4:45 a.m. is just inhuman, don't you think? No one should ever have to see that time staring back at them from the clock. But there it was, right on the nightstand. There'd better be an incredible reason for getting up that early.
Oh, yeah. We're going to Disney World!
We were taking a week during the school year (please, no flame-wars) and felt that flying down would maximize our time at WDW. Thankfully, we found a good rate on Southwest for flights out of Baltimore. Unfortunately, there's no quick-and-easy way to get from my house to Baltimore--the Chesapeake Bay is in the way. I don't own a hovercraft (yet), so we have to go around either to the north or the south.
My parents were coming with us on this trip, and in fact were a large reason as to why we were going. Currently, my kids are their only grandchildren, and they love spending time with them. So they were glad to help us make this trip affordable.
We drove down to their house in Dover on Friday night to shorten the drive to the airport a bit. Now it would be more of a straight shot across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
But still: we had to get up at 4:45 a.m. Ugh. Somehow, we managed to stumble out of bed and throw our clothes on (we had started our standard Disney practice of showering at night--saves time and I'm just wearing a baseball cap all day anyway in 90-degree Florida heat). Then, we woke up the kids at 5:00 a.m. Sarah and Big Dave got up fairly quickly, the excitement of going to Disney giving them an adrenalin boost. Scotty sat up in bed, looked around and took it all in. Then, he immediately flopped back onto his pillow, like a drunk way past last call. Hopefully my video footage wasn't too dark to capture this.
We all managed to stagger out into the van and get on the road. A quick stop at
Wawa (greatest convenience store ever) to think me up a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles on it for breakfast, and we were on our way.
The sun's first light hit as we drove on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, giving us a beautiful view of the water. This is a notorious commuter route for Baltimore, and my mother worried that we would hit too much rush hour traffic to make it to BWI on time.
Um...it's Saturday, Mom.
No problems with parking or security or luggage check-in (No bag fees on Southwest!
). Here's my two yutes checking out the plane:
The flight to Orlando was smooth, and Dave and I banged out most of his homework on the flight (as if we were going to do this at Disney World. I mean, come on). And by "Dave and I banged out his homework", I mean Dave did the work himself. No, really he did. I just tried to keep him from distracting himself with his DS. By the time we'd finished calculating the average air speed of an African swallow, the plane was landing in Orlando.
The Magical Express lines were pretty crowded--much more than our last trip in September 2006. I began to get worried--it appeared the word about Free Dining and low crowds in September was out. We might actually have to wait in lines for rides on this trip!
By lunchtime, we were checking into our resort, Port Orleans Riverside. We'd stayed here in the mansions section in 2006 and had fallen in love with the place. We were trying out the Alligator Bayou section this time, since we had 5 people in the room and needed the trundle bed. As I waited in the check-in line, I began to relax. I hadn't entered any part of the parks yet, but somehow it was as though the Disney magic was somehow subtly influencing my mood...
I had done the online check-in, figuring it would move the process faster at the lobby. My father and I confidently strode into the line for online check-in. At the same time, a bald gentleman stepped into the regular line. They had two people working the online group and 4 working the regular group. The bald guy got checked in first.
Check-in was followed by our first free counter-service meal on the dining plan--lunch at the Riverside Mill. One of the better food courts at WDW, in my opinion. Nice variety on the menu.
The room was ready for us, and we dropped off our carry-on bags. We fell in love with Alligator Bayou right away. The area is themed to feel like cabins in a swampy bayou, with a very rustic feel. The landscaping is beautiful. It's sort of a poor man's Wilderness Lodge (which, as some of you know, is my absolute favorite resort on property). Here is our room. Note the rough-hewn wood furniture and lantern-style lighting. Disney is without peer in giving a sense of place.
Next stop: Downtown Disney! One of the best perks of POR is the boat ride to DTD that it offers. We got in line (again, more people than I expected) and waited in the heat. After 10 minutes or so, a boat pulled up to the dock. He then informed us he could only take 25 people--and we just missed the cutoff.
Next boat: 20 minutes.
Coming Up Next: It's like Build-a-Bear, but with cars! And it costs HOW MUCH??!!