[tinkerbell]

the Cast of this years trip
Me lisa
DH melvin
oldest DGD Lisa Summer
youngest DGD Barbie
my sister Annabelle
my niece Racheal

We stopped over the night of the 7th in Gainesville florida and DH gave his self his injection and went right to sleep .. I didnt sleep because I was too excited! all I could think about was in the morning we would be arriving at WDW
I might have slept an hour .. if that long. We were in the Van and headed to WDW by 5 am and arrived sometime around 7 am at the CBR. My sister and I went to Check in. The CM that checked us in never smiled once. this was new to me .. I had never been checked in by anyone but friendly "disney" CM's, that wanted to tell us everything and would mention several times all we need to do is ask if we have any needs or questions. But He really didnt seem to be in the mood to be friendly at all or give any more info then was asked for. I reminded him we needed downstairs and a fridge for DH's injections. I had called the CBR on the 6th and reminded them what we needed before we left and Mouseketrips also faxed them our request. Ended up not getting a room at Jamacia, my sister and neice were at least in the same building though.
After having Bell services store our Bags DH tried chasing down the CM to tip him and found out they dont except tips any more ..only the CM that delivers the luggage to the room gets tipped now..He said that the Union got them better pay so they didnt need the tips any more. after that we took the van over near our building ( we were in building 25 room 2529 and my sister in 2509) at the Martinique. Every one grabbed what they plan to take to the parks with them and off we go to have breakfast with Chef Mickey!!. We no sooner got to our table then Goofy grabbed Barbie and they were dancing. We had a wonderful begining to our day. The food was great and the waitress for our table so sweet and fun!!!! All the Charactors came around at least twice.
As soon as we got inside the park I went to get a GAC for DH. I explained that He has MS and cant be out in the heat, that he can walk for short periods with his cane and has his own electric wheelchair. The CM was really nice and asked how many were in our group. The Guest Assistance Card stated that our party would be allowed to utilize the entrance for guest with disabilities. and in case of mainstream access allow us to use an alternate entrance, and at FP attractions we would be allowed to use the FP Return.
Our first stop was the Tree House .. I felt awful that DH couldnt go up it.. of course there was a huge crowd and no being able to take our time through it. So he didnt have to sit and wait long.
Next we head for the Jungle Cruise and this is where the first day started to go bad :( I showed them the card and they sent us over to the handicapped line. The CM asked my husband could he get from the chair to the boat or did he need to stay in the chair .. he said with his cane he could. but he left us sitting there ..for over 30 minutes. Once someone else came by and said it would be 7 more minutes .. but still we stood. there was no air and I ended up getting badly dehydrated waiting so we got out of line. I was the one in trouble. I began to shake and my vision blurred. I went and checked my glucose level and it was way too low. we were upset .. I was any way, because the stand by line was only 5 minutes for the Jungle Cruise and they left us sitting there over 30 minutes and didnt explain why .. we found out later that they were waiting on a special boat that had a lift instead of letting him transfer ..which made no sense because he told them he could transfer from the chair to the boat.
While I was trying to get my sugar level back up around something normal and get plenty of water in me the girls rode the Magic Carpets. After we went to the Tiki Room :) which at least was cool. Next we went to the POC .. another problem .. a 30 minute line and they said he had to leave behind his Chair for the line ..that he couldnt go through the line with his wheelchair. what the CM didnt tell us was that He could transfer to one of of the MK Chairs that folds up and go through the line in it. This is also something we found out later. Anyway knowing there is was no way he could remain standing that length of time in that heat, only using his cane we left there. So far we had decided the GAC was of no use at all. We went on over towards Splash Mountain and my sister stopped to get a disposible camera. The CM there was sooooo very sweet. the camera my sister bought came with a pin, after me telling the CM this was her first trip to WDW and her first pin the CM took one of her pins off and gave it to her!! We sat and I recovered some before we headed on over to Splash Mountian. I think I should mention the park was packed and it really became hard for DH not to run over anyone. But I am happy to say as far as we know .. he only ran over his own family members !!! It also made it very hard to keep together as a family/group. I dont think I ever want to go in mid-august again.
We went in the FP for Splash Mt. and sat and waited for nearly an hour, they only allow a certian number of wheelchairs or EVC's in at a time .. so for anyone that believes that being in a wheelchair makes anything faster or easier .. think again. oh and add to the fact that being in a wheelchair there is not always a very good view in a crowd.. if you get my meaning. After Splash Mt. We took the train to Mickey's TTF and DH went across the park to TTF in his WheelChair. it was funny because he was there five minutes before we arrived by train. Racheal, Annabelle and Barbie rode Goofy's Barnstormer. And Lisa Summer got a picture with Goofy and Max.
DH and I both were done in bad. and we decided to go to the room. The girls wanted to go too so we left the park and headed back to the CBR.
Before I forget to mention this .. the bus and the wheelchair .. well in the begining ..he really had a hard time on the older busses getting in to the right position. I know it annoyed some people waiting to board the bus by the looks on thier faces. but by the last day ..he was dern good at it :) but it did still mean others had to wait while he was loaded and strapped in. A few times he felt so bad about this he got out of his wc and used his cane to board the bus. still it took about the same amount of time to get his chair strapped in.
We get to our room around 2:30 pm and there is no fridge .. I called .. reminded them we needed a fridge, and why it was important ..the cooler we used for the trip didnt have a wall plug just a car adapter plug and it was starting to get warm. At around 4 pm still no fridge and I call again. Everyone is getting hungry but I need to wait on the fridge. So I call again and we wait .. and wait.. finally around 6 they bring one after I call again and explain that his injections are $250.00 each and he has 3 .. and if they go bad they will be paying for new ones!!! I was sooooo upset at this point. After they brought it, we went down to the food court.
When ever we eat at any of the food courts or counter service places in the park I get everyones food to the table and then go get the straws, condiments and such.. well I did that this time ..but when I was getting the ketcup, ect. for the burgers and fries this CM tells me that I have to have the food there while I do this .. cant get it and just take it to the table ..they have to see the food .. ok this made DH angry .. he was tired .. he was sick and he felt this was the same as calling him a thief and went up there and told her so!!! None of us were in a good mood ..and you know what ..we didnt eat at the CBR food court again the rest of our stay. I did go get pizza's a couple of times from there and we did enjoy a wonderful meal at Shutters. But there were a few problems there too that I will mention later.
Over all the first day .. wasnt very good ..except to my neice and sister .. to them it was just the best ever, but it was their first visit to WDW. later in the week though I was ready to choke my niece.


