djm99
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- Joined
- May 28, 2003
The Drama Queens and 1 king Visit WDW
1 clinic visit, 1 emergency room visit, 1 ‘twisted’ angle, and too much $$ spent…..
Meet the CM’s (Cast Members)
Joy (me) – Queen Bee #1 age 33
Jamilah (DD7) Princess Bee#1
Kayla – (My niece and Princess Bee #2) age 8
Amanda (Queen Bee #2) age 33
Sabrina – Princess Bee #3 – age 10
Mary – Queen Bee #3 - age 38
Ann – Princess Bee #4 – age 10
David (DH) – Ogre age 34
Drama, Drama, Drama!!! This trip was something special. Let’s see we had a visit to the ‘urgent care’ clinic, a twisted angle, a wheel chair, a ride in the ambulance to the emergency room, serious sun skin burning (we are talking black skin burning too), delayed airlines, lost of an unaccompanied minor in the airport, I almost missed my flight home (literally), and too much money spent.
Let me begin by telling a little about myself. As stated my is Joy and I’m a 33 year old Disney Nut. I am considered anti-establishment amongst those that know me most. My friends often get a kick out the fact that this leftist, anti-establishment, out of the box thinker is in love with one of America’s largest (and magical) establishments - Disney. How and why they often ask. My answer. It is something about Disney that makes me feel like a kid. A child with no worries, no problems, no bills, and no issues. I chase that feeling every year as I’ve plan trips to WDW and DL over the last 10 years. I’ve traveled with friends, family, and a Senior Class. It doesn’t matter who travels with me, I just want to go.
This summer, I’m traveling with two of my neighbors and friends (Amanda and Mary – Queen Bee #2 and #3). Our original agenda was 4 girlfriends traveling to WDW with our daughters. The 4th girlfriend (not mentioned as our CM) told us 7 months ago; she was getting a divorce and couldn’t go. We understood and began recruiting prospective mothers. After constant conversations and DL (down low) interviews (yes, we ‘interviewed’ prospective mothers by asking if they were interested in a vacation without their husbands). Our ‘interview’ was based off the answer. After many weeks of discussions we decided that 3 Queens and 3 princesses (we all had one daughter) was enough.
The planning begins. I’d learned that Disney extended their value season to early August and I was pleased. Now, during early February I was on a mission trying to find ‘cheap’ airline tickets. After many days of stalking sidestep.com, cheapflights.com, Travelocity, and expedia – it happened. Airtran opened up flights to St. Louis, so of course American, Delta and many other had to follow and beat their $99 each way. American (at that time) could not be beat. $158 roundtrip. I called DH to inform him that I was moving some funds and purchasing our flights. He told me he was going. My response, “what do you mean”, I asked. I thought you didn’t like WDW, the heat of Florida in August, blah, blah, blah. I ‘agreed’ that he could go under one condition; he could not BE GUMPY on this trip. He agrees. Oh boy. This now places me in a whole new price bracket. I inform the girls that DH has now ‘forced’ his way on this trip. They claimed they were okay with it, and expected David to tag along anyway. So now we are 3 Queens, 3 princesses and an Ogre. I booked the air for us all, a package for Amanda and Mary, and made room only reservations for myself (Queen Bee #1), Jamilah (Princess Bee #1) and the Ogre. A few weeks later I went online and purchased 7 day Disney hopper tickets and had them mailed to me (big mistake). As time we by we all bought Disney Dollars, purchased personalized T-shirts and Polo’s.
Early morning sometime in May I was looking around in the Disboards resort code threads and someone posted a few codes. I wrote it down and went to work. Around lunch I called Disney with the code to see how much of a discount it was. The Disney ‘gods’ were smiling on me. It was the 40% off code. Since Amanda and Mary had a package it took their 6 night 7 day hopper package from $1698 to $1389. Wow! What a discount. So I inquired. How much would it cost for 2 adults 1 child. I was quoted $1095. I couldn’t believe it. I had the code applied to Amanda and Mary’s ressies, cancelled my room only ressie and made a package ressie.
