Jazz Hands & Pixiedust..go together like PB&J! Oct 2013 TR, 8/30/14 Update SOON

[Pixiedust530]

sure you all sat around looking at each other waiting for the COOL CROWD TO SHOW..

well i am here... so lets get this PARTY STARTED i brought the


just in case your wondering...

I knew there was a reason I invited you! Thanks for bringing the

...LOVE the T-Shirt!

 

[Pixiedust530]

I guess it's time I get a formal start on this TR. I am still waiting on the PhotoPass CD so updates might be scarce until that comes.

Our day began with the alarm going off at about 6:00am. This is actually later than normal for us...we usually get up between 5:00 and 5:30 for work each day. The previous day and night we had received record amounts of rainfall with flash flooding and all sorts of road closures. I was hoping that the rain was on it's way out and it wouldn't delay our flight.

We showered, got dressed, loaded the car with our bags (in the rain...UGH) and left the house about 7:45am. We stopped at Wendy's to grab a quick breakfast before heading to the airport. By about 8:15 we were back on the road headed to the airport.

We live just south of Louisville and the airport is basically a straight shot up the interstate...maybe 10-15 miles. My grandparents live in Louisville, but to the East of the airport..again about 15 minutes away. They were planning to meet us at the airport and take my car back to their house for the week so we didn't have to pay for parking. I called them when we were leaving Wendy's and they were on their way. Remember that rain and flash flooding I mentioned?!? Yeah...my grandparents had a heck of a time getting out of their neighborhood...lots of streets blocked from flooding.

They finally made it to the airport...only about 5 or 10 minutes after us. We unloaded our luggage, said our goodbyes and handed over the keys to my car. We headed inside, checked our bags and made our way to security. This is where things got fun....

I have not flown since 2005 and I barely remember that. I researched airport security procedures, liquid limitations and storage for carry-ons, etc, etc so I thought I was all prepared. I took off my shoes, removed my laptop and bag of liquids from my carry-on and headed on through. I make it through and then the TSA lady at the bag scanner hollers "Who does this purple backpack belong to?" Umm...that would be ME! I walk over and she says "There is something cylindrical in your bag and I need to search it. Do not touch your bag while I search!" Cylindrical? What on Earth could be in my bag? I was baffled. She is searching and searching and can't locate the item. I then remember that I have my drawstring backpack folded INSIDE my carry-on backpack with a couple items inside ready to go to the parks when we arrive. I tell her this...without touching anything. She removes the drawstring backpack and in the bottom is a mini M&M tube filled with quarters and pennies for the Pressed Penny Machines! She hands me the tube of coins and indicates that next time I travel I should leave items like this out so as not to cause a backup!

At this point I am still sock-footed, scrambling to grab my shoes, my laptop, my backpack, my carry-on suitcase and my bag of liquid items off the scanner belt and move out of the way when the coin tube tilts, the lid opens from the weight of the coins and ALL the coins spill onto the metal rollers and the floor! I was absolutely HUMILIATED! I was totally going to leave all the coins right there on the floor and just move on, but a kid in line behind me (about 8 or 9) got down on his hands and knees and picked up every last coin for me! I was so grateful...I even gave him a few quarters as a way of saying thanks!

After all the security drama we grabbed some coffee at Starbucks and headed to our gate to wait! There were lots of kids dressed in Disney outfits...obviously MOST of our flight was headed to Disney!


Just hanging out at the gate waiting to board the plane!


Our plane - notice the rain seems to be slowing down!

We had boarding position B17 and B18. Not too bad and we were able to get 2 seats together...just a little further in the back of the plane than I would have liked but no biggie! Flight was scheduled to depart at 10:30am and took off on time.


The view out the window from our seats!

Our flight was uneventful...which is definitely good! I did forget my chapstick which really sucked because my lips were really dry from the air in the cabin of the plane. We were scheduled to land at MCO at 12:30PM and as we touched down I looked at the clock and it was 12:20! Nothing like arriving 10 minutes early. We departed the plane and jumped on the mini-monorail to the main terminal.




