ABCs of a Nursing School Grad Trip + FL Keys Mini Report;D is for: Dang! Last Chapter of this TR...

[franandaj]

They won't give me a refund until they are satisfied they can't fix it there. It's in the shop again

They did the same thing when I dropped my dark ride lens. They sent it to New Jersey, and two weeks later the part was going to take too long to arrive, so they gave me a gift card with X-hundred dollars on it. Considering it took them more than 8 weeks to get me the first lens, I bought it from Amazon, had it in 5 days. Now I'm walking around with a crap ton of Best Buy money in my wallet.

 

[Steppesister]

I lied. Well, not exactly lied, but was insufficiently informed when I said I have tomorrow off. Most of you know my position is per diem, meaning basically, I work as the hours are available and they need me. I work on-call AND if my boss knows ahead of time there will be hours for me, I might know my schedule roughly on Wednesdays for the next week. Lately, I have worked VERY few, if any hours in a week. Recently, there was a 2 week stretch there was NO work at all for me. Then last week I got 21 hours, and both yesterday and today I was called in last minute making my hours so far this week only 14. No where near enough. I really hope to get about 24 a week.

Anyway, I'm very thankful that I am getting at least some! I have things to do and places to go!!!

One sad reality of life is that you have to pay to play.

So, all that to say, I won't be getting to threads tomorrow at all. I do, so far, have Thursday off though. Friday too, as a matter of fact!

Hope all y'all's weeks are going great! Keep up the good fight!!

Steppe

 

[pkondz]

I still think we should all just be born independently wealthy.

Well, at least you and your readers.

Well, at least me.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Sorry you aren't getting in the hours how frustrating. Life is expensive. Hope that changes for you real soon.

 

[franandaj]

I'msorry you're not getting the hours you need. That can make planning you trips and leisure time difficult.

I can barely find time to get on here except from my phone. My slavedriver is always looking over my shoulder at the computer looking at my screen. When I ask if she can see something on it, she always says "no", but whenever she sees I'm on the DIS she can see the screen clearly!

She claims I had too much fun the last six weeks and now it's time to work!

 

[Steppesister]

This was a spur of the moment adr we made. It was really good. Tiffins and Yachtsman were the best from our trip but Tratorria was up there too.

Good to hear about Tiffins! I've been seeing some good reviews coming out of there, so will have to put it on my list.

You're doing pretty darned good!

Well, I was, but this guy kept posting every single time I did! The nerve!

Good thing I'm not adding to... uh... .... ... oh. NM.

OH shush! You loved every single moment.

Wait. So you actually have to stay at a resort before you know if you want to stay at a resort?

Well, no, but to choose a favorite I guess I do.

Oh, gee. Thanks.

Any time, my friend!

But... what's wrong with short?

Nothing. Unless you want t get stuff out of a high cupboard.

Well, you did pay for it.

Eventually.

Oh Geez! Come to think of it... I wonder if I actually remembered to pay her back!?!

(NM that we paid for her last term's tuition.)

Wait. Don't go too deep? You have to go to the bottom, don't you? Otherwise...
1. boring.
2. terrifying.

I guess I meant don't dive in water deeper than 20-30 feet.

If that's what it takes.... YES.

Wasn't it you who flamed me for that once upon a time for doing that while sitting on a Harley?

Hello!!!!

 

[Steppesister]

Was I around then? Sounds... vaguely familiar?

I"m not sure. I'm pretty certain that particular line of nonsense was around 2009ish? Just before we came back.

No, no no. I was talking about DLR. I said "Your last trip"

Ooooh, that trip!

Whoa. Bad odds.
I don't know what the ratio for ATC is. Um.... 1 or two/1,000? Maybe less?

I didn't say what I was actually meaning to...

I was meaning to say, about 250 apply, but only 48 or 56 students are accepted (depending on the year). And of those only about 30-40% make it.

Oh. That bad...

The good news is that they called this evening and they found some issues they are certain were the cause of the problems. Huzzah! They are doing some final run throughs and fixes and I should have it back by tomorrow morning or afternoon sometime.

