The wait was over, it finally came! After weeks of planning, scheduling, budgeting, and planning some more, it was time to just up and go. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and I packed, ate a quiet dinner at home, and went to bed early the night before (that classic commercial with the kid saying “I'm too excited to sleep!”? Yeah, that was me).
The rest of our contingent was coming in from the West Coast, so She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and I were able to avoid an early flight, ate a nice breakfast at home, and grabbed a cab for the short ride to the airport.
We did make use of the DCL-provided luggage tags, checking 4 at the check-in counter, and carrying on another. Before anyone assails the gluttony of 2 people needing 4 large suitcases, 1 roll-aboard carry-on, a backpack and a shoulder bag, understand two things: 1.) She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and I have our own diving and snorkeling gear, which we brought and took up an entire large case; and 2.) I over-pack worse than the most intolerable woman any of you may have ever known (and I'm a tragically fashion-blind guy of a decidedly unhip upbringing...do with that what you will).
At any rate, checking the bags through worked great for us; we were going to spend that night in the Caribbean Beach Resort with the rest of our large party, and since we would be arriving in Orlando around 2pm, figured (correctly) that we wouldn't need our bags until much later. It also simply removed a lot of unnecessary hassle. Others in our group did not check their bags, but all were received at MCO without a problem. Again, it worked well for us, and we liked being able to not worry about them until bed time.
The flight from Reagan to Orlando was quick and predictable; we went from a chilly 30 degrees with clear skies, to a pleasant and partly-cloudy 75 (F) in just about 2 hours gate-to-gate. Gotta love the US Airways East Coast market domination, and Non-stop is the only way to fly on vacation.
Embarrassing incident of the flight: there was a large-ish family of what appeared to be Pacific Islanders in our row, one of whom, a teen-aged boy, was sitting next to me in the aisle. Upon landing, the pilot announces the current time and temperature, after which this kid turns to me and asks, innocently, “what would that be in Celsius?” Um, er, uh...*mumble mumble*...c'mon, think back to freshman year Chemistry...oh yeah, got a C in that...yeah, um....”Er, 25?”...”Wow, that cold, huh?”...”Um, more like....low 30s? (gulp)” Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the American public University system. Oh well.
A bit about MCO (Orlando Int'l Airport): I've flown into and out of more airports than I can conceivably list here, both for work and leisure, and I'd have to say MCO is built to be exactly what it is: the 12th busiest airport in the United States. The architecture lends itself to getting you away from the gates, and toward the main terminal area (where, it is hoped, you'll stop to buy food, clothing, and other items...more about these amenities later). For those flying into the airport for the first time: Don't Panic. Its design is probably the most logic-driven you'll find. Even the out-dated tram system connecting the terminals runs better than the one at Tampa Int'l, only a few hours away, and built around the same time. Again, just a job well-done.
Ok, so we grab our carry-ons, shuffle off the plane, and across the tram. The first thing I noticed after sliding past the security area was what I'd (almost) looked forward to the most: Smiling old ladies in blue single-breasted flight attendant suits, waving white Mickey gloves! Where was my welcoming committee? I don't ask much, just to feel like I'm a rock star whenever I show up to shower a large portion of my post-tax income on the Magical Cruise Company, and its subsidiary Disney Cruise Line (whom, if you'll read your contract carefully enough, explicitly does NOT vouch for the seaworthiness of the ship...great, now a swath of you hypochondriacs out there are going to cancel your reservations...at least it'll open up some spots on the repositioning cruises in 08...).
Anyway, no little old ladies with Mickey hands and clipboards telling me how to get to the Magical Express makes MCO a dull airport. So I drag She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and my rollaway down the 2 flights of escalators, and finally see the object of my anticipation, sans Mickey glove! She's just smiling and hugging a clipboard to her chest, and only when asked, directs us down one more escalator to the queue. Oh well, like Mr. Jimmy said: You can't always get what you want...but you're going on a 7-day cruise while it is sleeting and snowing at home; suck it up. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what he told Jagger all those years ago...
I was told later that the local sedan, limo and taxi companies filed a complaint and/or lawsuit against MCO, saying that Mears and/or the Magical Express people were diverting potential business away in an unfair fashion, so the deal brokered was that ME could continue to operate, but could no longer use the ladies with the Mickey hands (insert free-market rant about the idiot limo and taxi drivers being able to wait in the terminal like everyone else).
As I mentioned before, we used our luggage tags back at our departing airport, so no waiting around at the luggage carousel for hours...I've never checked my bags through to MCO otherwise, so I can't speak to how long it would take to get them normally, but it can't be pretty...it's a huge airport.
Also, a side note: is there nothing more innocently awkward than standing around a luggage carousel? Everyone sort of shuffles around aimlessly, silently mouthing “is this the right one?” to that one weird-looking guy you happen to recognize from your flight...precisely because he's the weird-looking guy you didn't want to leave your kids sitting across from when you went to the bathroom. Then you try to look cool in front of the wife and kids, wrestling an asymmetrical 400lbs object over a 3 ft-high metal wall, while it's moving at roughly 35 mph in the opposite direction until...whoops, this one isn't ours. They could broadcast it on ESPN2; tell me you wouldn't watch.