the best about the first day .. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's and the CM. (I wish I could remeber her name .. I think it was Nicole) giving my sister one of her pins!

[tragic312]

oh dear, tinkerbell. i feel very bad for your first bad day in wdw. oh my. i hope that the rest of your trip went very well compared to this day.

[Jacki]

Hey Tink,
Sorry to hear about your 1st day, I hope the rest of your magical trip was better!!:) you deserve it!!:D
I saw your picture with iluvminnie, it is so cute and so great that you got to see someone from DC!
can't wait to read more of your reports!!

TTFN, Jacki:)

[jmouse]

Oh my Tinkerbell, what an awful day! I am shocked over your experiences at the CBR as I have stayed there a few times and have never encountered any of the hassles you encountered on your very first day. Same at the MK. There is no excuse for the CMs to leave you hanging like they apparently did. I hope the following days got better.

[tinkerbell]

Originally posted by jmouse
Oh my Tinkerbell, what an awful day! I am shocked over your experiences at the CBR as I have stayed there a few times and have never encountered any of the hassles you encountered on your very first day. Same at the MK. There is no excuse for the CMs to leave you hanging like they apparently did. I hope the following days got better.

jmouse I have to tell you it shocked me too. The CBR has always been my favorite. We have stayed there 5 times counting this trip. I still think its the most beautiful of the WDW resorts.. but I have to tell you ahead of time .. that the as far as the staff at the CBR the whole week we only had 3 "disney" friendly CM experiences :( I dont understand it .. and later I will post in trip reports about one of the nice encounters with a Cast Member at CBR.

