Lies and Deceit - It's What This Trip Was Built On (A CLT Report) - UPDATED 3/9 About This Page:

[DrDolphin]

Sorry to hear about the back - had to a bit over Schultzie's car!

[lindawdw]

Love the George Schultz story Karen Hope your back is feeling better soon. Can't wait for another update!

[zacksmom_1993]

Day 0, Part 3 (Seriously. This is getting ridiculous. Even I want me to get there already, and I'm writing the bloody thing.)

After my exclusive charter flight, I was buzzing with excitement. I got checked in for the next leg and took a seat with the masses waiting. I couldn't contain myself. I called my Dad and Zack, even though it was nearly 11PM, because I had to tell someone, anyone. I started talking to random strangers, sitting next to me, waiting in line to board, just so I could spin the yarn. I must have been a treat. Here these people were nearly an hour delayed, stuck in the airport, and I was talking all about my beyond first class treatment.

And, the knife would only dig deeper for my fellow passengers. As we were boarding the plane, the cockpit door was open and I greeted my pilot, Van. He waved back with a, "Hey Karen!" In response to the whiskey-tango-foxtrot looks on the new flight crew's faces, he explained, "I'm her personal pilot." Hee!

I have to say, it was difficult to sit amongst the unwashed masses on this flight, after my first flight. I had scored the exit row, with only one other person on my side of the aisle, but I was in the aisle seat. The woman sitting in the window seat turned to me and asked, "Do you have the window seat?" I too quickly and eagerly responded with, "No. But do you want the aisle seat?" (Insert mental image of the look on Ralph's face when he tells his mother, "I want an official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle!")

Over played, my friends, over played. She replied with a snort, I swear, and curled up uncomfortably against the window with her flat, little airplane pillow and germ ridden blanket. I'd show her! Out came feather pillow, out came full size comfy blanket, up came the armrest, and I made myself a little sleeping sanctuary. I tried to make sure my backside didn't cross the imaginary line in the middle of the seat between us. But, when I saw my fellow passenger with her armrest fully down, airplane decorum went out the window. I slept off and on; I don't really remember falling asleep, but the small pool of drool that appeared on my pillow seemed to indicate otherwise. In no time at all, the sun was coming up and we were making our final approach into Orlando, only 15 minutes later than scheduled. Way to go Pilot Van!

[travismom]

I could totally see Ralphie's grin!!!

More Please!!

[Eeyoresmom]

woo hoo! finally an update! sorry the second leg of your trip wasn't as exciting as the first. Sounds like you got a good nap in, though.

[zacksmom_1993]

Day 1, Part 1 - FINALLY!

Immediately upon landing, I texted Eileen that I was officially arrived. Yippee! I exited the plane and practically skipped to the monorail and headed on down to luggage claim, as unfortunately I'd contacted DME too late to get the tags. Knowing that it would be a bit before the luggage came out, I headed into the nearby bathroom to do the morning beauty rituals that really are only comfortably done in the privacy of your own bathroom (i.e. they're not made for stalls!)

Warning! There's about to be a healthy dose of TMI, that's barely relevant (or interesting.)

Even though I take a shower and put on clean, comfortable clothes down to my skivies right before I get on a red-eye, I always exit the plane feeling like I'm waking up in the backseat of my car after a bender. (What?!! It's descriptive! ) Therefore, I always bring another full change of clothes down to the skivies and potions and lotions to make me feel human again on arrival morning. And, do you think I wait until I get to the hotel with nice big comfortable bathrooms? Come on, Grey Poupon!!!

So, here I was, crammed into a tiny stall, half naked, with my cary-on bag exploded all over the floor, worrying about people seeing me through the cracks in the door, (because I can see them, can't they see me!) when an extra pair of socks rolled out from my bag and out into the middle of the bathroom. And, seriously, the group of ladies talking outside went deathly silent, like I'd just rolled a freakin' grenade out there. Because we're all (probably) Americans, the boundary issues and passive-aggresiveness were rampant. I couldn't ask them to just roll it back under the door. Horror! They couldn't ask me if it was mine. Boundaries! So, I just stayed perfectly still and looked at the stall door, because God forbit I make eye contact with them.

