Friday, 3/23 - Chapter 1-Getting There
Well, I had a busy night getting ready to go. I took a couple of Tylenol PM and was able to sleep right through the night--although I did wake up a couple of times to see if I could get up yet. It reminded me of Christmas morning when I was a kid.
Of course, I was sleeping pretty darn soundly when Alex woke me up at 4:00 a.m. I was inclined to grumble at first but then I remembered WHY I was getting up at such an ungodly (even for me) hour. Then I cheered right up! I showered and threw my makeup and toiletries into ziplock baggies for my checked luggage. I wasn't taking ANY chances with Security. Everything remotely liquid was going in my checked bag. I'd removed a rogue bottle of lotion, Caitlin's extra asthma inhaler and a tube of Carmex from my purse the other day so I knew I was liquid free!
I tidied the house and changed the sheets on our bed and...well, then, I sat down and waited. I'd been SO well prepared and gotten everything around so early this morning that now I had extra time to sit and twiddle my thumbs. And obsess about weather. So, I watched the Weather Channel to make sure everything would be okay for Cait's flight out of Albuquerque.
Finally...after all that waiting...it was time to go! Woo hoo! I gave Sunny a hug and a kiss goodbye--an extra tight hug that made her roll her eyes at me. Who knew a dog could roll her eyes? But she does--she loves us but she's not a hugger.
The bags were in the car and I drove the long 5 minute trip to my mom's house. Thank heavens she is an early riser, too. We parked our car at her house, transferred our luggage to her car, and she drove us to...wait for it...a gas station/convenience store/Taco Bell. How's that for an exotic vacation? That's it--end of story--we just got a car wash and a burrito and went home.
Just joshin' you.
We took a shuttle bus called the Michigan Flyer, to the airport in Detroit. To any of you who live in mid-Michigan, I highly recommend the Michigan Flyer. It was $80 round-trip for a family and the drive you right to the airport. It was fantastic--the buses are new and comfortable, they have wireless access, and they even provide free bottled water. Okay, the Michigan Flyer commercial is now over.
Alex immediately went to sleep along with most of the people on the bus. Except for me and the two little girls sitting in front of me. They chatted with me for the whole ride. They were going to the Bahamas. They had new bathing suits. Pink and lime green so that it would be easy for their mom to find them by the pool. When one little girl grows up, she wants to be a doctor like her mom. She either wants to be an obstetrician or a pediatrician. (She was about 7 so it totally cracked me up that she's decided on a specialty already.) They were so excited that I didn't have the heart to tell them that I was going on a fabulous, exciting, fun-filled trip to Disney World while they were taking a shabby, boring, sit by the pool kind of vacation like the Bahamas. I just told them we were going to Florida and thank heavens they didn't ask for more precise information. Because it's not very nice for a 43 year old woman to go nanner nanner nanner to 2 very sweet little girls who thought that the Bahamas was an acceptable vacation destination. It was obvious their education was sorely lacking.
We arrived at the airport right on time and checked in with Spirit. So far, so good! Our flight was leaving around 11:00 and we'd arrive in Orlando by 1:40. Caitlin was just getting up and getting ready for their 3 hour drive to Albuquerque--the first leg of their trip.
We made it through Security--luckily, that early in the morning, there were not a lot of people in line so it went really quickly. The security folk were chatting about someone who came through the line with a Glock. Apparently, they'd forgotten it was in their bag. I mean, who forgets that you have a loaded weapon when you're going on a plane? I freaked that I had a tiny mystery bottle of hand lotion.
When I'm traveling and trying to get multiple people to a destination, my stomach gets really nervous. Alex was hungry so we had a bite to eat at BB King's restaurant. I never knew this was in the airport--we usually go through a different gate area that only has a really disgusting Quizno's with warm pop—no liquids allowed and the only thing available to purchase is Starbuck’s (yuck, I’m not a coffee girl) and warm Diet Coke. Alex ordered an omelette that he enjoyed immensely--I had scrambled eggs that I picked at knowing I had to eat something but I was just not very interested in it.
Afterward, we found a seat at the gate and Alex read and I pretended to read while worrying that there was no plane at our gate even though we were supposed to be boarding shortly. An announcement came on saying that the incoming flight would be a bit late but they would clean and fuel it quickly and we'd be on our way. Then, almost immediately, they paged Alex and I to the podium. Now, I was in full freak out mode.