As we passed through the main terminal we saw this and I knew that I was HOME!


Not a great photo as I was walking by as I snapped it. I was in too much of a hurry and WAY too excited to stop for a proper picture!

We headed on down to the first level toward Disney's Magical Express...



I think I shall stop here for now and pick up a little later. Don't want to get too far ahead!

 

[DMGeurts]

OMG! That quarter incident is totally something that would happen to me. LOL I would have left them too... How awesome of that little boy to swoop in for some Pixie Dust to start off your vacation!!!

So glad you had a safe flight - I cannot wait to hear all about your first day... First days are just the BEST!!!!

D~

 

[spiritsim]

Don't worry about security they certainly make you wait on them enough! Glad that little boy could help you out though that was sweet of him. I was selling, dog harnesses.....didn't do to well as the mall did not advertise at all and no one even knew a craft show was going on unless they just happened to go to the mall....oh well better luck next time.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I guess it's time I get a formal start on this TR. I am still waiting on the PhotoPass CD so updates might be scarce until that comes.

oh good something i can keep up with then!

We headed inside, checked our bags and made our way to security. This is where things got fun....

LOVE Airport security... ask D~ and Suzi...

I have not flown since 2005 and I barely remember that. I researched airport security procedures, liquid limitations and storage for carry-ons, etc, etc so I thought I was all prepared. I took off my shoes, removed my laptop and bag of liquids from my carry-on and headed on through. I make it through and then the TSA lady at the bag scanner hollers "Who does this purple backpack belong to?" Umm...that would be ME! I walk over and she says "There is something cylindrical in your bag and I need to search it. Do not touch your bag while I search!" Cylindrical? What on Earth could be in my bag? I was baffled.

i'm baffled... i don't i want to read more.....

I was so grateful...I even gave him a few quarters as a way of saying thanks!

Oh Thank goodness!!! but this is seriously FUNNY!!!
thank GOD for little ones.. was really nice of you to give him some coins! hopefully he was going to Disney too?? Made the kids day for doing a good deed. Kids no longer find it necessary to just help anymore...

Not a great photo as I was walking by as I snapped it. I was in too much of a hurry and WAY too excited to stop for a proper picture!

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the beginning of DISNEY!!!!

I think I shall stop here for now and pick up a little later. Don't want to get too far ahead!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Yep, I had it happen to me as well with the quarters and don't bring them anymore because of it!

Sounds like you are off to a great start! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[-Hope-]

Ah, yeah. I've heard of that with the quarters. I had the kids take their tubes out with liquids, electronics, etc. and place it in the bin though so it wasn't an issue.

Sounds like you're off to a smooth start, with the exception of the quarters, so hopefully that's your biggest hiccup.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

OMGoodness! You started this TR off with a bang, for sure! I could totally see something like that happening to me, too! Shame on you for trying to smuggle in those dangerous quarters and pennies!!!

 

[momabaarjo]

following along!

 

[Pixiedust530]

OMG! That quarter incident is totally something that would happen to me. LOL I would have left them too... How awesome of that little boy to swoop in for some Pixie Dust to start off your vacation!!!

So glad you had a safe flight - I cannot wait to hear all about your first day... First days are just the BEST!!!!

D~

I hadn't quite thought of that moment and the little boy that picked up the quarters as a Pixie Dusted moment. I think I was still to embarrassed at that point. But you are right...it was just the beginning of our PixieDust!

Don't worry about security they certainly make you wait on them enough! Glad that little boy could help you out though that was sweet of him. I was selling, dog harnesses.....didn't do to well as the mall did not advertise at all and no one even knew a craft show was going on unless they just happened to go to the mall....oh well better luck next time.

Boo on no advertisement...that's just frustrating!