Now, what was I going to do with these Disney tickets? I posted a thread and was given many options. I decided to go with selling them on eBay. Big mistake, big, big, big mistake. I decide first to post them as a set. 2 adult 1 childs 7 day hopper passes for $742.50. That was exactly what I paid for them. Shipping was only $4.50 w/signature confirmation. Many eBayers made offers of a lower amount almost always around $600. Okay, no sale that go around, so I relist them for 3 days individually. The adult tickets onsale for $274 each and the childs ticket is $230 – all were buy it now offers and $4.50 for shipping. Still no bitters and several low offers. So I extend the auction to 5 days and shipping is now free. Still no buyers and many offers. I finally drop the adult tickets to $250 and the child ticket to $210 – still free shipping is offered w/first class postage and signature confirmation (insurance optional, but I stress that I’m not responsible after the tickets have left my home. Still no bitters. I can’t believe this. I had almost 400 feedbacks at 100% - why weren’t these tickets selling at those prices. Okay last time – very early one morning, I extend the auction to 7 days (really just 2 days because I extended to the max) I took the Adult tickets to $220 w/free shipping and the childs ticket at $209/free shipping. Finally they bite. All three were sold before the end of my work day. The adults ticket go to a women in Seattle and the child ticket goes in women in New York. The total was $710 - $30 in listing fees and paypal fees. My for real ‘profit’ was $696. I couldn’t believe this. I swallow my pride and transfer the $696 to my checking account. Once it cleared I applied the $696 to my new ressie along with the $200 Disney returned to me from my room-only reservations. Its all set now. I will never buy the tickets again – unless I have some kind of extraordinary sale. (doubt that!).
My niece normally stays with me during the summer, but she was accepted in some kind of gifted program and of course my sister (who lives in Birmingham, AL) wanted her to attend. Its now mid-June (my trip is paid in full) and my sister comes up with a bright idea. Can Kayla go with you to WDW? Of course she can. How are we going to work this out? We went back and forth with the idea of Kayla coming a few weeks before our trip, go to WDW with us, and flying back to Birmingham from Florida. But after further review of our airline tickets now being almost $400 with no relief in site – we settle with Kayla flying from Birmingham to Orlando and flying home after our trip. This left me with the task of finding a flight that arrives in Orlando around the same time we do and departing Before us. What a task this was. The cost of flying an un-accompanied minor is ridiculous. Southwest was the only airline that this ‘service’ was complimentary. Everywhere else was at least $40 each way. After literally weeks of searching Delta finally has a sale and the perfect flight selections are only $235. My neice arrives in MCO 10 minutes after us, and she departs 45 minute before us. Now I can see her arrive and depart. Cross your fingers on this one working out as planned. Now its final, we are 3 Queens, 4 princesses, and a Ogre.
Day 1: Monday August 6: Unaccompanied Minor airport pickup nightmare!!!
Ya know, making a 6 am flight appeared to be great idea 4 months ago. Nights before our departure I kept having these daydreams that I was going to miss our flight, or our flight would be delayed and my niece would be left in the airport alone. I was really nervous about this whole pick Kayla up at the airport thing now. I went online to kind of get a feel for the MCO airport (it was 2002 since I last used MCO airport). I looked up the map and learned that American Airlines (AA) was in Terminal A and Delta Airlines (who Kayla was flying with) was in Terminal B. The two terminals were literally on total opposites ends of the airport. Was it possible to get from one terminal to another in 10 minutes? So here it is 24 hours before we depart and I’m getting really scared so I call Delta for details. They tell me I have to leave my Terminal, go to Delta check in desk to get an unaccompanied minor ticket, go thru Terminal B security, and finally pick up Kayla. Oh my!!!! How is this going to work?
3 am, my alarm clock goes off, I hit the snooze button to give myself 9 minutes. As soon as I close my eyes that buzzard goes off again. I hit it again. 9 minutes later it goes off again. I was really tired. Really Really tired. I finally jump up and stand in the shower. I can’t really say what I did in that shower, but the water hitting my face did wake me up a bit. I get out the shower to find my DH (David) coming up the steps, he had showered downstairs (which explains why I had such a lukewarm shower). Jamilah (DD7) was also standing by her bedroom door with the biggest smile on her face. She was eager to brush her teeth, wash her face and head to WDW. Everything was packed at the door so we were all ready in about 35 minutes. David packed the car and we headed to the airport. Before we were was out of our neighborhood, David realize that he left his wallet so we went back. Thank goodness he did, I forgot my Zen (my Mp3 player). Considering I spent half the night at my brothers convincing him to put movies on it, I am shocked I forgot it. But David grabbed it for me and back on the rode we go. It’s about 4:15 when we pull up in the Superpark Parking lot when we notice the shuttle leaving. That meant we had at least 10 minutes before the next shuttle so we took our time. We get to the airport and find Amanda and Sarah standing at the door. I couldn’t believe how packed the airport was so early in the morning. Wall to Wall people. It took us 45 people to get through security. Only 2 lines were open. One line for first class, the other line for regular price tickets (people like us of course). The plane ride was uneventful. Jamilah slept, David read the newspaper, I watched “Wild Hogs” on my Zen (excellent movie BTW). David and I did laugh at Mary’s discovery just two days before. Mary had not looked at her airline arrangement since she booked them in February. Here it was Saturday, August 4th (around 11pm) and she decides (for the first time) to view her flight itinerary. It was a total surprise to her that her flight departed on August 5 not August 6th like our flight. For a second she was going to panic but she did have family in Orlando so she called them up and asked if Ana and she could stay a night with them. She had about 14 hours and was only half packed. How does one do that is a mystery to me, but that would be one of the many things that Mary does that just doesn’t make sense.
