Our adventure began 2/26 when we took the kids out of school early and drove from Missoula, Montana to Spokane, Washington. We would be myself, DH (39), DS9 and DD6. The drive took a little more than three hours and fortunately we encountered no snow on the roads on the way. We checked into the Ramada Airport. This is a very nice looking hotel located across the street from the airport. They allowed us to leave our car in their lot without a fee since we were staying with them on the way and then back again.
As I said the hotel was very nice looking, clean, and seemed perfect, until we got into bed. The single room had two queen-sized beds in it. We put the kids to bed in one without incident. When DH climbed into the other bed, it sounded like he'd squashed a family of rodents underneath. With the smallest movement of my not-so-small spouse, the bed groaned and squeaked. And let me tell you my DH is an active sleeper. Oh well, it isn't like I could sleep anyway, I was so excited.
We woke at 4 am, threw ourselves together and took the complimentary shuttle to the airport (3 mintues away). Security and check in at this hour was fast and easy. The first flight was a quick and painless 35 minutes. As soon as we'd reached altitude, we were going down again. After a small wait and switching gates in Seattle we took off at 8 am on our 5-1/2 hour flight to Orlando. I need to say here that I have great kids. They were bored some during the flight, but behaved as if we did this sort of thing all the time.
Coming down the escalator at the Orlando Airport we spotted Jack from Tiffany Towncar. What a great guy. He steered us to the baggage claim, helped us gather our things, and took us out to the Lincoln Towncar. Jack took us to the Raddison at Port Canaveral. He played Disney tunes (mood music) on the radio and was a great tour guide.
The room at the Raddison was fantastic. The "pool" was so beautiful, it was more like a small lagoon. Unfortunately, the overcast skies and 65 degree temperatures prevented us from trying it out. We hopped a taxi to Ron Jon's Surf Shop and we spent an hour watching DH begin his shopping vacation. We are a bit of an unusual couple; DH is the shopper and though I have my moments, my efforts pale next to my personal shopper. Dinner was at Mac's diner and then it was back to the room to let the kids have baths in the jaccuzi tub. The king sized beds here were perfect. The room was spotless and beautiful.
2/28 dawned clear, but still cool and windy. We had the breakfast buffet at the Raddison and it was wonderful, especially the omlette chef. A quick re-pack and we arrived in the lobby shortly after 10 am for the 10:30 am shuttle. The shuttle was nice and the driver friendly.
We were at the Disney terminal early, but were by no means the first. We ran into Mailman028 and family in the parking lot, then threethings and snowwhite in line after check-in. Check in was exciting as the sweet lady confirmed that we'd been upgraded from a category 9 to a category 5 with a verandah
We then met Plutospup in line and I introduced my DD6 to his DD6. Uh-oh, DH is waving, the line is starting to move, see you guys later. Boarding began at noon. We followed Mailman to the Rockin Bar D for Palo reservations (a breeze) and then did some exploring until 1:30 when our room (7608) was ready. OOOH, the verandah, cool. We hit the lunch buffet at Topsiders, which was great (shrimp, yum), but windy and cold outside. The lifeboat drill went quickly, but by then the sun had come out to bake us while we waited (there's no making me happy, is there?).
The kids went for a quick swim, but while the pool temperatures were about 77 degrees, the wind made everything else inconsequential, and we whisked the kids downstairs for some dry clothes. We signed the kids up and explored the clubs for a bit, and then it was time for dinner. Dinner tonight was at Lumiere's. Our server was Retish from India and Ivan (from Belgum?), very nice guys. DD6 is feeling wilted from travel and from the 14 foot swells, DS9 wolfs his food down so he can go to the Oceaneers Lab. I had the Shrimp Medley appetizer, the baked cod for entre and apple tart with ice cream for dessert. Retish brough us all the desserts on the menu, however, so I got to sample everything. It was all marvelous.
We collected DS9 later and made it to the show just in time. Jeff Harris the juggler "paddle man" was amazing. We were having a tough time walking a straight line, and he was juggling, and then balancing a scooter on his chin! Gary Delena, the musical comedian was a hoot. He had the whole family ROTFL ("the words vacuum and toilet should not go together"). We retired to the wonderful room transformed into sleeping quarters by Danny. Still excited, but now exhausted at the end of day 1.
