Pinch me, did it REALLY happen????? - All wrapped up, and yes, it DID happen!

[PrincessInOz]

Feel free to have an extra Grey Goose slushie for me too.

 

[franandaj]

Feel free to have an extra Grey Goose slushie for me too.

However today it will be butterbeer!

 

[franandaj]

Glad you made it! Hate that tried/not tied feeling. You've got an early morning! Why is your wake up call so early? Can't wait to see the room photos, even of the bedding.

You're so funny! The wake up was for 6:15 Eastern which to me still feels like 3:15!

I'm so happy you're there!!!!

We just got home tonight, exhausted but way too happy!!!

Work and school tomorrow is going to be crushing!!!

Have a magical trip!!!!

Sent from Tracey's iPhone using DISBoards

Thanks! Our plan is not to come home exhausted! Glad you had a trip of a lifetime!

 

[PrincessInOz]

However today it will be butterbeer!

I'm obviously easy!

Have an extra TWO butterbeers (frozen, of course) for me.

 

[rentayenta]

Feel free to have an extra Grey Goose slushie for me too.

Those are my favorite PIO.

 

[rentayenta]

You're so funny! The wake up was for 6:15 Eastern which to me still feels like 3:15!

Thanks! Our plan is not to come home exhausted! Glad you had a trip of a lifetime!

Haha, gotcha! As you can tell from my many typos I was tired.

Hope you got some sleep and are up and at 'em!

Enjoy the butter beer. Is it really beer?

 

[franandaj]

Haha, gotcha! As you can tell from my many typos I was tired.

Hope you got some sleep and are up and at 'em!

Enjoy the butter beer. Is it really beer?

I'm dressed and waiting for the club level to open up.

It's actually more like a Butterscotch Cream Soda. At least from the recipes I've read online. I have a feeling we won't make rooe drop, but will be in before "EMH" are over.

 

[rentayenta]

I'm dressed and waiting for the club level to open up.

It's actually more like a Butterscotch Cream Soda. At least from the recipes I've read online. I have a feeling we won't make rooe drop, but will be in before "EMH" are over.

It sounds good, like a rich creme soda.

I'm excited you for. Have a great time! Enjoy club level and their offerings. I know you'll take lots of pics. I have to live through you guys as its snowing again today. We got another 6 inches yesterday. I'm so over winter! Like so over it.

 

[Hawleys]

So happy you made it!! Have a wonderful, RELAXING trip!!

Your public wants to see pics of the famous roast which I hope made it too

 

[Leshaface]

YESSSS!!!

I'm SO glad there was nothing keeping you from boarding the plane and i'm so happy to hear you're there!

You better tell me, in detail, what a butter beer tastes like. So jealous! Have fun!

 

[eandesmom]

Oooh, have the frozen butterbeer if you can instead of the soda version, much better. Very rich though!

 

[franandaj]

It sounds good, like a rich creme soda.

I'm excited you for. Have a great time! Enjoy club level and their offerings. I know you'll take lots of pics. I have to live through you guys as its snowing again today. We got another 6 inches yesterday. I'm so over winter! Like so over it.

Love the club level!

So happy you made it!! Have a wonderful, RELAXING trip!!

Your public wants to see pics of the famous roast which I hope made it too

The roast made it....you will see in an update (hopefully soon).

YESSSS!!!

I'm SO glad there was nothing keeping you from boarding the plane and i'm so happy to hear you're there!

You better tell me, in detail, what a butter beer tastes like. So jealous! Have fun!

I'll do my best!

Oooh, have the frozen butterbeer if you can instead of the soda version, much better. Very rich though!

I'll have a full report!

So far things have been going smoothly, pretty much according to plan. Any deviations from said plan have been positive ones. We are back in the room and Fran is peacefully sleeping. I am working on uploading photos and an update while she sleeps. I am trying NOT to nap, so that when I go to bed tonight I can sleep the whole night through instead of waking up multiple times, and needing a bath to relax (I want to save my bath salts for the jacuzzi tubs!).

 

[dgbg100106]

That's not the problem, it's sitting around tge hoy se whilebshe packs up stuff it's well past the time we are supposed to BE at the airport. I would LOVE to be delayed waiting, but we are always just in the nick of time. One day we will miss it. I have a heart attack every time we fly she has no idea.

hope you made it..

 

[dgbg100106]

On the plane now! I'll need to switch the phone to airplane mode soon!

Whoop that is awesome, I guess you already answered my question

 

[Pinkocto]

You're there!!!

I'm so glad everything went smoothly and that you're already having a great trip!

 

[franandaj]

Whoop that is awesome, I guess you already answered my question

You're there!!!

I'm so glad everything went smoothly and that you're already having a great trip!

Yup! No commado here, we are relaxing, taking it as we wish and not stressing!

 

[franandaj]

Let the Adventures Begin!

So Monday morning came with no glitches or hitches. We didn’t get much sleep Sunday night, in fact I’m not sure that Fran got any. But to my pleasure there was no last minute packing (with the exception of the roast, some sunscreen, and another item or two.) We were on the road by 6:10AM, which was 25 minutes late. However, I finally decided to see when our flight really left. I had been working with 8AM, and when I checked, it was actually 8:30AM.

