last day in Disney World and she left a message indicating she was headed for Epcot. Once we arrived at the bus stop, I gave Mary a quick call. She was about to head into O Canada and would meet as Cantina de San Angel.
An Epcot bus appears after a 5 minute wait. In fact, short to no waits for transportation proved to be a theme throughout our trip. We make a quick stop to pick up folks at Fort Willy and it’s then off to Epcot. We need to stop at Guest Relations to activate our annual passes and purchase the Disney Dining Experience card. I almost walked away from the window without making this purchase but, fortunately remembered before I’d taken two steps!
Although we had gotten through security quickly, the short entry line we selected turns out to move very slowly. Finally, in the park, we head directly to Mexico and locate Mary. We have lunch at the Cantina. I order the child’s lunch which is more than enough food! Gene has the burrito and I think Mary had the combo platter along with a churro. We had a lovely chat over lunch and it was wonderful to get to meet up with Mary once again! After lunch, we went our separate ways.
Plan for the Day:
Fly to Disney World
Take Quicksilver to Wilderness Lodge
Meet Mary (Mauimouse)
Dinner at Artist Point
What Actually Happened:
I think I set the wrong time for my wake up call as the phone never rang. Good thing we also set the alarm clock! At 3:45 a.m., we were up and off to the shower. At 4:45 a.m. – right on time – we headed downstairs to check out and take the shuttle around the corner to our terminal.
We’re quickly deposited at the Southwest curb where we deposit our checked bags and head upstairs to Dunkin’ for a cuppa and something to eat.
Security is quick though Gene’s belt buckles get extra scrutiny as that bag is pulled aside and opened. As this has happened before, we were prepared for this possibility and had packed them on top so they could be quickly viewed.
Our gate is very crowded as there is an earlier flight leaving from the same gate that has not yet boarded. They clear out and by 6:25 a.m., we are on board for our 6:40 a.m. flight.
The flight is smooth and we are on the ground in Orlando at 9:30 a.m.! Our Quicksilver driver is waiting for us at the end of the escalator. Even the luggage arrives quickly (which is a surprise for Orlando) and we’re at Wilderness Lodge by 10:30 a.m.
To check into Club Level, we need to stop first at the Bell Services desk. Here we find someone from the same city Gene works in. In fact, they both used to work for the same company!
We’re told a manager will be “right out” to take us upstairs. We wait and then we wait some more. People standing in the regular check-in line arrive, finish checking in, and leave. We’re still waiting. A man finally appears and says he’ll be “back in two minutes”. He disappears. More waiting. So far, not a very good first impression of concierge level! We could have checked in several times over while waiting in the regular check-in line. After many more seconds of waiting, we check in again with bell services and he goes in search of our elusive manager.
Finally, he reappears and thanks us for our patience. He does not apologize for making us wait so long. He tells us our room is ready, escorts us to the elevator and explains how to use our room key to access the 7th floor.
As we exit the elevators on the 7th floor, there are two desks to our right. The person at one desk assists us with officially checking in. While we are in the middle of checking in, the manager who escorted us upstairs reappears and announces he “found it” apparently referring to a check-in packet that had been prepared for us. It leads us to believe he spent all the time we were waiting downstairs looking for our packet and ultimately preparing a new packet for us on the fly. He doesn’t explain any of this, though, simply drops off the packet with the person assisting us, wishes us a good vacation and disappears once again into the elevator. Our packet contains anniversary pins for each of us, a birthday pin for me (which I never end up wearing as it feels like overkill), information on the operating hours for the Old Faithful Club (concierge’s food and snack center), and a customized itinerary, detailing all the arrangements concierge has made for us for dining, etc.
We’re told our room is a Magic Kingdom room and ready immediately. I’m a little concerned about this as I had heard that there were some noise issues with folks who had this view. In the end, this is not an issue. Only occasionally do I hear back-up beeps from below and it never interferes with our ability to rest when we want. We’re shown around the floor and the places we can eat as well as tv and couch areas. Our room is 7062. It is just around the corner from the ice and vending machines and a very short walk to the Old Faithful Club. We take a quick peek around the room and at the view. We can see the Contemporary (http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/7997/2385031430104031159S600x600Q85.jpg), Space Mountain, and the Grand Floridian (http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/42635/2937541980104031159S600x600Q85.jpg)quite clearly from our room. We can also see Cinderella’s Castle but only the tip top of it through the trees. We’re not able to linger as we have plans for this afternoon! Gene calls for the bags and they are brought up right away. We take just enough time to reorganize a few things so we’re ready to head into the park. Unpacking will need to come later.
As we leave our room, the aroma of chocolate chip cookies is very strong! We find the Old Faithful Club is open. Gene grabs two chocolate chip cookies “for the road”. I can’t resist taking one myself!
When I was able to turn my phone on again as we were disembarking from the plane, I had a voice mail message from Mary (Mauimouse). This was Mary’s last day in Disney World and she left a message indicating she was headed for Epcot. Once we arrived at the bus stop, I gave Mary a quick call. She was about to head into O Canada and would meet as Cantina de San Angel.
An Epcot bus appears after a 5 minute wait. In fact, short to no waits for transportation proved to be a theme throughout our trip. We make a quick stop to pick up folks at Fort Willy and it’s then off to Epcot. We need to stop at Guest Relations to activate our annual passes and purchase the Disney Dining Experience card. I almost walked away from the window without making this purchase but, fortunately remembered before I’d taken two steps!
Although we had gotten through security quickly, the short entry line we selected turns out to move very slowly. Finally, in the park, we head directly to Mexico and locate Mary. We have lunch at the Cantina. I order the child’s lunch which is more than enough food! Gene has the burrito and I think Mary had the combo platter along with a churro. We had a lovely chat over lunch and it was wonderful to get to meet up with Mary once again! After lunch, we went our separate ways.