The Cast
- DW (Da Wife) Extreme luggage organizer, will try anything once, generally fun loving
- Me - Planning freak, DIS lover, and a 46 y.o. kid.
- DS 16 - (Mongo) goofball with no sense of direction. Eats once a day .the entire time he is awake
- DS 12 - (Taz) Large bundle of pure energy. Can be a picky eater. Will try anything twice.
The day begins at 12:01 am. Time to print those Southwest Airline boarding passes. Aw, who am I kidding . the surprise limo is coming in 5 hours and there is zero chance Ill be sleeping tonight. I spend the rest of the early morning putting finishing touches on the itinerary binder, checking the pre-prepared tip envelopes, and generally obsessing over things I cant control.
Wake up calls are at 4am. The limo arrives at 5am. All the bags were packed the night before and were neatly lined up next to the front door. Gotta love Da Wife a place for everything, and everything in its place. Mongo and Taz sleepwalk through the shower. There are unconfirmed reports that they even used soap. Ill give them kudos for the effort at this time of the morning.
5am .no limo. 5:10am ..still no limo. 5:15am limo driver calls and says the car has overheated. He needed to go back to the garage and get the other car. UGH. Is this how things are going to go ??? Im not even out the door and things seem to be going wrong. What did I just sign up for? 5:30 am black stretch limos pulls up to the house. Da Wife, Mongo, and Taz first think this is the limos companys way of making it up to us. Had to let them in on the secret that this was the plan all along. The car was stocked with snacks, juices and sodas. Just enough stuff to fill our bellies for the flight. We make it to Philadelphia International in plenty of time. Luggage was checked and through security with no problems. Well, almost no problems. Da Wife forgot to take her mini Swiss Army knife out of the toiletry case before loading it up. The TSA agent found it straight away. Da Wife now needs a new Swiss Army Knife.
Plane boards with no problems. We are told before boarding that there is only one unsold seat on the flight, so this is going to be a sardine can. Enter Pixie Dust sprinkle #1. There was only one open seat, and it was in between Mongo and I. Ahhhh, spreading those elbows, and stretching those legs all the way to Tampa was quite a nice perk. The flight was uneventful, and noticeable void of mouse ears. Most were folks heading for cruises.
Tampa International is a great airport. Reminds me of a large Lehigh Valley airport. We pick up our Avis Mini van, and in no time are on I-4, heading for the Mouse. I had to do 75 in the slow lane the whole way there, just to keep from getting run over. Traffic was nearly non-existent and the construction crews were not working on the interstate. Made a brief water & grocery run to the Publix on RT 192, and we were at the Wilderness Lodge 1:25 minutes after leaving the Tampa airport.
Pulling the van up to the valet and being greeted with the traditional Welcome Home was a keen indication of things to come. The drive onto WL property and the entry to the grand lobby is simply breathtaking. Taz was even at a loss for words, which is rare. I got all teary eyed, knowing as soon as I walked through the entrance that I made the right hotel choice. This was our kind of place. It took about ½ hour to reach the check in desk. All the CMs seemed kind of rushed, but were all focused on their customers. Jackie was our CM at check in. The first words out of here mouth were Im sorry, we have no rooms with bunk beds available. ARGHHHH ! Please dont rain in this great feeling. Almost immediately she said but dont worry, Ill take care of you. Ill upgrade your view. Needing the floor managers approval for a view upgrade, she calls him over. So, youre from Pennsylvania he said. We quickly get into a conversation of common places weve been, PA falls and winters, and other such small talk. The manager looks at Jackie and says (and I quote) put them here. What could that mean. We are either about to get a big surprise, or become terribly disappointed. Jackie looks at Da Wife and lets us know were in for a real treat !.
We head off to DTD for lunch while our room is being prepared. Based on DIS recommendations, we head to the Earl of Sandwich. What a phenomenal counter service meal. The bread was spectacular; all the sandwiches were to die for. (Look for a full restaurant review in coming days in the restaurant thread). After lunch, we went to the Lego store, and browsed the DTD shops. We called back to the WL ~ 2:15, and we were pleasantly surprised to find our room was ready. So we hopped a bus back to the lodge.
We were given room 4041. The room number gave me no bearings, since this was our first time at the lodge. We make our way down the ramp, past Roaring Forks, and to the North side elevators. When we exit on the 4th floor we go left, left, again, and left a 3rd time. 4041 is the last room on the hall. There is a small window in the hall looking down onto Artist Point. When we open the door, the first thing we see is the view. OH MY GAWD !!!!. The falls, the pool, the geyser, and the lake all lay at our feet. If I had to pick a room, I think I would have picked this one. We now know why Jackie was smiling so much while she was completing our check in. The valet was there in short order with our luggage. First chore was to break out some soft drinks and sit on the balcony, surveying what would be home for the next 7 days.
Coming up in Part 2 ..We head to the Magic Kingdom, and Da wife reveals her nose fetish.
