Trip Report "It's for work, I swear!"

When I have my students complete identification questions, I always make them give me the who, what, when, where, and why of the word. So that's what I’m going to give you.

Who: Myself and @lostpro9het

What: Another trip to Disney

When: March 19 – 23

Where: Pop Century

Why: Here's perhaps the most important bit of info. It's not for fun trip (yes it is). It's for work, I swear! Sean has a conference. He cannot go to Orlando without me. He just can't.

The seeds of this trip were planted around October of last year. Sean mentioned a big IT conference and said he probably wouldn't go. Fast forward to a few months ago and he's decided he's going.

First things first...I book airfare via SouthWest. Let me tell you now. I HATE FLYING. I'm convinced we are all going to die. I've been reading a book to learn strategies to help with this, so we (and you) will see how it goes.

I had to do some research regarding the Orlando Convention Center, conference hotels (not a Disney one in sight – boo), and all the costs associated with the trip. We were trying to find a hotel that fit the following qualifications: remained within the per diem, free transport to Disney or Disney Springs OR within walking distance of DS. Guess what? None of those fit.

We chose Cabana Bay Resort at Universal. I had resigned myself to the possibility of not visiting WDW. Sacrilege, I say. I wouldn't have minded staying there, but if there's a Disney alternative, I'm taking it. Fast forward to today. We were trying to arrange a shuttle to/from the airport. It was approx. $70 RT for the both of us and we'd be at the mercy of Mears. I then looked up rental car prices. They weren't bad, plus we wouldn't be reliant on the shuttle AND we could visit Disney AND have all of our Disney food choices. This is really what we wanted.

I crunched the numbers.

Cabana Bay was almost $900, plus $12 for parking.

Pop Century WITH a rental car was $793. No brainer. I canceled Cabana Bay asap and booked Pop with a car rental.

Everything (except my FP selections) have been planned.

What can you expect on this trip:

• Me flying – yikes. I'm not as nervous as I usually am about flying, so I take that as a good sign.
• Me driving in Orlando. - I'm taking Sean to/from the convention center. Parking is $15/day (unless someone knows something I don't), so that's not even an option.
• Me solo at the parks – I'm going to ride some rides solo and get some character photos.

We're super-excited that we will be at Disney 2-ish weeks.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Yes, Pop has refrigerators.
Southwest has wifi but it is not free. And the actual flight time from take-off in Atlanta to Orlando is right around an hour (airlines pad flight timing) and it goes fast, especially with the interruptions of beverage service/cleanup.
I recommend skipping the wifi and doing work that doesn't require it or reading.

Thanks for the info. We need to do a beverage run and was hoping we would have somewhere to store it.

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks for the info. We need to do a beverage run and was hoping we would have somewhere to store it.

You will.

 

[Misterdcp]

No new updates, but a couple of questions:
1. Does Pop have refrigerators?
2. Does Southwest offer wifi on the plane? If yes, have you used it and what are your thoughts? The flight is 1.5 hours and I thought it would be a good time to get some work done.

I have used the wifi on Southwest. In my opinion it's not really worth it. The few times I've used it it was pretty slow and with the short flight you won't really have time to get your money's worth

 

[sheriffwoody]

I remember the fridge at pop being really small, but you should be able to get a few drinks in there. Also like half the Southwest flights I've been on they announce that the wifi isn't available, so it doesn't seem very reliable.

 

[DryerLintFan]

FWIW with the SW check in process: on my last business trip I totally forgot I was on SW and didn't check in until I was AT the airport, running late. I was close to the last person to board the flight. Worst case scenario looks like this: My bag was in the far back end of the plane, but my seat ended up being in the third row (in the middle, but it was a short and full flight, so whatevs) When the flight emptied, I had to wait for every other passenger to get off the plane so that I could go back to the back of the plane to get my bag to deboard. I was on the flight itself a good ten minutes longer than I would have been if my bag was near me.

All in all, it wasn't a huge deal, but I definitely remembered to check in to my return flight as soon as the window opened, LOL

 

[amjt660]

Yes, Pop has refrigerators.
Southwest has wifi but it is not free. And the actual flight time from take-off in Atlanta to Orlando is right around an hour (airlines pad flight timing) and it goes fast, especially with the interruptions of beverage service/cleanup.
I recommend skipping the wifi and doing work that doesn't require it or reading.

