9/21/07-Day #1

Sage & Hayden at MNSSHP

Let me just say, Clayton and I both abhor Orlando International Airport. It royally stinks. Trust us on this one. We have flown into many airports and never have been as confused as we were when we arrived. Let me back up and tell you that we flew Southwest (and we never will again-explanation will be included in the last day report). Our flight had 137 seats but there were only 60 people on board. Crazy, huh? Anywho, our flight thankfully landed on time but then we couldn't figure out what to do to find where my Mom and Aunt were. None of the screens had US Airways on them. Our terminal only had Southwest and Frontier in it. After walking around forever and looking like idiots, we finally realized that there must be another terminal but then we couldn't figure out how to get there. The signage was horrible. We decided to take the rail system and prayed that we wouldn't end up in baggage claim. We got to terminal A and then found the gates to where my Mom and Aunt should be arriving. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to them because of there being another security checkpoint in this terminal. It totally stunk. I was hoping to be waiting at the gate for them when they arrived. Instead, we had to wait outside of their terminal's checkpoint because we didn't have boarding passes for a flight originating out of that particular terminal. What a load of crap. In Denver you can go to all 3 terminals with only one universal security checkpoint to go through. In fact, I can't name any other airport that does that and I have been through many. Ugh. We finally met up with my family and off we went to Disney's Magical Express.

DME was a little bit confusing because the people working the counter forgot to tell us where to stand after checking in but we finally got on our bus and were on our way. We checked in at POP Century for a one night stay before we transferred over to the Polynesian. We got an upgrade to a premium room and let me tell you, big whoop. I was really hoping that the value hotels at Disney World would at least be decent but I cannot lie, they suck. The rooms were tiny, the bedspreads were awfully faded, the grounds were extremely cheap and seemed dirty, the food in the food court was yucky, the food court itself was terribly gross with the floors being so sticky that you felt like you were walking on fly paper and the counters really needed to be cleaned, and worst of all was the transportation. You can only take a bus to/from the values and that was awful. For the amenities that you get by staying there, you might as well stay somewhere better off property and rent a car. It would be a lot easier, cheaper and less hectic.

Hayden and I had tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) that night so we took off after dinner. The bus trip to the Magic Kingdom wasn't too bad. We met our friends Sandy & Sage (from NC) for the event. They had just moved to the Orlando area recently. The kids had a blast and we walked onto almost all the rides without waiting. Space Mountain only had about 20 people in line both times we passed it on the TTA. It was unreal. It's too bad I couldn't ride. Oh well, maybe next year. Hallowishes (the fireworks show) was spectacular and the parade was decent. All in all, the extra expense for the event was well worth it.

Hayden and I were exhausted when we left and we had to wait for a stupid bus forever. We waited in line long enough to fill 4 busses before we could finally board one. It was standing room only. Can you believe that no one even bothered to offer me a seat? I would never have accepted it but that is beside the point. I cannot believe that people just watched me stand there while I hung to a bar and held a 4 year old child against me. Did I mention that I am 6 months pregnant??? How rude. After that horrid ride that seemed to take FOREVER, we finally got into our room after midnight.