Cameron's Birthday Trip!

My monkey (that'd be Cameron--LOL) had a blast on his birthday trip but for the adults, Disney World was, for the most part, positively miserable.

We've taken Cameron to Disney for his birthday a few times over the years and never ever has it been so crowded and disorganized as it was this weekend. Ugh. Early December is usually an off time in the world of Disney but apparently not THIS year. The people were legion and rude with it too. My Cameron got an elbow in the face on one occasion and some other body part to the ribs on another. He, of course, didn't let this deter him from having fun. Because of this legion of rudeness I took a total of TWO pictures at Epcot and that was the end of picture taking in the parks. Basically the Disney Marketplace and the hotel are the only two places I was brave enough to pull out my camera and stop long enough to snap a shot.

Then there were all the technical screw-ups (courtesy of Disney) we were treated to. First there was the vanishing room reservation that was booked and paid for in August for my mom and Cameron (Drew and I had no problem), then it was on to the vanishing prepaid park tickets that were, again, paid for in August. They straightened out the room reservation quickly enough and though we didn't get connecting rooms (as booked), they were next to each other. The prepaid park tickets appeared to be handled quickly enough as well but we found out differently when we were turned away at Epcot because we only had VOUCHERS for tickets not actual tickets. Argh. This screw-up cost us a good hour standing in line at guest relations where they finally did issue us real live tickets. And last but not least the mess up with check out. They did "Express Check-Out" for my mom and Cameron (you know the reservations they couldn't originally find) but not for Drew and I so I had to stand in the obnoxious check-out line for over thirty minutes while my mom and Cameron sat in the car because they were already checked out (as we SHOULD have been). My mom is slightly agitated by all the screw-ups (and who could blame her cause you know, Disney ain't cheap) and wants me to write a letter of complaint to the lovely folks at Disney for all the idiocy we were subjected to.

Cool thing was they gave Cameron a special birthday button to wear in the parks and it gave him some special perks--birthday wishes from Disney staff and characters and a ride in the V.I.P. section on Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom (only V.I.P. I noticed was Joey Fatone but by then it had been a LONG day so I could've missed someone).

But, rude legions and technical screw-ups aside, Cameron had a great time and that's what's important.

Anyway, here's the pictures at the places I was brave enough to take them...