missy28
<font color=purple>unnaturly obsessed with all thi
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2002
- Messages
- 258
Cast of Characters:
Melissa (Me): 30, prosecuting attorney, longtime Disney nut, lost count of how many trips after about 20, Annual Passholder usually, except for this trip (note to self: MUST renew ASAP!) Lives in Atlanta suburbs
Marie: early 20s, probation officer, hasnt been to WDW since she was 16; lives in Atlanta suburbs
Heather: early 20s, accountant, hasnt been to WDW since 8th grade; drove over from Tampa.
My goal: Show the semi-newbies as much as is possible in 2 short days, and get them hooked, so Ill have future travel partners.
First a little background: Marie and I used to work together and Heather and Marie grew up together. All 3 of us, along with 2 others, traveled to Europe over New Years to battle my mini-mid-life crisis over turning 30. This was a little reunion trip. As Marie and I both have new jobs, it was pretty much impossible to take time off of work for a longer, less whirlwind vacation. So, we found a great Airtran sale rate, and I used my government rate of 149 a night at the Swan for a quick 2 day, 2 night stay.
Saturday, May 8, 2004
Marie spent the night at my house on Friday night, and we woke early early to catch our 7:15 flight to MCO. We stopped on our way to the gate for morning coffee at the Seattles Best Coffee, and spent FOREVER waiting for this one woman who was certainly in no hurry to get anyone a latte. You would think that you would understand that time is of the essence, especially when you actually WORK IN the airport nonetheless, we made it to the gate just as they were boarding, and landed in Orlando around 8:30am. Marie got Heather on the Nextel to see where she was, and when we should be expecting her at the Swan. She said shed be there around 10. We went to the Alamo desk to pick up our reserved convertible (ok, so I splurged a little, and it was worth it!) and had no problems getting checked out. What was surprising to me was the whole go pick out a car thing Id never rented a car at MCO before, and Im used to getting a key, checking the car for damage, signing the paperwork, and all that. Here, the happy lady just said, Go pick out a convertible! So, we had our choice of 3 identical white Chrysler touring convertibles. I stuck my nose in each one to see which smelled the best, and we piled our bags in, put the top down, found some tunes on the radio, and we were off!
On our way to the Swan, I realized that my eyes were bloodshot again (this will be a recurring theme all weekend), and that I had forgotten my sunglasses in my Bug at the Airport park n fly. So, we pulled into Crossroads, and went into Goodings where I bought more eye drops, and a cheap pair of trendy sunglasses for the bargain low-low price of 16 bucks. What a racket. So, I pop in the contacts, put on the sunglasses and we drive through Downtown Disney and make it to the Swan almost at 10 on the nose. Heather is waiting for us in the parking lot. (Side note: Marie made the very interesting comment about what a bag of laughs we must sound likea lawyer, a probation officer, and an accountantwe sound like the makings of a very bad joke ) We grab our bags, and I warn my 2 newbie friends that we may not get a great view b/c Ive been reading on my message boards that discounted rooms arent usually the great ones, and I also tell them we should keep our fingers crossed that our room will be ready. So, I begin to invoke the magic that IS Disney and we walk to the check-in desk. The very cheerful girl checks us in, I show her my county government ID, and she tells us our room is ready, room 944. Im thinking, high up, ok, this is good So, we head up the elevators, walk down the hall and at the end of the hall, through the round window is a perfect shot of Spaceship Earth. Our room is the last on the hall on the right. We open the door, and I notice that we have a corner room and 2 windows and I gingerly open the curtains to find the MOST AMAZING VIEW on one side is the most perfect shot of Spaceship Earth, and on the other, is a great view of MGM. Looking down, we could see the canal/river with the FreindShips and the back side of the Boardwalk and the yacht and Beach Club. It was the best view of any Disney room I have ever had. Boy, we were off to a great start. Of course, my luck is never good with this sort of thing, so I was waiting for something, anything, to go wrong. So far nothing had, and I was getting a little concerned. Dont worry,though, the other shoe was soon to drop.
