E(ticket)lizabeth
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2002
- Messages
- 46
Caveat: if you don't have time to start a novel, don't get started on my Trip Report. I write long, descriptive narratives with lots of detail. However, in my own defense, I will admit that I understand punctuation better than Faulkner! 
Cast: Me, Elizabeth (39); DH, Art (49); DS, Stuart (17 mos); MIL, Marlene (70-ish)
Setting: All Star Music, Dec. 3-11
FYI: Stuart just started walking about 2 weeks before we left, so just walking was an adventure for him--you'll see!
Planning
We had originally planned for this trip to happen in May, for our 10th anniversary. For various reasons, it was moved to early Dec. Although the Flower & Garden Show would have been nice, a Dec. trip is great for so many reasonsthe crowds are smaller, the weather is usually more pleasant, and Stuart was old enough to enjoy so many things! Plus, Marlene doesnt like May in Florida. She HATES hot weather! So, we chose the first full week of Dec., dodging the Thanksgiving weekend crowd (and prices). This meant that Elizabeth would miss the last week of classes at college, where shes working on a doctorate, but she thought she could handle it. After all, shed be back for finals to turn in her projects, right?
Okay, you caught me. That was a lead-in. My classes this semester were both research methods courses, and there were parts of the project that simply could not be done ahead of time. Pretty much all of Nov. was horribly stressful, and I slept very little. I kept thinking about how much still needed to be done, both at school and in planning our trip. I really was not looking forward to leaving, but then after Thanksgiving, as things fell into place (a little), I began sleeping again. Whew.
I downloaded the Ding! program from Southwest Airlines, and found fantastic prices on direct flights to Orlando and back from Kansas City International, our home airport. We decided to fly Stuart as a lap child and not buy a seat for him, but then as the travel day got closer, I began to worry that this was not our best option. By this time, SWA wanted nearly twice what I had paid for our seats to get a single seat for Stuart, so we didnt buy it.
Packing was its usual crazy time (remember I have a 17 month-old!), but we finally got everything done, including borrowing the extra carseat from Marlene so we wouldnt have to take our big expensive one out of our van, and I finally hit the sack at about 11:15 the night before the trip.
Travel, First Day
I woke up at 3:15yup, just 4 hours after getting to bed. I tossed and turned for about 30 minutes and finally gave up and got up for my shower. The alarm was set to go off at 4 am, anyway! So, the day began. Marlene got to the house at 4:30, for our planned 5 am departure. It took us a little longer to get out of the house than wed planned, but we got on the road and made the airport a little before 6. We checked our bags at the curb, and I asked the skycap if the plane had any empty seats we could put Stuarts carseat in. He assured us there were 20 empty seats, so we wouldnt have to buy a ticket. We pulled the carseat out of its duffel bag and off I went to park the car, while the others went inside to get through security with Stuart & all his travel stuff! The skycap took our information, but said he didnt need to see any ID for Stuart, although I let him know that I had a copy of his birth certificate.
Parking was easy, the shuttle was right there for me, and I was back at the terminal and through security in no time. And, since we were preboarding, I ignored the lines at the gateremember, were flying Southwest, who doesnt assign seats. People get their boarding passes, and then they stand for an hour to be the first ones in their group to get on board. I like this preboarding better!
After we boarded (right in our favorite row, over the wing and behind the exit row) and got Stuart settled in his seat, the attendant announced that the flight was full, and all lap children would have to actually be lap children. I asked her what was going on, since the skycap said there were 20 extra seats! She went and checkedseems SWA usually flies their 700-series planes, but since this flight hadnt filled, they switched to a 500-series plane, with 20 fewer seats. Bummer. So, we unbuckled Stuart and his seat, and she kindly gate-checked it for us.