[tinkerbell]

Well we are up and rearing to go on the second day .. the side effects of DH's injection have mostly passed and he is feeling pretty good. In fact he was the first one dressed :) and ready! We head back to MK because we are having breakfast at CP and excited about seeing ilvminnie and her family. We get down to the bus stop .. DH in the lead, uhh did I mention that chair moves much faster then we can? The second bus was one to MK wooohooo no problem making our 8:20 ps. and we were the only ones even at the bus stop, no stares and glares while DH got backed up on to the bus and strapped down.. Wrong!!! Its not able to take wheelchairs. We send the girls, and my sister on to the park. I have to mention the driver felt very bad and the girls said she called in telling them that she had to leave us at the bus stop waiting .. and waiting and waiting .. it was 7:00 when the bus that took the girls to MK arrived .. it was 8:15 before the bus we took arrived. by then there was a nice size group forced to wait till DH was loaded on the bus. Of course MK is the longest ride from the CBR, we figured no way we would still get in for our PS. But we did !!! As I am walking in I am searching faces and wondering will I know ilvminnie when I see her. We get to our table and are getting seated while I am still searching.. a woman comes toward me with a plate and we smiled at each other .. . she passed behind me and I turn as she sets down her plate she turns back looking, she says "tinkerbel?l" as I say "Pam?" .. it was amazing ..there they were .. at a table right next to us!!! I asked how the birthday surpise had went and she told me about the balloons and worried the surprise would be spoiled. I told her about our delay due to the bus and how it was a really good thing we put aside the meeting up for the first day because of how bad things went that first day. Of course saddly we had to eat, and it was their last day :( ..so we couldnt spend all morning talking, and we all set to work eating :) we got to share a bit of the birthday celebration though :)

[ilvminnie]

Originally posted by tinkerbell
I dont think I ever want to go in mid-august again.

We decided the same thing. Of course the only reason we were there in Aug was 'cause of DD's birthday so it's all her fault, right???:whistle:

I know I heard part of this when we met, but if you read especially my day one trip report you'll see that I think it's becoming a trend in resorts to not go that extra mile! I hope your trip got better...of course it does - you met me!!!:laugh :laugh

[tiggerlover1971]

sorry to hear about the problems tink I hope you still had a good time even though it started bad

[tinkerbell]

Originally posted by ilvminnie
We decided the same thing. Of course the only reason we were there in Aug was 'cause of DD's birthday so it's all her fault, right???:whistle:

I know I heard part of this when we met, but if you read especially my day one trip report you'll see that I think it's becoming a trend in resorts to not go that extra mile! I hope your trip got better...of course it does - you met me!!!:laugh :laugh

yep read your day one :( and ilvminnie I think you could be right. I tried making excuses for the way most of the cast members at the CBR were but really they dont work. the trend isnt just not going the extra mile ..its also not going the extra Smile too. it seemed that majority of the cast members at CBR didnt cared a dern about smiling and we over heard an awful lot of grumbling amongest them too. I have to say also for our entire stay our housekeeper did as little as possible it seems when it came to our room .. the girls were always so disappointed at the end of the day because they would pass windows with Towel and Wash cloth critters and notes saying "we missed you today" .. all sorts of cute things in the windows. Barbie put her's and her sisters plush toys in the window on the 5th day .. and we stopped tipping mousekeeping on day 3 when we came back to find no wash clothes at all, just towels and it took 3 hours to get any from housekeeping.

Now I know some of you may think that the girls are too old for surprises from housekeeping ..but they grew up at WDW and they always looked forward to finding those surprises .. DH and I did too .. As I posted in ilvminnies first day trip report .. it actually hurt my feelings.

ooops had to come back and add that yes .. one of the great moments was getting to meet you and your family !!!!!

[LRTJS]

Oh my what a bummer! I hope the CM at CS are in a nicer mood when we get there. I would hate for my first time to stay on propery to be a disappointment. It seems that they should have gone the extra mile to help your husband out. :madmad

[LRTJS]

How cool to meet someone from DC!

