englishrose47
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2007
Just checking in don't want to miss an UPDATE!!!!
Oh and Hi Beth!!!
Oh and Hi Beth!!!
Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun! COMPLETE
- Thread starter Lifelong_Dreamer
- Start date
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
May 11th
Every time we go to Disney I always book the first flight out of Syracuse and it always leaves super early in the morning which leads to our leaving home ridiculously early. That in combination with the "I Am Too Excited To Sleep" Syndrome leads to a very long and exhausting arrival day. We live about 30 minutes from the 1000 Islands border crossing between New York and Ontario and it is another 1 1/2 hours or so from there to the airport in Syracuse. Why fly from the States instead of Canada? It is CHEAP! Well cheap compared to Canadian airfare prices and the drive to the Syracuse airport is just as far as the drive to Toronto or Ottawa. When I was booking the flights this year I was excited to see that JetBlue had added two direct flights from Syracuse to Orlando. One that left at 7am and one that left around 5pm. Knowing our past history of exhausting first days I seriously considered booking us on the 5pm flight but the paranoia and value seeker in me decided against that option. The paranoia was telling me not to book the afternoon flight, that leads to busy airports, long security lines and flight delays. The cheap/value seeker part of me said that the morning flight would get into Orlando around 10am, that is like a whole extra day in Florida, why waste it! So, I booked the 7am flight, that meant we would need to leave home around 2am in the morning.
The evening of our departure was a busy one. We had some running around to do in order to finish some last minute errands. We had to stop at Best Buy to buy some new memory cards for the camera and some new rechargeable AA batteries. We had been planning on bring Erich's laptop with us so we could dump the photos onto it every night but sadly his laptop died shortly before the trip. Since we would be unable to clear the memory cards every day we knew we would have to pick some more up. At home we had 4 4GB cards, I picked up a new 16GB card for my camera, we figured that in addition to the cards we already had that should last us through the trip.
Then we had to go to the pet store to pick up cat food and litter so that our sweet and precious kitties would be well taken care of while we were gone. We had arranged for our neighbour who is also Mom's sorority sister to watch the house and cats while we were gone.
We have two cats at home. Our sweet angel princess, Amber
And our handsome prince, Hobbes
Erich also has two fish that the neighbour would be feeding for us as well.
In addition to our pets, Alek also has two cats at his apartment that his roommate would be taking care of, Sebastian and Kiwi.
The only bad part about going on vacation is leaving the pets behind.
Once all the errands were taken care of we picked up Alek's luggage from his apartment and headed back to our house for the night.
I spent the night packing at the last minute
and attempting to sleep. The sleep attempt was unsuccessful but I did manage to finish packing well before we had to leave which is an accomplishment, usually I am running around losing my mind trying to finish minutes before we need to leave. I may be super organized when it comes to trip planning, trip packing, not so much.
Erich's best friend Jessie was also over at the house hanging out before we left, we dropped him off at his house on the way out of town.
We left the house on time and were on our way. Mom had a mini panic attack on the way to Syracuse, she didn't remember seeing Hobbes before we left and she was afraid that he had been locked in her bedroom. We assured her that we had seen Hobbes but she wouldn't let that feeling go so we just told her to call our neighbour when we arrived in Orlando and ask her to check. We also discovered during the ride that Erich was going to be keeping his own notes for the trip report while we were gone. He carried a little notebook around with him and wrote down all the ridiculous and stupid conversations that we had and things that we did. 
The border crossing was a breeze, I was a bit nervous about how the border and airport security would be considering we were going on vacation about a week after Osama was killed.
At the border crossing you have to go over two tall bridges and that night they were doing some construction work and had them shut down to one lane. We waited until they signaled for us to cross before making our way over. As we crossed the construction workers were gesturing at us and shaking their fists at us. We couldn't figure out what their problem was, it was so strange.
At the airport check-in went quickly and there were no lines for Security. Unfortunately, both Mom and I got pulled over to be searched. Something in my carry-on had caught their attention and Mom had set off the metal detector. It never fails, every time we fly, one person in our family gets pulled aside by Security. My bag search went quickly, he said that the thickness of the bag caused a bad scan in the machine so they had to look through the bag manually.
They couldn't figure out why Mom set off the detector. They said the stent in her throat would not have done it and there was no other metal on her. They let us go after a few minutes.