Although Stuart did have a little problem with his ears on take-off, he was remarkably good for a little boy whod been awakened 2-3 hours before his usual wake-up time. He wanted to get down and play, he wanted to play with the lady in the row ahead of us, but mostly, he played with his new toys and did really well. He really liked playing with the window shade on the planeup and down, up and down, up and down. He got mad when it got stuck, so we had to make sure and fix it for him quickly (hes at that age when he gets frustrated easily), but other than that, he was great. A nap would have been nice, but it didnt happen.
The flight was over quickly, we got our bags and our rental van, changed into our Florida clothes and/or shoes (hey, it was 30 at home, and 75 in Florida!), and off we went to Cocoa Beach. I was born there, and I really wanted Stuart to see the ocean. He took a little nap on the way, and then we drove around Port Canaveral so Art & Marlene could see the Disney Wonder in port. On our way across the causeway, we saw some people at the side of the road, and when we looked, there was a dolphin playing in the water just off shore. Art had never seen a dolphin in the wild before, so that was really special. Then we drove through Cocoa Beach looking for a restaurant my mom & I had visited a few years ago. I never found it, so we stopped at Coconuts on the Beach instead. We had great fried shrimp, Art had a pina colada, and Stuart got to walk around and stretch his legs a little. He didnt want to eat, which surprised mehes usually a little piggie at meals! I figured he was just off schedule, so we didnt worry too much.
Stuart loved the beach! At first, he didnt like walking in the sand, but once we got down to where it was firmer, he liked that. He liked the seagulls (he called them ucks--his word for ducks), but when I waded with him into the waves, he got scared. I dont think he liked the way the water sucked the sand out from under his feet. We played in the sand and built sand castles (well, I built them and Stuart knocked them down!), and while he was playing, I stood up to see if Art was coming down to see us, as he said he would. As I was looking up the dune, I heard pat-pat-pat-pat and turned around to see my boy headed out to sea! He decided he liked those waves after all, and he was going to get more of them. I caught him and we played in the surf for a little while. He caught a seventh wave and got pretty soaked, and he laughed and laughed!
After playing on the beach and relaxing on the Coconuts deck for a little while, we took off back towards Orlando. Stuart (and everyone else besides me!) had another nap on the road, and we made it to All Star without further ado. When we checked in, I expected to get an envelop or somethingmy Fairy Godmailer had dropped off some postcards for us to be there when we checked in. Or, that was the plan, anyway. No postcards. Bummer. I figured she had just been busy, and although I was a little disappointed, it wasnt a huge deal. We checked in, got everything we had asked for in our rooms (connecting, with a king in one room), and went to find them. We were in Jazz, which was great. We love the closeness and colors of Calypso, but we wont pay for it, so we just walked through it every day on our way to the food court instead! We walked into our rooms, and I started coughing. Our non-smoking room in our non-smoking building had a horrible smell of cigarette smoke! I called the front desk, and they couldnt switch us, because every other connecting room set was taken, throughout the whole resort, and even at the other All Stars. I didnt ask about Pop, because they offered to come and clean the room and set up an ion machine (plus take off half the room rate!) Since Art & I were going out to do some shopping anyway, I told them that was fine.
We let Stuart & Marlene stay to rest and check out the resort, and we headed off to Downtown Disney for some shopping. We had our first sandwiches at the Earl of Sandwichwow! That place was hopping, and I can see why. Lets seeEarl for inexpensive really good sandwiches, or McDonalds? I dont even like the Wolfgang Puck counter service, because I got some pasta there once with big chunks of raw garlic in it, and it made me sick. That meant the pickings for a quick meal at DD were pretty slim for me before the Earl moved in. That place is amazing--$4.95 for a fantastic hot sandwich? Sure, you have to stand in line to get it, but this is Disney! You stand in line for popcorn, for heavens sake!
We were pretty tired, and we still needed to stop by the grocery store, so Art & I didnt spend much time in DD. We did a quick check of the Pin Traders, WoD, and the $10 Alley, but didnt buy anything. We just picked up our free Kelloggs pin at the PT and went. Art really likes Goodings, but I convinced him to try Publix, and he admitted that they were a really nice store (we went to the one just off I-Drive and Irlo Bronson). Back to the resort for a relatively early night. What a long day!
