elgerber
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2000
- Messages
- 24,411
Arrival Day, Saturday 10/16/04
The cast
Me, Erika, 35, Disney obsessed for as long as I can remember
Dh, 37, lucky for me, while not obsessed, also loves Disney
Ds, 11, much like dh
Dd, 8, much like me, Disney Obsessed
Before I start, let me give a little background on us. We have taken 3 trips as a family, all 4 of us. On all 3 of these trips, my dd has gotten sick in the car on the way back to the airport from Disney. We have determined she gets motion sick and for some reason, the trip back does her in. She cannot read, play games or anything else in the car ever. My ds on the other hand, can do anything in the car, and never, ever has a problem. This will come up shortly.
Also, on our last trip, we sent a box ourselves via UPS, to the hotel, with our food and some other items. We also ordered bottle water from NetGrocer to arrive before we did. The UPS box arrived on time, but the NetGrocer order that was supposed to arrive on Friday, did not arrive until the following Wed. late afternoon. At that time, we only had 3 days left, and ended up leaving half the water we ordered behind. This too will come up shortly.
Our flight was originally scheduled to leave from Minneapolis, at 1:20. Unfortunately they pushed it back to 3:25. While its nice to have time and not rush to the airport, I was going stir-crazy by 11 am. I had fully packed, and was raring to go. All that extra time gave me more time to worry about forgetting stuff LOL. I took time to set the recorder for Lost and ER, and then for Desperate Housewives while we were gone. Hmmmmmmmmm, Sunday night, no Housewives on ABC, its the Vikings game. Grrrrr. Wait, they moved Housewives to their sister channel, so I find it there, and then set the timer. I am totally hooked on this show (and Lost).
Finally its time to head to the airport. As we pull up to the terminal, I hear the guys on the radio say that the Vikings game has been moved to the sister channel, because so many people complained! After all that channel shuffling, I am now set to record an hour of the football game! I hate football LOL. Oh well. Maybe theyll replay it on Saturday, and I can call someone and get them to record it for me.
Back to our trip. We arrive at the airport in plenty of time, and head for the security check. We have never flown out from this terminal, but I really like it. Its very small and quiet, and the lines are short. As we go through security, I notice the guy who checked the boarding passes, marks mine with a red mark. Oooh, lucky me, Ive been flagged for the ol pat down LOL. Wow, that really slows you down. I will say, they are definitely thorough. I kept thinking of Delswife and her Xanax LOL.
Finally done with my patdown, and we go off to the gate. When we get there, I am searching for lime green ribbons. I know Patabel and KrnB on our flight, so I am hoping to find them. Just when I think there are none, I spot the ribbons! I go over and introduce myself to Pat, Karen and their family. What a wonderful bunch of people. They are so nice. Karens son Cole and my kids seemed to hit if off well. This would be our first of many run ins with them (good ones of course). They inform us that the governor of Minnesota is on our flight as well. Flying with celebrities, how cool are we LOL. He even flies coach. I watched his wife hand him Birnbaums book repeatedly during the flight, she was circling things and having him read them. I wish I could see which parts she was circling LOL.
Partway through the flight, my son is complaining that he cant get comfy in his seat. He starts looking a little odd. After we land, he says hes not feeling good. Oh no. My worst fear is coming true, a sick person on our vacation. Its never happened before, and Ive always considered myself very lucky. All the scenarios start flying through my head. Well have to take turns at the parks, while someone stays with Matthew. Well all get sick, and no one can go, etc etc. He sits down and leans on a pole, while dh gets the luggage. Not a good sign, usually hes waiting with him, cuz he loves the luggage carousel, he thinks they are cool. Oddly enough, our bags are the first ones off. That has never happened before! Off we go, with ds dragging along for our rental car. We have a full size reserved at National, and the full size aisle is totally empty. So is the Emerald Aisle and pretty much all the National Aisles. They send us to an executive aisle, and we get a full size car there. We finally have a car, but the line to get out of the ramp is unbelievably long! Now, back to the background at the beginning, I grabbed all the airsickness bags on the plane, in case dd needs one, especially for the trip back. But lo and behold, ds now says hes gonna be sick. Good thing I grabbed them.
