MizMissy
05-31-2010, 04:40 PM
Sorry for the length ... here's the rest of the day.
After HOP, it was time for SM FP. And, I must say, we were all exhausted. However, we never received our text saying our room was ready … it was after 2 pm. So, DH called and checked, they said our room still wasn’t ready, but they would send a text as soon as it was available. Hmmmm, not good. Also, the room was a bit of a source of contention with DH and I. I booked us a garden wing room. We had a 40% pin code and the rooms to choose from were Beach Club, Boardwalk or Contemporary garden wing. DH chose Contemporary because he liked the updates (we both prefer contemporary architecture anyway). DH was not happy that our room was not in the Tower, he could not believe we weren’t in the Tower. I know I had the discussion with him over location and his response was that we didn’t need to pay extra for a view because we wouldn’t be in the room much. Well, he was ready to pay for an upgrade. See, DH is a bit high maintenance and doesn’t mind paying for the extras in life. I, on the other hand, am very frugal. I HATE to spend money … so much so that DH is in charge of paying most bills and major purchases … if I was in charge, I might still be driving the 91 mazda my parents gave me as a graduation present and our house would not be as nicely cooled at night when sleeping. So, I think the room was something that DH just assumed I did on the cheap (like buying store brand items at the grocery store). Anyway, I was working on convincing him that the garden wing room would be nice and that it would be significantly more money to upgrade to the Tower (especially since we had a pin code and any upgrade would be rack).
Anyway, we rode Space Mountain. We all love this ride … my kids love riding it over and over. I wasn’t so upset we couldn’t ride over and over because by the third time, my tummy and head are telling me “that’s enough.” Sadly, one ride was our only option right now, the park was crowded, we were hot and ready to check out our hotel pool. The only problem was, it was 4 pm and no text message. We walked back to the Contemporary (DH at this point complaining that we did not take the monorail and still unhappy about the room … sigh…). I walked in the door to go find out about our room and who do I see? Our friendly greeter, Judy. I approached Judy, explained the issue and she disappeared to find out what was going on. A few minutes later, she returned with our room number and said everything was ready. She also handed me to a CM who assisted me in retrieving my purse from the safe and went with DH to arrange a bell hop to escort us to our room with our luggage. Thanks again, Judy!! You saved the day!
Once arriving in our room … no more complaints from DH on the location. It was perfect! We loved our room. 1st floor in the building perpendicular to the Tower … a few doors down the hall from the side parking lot, three doors from a door leading to the pool and a nice patio that looked over a big grassy area and you could see the boats heading to and from MK. The room was very spacious. I loved the desk and chair (instead of a too small table in the room that is useless) and loved the couch. Later in the week, DD slept on the pull out bed and really liked it (DS tends to take up lots of room in the bed and most of the covers). When mousekeeping came to our room after she slept on the bed, they made the bed up (and put her quilt on the bed) and she slept there again. Also, I have to say, mousekeeping was also great the entire week. If we were on the second or third floor of the garden wing, I’m not sure if we would have liked it so much, but being on the first floor was perfect.
We all changed and headed towards the pool. Love the pool area … kids loved the slide, the water play area and the beach, too. DH grabbed us a couple of drinks from the sandbar and chips for the kids. We knew we needed to find a grocery store, but the $2.50 chips at the pool made up realize we needed to pick up a variety pack of chips also. Now, I had no ADRs for tonight. DH … being high maintenance … wanted California Grill or Teppan Edo. I called Disney dining, but no reservations were available. I tried checking other places, but DH only wanted those two options or off property. Okay. Also, I find it strange that Disney Dining cannot help you with reservations within the hour … I understand that it usually takes you at least an hour to get anywhere at Disney, but it still is not too helpful. Oh well. After spending a little time at the pool, we showered and dressed and headed out to explore Orlando. We found a Japanese hibachi place called “Amura.” It was really good. It was also in a very nice shopping center area that had a cigar shop next door (DH loves cigars and this place was so big and had such a great inventory … he was like a kid in a candy shop). We left DH to wander in his little slice of heaven and we went across the street to CVS for me to pick up some medicine and a few other items I forgot to pack. Then, we picked up DH and went to Publix in the same shopping center. We picked up a few breakfast items, variety chips, some nice wine for mommy and daddy, coffee creamer, and some drinks for the room. DH had brought along a small ice chest and it was nice to have very cold water and drinks in our room.
