The It's About Time! Report, Day 1, 8/17/2006

[BronxTigger]

Day 1 – Thursday, August 17, 2006 <click for photos

Cast:
Just me and DH!
This is my fifth trip; the first four were with my parents and brother.
This is his first trip to any Disney theme park!

Side note: Days 1-4 were actually written at the time of the trip, Days 5-8 were written today using the excellent notes we took on the trip, as well as the photos.

We left our apartment at 6:30am and took a cab to LaGuardia. We were checked in and through security by 7:15! This was our first time flying USAirways, and it was nice. The particular concourse we were on is a commuter concourse; all the flights leaving at those gates were to places like Boston and DC. The concourse was set up like a living room, with end tables that had plants and reading lights on them. There were also laptop nooks with wifi and power outlets. There were also magazine racks with free magazines.

When we got on the plane, it was a relatively new plane, and instead of an illuminated “no smoking” sign, there was a sign in its place that said “electronics not allowed”. It lit up on ascent and descent.

We had a 9 am flight with a layover at DC’s Reagan Airport. When we got there, we had a snack from Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s. While we were sitting down to eat, cops with a black lab investigated an unattended bag. They paged the guy after going through his belongings to find an id. When the guy showed up, they took him away with his bags, but he returned within minutes with his bags.

Our flight to Orlando left DC at 11:35. We got to Orlando on time (1:45), but ground operations were shut down due to severe weather and we had to wait over 40 minutes to get our luggage. I went to Chick fil A and got chicken sandwiches and waffle fries and took it back to the baggage claim, where DH was waiting, to eat while we waited for our stuff to appear. When our bags came we took the Beeline shuttle to Shades of Green.

At Shades of Green, we got room 312. It has a view of the quiet pool, Magnolia Pool. We got a Stars and Stripes admission passes. This pass allowed us Park Hopper privileges to all 4 main parks, plus admission to Pleasure Island, the water parks, and Disney Quest. After we got the passes, we visited the PX, which is the gift shop/convience store. We got cereal, milk and sun chips, but we forgot bowls and spoons. oops!

Then we went to the Magic Kingdom. Shades of Green has a bus to the TTC; then we took the black monorail. When we got to the MK, we went to the Main Street Station of the Walt Disney World Railroad. We rode the RR all the way around the Magic Kingdom. We got off again at Main Street.

We walked up Main Street and we went to the Bakery. We got a ice cream sandwich made from huge fresh-baked cookies and two scoops of vanilla ice cream. It was delicious, and it was big enough to share.

Then, we went to Tomorrowland. The first thing we did there was pick up a fast pass at Buzz Lightyear. While we waited for the fast pass time to come, we went on Carousel of Progress. Next, we planned to ride the TTA, but it was temporarily down so instead, we rode on the Indy Speedway. Then, it was time to ride on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Right when we boarded the ride, it stopped for a minute and I got very worried we wouldn’t be able to ride, but then it started up again. Hooray!

When we exited Buzz, the TTA was running again, so we walked onto it and rode it. Then, we walked onto Stitch and watched it. Then, we decided we were hungry, so we went to dinner at Pincchio’s Village Haus in Fantasyland. I had a pepperoni pizza and DH had chicken fingers. Then, we walked onto Mickey’s PhilHarmagic and it was great. Then we did the obligatory ride on It’s a Small World and it was mediocre, as usual. However, it is a classic and not to be missed. Then, we went on the Haunted Mansion, which was cool in the dark. Then it was time for Wishes, which we partially watched while we tried to beat the crowds leaving the park. We snuck down the side of Main Street while Wishes was going on, and we were able to make a quick exit.

[pogo]

Great first day.

On to read more.

[Maleficent's Dad]

Thanks for sharing! Shades of Green sounds great!

[Christine]

What a nice start! SOG looks lovely!

[Here we go again...]

Sounds like a good first day. Thanks for adding the photos, it really adds to the trip.

[mrsgaribaldi]

You and your DH look so young, like kids!! I love the pics, never saw SOG before. Sounds like a great first day. Thanks for sharing. I'm off to read more too

[faline]

Nice start.

[DizNee143]

sounds like a pretty good first day....cant wait to read about the rest of the trip!!

[Bethis26fan]

sounds like a great first day

[raider97]

Wow, sounds like a great day!! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!!

[BelleCiavo]

I love day one Shades of Green is so nice.
Thanks for sharing your day.
Karen

[HndrdPrcnt]

Great start to what I am assuming a fun but tiring trip. After all, it did take you quite a while to post your reports!!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report!