Disney Woe Turns Into Disney Wow--Part 1

 Some people take lemons and make lemonade or take grapes and make raisins. . . I think that is how the saying goes. So on our last trip to Disney when we experienced difficulties with Disney service, I turned it into an official complaint. . . that turned into a gift for our family. Here’s the story:




On Saturday of our trip in November, we spent the day at Hollywood Studios—click here to read more about the day. We had a 6:30 pm ADR for ‘OHANA, located at the Polynesian Resort. ‘OHANA is one of our favorite restaurants and we eat there each trip—sometimes twice! (Click here to read about dining at ‘OHANA.)

So, we, okay, I, wanted to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights turn on at 6:00 pm and snap a few photos. I knew it would be cutting it close, but thought we could make it in the nick of time.

We left Studios shortly after 6:00 and headed to the bus stops. After checking the unlit sign, we headed to stop 12 for the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian. No bus, but a short line. I thought about stop 11, which was for the TTC. If we took that bus, we could just walk to the Poly, but the queue was filled with people making their own line beyond the queue. So, stop 12 was it.



When the bus arrived, it loaded two wheelchair riders first. That’s a rule with Disney busses. No other guests board until the wheelchairs are on and secure. While I’m fine with that, it did take off more time to get where we were headed.



Now we were on the bus and headed to the first stop—the Contemporary. Well, there was so much traffic pulling into the Contemporary that the bus was backed up. More waiting. We unloaded guests and headed to the Poly.



We got off the bus and ran through the lobby and up the stairs—no time to wait for the elevator. When I checked in at the reservation desk, it was 7:20 pm. Aimee said she couldn’t find our reservation. Luckily, I had our ADR confirmation numbers with me and that helped Aimee find our reservation. We had been kicked out of the computer. Aimee send some form of electronic message to someone in the restaurant, gave us a pager. When I asked how long the wait would be, Aimee told me that she couldn’t tell me right now. I needed to check back in 20 minutes and she could tell me then. We found some comfy chairs in the lobby and visited with a family with a young boy who was fascinated with the boy’s Disney train toy.



Tune in later for Part 2 of Disney Woe turns into Disney Wow!