Upon returning to the hotel, it was almost 10. Wishes was scheduled for 10. DH wanted to find a place at the Contemporary to watch Wishes … but I still had a little energy left in me and I asked the kids if they were interested in trying to ride Space Mountain one more time today. YAY!! Of course they wanted to ride again. So, we left DH and headed to MK. Wishes was starting as we headed into Tomorrowland. Space Mountain was listed as a 20 minute wait, so we jumped in line. It was about 20 minutes. However, when we exited, the line was out the door!! I guess everyone went straight there when Wishes was over. Oh well. Buzz also had a 40 minute wait. Stitch was walk on. My kids have never done Stitch … mostly because I cannot do simulator rides. They wanted to try it, so I let them go in together. DD is very, very responsible. I told them to stick together and I would be waiting when they exited. Of course … I did not realize that the ride exited into two different shops!!! Okay, black spots before my eyes, I think I might pass out. The CM explained that the ride was 17 minutes once they entered, so I had a little time to wait. I still spent most of my time going back and forth between the two stores waiting on them to exit. One CM in Star Traders (not sure if that’s the right name) took pity on me and asked what my children were wearing and promised to stay near the exit for me … thank you Charlotte, you helped lessen my panic level. The kids exited safely in the other store, but then we walked over to thank Charlotte and let her know we were all safe. At this point, we were very, very tired. As we were exiting, we caught a little bit of SpectroMagic parade, but the kids were too tired to stay. Headed back to the room, changed clothes, brushed our teeth and climbed in bed. While we were gone, DH found a big group of other daddys hanging out near the pool and enjoyed meeting a few people.
Coming up – LeCellier lunch reservations, but first DHS to ride TSM, RnRC and TOT. Will we make it???
After HOP, it was time for SM FP. And, I must say, we were all exhausted. However, we never received our text saying our room was ready … it was after 2 pm. So, DH called and checked, they said our room still wasn’t ready, but they would send a text as soon as it was available. Hmmmm, not good. Also, the room was a bit of a source of contention with DH and I. I booked us a garden wing room. We had a 40% pin code and the rooms to choose from were Beach Club, Boardwalk or Contemporary garden wing. DH chose Contemporary because he liked the updates (we both prefer contemporary architecture anyway). DH was not happy that our room was not in the Tower, he could not believe we weren’t in the Tower. I know I had the discussion with him over location and his response was that we didn’t need to pay extra for a view because we wouldn’t be in the room much. Well, he was ready to pay for an upgrade. See, DH is a bit high maintenance and doesn’t mind paying for the extras in life. I, on the other hand, am very frugal. I HATE to spend money … so much so that DH is in charge of paying most bills and major purchases … if I was in charge, I might still be driving the 91 mazda my parents gave me as a graduation present and our house would not be as nicely cooled at night when sleeping. So, I think the room was something that DH just assumed I did on the cheap (like buying store brand items at the grocery store). Anyway, I was working on convincing him that the garden wing room would be nice and that it would be significantly more money to upgrade to the Tower (especially since we had a pin code and any upgrade would be rack).
Anyway, we rode Space Mountain. We all love this ride … my kids love riding it over and over. I wasn’t so upset we couldn’t ride over and over because by the third time, my tummy and head are telling me “that’s enough.” Sadly, one ride was our only option right now, the park was crowded, we were hot and ready to check out our hotel pool. The only problem was, it was 4 pm and no text message. We walked back to the Contemporary (DH at this point complaining that we did not take the monorail and still unhappy about the room … sigh…). I walked in the door to go find out about our room and who do I see? Our friendly greeter, Judy. I approached Judy, explained the issue and she disappeared to find out what was going on. A few minutes later, she returned with our room number and said everything was ready. She also handed me to a CM who assisted me in retrieving my purse from the safe and went with DH to arrange a bell hop to escort us to our room with our luggage. Thanks again, Judy!! You saved the day!
