Our girls had been told by a friend of an outlet near Downtown Disney where they had cheap makeup that they really liked and wanted us to pick some up. This is a store that Nathaniel has chosen not to set foot in because they are most famous for their intimate apparel (and Superbowl commercials...and ridiculous catalogs). I will admit Becky and I stop by this particular chain of stores once a month as a way to "spoil" her, though any married man who thinks this store chain is just for females is nuts (we DON'T get the catalog BTW). I knew a bit about their retail prices and size availability. I now know why people spend some of their valuable vacation time to come here. The prices were INCREDIBLY CHEAP! We found out after the fact that nothing in the store was over $10. And the selection of sizes was HUGE and decently organized. Many bargains.
So after a grocery and Chickfila stop, it was time to head "inside the Disney bubble" for our stay at AllStar Music. We arrived and were greated by a SUPER nice cast member from Chicago who I'm ashamed I can't remember her name. She began checking us in, addressing each kid by name, gave us "first time visit" and "happy anniversary" buttons (20 yrs in Oct. was close enough) and a Muppet button for the volunteer service we did to get our tix. And then she disappeared.....
For about 15 minutes....
My wife had seen this play out two nights before at Best Western and I'm sure thought something like "here we go again, what IS it with my husband and making hotel reservations??!!??" She sat down on a bench trying not to panic while I waited. Now I listen to a TON of Disney travel podcasts and I KNOW you can be totally at fault for something (a dropped ice cream etc.) and Disney cast members will usually bend over backwards to "create some magic" and resolve issues. But I had no idea what was going on. Our check-in person said she just needed to verify something with her manager because our connecting rooms weren't ready yet. Hmmm...
Fifteen (long) minutes later, she returned smiling. "I have some good news for you. Since you had reserved connecting rooms to keep everyone together and we currently don't have yours ready, we're upgrading you to our Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa hotel. They're waiting for you there. Here's how you get there...." I must admit at that point I was in a daze. I knew from their website that Saratoga could fit 10 in a room and it was a "horse racing/Upstate NY" theme, which was okay but WAY out of our budget! I had to ask, "so is there a price difference I need to pay or....""Nope, you're all paid up. Everything is covered with what you paid just now for AllStar. Enjoy it and have a magical day!" (my heart was now racing like a horse)
Becky's eyes got big as I tried to stammer out what just occurred. The ride over to Saratoga (back near Downtown Disney where we came from) was filled with questions like "WHERE are we going?? How did this happen? Are you sure?" and an occasional fist pump by me! I had a sneaking suspicion Becky was going to like this.
I was right. The first indicator after checking in and getting our keys was on one of my trips unloading the van, someone said, "Dad, Mom says she wants to LIVE here!" When I got up to the room I could see why. It had two bedrooms and a living room area. One with a king sized bed, three TVs, a pullout couch bed, a kitchen, TWO bathrooms, a full-length whirpool and a huge shower, a washer and dryer....it was AWESOME!!! My wife doesn't sleep well in strange beds but said the mattress there was VERY nice. I'm still stupefied. Disney, ya done good by us!! Thank you!!!
We also had a small but very nice and fun pool near us (one of five at Saratoga) where she and I took the young ones while our older kids napped, showered and watched Phineas and Ferb (most of us became fans of them by trips end).I'm a dreamer and I love travel books. Becky is a researcher and had been pouring over my Official and Unofficial guides and asking me lots of questions. It was really fun "talking Disney parks" with her for a change! We decided we would test out the bus system and go the Magic Kingdom, hop a monorail and go see the fireworks and Electrical Water Pageant (one of Becky's POSITIVE memories from her 70s trip to WDW) from the beaches of the Polynesian resort. We had a dinner of sandwiches and fruit in the room.
Our evening was WONDERFUL. Laying on Beach chairs, toes in the sand. Warm night breeze, lights, music, fireworks. So cool! Becky still loved it thirty-odd years later and I think she was beginning to feel like this would actually be a good vacation for her after all.The next day was our Magic Kingdom day and we planned on being there for extra magic hours to beat the crowds at park opening. So have a good night's sleep (if you're not too excited) and we'll see you in Part Four "A Kingdom (re)visited"
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