Becky2005
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2004
It was a whirlwind weekend trip with my son for his 20th birthday which happened to fall on the same day as Disney's 100th! You can read my pre-trip report here
Arrival day
Our Plans: Go to Disney Springs go to the Christmas Store get celebration & birthday buttons, Coke Store for a Coke Flight and see the Coke Bear, get a Bowler hat, a Starbucks Florida state mug (he collects them), and on the hunt for Oswald Ears. Hoop Dee Doo Review for dinner for the 6:15 pm show.
Our Reality Arrival Day Part 1:
We stayed up way too late the night before getting all those last minute things packed along with my son finishing up homework he had to get done before we left. We needed to leave for the airport around 2 AM. I gave up and finally went to bed at about 11, so I could get a few hours of sleep. We finally do get to the airport and with as many times as I have picked people up you would think this wouldn’t be a problem. Yet it was! I missed the exit for where I *thought* we would be parking. Made our way back around and it turns out that the parking lot doesn’t open until 4:30 AM. I’m an obsessive planner and I know if it had listed it anywhere on the website, I would have made note of that. So off we go to the other long-term parking, which is cheaper but it is uncovered so I was hoping to avoid it. Luckily, I snapped a picture of what row we were in last minute because I would have never remembered on the way back home! I wasn’t even 100% sure I locked the car as the bus came so quickly when we were getting things out of the trunk. You normally don’t get direct pick-up at your car but apparently, it was so early and a little cold the person was nice about it. We made it through TSA with no problem and we waited as I am one of those early birds for flights as our flight didn’t leave until 7:30 AM.
Our flight was slightly delayed but not by much. We arrived at MCO close enough to our original time around 11:15 AM.
We had arranged for Mears bus to take us to the hotel. I had read various reviews but it went smoothly for us. We got our bags, found the bus terminal, scanned in, and boom we were on the bus. We did have to wait a little bit for others before they left but I would say no more than 15 minutes. We were staying at All Stars Movies. There were a few other drop-offs but it didn’t take that long.
We weren’t sure our room would be ready as it was early so we were prepared either way. Luckily for us, it was ready and we got a great room. We were in our room just before noon so transportation wasn’t that long. We did not book preferred but I think we ended up with it. We were in the Fantasia section and had room 5858 which I thought was great. It was right by Mickey’s hat on the 2nd floor. From my understanding the entire Fantasia section is preferred but maybe not?
On our way to the room, both my son & I were very confused by these birds we kept hearing. We weren’t 100% sure if they were real or animatronic because it is Disney – it could be either. That is until we get to our room and realized it was my suitcase!!! It is old and the wheels apparently sound like Tweety bird. We both honestly thought it was birds! We were obviously very tired but did we take a nap? Of course not!
Arrival Day Part 2 up next...
Arrival day
Our Plans: Go to Disney Springs go to the Christmas Store get celebration & birthday buttons, Coke Store for a Coke Flight and see the Coke Bear, get a Bowler hat, a Starbucks Florida state mug (he collects them), and on the hunt for Oswald Ears. Hoop Dee Doo Review for dinner for the 6:15 pm show.
Our Reality Arrival Day Part 1:
We stayed up way too late the night before getting all those last minute things packed along with my son finishing up homework he had to get done before we left. We needed to leave for the airport around 2 AM. I gave up and finally went to bed at about 11, so I could get a few hours of sleep. We finally do get to the airport and with as many times as I have picked people up you would think this wouldn’t be a problem. Yet it was! I missed the exit for where I *thought* we would be parking. Made our way back around and it turns out that the parking lot doesn’t open until 4:30 AM. I’m an obsessive planner and I know if it had listed it anywhere on the website, I would have made note of that. So off we go to the other long-term parking, which is cheaper but it is uncovered so I was hoping to avoid it. Luckily, I snapped a picture of what row we were in last minute because I would have never remembered on the way back home! I wasn’t even 100% sure I locked the car as the bus came so quickly when we were getting things out of the trunk. You normally don’t get direct pick-up at your car but apparently, it was so early and a little cold the person was nice about it. We made it through TSA with no problem and we waited as I am one of those early birds for flights as our flight didn’t leave until 7:30 AM.
Our flight was slightly delayed but not by much. We arrived at MCO close enough to our original time around 11:15 AM.
We had arranged for Mears bus to take us to the hotel. I had read various reviews but it went smoothly for us. We got our bags, found the bus terminal, scanned in, and boom we were on the bus. We did have to wait a little bit for others before they left but I would say no more than 15 minutes. We were staying at All Stars Movies. There were a few other drop-offs but it didn’t take that long.
We weren’t sure our room would be ready as it was early so we were prepared either way. Luckily for us, it was ready and we got a great room. We were in our room just before noon so transportation wasn’t that long. We did not book preferred but I think we ended up with it. We were in the Fantasia section and had room 5858 which I thought was great. It was right by Mickey’s hat on the 2nd floor. From my understanding the entire Fantasia section is preferred but maybe not?
On our way to the room, both my son & I were very confused by these birds we kept hearing. We weren’t 100% sure if they were real or animatronic because it is Disney – it could be either. That is until we get to our room and realized it was my suitcase!!! It is old and the wheels apparently sound like Tweety bird. We both honestly thought it was birds! We were obviously very tired but did we take a nap? Of course not!
Arrival Day Part 2 up next...
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