Once arriving in our room … no more complaints from DH on the location. It was perfect! We loved our room. 1st floor in the building perpendicular to the Tower … a few doors down the hall from the side parking lot, three doors from a door leading to the pool and a nice patio that looked over a big grassy area and you could see the boats heading to and from MK. The room was very spacious. I loved the desk and chair (instead of a too small table in the room that is useless) and loved the couch. Later in the week, DD slept on the pull out bed and really liked it (DS tends to take up lots of room in the bed and most of the covers). When mousekeeping came to our room after she slept on the bed, they made the bed up (and put her quilt on the bed) and she slept there again. Also, I have to say, mousekeeping was also great the entire week. If we were on the second or third floor of the garden wing, I’m not sure if we would have liked it so much, but being on the first floor was perfect.
We all changed and headed towards the pool. Love the pool area … kids loved the slide, the water play area and the beach, too. DH grabbed us a couple of drinks from the sandbar and chips for the kids. We knew we needed to find a grocery store, but the $2.50 chips at the pool made up realize we needed to pick up a variety pack of chips also. Now, I had no ADRs for tonight. DH … being high maintenance … wanted California Grill or Teppan Edo. I called Disney dining, but no reservations were available. I tried checking other places, but DH only wanted those two options or off property. Okay. Also, I find it strange that Disney Dining cannot help you with reservations within the hour … I understand that it usually takes you at least an hour to get anywhere at Disney, but it still is not too helpful. Oh well. After spending a little time at the pool, we showered and dressed and headed out to explore Orlando. We found a Japanese hibachi place called “Amura.” It was really good. It was also in a very nice shopping center area that had a cigar shop next door (DH loves cigars and this place was so big and had such a great inventory … he was like a kid in a candy shop). We left DH to wander in his little slice of heaven and we went across the street to CVS for me to pick up some medicine and a few other items I forgot to pack. Then, we picked up DH and went to Publix in the same shopping center. We picked up a few breakfast items, variety chips, some nice wine for mommy and daddy, coffee creamer, and some drinks for the room. DH had brought along a small ice chest and it was nice to have very cold water and drinks in our room.
Upon returning to the hotel, it was almost 10. Wishes was scheduled for 10. DH wanted to find a place at the Contemporary to watch Wishes … but I still had a little energy left in me and I asked the kids if they were interested in trying to ride Space Mountain one more time today. YAY!! Of course they wanted to ride again. So, we left DH and headed to MK. Wishes was starting as we headed into Tomorrowland. Space Mountain was listed as a 20 minute wait, so we jumped in line. It was about 20 minutes. However, when we exited, the line was out the door!! I guess everyone went straight there when Wishes was over. Oh well. Buzz also had a 40 minute wait. Stitch was walk on. My kids have never done Stitch … mostly because I cannot do simulator rides. They wanted to try it, so I let them go in together. DD is very, very responsible. I told them to stick together and I would be waiting when they exited. Of course … I did not realize that the ride exited into two different shops!!! Okay, black spots before my eyes, I think I might pass out. The CM explained that the ride was 17 minutes once they entered, so I had a little time to wait. I still spent most of my time going back and forth between the two stores waiting on them to exit. One CM in Star Traders (not sure if that’s the right name) took pity on me and asked what my children were wearing and promised to stay near the exit for me … thank you Charlotte, you helped lessen my panic level. The kids exited safely in the other store, but then we walked over to thank Charlotte and let her know we were all safe. At this point, we were very, very tired. As we were exiting, we caught a little bit of SpectroMagic parade, but the kids were too tired to stay. Headed back to the room, changed clothes, brushed our teeth and climbed in bed. While we were gone, DH found a big group of other daddys hanging out near the pool and enjoyed meeting a few people.
Coming up – LeCellier lunch reservations, but first DHS to ride TSM, RnRC and TOT. Will we make it???