Really, it was.
But this portion of the story actually begins earlier – about 4:30pm on August 24th.
I’d picked up Leo from school, packed the car, over-fed the cats and we were on our way! The goal was to get OUT of the Tampa Bay area before the worst of rush hour and we stopped at McDonald’s for dinner before getting to the Interstate.
We were all pretty jazzed about getting to WDW. Even Gramma had a twinkle in her eye.
Or was that a tear of remorse?
I’m going with twinkle.
As we departed the golden arches, we felt a few drops of rain, but didn’t stress: we’re used to the daily afternoon thunderstorms that spell SUMMER in Florida.
Nope, no stress at all…. Just excitement, joy and a sense of adventure! We were on our way
HOME!
Then we hit the Interstate. And came to a grinding halt. Along with several thousand of my car’s closest friends.
URRGGHH.
Did you know that Florida drivers forget how to drive when it rains? Mmmm-hmmm. It’s the most amazing thing to see. Traffic’s speeding right along, everyone’s happy to be getting wherever it is they’re going and BAM! The rain starts, everyone slams on the brakes and forgets how to signal. Drives me stark-raving mad.
So anyway, it took about an hour and half to crawl through Tampa and get to I-4. The
entire trip normally only takes a bit over 1.5 hours.
When we got to I-4, things eased up traffic-wise, but….. that’s when the storm really let loose. Near zero visibility. Thunder cracking less than a second after each blinding flash of lightning. Wind threatening to roll my semi-high-profile vehicle off the road.
Needless to say, this wasn’t the way I’d envisioned the trip starting – stressed, water-logged and 2 hours late. But I was also thinking of my friends already in The World. I knew Tracy had an Illuminations cruise scheduled that night. I thought LL was going to the Pirate and Princess Party. I wasn’t sure what Jo had planned, but I was 99.9% sure it involved being outdoors. The whole way there, I just kept thinking, “Maybe it’s not raining in Orlando.”
FINALLY, 3.5 hours after we left McD’s, we made it to our WDW exit.
And. It was still raining.
We got to POR and Gramma pulled up to let me out. The plan was for me to check in real quick, then get back in the car and we’d go straight to our room.
I took about 10 steps inside the lobby and turned right back around. OMG,
where did all these people come from?! It was a mad-house, I tell you. People were standing nearly shoulder to shoulder in the rotunda. The check-in line was 30 deep.
I told all this to Gramma, (who shot her mean eyes at me), and told her to park and bring Leo in. They could hang out and watch cartoons or check out the gift shop while I waited. And waited. And waited.
As I waited, I pondered this new situation. I’ve never checked in this late. Normally, we check in in the morning, occasionally early afternoon. Is
this what it’s always like so late in the day??? Note to self: NEVER get here later than 3pm again.
I was still wondering about Tracy’s cruise, but it was too loud in there to call – I’d have spent the whole call saying “What? Say that again…” – so I dropped a text letting her know I’d arrived.
Eventually, it was my turn and I got a terrific CM. Our conversation went something like this:
“Hi – I’ll be the easiest guest you have tonight. I’ve been here a bunch of times, I don’t need tickets, and I want express check-out. All I need is a map, keys and a room number!”
“Great! You’ll be in Parterre Place, sign here, this is your room number, here’s where you’ll park. Have a great night!”
I rounded up Gramma and Leo and gave them the good news: “We’re staying in the Mansion section this time – think it’s ritzier than the Bayou?”
It wasn’t.
Not by a long-shot.
We were on the first floor, the second-to-last room on the faaaar left if you’re looking out to the river. The aesthetics of the room were okay. Nothing exciting about floral bedcovers and dark wood, but nothing awful, either. It was clean, from the standpoint of having been vacuumed, sheets changed and tubs/sinks washed. But it was definitely showing its age.
What really got me, though, was the
dampness and moldy smell. I’m sure the rain hadn’t helped, but I think being on the ground floor made things even worse. I wound up using my emergency asthma inhaler twice before checking out.
By that time, Tracy had texted back, asking if I wanted to meet for a drink. I did, I really did. But I was tired and knew I’d incur the wrath of Gramma if I left her to get Leo into bed. So I called to let T know and we chatted for a few minutes. It was so good to finally hear her voice!
Up till then, our only communication had been via post, PM, email or text.
We cleaned up, watched a little TV and turned in for the night.
_____________________________________________________
Remember the itch? Well, another nifty idea it gave me was this: if we got to WDW a night earlier, we’d have a leisurely morning and could even fit in a real breakfast – now THAT’s a vacation!
And that’s exactly what we did. Showered and dressed, we walked over to Boatwright’s. I didn’t take any pictures, but will say that it was a pretty walk. Just not as pretty as our walk in December, when we stayed in Alligator Bayou. Apparently, a mansion-gal I ain’t.
Boatwright’s had no problem seating us without an ADR and we had a
delicious pre-DIS-meet meal! Gramma and I both wanted to try the stuffed French toast, but knew we’d never make it without some protein. So we shared the French toast and an order of eggs Benedict. Oh my. Both were incredible! Leo had… a bagel. And cream cheese. But not
on the bagel. The bagel was eaten plain and the cream cheese was scooped out with a fork and eaten on its own.
About halfway through this repast, I wondered aloud about the wisdom of eating such a large meal prior to donning a bathing suit and meeting a lot of people for the first time. Brilliant.
Breakfast completed, we packed back up and drove down the road to our new Home, Saratoga Springs.
My nervous excitement about meeting my cyber friends in mere hours was superseded only by the anxiety of seeing my new vacation resort for the next 42 years. Where was LL with a smoke when I needed one?
We walked into the lobby and I waited in a short line while Gramma and Leo explored. Not only was I welcomed home… not only did they have a room ready for me… not
only was it in the brand-spanking new Grandstand section… I also received my one and only “Have a Magical Day!”
Since we had a room, we went to it for to change into swimwear. Remember? It was Saturday, August 25 – our illegal pool meet.
I found our building, parked right in front, took the elevator up to the third floor, found our door 15 feet away and saw this:
And this:
Wait – no, I didn’t see other people’s belongings. The truth is, I was too excited to remember to take pics the first time we walked in! I took these after the pool meet, but I wanted you all to experience my first DVC moments along with me. 
To say I was satisfied with my purchase would be an understatement of epic proportions. I was in LOOOOOVE!!! Everything was clean, and fresh, and pretty. But I had little time to soak it all in – we were late for a very important date.
I had missed Lauralee’s first call while I was checking us in. Her message said that Tracy and Jo were on their way and LL and her DS Michael were at the pool waiting. I walked out to the porch to call her back and saw this:
I was in heaven, I tell you. I may even have told LL. I’m pretty sure I thanked her right then for all she’d shared about SSR, because I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, I’d made the right decision to buy there.
I’m also pretty sure she said, “You’re very welcome. Now when the heck are you gonna get over here?!”
It seems Tracy and Jo had arrived and I was late. Again.
Continued in next post…
Somehow, I don't think it'd help! 
That little itch might be telling you something...
Oh no!
: Yeah, well details, my friend. I've got 3 resorts in the running: WL, Poly or .... wait... wait ... wait for it.... SSR! 
Yeah, right! 
Split-stays! HA! No problem! We are DIS'ers, after all! We laugh in the face of Disney adversity! 
Love it! Witty Witicisms!! 
). At 9am the line was out the stinkin' door...
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