luvmy2babies
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2010
First off we had a great time, rain and all. It rained off and on (mostly off) on Friday, but I had a rain cover for ds' stroller, a poncho for myself, a rain jacket for dd (made of poncho material).
I will start with Travel Day and the Big Reveal
I worked until 1:00. When I left work, I rearranged some stuff in the bags and got on the road. I stopped at my bank to get spending money and a money order for a bill I needed to mail. Good thing I listened to that voice that said to pack the van the day before. I barely got to the school and daycare by 2:00.
I went to get dd first. They called her to the office and when she saw me she ran to me. It surprised me but she had no questions about why I was there early. I thought for sure that would be the first thing she said, but Im not sure she knew what time it was. She had to know it was before afternoon snack though.
As we walked to the van, I told her I thought we could do something fun for fall break. She said "I know it's only 4 days, but I really wanted to go on vacation." I said, "You know me too. We should do something." Then she got curious. "What can we do?" I told her I did plan something. I opened her door and as she got in, I told her when she shut her door there would be a sign telling her where she was going. Her eyes widened and she got a nervous smile. "Really?" "Yes, really." She hesitated. I got in my seat and faced her. She finally closed the door and saw this:
She squealed it was a really long squeal too. Then she said "Oh my gosh!" about 4 times and leaned back and put her hand over her mouth. I was laughing so much I didn't get a picture until she sat up and smiled.
I drove up to the other end of the parking lot to get ds. He was sitting in a little chair, but got up as soon as he saw me. They had him ready to go as I requested, so after I got his things we were out of there. The drive to the airport was as I expected. Dd asked some questions: how long will we be gone? Until Sunday. Will we see Shamu? Yep. Will we see dolphins? Yep. Can I sit by the window on the plane? Nope, the car seat has to go by the window, it's a rule.
When we approached the airport, a sign caught my eye. Daily parking FULL, use Park and Ride 3 and 4.
In all my flights where I have driven to the airport, I have always used the daily lot. The deck is across from the terminal so I could walk to my car. I waited to see the sign again before I finally made my way back out to the park and ride lots. I was strategizing in my mind as I drove. I remembered having to take a shuttle some years ago when traveling with dd. I'd rented a car and the rental counter was a shuttle ride from the terminal, so I had to take it when we arrived to pick up the car and after we returned the car to go back home. It will be okay I'll just use the same strategy. Dd will push ds. I'll let her get on the bus, then I'll load the luggage, let ds out of the stroller and get on.
But the bus was already there when we parked. It was actually there when we entered the parking lot. I had not researched this method, so I didn't know how long he might sit there and if the bus left, I had no idea when it would return. I decided not to unfold the stroller. I had dd pull the stroller folded. I put the car seat on my back, connected the suitcases and grabbed the handle, leashed ds, and carried my backpack by the handle. It was a short walk, but it was a bit of a struggle as the walk was up a hill and ds wanted to play more than walk. If I had it to do over, I'd just unfold the stroller and have him pushed to the bus, then refold it. I admit I was a bit frazzled by this. I told myself I was never flying at this time of day again. Once we got there, I was confident he would not drive off. I sent dd on the bus, sent ds to her and the driver helped me put everything on.
Once we were on, I took some deep breaths. It was still just 2:45 when we got on the shuttle, so I'd still get inside the terminal by 3:00 (2 hours before flight time) like I wanted. There was some other people on the shuttle who along with us were thrown off by the full daily lot. Only they didn't do the "2 hour" thing and were really nervous about making their 3:30 flight. There was a lady traveling solo and a couple. The lady said she had always been fine coming to the airport an hour before he flight and the couple nodded "us too." They were flying an airline in the other terminal, so when we got off at the first stop, it was the last I saw of them. It took us until 3:30 to get through security and get upstairs so I wondered what happened with them.
