Arrival Day
The day had finally come to head to Disney. Time sure had flown by.
Luckily the cats were all set to be looked after by their usual sitter, a lovely neighbour who is always happy to watch them while we are away. Alek, my brother, had also said he would try and pop over to spend some time with them.
Woohoo on arrival day!
Glad you had people you trust to look after the cats.
Only a small group of people knew that we were going away. We decided to not post about the trip on social media as my mom didn't want it to get back to my grandmother that we had so easily flown off to WDW after she had asked us not to come to Ohio as had been the original plan. She thought that it might offend my grandma. I wasn't really sure why she would be offended as she was the one who cancelled our visit but I agreed to not posting about it on Facebook or Instagram. I had told my "work bestie" Sam and two of my other close friends so I was still able to Snap them photos throughout our trip. My brothers also knew of course so even though they were not on the trip Mom and I had an online chat going with them throughout the trip where we would send them photos and video.
Oh that’s a shame that you weren’t able to post on social media but at least you had a couple of options to discuss the happenings of your trip.
As I finished up my packing I snapped a photo of my array of mouse ears to my friends before they were carefully placed in my carry-on, couldn't have those go astray if my checked bag went missing!
Definitely don’t want to be losing them mouse ears.
Our flight was very early in the morning which meant that we had to leave in the middle of the night to make the two hour drive down to Syracuse. I always get a little nervous with this drive as we have to cross the border into the States but at that time of the night I could not imagine that things would be backed up. You just never know though right?!
Ah glad the drive was smooth sailing on this occasion.
Right around 0400 we were arriving at the Syracuse airport which gave us about two hours to park, check-in, get through Security etc. Lots of time! We didn't need to be there that early but I always prefer to have lots of time at the airport rather than being rushed and stressed.
Always better to have time to relax before getting on the flight rather than being rushed.
I had to pay for my checked bag when we checked in as when we had done our online check-in at the 24 hour mark I had not been sure if I would even be bringing a checked bag. I probably could have gotten away with just a carry-on but then I would not have had room to bring back souvenirs or my many purchases from Basin!
Eek couldn’t cope with carry on to Disney though I have longer to travel
Definitely need that space for the purchases!
Mom had decided to upgrade us to Comfort Plus when she did our online check-in. She wanted to guarantee spots for our carry-on bags and it came with more leg room and early boarding. This was a nice little perk.
Here we are on the plane looking chipper at 0542!
The flight to NYC was only an hour so I pretty much just spent our flight time looking out the window. I was very excited when we flew right over NYC!
Even though we weren't visiting the city it was still fun to look out the window and see if I could identify any landmarks.
Yay on the upgrade and you guys look fresh for that time in the morning, however you were heading to the happiest place on earth!
Nice shot of NYC
I messaged my best friend Sharon who had no idea at this point that I was on vacation. I sent her a picture of my rose gold
Loungefly bag that I was using as my personal item for the flight rather than lugging a purse to WDW with me that would just sit in the room. She couldn't believe that we were headed to WDW. I sent her a picture of NYC and told her I was in the airport there right now and she responded with "what!?"
See, it is not just Dis people who find it unlike me to just take off.
Haha on the reaction from your best friend. People won’t be as surprised after this trip.
Our flight landed twenty minutes early, yay!
Yay!!
Bag in hand it was down another level to pick up our car at Alamo. We were lucky again and there was no line at the rental counter.
Paperwork in hand we crossed over to the garage and had our pick of cars. We decided to go with a red Nissan Sentra. We figured it would be easier to spot than the usual white rentals that are handed out. We will never forget all the way back in 2007 being unable to spot our nondescript white rental car in the Animal Kingdom parking lot and wandering around for ages looking for it. That was before we got smart about photographing the row we parked in.
I understand your need for a car that stands out. We had a similar situation when we went to a fireworks night at a theme park in the UK. We spent ages looking for the car at the end of the night. Like you, we learnt our lesson and now take a photo or look for a noticeable landmarks.
It was an easy drive to WDW and soon we were driving through these magical arches.
Full confession, that photo is from later in the day. Mom was in charge of taking the entrance photo since I was driving and she accidentally had her phone set to video.
So, we knew from last year that they were doing work on the roads around property and it wasn't fully finished yet. It was a bit confusing. Arriving on property I was very confident that I knew how to get to Pop but the roadwork and the new signage threw me off and we drove one turn too far and ended up in the cast member parking behind Hollywood Studios!
We got a great view into Galaxy's Edge from back there so I got over my annoyance quickly. We just had to drive around the lot which then connects with the guest lot and we exited through the normal park exit. We then did a loop around and ended up back where we started and this time I found the correct turn to get onto Victory Way and we were arriving at Pop in no time.
Yay on the magical arch picture even if it was from later on in the trip!
Phew, glad you finally made it to Pop Century.
We had no wait to check-in and we had a very kind cast member. I had my magic band from our previous trip but mom could not find hers so we were expecting her to end up with a plain grey one since you can't customize in
MDE so close to your check-in day. Well, the CM asked my mom if she had a colour preference and was able to get her a green magic band. A little bit of pixie dust to start off our trip. We were also happy as we got our room request that I had put in on MDE when I did our online check-in the day before - top floor, 50's, bldg 1. This was our ideal location as it was close to the parking lot, the pool and Classic Hall.
Yay on the pixie dust with your mums magic band and you getting your room request.
One thing I will note about Pop when comparing it to AKL and WL, the lobby was so noisy! I sometimes had a hard time hearing the CM over the noise of the music and the kids running around screaming. It may have just been a random occurrence for when we were there but it was not the calming and atmospheric check-in environment we have experienced at the two lodges. I would not have cared so much except for like I stated, I had a hard time hearing the CM at times due to the noise level.
Oh no on the noise levels at the lobby and struggling to hear the CMs. I think there were children running around when we were there as well.
Lovely photos of your room at Pop Century. The TV is huge in the rooms. Glad you were able to change into a summer dress. I love that feeling of being able to change and re-fresh after a journey.
Great pics of the area near the room...love the lady and the tramp!