Woo Hoo! Just booked the airline tickets!

[marshmallow]

We are going on our first trip "home" Jan 24-30. We have reserved a 1BR at SSR for Jan25-30. I am waiting for the cast member hotel rates to become available for Jan 24th. I would rather spend one night at a value or moderate resort rather than spend the points on a Saturday night.

I just booked the tickets from Ontario,CA with Delta. We have a 40 minute layover so I guess we will get a little exercise running to the next plane. I have never been in the Atlanta airport.

We are seriously thinking about Disney Dining. I have already booked O'hana for 8 pm on our arrival night. It's a bit of a tradition to have dinner and watch the fireworks on the first night.

We are taking our DD 28 and her husband 28. They get the sofa. She is a big Disney fan. She worked at Disneyland all through college - HISTA. She convinced my DH to apply for the steam trains and now he works at the happiest job possible at the happiest place on earth. We are now at that wonderful 35% discount stage and looking foward to seeing what kind of damage we can do to our finances.

We plan to try ME and rely on the bus system. We will not commando! Well maybe the "youngsters" will after we sign into the park but DH and I will take time to smell the roses. The nice thing about the bus system is we do not have to coordinate a car.

I think I will eventually request a location but I have not read enough to definitely decide. I am leaning towards Congress Park.

But am I excited? Oh yes you betcha!


Any advice about ME, Atlanta Airport and location would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CarolynMink]

We will also be at WDW from 1/24-1/31. Although, we own at SSR & VWL, we are staying at AKV & BWV.

I have stayed at SSR in a room located in Congress Park then a room at the Springs.

Congress park is nice for the closeness to DTD. It was also quieter than the Springs.

However, I really enjoyed staying at the Spings. We were just a short walk from the pool, community hall and Artist's Palette. Traveling with DD and DS less walking makes for a relaxing trip.

I know some have had problems with ME - we have not. We will also be using ME.

We have had long waits (60min) at the bus stop. However this was quite awhile ago and I have heard things have improved.

 

[disneyistheone]

Re Atlanta
Track your inbound and connecting flight numbers on Delta's web site ("Traveling and check in" then "flight status". Delta tends to use the same gates every day for the same flight numbers. There are several terminals in Atlanta connected by a underground train. If both of your flights are into and out of the same terminal, no problem. If you have to go from one terminal to another, it will be tight but manageable. Remember, Delta has passengers making that connection many times each day so they schedule it to be manageable..
On the Delta site also, when you check the arrival/departure gates, there is a clickable link for an ATL airport map. You will notice that the trains are in the center of each terminal. You also have the option of walking but the shuttle is both fast and frequent.