Return of the Son of the CLT - Thread Two - Updated 8/5 About This Page:

[Caldercup]

The pre-trip section of this trip report can be found here.

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Pre-travel Day – Friday, May 31st

As usual, my part-time corporate job suddenly turned into full-time day -- just as I’d most appreciate a break from having to go into the office. <sigh> I got to work extra early, but still only managed to head out when the day was quite well expired. I did squeeze in a moment to check in for the flight and decided to only choose my “free” single bag instead of paying $10 for a second bag.

I dashed home and finished up some of the last of my projects. Then it was time to pack. Boy, oh boy… two Jedi robes, a few presents, and some snacks can take up half a suitcase! Oh, well. I’d fork over the $10 for a second bag and not cull my stack of outfits. (Even though Sharon would tease me for my 37 pieces of luggage. )

At 12:30, I was done and ready to get some much needed sleep. Luckily, I had no problem conking out, with the alarm set for 7AM.

Day 1 – Saturday, June 1st

At 6AM, I woke with a start and sat straight up in bed. The dogs rushed over to see what was up and I knew that there was no point in trying to go back to sleep again for that last precious hour. I got up and took care of some “house stuff” and Calder came down to say goodbye to me, being really good-tempered about his mother going off to WDW without him. Bob woke and pulled a Cubs hat over his lovely morning hair and got the suitcases into the car so that we were on the road by 8:06… only a few minutes later than I had planned. We had a long political discussion on the drive down and were surprised at how quickly the time passed. I gave my DH some big smooches and wished him well on his week of single-parenting.

I dragged my luggage inside the airport and up to the Airtran counter, only to find that my second bag would cost $20 at the desk. (If I’d paid for it in advance, it would’ve been half price. Live and learn, huh?!)

Once unencumbered by the bags, I moseyed up to security and got through quickly. Then it was on to my gate where I was able to get a fairly nice breakfast sandwich at the bistro and one of the worst cups of coffee I’ve ever been served. (Ick – totally burnt-tasting, despite a second dose of cream and sugar.)

I wandered around a tad and found an awesome little neck pouch in a book store – it had pockets for my cell phone, my camera, a slot for cards and in internal one for money. It was the most compact little thing and, at $18 was some of the best travel money I’ve spent since I bought a PassPorter guidebook.



I found a seat at the gate and started a mad texting and calling session with Karen. She was at her airport in California (albeit at a much earlier hour than for me!) and very emotionally-charged for this vacation. “We’re at the gate,” one of her texts said. “I’m so FREAKIN’ excited to see you. I’ve been in tears all morning!” Which, of course, caused me to get all verklempt at the idea that I’d be seeing my BFF in just a few hours.

I sent out some texts and pictures to various PassPorters to show them what I’d been experiencing so far and basically cleaned up my phone in preparation for the hard work I'd be putting it through over the next 10 days.

Just as they called us up to the gate, I looked over at a girl standing beside me. Yikes – my first inappropriate @$$crack sighting of the trip and it was barely started! (I tell ya, this girl’s Freshman Forty was in prime evidence and her tiny hip-hugging shorts were barely containing the butt cleavage she was packing in there.) I sent off a text to several compatriots, wishing that I dared snag a picture for y’all.

Once on board our plane, I realized that they’d upgraded the plane to a larger one (we were originally set to have a plane with 3 seats on one side and 2 on the other.) Luckily, the only other person in my new 3-person row was an older woman on the aisle whose husband sat across the aisle from her. I plugged in my earphones and tried to fall asleep in the hopes that the trip would go quickly. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my arm… it was my seat mate, who introduced herself as Diane and said “I like to talk.” Heeeee!

Luckily, Diane was a delight and we shared travel stories for the entire flight. (We had traveled to many of the same European countries and had quite a lot in common.) It made the flight go by surprisingly fast, so, Diane…, thank you so much for occupying my time so enjoyably!

The pilot came on to tell us that the temperature in Orlando was 89° and the sky was clear. The drop through the clouds was more … um… shall I say “precipitous” (with a great deal of stomach-churning turbulence) than I enjoy, but it got us on the ground in great time – wheels down at 1:20.

Baggage Claim took a bit, but afforded me my second @$$crack sighting of the vacation. I sent a pic to Scarlett of this new girl waiting for her bags and Scarlett’s response had me howling. “This is shaping up to be a fabulously inappropriate trip. I mean, twice as much @$$crack in day 1 as the entire last trip!”