When we got to the terminal, we were let out directly across from the part of the building where Southwest passengers check in. I noticed something. If I'd done terminal parking we would have had a longer walk because the Southwest ticket counter is down a very long hallway. So either you walk down a long sidewalk to get yourself directly in front of the Southwest entrance or you walk directly across to get inside and walk down a very long hallway to get to the SW counter. I took the stroller and ds out first, put him in the stroller and had dd stand with him while I gathered our things. I'm glad that happened. Overall it was a pretty good experience. It is also $6/day as opposed to the $10/day terminal parking costs. I'm thinking it can only go better if I go in knowing I'll use it, so I'm considering using it for our next trip. Next trip is 10 days so we're talking $60 instead of $100. I probably would not have used it had I not been forced to though. Once I'd gathered our things, dd took over stroller duties and we crossed a little street and were in line to check our bags in about 2 minutes.
I remember posting that I took some stuff out of the large suitcase and brought along an 18 inch upright. Big bag weighed in at 45lbs. That turned out to be a good decision. Check in was uneventful and we were on our way to security. Someone had told me children 12 and under are no longer required to remove their shoes and it turned out to still be in effect. I'd already taken ds' shoes off so I left them off. I was behind a lady who had to almost strip to get through the detector. As they motioned us around her, she chuckled and said, "I guess you can tell I haven't traveled in a while." I stepped out of my crocs and made it through with 2 small children faster than some solo travelers. Bringing a smaller car seat helped. It fit through the machine inside the bag. I'd packed our toiletries in the luggage, so I just put everything on the belt and once dd went through, I walked through carrying ds. I was going to put him down, but he wasn't having it. After dd grabbed her backpack, I put ds in the stroller and had dd stand with him while I put the car seat on my back and grabbed my backpack. The TSA guy told me I was really brave doing this with no help. I pointed to dd and said, "I have help." She really was great. I told her several times that we wouldn't be able to do this if she wasn't so helpful with her brother.
My plan was to grab food and eat on the plane, but both children were hungry so once we got upstairs, we made a trip to the bathroom and I got us some food. Grill Chicken Sandwiches with fries. We shared with ds. Then I got us some 20oz lemonades at another store for the plane. We had a while to wait, but it was eventually 4:15 so we did another bathroom break to empty bladders and so I could change ds. Little hiccup on the walk way getting on the plane. Dd didn't wait for us and while I was folding the stroller several people went by me. When we got on the plane, dd had picked a row already 8. I really wanted to be towards the rear of the plane, but didn't make her come back out. A lady noticed her alone and just told her to go ahead and sit down. It took me longer to get the car seat in because the front was a bit more congested than the rear, but we were eventually seated.
As I mentioned before ds was bothered on the flight with his tummy. He was also tired. I think they woke him to make sure he was ready when I got there. I ended up holding him the last 10 minutes including landing and he was whining and struggling to stay awake. He was cranky when we landed and was trying to get me to pick him up while I was trying to get the seat back into the bag. It ended up being a bit of a struggle, but we finally got off and I was glad to see the stroller waiting. As we made our way to baggage claim, my mind wandered a bit and I settled into being on vacation. We got on the airport monorail and I took some deep breaths. Once off we hit the bathroom and went to baggage claim.
Baggage claim was a bit of a gut check. I guess it took us a while to get there because the guy was taking our bags off and heading to the office. And not just ours. He had 2 carts full. I flagged him down and claimed ours while others took theirs off his carts. After he gave them to me, we followed the signs to the taxi area. Dd had one thing on her mind: "Where's the taxi?" I was thinking the same, but just kept following the signs. I did not want to go out the wrong door and have to walk down the sidewalk with the children in the dark. About the 3rd time she asked, I had something else on my mind: "Magical Express I love you!" We did get there of course and cabs were waiting and after we told the guy at the podium where we needed to go, we were put in one immediately. I got ds settled in his car seat and we were on our way quickly. He dropped us at Springhill and got our bags out for us. I paid him (the fare was $34.50, I gave him $40) and we walked in.
Overall it was fine, but it still can't compare to DME. Baggage service and transportation (in heaven). I know people say it is just Disney's way of getting you to stay in one of their resorts because they get more money and get even more because if you stay on site you'll also eat Disney food. Darn Skippy! If they were trying to get me, they got me. We appreciate you Magical Express and we'll return to you in June my friend.
