People said that on chat too - and if you wanted a refund instead, you had to speak to GS.
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I saw that corroborated on DFB. They stopped letting people in at 8:30 and called it rained out. People could get a refund, but also their ticket was converted to a 1 day hopper good through 11/25/24.
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Did the toddler take you out?
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I’m assuming Miss Piggy had an epic meltdown…and they’re all dealing with the fallout?
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Oh good point. We know she has a flair for the dramatic.
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I gave up on this report in real time because it rained, and rained, and rained for three days. I’m talking heavy, all day rain. That has never happened on any trip to WDW.
We tried to make the best of it. Baby’s mom, baby and myself headed to MK Thursday morning. Not rope drop, but around 9. It was a party day, so attendance was light. But it was raining really hard. We hid out under Monsters until Tron BG was called. She rode first. The baby slept from the time we tapped ‘til after I got off Tron. I’d made Mom a LL for SDMT. It took her a while to get through the line. Meanwhile, baby was throwing a fit because Mommy wasn’t there. She’d done the same thing the day before with my sister while Mommy rode Guardians.
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Sorry to hear your trip was rained out! Was it the type of rain that you get wet even if you have a poncho / umbrella (like the summer downpours)? Was there lightning that caused rides to close down?
Rain is tough with kids regardless, but I’m curious if it would have been doable for adults only.
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I handled baby’s separation anxiety differently than my sister and niece. They took a more exasperated approach, like “Oh no, what she we do.” My approach was to talk to her reasonably to coax her into not crying. An approach that only took a few times before it started working. I said things like “Mommy is right over there. Do you see her?” (She couldn’t see her, but the search was a distraction.) 
Soon she was pointing to the lights on the carousel. I told her when Mommy returned we would take her to ride the ponies.
Who’s crying now?
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I put a “heart” on this post, but I don’t love the rain. I just wanted to express gratitude that you checked back in and that you’re all right. I can’t imagine having to deal with that much rain!
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Sometimes, yes. Most of the rides were still open though. The baby did pretty good. Way better than my sister.
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After the ponies we did a few more toddler-friendly rides. She loved them! Especially IASW.
To see my favorite park through the eyes of a babe was very touching. 
We had lunch at The Plaza. Got to see the rainy day parade (a first) while we waited for our table. No pictures, which I now regret. The plan was to suggest ordering milkshakes, but we were wet and soggy and cold. After lunch, I suggested we return to the room. Everyone loved that idea and couldn’t believe I suggested it.
My sister refused to ride the bus because she didn’t want wet people up against her.
I tried to explain since we were leaving the park mid day the bus would be practically empty. She wasn’t trying to hear it and ordered a Minnie Van.
It became a theme for the trip. She forked out a lot of $$ on them - around $55 per ride.
What a great service though? Every cast member was friendly and knowledgeable. And they were safe drivers, too - which I thoroughly appreciated.
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Back at the room, it was wonderful to change into dry clothes. I put my “comfy” clothes on with a robe on top of it. I was cold to the bone. That’s why later that evening I declined my sister’s suggestion to have dinner at Jiko. I was far too comfy, and ended up ordering quick service from Mara for me, Mom and the baby. My sister and niece went to Jiko. By the way, for anyone who might not know, the shuttle between Kidani and Jambo house runs every 10 minutes, or so.
The next day we went to Animal Kingdom. I got a little choked up watching the Macaw show at the Tree of Life. I vacillated between tears of joy and tears of laughter. My niece couldn’t appreciate the macaws because she was afraid of them. She spent the entire show ducking down and it was hilarious.
More belly laughing ensued while we were on Everest. She was terrified and screaming her head off.
We had an outstanding Safari ride. I was amazed at how the baby made a connection to the animals on the Safari to the pictures of the animals hanging overhead the truck. She got to ride and play a bit in Dinoland and I bribed her with chips and water while we waited for the rest of the ladies to ride FOP.
We had lunch at Sautuli and dinner that night at California Grill. It was a late reservation 8:50 so we could watch the Christmas Party fireworks.
