“Rise” to the Challenge, FREAK!! Done and new trip report started 5/2/21

[emsstacey]

I'm excited to follow along!

 

[Gina Starr]

I’m here! I’m going to try my very best to keep up. Our dates were almost identical- I’m surprised we didn’t run into each other! I was so super scatter brained before the trip I didn’t really check here much so I either forgot or didn’t realize we had the same dates!

 

[smilie]

Having a mother/daughter trip with my DD is my bucket list dream!!! I love reading about your adventures together.

 

[alpal22]

Sounds exciting! Going to join in!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I'm along for the ride! Can't wait to hear more about you and Andi's adventures!

Yay! Welcome, love having you along for our trip adventures!

Looking forward to reading about your trip.

Yay and Welcome, so nice to have you joining in!

Hi Caroline! So good seeing you and Andi again!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip! You guys definitely did a lot. I'm so jealous of your 10 day trip!

Hi Su-Lynn, thanks for joining in. We did have a nice long trip except it still went by to fast! It was fun visiting with you and Steve this trip. You all were park commandos this trip!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I'm excited to follow along!

Yay and Welcome! So glad to have you!!

I’m here! I’m going to try my very best to keep up. Our dates were almost identical- I’m surprised we didn’t run into each other! I was so super scatter brained before the trip I didn’t really check here much so I either forgot or didn’t realize we had the same dates!

Hi Gina! So nice to have you here reading along. I’m sorry we missed each other. Are you going to do a TR? I will want to follow along!!

Having a mother/daughter trip with my DD is my bucket list dream!!! I love reading about your adventures together

Ahh Welcome! I sure hope you all get a trip together, the mother/daughter trips are the best!!

Sounds exciting! Going to join in!

Yay and Welcome!! So glad to have you joining in!

 

[disneyAndi14]

“Is it snowing again?”

As many of you know, we have had a snowy winter. We have already received the amount of snow we normally receive during an entire winter season. Yay! We are so lucky, right? Record breakers and all. Some may think so, I am not impressed and would much rather break records the other way, like least amount of snow ever on record, that is more my type of record.

I had been watching the weather because “surprise” we were suppose to get snow the day we had to travel. I was hopeful it would only be a couple inches and we would be fine.

Monday was a regular work day for me. I had packed over the weekend and was ready except for a few last minute essentials.

Andi arrived home Monday and was mostly packed and ready to go. We had Qdoba for dinner and we all went to bed early. Our wake up time was 3am, ugh! I always think the early morning flights are the best at the time of booking, however, when the time arrives, not so much.

I did sleep some during the night and was up before the alarm. I looked outside and it wasn’t snowing, except I noticed a fair amount of new snow on the deck, ugh! I didn’t have any alerts on my phone so we got ready and headed out. My goal was to be at the airport at 4am. Our flight was to depart at 5:10am. One good thing about flying out of our small airport, you really don’t need more than 1 hour of time before your flight.

Here is my bad mirror selfie, I take this before each trip. Andi thinks it is hilarious.


The ride to the airport was not fun. The roads were not plowed and we did get about 4-5 inches of new snow. My husband drove us in his truck and of course he didn’t think he needed the 4 wheel drive until we almost went in the ditch! Needless to say it was a stressful ride in the middle of the night.

We did make it fine and were all checked in and ready to board by 4:30am. Thank goodness our city is use to snow and this did not delay our flight at all! We took off on time and were in Minneapolis getting Dunkin Donuts by 6:30am. Our 7:10am flight from Minneapolis also took off right on time. If any of you have paid attention to the times, that was stressful in itself. I gambled and booked the 2 flights so close together in time and if any hiccup had occurred in Duluth, we would never had made the 7:10am flight!

Thank goodness the gambling gods were looking out for us!

Goodbye nasty cold snowy weather, Hello beautiful sun and 83 degree weather, I love you!!

