MarieLightning
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 23, 2012
Day 1, Part 1 - "We're Going To Disney World!"
Let me tell you something.
2 AM comes by reeeeaaaal fast when you didn't fall asleep until like, 10:30 PM.
Yet, I managed to spring out of bed a lot faster than I do after seven hours of sleep, when I'm waking up for work.
Go figure.
I got my morning routine out of the way, and then woke Amber so she could get started on hers. While she was getting ready, I got the last items situated in our carry ons, such as chargers and electronics, and around 2:20 or so, I called for a cab.
I asked how long it would take, and the girl said it should be 5 or 10 minutes. Time to get moving!
We gave our princess kitty some love before abandoning her for the weekend (no worries, someone came to check on her while we were gone) and made our way outside the apartment building, as by then it was closer to the 10 minutes delay and so I figured the cab would be there soon.
So there we were, standing on the side of the road at 2:30 AM.
You may have heard, Canada can sometimes be a little chilly.
We'd also decided to forego winter boots since we'd just be in and out, and it'd make the airport security process easier.
In no time my toes were basically ice cubes in my flats.
Around 2:45, I called the cab company again. It'd been 25 minutes at that time, so I figured it was fair. The guy looked up our address, and said there was a bit of a delay at the time, but it should only be another five minutes or so.
Around 3, I got a text saying our driver was on the way.
Finally, a little less than ten minutes later, we spotted a cab turning onto our street. We hurriedly got our carry on suitcases in the trunk, and off we were!
Thankfully, we live really close to the airport. We have planes flying over us on a daily basis - Amber sometimes tries to guess which airline they belong to. Air Canada is typically pretty easy to spot since most of their aircraft is a light blue with the bright red maple leaf on the tail. They've actually just recently re-done them though, with a much more sleek look in my opinion, and now they'll probably be even easier to see since they all have the black underside.
So all of that to say, we made it to the airport around 3:30.
I sent Amber in to get our boarding passes printed while I took care of the cab fare (which, with tip, came to about 35$, so all in all pretty reasonable for the time saver it is from taking public transportation. Not that that would have been an option anyway at that time of night).
I met up with Amber inside just as she was finishing up.
The check in area was pretty empty, but the bag check line was really long. Probably easily a ten minutes wait right there. We were doubly glad not to have any baggage to check in. So with our boarding passes in hand, we made our way to the security area.
Now, if you haven't been to Montreal airport, here's how security works for the U.S. departures.
You've got the usual line right outside the security area, which winds about ten times - it's a pretty decently sized line, really. You could easily be in it for over an hour.
Then, there's a space before the line starts where we used to have to fill the customs form. They've gotten rid of the forms now, cause they have the nifty machines. They still have some in the customs area for people traveling without a Canadian or US passport, but it doesn't clog the security area at least.
Then, outside of that big room, is another line. Much shorter, maybe a tenth of the size, but a line nonetheless. It's just a little past the check in counters.
So that's the first line we encountered, and it was already full.
I panicked for a brief moment - if this line was full, and then the inside line was full on top of that, we may not make it in time to board.
Then Amber pointed out that the door was still closed. They hadn't opened the security area yet.
Phew.
They actually opened the door right as we walked up, so we headed into the second, bigger security line - where, again, the actual security screening process hadn't started. They didn't really start it until 4, but let me tell you, we were still glad to have gotten in line when we did, because that line just kept on growing and growing.
We got through pretty painlessly, and then headed to the U.S. pre clearance area. That's really what it is, but it avoids having to go through customs upon arrival in the States. We waited another bit of time in that line, and then stepped up to the customs agent.
He'd seemed a little strict with some of the people before us, so we were of course a little weary. Well, I mean, Amber is American and travel with her US passport, so it's not exactly that nerve wrecking. They could still decide not to let me in, though.
He actually ended up being pretty easy going with us. He looked at our boarding pass and asked us if we were going to see the Mouse, which we confirmed. He then told us that if you take your passport into Guest Services in the Magic Kingdom, they'll stamp it with a Main Street USA seal.
That was pretty much the extent of our questioning, and then we were on our way.
Our gate was right there as we exited the duty free shop, and Amber got herself situated while I headed to Starbucks to get myself a drink. At the airport is pretty much the only time I'm technically allowed to get Starbucks, so you know, I don't usually pass it up.
I can't even remember what I got at this point. I think I ended up going with a Strawberries and Cream frap. I also got a chocolate chunks muffin, because I was getting hungry, and although we were technically on standby for business class, they could bump us down if need be. So I decided I'd rather get something to eat then rather than have to buy plane food.
I joined Amber at the gate, and we passed the time with me quizzing her on her anatomy note cards. She had a test on Monday morning, so she'd brought them along to do some studying.
