Most of us have stayed in a vacation rental of some sort, but how many of us can say we run one? For most of us, the sorts of stories hosts must have never really occur to us... til now.
Reddit user Redscouts asked:
AirBnB hosts of Reddit, what's your most interesting story about a guest?
We're not even going to lie to you, some of these are incredibly disgusting, brutal, and illegal. But the "most interesting" story isn't always the worst. Some people's responses were actually kind of adorable and sweet! Not the one about the gang fight, though. That one's pretty solidly in the "brutal, bloody and illegal" category...
The Gift of Art
My wife and I used to rent out our upstairs when AirBnb first hit our region of the country. Back then, all of the guests were amazing. One of our favorites was a German couple and their daughter. The husband and daughter spoke English well enough, but the wife never said a word. They stayed for 3 days or so and were very polite. When they left, the wife left behind a sheet of cardstock for us where she drew a replica of one of our wedding photographs that was hanging on the wall. It was amazing and we framed it and now it hangs on our wall as well.
Doorknobs
Not me but a friend. She rented out a 100 year old house that had been renovated but still had its original doorknobs. When the guests moved out it turned out they had taken the door knobs.
Apparently the AirBnB guests were renovating their own house in California and thought that the doorknobs would look really nice in their home. Nine of them. They stole nine door knobs! So then insurance gets involved, my friend refused to settle because she wanted the original door knobs back, insurance offered her $27,000 – that's $3000 per door knob – but she still refused and threatened to file a lawsuit etc. Finally she got her doorknobs back but it was a lot of trouble.
Mid-Breakfast Rapture
My worst guest left a dirty nappy (diaper) sitting on the couch for me to dispose of. They generally left things in a state. The bedding had all been removed and put on the floor so they could sleep on the floors. Breakfast looked like they had been raptured half way through. I remember thinking it was really odd that a big family breakfast had just been abandoned... toast... coffee.. half full bowls of cereal.
And they just stood up and walked away from that. I wouldn't be able to not tidy that up for my host at least a bit. But to some extent they pay enough money I don't get annoyed when I get in to find a mess. The nappy though, I was not happy about that.
The most annoying thing that guests did was show up early to be honest. I was inevitably cleaning the place from the last guest and didn't want them to see it in a state. And they just wanted to get in and start enjoying their trip. I just found that way more stressful than I would imagine from the other side.
- aw356
Chicken Murdering Drug Thieves
My in-laws run an Air BnB with a farm and they also do drugs. They let tenants stay for free for long periods of time as long as they help with house work. A particular couple came to stay with them for several months and brought their dog. Their dog killed a couple of the chickens, and the couple stole my FIL's prescribed pain killers and weed, and then they bounced. But my in-laws had copies of their driver's licenses so they were caught.
Dreaming Of A Wine Christmas
My parents have Airbnb Wine Barrel Pods that people can sleep in right smack in the middle of Mexican Wine Country (about 90min south of San Diego). Last Christmas, a British couple that had been traveling around wine country rented out one of the wine barrels. My parents and the rest of my visiting family invited the British couple to experience a real Mexican Christmas in their house and ranch with Piñatas, games, amazing food, and plenty of wine and tequila.
The couple had the best vibes, and my family loved having outsiders experience a traditional, jovial Mexican holiday party and they all ended up having such a wonderful time together. So much so, that they all have stayed in touch since, and are planning on coming to visit again this holiday season. Airbnb has brought my parents so many memorable experiences and positive connections with people from all over, it makes me so happy to see them get so excited over meeting so many different people that enjoy being their guests.
The Paint Job
We have a vacation rental that is mainly families and couples so it's pretty rare the property manager needs to call me for anything. He called me an was like: "Are all the rooms in the house supposed to be white?"
I was like: "Yeah, the previous owners painted all the bedrooms dorm room white to sell it. We've wanted to change it for a while."
He said, "Yeah, well, one of the rooms is definitely changed."
A couple stayed there for 3 weeks and apparently got bored and repainted one of the rooms a nice robin's egg blue with some very pro trimming that went perfectly with the artwork and the comforter. I didn't know whether to be mad or not. Like, it was really really well done color wash that would take a long time to do and was way better than something we would've been willing to pay for.
We told them they want to stay another time and do another room will give you one week for free. 4 more years and we'll have all of the rooms done.
Student/Teacher Relations
My wife rented out our spare room to earn extra cash and I didn't get involved with it at all. She met me for dinner one night after work and casually mentioned that we had a couple from Germany staying with us.
