Marathon/Family Trip - Day 1 (Jan 7)

[disneygoofball]

So I realize this is a little late, but I decided to post anyway. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I enjoy reliving it.

The Setup
This trip was about 5 years in the making. DH (Justin) and I were out of the country for four years, but we had been saving a little bit each month so that we could take a big WDW vacation, hopefully with my family, when we returned to the States. At the beginning of 2013, I decided I wanted to do the Disney marathon, and that desire slowly morphed into registering for the Dopey Challenge (Disney just pulls me in with all those t-shirts and medals and pixie dust! ) Anyhoo, the trip evolved into an almost 2 week runcation/family reunion.

Here are the stats:
Dates: Jan 7-22
Resorts: Pop Century and POR
Cast: Me, DH, my mom and dad, my brother, SIL, and three nieces (10, 7, and 4)

Day 1
Our flight was scheduled to depart a little before noon, but I was up bright (actually dark) and early. For the past 5 days or so, I had been slowly adjusting my sleep schedule to get on east coast time. Going to bed at 7:00 got easier once I set my alarm clock to Eastern Standard Time and forced myself to get out of bed at 5:00 (or 4:00 or 3:00) in the morning. I slept in a little this day, but was still up before 5:00. After a quick couple loads of laundry so I could put clean sheets on the bed and towels in the bathroom for the girl who would be staying at our house watching our cat, we finished packing and cleaning and headed off to the airport. Most of my running gear was packed in my carryon, and I had all our reservations and trip information, including magic bands, on my person. We were finally off to Disney World!!!

Because of the crazy winter storms, a ton of flights to the north and east were cancelled, but thankfully, our flight connected through Atlanta, so we were alright. After getting through security, we realized there were a ton of FSU and Auburn fans at the airport. Turns out, the BCS championship game the night before was played at the Rose Bowl, and a number of people were flying out of San Diego. The airlines were looking for volunteers to give up their seats, but they couldn’t rebook passengers until Jan 11, so there was no way I was giving up my spot. We grabbed lunch at the airport (ridiculously overpriced burgers) and soon were winging our way to Orlando. After a short layover in Atlanta, we made it in to MCO around 9:45pm. We grabbed our own luggage (didn’t want to risk Magical Express since we heard they stop collecting luggage at 10:00 - this turned out to be a good call for us) and made our way to the ME desk. We had a little bit of trouble getting our magic bands to work, but it all got sorted out and we loaded the bus around 10:30pm. After another half hour or so at the airport, the bus was full, and we were on our way!

Art of Animation was the first stop, and then we got off at Pop Century. Having never stayed at a value resort, I was a little leery, but the resort turned out to be an excellent choice. While Justin stayed to wait for our bags, I jumped in line for check-in and beat the rush which turned out to be a great decision since the food court closed at midnight and it was 11:45. Check in took a little longer than I expected, but we were able to make it to the food court and grab a quick bite to eat before it shut down. We were both exhausted, and it was freezing outside (literally! It was 32 degrees when we landed), so we hurried off to our room in the 50’s section (jukebox building, 3rd floor, non-pool side). The room was small, but we were pleased with it overall. The safe was large enough to fit my laptop, Justin’s tablet, and the other little things we needed to store in there. I was excited, but tired enough to drop off to sleep quickly. The next day was Expo day!!!

[faline]

And you're off...things actually went quite smoothly for this day of traveling!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Glad the trip started so well, despite the weather trying to foil it.

[yjgirl32]

Great start. Thanks for sharing.

[mickclub1955]

You were there the same time we were. We got there on the 7th as well and stayed at the Pop in the 50's section. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Whew an exhausting day. Thanks for the report

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[hauntedmansiongirl]

You're smart to pre-adjust to the time change!