They did the same thing when I dropped my dark ride lens. They sent it to New Jersey, and two weeks later the part was going to take too long to arrive, so they gave me a gift card with X-hundred dollars on it. Considering it took them more than 8 weeks to get me the first lens, I bought it from Amazon, had it in 5 days. Now I'm walking around with a crap ton of Best Buy money in my wallet.

OH man! UGH!!!!!

BUT! You should go spend it! I"m sure there's SOMETHING you could find you want there.

I still think we should all just be born independently wealthy.

Well, at least you and your readers.

Well, at least me.

I couldn't agree with you more!

Sorry you aren't getting in the hours how frustrating. Life is expensive. Hope that changes for you real soon.

Me too, Polly! I need to get hours to pay for fun stuffs!

I'msorry you're not getting the hours you need. That can make planning you trips and leisure time difficult.

THanks, Alison! It sure does! I really want to get over to Guam, go back to WDW soon, and maybe take a Disney cruise too!

I can barely find time to get on here except from my phone. My slavedriver is always looking over my shoulder at the computer looking at my screen. When I ask if she can see something on it, she always says "no", but whenever she sees I'm on the DIS she can see the screen clearly!

I have one of those too! And I understand this "dilemma" completely!!! Sheesh!

She claims I had too much fun the last six weeks and now it's time to work!

Oh, such a party pooper. All work and no play.... (we just watched the Shining the other day.)

 

[pkondz]

Well, I was, but this guy kept posting every single time I did! The nerve!

Sheesh! I wonder if you can block him or something? Guy sounds like a pain in the ask anyone!

OH shush! You loved every single moment.

Well, no, but to choose a favorite I guess I do.

But not to chose which one you'd like to stay in next, money being no consideration.

Nothing. Unless you want t get stuff out of a high cupboard.

Oh Geez! Come to think of it... I wonder if I actually remembered to pay her back!?!

Sorry I reminded you!

(NM that we paid for her last term's tuition.)

Yeah, that should cover it.

I guess I meant don't dive in water deeper than 20-30 feet.

Ah. Deeper water = bigger fishies?

Wasn't it you who flamed me for that once upon a time for doing that while sitting on a Harley?

Yep.
So, go ahead and wear whatever's comfie.... just stay of the cool bikes.

I"m not sure. I'm pretty certain that particular line of nonsense was around 2009ish? Just before we came back.

hmmm... before my time then.

I didn't say what I was actually meaning to...

I was meaning to say, about 250 apply, but only 48 or 56 students are accepted (depending on the year). And of those only about 30-40% make it.

Ah. Got it.

The good news is that they called this evening and they found some issues they are certain were the cause of the problems. Huzzah! They are doing some final run throughs and fixes and I should have it back by tomorrow morning or afternoon sometime.

Yay!! Hope they actually fixed it this time.
Try it out there for a bit before bringing it home.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I hope your laptop is really fixed! I was trying to upload to photo bucket as my photos seem too big big for the DIS. THAT WAS GLITCHY TOO! Waimea Falls is next if I can make the Web work. Oh that sounded almost as important as AL Gore.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Lurkers! JOIN THE CONVERSATION. We'd love to meet you!

Just dropping in for the first time. I'm new to the Tales of Queen Steppe and just got caught up on this TR thread (minus a lot of the equally-interesting-but-less-pertinent-to-the-story chatter.) Obviously I have too much to multi-quote at the moment (only about 35 CHAPTERS worth!) but I'm enjoying your TR. I was totally disoriented at first by the A,B,C method of storytelling, but now that I'm used to it I like it and am fully on board!

 

[Steppesister]

O is for: Oh MY GOODNESS! Once in a Lifetime!​

Remember the evening of fine dining at Victoria and Albert’s? That was one of the more amazing pieces of this trip. But that was FAR from the only magical thing that happened for me, or us, as the case may be. The Halloween Party was certainly way up there, our Coral Reef dinner was definitely a highlight, and of course my Graduation Celebration Dinner and evening were pretty amazing too. But Folks I’m about to share a moment in time, and in turn the included benefits, that simply made me literally drop a tear of delight and let out a squeak of surprise and stunned happiness.

