The Bare Necessities - Day 4 Saturday 3rd August 2019 Discovery Cove and Animal Kingdom

[collybird]

It makes me so sad thinking of how stressed you must have been today; you’d have been worried about the photo package the entire day and I’m sure it would have tinged your enjoyment.

Look how happy your mum is! Those photos are excellent, definitely worth all the hassle you went through to get them. What a shame about the rain, no-one will ever believe those photos were taken in Florida. Everyone always gets great photos at Discovery Cove, especially the group ones. They must actually hire real photographers as opposed to just handing anyone a camera like they do in Disney.

I agree that DC didn’t really handle the situation well either, they are in the business of making memories and I’m sure there was some kind of discount code they could have processed for you. It’s still quite amazing to me that they don’t sell the packages online, I’m sure there’s many people who might change their minds at a later date.

Lack of wi-fi really puts me off using Lyft, I’d just be worrying myself silly about potentially being stranded somewhere.

Your parents look unconvinced with Everest!

It made me laugh that you said your parents enjoy anything that’s stationary, my mum says her favourite park is Hollywood Studios, whilst I think there’s nothing to do there (the last few years anyway!). I get fed up going from show to show.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Hel22

Oh Abby, sorry to read about your DC day. You certainly didn't come across as moany, I think your comments were fair and proportionate.
It is clear you put heart and soul into organising the trips to maximise enjoyment for all your family, with the added desire to make everything great for your parents this year. Your family seem to really appreciate this and no need to give yourself a hard time for forgetting something..so easily done. I felt DC frustrated things more than necessary with inflexibility but great that you have the amazing photos to treasure- your Mum with the dolphin ❤️
Sounds a lovely evening at AK, was smiling at the comments re your parents on EE, I've never been brave enough to ride it myself 😁
Really looking forward to the next day 'Max's magical moment'? And you fulfilling a wish. Thanks for sharing
Helen

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It's hard isn't it, as you're right no one was blaming me and they were all very appreciative of the planning and organising I'd done. I just wasn't pleased with myself. Even so the day was special and I'm so glad we did it as it fulfilled one of Mums dreams.

My wish which we did the next day is quite a small one, but I was happy so I figure it counts as a proper wish as it's something I've never done before at WDW.

Originally Posted by collybird

It makes me so sad thinking of how stressed you must have been today; you’d have been worried about the photo package the entire day and I’m sure it would have tinged your enjoyment.

Look how happy your mum is! Those photos are excellent, definitely worth all the hassle you went through to get them. What a shame about the rain, no-one will ever believe those photos were taken in Florida. Everyone always gets great photos at Discovery Cove, especially the group ones. They must actually hire real photographers as opposed to just handing anyone a camera like they do in Disney.

I agree that DC didn’t really handle the situation well either, they are in the business of making memories and I’m sure there was some kind of discount code they could have processed for you. It’s still quite amazing to me that they don’t sell the packages online, I’m sure there’s many people who might change their minds at a later date.

Lack of wi-fi really puts me off using Lyft, I’d just be worrying myself silly about potentially being stranded somewhere.

Your parents look unconvinced with Everest!

It made me laugh that you said your parents enjoy anything that’s stationary, my mum says her favourite park is Hollywood Studios, whilst I think there’s nothing to do there (the last few years anyway!). I get fed up going from show to show.

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My mum always used to say when I was a teenager that I wasn't happy if I didn't have something to worry about. You're not wrong that I spent the whole day thinking about it and I did struggle to just put it to one side and 'park it' I figured I had to include as many of the dolphin photos as I could given the hassle we went through to get them. I agree there are surely people who are put off with the price of the photos on the day, but once they return home following the holiday there is the nostalgia feeling and there would likely be purchases of photos then, it's crazy they don't have this facility, this is exactly what we did on our first WDW trip as memory maker wasn't included back then, when we got home I looked at all the photos and felt it was a bargain to pay the $169 for them.

In August, when we got home I sent an email to DC explaining what had happened, how disappointed I was with the service we had received and asked if they would consider changing their procedures to allow for online purchase of the photos. They finally replied last week (about a month after I emailed) saying they can't take payment online as there are "many facets to the photo purchase/selection" they added that they keep the photos indefinitely so it seems the urgency to return within 24 hours was made up by the sales person. They ended with "hopefully this is to your satisfaction" it wasn't really to my satisfaction, but there's not really very much to be done about it so I haven't bothered replying.

Just think where you will be waking up this time next week I'm so excited for you.

[Goldia]

Day 5 is ready.