We settled into our gate for the long wait to board the plane. Mom in her usual fashion made friends with people at the gate. She talked for a long time with a grandmother who was taking her granddaughter to Disney.
Alek and Erich were fascinated by a bird that had gotten into the terminal.
I just sat there and read my book and offered up WDW information when Mom asked me.
Once on the plane the flight went quickly. Once again I was lucky to catch an Angel marathon on the tv, this happens every time we fly to Florida.
One of the flight attendants looked exactly like a younger version of Miranda Bailey on Grey's Anatomy, it was uncanny.
The flight was smooth for the most part. The pilot did tell us that the last part of the flight may experience turbulence, there was none and it was one of the smoothest landings we have ever had. Wish I could have that pilot all the time!
Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 10:00, we were there by 9:30! We briefly popped into the Universal Store to check out the Harry Potter merchandise and then we went down to baggage claim. I figured we would have to wait awhile, nope, the luggage was out within minutes!
Erich also took this opportunity to strip down in the airport...
He had worn his swim trunks under his normal shorts. He did this on purpose to annoy Mom and I because we had been arguing with him about wearing the trunks as regular shorts. We were on vacation so I let it go, couldn't do anything about it anyways.
Once we had our luggage it was off to get the rental car. I had arranged a rental through National. I had a full-sized booked for two weeks for $220. When I got to the counter after only waiting a few minutes the lady told me I was an Emerald Aisle member and that I didn't need to check-in, I could head to the garage and pick out a car. Cool! I didn't remember joining the Emerald Aisle Club but I must have done so years ago.
We crossed to the garage and the attendant told us that we could pick any car we wanted from the Emerald Aisle. Awesome!
I picked out an SUV as I wanted to be sure that we had lots of room for our luggage and that we would not be cramped.
It was a complicated car! It had one of those new keys that is not a key. The cd player was also complicated, well complicated for us. It was a multi-disc player so you had to first hit load and then the slot you wanted to load and then put the cd in. Took us a few minutes to figure that out.That figured out we were on the road before 10:30.
It was smooth sailing until we hit a toll station. We had a bag full of quarters for just this purpose. We pulled into a station that allowed exact change. We counted out the quarters and then threw them into the bucket. The machine said we still owed 25 cents. Hmm, okay, we put in another quarter. It still said we owed 25 cents, we put in another quarter. You owe 25 cents. ????!!!! We put in one more quarter, it still wasn't acknowledging it. We were fed up, the machine was clearly broken, we had more than paid the toll so we just left. As we drove away a beeping alarm went off, oh well, we haven't been ticketed yet, not our fault the machine was broken. After that I went into the toll lanes that were manned by actual people so I could be sure that the toll was paid and we wouldn't have to deal with a dumb machine.
Since I was driving Mom was in charge of getting the arrival shots.
That was taken at 10:46. We had arrived at WDW 45 minutes after our flight was originally scheduled to land, not bad! In my planning I had estimated our arrival on property to be around noon.
Getting to the resort was easy, I simply followed the signs for Animal Kingdom until I saw the turnoff for Coronado Springs.
We parked the car and headed inside to check-in.
Alek and Erich went to check out the gift shop while Mom and I went over to Registration. We were lucky again, no wait! We were helped by a very lovely English cast member. She was very friendly and helped us with our room requests. We were very demanding.
Just kidding! I asked if a room in the Casitas section, top floor was available. She said that there was but that she could also show me other locations that had rooms available on the top floor. She then took out a map and circled the available rooms so we could make an informed choice. Mom was asking what each section was and I was explaining it all to her. Leading up to the trip Mom had said that she did not want a room in the Ranchos section as she did not like the theming of the area. I did not want a room in the Cabanas because the quiet pool for the section was going to be under refurbishment for most of the trip, that left Casitas. The cast member laughed and said I was doing her job for her. 
We settled on a room in Casitas 5, Rm 5422. It was close to an elevator, the parking lot, quiet pool, gym and laundry room. It was also a short walk from the main feature pool and the main building.
The room was not ready yet so I gave the CM my cell number so we could be texted once it was ready and we collected Alek and Erich and headed out. We drove around the resort so we would know where to head once the room was ready and then it was off to Downtown Disney!
