We started our day at the "bcod" or "butt crack o'dawn" as we like to say. We had a flight out of Cleveland that was to leave at 6:10 and connect in DC. I had called a cab for 4:30 a.m. (yes, 4:30 a.m.) to take us to the airport. Let me tell ya, it was NOT fun getting Joe up for that cab ride.
This year we said we'd take one less piece of luggage since luggage fees are so ridiculous these days. That means we had 4 suitcases and 3 carryon bags.
The cab was right on time and we counted less than 10 cars on the road at that hour of the morning. We arrived at the airport to find that there were tons of people in line at the bag drop. Oh no, this wasn't looking good. Once we got through bag drop and paid our $85 dollars, we went through security. Of course, I set off the alarm, as I usually do.
We had plenty of time to get to our gate though so once we made it through security we mosied on over to the very last Continental gate. We stopped at Bruggers for a bagel first though since they no longer serve any type of food on the plane we were scheduled to fly out on.
We got there and took a seat and waited to board. Well, funny thing is, at 6 a.m. the door wasn't even open. It seems that our pilot was in the air. Nice, now what? Just about everyone waiting for that flight had a connection in DC and you could see the panic. A little after 6 they told us that we were delayed until at least 7:30. Well, that was a bummer as we'd definitely miss our connection. People went nuts. The poor gate attendant couldn't even try and find other flights without getting interrupted. Joe and I took matters into our own hands and walked over to the Continental kiosk to see if we could get on the next non-stop. Granted, we had checked our bags already but we tried anyway. The attendant was awesome. After she heard our woes, she tried to bump us to first class. Unfortunately it didn't work because I used miles for our flights and the system would not let her bump us up. I didn't care though, we were on the next non-stop. Trouble was, it was at 9 a.m. Yikes, you should habe seen Joe's face. Dang, he could have slept for a few more hours.
After 4 hours at the airport, we boarded our flight to MCO.
Buh-bye Cleveland! I had planned to take pictures but once we were situated, I didn't want to get up and get the camera out.
The flight was full and as usual, before the wheels left the ground, Joe was asleep. Me on the other hand, not so much. It got a tad bit bumpy and there was no way that I could sleep. The flight had Directv so I pretended to be interested in watching tv. Yeah, that didn't work. Next, I tried to read. I had taken my Kindle loaded with Disney books so I thought that would help me forget about the bumpy flight. Nope, not a chance. Then it hit me....hey, I'm going to Disney World! Lighten up, enjoy the ride. So I settled in and read for a bit and before I knew it we were landing at MCO. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
MCO has changed since the last time we flew there. The airport is quite nice now actually. We hoped on the fake monorail and got our first taste of "please stand clear of the doors........."
I was fully expecting to go to carousel 1 or 2, making a left as we got to the bottom of the escalator, or the stairs in my case. Nope, now you go right. Ok, cool. We got our luggage and headed over to get our rental car. Once we got outside we were thrilled that it wasn't super duper hot and humid but that lasted all of about 5 minutes.
In Joe's usual fashion, he took 3 years, well, 10 minutes, to pick a car. Sheesh, I don't get it. Just get in dude. I wanna get there already. We rented a full sized car since we knew that we were not going to use Disney transportation.
Once Joe finally selected a car, I sent Jenn a text and let her know that we were on our way.
We took the toll rode and not I-4 so I was constantly digging in my purse for either $1.25 or $.75. Sheesh, there are a lot of tolls on that thing.
I got super excited once I saw this sign.
And then mega excited...yeah, you know, the OMG kind of excited, when I saw this sign.
Woot! We're here!!!!!!!!
I told Joe that I just love seeing those purple signs.
And these blue, green, red and yellow ones too.
Yay, we're here!!! Home for the next 12 days.
We did on line check in so I was hoping that our room would be ready. It was about 1 pm so I wasn't quite sure.
We walked in and can you believe it, there was no one in line at all...no one...nope, just us! Sorry, no picture for proof.
We were so lucky. We got a corner room on the ground floor and we were close to Jenn.
We dropped our bags and flew out the door. Guess where we went?
Up next.........where does one go after arriving at Disney? Why, the Magic Kingdom of course!
For those of you that know me, last year was filled with drama. 
We were hoping that this year would not be the same. I hope you stick around with me to find out! 
and see what pics you took that I didnt!
Kayla is all about Disney nerds and so am I! She's the sweetest thing! You just wanna hug her and pinch her cheeks! Lastly, there is Jack. Jack is such a little man now. He's so dang cute that I can't stand it....just like his sister!!! 
Your friends kiddies are adorable....looks like you were all having a wonderful time together! 
! Nice to have you here. Jenn had the banana dessert. It did look pretty tasty, didn't it?
Kayla is so grown up now as well. I was just looking at pictures from our first trip together today. Makes me realize just how fast time is flying by.
