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We picked up another one of the shirt that we had not received the
day before, paid for it and then I asked the Castmember if she could
remind her other colleague to check if he had put everything in the
bag before he handed it out.We showed her the name on the receipt
and she asked us to tell her the whole story then got on the phone
and got another Castmember over and handed us the money back for the
shirt. |
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She called it Disney customer service! We were stunned. Happy we
went over to the park which was to open in about 30 minutes. They
start letting people in at that time, so that was no problem. But
the regular guests can only go up to the hub. |
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Only Disney Resort Guests and Annual Passholders can go through to
Fantasyland for Morning Extra Magic Hours. We approached the
Castmember who was waving Hotel Guests through, but stopped us when
we showed her our annual passes. She explained in great detail that
only hotel guests were allowed and I told her annual passholders
were allowed to. Well after a short discussion she asked another
Castmember who told her WE were right. |
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Not really the customer service I would expect from Disney. Guests
knowing more than the actual Castmembers. So we went up to the
castle and strolled through Fantasyland. It’s a small world was
still closed, Peter Pan had a HUGE line and the shops that were
already open were crowded. But since it was only 5 minutes until
rope drop we went over to the entrance to Adventureland to be able
to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. |
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Once the rope was dropped we followed the people over to Pirates and
got on with no wait at all. Our next goal was it to pick up some
Fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain and you could tell there were no
crowds that day as the return time was just about an hour later. So
we walked back to the Indiana Jones ride and what surprise, no line,
so they were only using half the ride vehicles.I love this ride
right after breakfast, we call it “Turn over the breakfast” ride
because of the loop. |
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When we got off we could see that the lines hadn’t built up yet, so
we just got in line right away again. After our second round on the
Indiana Jones coaster we decided to walk over to Phantom Manor and
yet again, no line! We just love walk ons. |
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Lucky for us the Doom Buggy stopped right in front of the piano
scene and we were able to take a good photo of the shadow of the
ghost. When we got off the ride it was already time for our Big
Thunder Fastpass. Before getting on the ride we picked up another
one which we wanted to use after our lunch at Walt’s. We hoped that
we would be able to still squeeze it in, since we needed to drive to
the airport by early afternoon. |
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So we got in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and there was
only a short line for Fastpass.We got the last cart without even
asking for it and enjoyed our ride a lot. Since it didn’t make much
sense to get in line for any other rides we went back to Mainstreet
and picked up a few small bits and pieces and some more Mickey
cookies. Then it was time for our reservation at Walt’s. This has
always been a favourite of ours and we make it a point of having a
meal there every trip. We checked in and were seated about three
minutes later. We got a nice small table for two right at the main
window of the room, so we had a good view of Main Street |
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Our waiter was young and very helpful and nice. We ordered some Diet
Cokes and decided on the three course menu. Before our starters came
out we were served some bread rolls which were still warm and some
butter. Very nice! Tom had the
New England Clam Cowder – clams,
potatoes, lardons and onions. He has had that before and likes it
very much. I tried something new.
Smoked Salmon, crab meat with
Granny Smith Apple and a toasted Bagel. |
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I didn’t find the crab meat anywhere, but the salmon was melt in
your mouth and the sauce went very well with it. For our main course
we had both chosen the
Grilled Filet of beef, Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce, celery chips
and seasonal vegetables. We both ordered it medium. |
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It took quite some time for them to come out after we had finished
our starters and so we were treated to another “snow on Main Street”
experience. When our main courses finally arrived I thought that
both looked dry and boy, they were! They were not done medium they
were really well done. I had trouble cutting into mine so we both
decided that with a price of €37,- we should send it back and we
did. The server apologized a few times and when he brought out the
new plates waited if they were cooked to our liking. Well, mine was
still medium done, but it was very tender and still moist so I
didn’t mind and Tom’s was just cooked as he wanted it. So we were
both very happy with our main course. Right when we had finished our
main course and were handed the dessert menus Tom got a test
message. It was from the airline, Lufthansa, to tell us that our
flight home had been cancelled. Now that was not such good news and
I went outside to call them and ask what could be done. |
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Reception was not very good, but in the end I was able to book us on
the very late flight, which left Paris at 7.10pm instead of 5pm.
