DAY 9 Monday, July 18 (Departure)
Well, today finally came, the day we leave WDW. We woke up around 7:30 and tried to clean up the room and continue packing as much as possible. Although check-out wasn't until 11:00, we had a surprise breakfast PS at Ohanas planned for the kids at 8:30. It was pretty crowded when we checked in. While we waited, the photographer took photos of all four of us and then just my 2 DDs alone together. I thought, Oh well, maybe this is part of the package.
Breakfast was average, but definately not as good as breakfast in 1900 Park Fare or for the Princess Storybook breakfast in Akershus in Norway.
No big deal, we were there mostly for the kids to sort of say goodbye one more time to Mickey and friends.
About 10 minutes after being seated, we got some photos of the kids with Chip. 20 minutes passed with no other characters coming around yet, and while we were still eating, our server (dropping the CM designation here this once for a reason) presented us with the check. My DW and I just looked at each other, then spoke some verbal non-mentionables in this forum. I was a bit annoyed at what I surmised as a rush-job. There were plenty of other open tables, so I couldn't understand this. Shrugging it off, we continued with our breakfast while visited by Mickey and Dale. Our server kept coming back to see if we wanted a refill on our coffee. We accepted once, but the other couple of times we declined because not enough time passed between cups. I felt this was not out of good service but rather something else. She also mentioned to my DW if she could take the check, to which my DW said as soon as we see Goofy who was the only character we did not see. At this point, we were there for about an hour, and basically finished eating, just waiting for Goofy while sipping on our respective beverages. All of a sudden, another server or bus person comes over and asks us if we were finished. We said yes, where he proceeded to basically clean off the entire table except for our napkins. It's great to have your dishes removed while you enjoy the rest of your time, but this guy even wiped the middle of the table off! I was extremely irate at how we were rushed through our breakfast by these people. I did not want to complain because our poor 2 DDs were just sitting crooked on their chairs, watching other tables, and wondering when Goofy would finally visit them. He eventually came over to which we left without haste. When this continual rush-job by the staff was going on, I mentioned to my DW that I remember reading on DC about this happening to someone else, so it was a little more comforting to know that we were not just being singled out. It spoiled my breakfast though, because I felt on the defensive. My feelings moved to the offensive when I told my DW that if this continues, I would certainly complain and refuse to pay the bill.
We know from experience with having lunch in the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Friends, that it can take an hour or more for all of the characters to circulate around to each table, so waiting for Goofy was not an issue for us. And besides, we were not even there an hour.
Another peeve I had during this breakfast was when they came to our table with the photos we took, they wanted the usual fee of around $20 for the photos of us all together and also of just my 2 DDs together. Fit to be tied with our server, and I guess taking things a bit personally, I was steamed by the fact that Disney was now trying to double-dip us for twice the money for pictures. I thought that the kids' photos would be included in with the group photo package. Obviously not. I felt a bit used at this point because as we were waiting to be seated, I saw only one photo being taken of several families with and without kids. It's a wierd thing to see photos of yourself and family and not buy them. We know from our own experience in having professional pictures done of the kids from Walmart or from school, that its tough to send any back. Since we were in Ohanas, I thought it was more appropriate to have the FAMILY photo, but my DW liked the photos of the kids better. She payed cash for the kids while used my Debit card for the family photo. While waiting to sign the receipt, I cooled down a little, where my DW pointed out how the family photo was not that great. When the CM got back with my receipt, I told her we changed our mind and didn't want the family photo. We thought we would just cut our loses at this point ($65 breakfast for four, no tip).
As we headed back to the room to gather up our things, we realized that it was getting close to check-out time. If it was any consolation to breakfast, we were definately leaving with more than we came.
As we walked to the van one final time, my DW and DD-7 were very upset that, in retrospect, we did not get the chance to rent a Surrey bike to ride around the Poly like we did the last time we were there. It didn't take me too long to say, let's finish loading up the van and then we could go rent one. So we made a U-turn and headed back, towards the Poly marina. We had a CM take a photo of us before our trek. We had the bike for 30 minutes but lasted only about 20. It was a much more appropriate way to end our trip.
So with that, we eventually left the WDW property around 12:15.
(one for each of us). Our next stop was to drive to St. Augustine and stay there for 3 nights. There we visited some of the oldest city historical sights, the Alligator Farm, and spend some time on the beach. Keeping things still Disney related, I do have to add that there was a Belz Outlet Mall nearby with a Disney Outlet in it! They had a lot of shirts from 2004, some Christmas and Halloween stuff, and a few other good buys. My DW bought a great embroydered denim baseball jacket for the winter at 1/2 price. We didn't get a chance to go to the Disney outlets on International Drive, but this sure made up for it.
I can't say for sure when our next trip to WDW will be. I do know that it will be for a while though. We might have to re-visit a one-armed man in Nevada before that.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my TR as much I have enjoyed writing it. It is a bit sad to be writing this in conclusion because it closes the loop on what was a great trip. Pixie dust wishes to all.
PiratesFan
