Thursday, April 26

Let the 72-hours-of-fun begin!

For me, however, getting to the fun always requires first getting through the fright. Also known as the Dreaded Flying in a Metal Tube 40k Feet In the Air.  I’ve never loved flying, although I’ve come to tolerate it on airlines like JetBlue, which offers in-seat television to distract me during takeoffs and landings. On this trip, however, we were relegated to flying Southwest. Granted, I was pleased to find a ticket that was a) nonstop b) (relatively) inexpensive and c) free of bag/snack/water/bathroom fees, but I was a bit apprehensive after getting so accustomed to flying JetBlue.

Apprehension I had, but we also a bit of annoyance. One thing I do not love about Southwest is the check-in process; it’s awfully inconvenient to have to remember to check in EXACTLY 24 hours before your flight in order to secure a decent spot in the boarding cattle call. Worse, I mistakenly thought you needed to print your boarding passes at the same time you checked in online, so not having a printer at home (rectifying that ASAP), I went back to my office to print. And then realized I had the wrong keys and couldn’t get in. And then we had to drive to CP’s place of employment to print there. It was THEN I discovered you could check in online and print boarding passes at the airport. SERIOUSLY. We ended up in boarding group B, numbers 24 and 25, so it could have been worse. Anyway.

We arrive at the Hartford airport right on schedule, breeze through security, and plop down at our gate to people watch. Having forgotten to eat dinner before leaving home – and finding the Hartford airport to be a food wasteland – I went to the travel store and way overpaid for some snacks. Sitting back down in my seat at the gate, I look around nervously and notice the hoards of teenagers. What’s going on? And then it hits me….Cheerleading Worlds are at Disney.  For once I hope I’m actually stuck sitting in the back of the plane, where maybe things will be a bit quieter.

Beautiful…and terrifying.

We board. We get a third seat in our row to ourselves. The cheerleaders are remarkably quiet once on the plane. All is well. I buy overpriced and poorly-performing wireless internet, which isn’t great but helps distract me in the absence of a TV.  Things get bumpy over the Carolinas….and then get REALLY bumpy as we approach Orlando.

Good lord it was an awful landing. Even CP, a crazy person who ENJOYS flying (I know!), sweated and white-knuckled it as we violently swayed from side-to-side.  Sure, the kids screamed in delight as our plane fell suddenly, but the adults on the plane grimaced with anxiety. Not fun. Not fun at all. If I didn’t care so much about germs I might have kissed the ground, but…

Anyway, we make our way to baggage, secure our bag, and head out to the Emerald Aisle to see what car would await us. On our December trip, we really had our pick of Malibus, Malibus, and….Malibus. On this trip, we were greeted by several Nissan Altimas, a few Malibus (of course), some minivans, but also two beautiful 2012 Volkswagen Passats.  SCORE. We scooped one up, headed to the exit, and were soon on our way down 417 headed to our happy place.

Hi, pretty! (Picture obviously not taken that night.)

Our arrival at the BoardWalk was a bit underwhelming, to be honest. No one checked our IDs at the guard gate, so we received no warm club level welcome (just like in December! What gives!). On our way into the lobby we were nearly mowed down by a wedding guest pushing a baby in a stroller. Once at the check-in desk, the Cast Member didn’t bowl us over with warmth, or really even with a pulse.  There was a slight mix-up with online check-in (Disney said we had done it; we hadn’t), but soon we had our gold room keys in hand (FINALLY!), and were on our way to room 4251.

Welcome home!

As we made our way down the long, winding halls of the 4th floor, I noticed that the odd-numbered rooms appeared to be on the BoardWalk side of the resort. Keeping my fingers crossed as we walked in our room, I immediately spotted the twinkling lights of the Yacht and Beach Club from our patio door. My excitement about having a BoardWalk nearly led me to miss some other amazing things – THREE towel animals. A candy and balloon bouquet from Chip and Dale, congratulating me on my new job. And, of course, the beautiful room itself – it was sparkling clean, spacious, and instantly became I place I really never wanted to leave.

A not-so-hidden Mickey.

We settled in and then realized we hadn’t placed our parking pass in the car, so we made a jaunt out to the parking lot (such a long walk at the BoardWalk to the parking lot, probably my only complaint about the resort), came back in, showered and fell into bed. It was a rare moment in my adult life where I wished I could skip sleeping and just get on with the fun, I was truly that excited. Exhaustion won out, though, and we both fell into contented sleep.

Love and nuts!

Never seen a towel creation like this before.

Now that’s what I call a view.