Sue and the DoD trip that "Just might end up on the Internet somewhere" report!--COMPLETE 6/5/09 - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Oh wow! I guess the express car rental kiosk IS a good thing. I didn't think it would save that much time. Glad that you are finally on your way.
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You did have a nightmare journey down... I love the photos you took during the flight and I can only echo your thanks to Wendy for dealing with all those ADR changes. She was a star.
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Great start. Must live through these reports since I still have 134 days to go!
You'll be there before I will be. LOL But I know the feeling. I'm living through all the reports myself. I am a mental block on planning since I can't really do anything with ADR's or other reservations for a few more months.
Great start, Sue! I am so about the big delay with your rental car! That is just ridiculous. BTW where did you get the Mickey head yellow luggage tag. I it!
I'm really glad you're writing a TR, Sue! Sorry to hear about all the delays and the terrible service at Dollar. Hopefully things got much better from then on!
Great start, Sue! I am so about the big delay with your rental car! That is just ridiculous. BTW where did you get the Mickey head yellow luggage tag. I it!
The yellow tags are DVC tags. We got them a few years ago from our DVC guide. Not sure if they make them anymore....
I called Angie from the road to tell her I was on my way. She was still in Downtown Disney, so that's where I was going to get her. Her luggage was hopefully somewhere in the vicinity of Old Key West.... We talked about dinner. I hadn't eaten anything all day, so she got me a club sandwich from the Earl of Sandwich.
I called Steve and told him about the car upgrade. Of course, the first question was "Why didn't you get a convertible?" and the second question was "Does it have Sirius radio?" Well, I'm not the convertible fan he is number one, and number two, I was not sure how to figure out the Sirius radio. I had found a good station on regular radio, and I was fine with that. Of course, he kept telling me I really needed to figure it out, because a day without Sirius radio is like a day without sunshine. I was driving, filming, and trying to find money for the tolls. In the midst of all this, I was trying to program Garmin to find WalMart, and was having a blonde moment. Finally I was off the highway and stopped, and lo! I remembered how to program! I was actually past WalMart, so I turned around and headed back, finding it really quickly. I stocked up on water and breakfast goodies, and off I went to meet Angie!
I drove into the MarketPlace filming! One-eyed Steve would be proud. And there she was! Lots of hugs and several sandwich bites later, we were on our way to OKW!
This was Angie's first stay at OKW, another one to check off her list. We drove in and parked in the front, and went in to check in.
Now...how do you know you are going to have a magical vacation, you ask? I had checked us in online a few days before, and when we walked up to the online check in counter, the CM said "Oh! You are the ones from East Stroudsburg!" Yes...that's me...why? Apparently CM Darin had been telling all the front desk CM's to call him when we checked in. Seems that Darin is not only from East Stroudsburg, he grew up about 5 miles away from where we live! We chatted for quite sometime with him and his co-worker, a lovely young lady from Manchester, England whose name escapes me. I do recall, though, that she was NOT a Manchester fan, but a Liverpool fan! We got our keys, and because it was a celebration, we got balloon animals!
Darin and .... :
Balloon animals for us:
Naturally, I took a few pictures of the resort:
We drove to our room:
We were so happy that we had two beds! No pullout sofa for either of us!
Our balcony:
Our view:
A few more resort shots, taken a bit later in our stay:
We unpacked and unwound. Angie's luggage had made it safely to our room! I ate my delicious sandwich and felt much better. Soon, we were ready to really get this party started!