ljv1975
05-30-2010, 10:00 PM
Day 1 (May 15) - Travel and Arrival, Epcot
(I will apologize in advance for the length of these reports. They might be quite long at times! :blush:)
The day started very early with a 3:00 am wake-up. Seeing as how I had only gone to sleep an hour and half earlier and was almost too excited to sleep, it was more like a quick nap!
Everyone got out of bed without too much trouble and we began getting ready to leave for the airport. Levi and I had packed most of the suitcases into the car the previous night so we only had a couple of last minute things - cell phone chargers, etc. - to pack in the carry-on bags. I double checked all of the locks and unplugged most of the appliances and before too long we were off!
The 30 minute or so ride into Pittsburgh was uneventful. It was only 3:45 am after all! We arrived at the airport and found a spot fairly close to the far end of the moving walkway that takes you to the main terminal for ticketing, security, etc. I ran inside to rent one of the little luggage carts, as we had three large suitcases, 3 carry-on bags and 2 car seats that we had to transport. Since one of us had to push the kids in the stroller, a luggage cart was a necessity.
The only problem with this was that for some reason they don’t have a cart rental near the door so I had to walk about halfway down the long corridor before I could get the cart and then go all the way back again. Oh well. Once we had unloaded the car we all made it to the Southwest desk to check our bags.
There was no line and the whole process went smoothly. Security was quite easy as well, and before long we were on the subway tram over to the terminal. Once we got over there, we began to discuss breakfast. Sophie of course requested McDonalds and that’s where we ended up eating. I shouldn’t have been surprised as we always end up at McDonalds in any airport. Of course, the line was super long and it took awhile to get our food, but in a way it was good because by the time we finished up and got to our gate, they were starting the boarding process!
I quickly got the tag to gate check the stroller and we lined up with the A group to board the plane. Sophie and Aiden took this opportunity to watch the airplanes out of the window. http://s900.photobucket.com/albums/ac201/ljv1975/Disney%20-%20May%202010/?action=view¤t=422.jpg Sophie, Aiden and I had a row and Levi sat across from us in the aisle seat on the other side. The flight itself went pretty well. Sophie was well behaved, but Aiden started getting a little fussy about halfway through. I knew he was just tired after such an early wake-up, but he was fighting sleep. Finally I got him to fall asleep http://s900.photobucket.com/albums/ac201/ljv1975/Disney%20-%20May%202010/?action=view¤t=422.jpg#!oZZ2QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs900. photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fac201%2Fljv1975%2FDisne y%2520-%2520May%25202010%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D4 26.jpg%26 and Sophie even laid down across the seats, but didn’t actually sleep at all. When we were descending, Sophie started feeling the pressure in her ears and kept saying, “I can’t hear anything! I don’t like the pressure!!” LOL, I told her to keep sipping her apple juice and it would all be ok. http://s900.photobucket.com/albums/ac201/ljv1975/Disney%20-%20May%202010/?action=view¤t=427.jpg&
We landed in Orlando about 10 minutes early (yay!) Levi and the kids went to baggage claim to wait for our bags and the car seats while I went down to the Alamo kiosk to get our rental car. I completed the check-in process for the car quickly and got back upstairs in time to see our luggage coming around. I found one of the men with the baggage carts who quickly helped us load up our stuff and we were off to pick out our car!
I think they have rearranged the rental car garages because Alamo was on the ground floor and I seem to remember it being on one of the upper levels previously. I could be wrong about this though. We had booked a midsize car. Last time the only cars in the midsize row were PT Cruisers. This time there were a few Pts, but there were also lots of others to choose from. We selected a Chevy HHR because it seemed to have plenty of cargo space for all of our stuff.
Levi installed the car seats while our luggage assistant loaded the bags in the back. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but we got everything in! I tipped him and then we were on our way to AKL!
Up Next: Checking in at AKL and Epcot for the last (official) day of the Flower and Garden Festival.
(I will apologize in advance for the length of these reports. They might be quite long at times! :blush:)
The day started very early with a 3:00 am wake-up. Seeing as how I had only gone to sleep an hour and half earlier and was almost too excited to sleep, it was more like a quick nap!
Everyone got out of bed without too much trouble and we began getting ready to leave for the airport. Levi and I had packed most of the suitcases into the car the previous night so we only had a couple of last minute things - cell phone chargers, etc. - to pack in the carry-on bags. I double checked all of the locks and unplugged most of the appliances and before too long we were off!
The 30 minute or so ride into Pittsburgh was uneventful. It was only 3:45 am after all! We arrived at the airport and found a spot fairly close to the far end of the moving walkway that takes you to the main terminal for ticketing, security, etc. I ran inside to rent one of the little luggage carts, as we had three large suitcases, 3 carry-on bags and 2 car seats that we had to transport. Since one of us had to push the kids in the stroller, a luggage cart was a necessity.
The only problem with this was that for some reason they don’t have a cart rental near the door so I had to walk about halfway down the long corridor before I could get the cart and then go all the way back again. Oh well. Once we had unloaded the car we all made it to the Southwest desk to check our bags.
There was no line and the whole process went smoothly. Security was quite easy as well, and before long we were on the subway tram over to the terminal. Once we got over there, we began to discuss breakfast. Sophie of course requested McDonalds and that’s where we ended up eating. I shouldn’t have been surprised as we always end up at McDonalds in any airport. Of course, the line was super long and it took awhile to get our food, but in a way it was good because by the time we finished up and got to our gate, they were starting the boarding process!
I quickly got the tag to gate check the stroller and we lined up with the A group to board the plane. Sophie and Aiden took this opportunity to watch the airplanes out of the window. http://s900.photobucket.com/albums/ac201/ljv1975/Disney%20-%20May%202010/?action=view¤t=422.jpg Sophie, Aiden and I had a row and Levi sat across from us in the aisle seat on the other side. The flight itself went pretty well. Sophie was well behaved, but Aiden started getting a little fussy about halfway through. I knew he was just tired after such an early wake-up, but he was fighting sleep. Finally I got him to fall asleep http://s900.photobucket.com/albums/ac201/ljv1975/Disney%20-%20May%202010/?action=view¤t=422.jpg#!oZZ2QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs900. photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fac201%2Fljv1975%2FDisne y%2520-%2520May%25202010%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D4 26.jpg%26 and Sophie even laid down across the seats, but didn’t actually sleep at all. When we were descending, Sophie started feeling the pressure in her ears and kept saying, “I can’t hear anything! I don’t like the pressure!!” LOL, I told her to keep sipping her apple juice and it would all be ok. http://s900.photobucket.com/albums/ac201/ljv1975/Disney%20-%20May%202010/?action=view¤t=427.jpg&
We landed in Orlando about 10 minutes early (yay!) Levi and the kids went to baggage claim to wait for our bags and the car seats while I went down to the Alamo kiosk to get our rental car. I completed the check-in process for the car quickly and got back upstairs in time to see our luggage coming around. I found one of the men with the baggage carts who quickly helped us load up our stuff and we were off to pick out our car!
I think they have rearranged the rental car garages because Alamo was on the ground floor and I seem to remember it being on one of the upper levels previously. I could be wrong about this though. We had booked a midsize car. Last time the only cars in the midsize row were PT Cruisers. This time there were a few Pts, but there were also lots of others to choose from. We selected a Chevy HHR because it seemed to have plenty of cargo space for all of our stuff.
Levi installed the car seats while our luggage assistant loaded the bags in the back. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but we got everything in! I tipped him and then we were on our way to AKL!
Up Next: Checking in at AKL and Epcot for the last (official) day of the Flower and Garden Festival.