[tinkerbell]

I posted day 2 part 2 because this will be a long one :) Day 2 had started out rough ..but meeting ilvminnie at CP was great .. I only wish we could have had a bit more time together. After breakfast we started off for Tomorrowland. The girls and my sister went right on X Encounter while I took the passes and went and got FP's for Space Mt. leaving DH sitting at the Launch Pad. Then I went in to a couple of the shops while they were still in X E.. and came back to DH to find out he had seen ilvminnie and her family pass by. Ohh and if I havent already mentioned it DH thought that they were very nice people :)
This was Barbie's first time on XE .. she got a little scared and didnt want to do it again but my niece and lisa summer did go again while we sat there at the launch pad. When they came out we rode the people mover .. my sister loved it ..but my niece thought it was boring . And it seemed from that point on ..every 5 minutes she was asking "what time is it?" We did COP and I got some wonderful pictures with my new camera ! My sister loved COP .. my niece was bored. when we came out of COP it was time for Space Mt. so we went on it. ok so this one my niece liked .. my sister loved it too :) after that it was over to Buzz and since DH could ride this one we used his GAC card and went through the FP return. When we came to the ride they took us all through a door that came out at the ride exit. they asked could DH get from his chair to the ride and he said yes .. now I forgot to mention ..but the moving sidewalks are a bit hard for him to manage with his cane and it scared me both on the TTA and Buzz ..but the worst was HM where he came very very close to falling. After Buzz the park was really becoming very very crowded. It was also starting to get a little dark ... "hon you brought the ponchos right?" uhhh yes I brought them from home ..but they are still in the van" ooops. oh well if it rains it wont last long .. we will find a dry spot .. and we head over towards fantasyland. the girls and annabelle ride the teacups and now the sky is very very dark.. we go over to Pooh ..the CM wont let us in with the GAC card and said "get FP's mmm dont want to argue .. dont want to cause a scene .. so I get the FP's. even though we were supose to be able to use the FP return with out them. We go over and ride IASW .. my sister loved it!!! my niece was bored. It starts to rain a little and some of us need bathroom breaks so on the way back over to Pooh we stop at the one near Ariels Grotto .. this is where we lose DH .. the first time. Rain or no rain the crowd is still huge only now they are all wearing yellow ponchos with Mickey on the back .. including us. We are trying to get through the crowd .. I keep looking back and DH seems to be getting further behind. I slow down more and he becomes totally lost in the sea of yellow ( there were blue dots here and there from Universal and Sea World ponchos) he couldnt find us ..we couldnt find him .. and the crowd gave none at all for him to get through. One of the hardest parts of being in a wheelchair was that he couldnt look away for a minute or he might run over someone .. he had to always watch right in front of him. He was not the only one that had to endure this .. we had a fun chat later with a lady on an EVC about this.
We got to Pooh and waited. He finally showed up but it took him nearly 15 minutes to get there.
We went on the ride and well .. they made some changes since last year ..now the ride has a wave effect ..that didnt go over very well with DH :( he got off feeling very sick. my niece was bored. my sister loved it.
We started over to HM .. this is one of our favorite rides .. but it comes a real down pour and we take cover near the HOP .. when the rain lets up a little bit we go in to the Hall of Presidents. My niece is bored .. she falls asleep during it .. my DGD's I am proud to say loved it as usual :) after that my niece wants to go, she is bored and wants to get out of the rain.. so she and my sister go back to the resort. Now a funny thing happens on the way to HM .. DH gets behind a lady on an EVC .. and she clears the way *grin* all he had to do was follow her and he didnt have to worry about running over people .. and the girls and I followed along behind him :) while we were in the line for Wheelchairs and EVC's we started to talk to her .. I told her how DH had followed her path and we laughed about people who look right at you and then step right in your way. the CM that lead us in through a door was funny :) saying as he lead us in .. "dont be afraid to run over anyone, roadkills are Welcome here"
We kept thinking the rain would clear the park out some ..but I swear it was as if the rain was making people multiply!!
We headed over to Country Bears.. there was a problem here with seating .. seems some people came in and pretended to be with people in wheel chairs ..they were also people crossing over seats to get down front. So the poor CM really had to work to get us all seated together .. and we werent all in the same row. After the Country Bears we went up and rode Splash Mountian this time the wait with the wc wasnt as long, but we heard people saying when we were lead out of the FP line that it wasnt fair that we got to go ahead just because of the wheelchair.. this is what happens .. you dont always get in any faster because of a wheelchair. this wait was about 20 minutes .. maybe not as long as the stand by was at that time but not as short as the FP. the rain had let up completely by the time we got off Spl Mt. and we went back over to POC .. this is when we found out from the CM there that all DH needed to do was transfer from his chair to a MK chair and one of us push him through the line .. mmmm ok sometimes it took 2 of us .. someone pushing me pushing him *grin* ilvminnie will tell you that he is not a small man .. and COP has a few steep hills .. what goes up ..comes down ..so it was really fun trying to prevent a runaway Wheelchair from running over people.. I think POC was more crowded this year because of the movie. We then decided that maybe would could try Jungle Cruise again since POC worked this time. this time they told us when they sent him to the HC access line that there would be a special boat that had a lift for his chair and that it would be the third boat.. now it was so funny because while he was being loaded the skipper made jokes on how this was the proto-type for the tower of terror. We had a pretty good skipper .. you know how it can be ..some sorta sound like drones .. while some can make you laugh with the same old things you have heard over and over again .. although DH thinks the cute blonde we had last year was better .. I think because she was cute, young and blonde *grin*.
after the JC DH was showing signs of wear and tear ..and it began to rain again so we thought it might be time to end our day at MK and we headed back to the resort. while at the bus stop waiting on the bus my sister and niece showed up ..they had come back to MK and walked around ..did a bit of shopping and rode HM .. my niece was bored .. are you beginning to see a trend here? My sister was saying at this point that she wanted to come back to WDW alone !!! Back at the resort I went down and got pizza and brought it back to the room. I came back to the room to find DH on the phone complaining that housekeeping had not left any soap or shampoo that day. and couple of hours someone shows up with soap. I dont want wet socks and clothes laying around so my sister and I go to the laundry to wash and dry the wet things .. change machine is out of change .. there is a lady in there saying that she has been waiting over an hour because she called about the machine *sigh* and was told someone would be right there, but so far no one had showed up so my sister and I go up to Old Port Royal game room and get change for the washer and dryer, we get back and she is still waiting ..so I give her some of mine.. no one ever did bring change. I vented about the fridge problem and how ever CM at CBR seemed to be working there againest their will ..because none of them seemed to like what they were doing. She said she felt the same way, and how they had stayed at All Star MU before and gotten much nicer service and treated better.