I agree with not doing wifi activities on a short flight.

I hope the preparation you are doing will help with the flight
Anxiety attacks are real and need to be faced/discussed and not brushed away
Good for you that you are willing and able to discuss them and to come up with a plan in advance

Max

 

[imahistorygeek]

I agree with not doing wifi activities on a short flight.

I hope the preparation you are doing will help with the flight
Anxiety attacks are real and need to be faced/discussed and not brushed away
Good for you that you are willing and able to discuss them and to come up with a plan in advance

Max

I practice the technique the book teaches every day (as recommended by the book) and I'm really not feeling half as nervous as I normally am. It really learned to helped to learn how flying actually works and what the different noises mean. For me, it's really a fear of the unknown and not being able to control my environment.

 

[imahistorygeek]

All in all, it wasn't a huge deal, but I definitely remembered to check in to my return flight as soon as the window opened, LOL

I have our check-in on my calendar to remind me 10 minutes before it's time.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Thanks everyone, for your wifi recommendations. I've downloaded episodes of The Office for the flights.

 

[PacNWTigger]

Thanks everyone, for your wifi recommendations. I've downloaded episodes of The Office for the flights.

That will be perfect for your flight! You'll only need to have 3 episodes to keep you occupied during your trip. Keep up the good work on the breathing techniques. You'll be a pro at flying before you know it.

 

[gdisneyfans]

The name of the book is Soar: The Breakthrough Treatment for Fear of Flying.

You basically associate the negative with a positive. You have to make your brain realize that all those scary noises are routine.
The book teaches you how to do this and also includes ways to shut your brain off to the anxiety. It also goes through how flying actually works. It has really been beneficial to me.

Thanks. I may have to check that book out as well. I'm with you - I hate, hate flying. On our trip a couple of weeks ago, I was so nervous to fly, it almost sucked the fun out of the beginning of the trip! For me it's mostly the take-off. But once I see the flight attendants moving around, I seem to relax a bit more. But it sure does get you where you need to go a lot quicker!

Hope everything goes smoothly for you and you have a wonderful trip!

 

[imahistorygeek]

But once I see the flight attendants moving around, I seem to relax a bit more. But it sure does get you where you need to go a lot quicker!

Thanks!

I always look at the flight attendants' expressions. If they're good, I'm usually good. However, there was the ONE TIME I was flying alone from San Antonio. The captain comes over the speaker and says there's a storm ahead and we have to go through it. He then told the flight attendants to take their seats. Well, I was convinced we were done for. The turbulence was really bad and a lady was screaming behind me. Longest flight of my life.

 

[LadyBelle]

I got stuck in Pittsburgh overnight in the winter headed to Vermont. When I boarded the flight the next day I was seated next to a nun. I figured I was good.

Last time I flew north during the winter though.

 

[gdisneyfans]

Thanks!

I always look at the flight attendants' expressions. If they're good, I'm usually good. However, there was the ONE TIME I was flying alone from San Antonio. The captain comes over the speaker and says there's a storm ahead and we have to go through it. He then told the flight attendants to take their seats. Well, I was convinced we were done for. The turbulence was really bad and a lady was screaming behind me. Longest flight of my life.

That same thing happened to us on our flight a couple weeks ago from Chicago to Miami - the turbulence was so bad the captain told the flight attendants to take their jump seats! I had never been on a flight where that had happened! Thankfully it was only about 10 minutes and they were moving about again, but I pretty much had my eyes closed the entire time. But no one was screaming behind us

 

[LeighM]

Thanks!

I always look at the flight attendants' expressions. If they're good, I'm usually good. However, there was the ONE TIME I was flying alone from San Antonio. The captain comes over the speaker and says there's a storm ahead and we have to go through it. He then told the flight attendants to take their seats. Well, I was convinced we were done for. The turbulence was really bad and a lady was screaming behind me. Longest flight of my life.

For my first time flying, well actually it was the second because we were flying back home, we had to fly over Hurricane Matthew. We all had to stay seated over GA all the way to VA. We had to fly at the maximum commercial flying altitude to get away from the worst of it but it was still bad turbulence. I held onto my seatbelt, closed my eyes, and pretended I was riding TSMM lol. That entire flight was horrible. Departing MCO, the crosswind made take off difficult. That was the scariest for me actually because it felt like the plane was being pushed off the runway. And the storm was closer to Richmond when we landed, which made landing difficult.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Quick update:

I know some people are going to laugh at this, but I'm the type of person that has to know everything about everything. This is how I control a situation, plus I like a lot of useless knowledge. That's how we history majors roll.

