As one of the top 23 Career Advisors in my corporation across the country, I won an amazing award this year - I was named a "Top Achiever" and won and all-expenses paid trip to Walt Disney World Resort. The trip was from Friday, October 17 to Monday, October 20.
Our trip started early, on Thursday, October 16. Ryan and I were taking a red-eye flight to Orlando. We flew out of LAX, sadly, because I wanted a direct flight. (Ask me about the DFW Airport/American Airlines debacle sometime and I'll tell you why.) I would have much rather flown out of John Wayne, Long Beach, or even Ontario but there were no direct flights to be found.
We arrived at LAX around 7pm and promptly started the "where in the world are we supposed to park" dance. All the lots near the airport were $30 per day. Thirty dollars per day!!! Just so that I have the honor of parking in your lot? No thanks. Of course, there were other lots a bit further away that cost less money. It's great that LAX put up such great signage so that we could find those lots (haha). Thankfully we had our trusty GPS which guided us to Lot C, which was only $10 per day.
We found a spot before too long and then walked over to the shuttle stop. A bus came around a few minutes later to pick us up. We were on our way! On our way...to the front of the parking lot where we were told we had to run up to the front bus in line before it left. No sweat, we only had three carry-on bags and three to check in...no worries.*rolls eyes* We got on the new bus which managed the journey all the way from the lot to the airport and dropped us off outside of terminal 5 for Delta. Yay, Delta - you're not American Airlines (my one stipulation for the lady who booked our travel).
We walked up to the self check-in kiosk and proceeded to check in. I swiped my credit card. It then asked me where I was going. Shouldn't you know? I just swiped my card. Whatever. I typed in ORL. It then asked me when my flight was. Again, shouldn't you know?! Late, my flight is late in the evening. It finally brought up both of our names.
Here's the fun part. Though Ryan looked online, apparently Delta decided that you can only have one checked bag per person or you will incur a $50 fine per extra bag. Great. We paid it (we had no choice) and found out that we were in practically the last row of the plane. I hate being that far back because I just want to get off the damn plane once it lands. But it was booked and we had no choice.
Off we went through security to find our gate. Ryan and I both like to get there early - it just makes us feel more secure. I was starting to feel a bit under the weather but I'd taken lots of vitamin C, Airborne, Sudafed, Echinacea, orange juice, and water. I figured I'd be ok. I did walk back to the California Pizza Kitchen and grab a couple bowls of Sedona Tortilla Soup, though. I figured that might help things a bit. Soon I was sad that I did this as I was sweating profusely. Was the airport hot or was I getting sicker? Ryan said it was a bit warm but I was the only person around that looked uncomfortable. Stupid fat deposits!
I finally saw Melanie (my coworker who was also attending the trip) and Kevin (her boyfriend) at about 8:40pm. We all started talking and continued until the plane started boarding. They got to sit in the 19th row - lucky jerks!
We boarded the plane and I was very sad once I sat down. That plane was little more than a cattle car. I felt like a sardine squished into a teeny can. I had zero shoulder room and zero leg room. Plus the lady to my left didn't seem too friendly. I tried sleeping, and did for about an hour maybe. But the plane was far too uncomfortable to sleep. I tried reading but I spent most of my time watching an interactive map of where the plane was, willing the damned thing to move faster. We're only over Phoenix? How long will we be over Texas? We were never far enough for me until we reached the gate.
On the flight, I started feeling much worse. My nose was getting clogged up, I was losing my sense of smell (which, considering we were near the rear bathroom, may not have been all bad), my throat was scratchy, and my eyes had started getting watery. Great. Awesome way to start a vacation. All I wanted to do was get off the damn plane and sleep.
So we finally got off the plane and headed to baggage claim in the Orlando airport. There was a guy waiting for us with a sign, which was kind of cool. He was taking the four of us to the Boardwalk Resort, one of the Epcot resort destinations. Once we retrieved all of our luggage we scrambled into his van and were off to the hotel. He played a DVD of the "Top Seven Things to do in Disney World" or something like that. The host on the DVD was annoying and I hadn't gotten enough sleep so I tuned her out as best I could. Within about 25 minutes, we were at the front door of the Boardwalk Hotel. It was beautiful!
Ryan and I walked to the front desk of the hotel to see if we could check in. Considering that it was about 7am, and check-in didn't officially start until 10am or later, we were just hoping they'd have a room. To our delight, they did! Within about five minutes, of which I constantly had to blow my nose and use hand sanitizer, we had finalized everything and were off to find the room, 1391.
They apparently decided to give us the room furthest from the check-in desk. We took the elevator down a floor and then turned hallway after hallway. We even had to exit the building, walk outside for about ten steps, and then enter another building. We reached the room and I wasn't paying much attention. I just wanted to take some medicine and sleep! But Ryan noticed a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. Still, he used the key and opened the door, albeit hesitantly.
The room was disheveled. He quickly shut the door, no knowing if anyone was still in there or not. I was pissed at this point. I just wanted sleep. "This is supposed to be the most magical place on earth!" I kept thinking. We walked back to a courtyard where I sat down on a bench. It was off-white and it hid the multiple drops of dew that covered it. Yay, it looked like I peed my pants, just what I wanted. Ryan went back to the front desk while I watched the bags. I also called my parents to let them know we survived the flight. After what seemed like an eternity, Ryan came back to the courtyard. They had upgraded us to the fifth floor (yay). We took our stuff and got on the elevator.
The room was beautiful. There were a few subtle Mickey elements but overall it looked like something out of the '30s/'40s. I took some sudafed and slept until 1:30pm.
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