As usual, my trip was on a tight budget, so to avoid the $50 fees for parking my truck at the airport while I was away, I had asked my Dad to drop me at the airport on his way to work. He doesn't mind, and it saves me a lot of money.
I got to my parents' house at about 5:15 in the frigid morning, threw my luggage into Dad's minivan, and we were at the terminal at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, known to all locally simply as BWI, in about 20 minutes. I had printed my boarding pass from home, so I used curbside check-in, which I had never tried before, and my luggage and I parted ways, hopefully not for long. The line at security was marginal, but since it was so early in the morning and I was a little groggy, I forgot to put my cell phone and wallet into my carry-on bag before stepping through the metal detector, thus setting it off and getting me the special concierge wand treatment.
After putting my shoes and my dignity back on, I went to the McDonalds in BWI's new Pier A-B terminal complex for breakfast. And afterward, I searched around in vain for a mail box; the only one on the terminal was outside security, and since I had a very important piece of mail to send off (my rent), I had to leave the pier, put the envelope in the mailbox, and go back through security a second time.
I got to the proper gate at 6am for my 6:30 flight, boarded without incident, and secured a window seat in an empty row. The plane wound up being about 1/3 empty, so the middle seat in my row didn't fill up, although the aisle seat did with a nondescript woman in her late 40s who snored through the entire flight. I did manage to get a few good pics of Arundel Mills Mall on takeoff (I love digital cameras!)
The plane landed at 9:40, on time, and I slipped through the crowd of de-planing travellers to get onto the first tram to the main terminal building. Orlando International Airport (MCO) is a big, busy airport, but the efficiency of its operation never ceases to amaze me; the luggage from my flight started coming out on the pick-up belt no more than 10 minutes after the plane pulled up to the jetway.
My next stop was the Alamo rental desk, where I completed the minimal paperwork nessecary, and then I pulled out my cell phone to call someone.
This was a MouseFest trip. MouseFest is an annual gathering of Disney World afficianados, most of whom know each other from various internet message boards and other web sites. Last year I had not had a rental car, putting me at the mercy of the WDW bus system, and several of my friends had helped me out with rides throughout the week. Since I had a car this year, I figured it was only fair of me to return the favor by giving a few other people lifts. And the first of these was a fellow named Mark, who goes by the screen name Timon on Tagrel.com, and who needed a lift from MCO to his resort, Disney's Beach Club.
Mark's plane was a few minutes late, so I sat down at one of those nice comfy table and chair sets that are scattered throughout Level 1 of the MCO terminal. Once Mark arrived and claimed his luggage, we went into the garage and I picked a Chevy Classic with about twenty thousand miles onit, and we were on the way to WDW in what was turning out to be a beautiful Florida day. The trip to Beach Club took less than 30 minutes, and once Mark was on his way inside to check in, I turned my attention to lunch.
My own resort was off-site on this trip, and since I had to drive off-site to get there anyway, I stopped at an off-site place for lunch, as well - Chevy's Fresh Mex, in the Crossroads shopping center, at the intersection of Hotel Plaza Blvd. and SR 535.
I had eaten at the Chevy's locvations in Baltimore many times, but never the one at Crossroads. I was not dissapointed; since the place had just opened, I had been seated immediately, and my chicken fajita nachos were excellent. The server was only handling two tables at first, giving us both plenty of attention, and she got an 18% tip.
Once my lunch was put away, I got back onto SR 535 and went in search of Palm Parkway, which turned out to be much closer than it looks on the map, at the very next traffic light north of Hotel Plaza Blvd. My hotel, the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista, was not far along Palm Parkway, and I arrived in less than 5 minutes.