No big deal, we had dinner then came home. When we got home they were sitting on the couch and I immediately recognized one as my student at the university I teach at. We said an awkward hello and my wife and I went to our bedroom.
We heard the door slam and the guests were gone. They had rented our place to get out of the dorms for the night and thought they were renting the whole apartment, not just one room. I think we may have arrived home just before they started having sex on the couch. We live far enough away from the university that the students assumed they'd be staying with total strangers.
I saw the female student in class the next week and she was pretty embarrassed. It was difficult because I wanted to convey to her that my wife and I didn't care and that is what being young is all about. Instead we just chose to pretend that it never happened.
Gone Country
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A guy used our guitar to write a country song, apparently inspired by the view of the city. A few months later, he emailed me the recording he'd made in our apartment, as well as the finished product as it played on the radio. That was pretty cool.
Couldn't Find The Trash Bags
My friend is a host who travels a lot so when he's not in town I help him out by cleaning rooms and setting things up for the next guests. He has a 2 bedroom spot where each room is on opposite sides with the kitchen and living room in the middle. He typically has both rooms rented out by different people at all times.
The worst encounter I've had was when he asked me to go clean and prep a room that he said only had 1-2 guests. I had to go specifically at that time because the new guests were coming in soon to check in.
When I arrived to clean the room I found out that it wasn't just 1-2 guests staying in the room. It was 7-8 college kids who trashed the place and all crashed there. All of them were still there getting ready to leave. They had left an UNGODLY amount of trash. I mean literally boxes and boxes of garbage.
They had finished a 64 pack of coke and several 6 packs of different beers. They left empty pizza boxes, ramen cups, take out leftovers, all the cans/bottles were dispersed around the counters and on the floor. There was decomposing food left everywhere from the bathroom to the bedroom to the living room, kitchen counter, floor, etc.
They had used 7-8 towels which they left around the bathroom floor with water spilled everywhere. They left their shoes on the whole time and the dirt from the shoes mixed with the water on the floor to create mud streaks on the bathroom tile, kitchen tile, living room wood, and carpet in the bedroom. Someone had thrown up in the living room on the floor because there was randomly a dirty stinky mop just right next to an area.
I cannot overstate how nasty the entire place was.
When I arrived I asked if they were going to clean up the place or at least help collect their trash which they just left everywhere. They barely spoke English and one guy (who I'm assuming was the person who booked the room) asked if it was okay if they could just leave all their trash everywhere for me to pick up. I was shocked.
I'm only one college student, not a professional maid service! I didn't even know what to say to that.
The guy's excuse was "We didn't know where the trash bags were to clean our stuff up." That was complete bullsh*t because the bags were underneath the sink right next to the trash can they had overstuffed with maybe 1/16th of their total trash!
I didn't even say anything to him and just took out the trash bags and placed them on the counter next to him. He looked at me worried and told his friends to start cleaning up. I went in to the bathroom and closed the door so I could call my friend and tell him how badly they trashed the place.
When I came out they had all scurried out of the place after only putting a few bottles and cans in a trash bag. They left a f*ckton of trash for me to clean up. It took me so long to clean all of that up, mop the floors they stained with dirt and vomit, wipe the counters (they had left out ramen which spilled on the kitchen counter and had hardened over night), soak up the water spilled in the bathroom floor, scrub the toilet which they blew up (I won't tell you how gross that was), change all the sheets, vacuum the floor, etc. I was fuming. How can people have so little respect and not care at all about the mess they leave?
Lonely, Clingy and Rich
My house was an Air b&b for about a year, and we had all sorts of strange guests but this was probably the oddest. This old guy, I forget his name, started staying with us about 4 days out of the week and did so for 3 months. Very rich guy, had his own plane, estate fancy cars and all, and a young daughter who he missed very much as he worked very far from home during the week.
After a couple weeks he sort of expected us to eat together, sometimes taking us to dinner. Me and my mum didn't mind as he was nice company and shared our taste for food and wine. He started to get a little more clingy around the two month mark, which fell around Christmas time. He offered to take us on rides to his estate on his plane to holiday for Christmas and spend time with his daughter.
We began to feel very uncomfortable, and graciously declined to spend time elsewhere for the holidays. He understood but was disappointed.
When we returned from Christmas and went back to the regular routine of him staying during the week, he basically treated us like he would a house wife and child. He insisted on driving me to class, and would bring back pieces of meat easily worth £200 per hunk after work. My mother and I are both busy and it took two weeks to explain that we wouldn't have time to make such a large supper every day and we weren't used to all this expensive treatment. He eventually got the message about the meat but started buying us gifts, he seemed to be the type to show his affection through material things.