My bags were finally out and I dragged them down to the DME counter as quickly as possible. Eeeeeek! How big was that waiting crowd?! Ugh! I decided to wheel a bit to the side to see exactly how long the wait would be when I realized that it was actually a large school group and not people standing at DME. Phew!

Luckily, my fears that DME check-in would be a nightmare (with our change from POFQ to joining Jill’s family at the AKL) were unfounded and they directed me to a bus line in short order. Being the unapologetic eavesdropper that I am, I struck up a conversation with a mother/daughter team standing beside me – they sounded so like they would fit in well on the boards, what with husbands that didn’t understand why they liked coming to Disney so much and colleagues who teased them about their vacations. (Sounds familiar, huh?!) We were called to hop on the bus and, once the driver had stowed my bags underneath, I climbed aboard to take the second row seat. There was an extremely strong smell of air fresheners hanging in the air, so I looked behind me into the bus to see why….



The driver had strung about 38 thousand air fresheners from the luggage racks on each side of the bus! Do you think maybe he normally drives the return-to-the-airport-post-vacation route? I mean, people coming for the start of their vacation rarely smell badly enough to warrant such desperate measures.

He was also a speed demon – one of those who loved to accelerate sharply at each green light and then stomped on the brakes at each red light. Plus, he liked to take the turns at extreme angles and I was getting thrown side-to-side quite frequently. But… I’m not complaining at the Kilimanjaro Safari-style driving – it sure got me to the AKL in record time.

<-- just LOOK at that blue, Florida sky!



<-- I had both my camera and cell phone ready for this moment!


At this point, I got a text from Karen that said, “I’m surrounded by a church mission trip. They are all smiley, chatty, and holy. But I figured the plane wouldn’t crash!” Well, if she can’t have her own private plane this trip, at least she had a little spiritual mojo going for a good flight.

I retrieved my bags and allowed the folks at Bell Services to welcome me with the “velvet handcuffs” of the concierge-level service. Aaaaaaaah! This is the life.

After two espresso’s from the magic coffee machine (that I later realized was a risk, as I have enough trouble falling asleep the first night on property) and letting Bob and Calder know that I’d made it safely, I got a text from Jill that she and Maddie were headed back to the AKL. When I saw her step into the lounge, it was time to cue the angel choir – aaaaah aaaaaaaah! Finally, the two of us were getting to meet in person after all these years of mutual adoration on the boards. Even Maddie warmed up to me quickly and we became fast friends. We were sitting chatting on a couch a few minutes later and it was as if we’d been meeting like this for years.

I gave Jill my little arts & crafts project of t-shirts for her family and Miss Maddie had to try them on!



<-- for Jill (it includes the Koenigs family motto "We don't waste chocolate!")
<-- for Thom, the Hannah Montana fan.

<-- for Mary Devall (with the yellow cupcake that made me fall in love with her in Jill's TRs)
<-- for Maddie (the Simba lovin' big girl)

I had brought along foam pirate hats and tiaras for everyone and Maddie and I had a blast putting them on in interesting ways.



After a bit, the concierge staff informed Jill that her villa was ready and she and Maddie escorted me over – divine! It was right on the concierge lounge floor and was beautifully appointed. The view wasn’t of a savannah, but it afforded a great sneak peak at the new villas being built for DVC.





<-- the outside walls are almost done!

Once the bags came up from Bell Services, it was back to the lounge for us. While Jill and I chatted non-stop, Maddie made friends with everyone in the lounge. Seriously, this is one cute kidlet, whose smile can melt the hardest heart. Unfortunately, she’s not yet perfected her “wackjob” radar and she found us a doozy. Picture this: Jill and I are on either end of a small couch, both turned towards each other, intent on a fabulous rapid-fire conversation when this woman in white announces, “oooh, oooh… I have something to say about that.” (Serously, this is word-for-word what she said!) Whaaaat? You have some comment to make about what we’re discussing in our PRIVATE conversation? Seriously?

Yep…

She wanted to join in and had no compunction with butting in to whatever topic Jill and I settled onto. She was also one of those people who want to tell you personal info on her life, her kids, her troubles – stuff I’m not sure I’d share with some of my nearest and dearest and here she was, blabbing it to perfect strangers in a resort lounge. Oy! Get some boundaries!

Eventually, Mary Devall and her daddy came to the lounge and Thom was looking slightly green and unhappy. The many rides on Everest with his daredevil daughter were not sitting well with a meal he’d had the night before and he was feeling decidedly off. At one point Mary Devall had gone to the room with Thom and came back to report that “Daddy was trying to throw up!”