As I said the hotel was very nice looking, clean, and seemed perfect, until we got into bed. The single room had two queen-sized beds in it. We put the kids to bed in one without incident. When DH climbed into the other bed, it sounded like he'd squashed a family of rodents underneath. With the smallest movement of my not-so-small spouse, the bed groaned and squeaked. And let me tell you my DH is an active sleeper. Oh well, it isn't like I could sleep anyway, I was so excited.
We woke at 4 am, threw ourselves together and took the complimentary shuttle to the airport (3 mintues away). Security and check in at this hour was fast and easy. The first flight was a quick and painless 35 minutes. As soon as we'd reached altitude, we were going down again. After a small wait and switching gates in Seattle we took off at 8 am on our 5-1/2 hour flight to Orlando. I need to say here that I have great kids. They were bored some during the flight, but behaved as if we did this sort of thing all the time.
Coming down the escalator at the Orlando Airport we spotted Jack from Tiffany Towncar. What a great guy. He steered us to the baggage claim, helped us gather our things, and took us out to the Lincoln Towncar. Jack took us to the Raddison at Port Canaveral. He played Disney tunes (mood music) on the radio and was a great tour guide.
The room at the Raddison was fantastic. The "pool" was so beautiful, it was more like a small lagoon. Unfortunately, the overcast skies and 65 degree temperatures prevented us from trying it out. We hopped a taxi to Ron Jon's Surf Shop and we spent an hour watching DH begin his shopping vacation. We are a bit of an unusual couple; DH is the shopper and though I have my moments, my efforts pale next to my personal shopper. Dinner was at Mac's diner and then it was back to the room to let the kids have baths in the jaccuzi tub. The king sized beds here were perfect. The room was spotless and beautiful.
2/28 dawned clear, but still cool and windy. We had the breakfast buffet at the Raddison and it was wonderful, especially the omlette chef. A quick re-pack and we arrived in the lobby shortly after 10 am for the 10:30 am shuttle. The shuttle was nice and the driver friendly.
We were at the Disney terminal early, but were by no means the first. We ran into Mailman028 and family in the parking lot, then threethings and snowwhite in line after check-in. Check in was exciting as the sweet lady confirmed that we'd been upgraded from a category 9 to a category 5 with a verandah
We then met Plutospup in line and I introduced my DD6 to his DD6. Uh-oh, DH is waving, the line is starting to move, see you guys later. Boarding began at noon. We followed Mailman to the Rockin Bar D for Palo reservations (a breeze) and then did some exploring until 1:30 when our room (7608) was ready. OOOH, the verandah, cool. We hit the lunch buffet at Topsiders, which was great (shrimp, yum), but windy and cold outside. The lifeboat drill went quickly, but by then the sun had come out to bake us while we waited (there's no making me happy, is there?).The kids went for a quick swim, but while the pool temperatures were about 77 degrees, the wind made everything else inconsequential, and we whisked the kids downstairs for some dry clothes. We signed the kids up and explored the clubs for a bit, and then it was time for dinner. Dinner tonight was at Lumiere's. Our server was Retish from India and Ivan (from Belgum?), very nice guys. DD6 is feeling wilted from travel and from the 14 foot swells, DS9 wolfs his food down so he can go to the Oceaneers Lab. I had the Shrimp Medley appetizer, the baked cod for entre and apple tart with ice cream for dessert. Retish brough us all the desserts on the menu, however, so I got to sample everything. It was all marvelous.
We collected DS9 later and made it to the show just in time. Jeff Harris the juggler "paddle man" was amazing. We were having a tough time walking a straight line, and he was juggling, and then balancing a scooter on his chin! Gary Delena, the musical comedian was a hoot. He had the whole family ROTFL ("the words vacuum and toilet should not go together"). We retired to the wonderful room transformed into sleeping quarters by Danny. Still excited, but now exhausted at the end of day 1.