I will remind you that we were just his air b&b hosts, WE GOT FREAKED OUT!!! He bought us huge (sadly not very pretty) glass sculptures and ornaments to fill the house, flowers and new kitchenware... and if he didn't see them out or see anyone using them he'd get upset. At this point we decided to just block the days on Air b&b that he usually booked and said we were booked up.
I think he got the message and after a few tearful calls to the house he backed off.
Gang Wars
My partner currently manages about 15 AirBnB's, we occasionally get assorted crazies, but the most recent incident was a doozy. Basically, from what we can work out, it was booked by a gang (about 7-10 of them, apparently) of drug dealers from another major city, who traveled over to distribute product to local dealers.
At some point after lots of coming and going, a rival gang turned up, kicked the front door in and attacked them all, and I can only assume stole the drugs in question.
Blood everywhere, smashed furniture, ambulances and a hell of a lot of police then ensued.
We were left to clean this mess up on our own, so we just re-carpeted the whole place rather than try and salvage what was there.
- L1A1
Counter Tops
I had one guy ruin my counter tops. He set a super hot cast iron on them and they burnt into the cheap material. When I was asking him why he did that he said "Well, you didn't have any rules saying not to..."
Aaaaannnnddd THAT was the final person to stay in my place and the last time I did AirBnB.
Bath Bomb
Not a host but a tenant:
I was on my honeymoon with my husband and we decided to use a bath bomb in our AirBnB (bad idea). All was well until we emptied the tub and it was pitch black from the bath bomb - of course.
We tried cleaning it up as best as we could and had used one of the towels to try to clean up some of the mess but there was still some staining.
I ended up having to pay for them to buy a new shower liner and a new towel. I still feel bad for the guy but we both gave each other a great rating so it all worked out, also I'm never using a bath bomb in an AirBnB again.
This Parting Gift
I hosted my college apartment for 3 months a few summers ago. I had a couple from Spain staying and we ended up talking for a while when they were checking out. Cool people. After they left I went to clean the bedroom and they left a used condom on the nightstand...
Tornado Sirens
My landlord recently listed a unit in our building as an aBnB. One day last month, the weather turned, and I heard tornado sirens outside. My upstairs neighbor came flying down the stairs to the basement and I let her in.
My husband just got home from work, and I thought it was weird his car was just sitting out there - why wasn't he coming inside? There was a tornado coming!
I asked my neighbor, who said, "he's talking to the Air BnB people - they don't speak English, and he's trying to explain what's going on." My husband speaks some Spanish, and he apparently got the point across, as we could hear them in the other side of the basement.
I'm sure that's not what the visiting family were expecting when they booked their stay, but at least the storm passed without incident in our region.
Moths
I had a guest contact me in the middle of the night FURIOUS about an insect problem. The house was built in the 20s and despite new windows and improved insulation the occasional bug managed to find its way in. I was deeply apologetic and psyching myself up to murder a spider or something... until I realized that the bugs were moths and and they weren't so much in the house as outside, attracted the the front porch light. The guest was horrified because she wanted to go out to her car but the moths were in the way.
Suggestions to turn off the porch light for a bit (rejected, did not want to "encourage crime") or use the side door (rejected, too far from the car) were rejected. And these weren't giant bat-sized moths, they were no bigger than a quarter and there were maybe a half dozen of them.
This was in Nashville, Tennessee in August. She's lucky she missed the 17 year cicada cycle, she would have probably died.
A Bad Rating
We have a 9.8 overall rating. I'm the reason we don't have a 10. I was home alone and didn't know we had tourists in the other apartment. I had a girl come over and we had some craaaaaaazy wild sex.
We get a 7.5 and the review said "Sounded like a weird sex party was going on."
My parents were not happy.
Bags of Evidence
I had a lady stay for one night. The next day I came to clean the place after she left and she had 3-4 garbage bags that were full sitting in my living room. They were those stretching garbage bags. So when I went to pick them up I saw that every bag was slap full of sex toy boxes, feathers, empty containers for leather items. Seems my condo was abused in all sorts of dirty ways.
Took my time making sure to give everything an extra scrub while wearing thick gloves!
Bear Suit
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My brother rented his apartment out via air BnB. One of their guests left some kind of bear suite/onesie in his house. He never understood what happened and what it was used for. The group staying were 4 Chinese girls....
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.