Back to the Airport:
Two hours later we landed. We had a plan. Once we landed Amanda escorted the gang toward the Magical Express Busses while I began my journey toward my niece. Before I get many parental judgments from disboards members I will NEVER do this again. At least not like this. As I departed the plane I called my sister and let her I just landed and was headed toward Kayla. Like the Delta phone Rep told me, I had to go to the Delta desk for an unaccompanied minor. As I made my way toward Delta my sister returned my text message stating she was just phoned by Delta that Kayla had arrived safely. 10 minutes early of course!! It would be too much like right for the line to be short. It was some 25 people ahead of me. It took about 30 minutes before I was served. I got the ticket and headed toward Concourse B toward the Dan’s Desk to pick up Kayla – now waiting over 30 minutes (as instructed by the Delta Rep) – Question - Where is concourse B? Do airports use the term concourse anymore? I don’t know about all airports, but MCO uses the term “terminal” which kind of threw me off for a minute.
I went to the help desk and was told terminal B. I get to Terminal B security and they do have many lines but the lines are super long. I’m standing behind this guy in a suit. He looked clean. But when he removed his shoes - oh my - it was like standing next to my brother’s very old laundry basket. Oh my goodness his shoes/feet smelled so bad. It was so bad the security guys were frowning and shaking their heads. Another thing, everyone knows by now that taking off the shoes is almost always mandatory. Why not bring shoes that are easy to take off and put back on? Confused!!!!! Anyway I get through security and head toward to Dan’s Desk (I think was the name). I get to the gate and asks a Rep for Dan’s Desk. I was taken there, but no child is there. A Delta rep than calls around trying to find my niece. No one knows where she is. My sister is now calling my on my cell phone. I ignore her call for the second. I ask the rep if she could call the gate she came in on (Gate 60 E). I was told now by the second rep, that its no way that Kayla would be at her gate, now 50 minutes after her arrival. I’m standing by a Delta desk when mommy bear kicks in. I told the rep that I was going to Gate 60E, and left my cell phone number. Gate 60 is downstairs, so as I head downstairs my cell rings again. It was my sister again. I answer it this time. She asks if I have Kayla? I told her no. I am walking and talking at the same time (thank goodness for Bluetooth). As I hit the last step, I hear a familiar southern drawl – guess where it’s coming from? - You guessed it - gate 60E!!! Kayla is playing with 2 other unaccompanied minors waiting on pick ups. Delta had the children helping them ‘check in’ people. I give her a big hug, not just because I haven’t seen her in a year, I was really scared. An hour after she arrives she’s with me!!! I sign a paper (acknowledging I am who I am), apologize, and we headed toward Disney Magical Express. Nikki (Kayla’s mom) is relieved and 8 minutes later I was in line with Magical Express.
Amanda and I stood in line and it was every bit of 60 people ahead of us. The ME rep asked that only one person for your party stand in line, so I remember reading some horror stories about ME registration lines so I looked at the time. It took me 15 minutes to be served. No bad considering all the people who were ahead of me. Mine took a minute because the ME guy had to register my return pick up time with Kayla’s flight departure (45 minutes before mine). It took him maybe 3 minutes. I was told to go to the Pop bus line. Amanda and I headed to our family and instructed all the girls to go to the bathroom (I didn’t know that it was a bathroom on the ME bus). We get to the Pop line and a bus was just loading.
Once we arrive at Pop we were all excited. The girls were outside hula hopping. I go inside to register. The lobby was quiet and not one person was in line. The vacation 'gods' are smiling on me now. I get to the line and the CM informs me that my other party (Mary) just checked in. With excitement I ask, “so our room is ready” – yes it is!!!! Yeah!!!! The vacation ‘god’ is smiling on me. They have us next door to each other. We were in room 6164 and Amanda & Mary are in room 6155.
