SFTrny
12-06-2008, 01:01 PM
With the wheelchair and luggage, we couldn’t drive ourselves to the airport - not enough trunk space. So, this trip we hired a van from a local firm (Reston Limo) and they were excellent; easy to book and extremely professional and efficient. Not exactly cheap, but avoiding airport parking offset the cost some.
Our flight was an 8:30 departure out of Washington Dulles on United. We originally booked a 10:30 flight, but in what seems to be more common on the airlines these days, the flight times were changed. At least it was earlier and not later. We buffered extra time for the wheelchair, but United and TSA were fantastic. We were at the gate in plenty of time to get breakfast at the airport at 7:00. We boarded early and gate-checked the wheelchair. Our flight arrived at MCO 15 minutes early, a little before 11. We waited until everyone else had gotten off the plane before we “crutched” down the aisle. The wheelchair was at the doorway to the plane waiting for us. (Nice work United!) By the time we got to the luggage carousel, we had very short wait to grab our bags. Across the road to Avis and we were in our minivan and on our way. If you are going to spend the money to rent a car, I strongly suggest you rent from one of the vendors (like Avis) who are located on the airport property. This is a convenience that is well worth it.
Our first stop was lunch at Bongos at DTD. No crowds, great parking, and these guys make the best mojitos! If you haven’t been there before, consider grabbing one of their sandwiches and a mojito (or two) for lunch. From there, it was off to FW to check-in around 2:30.
As usual, the FW desk crew was great. Everything was ready for us. They immediately noted that we had a package waiting and – although it took a few minutes to find the box we had shipped to ourselves – they brought it to the front desk for us. One of the reasons we like FW cabins is the kitchen area, so the box included a lot of small jars of spices and things that you don’t want to buy full size when you are down there. Because of our daughter still being in a cast and wheelchair, we had requested an accessible cabin with a roll-in shower. (We’ll post more about accessibility in another area). They had the accessible cabin ready for us, so we were all set. We also had reserved a golf cart, and got to experience the new golf cart check out procedures. You no longer have to go to the Bike Barn for this. The golf carts are queued outside the check-in area and you fill out all of the paperwork when you check-in at the front desk. This does add some extra time to the check-in procedures, but is a lot more efficient in the long run. Keep in mind, if you drove or have a car there, you now have both the car and the golf cart to drive to the cabin, but if you took a cab or ME to FW, then this works out very well. The wife and girls jumped into the golf cart and Dad lumbered behind in the minivan with the luggage.
Thirty minutes later, the luggage was inside and we were back out in the minivan for grocery shopping. We hit the Winn Dixie on Vineland Rd, to the north of the Crossroads shopping center. Then, back to the cabin with the provisions.
By this time, we were remembering that we woke up at 4:30 am and were beginning to feel it. Dinner was sausages grilled out on the deck, salad, and biscuits. You can buy small envelopes of Bisquick mix in the store and it works great for a dinner add-on of biscuits or for pancakes in the morning. Don’t forget to buy aluminum foil and Ziploc bags. Gallon size zipper freezer bags are indispensible for leftovers and a variety of other things when you are cooking in the cabins.
Our flight was an 8:30 departure out of Washington Dulles on United. We originally booked a 10:30 flight, but in what seems to be more common on the airlines these days, the flight times were changed. At least it was earlier and not later. We buffered extra time for the wheelchair, but United and TSA were fantastic. We were at the gate in plenty of time to get breakfast at the airport at 7:00. We boarded early and gate-checked the wheelchair. Our flight arrived at MCO 15 minutes early, a little before 11. We waited until everyone else had gotten off the plane before we “crutched” down the aisle. The wheelchair was at the doorway to the plane waiting for us. (Nice work United!) By the time we got to the luggage carousel, we had very short wait to grab our bags. Across the road to Avis and we were in our minivan and on our way. If you are going to spend the money to rent a car, I strongly suggest you rent from one of the vendors (like Avis) who are located on the airport property. This is a convenience that is well worth it.
Our first stop was lunch at Bongos at DTD. No crowds, great parking, and these guys make the best mojitos! If you haven’t been there before, consider grabbing one of their sandwiches and a mojito (or two) for lunch. From there, it was off to FW to check-in around 2:30.
As usual, the FW desk crew was great. Everything was ready for us. They immediately noted that we had a package waiting and – although it took a few minutes to find the box we had shipped to ourselves – they brought it to the front desk for us. One of the reasons we like FW cabins is the kitchen area, so the box included a lot of small jars of spices and things that you don’t want to buy full size when you are down there. Because of our daughter still being in a cast and wheelchair, we had requested an accessible cabin with a roll-in shower. (We’ll post more about accessibility in another area). They had the accessible cabin ready for us, so we were all set. We also had reserved a golf cart, and got to experience the new golf cart check out procedures. You no longer have to go to the Bike Barn for this. The golf carts are queued outside the check-in area and you fill out all of the paperwork when you check-in at the front desk. This does add some extra time to the check-in procedures, but is a lot more efficient in the long run. Keep in mind, if you drove or have a car there, you now have both the car and the golf cart to drive to the cabin, but if you took a cab or ME to FW, then this works out very well. The wife and girls jumped into the golf cart and Dad lumbered behind in the minivan with the luggage.
Thirty minutes later, the luggage was inside and we were back out in the minivan for grocery shopping. We hit the Winn Dixie on Vineland Rd, to the north of the Crossroads shopping center. Then, back to the cabin with the provisions.
By this time, we were remembering that we woke up at 4:30 am and were beginning to feel it. Dinner was sausages grilled out on the deck, salad, and biscuits. You can buy small envelopes of Bisquick mix in the store and it works great for a dinner add-on of biscuits or for pancakes in the morning. Don’t forget to buy aluminum foil and Ziploc bags. Gallon size zipper freezer bags are indispensible for leftovers and a variety of other things when you are cooking in the cabins.