carlaewalter
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2011
Tuesday, November 6
This morning came quick as we were up late packing and prepping for our upcoming trip. We both managed to head over to get our vote on for the Presidential election since the polls opened at 6:00am. This would almost be the only time I thought of the election all day, whoops. We loaded up the car and headed to Dayton (about a 45 minute drive) to get to the airport. We had decided to use Park & Go Shuttle Service to save a few bucks for our long term parking. It was about 35° so we were a bit chilly, sweatshirts and light jackets were all we were wearing on the plane, so thankfully we didnt have to wait out in the cold too long for the Shuttle over to the airport. We breezed through security without too much trouble. Kids who are under age 11(?) dont have to remove their shoes, but DD3 insisted that hers must come off. So, off they came, and we headed onward to our gate. By the looks of those around us it was going to be a packed flight. We had checked 2 bags and had 2 carry-ons, in addition to my tote/purse, the kids backpacks and the camera bag. So when they announced that we could gate check bags for free, we took full advantage. In hindsight, this was a mistake, but all I was thinking was that it would be less stuff for us to handle at MCO. Our flight boarded and we were seated towards the rear of the plane. The flight took off on-time (11:16am) and we were on our way. Our kids have never flown before so I was really anxious about how they would handle the pressure changes and such. I made them each take a Dramamine, which was unnecessary, but I thought it might make them catch some zzzzs so we could keep them out later that evening. The flight was uneventful and we landed a few minutes early in Orlando (1:27pm) Why does it always seem like an eternity to disembark the plane? Drives me nuts, didnt those people realize we had some park touring to get to?
We boarded the airport Monorail to head over to concourse B for the Magical Express. Having never used this before, I appointed DH the designated airport navigator. We were able to get over there without any issues and were the first in our line. We waited just a few minutes when they herded us onto the bus. We were the 3rd stop with Caribbean Beach Resort and Pop Century being ahead of us. We arrived at Art of Animation and I was blown away by the looks of the resort. So many bright colors and the grounds looked great.
Our reservation was under my name, and since I did on-line check-in we received our packet within a few minutes but the KTTW they issued us were wrong. They had my son (8) as an infant and my daughter (2) as the child. So, they had to reprint them, and we were on our way. But wait, I forgot to pick-up the stroller we were renting from bell services, so as Tim and the kids were checking out the pool, I schlepped back up there. Found them and then whoops, I forgot the box I had shipped to the resort, so back I went. Keep in mind, we left Ohio and it was 35°, it was now a warm 75° in Florida. I was getting a tad warm with all that backtracking. Finally we were on our way towards the Little Mermaid area. We traveled the foot path through the Finding Nemo area, then through the Lion King section.
and found the elevator just past Ariel. We then headed up the elevators to our room (#8865).
***this is where we were kicking ourselves for gate checking our carry-ons. We all were wearing jeans and had nothing to change into. Doh! Needless to say, we were anxious to get to the parks, so we didnt want to wait around for our luggage. Oh well, live and learn.
Our room was a standard value room. It was what we expected as far as rooms go. I was pleasantly surprised to have a top floor, pool view rather than parking lot view though. We didnt waste much time and decided to head over to Magic Kingdom for a few hours before our late dinner ADR.
We walked over to the bus area and didnt have to wait long to board. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at about 3:40pm. I know the first thing we did was head into the Town Square Theatre to pick up our Photopass + card. While we were in there, we might as well meet the main man himself. It was great, minimum wait times and great interaction. Mickey is Giannas absolute favorite, so starting off this vacation with meeting him was awesome.
We next headed down Main Street and stopped for some Photopass photos, I was going to make sure to take advantage of that PP+.
We then stopped at a snack cart and bought some popcorn and a Mickey ice cream sandwich. We hadnt eaten anything except some snacks on the plane, so we were all a little hungry. I know we paid cash for these because we were saving those snack credits for F&W.
Next up was Mad Tea Party. I offered to sit out and be the photographer. In reality, I would never get on this ride. Spinning rides and me do not play well together.
After their spin, we headed toward Dumbo for our chance to fly overhead. Virtually no wait, I know we didnt wait even go into the new play area, just headed straight to the queue.
After that it was to The Barnstormer for us. I wasnt sure how Gianna would do on this as she was just 2 years old, and she was not a fan. She screamed the whole time and clung to me with all her might. No tears were shed, just a lot of her exclaiming that that was too fast! After that we thought we better do something a little more mellow. We didnt want to scare the heck out of Gianna in the first few hours.
