Howdy, fellow World travelers! I've just returned from a fantastic Disney vacation and thought I'd dive right in to my very first trip report. In posts to come, you'll see a few photos and read all about the anomalous cold, some belated Christmas decorations, our trying new things and our laid-back approach to navigating the parks this year, but first, introductions:
I am Melissa. I'm 24 and this was my fourth trip to the World.
Here I am in Disneyland in for my birthday in 2008. I'm a sucker for the ears.
My travel companion is my boyfriend, Danny. His 30th birthday was our reason for celebrating and choosing this particular week to travel.
Danny obliged my taking many, many teacup photos that trip.
Last but not least, we have Simon, the Travel Monkey. He's originally from Duluth, Minnesota. He showed up in our house one Christmas day and became rather attached to us. After exploring his way around the place, he set his sites on more far-flung adventures.
Simon on a flight from New York City to Sacramento.
We woke at an ungodly hour. Our flight was to depart from the Westchester Country airport in White Plains, NY at 6:05 AM. We were using U.S. Airways for this flight. It was our first experience with both that airline and that airport. We weren't sure what to expect from the drive or airport security, so we decided to wake at 2:20 AM and be on the road by 3:00. The airport is 48 miles from our house, but we were parking at a nearby hotel as their long-term parking was about 60% cheaper than the airport's. And so the adventure begins.
We left the house a few minutes before 3:00 AM, Google Maps directions in hand. We got a little turned around when Google's directions conflicted with our instincts and we chose to follow the printout rather than logic. A minor setback, considering how much time we had. We arrived at the hotel about 15 minutes before their first shuttle to the airport was scheduled to depart. In no time at all, we were at the tiny White Plains airport, waiting to drop off our checked bags. This, by the way, was supposed to happen at 4:30 AM, but U.S. Airways opens their counters 30 minutes after the other airlines there. We didn't actually get to the security line until 5:15. Luckily, TSA was quite efficient at moving the people through this morning. We got through security with enough time grab bagels for breakfast and sit for a moment before boarding.
The Westchester County airport is one of the smallest I've ever seen. So was the plane that we boarded. It was a Canadair CRJ-200LR, a 50 passenger little beauty flown by Air Wisconsin, who have a contract with U.S. Airways. Our flight attendant was Jackie Brown. Seriously, she bore a striking resemblance to Pam Grier in both appearance and voice. She even had a little of that foxy attitude that makes Jackie Brown one of my favorite movies. Danny laughed when I made the comparison, but he wasn't so happy when it resulted in me singing "Long Time Woman" and "Across 110th Street" throughout our layover at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. By the way, this was another downside to flying out of White Plains: no direct flights. We resolved to stick to JetBlue for service to Orlando from now on. The advantage to this layover was the nice view as we landed. We could even see a couple landmarks from the terminal.
Here is a fuzzy photo of the U.S. Capitol.
The second leg of the flight was fairly uneventful. We were in a Boeing 737-400, which means three seats on either side of the aisle. I gave Danny the window seat since Simon was in his backpack and Simon likes to see out the window. I shared the middle seat with the Kent State sweatshirt-clad arm of the man in the aisle seat. The families in front of and behind us were all going to Disney as well, but I didn't strike up conversation with any of them because they were all absorbed in their own conversations and excitement. Plus Kent State guy was asleep and I was trying not to disturb him, lest he take up more of my space.
Before too long, we were landing. We experienced a happy occurrence in that our airline occupied the terminal closest to the Magical Express counter, so there was no opportunity to run to the wrong side of the airport searching for it, as we are known to do. We got in line and were loaded onto a bus almost immediately. Our bus would be stopping at Saratoga Springs and Old Key West before dropping us off at Port Orleans French Quarter. Its final stop was, to my surprise, not Riverside but Fort Wilderness. I don't think I'll ever fully grasp the intricacies of Disney's transportation systems.
Almost home! We were so excited. Except for Simon. It was a little too cold for him.