You all know, well those of you who followed my PTR, that my youngest daughter and I indulged in a Wanyama Tour at AKL. I haven’t shared about that yet, but will get to that soon. (“Soon”, if you haven’t figured it out yet, is a very relative term in the world of trip reporting.) But, after that tour with 3 days still left of our trip, we had a resort reservation for AKL. We’d already packed our bags and had them sent over from AoA that morning, so they’d be waiting later in the day, but the family did not know where those bags were going to. They knew we were changing resorts, but thought it might be Boardwalk. I had originally gotten a room there, but after some drama with (any!) rooms not being available (still huge questions on why) at AKL, I went with the Boardwalk. Then, about a month before our trip, they finally released AKL rooms and Brook, my amazing TA, snatched one up. So, long story just about as long, Anara and I did the tour and dinner and then the whole family met in the AKL lobby for my big reveal.

When I told them that they were “already home”, they burst into big smiles and hugged each other. Well, the kids did; Mike, I don’t think really cared where we stayed. But, when I took a survey early in my planning about which resort they thought they’d like best, it was hand down AKL... Queen Steppe, making dreams come true once in a while. Now, I know you can all do math, and I really don’t want to open a huge can of “controversy worms”, but yes, for one short night, we did have 5 people in our room. Sorry, if you’re on the other side of that fence, but we did it, and I won’t apologize. Another $350 or whatever we paid per night was NOT worth it for 8 hours for one extra person. We were already paying the extra “adult fee” for Zach, since he was over 18, which is a stick in my craw. I happened to know what that really feels like, and it isn’t very nice. (And for you smart donkeys who think you’re going to pop one off about me having an actual craw, zip it.)

So, group assembled and ready to rock and roll, it was time for Mama San to go check in. Little did I know the joke was about to be on me.


“Welcome Home, Mrs. Steppe…


You’ve been upgraded to Concierge Level. Congratulations on your Graduation!”

Never, EVER, EVER in my wildest dreams (they can get pretty wild) did I think I’d be staying at a Disney deluxe resort with my whole family, let alone, in a hoity-toity, over-the-top Concierge Level room. Ever.

I know some of you have been Grand Marshalls (@Princess Leia), are DVC owners, have APs, go all the time, have had those knock-your-socks-off moments and surprises, but Ladies and Gentlemen, this was one of those for our family. A quite probably once-in-a-lifetime, wonderfully enchanted moment gifted to us.

Because we had 5 folks, Mikki had to go lose herself for a while until I called her. But in the meantime, the rest of us were personally escorted from the lobby up to the 4th floor. The CM told us we had to use our special elevator ‘keys”, magically encoded onto our Magic Bands, to ride that elevator. After a quick swipe, we were whisked up to a floor not many get to see at all. There is NO access to it other than by way of that elevator. You could go DOWN to the lobby by stairs, but the door to the stairs was locked the other way. Here's a view from the coveted 4th Floor:

and another:

and another (more later...):

At our room, we opened the door, and were instantly transported to what was, at least in my mind’s eye, a fictional Safari tent set up by hard working porters after a long day of animal viewing. Luxurious was an understatement. Huge king beds with animal prints, carved wood furniture, loads of pillows, and scads of space. Coming from a value to this was… overwhelming. In a very good way.

Waiting in our room:

After we set our things down, our host took us back to the Concierge Lounge where we were given an extensive tour and explanation of the services available to us during our stay.

Let me interject some incidentals here…


We had the bulk of our trip behind us by now. We’d spent oodles of time it the parks, must-do lists were pretty much whittled down, and we had really entered the realms of “Vacation Mode”. I had, knowing we’d be slowing down by then, built in plenty of resort time. I mean, why spend deluxe amounts of cash, and not enjoy what you paid for? Now, we had about 4 billion more reasons to stick around. Plus, I was now with a person who doesn’t “park” very well. For those of you who are hooked up with a hater, you get it.


