A Disney Trip 10 Years in the Making. PTR 10/14 - 23/2011 About This Page:

[Cam22]

Great solution to your stroller or not issue! What a bummer about the flights! for getting that straightened out!

[mommapants]

Thanks for the pixies everyone. I did manage to get the flights and meals worked out but the entire thing has really turned me against flying - just one more hassle.

Evan and I had a really nice time this little vacation but I'm really tired. I'm hoping to spend some catching up on this post and reading everyone else's too.

Not to mention the work I need to catch up on so I won't have as much time to read everything but hopefully by the weekend things will be returning to normal.

Thanks again for following along.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you were able to get everything worked out!

[KMB733]

Glad you got your flights all worked out!

[debrabrown]

Glad things worked out. Keep your chin up.

[OCEANGRLLG]

So glad everything worked out!

[jennie622]

Are you planning on doing a quick TR about PA inside your PTR about WDW??

[lauriep]

Glad you got the details smoothed out and had a nice getaway!

[lazanya]

Glad things worked out!

[mommapants]

Pre trip report Part Fifteen


THE GOOD
We had a really nice few days away. I had the problem with my flights but got it all worked out before we left and things went fine.

On Saturday we went to Sesame Place. It was crowded and humid and NOT Disney. It was disorganized but the kids had a great time and that is all that matters. I don’t think I’ll be rushing back however.

Then we drove out to Lancaster and spent the night in a nice hotel. It was a suite which was really good as Evan and Eric could sleep in the bedroom while Mom and I were able to sit in the living room and read. The kids loved the indoor pool that night and we enjoyed Sonic for dinner.

Sunday we headed to Dutch Wonderland for the day and again it was really nice. We spent some time in the pool again today and after naps we closed the park and heading for a late dinner at Friendly’s. I think today was the only time-out and tears of the whole weekend.

Monday was a ride on that “really useful engine” Thomas! We always do the first train ride of the day so it wasn’t crowded at least not in the station and not until we came back. After the train ride we went on a horse and buggy ride and then to the toy train museum. Next we had lunch and then drove home.

As I arrived home the landscaper was just arriving to do some work I had scheduled, powering washing the house, cleaning the gutters and placing some new sand and leveling it for Evan’s pool. Evan and I were both tired so we hung out inside but the dogs were crazy as they couldn’t go out and they could see the people outside.

Tuesday we went to Wildwood and stayed overnight and came home late Wednesday. We always have a nice time here. We feel right at home at my sister’s. This was the first time Evan went directly into the water. He really liked the ocean and digging in the sand. We walked the boards, had some ice cream, got some fudge, and rode some rides and the tram car. I rented a “trail along” bike and it was wonderful as Evan was able to keep up and could watch everything going on. He is usually so distracted when we ride bikes on the boardwalk. Oh and we also rode the Monster truck.

THE BAD
Sesame Place:
This is really not laid out very well. It gets hot and crowded and there isn’t much shade. You have a ton of kids running around and the parents not watching them and then you have all the strollers here and there and everywhere. I asked 2 different staff members if the bathrooms at the front of the park also had changing rooms and neither of them knew if they did – turns out they didn’t and the kids changed in the car. When we arrived and rented a locker it wouldn’t lock. After trying everything I could think of, a man down the aisle said you have to take the key out while it’s in the unlocked position and them just slam the door shut – that worked, but there way no sign or instructions anywhere. When they assigned the lockers they give you the keys in order so everyone is crammed into the same area at the same time and the other 2 rows of lockers are empty.

Dutch Wonderland:
My only complaint was lunch was astronomically expensive and not very good at all.

Thomas:
Really my only problem with the Thomas set up is that the train station has all these little extras included in the price, a little train you can ride, a pumper cart, play sets, coloring sheets and tattoo in tents, food, photos with Sir Topham Hatt etc. What the issue is they don’t open up all the little extra stuff until after the train starts running. So anyone who shows up an hour early for the first train ride (like they recommend) can’t do any of the extra stuff until after they ride the train. This is when all the other people are arriving as well. It’s just poorly designed.

Wildwood:
What can I say other than inappropriately attired persons on the beach.

THE UGLY
We are taking Spirit Airlines to Orlando and this will be my last flight with them.
We booked in March for our October trip. We originally had booked a 1pm flight from Atlantic City to Orlando and then a 2pm flight home.

I got an email from the airline on Friday that we are on new flights now leaving 6pm to Florida and 9am to return home. Now you all know how early you need to get to the airport so that was going to mean we would miss everything our last day but also arriving so late we would miss everything our first day too. I had planned a character dinner for our first night and a character breakfast for our final morning.

As luck would have it, I left my phone at home on Friday so I couldn’t call the airlines to see what was up until I got home.

Our choices at this point were to leave either 6am or 6pm and return home either 9am or 9pm? I spoke to my traveling companions to get there choices. I would prefer to leave 6am and come home 9pm giving me the most amount of time in Disney. However I was already taking off the day before and after and Evan isn’t in school. Everyone else had children missing class time and extra vacations days they would need.

So once I got home I called the airline to see what was up and could we change things around with out penalty. Than I call everyone else back so they could discuss. After about 6 phone calls back and forth and calling the airlines we got it all worked out. We are on the 6am flight out and the 9am back home.

Then I had to fight with the airline because the rate was actually lower plus we had purchased their “special” club to get lower rates. I asked for a refund or free bags or something so after waiting on hold for some time they agreed to give us a refund of $200.00 total. Hey something is better than nothing but I’ll wait and see if I actually get it.

Then I go away and have a great weekend. I had no access to a computer and so when I check my e-mail yesterday I find out they booked the wrong flights coming home. We were on the 9pm. Don’t know how that happened as I never discussed with the rep about changing the return flight. So I call back to straighten it out and they wanted to charge me a change fee. “uh – NO” I said. Fortunately she didn’t give me a hassle and we now have the correct flights.

Next I had to scramble to get some new ADR’s. Now we are arriving so much earlier so I’m trying to see if I can get Chef Mickey’s a little earlier on arrival day but at least I didn’t have to cancel that booking.

Our last day we were doing Cape May Café so I needed to cancel that. We had one day on our trip which was completely open, with no plans at all. I was able to switch CMC over to that day but right now I had to book it as 2 smaller ressies at the same time and hope we can combine them at some point.

I think that brings us all back up to speed. I’ll have to post a new revised schedule but since we are still a few months away – I’ll hold off – Lord knows what other changes may be needed.

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks for the reviews! Sorry about the plane changes! I hope that's the end of them!

[lauriep]

Well, it wasn't Disney, but your mini vacation sounds like fun-- at least for the kids. What an incredible hassle with the flights! I hope you don't have to deal with that again.

[Cam22]

Sounds like you had a basically good weekend! Love the good, the bad, and the ugly descriptions! Glad you were able to get everything worked out with Spirit!

[ilovedisney247]

Glad you got to get away a little bit! Sorry you had so many problems with Spirit, but at least it all worked out for you in the end, which is less than I can say about my recent drama with Delta!

[KMB733]

Sounds like you had a good weekend, despite a few ups and downs! Sorry about all the problems with Spirit airlines. Hope there are no more changes to come!