Marathon Weekend Trip Report - 1/4/12

1/4/12 - Wednesday - Trip Begins


I wake up at about 5AM and get ready.  I pack up the rest of my stuff and throw the luggage into the trunk of the car to head out to the Indianapolis International Airport. Let me tell you, it's VERY cold out as I head to the airport.  I'm really having to make a decision when I get there.  I had planned on just leaving my heavy coat in the car and wearing my Mickey Mouse hoodie for the trip.  I enter the economy lot and get a parking spot close to one of the shuttle bus stops.  I decide to brave it and leave the heavy coat in the car.  Luckily, the bus stop has a heater in it!  It helped some, but it was still doggone COLD!  The shuttle arrives in short order and I'm off to the terminal.  Thankfully the bus is warm and I'm okay.


Plane trip is my first with Delta in several years.  I make it through check-in and luggage drop off without incident.  TSA Security at the new Indianapolis terminal is pretty good, and at this hour of the morning, it moved quickly.  On down to the gates I go.  I grabbed a water at one of the shops in the terminal for my wait at the gate.  The wait goes by fairly quickly and we're boarding a little early.


Delta's version of zone loading sucks compared to some other airlines.  Other airlines load from the window seats inwards, Delta is a mystery.  As every time I load up, the people in middle and isle seats are ALWAYS there before me.  it just creates more chaos than organization.


Next stop, Atlanta!  I really hate flying through Atlanta.  I normally fly Airtran non-stop to Orlando from Indy, but I had gotten such a fantastic price from Delta for this trip ($158 for the round trip!)  We arrive at Atlanta a little bit early and I'm off to another gate once we disembark the plane.  I'm amazed!  This is the first time EVER that I've not had to switch terminals!  My next plane is just down at the other end of the terminal we arrived in!  I made my way to my next gate and have just a short wait before we're loading.  On to the good 'ole MCO, or Orlando International Airport.


I disembark the plane and make my way to the monorail that will take us to the central terminal.    As I'm heading to the Monorail, I give Dad a call to let him know I'm down and on my way.  I do not have to pick up my checked luggage, as I'm taking Magical Express to the resort.  There was a special yellow tag that I had put on my bag that notifies the handlers that I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!  All I have to do is make it down to the transportation area and get checked in at Magical Express.  They send you a little ticket with your name and a scan code.  You just hand it to the Cast Member to scan and they direct you to the line to wait in.  YEAH!  My first Disney queue line of the trip!  We don't wait too long before they load us onto a bus.  Its a combination of Caribbean Beach resort and Pop Century.  They drop off at Beach first, one couple.  The rest of us are all headed to Pop.


Dad is waiting for me as I arrive at Pop Century.  We get checked in and our room is already ready!  In the 50's building again.  I also get my desired 4th floor room.  Getting a room up there helps cut down on the noise that you hear at night, as you don't hear people stomping around as much up there.  We wind up a few rooms down from where I've been before!  We take care of a little bit of business and we head off to the Magic Kingdom.


It's mid afternoon, but I've not had lunch yet, so our first order of business is to head to Casey's Corner on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.  It's, for the most part, a hot dog place. They've added some new items to the menu and I want to try their version of a Chicago Style hot dog.  Yes, it's a version of a Chicago Dog, as it's mostly wrong.  They use the wrong peppers, banana rings instead of sport peppers.  Way too many onions and the bun is more of a hoagie style bun.  Overall, its good, but it strikes the point home that I really miss getting a true Chicago dog.

  
After eating, we discover that we weren't imagining things while coming down Main Street.  It's CROWDED!  Much more so than I was expecting.   We're looking at ride times that we'd normally see during summertime!  We walk around, mostly skipping rides and attractions as they are just packed.  We wind up only going to Carousel of Progress and Monsters Inc Laugh Floor!


It's now getting later and the sun is going down.  The temperature is falling fast.  I'm going to be meeting with friends at Yeeha Bob at Port Orleans later, so we head back to the resort.  My luggage has arrived!  I do some quick un-packing (packing cubes from eBags are fantastic, I'm unpacked in like 2 minutes).  Dad lets me borrow the car, as if I use the bus system, I'd have to either go to a park or Downtown Disney to transfer to get to another resort.  


Trace and Lisa are already there, trying to hold some tables for everyone that is going to be showing up.  The waitress is a little put out, as "you're not supposed to do that, it's first come, first served."  I let Trace and Lisa know that I'll be right back, as I want to get a bite for dinner.  I grab my meal at the food court and wind up waiting for a long time to check out!  It's packed in the food court and they only have 2 registers checking people out!  I finally get back to the table and eat my dinner.  I catch up with Trace and Lisa, as I've not seen them since they were down at Disney World planning their wedding.


Trace broke his toe around Christmas time and won't be able to run!  OUCH!  They both do podcasts about Disney, Trace is part of t he Disney Dudes podcast and Lisa is half of Those Darn Cats podcast.  These are normally more adult oriented podcasts, and wind up being very entertaining to listen to.  (Disney Dude podcast about Cos-play is one that you will darn near wet yourself laughing when you listen to it.)


Other people show up to meet with them and we wind up having a blast, as usual, at the show.  Bob Jackson is NOT to be missed when you are visiting Walt Disney World.  His show is very interactive and I always have a blast.


Here is our group photo with Yeeha Bob!

Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49