Ok, so we whip around the corner, right up to the Magical Express line. Note for first-timers: Yes, the line is long, but won't stop moving. I promise. Especially the day before a cruise leaves, but certainly on Fridays when they will be operating at peak, every kiosk will be manned. So despite the longish line, we never stopped moving until we were checked in, and whisked to our cue for the bus to Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR).
We didn't stand in that cue for more than 5 minutes, until we were herded onto the bus, alongside others going to the DVC resorts (I remember Yacht Club and one other...maybe Beach Club or something; I'll start caring/paying attention after I fork over 20 grand for a piece of paper that expires before I reach retirement age...yeah, you can see where I stand on this issue...). It only took a few minutes for the bus to fill up, and then we were on our way to the hotel. The driver was friendly, if hardly intelligible, and he timed the onboard movie (about checking bags at the hotels, getting into the parks, etc) to finish exactly as we pulled up to the resort. Anyway, it was pretty classy, and earned a few extra in his tip from me (I'm easily entertained...).
There was no line at all to get to the check-in counter, and we were able to check in immediately for our room. First nit of the trip worth picking (other than the Mickey hand thing): The DCL check-in desk closes at 2pm every day, so the rep can courier over all of the information by 5pm. D'oh! So we weren't able to do any of our check-in stuff, nor could we get a straight answer out of the front desk on what, exactly we were supposed to do the next morning. But no need to panic, says I, Disney is Disney, and they've got this covered. If they can have the foresight to put towel receptacles at the exit point of every excursion in Nassau (negating a need to go back to the ship to drop them off...probably the marquee “this is Disney” moment of my life), they'll have this covered. So off we go to the intra-hotel shuttle (another great piece by the resort planners: get people checked in and away as smoothly and quickly as possible-the last thing you need is more people wandering through the lobby for no good reason).
So after 2 stops, the nearly-empty bus drops us off right in front of our room in Trinidad South, and we collapse; FINALLY HERE!
Total time for us from wheels-down to walking into our room: 1 hour, 40 minutes. As Borat might say, the others...not so much. We'll get back to them in a moment.
After dropping our bags at our room, the missus and I made our way to Old Port Royale area, to check out the pool and otherwise stretch our legs. Remember our checked-all-the-way-through bags? Well, upon our return to the room, we found one, two....out of four...hmmm. Nowhere near panicked, but certainly mildly...concerned, I phoned over to the bell hop to see what was what. “Well,” says he, in a very patient, people-are-starving-in-Africa-and-you're-calling-me-because-your-bags
-aren't-there-after-2-hrs school marm voice, “they can take up to 4 hours to get you your bags, and they won't necessarily arrive at the same time.” Fair enough, I think, “but when should I begin to worry?” This is met with a sincerely entertained chuckle, “Well, sir, you should never worry, you're on vacation!” Touche. Lesson learned: Checking bags using the DCL tags works just fine for a short-distance non-stop. Also, I'm told you can use the bag check for the Hyatt at MCO, so if you're staying there, you can use the luggage tags thusly.
My impression of the CBR was pretty good. We (the fam and I) had stayed at the Coronado Springs in '05 during a trip to Disney World, and CBR is pretty clearly a copy of the same design. I did like the “local” swimming pools as in Coronado Springs, as well as the central food-and-kitsch area. Made for good congregating and people-watching, the impromptu sugar-sand beaches added a nice touch, and we had some great pictures of ourselves hanging out in the hammocks. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and I grabbed a couple of “frosty drinks” from the bar next to the pool (appropriately enough, playing Cheeseburger in Paradise, in preparation for our adventure, and where I was carded not once, not twice, but all 3 times I tried to buy a drink there...I understand being thorough, but I was just here 20 minutes ago lady, and I'm the only customer you've had in that time...sheesh), and an order of good ol' fashioned Chicken Strips with French Fries.
So, back to the others: All of the rest of our party came in from the West Coast; several suffered delays due to the airlines, and several were subjected to very long bus rides (they surmise the driver, who was new, got lost), and 30- to 40-minute lines to check into the CBR. I believe the average wheels-down to walking into room time was 3 hrs for the others. Not exactly a glowing endorsement of the system.
Needless to say, we're staying at the Hyatt within MCO for the 2008 cruise.
Those who arrived early enough concluded the evening with dinner at Shutters (good food, a tad overpriced...try the onion rings), and we were able to watch the fireworks at Epcot from our table. Not too shabby. Those who arrived later were subjected to dinner from the food court, and some went swimming in the evening, but the water was a little cold. Can't complain too much, though...it was January after all.
After a long (for some) day of travel we all drifted off to bed, but not before stopping on the walk back to take some great pictures of the bridge to the other half of the resort-some excellent nightime photos are to be had, if your camera is 5-7 Mpixels and it's a clear night.
Thus concludes our first day; despite plenty of excitement, everyone was pretty tuckered out. Time to hit the hay, and I'm asleep when my head hits the pillow.