You are definitely right about security...they don't usually seem to eager to speed things along. Although...I guess that's a good thing and I should be thankful for my safety on a plane!

oh good something i can keep up with then!

LOVE Airport security... ask D~ and Suzi...

i'm baffled... i don't i want to read more.....

Oh Thank goodness!!! but this is seriously FUNNY!!!
thank GOD for little ones.. was really nice of you to give him some coins! hopefully he was going to Disney too?? Made the kids day for doing a good deed. Kids no longer find it necessary to just help anymore...

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the beginning of DISNEY!!!!

Haha...yeah..life has just been a whirlwind so you shouldn't have too much trouble keeping up.

Airport security = NO FUN! Just nuts! I was so grateful for that little boy though.

Yep, I had it happen to me as well with the quarters and don't bring them anymore because of it!

Sounds like you are off to a great start! Can't wait to hear more!

I totally put them in my checked baggage on the way home...even the empty M&M containers! Aside from the security incident things did start off well.

Ah, yeah. I've heard of that with the quarters. I had the kids take their tubes out with liquids, electronics, etc. and place it in the bin though so it wasn't an issue.

Sounds like you're off to a smooth start, with the exception of the quarters, so hopefully that's your biggest hiccup.

You'll have to keep reading to find out if there were any more hiccups. But needless to say...LESSON LEARNED on the coins and airport security!

OMGoodness! You started this TR off with a bang, for sure! I could totally see something like that happening to me, too! Shame on you for trying to smuggle in those dangerous quarters and pennies!!!

YES...the trip started off with quite a bang but hopefully that is the last of the drama. And yes...Shame Shame on me...how dare I try to do something for my kid who I am leaving behind!

following along!

So happy to have you along. Feel free to jump in anytime!

 

[solana131]

i have MADE IT! now that slacker Suzi.. I can't answer for...

Hahaha... Slacker Suzi...

Slacker Suzi...and she isn't even here to defend herself!

I have made it on page one...but at least I beat "slacker Suzi"!!!

Now that I am commenting poor Slacker Suzi is getting pushed to Page 2!

Slacker Suzi here.....reporting for duty.

You know, I almost wanted to just wait until like page 10 or something....just to piss you off after all that ^^^^ up there. But I found myself with a rare few minutes to DIS.

Great start Stephanie. The quarter thing doesn't surprise me at all. I know even when I pack a roll of quarters in my checked luggage it has been opened and all over the place. So I don't bring them anymore. I had a M&Ms tube and everything just for pennies, but decided not to bring it because of security. You have to bring it in carryon because what if they lose your luggage? Bradey would've been heartbroken if he couldn't do pressed pennies!

Yay! Love that mini monorail. Such a great way to start and end the vacation. MCO really knew what they were doing when they put those babies in.

Looking forward to reading more...when I get a chance.

Nice t-shirt Mo

Crap....just saw that I as pushed on to page 3!

 

[DMGeurts]

Hahaha... Welcome Suzi - it's so nice seeing you here! I've missed you!

D~

 

[solana131]

Missed you too D And everyone else!

 

[Pixiedust530]

When I left off we were making our way through Orlando International and down to Disney's Magical Express. I had never ridden ME until this trip and I was so excited. Wayne and I both had our Magic Bands on at this point, but I had my ME vouchers out and ready.

The ME workers noticed our Magic Bands and ushered us to an attendant with no waiting. I held my band up to the Mickey head...and TA DA...it turned green. Wayne didn't even have to scan his, as it showed us both on the screen when I scanned mine...pretty cool. We were directed to Line #2 to wait for our bus.



We made it through the winding lanes. We were the only ones in our lane. We approached the end, scanned our Magic bands again and were directed to the waiting bus outside! This was the beginning of our transportation Pixiedust! My notes say we boarded ME at 12:49pm and that the bus puled out at 12:58.



I was super excited on the bus and ready to get to WDW already. I decided to kill time by taking a picture of my nails that I had done before leaving home.



