20th Anniversary Trip.. Part II..The Flight!, and Rental Car Confusion About This Page:

[figmentintime]

Cast: Me ..Jane..a Total Disneyholic who happens to also teach reading to at-risk children in between trips
Shan..DH..very patient and loves DIsney ALMOST as much as I do..in his spare time he is a nuclear engineering manager..nice, low-stress job

So, Shan wakes up BEFORE the alarm goes off and proceeds to fling the suitcase on the bed to pack quickly.
Note to self: Move BEFORE any suitcase flinging in the future
He is not a tiny man, so his flinging is usually rather noisy. I pried my eyes open, and he grinned, commenting, "Are you just SO excited! I can't wait to get there! This is so great! I am so glad you talked me into this! I don't even care about the nail gun! Are you hungry yet? I'm starved!"
I looked at him silently, wondering about my sane judgement 20 years ago. I remember this long survey they gave us at pre-marital counseling, and I swear there was not one single question about insanely happy and cheerful men at 4ish o'clock in the morning. I literally fell out of the bed, because I caught my foot in the handle of the flung suitcase. Shan leaped around the bed and picked me up (an advantage to our height difference ) and we sat for a minute while I allowed him to check me over for injuries
I picked up on his enthusiasm, and we raced around, getting ready and into the car in 20 minutes or so. Those of you with several children, or actually, even one, know how fast a mom can get herself presentable in a time crunch!
We drove the 8 minutes to the airport, singing "It's A Small World". I know..wierd...
We parked and there, just waiting for us, was a nice warm tram to take us to the terminal. The driver had JUST returned from a trip to WDW, and we made her drive around an extra circuit so we could visit. She was great!
Check in was easy..shockingly, there was no line at that time of the morning We were offered a non-stop that had seats left, leaving in 20 minutes or so, but the counter clerk mentioned that the plane was so small that it actually flapped it's wings to take off and land. Shan found that extremely amusing, and he and the clerk joked about it for a minute or two..I guess I should mention that while I appreciate the time factor involved with flying, I will never embrace it with gusto. I just feel safer on the ground, that's all. At any rate, since I knew our flight was on a 767, and the connecting flight was also, with only a 30 minute layover, I declined. (We did see that tiny plane take off, and it really did look like the wings were moving, I swear!)
They upgraded us to Business class as we got on, because we had explained to the flight attendant why we were traveling to WDW with silly grins on our faces without children. She grinned right back, and took our tickets, leading us to some really plush and quite wide seats. I smiled gently at the mere mortals who boarded after us, and attempted to look like this was always how we travel (in reality, we all stuff ourselves, 4 kids, Shan and I, into a bright red conversion van, grab pop-tarts and lunchables, and off we go). The flight attendant brought us orange juice (it was REALLY early...I needed something healthy) in GLASSES!
Note to self: Business Class rocks, and so does Eliza, the flight attendant!
The flight was totally uneventful, very smooth, and a little lonely. Shan fell asleep before we took off, and so I amused myself by flipping through all the channels on the back of my seat. HOW COOL IS THAT?! A remote all to myself!
Eliza must have told the pilot, because when we landed, he came out of the cockpit, and congratulated us. He also handed us wings for the kids. I thanked him profusly, imagining my high schooler's joy at this gift! Shan asked how far the gate was for our adjoining flight, and Eliza smiled, and said, "I don't think you'll miss your connection!"
As we came out of the "wind tunnel", there was a small cart with a sign that said, "Reserved for the Peters'Anniversary Trip!" People were glancing at us, and we were laughing, and it was just amazing! Chad, "our" driver, was very sweet, and chatted with us all the way to the other end of the terminal, where our gate was. Turned out he was a disneyholic, too. I'm telling you, this trip was just covered in pixie dust!
Note to self: Disney lovers are the most awesome group of people! Also, always chat with folks when you travel. You never know what might happen
