I will start at the beginning....for my mother-in-law's 60th birthday, we ordered a flower arrangement from the Disney Florist which never got there. So to make up for it, we decided to celebrate her 60th at Chef Mickey's. They told me that they would bring out her desert and that they would do something special to acknowledge her special day. She wore her "birthday" pen which everyone through out the park seemed to notice. Unfortunately, our waitress must have failed to notice the seating slip that was noted "60th birthday" and her birthday pen. Once we were done with dinner, we waited, waited, and waited some more for the desert. Finally, I asked about it, which by then, my mother-in-law knew that something was going on. Finally, another waitress said that they would take care of it. Shortly our waitress came out and, seeing that my children were at the desert bar, said that "the desert will be here shortly, how old is the birthday girl?" My mother-in-law was sitting right there. We all looked at the waitress in total disbelief. We pointed to my in-law and said "she's 60". The waitress knew that she had done wrong and the look on her face was priceless. To make things better, Goofy came over and got the whole restaurant to sing Happy Birthday.

For this trip, we stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs for the first time. I asked the Cast Member when making my reservation, noting this was the convention center resort for Disney, if the Springs had the "magic feel" that my family loves so much. She assured me that we would not be disappointed...well, we were. When we arrived, there was a massive tow truck convention going on and there were huge trucks with their beds propped up and wenches extended all over the parking lot. We parked our car about 200 yards away from our room, unloaded, and headed straight for the Magic Kingdom after waiting over 20 minutes for the shuttle. While waiting we counted two buses for every park before one bus for the Magic Kingdom arrived. This was the beginning of an on-going problem for our entire Disney retreat. I'm not sure if Disney is cutting back on their transportation system but it definitely was lacking. Talking with many guests resulted in the same feelings. No one I talked to that week seemed pleased with the transportation system.

Bottom line, Coronado Springs is not your typical Disney Resort. Don't let a Cast Member tell you that it is, because there is no magic there at all.

Some friends of ours stayed at the Old Key West Resort in a Villa. They booked their trip from a well known "outside" agency and paid less than I paid for a basic motel room through Disney Reservations.

We had our annual Easter dinner at the Garden Grill in The Land at Epcot. We've never had a bad experience there (and we eat there every year that we go to WDW). This year though was awful. Our waiter was not happy at all. He could hardly speak English, and when we asked for more food (all you can eat), he acted as if it were a problem. As we left I told him thanks for putting up with us and he replied "Yeah". I couldn't believe it.

All in all, the parks were great - a bit cold and crowded, but great. We did a lot of new things like the Family Magic Tour (highly recommend for families with young children), and some shows at Animal Kingdom that we had never seen. Now that my son is 40" tall, we were able to ride many rides as a family this year that we couldn't ride before. That was nice.

Unfortunately, with all the negativity at the beginning of our trip, we had a hard time overcoming our disappointment. We didn't get the royal treatment that we are used to. Cast Members didn't seem as friendly as in the past, and they certainly were not going to go out of their way to help you.

I remember when you couldn't walk through a Disney Store without being greeted by at least 4 Cast Members. They would follow the entire Guest Service Cycle with you no matter if the person before covered it or not. Now, you walk in and you're lucky to even be noticed. That's a shame.

While working for Disney, I was taught that when you step out on that stage, you are in control of the show. If you're having a bad day, then find some Pixie Dust and think of some happy thoughts. Do whatever you can so that you don't put on a "bad show". Whether your ringing up the final bill for lunch or greeting guest from a character suit, you are responsible for putting on a good show. One bad cast member can make for one bad show.

I think we'll take a few years off from Disney. Maybe take the cruise..who knows. We're just seeking a little magic.