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Prologue:
Gray was the sky and dreary on that crisp December day in the heart of mile-high Colorado where we set our scene. Three anxious travelers make last-minute preparations for a magical trip to a distant land where mice sing and dance and medieval castles reside next to attractions of the future. Long had been the wait and careful the planning, but the day was here at last. Okay, enough of this dramatic stuff. Let's get down to business.
Day One: Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Cast of Characters: Marissa (me-Chief Planner), Rory (my husband-Chief Financier), Lee (one of our two best friends-Ex-WDW Cast Member)-all in our mid-twenties
Denver Weather: Mostly cloudy with some light snow, High 29º upon departure
Orlando Weather: Clear and humid, 63º upon arrival
Agenda: Arrive in Orlando
Despite having a pickup time of ~1:10 in the afternoon by the airport shuttle, my husband and I were up at 4:30 AM, excitement finally making it impossible to get any more sleep. We did the last bit of laundry we hadn't already packed and then finished packing. Rory's mother came by around 10:00 to pick up our house and mail keys as she was taking care of our two cats and picking up our mail while we were gone.
Around 11:00, we left our apartment to pick up Lee from her place in Boulder. She was all ready to leave when we got there, so we headed back to our apartment at 11:30. On the way back, we stopped at Good Times and had burgers and fries for lunch. To kill time before the airport shuttle arrived, Rory played a PlayStation game and Lee and I talked about some of our trip plans.
At 1:05, we got too anxious to sit around the apartment anymore, so we started bringing our luggage downstairs. Lo and behold, the shuttle pulled up just then! We loaded our luggage and were on our way. We were the only ones being picked up, so we headed straight for the airport.
The ride to the airport was a little hair-raising. It would have made a good Disney ride. They could call it "Super Shuttle's Wild Ride to DIA." Well, perhaps not. I think our driver had a tight schedule to keep or something, because it took no time at all to get to Denver International Airport.
Checking in with our airline (Frontier) was quite an experience. The computers were down, so the counter employees had to call in to headquarters every person's flight itinerary to confirm that they were indeed supposed to be on their appointed flight. It was such a mess and the check in line was about five people deep. Despite the problem, the Frontier employees were keeping people informed and getting people checked in pretty quickly. In less time than we thought it would take, we were near the front of the line. All of a sudden, we heard a relieved call of "They're back up!" from behind the counter. Everyone in line breathed a collective sigh of relief and we had our boarding passes in hand in a matter of minutes.
Lee was flying to Orlando on a one way ticket (she does some freelance production work for various television events and had to fly to Los Angeles from Orlando on Christmas Day to work on a show; she actually wasn't going to be able to come with us on the trip because of this show, but her plans changed at the last minute and she was able to come after all), and right after checking in she was informed that her luggage had been selected to undergo a CTX scan, after which she would receive her boarding pass. Rory and I waited for her before going through the security area. Lee found out that having a one way ticket acts as a red flag for the security screeners and those people are almost always selected for extra security checks. This would prove true later. I got through security just fine, but Rory's laptop case had to be hand searched because the screeners thought the CDs he had in it looked suspicious in the X-ray.
Once at our gate, we got a small snack and Rory hunted around for a power outlet into which he could plug his laptop so we could play Disney Trivia while waiting for our boarding call. He finally found one, but couldn't get the game to work. It was almost time to board the plane anyway. Lee was selected for an extra security check at the gate, so Rory and I boarded and waited for her on the plane.
After the plane took off and we were allowed to turn on electronic devices, Rory got out the laptop and we watched "Ice Age" on DVD. We were the envy of practically all the other passengers, because Frontier doesn't show any movies on their flights. Even the flight attendants looked like they wanted to stay and watch it with us. With our headphone splitters and extra laptop battery, we were set for the whole flight and didn't have to bother anyone else.
Our in-flight snack consisted of a wrap sandwich and Sun Chips. It wasn't exactly gourmet, but it wasn't too bad. Near the end of our flight, we went through an area of pretty heavy turbulence. We found out later that we'd flown over a severe storm cell that produced tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama. I just gripped my arm rests like that alone would keep the plane aloft and steady and tried to ignore the hundreds of lightning flashes in the towering clouds right outside the window. That'll teach me for preferring the window seat!
We landed right at 9:25 PM in Orlando and claimed our luggage. Rory called the Sheraton Suites for their airport shuttle and only had to wait a few minutes for it to arrive. Our suite at the hotel was very nice and we were very pleased to get such a nice hotel for such a low price. To anyone needing to spend a night on either end of their trip near the airport, I would highly recommend the Sheraton Suites.
We unpacked a little and downloaded the day's digital pictures to the laptop. We got some soda from the vending machine and ate some of the snacks we'd brought with us from home. Then we watched the news to see the next day's weather forecast and called our friend Renee, who would be joining us in a couple of days. We were in bed around 11:00 after a very long and interesting day.
High Points: airport shuttle was right on time, getting to watch a good movie on the plane, pleasantly surprised by the Sheraton Suites
Low Points: airport security, bad turbulence near end of the flight
Post Script:
I liked the idea of trip mascots so much from The Mouse For less list that I decided to adopt some for our own trip. I tried to find Disney beanies that fit each person's personality and favorite Disney characters. I bought three of them from our local Disney Store and one online. I got a golden Lucky Cat Pooh online that came from the Tokyo Disney Store (his price tag is even in Japanese!), Rory got Stitch, Lee got Minnie Mouse dressed up as Tinker Bell, and Renee got a fuzzy Thumper. We took lots of pictures of them doing crazy things on our trip (Stitch was especially naughty!). Thanks bunches to the MFL list for that wonderful idea!
Day: 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10
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