Continue To Next Post
Every time we go to Disney I always book the first flight out of Syracuse and it always leaves super early in the morning which leads to our leaving home ridiculously early. That in combination with the "I Am Too Excited To Sleep" Syndrome leads to a very long and exhausting arrival day. We live about 30 minutes from the 1000 Islands border crossing between New York and Ontario and it is another 1 1/2 hours or so from there to the airport in Syracuse. Why fly from the States instead of Canada? It is CHEAP! Well cheap compared to Canadian airfare prices and the drive to the Syracuse airport is just as far as the drive to Toronto or Ottawa. When I was booking the flights this year I was excited to see that JetBlue had added two direct flights from Syracuse to Orlando. One that left at 7am and one that left around 5pm. Knowing our past history of exhausting first days I seriously considered booking us on the 5pm flight but the paranoia and value seeker in me decided against that option. The paranoia was telling me not to book the afternoon flight, that leads to busy airports, long security lines and flight delays. The cheap/value seeker part of me said that the morning flight would get into Orlando around 10am, that is like a whole extra day in Florida, why waste it! So, I booked the 7am flight, that meant we would need to leave home around 2am in the morning.
The evening of our departure was a busy one. We had some running around to do in order to finish some last minute errands. We had to stop at Best Buy to buy some new memory cards for the camera and some new rechargeable AA batteries. We had been planning on bring Erich's laptop with us so we could dump the photos onto it every night but sadly his laptop died shortly before the trip. Since we would be unable to clear the memory cards every day we knew we would have to pick some more up. At home we had 4 4GB cards, I picked up a new 16GB card for my camera, we figured that in addition to the cards we already had that should last us through the trip.
Then we had to go to the pet store to pick up cat food and litter so that our sweet and precious kitties would be well taken care of while we were gone. We had arranged for our neighbour who is also Mom's sorority sister to watch the house and cats while we were gone.
We have two cats at home. Our sweet angel princess, Amber
And our handsome prince, Hobbes
Erich also has two fish that the neighbour would be feeding for us as well.
In addition to our pets, Alek also has two cats at his apartment that his roommate would be taking care of, Sebastian and Kiwi.
The only bad part about going on vacation is leaving the pets behind.
Once all the errands were taken care of we picked up Alek's luggage from his apartment and headed back to our house for the night.
I spent the night packing at the last minute
and attempting to sleep. The sleep attempt was unsuccessful but I did manage to finish packing well before we had to leave which is an accomplishment, usually I am running around losing my mind trying to finish minutes before we need to leave. I may be super organized when it comes to trip planning, trip packing, not so much.Erich's best friend Jessie was also over at the house hanging out before we left, we dropped him off at his house on the way out of town.
We left the house on time and were on our way. Mom had a mini panic attack on the way to Syracuse, she didn't remember seeing Hobbes before we left and she was afraid that he had been locked in her bedroom. We assured her that we had seen Hobbes but she wouldn't let that feeling go so we just told her to call our neighbour when we arrived in Orlando and ask her to check.
We also discovered during the ride that Erich was going to be keeping his own notes for the trip report while we were gone. He carried a little notebook around with him and wrote down all the ridiculous and stupid conversations that we had and things that we did. The border crossing was a breeze, I was a bit nervous about how the border and airport security would be considering we were going on vacation about a week after Osama was killed.
At the border crossing you have to go over two tall bridges and that night they were doing some construction work and had them shut down to one lane. We waited until they signaled for us to cross before making our way over. As we crossed the construction workers were gesturing at us and shaking their fists at us. We couldn't figure out what their problem was, it was so strange.
At the airport check-in went quickly and there were no lines for Security. Unfortunately, both Mom and I got pulled over to be searched. Something in my carry-on had caught their attention and Mom had set off the metal detector. It never fails, every time we fly, one person in our family gets pulled aside by Security. My bag search went quickly, he said that the thickness of the bag caused a bad scan in the machine so they had to look through the bag manually.
They couldn't figure out why Mom set off the detector. They said the stent in her throat would not have done it and there was no other metal on her. They let us go after a few minutes.
We settled into our gate for the long wait to board the plane. Mom in her usual fashion made friends with people at the gate. She talked for a long time with a grandmother who was taking her granddaughter to Disney.
Alek and Erich were fascinated by a bird that had gotten into the terminal.
I just sat there and read my book and offered up WDW information when Mom asked me.
Once on the plane the flight went quickly. Once again I was lucky to catch an Angel marathon on the tv, this happens every time we fly to Florida.