It wasn't long before we saw the most magical sign ever



And then of course...we saw this one too...



The ME bus first stopped at Wilderness Lodge to drop off a few guests. It only took about 3 or 4 minutes and we were heading to our HOME for the week...Bay Lake Tower. I must apologize now that I took almost NO pictures of our resort...at least not the outside or the lobby. I did take pics of the room, but that's about it, so I am a little lacking here.

Our ME bus pulled up to the front of the Contemporary at about 1:30pm. A CM greeted us with an iPad and promptly walked us in to the Online Check-in desk. We were getting checked in and I asked if our room was ready. I didn't expect it be and I was correct...it wasn't ready. I asked if I could make a room request (long story but the person I rented points from didn't get my requests on the reservation). I asked for a room on the North Side of the tower with an even-numbered room. The CM indicated that although our room wasn't ready that it was already assigned. He said it was on the North side, but was an even-numbered room. I kind of shrugged and said okay.

He offered to make a call to see if we could be reassigned, but said he wasn't very hopeful as occupancy was very HIGH! Oh no...would this be an indicator of the crowds for the week? He got on the phone, all the while completing the other necessary parts of the check-in, specifically setting up a PIN for our Magic Bands to use them for room charges. While on the phone with the "room-assigning gods" he asked me if North-side, Even Number room or HIGH floor was more important. I did want a high floor, but said that the other request was more important. He finished the call a few minutes later, but did not indicate if the request was filled or not.

He said we were all done and took my cell #, indicating I would receive a text when our room was ready. I sheepishly asked if they were able to fulfill our request. He got a sly little grin and shook his head YES! WooHoo...more Pixie Dust!

We already had a plan if our room wasn't ready, so we promptly checked our carry-on luggage with Bell Services and got ready to head to the Magic Kingdom. I knew from reading the DIS that the resort monorail was not running between 11am and 6pm (basically the slow times) during our week at WDW. Apparently they were doing some work on the resort beam over at the Grand Floridian. I was a little bummed when I found out about this, since part of the reason we chose BLT was for the ease of transportation on the monorail. On the bright side...during the times the resort monorail wasn't running, there were buses running from BLT to MK. We also knew that the MK was only a short walk from BLT. We headed out, intending to take the walking path to the MK, but right as we were passing the bus stop a bus pulled up for MK so we hopped on. YEP...MORE transportation Pixiedust! We arrived at MK about 3 minutes later.

I was so excited to be in the Magic Kingdom...on my first day...after just being on a plane a short time before. We had no problems entering the park with our Magic Bands. It really is neat technology, and so far it had worked flawlessly for us. I looked down at my watch and noticed that we walked through the gate of the Magic Kingdom right about 2:04pm. It's such a magical feeling to be inside MK on Day 1!

That pesky PhotoPass Cd still hasn't arrived, so I'm afraid I have to stop here. I will leave you with a castle photo...



What did we do first once arriving in the MK? Did we ride any rides? Use our FP+? Or did we just wander around and take it all in?

 

[Pixiedust530]

Slacker Suzi here.....reporting for duty.

You know, I almost wanted to just wait until like page 10 or something....just to piss you off after all that ^^^^ up there. But I found myself with a rare few minutes to DIS.

Great start Stephanie. The quarter thing doesn't surprise me at all. I know even when I pack a roll of quarters in my checked luggage it has been opened and all over the place. So I don't bring them anymore. I had a M&Ms tube and everything just for pennies, but decided not to bring it because of security. You have to bring it in carryon because what if they lose your luggage? Bradey would've been heartbroken if he couldn't do pressed pennies!

Yay! Love that mini monorail. Such a great way to start and end the vacation. MCO really knew what they were doing when they put those babies in.

Looking forward to reading more...when I get a chance.

Nice t-shirt Mo

Crap....just saw that I as pushed on to page 3!

Well hello there Slacker Suzi. So nice of you to show up (even if it was on page 3).