A little before boarding was to begin, the gate agent came up and started calling names to come to the desk. Usually, that's when they call people who didn't get a seat assignment while checking in, as well as standby travellers.
Our name didn't get called.
That's not usually a good sign.
Not long after that, they began the actual boarding process.
Alright, I won't panic. Keep it cool.
Then they made the call to say that the door would be closing soon and everyone should be on board.
Now, the etiquette of standby is, you're not supposed to ask anything of the gate agents. You don't go bug them prior to them calling you, you don't ask for upgrades, you just wait til you're called.
Normally, not being called means you're not getting on the plane.
But I had, of course, checked the flight load a few moments before, and it is usually accurate. It was still showing seats.
So I went up to the counter, and asked if by any chance we did not have seats.
And the gate agent looked down at the counter, picked up two boarding passes that had been printed, and said oh, these are yours.
Well thanks.
So we hurriedly gathered our belongings and made our way onto the plane.
We're officially on our way!
We settled in our comfy seats and were promptly handed an iPad for movie watching. Air Canada Rouge doesn't have the entertainment system on the back of the seats anymore, but they have it on their app, so you can still watch movies for free, you just have to do it on your own device - or rent an iPad for 10$. Unless you're in business, then you just get the iPad.
They had a few Disney movies, but I decided to watch things I'd never watched before, so I watched The Secret Life of Pets and Mr. Church. I enjoyed both, and of course, Mr Church made me cry.
We were in the air before too long, and I tried to take a picture of the clouds while it was still a little dark out.
Then our breakfast was brought over.
I gave Amber pretty much all of my strawberries, because that's the only fruit she eats out of that assortment.
She slept throughout most of the plane ride, while I just kept myself entertained with the movies and taking pictures.
Hello, fellow travelers!
She woke up as we were starting our descent into Orlando, and was obviously very excited.
Getting close!
We ended up landing and getting to the gate ten or fifteen minutes early, which is always exciting when you're going to Disney!
I had to take a picture of this all too familiar terminal (it's the carpet, really).
We were among the first off the plane, and we decided to stop by a bathroom then and there to get ourselves changed. We have to wear business appropriate clothes when flying standby, regardless of whether we're seated in economy or business, and we had debated changing at Disney, but decided to just get it out of the way.
As we stepped over toward the Fake-o-Rail though, we were greeted with this sight.
It was apparently down, and there was no information about it anywhere so we just hoped it would be back and running soon. It took maybe five-ten minutes before it arrived, so not too terrible, and we squeezed on with everybody else.
Amber took this picture to post on Instagram. Where in the world are we?
At that point, we still hadn't told anyone we were going to Disney (except the people I shift traded with, and the person who was coming to look after our cat), so we decided to just spill it already.
It's a Mickey to Mickey! That can only mean one thing!
It's Disney time!
We stepped right on the unmagical yellow Mears bus that was waiting for us, but at that point we really couldn't care less.
It was less than five minutes until we were underway, and we both were still having a bit of a hard time believing we were actually on our way to Disney World. That was actually the theme of the whole weekend. In a way, we couldn't believe we were actually there. On the other hand, it felt incredibly natural and normal to be there.
The drive went by smoothly, although we pondered a few times if it was our driver's first day.
Soon, we were seeing this.
And then this!
Okay, that might be a little too close...
Here.
Much better.
We got off the bus and retrieved our carry ons before making our way inside the lobby.
God I love this lobby.
I got us checked in while Amber took some pictures. Our room was, of course, not ready yet (it was still before 11 at that point), so got our park bags settled and left the rest of our stuff with bell services.
No time to lose, we only have 53 hours until our park time is over!
We headed outside and got in a reasonably short line for our park of choice.
After a surprisingly short ride, we stepped foot in our first park of the trip!
Animal Kingdom!
Starting with Animal Kingdom was definitely a first, but it was the park at which we would spend the least amount of time, so we decided that since we would have three hours of practically empty Magic Kingdom time before us that day, we might as well spend a few hours at Animal Kingdom.
We went through bag check, and of course I was picked to go through the metal detector.
We then headed over to the park entrance, and soon we were in!
As we walked in, we were greeted by this sight.
DiVine!
She was right by the entrance area. It was our very first time seeing her, but unfortunately, we didn't really have time to stop. Still, it was cool catching a glimpse of her.
We kept moving, as we had places to be (although we weren't in too big a rush that we couldn't take walking pictures while we were at it. That being said, we are definitely due for a new camera, because most of these are way bad).
And of course, there's always time to take a picture of the Tree of Life.
We didn't stop for a PhotoPass picture though, because we had a FastPass to catch, and I'd timed it with the hopes that our morning would go smoothly, which it thankfully had, but it did mean we were toward the tail end of it.
Any guesses where we were off to?