One of the flight attendants looked exactly like a younger version of Miranda Bailey on Grey's Anatomy, it was uncanny.
The flight was smooth for the most part. The pilot did tell us that the last part of the flight may experience turbulence, there was none and it was one of the smoothest landings we have ever had. Wish I could have that pilot all the time!
Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 10:00, we were there by 9:30! We briefly popped into the Universal Store to check out the Harry Potter merchandise and then we went down to baggage claim. I figured we would have to wait awhile, nope, the luggage was out within minutes!
Erich also took this opportunity to strip down in the airport...
He had worn his swim trunks under his normal shorts. He did this on purpose to annoy Mom and I because we had been arguing with him about wearing the trunks as regular shorts. We were on vacation so I let it go, couldn't do anything about it anyways.
Once we had our luggage it was off to get the rental car. I had arranged a rental through National. I had a full-sized booked for two weeks for $220. When I got to the counter after only waiting a few minutes the lady told me I was an Emerald Aisle member and that I didn't need to check-in, I could head to the garage and pick out a car. Cool! I didn't remember joining the Emerald Aisle Club but I must have done so years ago.
We crossed to the garage and the attendant told us that we could pick any car we wanted from the Emerald Aisle. Awesome!
I picked out an SUV as I wanted to be sure that we had lots of room for our luggage and that we would not be cramped.
It was a complicated car! It had one of those new keys that is not a key. The cd player was also complicated, well complicated for us. It was a multi-disc player so you had to first hit load and then the slot you wanted to load and then put the cd in. Took us a few minutes to figure that out.That figured out we were on the road before 10:30.
It was smooth sailing until we hit a toll station. We had a bag full of quarters for just this purpose. We pulled into a station that allowed exact change. We counted out the quarters and then threw them into the bucket. The machine said we still owed 25 cents. Hmm, okay, we put in another quarter. It still said we owed 25 cents, we put in another quarter. You owe 25 cents. ????!!!!
We put in one more quarter, it still wasn't acknowledging it. We were fed up, the machine was clearly broken, we had more than paid the toll so we just left. As we drove away a beeping alarm went off, oh well, we haven't been ticketed yet, not our fault the machine was broken. After that I went into the toll lanes that were manned by actual people so I could be sure that the toll was paid and we wouldn't have to deal with a dumb machine.Since I was driving Mom was in charge of getting the arrival shots.
That was taken at 10:46. We had arrived at WDW 45 minutes after our flight was originally scheduled to land, not bad! In my planning I had estimated our arrival on property to be around noon.
Getting to the resort was easy, I simply followed the signs for Animal Kingdom until I saw the turnoff for Coronado Springs.
We parked the car and headed inside to check-in.
Alek and Erich went to check out the gift shop while Mom and I went over to Registration. We were lucky again, no wait! We were helped by a very lovely English cast member. She was very friendly and helped us with our room requests. We were very demanding.
Just kidding! I asked if a room in the Casitas section, top floor was available. She said that there was but that she could also show me other locations that had rooms available on the top floor. She then took out a map and circled the available rooms so we could make an informed choice. Mom was asking what each section was and I was explaining it all to her. Leading up to the trip Mom had said that she did not want a room in the Ranchos section as she did not like the theming of the area. I did not want a room in the Cabanas because the quiet pool for the section was going to be under refurbishment for most of the trip, that left Casitas. The cast member laughed and said I was doing her job for her. We settled on a room in Casitas 5, Rm 5422. It was close to an elevator, the parking lot, quiet pool, gym and laundry room. It was also a short walk from the main feature pool and the main building. The room was not ready yet so I gave the CM my cell number so we could be texted once it was ready and we collected Alek and Erich and headed out. We drove around the resort so we would know where to head once the room was ready and then it was off to Downtown Disney!
Continue To Next Post
jenbear123
Disney Fanatic
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2009
I saw your pics over on the CSR thread. You took some fantastic photos! I mean it! They are gorgeous I can't wait to see them in the TR!
