Using My Powers for Good - 4/29-5/7 - Thread 1 - thru Day 4 About This Page:

[DrDolphin]

Oh Boy!!! I can not wait to read this report!!!

[DawnDenise]

Wow....can't wait to read all about your trip!!!

[Caldercup]

<u>Day One – 4/29 – The Travel Day</u>

We Lloyds couldn’t fly out until Friday evening since dumb things like work and school interfered with our Disney fun. &lt;sigh… Stupid work. Stupid school. Stupid Judy!&gt; We knew we wouldn’t get to our room until around 11PM or so.

The Esterles were luckier than the Lloyds and had a flight that got them to Orlando a little after noon time on Friday. Tiffany picked them up and got them to PORiverside (with a quick stop at the grocery store) in very good time. Donna started to check them in and was told that their room would be ready in 20 minutes, so they gave their bags (including the “day” bag she had packed so they could go right to the parks – with belly pouches and shorts and everything) to Bell Services and stopped at the food court for lunch. After half an hour, she called the number they gave her to get their room assignment and got a very rude CM who basically ridiculed her for thinking that their room would be ready before 3PM. Donna got quite upset and went back to check-in. She asked for a manager and, luckily, he took very good care of her and took information on the rude CM so she could be retrained. Unfortunately, the Esterle boys were sweltering in their jeans and Michael was stung by something and had a very painful introduction to Florida! The manager made sure that Michael got first aid and then he told Donna that he would comp them half of their night’s room charge to try to make up for their bad start at Riverside. Donna told me later that she was very worried that this was a bad omen for the start of their trip! She said that she just wanted to cry “EILEEN…. Take care of this!”

Finally, they were given their room and they were able to get into their park stuff and head out to the Magic Kingdom. They got in the park at 5PM with only two hours to tour (since the MK closed for Grad Night at 7PM.) Still, they headed into Adventureland and got to do several rides and get a feel for the park. I’m not sure what they did or ate, since I didn’t take notes after my conversation with Donna the next day, but they came back to the room and vegged out and rested up for the start of their trip.

The Lloyds got a slightly late start for the airport at 5:30PM. I was gunning for 5PM, but DH had to bring home some work and was trying to finish it up before we left so he didn’t have to work on the trip. Calder had a stack of homework for his missed week and actually managed to do all but the last little bit between the time he got home from school and the time we left for the airport. We hit some bad Friday-night-after-work traffic and then really struggled to find a parking space at long-term parking at PHL. We finally resorted to being “vultures” and waited til we saw people getting off one of the buses. We followed them to their car and waited for them to vacate *our* spot!

We got through security pretty quickly – they made me remove my sandals (but you can SEE my feet! What could I possibly be hiding?!) Bob and Calder had on sneakers and were let through without taking them off! Go figure!

We got to the plane with no time to stop in the potty. AirTran has some new planes, which are shiny and new, but the seats are terrible – they’re thin and small and don’t have much padding. Yuck! Still, it was a good flight and the pilot was making great time. He was also a hero in my book when he announced that people on the left side of the plane (us!!) would have a treat – there was a missile launch from Cape Canaveral that was visible out the window. It was really cool to see the two little lights and the long plume of a smoke trail billowing behind. I’d never seen anything like that and it was pretty thrilling.

Bob finished up his work on his PC and, with the little battery power left, started on a PowerPoint tutorial for Calder so he could stay current with his school project. (He has a big assignment on Australia and they have to learn the presentation package to complete the final project!)

We landed and I dashed to Alamo to get our car. Bob got our bags in good time. (He said that the little rainbow-colored strappy things we got at the dollar store made it easy to locate our black bags in the sea of other black bags coming off the conveyor belt!) Alamo took quite a while for me to get to the counter. The woman offered me an upgrade from mid-size to full-size with a “free” upgrade to an SUV…. For $15 dollars more a day. That would’ve doubled our cost and we have a personal objection to SUVs… so, no thanks! We got a Chevy Cavalier and it was a nice little car (although it was a little tight on the trip back to the airport with Mom-mom and Pop-pop!)

