DISNEY PASSES THE TEST OF TIME

Disneyworld in Orlando represents a special place and time in the lives of millions of visitors but even the Disney people can sometimes go above and beyond and make those same life experiences even more special. In a world of cynicism, poor service, unrealized promises, and negative press, Disneyworld is able to rise above the mediocre and show us how it should be done.

My sister's recent visit offers a perfect example of how customer service can cement a lifetime relationship. This summer, she and her husband took their three sons, three daughters-in-law and 5 1/2 grandchildren for a return visit to the Magic Kingdom. It was to be a grand trip to revisit a place where Jane and David and the boys had been 22 years before, on a previous family vacation - prior to wives and grandchildren.

In 1991, they bought multi-day family passes but had left one of the days unused. Jane had held onto the pass in the event that they should return at a future date. That future date turned out to be 22 years later! First of all, I don't know about you, but I never would have saved it and never would have found it if I did save it. Jane is obviously much better organized...to say the least. She took the unused passes to Florida and felt a bit funny at the entrance gates when she timidly inquired about the possibility of using these decades old passes - "would they even be valid for use 22 years later?"

Her question was met with a kindly smile from the "senior" cast member  (or is that Mouseketeer) at the ticket booth and an incredible reply, "Why, of course dear. You are more than welcome to use your passes."

WOW!

And then the next question, "The boys were just children when we originally bought the passes, should we upgrade them to adult passes or can we transfer them to their own children?"

"Dear, Mr. Disney would never penalize children for growing up! The boys are welcome to use their original children's passes even though they are now adults."

WOW and WOW!

In a world where we love to blame government, big business, politicians, overworked servers, and unfulfilled expectations, here's an example of a huge corporation who has never lost sight of who they are and who their customers are. It's always the little things that make the biggest difference. It's the friendly smile, the caring attitude, the "going the extra mile" culture that cements a relationship between customers and companies forever.

It's nice to know that even though "Mr. Disney" is no longer on TV every Sunday night, he is still making kids smile...no matter how old they are.

Kenya and Habitat for Humanity

Jambo! As some of you might know, our daughter Tori is spending a few weeks in Kenya working with a team from Habitat for Humanity building a house for a family. She reports that they have arrived in Nairobi after stops in London, Athens and Istanbul and then a further 3,000 miles to the capital of Kenya where they met the rest of their team and spent Sunday resting and sight-seeing before heading off into the wilds on Monday.
To those of you that were kind enough to donate to the building fund on her behalf, I would like to pass on my gratitude and I'm sure that Tori will send you a report on her return. Internet access is hit and miss and seems to be centered in the major cities like Nairobi. She leaves after the "build" on the 17th and will spend a few days on Santorini before returning home and back to work. What an experience it will be.
There sure are great opportunities out there to make a difference in the world and I'm glad to see that Tori is taking advantage of one of them.

MY BACKYARD - ALBERTA

THURSDAY NIGHT: SAN JOSE DEL CABO

I wanted to add a little culture to my life and an artwalk through an old Mexican town complete with samples of wine and tequila sounded like just the right combination. The tour company offered a guided visit to San Jose del Cabo a few miles up the coast of the Sea of Cortez from where we were staying and after a few moments to charge my credit card, it was set. Rico picked us up at the front entrance of our hotel and informed us that we were the only participants tonight. We didn't hop, so much as climbed into the back seat of the silver Hummer and were introduced to the driver and started on our way. It was 4:00, the sun was still shining and our guide was talkative. He was 71 years old and an amateur historian which gave credence to some of the information he shared on our 20 minute ride. We learned about pirates, whaling (he was researching a book on the subject - another writer!), the Canadian enclave, timeshares, dessert conditions, water and agriculture along with why the animals have adapted to local conditions and are smaller on the California peninsula.
We arrived at our first gallery and were greeted by the owner who knew our guide and we all enjoyed a shot of tequila - a nice way to start the evening. I'm not a fan of the bright primary colours used in tropically inspired art but I did enjoy the various examples of pottery and carvings if not the paintings. The gallery owner was very polite and informative and had been a lifelong resident in Cabo. I got the impression that he enjoyed my attempts to speak Spanish. We made our way through a dozen or more galleries including some very high priced offerings for the wealthy property owners in the area. I was surprised at the number of ex pats who worked in the area.  We had started about 5 PM and enjoyed several liquid offerings from the retailers but all the walking and humidity kept any Cabo wobble symptoms at bay. By 7:00 it was time to enjoy dinner at La Panga Antigua near the cathedral but still on the main art walk. An old building that has been restored with intimate tables set indoors and out, they lived up to their billing as one of the area's better restaurants. We had a "special" coffee after dinner and invited our guide, Rico to join us, whereupon he continued to regale us with stories about his family and experiences in America, Hawaii and Mexico. The obligatory pictures were snapped, a short tour of the building itself and appropriate tip left behind and we walked down the street to a jewelry store we had spied earlier. A few gifts for the girls at home and we were ready to climb back in the Hummer for the return trip. A pleasant ride with pleasant company, surroundings and locals. It is an easy decision to recommend San Jose del Cabo on a Thursday night - I wish I was going this Thursday.