We landed in sunny Orlando by 11:30am! We did have to pick up Andi’s suitcase. We noticed in the Duluth airport her OKW tag was already missing. I am so glad we noticed before we checked her bag.

We got on the Magical Express pretty fast and worked our way to OKW. We did not have a ready room yet, we did get the text that they were working on our room.

I should have went to the lobby and asked about our room location but I didn’t. Dumb mistake on my part. A little foreshadowing.......

We gave our luggage to bell service and headed to DS via the boat at OKW. It was glorious to be outside in warm weather and the sun on my face.


We were hungry and decided on Blaze Pizza for our lunch. We shared a pizza. Andi’s side had mushrooms and olives and my side had pepperoni, meatballs, and mushrooms. This was yummy.


We walked around and went to Basin to wash our hands and walked around WOD.

We wanted to try the crepe for dessert with the bubble waffle but it was closed. I’m not sure if it is only open on weekends or evenings, no way to tell at the stand.

We decided to go to Sprinkles. I tried the cupcake sundae dessert, this was so good. I had a strawberry cupcake with the Captain crunch ice cream. This was an odd combination but very satisfying and so good. Andi didn’t have anything, she tried this and thought it was okay. I loved it.

We did get our room text and it was no where near what I had requested from Touring Plans. It was Miller Crossing, building 18, room 1822. I had requested near hospitality house, building 64. I did ask if anything was available in building 64, however I was told no. We walked over and the walk wasn’t to bad. We were on the 2nd floor. Our room was nice. A few negatives, very small TV with a remote from the 90’s,

the balcony overlooked a bunch of air conditioners.

Thank goodness we couldn’t hear them with the door closed. The bathroom had a loud ineffective fan otherwise the bathroom was nice with a rain fall shower head.

Very little storage for a DVC. Positives were 2 queen size beds, balcony with chairs and a fountain out in the lake behind us. Unfortunately, those were the only positives of the room.



The resort itself was very nice, didn’t seem crowded at all, bus stop was close to our building, and relatively quiet until the end of our stay. More foreshadowing!!

The resort is huge, the bus takes almost 30 minutes to go around the resort coming back from the parks. We started getting off at the Pennisular bus stop and walking, it saved us over 15 minutes of bus time.

The ice machine was by the quiet pool between buildings 19&20, not a fun walk at the end of the night. I love to have ice available all the time so this was a negative for me.

We also found toenail clippings on the floor in the little kitchen area and a lot of hair in the bathroom. This was gross, we could tell the floors had not been cleaned at all before our arrival. I did call and the manager was very helpful and nice. He agreed this was not acceptable. He sent housekeeping back, gave us each 3 anytime FP and a $200.00 resort credit. I certainly didn’t expect that, I just wanted to have the floors cleaned. I was impressed with the manager at OKW.

After all that, this resort is a one and done for us, you will hear more of why in upcoming posts.

Okayafter all that, it was time for us to head to MK. Stay tuned for that post coming up soon.

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad the snow didn't affect your flights!!

Ah that stinks that your room wasn't the best I'm glad the manager tried to make it right with the FPs and credit.

Sounds like a nice time at DS, good way to start the trip!

 

[starousse]

Ughh, so sorry to hear about the dirty room. Nothing worse than that. I would have probably demanded a new room after that but glad the manager comped you. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Here is my bad mirror selfie, I take this before each trip. Andi thinks it is hilarious.

Super cute!

We decided to go to Sprinkles. I tried the cupcake sundae dessert, this was so good. I had a strawberry cupcake with the Captain crunch ice cream. This was an odd combination but very satisfying and so good. Andi didn’t have anything, she tried this and thought it was okay. I loved it.

That looks interesting! it's literally a cupcake with ice cream?

