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Saturday, January 17, 2004
Day 1 of 6
Cast of Characters:
Mom (Grammie) - 62
Dad (Pop) - 60
Me (Jen) - 27
Everett (Brother) - 37
Patricia (Pat SIL) - 39
Chad - 14
Josh - 12
Rachel - 10
Nate - 7
Our flights were uneventful. Well, they actually left early and arrived early. Dad was very "excited" and
Mom was very giggly. To pass the time, Dad used his binocam (combined binoculars & digital camera) to
check things out his window. He also used his GPS to check the speed and altitude of each flight.
When we landed in Orlando, we walked by the gate where my brother was to have come in at. Originally, we
were supposed to arrive about 10 minutes after them and since we were 20 mintues early, we stayed at their
gate to meet them, instead of at baggage claim as I had planned.
My brother's flight arrived 35 minutes late. When our pilot walked by I wanted to go and thank him for
beating my brothers flight down, but for some reason, Mom said no! :) Anyway, after everyone was finally
off the plane, we all went down to baggage terminal claim. Everett and his family went left, Mom, Dad & I
went right and Rachel went missing. Everett and the boys went to claim their luggage & Pat came to see if
she was with us. She wasn't, so we grabbed our luggage (the guy was already taking it off the baggage
carousel. I guess they don't wait longer than 30-40 mintues for you to pick up your luggage!). Anyway,
Mom stood guard at the escalators, Dad ran to the nearest exit and Pat and I took off looking for her.
After about 5-10 minutes, she found "Grammie" waiting by the escalators.
I took the lead this time, with everyone under strick instructions to all follow me. The 13 of us got on
the escalator, which probably wasn't a good idea. As soon as the last person stepped on with their luggage,
the escalator slowed down incredibly. I guess they're not meant to handle 13 people with 15 suitcases and 13
carry-ons. We chug, chug, chugged up the esclator to the airport lobby, then a few at a time took the
escaltor up to the Hyatt lobby and quickly checked into the hotel. Well, as quick as you can when Mom
had to check into three rooms separately. That was the only way we could get the senior discount for all
three rooms.
Nate and Rachel decided to stay in my room. Everett & Pat had connection rooms with Mom and Dad. Josh
stayed with Ev & Pat and Chad stayed with Grammie & Pop. After staking out our rooms, we went swimming.
WOW - after below zero temps and BAD wind chills, the water felt great!!
Ev & Pat went running in the fitness room for a while then joined us in the pool. We were swimming for
about an hour and a half before we decided it was time to eat. As soon as I came out, the maintainence guy
came out, tweeked something and the fountain part of the pool came on. The spray of the three jets into
the pool looked nice and it was funny watching my mom trying to get close enough to them for a back massage.
Quick showers for everyone and it was off to Chili's Too. I knew there was a Chili's Too - somewhere - in
the airport - at the top of an escalator. After a large circle all the way around the "mall" part of the
aiport, we found it right near where we had started from.
After dinner, we did a bit more wandering around the airport and went back to the rooms to fill out our
cruise documents. It was funny trying to fill out all the paperwork for the first time, but eventually we
got everyone straightened out.
With the boring paperwork over, we head to Carvel's. It's only 9:15pm, but they're already closed :( For
our family, that is a MAJOR disappointment!! We head to Mickey D's and grab some sundaes and shakes, check
out the huge aquarium nearby, then head back to the rooms and time for sleep.
Day 2 - Disney Wonder, here we come!!
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