faline
05-25-2010, 06:33 PM
May 19, 2010
Plan for the Day:Magic Kingdom
Lunch at Grand Floridian Café
Fly home on Southwest
How the Day Really Went:
We’ve had our last sleep for this trip. It’s time to go home. We pack all of our bags. I was able to get by with two checked bags on the way here but it will need to be three for the trip home. Our check-out notice was hanging on the door. We double check the room for any missed or neglected items and find none. The bags are dragged out to the car. We put the bags that will be checked through to the airline in the back seat and the rest in the trunk.
We drive the car around to El Centro and remove the bags to be checked from the car. We are directed to the right location to check the bags. All three bags are checked in and tagged to go to Manchester. New boarding passes are printed for us – so much for spending all that time printing them last night! Oh well! Leaving the bags behind and trusting that we will see them again in Manchester, we head back to our car and drive over to the Magic Kingdom. With our resort parking id, we are waved through the gate and then are directed to park in the furthermost spot in Goofy Row 22. After we park, we walk down the long line of cars and find a spot in a tram about to depart.
We are deposited at the gate to the Ticket and Transportation Center. There is a huge line for the express monorail and the ferry does not look like it will depart too soon so we opt to take the resort monorail around to the Magic Kingdom. It takes a little longer as we have an additional bag with us today – items I did not feel comfortable leaving in the trunk of the car. I can’t get my ticket to insert into the machine. A cast member tells me I’ve already gained entrance as the light is green. I’m not sure how that could be as the ticket never went through the turnstyle but I did hear it click when she ran across the machine on the inside which is a good thing as, otherwise, it is likely that the fast pass machines would not work for me.
Once inside, I decide to take the train ride that I did not get earlier during our trip. We climb the stairs to the Main Street station. A train pulls in almost immediately and we board. We then sit and sit some more while more and more people are entering the train station and they continue to board the train. Finally, the train is pretty full but they are still trying to cram folks onto the train. The cast members are announcing that each seat can hold five fully grown adults. There are four adults in the seat where we are. I can’t imagine where we would put a fifth. Finally, we’re going to move. Just as we are getting ready to move, a man a few seats ahead of us decides to change rows and they have to halt the process until he is resituated. Finally, we begin to move. By now, though, I am not enjoying what I hoped would be a nice, relaxed ride and we opt to get off at the next station which is by Splash Mountain. I told Gene, if I had known what was going to happen at the Main Street station, I would have walked instead. In fact, I know there are any number of times, when we’ve not been allowed to board a train that was still at the station and were told we would need to wait for the next train instead!
We exit the train and, since Big Thunder Mountain is listed as a 10 minute standby, we opt to take a different kind of train ride. It appears the que has been set up for a really long standby and we walk quite a distance in and around but, in reality, it is a walkon and we walk right up to our gate. From here, we walk over to Peter Pan and pick up fast passes. This already has a 30 minute standby line and it certainly appears this is a realistic number. With fast passes in hand, we walk over to the Haunted Mansion which is listed as 10 minutes but is more like 5. There’s really not even any time to check out the tombstones though I do manage to catch Leota’s eyes open as I walk by. We’re then off to another favorite – Pirates. Along the way, I want to check out the wait time for the Jungle Cruise but it’s temporarily out of commission. At Pirates, we again we walk right up to the end of the que. The party in front of us has a number of people but as a party of two, we’re told to hop on the boat that’s still at the dock. Just as we do, we start to get whacked with the gate. Still, we get on board as the cast member had instructed us to do and we get through the ride. For the last couple of rides, the woman above the well has not been swinging open the shutters. We’re glad to see the shutters open today though they seem to move a bit jerkily!
It’s time for some lunch. As we pass Jungle Cruise, we notice it is again operational. However, the line extends all the way through the Plaza below and out into the concourse! That’s one huge line! Here’s another ride we’ll need to skip this trip.
We get on a monorail and head to the Grand Floridian. When we arrive, we discover two things. A huge gaggle of little girls (all dressed in Princess finery) and their moms are ascending the main staircase. There are also many dolls so I can only guess this is the tea for little girls! The other thing we notice, is that the entire lobby area on the first floor is blocked off. All the furniture has been removed and new carpet is in the process of being put down.
At the Grand Floridian Café, we are quickly seated for lunch. It has become sort of a tradition to lunch here on our last day. Gene has a Reuben Sandwich and I have the Grand Sandwich which is an open face turkey, ham and cheese. This meal will need to hold us for a while!