Proudly, I broke 'em, and they left fairly soon. I quickly finished up and put on one heck of a show for anyone who might have had a crack-side view from a neighboring stall as I went to pick up my wayward sock. I might have said disgustedly, "Some people," as I picked up my socks like a piece of discarded trash. I probably "tsked." I definitely shook my head in mock indignation. What? Image is important to me, it's why I have the i-Phone REMEMBER.

My little girly detour had eaten up enough time that the bags were all out by the time I exited the bathroom, and unfortunately it became rapidly apparent that my bags had not made the journey with me. After nearly everyone was gone, I filled out the forms, and tried to communicate with the American reps that my bags were either in San Francisco, Portland, or Newark, at either the Continental, Alaska, or American baggage claims. No problem right?

After all of that, the terminal was totally deserted. I walked down to Magical Express all alone with no one in sight but happy looking Disney employees. Right then Eileen called me up to ask "Where you at?" She didn't say exactly that, but I thought I'd whip out the Boost Mobile lingo. She had just checked in at the Grand, and I felt bad that I'd gotten her up so early when I'd be at least another 45 minutes. She was devastated. I think the conversation went a little something like this...

Karen: "I'm so sorry. They lost my luggage, and I'm just now checking into Magical Express."
Eileen: "No problem! {Giggle, giggle.} I can wait here {Spontaneous laughter} Take your time {Wild guffaw}"
Karen: "Seriously, Eileen, knock it off with the cocktails, it's not even eight AM. It's embarassing."
Eileen: "No. No. No. I was going to wait..." {giggle} "until..." {snort} "you got here..." {giggle.} We got upgraded to CONCIERGE!"
Karen: "SHUT UPPPPP!"

I approached the Magical Express counter with a big ol' grin on my face. The woman helping me found my information in the system and put a special Magical Express tracer on the missing luggage, as per Eileen's suggestion. And, then she told me that although she could see all of my information in the system, it looked like my reservation at the Grand Floridian had been recently cancelled. Ummm, I just talked to someone else in my party who checked in. I quickly gave Eileen a call thinking that perhaps she had thrown me off the reservation in order to secure the concierge upgrade. Nope. Then a manager walked up and gave me the once over, and I started to get a little irritated. Granted I didn't have any reservation information in my name, and granted I am shifty looking, but what's the worst that happens for Disney? I get a free ride to the Grand Floridian, and then what? I'm going to spend a bunch of money at Disney. Finally, they gave me the all clear to head to a bus.

Anyway, the extra delay meant that there was now SERIOUSLY no one in the Magical Express area. I walked through the empty pathyways and out the door to four waiting buses. One CM pointed to the first bus, and said, "You may have a little problem finding a seat," with a wink. And in preview of later, I thought, "That was ODD." I walked up the stairs with the driver following me thinking that if it was a full bus at least we'd be leaving shortly, only to find the bus completely empty. I sat down in the front seat, the driver sat down in the driver's seat, he turned his head and asked, "Are you ready to go?" I was going to have MY OWN MAGICAL EXPRESS BUS taking me directly to my resort. Does it get any better?

Now, not to be ungrateful or anything, but as we started to leave the airport the driver started talking, and talking, and talking. He told me about his family, how long he'd lived in Florida, where he worked before, what wild animals he'd seen from the bus around the GF. Yadda, yadda, yadda. And, seriously, I wanted to watch the dang Magical Express video. But, how do you say to someone, "Ummm, I know I'm the only one on here, but could you shut your pie hole and put on the video?" So, if you're all feeling a wee bit jealous at this point, (and you should be. Come on, private flight, upgrade to concierge, and private DME) at least I didn't get to see the video.