Part 2
- DW (Da Wife) Extreme luggage organizer, will try anything once, generally fun loving
- Me - Planning freak, DIS lover, and a 46 y.o. kid.
- DS 16 - (Mongo) goofball with no sense of direction. Eats once a day .the entire time he is awake
- DS 12 - (Taz) Large bundle of pure energy. Can be a picky eater. Will try anything twice.
The day begins at 12:01 am. Time to print those Southwest Airline boarding passes. Aw, who am I kidding . the surprise limo is coming in 5 hours and there is zero chance Ill be sleeping tonight. I spend the rest of the early morning putting finishing touches on the itinerary binder, checking the pre-prepared tip envelopes, and generally obsessing over things I cant control.
Wake up calls are at 4am. The limo arrives at 5am. All the bags were packed the night before and were neatly lined up next to the front door. Gotta love Da Wife a place for everything, and everything in its place. Mongo and Taz sleepwalk through the shower. There are unconfirmed reports that they even used soap. Ill give them kudos for the effort at this time of the morning.
5am .no limo. 5:10am ..still no limo. 5:15am limo driver calls and says the car has overheated. He needed to go back to the garage and get the other car. UGH. Is this how things are going to go ??? Im not even out the door and things seem to be going wrong. What did I just sign up for? 5:30 am black stretch limos pulls up to the house. Da Wife, Mongo, and Taz first think this is the limos companys way of making it up to us. Had to let them in on the secret that this was the plan all along. The car was stocked with snacks, juices and sodas. Just enough stuff to fill our bellies for the flight. We make it to Philadelphia International in plenty of time. Luggage was checked and through security with no problems. Well, almost no problems. Da Wife forgot to take her mini Swiss Army knife out of the toiletry case before loading it up. The TSA agent found it straight away. Da Wife now needs a new Swiss Army Knife.
Plane boards with no problems. We are told before boarding that there is only one unsold seat on the flight, so this is going to be a sardine can. Enter Pixie Dust sprinkle #1. There was only one open seat, and it was in between Mongo and I. Ahhhh, spreading those elbows, and stretching those legs all the way to Tampa was quite a nice perk. The flight was uneventful, and noticeable void of mouse ears. Most were folks heading for cruises.
Tampa International is a great airport. Reminds me of a large Lehigh Valley airport. We pick up our Avis Mini van, and in no time are on I-4, heading for the Mouse. I had to do 75 in the slow lane the whole way there, just to keep from getting run over. Traffic was nearly non-existent and the construction crews were not working on the interstate. Made a brief water & grocery run to the Publix on RT 192, and we were at the Wilderness Lodge 1:25 minutes after leaving the Tampa airport.
Pulling the van up to the valet and being greeted with the traditional Welcome Home was a keen indication of things to come. The drive onto WL property and the entry to the grand lobby is simply breathtaking. Taz was even at a loss for words, which is rare. I got all teary eyed, knowing as soon as I walked through the entrance that I made the right hotel choice. This was our kind of place. It took about ½ hour to reach the check in desk. All the CMs seemed kind of rushed, but were all focused on their customers. Jackie was our CM at check in. The first words out of here mouth were Im sorry, we have no rooms with bunk beds available. ARGHHHH ! Please dont rain in this great feeling. Almost immediately she said but dont worry, Ill take care of you. Ill upgrade your view. Needing the floor managers approval for a view upgrade, she calls him over. So, youre from Pennsylvania he said. We quickly get into a conversation of common places weve been, PA falls and winters, and other such small talk. The manager looks at Jackie and says (and I quote) put them here. What could that mean. We are either about to get a big surprise, or become terribly disappointed. Jackie looks at Da Wife and lets us know were in for a real treat !.
We head off to DTD for lunch while our room is being prepared. Based on DIS recommendations, we head to the Earl of Sandwich. What a phenomenal counter service meal. The bread was spectacular; all the sandwiches were to die for. (Look for a full restaurant review in coming days in the restaurant thread). After lunch, we went to the Lego store, and browsed the DTD shops. We called back to the WL ~ 2:15, and we were pleasantly surprised to find our room was ready. So we hopped a bus back to the lodge.
We were given room 4041. The room number gave me no bearings, since this was our first time at the lodge. We make our way down the ramp, past Roaring Forks, and to the North side elevators. When we exit on the 4th floor we go left, left, again, and left a 3rd time. 4041 is the last room on the hall. There is a small window in the hall looking down onto Artist Point. When we open the door, the first thing we see is the view. OH MY GAWD !!!!. The falls, the pool, the geyser, and the lake all lay at our feet. If I had to pick a room, I think I would have picked this one. We now know why Jackie was smiling so much while she was completing our check in. The valet was there in short order with our luggage. First chore was to break out some soft drinks and sit on the balcony, surveying what would be home for the next 7 days.
Coming up in Part 2 ..We head to the Magic Kingdom, and Da wife reveals her nose fetish.
Part 2
Looking forward to your next installment...
Thanks for brining me HOME 
