Scooter and Big D – 50th Bday! Day 1

[scooterca42]

Cast – Big D – this trip is his 50th birthday celebration
Scooter (me) – a bit younger than Big D, planner and plotter
Staying at All Star Sports on Free Dining plan (regular, not quick service) from Sept 21 - 27

It’s been a heck of a couple of years, and Big D turned 50 - that needed some sort of a celebration! So we decided to visit the World again.

Planning was a bit different, too – generally we fly out of Buffalo for financial reasons, but I found a deal out of Toronto direct to Orlando on a charter airline for only slightly more than it would have cost to fly Air Tran – Sunwing rocks and if I can, I’ll fly them again! Direct flight was just over two and a half hours.

So – Day 1!

We’d booked a room in a hotel near the airport for the night before, it included the night, car parking (up to 15 days, we only used the week) and airport shuttle for just a bit over a hundred dollars. We were up at 4 in the morning, the flight left at 6:30 and we landed in Orlando around 9 am. On ME at 9:30, All Star Sports was the first stop! I had done the online check-in, and we were at the desk just after 10. Wonder of wonders, our room was ready! We got Big D's Birthday button, and went to find it.

We were in Center Court, right at the end nearest Surf’s Up. The rooms were clean and almost identical to Pop, the resort we’re most familiar with, but Big D thought the bathrooms at Pop were slightly bigger.

Walking in, there was a Mickey Mouse (the three circles) decorating the bed. Good start!

We dropped our carry-ons and sorted through, we’d done a water park grab bag up anticipating we wouldn’t have a room ready. As it was, we changed shirts and washed up, grabbed our Keys and headed out

*Wham* That would be the heat and humidity. 91 fahrenheit and about 80 - 85% humidity every day for the whole week. We drank and drank, sweated and sweated. White shirts RULE! They don't show the fact we're melting. Still, friends did notice our molten state in the photos. If we'd had a normal summer, it probably wouldn't have affected us this badly - August is generally that hot and humid in Toronto - but this year we'd had maybe three days over 90 and little humidity, so we were not acclimated in any way.

We ate at the resort and made a beeline for the busses.

WATERPARK! Oh, yeah. When the weather's like that, the waterpark is the best place to be!

On friends' recommendations, we went to Typhoon Lagoon - walked in about 12:30 and just stared. First time here, and the wave pool just beckoned! We enjoyed the Lazy River, the Crush'n'Gusher, Humunga Cowabunga, all the raft slides, and then played in the waves - what a way to start the vacation!

Using I don't know what for energy, (we'd been up since four AM, remember! )we went to the Magic Kingdom and visited with the Pirates. I had never been on Pooh, either, so we did that, then went into the newly reno'd Hall of Presidents.

That show is fabulous. The animatronics are amazing, and we actually visited twice more this trip. It was an excellent refurbishment.

Dinner was the new Fried Chicken Breast at Pecos Bill's, which was excellent. We caught the end of Wishes, and looked at the crowds - do they even monitor EMH any more, I remember wondering that night - looked at each other, and decided the pool at the resort was the place to be. We were in bed at midnight. Downtown Disney tomorrow - when we woke up!

Firsts - Typhoon Lagoon, Winnie the Pooh

Tips - Clothespins for the clothesline in the bathroom - I read it here and holy cow were they useful! Meant that most of the time our bathing suits were dry overnight!

[LittleRoosMommy]

What a great start to your trip!! I can't wait to read about the rest of it!

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[CanadianWDWFan]

Great start to your trip!

Glad you were able to get a cheap flight from Toronto!

[DizNee143]

sounds like a great start to your vacation!! definitely made the most out of your first day there!
we were there for pretty much the same time period (22nd-28th) and wow ya it was hot!!
and being 7 1/2 months pregnant didnt really help..lol..but i tried not to complain to much! but it was pretty brutal!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[KylesMom]

Yay - what a great first day - and an awesome reason for a trip. The 5-0 has got to be something at Disney! It always helps when your room is ready & you can get organized for the day, too.

then went into the newly reno'd Hall of Presidents. That show is fabulous. The animatronics are amazing, and we actually visited twice more this trip. It was an excellent refurbishment.

I'm so glad to hear they did it right - it was closed & reopened the week after we left, so I'm looking forward to visiting next summer.

Yes, so many of us in the northern states were asking, "where's summer"? The only summer we really had was when we were in Orlando with record-breaking temps in June!

We're avoiding evening EMH more and more - it's just too darn crowded. Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

[faline]

Terrific start to your trip - despite the heat and humidity!

[ChipDale]

Sounds like a great start to your vacation. Thanks for sharing with us.