If we can DREAM it, we can do it! ..... another 30 day vacation Update 02/07

[LuvEeyore]

Ive only flown Luftansa once and it was much better than US based airlines. Cant wait to hear more. Glad you are home safe. Not long until Italy. I can't wait for the mini report.
Lee

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Thursday Greetings, Karin!

Know we are in the midst of your wonderful TR ....but I am sort of sitting on the edge of my chair also waiting to hear what changes/exciting news you have concerning next summer! Any chance you'll be sharing those with us soon?

 

[Dreamsdocometrue9112]

Joining in! I read your last TR and am really looking forward to reading another one! Wow, a whole 30 days! Can't wait to read more!

 

[dizneeat]

You had lunch at WPE on the 9th, we had dinner there on the 10th. We remembered our meal there last year & were a little sad we couldn't be together again.

Oh, I so wish we could have stayed for one more day. We would have loved to see you again.

Hi! I'm very happy to see this new trippie! I can't wait to hear all about it. We will be at F&W Oct 3-8. I can't wait.

I am really looking forward to hearing all about your Italy weekends. I was there last September and it really was a trip of a life time! I will relive it through your great descriptions!

Welcome!
How fun to see that you decided to join us as well.
F&W sounds awesome ... just NO way we would be able to go. You will have to take pics and post them instead. Less calories.

We are all packed and ready to leave tomorrow after work. Tom paid highway tolls online today so we can stay in the "fast lane". Can't wait for a nice and relaxed weekend.

I really enjoyed your last trip report. I wish this one was completed already-now I have to wait and follow!! Looking forward to more

Welcome!
Glad you decided to join in as well.
I am trying to speed up with this trip report - at least I don't have several at the same time.

Welcome back!

I love seeing all the good stuff you get on your flights. It's certainly different than the tiny bag of crackers and nuts we got on Southwest last year. We are going on a different airline down to Fort Lauderdale and I am very exited that they have real bags of Dorito mix and the blue tortilla chips that I can' recall the brand.

The bar in the first picture looks yummy for some reason. How are they?

It really stinks that Tom had to go right back to work. I'm sure you will be ready for you newly scheduled trip when they get here.

Hi Diane, welcome to my new trip report!
I know, we are lucky as they still cater very well on those long distance flights. The food is actually pretty nice.

The bar in the first picture are two shortbread biscuits, sandwiched together with real chocolate. It is VERY yummy. Remind me before we leave on our February trip and I can get you a "sample".

Tom was a bit disappointed that he had to go back to work on his second day, but we kind of expected it to happen.
He always has a student stand in during our summer vacations and this "girl" was not really sure she would make it through 6 weeks. Low and behold she threw in the towel after just three weeks.

 

[dizneeat]

I'm in! How can I pass up an opportunity to read about Key West, the Atrium Club, two cruises and OKW? Did I miss anything else?

Great start. Glad you are having an uneventful travel day so far!

Welcome!
I am so happy to have you here too!
We had such a wonderful vacation - we both enjoyed it a lot, but how could we not with Key West, CR, two cruises, OKW and some DISmeets on the agenda.

I really, really wish I flew Luftahnsa! You should see the food on United- your food is better or equal to what they have in first class- in coach, you can buy a box of crackers and hummus for $9- really pitiful.

Looking forward to more-

Ellen, you do NOT have to tell me about the food on United ..... been there, done that.
I wish I could afford to go business or first class for the food alone, as it is just outstanding, but Mickey takes all my money, so we go economy, and it is still quite nice.

Ive only flown Luftansa once and it was much better than US based airlines. Cant wait to hear more. Glad you are home safe. Not long until Italy. I can't wait for the mini report.
Lee

Austrian Airlines has some awesome food on board (in economy) as well. And for the prices they charge, they better serve nice food, at the moment airfare is throught the roof.
We are leaving for Italy tomorrow around 2pm. I actually cannot wait. I am so ready for another vacation.

Thursday Greetings, Karin!

Know we are in the midst of your wonderful TR ....but I am sort of sitting on the edge of my chair also waiting to hear what changes/exciting news you have concerning next summer! Any chance you'll be sharing those with us soon?

Oh, no big problem, letting you in on some of the changes, Christine.
We want to fly to the US one day early, so that brings our total to 34 days.
Against our plans that we made quite some time ago which included flying in to MCO, then staying at Aoa for 2 nights, then back to back Fantasy cruises for two weeks, followed by a two week DVC stay at three different resorts we are now trying to
Stay at the airport for the first night
go back to CR Atrium Club (if we can scrimp and save the money for it)
cruises stay the same - we are doing an Eastern and a Western itinerary
after the cruises we want to stay at a DVC resort for 4 nights, then, and that is the BIG change we are fleeing WDW for president's week and going back to Key West (1 night Key Largo, 3 nights Southernmost on the Beach in Key West, and one more night on the way back to WDW)
last 5 nights at OKW
Can't see you sitting at the edge of your seat thinking about my changes .....

Joining in! I read your last TR and am really looking forward to reading another one! Wow, a whole 30 days! Can't wait to read more!

