MouseFest, the annual convention of Disney World nuts like myself, had begun earlier in the week with a 4-night cruise on the Disney Wonder. Of course, that ship sailed without me, but I would be waiting for it when it returned to port.
I started my day at 3:45am, showered, checked my flight status online, and locked up my apartment, winding up on the road at 4:25. I drove to my parents' house in Pasadena, where my Dad was waiting to drive me to Baltimore Washington International Airport, allowing me to leave my truck at tier house instead of paying the $8 per day long-term parking fees. Dad gets up pretty early for work anyway, so he only had to get up 30 minutes earlier than normal to get me to the airport on time.
We arrived at BWI at 5:25, and since there was no line at the Southwest counter, I was able to check my bag and get through security in only 10 minutes.
Then I remembered, too late, that my bag of 35mm film was in my camera bag, and had gone through the x-ray scanner. Yipe. Some of those same rolls had already been through the x-ray scanner twice before, meaning they now had three total x-ray exposures. Since 400ISO film will fog after only 4 exposures to airport x-rays, I had to make absolutely certain that I didn't let any leftover film get scanned on the way home.
The two rolls of 1600ISO film in the bag were ruined. I threw them into a nearby trash can while sitting at the gate.
There were plenty of people waiting for my 6:30am flight to Orlando when I got to the gate at 5:45, but as boarding time grew closer the crowd didn't swell much, so by the time we actually got onto the plane I estimated that it was only about 50% full. I wound up with a whole row of 3 seats to myself, and we took off 10 minutes late at 6:40, but landed 10 minutes early at 8:30. Musta had a tailwind...
As soon as I got off the plane, I went right to the Disney EarPort store in the main terminal building, instead of heading for baggage claim. There I hunted down a Cast Member and purchased a Walt Disney World Annual Pass, which would not only be my park admission for the duration of my stay, but would also be necessary to get the discounted room rate I had booked at Disney's Pop Century resort.
Getting my AP took about 15 minutes, then I hurried to baggage claim to find my luggage. I arrived a bit late, however; the belt with my flight's luggage on it had already stopped turning. But Southwest has a counter in the baggage claim area, and as I approached it I saw some unclaimed bags sitting outside, one of which was mine. I grabbed it and turned toward the rental car counters.
Needless to say, I was somewhat deflated by this development.
My backup plan, however, was across the terminal: I went over (and over, and over - MCO is a very long terminal!) to the Mears Transportation desk and purchased a round-trip bus ride to Pop Century for $29. I have used Mears in the past; they do what they promise, no more, no less, which is to get you to your resort and back to the airport when it's time to go home. Within that promise is quite a bit of leeway on such things as type of vehicle and pickup/departure times.
Once I had my ticket, I went outside to the Mears bus stop and waited about 15 minutes for a bus to arrive. When it did, I was somewhat disappointed to see that it was not a bus but a large passenger van with 3 rows of seats in the back, two of which were already full. I and one other passenger handed our luggage over to the driver, a cheerful and friendly young guy in his mid twenties, and squeezed our way into the back seat of the van for our cramped journey.
We stopped first at the Marriott Orlando World Center, a huge, 4-star hotel just outside Disney property, then at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, then at Disney's Boardwalk Inn, discharging passengers at each, before finally arriving at Disney's Pop Century resort, where the last group of passengers (me and a family of three in the middle seat) fought our way out of the cramped confines of the van and reclaimed our luggage.
There was almost no line at Pop Century's check-in counter, and I was soon signing the proper forms and handing over a wad of Disney Dollars to a friendly and knowledgeable CM, and by 10:30am I was in my room, #6215, in the building with the giant Mickey Mouse phone, second floor, facing Hourglass Lake. I was pleased at this location; since I would be relying on DIsney transportation for the entire trip (for only the second time in 14 trips), I was happy to be near Classic Hall, which houses the food court, gift shop, lobby, and bus stops.
I was itching to get into the parks, but my first order of business was to unpack a bit, lock up my laptop, assemble my camera and theme park utility belt (water bottle, cell phone, Mickey poncho, pencil holder, and mini-tripod), and change into shorts, since the day's temps were already in the mid-80s. By 11am I was ready to go, but I decided as I was leaving the room to call one of the few people who knew that I was coming to MouseFest, LimeGreenCheri, just to check in.
But after I grabbed a mediocre breakfast in the Pop food court (it's the same food as All-Star Music, why is it not as good?), I walked to the bus stops to discover that:
1. The MGM bus stop was empty, indicating that I had just missed one and would likely have to wait 15-20 minutes for another
and
2. The MK bus was in the process of loading up, so I wouldn't have to wait at all if I boarded it
My choice was made; I got on the MK bus and went to MK.
