The "Was I really Switched at Birth?" Pre-trip Report Turned Trip Report About This Page:

[Fortissimo]

The “Was I really switched at birth?” Pre-trip report.

Cast of characters:
Me - Fortissimo, better known as Robin by my family members, age 36. Other than Stinky, I am the only one in my family who is in love with the Mouse House. This will be my 6th visit to the real World.

Pat – my mom, age 57. Has always said she has no desire to visit the House of the Mouse. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] Mom doesn’t really believe that there is enough to keep us occupied at WDW for 9 days. She is using a gift certificate for her flight which she received from the Board of Education after serving 28 years as the Executive Secretary to the Superintendent.

Shannon – my sister, age 39. Supposedly the smart one of the family, but doesn’t really understand what all the fuss is about Disney World. Shannon’s main goal in life as an older sister was to torment me as a child. She insists that I was switched at birth and her real sister is somewhere out there. It is Shannon’s fault I’m afraid of Santa Claus.

Roberto – BIL, age 39. Probably the most-easy going person I have ever met. He was born and raised in the Philippines on a mountain top with no electricity or running water. Knows 9 different languages and wins in Scrabble every time. He met my sister when she took a wrong bus in Manila. For some reason unknown to me, he was nice and took her to her destination.

Stinky – my niece, age 13. With the exception of me, all of her friends and family call her by her real name, “Kada” (pronounced Kaa-duh). She lives to dance, read, and download music on the computer. She understands the importance of the Mouse as she went to WDW with me in 1999. Kada is my partner in crime.

Those who will be left behind on this trip are: Dennis, my step-dad, and Greg, my husband. Why? Someone has to watch the animals of course! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Reason for the trip: Kada has her National Dance Championships in Daytona Beach. Being the stinker that she is, she convinced Grandma that she really needs to visit WDW with her. I’m going because someone has to show them around the World.

When and Where:
My mom and I will be at PO-R from June 27 – July 6.
Shannon, Berto, and Stinky will spend June 25 at the Amerisuites located near MCO. They will then be in Daytona Beach from June 26 – July 3. There final leg of their journey will find them at CSR from July 3 – July 6.

[b]Goal of the trip: This trip will either "show my family the light" and make them WDW believers, or prove that I really was switched at birth and my real family also loves the Mouse![b]

Up next: The trip report! See ya on July 6th!

[ 07-11-2002, 03:57 PM: Message edited by: Fortissimo ]

[Disney Fan]

It sounds like you've got things in order. I can't wait to hear if you can convert your family to WDWers-4-life! I look forward to your trip report and may the force be with you!

[LMR30]

Have a safe and wonderful trip. Can't wait to hear about it. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[tikibird]

Looking forward to this trip report, and the best part, of course will be "My favorite part of the trip was eating a Mickey Bar with tikibird in Epcot!" [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Ursunique2001]

too funny. hopefully the rest of your family will be converted on this trip.

Have a great time.

Ursula

[HiddenMickey]

Off to a great start! I hope your trip is truly magical and your family finds enough Pixie Dust to convince them of the wonders of the World [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] -HiddenMickey

[DreaminDisney]

Have GREAT trip! Can't wait to hear all about it.
Really sounds like a great group of people going [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Fortissimo]

Day 1, June 27, 2002, or “What’s that smell?”

Today is the big day. The plan is to pick my mom up at noon and head to DIA for our 4:00 flight.

I start off by waking up at 7 a.m. A little early for me as I don’t do mornings, but hey, I’m going to WDW! I pass the time by vacuuming the stairs and Tigger the dog, packing, and one last game of Dynomite.

About 11:00 I go to clean my new glasses and the lens pops out. I’ve had the glasses exactly one week and they were not cheap, so needless to say I’m not very happy. Greg and I quickly throw my stuff in the car, and I hug and kiss the fur babies good-bye, and we’re off to Kaiser to get my glasses fixed. One usually has to wait at least 30 minutes at the optical department of Kaiser, so I’m getting a little stressed. We walk in and there is nobody in sight. Are we in the right place, we ask one another. I hand my glasses to the tech and he informs me they will be ready in about a week. I say no, they will be ready in about 10 minutes as I’m catching a flight to WDW. All he has to do is replace the screw that came out. He says he will do his best but can’t promise anything. It’s a screw. How hard is it to replace a screw in a pair of glasses? At this point I’m have Tikibird and lost contact flashbacks. 15 minutes later the tech comes out and hands me my glasses. I look at the screw. Now why can’t they use a Phillips screw or a flat head screw? Now I have to buy a little $4 screw driver that will fit the screws in my glasses. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

20 minutes later we’re on the road. We arrive at my mom’s a little behind schedule, but hey, we have plenty of time. We leave her house at about 12:30 for the drive to DIA. Now if any of you have flown in or out of DIA, you understand how far it is from Denver. When the city proposed to build a new airport, everyone said they wanted it out of the city because they don’t want the airplane noise above them. Now everyone complains it’s too far out of the city. It took us about 40 minutes to reach the fake mountains of Denver International Airport from North Denver. We check in and request seats next to one another. First request of the trip and it is actually granted.