Before I get into the hotel, I'll go ahead and admit now that I made a change for the trip home. Hopefully I won't get arrested here or lose readers, but I had already been thinking of leaving the car seat behind for our trip next June since we won't be in any vehicles except Magical Express, the Ferry boat and Disney Buses. Even though I know he will change a lot between now and then, I really wanted to see how ds would do without the seat. I also wanted to see if things would be easier for me. I know it seems reading here that everyone travels with their car seat but the 2 trips I have done with ds he was the only one in a car seat. The people actually looked at me funny when I said I was bringing it on the plane. I got asked several times, "What is in that bag?" And when I answered, it was usually, "Are you using it on the plane?" or "Are you sure you aren't gate checking it?" responses. It got plenty of use, plane ride there, 2 cab rides, and it will be my travel seat if we rent a car or have occasion to take a cab to and from the airport again. It will also go in my mom's car. On our way home though, ds rode in it for the cab ride back to the airport. Then, I checked it through Southwest's Oversize/Fragile section and we went on our way. Dd was glad to be relieved of her stroller duties. No one even batted an eye when I plopped him into the seat for the return trip. I am actually likely to do the CARES harness next time. I didn't this time because it cannot be used in vehicles, but on Sunday, he rode home in just the airplane seat belt.
Which trip was better? By a million miles, the return trip was better. It goes without saying boarding and deboarding was faster, but ds was happier on the plane too. I sat him between dd and me, fastened his seat belt and he was happy as a clam. He went into Little Einstein mode and started patting his lap and the seatbelt, but didn't even make one attempt to undo it and that was my main fear. For those who don't watch it, Disney Jr runs a show called the "Little Einsteins". They do missions in a rocket and they pat their laps to give the rocket power to take off. It was unbelievably cute. Everyone was happier. Dd got to sit by the window and she was happy. I felt better being on the aisle. 15 minutes into the flight, ds was asleep on my shoulder and without even a fight to stay awake. And other than letting me know she wanted pretzels when the snack guy came, I didn't hear a peep out of dd either.
So that's travel day. Next up: Our Suite
I will start with Travel Day and the Big Reveal
I worked until 1:00. When I left work, I rearranged some stuff in the bags and got on the road. I stopped at my bank to get spending money and a money order for a bill I needed to mail. Good thing I listened to that voice that said to pack the van the day before. I barely got to the school and daycare by 2:00.
I went to get dd first. They called her to the office and when she saw me she ran to me. It surprised me but she had no questions about why I was there early. I thought for sure that would be the first thing she said, but Im not sure she knew what time it was. She had to know it was before afternoon snack though.
As we walked to the van, I told her I thought we could do something fun for fall break. She said "I know it's only 4 days, but I really wanted to go on vacation." I said, "You know me too. We should do something." Then she got curious. "What can we do?" I told her I did plan something. I opened her door and as she got in, I told her when she shut her door there would be a sign telling her where she was going. Her eyes widened and she got a nervous smile. "Really?" "Yes, really." She hesitated. I got in my seat and faced her. She finally closed the door and saw this:
She squealed it was a really long squeal too. Then she said "Oh my gosh!" about 4 times and leaned back and put her hand over her mouth. I was laughing so much I didn't get a picture until she sat up and smiled.
I drove up to the other end of the parking lot to get ds. He was sitting in a little chair, but got up as soon as he saw me. They had him ready to go as I requested, so after I got his things we were out of there. The drive to the airport was as I expected. Dd asked some questions: how long will we be gone? Until Sunday. Will we see Shamu? Yep. Will we see dolphins? Yep. Can I sit by the window on the plane? Nope, the car seat has to go by the window, it's a rule.
When we approached the airport, a sign caught my eye. Daily parking FULL, use Park and Ride 3 and 4.
In all my flights where I have driven to the airport, I have always used the daily lot. The deck is across from the terminal so I could walk to my car. I waited to see the sign again before I finally made my way back out to the park and ride lots. I was strategizing in my mind as I drove. I remembered having to take a shuttle some years ago when traveling with dd. I'd rented a car and the rental counter was a shuttle ride from the terminal, so I had to take it when we arrived to pick up the car and after we returned the car to go back home. It will be okay I'll just use the same strategy. Dd will push ds. I'll let her get on the bus, then I'll load the luggage, let ds out of the stroller and get on.
