And the only time we had any melt down was upon decending and landing in Orlando. The pressure in his ears was too much for him. And he wouldn't take his binky or drink anything for us to help relieve the pressure. Luckily, he wasn't the only one it bothered. There were a few other young ones on the flight that cried on the way down as well.
We were so glad we didn't have to go claim our luggage and could go straight to Disney's Magical Express. Check-in for that went smoothly. And I was sure to ask, again, about making sure Ashley was on their schedule for the following day. She wasn't, but the woman who checked us in, put Ashley in the system and said all she'd need is her ID (keep this in mind for tomorrows chapter). We got Keegan a boarding pass (basically) for the bus, and we were off to wait in line for the bus to our resort. Once on the bus, we were truly there. It was awesome! Though the best part of the bus ride was this:
Other Disney lovers know that when you see that sign, you are truly on vacation and in your magical place. It made me cry happy tears. :D
We got to the resort quickly, and got checked in. Our room was ready (should be, it was after 6pm). First floor, Calypso building in a Family Suite. It was nice to be able to go drop all our bags and things and sit for a bit. We only sat for 10 minutes or so, then headed to the food court to get a bite for dinner. In the time it took us all to get our food, pay, and walk back to the room with it, our bags were in our room. Yay! But wait. There were only 2 bags. Crap. Not to mention the basket I had ordered for mom a month prior and paid for was MIA (I'll touch on this one after the luggage).
We called luggage services and they said "it's missing, you'll have to call your airline and report it missing." Great. Of all the bags to lose, they lose mine and Ken's. So, we get on the phone and try to get in touch with United to report the bag lost. Thing is, every time we follow the prompts, and get to the correct menu for lost baggage, it drops our call (something I will be writing a complaint about to United). So, many calls to luggage services at our hotel, many trips down to the front desk to actually talk to them and give them a description of the bag, I finally get through to United. Only it wasn't to the proper department. I was so pissed, I finally just hit the general baggage question prompt and spoke to someone. Mom and I tag teamed talking to this girl, as she was desperatly trying to help us get through to the lost baggage line. After 2 hours of being on hold with this girl, we get through. Also, sometime in all of this, Disney took a description of our bag as well, I'm assuming to go look for it. Back to United. The girl I spoke to said it had been scanned into Orlando International Airport (score one for it actually being in the same state as us, we may actually get it in a day or two if they find it and deliver it), and that we should have reported it lost at the airport. DOH! She didn't know how the magical express worked, so I had to explain. She was sweet, and told my mom she would file the report for us; took a description of the bag and told us she would be in touch with us. So, dad and Ken come back in time to hear the end of the conversation. Dad and I walk to the lobby once more to thank the cast memebers there for their help and to let them know we'd keep in touch about the bag and it's whereabouts. Dad and I get back to the room and we all sit down and start discussing our options. Disney offered to pay for a cab to Walmart or Target so Ken and I could get a couple changes of clothes until the bag was delievered. Mom and dad would help us pay for it if we needed it. Just as I was saying "let's just go, get it over with tonight, and if the bag does show up tonight, then we consider ourselves lucky and have a few extra pairs of clothes for the week" there is a knock on the door. Without even looking out the peephole, I open the door and nearly faint. There is the missing/lost bag in all it's wonderful glory. We thanked the cast member who brought it profusely and told him we could have hugged him for bringing that bag. YAY! Crisis averted. (Thanks Bianca, Linda, Renee, and John at ASMu luggage services!) No need to spend time or money shopping for clothes. Oh, and when the bag came, it didn't have the nice bright yellow tag on the handle. So between Denver and Orlando, the tag was pulled off. And guess where we found it (as we were packing up to head home later int he week). In the outside zipper pocket of the bag. >_<
Now, back to the basket I had ordered and paid for. I ordered it from a local Orlando woman...I believe the company is Memories by Betsy (use her, she's awesome!). She put together a basket with a Mickey throw and a 2008 Mickey Head ornament for mom. It was to be delivered to our hotel, and left in our room when it was ready. Well, it was delivered to the hotel...but not to our room. Because of the baggage situation above, I couldn't remember the name of the company (non-DISer moment for not having brought that info with me) and so had to describe the basket to the cast member over the phone. I was in tears...as it was supposed to be a surprise for my mom, and there she was, in the room with me, listening to me bawl my eyes out (what can I say, when I'm super stressed out, I'm a cryer) having to ruin the surprise. Well, somewhere during the call, the cast member came up with the correct company name and said she was sure she'd seen one and that when they found it, they'd deliver it right away. Within 10 minutes the basket was at our door. YAY! Mom was soooooo excited. We left the throw over the back of the couch all week, and hung the ornament from the tall lamp in our room.
All things considered, we ended up having a peaceful evening and decorated our windows with our Disney clings, christmas lights, and garland. I did not get pictures of our windows somehow, but it doesn't matter as our garland/light tree we taped to the window fell off by the morning, so we were left with our window clings and our cool mickey head wreath (I'll take a picture of it at least so you can see it).
Pardon the pictures below. I didn't get good room pictures, and these were sleeping arrangements the end of the week. But, I felt it necessary to post them here as I won't be talking about the room again.
Above picture is the room with the queen bed. As you can see, we moved the ottoman into the room the end of the week, and set it up for Ash.
Above picture is the pullout sofa and pullout armchair, not to mention the pack and play that Keegan slept in for a mere 2 hours the whole time we were there. Don't ask me why my child wouldn't sleep in it...aside from he just wasn't used to it. Plus, the padding is a bit flimsy. So, the rest of the trip he slept with my parents for 2 nights. The other nights, we got smart, moved the ottoman into my parents room (as pictured above) for my sister. Keegan and I slept on the pull out couch...and DH slept on the pullout loveseat. It worked for us. :D
In hindsight, we should have gotten two adjoining rooms. However, by the end of the week, we think we probably still would have gone the same route (a suite) just for the kitchenette area. We had a place for a small carton of milk, cold bottled water every day and cold Pepsi's when we'd come back to the room to relax.
And that does it for Chapter 1. Suitcase was found and delivered, no extra money had to spent on clothes for DH and I, and the basket of goodies I ordered for my mom was also found and delivered. After unpacking our bags and putting them away...we settled in for the night. After all, we had a busy day planned the next day.
Ok. Who am I kidding. We had a 14 month old with us. None of our days were planned in advance. :D
Anywho. Up next...what park to we visit for our first day? How does our 14 month old do with characters? what do we ride? And does my sister make it in on DME successfully
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