There was supposed to be enough time to get to our connecting flight
to Linz and we should have been home by 10.25pm. So we went on to
concentrate on our dessert choice. Dessert is usually something
special at Walt’s and this time they didn’t disappoint us either. |
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Tom had chosen the Apple
Crumble, Salted Butterscotch Ice-cream and Chilled Cinnamon Compote.
It was very yummy. Even though I was full I could not resist to try
the Rich Chocolate Cake,
Brownie Ice-cream and Mint Sweetmeat. It was a wonderful dessert
and I would order it again in a heartbeat. After we had finished our
meal and paid the bill we went back to the park. We had been given
two more hours of park time, so we were going to enjoy them. |
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We
used our Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain, walked over to
Fantasyland and back to the castle to take a few more photos down
Mainstreet before we decided to leave the park and drive to the
Shopping Center to pick up a few more things we wanted. |
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It was nice to have enough time to still walk around and have a good
look at things, before we filled up the car with gas and drove back
to the airport. We returned the car and went downstairs to check in.
Once we reached the Lufthansa counter we were shocked to see A LOT
of people queuing up in front of the ticket counter. |
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It looked like not only our plane had been cancelled. We checked in,
got seats together on both flights and went to find some seats to
finish off any leftover drinks and the crisps we still had. While we
were sitting there anxiously awaiting our time to board the plane
Tom got another text message from our airline. Our plane was
delayed, at least 20 more minutes. Now, that would make it for a
tight squeeze to catch our connecting flight, but it was still
doable. |
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From that time on about every 15 minutes Tom got text messages from
the airline. Nobody would tell us why there was such a huge delay
and so many planes cancelled, so we started calling friends to find
out if there was something going on in Frankfurt. No one seemed to
know anything, and even though we were told our connecting flight
would be late as well we had to prepare for not getting back home in
time. So we both called co-workers and let them know that we were
stuck in Paris. Our plane finally left at 8.35 and by the time we
would be landing in Frankfurt our plane to Linz was supposed to take
off. During the flight we were informed that fog was the reason for
all the delays. At least it calmed our nerves. |
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They were still handing out cheese sandwiches and chocolate bars and
hot and cold drinks, but the sandwiches were so dry I couldn’t even
swallow one bite, so I stuck to the chocolate and Coke. As “luck”
would have it our arrival gate at Frankfurt airport was located at
the complete opposite end of our departure gate. So that meant a
long hike or better jogging across the airport, since our plane to
Linz was still delayed. |
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We ran, but in winter clothes and with luggage this was not an easy
thing to do. For the last part of the way I was so out of breath I
told Tom to go ahead and tell them I was trying my best, but that
was it. When I finally made it to the counter the lady made a “fun”
comment, which I did not find funny at all and I did let her know.
We were then told to go downstairs and take the bus to our plane.
The plane was packed and all the overhead bins were so full I had to
hold my carryon, with our coats put on top on my lap. I have never
been allowed to fly with something on my lap, but the stewardesses
didn’t seem to care at all. We could not believe it, but even though
we had been hurried across the airport, we were now locked up in the
aircraft for more than an hour. We left Frankfurt right around
midnight and got back to Linz by 1am. Since we had been sitting in
the plane in Frankfurt for more than an hour we were sure our
luggage would be on board. Well, we were WRONG! |
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Luggage is brought out fast here, so when the conveyer belt stopped
we knew that was it. So we went to the lost luggage counter and I
was not very happy. Poor lady there, who had to deal with me. We
picked up our car and I drove Tom up to the house, then went back to
my flat and in was in bed by 2.30am. Tom was supposed to be at work
at 5am and I was supposed to get up at 5.15. Needless to say we both
were very tired at work that day. |
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