Melissa (Me): 30, prosecuting attorney, longtime Disney nut, lost count of how many trips after about 20, Annual Passholder usually, except for this trip (note to self: MUST renew ASAP!) Lives in Atlanta suburbs
Marie: early 20s, probation officer, hasnt been to WDW since she was 16; lives in Atlanta suburbs
Heather: early 20s, accountant, hasnt been to WDW since 8th grade; drove over from Tampa.
My goal: Show the semi-newbies as much as is possible in 2 short days, and get them hooked, so Ill have future travel partners.
First a little background: Marie and I used to work together and Heather and Marie grew up together. All 3 of us, along with 2 others, traveled to Europe over New Years to battle my mini-mid-life crisis over turning 30. This was a little reunion trip. As Marie and I both have new jobs, it was pretty much impossible to take time off of work for a longer, less whirlwind vacation. So, we found a great Airtran sale rate, and I used my government rate of 149 a night at the Swan for a quick 2 day, 2 night stay.
Saturday, May 8, 2004
Marie spent the night at my house on Friday night, and we woke early early to catch our 7:15 flight to MCO. We stopped on our way to the gate for morning coffee at the Seattles Best Coffee, and spent FOREVER waiting for this one woman who was certainly in no hurry to get anyone a latte. You would think that you would understand that time is of the essence, especially when you actually WORK IN the airport nonetheless, we made it to the gate just as they were boarding, and landed in Orlando around 8:30am. Marie got Heather on the Nextel to see where she was, and when we should be expecting her at the Swan. She said shed be there around 10. We went to the Alamo desk to pick up our reserved convertible (ok, so I splurged a little, and it was worth it!) and had no problems getting checked out. What was surprising to me was the whole go pick out a car thing Id never rented a car at MCO before, and Im used to getting a key, checking the car for damage, signing the paperwork, and all that. Here, the happy lady just said, Go pick out a convertible! So, we had our choice of 3 identical white Chrysler touring convertibles. I stuck my nose in each one to see which smelled the best, and we piled our bags in, put the top down, found some tunes on the radio, and we were off!
On our way to the Swan, I realized that my eyes were bloodshot again (this will be a recurring theme all weekend), and that I had forgotten my sunglasses in my Bug at the Airport park n fly. So, we pulled into Crossroads, and went into Goodings where I bought more eye drops, and a cheap pair of trendy sunglasses for the bargain low-low price of 16 bucks. What a racket. So, I pop in the contacts, put on the sunglasses and we drive through Downtown Disney and make it to the Swan almost at 10 on the nose. Heather is waiting for us in the parking lot. (Side note: Marie made the very interesting comment about what a bag of laughs we must sound likea lawyer, a probation officer, and an accountantwe sound like the makings of a very bad joke ) We grab our bags, and I warn my 2 newbie friends that we may not get a great view b/c Ive been reading on my message boards that discounted rooms arent usually the great ones, and I also tell them we should keep our fingers crossed that our room will be ready. So, I begin to invoke the magic that IS Disney and we walk to the check-in desk. The very cheerful girl checks us in, I show her my county government ID, and she tells us our room is ready, room 944. Im thinking, high up, ok, this is good So, we head up the elevators, walk down the hall and at the end of the hall, through the round window is a perfect shot of Spaceship Earth. Our room is the last on the hall on the right. We open the door, and I notice that we have a corner room and 2 windows and I gingerly open the curtains to find the MOST AMAZING VIEW on one side is the most perfect shot of Spaceship Earth, and on the other, is a great view of MGM. Looking down, we could see the canal/river with the FreindShips and the back side of the Boardwalk and the yacht and Beach Club. It was the best view of any Disney room I have ever had. Boy, we were off to a great start. Of course, my luck is never good with this sort of thing, so I was waiting for something, anything, to go wrong. So far nothing had, and I was getting a little concerned. Dont worry,though, the other shoe was soon to drop.
