Trekker
I've gone to find myself, If I return make me stay
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2001
- Messages
- 6,745
Wonderful October trip with 12 YO DD
The trip started off great; we drove from Sun Prairie, WI to my SIL & BILS house in the Chicago area. They drove us to Midway airport and kept the car for us while we were gone. Thanks Guys for saving us that parking cost.
Heading to the gate to board the plane, I forgot to remove my cell phone so of to the side I go to the side for the full search. And of course I have hiking boots on and that sets of the beeper so the shoes have to come off .
The flight to Orlando went off without a hitch. There are both good and bad to flying with ATA.
On the good side, the have very cool drop down screens on most plans and for $1.00 you can get a pair of headphones, these are yours to keep and use on future flights as well. They show a variety of short videos during the flight, things like Friends, Frasier, Tom and Jerry, etc. Really helps the time go by.
Also on the good side they were on time! I consider this a huge plus
On the negative side the seats are very cramped, both side to side and front to back. I changed seats with a gentleman who was 6 something very long legged. We were both in an aisle seat but the center by me was empty this helped him a lot. I found it impossible to use my laptop on the flight because of the seat in front of me being so close.
When we arrived at MCO we got our bags and headed out to EA at National. I swear I thought I had lost my mind. I went out the door, across the street and into the parking garage, just like every other trip. NO NATIONAL EA. Some other rental company has cars where Ive always found EA before. Now what? Turns out EA is up one level we came into the other terminal. We usually fly Midwest Express into Terminal B this time we flew ATA into Terminal A. AARRGG!
Got a very nice Stratus and headed for the Swan. When we arrived there was no one outside? Had to go to the front desk and ask about baggage service and valet. I guess the fact that is was after 1:00 AM might have something to do with this. It was only a few minutes and a very nice gentleman came out and took care of everything for us.
Checking in was a breeze I did present my SPG gold card and asked about a possible upgrade to Club Level or Concierge. I know you really need to be Platinum for this but I thought I would try. No luck on Club Level or Concierge but I was upgraded to a great newly refurbished room. (Not sure why they called this an upgrade?). It was a great room. And you have to love those heavenly beds. Look Here for pictures of the renovated rooms.
Our first day at WDW was Friday 10/25 we started off by walking to MGM. I love the location of the S&D being able to walk over is great. We were able to do RNR twice without Fastpass. Then got a Fastpass and went to see the Beauty and the Beast show. Then ToT and back to RNR. Both DD and I are into pin trading so we headed of to the pin carts/stations did some trading with CMs and some buying. DD decided it was time to head back to the Swan for some swimming.
That evening was our trip to MNSSHP. We started with dinner at LTT; it was cool all the CMs were in costume. We met several other DIS folks here, one of them was yepod and family. They have the greatest DD 3 YO Emily! We spent the night with them Trick or Treating, riding rides (had to do Pirates of the Caribbean) both yepod and I had dressed as pirates. Watched the parade and the fireworks, Emily attached herself to my DD Katie so we made plans to meet the next day, all in all it was a great night.
We spent time with yepod and family each of the next 4 days they are truly a great DIS family and I now count them as true friends.
The rest of our trip included time spent at each of the 4 parks, DTD and the Swan. We enjoyed a great meal in Japan at Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dining Room. It was a great trip!
The trip started off great; we drove from Sun Prairie, WI to my SIL & BILS house in the Chicago area. They drove us to Midway airport and kept the car for us while we were gone. Thanks Guys for saving us that parking cost.
Heading to the gate to board the plane, I forgot to remove my cell phone so of to the side I go to the side for the full search. And of course I have hiking boots on and that sets of the beeper so the shoes have to come off .
The flight to Orlando went off without a hitch. There are both good and bad to flying with ATA.
On the good side, the have very cool drop down screens on most plans and for $1.00 you can get a pair of headphones, these are yours to keep and use on future flights as well. They show a variety of short videos during the flight, things like Friends, Frasier, Tom and Jerry, etc. Really helps the time go by.
Also on the good side they were on time! I consider this a huge plus
On the negative side the seats are very cramped, both side to side and front to back. I changed seats with a gentleman who was 6 something very long legged. We were both in an aisle seat but the center by me was empty this helped him a lot. I found it impossible to use my laptop on the flight because of the seat in front of me being so close.
When we arrived at MCO we got our bags and headed out to EA at National. I swear I thought I had lost my mind. I went out the door, across the street and into the parking garage, just like every other trip. NO NATIONAL EA. Some other rental company has cars where Ive always found EA before. Now what? Turns out EA is up one level we came into the other terminal. We usually fly Midwest Express into Terminal B this time we flew ATA into Terminal A. AARRGG!
Got a very nice Stratus and headed for the Swan. When we arrived there was no one outside? Had to go to the front desk and ask about baggage service and valet. I guess the fact that is was after 1:00 AM might have something to do with this. It was only a few minutes and a very nice gentleman came out and took care of everything for us.
Checking in was a breeze I did present my SPG gold card and asked about a possible upgrade to Club Level or Concierge. I know you really need to be Platinum for this but I thought I would try. No luck on Club Level or Concierge but I was upgraded to a great newly refurbished room. (Not sure why they called this an upgrade?). It was a great room. And you have to love those heavenly beds. Look Here for pictures of the renovated rooms.
Our first day at WDW was Friday 10/25 we started off by walking to MGM. I love the location of the S&D being able to walk over is great. We were able to do RNR twice without Fastpass. Then got a Fastpass and went to see the Beauty and the Beast show. Then ToT and back to RNR. Both DD and I are into pin trading so we headed of to the pin carts/stations did some trading with CMs and some buying. DD decided it was time to head back to the Swan for some swimming.
That evening was our trip to MNSSHP. We started with dinner at LTT; it was cool all the CMs were in costume. We met several other DIS folks here, one of them was yepod and family. They have the greatest DD 3 YO Emily! We spent the night with them Trick or Treating, riding rides (had to do Pirates of the Caribbean) both yepod and I had dressed as pirates. Watched the parade and the fireworks, Emily attached herself to my DD Katie so we made plans to meet the next day, all in all it was a great night.
We spent time with yepod and family each of the next 4 days they are truly a great DIS family and I now count them as true friends.
The rest of our trip included time spent at each of the 4 parks, DTD and the Swan. We enjoyed a great meal in Japan at Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dining Room. It was a great trip!