But the bus was already there when we parked. It was actually there when we entered the parking lot. I had not researched this method, so I didn't know how long he might sit there and if the bus left, I had no idea when it would return. I decided not to unfold the stroller. I had dd pull the stroller folded. I put the car seat on my back, connected the suitcases and grabbed the handle, leashed ds, and carried my backpack by the handle. It was a short walk, but it was a bit of a struggle as the walk was up a hill and ds wanted to play more than walk. If I had it to do over, I'd just unfold the stroller and have him pushed to the bus, then refold it. I admit I was a bit frazzled by this. I told myself I was never flying at this time of day again. Once we got there, I was confident he would not drive off. I sent dd on the bus, sent ds to her and the driver helped me put everything on.
Once we were on, I took some deep breaths. It was still just 2:45 when we got on the shuttle, so I'd still get inside the terminal by 3:00 (2 hours before flight time) like I wanted. There was some other people on the shuttle who along with us were thrown off by the full daily lot. Only they didn't do the "2 hour" thing and were really nervous about making their 3:30 flight. There was a lady traveling solo and a couple. The lady said she had always been fine coming to the airport an hour before he flight and the couple nodded "us too." They were flying an airline in the other terminal, so when we got off at the first stop, it was the last I saw of them. It took us until 3:30 to get through security and get upstairs so I wondered what happened with them.
When we got to the terminal, we were let out directly across from the part of the building where Southwest passengers check in. I noticed something. If I'd done terminal parking we would have had a longer walk because the Southwest ticket counter is down a very long hallway. So either you walk down a long sidewalk to get yourself directly in front of the Southwest entrance or you walk directly across to get inside and walk down a very long hallway to get to the SW counter. I took the stroller and ds out first, put him in the stroller and had dd stand with him while I gathered our things. I'm glad that happened. Overall it was a pretty good experience. It is also $6/day as opposed to the $10/day terminal parking costs. I'm thinking it can only go better if I go in knowing I'll use it, so I'm considering using it for our next trip. Next trip is 10 days so we're talking $60 instead of $100. I probably would not have used it had I not been forced to though. Once I'd gathered our things, dd took over stroller duties and we crossed a little street and were in line to check our bags in about 2 minutes.
I remember posting that I took some stuff out of the large suitcase and brought along an 18 inch upright. Big bag weighed in at 45lbs. That turned out to be a good decision. Check in was uneventful and we were on our way to security. Someone had told me children 12 and under are no longer required to remove their shoes and it turned out to still be in effect. I'd already taken ds' shoes off so I left them off. I was behind a lady who had to almost strip to get through the detector. As they motioned us around her, she chuckled and said, "I guess you can tell I haven't traveled in a while." I stepped out of my crocs and made it through with 2 small children faster than some solo travelers. Bringing a smaller car seat helped. It fit through the machine inside the bag. I'd packed our toiletries in the luggage, so I just put everything on the belt and once dd went through, I walked through carrying ds. I was going to put him down, but he wasn't having it. After dd grabbed her backpack, I put ds in the stroller and had dd stand with him while I put the car seat on my back and grabbed my backpack. The TSA guy told me I was really brave doing this with no help. I pointed to dd and said, "I have help." She really was great. I told her several times that we wouldn't be able to do this if she wasn't so helpful with her brother.
My plan was to grab food and eat on the plane, but both children were hungry so once we got upstairs, we made a trip to the bathroom and I got us some food. Grill Chicken Sandwiches with fries. We shared with ds. Then I got us some 20oz lemonades at another store for the plane. We had a while to wait, but it was eventually 4:15 so we did another bathroom break to empty bladders and so I could change ds. Little hiccup on the walk way getting on the plane. Dd didn't wait for us and while I was folding the stroller several people went by me. When we got on the plane, dd had picked a row already 8. I really wanted to be towards the rear of the plane, but didn't make her come back out. A lady noticed her alone and just told her to go ahead and sit down. It took me longer to get the car seat in because the front was a bit more congested than the rear, but we were eventually seated.