We finally get out of the ramp, and we are off to the World! My excitement is extremely dampened by ds. I am worried about him and the rest of the trip. We drive through my favorite sign, the large Walt Disney World sign over the road, and we are there! Still worried about ds though, who has fallen asleep in the car (its only 8 o clock or so, 7 our time), which is a very bad sign, as that kid can go til midnight, easily, on any given day. We pull into a gas station to throw away his bag, and he opens his eyes, and pops up and says yay, were here!. All of the sudden hes peppy as can be. Maybe well be ok after all. As it turns out, the gas station we pulled into, is right across the driveway from the Boardwalk. Now Im getting excited. We valet the car and I walk into the lobby. All of the sudden I almost start crying, Im so happy to be there. Wow, I am a freak LOL. The kids run to the gift shop while I check in (there is no line at the check in). Ds now appears fine!!! I have a studio for the first night, and a 2 bedroom the second night. The woman at the counter tells me they have it set up so we dont have to switch rooms. We only have to open the door on the lock off and take over the other half. I am very pleased with this!!! I inquire about our boxes, and this time the Netgrocer box is here, but the UPS box is not. Wow, we just cannot win! We are gonna send all our boxes really early this time! At least this time we have our water, all 30 bottles.
We head off to our studio, which is on the first floor. We have a hard time finding, then realize we have to go out the door by the arcade, and across the way. Our room is first floor, by the Luna Park pool. Cool location! By the time we get to the room, its about 9pm. We let the kids get ready for bed, then watch TV in the beds, while dh and I take a quick stroll around the Boardwalk, and get some breakfast stuff at the store. Wow, what incredible weather. When we left home, it was 34 degrees and extremely windy, yuck, but here, its warm and beautiful, even after dark. And to walk down the Boardwalk at night, is heaven!!
We head back to the room, and get in bed too, girls in one bed, boys in the other LOL. Never, EVER, again, will I share a room with my kids, much less a bed!!! Dd flips all night long, like a fish out of water, and ds grinds his teeth. Lets just say dh and I did not sleep well, and were very much looking forward to the king size bed in the master bedroom that we would be in the next night, as far away from the noisy kids as possible.
The cast
Me, Erika, 35, Disney obsessed for as long as I can remember
Dh, 37, lucky for me, while not obsessed, also loves Disney
Ds, 11, much like dh
Dd, 8, much like me, Disney Obsessed
Before I start, let me give a little background on us. We have taken 3 trips as a family, all 4 of us. On all 3 of these trips, my dd has gotten sick in the car on the way back to the airport from Disney. We have determined she gets motion sick and for some reason, the trip back does her in. She cannot read, play games or anything else in the car ever. My ds on the other hand, can do anything in the car, and never, ever has a problem. This will come up shortly.
Also, on our last trip, we sent a box ourselves via UPS, to the hotel, with our food and some other items. We also ordered bottle water from NetGrocer to arrive before we did. The UPS box arrived on time, but the NetGrocer order that was supposed to arrive on Friday, did not arrive until the following Wed. late afternoon. At that time, we only had 3 days left, and ended up leaving half the water we ordered behind. This too will come up shortly.
Our flight was originally scheduled to leave from Minneapolis, at 1:20. Unfortunately they pushed it back to 3:25. While its nice to have time and not rush to the airport, I was going stir-crazy by 11 am. I had fully packed, and was raring to go. All that extra time gave me more time to worry about forgetting stuff LOL. I took time to set the recorder for Lost and ER, and then for Desperate Housewives while we were gone. Hmmmmmmmmm, Sunday night, no Housewives on ABC, its the Vikings game. Grrrrr. Wait, they moved Housewives to their sister channel, so I find it there, and then set the timer. I am totally hooked on this show (and Lost).
Finally its time to head to the airport. As we pull up to the terminal, I hear the guys on the radio say that the Vikings game has been moved to the sister channel, because so many people complained! After all that channel shuffling, I am now set to record an hour of the football game! I hate football LOL. Oh well. Maybe theyll replay it on Saturday, and I can call someone and get them to record it for me.