We're getting down to the wire with this trip. This meant I needed to do some research. It's been a while since I've flown, so I checked out SW's site about getting ready. It explained how I needed to pack my bags, what's allowed and not allowed and so forth. I had forgotten about the shoe part, so I'll make sure to wear my comfy Oka B flats and run them through the dishwasher prior to wear.

The suitcase is out and ready to be packed. This will be our lightest trip we've ever taken. We usually have one suitcase apiece. We're only taking one suitcase and personal bags for the flight.

I will also be tracking my steps this trip. We have a HeathTrails program going on at work for the next couple of months and it starts Monday. I have to log at least 6,000 steps per day, drink a lot of water, and do one good deed per day to meet my goal. My job also gave us a decent discount on fitbits, so now I have one of those to keep track.

We've decided to wing it with our dinners. I remember when Pop had the Mom's Night Out meals and one was turkey and dressing. Talk about nostalgic! It was so good! We didn't see this option on our last trip to Pop. I had also read the tie-dyed cheesecake no longer looks like a piece of cake, but instead it's in a round tub.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about the flight. I'm not nervous and even thinking about it isn't making me nervous.

I'm super-excited and can't wait to leave!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Quick update:

I know some people are going to laugh at this, but I'm the type of person that has to know everything about everything. This is how I control a situation, plus I like a lot of useless knowledge. That's how we history majors roll.

We're getting down to the wire with this trip. This meant I needed to do some research. It's been a while since I've flown, so I checked out SW's site about getting ready. It explained how I needed to pack my bags, what's allowed and not allowed and so forth. I had forgotten about the shoe part, so I'll make sure to wear my comfy Oka B flats and run them through the dishwasher prior to wear.

The suitcase is out and ready to be packed. This will be our lightest trip we've ever taken. We usually have one suitcase apiece. We're only taking one suitcase and personal bags for the flight.

I will also be tracking my steps this trip. We have a HeathTrails program going on at work for the next couple of months and it starts Monday. I have to log at least 6,000 steps per day, drink a lot of water, and do one good deed per day to meet my goal. My job also gave us a decent discount on fitbits, so now I have one of those to keep track.

We've decided to wing it with our dinners. I remember when Pop had the Mom's Night Out meals and one was turkey and dressing. Talk about nostalgic! It was so good! We didn't see this option on our last trip to Pop. I had also read the tie-dyed cheesecake no longer looks like a piece of cake, but instead it's in a round tub.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about the flight. I'm not nervous and even thinking about it isn't making me nervous.

I'm super-excited and can't wait to leave!

What are these shoes that are able to go into the dishwasher!!? Never heard of such a thing. And what an awesome place to work that you guys are doing that, sounds pretty neat actually. Glad your feeling good about the flight and so excited about another adventure. Let us know how it goes when you get back!

 

[imahistorygeek]

What are these shoes that are able to go into the dishwasher!!?

They're called Oka B and they are rubber shoes.They have so many colors and styles and they're recyclable. I have quite a few pairs. I love them.

 

[Zipadeelady]

They're called Oka B and they are rubber shoes.They have so many colors and styles and they're recyclable. I have quite a few pairs. I love them.

Super cute!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

They're called Oka B and they are rubber shoes.They have so many colors and styles and they're recyclable. I have quite a few pairs. I love them.

You can wear them all day? Are they like ballet slippers? What are the soles like?

By the way since everyone was talking about crazy plane flights, the last flight we took was in 2008 and only had 3 kids at the time. Youngest was 1 then. We were flying back from MCO to Philly. Think it was Jet Blue. We ended up leaving on a day where there was a hurricane off the Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina coast. The turbulence was horrendous and what made it worse was we were in the back row. My dd(1) was on my lap and dd(7) and ds(5) were on either side. Dh was across the aisle. Flight felt like a roller coaster ride. I was gripping my baby so tight that my knuckles were white. Meanwhile my 2 other kiddos where giggling with joy at the up and down motion of the plane. I was not happy until we touched down.

Glad you are working out your fears. I have yet to get over that flight.