MScott1851
<font color=font color=royalblue>Got a link for th
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2002
- Messages
- 3,198
(I apologize in advance...these trip reports may take a long time for me to complete. The last two days of the trip were a blur, and I have managed to misplace my notes. Hopefully when I unpack later this week, I will find the wayward slips of paper!!)
I also realize that I have to do a FANTABULOUS job on these trip reports to bury JoeDisney and his Octopus, and all the Block-Voting-Brits on these boards...I will try my best. And since my "secret weapon" on the tale of the tape is "clothes, lots of clothes," I will list my superhero wardrobe changes throughout the day.
Being the pitiless creature that I am, I made Clint work on Wednesday, the day we left, while my last day was Monday...He went in at 4am, and got off at 1pm. I thought that I could get all my little last minute things done with him out of my hair, and besides, he'd be making more money for me to spend at the same time!
So I set out from the house at around 7:30am. (First costume: Abercrombie and Fitch Girl: khaki shorts, a tee-shirt that says "I Buy Vinyl" with little turntables on it, and flipflops.) I go to the UPS store and mail his anniversary present...guaranteed to be there by Friday morning. Sunday is actually the big day, but I didn't want to take any chances, so I left it to the handsome Men in Brown. (More on this fiasco to come.) On to my office to pick up my paychecks for the last two shifts worked, to the bank, to the Chic-Fil-A drive through, and by the dry cleaners. Before I know it, it is almost 11:00, and I still have to get my eyebrows waxed before I fight Memphis traffic all the way around the loop and across downtown to pick up Clint. But I refuse to walk around with caterpillars on my face in Orlando, so I rush into the mall, and get the women working on my toes, hands, and brows all at once. Then it's off to the tanning bed...I haven't seen the sun in three months since I've been working night shift, and don't want to burn, so I've been tanning for the past couple of weeks.. Word of advice: NEVER tan after getting your brows waxed. After my 30 minutes are up, the skin around my newly groomed eyebrows is a lovely magenta shade, both from the wax irritation and UV exposure. Not to mention the fact that I used a tanning lotion that smelled good in the bottle, but after basting in it and my own sweat for thirty minutes, I am the biggest funk-stank-master. Clint actually recoils in horror when he jumps in the car when I pick him up, and makes a big production of rolling down the window and gagging while gasping for breath and making the sign of the crucifix in my direction. A lovely start to our anniversary trip, don't you think?
He manages to pack quickly in the tiny suitcase and WalMart sack I left for him, and we load all EIGHT bags to the car. (Second superhero outfit: Very Audrey Hepburn: black sleeveless turtleneck, hot pink capris, black wedges, and movie star sunglasses) Yep. Eight bags for eight days...A girl has to have her necessities, like tiaras, eleven pair of shoes, etc. I cringe when I mentally calculate bellhop tips for the luggage, but shrug it off with the "I'm on vacation" attitude. We park the car in an off-site lot with some trepidation, this is Memphis, after all, where only fifty-six car thefts were reported that week, but who can afford the $11-$21 per day on-site parking gouge? The off-site shuttle does have it's advantages...it deposits you at the terminal baggage check-in, instead of us having to lug all eight bags from the deck on our own. We get checked in without any difficulty, and head toward the rest of the lemmings in the security screener line. I packed with Ziploc bags, wore no metal, left the guns and knives at home, but guess who gets chosen for the "random search"? Yep. I have to step aside and let Craig and DeDe at "Top Flight Security" rifle through my bags with that little stick thing that all of them seem to carry. You know, the chopstick on steroids that security screeners are so fond of. When they are through poking my lingerie and opening my shampoo to ensure I'm not smuggling a family of illegal aliens in it, they can enjoy their dim sum from the food court. After they get through exposing my change of clothes, underwear included, shoes, hair dryer, makeup bag, Mr. Misty fan and Unofficial Guide To WDW to everyone else in line, they are satisfied that I'm not on a mission from Osama and send me on my way. We grab a sandwich from Interstate BBQ (THE WORLD'S BEST..I'M NOT LYING) in the food court and have just enough time to eat before boarding the plane. We flew Northwest Airlines...Memphis is their biggest hub, and flights are cheap and frequent from here. We spent just $167 apiece on our tickets. We decided to go with National for our rental...I used the Emerald Aisle option, with the old Disney Club code, a National product code, along with the Entertainment Book coupon for $20 off a weekly rental, and ended up with a price of $131.37 for the week...not too shabby!