We also found toenail clippings on the floor in the little kitchen area and a lot of hair in the bathroom. This was gross, we could tell the floors had not been cleaned at all before our arrival. I did call and the manager was very helpful and nice. He agreed this was not acceptable. He sent housekeeping back, gave us each 3 anytime FP and a $200.00 resort credit. I certainly didn’t expect that, I just wanted to have the floors cleaned. I was impressed with the manager at OKW.

Ugh so gross. Can't believe all the issues you guys had with OKQ. But at least they were nice and threw in some extra stuff!

 

[afwdwfan]

My husband drove us in his truck and of course he didn’t think he needed the 4 wheel drive until we almost went in the ditch!

The first and most important rule of 4 wheel drive... If you wait until you need 4 wheel drive to engage it, it is too late.

We gave our luggage to bell service and headed to DS via the boat at OKW. It was glorious to be outside in warm weather and the sun on my face.

Love that feeling when you get there after leaving the winter in the Midwest.

Very little storage for a DVC. Positives were 2 queen size beds, balcony with chairs and a fountain out in the lake behind us. Unfortunately, those were the only positives of the room.

Dang, sorry the room wasn't a better location and set up for you.

The resort is huge, the bus takes almost 30 minutes to go around the resort coming back from the parks. We started getting off at the Pennisular bus stop and walking, it saved us over 15 minutes of bus time.

Yikes!

We also found toenail clippings on the floor in the little kitchen area and a lot of hair in the bathroom. This was gross, we could tell the floors had not been cleaned at all before our arrival. I did call and the manager was very helpful and nice. He agreed this was not acceptable. He sent housekeeping back, gave us each 3 anytime FP and a $200.00 resort credit. I certainly didn’t expect that, I just wanted to have the floors cleaned. I was impressed with the manager at OKW.

Blech... I'd certainly be disappointed in anything like that from Disney, but I'm glad the manager at least stepped up and did what he could to try to make it right.

After all that, this resort is a one and done for us, you will hear more of why in upcoming posts.

I think I've heard enough of why it would have been one and done... sorry it didn't get any better.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi, joining in.

I love that you are able to take so many mother/daughter trips. Such wonderful memories you are making.

So sorry about the room. Not the kind of start you want for vacation but the credit was a nice surprise.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am here!!!!!

Our 7:10am flight from Minneapolis also took off right on time. If any of you have paid attention to the times, that was stressful in itself. I gambled and booked the 2 flights so close together in time and if any hiccup had occurred in Duluth, we would never had made the 7:10am flight!

That was quiet the gamble with it being einter and all! Glad it worked out for you.

We also found toenail clippings on the floor in the little kitchen area and a lot of hair in the bathroom. This was gross, we could tell the floors had not been cleaned at all before our arrival. I did call and the manager was very helpful and nice. He agreed this was not acceptable. He sent housekeeping back, gave us each 3 anytime FP and a $200.00 resort credit. I certainly didn’t expect that, I just wanted to have the floors cleaned. I was impressed with the manager at OKW.

Yikes! That is gross! Glad they quickly made up for it at least.

 

[Cloe Colton]

I'm here! So jealous of your 10 night trip! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Glad your flight worked out! Buffalo is used to snow too but it's always stressful when you don't know if they'll decide to delay for some reason! Glad they didn't!

What a lovely DS afternoon! I feel like Tim Tracker or some other vlogger has commented how the crepe place keeps weird hours!

Ugh hate when the rooms are no where near what you request! And how awful that it was so dirty! I'm glad they made it right but jeesh, you would think for what people pay to own dvc points and just the general cost of Disney they would at least swiffer the floor!

My mom is the same about ice that was one of the worst parts of our room at the Yacht Club because the ice machine was over 100 big steps away! After a couple of nights I left it to her to get the ice if she wanted it that bad lol

OKW is one of the last resorts on my list to stay at and from the state of the rooms I think I'll wait until they refurb them!

 

[ariane37]

I had been watching the weather because “surprise” we were suppose to get snow the day we had to travel. I was hopeful it would only be a couple inches and we would be fine.

