Is It Time Already?! OKW and POR, November 2013 - Page 21 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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What a great day, glad that the HBD was able to accommodate you so Evan could see the Disney Jr. show before lunch.
How cool to see some not seen frequently characters....was that Clarabelle Cow? She is one of Jasmine's favorites and she always says it is not fair that she never gets to meet her
Great finish to your day, especially with the delicious sticky bun!
It was a very full day! It was nice to sit down and have a little snack. The sticky bun really did hit the spot even though we weren't really hungry at that point!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
What a great day, glad that the HBD was able to accommodate you so Evan could see the Disney Jr. show before lunch.
How cool to see some not seen frequently characters....was that Clarabelle Cow? She is one of Jasmine's favorites and she always says it is not fair that she never gets to meet her
It was Clarabelle! I think I might have seen her every now and then in a parade, but this was the first time I'd seen her walking around!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Well, I honestly can't say if there was the usual noise that night/morning. It had happened so often that all the nights started blending into one another! Suffice it to say, we didn't let it bother us too much! This was now day 7 of our trip, the Monday before Thanksgiving. We had noticed a slight increase in the crowd level, but not enough to affect our plans yet.
This morning I was determined to speak to a manager about the noise. I got Sophia to wake up and get going, and around 9:30 or so, we headed out to catch the first bus that came along. We got off the bus at Hospitality House, and I sent Sophia and Evan to Good's To Go to get something to eat (Evan already had his usual cereal and milk in the room, but Sophia hadn't eaten anything yet).
I went to the check-in area and asked to speak to a manager about excessive noise near my room. It was quite busy, so I had to wait a few minutes before Manager Hope came out to see me. I told her that there had been noise almost every single night of our stay, and it was usually extremely early in the morning before sun-up. I told her our room number, and immediately she said they've had some issues in the past with the golf course maintenance in the area. She took down my cell # in case she had any further questions, but she apologized for the noise and said she'd look into the noise issue for us. I told her that Saturday night, the noise went from 5:46am to 7:02am, and it was really unacceptable. I really didn't want to make a stink about it. I just wanted to make sure they looked into it before it bothered other people who were staying near that room.
After that was done, I headed over to Good's where Sophia had purchased a bagel with cream cheese. I had thought about getting a refillable mug, but this was the first day that we had even seen Good's. I thought again about getting a refillable mug for the remainder of our trip (3.5 days), but I have to tell you...there were bees buzzing all around the drink dispenser area! How would anyone get in there to refill their mugs?! Plus, what if our room at POR is far away from the food court? We wouldn't get any use out of the mugs!
Sophia finished her bagel, and we headed to the bus stop outside Hospitality House. What do PassPorters do when they're sitting around waiting? They take pictures!
I was snapping away when a bus drove up. It wasn't our bus, so I put my phone down for a moment. I probably started looking at MDE to see what plans I had made for the day. All of a sudden I heard a loud "HELLO" in our direction. I looked up, and just past the open double doors of the bus in front of us was the photo-bombing bus driver from Epcot! It had been 4 days since we last saw him (the day I lost my phone), but he still remembered us! We shouted a quick hello to him, saying "see you tomorrow" and waving back to him! I wanted to take a picture, but there was someone in an ECV getting on the bus, so I didn't think it would be polite to snap their picture. I wish I had gotten the CM's name. He was such a nice guy!
Our goal today was to hit Animal Kingdom for another showing of Festival of the Lion King and then heading over to Epcot. We caught the Animal Kingdom bus and walked straight to FotLK to get a DAS return time since we had just missed the previous show. I think the return time was for 12:30pm, and it was probably about 11:15 at the time.
I love the little details Disney drops in all over the parks!
We decided to go to Pizzafari for some food for me and Evan (Sophia was full from her bagel). It was early, so the restaurant was still pretty empty. I got a pasta salad, and Evan had a pepperoni pizza.
