I Lost My Job!! A Pre-Trip Report (w/pics) Updated 9/15 (post #29)

[DeterminedOne]

You read it right. I lost my job. Six weeks ago. It was unexpected and very disappointing. Who wants to lose their job right before a trip to Disney? Who wants to lose their job at all?

My background is Safety. The company I worked for recruited me from the company I was with the last five years. Recruited, as in hired a third party company to find them a Safety Manager. They found my resume on a job board, so it wasn’t a position for which I even applied.

One of their drivers had been involved in a major accident. He was inattentive and crashed his semi into a line of vehicles stopped in a construction zone. There were six fatalities, including a two month old child. They needed help. Their Safety department was a mess! Wrought with problems in their driver workforce and record-keeping. Not a good thing in an industry governed by the Feds.

I am results driven, and high off the energy of solving problems and getting things done. At Christmas time, the owner of the company gave me a hand written card that read “I cannot express my appreciation for how much you have been able to accomplish in such a short time.” I had been there three months at that point.

So what happened?

When the COO let me go that day he cited too many empty trucks as the reason. Too many trucks, not enough drivers. A common problem in the industry. Truck drivers just don’t want to be away from home all the time anymore. My husband has been a truck driver (car hauler) for 32 years. He has regrets about the time he missed with his kids because he was always on the road. Nowadays, he has enough seniority on the job to be home every night. He would not take it well if he had to go back over the road. Me either.

So, the COO cited too many trucks -not enough drivers. But I don’t feel he was telling the whole truth. I think they used me. The position was never meant to be long term. They needed to get their house in order to:
1)Get out of trouble with the Feds
2)Make sure the insurance company would renew them.

A few weeks after their insurance was renewed, they terminated me. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Am I still going to Disney? TO BE CONTINUED ...

 

[danielocha30]

maybe is a bless in disguise, something good will come your way starting with a Disney Vacation

 

[DeterminedOne]

Am I still going to Disney?
Hell's yeah!!

I booked this trip six months out. Three months before the er... um... termination.
I had already started a Disney Vacation Account. The money was promptly deducted from my checking account every two weeks.

Airline tickets were purchased a few days later. Probably could have gotten them cheaper if I had waited 'til closer to the trip, but my gut said get 'er done.

Sidebar: Back in 2004 when I first started posting here on the boards there was a mysterious person (moderator) known as the Tag Fairy. He/she would take a snippet of words from one of your posts and insert it to the left beneath your avatar. Being "tagged" was a big deal. I used to have a tag that read "I go with my gut." After years of not logging in I suppose it just disappeared.

Ok. Let me get back on track.
Thankfully, the majority of the money for our trip had already been set aside.

We are using the DxDP, so will only need money for tips, souvenirs, and the occasional Uber - if necessary. As far as souvenirs are concerned, I tend to buy the same things every trip.




Check out that DIS pin from a long time ago. Do they still give those out here?





I even have the pennies picked out already - just need to clean them. Did you know pennies made prior to 1982 make the best pressed pennies? After 1982, pennies are made out of zinc with a copper coating. Go ahead and press post 1982 pennies, if you dare. They will end up with a silver colored streak in them.


I even started experimenting with Disney inspired nails ...

This design is my favorite, but I want to add a solid black line at the top. Ladies: What'dya think?

Magic Band merch ready and waiting ...
I bought the Dumbo slider because of a trip report I read here. Easily influenced much?

47 DAYS!!​

 

[DeterminedOne]

I like to look at pre-trip reports as practice for the real thing. Currently trying to figure out how to do chapter links. I have searched the boards and Googled, but no go. If you can instruct me how to post links to each post, I will appreciate it. Just trying to figure it out before the trip. Thanks!

 

[DeterminedOne]

Spent time today combing this board for my trip reports from 2004 & 2006. (Get a job!)

Then I looked through my things and found "notes" from 2004. They were a treat to read ...

In 2004, long before there was a Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, A Flight of Passage and a Nav'i River Ride- there was a new ride called Stitch's Great Escape. According to my notes, it was all the rage.
Disney did a great job promoting it, too. Check out some of the excerpts from back then ...

Day 6- Tuesday, November 16
The castle was draped in what appeared to be toilet paper. We found out later what that was all about ...
It's difficult to describe the Keys to the Kingdom tour w/o giving away too much. All I can say is - WOW! Perhaps it was our tour guide, Lowell. He was great! He explained the toilet paper on the castle stunt had been pulled by guess who - STITCH.


