kakn7294
08-29-2007, 07:53 AM
Sunday - Heading Home
Cast - me 38, DH Phil also 38, DD Stephanie 12 and DD Megan 7
The suitcases are packed, the room is scoured to be sure nothing is left behind. The DME bus is coming at 12:10p so I had requested a later check-out (you would have thought asking for 45 min was asking to pull someone's hair out by the roots - I was only given 30 min). At 11:25a we vacated the room, dragging all of our luggage to the lobby for a quick check-out. Stephanie wanted to get something for her "boyfriend" so she grabbed a quick souvenir in the gift shop and we went out to the bus stop. There were a few other families waiting as well. At 12:10p, no bus showed up. At 12:15p, an older cruise line bus made a couple of circuits of the parking lot - we thought he was lost because a large group had just boarded a newer cruise line bus about 20 min ago. At 12:20p, that same cruise line bus pulled up at the DME stop and the driver announced he was our DME transportation to the airport. We all solemnly boarded the bus and took our seats. We made 2 more stops - Old Key West and Saratoga Springs - then were on our way. I always hate this part, especially when they play that video although I did find this one educational because it featured a promo for Adventures by Disney. The video ended very near the entrance to the airport. At this time our driver took the time to tell us about his DD's word of the month: Charity. He proceeded to list about 20 charities that he asked us to donate to then told us that any 50% of any tips he would receive today would go his favorite charity. I agree with donating to charity but I thought it was quite tacky to solicit tips that way. We exited the bus and claimed our luggage from underneath, managed to bypass the skycaps and headed inside. There were signs that said that SW had a desk on the lower level so we followed those. After reaching the end of the airport and not seeing a SW desk anywhere, we headed for the nearest elevator upstairs to the 3rd floor where we know the airline desks. The doors opened and right in front of us was the SW desk. It actually worked out that we were able to avoid all of those people trying to get to the other airline desks on the 3rd floor. I had already checked-in for our flight on my cell so we only had to get our boarding passes printed and check the luggage. About 15 min later we were off to the security checkpoint. There was a long line here and the TSA employees seemed to be having a collective bad day. When it was finally our turn, the nasty woman dumped all of my stuff onto the belt informing me that it didn't need to go in a plastic bin (meanwhile, she had yelled at someone a few people in front of me for NOT putting their stuff in a bin). I passed through the metal detector but bumped the side, setting it off. I went back to go through again and she ran over to pat me down - asking me if I forgot to put my cell phone on the belt then hollering "what's this?" as she patted my hips. Everyone turned and looked at me as I turned 900 shades of red and said "nothing more than my fat roll because my shorts don't even have pockets." I thought for sure that she was going to make me submit to the strip search but she allowed me through since I didn't set the metal detector off the second time then gave me a shove when I went to claim my shoes and bags - apparently I was in her way. I guess someone forgot to take their nice pills that morning. After that ordeal, we grabbed a quick bite for lunch and went to the gate. Most of the seats were full so we ended up just getting in the "A" line and sitting on the floor. We had an uneventful flight home but Phil and the girls sat about 4 - 5 rows ahead of me. The girls chose where they wanted to sit and left me to fend for myself as there were no other seats nearby - such sweet kids! Upon arrival in Pittsburgh, we headed for the crocs kiosk where I purchased a pair of Pittsburgh Steelers crocs - I've been looking for a pair for months! Just past the security (literally just past, I could turn around and see the agent sitting about 10 feet away), Stephanie remembered her Mickey ears - they were in the pocket of the seat on the plane! It figures, the kid wore them practically 24 hrs a day then finally takes them off and leaves them where I can't get back to them. There was nothing we could do now as we couldn't cross back to the airside without boarding passes so we headed off to luggage claim. We grabbed our bags then checked with the girl in the little office right next to the luggage carousel. She told us that plane had already left but called over and found out that the ears were at the jetway. I asked her how I could claim them from there and she said they would be sent over in a few minutes. A few minutes became about 30 min but finally the carousel started up and a plastic bin containing the ears came down. We had a long walk to the car and discovered we had left behind 92 and sunny in Orlando to come home to 62 and rainy in Pittsburgh. Now it's time to start planning another trip - at this point probably for Aug '08. Can't wait!!:mickey: Oh, and it will be only the 4 of us again if we can help it!