I ask the CM if there was package for me (A refrigerator). I was participating in a Frig Swap (with AKA Sunshine) and guess what – I was the first user!!! The CM asked another CM (a runner) to check and see if it was in. As the CM tells me the ins and outs of Pop the runner returns with the news that the frig had not made it yet. Since Mary, Sarah, Amanda, and Kayla were new to WDW they were given first timer buttons. Just as I was leaving the desk the runner tells me that the frig has just arrived. I head toward the front entrance to pick up the frig and asked about my groceries. My groceries were ready, but I didn’t want to pick them up right now because the milk might spoil without a frig. Remember the frig was new so it needed a few hours of cooling in order to store food, so I told them I’d pick up the groceries later and headed toward my room.
Things I didn’t ask for that I forgot. I forgot to ask for a 3rd floor room. We were on the bottom floor. I was really hoping that this wasn’t going to be regret. The room is clean and in order. We were on the lake side (the back). It appeared to be quiet back here. David unloaded the frig and the girls are anxious to see the resort and grab a bite to eat.
We walk around the resort, just mapping out things and eventually end up in the food court. My first purchase is 4 – refillable mugs. $48 worth of cups. I wonder (even now) if I would have purchased $48 worth of soda – IMO – I don’t think so. I really don’t. Considering that we still had to buy so liquids while in the parks – I wonder if they were worth it?
Anyway, the girls want a bite to eat so I do the double cheeseburger thing with the extra bun, extra cheese fries, and they fill their mugs. Jamilah is disappointed that the ICEE machine is not working.
The girls check out the game room and want to go swimming but of course their suits are in their luggage, so we take a change and head to the luggage area to pick up my groceries and check on my luggage. I’m told that both are in the process of being delivered to my room so we head back to the room. It’s been 3 ½ hours since we’ve landed, so I’d say ME is doing a great job. It would be almost an hour before our luggage and groceries would make it to our room. Once they do I unpack, David put up the groceries and we head to the pool for an hour swim. The girls love the 80’s/90’s pool. I sit and start my Trip Report Journal.
That Evening: Animal Kingdom
We choose AK tonight only because it was Extra hours Evenings. I normally like to start and end my Disney experience in MK. David decides to stay in the room this evening. No argument from me. The park (when we arrived around 6pm) was almost ‘empty’. Our first stop was It’s hard to Be a Bug. Brace yourself people – no wait. Not one person is ahead of us. We walk through the tree and I’m really proud of Jamilah. She was a scary cat the last time we went on this ride. When Jamilah saw those cravings of animals she was just terrified. Not this year. Jamilah wants to take a chance – be a little daring angel. I let her. Everyone loves it, but Mary is a little creeped out about the crawling bug effect. Our next stop Kali Rapids, again a 5 minute wait. Next stop Expedition Everest. A 20 minute wait maybe. Mary was a little apprehensive about this ride because she normally will not do coaster. I convinced her that it wasn’t so bad (I really didn’t have a clue, I hadn’t been on this ride before). I just figured if my 7 year old wanted to ride it, how bad could it be? Right? Kayla began to freak out a bit because she had never ridden any coaster before. I all but pushed on that ride. The CM had to come by to see if she would be okay. I convince him that she would. As the CM walked away, Kayla screamed her heart out. Off we went. She cried and screamed the whole ride. Since this ride was new to me I was a little thrown aback too, especially when I saw that broken track. When Kayla got off the ride, Kayla didn’t speak to me for a good hour. By now we were told that we couldn’t ride anything without an arm band so we headed toward the front. The lines for the bands were ridiculous so we kept walking. We would eventually go to a few stores, walk threw Dino land and everyone was hungry. We eat Dinner at Something Tree. The meal I had was really good. I had the barbeque chicken with baked beans, cold slaw, and key lime pie. The girls had a fruit basket, and 2 sodas. The total bill was $28.
After Dinner, we wanted to go to MK, but the closer I got to the front of the park the more I noticed the clouds. It looked stormy to me. Then the thundering begins. No rain, but thundering and lightening. I reminded Mary and Amanda that the parks close when it’s lightening – at least all the ride closes down. I’m so glad we were heading to the bus stop. We waited almost 30 minutes for the Pop bus. As soon as the bus arrived the rain was pouring down like crazy. Everyone was running toward the buses and if you can imagine, the lines were near the Animal Kingdom sign. Yes that far back!!! Once again, the vacation gods were smiling on me, because as soon as we pull up to Pop the rain subsides and other than walking thru many puddles, we didn’t get wet that night. BTW, that was the only rain of our entire stay. We make it to the room around 9:30. David is sitting in the room eating Salmon w/rice and bragging about how good it is!!!
