Hello! I am currently in my cozy room at the Orlando Vista hotel, listening to fireworks being shot off (though I don't know where . . . maybe Illuminations if its at 9:30 nowadays). My friend Connie is with me again this trip and after we both worked we flew out of CVG at 4:25 without incident and landed early at MCO. Actually, we were very fortunate in that the nice lady at the Delta counter allowed us to change our seats so that we could sit together and we got to sit in the back bulkhead which gave me more legroom and we had a three-seat row to ourselves, which also made things more comfortable.
Since were were in the back of the plane, it took awhile to disembark. Then we stopped in the Universal store and looked at all the cool stuff including the wands, which are pretty neat. We walked down to baggage claim, which was deserted. I thought that was strange but at $25 a bag, who checks their luggage (besides me, of course)? So, I waited and waited and waited. Connie went down to the rental car counter and she also waited and waited and waited.
Finally, the belt started moving and there were like 6 bags out before it stopped again. I decided I better investigate so I walked over to the baggage office where the very nice lady told me that the Cincinnati luggage had been there for awhile and helped me find my bag which was sitting with a nice luggage-sitter. I felt kind of silly for waiting almost 30 minutes but it didn't matter because Connie was still in line for the car.
We got up to the counter at Hertz and the lady couldn't have been more delightful. She upgraded us to a full sized vehicle but we had to walk all the way over to Terminal A. That was fine and after some navigational difficulties we found our way to the nice new Impala. The odometer reading says 6 miles, which I find hard to believe but wow, that's a pretty new car!
Connie is always hilarious when it comes to driving a huge car (she usually drives a little Honda) and getting out of the garage was quite an adventure. I turned the GPS on on my iPhone and we headed to the hotel. We actually were able to take a shorter route because of Mapquest and made our usual stop at WalGreens so I could get my 12 pack of Coke and energy drinks, which I only drink on vacation.
Finally we made it to the hotel and checked in. They are always so nice here; this is my third time staying here and while its not the Ritz-Carlton, it is very nice for the price. The front desk supervisor was able to get us on the same floor and I took the luggage up to the rooms while Connie parked the car. She came up and got her stuff and headed to Downtown Disney while I decided to call it a night.
Big day tomorrow at Universal for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Should have LOTS of pictures tomorrow from both that and the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at DHS. Stay tuned!
Since were were in the back of the plane, it took awhile to disembark. Then we stopped in the Universal store and looked at all the cool stuff including the wands, which are pretty neat. We walked down to baggage claim, which was deserted. I thought that was strange but at $25 a bag, who checks their luggage (besides me, of course)? So, I waited and waited and waited. Connie went down to the rental car counter and she also waited and waited and waited.
Finally, the belt started moving and there were like 6 bags out before it stopped again. I decided I better investigate so I walked over to the baggage office where the very nice lady told me that the Cincinnati luggage had been there for awhile and helped me find my bag which was sitting with a nice luggage-sitter. I felt kind of silly for waiting almost 30 minutes but it didn't matter because Connie was still in line for the car.
We got up to the counter at Hertz and the lady couldn't have been more delightful. She upgraded us to a full sized vehicle but we had to walk all the way over to Terminal A. That was fine and after some navigational difficulties we found our way to the nice new Impala. The odometer reading says 6 miles, which I find hard to believe but wow, that's a pretty new car!
Connie is always hilarious when it comes to driving a huge car (she usually drives a little Honda) and getting out of the garage was quite an adventure. I turned the GPS on on my iPhone and we headed to the hotel. We actually were able to take a shorter route because of Mapquest and made our usual stop at WalGreens so I could get my 12 pack of Coke and energy drinks, which I only drink on vacation.
Finally we made it to the hotel and checked in. They are always so nice here; this is my third time staying here and while its not the Ritz-Carlton, it is very nice for the price. The front desk supervisor was able to get us on the same floor and I took the luggage up to the rooms while Connie parked the car. She came up and got her stuff and headed to Downtown Disney while I decided to call it a night.
Big day tomorrow at Universal for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Should have LOTS of pictures tomorrow from both that and the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at DHS. Stay tuned!