Continued in next post...
This morning came quick as we were up late packing and prepping for our upcoming trip. We both managed to head over to get our vote on for the Presidential election since the polls opened at 6:00am. This would almost be the only time I thought of the election all day, whoops. We loaded up the car and headed to Dayton (about a 45 minute drive) to get to the airport. We had decided to use Park & Go Shuttle Service to save a few bucks for our long term parking. It was about 35° so we were a bit chilly, sweatshirts and light jackets were all we were wearing on the plane, so thankfully we didnt have to wait out in the cold too long for the Shuttle over to the airport. We breezed through security without too much trouble. Kids who are under age 11(?) dont have to remove their shoes, but DD3 insisted that hers must come off. So, off they came, and we headed onward to our gate. By the looks of those around us it was going to be a packed flight. We had checked 2 bags and had 2 carry-ons, in addition to my tote/purse, the kids backpacks and the camera bag. So when they announced that we could gate check bags for free, we took full advantage. In hindsight, this was a mistake, but all I was thinking was that it would be less stuff for us to handle at MCO. Our flight boarded and we were seated towards the rear of the plane. The flight took off on-time (11:16am) and we were on our way. Our kids have never flown before so I was really anxious about how they would handle the pressure changes and such. I made them each take a Dramamine, which was unnecessary, but I thought it might make them catch some zzzzs so we could keep them out later that evening. The flight was uneventful and we landed a few minutes early in Orlando (1:27pm) Why does it always seem like an eternity to disembark the plane? Drives me nuts, didnt those people realize we had some park touring to get to?
We boarded the airport Monorail to head over to concourse B for the Magical Express. Having never used this before, I appointed DH the designated airport navigator. We were able to get over there without any issues and were the first in our line. We waited just a few minutes when they herded us onto the bus. We were the 3rd stop with Caribbean Beach Resort and Pop Century being ahead of us. We arrived at Art of Animation and I was blown away by the looks of the resort. So many bright colors and the grounds looked great.
Our reservation was under my name, and since I did on-line check-in we received our packet within a few minutes but the KTTW they issued us were wrong. They had my son (8) as an infant and my daughter (2) as the child. So, they had to reprint them, and we were on our way. But wait, I forgot to pick-up the stroller we were renting from bell services, so as Tim and the kids were checking out the pool, I schlepped back up there. Found them and then whoops, I forgot the box I had shipped to the resort, so back I went. Keep in mind, we left Ohio and it was 35°, it was now a warm 75° in Florida. I was getting a tad warm with all that backtracking. Finally we were on our way towards the Little Mermaid area. We traveled the foot path through the Finding Nemo area, then through the Lion King section.
and found the elevator just past Ariel. We then headed up the elevators to our room (#8865).
***this is where we were kicking ourselves for gate checking our carry-ons. We all were wearing jeans and had nothing to change into. Doh! Needless to say, we were anxious to get to the parks, so we didnt want to wait around for our luggage. Oh well, live and learn.
Our room was a standard value room. It was what we expected as far as rooms go. I was pleasantly surprised to have a top floor, pool view rather than parking lot view though. We didnt waste much time and decided to head over to Magic Kingdom for a few hours before our late dinner ADR.
We walked over to the bus area and didnt have to wait long to board. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at about 3:40pm. I know the first thing we did was head into the Town Square Theatre to pick up our Photopass + card. While we were in there, we might as well meet the main man himself. It was great, minimum wait times and great interaction. Mickey is Giannas absolute favorite, so starting off this vacation with meeting him was awesome.
We next headed down Main Street and stopped for some Photopass photos, I was going to make sure to take advantage of that PP+.
We then stopped at a snack cart and bought some popcorn and a Mickey ice cream sandwich. We hadnt eaten anything except some snacks on the plane, so we were all a little hungry. I know we paid cash for these because we were saving those snack credits for F&W.
Next up was Mad Tea Party. I offered to sit out and be the photographer. In reality, I would never get on this ride. Spinning rides and me do not play well together.
After their spin, we headed toward Dumbo for our chance to fly overhead. Virtually no wait, I know we didnt wait even go into the new play area, just headed straight to the queue.
After that it was to The Barnstormer for us. I wasnt sure how Gianna would do on this as she was just 2 years old, and she was not a fan. She screamed the whole time and clung to me with all her might. No tears were shed, just a lot of her exclaiming that that was too fast! After that we thought we better do something a little more mellow. We didnt want to scare the heck out of Gianna in the first few hours.
Continued in next post...
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