A little note about the ride to French Quarter: I'm so upset with myself for not writing down our Magical Express driver's name so that I might appropriately sing his praises. He had the whole bus in stitches both before and after the video. He really was great at amplifying our excitement -- as if we didn't already have enough, right? The family sitting in front of us on the bus were first-timers and their two adorable daughters were ecstatic. But more on them later. He was also incredibly informative, delivering a bit of bad news: This week, temperatures would be cold. They would stay that way for the duration of our trip. He said that Florida hadn't seen a week this cold since the 1970s. Boo.
We got to French Quarter and disembarked as quickly as possible. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Christmas decorations were still in place. I really hadn't expected to see any at all by the time we arrived.
The framed photos on the tree were stills from The Princess and the Frog. There was quite a bit of movie theming in the main building of the resort. More on that to come.
We checked in and Danny received his birthday button. We opted not to do online check-in because we wanted to be able to reiterate our room requests to a person as we checked in. Our only request was that our room not overlook a parking lot. We received room 2317, which I thought was pretty ideally located. For those of you not familiar with the French Quarter, we had a courtyard view in building 2, and our third-story room was adjacent to the stairs and mere steps from the elevator. That came in handy at the end of a few particularly long days. Our building was also the closest to the boat launch on the Sassagoula River, where one can take a boat to Downtown Disney. I regret that we hardly used that service during our stay because it was so cold outside. Nor did we use the pool, which was also right next to our building.
It was about noon by the time we got to our room and we were famished. We dropped off our carry-ons, left a tip for the bellmen who would be bringing up our checked bags when they arrived, and ventured back out to grab lunch before heading to the Magic Kingdom. Simon elected to stay in the room and watch Phineas and Ferb as it was just too cold for him. We headed down to Sassagoula Floatworks for a bite to eat. I took photos, but they don't look particularly appealing, so I won't be posting them. Lunch was serviceable, but we were quite hungry and didn't care to admire the meal the way that we would others during the week.
Up Next: The Magic Kingdom and dinner at the Kona Café.
I am Melissa. I'm 24 and this was my fourth trip to the World.
Here I am in Disneyland in for my birthday in 2008. I'm a sucker for the ears.
My travel companion is my boyfriend, Danny. His 30th birthday was our reason for celebrating and choosing this particular week to travel.
Danny obliged my taking many, many teacup photos that trip.
Last but not least, we have Simon, the Travel Monkey. He's originally from Duluth, Minnesota. He showed up in our house one Christmas day and became rather attached to us. After exploring his way around the place, he set his sites on more far-flung adventures.
Simon on a flight from New York City to Sacramento.
We woke at an ungodly hour. Our flight was to depart from the Westchester Country airport in White Plains, NY at 6:05 AM. We were using U.S. Airways for this flight. It was our first experience with both that airline and that airport. We weren't sure what to expect from the drive or airport security, so we decided to wake at 2:20 AM and be on the road by 3:00. The airport is 48 miles from our house, but we were parking at a nearby hotel as their long-term parking was about 60% cheaper than the airport's. And so the adventure begins.
We left the house a few minutes before 3:00 AM, Google Maps directions in hand. We got a little turned around when Google's directions conflicted with our instincts and we chose to follow the printout rather than logic. A minor setback, considering how much time we had. We arrived at the hotel about 15 minutes before their first shuttle to the airport was scheduled to depart. In no time at all, we were at the tiny White Plains airport, waiting to drop off our checked bags. This, by the way, was supposed to happen at 4:30 AM, but U.S. Airways opens their counters 30 minutes after the other airlines there. We didn't actually get to the security line until 5:15. Luckily, TSA was quite efficient at moving the people through this morning. We got through security with enough time grab bagels for breakfast and sit for a moment before boarding.