Day 7 - Wednesday, November 17
When the wake-up call came at 6:00 I didn't recognize the mischievous voice demanding me from bed. Turns out Stitch had taken it upon himself to call the guests that morning. In the end, Mickey came on the line and cutely apologized.

 

[Luna_Belle]

Following along!

You read it correctly. I lost my job. Six weeks ago. It was unexpected and very disappointing. Who wants to lose their job right before a trip to Disney? Who wants to lose their job, period?

I'm so sorry to hear about you losing your job! The whole situation sounds so unfair to you and I pray you find a new and better job that truly appreciates your talents!

This design is my favorite, but I want to add a solid black line at the top. Ladies: What'dya think?

These nails are so cute and I think the black would be a perfect addition!

 

[DeterminedOne]

I like to look at pre-trip reports as practice for the real thing. Currently trying to figure out how to do chapter links. I have searched the boards and Googled, but no go. If you can instruct me how to post links to each post, I will appreciate it. Not to say this report will have multiple chapters. Just trying to figure it out before the trip. Thanks!

Anyone? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller? Oh, well. Back at it ...

It's amazing what one can forget in thirteen years. The last six months planning this trip I was convinced I had never eaten at Sci-Fi at DHS. So when it was time to make ADR's, I most certainly needed to get us in there.
But according to my 2004 trip report:

"I was hungry and suggested Sci-Fi. DH was all for it! Didn't think we'd be able to get in w/o PS. See upcoming report in Dining Forum."

I don't remember that visit at all ...
And I have this picture that was taken in 1999, so I may have eaten there more than once.


Soooo ... in light of my report informing me I have in fact eaten at Sci-Fi Dine In, I changed the ADR to 50's Prime Time.
Again, according to reports, I have never eaten there.

But for everything I have forgotten, I remember plenty.

Like when Port Orleans Resort was named "Dixie Landings."


That one and only time I visited Universal Studios.


When we still used film to take pictures and had to have it "processed."


When Downtown Disney - I mean Disney Springs, looked like this ...


And had an island for adult pleasure ...

 

[DeterminedOne]

Hands down one of my favorite things to do in the World is eat.
Last visit we managed 16 sit down restaurants, one of which was visited twice.


Check out some restaurant pics way back when Smart phones/cameras didn’t exist
and snapping pictures of food at a restaurant hearkened strange looks.
(Pics taken between 1999 and 2006)

I will start with my very favorite. Currently known as Paddlefish, formerly known as Fulton’s Crab House.

We loved the seafood so much at Fulton’s it was always a two-visit restaurant each trip.



Moving on to my second fave: Yachtsman Steak House
It's really loud there, but the beef selection is fantastic-o!


Get that 16 ounce ribeye in my belly!!


Next up - another restaurant name that no longer exists: Portobello’s Yacht Club


And the roasted garlic though …

Fingers crossed Yachtsman still has the roasted garlic so all is not lost.
This place is now an Italian eatery that goes by first name only: Portobello

California Grill: a favorite because while the food is a seven, the ambiance is a 10.
Dungenness Crab & Avocado Roll


Artist Point: Not a fave restaurant, but this Heirloom Tomato Salad with Dungenness Crab was one of the best things I've eaten at Disney World.

Sorry this pic is blurry. Only posted because I'm hungry.

Looks like someone has a love affair with Signatures, steak and seafood.

But ... she also loves the celebrities ...

With all the years gone by and many changes in the World, she set off at the 180 to snag some ADR's
​

 

[suse66]

Looking forward to hearing about your plans! Sorry to hear about your job, it does sound as though they really took advantage of your skills and expertise. A trip to Disney always makes everything better and I am sure there is something waiting for you.

 

[Rozz]

Following along!

 

[Shrfleen]

I like to look at pre-trip reports as practice for the real thing. Currently trying to figure out how to do chapter links. I have searched the boards and Googled, but no go. If you can instruct me how to post links to each post, I will appreciate it. Not to say this report will have multiple chapters. Just trying to figure it out before the trip. Thanks!

Joining in.
How I do chapter links:
Click on the post # you want to link. It is the grey # next to the Quote link at the bottom of a post. Copy the http:// link that is listed first. Type the sentence or word you want to have the link attached to in your new post. Then highlight that word or sentence and click the link icon next to the font family button. Then paste the http:// link into the link box and hit insert. It will then send you to the post you want to link. Example: First post of your report

 

[DeterminedOne]

Joining in.
How I do chapter links:
Click on the post # you want to link. It is the grey # next to the Quote link at the bottom of a post. Copy the http:// link that is listed first. Type the sentence or word you want to have the link attached to in your new post. Then highlight that word or sentence and click the link icon next to the font family button. Then paste the http:// link into the link box and hit insert. It will then send you to the post you want to link. Example: First post of your report

Thank you.

