imbe@aol.com
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 22, 2001
- Messages
- 371
After smashing...errr I mean getting the last of my things in the Tahoe <g> I set off to go pick up Dave and head to the airport! His office is only about 20-30 min from here, and there's *usually* not much traffic early afternoon. Well, that afternoon (and subsequent afternoons, evenings too, now that I think of it <eg>) the unusual happened - a HUGE backup on the beltway! I know it took me
at least 20 min to go not even a mile - I wasn't a happy camper! LOL I called Dave in a panic (to say the least <g>) and he told me to just meet him at this store near by, and that he'd get someone from work to drive him there, and we could take the back road to the airport. Whew! LOL
Upon arrival at the airport, I was thrilled that there was no line for Airtran's check in. They don't have curbside yet, probably because they're doing tons of construction at BWI all over the place.
Our mood deflated just a little when we got to the counter, and were told that there were NOT any seats left on the 5 pm flight, and that we'd just have to stay on the 8 pm. I'd called earlier and was told there were "at least 9 .. plenty of seats, won't be a problem". We got on the standby list, and went to CK's (a little restaurant at the airport) to have a drink. A short while later, we went on down to the gate, and .. stood by! LOL The flight was actually OVER booked though, at that time. They'd asked for volunteers, and got more than they needed. Then I thought we might be lucking out, because as I was chatting to the gate agent, he said that there were 5 people who hadn't shown up for the flight .. original ticket holders.. and if they didn't come in 5 min, the plane was leaving and we could be on it! Yes!! But .. need I say that at the VERY last second, those people came running, literally!, down the hall and scooted right on.
Oh well! At least we had tix already for the next flight. There was a woman who'd been standing in front of me, griping up a storm at the agent. At first, all she kept saying was that she was told the same thing I was about plenty of availability. THEN I heard the real story .. and that is that apparently, she was supposed to be on the 8 A.M. flight, but she missed it .. by 25 min!!.. and had the nerve to be REALLY mad that the plane left w/o her! LOL Unreal! Anyway, she did end up on the later flight we had.
Once into MCO, Dave headed off to get the bags and I went to what I thought was our designated meeting spot. But I'm looking and looking, and .. no Julie or Debbie there! LOL I start thinking ... did they ditch me? <g> I rang Debbie's cell, and it turned out that they'd gone up to the Hyatt bar. I called Dave, told him to wait where he was, at baggage claim, and I'd be right down with the other girlies.
As I'm walking up to the bar, I see Debbie standing in the doorway pointing. *I* thought she was pointing INSIDE the bar, and like a simpleton, I'm tiptoing in ... like Julie could here me! LOL But, THEN I realize she's pointing OUTSIDE the bar, and I turn to look down the hall. Here comes this tall, very pretty girl, who is in NO way, shape or form a "burly woman"! LOL It's Julie!! Finally we meet!!! Hugs all around, and I herded them off (not the first time *that* would be happening ..<eg>)
We went to baggage claim, where Dave met them both, and as he stepped aside, the big limo came into view for Julie!
I think she was still soaking it all in at that point -- the car, the fact that we were there a day early .. the fact that she herself was in Orlando at all! LOL Everyone got in, luggage was loaded (barely! 
and off to the hotel we went.
I gotta say, it was VERY VERY strange for me, once on property, not to be taking a left off onto the road that leads to the Grand! LOL But, I was resolved to try to keep an open mind, and count this as a new experience, w/o pre judging it!
The hotel is pretty! and our check in was quick. We got the suite numbers and headed up to the third floor. Much to my surprise, we DID have a rennovated suite, which meant Heavenly beds! Yeah! LOL They really *are* nice. There was a bedroom w/a king for Dave and I, and the girlies had 2 queens in theirs (oh the comments that will come out of *that* statement! ;o) and in between was a nice size LR and DR area. 3 full baths and 2 small balconies - plenty of room!
There was a bottle of champagne (first of many <eg>) and some snacks waiting from the hotel, and a gorgeous flower arrangement - courtesy of the rest of the girlie girls! It had roses, lilies, all sorts of gorgeous flowers, in a coral-ish and red - really nice!
We all started to get unpacked .. and believe me, there was a WHOLE lot to unpack! ::looking around innocently::: LOL Then somehow, we exchanged little "welcome to WDW!!!" gifts! Debbie gave us some veryfunny signs <g>, a great Lion King tee and pins and other cool LK stuff too! Julie gave us each a really nice gift bag filled with goodies, like wine from Iowa (OH!!! Drank it tonight Julie!!! and YES, I *did* like it! LOL Tell Dad nice choice!) yummy caramels (ate some today!), Princess sparkly tatoos (saving those for .. probably later tonight! ;O ) and other neat stuff too! I felt like the cheap-o, with a card and a book for each of them! LOL
Once we were finished, we all decided we were HUNGRY!! (again, a recurring theme <g>) .. thing was, it was about .. what? 11:30 or so? and we didn't have a lot of choices, so we headed to ESPN. They were only serving appetizers at that point, and we ended up being the last ones there! LOL This was the first time I'd eaten there -- I've been in before, with Evan to play video games, but not had any food. I can sorta see why I hadn't bothered! LOL I got Nachos, and
I wasn't thrilled with them. Dave had the wings, and he was just "ehhhh" about those too. Debbie had chicken tenders, and I think she liked those. Julie wasn't hungry (things were still sinking in I think! ) so she just had a drink. We actually just had ice teas this night - it was late, everyone had been up since early in the a.m., and as beat as we were, we might not have made it back to the hotel had we imbibed!! LOL
Everyone pretty much turned in when we got back to the hotel. It was just so cool going to sleep with my two girlie girls right in the next room! LOL
at least 20 min to go not even a mile - I wasn't a happy camper! LOL I called Dave in a panic (to say the least <g>) and he told me to just meet him at this store near by, and that he'd get someone from work to drive him there, and we could take the back road to the airport. Whew! LOL
Upon arrival at the airport, I was thrilled that there was no line for Airtran's check in. They don't have curbside yet, probably because they're doing tons of construction at BWI all over the place.