Tomorrow: Tuesday MGM, Epcot, Urgent Care Visit.
1 clinic visit, 1 emergency room visit, 1 ‘twisted’ angle, and too much $$ spent…..
Meet the CM’s (Cast Members)
Joy (me) – Queen Bee #1 age 33
Jamilah (DD7) Princess Bee#1
Kayla – (My niece and Princess Bee #2) age 8
Amanda (Queen Bee #2) age 33
Sabrina – Princess Bee #3 – age 10
Mary – Queen Bee #3 - age 38
Ann – Princess Bee #4 – age 10
David (DH) – Ogre age 34
Drama, Drama, Drama!!! This trip was something special. Let’s see we had a visit to the ‘urgent care’ clinic, a twisted angle, a wheel chair, a ride in the ambulance to the emergency room, serious sun skin burning (we are talking black skin burning too), delayed airlines, lost of an unaccompanied minor in the airport, I almost missed my flight home (literally), and too much money spent.
Let me begin by telling a little about myself. As stated my is Joy and I’m a 33 year old Disney Nut. I am considered anti-establishment amongst those that know me most. My friends often get a kick out the fact that this leftist, anti-establishment, out of the box thinker is in love with one of America’s largest (and magical) establishments - Disney. How and why they often ask. My answer. It is something about Disney that makes me feel like a kid. A child with no worries, no problems, no bills, and no issues. I chase that feeling every year as I’ve plan trips to WDW and DL over the last 10 years. I’ve traveled with friends, family, and a Senior Class. It doesn’t matter who travels with me, I just want to go.
This summer, I’m traveling with two of my neighbors and friends (Amanda and Mary – Queen Bee #2 and #3). Our original agenda was 4 girlfriends traveling to WDW with our daughters. The 4th girlfriend (not mentioned as our CM) told us 7 months ago; she was getting a divorce and couldn’t go. We understood and began recruiting prospective mothers. After constant conversations and DL (down low) interviews (yes, we ‘interviewed’ prospective mothers by asking if they were interested in a vacation without their husbands). Our ‘interview’ was based off the answer. After many weeks of discussions we decided that 3 Queens and 3 princesses (we all had one daughter) was enough.
The planning begins. I’d learned that Disney extended their value season to early August and I was pleased. Now, during early February I was on a mission trying to find ‘cheap’ airline tickets. After many days of stalking sidestep.com, cheapflights.com, Travelocity, and expedia – it happened. Airtran opened up flights to St. Louis, so of course American, Delta and many other had to follow and beat their $99 each way. American (at that time) could not be beat. $158 roundtrip. I called DH to inform him that I was moving some funds and purchasing our flights. He told me he was going. My response, “what do you mean”, I asked. I thought you didn’t like WDW, the heat of Florida in August, blah, blah, blah. I ‘agreed’ that he could go under one condition; he could not BE GUMPY on this trip. He agrees. Oh boy. This now places me in a whole new price bracket. I inform the girls that DH has now ‘forced’ his way on this trip. They claimed they were okay with it, and expected David to tag along anyway. So now we are 3 Queens, 3 princesses and an Ogre. I booked the air for us all, a package for Amanda and Mary, and made room only reservations for myself (Queen Bee #1), Jamilah (Princess Bee #1) and the Ogre. A few weeks later I went online and purchased 7 day Disney hopper tickets and had them mailed to me (big mistake). As time we by we all bought Disney Dollars, purchased personalized T-shirts and Polo’s.
Early morning sometime in May I was looking around in the Disboards resort code threads and someone posted a few codes. I wrote it down and went to work. Around lunch I called Disney with the code to see how much of a discount it was. The Disney ‘gods’ were smiling on me. It was the 40% off code. Since Amanda and Mary had a package it took their 6 night 7 day hopper package from $1698 to $1389. Wow! What a discount. So I inquired. How much would it cost for 2 adults 1 child. I was quoted $1095. I couldn’t believe it. I had the code applied to Amanda and Mary’s ressies, cancelled my room only ressie and made a package ressie.