Cast: Me, Elizabeth (39); DH, Art (49); DS, Stuart (17 mos); MIL, Marlene (70-ish)
Setting: All Star Music, Dec. 3-11
FYI: Stuart just started walking about 2 weeks before we left, so just walking was an adventure for him--you'll see!
Planning
We had originally planned for this trip to happen in May, for our 10th anniversary. For various reasons, it was moved to early Dec. Although the Flower & Garden Show would have been nice, a Dec. trip is great for so many reasonsthe crowds are smaller, the weather is usually more pleasant, and Stuart was old enough to enjoy so many things! Plus, Marlene doesnt like May in Florida. She HATES hot weather! So, we chose the first full week of Dec., dodging the Thanksgiving weekend crowd (and prices). This meant that Elizabeth would miss the last week of classes at college, where shes working on a doctorate, but she thought she could handle it. After all, shed be back for finals to turn in her projects, right?
Okay, you caught me. That was a lead-in. My classes this semester were both research methods courses, and there were parts of the project that simply could not be done ahead of time. Pretty much all of Nov. was horribly stressful, and I slept very little. I kept thinking about how much still needed to be done, both at school and in planning our trip. I really was not looking forward to leaving, but then after Thanksgiving, as things fell into place (a little), I began sleeping again. Whew.
I downloaded the Ding! program from Southwest Airlines, and found fantastic prices on direct flights to Orlando and back from Kansas City International, our home airport. We decided to fly Stuart as a lap child and not buy a seat for him, but then as the travel day got closer, I began to worry that this was not our best option. By this time, SWA wanted nearly twice what I had paid for our seats to get a single seat for Stuart, so we didnt buy it.
Packing was its usual crazy time (remember I have a 17 month-old!), but we finally got everything done, including borrowing the extra carseat from Marlene so we wouldnt have to take our big expensive one out of our van, and I finally hit the sack at about 11:15 the night before the trip.
Travel, First Day
I woke up at 3:15yup, just 4 hours after getting to bed. I tossed and turned for about 30 minutes and finally gave up and got up for my shower. The alarm was set to go off at 4 am, anyway! So, the day began. Marlene got to the house at 4:30, for our planned 5 am departure. It took us a little longer to get out of the house than wed planned, but we got on the road and made the airport a little before 6. We checked our bags at the curb, and I asked the skycap if the plane had any empty seats we could put Stuarts carseat in. He assured us there were 20 empty seats, so we wouldnt have to buy a ticket. We pulled the carseat out of its duffel bag and off I went to park the car, while the others went inside to get through security with Stuart & all his travel stuff! The skycap took our information, but said he didnt need to see any ID for Stuart, although I let him know that I had a copy of his birth certificate.
Parking was easy, the shuttle was right there for me, and I was back at the terminal and through security in no time. And, since we were preboarding, I ignored the lines at the gateremember, were flying Southwest, who doesnt assign seats. People get their boarding passes, and then they stand for an hour to be the first ones in their group to get on board. I like this preboarding better!
After we boarded (right in our favorite row, over the wing and behind the exit row) and got Stuart settled in his seat, the attendant announced that the flight was full, and all lap children would have to actually be lap children. I asked her what was going on, since the skycap said there were 20 extra seats! She went and checkedseems SWA usually flies their 700-series planes, but since this flight hadnt filled, they switched to a 500-series plane, with 20 fewer seats. Bummer. So, we unbuckled Stuart and his seat, and she kindly gate-checked it for us.
Although Stuart did have a little problem with his ears on take-off, he was remarkably good for a little boy whod been awakened 2-3 hours before his usual wake-up time. He wanted to get down and play, he wanted to play with the lady in the row ahead of us, but mostly, he played with his new toys and did really well. He really liked playing with the window shade on the planeup and down, up and down, up and down. He got mad when it got stuck, so we had to make sure and fix it for him quickly (hes at that age when he gets frustrated easily), but other than that, he was great. A nap would have been nice, but it didnt happen.