When I arrived at MK I entered the park with my brand-new Annual Passport and stopped under the train station to call Cheri back. She and her group were currently in the Frontierland Shooting Arcade, and in a minute or two I was greeting everybody and getting a lecture from BetsyAnn, whom I had been telling in lunch time chats for several months that I would NOT be coming to MouseFest. She was somewhat upset, but happy that I was able to make it.
From Frontierland we went to Splash Mountain, which we rode twice in rapid succession to see how wet we could get. With the high temperature and high humidity level, we were not concerned a bit about getting wet, and in fact welcomed a light dousing.
After Splash, we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean, one of my favorites at MK, then saw the Enchanted Tiki Birds show, which I had never bothered to see in all my previous trips to WDW. After the birds we went for Haunted Mansion, which the girls had already ridden (in fact, they were on it when I called Cheri the second time that morning).
I was very upset, though I tried not to let it show; that camera is like an old war buddy to me, and any problems with it, beside being potentially costly to repair, are like seeing a good friend get hit by a bus.
Everybody was hot and tired, so we stopped for water and Gatorade at a little cart in Fantasyland; since I was carrying a water bottle with me, I opted for a Mickey Bar. Cheri and Cathy decided to ride the Teacups, while BetsyAnn and I sat to one side, watching them ride the Teacups.
Once the Teacups finished spinning, we went to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (I scored 178,800), and then we headed back to Main Street, as I was beginning to get pretty tired and wanted to take a break. Cathy and BetsyAnn went shopping in the Emporium, but Cheri wanted to call Port Orleans French Quarter to find out her room number; the problem was, she didn't have the little card with the phone number that she'd been given when she checked in.
"Not a problem," I told her, "I'm sure Guest Relations at City Hall can call the resort and find out for you."
So while Betsy and Cathy shopped, Cheri and I went into City Hall, where a very helpful CM named John called the POFQ front desk and gave the phone to Cheri, who was able to find both hers and Betsy's room numbers.
After a bus ride back to Pop Century, I stumbled my way into my room, took a quick shower to rinse off the sweat, soaked my feet for a while, and lay down with the TV on to provide a bit of white noise. But I couldn't ignore it; an Appliance Direct infomercial came on, and I had to watch! I don't know what strange power the Appliance Direct guy has over me, but when his infomercial come on, I am compelled to watch.
After a nap, I pulled out my digital camera and put the 35mm away, and hopped a bus for Epcot.
)
What a bus ride. Mostly it was just a bus ride; but as we turned onto the final approach road into Epcot's parking lot, Spaceship Earth came into view, lit up in it's nighttime glory, and I felt all the tension, all the stress, all the expectations and worries I had been carrying around with me simply melt away, as if I was coming home after a long absence. I was content.
As soon as I got off the bus, I took a few pictures of Spaceship Earth. It's like a magnet; I just have to point my camera at it constantly.
Once I got inside the park (why is Epcot the only park where I have trouble with the finger scanners?), I looked up my Leave A Legacy tile for a visit and a picture, then made the long trek back to the UK for some fish and chips at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop.
)
I sat on a bench just outside the rose garden to eat, and to listen to the sounds of British Invasion as they warbled Beattles tunes. Afterward, Father Christmas came out to a mini stage on one side of the garden and spoke to the crowd about British Christmas traditions and thier origins.
)
Despite my nap, I was moving pretty slow and feeling a bit tired, so I took it easy for the rest of the night. I walked through France, taking some time to sit on another bench and write some trip notes, then slowly walked through the rest of World Showcase taking pictures. When I got to Mexico, I went into the pyramid and rode El Rio del Tiempe before returning to Future World.
I got right into Mission: Space, and staggered right back out after the ride and headed for the exit. By the time I got out of Mission: Space, Illuminations was running, and I wanted to leave the park before the mad crush of people leaving, so I hot-footed my way to the bus stops and collapsed into a waiting Pop century bus.
But the bus didn't leave. The driver waited at least 10 minutes, until every seat was full and every cubic inch of air was squeezed out of the bus by the people he let on. When the bus was full, fuller, fullest, and the tires were flat against the pavement, the driver finally climbed aboard and got us on our way.
But darn it, I couldn't get on the net! The local access number I had saved for my ISP was apparently no longer valid, and of course I couldn't find a current number anywhere except on the web...
I gave it up and went to bed about 11.