Welcome!
It's great to have you here! I cannot believe how many people read my last trip report. Awesome!
Summer vacations are always so much fun, as 30 days give you the time to relax and spend time at your resort without feeling bad that you are wasting park time.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 1, August 11

Let’s get this show on the road …….. or in the air - Part 2

Once dinner was over and done with and Tom had enjoyed his digestive

Cognac, we both took some sleeping aid and Tom prepped his pad, we plugged in our earphones and watched some episodes of the Hotel Inspector,

nibbling a bar of

hand-made chocolate we had been given a few days before our vacation had started.
But we didn’t last too long, the sleeping aid kicked in and after about one episode we both fell asleep. We both woke up again when there was some commotion in the cabin and we realized they were starting dinner service. This meant that we were already close to our destination

and we freshened up a bit before we were handed some more food.

This time there was no choice of main course, but who would care about that when you are close to your vacation destination. We both had

Spinach Tortellini, filled with Ricotta and topped with a chunkey tomato sauce. While they were a bit too soft for my liking, they were still tasty. There was also a

fresh roll, which we enjoyed with butter and some really delicious

chocolate pudding. We gobbled it all down and when they removed the tray we crossed onto Florida

and could even see Nasa’s Assembly building.

We knew it would not take much longer and that made even the rest of our nearly 10 hour flight bearable. Soon we descended to Orlando International Airport and rolled up to our arrival gate.
One more hurdle, Immigration, to get behind us and then our vacation was truly on. We had been seated towards the front of Economy class, which allowed us to be at the head of the crowds heading to immigration and we didn’t stop and made good progress until we entered the immigrations hall and were stunned. It was practically empty! Usually it takes us about an hour to an hour and a half to get through the process, but this time we had totally lucked out. We quickly got in line and there were only about 15 other parties ahead of us, which were quickly led to the immigration officers. When we were told where to go we turned around and the room had filled up.
There were NO words to explain how happy we were to be at the head of this line. Then it was our time to walk up to the officer, have our fingerprints and photos taken and were welcomed to the US. We headed over to the luggage carousel and were stunned to find our luggage still ON it. It usually takes so long to get through immigration that luggage is already taken off the belt and put in one roped off corner of the room. We got our bags and made our way over towards customs, who just waved us through. It felt funny to be at our final destination for the day, as usually we hurry to the rental car desk and get in line again, but this time we had decided to spend the night right there at the airport. So we hopped onto the fake monorail

and into the main airport building where we then rolled our luggage over to the Hyatt, got into the elevator and went up to check in, which was quick and easy and we were on the way to our room in no time.

 

[monica23535]

Great updates Karin!

That is so neat that you can see the NASA Assembly building from the plane!

 

[jedijill]

Yay for the quick trip through Immigrations! I hate coming off a long flight and dealing with another 2 hour line.

Jill in CO

 

[eandesmom]

wow, good sleeping aid! Sounds like a lovely flight, as lovely as a 10 one could possible be and some amazing pixie dust at immigration!

 

[jamiesgirl]

Yay...we're finally in Orlando! Now onto your magical vacation!!!
Have a wonderful week-end in Italy!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Bob & I were admiring the hotel at MCO on our arrival. It looks like a place we would like to stay. It would be fun checking out all the shopping, etc. in the airport.

 

[WDisneyMom]

Karin, don't underestimate the interest we all have in your vacation plans! I'm with Christine...couldn't wait to hear about your plans for next summer!! They sounds great...for some reason when you mentioned longer vacation I thought you were going to say 6 weeks but 34 days is very very nice and your plans sound wonderful.

Moving on...great update! I would love to stay at the airport Hyatt some day, it would just be neat to check out MCO instead of rushing through it everytime.

Looking forward to the next update!

 

[MEK]

Sounds like the remainder of your flight was perfect. Can't wait to see what the rooms at the Hyatt look like. How convenient that you decided to stay right there. Makes sense.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi all,

I am off to work in about half an hour and about 5 hours later we will get in the car to go to Italy.
Once we have arrived I will try to get online, but the hotel itself does not offer internet . We will try to connect through Tom's roaming package and IF it works I will pop in to say hello!
Otherwise, see you all again on Monday (or even Sunday later at night).

 

[superme80]

Have a fun and safe trip!

 

[WDisneyMom]

Safe travels and hope you have a wonderful time in Italy!

 

[annmarieda]

Karin, as always I am in awe of your flight and it's offerings! I realize you take a sleep aid each flight but since my next trip I am flying with a fearful traveler, I now wonder- does it leave you zonked? Just relaxed? Our flight isn't as long as yours.... But I think it is quite possibly one of the longest possible when flying within the continental us(northwest most point to almost the southeast most point). We do have a layover so I didn't want the gal to be unable to get off or back onto our planes. : i
wonder if a sleep aid would help her?

How cool you didn't have a long wait at customs!!

Can't wait to hear how the hotel at mco was. What a good idea when flying in late ( I assume you arrive late... Did you?)

I am not sure how much dis time I will have in the next few days, so if I go missing for a couple weeks- will you forgive me .

Meanwhile, enjoy Italy!

 

[dvc4life]

Woo Hoo! Made it to Florida with a good flight and no problems it seems. That chocolate bar you had looked really yummy.

Have fun in Italy this weekend. Will be looking forward to next week and reading more about your vacation.

 

[michelle9343]

Have a wonderful time in Italy this weekend!!!
I am sure you will have some AMAZING meals I can not wait to hear all about it!!!

 

[jedijill]

Buon viaggio!

Jill in CO