Cast - me 38, DH Phil also 38, DD Stephanie 12 and DD Megan 7
The suitcases are packed, the room is scoured to be sure nothing is left behind. The DME bus is coming at 12:10p so I had requested a later check-out (you would have thought asking for 45 min was asking to pull someone's hair out by the roots - I was only given 30 min). At 11:25a we vacated the room, dragging all of our luggage to the lobby for a quick check-out. Stephanie wanted to get something for her "boyfriend" so she grabbed a quick souvenir in the gift shop and we went out to the bus stop. There were a few other families waiting as well. At 12:10p, no bus showed up. At 12:15p, an older cruise line bus made a couple of circuits of the parking lot - we thought he was lost because a large group had just boarded a newer cruise line bus about 20 min ago. At 12:20p, that same cruise line bus pulled up at the DME stop and the driver announced he was our DME transportation to the airport. We all solemnly boarded the bus and took our seats. We made 2 more stops - Old Key West and Saratoga Springs - then were on our way. I always hate this part, especially when they play that video although I did find this one educational because it featured a promo for Adventures by Disney. The video ended very near the entrance to the airport. At this time our driver took the time to tell us about his DD's word of the month: Charity. He proceeded to list about 20 charities that he asked us to donate to then told us that any 50% of any tips he would receive today would go his favorite charity. I agree with donating to charity but I thought it was quite tacky to solicit tips that way. We exited the bus and claimed our luggage from underneath, managed to bypass the skycaps and headed inside. There were signs that said that SW had a desk on the lower level so we followed those. After reaching the end of the airport and not seeing a SW desk anywhere, we headed for the nearest elevator upstairs to the 3rd floor where we know the airline desks. The doors opened and right in front of us was the SW desk. It actually worked out that we were able to avoid all of those people trying to get to the other airline desks on the 3rd floor. I had already checked-in for our flight on my cell so we only had to get our boarding passes printed and check the luggage. About 15 min later we were off to the security checkpoint. There was a long line here and the TSA employees seemed to be having a collective bad day. When it was finally our turn, the nasty woman dumped all of my stuff onto the belt informing me that it didn't need to go in a plastic bin (meanwhile, she had yelled at someone a few people in front of me for NOT putting their stuff in a bin). I passed through the metal detector but bumped the side, setting it off. I went back to go through again and she ran over to pat me down - asking me if I forgot to put my cell phone on the belt then hollering "what's this?" as she patted my hips. Everyone turned and looked at me as I turned 900 shades of red and said "nothing more than my fat roll because my shorts don't even have pockets." I thought for sure that she was going to make me submit to the strip search but she allowed me through since I didn't set the metal detector off the second time then gave me a shove when I went to claim my shoes and bags - apparently I was in her way. I guess someone forgot to take their nice pills that morning. After that ordeal, we grabbed a quick bite for lunch and went to the gate. Most of the seats were full so we ended up just getting in the "A" line and sitting on the floor. We had an uneventful flight home but Phil and the girls sat about 4 - 5 rows ahead of me. The girls chose where they wanted to sit and left me to fend for myself as there were no other seats nearby - such sweet kids! Upon arrival in Pittsburgh, we headed for the crocs kiosk where I purchased a pair of Pittsburgh Steelers crocs - I've been looking for a pair for months! Just past the security (literally just past, I could turn around and see the agent sitting about 10 feet away), Stephanie remembered her Mickey ears - they were in the pocket of the seat on the plane! It figures, the kid wore them practically 24 hrs a day then finally takes them off and leaves them where I can't get back to them. There was nothing we could do now as we couldn't cross back to the airside without boarding passes so we headed off to luggage claim. We grabbed our bags then checked with the girl in the little office right next to the luggage carousel. She told us that plane had already left but called over and found out that the ears were at the jetway. I asked her how I could claim them from there and she said they would be sent over in a few minutes. A few minutes became about 30 min but finally the carousel started up and a plastic bin containing the ears came down. We had a long walk to the car and discovered we had left behind 92 and sunny in Orlando to come home to 62 and rainy in Pittsburgh. Now it's time to start planning another trip - at this point probably for Aug '08. Can't wait!!:mickey: Oh, and it will be only the 4 of us again if we can help it!