FROM: Because I Stinkin' Love Disney World Published Thursdays

Mistake or Mouseterpiece, Part 2

On a recent trip to Disney World, Ashley had some problems, but with the power of Hakuna Metztada, she dealt with them. Now, however, a bigger crisis looms. Will she be barred from breakfast over an ADR error? Or did she finally paint her mouseterpiece?

- by Ashley Metz, May 12, 2011

(You know, this will make no sense whatsoever unless you've read Part 1.)

Bus-whacked!

We started toward the bus stop where we saw an enormous line. That's okay: "Go with the flow", right? Hakuna Metztada!

So we began the process of waiting for the bus. The bipolar bus. A bus would come through the gates, drawing cheers and chants from those bound for the Magic Kingdom... and it was an Epcot bus. Repeat. Repeat. About seven Epcot buses roared through, and we were five minutes away from missing our impromptu breakfast reservation at the Grand Floridian Cafe. What to do? Drive ourselves.

Calmly! But quickly: "Go (fast please, or we are going to be real late) with the flow".

Even though I executed a magnificent tuck 'n roll from our braking vehicle into the lobby of the Grand Floridian, we were 10 minutes past our reservation time, and my family was still outside parking the car.

The ADR That Wasn't

In panic, I asked for directions to the restaurant.

"Over there," a smiling Cast Member told me.

I whirled in that direction, frantic to let the hostess know we'd arrived, and never noticed that I'd walked into 1900 Park Fare, the wrong restaurant.

I gave my name, and of course, they couldn't find our reservation.

"Maybe because we're late?", I suggested.

"Not to worry," the hostess told me, "it's a problem with our computer. They're overhauling the dining system. I'll put in your name and you go wait over there with this pager until your table is ready."

At this point, I still had no idea that I had checked in at the wrong restaurant.

When our buzzer lit up, we weren't taken directly to our table but to an area where we had our pictures taken. What in the world? This sort of thing usually happens only at signature dining experiences like Cinderella's Royal Table. But "Go with the flow", and say "cheese"!

It's a Mouseterpiece!

As we were seated, I saw Tigger in the room. Nice of him to drop by! And nice of them to serve such delicious orange/guava/passion fruit juice. Hold on here... we were at the wrong restaurant!

Normally, being seated at 1900 Park Fare on a spur-of-the-moment reservation would be a wonderful thing, but we were down to our last few dining plan credits. Hoping to avoid embarrassment at the end of the meal, I asked our server to check our balance, even though I knew we had 4 credits left to pay for a meal that cost 2 credits each - and there were three of us. Draw straws?

Our server returned to our grim group with the wonderful news: I was wrong again! The breakfast buffet at 1900 Park Fare costs 1 credit, not 2 credits. I love character meet and greets! I love breakfasts! I love 1900 Park Fare!

The food was great, and a pair of kids across from us were dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert. You don't see that everyday! But I had a hard time taking my eyes off the Mickey waffles, the strawberry soup, the made-to-order omelettes, the pecan sticky buns, and every other wonderful tidbit on that buffet.

What a wonderful way to end an amazing vacation!

And I learned a lesson, too: rather than make mountains from mole hills, go with the flow and create a stinkin' mouseterpiece!

I hope you'll remember that the next time you're at Disney World.

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