[smithlane]

What a shame about forgetting the CC. I can’t believe DC wouldn’t let you pay over the phone or online, how odd?
It’s a shame about the rain too, I would have also felt the love lost with DC at that point! I’m glad your mum and Dad enjoyed it though and got to swim with dolphins, at least it’s a relaxing day and you could recharge your batteries!
The evening in AK was successful. We still haven’t seen RoL, it was rained off in 2017. Of all the reports I’ve read, it doesn’t seem I’m missing much 😂

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by smithlane

What a shame about forgetting the CC. I can’t believe DC wouldn’t let you pay over the phone or online, how odd?
It’s a shame about the rain too, I would have also felt the love lost with DC at that point! I’m glad your mum and Dad enjoyed it though and got to swim with dolphins, at least it’s a relaxing day and you could recharge your batteries!
The evening in AK was successful. We still haven’t seen RoL, it was rained off in 2017. Of all the reports I’ve read, it doesn’t seem I’m missing much 😂

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I'm still not really feeling the love for DC...I'm trying to not hold a grudge but writing about it did make me cross again! I'm definitely not booking it up for next year!

AK in the evening was fun, nice and laid back with just the handful of rides and then rivers of light in the rain.

[OB1LukeLucas]

The photos are great and are excellent memories of the day, especially for your mam as it was something she really wanted to do. I know how annoyed you were with DC and they certainly didn’t go out of their way to be helpful. The email they sent shows customer service is possibly not high on their list!
Dave was right though, they should have asked if they needed to bring anything but they are so used to you doing everything, if they had asked it probably would have reminded you to take the credit card. I think being in the Disney bubble with the magic band does take a lot more thought when you leave it because your just not used to having money and cash on you.
Animal Kingdom in the evening was a good plan especially as you got to do FOP and of course Pandora is beautiful at night. We have never done Dinosaur, I think because it was closed on our first visit and we just haven’t managed to fit it in-on the list for next year!
I really enjoyed Rivers of Light I thought the music and all the lights were beautiful, I’m not sure if we enjoyed it more as I had such low expectations...

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by OB1LukeLucas

The photos are great and are excellent memories of the day, especially for your mam as it was something she really wanted to do. I know how annoyed you were with DC and they certainly didn’t go out of their way to be helpful. The email they sent shows customer service is possibly not high on their list!
Dave was right though, they should have asked if they needed to bring anything but they are so used to you doing everything, if they had asked it probably would have reminded you to take the credit card. I think being in the Disney bubble with the magic band does take a lot more thought when you leave it because your just not used to having money and cash on you.
Animal Kingdom in the evening was a good plan especially as you got to do FOP and of course Pandora is beautiful at night. We have never done Dinosaur, I think because it was closed on our first visit and we just haven’t managed to fit it in-on the list for next year!
I really enjoyed Rivers of Light I thought the music and all the lights were beautiful, I’m not sure if we enjoyed it more as I had such low expectations...

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I'm just about over being cross with DC ok so seriously it was annoying, but mainly because I wanted everything to appear effortless and in reality it wasn't. Dave was lovely on this day though and then when we had to go back the next day.

Dinosaur is a bit scary though, so I'm not sure how Eve would cope with it. It's an Everest style rollercoaster ride, the vehicle is like Spider-Man or Transformers, but the mission you're on gets a bit intense. I like it. We've had some rides when the other people have been properly screeching.That was a bit extreme though but funny for us.

[Ariel's Mum]

Really poor show from the DC photo sales person. Some people seem to try not to be helpful. Glad you got the pics in the end. They are fab.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Ariel's Mum

Really poor show from the DC photo sales person. Some people seem to try not to be helpful. Glad you got the pics in the end. They are fab.

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Indeed. I was thoroughly unimpressed by them. It really took away the magic of the experience. I'm not sure Dad enjoyed the swim much, he couldn't look at us as he was really nervous, but mum loved it. And of course the other stuff they do were all great.

[WileyCoyote]

Ah Abby, what a frustrating day with things just conspiring to stress you out with the ID, credit cards, WiFi, drizzly weather. But it still sounds like you all had a fun time at DC. Amazed you got to AK as all the water and swimming would wear us out!

Shame about the cocktails at DC now being a premium perk. Agree the food is plentiful but a bit average there. If I remember the white wine is Chateau de gnats pee or similar, very sharp. 😂
Your dolphin pics 🐬are so lovely and I’m glad you managed to get them.

And I get what you mean, when it goes wrong and you feel you are at fault and get so cross with yourself. I hope it didn’t spoil your day. It looked pretty good to me ! Imagine how I felt with my horror Airbnb booking. That’s a fail on an epic scale ! 😱