DC2CERUMA - Day 1

Today 4/21 is the official end of Day 1 of the Disney Coast to Coast-er Universally Magic Adventure.

Took the shuttle to LAX from the Holiday Inn. I froze! According to the news, it was 48 degrees and me with shorts and flimsy shirt over a tank top. Brrrr.

When checking in I had some hassles because of the luggage transfer. The check-in screen said to see the rep. The rep said put in ZERO for bags. Didn’t sound right, but I did and proceeded to the gate. Passed the United Customer Service and I asked Dee for help. She was pleasant, but wasn’t willing to go the extra mile to locate the bag. United said they didn’t have it and Delta now says they didn’t either. At the gate I asked P Melnyk for help and she said she couldn’t. So I got on the plane without knowing where my luggage was located.

Upon arrival in Orlando I took the shuttle to the main building. After exiting the train and while trying to get my bearing I see a familiar face. I call out “Tom” and this person lifts up his head. It was my manager when I worked at Sprint. Tom had moved a number of years ago from Hawaii up to Seattle. He was in Orlando for a conference. How weird is that! Two old co-workers on two different flights.

In the main building, I went to the United counter and the lady there was great.

She took ownership of the problem and tried a couple different options. She was the first person I awarded my customer service card to during the trip. Although she didn’t have a resolution she wanted to help. I really appreciated that! Something that I did learn is that if you use DME and your bag is lost, it does add a layer of complexity when trying to resolve the issue. I took her picture but didn’t want to give her name although I spied the name on her name tag.

Over at the Delta office, different story. The person there could have cared less and said there was nothing that she could do. It’s now 4:30, spent an hour trying to locate luggage with no luck. Responses on twitter and face book are things like bummer, crap, sucks, and that sucks. My feelings exactly! Get on Disney’s Magical Express and head over to Pop. I’m sorry, I miss the place and got misty eyed heading over to property.

Between the lines at DME and Pop, I finally have everything including the blank video tapes that I ordered and had delivered to the resort. The shipping is cheaper and I didn’t have to worry about that weight in my bag! It’s almost 6pm which at the Pop Century Resorts means it’s time to HUSTLE! Only 3 people came out and danced. Towards the end of the session a fourth person joined in. FUN!

This is my third trip to WDW since moving to Hawaii. Each time I have stayed at Pop AND I got assigned to the 50’s building again. I’m on the back side facing the water. It’s a nice view. The red light was flashing on the phone when I entered the room. The first message was letting me know the UPS package was at the front desk. The second was from United. The winner of my first customer service card gave a follow up call. Apparently Delta changed the tag on the bag so no one could find it under the tag that I had.

It did make it on the plane and DME will be dropping it off later tonight. YEAH!!!!

With the late arrival, I decided that I’ll head over to Riverside at Port Orleans and see good ol’ Yehaa Bob Jackson. Since there is no direct bus from Pop, I took the bus to Downtown Disney and then took the boat over. Unfortunately I discovered I was in the wrong line. SO, lesson to pass on, the boat to Riverside and French Quarter is by Captain Jacks in the Marketplace and not by Pleasure Island.

I happened to get a seat near the front on the side of the short dividing wall closer to Bob. After he did his intro he was going around and finding out where people are from. He pointed at me and gave a funny look and asked me. When I said Honolulu, I could see the light bulb go off and he said my name. He remembers me hosting him for the DPN Westfest event back in 2008. I also received a twitter from Sean and Pam saying there were in the place. I stood up and called out their name. They moved from the back up to my table in the front. AND Trace, yes, I told Bob hi from you and Lisa and he told me about your connection. AWESOMENESS to be ensured on that deal! My waitress Hollie was very good and kept my diet coke refilled throughout the night!

Sean and Pam gave me a ride back to Pop Century. I was lucky because I’m not sure how I would have gotten back. When I entered my room, my bag was there! Yeah, now I have the power strip so I can recharge all the batteries. This is my first time here with a data phone that can do texting. I charged the battery in full this morning. I haven’t done a whole lot and when I got back to the room, the phone was dead. There have been some errors on messages so I’m thinking the signal for this phone isn’t the best. It’s something that I need to keep an eye on as I don’t have a spare phone battery.

So, was the day perfect? By no means, BUT, I am at Walt Disney World and very grateful that I’m back. Day two will include going to Animal Kingdom on the anniversary of the opening of the park. I’m excited!