exwdwcm
wishes she was Wendy Moira Angela Darling
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15- continued
So we make to baggage claim and wait and wait. Finally our large bag comes through, but no car seat. I am already running through my head the cost to rent one at $10 a day. Ouch! Finally after 20 minutes or more, other bags come up on a completely different carousel next to the one our bag come on. And suddenly we see the car seat. That took like 30 minutes. Ugh!
So we take all of our crap, wheeling most of the carry ons in the stroller while Will walks and pulls his own backpack on wheels. We head downstairs to the parking garage. I notice the HUGE line at the Alamo counter as we pass by. I am so glad I didnt use Alamo now. We rented from National, who I prefer since I use Emerald Aisle. So we head straight out to the first floor of the parking garage.
I notice all the folks at the airport that are heading in- their vacations over and I get a little sad in anticipation of that being us in a week. Funny, how at the beginning of your vacation, you are already dreading the end. But I try and enjoy and savor the moment knowing we are just beginning ours.
We get to the parking garage, find the midsize aisle and pick out a silver Toyota corolla. It will do. With Emerald Aisle, you simply pick the car, get in and go. I only had to show my ID and credit card at the booth on the drive out and it took like one minute. Thank you Emerald Aisle- sure beats waiting in line at a kiosk or counter. I drive and we head out on 528 to I-4- my preferred route, it is just the way I always go and know the best.
I remember my days as a CM, and how I HATED the tourists that had no clue where they were going when driving. I have a flashback as a car in front of us proceeds to completely stop on the road instead of yielding and merging into the traffic. Seriously people! We finally make it to I-4 and I usually exit at 535, at Downtown Disney basically, driving in through the village hotel area. The traffic is CRAZY. I guess it is Friday night. And it is about 8:45pm or later now. We wait at the light forever and finally get into Disney property and see the big sign. Yeah! We are here. The traffic near DTD is simple insane. Glad we arent going there tonight.
We turn and follow the signs to the MK towards our home for the next 8 nights- Bay Lake Towers. We check in the guard booth and proceed to park in the BLT parking lot. We all head in to CR to check in. DH takes William over to the cartoons, which he adores. He loves the old school cartoons. Ive ordered him some of the have a laugh series, but I need to find more of the original old cartoons- especially with Donald. He watches them online a lot, so he loved this.
I go to the online check in desk. There is one lady up there, plus a guy that I cant figure out if he is in line or not. Turns out he had been in line and needed to get something to bring back to the desk. I didnt wait but like a minute. I didnt notice a huge line for the regular check in either.
I get a very nice gentleman that grabs my packet for me. He shows me where our room is, it is on the inside of the curve, directly over the pool, 12th floor. I had requested high floor, even number. I only got high floor. Given we were checking in so late, I didnt risk trying to get another room, since really, this one is pretty good- great pool view. The only better room would be the north side with a potential fireworks view and I didnt want to risk losing the room we had. He was super nice and broke open the MK map to show me the best spots to view the Halloween parade. He said near Splash Mtn, you cant hear the music. So I did learn something new! He also pointed out his favorite food and wine booths too.
So with our keys and packet in hand, we pryed Will away from the cartoons and went out to the car to get our bags and up we went. Wills big thing this trip was pushing the elevator buttons. If you even dared get close to pushing it, he would give you the evil eye. One time, DH pushed it on accident, not thinking and a complete tantrum followed. Not good.
So up we go to the 12th floor. We were fairly close to the elevator, about 4 doors down or so. That was nice because last year, we were at the very end of the hall. We opened the door and DH commented on how small the room was. LOL. Sorry dear. Next time we will really consider the one bedroom (which is what we had last year). It is quite a change from the spacious one bedroom. But it was enough room for the three of us. There was the queen size bed, pull out couch, table, chairs, dresser etc. I did see that we were not in a newly updated room. Our sink was still in the kitchen. To be honest, I didnt mind it all that much, except for the few times DH and I crashed into each other while he was brushing his teeth and I was trying to get in the fridge for water or something. That was annoying.
I hated the toilet area- it was small, dark and the while we had a lock if you even call it that on the door, it barely worked and there was still a good inch gap on the door where you could see in. Not very conducive to doing your private business. I hated that. I also hate how loud those toilets are. The room was clean, but it smelled funny to me. Sort of a rank, moldy smell. DH didnt smell it. Everything else seemed fine with the exception of the toilet. The top lid opened, but the actual seat itself, well if you lifted it, it wouldnt stay up. For my little 3 year old, that was not good. He couldnt hold it up and pee like his dad can, so he ended up just peeing all over the seat instead. Thanks kid. As the only woman in the room, I sure did appreciate that. Lucky me.
We leave our bags and head to the Contempo Café for dinner. Originally, I had considered taking the monorail over to the Poly and eating at Captain Cooks, just for a change of scenery, but we were so tired and it was late, thanks for the late flight and flooded airplane bathroom (what is with the bad luck in the bathrooms?)