After lunch, we once again return to the Magic Kingdom. We use our Peter Pan Fast Passes. From there, we head over to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and this becomes our last ride of the trip. Along the way out, we stop for a few last photo pass pics and stop in a couple of shops. We board the express monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center. A tram is at the gate. We hop on and two stops later are disembarking in the Goofy area of the parking lot. We had a bottle of water stuck in a messenger bag and I had noted to Gene we needed to get rid of that before we got to the airport.
Once back at the car, I needed to move some packing around, put our destination into the GPS and pack the messenger bag as it would no longer be needed. We got in the car and found a BJs for gas (probably a mistake as it was two miles off the road and through several very long traffic lights – probably lost about 20 minutes getting gas). Once we got back to the main road, we quickly arrived at the airport and found the National Car rental location. With the car returned, we headed into the terminal.
As always, getting through security in Orlando is a bit of a nightmare! It’s a true mob scene! When we finally get to the screening area, they have run out of trays so everything stops until someone brings some more trays. Gene thought I had pushed through some of our items but I had not. I had asked him if he was all set if I went through and he said he was and to just go ahead. He then realized he had been left with everything that needed to go through the screening but he got it all through and I started to collect it on the other side. One of the TSA agents asked if a bag belonged to us and I said it did. He asked if there were any liquid inside and I said there shouldn’t be. Bag opened. There in the pocket of the messenger bag is the offending bottle of water which should have been tossed before we left the park! The TSA agent sounded like he was taking something away as he commented “Too bad” as he took the bottle! As seasoned travelers, though, we should know better!
I think I will get a milk shake like I did at the stand near our terminal on our last trip. No stand! Oh well! I opt for a bottle of chocolate milk instead. Gene has an apple juice. We’re both very thirsty and down the liquids before we get on the plane.
It’s announced that our plane is overbooked. I’m not sure if anyone was left behind but I didn’t hear anyone asking for volunteers to give up seats. They did offer a free drink if anyone would be willing to exchange an aisle seat for a center seat. Not sure if there were any takers for that offer.
We get up in the air and the plane is pointed north. As I type this, it is around 8:45 p.m. and we should be landing in about ½ hour.
Plan for the Day:Magic Kingdom
Lunch at Grand Floridian Café
Fly home on Southwest
How the Day Really Went:
We’ve had our last sleep for this trip. It’s time to go home. We pack all of our bags. I was able to get by with two checked bags on the way here but it will need to be three for the trip home. Our check-out notice was hanging on the door. We double check the room for any missed or neglected items and find none. The bags are dragged out to the car. We put the bags that will be checked through to the airline in the back seat and the rest in the trunk.
We drive the car around to El Centro and remove the bags to be checked from the car. We are directed to the right location to check the bags. All three bags are checked in and tagged to go to Manchester. New boarding passes are printed for us – so much for spending all that time printing them last night! Oh well! Leaving the bags behind and trusting that we will see them again in Manchester, we head back to our car and drive over to the Magic Kingdom. With our resort parking id, we are waved through the gate and then are directed to park in the furthermost spot in Goofy Row 22. After we park, we walk down the long line of cars and find a spot in a tram about to depart.
We are deposited at the gate to the Ticket and Transportation Center. There is a huge line for the express monorail and the ferry does not look like it will depart too soon so we opt to take the resort monorail around to the Magic Kingdom. It takes a little longer as we have an additional bag with us today – items I did not feel comfortable leaving in the trunk of the car. I can’t get my ticket to insert into the machine. A cast member tells me I’ve already gained entrance as the light is green. I’m not sure how that could be as the ticket never went through the turnstyle but I did hear it click when she ran across the machine on the inside which is a good thing as, otherwise, it is likely that the fast pass machines would not work for me.
Once inside, I decide to take the train ride that I did not get earlier during our trip. We climb the stairs to the Main Street station. A train pulls in almost immediately and we board. We then sit and sit some more while more and more people are entering the train station and they continue to board the train. Finally, the train is pretty full but they are still trying to cram folks onto the train. The cast members are announcing that each seat can hold five fully grown adults. There are four adults in the seat where we are. I can’t imagine where we would put a fifth. Finally, we’re going to move. Just as we are getting ready to move, a man a few seats ahead of us decides to change rows and they have to halt the process until he is resituated. Finally, we begin to move. By now, though, I am not enjoying what I hoped would be a nice, relaxed ride and we opt to get off at the next station which is by Splash Mountain. I told Gene, if I had known what was going to happen at the Main Street station, I would have walked instead. In fact, I know there are any number of times, when we’ve not been allowed to board a train that was still at the station and were told we would need to wait for the next train instead!
