Flowers and Gardens - Part 2

[faline]

Sunday, May 4, 2014
Plan for the day
Arrive Orlando
Magical Express to Villas Wilderness Lodge
Head to the Magic Kingdom
Thought about going to Artist Point for dinner but have not made any reservations
Top of the World or Territory Lounge for appetizers are alternate possibilities

The alarm sounds at 4 am. Okay - we're up. It doesn't take very long to get ourselves ready and wrap up the packing. We are out the door before 5. Although it had rained earlier, the skies are now partly cloudy and traffic is very light. On the way, we discussed whether we should approach the off-site parking lot via a route that would not go over a bridge or to cross the bridge. We opted to cross the bridge. Once we on board the shuttle to the airport, the driver announced we would be going around as the bridge was going up for water traffic. When asked, he said the bridge could be up for 15 - 30 minutes! Yikes! Lesson learned - from now on, we'll take the route that avoids the bridge.

Unfortunately, the airport now requires that the shuttle drop us off a bit of a walk from our terminal. We drag our bags to the JetBlue terminal. There is no--one in line so we are quickly relieved of our checked bags. Our boarding passes are reprinted as the ones I printed from home are not scanning properly.

We had paid for expedited security processing and early boarding. At security, we were directed to an area (I can't say a line as there wasn't one. In fact,we had our choice of two agents to check or IDs and boarding passes.) to go through security. No bins were there though I could see a pile behind the counter. We were quite surprised to be told we only needed to put our cell phones in our bags and push them through the screening machine while we walked through the detectors! No shoe or jacket removal. No pulling out our quart size bags of liquids. Push bags through. Walk through. Pick up bags. Almost as easy as the old days!

Once through security, we stopped in a restaurant for some breakfast. I was hungry but one of the two eggs, one of the three slices of bacon, and a mouthful of the potatoes filled me up adequately for now.

We make our way to our gate. Goodness - there's still an hour to go before boarding and almost every seat is taken! Sure enough, it's announced this will be a full flight. After the boarding of one individual in a wheelchair, we are quickly on board and relax while the rest of the plane boards.

By 11:20 am, we have arrived at the Orlando Airport and have already received a text that our Stroller & Grocery order for groceries has been delivered to Bell Services. Before long, we are standing in a very long line for Magical Express. Before the line begins to move, it grows quite a bit longer behind us. After a 20 minute wait, we are the last two on the bus being loaded. In fact, we sit in the very last row. Gene is a bit perturbed that we go by the road to Wilderness Lodge and, instead, head first to the Poly followed by the Grand Floridian. We then backtrack to Wilderness Lodge. At least, we weren't the last stop.

There is no line for registration. I'm told a one bedroom is in the process of being cleaned and we can have that one sooner than the one we are slated for. We set up to be texted and then move over to Whispering Canyon for some lunch. Burger for Gene; turkey sandwich for me.

It's been about an hour and we have not received a text about our room. I return to the desk to inquire and am told they can take a look but checkin time is not officially to three (actually for the Villas, I know the time is four). It's almost 2 when I ask them to check. Nope. Not ready yet.

I suggest we check our stuff with bell services but Gene is reluctant to do that. We wander around the store and then park ourselves in front of the fireplace. Seems to me they used to have more comfortable rockers and ones that would actually rock instead of getting stuck on the uneven floor. I tell Gene he will need to check bags with bell services soon as we have a fastpass scheduled between 3 and 4. He says I might need to miss it??!! It's for Peter Pan - it's not my plan to miss it!!

Around 2:15, we check in at the desk one last time. Sorry, the room is still not ready. We bring our carry on bags to bell service and leave them. From there, we head to the boat dock for a boat to the Magic Kingdom. Once there, we sail through security with no line. Since we are renting a locker this afternoon, I do notice the sign that says there are currently no available ECV's to rent.

After we get to the park, I receive the text that was sent at 2:30 p.m. saying our room is ready and providing us with the room number!! Well, the room will just have to wait a while!!

We enter the Magic Kingdom!! Wow!! It is mobbed!! I have not seen this many people in this park since we were here during Presidents' Day weekend. The standby wait time for It's a Small World is listed at 50 minutes!!! It's not quite time for our Peter Pan fastpass so we wander a bit - as well as we can zigzagging in and out around the people.

When the correct time arrives, we are able to quickly take in Peter Pan. From there, we head to Swiss Family Robinson which is usually pretty deserted. Not on this day!! The line at Aladdin's Carpets is too long to tackle so we head to the Tiki Room - usually easy to get in there and so it proves to be on this day as well. However, there is some sort of construction going on here. The pre-show portion is all fenced off and the waiting area feels like being in a cave. Although there are fans, they are quite ineffective at circulating the air and the wait feels a bit stifling. Despite being unable to see the pre-show, the sound track still plays.

As we walk by Pirates, I see it has a 40 minute standby time. We use our Splash Mountain fastpass - sailing by many, many people in the listed 70 minutes standby line. There is still time before our Big Thunder Mountain fastpass so we board the train and take a circuit of the park. After finishing the fastest ride in the wilderness, we collect our items from the locker and return to Wilderness Lodge via boat.

As we enter the room, we notice our checked bags are there waiting for us. We call bell services to request our carryon bags and the groceries we had delivered from Strollers and Groceries. A few minutes later, we get a call from bell services asking us to describe our bags - they miswrote the ticket number. Another few minutes later, a knock at the door and our two carryons are delivered. Do we need anything else? Ah....groceries. No-one told him we had groceries so he went back, retrieved the groceries, and brought them back to us.

We get unpacked and put everything away. We are pretty tired by now. Still, we walk over to Territory Lounge. My beloved couch is long gone but we settle into some comfy chairs. We're not very hungry so order drinks and nachos. That hits the spot.

After wandering around the store and spending a bit more money, we head back to our room where I have a tubby and we head to bed.

[Susan A]

Thanks for report. Interesting that the MK was packed. I wouldn't expect that in early May.

And, ME took us on the same route that you took to the resorts. We stayed at the WL.

[princessgirls]

A good day overall, and you did get some fun MK time in spite of the crowds.

Thanks for the report!
Julie

[yjgirl32]

Great report- thanks for sharing.

[Mickey'sGirl]

A long day!!!! I am glad you finally got your groceries. I am always amazed at how much money is spent in the first couple of days of a holiday getting essentials. Glad to see I am not alone!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Oh my glad they finally got your stuff delivered to you

[hauntedmansiongirl]

Funny that they changed rooms for you because one was being cleaned, but then made you wait a few more hours. Strange! Thank goodness all your stuff arrived in one piece!

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[DisneyorBust]

Those early morning flights can make for a long first day. Thanks for the report.

[emerzmom]

Off to a wonderful start on your vacation.

Julie

[Tigerinvestigator]

You worked through your minor problems like a true Disney pro! Funny, my girls say that the only good thing about fastpass is that we get to ride Peter Pan every trip now.

[MrPeetrie]

Thanks for the report. It seems you worked through some minor glitches.

Nothing like the excitement and exhaustion of arrival day.