Gabrielson - August 2006

Cast of characters: Marjorie (43), Gary (50) and Brynna (18)

Preface: My daughter, Brynna, was accepted into the ICP (International College Program) by Disney, starting June 11, 2006 and finishing September 1, 2006. There was no way I was going to handle being away from my baby girl that long (only child!) so therefore we decided a trip to visit her and the mouse was in order.

August 4, 2006

We have arrived!

First of all, we had a rather lengthy travel down to Seattle on Thursday starting with the Coho ferry to Port Angeles. After which we then took a wrong turnoff, then were stuck while a bridge had to open, then the traffic through Tacoma was horrible, we finally got to the Seatac area. Did some window shopping at Southcenter Mall, purchased some necessities at Target (why are there always necessities when you think you're all packed?) and had a light meal before we got to the airport. There we passed the time by watching “Spanglish” on our portable DVD player.

Why do I book red-eye flights? I detest acting like a zombie the next day and I'm sure I was to some extent yesterday. I managed to get some shut-eye, about 3 hours worth and then we arrived on time in Atlanta with a 3-hour layover. Had a Starbucks latte and then some McD's breakfast before we completed watching “Spanglish”. Unfortunately our plane was delayed by a half-hour but our actual flying time had decreased a half-hour to 1 hour, 1 minute. Got into Orlando and attempted to pick up our luggage. After waiting for at least an hour, watching luggage circle around and around, headed over to Delta's baggage service and lo and behold, found our luggage waiting there for us. Guess it caught an earlier flight!

Picked up the rental car next, Chevy Cobalt, in burnt orange. Love it! Especially love it because it's really easy to pick out in parking lots!

After a few twists and turns, we found Brynna's Vista Way apartment complex and had to go through a lot of security stuff before we were allowed to visit the grounds. Apparently we have to do this every 3 days in order to remain on the list. It was so awesome to see Brynna as she walked to the security booth. I gave her a big hug and of course the tears started flowing. I've missed her so much! We went to her apartment to get her stuff to take to our resort and it's your typical 6 girls living in a dorm type of place, messy! Brynna says she's given up trying to keep it tidy cause the others aren't helping out much.

Then we were off to Port Orleans. Wonderful resort, love the theming and the grounds. Lovely room, we look out into a courtyard with a fountain and out front is the Sassagoula River. We have a really nice quiet pool near our room as well, mostly adults as the kids like the main pool with the slide.

We headed off shopping, poor Gary. Brynna dragged me around this enormous mall, Florida Mall, and we hit all the stores she was interested in. Only purchased her a few books and a pair of capris, I think I got off lightly! As the store didn't have the “gadget” she was hoping to purchase (some small personal DVR recorder) we had to go to ANOTHER mall, Millenia Mall and we found it there. She's been saving her money all summer to buy this thing. Following that, we went to Wal-Mart to stock up on beverages, snacks and breakfast food. Back to the resort to drop it all off and then out again to have dinner at Raglan Road, Pleasure Island. We had a fairly decent meal (I had roasted chicken, fried potatoes & onions, very Irish), took a quick turn around PI (horrible construction going on) and then headed back to the resort for some much needed sleep. Although I don't think I was too zombie-like today, I did have periods of great tiredness, then I'd get an adrenalin rush!

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