So we head across the bridge to CR and look, theres WISHES going off- we stop for a moment and watch. What a great first night, walk out to the bridge and see fireworks. This is why I love BLT!!!
We then head into the CR and order at Contempo Café using the fancy machines. I get a burger/fries, DH gets a salad and we get William a burger with applesauce and grapes. He also wants a cupcake. Since he was so good on the planes, we let him get one- the red velvet one. It ends up sitting in our fridge the rest of the trip with only 2 bites taken out of it. Go figure.
We get our food and it is okay, nothing fancy. I enjoy hearing the monorail rush by as we eat, so relaxing. I actually answered my moms panel question about my favorite resort this way-------how I immediately relax when I step into BLT/CR and hear the giggles from Chef Mickeys and the monorail whizzing by. This. Is. My. Happy. Place.
As we walk back across the bridge, I see they are showing the Lion King on the movie screen outside downstairs- so fun! WE dont end up doing it this trip, but nice to know it is an option! We also catch the electrical water pageant. Talk about a magical first night!
So after dinner, we are exhausted. We get back to the room and I call bell services to deliver our garden grocer order and also a box a lovely DIS friend left for us. She had stayed at BLT the week before us and packed up some of her leftover water, detergent, apple juice, cereal, soap and more.
It only takes them about 10-15 minutes to bring it up- I tip him $5 and start unpacking. We didnt order much- just water, juice, milk, apples, yogurt, applesauce etc. I give Will a quick bath and pull out his bed (couch) and get him to rest and do his books while I unpack. I am OCD, through and through. I cant rest or go to sleep until the room is all organized, unpacked and clean. So DH plays on the laptop and reads his book while I do that. Of course, what is on the TV? None other than Stacy! Gotta love it! I love listening to it over and over, or putting it on the resort channel.
So all unpacked and tired, I finally give in and go to sleep. It is about 11pm. We have an early morning tomorrow, but we all pass out. I have a hard time sleeping though. It is only an hour time difference form home in TX, but I wake up at 3am, 4am and 5am. DH wakes at 5am for good.
And here is where the fun starts .I have a hard time sleeping because I was worried about the rental car. When we took the bags out and locked it, I pressed the lock button and the lights were still on. Usually they shut off after a while. So I made a comment to DH about hey, the lights will turn off, right? and he says yes. So I kept looking back as we walked off, but lights were still on. I know some cars take a while to turn off and I didnt remember the lights being on when we first left the car, so I assumed they shut off on their own that first time and would again. But now, tossing and turning, I am second guessing myself- did the lights turn off automatically or not? I almost went out in my pajamas to check. So what happens? Stay tuned to find out!
So we make to baggage claim and wait and wait. Finally our large bag comes through, but no car seat. I am already running through my head the cost to rent one at $10 a day. Ouch! Finally after 20 minutes or more, other bags come up on a completely different carousel next to the one our bag come on. And suddenly we see the car seat. That took like 30 minutes. Ugh!
So we take all of our crap, wheeling most of the carry ons in the stroller while Will walks and pulls his own backpack on wheels. We head downstairs to the parking garage. I notice the HUGE line at the Alamo counter as we pass by. I am so glad I didnt use Alamo now. We rented from National, who I prefer since I use Emerald Aisle. So we head straight out to the first floor of the parking garage.
I notice all the folks at the airport that are heading in- their vacations over and I get a little sad in anticipation of that being us in a week. Funny, how at the beginning of your vacation, you are already dreading the end. But I try and enjoy and savor the moment knowing we are just beginning ours.
We get to the parking garage, find the midsize aisle and pick out a silver Toyota corolla. It will do. With Emerald Aisle, you simply pick the car, get in and go. I only had to show my ID and credit card at the booth on the drive out and it took like one minute. Thank you Emerald Aisle- sure beats waiting in line at a kiosk or counter. I drive and we head out on 528 to I-4- my preferred route, it is just the way I always go and know the best.
I remember my days as a CM, and how I HATED the tourists that had no clue where they were going when driving. I have a flashback as a car in front of us proceeds to completely stop on the road instead of yielding and merging into the traffic. Seriously people! We finally make it to I-4 and I usually exit at 535, at Downtown Disney basically, driving in through the village hotel area. The traffic is CRAZY. I guess it is Friday night. And it is about 8:45pm or later now. We wait at the light forever and finally get into Disney property and see the big sign. Yeah! We are here. The traffic near DTD is simple insane. Glad we arent going there tonight.
We turn and follow the signs to the MK towards our home for the next 8 nights- Bay Lake Towers. We check in the guard booth and proceed to park in the BLT parking lot. We all head in to CR to check in. DH takes William over to the cartoons, which he adores. He loves the old school cartoons. Ive ordered him some of the have a laugh series, but I need to find more of the original old cartoons- especially with Donald. He watches them online a lot, so he loved this.