Now, what was I going to do with these Disney tickets? I posted a thread and was given many options. I decided to go with selling them on eBay. Big mistake, big, big, big mistake. I decide first to post them as a set. 2 adult 1 childs 7 day hopper passes for $742.50. That was exactly what I paid for them. Shipping was only $4.50 w/signature confirmation. Many eBayers made offers of a lower amount almost always around $600. Okay, no sale that go around, so I relist them for 3 days individually. The adult tickets onsale for $274 each and the childs ticket is $230 – all were buy it now offers and $4.50 for shipping. Still no bitters and several low offers. So I extend the auction to 5 days and shipping is now free. Still no buyers and many offers. I finally drop the adult tickets to $250 and the child ticket to $210 – still free shipping is offered w/first class postage and signature confirmation (insurance optional, but I stress that I’m not responsible after the tickets have left my home. Still no bitters. I can’t believe this. I had almost 400 feedbacks at 100% - why weren’t these tickets selling at those prices. Okay last time – very early one morning, I extend the auction to 7 days (really just 2 days because I extended to the max) I took the Adult tickets to $220 w/free shipping and the childs ticket at $209/free shipping. Finally they bite. All three were sold before the end of my work day. The adults ticket go to a women in Seattle and the child ticket goes in women in New York. The total was $710 - $30 in listing fees and paypal fees. My for real ‘profit’ was $696. I couldn’t believe this. I swallow my pride and transfer the $696 to my checking account. Once it cleared I applied the $696 to my new ressie along with the $200 Disney returned to me from my room-only reservations. Its all set now. I will never buy the tickets again – unless I have some kind of extraordinary sale. (doubt that!).
My niece normally stays with me during the summer, but she was accepted in some kind of gifted program and of course my sister (who lives in Birmingham, AL) wanted her to attend. Its now mid-June (my trip is paid in full) and my sister comes up with a bright idea. Can Kayla go with you to WDW? Of course she can. How are we going to work this out? We went back and forth with the idea of Kayla coming a few weeks before our trip, go to WDW with us, and flying back to Birmingham from Florida. But after further review of our airline tickets now being almost $400 with no relief in site – we settle with Kayla flying from Birmingham to Orlando and flying home after our trip. This left me with the task of finding a flight that arrives in Orlando around the same time we do and departing Before us. What a task this was. The cost of flying an un-accompanied minor is ridiculous. Southwest was the only airline that this ‘service’ was complimentary. Everywhere else was at least $40 each way. After literally weeks of searching Delta finally has a sale and the perfect flight selections are only $235. My neice arrives in MCO 10 minutes after us, and she departs 45 minute before us. Now I can see her arrive and depart. Cross your fingers on this one working out as planned. Now its final, we are 3 Queens, 4 princesses, and a Ogre.
Day 1: Monday August 6: Unaccompanied Minor airport pickup nightmare!!!
Ya know, making a 6 am flight appeared to be great idea 4 months ago. Nights before our departure I kept having these daydreams that I was going to miss our flight, or our flight would be delayed and my niece would be left in the airport alone. I was really nervous about this whole pick Kayla up at the airport thing now. I went online to kind of get a feel for the MCO airport (it was 2002 since I last used MCO airport). I looked up the map and learned that American Airlines (AA) was in Terminal A and Delta Airlines (who Kayla was flying with) was in Terminal B. The two terminals were literally on total opposites ends of the airport. Was it possible to get from one terminal to another in 10 minutes? So here it is 24 hours before we depart and I’m getting really scared so I call Delta for details. They tell me I have to leave my Terminal, go to Delta check in desk to get an unaccompanied minor ticket, go thru Terminal B security, and finally pick up Kayla. Oh my!!!! How is this going to work?
