McManus Family Vacation - GF Day 1 7/27

[TammiMcMan]

Cast of Characters: Tammi & Jim (mom-dad), Meg (16), Colin (12) and Casey (6). Our 13th trip to WDW

Saturday 7/27: My first time on a plane in quite a while and both Colin and I were outwardly nervous. I have to say that the increased security at Logan airport did make me feel a little bit better. I had to show my id no less than 4 times. Colin was most uptight about the security check, what would happen if he set off the machine? Well, I usher everyone through so that the kids are between the adults and as I'm the last one passing through, the alarm goes off. I'm escorted to another area where I need to take off my shoes and have a more formal security search. The woman standing beside me thought it must have been our underwire bra's that set the machine off. It's good to have a sense of humor!

The flight was great, we picked up our car at National with no problem and arrived at the GF by about 1pm. I was happy to learn that our room was ready and we were met by a member of the concierge staff and escorted upstairs. Everything was wonderful. We had a perfect view of the castle from our balcony, room 4404 Main building. A few minutes after checking into our room, a member of housekeeping was there with clean bathrobes and restocked the mini bar. (We had a refrigerator sent up to the room and took a trip over to Goodings market to stock it up) We had a light snack in the concierge lounge and the kids headed over to the pool while I unpacked.

We headed into the MK at about 5pm. We went right to Adventureland and rode the new Magic Carpet ride. Being a true princess, Casey sat back and let her dad drive the carpet. From there we went to Pirates (only a 10 minute wait) and then over to Splash Mountain for FP's. The kids rode the TeaCups and then we visited Toon Town. Rode Goofy's Barnstormer (only 5 minute wait) and visited Mickey's and Minnie's house. Minimum ride wait in Tomorrowland was 45 minutes, so we didn't stick around there. Took a dinner break and at the Columbia Harbor house. Food was good and the restaurant was cool and quiet. Walked right onto Haunted Mansion. Had about a half hour before our FP time, and that was the standby wait for Thunder Mountain. The kids decided to do that first and then we headed to Splash Mountain. Casey loved this ride and wanted to do it again! By now it was 8:50pm and we needed to find a spot for Spectromagic. Got a perfect seat in front of the hat shop in Frontierland. Walked to the front of the castle to see the fireworks and hopped on the monorail back to the hotel. From the balcony of our room, we had some snacks and we watched the castle change colors.

Day 2 ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=243297
Day 3 ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=243988
Day 4 ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=244836
Day 5 ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=245288
Day 6 ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=246742
Day 7 ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=248543
Day 8 ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=248674

 

[swankybeth]

Sounds like a perfect first day in WDW! I work in an airport, so I'm used to the thorough security checks...The darn bra underwire always does it!

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Sounds like a good first day! I also had the "security check" on the way down, they wiped my shoes and bag, and tested for explosives.

How was your experience with National Car Rental? What type of car did you reserve, and what did you get?

Thanks!!!

 

[TammiMcMan]

DH has National's emerald card, so we reserved an intermediate. When we arrived at MCO, we went right to the Emerald Aisle and we could pick any car that was there. (Same quoted price because we had already reserved an intermediate) We picked out a 4 door Dodge Intrepid. Plenty of room for the 5 of us and loads of trunk space. Others there were PT Cruisers, 2 door Jeeps and Dodge Neon's. I think if you are a Disney Club member, you also get a complimentary Emerald card. It really is worth it, no lines and we were out of there in under 10 minutes. Returning the car was no problem and I love the fact that they are one of the few "on site" at the airport. They also have a location at WDW if you run into any problems or if you only needed to rent a car for a few days during your trip.

Tammi

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Thanks, Tammi. We used National on our New Year's trip, their "Emerald Choice" service. I reserved a luxury car, and ended up with a Buick Park Avenue. It was a great service to use, very quick. This past time we used Avis (counter, luxury car), and got a Cadillac SLS. The line wasn't too bad (about 10 minutes). Seems like National is really getting "rid" of true luxury cars, all they want to offer is Buick Park Avenues!

Really can't wait to get back to WDW! I need to start planning a trip! LOL

 

[Krissalee]

Fantastic first day! Your view of the castle must have been spectacular!

Krissy