1. Lose of air conditioning
2. Remembering the camera, but forgetting the battery
3. Disneyland vs. Disney World
4. Vehicle breakdown on 5-lane exit ramp at rush hour
Now that I have your attention! As you read, remember that we had a great time and spent a good bit of it laughing at ourselves (as usual!)
The Zoo took its hiatus early this year due to aging Heathens commitments in August. Bless the BFF in Japan for condo access! Not only was it within 5 minutes of everywhere we planned to go, but it was fabulous all by itself!
Due to the Asst. Zookeeper's work schedule, we were able to take 2 full days to drive down to Kissimmee. The Heathens spent the time in the back of the conversion van watching (get this!) VCR tapes and learning what it meant to REWIND them. The Asst. Zookeeper and I may be Microwave Babies, but the Heathens are definitely DVD Babies.
On the way through Daytona, we were able to stop by and visit with the Heathens beloved "Aunt" Lori who has abandoned the lovely Johnstown weather for the crappy weather of Daytona Beach. After we hugged her goodbye and pulled back onto the highway, Heathen #3 still didn't understand WHY she would leave to live at the beach. He was MUCH cuter than the water.
Item #1 on the list of Miller Mishaps: lose of air conditioning
This occurred on the second day of the trip, not far through Virginia. While it was going to be a warm week in Orlando, we rolled down the windows and turned up the radio. Until the Heathens asked us to turn DOWN the radio because they couldn't here the VCR tapes in the back over the music and the wind. Not a big deal - on with the trip!
Item #2 on the list of Miller Mishaps: remembering the camera, but forgetting the battery
This is actually two parts! I was so worried about not having enough memory card storage for the week that the Asst. Zookeeper suggested that I take the computer - I would be able to download the pictures at the end of every night and wouldn't need to buy unnecessary memory cards. Perfect! Add "1 computer" to the packing list.
Once we pulled into the condo and began unpacking, I realized that I didn't pack the charger for my camera battery. It takes one of those weird rechargeable ones that are almost $100 to replace and usually don't come charged anyway. No problem! We stopped at the store and bought a new charger for $20 - Perfect! Problem averted!
On Sunday, we arrived in the parking lot at the Magic Kingdom with three Heathens in the back of the van that were practically vibrating with excitement. As we are getting out of the van, I caught sight of a plane doing sky-writing. He was writing different Christian messages and I wanted to get a picture because it was really visible. Open the camera bag, take out the camera. Uncap the lens, flip power switch to "on." Focus and press the shutter button.
At this point, the camera should make some clicking sounds, beep twice, and then the shutter should go off, followed by a preview of the photo on the screen. Right? Wrong. Nothing happened. Check power - yup, I did remember to turn on the camera. Focus and press the shutter. Nothing. As I'm looking at the camera and checking things, it dawns on me what is wrong...
The BATTERY is still at the condo in the new charger. I wanted to start the day with a fully charged battery. My first thought was that we were only five minutes from the condo and we would run back to get it.
My second thought was of the imminent Miller Mutiny I would have on my hands if I told the Heathens to get back into the van without going into the pack. For my own personal health, we waited until the kids were ready to eat before we disguised the battery-retrieval trip as "we're eating at the condo."
Onto Item #3: Disneyland vs. Disney World
Like the responsible adults that we are (no snickering!), we started planning this trip months ago. The Asst. Zookeeper started to purchase tickets ahead of time over the internet so that we could space out the cost. Since our bank has shut us off before on vacations due to "suspicious spending" (check out the Niagara Falls trip 2010) we didn't want to take that chance again.
We remembered to print out the e-tickets before we left home. We remembered to put all the e-tickets in the van and take them with us. We remembered to take them with us to the park. As we are walking up to the gate, a little old lady is directly traffic. If you need to purchase tickets, she sends you left. If you already have tickets, she sends you right. The Asst. Zookeeper holds the tickets up as we are approaching in the "we already have tickets" motion, this little old lady stops us all dead in our tracks.
"Sir, those say Disneyland. This is Disney World."
The Asst. Zookeeper looks at the tickets in his hand and then turns to face me with a horrible look on his face. Then he holds up the tickets to show me. In BIG BLUE letters, aproximately 2 inches tall and 5 inches wide, across the top of our tickets it has the word "Disneyland."
Somewhere in the googling, we ended up on the wrong site and bought tickets for the wrong side of the country. And we never noticed. We printed the tickets - just never looked at them other than to check the names on them and the dates.
The Heathen automatically start to go into melt down: "What does that mean?" "Why does it matter? This IS Disney!" "You mean we can't go in?" "You promised I would get to see Mickey Mouse!"
Continue this list in several voices. Add some panicked breathing and some really watery eyes on two smaller Heathens. And the on Zookeeper as well - I really wanted to go too!
After we were directed to guest services, we were told that they WOULD NOT honor our tickets. If we wanted to enter the park, we would have to purchase new tickets. If we wanted our money back for the other tickets (really, the word "if" was used), then we would have to contact them to request our refund.
Thank heavens we had the cash to cover the extra tickets! So much for planning ahead! When we went back to the condo for lunch, the Asst. Zookeeper called about the refund. It could take up to FOUR WEEKS. Seriously? When they can ZAP it out of the account in 4 seconds? Really? Whatever, we were okay to finish the trip and that was all that mattered!
We had a fabulous day at the Magic Kingdom. The Heathens were disappointed when it closed for the night, but were ready for bed and the adventures that awaited them in the morning.
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| My Favorite Part |
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| The Asst. Zookeeper bought me Minnie ears! |
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| Tired, but it was worth it. |
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