ETA: Just read your update as I didn't see it before I posted. Great start to the trip! I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble at the border. That's great the CM at CSR let you pick out a room. I hope they let us do that too
What a fabulous rate for the rental car. I'm paying almost $200 for a mid-size but only for one week. Did you get a code from Mousesavers? The weather looks wonderful already
I can't wait to see them in the TR!ETA: Just read your update as I didn't see it before I posted. Great start to the trip! I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble at the border. That's great the CM at CSR let you pick out a room. I hope they let us do that too
What a fabulous rate for the rental car. I'm paying almost $200 for a mid-size but only for one week. Did you get a code from Mousesavers? The weather looks wonderful already
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
I saw your pics over on the CSR thread. You took some fantastic photos! I mean it! They are gorgeous
Thanks! We took tons of pictures there, it was a bit crazy, I didn't even realize how many we had until I got home and put them all in one folder.
ETA: Just read your update as I didn't see it before I posted. Great start to the trip! I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble at the border. That's great the CM at CSR let you pick out a room. I hope they let us do that too
Nope, I went to their site religiously and the price kept dropping. I used a code on the National site to upgrade the car for "free" then I had a $100 gift certificate from redeeming my Air Miles. Just keep checking, keep your reservation you have now and then cancel and rebook as the price goes down. The price will probably drop a few days before the trip.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2004
Your pictures on the CSR thread drew me over here yesterday!
That's interesting that you say that someone in your family always sets off security for a search. I was so concerned about my son traveling solo last week with his nebulizer, twinject injectors and liquid medications. He told them there is liquid medicine in the bag and they said no problem, keep moving. Go figure.
I am thrilled that your check-in experience went so well! I never heard of pulling out a map and letting you pick your location. What a wonderful CM you encountered!
I am hoping we get the Casitas in August when we stay at CSR. We had Cabana 8A in March.
How did you like the Casistas quiet pool? Were there any young children swimming there, or was it mostly adults?
That's interesting that you say that someone in your family always sets off security for a search. I was so concerned about my son traveling solo last week with his nebulizer, twinject injectors and liquid medications. He told them there is liquid medicine in the bag and they said no problem, keep moving. Go figure.
I am thrilled that your check-in experience went so well! I never heard of pulling out a map and letting you pick your location. What a wonderful CM you encountered!
I am hoping we get the Casitas in August when we stay at CSR. We had Cabana 8A in March.
How did you like the Casistas quiet pool? Were there any young children swimming there, or was it mostly adults?
Disneyland_Mama
<marquee><font color=peach>His head instantly infl
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2006
That's what I'm afraid of!
I also have a pic or two of the rhinos for you.Also some fashion police pictures.
for skerry rhinos! 
for fashion freaks!
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
The Quiet Pool was never all that busy. There were a few children there but they were pretty quiet. My brothers and I were more lively than those kids.
For the most part the kids were at the feature pool.Hey there!
A lot of the money I did not spend on myself, it was spent on presents. In the end I think I spent $150 on myself at Harry Potter. A good chunk of that was on food that I shared with Alek.
Dead Bones Brook
Skeleton
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
Well it seems Lessa is already at a bad start on her trip report. She forgot one KEY member of our family and even got some information jumbled. But do not fret I am here to fix all wrongs she has committed.
As for the title of the trip report, not so great. She was working on that for nearly three weeks. On the first day of vacation she was panicking about what to call the report.
Welcome all to the first post of The Trip of sleep deprivation, lost cameras, abandoned wheelchairs and giant male p*&^%$#s carvings.
If I recall correctly Lessa forget this particular member of the family on the pre-trip report as well. Marcus our father's fluffy puppy of poopiness lives all the way in BC. He defends the neighborhood from bears, falcons, wasps, and of course the dreaded spawn of ugliness themselves human babies.
Now just so you get gist of what my family talks about in the car going on vacation I have inserted a few quotes and magical moments:
Do dolphins carry their babies inside themselves or do they lay eggs?
Awesome Australians going to Africa.
Lessa and Mom yelling about the packing of the car.
The phrase "Yeah Boy" translated into french "Oui Garcon"
Are Simba and Nala from the Lion King siblings or at least cousins since their are only two male lions in the pride?
Mayans = Pirates?
I wore the shorts over my swim trunks to prevent shrinkage. Not to hide the swim trunks. (Lessa forgot to bring this up, but when we were still at home Lessa and Mom were yelling at me for wearing the swim trunks. They yelled at me for at least 15 minutes and said that they were going to cancel the vacation if I didn't change. So much for Disney vacation lovers huh.)
While we were in the car listening to Lessa's bad choice in music her music supported my fashion statement. A song called 'Ever Ever After' told me to create a new fashion. I did so and I got yelled at in front of my best friend.
