Annie'sMom
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
Introduction
This is my first trip report, so I beg your indulgence. Let me introduce the players:
Me â 42, Single mom and Disney fanatic. The first question my co-workers ask when I return from vacation is, âÂÂSo, when are you going back?â I live in Central Missouri and typically depart from St. Louis Lambert Airport, which is about a 1.5-hour drive from home.
DD â 4-year-old diva. IâÂÂm serious; this girl has a future on the stage or screen. She loves to sing and dance and loves all things Disney, too.
This trip was our third in 3 years. I love planning the trip almost as much as I like the trip itself. This year I was able to save big bucks because of reading various Disney boards. Also, last year we traveled in early December and I purchased Annual Passes, so no tickets were purchased this year. I will indicate our other savings as we progress through the report. We also planned to spend some time with one of DDâÂÂs occasional babysitters, who is spending a semester working at the MK as part of the WDW College Program. We are so excited to see Leslea and spend time with her. And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, take small children by the hand and watch your head and step as you prepare to enter the Journey into our Magical Vacation!
Day 1 - Monday, November 6, 2000
I had decided to take all of today off in order to accomplish those last minute details that one can only finish at the last minute before departure. I took DD to preschool and then did all my final preparations. The weather today was rainy and even stormy. Little did I know that the problems that would happen, especially regarding the weather, later. I picked up DD and we went to McDonalds to pick up some lunch. I happened to be watching TV while I was eating and I noticed that Vice President Gore was in St. Louis, and I wondered what kind of impact that might have on traffic around St. Louis-both on the roads and at the airport. I decided to leave early, even though we werenâÂÂt scheduled to depart from St. Louis until 5:35 pm and St. Louis airport is less than 2 hours from my home. We loaded the car and we left Fulton around 1:15.
We immediately ran into a terrific rainstorm. Traffic on I-70 was slowed to 50 miles per hour. I wasnâÂÂt concerned, except that it was hard to see. The rain finally let up and we were tooling right along. Then about 50 miles south of St. Louis, traffic on I-70 came to a dead stopâ¦.I mean literally stopped. People had actually turned their vehicles off and were walking around and visiting. There obviously was an accident, but I started to worry after we didnâÂÂt move for almost 45 minutes. There was really no reason to worry; I still had plenty of time. But, I am always a nervous travelerâ¦. when it comes to time. I am anal about arriving at the airport way earlyâ¦. I canâÂÂt help it. Finally, about one hour later, traffic started moving at last. We had no further delays and we drove to our Park and Fly lot and parked. Several months ago, when I was checking potential parking places near Lambert Airport, I found Park Express on the web, and I emailed them to find out their rates. I got an email back offering me 7 days of free parking in exchange for an email when I returned to give my opinions of their business. I said sure, so I now have a pass for 7 days of free parkingâ¦. That saves me about $50.
We arrived at the terminal. We are flying Southwest Airlines. I found non-stop roundtrip fares for $148 St. Louis-Orlando. I thought those were great. In general, I found cheap airfares out of St. Louis much more difficult to find this year than last year. We checked in around 4:30. There was a flight scheduled to fly out of St. Louis to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles on a neighboring gate that was delayed. However, they announced that our flight had left Chicago on time and they predicted an ontime departure from St. Louis. Right. We had a tremendous cloud burst about 4:45. Then around 5:15, they announced that although our flight had arrived in St. Louis, it was circlingâ¦.and stayed that way until 6:00. We finally boarded at around 6:15-30. We then had to wait another 45 minutes to take off. Bottom line, we took off from St. Louis 2 hours late.
We arrived in Orlando at about 10:30 pmâ¦about 1.5 hours late. We got the luggage, went to National and got a red Impala and headed to the Courtyard by Marriott at Downtown Disney. I had booked this room for two nights, since I had earned enough Free Ride points to almost pay for 2 nights. I also hate to spend the money for an onsite hotel the first night when all we have time to do is arrive and go to sleep. I realized when I got to the hotel that I had left a bag at the airport. It contained my camcorder, camera and other really important stuff. I was frantic. After we got our room, I called the National office at Orlando airport. I spoke with a wonderful woman named Maggie and told her my dilemmaâ¦.she promised to try to find the bag. I was pretty sure I knew exactly where I had left it. We had initially chosen a gold Chevy Malibuâ¦but DD wanted a red car, so we moved. I had already put my backpack in that car and I guess I just left it there. Maggie took my phone number and promised to call me back. By this time it was 12:30 am and I put my daughter to bed. I waited anxiously for the phone to ring. I felt literally sickâ¦about 1:00 am, the phone rang and it was Maggie. They found the bag! I made arrangements to pick it up the next day and finally went to bed, but I was too keyed up to sleep much.
This first day was not a nightmare way to start a trip. It was the kind of day that makes you question you sanity. However, stick with me, I can assure you that things only got much better.
