DAY 1
October 20th, 2016 - Thursday
Travel & Arrival in Orlando
OMG OMG OMG! It's time, it's time, it's time! It's really time to leave for Florida! Hooray!
But first, we gotta get there. Good thing it's 8am and I'm all packed and ready to go! All thanks to my chief packing assistant, of course. Meet Harley!
Eventually, with his help, we got it all sorted!
The day before, I took care of necessary things like gettin' my hair cuted up...
And my toes, too...
They're actually SUPER glittery, the photo doesn't do my pink princess toes justice!
If there's any questions about why the skin on my my feet and legs looks so jacked up with little cuts, there's a very simple explanation: The kitty you saw in the above packing photo is just one of the three furbabies that I belong to. One of the others is a now 6-month-old kitten (who has been with me since she was orphaned at 2 weeks old). Enough said. Meet Cupcake!
Well, actually, now that I've introduced you to 2/3 cats, I will feel like I jerk if I don't include my eldest, so here you go. Meet Butters!
All right, enough with the crazy cat-ladyness. (For now.)
I'd also that same day went ahead and picked up my rental car (I'd reserved a Compact through my local Enterprise), which I never took a single photo of, so thanks Google!
Red Nissan Versa Note. Not this showroom shiny. But I liked it! Was surprisingly comfy and drove like a dream.
So that brings us back to departure morning. Oh, and of course, can't forget my new MagicBand!
All loaded up in the car, and ready to hit the road!
I live in a small town on the southern tip of South Carolina, and the drive is a really easy 5-6 hour journey from here...
The trip down was actually relatively uneventful. Once I was on the interstate, I queued up the book I'd downloaded to listen to on the way:
Aaaaand I was loving it! I stopped for gas, potty, and coffee just before getting on I-4, and at that point I switched the book off right around the halfway point and flipped over to the radio playing low.
Why? Because I-4 stresses me the EFF out. People be trying to KILL me on that road, ya'll!
Buuuut I pulled up my big-girl panties, and I made it to Orlando! Thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad, and my GPS lead me right to the front door of my hotel for the first night of my trip...
But wait, THAT's not the Beach Club! I know, I know, slow your roll and I'll explain.
I often do this thing where I stay in a cheap off-property hotel on the night I drive down, then start my Disney fun early the next morning just to save a little dough. This also gives me a chance to spend a little time exploring Orlando outside of the Disney property. I also always stay at hotels that we get special deals through my work for clients, because (1) I like deals, and (2) having stayed at the hotels helps me to sell them better.
So my digs for the very first night of this trip was at the
Holiday Inn & Suites Universal in a Standard King Bed room. Ya'll, I gotta tell you, I was HELLA impressed with this place. Every inch of the property was immaculate, the lobby was beautiful, and the staff were all absolutely lovely. The single solitary complaint I had was that the lounge chairs by the pool were super uncomfortable. And in the grand scheme of things that could go wrong at a hotel, that's really NOTHING.
My room wasn't ready yet when I arrived, so I left my bags with bell services, then headed out for some relaxation!
That's my toes, and me, laying in one of the afore-mentioned uncomfortable lounge chairs. I didn't last long before I got up and moved to one of the regular chairs at a table off to the left there. They said they'd call my cell when my room was ready, so I sat there reading and messing around on my phone for a while, then decided to go chill in the lovely lobby instead. Of which I took no pictures. Derp.
After a little while, the Bell Services fella was walking across the lobby and saw me sitting there, so he came over and asked if they still didn't have my room ready yet, and I told him no. So he told me to wait just one moment, and he went up to the counter and talked with one of the agents for a moment. Next thing I know, he's waving me over, and told me that the gentleman would take care of me! I don't know what magic Mr. Bellman worked, but suddenly I had a room. Yippee! After I was all checked in, I walked back over to the Bell Services counter, thanked him, and told him I would just take my bags with me since I was on my way up anyhow, if he wouldn't mind. Once he brought them out, I still tipped him as if he'd brought them up to the room because he was so awesome.
And then I made my way up to the 6th floor to my room... which I instantly loved. Enough typing... Time for pictures!
(The bathroom was well-appointed, but super tiny... So small I had to take a pic in the mirror in order to get a photo of the shower area. But I actually didn't mind, I would rather have the extra square footage in the room itself!)
View from my window...
Sure, it's no Disney resort, but I was QUITE pleased with my cheap hotel room! Oh, and did I mention that the bed was SUPER comfy? I was diggin' it, and knew I'd be quite happy there for the night. Yay!
I think I'll wrap this post up here for tonight! Back soon(ish) with the next installment!
Up Next... Dinner & Fun Times on International Drive!
So thankfully I haven't missed much! Can't wait to read all the details, even though I was totally Facebook stalking you the whole trip 
. Awesome that you were able to find an affordable and great place to stay your first night.