We arrived during evening “Snack Time”. How fortuitous! Because it happened to be our “Snack Time” too! Then again, it’s “Snack Time” all the time at Disney. Something Concierge gets. Good to be on the same page as your guests, I guess. We were invited to grab a plate and a drink from here:

While they went over the rest of the benefits. Coffee was available beginning at 5:00AM, Breakfast at 6:00. People? We’re talking a full breakfast here. Hot dishes included. There, in fact, was a cook doing up omelets.

Some examples:

I'd have taken more, but started to feel weird about taking photos of everything. Suffice to say, it was pretty darned amazing up there!

Finger foods were available throughout the day, and beginning at 3:00, afternoon snacks, again hot, would be available. At any time, several wines and beers were available for the asking. We did. I think Mike had a Heineken and I enjoyed at some point a glass of wine. Then after 7:00, evening snacks would be available. Again there was a cook making African inspired hot hors d’oeurvres-y types of things. They were delicious. A lot was kid friendly too- juice boxes, popsicles, yogurts, etc...

Nightcaps were the thing to top it all off.

After our tour of the Lounge, we headed back to our room. And it was about then that I’d discover the level of service we’d be getting from Disney. I can’t tell you if it was something we’d get just by being at Disney in general, but I’m positive that it was cranked up a notch by being Concierge.

Our luggage was waiting for us and we all began to find an area to set up shop. But something was not quite right with my bag. It was.. wobbly. What the heck?! It wasn’t before.


Ahhh, there it is, a missing wheel. Snapped off and gone.


“Excellent!”, I say to myself. “This is my neighbor’s bag I’d borrowed for the trip.”.


Luggage Services had broken it as it was being moved from AoA to AKL, and I was really upset. If it’d been my own bag, no big deal; I’d just fix it at home. But it wasn’t. I unpacked the whole thing, (read: threw everything in the closet) and rolled it over to the Concierge Desk to see what could be done. I was very diplomatic and polite (honestly, I seriously don’t get people who come in swinging, thinking they are going to get anywhere with a ‘tude. Don’t they understand they are going to get LESS service that way?) and explained what had happened. That’s when 'Sharon' took over. She kinda became our personal angel for the rest of our stay. She immediately profusely apologized and got on the phone with a manager.


“We will absolutely fix the problem or replace it right away!”, was the response.


After an hour or so of “lounging”, it was determined that to fix it would be 4 days.


NOPE! Not gonna work! “I’m sorry, Ma’am, we’ll have to replace it.”


SORRY!? LOL! My neighbors get a new suitcase...I’m not sorry. Disney, you just keep me wanting to come back, don’t you?


2 days later, I was presented with a brand new American Tourister rolling suitcase to give back to my neighbors. No, it wasn’t exactly the same, but it was the same size, and was very, very nice. I’m sure it cost Disney over $300 easy.

Meantime, this was Mikki’s last night with us. After everyone was settled, she and I ventured out to explore a bit and get a drink to sit by the pool with. It was well after 10:00, but nighttime resort walks are the absolute best. Here a few photos I got that evening before we visited the Victoria Falls Lounge:

Kinda liked these pieces of art made using electric wire:

Once there, it was an easy choice for me. I was on Letter “R” in my Drink Through the Alphabet Challenge, so got this:

Got it to-go in fact.


I have no idea what Mikki got, but she liked it well enough. We eventually found our way over to the pool area and found a table at the poolside bar, which was closing up. We sat for a good half an hour while sipping our drinks, enjoying the night air, and the quiet, calm of evening.

Now, because I'm pretty sure I'll forget to come back to it, I have to finish the suitcase saga. Because every good set of luggage should have an adventure. We arrived home about a week later, after a dip into the Keys (a TR coming up someday near you), and I go to unpack my bag. After all that...

Southwest Air managed to take off a zipper pull on an outside pocket.

After talking it over with my neighbors, they decided they did indeed want a new bag, which ended up costing me $150 afterall. Surprisingly, I'm actually okay with this. In the end, I got a new bag for all the traveling I plan to do.

