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Thursday, January 22, 2004
Day 6 of 6
Cast of Characters:
Mom (Grammie) - 62
Dad (Pop) - 60
Me (Jen) - 27
Everett (Brother) - 37
Patricia (Pat SIL) - 39
Chad - 14
Josh - 12
Rachel - 10
Nate - 7
I set the wake-up call for 05:50 – yes, Mickey again. I quietly get ready and run down to Guest Services to
settle my account and was second in line. Over the cruise, I had my PDA with me to keep track of my
account. I made sure there was always cash on the account and I knew I was due to get money back.
However, when I got there one of my spa treatments hadn’t been put through yet. ??? If I hadn’t caught
that I wonder what they would have done about it. They had no credit card or anything on file for me, as
I had made all my payments with a check.
Anyway, after about 5-10 minutes, she had it straightened out and the account was settled. I get
back to the room about 06:20 and wake up the kids and get them going. We had made the arrangement to meet
everyone at Parrot Cay at 06:45. The way it works it that you eat breakfast in the same restaurant in the
night before. Early seating is at 06:45 and it’s not a buffet, like it usually is. Well, Ev & Pat didn’t
realize it and they saunter in around 07:10. Our plan was to be ready to go at 07:45 as soon as the all
clear was given, since yourride was to pick us up at 08:00. We head down to the Atrium around 07:30 and
people are just hanging around, so we figure the all clear hasn’t been given. After about 10 minutes, we
realize that they don’t know what they’re doing and other people are already leaving, so we leave, too.
As soon as we walked down the gangway, we followed the hallway to baggage claim. It’s this BIG room, with
the luggage separated by color (of your luggage tag) and then in order by stateroom number. There are
tables with some luggage on top and some underneath. We quickly found our luggage, without the help of
porters, and head out through customs. I did not feel like they would have been any extra help to us. We,
including all the kids, were used to being resposible for our own luggage, so for us, it made no difference.
There are signs up as you leave that it’s a $50,000 fine if you bring fruit back with you! That’s one
expensive banana. Anyway, the guy looks at my passport, looks at me, asks a couple of questions,
then asks me to sign my passport – oops that should have been done the first day I got it – and I’m on my
way. The "nice doggie" sniffs my luggage and I’m out before anyone else. You end up going through the
entrance and for us it was a bit confusing. One guy was looking at us and pointing to the metal detectors.
We head that way and another guys yells at us "the exit is that way". Ok dude - so you don’t go through
security on your way out – chill out!
We use the crosswalk and head towards the parking lot and the big white tent we’re Roger is to pick us up.
We see “Third-Party Pick-Up” and head to that section. I think you’re supposed to check-in with someone
there so they know who you’re waiting for, but we didn’t. About 5 minutes later, Roger shows up,
completely apologetic for being late, even though it was just now 08:00.
We were to Pop Century to drop Everett & family off by 09:15 and to Coronado Springs for me, Mom and Dad by
09:30. Our plan was to check-in, leave the luggage and grab the next bus to Downtown Disney. We meet up
with Everett & family at about 10:00 at Downtown Disney by the bus stops. We shop for a bit until
11:30 when we decide we’re VERY hungry and Ev wants to go to the ESPN Club on the Boardwalk for lunch. We
grab the bus over there and have a really nice lunch. I was slightly worried because Everett says they allow
smoking, but when we got there I realized I was right and that Florida has a similar No-Smoking policy to
what we have in Maine.
After a nice lunch and a stop in the candy store, Everett says that we can grab a bus back our hotels.
I told him there are no resort to resort busses, but he says there are. Ok, I go with the flow and after
about 25 minutes at the bus stop, a Magic Kingdom bus pulls up. I ask the driver if resort busses stop here
and of course he says no. He says our best bet is to take the boat to Disney-MGM Studios and grab our
separate hotel buses from there. Gee – guess Aunt Jen does her research for a reason huh???
Anyway, we make it back to our hotels around 15:30. We go to Bell Services and tell them our name and room
number. The lady kind of freaks a bit and asks if we’re the Henry’s transferring from the Animal Kingdom
Lodge. I tell her no, that’s my brother (my other brother and his family arrived the day before and were
staying until Monday). She breathed a sigh of relief and said good because she was afraid she sent their
luggage to the wrong room. They take us to our room and not even a minute after we get in, I hear a knock
and “BOO BOO, is that you?” It was my niece, Sarah (4). It was nice to see them and we “chilled out” in
their room for a bit and then got ready for dinner.
I went back to my room and called to see if the water we had sent through Netgrocer.com had arrived yet.
When I checked the website on the ship, it had said it would arrive yesterday, but when I called, it hadn’t
arrived yet, but they would be willing to track it for me. I didn’t have my tracking number, so I had to go
to the main building to use the internet phone to find the tracking number. By time I got back to my room,
there was a message on my phone from the package delivery area. I called and they said it had just
arrived and if I be in my room they would have someone deliver it right away. That was fine with me, except
I didn’t know EVERYONE else was ready to go meet Everett & family for dinner. We wait around, then
when they show up with three large boxes everyone laughs at me. Sorry, I just can’t drink any type of
Florida water.
Anyway, we have to run to the bus stop (very difficult for Mom) to get the Magic Kingdom bus. We have a PS
for everyone to eat at Chef Mickey’s. Mostly we’re doing this just to have a family picture taken – LOL.
We have a great time at Chef Mickey’s with everyone together. Everett and I sat next to each other and
kept sighing saying all the luxuries we missed from the ship.
That is one thing, do WDW before the cruise. The service on the ship can’t compare with the service at
WDW anymore. Listen to me – anymore. My first trip to WDW was last February - I had never been to WDW
when the service was tip-top, better than excellent.
So, that’s my report. I’ll try to do spa reviews and such for the files, but mostly, I’ve reported
everything as it happened. If anyone has any questions, let me know.
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