The Surviving Deployment Trip Report, Updated 10/18 COMPLETE!! - Page 29 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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The photos you posted are awesome. I love the Rubik's cube all lit up. Sorry to hear about the blown pillow.
I liked the Rubik's Cube lit up, too. I thought it looked really good.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pics of POP!!
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Originally Posted by Nimros
Love the photos of the Pop. We may end up staying there if we make a quick trip down for a weekend at MNSSHP next year. It looks like lots of fun.
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by BettyBeBop
I love the night pictures of Pop! Makes me want to stay there just to wander around!!! And to see Wishes and the Water Parade from the Beach of the Poly - What a special idea!!! Gret 1st day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
What an awesome idea to enjoy the Poly and then see Wishes and the Water Parade from the beach! Love the HM pictures, too! The nighttime photos at Pop are really ! Sorry that your room had not been properly cleaned. Hope you got it worked out.
The fireworks were really nice from the Poly. I didn't expect to see the water parade at the same time. I'm used to having Michael with me on trips, so I was trying to take pictures with the camera while I was videoing with the camcorder. I'm sure it was funny to see. I hope the video turned out well.
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Originally Posted by a_bernard
So many beautiful pictures.
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by mcc0313
Talk about a long but fun filled first day. Your dinner at 1900 PF sounded like it was a great way to start off the trip. We loved the interaction there...probably the best on the whole trip. Lady Tremaine and the Evil Stepsisters are just amazing...they trulyplay their part so well.
Love all the pictures and how cute that Victoria got so flustered with the Prince. Her sketches are AMAZING!!! She is one talented girl.
The dinner was wonderful! We totally enjoyed it, and it was so cute how Victoria reacted to the Prince. I'll pass on your compliments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What great night-time shots of Pop, you know I don't think I've ever seen night-time shots from there before. : What a shame about the cleanliness in the room. Ugh.
Thanks! I don't think I've seen night-time shots either. It looked so good at night. Yes, I wasn't happy with the cleaning crew.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
What a great evening at 1900 Park Fare. Victoria's sketches are just amazing. What a neat idea to have the characters sign them. You got some great pics of Michael the Bear for your DH. Too cute.
We had planned on sitting on the beach and watching Wishes after dinner at O'Hanas, but that didn't work out. Glad you got to see Wishes and the EWP from the beach.
I love all the pics at POP too. Makes me want to stay there.
The sketch book looks terrific. I'll be posting more pictures. You'll have to try the fireworks from the Poly one day. It was very nice and relaxing.
All caught up. Goodness I missed a lot. Love all the pics of Michael. He sure is having a good time. So sweet of the CM's in Pooh's Corner to give him a magical certificate. 1900 Park Fare sounds like it was a blast. We enjoyed our times their as well though our Prince was not very princely. Yuck, pillow, hope that gets straightened out soon. Looking forward to more.
September 15, 2009 - Day 2, part 1
We slept in today. I slept until 9, and Victoria slept until 10. It was nice not having anywhere to go.
I took a shower while Victoria was still sleeping. There were spots of mildew in the shower. I was not happy. When I opened the shower curtain, I noticed a lot of mildew on the wallpaper next to the shower where the shower curtain meets the wall. That was the last straw, not to mention the gross stains and stuff on the wall around the trash can. GROSS!
Victoria got up and took a shower, and I called Housekeeping. I told them I had some issues with the room, and they had the manager call me. Thankfully, she called me right back. I told her the problems I had with the room, and she asked when we were leaving for the day. I told her we were getting ready to leave, and she said she would have her staff come in and take care of everything.
We left for DTD at 11:15 a.m., and quickly got on a bus.
Waiting for the bus...
The first place we went was Disney Design-A-Tee. I wanted to see about making a shirt for MNSSHP tonight. I found a very cute t-shirt design I wanted. It was the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit in a tea cup. I added the words, "Do you play croquet?" Cute! I was pleased with the design. A lovely lady named Sha helped me. She asked about Michael the Bear, and we told her all about him. She said she had been in the Army, too, so we talked about it for a while.