Click for next post
Let me tell you something.
2 AM comes by reeeeaaaal fast when you didn't fall asleep until like, 10:30 PM.
Yet, I managed to spring out of bed a lot faster than I do after seven hours of sleep, when I'm waking up for work.
Go figure.
I got my morning routine out of the way, and then woke Amber so she could get started on hers. While she was getting ready, I got the last items situated in our carry ons, such as chargers and electronics, and around 2:20 or so, I called for a cab.
I asked how long it would take, and the girl said it should be 5 or 10 minutes. Time to get moving!
We gave our princess kitty some love before abandoning her for the weekend (no worries, someone came to check on her while we were gone) and made our way outside the apartment building, as by then it was closer to the 10 minutes delay and so I figured the cab would be there soon.
So there we were, standing on the side of the road at 2:30 AM.
You may have heard, Canada can sometimes be a little chilly.
We'd also decided to forego winter boots since we'd just be in and out, and it'd make the airport security process easier.
In no time my toes were basically ice cubes in my flats.
Around 2:45, I called the cab company again. It'd been 25 minutes at that time, so I figured it was fair. The guy looked up our address, and said there was a bit of a delay at the time, but it should only be another five minutes or so.
Around 3, I got a text saying our driver was on the way.
Finally, a little less than ten minutes later, we spotted a cab turning onto our street. We hurriedly got our carry on suitcases in the trunk, and off we were!
Thankfully, we live really close to the airport. We have planes flying over us on a daily basis - Amber sometimes tries to guess which airline they belong to. Air Canada is typically pretty easy to spot since most of their aircraft is a light blue with the bright red maple leaf on the tail. They've actually just recently re-done them though, with a much more sleek look in my opinion, and now they'll probably be even easier to see since they all have the black underside.
So all of that to say, we made it to the airport around 3:30.
I sent Amber in to get our boarding passes printed while I took care of the cab fare (which, with tip, came to about 35$, so all in all pretty reasonable for the time saver it is from taking public transportation. Not that that would have been an option anyway at that time of night).
I met up with Amber inside just as she was finishing up.
The check in area was pretty empty, but the bag check line was really long. Probably easily a ten minutes wait right there. We were doubly glad not to have any baggage to check in. So with our boarding passes in hand, we made our way to the security area.
Now, if you haven't been to Montreal airport, here's how security works for the U.S. departures.
You've got the usual line right outside the security area, which winds about ten times - it's a pretty decently sized line, really. You could easily be in it for over an hour.
Then, there's a space before the line starts where we used to have to fill the customs form. They've gotten rid of the forms now, cause they have the nifty machines. They still have some in the customs area for people traveling without a Canadian or US passport, but it doesn't clog the security area at least.
Then, outside of that big room, is another line. Much shorter, maybe a tenth of the size, but a line nonetheless. It's just a little past the check in counters.
So that's the first line we encountered, and it was already full.
I panicked for a brief moment - if this line was full, and then the inside line was full on top of that, we may not make it in time to board.
Then Amber pointed out that the door was still closed. They hadn't opened the security area yet.
Phew.
They actually opened the door right as we walked up, so we headed into the second, bigger security line - where, again, the actual security screening process hadn't started. They didn't really start it until 4, but let me tell you, we were still glad to have gotten in line when we did, because that line just kept on growing and growing.
We got through pretty painlessly, and then headed to the U.S. pre clearance area. That's really what it is, but it avoids having to go through customs upon arrival in the States. We waited another bit of time in that line, and then stepped up to the customs agent.
He'd seemed a little strict with some of the people before us, so we were of course a little weary. Well, I mean, Amber is American and travel with her US passport, so it's not exactly that nerve wrecking. They could still decide not to let me in, though.
He actually ended up being pretty easy going with us. He looked at our boarding pass and asked us if we were going to see the Mouse, which we confirmed. He then told us that if you take your passport into Guest Services in the Magic Kingdom, they'll stamp it with a Main Street USA seal.
That was pretty much the extent of our questioning, and then we were on our way.
Our gate was right there as we exited the duty free shop, and Amber got herself situated while I headed to Starbucks to get myself a drink. At the airport is pretty much the only time I'm technically allowed to get Starbucks, so you know, I don't usually pass it up.
I can't even remember what I got at this point. I think I ended up going with a Strawberries and Cream frap. I also got a chocolate chunks muffin, because I was getting hungry, and although we were technically on standby for business class, they could bump us down if need be. So I decided I'd rather get something to eat then rather than have to buy plane food.
I joined Amber at the gate, and we passed the time with me quizzing her on her anatomy note cards. She had a test on Monday morning, so she'd brought them along to do some studying.
A little before boarding was to begin, the gate agent came up and started calling names to come to the desk. Usually, that's when they call people who didn't get a seat assignment while checking in, as well as standby travellers.