As we board the plane and sit down, I notice a ghastly odor. You know, the type of odor from someone’s old Teva’s. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

“Mom,” I ask, “How old are your Teva’s?”
“I’m not wearing my Teva’s” she replies.
“Did you take your shoes off?” I ask.
“No. Why?”
“Because I smell someone’s stinky feet.”

I look around and the man behind me has removed his Teva's and his feet are sticking out from under my seat. I wanted to turn around and suggest he buy a bottle of Sandal Suds at his local sandal store, but I refrained. (Steve, try Sandal Suds. You can buy a bottle of it at stores that sell only sandals. It takes the lovely odor out and your Teva’s don’t have to be banished to the deck, doused in baby powder).

Our flight was very bumpy as I think the pilot hit every pothole in the sky between Denver and Orlando. The fasten seatbelt sign was only off for about 30 minutes of the whole flight, but that didn’t stop people from walking around.

We touched down at MCO at about 9:30 ET time. As we headed down to baggage claim, my mom asks why that man has my name on a piece of paper. Seems that I’d forgotten to mention we were using a town car service for our transportation to Port Orleans. Humberto from Tiffany Town Car greeted us and helped us grab our bags. Soon he was whisking us away in our first town car ride of our lives. Humberto was very friendly and told us about his first trip to the US as a foreign exchange student in 1984. All too soon we arrived at PO-R and checking in.

The Keath greeted us from behind the counter and began the check-in process. He asked if we wanted charge privileges and explained that Disney couldn’t charge to two separate cards. We decide to put everything on my card and Mom will pay me back.

He then hands me our room keys and tells us we will be in Magnolia Bend, Parterre Place. I had requested Alligator Bayou, Building 14, so I asked about my request. I didn’t care if we were in Building 14, I just wanted Alligator Bayou. Keath says he will see what he can find. Two minutes later he hands us new keys and a new map with Alligator Bayou, Building 14 circled. Another family had also requested Building 14, but since we beat them to check-in, we got the room. I felt guilty, for a few seconds anyway.

We decide to lug our own luggage as Building 14 is only steps away from the main building. We ask a CM which way we should head and he looks at the Wolfgang Puck’s Pizza box my mom is holding.

The CM explains, “You know where you got that pizza? Walk back that way, take a left and follow the path.”

“Ummm, we got the pizza in Denver and there is no way we’re walking back there tonight. Maybe in a few days, but not tonight,” I reply.

He gives me a very puzzled look and I explain we did not get the pizza at DTD, but at the Denver airport so we could eat on the plane. The little light bulb in his head goes on and he then tells us to “take that ramp over there. When you get to the bottom of it, go out those doors, across the bridge, and you will run into Building 14.”

We thank him and we’re off to find our room. We walked, and walked. Crossed the bridge and still no building 14. By this time we sweating and my left arm is about 10” longer than my right from lugging my bag. Finally we see another guest and we ask him where we are. “Magnolia Bend,” he informs us. He points to a sign up ahead and informs us that will point to Alligator Bayou. What seemed like 5 miles later, we find Building 14 and our room.

After depositing our 500-pound bags, we set off to find the food court. I really needed a Mickey Bar and a Diet Coke. We follow the side walk around to the other side of Building 14 and find a sign which points to the Main Building. We take that path and 10 steps later we are in the food court. Seems that the CM who gave us directions to our room failed to mention that once we walked down the ramp we should walk up the other side and exit through the door of the food court. If he would have added this bit of information, we wouldn’t have had a 10 mile hike to our room.

I locate the Mickey Bars only to find little kids taking the yummy frozen mice out of the freezer and squeezing every one. I didn’t feel like eating an ice cream bar that had been smushed by strange hands, so I passed on the Mickey Bar. Mom and I bought our mugs, filled them with Diet Coke, slugged the first mug full down, and then refilled the mugs to take to our room.

Back in the room, we called home to let our DH’s know we had arrived safe and sound. I set the wake up call and we drifted off to sleep.

Next up: Daytona Beach and the Stinker brings us to tears.

[PS - I LUV WDW]

Thanks for your first installment so quickly! Can't wait to hear more.

[Tara O'Hara]

Now if any of you have flown in or out of DIA, you understand how far it is from Denver. When the city proposed to build a new airport, everyone said they wanted it out of the city because they don’t want the airplane noise above them. Now everyone complains it’s too far out of the city

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Chicago is the same way. Must be a midwestern thing! [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

“Ummm, we got the pizza in Denver and there is no way we’re walking back there tonight

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">ROTFL!! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

a Mickey Bar and a Diet Coke

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">ROTFL again!! These two don't seem to go together! [img]graemlins/ukid.gif[/img]

I love your report so far and can't wait to hear about your adventures tomorrow!

Tara [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[LilMarcieMouse]

Ok zero Mickey bars there,Sounds like fun all ready. Can't wait for the next one. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[whoSEZ]

A great start! You have me ROFL already. Not that I'm surprised. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[wdwlovers]

Forti, I love the first installment! I am also ROTFL along with everyone else! Waiting for more...... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img]

[mom2mudmonsters]

[img]graemlins/read.gif[/img] Love your report so far...I have been intriqued since your first explaination about the trip [img]graemlins/ears.gif[/img] . Can't wait for the next installment!!
[img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]
Shannon