3 am, my alarm clock goes off, I hit the snooze button to give myself 9 minutes. As soon as I close my eyes that buzzard goes off again. I hit it again. 9 minutes later it goes off again. I was really tired. Really Really tired. I finally jump up and stand in the shower. I can’t really say what I did in that shower, but the water hitting my face did wake me up a bit. I get out the shower to find my DH (David) coming up the steps, he had showered downstairs (which explains why I had such a lukewarm shower). Jamilah (DD7) was also standing by her bedroom door with the biggest smile on her face. She was eager to brush her teeth, wash her face and head to WDW. Everything was packed at the door so we were all ready in about 35 minutes. David packed the car and we headed to the airport. Before we were was out of our neighborhood, David realize that he left his wallet so we went back. Thank goodness he did, I forgot my Zen (my Mp3 player). Considering I spent half the night at my brothers convincing him to put movies on it, I am shocked I forgot it. But David grabbed it for me and back on the rode we go. It’s about 4:15 when we pull up in the Superpark Parking lot when we notice the shuttle leaving. That meant we had at least 10 minutes before the next shuttle so we took our time. We get to the airport and find Amanda and Sarah standing at the door. I couldn’t believe how packed the airport was so early in the morning. Wall to Wall people. It took us 45 people to get through security. Only 2 lines were open. One line for first class, the other line for regular price tickets (people like us of course). The plane ride was uneventful. Jamilah slept, David read the newspaper, I watched “Wild Hogs” on my Zen (excellent movie BTW). David and I did laugh at Mary’s discovery just two days before. Mary had not looked at her airline arrangement since she booked them in February. Here it was Saturday, August 4th (around 11pm) and she decides (for the first time) to view her flight itinerary. It was a total surprise to her that her flight departed on August 5 not August 6th like our flight. For a second she was going to panic but she did have family in Orlando so she called them up and asked if Ana and she could stay a night with them. She had about 14 hours and was only half packed. How does one do that is a mystery to me, but that would be one of the many things that Mary does that just doesn’t make sense.
Back to the Airport:
Two hours later we landed. We had a plan. Once we landed Amanda escorted the gang toward the Magical Express Busses while I began my journey toward my niece. Before I get many parental judgments from disboards members I will NEVER do this again. At least not like this. As I departed the plane I called my sister and let her I just landed and was headed toward Kayla. Like the Delta phone Rep told me, I had to go to the Delta desk for an unaccompanied minor. As I made my way toward Delta my sister returned my text message stating she was just phoned by Delta that Kayla had arrived safely. 10 minutes early of course!! It would be too much like right for the line to be short. It was some 25 people ahead of me. It took about 30 minutes before I was served. I got the ticket and headed toward Concourse B toward the Dan’s Desk to pick up Kayla – now waiting over 30 minutes (as instructed by the Delta Rep) – Question - Where is concourse B? Do airports use the term concourse anymore? I don’t know about all airports, but MCO uses the term “terminal” which kind of threw me off for a minute.
I went to the help desk and was told terminal B. I get to Terminal B security and they do have many lines but the lines are super long. I’m standing behind this guy in a suit. He looked clean. But when he removed his shoes - oh my - it was like standing next to my brother’s very old laundry basket. Oh my goodness his shoes/feet smelled so bad. It was so bad the security guys were frowning and shaking their heads. Another thing, everyone knows by now that taking off the shoes is almost always mandatory. Why not bring shoes that are easy to take off and put back on? Confused!!!!! Anyway I get through security and head toward to Dan’s Desk (I think was the name). I get to the gate and asks a Rep for Dan’s Desk. I was taken there, but no child is there. A Delta rep than calls around trying to find my niece. No one knows where she is. My sister is now calling my on my cell phone. I ignore her call for the second. I ask the rep if she could call the gate she came in on (Gate 60 E). I was told now by the second rep, that its no way that Kayla would be at her gate, now 50 minutes after her arrival. I’m standing by a Delta desk when mommy bear kicks in. I told the rep that I was going to Gate 60E, and left my cell phone number. Gate 60 is downstairs, so as I head downstairs my cell rings again. It was my sister again. I answer it this time. She asks if I have Kayla? I told her no. I am walking and talking at the same time (thank goodness for Bluetooth). As I hit the last step, I hear a familiar southern drawl – guess where it’s coming from? - You guessed it - gate 60E!!! Kayla is playing with 2 other unaccompanied minors waiting on pick ups. Delta had the children helping them ‘check in’ people. I give her a big hug, not just because I haven’t seen her in a year, I was really scared. An hour after she arrives she’s with me!!! I sign a paper (acknowledging I am who I am), apologize, and we headed toward Disney Magical Express. Nikki (Kayla’s mom) is relieved and 8 minutes later I was in line with Magical Express.
Amanda and I stood in line and it was every bit of 60 people ahead of us. The ME rep asked that only one person for your party stand in line, so I remember reading some horror stories about ME registration lines so I looked at the time. It took me 15 minutes to be served. No bad considering all the people who were ahead of me. Mine took a minute because the ME guy had to register my return pick up time with Kayla’s flight departure (45 minutes before mine). It took him maybe 3 minutes. I was told to go to the Pop bus line. Amanda and I headed to our family and instructed all the girls to go to the bathroom (I didn’t know that it was a bathroom on the ME bus). We get to the Pop line and a bus was just loading.