Sharon called and said she done with Universal (and, in fact was “DONE” with Universal as it had been less than magical in their park) and was happy to join us at my suggestion. She and Jill got to know each other a bit and then we stepped back to their room again to enjoy the view from the balcony. Miss Maddie toddled around with a bag of Cheetos and Mary Devall hopped around and told us all about what they’d done in the parks. At one point, Maddie wanted to head back into the room, but the sparklingly clean windows flummoxed her and she smacked right into one as she tried to pass through, leaving a Cheeto-smeared Maddie shape on the window.

By the time we headed back to the lounge, the dinner service had been put out and I was delighted to see that they had a lovely soup from Boma -- I indulged in a great, big bowl. The flatbreads and dips were also delicious and filled me up completely. When Karen texted me that she had landed at the airport and was grabbing their bags, I was thrilled to the point that I was totally shivering with happiness that our little gathering was about to get really exciting! They were starting to put away the dinner offerings, so Sharon and I piled up a couple of plates for Karen (the boys would eat at the Mara) and ran them back to the room. Another text from Karen came in to say that their DME driver was a doozy and was taking waaaaaay longer than he should. She guestimated that they’d arrive in ten minutes, so I went down to the DME drop-off area and settled in to wait for them.

After a verrrrrry long wait, the bus finally pulled up:



Karen and the boys hopped off and were all buzzing with excitement and contained giggles. Apparently, the driver had actually gotten lost and was driving them all over creation, reading the street signs and going 5 miles an hour. Karen said it was all she could do to restrain herself from grabbing him by the back of the collar and yanking him out of his chair so she could take over the bus and get them to the Lodge in good order.

Zack was, of course, towering over me – looking all stretched out, handsome and grown up. Michael was shy, but very personable and looked a little shell-shocked at the whole trip, the flight, the hotel and the crazy lady waiting with a flash camera to capture the moment.

We headed up to the lounge and everyone got acquainted and the free wine flowed freely , the conversation got animated and we closed down the lounge with laughter and good stories. Mary Devall was just thrilled with Zack and loved all the attention she was getting. At one point, she was talking a mile a minute with a turn-by-turn retelling of Test Track. I think it was me who suddenly took the conversation off in a tangential direction and Mary Devall pulled up short on her story, patiently waiting until the adults had finished their conversation. When we were done, she continued on with her Test Track review as if none of us had ever spoken.


Still laughing, we said our farewells to Sharon (who had to return to her Universal hotel) and headed back into the villa to settle the sleeping arrangements. Mary Devall decided that she would sleep on the pull-out chair/bed while the boys shared the pull-out couch. (I cracked Zack up by mocking him for wanting to sleep in a green satin pouch that Karen had brought along – ‘cause two teenage boys couldn’t possibly share a bed. Apparently, the pouch would provide protection for “safe sleeping.” )

I took the pull-out couch in the lock-off studio and zonked out almost immediately. I did wake once or twice to the sound of some large bird making a ruckus on the savannah, but that was a more pleasant sound than the “serenade” Zack had provided the first time we’d stayed at the AKL back in ’06. (Beans, beans, the magical fruit….)

Up next: Flowers, short waits and power augers! Oh, my!

[MickeyMAC]

Great start, sounds like your off on a fantastic adventure. Looking forward to more.

[janicelovesmickey]

great day, funny how ppl just want to give you their life story when you didnt ask for it
hurry back with more please.

[David's Mom]

Great start. I can't wait to hear about all of the adventures.

[my2girls]

What a great start!!!! Can't wait for more.

[TroianRae]

Wonderful start, Eileen!!
Sounds like a marvelous time was had by all.
More, please.

[disneydani]

Sounds like an absolute lovely flight out and a most excellent arrival. Looks like the kids adored the crafts....and, kudos for more amazing and highly appropriate t-shirts. Glad the CLT reunion went off without a hitch!

danielle

[Lemap760]

Your vacation is off to a great start, despite two inappropriate a%$# cracks in the same day.

[Leah's Dad]

Lovin' the TR

[eff051102]

Oh I can't wait to hear more! Hurry please

[jpod523]

i it! sounds like everyone had a great time catching up and getting to know one another!!!!

[emtpej]

Sounds like you had a great day with passporter pals and future passporters!

[angiek1024]

Fabulous start!! I can't wait to hear all about the whole trip!!! I am really glad I got the chance to meet you at Chef Mickey's! It was wonderful to run into you all!

[lexiemom]

New and old friends, good food, concierge lounge, free-flowing wine!! Now it can't get much better than that!

Great start, glad to hear everyone made it nice and safe.

[disney_duke]

GRREat start!! Really looking forward to...... everything!!