Dania - December 2001

Now that I've caught up on everything I decided it was time to write this thing out so without further ado here is what happened

Got up around 3 AM on the 26th to finish some last minutes details before heading off to the airport around 4. Arrived at airport about 6 and stood in a LONG line to check in. After finally getting to the counter and getting the bags checked it was off to security check which was a breeze. Had about an hour and a half before flight left so grabbed me a drink and walked around a bit. Picked up some gum for the flight and decided to head back to check the status. Wasn't very long before we started boarding and the flight was very uneventful.

Arrived in Atlanta around Noon. Meet up with Robin at the terminal and headed off for a quick bite. We ate at the Domino's pizza stand there inside the airport. We got back to the gate in time to hear them begin boarding the first class passengers. This flight was uneventful as well.

When we got to the orlando airport our Tiffany towncar driver was waiting for us with a sign. It was nice not to have to search for him amongst all the people at baggage claim. After a long wait my luggage finally came around the carousel and we were off to the hotel. We did make a quick grocery stop so that we could get some essentials for breakfast but other than that it was a nice quick trip to the hotel.

Here is where my biggest complaints will be found. Arrived at Comfort Inn Lake Bunea Vista to a long line at check-in but I was expecting that. Once I got the room keys I headed over to the welcome desk to pick up our free guide and bus schedule. One look at the schedule and we realized that they sure didn't offer much for us in the way of transportation. When I got this hotel I was assured that the bus schedule would be flexible and take us just about anytime of day. Well come to find out that the last shuttle left at 12:55 for the parks and here we were at 3:50 wanting to head to the parks for the night. I brought the problem up with the clerk and she was like whatever I don't care speak to the manager about it. Well of course I did just that but he was like sorry can't help you we don't make the schedule. So here we were expecting to make it to MGM and looking worse by the minute. Well we decided to head to the room and think. Ended up calling a Cab to take us to the park which really wasn't that bad. Another bad thing was that their leaving times from the was not conducive to people that would be staying til the park closed. So we had to hop a cab to get back to the hotel that night. More about the hotel problems later because if I continue in this email it'll be to long LOL

We made it to MGM finally about 5 pm and headed straight for the backlot tour to find out that we wouldn't be able to get to it :( Ended up heading for Muppet's 3D which I fell in love with. It was just too cute and I loved the effects. Also did One Man's Dream which we both enjoyed. After looking around at the lights and just enjoying being in the magic we headed off to Epcot for supper and hopefully a meet with friends.

Epcot was crowded that's for sure. First thing before we ate was Spaceship Earth. This was my favorite ride of the whole trip. That thing is just to cool. After that we went off in search of food. We ended up at the Electric Umbrella. The food was nice and quick service. We both got Hot Chocolate because it was so cold outside. After that we made our way to the world showcase. We walked around the place for awhile and just took in the sites and discussed what we wanted to do tomorrow while we were there. I went to where we were supposed to meet and Robin went looking in some stores. As it got closer to time and no one had shown up where I was I told Robin to stay her for a few while I went looking. I never did run across yall and I feel so bad because I was so looking forward to meeting up with everyone. Hopefully now that I will be down there for a long while I will get to meet more people :)

Well this concludes Day 1. It was both good and bad but the good did outweigh the bad. I will try and get out day 2 tomorrow. If you have any questions about anything that happened this day just lmk.

Today was to be spent in Epcot. We arose early and ate our quick breakfast and hurried down to the bus stop to catch the 8:45 bus. When we arrived there was a huge line but we were assuming that the bus would be big enough to hold us all. When it arrived it was already half full and there was lots of people in front of us so we knew we had no hope unless the driver called for another bus. Well the driver assured us that another bus would be there in 20 minutes and took off with a overcrowded bus. As the time neared for the supposed bus a lady in front of us went in to check and found out that according to them the next bus wouldn't be for another hour. Now we were all looking for a way to just get the heck out of there and someone spotted a taxi van and went to ask for a price quote and capicity. As he returned the bus now 10 minutes late finally showed. To say the least we weren't happy campers but we were finally on our way to Epcot.

After the fiasco of the bus we had to change our touring plans. After we got our CP dinner package information we headed straight for the world showcase. We first went to UK in search of Fish & Chips for a quick bite since we were having an early supper. We ate at Yorkshire County Fish which was really good. After that we headed for Japan to use our 15% discount. After some good buys we went to Mexico to ride El Rio Del Tempo and looked around a bit as we went. We also did the American Adventure and that was just priceless. I have never been so moved by such a beautiful performance.

Next we decided to head out of the world showcase and try out a few rides. We rode Ellen's Universe of Energy first which was pretty cool. Since we still had time before our Priority Seating we decided to ride Spaceship Earth again which was a blast. We then took the friendship boat back over to Germany and walked to Norway. We got a fastpass for Maelstrom with return time after our CP which worked out great.

Our dinner at Akershus was excellent. The buffet was just perfect and I loved the atmosphere. The wait staff was friendly and very knowledgable. If I can I will eat there again.

Candlelight Processional time was drawing near so off we headed to get our seats. We ended up on the far right side but still was a good seat. LeVar Burton was excellent and the music was just beautiful. We were right next to one set of the long trumpters which kinda was loud at times but was still a wonderful experience. Voices of Liberty was just great and I was happy I had got to hear them since I had heard so many comments about them. Overall this was one of the best highlights of my trip.

Next it was time for our fastpass at Maelstrom. The ride was so much fun. Since neither of us had ever ridden it, we had no idea what to expect and was pleasently surprised at how good a ride it was.

Now that we had basically done all we wanted to do at Epcot and had time left we headed over to the Magic Kingdom to get the lay of the land and maybe ride a few ride. This was our first monorail ride of this trip and we had to stand up but otherwise it was a nice ride to TTC. When we got to TTC to our surprise we were lucky enough to get to ride up front. What an awesome site that was to actually get to see the Magic Kingdom come into view. I wouldn't have traded that view for the world.

When we got our maps and got into the park the fireworks were in full swing. We had already decided to ride the railroad around the park so we could just get the lay of the land. We had to wait for a bit while the fire marshal checked the tracks and gave us the okay. Once we were on our way it was a nice ride around the park.

Once we arrived back at the main entrance we decided to head over to Liberty Square and see if we could get in to The Haunted Mansion. We had a shorter than expected wait and were inside the house quickly. This ride is so cool and I'm glad we did it at night because it made it more scarier. After we finished we figured we had enough time to at least ride one more ride. So off we went to Fantasyland and It's a Small World. This ride has always been my favorite because it is just so precious. We took tons of pictures of the different dolls and just had a blast singing along. We still had a little time left and rushed right across the way to make it into Peter Pan's Flight. That was a nice way to end the night with a fun ride around neverland.

This day started off badly but turned out to be a great time had by all. We came to the conclusion that we would definetly arrive earlier the next two days to catch the bus. All in All it was a good day

Part One, Part Two