Taking food pictures is really an addiction! I don't know why I have to take pictures of pepperoni pizza every single time...and post every single one of them! It's not as if you don't know what a pepperoni pizza looks like!
This was our first time eating inside Pizzafari. I don't know the name of the room we were in, but here's a picture:
This was in the hallway just outside the room we were sitting in:
By the time we were done eating, it was about noon so we headed back to FotLK. Here's where you could tell the CMs weren't quite used to the new DAS yet. We walked up to where the FP+ return line was and showed the CM our DAS card/return time. He told us we were supposed to go over to the wheelchair access line and wait there, so we walked through the crowds which we were exiting from the just completed FotLK show and walked up to a CM and showed her our DAS card. She told us we were supposed to go over to the FP+ line. I told her we had just gone over there and they told us to come over here! The CM said to hold on a second while she radioed over to someone else to ask what to do. The CM then came back and said to walk over to the exit doors where there would be a CM with a clipboard to help us.
We walked over to where she pointed us and found the CM. I told her what he happened, and she told us to just wait there. I asked her if we should just go back to the FP+ line since it sounded like that's where we were supposed to go in the first place, but she said no, we had already been sent back and forth so we should just wait there and she will let us in. Well that was nice of her!
We waited a few minutes, and then the doors opened. The CM told us to walk with her, and she guided us over to the section opposite the doors we came in. She pointed us to the bench in the very first row, but I told her we didn't need to sit there (it was marked for people needing wheelchair access) and we could just walk up into the bleachers, but she said no, we should sit right there because she said it was ok. Wow, that was awesome! We got front row seats!!! I felt guilty sitting there in case someone else needed the seat, but no one ever came up to tell us to move, so we stayed put!
This was just the beginning of the magic this morning! As the show began, Sophia and I started to sing along because we just love the music from this show! Evan usually fidgets whenever we sit for any extended period of time, but he loves this show, too! He started flapping his arms and stomping a bit (which is how he shows excitement), but I knew he was happy so it was all good!
Then the performers started to introduce the different seating sections, and guess who got picked to lead our section! EVAN!!! This trip has been SO magical for him! Sophia and I were going crazy snapping pictures with our phones and camera. We taped some of the introduction, where Evan was introduced and asked to lead the lion section in a ROAR! I was crying tears of joy seeing him up there! Heck, I'm tearing up right now just thinking about it!
I'll have more pictures from my camera to add in the pictorial later!
Evan really loves watching the fire guy!
By the way, the guy who led our section had an amazing voice! Here he is on the right!
It was so much fun sitting in the front row! Both Sophia and Evan were pulled out to parade around the floor with the other kids during the show. The tumble monkeys kept hopping by us and pulling bugs out of the kids' hair or bopping their noses!
This was all that we did at AK this day, but it was plenty!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I'm glad you spoke to the manager about the noise. I hadn't thought about the golf course maintenance being the cause, but that sounds plausible. Still not acceptable, though. They need to take care of that section of course at some other time! Great that you saw your bus driver again. I love when you find a really nice CM and then they keep popping up throughout the trip. SO magical that Evan was in the show! You made me cry, too. Please post more photos of this later if you have them!
Such magic! I love it!!! I can't wait to see the rest of the photos! How amazing!!! I'm glad you spoke to management about the noise, and I hope it was improved!!!
I am glad that you finally spoke with a manager about the nightly noise as that had to have gotten exceptionally frustrating. What a magical time you all had at FotLK! Congrats to Evan on being chosen to lead the lion section in their roar.
Hope that the manager was able to do something about the noise. What a great moment for Evan.....can't wait to see more pictures of his starring role!!!
What a magical time you had at Festival of the Lion King! I can't wait to see more of Evan's starring role in it!