Lesson learned on the coins. Next time I will just take the tube out with my liquids so they can see I'm not smuggling in anything hazardous!

Mini-monorail...YEP, totally new experience for me! So cool!

Sounds like you have been super busy getting your Avon business off the ground. Completely understand the importance and the need to focus on that. Just want you to know that we miss you when you're not around! Stop by as often as you can and we'll try hard not to give you too much grief when you're away!

Hahaha... Welcome Suzi - it's so nice seeing you here! I've missed you!

D~

Couldn't agree more D~....she is definitely missed!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Ahhhhh~ the gates of HEAVEN and a picture of the castle on a beautiful sunny day! So glad you were able to get pixie dusted for your room assigment! Can't wait to see pictures of the room...

 

[Chicago Mo]

I LOVE this report!!! you have the Walt looking down at you all the way!!!!


Glad Suzi showed.. I miss her...

 

[DMGeurts]

How in the world did I miss your update last night? I even checked in here this morning and didn't see it... Glad I looked for a 3rd time today... LOL

I love that you can use your MBs for ME too - I guess I didn't realize that. Since we weren't lucky enough to be testers on our last trip - I haven't paid much attention to the MB chatter.

Yay for pixie dusted transportation and rooms!!! That is so awesome!

And I know - MK on arrival day - there is just nothing better than that. IMO

Love your nails - they are a lot like mine for this last trip - I know that because I still have ONE pinky nail hanging on... LOL It's been over 2 months since our trip - LOL.

Great update - sorry I missed it earlier.

D~

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I missed it too?!?! I think you snuck in and posted in stealth mode!

Ahhhh...sounds so wonderful, being in MK by 2pm on day 1!

 

[Pixiedust530]

Ahhhhh~ the gates of HEAVEN and a picture of the castle on a beautiful sunny day! So glad you were able to get pixie dusted for your room assigment! Can't wait to see pictures of the room...

I read your post to Wayne and he gave me a really funny look... and then he said..."Did you just say 'The gates of HEAVEN'?" I told him that this was one of the BEST descriptions of the feeling of walking in the MK and he just laughed and said that we are all a bunch of freaks. Yeah...SO WHAT?

I LOVE this report!!! you have the Walt looking down at you all the way!!!!


Glad Suzi showed.. I miss her...

Awww....thanks Mo. I am having fun writing it and reliving the magic already! We really did have some really great things happen to us this trip!

I miss Suzi too...although after all the shenanigans going on on her TR I'm not entirely sure she will be speaking to us when she returns.

How in the world did I miss your update last night? I even checked in here this morning and didn't see it... Glad I looked for a 3rd time today... LOL

I love that you can use your MBs for ME too - I guess I didn't realize that. Since we weren't lucky enough to be testers on our last trip - I haven't paid much attention to the MB chatter.

Yay for pixie dusted transportation and rooms!!! That is so awesome!

And I know - MK on arrival day - there is just nothing better than that. IMO

Love your nails - they are a lot like mine for this last trip - I know that because I still have ONE pinky nail hanging on... LOL It's been over 2 months since our trip - LOL.

Great update - sorry I missed it earlier.

D~

I have no idea how you missed it...but glad you finally found your way over.

I'm pretty much in love with MBs...and Wayne was impressed too. I know a lot of people have complained about wearing them and them being hot and sticky when it's humid out. Wayne is VERY HOT-BLOODED and can't stand to be hot and sweaty. One day of our trip it was 90 and super humid and he never complained once. They were very comfortable and I didn't even notice it was there.

Going to MK on my arrival day was a FIRST this trip and I think it is now a MUST DO! It was just so magical. Once I stepped through those gates I knew I had arrived!

I missed it too?!?! I think you snuck in and posted in stealth mode!

Ahhhh...sounds so wonderful, being in MK by 2pm on day 1!

Yep...stealth mode. I came in like NINJA...posted and was off again without a trace.

MK that 1st day was so awesome. Nothing better!