Our mood deflated just a little when we got to the counter, and were told that there were NOT any seats left on the 5 pm flight, and that we'd just have to stay on the 8 pm. I'd called earlier and was told there were "at least 9 .. plenty of seats, won't be a problem". We got on the standby list, and went to CK's (a little restaurant at the airport) to have a drink. A short while later, we went on down to the gate, and .. stood by! LOL The flight was actually OVER booked though, at that time. They'd asked for volunteers, and got more than they needed. Then I thought we might be lucking out, because as I was chatting to the gate agent, he said that there were 5 people who hadn't shown up for the flight .. original ticket holders.. and if they didn't come in 5 min, the plane was leaving and we could be on it! Yes!! But .. need I say that at the VERY last second, those people came running, literally!, down the hall and scooted right on.
Oh well! At least we had tix already for the next flight. There was a woman who'd been standing in front of me, griping up a storm at the agent. At first, all she kept saying was that she was told the same thing I was about plenty of availability. THEN I heard the real story .. and that is that apparently, she was supposed to be on the 8 A.M. flight, but she missed it .. by 25 min!!.. and had the nerve to be REALLY mad that the plane left w/o her! LOL Unreal! Anyway, she did end up on the later flight we had.
Once into MCO, Dave headed off to get the bags and I went to what I thought was our designated meeting spot. But I'm looking and looking, and .. no Julie or Debbie there! LOL I start thinking ... did they ditch me? <g> I rang Debbie's cell, and it turned out that they'd gone up to the Hyatt bar. I called Dave, told him to wait where he was, at baggage claim, and I'd be right down with the other girlies.
As I'm walking up to the bar, I see Debbie standing in the doorway pointing. *I* thought she was pointing INSIDE the bar, and like a simpleton, I'm tiptoing in ... like Julie could here me! LOL But, THEN I realize she's pointing OUTSIDE the bar, and I turn to look down the hall. Here comes this tall, very pretty girl, who is in NO way, shape or form a "burly woman"! LOL It's Julie!! Finally we meet!!! Hugs all around, and I herded them off (not the first time *that* would be happening ..<eg>)
We went to baggage claim, where Dave met them both, and as he stepped aside, the big limo came into view for Julie!
I think she was still soaking it all in at that point -- the car, the fact that we were there a day early .. the fact that she herself was in Orlando at all! LOL Everyone got in, luggage was loaded (barely! and off to the hotel we went.I gotta say, it was VERY VERY strange for me, once on property, not to be taking a left off onto the road that leads to the Grand! LOL But, I was resolved to try to keep an open mind, and count this as a new experience, w/o pre judging it!
The hotel is pretty! and our check in was quick. We got the suite numbers and headed up to the third floor. Much to my surprise, we DID have a rennovated suite, which meant Heavenly beds! Yeah! LOL They really *are* nice. There was a bedroom w/a king for Dave and I, and the girlies had 2 queens in theirs (oh the comments that will come out of *that* statement! ;o) and in between was a nice size LR and DR area. 3 full baths and 2 small balconies - plenty of room!
There was a bottle of champagne (first of many <eg>) and some snacks waiting from the hotel, and a gorgeous flower arrangement - courtesy of the rest of the girlie girls! It had roses, lilies, all sorts of gorgeous flowers, in a coral-ish and red - really nice!
We all started to get unpacked .. and believe me, there was a WHOLE lot to unpack! ::looking around innocently::: LOL Then somehow, we exchanged little "welcome to WDW!!!" gifts!
Debbie gave us some veryfunny signs <g>, a great Lion King tee and pins and other cool LK stuff too! Julie gave us each a really nice gift bag filled with goodies, like wine from Iowa (OH!!! Drank it tonight Julie!!! and YES, I *did* like it! LOL Tell Dad nice choice!) yummy caramels (ate some today!), Princess sparkly tatoos (saving those for .. probably later tonight! ;O ) and other neat stuff too! I felt like the cheap-o, with a card and a book for each of them! LOL Once we were finished, we all decided we were HUNGRY!! (again, a recurring theme <g>) .. thing was, it was about .. what? 11:30 or so? and we didn't have a lot of choices, so we headed to ESPN. They were only serving appetizers at that point, and we ended up being the last ones there! LOL This was the first time I'd eaten there -- I've been in before, with Evan to play video games, but not had any food. I can sorta see why I hadn't bothered! LOL I got Nachos, and
I wasn't thrilled with them. Dave had the wings, and he was just "ehhhh" about those too. Debbie had chicken tenders, and I think she liked those. Julie wasn't hungry (things were still sinking in I think! ) so she just had a drink. We actually just had ice teas this night - it was late, everyone had been up since early in the a.m., and as beat as we were, we might not have made it back to the hotel had we imbibed!! LOL
Everyone pretty much turned in when we got back to the hotel. It was just so cool going to sleep with my two girlie girls right in the next room! LOL