The flight and rental car pick-up were mostly uneventful, except for the fact that we took a wrong turn out of MCO while attempting to avoid a toll road. I'm not sure what road we turned on, but we drove at least fifteen miles until we saw a familiar road sign...the road being Colonial Drive. For those of you whose Orlando map know-how is limited to I-Drive, I-4, Sand Lake Drive, and I-92, Colonial Drive is at least five to ten minutes NORTH of downtown Orlando. On the bright side, we now know where a number of pawn shops, title loan stores, gentlemen's clubs, and most of the projects in Orlando are located.
After taking the scenic route, we get on I-4 and head towards WDW. As we approach, I am somewhat apprehensive about the Hilton at DTD. It doesn't get much press, good OR bad, on the Disboards. I had taken a chance and gotten it for $59 per night on Priceline. Orange construction cones, fenced off areas, and "Pardon Our Progress" signs all around the hotel did little to alleviate my fear as we navigated the parking lot. However, once we actually entered the hotel, I was relieved to find it clean, quiet, and the staff was wonderful. We were assigned a non-smoking room, and when I asked for a king bed, they were able to accommodate me with no problem. We found the room comfortable, clean, and perfect for our needs, (i.e. room for the EIGHT bags we brought, and the third clothing change of the day, into a tank top and jogging pants...no writing on the rear end, though!) and after hitting Wendy's for a midnight cheeseburger, we quickly fell asleep (final ensemble, tank top and boxers, courtesy of Clint), with visions of Dole Whips dancing in my head...not sure about Clint's dreams, but he kept smacking his lips, making horse noises, and sweated profusely. I learned not to ask a long time ago!
More to come...we hit WDW tomorrow!!!
I also realize that I have to do a FANTABULOUS job on these trip reports to bury JoeDisney and his Octopus, and all the Block-Voting-Brits on these boards...I will try my best. And since my "secret weapon" on the tale of the tape is "clothes, lots of clothes," I will list my superhero wardrobe changes throughout the day.
Being the pitiless creature that I am, I made Clint work on Wednesday, the day we left, while my last day was Monday...He went in at 4am, and got off at 1pm. I thought that I could get all my little last minute things done with him out of my hair, and besides, he'd be making more money for me to spend at the same time!
So I set out from the house at around 7:30am. (First costume: Abercrombie and Fitch Girl: khaki shorts, a tee-shirt that says "I Buy Vinyl" with little turntables on it, and flipflops.) I go to the UPS store and mail his anniversary present...guaranteed to be there by Friday morning. Sunday is actually the big day, but I didn't want to take any chances, so I left it to the handsome Men in Brown. (More on this fiasco to come.) On to my office to pick up my paychecks for the last two shifts worked, to the bank, to the Chic-Fil-A drive through, and by the dry cleaners. Before I know it, it is almost 11:00, and I still have to get my eyebrows waxed before I fight Memphis traffic all the way around the loop and across downtown to pick up Clint. But I refuse to walk around with caterpillars on my face in Orlando, so I rush into the mall, and get the women working on my toes, hands, and brows all at once. Then it's off to the tanning bed...I haven't seen the sun in three months since I've been working night shift, and don't want to burn, so I've been tanning for the past couple of weeks.. Word of advice: NEVER tan after getting your brows waxed. After my 30 minutes are up, the skin around my newly groomed eyebrows is a lovely magenta shade, both from the wax irritation and UV exposure. Not to mention the fact that I used a tanning lotion that smelled good in the bottle, but after basting in it and my own sweat for thirty minutes, I am the biggest funk-stank-master. Clint actually recoils in horror when he jumps in the car when I pick him up, and makes a big production of rolling down the window and gagging while gasping for breath and making the sign of the crucifix in my direction. A lovely start to our anniversary trip, don't you think?