We exit the train and, since Big Thunder Mountain is listed as a 10 minute standby, we opt to take a different kind of train ride. It appears the que has been set up for a really long standby and we walk quite a distance in and around but, in reality, it is a walkon and we walk right up to our gate. From here, we walk over to Peter Pan and pick up fast passes. This already has a 30 minute standby line and it certainly appears this is a realistic number. With fast passes in hand, we walk over to the Haunted Mansion which is listed as 10 minutes but is more like 5. There’s really not even any time to check out the tombstones though I do manage to catch Leota’s eyes open as I walk by. We’re then off to another favorite – Pirates. Along the way, I want to check out the wait time for the Jungle Cruise but it’s temporarily out of commission. At Pirates, we again we walk right up to the end of the que. The party in front of us has a number of people but as a party of two, we’re told to hop on the boat that’s still at the dock. Just as we do, we start to get whacked with the gate. Still, we get on board as the cast member had instructed us to do and we get through the ride. For the last couple of rides, the woman above the well has not been swinging open the shutters. We’re glad to see the shutters open today though they seem to move a bit jerkily!
It’s time for some lunch. As we pass Jungle Cruise, we notice it is again operational. However, the line extends all the way through the Plaza below and out into the concourse! That’s one huge line! Here’s another ride we’ll need to skip this trip.
We get on a monorail and head to the Grand Floridian. When we arrive, we discover two things. A huge gaggle of little girls (all dressed in Princess finery) and their moms are ascending the main staircase. There are also many dolls so I can only guess this is the tea for little girls! The other thing we notice, is that the entire lobby area on the first floor is blocked off. All the furniture has been removed and new carpet is in the process of being put down.
At the Grand Floridian Café, we are quickly seated for lunch. It has become sort of a tradition to lunch here on our last day. Gene has a Reuben Sandwich and I have the Grand Sandwich which is an open face turkey, ham and cheese. This meal will need to hold us for a while!
After lunch, we once again return to the Magic Kingdom. We use our Peter Pan Fast Passes. From there, we head over to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and this becomes our last ride of the trip. Along the way out, we stop for a few last photo pass pics and stop in a couple of shops. We board the express monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center. A tram is at the gate. We hop on and two stops later are disembarking in the Goofy area of the parking lot. We had a bottle of water stuck in a messenger bag and I had noted to Gene we needed to get rid of that before we got to the airport.
Once back at the car, I needed to move some packing around, put our destination into the GPS and pack the messenger bag as it would no longer be needed. We got in the car and found a BJs for gas (probably a mistake as it was two miles off the road and through several very long traffic lights – probably lost about 20 minutes getting gas). Once we got back to the main road, we quickly arrived at the airport and found the National Car rental location. With the car returned, we headed into the terminal.
As always, getting through security in Orlando is a bit of a nightmare! It’s a true mob scene! When we finally get to the screening area, they have run out of trays so everything stops until someone brings some more trays. Gene thought I had pushed through some of our items but I had not. I had asked him if he was all set if I went through and he said he was and to just go ahead. He then realized he had been left with everything that needed to go through the screening but he got it all through and I started to collect it on the other side. One of the TSA agents asked if a bag belonged to us and I said it did. He asked if there were any liquid inside and I said there shouldn’t be. Bag opened. There in the pocket of the messenger bag is the offending bottle of water which should have been tossed before we left the park! The TSA agent sounded like he was taking something away as he commented “Too bad” as he took the bottle! As seasoned travelers, though, we should know better!
I think I will get a milk shake like I did at the stand near our terminal on our last trip. No stand! Oh well! I opt for a bottle of chocolate milk instead. Gene has an apple juice. We’re both very thirsty and down the liquids before we get on the plane.
It’s announced that our plane is overbooked. I’m not sure if anyone was left behind but I didn’t hear anyone asking for volunteers to give up seats. They did offer a free drink if anyone would be willing to exchange an aisle seat for a center seat. Not sure if there were any takers for that offer.
We get up in the air and the plane is pointed north. As I type this, it is around 8:45 p.m. and we should be landing in about ½ hour.