 

[DeterminedOne]

For many of us, one of the first things to do after booking a Disney vacation is decide where to eat. Especially when using a dining plan.

I booked a six night stay with the DxDP. That the plan quickly changed.

Turns out when I secured the flights I purchased tickets for a five night stay instead of a six night stay. Crap!

Not wanting to pay a penalty to change the ticket, I hung my head and made a call to Disney to modify the reservation.

On the bright side, reducing the number of days saved close to $1000 (room, park hoppers, DxDP).

Armed with 15 dining credits each, where shall we eat?

First consideration was a few “new to me” restaurants that friends on the Dis seem to enjoy.

Be our Guest, Tiffins, Yak & Yeti and Skipper Canteen.

Yes people, your opinions influence me.
Speaking of influence, have you read the thread “A Bit of Caution, and Maybe a Helpful Dialogue” on the Theme Park Attractions and Strategies board?

To summarize, the OP shared how his family chose not to watch the River of Light show at AK because the general consensus on the board was - it’s not worth it. Upon returning home from their trip they watched a television special about ROL and thought it looked incredible. His family was disappointed they had skipped it. The point of the post was to remind us to be careful with the words we use when criticizing attractions, restaurants, etc. As you can imagine, more than one person took issue with the post and it got a little ugly – in a comical way.

Long story short, I am often influenced by the opinions of others in these forums.
Remember the Dumbo slider I was inclined to purchase after seeing it in a trip report?


You have to admit that slider is totes adorbs!

Back to dining and ADR’s.
I was discussing “new to me” restaurants. I chose Tiffins because I enjoy the Signature restaurants and we need an eating spot for our AK day.

And it would be wrong not to visit Beast’s Castle – even though I have never read the story or watched the movie (gasp).
Yak & Yeti and Skipper Canteen I put on the reserve list. There are only so many credits to go around and as you recall, I cheated us out of a day in the parks.
The rest of the choices were simple because I know what I like. The choices started out like this:

Be our Guest (b), O'hana (b), Tiffins (l), Sci-Fi (l), Yachtsman (d), California Grill (d), Hollywood Brown Derby (d), The Boathouse (d), Hoop Dee Doo,

Days later I had an epiphany.
I said “Self, why are you putting yourself in a box? You already dined at five of the nine restaurants on the list.” Later I learned it was more like six of nine. Remember Sci Fi?
In addition, I hadn’t considered my husband in any of the selections.

By the way, in the 11 years since my last trip, I divorced and remarried. Previous trips to the World were with my ex. New husband has been to Disney once -
when he was in 5th grade ...in ... 1972.
Newbie or not, I figured he should be a part of the decision making.

As it turned out, he doesn't care where we eat.

In light of said epiphany, I revisited WDW’s catalog of places to eat and switched up the choices a bit.

Flying Fish (changed from Hollywood Brown Derby), Be Our Guest, California Grill, Tepan Edo (changed from Yachtsman), Boathouse, Tiffins, Raglan Road, Sci-Fi, Hoop Dee Doo, O’hana

We now we have ten restaurants instead of nine.

The husband enjoys Irish Pubs and we both like live entertainment.
Ragland Road seems befitting.

Epcot is my second favorite park, so it seemed logical to choose something there.

I had three in mind: Restaurant Marrakesh, Via Napoli and Tepen Edo.

Restaurant Marrakesh - after going on the Hidden Treasures of World Showcase tour, Morocco became one of my fave pavilions.


Via Napoli gets glowing reviews on the Restaurant forum, so put it on the list.
We both love hibachi, so Tepen Edo made perfect sense.
Ultimately, I wasn’t sure if hubs would appreciate Marrakesh
beyond the food and ruled out Via Napoli because it seemed wasteful to use
a dining credit for pizza. (Just my opinion)

Fast forward - it’s finally day 180 and I was ready to make some ADR’s.
I woke up at 5:00AM and got dressed for work. I wasn’t sure how long it
would take having never used MDE in that way. Mind you, I had never
made ADR’s on the web, so spent I a few days beforehand investigating
the best strategies for getting the reservations I want.

Here’s the list I made – in order of reservation to make first.


Next to the name of the restaurant I included the date. This was important
because we are visiting 9/24 through 9/29 and as you can see the first two
reservations I needed are on 9/25 and 9/28. I thought those two would be
the most difficult to get.