This is my first trip report, so I beg your indulgence. Let me introduce the players:
Me â 42, Single mom and Disney fanatic. The first question my co-workers ask when I return from vacation is, âÂÂSo, when are you going back?â I live in Central Missouri and typically depart from St. Louis Lambert Airport, which is about a 1.5-hour drive from home.
DD â 4-year-old diva. IâÂÂm serious; this girl has a future on the stage or screen. She loves to sing and dance and loves all things Disney, too.
This trip was our third in 3 years. I love planning the trip almost as much as I like the trip itself. This year I was able to save big bucks because of reading various Disney boards. Also, last year we traveled in early December and I purchased Annual Passes, so no tickets were purchased this year. I will indicate our other savings as we progress through the report. We also planned to spend some time with one of DDâÂÂs occasional babysitters, who is spending a semester working at the MK as part of the WDW College Program. We are so excited to see Leslea and spend time with her. And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, take small children by the hand and watch your head and step as you prepare to enter the Journey into our Magical Vacation!
Day 1 - Monday, November 6, 2000
I had decided to take all of today off in order to accomplish those last minute details that one can only finish at the last minute before departure. I took DD to preschool and then did all my final preparations. The weather today was rainy and even stormy. Little did I know that the problems that would happen, especially regarding the weather, later. I picked up DD and we went to McDonalds to pick up some lunch. I happened to be watching TV while I was eating and I noticed that Vice President Gore was in St. Louis, and I wondered what kind of impact that might have on traffic around St. Louis-both on the roads and at the airport. I decided to leave early, even though we werenâÂÂt scheduled to depart from St. Louis until 5:35 pm and St. Louis airport is less than 2 hours from my home. We loaded the car and we left Fulton around 1:15.
We immediately ran into a terrific rainstorm. Traffic on I-70 was slowed to 50 miles per hour. I wasnâÂÂt concerned, except that it was hard to see. The rain finally let up and we were tooling right along. Then about 50 miles south of St. Louis, traffic on I-70 came to a dead stopâ¦.I mean literally stopped. People had actually turned their vehicles off and were walking around and visiting. There obviously was an accident, but I started to worry after we didnâÂÂt move for almost 45 minutes. There was really no reason to worry; I still had plenty of time. But, I am always a nervous travelerâ¦. when it comes to time. I am anal about arriving at the airport way earlyâ¦. I canâÂÂt help it. Finally, about one hour later, traffic started moving at last. We had no further delays and we drove to our Park and Fly lot and parked. Several months ago, when I was checking potential parking places near Lambert Airport, I found Park Express on the web, and I emailed them to find out their rates. I got an email back offering me 7 days of free parking in exchange for an email when I returned to give my opinions of their business. I said sure, so I now have a pass for 7 days of free parkingâ¦. That saves me about $50.
We arrived at the terminal. We are flying Southwest Airlines. I found non-stop roundtrip fares for $148 St. Louis-Orlando. I thought those were great. In general, I found cheap airfares out of St. Louis much more difficult to find this year than last year. We checked in around 4:30. There was a flight scheduled to fly out of St. Louis to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles on a neighboring gate that was delayed. However, they announced that our flight had left Chicago on time and they predicted an ontime departure from St. Louis. Right. We had a tremendous cloud burst about 4:45. Then around 5:15, they announced that although our flight had arrived in St. Louis, it was circlingâ¦.and stayed that way until 6:00. We finally boarded at around 6:15-30. We then had to wait another 45 minutes to take off. Bottom line, we took off from St. Louis 2 hours late.
We arrived in Orlando at about 10:30 pmâ¦about 1.5 hours late. We got the luggage, went to National and got a red Impala and headed to the Courtyard by Marriott at Downtown Disney. I had booked this room for two nights, since I had earned enough Free Ride points to almost pay for 2 nights. I also hate to spend the money for an onsite hotel the first night when all we have time to do is arrive and go to sleep. I realized when I got to the hotel that I had left a bag at the airport. It contained my camcorder, camera and other really important stuff. I was frantic. After we got our room, I called the National office at Orlando airport. I spoke with a wonderful woman named Maggie and told her my dilemmaâ¦.she promised to try to find the bag. I was pretty sure I knew exactly where I had left it. We had initially chosen a gold Chevy Malibuâ¦but DD wanted a red car, so we moved. I had already put my backpack in that car and I guess I just left it there. Maggie took my phone number and promised to call me back. By this time it was 12:30 am and I put my daughter to bed. I waited anxiously for the phone to ring. I felt literally sickâ¦about 1:00 am, the phone rang and it was Maggie. They found the bag! I made arrangements to pick it up the next day and finally went to bed, but I was too keyed up to sleep much.
This first day was not a nightmare way to start a trip. It was the kind of day that makes you question you sanity. However, stick with me, I can assure you that things only got much better.
I like that start to a trip report 
