It was me (42), DH (42), DS (12), and DD (11). We woke up at 3 am on Thurs. 8/16. Actually I don't think DS and I even slept that night, lol.
This would be the kid's 1st time flying. DH and I each only flew once before, about 20 years ago. We arrived at the airport around 5 am for our 7:10 flight. Checked in, had juice and bagels, and took off on time with our 11 bags of luggage! LOL, I know that was alot for only 6 days but, I brought every single item that was suggested here on the boards!
The night before we left, I remembered that someone had mentioned that some people experience ear pain while flying so I sent DH to the drugstore for Ear Planes. They only had 2 pairs left. I didn't remember having any problems the last time I flew, so I had the kids wear them.
Okay now, I'm sorry but I have to mention this because it greatly affected my arrival to the World. Mid flight I began "woman stuff"...earlier than I expected. I was not prepared "to the max"..if you know what I mean, and had to dash through Pittsburgh airport to make our connection.....without moving my legs! Not fun!
Alright, I had no ear problems on the first flight, but during the desent to Orlando airport, I experienced the most excruciating ear pain. It was horrible. I would say it was right up there with contractions during childbirth. I'm serious. I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head and I was in tears. Finally we landed.
We were met at the gate by our Transtar Towncar driver. I could barely hear a word he was saying. My ears were plugged up and he had a very thick accent, as did many of the people I encountered during the first few hours of our arrival. I felt in a daze, and just allowed myself to be led around. It was frustrating.
We pulled up to the Contemporary and our bags were unloaded and wisked away before I had a chance to remove some MUCH needed items from one of the suitcases. We proceeded to the checkout counter and were told our room was not ready, that our bags were in storage. We were given some information (most of which I could not hear or understand) lol, and told to check back with the code they gave us, to see if our room was ready in a little while.
This was at about 2:00 pm. I was really hoping to get to our room right away to freshen up, but, oh well. We went for a monorail ride!
We were lucky enough to get to sit up front with the driver and get co-driver cards. Tim the monorail driver was very nice. He asked where we were from and I said near Buffalo since most people never heard of our town and Buff. is the closest. He said "where?" I said North Tonawanda, NY., and to my surprise, he said he was from Tonawanda, NY!! He had moved to Florida 5 years ago. That was pretty cool.
When we got back to the Contemporary, our room was ready. Months ago I had booked a standard view room (parking lot), as close as possible to the tower, preferably North Wing. I also asked for a refrigerator and coffee maker, which, by the way, we didn't get the first day, so ended up cancelling those requests and did just fine without them!
The CM, who I also had trouble comprehending, told me they had no rooms available in that area. I just barely made out his words "free upgrade"!! WooHoo!! We were led to a Garden Wing room with a Lagoon view!! It was a beautiful view of the secret beach that I had been asking about here on the boards!! The trees with pink flowers were lovely. I was VERY happy!! The distance from the Tower was no big deal to us...it was sooo worth it!! The room was huge. I was prepared for the offbeat decor, and the kids really liked it..they thought it was "cool" I really liked how the bathroom was setup also.
So, anyway, we freshened up, unpacked a bit, and headed to Chef Mickey's for our 5:00 PS.
Chef Mickey's is the greatest!!!!!!! It was so fun! We were seated right where all the characters seemed to make their big entrance. The kids got everyone's autographs and we took lots of pics. The food was way better than I was expecting it to be, and there was a very good selection. We could have eaten there everyday and been thoroughly satisfied. After dinner we explored our resort, then headed back to the room. The kids were wiped out from our early start so I finished unpacking and we hit the sack early to get rested for EE @ EPCOT the next day.
This would be the kid's 1st time flying. DH and I each only flew once before, about 20 years ago. We arrived at the airport around 5 am for our 7:10 flight. Checked in, had juice and bagels, and took off on time with our 11 bags of luggage! LOL, I know that was alot for only 6 days but, I brought every single item that was suggested here on the boards!
The night before we left, I remembered that someone had mentioned that some people experience ear pain while flying so I sent DH to the drugstore for Ear Planes. They only had 2 pairs left. I didn't remember having any problems the last time I flew, so I had the kids wear them.
Okay now, I'm sorry but I have to mention this because it greatly affected my arrival to the World. Mid flight I began "woman stuff"...earlier than I expected. I was not prepared "to the max"..if you know what I mean, and had to dash through Pittsburgh airport to make our connection.....without moving my legs! Not fun!
Alright, I had no ear problems on the first flight, but during the desent to Orlando airport, I experienced the most excruciating ear pain. It was horrible. I would say it was right up there with contractions during childbirth. I'm serious. I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head and I was in tears. Finally we landed.
We were met at the gate by our Transtar Towncar driver. I could barely hear a word he was saying. My ears were plugged up and he had a very thick accent, as did many of the people I encountered during the first few hours of our arrival. I felt in a daze, and just allowed myself to be led around. It was frustrating.
We pulled up to the Contemporary and our bags were unloaded and wisked away before I had a chance to remove some MUCH needed items from one of the suitcases. We proceeded to the checkout counter and were told our room was not ready, that our bags were in storage. We were given some information (most of which I could not hear or understand) lol, and told to check back with the code they gave us, to see if our room was ready in a little while.
This was at about 2:00 pm. I was really hoping to get to our room right away to freshen up, but, oh well. We went for a monorail ride!
We were lucky enough to get to sit up front with the driver and get co-driver cards. Tim the monorail driver was very nice. He asked where we were from and I said near Buffalo since most people never heard of our town and Buff. is the closest. He said "where?" I said North Tonawanda, NY., and to my surprise, he said he was from Tonawanda, NY!! He had moved to Florida 5 years ago. That was pretty cool.
When we got back to the Contemporary, our room was ready. Months ago I had booked a standard view room (parking lot), as close as possible to the tower, preferably North Wing. I also asked for a refrigerator and coffee maker, which, by the way, we didn't get the first day, so ended up cancelling those requests and did just fine without them!
The CM, who I also had trouble comprehending, told me they had no rooms available in that area. I just barely made out his words "free upgrade"!! WooHoo!! We were led to a Garden Wing room with a Lagoon view!! It was a beautiful view of the secret beach that I had been asking about here on the boards!! The trees with pink flowers were lovely. I was VERY happy!! The distance from the Tower was no big deal to us...it was sooo worth it!! The room was huge. I was prepared for the offbeat decor, and the kids really liked it..they thought it was "cool" I really liked how the bathroom was setup also.
So, anyway, we freshened up, unpacked a bit, and headed to Chef Mickey's for our 5:00 PS.
Chef Mickey's is the greatest!!!!!!! It was so fun! We were seated right where all the characters seemed to make their big entrance. The kids got everyone's autographs and we took lots of pics. The food was way better than I was expecting it to be, and there was a very good selection. We could have eaten there everyday and been thoroughly satisfied. After dinner we explored our resort, then headed back to the room. The kids were wiped out from our early start so I finished unpacking and we hit the sack early to get rested for EE @ EPCOT the next day.
What a great way to start off your trip. 
Sorry to hear that the airplane ride wasn't a very pleasant experience though. 