To continue the argument in Orlando when we arrived and Lessa put on her red backpack I brought up the point that it didn't match her clothes so that meant we shouldn't leave until she changed so that she matched. She glared at me and walked away. Can anyone say double standards.
Lessa and Mom bringing up the nude sister of the recently married person in the royal wedding in Europe(you know who she is). Apparently her name is "The Royal Hotness". Then I asked if she was attractive, but they didn't answer which means she isn't.
When Alek made fun of Lessa's music she got angry, but then I said, "Hey Alek it's her choice so you should support her decision," she got mad at me as well for defending her choice in music. Lessa is a very contradictory person isn't she.
And one final point of contradictory, Lessa and mom think it was embarrassing for me to wear swim trunks but it is not embarrassing for someone almost 30 to listen to Enchanted and Mary Poppins while dealing with the border guard.
Now Lessa forgot a few things in the airport. The teller who was checking us in called Alek "Alexandra". And it was Mom who was obsessed about the bird telling me to take pictures of it.
Mom also got her first vacation friend at the airport. It was some lady with her grand daughter going to Disney, and she had a creepy laugh.
Overall I think the beginning of the trip went well, we were all laughing at our stupid topics of conversation. And Alek and I loved to point out all of Lessa's contradictions. Look forward to my next update... for a little cliffhanger lets just say everything does not go well for Alek and I when we confront the triceratops.
Continue to Next Post
As for the title of the trip report, not so great. She was working on that for nearly three weeks. On the first day of vacation she was panicking about what to call the report.
Welcome all to the first post of The Trip of sleep deprivation, lost cameras, abandoned wheelchairs and giant male p*&^%$#s carvings.
Now just so you get gist of what my family talks about in the car going on vacation I have inserted a few quotes and magical moments:
Do dolphins carry their babies inside themselves or do they lay eggs?
Awesome Australians going to Africa.
Lessa and Mom yelling about the packing of the car.
The phrase "Yeah Boy" translated into french "Oui Garcon"
Are Simba and Nala from the Lion King siblings or at least cousins since their are only two male lions in the pride?
Mayans = Pirates?
I wore the shorts over my swim trunks to prevent shrinkage. Not to hide the swim trunks. (Lessa forgot to bring this up, but when we were still at home Lessa and Mom were yelling at me for wearing the swim trunks. They yelled at me for at least 15 minutes and said that they were going to cancel the vacation if I didn't change. So much for Disney vacation lovers huh.)
While we were in the car listening to Lessa's bad choice in music her music supported my fashion statement. A song called 'Ever Ever After' told me to create a new fashion. I did so and I got yelled at in front of my best friend.
To continue the argument in Orlando when we arrived and Lessa put on her red backpack I brought up the point that it didn't match her clothes so that meant we shouldn't leave until she changed so that she matched. She glared at me and walked away. Can anyone say double standards.
Lessa and Mom bringing up the nude sister of the recently married person in the royal wedding in Europe(you know who she is). Apparently her name is "The Royal Hotness". Then I asked if she was attractive, but they didn't answer which means she isn't.
When Alek made fun of Lessa's music she got angry, but then I said, "Hey Alek it's her choice so you should support her decision," she got mad at me as well for defending her choice in music. Lessa is a very contradictory person isn't she.
And one final point of contradictory, Lessa and mom think it was embarrassing for me to wear swim trunks but it is not embarrassing for someone almost 30 to listen to Enchanted and Mary Poppins while dealing with the border guard.
Now Lessa forgot a few things in the airport. The teller who was checking us in called Alek "Alexandra". And it was Mom who was obsessed about the bird telling me to take pictures of it.
Mom also got her first vacation friend at the airport. It was some lady with her grand daughter going to Disney, and she had a creepy laugh.
Overall I think the beginning of the trip went well, we were all laughing at our stupid topics of conversation. And Alek and I loved to point out all of Lessa's contradictions. Look forward to my next update... for a little cliffhanger lets just say everything does not go well for Alek and I when we confront the triceratops.
Continue to Next Post
emmaca
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2007
My comments (Mom's) are in blue
Shopping here we come!!
Every time we go to Disney
The evening of our departure was a busy one. We had some running around to do in order to finish some last minute errands. We had to stop at Best Buy to buy some new memory cards for the camera and some new rechargeable AA batteries. We had been planning on bring Erich's laptop with us so we could dump the photos onto it every night but sadly his laptop died shortly before the trip. Since we would be unable to clear the memory cards every day we knew we would have to pick some more up. At home we had 4 4GB cards, I picked up a new 16GB card for my camera, we figured that in addition to the cards we already had that should last us through the trip.