We decided not to stop for groceries since I had sent a box of breakfast stuff and snacks that would arrive on our first full day. We got to check-in around 11:15 and were met by the manager, Chris – a terrific CM who I met several times during the trip and he was always lovely and personable… a true Disney-style employee. Calder started chatting with him and told Chris that the kids at school call him the “Disney kid.” Chris asked CJ how many kids were in his class and then he excused himself for a minute. He stepped into the back and returned 3 minutes later with two bags filled with stuff for Calder’s classmates – soaps and toothbrushes, Disney Adventure magazines and room keys for everyone! (Which reminds me, I have to package this stuff up for the kids tomorrow!) Calder gave Chris one of his “You made my day magical” thank you cards with a little note he scratched on the bottom. Chris was charmed and gave Calder one of his business cards. Hopefully, CJ’s teacher will have them send Chris a thank you card from the class.

We got back into the rental car and found building 14 – yay… they gave us the building we wanted and we were in room 1422, right next door to the Esterles in room 1421. It was ground floor and was a short walk to the buses and the food court. Perfection!

I was too tired to take pictures of the room before we started unpacking (but I grabbed pictures of Dad and Joan’s room before they got their stuff in -- I’ll post these soon.)

I was pleasantly surprised with Alligator Bayou’s rooms. I was snobbishly pre-disposed to thinking them too “woodsy” for my taste, but they were lovely. The trundle was a great addition and Calder said it was very comfy. The fridge was there in its own little cabinet, just like at the Mansions – although it never got very cold. (The Esterles had the same problem, but they requested a replacement fridge that worked much better.) We had a coffee maker, a hairdryer and an iron/ironing board. Bob asked (in a long-suffering voice) if we were going to unpack or could we go right to sleep. I just gave him *that* look that, after 15 years of marriage, spoke volumes. He started unzipping bags and the two of us had everything put away in about 10 minutes.

We collapsed into bed as I made a 7:22 wake-up call for the next morning.

The weather was cool in Philadelphia, high-70’s in Orlando.
The best thing today was seeing the missile launch from the plane’s window
The worst thing today was finding out later that the Esterles didn’t have a smooth transition to their Disney vacation.
The funniest thing today was seeing Chris walk out of the back room with two huge bags of goodies for CJs class
Today we tried Alligator Bayou rooms at PORiverside
And the result was a very nice room and I loved the décor.
The most magical moment today was the look on Calder’s face as he gave Chris the thank-you card. (I was so happy I thought to make him these!)

Next up: high scores, great shakes, “big boys,” Fantasmic, and a Passporter meet.

[Caldercup]

Here are the pics of the room (it took a loooooong while for the pics to transfer to our external drive -- we had 3 gig!! Yikes!)



&lt;more trip report to come&gt;

Eileen

[LongSufferingDH]

I feel the un-packing took more than 10 minutes, but what does a silly DH know?

Months of planning. A week of execution. Weeks [at least] of TR call-and-response. If you average out the cost per day, it's a very economical vacation. For the PassPorter, of course.

Happy Mother's Day.

-DH

[DrDolphin]

Great start Eileen!!! I can't wait to read mre!!!

[Wild4Diz]

Happy Mother's Day and thank you so much for thinking of all your other "Disney Kids." So far it has been a wonderful trip report and I can't wait for more!

[CRCrazy]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel the un-packing took more than 10 minutes, but what does a silly DH know?

Months of planning. A week of execution. Weeks [at least] of TR call-and-response. If you average out the cost per day, it's a very economical vacation. For the PassPorter, of course.

Happy Mother's Day.

-DH

[/ QUOTE ]

Welcome aboard Long-Suffering DH! Glad to have you as part of the family - we feel like we know you already!!

[travismom]

Great trip report - can't wait for more!!!

[Caldercup]

Oooooh, I forgot to add this picture. We didn't have a camera accessible when we drove through the WDW gates so hubby grabbed his picture phone and snapped this blurry image!



Eileen

[Cinderbrella]

Yay!! Great start to your report, Eileen. Your DH already has me !! More pleae!

[katspjs]

Great start Eileen! Looking forward to the next installment!

[jakenjess]

Great start! I'm looking forward to hearing more, please!!

[Tara O'Hara]

Great start Eileen! I your TR's!!

[Jennifer2003]

Great update! And nice to meet you, DH!!!!

Can't wait for more!

Jennifer