The look on the baby’s face when she heard Minnie’s voice amid the fireworks show was priceless. And I was amazed that at that time of night she was still hanging tough. It was pretty late when we got back and we had to be ready for a 8:10 ADR at Cinderella’s. I knew getting everybody around on such little sleep was going to be tough.
By the way. This is what the fifth sleeping surface looks like in the one bedroom at Kidani. I expected it to be smaller because it folds into a chair. I came prepared with my own sheets and blanket in anticipation of an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement. It wasn’t bad at all though.
The main thing I did not like about the room was aside from the bathroom there was no mirror in the living room area. In order to do my hair and makeup I had to either hog the bathroom, or go into the bedroom where my niece and sister were sleeping.
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Luke says that’s not all that uncomfortable. I think the sofabed is less comfortable from what Julia tells us.
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Though there are two bathrooms in Kidani 1BR - and the other is enormous. I’d have hogged 
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Saturday morning, our last day in the parks. The baby and my sister woke up cranky. The baby fell back asleep while Mom was trying to get her in the Princess Tiana dress. And she refused to have her hair combed. My sister was dead set on not taking the bus to Magic Kingdom mainly because they didn’t want to get up that early. When she ordered the mini van it took about 15 minutes to find an available driver, so we ended up being under pressure because by that time it was too late to catch the bus. Uber was out of the question due to needing a car seat, and it was far to late to have to get droppped of at TTC anyway.
There started my sister’s bad mood, and my longing to just be at Disney by myself.
As we were getting in the Minnie van, Mom asked my sister if she had the baby’s tiara and accessories. The answer was no and Mom’s disappointment was palpable. It was a tense ride to the park. But then I noticed Magic Kingdom had actually opened at 7:30. It meant the stores would be open and we would have a small window of time to purchase another tiara and accessories. I couldn’t convince them of that though, so when we made it to the park and three of us were stopped at security, my sister started melting down. She got into an argument with a lady who told her it was her turn to go to the security table. The lady was kind of being a Karen, but my sister didn’t have to respond.
We fast walked up to the store next to the castle and all was well. Except baby didn’t want anything to do with that tiara and accessories. 
Her Mom literally just sat the crown on top of her uncombed hair. She was done!
But the looks on people’s faces and the oooohs and ahhhhs from the baby in that dress was priceless.
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Worth it! She’s adorable!
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Mears - NEVER AGAIN! It’s too bad they merged with Sunshine Flyer because I actually liked Sunshine’s service.
From the airport to the hotel was fine. The return to the airport was a problem. They were scheduled to pick me up at 4AM and they ask you to be ready for pickup 15 minutes early. At 3:45 I was standing outside and I waited and waited and waited. Finally, at ten minutes after 4:00 I gave them a call. The young lady (Diamond) who answered the phone was very rude. She basically said they didn’t have a shuttle for me. I was livid, as they didn’t even bother to call me. She refused to explain what happened and didn’t even apologize. She finally said they were sending a taxi that would “be there in 11 minutes.” I was pissed, and a bit creeped out about getting in a taxi alone when I was expecting a bus with other people. I asked to speak with a supervisor. And guess what? He was more rude than her. (Ruben) Not once did he apologize, or try and reassure me everything was going to be ok. I tried to get him to explain what happened and asked if I hadn’t called if their plan was to leave me stranded. He … hung … up … on … me …
Because I’m petty, I called back and Diamond answered again. I was like “Hey, Diamond. I need to speak to Ruben.” It wasn’t funny at the time.
The cab driver had to listen to me ream Ruben for being rude and hanging up on me. When we got to the airport he said “Thank you, God.” 
The only thing I said to the cab driver (because it wasn’t his fault) was “If you think I’m paying for this you should probably call the police right now.”
I swear we made it to the airport in 20 minutes because he was driving so fast. At one point he was on the phone with someone and speaking a different language. I thought for sure they were plotting my murder. A name and address popped up on his screen. Julie. Probably someone else they were about to leave stranded that day. Now that I have calmed down about it, I am about to give them a scathing review.
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That is horrid
I have heard they can be iffy for return trip.
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Sounds like an awful customer service experience but a hilarious story from the way you tell it. I’m so glad you put Ruben in his place because everything about this was unacceptable.
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Oh my goodness! That’s totally horrifying!
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