I should tell you – I imagined this process of booking ADR’s to be similar to
what it’s like checking in to a flight on Southwest airlines 24 hours in advance.
If you have ever had to do it, you know what I mean. It’s a race!

I had two browsers open to MDE in case of technical difficulty. It was serious!

At 6:00 sharp I entered the “reserve dining” section, but it wouldn’t let me in.
What the …

After a few tries I was in. Guess my clock and their clock were off by a few seconds.
I started typing typing like a mad woman.
In my research for best ADR strategy, one of the things I learned was to make sure
your credit card number is already loaded into MDE.
If you have to add your CC # for every reservation it will take up valuable time.

First reservation – Be our Guest. Secured and exactly the time I wanted.
Boom!

I went down the list from there. Husband kept trying to converse with me.
Finally I said: “Dude! This is serious. I can’t right now.”
LOL! Not in those exact words. He just shook his head as if to say – “You’re crazy.”

I was able to get every reservation.
It took 30 minutes.

If you haven’t made your ADR’s yet, meaning your 180th day isn’t here yet,
my advice is get organized and log in right at 6:00 AM.
Unless of course ADR’s don’t matter to you, then scrap that advice.

Before I wrap this up I want to let you know I made a few changes in the last
week or so.

I was not happy about the choice of excluding my favorite restaurant
Yachtsman Steakhouse, so I nixed California Grill.

I also did some soul searching as to why I chose O’hana for breakfast. I have been
to way better character breakfasts than Stitch.
I determined the reason for choosing O’hana was the opportunity to visit Polynesian.
My favorite resort. Thank goodness I came to my senses!
I want a good character meal out of the deal and O’hana breakfast has been getting some scathing reviews lately.

So I took to the Restaurant forum to investigate what’s a “good” non-park character breakfast these days. Bon Voyage, Cape May and 1900 PF get good remarks.
I ruled out Bon Voyage because I thought the characters would be over our heads.
I wanted to stick with classic characters, a.k.a. – characters we will recognize.

I’ve had great experiences at both Cape May and 1900.
But you will have trouble getting 1900 at this late date – they said.
They were right!

I scrapped O’hana and reserved Cape May.
But … I … still … want … 1900 PF!
It’s a mind game. Tell me I can’t have something makes me want it more.

I stalked MDE for days looking for an opening. Kept coming up with this:



Finally found this:



But it was too late in the morning.
Flight leaves at 3:30 so MDE will pick us up around 12:30.


A few days later I found this:



Later than I want, but snagged it anyway.
The stalking continues …

 

[DeterminedOne]

Who else likes to look for Hidden Mickey's?
Oh my gosh, friends! I found one inside my phone cover!!
My cover has floating glitter on the back. It's too cute!
I found this Hidden Mickey floating inside it:


The hubs thinks it's a stretch, but to me this is totally a Hidden Mickey.
On my last trip I spent hours looking for them. Here are a few of my favorites.
I will start with the easy ones, but won't ruin it just yet by telling you where they are located.












These are a little harder to see. T
There are two in the first picture.



This one was not easy to photograph because of the shadow and foot traffic.
Tell me if you see it, and if you do WHERE IS IT LOCATED?


This is one of my faves.
Of course you know what ride this is, but WHERE IS MICKEY?

 

[DeterminedOne]

More merch for the trip!! Bought it with my Unemployment $$.
O2COOL Misting Fan
Found it at Kroger for $7.99 (on clearance). It goes for $12.99 on Amazon.
Still going to purchase cooling towels as some of the reviews say it broke after one use.



Mickey & Nemo Mini Notebooks
$1 @ the Dollar store. (They have lots of Disney merch!!)



Gotta take notes for the trip report ...
39 Days!!

 

[LilTinkFan]

Sorry about your job. Hope a new avenue opens soon.

I don't usually put that much thought into our adrs . We tend to go to same places. But I'm going solo in march and thinking of going adventuring!

 

[DeterminedOne]

Today I was at TJMaxx just to kill some time. I don't usually shop at TJMaxx, but it was in the plaza where I was shopping and I decided to go inside. Good thing because I found cooling towels in the section where they sell yoga mats. I Googled the brand (Mission EnuraCool) to see what consumers had to say about them. Good reviews overall on Amazon. The Amazon price was $11.99. TJMaxx price was $5.99. I text my husband to ask if he wanted me to grab him one as well. Typical him - he said "Sure, if you recommend it." Easy going he is. A two for one deal on cooling towels.
Score!


