Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Disney World - Day 3

Sunday, May 10th - Mother's Day

10:30 AM - Check-out time today was 10:00 AM, but because through Connie's generosity I too am a President Reserve Points Holder in Wyndham, I called down and requested a later check-out time yesterday. The first time I called I was told to call back after five when they would know more (?). I did this and was told that my room was booked for Sunday and the latest they could do was 10:30 AM. I thought about mentioning my 11:15 "welcome" appointment, but decided against it. I really wanted to let someone know that I would be missing this meeting because I wasn't allowed a noon check-out, but I figured up and at 'em was better in the long run. We were all a tad tired, but we made it.

Because I have written about my past resort experiences, I shall now list the negatives about Wyndham's Bonnet Creek Resort. I feel this is important for those out there that might be thinking of purchasing, or who already own, points in this program. I have listed the positives throughout my blog about the vacation so it is only fair that I list the negatives:
  • The mattress cover that went on the pull out sofa bed was so badly ripped that it was unusable.

  • The duvet cover on the master bed was ripped across the top (about 24 inches) so that the duvet kept pulling out of the cover every time we moved or tried to get warm.

  • It was very hard to get a hold of the front desk. I was put on hold a couple of times and left there so long I finally had to hang up.

  • The pool was not well managed by security. At the resort in Daytona Beach security was constant. There was no horsing around in those pools at all. Here there were tons of teenagers that congregated and pushed and pulled each other into the pool and the lazy river. I had to tell two young boys, around nine years old, to stop diving into the lazy river, and I stopped two others from running. An entire group of people, adults and kids alike, got into the lazy river at one point and stopped it up with their bodies, not allowing the rest of us to pass. Instead, they began making tons of waves so that the river was lazy no more. In the evening the pool was supposed to close at ten. Friday night we left at a quarter to eleven and the pool was still hopping with tons of rowdy kids and adults with coolers and glass bottles of beer.

  • I did not receive my paper as a Presidential Reserve Member, which I am entitled to. When I called down the first morning to ask where the paper was the girl at the front desk wanted to know if I was a gold, silver or platinum member as they only had me down as a presidential reserve member. Well, chickie, a presidential reserve member IS a platinum member. Now get me my paper! Which she did. I did not get one the next morning, nor did they bring it up after calling.
Other than that, I can't complain. I will still need to visit the resort again to check out the other amenities that I missed by only staying for the weekend.

11:30 AM: We have dropped Camille back at the JW Mariott and we have parked in Epcot. It is very hot and already we are sweating while we wait for the tram to arrive. Tom and Madison have opted to walk to the entrance. The rest of us are waving as they head off.

1:00 PM - It is hot! My shirt is sticking to my back and sweat is rolling down my face. I am not having what I would call the perfect Mother's Day, although Disney greeted all of us with pink and white carnations as we entered the park. It was a nice gesture, but I'm thinking they should have done this as we exited as carrying these flowers around all day will be quite a chore. We have gone inside the ball and enjoyed that ride. They roped the line off well enough to keep everyone shaded for the most part and this ride is one that moves at a rapid pace. Darcy and I were seated together because she said she enjoys our little discussions while we are inside. This meant me adding to Disney's history trip through the ball. Good to know she is paying attention.

This ride was one of the many that Disney closed for updated renovations. It used to be sponsored by AT&T and mostly showed a history of communication from the stone ages to the future.

It was updated because that "future" is now a reality. Now instead of the family mannequins talking to each other via computers from one country to another, you have your photo taken as you begin the journey. Each seat has a computer screen and you plug in answers to questions regarding the future. After you learn our nation's communication history, the seat rolls backward through the area that was once the exhibits, but now is darkness so you can see yourself on the computer screen in the future of your design. This is Darcy and Cara eating breakfast in our future home in the city.

4:00 PM - One of the reasons why we are at Epcot is because Tom's Disney fanatic co-worker told him that there was a new Kim Possible exhibit at Epcot. We found it and signed up for a mission to help Kim and Ron save the world. We plugged our tickets into a slot, answered questions on a computer screen, and a paper printed out for our next assignment.

The problem was that we let all of the kids do this so that we ended up with three missions instead of one. And they were all AT DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. We hiked into the World Showcase, but got side tracked by the first country, Mexico. That is because there is a restaurant right there at the entrance that serves frozen margaritas and that is how I wanted to celebrate Mother's Day. So we ate lunch, and then while Jyoti and I drank margaritas, Tom took Darcy to Norway to pick up her communicator. It was a cell phone that Wade would call you on to fill you in on the mission. Her first mission was to start in China. Darcy and Sarina agreed to work together on this mission and then to work together on Sarina's mission later.


Tom took Madison and headed off to get her communicator. Her mission was in the United Kingdom and the two of them had fun completing it. I had another margarita and then headed with the others to China.

The communicator was interactive. Wade told the girls that Monkey Ninjas were causing havoc, and he gave clues of areas within China to help them complete their mission.

The girls had to find certain areas and then push buttons on the communicator. One such area was a red hotel door and when they pushed their buttons on the communicator the door unlocked and popped open. Alas, it did not open further and Wade told the girls to duck for cover because the bad monkeys had planted a bomb or something. I wasn't paying too much attention as the two margaritas weren't mixing well with the heat.

It was a cute thing to do and it was done well. It also got you to explore each country where the missions were held. There were two different missions at each country, I believe, or at least there were different things happening in the country because Darcy and Sarina never went to this statue that glowed with a code, but Madison did. We ended up going to Japan for Sarina's mission, but I opted to fall asleep outside Japan on a bench under the shade while that mission was being performed. When they woke me I was drenched in sweat. No more liquor for me.

5:30 PM - We are back in the car and heading toward home. We ended the day by standing in line for an hour to get on the Soaring Ride, but it was inside so I can't complain. My Mother's Day Disney souvenir that I purchased was one of those squirt bottles with a fan so the rest of my trip was somewhat bearable.

Our plan is to stop in Tampa for dinner. It was a nice vacation, but I'm thankful that my passes are not usable during the summer heat!

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