Orlando Day 1 ~ The check-in from hell

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Geo: 28.5377, -81.3774

May 10, 2010

Hubby went to bed around 10:00 Sunday night. I vowed to be there by midnight ~ I just wanted to do a few last-minute things. Shortly after midnight, I was in bed... but not asleep. I tossed & turned and could not sleep. At 2:07 am I was sitting in bed working on my Farmville crops listening to my snoring husband next to me. I finally gave-up and forced myself to attempt sleep. I couldn't imagine why I was excited for this vacation because it wasn't a big trip compared to our last few journeys. I lay there wondering what it must like for a 7-year-old to think he/she would be boarding a plane the next day to go to Disneyworld

?? O MY GOSH ~ How insanely fun would that be?? I laughed at myself and finally fell asleep.

The alarm blared us awake at 5:00 Monday morning!! We jumped out of bed. I was going to give him an extra 30 minutes of sleep but as usual, when it comes to vacation, I'm married to Mr. Early Riser ~ which always shocks and impresses me. So, I go upstairs to let Simon out to pee and realize it is pouring rain outside and very cold. I grab my Iphone and check the weather ~ 46 and rain in Missouri ~ but 66 in Florida. Nice. We get ready and finally leave a bit late because I could not find my ear plugs for swimming anywhere plus I was being quite the slowpoke after less than 3 hours of sleep.

Once we were on the road it was slooooow moving ~ extremely so ~ it was raining so hard I could barely see out the window let alone stay on the road safely at 65/70 mph. We took it slow. We had plans for a quick stop at IHOP for hubby's most-beloved chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes but there was no time. So, Panera bread for breakfast it was. We stopped at K-Mart for me to get a Tori Spelling book but they didn't have it. (Isn't any book better than no book?? Besides, I like her. She has a good heart.) We sat in front of Shoe Carnival until they opened at 9:00 so I could get a new pair of tennies and hubby got some new sandals ~ the good ole' "buy one pair, get another half price" ~ I heart Shoe Carnival!

We arrived at the Springfield airport and despite the fact that we are both wearing long pants... it was soooooooooooooo cold.... it felt like the wind was going to zip us away in the parking lot so we both literally grabbed our suitcases and ran inside the terminal. I couldn't believe how cold it had become in Missouri! We checked-in but we didn't check ANY bags as we both had our small pull-along suitcases ~ Yay us! We are learning to pack better every trip. And, Allegiant Air charges $40 for every piece of luggage you check ~ EVERY piece ~ EACH way ~ carry-ons are the only thing free now. We watched another lady be told her suitcase was 9 pounds over the allowed check-in weight so she would be charged an additional $50. She took the suitcase to the side and began removing items.

As a secondary note from a McAllister's Tea Freak ~ they have McCallister's Tea in the Springfield
airport!! Don't you just love the little things in life! :-)

When we boarded the plane it was still 46 in Missouri but it was 76 in Orlando ~ an even 30 degrees difference. The flight was easy and for any of you Allegiant Air nay-sayers out there ~ what. ever. The planes are normal-size planes with 5 people to a row and more leg room than the last couple of planes I was on for sure. They keep prices low by only flying to certain cities on certain days and doing a turn-around on those flights all day long. With fares as low as $39 for a non-stop flight from Springfield to LAX (Los Angeles) ~ I'm perfectly happy with not checking luggage. They have my vote!

So... we get on the flight and hubby has the aisle (Mr. Tall needs the leg room), I have the middle, and a very nice young gentleman by the name of Drew sat to my right in the window seat. I said Hello. Later, he said Hello. We began conversing. Hubby slept for a good hour and Drew and I discussed the woes of his recently failed marriage and subsequent divorce ~ he somehow asked where I work and what I do and when I told him I work with dissolutions at the courthouse... he began talking... and talking... and I talked (cuz I'm a talker too)... and poor Drew just got a divorce and I think it's been a little rough on the good guy. Anyway, he was raised in Springfield but moved to Jacksonville, Florida three months ago and he was a delightful young man. I hope he finds himself a nice, pleasant wife someday. Poor kid.

The plane was about to land and the pilot says we have to circle a bit to wait our turn.. and by the way "It's 86 and sunny in Orlando today with low humidity" ~ YES!! Hubby, Drew, and myself were elated!! Later, as we had landed, the flight attendant was saying her spiel of the day "Please wait until the aircraft has come to a complete stop before unlocking your seatbelt" ..blah blah blah... and then... as monotone as she had said all the other stuff... "If you leave anything on the plane with us today.. don't worry.. you can bid on it on E-bay after midnight tonight." I looked at Drew. Drew looked at me. Hubby looked at us. We all busted-up laughing. The entire plane had a little chuckle ~ but then the lady behind us leaned-up and said "It's true!" I wonder if she was serious?