I had about an hour to wait, so we went to WGPExpress for lunch. I ordered the Rigatoni with Chicken Alfredo, Caesar salad, and Creme Brulee. Victoria ordered the Four Cheese Pesto Pizza and frozen yogurt with brownie toppings. We both got sodas.
We both enjoyed our lunch very much. I had never had Creme Brulee before, and I loved it. Victoria didn't care too much for the yogurt. It did have a different taste. Our server was wonderful and offered to exchange it for something else, so Victoria got a brownie instead. That was so sweet.
I loved Tinker Toys growing up, so Victoria got my picture with the toys!
We were both anxious to see Tren-D, so that was our next stop.
Can you tell I LOVED this shop? It was so cute! I loved all the artwork. I loved the displays. It was so much fun to browse through.
A CM in the store told us we needed to get our picture made with the Rosie O'Donnell Mickey. He told us that Rosie painted it, and it had been auctioned off but the winner never picked it up, so they put it in the store.
We put Michael in Mickey's hand.
Michael called while we were in Tren-D. I knew we'd get to talk to him for a while.
We walked next door to the Team Mickey Athletic Club while I chatted to Michael.
I walked over one more store to Guest Relations to activate our Armed Services tickets. I handed the phone over to Victoria to chat with her daddy.
I love the balloon floating above DTD.
We decided to go to the Christmas store.
While we were in there, a CM asked about Michael the Bear. I told her he represented my DH in Iraq, and she said we needed some stickers. She gave us stickers to wear, and then put a sticker on the front and back of Michael's stetson. Then she offered to take our picture.
You can see that Victoria is talking on the phone to her daddy.
We kept looking through the store and saw so many things we wanted. In the Nightmare Before Christmas room, I looked up and saw Santa.
We headed back to the Design-a-Tee store to pick up my t-shirt. Victoria had handed the phone back over to me, and I was talking to him as I picked up my shirt from Sha. I looked at the adorable shirt and saw the worst sight. I had spelled croquet WRONG! OH. MY. GOSH. I was so upset, and I was trying to talk to Michael and talk to Sha at the same time and tell her I had misspelled croquet. I had spelled it croUquet. UGH!!!!!! Now, I pride myself on my spelling skills. Victoria does, too, and neither of us caught it. I was so upset, and all the while I was trying to talk to Michael. Sha asked if it was him I was talking to, and I said yes. She told me to talk to him and come back when I was off.
So, I walked away to talk to him, and we sadly said goodbye. I went back to the counter to ask if anything could be done about my mistake. I was ready to color the wrong letter with a black marker. While I had been on the phone, Sha had re-entered my shirt into the computer. She redid my t-shirt for FREE! She told me to hang out for about 30 minutes while she made my shirt. We hung out in the store, and soon Sha said my shirt was ready, and croquet was spelled right. Sha was TERRIFIC! She displayed Disney magic at its finest. I teared up, and thanked Sha profusely. She made my day! If you go to Design-A-Tee, say hello to Sha from the lady with Michael the Bear.
We were now running a little behind and had to get to Pop to get ready for MNSSHP. We made it back to the Pop, and I took a picture I hadn't gotten yet.
What a great CM! Those are the ones I love to see working for Disney, not the stick in the muds!
Hope you found a clean room when you returned.
Can't wait for more.
What a fun day - TrenD looks really neat. I've not seen photos from in there before. : I hope they've sorted out all the problems with the room - how gross about the mildew, on top of everything else.
I love all your pictures. The one with the two of you, you look so cute together. I like Victoria's hat. The food at WGPE looks so good. What a nice CM to re-do your T-shirt. Hope your room was cleaned when you got back
Such a really day and dealing with such nice CMs.... YUCK, for the McNasty room, and I hope that it got taken care of ASAP!!!!.... Can't wait to read more...
