I was in the same boat I had been in yesterday: I still needed a bigger bag. I had several purchases yet to make today, and my bags were so full I couldn't open them without an explosion, so I had to find myself something big enough to handle all the junk I had bought in just a few days at WDW. My first stop that morning was Walgreens, where I dropped off the last two rolls of film I had shot. I knew from previous experience that Walgreens had a fairly good selection of bags and suitcases, so I checked out the luggage aisle. Sure enough, there was a large duffel bag with lockable zips and a solid bottom that was just the right size. Of course, at $30 it was very expensive, but I didn't have the time to go all the way back to the flea market to get a new bag at flea market prices, so I caved and bought the $30 bag at Walgreens. I then spent about 20 minutes in the Walgreens parking lot, in the shade of an overpass, repacking my luggage. I was now left with two large bags, plus my carry-ons (a shoulder bag with my camera in it and my laptop case).
When I got to MGM, I found the photo album immediately, since I remembered exactly where I had seen it.
Once inside, I found a good seat on the right side of the arena, pretty close to the front. I noted that there were backs on the benches now; I was pretty sure these were a retrofit, and that the arena benches had had no backs on them when the place was built. Once I got into my seat, and the Cast Members had squashed us together enough, I fiddled with my camera a little, checking light levels near the stage. It was too dark to take a picture without a flash, but I hoped that I would get a good shot with the flash; I like to call my flash unit the Orbital Flash, because it can be seen from space.
When the show started, I took several pictures of the actor playing Indy, with my flash lighting up the arena like a bolt of lightning. I continued to take pictures through the entire show, eventually using an entire roll of film.
I stopped at Walgreens to pick up my last two rolls of film, drove around to the back of the parking lot, and packed the last few things I had bought, careful to pad the photo album to prevent bending. Then I got back on the road for MCO.
Why does the drive from Disney to MCO always seem to fly by, when the drive from MCO to Disney on arrival day seems to crawl?
Today, at least, the last part of my drive slowed to a crawl; as I was entering the airport, on one of the entrance ramps to the parking garage, it started to rain, making the traffic slow to a maddening rush-hour pace (i.e. 1 inch-per-hour). Just as I pulled up the last few inches that let me drive out of the traffic onto the parking garage entrance ramp, the rain increased to hurricane force. Within seconds, all the cars outside the garage on the roads and ramps behind me looked like they had been dunked in a river. Now under cover, however, I followed the signs to National's return area, dropped off my car. I love the hand-scanners that automate car returns these days! Is that not technology at its finest?
I had never entered the Orlando International Airport from this part of the parking garage before. There is a cool underground pedestrian tunnel leading from the garage to the lowest level of the main terminal, which I had never seen before, but which saved me from walking across the terminal road, kept me out of the rain, and kept the Florida heat at bay. Every airport should have one!
I checked my two huge bags at the Southwest desk (which had no line, miraculously), returned my SmarteCart, and called home to arrange my pickup at BWI. Then I went to the food court and got lunch. After eating, I still had plenty of time before my flight, but I decided to go ahead through the security checkpoint and wait at the gate; this way, just in case there was a delay at security, I would still have plenty of time to make my plane. As it turned out, there wasn't a long delay at security, and I was through the checkpoint and on the tram to the satellite terminal in about ten minutes, including the extra time it took to have my bag of film hand-inspected.
Once at the gate, I had about a ten-minute wait to check in, then about 40 minutes before boarding and take-off, time which I used to write out some trip notes of my day's adventures. My flight was smooth and pleasant; the plane wasn't full, so I managed to snag a window seat next to an empty center seat. I put the armrest up, giving me a few extra inches of space, and used much of the flight to type up the first day of this trip report, and type out several days worth of trip notes. We had taken off right on time, 6:05pm, and landed about 10 minutes early, at about 8:10pm. Then we sat on the tarmac for 25 minutes, waiting for the plane ahead of us to vacate the parking space.
My friends Frank and Chris had come to BWI to pick me up; they were waiting at the Southwest baggage claim, which I found out is completely at the other end of the airport from the Southwest gates. Once I got there, it was another 20 minutes before baggage from my flight started coming down the belt. I picked up my bags, with my friend volunteering to carry some of the burden, and they dropped me off at home at about 9:30pm.
I went to bed about 11; since this last day of my trip was a Monday, I had work tomorrow.
The things we go through to finance our Disney trips.
Walk Miles: 6.9