Day One - Part Three - Orlando at Last!

The day went surprisingly fast and almost before we knew it was had arrived at the Orlando airport. We gathered our things and headed to the front of the plane. As we stepped from the plane we were assaulted by heat and humidity the likes of which we had never experience before. It almost brought us to our knees and we began to have serious doubts about our ability to withstand an entire week of this. Mind you, we hadn’t actually stepped outside yet. This assault originated from the small crack between the plane and the enclosed walkway thingy that leads to the terminal. I can’t for the life of me remember what that’s called.

Once inside the air-conditioned terminal, we revived somewhat. Not really knowing what to do next we followed the crowd until we reached the main concourse. There we spotted a couple of Disney representatives with large white Mickey Mouse hands holding up a Magical Express sign. Everyone else seemed to know where to go, so they just passed them by. We stopped and they gave us directions to the Magical Express Welcome Center located on the lower level. Before leaving, I asked to take their pictures, somewhat embarrassing Jason. I didn’t care. They willingly posed for a picture, waving their big mouse hands.

A Disney cast member was stationed at the entrance to the line for the Welcome Center and as we passed by him, he asked how many were in our party. Jason answered, “Two” before we realized what an odd question it was. Maybe he was just getting us accustomed to life at the theme parks. The line was short and after checking us in, we were directed to another area where there were separate lines for each resort. We wound our way through the Pop Century Resort line and ended up at the front of the line. A very friendly cast member kept us entertained with comments about the best way to avoid crowds and some of the special events, such as Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Our bus finally arrived and we braved the heat and humidity once again to board the very comfortable, air-conditioned luxury motor coach. As we made our way out of the airport and on towards Walt Disney World, our bus driver attempted to start the video that we were supposed to watch during the trip. After several unsuccessful tries, he pulled the bus over to the side of the highway and got up to check the VCR, where he discovered that the videotape had been ejected. He quickly remedied the situation and once again we were on our way. As it was now past 6:00 PM, the sun was low in the sky and a light sprinkling of raindrops dusted the windshield.