In a flash, we were arriving at the Grand Floridian, and I saw a sight that warmed me down to my pinky toes: Eileen sitting on a bench outside waiting for me to arrive. For all you Doubting Thomases out there, I think Eileen has a picture that shows the totally empty DME bus that maybe she'll post for you. She's also got her own story to tell about when they told her about the upgrade at check-in, which may have inolved piddling on the floor. She'd decided to hold off on visiting the concierge lounge until I arrived, so that was priority number one. To me, the next few minutes were all just a blur. We hugged, we checked my carry-on bags, we headed to the elevator and Eileen went to insert into the magical concierge slot a ... plain blue room key. Huh?

Turns out, they were out of magical GOLD keys at the front desk, so we hatched a plan to get new keys at the lounge, as well as see if concierge could help with securing the ADR to 1900 Park Fare that had been alluding us the past few months. The magical CM Dan from concierge helped us on both fronts as long as we had no problem being a party of five with two people unable to make it at dinner that night. I think we can live with that! We headed up one more flight of stairs with our magical gold keys and had some magical coffee from the magical coffee machine. Are you getting the sense that this trip was pretty magical? After a bit of refreshment, we hopped onto the monorail and headed to the Magic Kingdom just a smidge after opening. All that, and we were still on schedule according to the Big A$% spreadsheet!

Eileen called the two chips to get an ETA for them at the Magic Kingdom. Even though, those guys are professional sleepers, they were up bright and early and on a bus so they could maximize their Karen time. What can I say? People will go to any lengths to spend time with me; it's a bit embarassing actually. Eileen and I hung out in Town Sqaure, enjoying the Christmas music, looking at the decorations, and trying to get over the fact that we were finally together. Bob and Calder showed up in just a bit and after hugs and kisses, we were off to enjoy the fun.

Now some of you, may have gotten the impression that I am a bit rigid with the touring plans. Not so. : I'd heard that Calder would really like to ride Pirates, as it had been down the day before. And, even though the plans called for Buzz, Space Mountain, and Mickey's Philharmagic, we turned left at the end of Main Street to head the incorrect direction. I'm a giver, people. And a complainer, as it turns out, since I didn't let Eileen forget over the next few days that we'd done everything W-R-O-N-G! Unfortunately, Pirates was down again on this morning, and I think Calder was starting to get into that nervous mind frame where there's so much you still want to do, but you know you're about to leave WDW. So, we turned it into a "whatever-Calder-wants" morning, which worked out perfectly.

What Calder wanted to do, it turned out, was head over to Tom Sawyer's Island. We waited about ten minutes for the very first boat of the day. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning. The air was just a bit crisp, but the sky was blue, and the water was sparkling.





As we walked around the island taking in the sights, Eileen and I started to talk about the paintbrush that they used to hide on the island. I hadn't remembered hearing about it in awhile, and Eileen agreed. Literally, her words, "I don't think they do it anymore," were hanging in the hair like a cartoon conversation bubble, when Bob stopped in his tracks, turned to the left, and pointed. There, laying on the floor of the tree house at the top of the island, was something that looked suspiciously like a whitewash paintbrush. Calder scrambled up to nab his prize buzzing with excitement. We had no idea what you'd get for finding it, Eileen thought some fastpasses, I was hoping for 270 DVC points, but I'd be willing to settle for 150 for my friends.

We puttered around a bit more, jumping on the bridges and making Eileen cry like a little girl (), until we headed over to the fort at the end of the island. Eileen and I sat by the checkerboard they have up there while Bob and Calder went off exploring. I love little quiet moments like this. Eileen and I people watched, and enjoyed seeing people playing in a non e-ticket attraction. I'm hoping that they don't change Tom Sawyer's Island at WDW like they did at Disneyland, because it has a simple charm that is, what can I say, magical.

We went to turn in the paintbrush at the dock and were told to wait until we got back to the mainland. By this time Calder was brimming with excitement, can't you see it?

The CM filled out a little certificate for Calder that would give up to five people fastpass access on any ride.

Because Calder's also a giver (must have learned it from me,) he wanted to wait to use it on Splash Mountain when Sharon arrived. But, as there was hardly any wait for Big Thunder Mountain, we headed there next.