Back to our trip. We arrive at the airport in plenty of time, and head for the security check. We have never flown out from this terminal, but I really like it. Its very small and quiet, and the lines are short. As we go through security, I notice the guy who checked the boarding passes, marks mine with a red mark. Oooh, lucky me, Ive been flagged for the ol pat down LOL. Wow, that really slows you down. I will say, they are definitely thorough. I kept thinking of Delswife and her Xanax LOL.
Finally done with my patdown, and we go off to the gate. When we get there, I am searching for lime green ribbons. I know Patabel and KrnB on our flight, so I am hoping to find them. Just when I think there are none, I spot the ribbons! I go over and introduce myself to Pat, Karen and their family. What a wonderful bunch of people. They are so nice. Karens son Cole and my kids seemed to hit if off well. This would be our first of many run ins with them (good ones of course). They inform us that the governor of Minnesota is on our flight as well. Flying with celebrities, how cool are we LOL. He even flies coach. I watched his wife hand him Birnbaums book repeatedly during the flight, she was circling things and having him read them. I wish I could see which parts she was circling LOL.
Partway through the flight, my son is complaining that he cant get comfy in his seat. He starts looking a little odd. After we land, he says hes not feeling good. Oh no. My worst fear is coming true, a sick person on our vacation. Its never happened before, and Ive always considered myself very lucky. All the scenarios start flying through my head. Well have to take turns at the parks, while someone stays with Matthew. Well all get sick, and no one can go, etc etc. He sits down and leans on a pole, while dh gets the luggage. Not a good sign, usually hes waiting with him, cuz he loves the luggage carousel, he thinks they are cool. Oddly enough, our bags are the first ones off. That has never happened before! Off we go, with ds dragging along for our rental car. We have a full size reserved at National, and the full size aisle is totally empty. So is the Emerald Aisle and pretty much all the National Aisles. They send us to an executive aisle, and we get a full size car there. We finally have a car, but the line to get out of the ramp is unbelievably long! Now, back to the background at the beginning, I grabbed all the airsickness bags on the plane, in case dd needs one, especially for the trip back. But lo and behold, ds now says hes gonna be sick. Good thing I grabbed them.
We finally get out of the ramp, and we are off to the World! My excitement is extremely dampened by ds. I am worried about him and the rest of the trip. We drive through my favorite sign, the large Walt Disney World sign over the road, and we are there! Still worried about ds though, who has fallen asleep in the car (its only 8 o clock or so, 7 our time), which is a very bad sign, as that kid can go til midnight, easily, on any given day. We pull into a gas station to throw away his bag, and he opens his eyes, and pops up and says yay, were here!. All of the sudden hes peppy as can be. Maybe well be ok after all. As it turns out, the gas station we pulled into, is right across the driveway from the Boardwalk. Now Im getting excited. We valet the car and I walk into the lobby. All of the sudden I almost start crying, Im so happy to be there. Wow, I am a freak LOL. The kids run to the gift shop while I check in (there is no line at the check in). Ds now appears fine!!! I have a studio for the first night, and a 2 bedroom the second night. The woman at the counter tells me they have it set up so we dont have to switch rooms. We only have to open the door on the lock off and take over the other half. I am very pleased with this!!! I inquire about our boxes, and this time the Netgrocer box is here, but the UPS box is not. Wow, we just cannot win! We are gonna send all our boxes really early this time! At least this time we have our water, all 30 bottles.
We head off to our studio, which is on the first floor. We have a hard time finding, then realize we have to go out the door by the arcade, and across the way. Our room is first floor, by the Luna Park pool. Cool location! By the time we get to the room, its about 9pm. We let the kids get ready for bed, then watch TV in the beds, while dh and I take a quick stroll around the Boardwalk, and get some breakfast stuff at the store. Wow, what incredible weather. When we left home, it was 34 degrees and extremely windy, yuck, but here, its warm and beautiful, even after dark. And to walk down the Boardwalk at night, is heaven!!
We head back to the room, and get in bed too, girls in one bed, boys in the other LOL. Never, EVER, again, will I share a room with my kids, much less a bed!!! Dd flips all night long, like a fish out of water, and ds grinds his teeth. Lets just say dh and I did not sleep well, and were very much looking forward to the king size bed in the master bedroom that we would be in the next night, as far away from the noisy kids as possible.
