Star Wars Dark Side The First Day 2017 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

My trip down to Disney started off with a few hiccups.  When you travel you just sort of have to go with the flow or it can ruin a trip.


I left for Orlando on Wednesday night.  My trip started off with a bit of stress of traffic.  I was leaving for the airport at rush hour and knew I would be fighting traffic to get through the city.  What I didn't know was there was a huge accident on the interstate.  I would have used a different interstate if I would have known when I left my house, but I didn't hear about it till right before I got to the interstate.  I decided just to take Broad Street through the city and get on after the accident.  Well that wasn't any better between rush hour traffic and construction.  I got to the airport in enough time to park, check my bag, and go through security.  They were already announcing boarding when I got through security, but I was glad to have made it.  I hate having no time at the airport to deal with everything.  It stresses me out.

Since I wasn't getting to the resort till 11 PM the plan was to stay with my friends Kelly and Franklin the first night and then check into my room on Thursday after the Expo.  I was able to change my Magical Express to a day earlier, but I had to call.  I didn't think it would be a big deal, but he had to get manager approval.  So if you ever get to WDW before your check-in date, make sure you call so you can still take the Magical Express.

I decided to not use Disney to transport my checked bag as I didn't know how long it would take them to get to our room and I didn't want to stay up to find out.  This was the first time I had not used them and it actually wasn't too difficult.  I think the only annoyance to this was that the airline I used had their baggage claim on the A side and the Disney transportation was on the B side.  So I had to go down to get my bag and back up to cross over and then back down to the transpiration area.

Everything else that evening went smoothly.  But I was exhausted and was glad to see a bed - and Kelly and Franklin of course.

The next day we headed to the expo.

I went by the front desk to checked in before we left for the expo and was told that my room would be available between 3-5.  We got back to the room a little after 12.  Kelly and Franklin had park plans so I decided to head to Disney Springs to have lunch.  I was so HUNGRY!
 
I love staying at Port Orleans because of the boat to Disney Springs.  It just feels more relaxing then the bus and it's fun.  Last time I was at Disney Springs they had been doing a lot of construction, including one of my favorite restaurants, Fulton's Crab House.  They had this wedge salad with crab and fried green tomatoes that was so good.  I still dream about it.


Fulton's Crab House is now no more. :(  It is now Paddlefish but still a seafood restaurant.  I had read reviews before going and knew I had to try it.  As I made my way down I noticed that the walkway that was under construction was no longer under construction.  It cuts off Ghirardelli and puts you in front of the T-Rex restaurant.  This was nice for me as all I wanted was to eat.


I ended up getting the Crab Cake BLT and Crab Fries.  I read all the wonderful reviews on the Crab Fries so I wanted those instead of the regular fries.  They brought me both.  I woofed down the sandwich so quickly that I don't remember if I even tasted it.  I'm sure it was good.  The Crab Fries were great.  I just wish they were not that expensive.

It was nice to sit outside and watch the boats and birds. The second after this picture was taken the bird stole a french fry!

I decided to burn some time and wander around Disney Springs.  With the half marathon weekend, they had displayed all of these different flags used at different races.  They were fun to read walking around.


The place is so different now.  They have a whole section that's like a real mall.  No real sign of it being Disney.  It was just weird to see all these stores, a lot high end, in the middle of Disney.  I'm sure it's great if you lived around there, but that's not the typical shopping I do on a vacation, or really any time.

It was close to 5 so I headed back to the resort to see if my room was done.  I hadn't gotten a text, so I went to the front desk to see if I could get an ETA.  He said that it wasn't ready but then went to the back and came back and said it was.  I headed up to my room excited to shower and chill out for the rest of the afternoon.  When I got to my room, this is what was waiting for me.

The linens and towels were in a pile behind the drape.

Yes, the room looked to be started by housekeeping, but not quite finished.  I called down to the front desk to see what was going on.  They were very nice and said that they would call housekeeping directly after we got off the phone and they would call me when it was ready.  Ok, no biggie, I just went to Kelly & Franklin's room to watch some TV while I waited.

An hour passed and I hadn't heard anything.  What was taking so long?  I called down to the front desk to see.  They said that housekeeping still had a hold on the room and they would call me when it was done.  I asked her if there was anything that could be done for my inconvenience.  She said that she couldn't do anything as when you hit the front desk button on the phone, you are actually calling a call center, not the people at the front desk.  I would have to go down and talk to them directly.  With that, I waited my call that my room would be finished.

Another hour passed.  It was now after 7 PM.  All I wanted to do was get in my room, shower, and organize everything for the 5k the next day.  Instead of calling, I decided to make my way down to the front desk to see what they could do for me.  I was pipping mad at this time.

I waited in line and finally was able to talk to someone at the front desk.  I calmly explained the situation and wanted to know if my room was done.  She checked and said it was.  No one had called me?!?  I told her how upset I was and asked her if there was anything they could do.  Why yes there was!  They comped me one night and gave me and my party 3 extra fast passes for the park the next day.  These were no normal fast passes, they were special.  We had our three that we scheduled and these extra ones could be used for any ride at any time.  That's right, we didn't have to schedule them, which was wonderful.  I have to say through this whole thing everyone I talked to was super nice and very apologetic.  I was very grateful for that.  I went up to my room and it was beautiful.

 

I was so tired but I needed a shower and to get myself organized.  It was getting close to 8 and I had so much to do to feel relaxed enough go to sleep.  What a long day!

Continue reading about the Expo the next day.

Do you like the changes to Disney Springs?  Have you ever had a hotel snafu? 

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.