We decided that we still didn’t have any time to stop for breakfast and went directly to the airport. We pulled up at the American gate, and usually we had porters galore wanting to help us. It’s been almost two years since we’ve flown and we know that American is in bankruptcy, but it was still odd. Eventually one of them helped us get our checked bags onto a “smart carte” and I loaded the scooters with our carry ons and left Fran to watch the bags while I parked.

We park in Lot C and I was able to quickly get on the next shuttle back to the airport. When they dropped me off at the terminal I realized our mistake. We had stopped at “Self-Service” check-in. Not First Class I quickly found Fran with our scooters and told her we were in the wrong area. She had figured it out too but had no way to move everything so she just waited. It was comical to watch her with the luggage, but she did a great job steering her scooter and the four large bags on the cart.

Once we found the correct place, check-in went smoothly although it took a loooooong time. We made it to the gate at 7:30AM and the agent told us preboarding would begin at 7:50, so no time to hit the Admiral’s Club. We ended up getting some Cinnabon from Burger King and some truly vile coffee. Boarding went without incident and soon we were on the plane in our seats ready to go.

We were only a few minutes late taking off. For those who have flown out of LAX, you take off towards the ocean, if you are heading to Orlando (or anywhere else East), the plane turns around making a wide loop past the Palos Verde Peninsula, passing along the way, San Pedro and even Long Beach. As the harbor came into view, I was strangely excited that even though my kitties are all stuck at home, I was on my way somewhere else!

This shot I zoomed in on the city in the lower left, you can see the Queen Mary and whichever Carnival ship does the 3 & 4 day cruises. My house is in the upper right hand corner about 2/3 down from the edge of the photo to the water. Smack in the middle of the photo on the waterfront is Bixby Park. Jenny and Alicia, you might know where this is…I just found this really cool to look at my neighborhood from the plane, but I digress.

Soon they came along with our menus for the trip. I’m not sure why they did this since we have already pre ordered our entrees, but evidently this information was not transmitted to the flight attendants.

Fran went with the Breakfast Quesadilla

I had the cereal and yogurt. Strangely enough, this was a very filling and tasty breakfast. The biscuits that they served us were fresh baked in the ovens that they have on the plane and were excellent.

I looked out the window periodically during the flight, but it was mostly cloudy and I didn’t see any land features of any interest. I mainly did my Math Puzzles and Logic Problems. About halfway through the flight, my eyes grew heavy and I started seeing double so I closed up the puzzle book and laid down. I still couldn’t sleep, so I decided to wake up again. During the flight I ended up doing four Cross sums, four Logic problems, one Figure Logic and a couple others that I attempted before my “nap”.

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to fly American First Class (don’t think we’re loaded, all our flights are booked solely on frequent buyer, er flyer miles! ), you’ll know that the end of the flight is coming when you smell the wonderful cookies baking. They have some kind of oven on the plane to make hot cookies that are served near the end of the flight. Fran got the Chocolate

I got the sugar cookie, plus they said we could have the cheese and crackers too.

Soon after this tasty little snack we were landing. As usual we were amongst the last off the plane and just as we were disembarking our scooters had come up from below. We headed off to Baggage Claim, but not without a potty stop and a wrong turn towards the Magical Express part of the airport! We were so late in picking up our bags that they had already removed them from the carousel and were putting them into the “lost bags” pile.

Unfortunately there were no helpful porters around wanting to earn tips so we were forced to resort to the four giant bags on the “smart carte”. I really wish I would have taken a picture of Fran. She did a brilliant job of steering the cart and driving her scooter. You should have seen us managing to get the cart in and out of the elevator, across the street to the parking lot for the rental cars and all that! We did have a little help from some kind strangers that took pity on us. We looked rather pathetic as the bag on top kept trying to slide off with every bump we hit on the sidewalk or drain the that cart was stuck in!

Finally we made it to our car. A kind Alamo worker helped us fold the seats down, otherwise we never would have figured it out!

We got the car all loaded up, and the mini van was great! We could even see out the back, not the case with a Jeep Cherokee that we usually get!

Fran gets in the car, and turns the ignition, it turns over and dies. Again. Again. Again. Again. And then about five more times. Now we expect this from our cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s, but not a brand new mini-van rental. So we decide to switch to the car next door. I go over and it starts up right away. I tried to get the seats to fold flat and finally gave up. So I went back to the place where the attendants were and asked how to put the seats down. I explained that the car we had already loaded up wouldn’t start and the gentleman came with me immediately. The car started for him on the first try.

We had Fran get in the car to try it, and this time it started! She had already started unloading the carry ons, but it was much easier to put them back than move all the rest of the stuff, so finally we were on our way.

Next up getting to the resort! I'm going to take a break and grab some pictures from the resort!

 

[Linda67]

Wow, an update already - you don't hang around !

Can't wait to hear about your first impressions of the Wizarding World

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am glad that everything went smoothly. Freshly baked cookies on a plane, now that is something I would love to experience.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

Wow, an update already - you don't hang around !

Can't wait to hear about your first impressions of the Wizarding World

Fran needs a lot of rest time during each day so that we can keep going. I try to take the time when she naps to keep up on updates. At home I don't have a lot of time to keep up, so I try to stay on top of it while I can.

The WWoHP will really slow me down update-wise. I will tell you that there is a LOT to that world, we had a blast!

I am glad that everything went smoothly. Freshly baked cookies on a plane, now that is something I would love to experience.

Corinna

The first time I had them I was in heaven. Now I'm spoiled and miss it when we fly other airlines. Our last trip was on Delta and they didn't have cookies!