Our flight was scheduled to leave Ontario, CA at 7:50 a.m. We love Ontario airport. It's only about 30 minutes from our house and you can park right up close to the airport. On our last trip we flew out of LAX-non stop on Song. We got a great rate and the non-stop was great but we had to leave our house 3 hours before our flight due to 1-1/2 drive to LAX, parking, and shuttling. Plus we had to factor in the cost of parking for 9 days. This time we flew Delta from Ontario, changing in Atlanta, arriving in Orlando about 6:15 p.m. Our flight time to Atlanta was less than they said which was good since we waited on the runway for about 20 minutes. Luckily I had changed our ATL/MCO flight to 1 hour later which allowed us almost 2 hrs. layover. If we had kept our original flight we would have only had 48 min. layover and I would have been stressing the delay.
The flight was good, we had enough time in Atlanta to eat a real meal at Chili's in the terminal. We arrived on time in Orlando.
We bypassed luggage and went directly to the Alamo counter to get our van. We usually get luggage, then the van, this time I wanted to try something different. Unfortunately, a flight from England had just cleared customs so there were quite a few (English) travelers in line. Anyway, we used our Entertainment coupon for $15 off and got our paperwork. Our van cost us $205 (inc. all fees) for 9 days. I got a great rate just 2 days before we left and rebooked our ressie.
We went to the pick up area to choose our van. We selected a dark green Pontiac (same model we rented in Jan.) with a DVD player, and automatic sliding side door. We put in our carryon luggage, locked it and took the keys and went and got our luggage. As we were leaving we saw a family of 5 from England getting ready to put their luggage in a basic van, non bells our whistles. I explained to them that they could pick out one with a DVD player, automatic door, and 3 seats across in middle row. I pointed them to the area where our van was and they were very grateful. Now back for the luggage. Our luggage was almost the last ones on the carousel, they were just starting to take off the ones left. We grabbed out luggage, went outside, and I had my mom and daughter wait by the entrance to the parking area, got the van, picked up them and the luggage, and we were on our way! (I almost always drive, but this time the coupon from the Entertainment book allowed an additional driver for free so we listed my mom as driver)
I should explain here why we didn't go directly to WDW. My mom is very good to my daughter and myself. She goes to WDW more times than she really likes. Our last trip was in Jan. 05. However, she likes to travel to non-amusement areas too. (I would spend 2 wks. at WDW alone). So we have a deal, part of the trip is WDW the other part is more of the "REAL FLORIDA". This time we decided to do WDW on the second part mostly so we would have a few days to get used to the 3 hr. time difference. On previous trips we've done St. Augustine, Crystal River, The Keys, etc. This time we wanted to do some beaches which my daughter, Danielle, loves. We didn't book a beach hotel ahead of time since we weren't sure which coast we were going to-it all would depend on the weather.
For our first night I had booked a room at the Radisson Resort Parkway near WDW. I got a great rate of $59/night on Mousesavers.com. I checked-in online before we left so when we arrived at about 8 p.m. all our paperwork was ready. But, surprise, the rate was now $82! I told the desk clerk my rate was $59 and he said something like, "oh, that's just what the computer puts in when you check-in online..." Huh, that didn't make sense to me so I asked if it was alright to cross out the $82 rate and write in $59. He said ok. I did and initialled it. I also decided that I would be checking out in person to make sure everything was okay.
The Radisson is a nice hotel. Fairly large and I think recently renovated. Our room was standard size with 2 double beds. (Those beds were hard!) After we brought in our luggage, we walked the grounds. We ran across a family who had just returned from the Dollar store with insect catching things. They were catching the small lizards running around and having a great time! We checked out the pool area-the waterfall/slide pool and spa pool looked good. Then we left to get some dinner. We checked the onsite restaurant which looked nice but was almost empty. We decided to pick up something to go. We got a pizza at a local Pizza Hut and ate in the room. (We could have gotten a pizza at the hotel, they have a small pizza/deli off the lobby but we hadn't decided what we wanted yet) After we ate, we changed into our suits and used the spa. It was really nice.
The sign said it was 104 degrees but it wasn't that hot. It was fine for my DD. It's up against a rock wall and has a hot waterfall going into it. You can stand under the water and get a great massage. Wow!!!
We didn't try out the slide pool as the water was pretty cold. We dried off and went back to our room and went to bed.
Day 2 to follow (only 2 more days to WDW!)