We had so much fun! I have a video of his starring role...I wonder if I can upload it to Shutterfly?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I'm glad you spoke to the manager about the noise. I hadn't thought about the golf course maintenance being the cause, but that sounds plausible. Still not acceptable, though. They need to take care of that section of course at some other time! Great that you saw your bus driver again. I love when you find a really nice CM and then they keep popping up throughout the trip. SO magical that Evan was in the show! You made me cry, too. Please post more photos of this later if you have them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
Such magic! I love it!!! I can't wait to see the rest of the photos! How amazing!!! I'm glad you spoke to management about the noise, and I hope it was improved!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I am glad that you finally spoke with a manager about the nightly noise as that had to have gotten exceptionally frustrating. What a magical time you all had at FotLK! Congrats to Evan on being chosen to lead the lion section in their roar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Hope that the manager was able to do something about the noise. What a great moment for Evan.....can't wait to see more pictures of his starring role!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
I'm glad you spoke up about the noise in the room! How great for Evan to be chosen for FoLK!
Thanks! I really do need to figure out how to upload a video and link it here.
The thing that irked me the most about the noise is that the manager said they'd had complaints in the past about it...which makes me wonder why aren't they on top of it if there's been complaints in the past about it?
PLUS, I really don't think it was golf course maintenance. I'm pretty sure it was hotel grounds maintenance, not the golf course. The sound was stationary, and it wasn't anywhere near the golf course. And if it really was the golf course, they were running a motor right outside my room and running a VERY LONG extension cord to the golf course! I heard the exact same sound again at POR later in the trip, but I'll get to that later.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Glad you had a great time at DHS and MK. That was great of the CMs to accomodate you at HBD so Evan could see Playhouse Disney first. They didn't have to do that, since they were completely booked. Very classy on their part.
Good that you were able to voice your complaints to management about the noise early on several mornings. A lot of the villas at OKW line the LBV golf course, but it seems that yours isn't even close. I think it may be some of the guests being picked up with their luggage for early flights back home. Just a guess. May be why the carts may be stationary with the motors running!
Seems like you had a great time at FOTLK and what an honor for Evan to be chosen to participate in the show! He must have been so excited!
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Glad you had a great time at DHS and MK. That was great of the CMs to accomodate you at HBD so Evan could see Playhouse Disney first. They didn't have to do that, since they were completely booked. Very classy on their part.
Good that you were able to voice your complaints to management about the noise early on several mornings. A lot of the villas at OKW line the LBV golf course, but it seems that yours isn't even close. I think it may be some of the guests being picked up with their luggage for early flights back home. Just a guess. May be why the carts may be stationary with the motors running!
Seems like you had a great time at FOTLK and what an honor for Evan to be chosen to participate in the show! He must have been so excited!
Yep, HBD really did come through for us. I think I could've convinced Evan to miss Playhouse Disney since we have one at Disneyland that we could see relatively soon, but this way he got what he wanted...and I got an extra half hour to make room in my tummy for more food!
Yes, you are correct, the golf course really isn't that close to our room. I'm pretty sure I knew what the motor was, and it really was unbelievable that it was running for so long and at such an early hour. Ah well, live and learn. This is one of those things where as much as I would love to go to WDW more often, I'd much more save up over a few years and splurge on a Deluxe where these types of issues won't be as common.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
I'm glad that you spoke up about the noise issue near your room, and I hope that they did resolve it for you somehow.
What a magic moment for Evan at FotLK! How exciting
Oh, PS - I always thought it was the Ticket & Transportation Center too!
Next time you go to WDW, you've got to find TTC signs that say it that way! I'm convinced, but I forgot to look for more signs!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Just found your trip report this morning and have enjoyed reading the whole thing (although I should probably be doing something besides laying on the couch). I am so sorry about all your noise troubles. We always use our dream machine app on the iphone and even pack a portable speaker. We haven't had much trouble with noise at night, but we usually have "second bedtime" in the middle of the day. Even if we are right by a noisy pool, the "white noise" drowns it all out and we sleep just fine. I know some people can't sleep with that kind of thing, but it sure makes our travels go smoother.
You have inspired me to maybe start my PTR for my Spring Break trip. Reading yours has me ready to go!!
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I can't wait to see more of Evan's starring role in it! 
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