We arrived at the other gate, and they were loading first class, families, etc. Chad escorted us up to the front of the line, where once again we were bumped to Business class. I could learn to adore flying, I think!
This flight was very nice, also. Great service, and we got actual FOOD instead of 7 pretzel sticks and 2 peanuts!
Orlando airport was a ZOO! After we got off the monorail, we walked through the security area. The lines were listed as 45 minutes! Everyone was being scanned, even babies in carriers! Shan and I mentioned to each other that we hoped a Tuesday evening would not be as crazy as a Saturday morning.
Our luggage was in the first group on the carosel. I think it helped to have the multi-colored pom-pom attatched to the handle (although Shan was initially embarrassed by the sheer size of it..Our daughter made it to match her soccer ball...it did )
The Thrifty van was waiting right outside the terminal, and we got on with a couple who had just gotten off the Disney Cruise. They raved about it, and I am determined to save up and take the family on it someday. I HIGHLY recommend Thrifty. We were at the car lot in under 5 minutes, and had our car in another 5. (We had signed up for their program online, and they upgraded us to a midsize sedan. Shan loved the legroom. Our one lone suitcase looked a little ridiculous in the trunk, however.)It is right next to the BeeLine, and we were literally at the Disney Village in under 20 minutes. It was incredibly easy and convienent. I would have enjoyed the towncar, but I found a $25 rate for ALL FOUR DAYS online, and I simply could not pass it up.
We were spending our first night at the Best Western in the village. They initially lost our reservation (the only really scary moment of the trip, other than that wing flapping thing), but then found it, and our room was actually ready!
It turned out to be on the side facing the village, on the second to top floor! What a wonderful view! We could see the fireworks that night. It was quite nice. Not Disney, but nice, none the less.
We decided to walk over to the village, since it was only 10:45. I wanted to try the Earl of Sandwich, and start sucking in the disney atmosphere as soon as possible.
The village was swamped. I decided against the Earl when I realized that the wait to visit his dining hall was almost 45 minutes long (odd, like the security line at the airport). We ended up taking a boat to Old Key West and grabbing a sandwich to munch by the pool. The new slide is awesome, by the way.
We decided to check with the front desk at OKW, where we would be checking in tomorrow, just to see about APs. Kelly spoke with us, pulled up something on her screen, and began to grin. What would I give to be able to read those things !
She then got really serious, and said, "Gosh! There seems to be problem with your reservation! I can't find you here for tomorrow at all! Can you wait here a minute?" I began to sweat a little. Shan was doing his calm, "Now you DID bring the reservation slip with you, right? Then there is no problem. They must have us mixed up with someone else. Relax." Right...
Kelly came back with a manger, who also looked at the monitor, and shook her head. "Nope. You're not in here.Hmmm" As I was desperatly searching my hip-pouch for the confirmation slip, Kelly reached over and touched my arm. "You're not in here because you have been moved to the Boardwalk Villas! They are expecting you tomorrow morning! Happy Anniversary!" I started to cry. We are DVC members, and we actually own at the BWV, but we were told they were solidly booked for the Valentine's weekend. This was just one miracle after another. Shan and I headed back to the boat, a little dazed by it all, and when we got to the village, we just walked around holding hands, and wandering aimlessly. What a wonderful day this was turning out to be!
Note to Self: NEVER EVER EVER stop believing in miracles...they happen all the time when you deal with Disney
Next chapter: A Boardwalk View, and AP'S! Life is good

[Diz]

Magic on top of magic...on top of magic!

Tinkerbell was sure working overtime for your trip! Congratulations!

[Jillybean]

Oh my gosh, you are making me cry at 9 o'clock in the morning! What an absolutely magical day you started with!

And this past year has taught me to never ever stop believing in miracles. I'm with you there!

I can't wait for more!

Jill

[Colexis Mom]

What a great update Boy, magic was certainly on your side More please

[SHEANA1226]

sounds like pixie dust is in the air!!!!

[Tara O'Hara]

Wow! What a magical start to your trip!! That is awesome stuff!!

[luvnwdwgal]

Wow! The power of pixie dust!!!