Just an ending note .. for some reason Lisa Summer became very over protect of her grandpa after this day .. even though he had an electric chair ..she stayed right with him for the rest of our stay and held on to his chair as if she was pushing him. She also started to get a little annoyed more and more with people being inconsiderate and she voiced it often and loud enough for them to hear.
Over all though I have to say day 2 was better then day 1 :)

[tinkerbell]

Originally posted by LRTJS
Oh my what a bummer! I hope the CM at CS are in a nicer mood when we get there. I would hate for my first time to stay on propery to be a disappointment. It seems that they should have gone the extra mile to help your husband out. :madmad

it was a real bummer .. I hate sounding like a witch ..or like I am nit picking .. my sister thought everything was wonderful, but she had never been ..she had never experienced the wonderful treatment we had had in the past. And I kept mentioning to them how this was her first time and I had told her how wonderful everyone at WDW was ..

the incident at the food court was partly raw nerves.. after the stress of trying to get a fridge.. but also ..DH had insisted on using his cane to walk down to the food court .. which tired him out real bad. for those of you who dont know much about MS .. the fatique can be a huge disability by its self and is also the number one reason people with MS are unable to work and are granted SSD with very little trouble. yes he can walk ..but more then a few minutes of walking and he is so tired and more and more unsteady on his feet.
LRTJS, I am really hoping that your first stay is wonderful ...and goes as smooth as silk :)

[tiggerlover1971]

Tink I am glad that your day was better than the first. I am sorry to hear about your neice .I hope she wasnt that way the whole time and caught the disney spirit sometime on your trip :)

[ilvminnie]

Our niece was kind of like that right up til the end of the trip. I think the whole trip was actually my sister's idea to expose our niece to WDW, but if you're not into Disney to start I don't think the kids are going to get it.

Sounds like the service level is just getting bad all over. I can't believe you & I both had bad service experiences. And I know what you mean about the sea of ponchos. We ran into the same problem. All of a sudden you're following a perfect stranger in a yellow poncho! We started holding hands after awhile!:love: