|
Day 1 - Thursday October 14, 2004
I started my trip today. My friend, John Moore, came and got me this morning at 5:15AM. We stopped at a cefco, and I filled up the truck and got us something to drink. I had switched wallets and thought I had lost my visa credit card, but it was hiding inside of a pocket. We got on the road and headed to Austin Bergstrum Airport.
I arrived at the airport around 6:30AM and went into the Delta entrance. I expected to go up to a person like I did the last time I checked in. This time I was moved toward a computer terminal and logged into that system. I entered my information in the computer and my boarding passes were printed and my suit case was tagged. I walked my yellow suit case over to a security officer and went to the TSA gate. I went through the orange line, even
though I did not have an orange card. I touched the actual gate as I went through and I had to go through again. I walked down the terminal to gate 7 and saw that my airplane was on the runway. I was so happy that the jet was already there. I guess it had been parked last night. It was quite early, so I sat down and relaxed. The boarding process was done by numerical zones. I was in zone 4. I was in a window seat and I loved the view. I did not sleep on the flight into Atlanta. I tried to exit and found that as I exited the plane, it took a while before I could leave, because other passengers were exiting.
I arrived into Atlanta and felt overwhelmed by the sheer size of the airport. I found out that my next gate was in the same terminal, so I was very happy. I stopped by Burger King. I was very happy to eat since I did not get any breakfast. I guess I was very excited to be at the gate and I did not want to miss a thing. I found my next gate and took a seat. My ears kept popping on both flights. The plane that I boarded was a Boeing 767. We used the same boarding process as in Austin and I had another boarding
seat. I have never seen a 767 up close and personal and all I can say is it is a very big plane. The flight was very quick. It was only about 1 hour to Orlando Airport. I told the flight attendant that it was my first flight, she got the captain to sign a certificate, I disembarked, and got to ride a train from the satellite terminal to the main concourse. I went to baggage claim, and sat there for about 30 minutes waiting for my luggage to come down the conveyor belt. Next I went to the Mears shuttle desk and checked in.
I showed her my receipt and she printed out my tickets. I then went outside to the loading zone. A driver came around looking for more passengers to take to the Disney property. I quickly raised my ticket, and he took my luggage and I boarded the bus. I was so happy not having any wait. He was very nice and described some of the damage that had occurred in Orlando because of the Hurricanes. I noticed a lot of houses had blue tarp over them, which was signifying that the roof was damaged in some way. A lot
of trees were bent down. We approached the gate to Disneyworld and we were told to let Mickey know that we arrived. I yelled and hollered with joy as we entered the Disney property. Mears began the process of unloading passengers at different resorts. I traveled to Disney Beach hotel, Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Coronado Springs. I told myself if I had the money, I would like to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, because I would like to wake up and be able to see the animals out on the savannah.
We turned into the All Star property and again went through security gates. The hotel comes into sigh and I just wanted to jump up and down. Entering the door, I headed straight over to the front desk. My cast member, Andrew, checked me in. I showed him my picture ID. I then gave him my Visa. I did this because my room key becomes my charge key for the hotel bill, and all of the charges made at Disney would be on one bill. I signed the paperwork and was handed a tinker bell room key. I thought, "Hey why couldn't you get me a guy like Aladdin for us guys. I was given my package of goodies and rebates, and a lot of maps to use as I traveled around all of the theme parks. I walked outside to the pool and then straight to the touchdown wing. My particular wing was the 7th, room number 328. That is the last time I carry my bags on my own. Sheesh, why didn't I just tell a bell hop to bring them to my room? I did not understand why, but my cell phone was low on power so I charged it.
I had a room with two beds. I got inside my room and set my bag and suit case down. I grabbed my key and headed for the food court for supper. I went into the food card called End Zone. I started walking around and wished there was more of a variety to choose from. I went over and ordered a pizza and got me a souvenir mug. This mug cost 11.99, but I could get as much soda as I wanted to drink while I am at the resort. It was not crowded so I just ate my supper there. I then went back to the football area and went to the wrong wing. I went upstairs and found room 328. For five minutes I tried to enter that room because key not working. I went downstairs and looked across the wing to the red helmet and the light went off and I did get my room. I set my mug on the table. I went out to the buses and got in line for Epcot. Disney uses 40 foot buses to transport guest from the resorts to the theme park. I went by Jeff's hotel, The Swan and the Dolphin, and was just blown away by the
architecture used. Jeff is a computer administrator for these two hotels. These hotels are not owned by Disney, they are used to hold conferences.
I got off the bus and walked over to the security gate. I opened my fanny pack and it was searched. After entering the turnstiles, I went to the big silver globe for a ride called Spaceship Earth. This is a ride that takes people through all of the technological advances in communication. The ride started out discussing
the Egyptians and hieroglyphics. It moved forward to the Romans who used scrolls to transport written words throughout the empire. The ride continued forward until it got to the age of the Internet. At the end, we saw a representation of the superhighway, different lights going above us. Next I walked to a place called
Cool Station. It has soda from around the world. Japanese soda tasted pretty good. Chinese soda made me thank, "Yuck.". I thank it had some type of flavor that I had not tasted. As I entered the World Showcase I realized I missed the last boat that goes across the lagoon. Since I did not have my map, I spent about 35 minutes wandering around looking for the exit. I boarded the all star bus and went back to the room. It was early and I felt like I wanted to play in the giant pool. I went swimming at the pool near the stadium hall. I then went back to my room and slept. I set my wake up call for 6:45 am since I had a breakfast appointment. Tomorrow I will go to Magic Kingdom.
Day 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7
|
