The Important Questions being: What do you to mark the end of an excellent school year by two kids with straight-As, great work ethics, and all around pretty good attitudes?
Why, take them to Disney World of course!
Spirit Airlines had a seat sale in May that could not be passed up, so we announced to the kids that we were taking them to Disney at the end of school to reward all their hard work. We also got the resort tickets and made an AirBnB reservation and a dining reservation for the night of our arrival at a Disney restaurant at a Disney Resort hotel, the Coronado Springs, near the AirBnB location.
Leah was thrilled, but Abby at first, being a teenager, thought Disney World was not cool enough for a teenager and didn't want to go. How wrong she was.
So we packed on Wednesday night and on Thursday they had their last morning of class, while I went to court for a hearing in Detroit and then rushed home as soon as it was done, and considering the hearing was running an hour late it was getting tight.
We loaded the car, dropped off Jett at the dog sitter, and rushed to the airport.
We shouldn't have been in such a rush. The plane was delayed by an hour due to weather so all our rush through traffic and security was not as necessary as the clocks had insisted it was prior to our arrival at the gate.
Then, just before we were about to board the plane, Tash got a message from the AirBnB host cancelling our reservation. Yep, just 2 and a half hours before the scheduled arrival with a reservation made in May, and the person cancels due to issues with the room. That sucks, we're about to leave for Orlando and now have no place to stay.
Oh boy.
So Tash starts discussing things with AirBnB, and I get on the line with Disney and see if there are rooms available, and sure enough Coronado Springs has some openings at pretty darn decent prices, and I jump on a room. Should have done it that way right from the start. The room included transportation from the airport, transportation from the resort to all the Disney parks, Disney bands with FastPass and hey, it's Disney. For a few more bucks we were now going in style and the customer service agent on the phone was very helpful and all was right with the world again.
So we arrive at the airport an hour after our scheduled time, but Disney transport already has us in the system and gets us to the right bus to the Coronado. Disney has this whole process down to a science and its as smooth and comforting a way to start a vacation as it can be.
I call the restaurant from the bus and left them a message that we won't be there at the reservation time due to the plane issue.
We get to the resort at 9pm, and check in, which is handled just beautifully. We then go to the restaurant, The Mayan Grill, for a really great meal. They appreciated that I had called and left a message and it was no problem at all.
Then to our room, which was nice, pretty spacious, and clean and we unpacked and got ready to hit the parks on the next day.
A more detailed report of the past few days to follow. In short kids, including teens, love Disney once you get them there.
2 comments:
Hey Aaron;
I have been to Disney a few times, it helps to live in the same geographic area(the south). Disney has perfected the customer moving experience like nobody else and they make it all inclusive. You usually spend a bit more the the experience is awesome. Next time try a Disney Cruise line :)
Yes, Disney really does it right whether at the parks or on a cruise. Everything is done just right and handled so smoothly I'd really recommend staying at a Disney property to anyone visiting Disney World, it makes the experience much better and is worth the few more dollars spent, and you get some of those back in the form of not paying for parking, airport shuttles and other amenities and knowing that its Disney so your stay will be done right.
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