I’ll leave off there, but have quite a bit more to tell you about our stay at the Lodge. Will you stick it out with me and find out what’s next as we work our way from A to Z?

 

[Steppesister]

Sheesh! I wonder if you can block him or something?

Hmmm... nah. He runs a Contest and I'd hate to risk my lead in it.

But not to chose which one you'd like to stay in next, money being no consideration.

Ok, if you were to back me into a corner, I guess I'd say, in this order to try or go to next:

Boardwalk, Poly, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Yacht Club.

Too easy.

Yeah, that should cover it.

Should just about cover dinners for the next 10 years.

Ah. Deeper water = bigger fishies?

I dunno. I saw some pretty big fish snorkeling in the Keys.

Yep.
So, go ahead and wear whatever's comfie.... just stay of the cool bikes.

I thought if you rode a Harley, you were cool enough already to wear anything and pull it off. Are you saying the "tough" is all an illusion?

Yay!! Hope they actually fixed it this time.
Try it out there for a bit before bringing it home.

Yeah....

about that.

I hope your laptop is really fixed! I was trying to upload to photo bucket as my photos seem too big big for the DIS. THAT WAS GLITCHY TOO! Waimea Falls is next if I can make the Web work. Oh that sounded almost as important as AL Gore.

Not so much, Tammie.

It was shipped to Servicing again today. THey found a problem with the harddrive and it also had a "registration issue". Not a clue what that means, but whatever it is, it means I don't have my laptop back.

Oy. Al Gore and the internet..... that's never going to get old.

 

[Steppesister]

Just dropping in for the first time. I'm new to the Tales of Queen Steppe and just got caught up on this TR thread (minus a lot of the equally-interesting-but-less-pertinent-to-the-story chatter.) Obviously I have too much to multi-quote at the moment (only about 35 CHAPTERS worth!) but I'm enjoying your TR. I was totally disoriented at first by the A,B,C method of storytelling, but now that I'm used to it I like it and am fully on board!

Meghan! Super stoked to have you here following along! WOOT!

Yeah, tons of babble around here. Some actually even relevant. LOL!

Yep, I chose go thematic as opposed to chronological which, I admit, can be illogical, but it works if you give it a chance. I think it lends itself to storytelling quite nicely. Still loads to come....

 

[MeghanEmily]

Oh my goodness Concierge level! What amazing pixie dust!!

I can't believe the food/drinks they had in the lounge for you! How awesome! With some of that "club level" stuff you get the impression that they just leave a few cold snacks out and the occasional appetizer, but it seemed like you were soo well taken care of.

What terrible luck with your suitcase issues, not once, but TWICE! That's soo unfortunate. Good for you for taking it all in stride. There was nothing else you could do about it, I suppose...but I would have probably had a hard time not getting super frustrated...especially with Southwest when it happened the second time.

Looking forward to more adventures, both at the lodge and otherwise.

 

[Princess Leia]

That is amazing that you were upgraded to concierge. I'm so pleased for you all. The Club lounge looks amazing. We got the chance to have breakfast at the club level at Wilderness Lodge a few years ago when we were the Flag family and it was incredible to look down on the lobby. I hope you managed to get some tasty snacks and a few beverages.

What a pain with the suitcases. We had a similar experience with a Royal Caribbean Cruise. Our suitcases arrived at our cabin in a really sorry state - wheels missing, pockets ripped off and huge tears. They gave us some really poor quality mismatched replacements. Our luggage had been good quality matching cases. We really should have pursued it after the cruise but at the time we were more concerned about having something to transport our clothes home in.

I love Animal Kingdom Lodge but haven't stayed there yet. Prices have just been released here for next year but the price is staggering. I pulled up an old spreadsheet from 2015 and it has increased 41%. Some of that will be due to our terrible exchange rate at the moment. Anyway I will just need to live vicariously...it's 11.30pm now have I missed the evening snacks? Maybe I could just join you for your late night drink by the pool? Sounds good to me!