We walked practically right to the ride, and then asked for the very last row. Calder and I grabbed that, and Bob and Eileen went right in front of us. The CM took one look at Bob and Eileen and knew he was dealing with potential troublemakers. He told Calder and I to, "Keep an eye on those two." Bob and Eileen thought that was an invitation to get all makey outey with eachother. People! Come. Freakin'. On. I don't think you want to be performing activities that might be vomit inducing when you're sitting in front of me on a ride. Although, once the liplock ended, we had one heck of a wild ride. Love that back seat!

When we got off the ride, we hopped into a nearby store to try to find out if Pirates had come back up. Success! So we scurried over that direction and waited in just a bit of line. After we got off the ride, the Lloyds were feeling a wee bit peckish (Eileen I left a little detail softball for you here) and apparently their junk to healthy food ratio was a bit off as we headed over to the fruit stand by Liberty Square. Personally, my vacation junk to healthy food ratio is an irrational number (as in junk food unlimited / healthy food zero,) but whatever. But, since I didn't need any healthy crap, I had plenty of time to take pictures!



Peter Pan was up next on Calder's wish list, and Eileen was holding on to a bit more magic to make it happen. She had struck up a conversation with a family the day before that had some magic DVC fastpasses that they couldn't use. I guess it's a new incentive to get people to take the tour. Anyway, you put the card in the fastpass machine and get a fastpass valid instantly. See you later Standby suckers, we're headed for the front row!

After we got off Peter Pan, we learned that the last member of the CLT would be at the Magic Kingdom shortly, so we ducked into the home goods store near the Haunted Mansion to wait for her. Eileen did a bit of shopping and as she was waiting to check out, I was all the way across the store looking at other merchandise. There was one woman there shopping with her family and loudly rationalizing gift purchases for family members at home. She picked up one of the mugs that look like a Disney character, this particular one in the shape of Mr. Donald Duck. She stream of consciousness rationalized, "Grandpa likes to drink tea. This looks like it would be good for tea. Maybe we should get this for Grandpa." Eileen and I gave eachother a look and a chuckle. But, then she loudly asks one of her children, "Do you think Grandpa would like to drink tea from a duck's butt?" And, Eileen and I gave eachother another look and dissolved into a puddle of laughter. Calder noted that, "You two don't even need to talk to eachother to crack up." It's a gift people, and the third wheel (in the best possible sense) was just about to arrive.

Up Next - The CLT, Reunited and It Feels So Good

[Eeyoresmom]

Yummy . . . tea from a duck's butt, just what I always wanted
Who needs the winning powerball ticket, when I got 2 updates from Karen in 1 day!!!

[chezp]

Wonderful updates Karen - oh my goodness, a private DME bus as well??? They really rolled out the red carpet for you, didn't they? And, as for the bathroom scene, that had me

[JoanW]

Oh I just happened to check to see if you posted and BINGO! Sweet!

Note to self: Must save for an entire year to partake of the CLT aura. Must be on first name basis with Pilot Van. Must snag an upgrade SOMEWHERE!

[jpod523]

the update!!! that's great how you got a VIP plane AND magical express bus! it's like you chartered them specially! so glad that you finally made it to WDW!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Fantastic update Karen Boy, do you have the midas touch or what Unbelieveable!! And congrats to Calder on finding the paintbrush I'm sure it was just some of your luck rubbing off on him Hurry back with more

[Minnie Lor]

Yeah! Great update. I hope the luggage appears soon. Lokking forward to more.

[MickeyMAC]

Great update, glad your back to story telling.

[disneydani]

Wow...you just must be shrouded in greatness...the i-phone, the private plane, the private DME...I am sure when the GF saw your name on the ressie, they knew you ~must~ be upgraded!

Glad you finally arrived and were reunited with 1/3 of the CLT. Sounds like you off to a great start...

danielle

[DrDolphin]

OMG!!! You had me rolling - the bathroom scene; the the upgrade on the DE bus, etc. The morning at MK has started off wonderfully!! Can't wait to read more!