The Westchester County airport is one of the smallest I've ever seen. So was the plane that we boarded. It was a Canadair CRJ-200LR, a 50 passenger little beauty flown by Air Wisconsin, who have a contract with U.S. Airways. Our flight attendant was Jackie Brown. Seriously, she bore a striking resemblance to Pam Grier in both appearance and voice. She even had a little of that foxy attitude that makes Jackie Brown one of my favorite movies. Danny laughed when I made the comparison, but he wasn't so happy when it resulted in me singing "Long Time Woman" and "Across 110th Street" throughout our layover at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. By the way, this was another downside to flying out of White Plains: no direct flights. We resolved to stick to JetBlue for service to Orlando from now on. The advantage to this layover was the nice view as we landed. We could even see a couple landmarks from the terminal.
Here is a fuzzy photo of the U.S. Capitol.
And just beyond the plane here is the Washington Monument. It's always bothered me that the marble on this structure is two different colors, but what can I say? I'm retentive.
The second leg of the flight was fairly uneventful. We were in a Boeing 737-400, which means three seats on either side of the aisle. I gave Danny the window seat since Simon was in his backpack and Simon likes to see out the window. I shared the middle seat with the Kent State sweatshirt-clad arm of the man in the aisle seat. The families in front of and behind us were all going to Disney as well, but I didn't strike up conversation with any of them because they were all absorbed in their own conversations and excitement. Plus Kent State guy was asleep and I was trying not to disturb him, lest he take up more of my space.
Before too long, we were landing. We experienced a happy occurrence in that our airline occupied the terminal closest to the Magical Express counter, so there was no opportunity to run to the wrong side of the airport searching for it, as we are known to do. We got in line and were loaded onto a bus almost immediately. Our bus would be stopping at Saratoga Springs and Old Key West before dropping us off at Port Orleans French Quarter. Its final stop was, to my surprise, not Riverside but Fort Wilderness. I don't think I'll ever fully grasp the intricacies of Disney's transportation systems.
Almost home! We were so excited. Except for Simon. It was a little too cold for him.
A little note about the ride to French Quarter: I'm so upset with myself for not writing down our Magical Express driver's name so that I might appropriately sing his praises. He had the whole bus in stitches both before and after the video. He really was great at amplifying our excitement -- as if we didn't already have enough, right? The family sitting in front of us on the bus were first-timers and their two adorable daughters were ecstatic. But more on them later. He was also incredibly informative, delivering a bit of bad news: This week, temperatures would be cold. They would stay that way for the duration of our trip. He said that Florida hadn't seen a week this cold since the 1970s. Boo.
We got to French Quarter and disembarked as quickly as possible. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Christmas decorations were still in place. I really hadn't expected to see any at all by the time we arrived.
The framed photos on the tree were stills from The Princess and the Frog. There was quite a bit of movie theming in the main building of the resort. More on that to come.
We checked in and Danny received his birthday button. We opted not to do online check-in because we wanted to be able to reiterate our room requests to a person as we checked in. Our only request was that our room not overlook a parking lot. We received room 2317, which I thought was pretty ideally located. For those of you not familiar with the French Quarter, we had a courtyard view in building 2, and our third-story room was adjacent to the stairs and mere steps from the elevator. That came in handy at the end of a few particularly long days. Our building was also the closest to the boat launch on the Sassagoula River, where one can take a boat to Downtown Disney. I regret that we hardly used that service during our stay because it was so cold outside. Nor did we use the pool, which was also right next to our building.
It was about noon by the time we got to our room and we were famished. We dropped off our carry-ons, left a tip for the bellmen who would be bringing up our checked bags when they arrived, and ventured back out to grab lunch before heading to the Magic Kingdom. Simon elected to stay in the room and watch Phineas and Ferb as it was just too cold for him. We headed down to Sassagoula Floatworks for a bite to eat. I took photos, but they don't look particularly appealing, so I won't be posting them. Lunch was serviceable, but we were quite hungry and didn't care to admire the meal the way that we would others during the week.
Up Next: The Magic Kingdom and dinner at the Kona Café.