Turns out, one of the families that rode the Michigan Flyer with us were not sitting altogether and the kids were fairly youngish. The gate person wanted to know if Alex and I would mind changing seats. Woo hoo—time for our first Disney good deed. Of course, we switched seats. The mother was so grateful; she kept coming around and thanking us. Hey, I’ve been there. Cait was a nervous flyer when she was young and I always hated flying Southwest and worrying about her sitting on her own. Now, she gets all happy when there’s turbulence. She’s a strange one.
When the plane finally arrived, they did get it unloaded, cleaned and refueled very quickly. Suspiciously quickly, if you know what I mean. Oh, great, now I had to worry all the way there that we had enough fuel.
Alex was a few rows back from me. I had a window seat and was seated next to an adorable little girl named Jane. Her dad was on her other side; her mom and brother were across the aisle. Jane was 3 and this was her first plane ride. Did I mention I’m a kid magnet? I love kids and they love me right back. Kids who are painfully shy will plop down on my lap and tell me their life story. Anyway, Jane got through her first take off with flying colors and once the captain turned off the seatbelt sign, I scooted forward and let her sit behind me to look at the tops of the clouds. Hey, everybody should be able to look at the tops of the clouds on their first flight.
The rest of the flight was uneventful except it seemed like it took FOREVER. Jane agreed with me. About 1.5 hours in, she turned to her dad and fretted, “I don’t want to go to Disney World—it takes TOO LONGGGGG!!!”
We finally arrived and disembarked or deplaned or whatever you do in Orlando. The minute we got off the plane, my hair began to curl even more than usual. I have issues with humidity.
We got on the pretend monorail and made it to the terminal. I LOVE riding the pretend monorail when you arrive but there is always this little voice in my head thinking, “When I’m going the other way on this thing, I’ll be going home.” It makes me a little maudlin so I try not to think of it.
As we came down to baggage claim, I made a round past the town car/limo drivers looking for my name. Nothing. Well, that was weird—they’re ALWAYS right there waiting. We decided to pick up our luggage and check again.
It didn’t take very long and I made the rounds again. Still nothing with my name. I was getting a little panicky and was beginning to look for my handy dandy folder of all WDW information. I decided to swing down by the other entrance and there she was. Our Tiffany driver holding a card with my name on it! Whoopee! She got a bit testy when I told her I’d been looking for her down by the stairs but she was nice once we got to the car.
Okay—on my to-do list, I included making a grocery stop. And, for the first time EVER, we actually did it! I’d made up a list because Alex and I tend to be wanderers in the grocery store, retracing our steps a zillion times to get all related items. The girls had wanted a cache of Pop-Tarts, we needed water, Diet Coke, and I even found Diet Vernors which is one of my drinks of choice. I like the no caffeine in the afternoon. We divided up the list and headed in.
You know, there is something really strange about being chauffeured to the grocery store. I guess we can be thankful it wasn’t a limo. It’s even strange for me to have someone besides Alex hop out to open my door. As we were heading in and feeling like Donald Trump (although I guess the Donald would have his bottled water and Pop-Tarts delivered to the hotel), a man came by and asked if we knew how to get to Such-and-Such a Street. I was taken aback. Even in our pastiness, we were passing as locals! Unfortunately, neither of us knew where Such and Such a Street was so we had to admit that we were just tourists.
We split up and divided the list and made it in and out in record time. I mean, I wanted the grocery stop but I REALLY wanted to get to Disney World more!
Our driver helped us load the trunk (and I found myself searching for my car keys on the way out to the car but they were on my mother’s dining room table) and we were finally almost there. Caitlin called and told me they were boarding their flight so all was good.
Now I was all nervous. What kind of room would we get? I’d booked a standard view but I have always been upgraded in the past at the Dolphin but we’d never done this during the busy season. And, oh, my gosh, was it a busy season.
More to come! And there will be pictures from now on. I’m always a bit paranoid when traveling that I will lose the camera so I tend not to take pictures until we arrive. Oh, and I’m sorry to tell you there are NO pictures of food in my trip report. My family thinks I take WAY too many pictures anyway—if I began trying to get between them and their food, well, it just would NOT be pretty.
Forget about the mail, the laundry, etc. get to writing chickie!
Just kidding
: I hope all my good thoughts helped with the fun happenings!
I swear it is so scary that some of these crack pot doctors are left alone to "care" for actual people! We have encountered numerous doofus's here in NJ as well! Anyway, sending lots of good thoughts and prayers for your mom!
Hope she's ok!
Luckily there was a family with teens and they switched! So now I never say anything mean about teenagers!
Your off to a good start, can't wait to read more!
My kids don't know a vacation without theme parks involved!!