Yes, the evening was a busy one, this was the first year, where I (Mom did not take the day off to prepare, I was not packed, nor did I have the house in order. Everyone at work told me to go home and put my feet up and have a glass or two or three and get some sleep, as a few knew that we would be leaving rather EARLY.
We have two cats at home. Our sweet angel princess, Amber
Isn't she precious!!
And our handsome prince, Hobbes
and Hobbs is so handsome, they both sensed something was up that day and night.
Erich's best friend Jessie was also over at the house hanging out before we left, we dropped him off at his house on the way out of town.
Jessie is such a neat kid, I call him my third son, and sometimes my favorite son LOL
We left the house on time and were on our way. Mom had a mini panic attack on the way to Syracuse, she didn't remember seeing Hobbes before we left and she was afraid that he had been locked in her bedroom. We assured her that we had seen Hobbes but she wouldn't let that feeling go so we just told her to call our neighbour when we arrived in Orlando and ask her to check.
I always have last minute anxieety attacks, about things that I may have forgotten, it drives the kids crazy, but then hey I have to give them something to tease me about, memories... Lessa did forget to mention that after all my fretting and worrying, Erich forgot to feed his fish for the week, so I did have to call my friend and tell her to place a tablet in the tank...The good news is that the fishies and kitties were all alive and thriving when we got home.
The border crossing was a breeze, I was a bit nervous about how the border and airport security would be considering we were going on vacation about a week after Osama was killed.
The border guard actually asked if we owned property in Florida!!! Is it not a typical question to ask???
At the airport check-in went quickly and there were no lines for Security. Unfortunately, both Mom and I got pulled over to be searched. Something in my carry-on had caught their attention and Mom had set off the metal detector. It never fails, every time we fly, one person in our family gets pulled aside by Security. My bag search went quickly, he said that the thickness of the bag caused a bad scan in the machine so they had to look through the bag manually.
They couldn't figure out why Mom set off the detector. They said the stent in her throat would not have done it and there was no other metal on her. They let us go after a few minutes.
That was our morning excitement for the day!!, talk about a wake up call, I had the pat down, I don;t think Syracuse has the x-ray machines
Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 10:00, we were there by 9:30! We briefly popped into the Universal Store to check out the Harry Potter merchandise and then we went down to baggage claim. I figured we would have to wait awhile, nope, the luggage was out within minutes!
Erich also took this opportunity to strip down in the airport...
He had worn his swim trunks under his normal shorts. He did this on purpose to annoy Mom and I because we had been arguing with him about wearing the trunks as regular shorts. We were on vacation so I let it go, couldn't do anything about it anyways.
I said before we left for the trip, that I was just going chill out, relax and not let the little things get to me, just go with the flow.
It was a complicated car! It had one of those new keys that is not a key. The cd player was also complicated, well complicated for us. It was a multi-disc player so you had to first hit load and then the slot you wanted to load and then put the cd in. Took us a few minutes to figure that out.That figured out we were on the road before 10:30.
Yes, I will say it was a complicated car, it took all four of us to figure things out.
It was smooth sailing until we hit a toll station. We had a bag full of quarters for just this purpose. We pulled into a station that allowed exact change. We counted out the quarters and then threw them into the bucket. The machine said we still owed 25 cents. Hmm, okay, we put in another quarter. It still said we owed 25 cents, we put in another quarter. You owe 25 cents. ????!!!!
Since I was driving Mom was in charge of getting the arrival shots.
That was taken at 10:46. We had arrived at WDW 45 minutes after our flight was originally scheduled to land, not bad! In my planning I had estimated our arrival on property to be around noon.
Getting to the resort was easy, I simply followed the signs for Animal Kingdom until I saw the turnoff for Coronado Springs.
We parked the car and headed inside to check-in.
Alek and Erich went to check out the gift shop while Mom and I went over to Registration. We were lucky again, no wait! We were helped by a very lovely English cast member. She was very friendly and helped us with our room requests. We were very demanding.
I was very happy with the location of our building, about 1/2 way between the main pool and main building.
