Day 1 October 26, 2012
On that Friday morning the 26th of October we started to get ready for our trip to WDW. This was going to be an excited trip since this will be the first time I will be going during the Halloween season and the Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT. So there are a lot of things to look forward to this trip. Around 3:30am Pacific Time, I got up that day and was about to head on over to Sacramento International Airport with my other family relatives. My dad was nice to take my DB, my aunt and I to the airport. It does make a big difference when he takes us to the airport so we wont have to park a car at the airport. We had to make a few stops to pick up my DB and my aunt that day. The other party members, Uncle M, S, and R and Aunt H will meet us at the airport that morning.
The three of us got to the airport around 4:00am that morning and was flying on United Airlines. We had to make one stop to Denver and travel straight to Orlando. Mostly in the past when we go to WDW, we leave first thing in the morning from Sacramento so we can make it to Orlando later during at night. Sometimes we got there around 6pm and one time we got in Orlando around midnight once. Even though we got really early in the morning, it does make a difference of time to leave early from the West coast to the east coast.
We left at Sacramento around 5:35am and heading on over to Denver as our first stop. Mostly when we go to Orlando, we stop at Denver, LA, or Chicago on our way since there are no straight flights to Orlando from Sacramento. We stopped at Denver and had to wait for three hours since our flight does not leave at 12pm in Denver. So we just relaxed at Denver until it was time to board our plane.
At 12pm, we left Denver and straight to Orlando. It took about 4 ½ hours to get from Denver to Orlando. We were on the same plane heading straight to Orlando. Most of my party members were sleeping on the plane while I was reading the tips of taking fireworks trails so I can be ready when we see some of the nighttime shows at WDW.
We landed at Orlando around 6pm eastern time which was really fast and we head on over to the baggage claim to get our bags. It was a little cloudy that day in Orlando and I have checked on the weather that it has the potential to rain that night. We were hoping that it wouldnt rain.
Just leaving the plane and into the terminal
Riding the monorail to the baggage claim
When we got to the baggage claim, we got all of our bags and head on over to get our rental cars. My other relatives had to go to Budget while we went to Enterprise. We got a 2013 Lincoln MKS car. Mostly I dont drive luxury cars on my trips since they cost extra. But my aunt is a luxury car driver and doesnt want to drive in the lower class. It was a nice to drive something nice, but I also have to be careful since it was a nice car.
We left around 7:00pm and on our way to a Vietnamese restaurant in Orlando called Lac Viet Bistro. It is north or Orlando and it was not even close to WDW. But my uncles and aunt want to eat there when we got to Orlando and we had no problem eating there that night. When we left the airport, it started to rain that night and it was coming down a little. Not pouring where it was hard to see. It took about half an hour to get to the restaurant from the airport since we were going down the streets and not the freeway.
It was around 7:30pm when we got to Lac Viet Bistro restaurant. It was a small restaurant and not a big one where it carried a lot of people. It was nice to have Vietnamese food before the trip since my aunt and uncles like that kind of food. The food was really nice that night, but it was not that special. My aunt and uncles are big time food people so they will have a great time when we go to EPCOT at the Food and Wine Festival.
Pictures of the food from that night.
After dinner, we head on straight to the Sheraton Vistana Resort. But before we head on over to the Sheraton Vistana Resort we had to stop and get some supplies like food and amenities since the rooms dont provide some of these things like soap, paper towels, etc. We stopped at the Wal Mart close to the Sheraton right on SR-535.
We got to the resort around 10pm and we went straight to the Welcome Center to pick up our keys to our room. Since we have two rooms, I requested that our rooms are right next to each other. When we got our room keys we were staying in the Lakes area. The last trip in 2011, we stayed at Cascades area and this time we were in another area of the property on the other side. This was close to the restaurants while the other area has the Market Place as you can see from the picture.
We head on over to the room and everyone were all impressed with the room. The room looks like the same when I stayed in 2010 with my DA. Last year it was different since the complex was a 6 story building. Our building this year was a three story. We were staying on the 2nd floor, I asked earlier if there were any ground floors available, but there werent any and this was the best one. I could have asked for one with an elevator where this building that we were staying didnt have any. But everyone didnt have a problem with it and this will be our place for our trip.
Just like the other times I have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort it had a master bedroom, two double bedroom, living room, a kitchen, washer & dryer, plus the two bathroom which was a master and a standard bathroom. We gave the master bedroom to my aunt while my DB and I were sharing the double bedroom. She was happy that she got the big bed.
At first before my aunt and DB decided to come close to the last second, I was going to have the room all to myself. It would have been weird to have the room to myself since I thought that my DB and his GF V were coming. Since V mom was diagnose with colon cancer, she decided to stay in Sacramento and care for her. My DB was going to do the same thing and dont come with us on the trip since the only reason he was willing to go was for his GF to see Orlando. But he changed his mind at the last second and dont waste the airline ticket. My aunt which is my dads sister wasnt originally going on the trip, but she had some free time and hasnt been to Orlando in over 30 years. So this was a great opportunity for her to have a nice relaxation trip and keep us company. It turned out really great to have her come with us during the trip.
Here are some pictures from the room that my aunt and DB were staying.
Living room and dining area
Kitchen
Hallway to the rooms
Two Double Bedroom
Standard Bathroom
Hallway to the Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Master Bathroom
Shower
Jacuzzi
After we got settled in the room, we went to bed around midnight. It took us quite a while to go to bed since we are changing times from a 3 hour difference on the east coast from the west coast. Our first day will be at EPCOT since my uncles, aunts and my DB are looking forward to the most since this is one of the things that they wanted to do in Orlando.
It was a long day of transferring flights and getting supplies. But it was a good to have those products during the trip since we were hungry or thirsty while we were at the rooms resting up in the middle of the day. There were a few times during the trip that we didnt get a lot of rest at the room like an hour break.