Once we arrive at Pop we were all excited. The girls were outside hula hopping. I go inside to register. The lobby was quiet and not one person was in line. The vacation 'gods' are smiling on me now. I get to the line and the CM informs me that my other party (Mary) just checked in. With excitement I ask, “so our room is ready” – yes it is!!!! Yeah!!!! The vacation ‘god’ is smiling on me. They have us next door to each other. We were in room 6164 and Amanda & Mary are in room 6155.
Things I didn’t ask for that I forgot. I forgot to ask for a 3rd floor room. We were on the bottom floor. I was really hoping that this wasn’t going to be regret. The room is clean and in order. We were on the lake side (the back). It appeared to be quiet back here. David unloaded the frig and the girls are anxious to see the resort and grab a bite to eat.
The girls check out the game room and want to go swimming but of course their suits are in their luggage, so we take a change and head to the luggage area to pick up my groceries and check on my luggage. I’m told that both are in the process of being delivered to my room so we head back to the room. It’s been 3 ½ hours since we’ve landed, so I’d say ME is doing a great job. It would be almost an hour before our luggage and groceries would make it to our room. Once they do I unpack, David put up the groceries and we head to the pool for an hour swim. The girls love the 80’s/90’s pool. I sit and start my Trip Report Journal.
That Evening: Animal Kingdom
We choose AK tonight only because it was Extra hours Evenings. I normally like to start and end my Disney experience in MK. David decides to stay in the room this evening. No argument from me. The park (when we arrived around 6pm) was almost ‘empty’. Our first stop was It’s hard to Be a Bug. Brace yourself people – no wait. Not one person is ahead of us. We walk through the tree and I’m really proud of Jamilah. She was a scary cat the last time we went on this ride. When Jamilah saw those cravings of animals she was just terrified. Not this year. Jamilah wants to take a chance – be a little daring angel. I let her. Everyone loves it, but Mary is a little creeped out about the crawling bug effect. Our next stop Kali Rapids, again a 5 minute wait. Next stop Expedition Everest. A 20 minute wait maybe. Mary was a little apprehensive about this ride because she normally will not do coaster. I convinced her that it wasn’t so bad (I really didn’t have a clue, I hadn’t been on this ride before). I just figured if my 7 year old wanted to ride it, how bad could it be? Right? Kayla began to freak out a bit because she had never ridden any coaster before. I all but pushed on that ride. The CM had to come by to see if she would be okay. I convince him that she would. As the CM walked away, Kayla screamed her heart out. Off we went. She cried and screamed the whole ride. Since this ride was new to me I was a little thrown aback too, especially when I saw that broken track. When Kayla got off the ride, Kayla didn’t speak to me for a good hour. By now we were told that we couldn’t ride anything without an arm band so we headed toward the front. The lines for the bands were ridiculous so we kept walking. We would eventually go to a few stores, walk threw Dino land and everyone was hungry. We eat Dinner at Something Tree. The meal I had was really good. I had the barbeque chicken with baked beans, cold slaw, and key lime pie. The girls had a fruit basket, and 2 sodas. The total bill was $28.
After Dinner, we wanted to go to MK, but the closer I got to the front of the park the more I noticed the clouds. It looked stormy to me. Then the thundering begins. No rain, but thundering and lightening. I reminded Mary and Amanda that the parks close when it’s lightening – at least all the ride closes down. I’m so glad we were heading to the bus stop. We waited almost 30 minutes for the Pop bus. As soon as the bus arrived the rain was pouring down like crazy. Everyone was running toward the buses and if you can imagine, the lines were near the Animal Kingdom sign. Yes that far back!!! Once again, the vacation gods were smiling on me, because as soon as we pull up to Pop the rain subsides and other than walking thru many puddles, we didn’t get wet that night. BTW, that was the only rain of our entire stay. We make it to the room around 9:30. David is sitting in the room eating Salmon w/rice and bragging about how good it is!!!
Tomorrow: Tuesday MGM, Epcot, Urgent Care Visit.
Mickey’s call was of course on time. I knocked on Amanda’s and Marcia door and both were already up and showered (our rooms were attached BTW). Jamilah and Kayla were cooperative when I asked them to wake up. The girls dressed alike today. I purchased so many Disney T-shirts at the 
waiting....
Well, I can think of many things I can ask for, but really I think I have it all. Or at least I have what I need. I slept well that night. Tomorrow, I have to sleep in. 
