Day 1- Friday
My flight from Hartford to Orlando was an early one, 7am- the first of the day on Song. The flight itself was very uneventful. Song now has entertainment at each seat via Direct TV. This really helps to pass the time. I rented from Dollar (no more Avis preferred fro the old job- right out the to curb), trying to conserve money. They gave me a Mitsubishi Gallant- a much larger car than I had reserved so can’t complain. To save time, I went right to the rental counter while waiting for my luggage to come out. Since I sat in the front of the plane (Medallion seats- one good thing to come out of my old job), I was off the plane pretty quickly. I completed the rental process and had the rental car papers before the luggage started coming out- so it was a time saver!
After loading the car, I drove to the Wilderness Lodge and self parked the car. I had a feeling that the room wouldn’t be ready as it was only 11am. I also wanted to grab a pair of shorts to change into as I had traveled to Orlando in jeans…. Too hot! As always, entering into the WL lobby sets the tone- a very relaxing tone. Between the soothing music and the architecture I started to feel relaxed immediately.
The Cast Member (Eliot) that checked me in had just gotten his ears that day, something he deservedly was excited about. Eliot was quite helpful and a true Disney Cast Member. My room wasn’t ready but Eliot gave me a card with a number to call and check periodically if it was ready and what the room number was.
From past experiences at the BoardWalk, 4pm check-in means 4pm check-in, not even 3:59 (See August 1998 trip report). Expecting to have to wait till 4pm, I decided to visit MGM. After parking in one of the outlying lots, I walked to the tram and came across the first of many walls of people. I couldn’t believe how many people were waiting for the tram. A VERY long tram pulled up and, even after being totally loaded, there still was at least one more tram’s worth of people waiting to board. WOW!
After walking through the turnstiles, another wall of people. It was Star Wars weekend so perhaps that’s the explanation for all of these people. Typically, Karen and I visit WDW in October- a perfect time of year for both weather and crowds. The weather is cooler, less humid and the crowds are very light. Most attractions are virtual walk-ons! So, this was unusual and unexpected to me.
I walked up Hollywood Boulevard and towards the SS Down the Hatch. Over by Star Tours there was a number of Star Wars characters taking pictures with the guests. Chewbaca, Princess Leia and an Ewok. Since I was quite hungry I didn’t stop for pictures but rather put my name in at Sci-Fi for lunch. I only had to wait about 5 minutes. The food and service were excellent, as usual. Can’t beat the atmosphere and the vanilla shakes!
After lunch I headed over to the Great Movie Ride. But, with the heat, humidity and 40-minute wait, I decided to skip it! Although I’ve lived in South Florida, the majority of visits to WDW have been during the beautiful weather of October that has definitely spoiled us! The crowds on Sunset Boulevard were not much better so I decided to give MGM up today and instead headed back to the car and over to Typhoon Lagoon. The park itself was fairly crowded (can we see a theme here?). I found out later that this was the first weekend of summer for Florida schools and it seems everyone came to WDW to celebrate!
After the visit to Typhoon, I then went to Goodings to pick up some necessary food items. Just as the last bag was placed into the trunk, the skies opened up. It poured for the next 15 minutes, all the way to VWL. On the way over I called to find out my vacation home was ready. I pulled up to the Lodge with groceries and luggage ‘in tow’. Valet and bell services were helpful as always. I made my way to the Villas and what ended up being the perfect vacation home. It was a corner room on the 5th (top) floor so I had two walls of windows. The living room looked out onto the wooded area and the quiet pool. The layout was much different than our last trip and seemed to give the room nearly double the space. As I would come to confirm, the location was perfect as well- near the elevators and not a sound from anywhere (which seems to be typical of most DVC vacation homes).
After settling
in, I washed up and then went back out to the car for the drive to Lady Lake to
visit family.