I had talked about this with my friend Bob last year after he told me Billy Dee Williams was going to be there. He prepared several plans for trips that year and after delaying and delaying, we didn't go. This year, I "promised" him we'd go, and we actually did.
He did most of the planning, as I haven't been to WDW (see, I'm starting to use the acronyms) in over 20 years. Plus I'm planning a trip in December for my daughter's 5th birthday, so this was a good time to do some recon for that trip.
There was alot to try to pack in a weekend to see over the four parks, plus the SWW stuff, not to mention a bit pricey. I haven't gotten the overall cost, but I'm sure it was a tad bit high. . .
Originally, I would have liked to have gone over Memorial Day weekend. It would have been good for me because I would get Friday and Monday off and not have to take any vacation. However, it didn't work for Bob's schedule, so we planned for the following weekend. Unfortunately, the celebrities that were attending that weekend were. . . well, less than stellar. Probably the most known name, John Ratzenberger, is more know for his other roles than his small role in Episode V. Ray Park (Darth Maul) was there, as was Taylor Gray (Star Wars Rebels), and Ashley Eckstein (The Clone Wars). Of course, the host, James Arnold Taylor (The Clone Wars) was there. Or course, this weekend Mark Hamill is there as well as Billy Dee Williams (poor planning us).
So I got a decent airfare out of BWI at $109/ow, departing Thursday, May 29 and returning Monday, June 2. The question was how to get from the Western part of Fairfax County to BWI for my 1:50 PM flight without a car. I looked into the Super Shuttle, but the cost was around $90! So I decided to low roll it and take the bus from home to the Metro ($1.60), take the Metro to the MARC train ($5.75), and take that to BWI ($5.00). I wouldn't recommend it with alot of baggage or during peak rush hour (as it was, I still got to Vienna Metro around 8:52 AM. I was supposed to get there earlier, but there was a fair amount of traffic). As opposed to transferring to the Red Line at Metro Center to get to Union Station, I took the Orange Line all the way to New Carrollton and picked up the train there (it's just much more convenient). I missed the prior train by a few minutes, so I had a little wait before getting the MARC to BWI. From there, you take a shuttle to the airport.
I got to the airport around 11:17 AM, so I had plenty of time to have a nice lunch at Phillips Famous Seafood. I haven't eaten there in many years, so I enjoyed a nice crab cake and fried shrimp.
As people were lining up to board the plane, a woman had fallen in the line. I'm not sure what happened as I was in the back of the line and did not see. I just heard and felt a thump and a woman cry out. They went to help her pretty quickly and when I boarded she was still sitting on the side holding her wrist (I'm not sure if she made the plane).
The plane was not too crowded, so our middle seat was unoccupied. I spent most of the time sleeping, since our plane was not WiFi equipped, and soon enough, we arrived at MCO.
I have never been to the airport and was pretty amazed. I did not have time to look around, but I saw nice seating areas and Disney shops (of course). I had to get my bag and head to the Disney Magical Express depot. Now, I could have checked my bags all the way to the hotel, but I did not get my tags in time, plus I felt like I wanted to have my bag there when I got there and not have to wait.
So after the walk from one side of the terminal to the other, I got to the Depot area. There is no one in line and I checked in online, so after just scanning my Magic Band, I'm in line for the bus. I did have to wait a while until they loaded our bus, and after one stop at Art of Animation, we arrived at our property, Caribbean Beach Resort. Bob had picked this out over the cheaper All-Star Resorts because I believe he preferred the location.
I had already checked-in online, but he wanted me to square up the bill with Disney Gift Cards, which I had 10 in $50 denominations. Bob was arriving around 5:50 PM and was planning on meeting me at Epcot after I squared everything at the room. When I checked-in, I was to get a ground floor room and Barbados ( close to the Custom House, to shorten walking) or close to Old Port Royale, which I got Martinique. He also told me to ask about a late check-out and our grocery order. I was able to secure a 1:00 PM check-out on Monday (as opposed to the standard 11:00 AM) and our groceries were waiting with the Bell Desk. After getting our groceries, the guy drove me out to our room and I was set.
The room was nice, we had a corner room, which meant that we had two sets of windows. After putting the groceries away and getting squared away, I head to the bus stop to head to Epcot.
Here is a link to pictures of the room: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154256233395232.1073741856.813685231&type=1&l=8d46313ea6
It was about 40 minutes to wait for a bus and get to Epcot. I had purchased an annual pass voucher, but when I arrived, I did not see a ticket window open (around 7:36 PM). I asked someone at the gate and they directed me to Guest Services. Bob had arrived and was already in the park when I finished up.
He had booked a Fast Pass + (FPP) for Spaceship Earth from 6:40 -7:40, so I think we just made it during the grace period. We also had a FPP for the Test Track, where we designed a horrible vehicle. We headed to Japan to set up for Illuminations and grab something for dinner (which we had chicken teriyaki at the Katsura Grill).
After Illuminations, we wandered around the park for a bit before heading "home". Bob rented a car, so we didn't have to worry about buses.
That ended a long first day!
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