The only things I have left to buy include secure fasteners for my trading pens and a backpack. The last time I was in the World in September it was way too hot to wear a lanyard around my neck. The plan this time is to pin them on the backpack, but need to ensure they don't fall off never to be seen again. I read about two different fasteners that lock into place to prevent that. I was never one for trading pins. I buy the ones that feel special to me. A few were gifts/prizes for attending extra events, like the back stage tours.
I'm fairly sure I have a backpack in the attic, just hate going up there. We have been visited by bats on several occasions -even trapped a few.
I wait until hubs is home before I go looking around up there ...
Good news! I have an interview Tuesday. Wish me luck!

 

[Keels]

I'm LOVING this PTR!!

It's just a treasure trove of fun memories from Disney back in the day ... and I love that you're like me and handwrite out all your plans!

Fingers crossed that you had a good interview today!

 

[missangelalexis]

Joining in!

I'm sorry to hear about your job loss, but glad to see the trip is still on!

I loved seeing all your throwback photos- nice memories!

 

[DeterminedOne]

Hey friends! Lots of exciting Disney stuff happening around here these days.
Before I get to that, allow me tell you how the job interview went last week.

I applied for a position as a Quality Supervisor for a manufacturing company.
I was of course stressed about it. I wasn't stressed about the actual interview because I have great interviewing skills.
I was mostly worried about the unknown. The interview was scheduled for 4:30, so you can imagine the agony of waiting all day.
They said to prepare for two hours, so I didn't know what they were going to throw at me.

I interviewed with the HR and Department Manager. I always prepare myself for behavior based questions ("Tell me about a time when ...")
in which answers have to be very specific. However, their questions weren't behavior based, so they were easy.
At the end of the questions the HR Manager commented she thought the interview went very well,
BUT didn't think their corporate folks would agree my background in Quality was befitting.
From the look on his face, I don't think the department Manager agreed with her, but oh well.

She said they had an opening in the Materials department and asked if I would be interested in that.
It was an odd exchange, but I appreciated the candor. I walked away feeling meh. I thought it went well and that I would be great for the job,
but her final words left me conflicted. She said they hoped to finalize candidates by the end of this week. I haven't gotten a rejection letter yet,
so perhaps they are still considering my candidacy. I will let you know.

Now - on to the reason we're all here. Disney World!!
At the earlier part of last week we got our Magical Express tags in the mail.




I literally did a dance after opening the envelope.
Doesn't ... take ... much ...

Oh! Remember how I was looking for an earlier reservation for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare
for our last day? We currently have an ADR at 9:25. Magical Express will pick us up around 12:30 so
I am worried we will be pressed for time.
Well ... I finally received the coveted text from Touring Plans alerting me of an opening at 8:05.



But I didn't jump on it.
In that moment I decided 9:25 will work just fine. We won't have to wake up super early
and gives us plenty of time to gather our belongings and get checked out of the room.
We have an 8:30 ADR for Hoop Dee Doo the night before, so it's going to be a late night.
I didn't even want to think about how early we will have to get up to make it from
Port Orleans French Quarter to Grand Floridian by 8:05.
We will keep the 9:25 reservation and Uber back to the POFQ if we run short on time.
Thanks for your help though, Touring Plans. Much obliged!

Later in the week I was tooling around on Facebook and saw one of my friends shared
a Go Fund Me Page for her son who was diagnosed with cancer. She is trying to raise $5000
so her daughter in law can take time off work while he goes through treatments. I don't know this
woman very well. We're friends only on FB. You know how that goes. She seems like a sweetheart in real life though.

Suddenly I remembered an old gift card I had but wasn’t sure of the remaining balance.
Turns out there was $57 left so I donated it to her son.
Now I'm not telling you this as a way to brag. There’s a message. I promise.

After donating the money I had second thoughts. There’s stuff I still want to buy for the trip.
I could have used the $57 for those items. I know. Selfish thought.

A few hours later I received this email regarding the Disney Vacation Account.



They notified me a $40 Disney gift card has shipped to our address.
For every $1000 applied toward a Disney Vacation we earned a $20 gift card.
Could have earned more, but they canceled the program. But that’s not the point of the story.
The point is - I donated $57 and earned $40 of it back …


Then today – the most exciting news of all! (Okay, maybe not, I’m just happy.)
Our Magic bands have shipped!! Eeek!!!



It’s starting to get real.
27 Days!!


So I will end with this.
My countdown clock shows 3 weeks and six days 'til the World.
The countdown app on my phone shows 27 days.
Looks like the countdown clock is counting the day we take off.

27 days sounds better.
What do you think?