I get a very nice gentleman that grabs my packet for me. He shows me where our room is, it is on the inside of the curve, directly over the pool, 12th floor. I had requested high floor, even number. I only got high floor. Given we were checking in so late, I didnt risk trying to get another room, since really, this one is pretty good- great pool view. The only better room would be the north side with a potential fireworks view and I didnt want to risk losing the room we had. He was super nice and broke open the MK map to show me the best spots to view the Halloween parade. He said near Splash Mtn, you cant hear the music. So I did learn something new! He also pointed out his favorite food and wine booths too.
So with our keys and packet in hand, we pryed Will away from the cartoons and went out to the car to get our bags and up we went. Wills big thing this trip was pushing the elevator buttons. If you even dared get close to pushing it, he would give you the evil eye. One time, DH pushed it on accident, not thinking and a complete tantrum followed. Not good.
So up we go to the 12th floor. We were fairly close to the elevator, about 4 doors down or so. That was nice because last year, we were at the very end of the hall. We opened the door and DH commented on how small the room was. LOL. Sorry dear. Next time we will really consider the one bedroom (which is what we had last year). It is quite a change from the spacious one bedroom. But it was enough room for the three of us. There was the queen size bed, pull out couch, table, chairs, dresser etc. I did see that we were not in a newly updated room. Our sink was still in the kitchen. To be honest, I didnt mind it all that much, except for the few times DH and I crashed into each other while he was brushing his teeth and I was trying to get in the fridge for water or something. That was annoying.
I hated the toilet area- it was small, dark and the while we had a lock if you even call it that on the door, it barely worked and there was still a good inch gap on the door where you could see in. Not very conducive to doing your private business. I hated that. I also hate how loud those toilets are. The room was clean, but it smelled funny to me. Sort of a rank, moldy smell. DH didnt smell it. Everything else seemed fine with the exception of the toilet. The top lid opened, but the actual seat itself, well if you lifted it, it wouldnt stay up. For my little 3 year old, that was not good. He couldnt hold it up and pee like his dad can, so he ended up just peeing all over the seat instead. Thanks kid. As the only woman in the room, I sure did appreciate that. Lucky me.
We leave our bags and head to the Contempo Café for dinner. Originally, I had considered taking the monorail over to the Poly and eating at Captain Cooks, just for a change of scenery, but we were so tired and it was late, thanks for the late flight and flooded airplane bathroom (what is with the bad luck in the bathrooms?)
So we head across the bridge to CR and look, theres WISHES going off- we stop for a moment and watch. What a great first night, walk out to the bridge and see fireworks. This is why I love BLT!!!
We then head into the CR and order at Contempo Café using the fancy machines. I get a burger/fries, DH gets a salad and we get William a burger with applesauce and grapes. He also wants a cupcake. Since he was so good on the planes, we let him get one- the red velvet one. It ends up sitting in our fridge the rest of the trip with only 2 bites taken out of it. Go figure.
We get our food and it is okay, nothing fancy. I enjoy hearing the monorail rush by as we eat, so relaxing. I actually answered my moms panel question about my favorite resort this way-------how I immediately relax when I step into BLT/CR and hear the giggles from Chef Mickeys and the monorail whizzing by. This. Is. My. Happy. Place.
As we walk back across the bridge, I see they are showing the Lion King on the movie screen outside downstairs- so fun! WE dont end up doing it this trip, but nice to know it is an option! We also catch the electrical water pageant. Talk about a magical first night!
So after dinner, we are exhausted. We get back to the room and I call bell services to deliver our garden grocer order and also a box a lovely DIS friend left for us. She had stayed at BLT the week before us and packed up some of her leftover water, detergent, apple juice, cereal, soap and more.
It only takes them about 10-15 minutes to bring it up- I tip him $5 and start unpacking. We didnt order much- just water, juice, milk, apples, yogurt, applesauce etc. I give Will a quick bath and pull out his bed (couch) and get him to rest and do his books while I unpack. I am OCD, through and through. I cant rest or go to sleep until the room is all organized, unpacked and clean. So DH plays on the laptop and reads his book while I do that. Of course, what is on the TV? None other than Stacy! Gotta love it! I love listening to it over and over, or putting it on the resort channel.
So all unpacked and tired, I finally give in and go to sleep. It is about 11pm. We have an early morning tomorrow, but we all pass out. I have a hard time sleeping though. It is only an hour time difference form home in TX, but I wake up at 3am, 4am and 5am. DH wakes at 5am for good.
And here is where the fun starts .I have a hard time sleeping because I was worried about the rental car. When we took the bags out and locked it, I pressed the lock button and the lights were still on. Usually they shut off after a while. So I made a comment to DH about hey, the lights will turn off, right? and he says yes. So I kept looking back as we walked off, but lights were still on. I know some cars take a while to turn off and I didnt remember the lights being on when we first left the car, so I assumed they shut off on their own that first time and would again. But now, tossing and turning, I am second guessing myself- did the lights turn off automatically or not? I almost went out in my pajamas to check. So what happens? Stay tuned to find out!
I have to hit the lock button and hear the horn beep at least twice if not 3 times to be satisfied that the car is locked! Definitely get that from my mom.