The room was not ready yet so I gave the CM my cell number so we could be texted once it was ready and we collected Alek and Erich and headed out. We drove around the resort so we would know where to head once the room was ready and then it was off to Downtown Disney!
Shopping here we come!!
YukiPhnx
The Minnie to my Mickey
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2009
Lessa, looks like a lot of pixie dust for the start of your vacation! Few lines and getting into Orlando early??? That sounds awesome!!
It's funny that you were doing the CM's job for her. I wonder how many Disers they usually encounter eh? We know EVERYTHING.
Erich, you're SO FUNNY. I seriously LOL-ed at your post. I'll be looking forward to more!
Beth, I think it's so weird you got pulled for a pat down and yet they still couldn't figure it out!
I love the way this is going, with Lessa taking the lead and everyone else adding their own comments!
It's funny that you were doing the CM's job for her. I wonder how many Disers they usually encounter eh? We know EVERYTHING.
Erich, you're SO FUNNY. I seriously LOL-ed at your post. I'll be looking forward to more!
Beth, I think it's so weird you got pulled for a pat down and yet they still couldn't figure it out!
I love the way this is going, with Lessa taking the lead and everyone else adding their own comments!
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
I was really excited that we got in early and everything was going our way, well aside from the stupid toll machine.
She thought it was funny that I knew so much. She even chatted with us a bit about her experience working at Disney and gave Mom the website where she got the job as Erich is interested in going down to work for a summer.
Glad you enjoy it! I wonder if Alek will contribute.
CandleontheWater
Forever in love with Hathaway Browne
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
Your kitty cats are so cute! I have two of my own and I agree that leaving them is the hardest part of vacation.
Bummer you had to leave at 2 am, I guess I'm pretty spoiled living within less than an hour drive of three major airports.
I've stayed at CSR twice before and really enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to more hotel pictures!
Bummer you had to leave at 2 am, I guess I'm pretty spoiled living within less than an hour drive of three major airports.
I've stayed at CSR twice before and really enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to more hotel pictures!
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
Pets always know that you are leaving them and they look at you like you are abandoning them, they looks so sad, the ultimate guilt trip.
We wouldn't have to leave so early except for the border, we like to have that extra cushion of time in case we get held up at for whatever reason.
Welcome! I hope you enjoy.
ddstratton
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2007
Wonderful start to your trip!
GeminiAngel
Wherever you go, there you are.
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2003
I hate leaving our dog. Its just so sad, he knows we're going.
We went away for 8nts back in April. I called the border halfway thru the trip to find out how Gilbert was doing. She tells me he's stressed! Just great. Talk about a guilt trip.
CS looks so pretty. But living in the Southwest, the last place I want to stay is somewhere with a SW theme.
We will be shooting for French Qtr next trip.
Great start. Nice swim trunks.
We went away for 8nts back in April. I called the border halfway thru the trip to find out how Gilbert was doing. She tells me he's stressed! Just great. Talk about a guilt trip.
CS looks so pretty. But living in the Southwest, the last place I want to stay is somewhere with a SW theme.
We will be shooting for French Qtr next trip.Great start. Nice swim trunks.
teachermommy78
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2011
Joining in! I'm loving it already!!! It is just so entertaining to read through your family's arguments. 
I think I've said this before, but I hope my three have a good relationship as adults! And that they'll still be excited to go to Disney with me!
I think I've said this before, but I hope my three have a good relationship as adults! And that they'll still be excited to go to Disney with me!
YukiPhnx
The Minnie to my Mickey
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2009
I was really excited that we got in early and everything was going our way, well aside from the stupid toll machine.
She thought it was funny that I knew so much. She even chatted with us a bit about her experience working at Disney and gave Mom the website where she got the job as Erich is interested in going down to work for a summer.
Glad you enjoy it! I wonder if Alek will contribute.
Yeah, did you get some of your money back for that toll booth? Or at least a voucher for next time or something...It ate up a whole dollar! Or am I just being cheap...
Oh, is Erich interested in the IP at Epcot? I've been thinking about that for myself too!
Share this page
-
Stunning New Wallpapers Arrive for Fantasy Springs Opening
-
We Did Lots of Shopping at Disney Lookout Cay... And Think You Will Too!
-
Disney Confessional: Can Someone Explain This New Ride Character?
-
New Lilo & Stitch by RSVLTS Collection Arrives Monday
-
Meet the New Munchling Unveiled at Disney Culinary Event
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