 

[pooh'smate]

I loved this update. We too went from POP (close enough to AOA) to concierge at AKL. We didn't have any park days those days and it was AMAZING to hang around the pool, out on our balcony watching the animals, and in the concierge lounge.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[KathyM2]

How amazing about the upgrade!! I can't believe the bag saga!!! Also I want that ginger mojito...now....

 

[Steppesister]

Oh my goodness Concierge level! What amazing pixie dust!!

I can't believe the food/drinks they had in the lounge for you! How awesome! With some of that "club level" stuff you get the impression that they just leave a few cold snacks out and the occasional appetizer, but it seemed like you were soo well taken care of.

IT was so amazing up there! Truly some full on attention to detail and spoiling

What terrible luck with your suitcase issues, not once, but TWICE! That's soo unfortunate. Good for you for taking it all in stride. There was nothing else you could do about it, I suppose...but I would have probably had a hard time not getting super frustrated...especially with Southwest when it happened the second time.

I couldn't believe my bad luck in that department. UGH! I was too tired to deal with SWA, so dropped it. I mean pretty hard to prove they broke a zipper anyway. I can get that fixed at our local tent and awning shop if i really need to, but it can wait.

Looking forward to more adventures, both at the lodge and otherwise.

Hopefully soon! (I do have another thread going too, if you want to follow that one. Link in my sig. )

That is amazing that you were upgraded to concierge. I'm so pleased for you all. The Club lounge looks amazing. We got the chance to have breakfast at the club level at Wilderness Lodge a few years ago when we were the Flag family and it was incredible to look down on the lobby. I hope you managed to get some tasty snacks and a few beverages.

We sure did!! A couple times in fact. In the next update, I even have a hidden Mickey that can only be seen from that vantage point.

Flag family? I've not heard of that, but it sure sounds awesome!

What a pain with the suitcases. We had a similar experience with a Royal Caribbean Cruise. Our suitcases arrived at our cabin in a really sorry state - wheels missing, pockets ripped off and huge tears. They gave us some really poor quality mismatched replacements. Our luggage had been good quality matching cases. We really should have pursued it after the cruise but at the time we were more concerned about having something to transport our clothes home in.

A total pain. It took up a fair bit of time to keep checking back and re-pack and all. And made for a touchy situation with my neighbors.

Yours sounds WAY over the top! WowZA! I'd have been pretty upset for sure!

I love Animal Kingdom Lodge but haven't stayed there yet. Prices have just been released here for next year but the price is staggering. I pulled up an old spreadsheet from 2015 and it has increased 41%. Some of that will be due to our terrible exchange rate at the moment. Anyway I will just need to live vicariously...it's 11.30pm now have I missed the evening snacks? Maybe I could just join you for your late night drink by the pool? Sounds good to me!

41%?!?! Holy crap!

Yes, please join me by the pool for a little nightcap. So relaxing with our feet up and the warm breeze blowing!

 

[Steppesister]

I loved this update. We too went from POP (close enough to AOA) to concierge at AKL. We didn't have any park days those days and it was AMAZING to hang around the pool, out on our balcony watching the animals, and in the concierge lounge.

You got it too?! Wasn't it amazing?! So much luxury!

I spent each morning just lounging on my balcony watching the giraffes with my coffee, and my kids loved the free pop from the fridge at the Lounge. Just perfect!

Wow. Dream come true! My jaw literally dropped, and the TV was paused while I just enjoyed soaking up your experience. I am going to go celebrate your good fortune now with a glass of wine!

It was truly a dream come true. When I put in that contest question about getting an upgrade, it was mostly for my own amusement- I mean stuff like that never happens to me. Love that this trip broke that streak.

NOw.... you had that foot up as you drank that glass of wine, right?

How amazing about the upgrade!! I can't believe the bag saga!!! Also I want that ginger mojito...now....

I KNOW!! So truly dreamy and fun!

Ahhh, the bag saga. What a massive PITA! It worked out in the end... kind of. LOL!

Mmmmm, ginger mojitos! Super yummo. I wonder why they aren't just calling it a Moscow Mule?