Day 2, part 2
We got to our room, and as I opened the door, we were hit with the overpowering scent of bleach. They had definitely cleaned the room. PHEW! It just about knocked us over. There was a voice mail for me on the phone. The housekeeping manager had called and said they completely changed all of our linens and thoroughly cleaned the whole room. She said she hoped it was to our satisfaction. I checked the bathroom and found the mildew all gone as well as the gross stuff on the wall at the trash can. (And I didn't mention that gross stuff to them, so they really cleaned well.) I was pleased.
Victoria started working on her hair while I ironed her costume. We had bought a colored hair spray because she really wanted to be blonde for the party. So, we sprayed her hair, but she ended up not being pleased with her hair. Now, I had told her the whole time I wanted to be at the park at 4 p.m. It was now 3:30 p.m., and time kept on ticking. Victoria then proceeded to hop in the shower for "2" minutes to wash the stuff out of her hair. The two minutes turned into seven. Then, she had to blow dry her hair, restraighten it, get dressed, do her make-up. TEENAGERS! UG!! Needless to say, we didn't get to the park at 4. I never said another word to her. I wasn't going to get upset over this and kept my cool. She got dressed and looked wonderful! We were out the door at 4 p.m.
We walked to the bus stop, and I had the best time. Little girls would see Victoria and say, "Look! There's Alice!" And of course, she was walking with a lady with a flamingo on her head. It was quite funny. As we passed the bowling pin pool, I remembered Michael. We had left him in the room. So, Victoria ran back to get Michael. She came back, and we went to the bus stop.
Waiting for the bus....
We were on a bus headed to the MK at 4:12 p.m. We got to the MK easy enough. We easily made it through bag check, got our armbands, and wanted to get a picture in front of the station.
I love this window and the fact that it is dedicated to Walt himself and his love of trains. "Railroad Office. Keeping Dreams on Track. Walter E. Disney. Chief Engineer" How wonderful is that?
The decorations were so cute! We went straight to the PP photographer. He was so awesome. He asked about Michael the Bear, and we told him. He then said he wanted to pray with us for his safety! That was so awesome to us! So, here we are, three people in front of the MK, holding hands and praying. It was so awesome! I didn't get his name. Shame on me. It touched my heart that he would pray for Michael's safety and for us.
The CM then took our picture. I can't wait to get our CD. I'll post pictures then. It won't be until after my next trip with my DH. So, it's going to be a while.
We thanked our photographer and proceeded into the MK. I loved the decor. Here is my Alice! I thought her costume turned out very well. (I think it's funny how that man behind her is looking at her like, "Is that really Alice?" Victoria got that a lot on this night.)
We had to get our picture with the teacups poster.
The scarecrows were so cute.
I didn't do well with this picture though. I didn't notice that it looks like Victoria has a candy apple coming out of her head.
We had to have our picture made with Roy and Minnie.
Main Street looked so beautiful. It was so good to see the castle again.
Goofy was calling to us, so we went by to say hi.
We found Lady and the Tramp's paw prints in the heart outside Tony's Restaurant. How sweet!
I this store sign.
And of course, this is where the parade route ends.
We went into The Chapeau and found the phone. Victoria had to listen in.
And, being the actress that she is, she had to pose.
We stopped into the Main Street Cinema and saw Steamboat Willie. He's so cute.
We turned down the street to the right to see if we could hear the music or dance lessons. We didn't hear anything, and Victoria was quite disappointed.
We enjoyed our walk down Main Street. We found a PP photographer and asked for a picture.
The obligatory castle photo...
We decided to head to Adventureland and took a left at the castle.
About This Page: 
! Sorry that your room had not been properly cleaned. Hope you got it worked out.
I'll pass on your compliments.
: What a shame about the cleanliness in the room. Ugh. 
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Victoria didn't care too much for the yogurt. It did have a different taste. Our server was wonderful and offered to exchange it for something else, so Victoria got a brownie instead. That was so sweet.
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Enjoy a Disney Lifestyle......Everyday!
So, Victoria ran back to get Michael. She came back, and we went to the bus stop.
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