Funny we were supposed to get snow on the day we left too! Luckily it waited until the next day

It was glorious to be outside in warm weather and the sun on my face.

Yes it was! For a couple days at least lol

The resort is huge, the bus takes almost 30 minutes to go around the resort coming back from the parks

We stayed there on our first onsite stay back in 2007 and really enjoyed it; the kids were so little and the pool was nice as well as the size of the rooms . We had a 2 bedroom, don't remember what section but we were also near a bus stop. I do think the resort is pretty but it seems SSR usually gets more positives than OKW? As for the bus stops this is something I can't stand at the big resorts!! I prefer resorts with 1 stop! Regardless the toenails and hair which you hadn't mentioned while we were together down there is GROSS and I'm glad they comped you even though you didn't ask!!!

 

[Gina Starr]

Hi Gina! So nice to have you here reading along. I’m sorry we missed each other. Are you going to do a TR? I will want to follow along!!

I do plan on writing a TR! I just finished one from our short September trip and I will link the new one there.

Ughh all that snow sounds awful! Luckily we haven’t had much here (knock on wood) but February is usually the bad month. Glad it didn’t mess up your travel day though!

I hate those messages from Disney saying your room isn’t ready yet. It makes you all excited when you see the text and then they disappoint you.

The million bus stops at other resorts makes me really appreciate French Quarter’s one stop.

Ewwww toenails and hair?!? That’s disgusting! I’m glad they got it taken care of, though!

Can’t wait to read more!

 

[tinawv]

Looking forward to reading more about your trip.

 

[suse66]

Goodbye nasty cold snowy weather, Hello beautiful sun and 83 degree weather, I love you!!

My favourite weather too!

We gave our luggage to bell service and headed to DS via the boat at OKW. It was glorious to be outside in warm weather and the sun on my face.

Isn't it just the best feeling?

We were hungry and decided on Blaze Pizza for our lunch. We shared a pizza. Andi’s side had mushrooms and olives and my side had pepperoni, meatballs, and mushrooms. This was yummy.

Yum! Blaze pizza opened near Toronto last spring and I finally tried it a few weeks ago. I love their pizza! And sharing one is a great choice.....then you have room for dessert.

Very little storage for a DVC. Positives were 2 queen size beds, balcony with chairs and a fountain out in the lake behind us. Unfortunately, those were the only positives of the room.

Uh oh......

We also found toenail clippings on the floor in the little kitchen area and a lot of hair in the bathroom. This was gross, we could tell the floors had not been cleaned at all before our arrival. I did call and the manager was very helpful and nice. He agreed this was not acceptable. He sent housekeeping back, gave us each 3 anytime FP and a $200.00 resort credit. I certainly didn’t expect that, I just wanted to have the floors cleaned. I was impressed with the manager at OKW.

Blech to the disgusting condition of the kitchen and bathroom. Kudos to the resort manager for stepping up to the plate and making things right.

After all that, this resort is a one and done for us, you will hear more of why in upcoming posts.

Sorry to hear that it was a less than magical experience.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Glad the snow didn't affect your flights!!

Ah that stinks that your room wasn't the best I'm glad the manager tried to make it right with the FPs and credit.

Sounds like a nice time at DS, good way to start the trip!

I was so glad the flights took off without a hitch!
There is just something about other people’s toenails and hair in your hotel room, yuck!
The resort overall is nice and what we paid for the 6 nights by renting here on the Dis was so good. It was closer to the cost of a value so I don’t like to complain to much. I do like to let people know my thoughts and what I liked and didn’t like.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ughh, so sorry to hear about the dirty room. Nothing worse than that. I would have probably demanded a new room after that but glad the manager comped you. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

It was disappointing. I got the impression moving was just not an option for us with the resort staff. At first, we didn’t hear back for over an hour and I was thinking they really didn’t care. I was so relieved when the manager called back!