BigRedDad
03-15-2010, 08:05 AM
It was Monday. Grandma had an appointment with DVC this morning (thoughts at end of thread). DD and I went to MK solo for a bit. DD and I get there and in with no issues. She loves Dumbo, so we go to the Castle and wait at the rope drop. No one is there and it is 15 minutes before opening. I ask her if she wants to wake up Tinkerbell. She wants to. About 5 minutes before opening, another party comes up and tries forcing their way to the front to make the run. Well, I was just going to meander over and try. This guy runs his sister right at rope drop ahead of me, knocks a CM to the ground. We are right at the door and he pushes my DD and I out of the way to run in. Well, Karma is king. His DSLR goes flying, bounces off the ground and shatters, the lens flies off and hits the brick wall shattering it as well. Then, he gets the nerve to say that it was my DD's fault. She is 4 and we are walking as the other CM is still trying to get off the ground. Karma strikes twice because they are no longer doing the Wake up Tinkerbell because of instances like this. Security was called and the kid and his sister are escorted out of the park while the mother is screaming at them. I did see them later that day. With my confrontational nature, I asked them how their camera is that my DD broke.
We walk onto Dumbo, hit the Tea Cups, ride the race cars and make our way to Toon Town for the Fairies. We get right in with the first group. DD meets Fawn, Tinkerbell, and Terrence. She loved it. Grandma has not arrived from the DVC visit yet so we head to Splash Mountain (DD's first "big ride"). She was fine except for the first drop that is in the dark. She was "never ever ever never" going on that ride again. We meet up with grandma at the Carousel and then lunch at Cosmic Ray's. We talk about the DVC visit a bit as she was about to call her Financial Adviser. We head out and the Castle show was about to start. We watch it and then head back to CSR for a swim and nap.
We head back to MK at about 4PM. Have a dinner at Tony's Town Square. It was actually pretty good for the $60 we spent. We get out about 5PM. There were people lining up for SepctroMagic 2 hours early. We decide to get a spot up front and take turns taking DD to some shops. All of a sudden, Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade started. DD loved this little show/parade. She got to dance with Donald. Her favorite memory of the trip is Donald bumping back into her with his behind.
Issue #3: Foreigners with no respect. We are lined up for the parades. There are two groups on either side of us and there was no room between our groups and the rope behind us. Grandma calls me because a family of foreigners were trying to push our stroller and grandma into the street and the other families on either side of us. Well, I get back, stand behind my stroller and push them back to the ropes. I am 6' tall with an attitude at times. They speak their spanish as if no one else can understand them. The tallest in their group might have been 5'2". They started to push on me a little and the other mothers next to us. So, I take another step back from my stroller and they are now pressed into the rope complaining. A nice CM and Security come over. I have a little chat with them along with the other families on the sides of us. The foreigners pretend to only speak Spanish. The Security guy begins talking to them in Spanish and informs them that they cannot stay there if they cannot fit within the rope. Needless-to-say, they left because they had no chance to see it from their vantage point. At this point the other families nor I were going to make room for them. About 10 minutes before Spectro another family comes up with a little girl, politely asks if they could fit in, we make room, and their little girl sits up front and we all enjoyed the show.
Spectro and Wishes were great. DD was terrified when the Queen of Hearts came up to her. She jumped out of her stroller, got behind me, and buried her head to get away. It was funny.
Another great day at WDW. :mickey:
DVC: First, this is only my thoughts on DVC. Every person's situation is different. My mother is on a fixed income. I ran the numbers for what it would take for her to buy into it. In the end, it amounted to $250 per month out her fixed income for 10 years. This amounts to $3000. We can purchase 2 weeks worth of points for the times we go for less than that from other members. The second issue is that a Studio is not big enough for 4 people. There is 1 full bed (they may call it a queen, but it is not), 1 full sofa bed that is harder than the floor, and no daily housekeeping. In order to fit 4 people comfortably without having an air mattress, you need a 2-bedroom unit that is outrageously too many points. In the end, DVC is not for us. We enjoyed our adjoining rooms at Pop Century more than we did our room at AKV.
Please, DVC owners do not flame me for this. This is only an observation for my family, our needs, and within our means. My personal opinion is if the initial investment amount, ~$20k, is throw away money for your family, then it is a great deal.
We walk onto Dumbo, hit the Tea Cups, ride the race cars and make our way to Toon Town for the Fairies. We get right in with the first group. DD meets Fawn, Tinkerbell, and Terrence. She loved it. Grandma has not arrived from the DVC visit yet so we head to Splash Mountain (DD's first "big ride"). She was fine except for the first drop that is in the dark. She was "never ever ever never" going on that ride again. We meet up with grandma at the Carousel and then lunch at Cosmic Ray's. We talk about the DVC visit a bit as she was about to call her Financial Adviser. We head out and the Castle show was about to start. We watch it and then head back to CSR for a swim and nap.
We head back to MK at about 4PM. Have a dinner at Tony's Town Square. It was actually pretty good for the $60 we spent. We get out about 5PM. There were people lining up for SepctroMagic 2 hours early. We decide to get a spot up front and take turns taking DD to some shops. All of a sudden, Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade started. DD loved this little show/parade. She got to dance with Donald. Her favorite memory of the trip is Donald bumping back into her with his behind.
Issue #3: Foreigners with no respect. We are lined up for the parades. There are two groups on either side of us and there was no room between our groups and the rope behind us. Grandma calls me because a family of foreigners were trying to push our stroller and grandma into the street and the other families on either side of us. Well, I get back, stand behind my stroller and push them back to the ropes. I am 6' tall with an attitude at times. They speak their spanish as if no one else can understand them. The tallest in their group might have been 5'2". They started to push on me a little and the other mothers next to us. So, I take another step back from my stroller and they are now pressed into the rope complaining. A nice CM and Security come over. I have a little chat with them along with the other families on the sides of us. The foreigners pretend to only speak Spanish. The Security guy begins talking to them in Spanish and informs them that they cannot stay there if they cannot fit within the rope. Needless-to-say, they left because they had no chance to see it from their vantage point. At this point the other families nor I were going to make room for them. About 10 minutes before Spectro another family comes up with a little girl, politely asks if they could fit in, we make room, and their little girl sits up front and we all enjoyed the show.
Spectro and Wishes were great. DD was terrified when the Queen of Hearts came up to her. She jumped out of her stroller, got behind me, and buried her head to get away. It was funny.
Another great day at WDW. :mickey:
DVC: First, this is only my thoughts on DVC. Every person's situation is different. My mother is on a fixed income. I ran the numbers for what it would take for her to buy into it. In the end, it amounted to $250 per month out her fixed income for 10 years. This amounts to $3000. We can purchase 2 weeks worth of points for the times we go for less than that from other members. The second issue is that a Studio is not big enough for 4 people. There is 1 full bed (they may call it a queen, but it is not), 1 full sofa bed that is harder than the floor, and no daily housekeeping. In order to fit 4 people comfortably without having an air mattress, you need a 2-bedroom unit that is outrageously too many points. In the end, DVC is not for us. We enjoyed our adjoining rooms at Pop Century more than we did our room at AKV.
Please, DVC owners do not flame me for this. This is only an observation for my family, our needs, and within our means. My personal opinion is if the initial investment amount, ~$20k, is throw away money for your family, then it is a great deal.