He manages to pack quickly in the tiny suitcase and WalMart sack I left for him, and we load all EIGHT bags to the car. (Second superhero outfit: Very Audrey Hepburn: black sleeveless turtleneck, hot pink capris, black wedges, and movie star sunglasses) Yep. Eight bags for eight days...A girl has to have her necessities, like tiaras, eleven pair of shoes, etc. I cringe when I mentally calculate bellhop tips for the luggage, but shrug it off with the "I'm on vacation" attitude. We park the car in an off-site lot with some trepidation, this is Memphis, after all, where only fifty-six car thefts were reported that week, but who can afford the $11-$21 per day on-site parking gouge? The off-site shuttle does have it's advantages...it deposits you at the terminal baggage check-in, instead of us having to lug all eight bags from the deck on our own. We get checked in without any difficulty, and head toward the rest of the lemmings in the security screener line. I packed with Ziploc bags, wore no metal, left the guns and knives at home, but guess who gets chosen for the "random search"? Yep. I have to step aside and let Craig and DeDe at "Top Flight Security" rifle through my bags with that little stick thing that all of them seem to carry. You know, the chopstick on steroids that security screeners are so fond of. When they are through poking my lingerie and opening my shampoo to ensure I'm not smuggling a family of illegal aliens in it, they can enjoy their dim sum from the food court. After they get through exposing my change of clothes, underwear included, shoes, hair dryer, makeup bag, Mr. Misty fan and Unofficial Guide To WDW to everyone else in line, they are satisfied that I'm not on a mission from Osama and send me on my way. We grab a sandwich from Interstate BBQ (THE WORLD'S BEST..I'M NOT LYING) in the food court and have just enough time to eat before boarding the plane. We flew Northwest Airlines...Memphis is their biggest hub, and flights are cheap and frequent from here. We spent just $167 apiece on our tickets. We decided to go with National for our rental...I used the Emerald Aisle option, with the old Disney Club code, a National product code, along with the Entertainment Book coupon for $20 off a weekly rental, and ended up with a price of $131.37 for the week...not too shabby!
The flight and rental car pick-up were mostly uneventful, except for the fact that we took a wrong turn out of MCO while attempting to avoid a toll road. I'm not sure what road we turned on, but we drove at least fifteen miles until we saw a familiar road sign...the road being Colonial Drive. For those of you whose Orlando map know-how is limited to I-Drive, I-4, Sand Lake Drive, and I-92, Colonial Drive is at least five to ten minutes NORTH of downtown Orlando. On the bright side, we now know where a number of pawn shops, title loan stores, gentlemen's clubs, and most of the projects in Orlando are located.
After taking the scenic route, we get on I-4 and head towards WDW. As we approach, I am somewhat apprehensive about the Hilton at DTD. It doesn't get much press, good OR bad, on the Disboards. I had taken a chance and gotten it for $59 per night on Priceline. Orange construction cones, fenced off areas, and "Pardon Our Progress" signs all around the hotel did little to alleviate my fear as we navigated the parking lot. However, once we actually entered the hotel, I was relieved to find it clean, quiet, and the staff was wonderful. We were assigned a non-smoking room, and when I asked for a king bed, they were able to accommodate me with no problem. We found the room comfortable, clean, and perfect for our needs, (i.e. room for the EIGHT bags we brought, and the third clothing change of the day, into a tank top and jogging pants...no writing on the rear end, though!) and after hitting Wendy's for a midnight cheeseburger, we quickly fell asleep (final ensemble, tank top and boxers, courtesy of Clint), with visions of Dole Whips dancing in my head...not sure about Clint's dreams, but he kept smacking his lips, making horse noises, and sweated profusely. I learned not to ask a long time ago!
More to come...we hit WDW tomorrow!!!
), what cars did you notice in the Emerald Aisle?