The flight was over quickly, we got our bags and our rental van, changed into our Florida clothes and/or shoes (hey, it was 30 at home, and 75 in Florida!), and off we went to Cocoa Beach. I was born there, and I really wanted Stuart to see the ocean. He took a little nap on the way, and then we drove around Port Canaveral so Art & Marlene could see the Disney Wonder in port. On our way across the causeway, we saw some people at the side of the road, and when we looked, there was a dolphin playing in the water just off shore. Art had never seen a dolphin in the wild before, so that was really special. Then we drove through Cocoa Beach looking for a restaurant my mom & I had visited a few years ago. I never found it, so we stopped at Coconuts on the Beach instead. We had great fried shrimp, Art had a pina colada, and Stuart got to walk around and stretch his legs a little. He didnt want to eat, which surprised mehes usually a little piggie at meals! I figured he was just off schedule, so we didnt worry too much.
Stuart loved the beach! At first, he didnt like walking in the sand, but once we got down to where it was firmer, he liked that. He liked the seagulls (he called them ucks--his word for ducks), but when I waded with him into the waves, he got scared. I dont think he liked the way the water sucked the sand out from under his feet. We played in the sand and built sand castles (well, I built them and Stuart knocked them down!), and while he was playing, I stood up to see if Art was coming down to see us, as he said he would. As I was looking up the dune, I heard pat-pat-pat-pat and turned around to see my boy headed out to sea! He decided he liked those waves after all, and he was going to get more of them. I caught him and we played in the surf for a little while. He caught a seventh wave and got pretty soaked, and he laughed and laughed!
After playing on the beach and relaxing on the Coconuts deck for a little while, we took off back towards Orlando. Stuart (and everyone else besides me!) had another nap on the road, and we made it to All Star without further ado. When we checked in, I expected to get an envelop or somethingmy Fairy Godmailer had dropped off some postcards for us to be there when we checked in. Or, that was the plan, anyway. No postcards. Bummer. I figured she had just been busy, and although I was a little disappointed, it wasnt a huge deal. We checked in, got everything we had asked for in our rooms (connecting, with a king in one room), and went to find them. We were in Jazz, which was great. We love the closeness and colors of Calypso, but we wont pay for it, so we just walked through it every day on our way to the food court instead! We walked into our rooms, and I started coughing. Our non-smoking room in our non-smoking building had a horrible smell of cigarette smoke! I called the front desk, and they couldnt switch us, because every other connecting room set was taken, throughout the whole resort, and even at the other All Stars. I didnt ask about Pop, because they offered to come and clean the room and set up an ion machine (plus take off half the room rate!) Since Art & I were going out to do some shopping anyway, I told them that was fine.
We let Stuart & Marlene stay to rest and check out the resort, and we headed off to Downtown Disney for some shopping. We had our first sandwiches at the Earl of Sandwichwow! That place was hopping, and I can see why. Lets seeEarl for inexpensive really good sandwiches, or McDonalds? I dont even like the Wolfgang Puck counter service, because I got some pasta there once with big chunks of raw garlic in it, and it made me sick. That meant the pickings for a quick meal at DD were pretty slim for me before the Earl moved in. That place is amazing--$4.95 for a fantastic hot sandwich? Sure, you have to stand in line to get it, but this is Disney! You stand in line for popcorn, for heavens sake!
We were pretty tired, and we still needed to stop by the grocery store, so Art & I didnt spend much time in DD. We did a quick check of the Pin Traders, WoD, and the $10 Alley, but didnt buy anything. We just picked up our free Kelloggs pin at the PT and went. Art really likes Goodings, but I convinced him to try Publix, and he admitted that they were a really nice store (we went to the one just off I-Drive and Irlo Bronson). Back to the resort for a relatively early night. What a long day!