Our name didn't get called.
That's not usually a good sign.
Not long after that, they began the actual boarding process.
Alright, I won't panic. Keep it cool.
Then they made the call to say that the door would be closing soon and everyone should be on board.
Now, the etiquette of standby is, you're not supposed to ask anything of the gate agents. You don't go bug them prior to them calling you, you don't ask for upgrades, you just wait til you're called.
Normally, not being called means you're not getting on the plane.
But I had, of course, checked the flight load a few moments before, and it is usually accurate. It was still showing seats.
So I went up to the counter, and asked if by any chance we did not have seats.
And the gate agent looked down at the counter, picked up two boarding passes that had been printed, and said oh, these are yours.
Well thanks.
So we hurriedly gathered our belongings and made our way onto the plane.
We're officially on our way!
We settled in our comfy seats and were promptly handed an iPad for movie watching. Air Canada Rouge doesn't have the entertainment system on the back of the seats anymore, but they have it on their app, so you can still watch movies for free, you just have to do it on your own device - or rent an iPad for 10$. Unless you're in business, then you just get the iPad.
They had a few Disney movies, but I decided to watch things I'd never watched before, so I watched The Secret Life of Pets and Mr. Church. I enjoyed both, and of course, Mr Church made me cry.
We were in the air before too long, and I tried to take a picture of the clouds while it was still a little dark out.
Then our breakfast was brought over.
I gave Amber pretty much all of my strawberries, because that's the only fruit she eats out of that assortment.
She slept throughout most of the plane ride, while I just kept myself entertained with the movies and taking pictures.
Hello, fellow travelers!
She woke up as we were starting our descent into Orlando, and was obviously very excited.
Getting close!
We ended up landing and getting to the gate ten or fifteen minutes early, which is always exciting when you're going to Disney!
I had to take a picture of this all too familiar terminal (it's the carpet, really).
We were among the first off the plane, and we decided to stop by a bathroom then and there to get ourselves changed. We have to wear business appropriate clothes when flying standby, regardless of whether we're seated in economy or business, and we had debated changing at Disney, but decided to just get it out of the way.
As we stepped over toward the Fake-o-Rail though, we were greeted with this sight.
It was apparently down, and there was no information about it anywhere so we just hoped it would be back and running soon. It took maybe five-ten minutes before it arrived, so not too terrible, and we squeezed on with everybody else.
Amber took this picture to post on Instagram. Where in the world are we?
At that point, we still hadn't told anyone we were going to Disney (except the people I shift traded with, and the person who was coming to look after our cat), so we decided to just spill it already.
It's a Mickey to Mickey! That can only mean one thing!
It's Disney time!
We stepped right on the unmagical yellow Mears bus that was waiting for us, but at that point we really couldn't care less.
It was less than five minutes until we were underway, and we both were still having a bit of a hard time believing we were actually on our way to Disney World. That was actually the theme of the whole weekend. In a way, we couldn't believe we were actually there. On the other hand, it felt incredibly natural and normal to be there.
The drive went by smoothly, although we pondered a few times if it was our driver's first day.
Soon, we were seeing this.
And then this!
Okay, that might be a little too close...
Here.
Much better.
We got off the bus and retrieved our carry ons before making our way inside the lobby.
God I love this lobby.
I got us checked in while Amber took some pictures. Our room was, of course, not ready yet (it was still before 11 at that point), so got our park bags settled and left the rest of our stuff with bell services.
No time to lose, we only have 53 hours until our park time is over!
We headed outside and got in a reasonably short line for our park of choice.
After a surprisingly short ride, we stepped foot in our first park of the trip!
Animal Kingdom!
Starting with Animal Kingdom was definitely a first, but it was the park at which we would spend the least amount of time, so we decided that since we would have three hours of practically empty Magic Kingdom time before us that day, we might as well spend a few hours at Animal Kingdom.
We went through bag check, and of course I was picked to go through the metal detector.
We then headed over to the park entrance, and soon we were in!
As we walked in, we were greeted by this sight.
DiVine!
She was right by the entrance area. It was our very first time seeing her, but unfortunately, we didn't really have time to stop. Still, it was cool catching a glimpse of her.
We kept moving, as we had places to be (although we weren't in too big a rush that we couldn't take walking pictures while we were at it. That being said, we are definitely due for a new camera, because most of these are way bad).
And of course, there's always time to take a picture of the Tree of Life.
We didn't stop for a PhotoPass picture though, because we had a FastPass to catch, and I'd timed it with the hopes that our morning would go smoothly, which it thankfully had, but it did mean we were toward the tail end of it.
Any guesses where we were off to?
Click for next post
Last edited:
Obviously will be subject to change 