As I mentioned before ds was bothered on the flight with his tummy. He was also tired. I think they woke him to make sure he was ready when I got there. I ended up holding him the last 10 minutes including landing and he was whining and struggling to stay awake. He was cranky when we landed and was trying to get me to pick him up while I was trying to get the seat back into the bag. It ended up being a bit of a struggle, but we finally got off and I was glad to see the stroller waiting. As we made our way to baggage claim, my mind wandered a bit and I settled into being on vacation. We got on the airport monorail and I took some deep breaths. Once off we hit the bathroom and went to baggage claim.
Baggage claim was a bit of a gut check. I guess it took us a while to get there because the guy was taking our bags off and heading to the office. And not just ours. He had 2 carts full. I flagged him down and claimed ours while others took theirs off his carts. After he gave them to me, we followed the signs to the taxi area. Dd had one thing on her mind: "Where's the taxi?" I was thinking the same, but just kept following the signs. I did not want to go out the wrong door and have to walk down the sidewalk with the children in the dark. About the 3rd time she asked, I had something else on my mind: "Magical Express I love you!" We did get there of course and cabs were waiting and after we told the guy at the podium where we needed to go, we were put in one immediately. I got ds settled in his car seat and we were on our way quickly. He dropped us at Springhill and got our bags out for us. I paid him (the fare was $34.50, I gave him $40) and we walked in.
Overall it was fine, but it still can't compare to DME. Baggage service and transportation (in heaven). I know people say it is just Disney's way of getting you to stay in one of their resorts because they get more money and get even more because if you stay on site you'll also eat Disney food. Darn Skippy! If they were trying to get me, they got me. We appreciate you Magical Express and we'll return to you in June my friend.
Before I get into the hotel, I'll go ahead and admit now that I made a change for the trip home. Hopefully I won't get arrested here or lose readers, but I had already been thinking of leaving the car seat behind for our trip next June since we won't be in any vehicles except Magical Express, the Ferry boat and Disney Buses. Even though I know he will change a lot between now and then, I really wanted to see how ds would do without the seat. I also wanted to see if things would be easier for me. I know it seems reading here that everyone travels with their car seat but the 2 trips I have done with ds he was the only one in a car seat. The people actually looked at me funny when I said I was bringing it on the plane. I got asked several times, "What is in that bag?" And when I answered, it was usually, "Are you using it on the plane?" or "Are you sure you aren't gate checking it?" responses. It got plenty of use, plane ride there, 2 cab rides, and it will be my travel seat if we rent a car or have occasion to take a cab to and from the airport again. It will also go in my mom's car. On our way home though, ds rode in it for the cab ride back to the airport. Then, I checked it through Southwest's Oversize/Fragile section and we went on our way. Dd was glad to be relieved of her stroller duties. No one even batted an eye when I plopped him into the seat for the return trip. I am actually likely to do the CARES harness next time. I didn't this time because it cannot be used in vehicles, but on Sunday, he rode home in just the airplane seat belt.
Which trip was better? By a million miles, the return trip was better. It goes without saying boarding and deboarding was faster, but ds was happier on the plane too. I sat him between dd and me, fastened his seat belt and he was happy as a clam. He went into Little Einstein mode and started patting his lap and the seatbelt, but didn't even make one attempt to undo it and that was my main fear. For those who don't watch it, Disney Jr runs a show called the "Little Einsteins". They do missions in a rocket and they pat their laps to give the rocket power to take off. It was unbelievably cute. Everyone was happier. Dd got to sit by the window and she was happy. I felt better being on the aisle. 15 minutes into the flight, ds was asleep on my shoulder and without even a fight to stay awake. And other than letting me know she wanted pretzels when the snack guy came, I didn't hear a peep out of dd either.
So that's travel day. Next up: Our Suite
Glad to have readers. Hoping to get through quite a bit of the report this weekend. Photobucket has been slow. 