Once out of the airport I decided Orlando smells like California ~ but with humidity. Palm trees everywhere. I immediately like it.

Taxi to the Hilton Orlando. Nice drive. Obviously nice hotel, beautiful lobby. Just opened in September 2009. Go to check-in and as nice as our stay here is now and as nice as it probably will continue to be... I got a bad taste in mouth immediately and I am over it but... you NEVER get a second chance to make a first impression. Background info... Hubby & I stayed at the Hilton on The Landing in Branson over Valentine's weekend and we loved it. We plan to do more Branson trips because it's quick, it's easy, it's inexpensive, and we really enjoy Branson. It's also a good way to save money on vacations for a couple of years so we can go overseas again in a couple of years. So, we sign-up for the Hilton Honors club ~ every night you spend in a Hilton, you get points that you can use to build-up free stays. After this stay, we will already have enough points for a free night at any Hilton. We also have reservations at Hiltons later this year. Back to Orlando... at the time we made the Orlando reservation I requested three things ~ Smoking (hubby smokes), King bed, and High floor. The only thing I cared about was the smoking and I literally typed that in the request comments. Made the reservation Feb 16th. Called back almost ASAP to verify it was a smoking room. Then called back LAST SUNDAY and spoke with a lady onsite at this property and, again, verified we had a smoking room. Guess what happens at check-in??? "I'm sorry ma'am but we have no smoking rooms." Their excuse? "Only 1% of our rooms are smoking" and.. my favorite part by far ~ "The Department of Defense is staying here for a week and we are practically booked" SERIOUSLY??? All those stressed-out defense workers must need to smoke. Well, we would be moving hotels I say. No messing with me ~ if hubby ain't happy on vacation, wifey ain't happy on vacation. I was NOT HAPPY with Hilton. I really did not want to give-up a new hotel and a lazy river attached but we had to have smoking. I went to call the agency we booked the hotel through and see what we could do about switching hotels when... maybe they looked at the reservation and realized we were Hilton Honors members... maybe they realized I had verified smoking TWICE... maybe they realized we would be leaving soon, no joking... whatever happened... the 10-year-old manager came over and said he was going to check a room and if it smelled like smoke, we could have it but if it didn't, no way... and magically... it smelled like smoke. What kind of room did we get? 16th floor, King bed, smoking ~ EXACTLY what our reservation had been for the entire time ~ high floor, king bed, smoking. Eh. We were both very nice and agreeable and checked-in but it still leaves me wondering WHY must you have to be semi-pushy to get exactly what you were told you would get three months ago?? And, apparently today is day one of this Department of Defense convention next door and three different staff have told us about this. Apparently, they are important people. We could care less. Maybe it is a good contract for the hotel to get but we are just as important as these miserable employees traveling here and there with co-workers that annoy them. I know this because later in the week.. I will get to see lots of them interacting. :~) Quite amusing actually.

So, check-in. Room's fine. Smaller than the Hilton Promenade in Branson but almost the same. Change into shorts. Purchase "I Ride Trolley" tickets at the hotel concierge desk ~ a 5-day pass to go up and down I-drive unlimited times is only $8 a person ~ so, there's our transportation costs for the week $16 for two people. SO glad we didn't rent a car.. and pay for the toll roads between the airport and here.. and pay for parking here at the hotel.. and pay for parking at the theme parks.. etc..

We walk to I-drive - which we can see from our hotel window - literally 5 minutes maximum - and take the trolley to see what's on I-drive. It's beautiful. Palm trees. Lush vegitation. Lots and lots of tourists eating, playing miniature golf, walking, and traveling to and fro. The trolley guy takes our new passes to validate them and says "Welcome to town!" I like this. 😊 We go to dinner, we go to the supermarket behind the restaurant and I find ear plugs for the hotel pool, we go back and change into our suits and hit the pool. Actually, we didn't bother with either of the pools and instead, we both got into the hotel's lazy river ~ AMAZING!! This thing goes on and on and when you think it's going to be the end, it keeps going. Fantastic. It is somewhat odd to navigate at first because you have to find the perfect way to get on your raft and float around ~ which later amused me because once I had the hang of it, along comes these two teenage girls who were confused by the rafts and the currents and I overhear one of them say "This is the most stressful lazy river I've ever been on!" HA It is sooo not stressful. Instead, it is wonderful ~ but alas it is after 10pm and dark at this point so we head upstairs to bed.
Tomorrow, Universal Studios Islands of Adventure!

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Photos

View of walking track and front drive area
Hilton Orlando - view from our room