Fly Away


To say that this summer has been chaotic is putting it mildly.  Summer is coming to a close (officially as of next week), but the chaos will continue.  (When doesn't it.)  This weekend I am flying (solo) to Florida!  What am I thinking?!  (I swear, I WAS thinking!)

Well,  way back before the summer even began (which feels like it was a decade or more ago) , a friend and I were talking about meeting up in WDW.  She frequently visits her mom in Florida.  I've been missing Disney (although things have changed A LOT since my last visit all the way back in June of 2016 and I'm afraid I may have some not so positive things to say in this blog in the future, but I don't want to be Debbie Downer...at least not yet).  Over Memorial Day weekend (that was  years ago, right?) we got on the phone and started to work on a plan for meeting up in the fall.  By mid-June (before summer officially began), I gotten time off, booked a flight and (secretly) made hotel reservations.  (I didn't tell my friend where we were staying until last Friday...I would have liked to have put it off even longer, but since she had to link her annual pass to our reservation, we couldn't...and let me tell you that itself was a difficult experience.  Again, not trying to be Debbie Downer here, but the level of service that I was used to at WDW is NOT what I have been getting.  It's been a little disappointing to say the least, but I'm holding out hope.  We'll see where this road takes us.  Keeping my fingers crossed)

Now "normally" the time between booking a trip and going would be spent with plotting and planning.  I used to be the queen of planning.  I would have every hour (minute?  second?) mapped out.  What I never anticipated was the crazy that this summer would evolve into.  Selling a house?  Buying a house?  Packing up everything from one place, storing it, moving some of it to one location and some of it to another.  This was not what I had lined up in my mind.  I thought that in the fall (after my trip), I'd get started on selling the shore house and then within the next 2-3 years we'd find a new house (probably in the mountains) and make plans to move from NJ to there.  That's not what happened.  (As you well know if you've read any of my posts this summer.)

Here I am now.  With the recommendation of a trusted local friend last month I was able to  schedule a car  to pick me up before the sun rises on Saturday and take me to the airport (as well as a return ride). (I had NOT idea how expensive that would be!)  I have a roundtrip flight on JetBlue to get me to and from Orlando. (This was actually the first thing I did)  I have booked a seat on a shuttle to WDW (missing Magical Express).  I have a resort package which includes a 5-day park hopper.  Finally, I do have a ticket to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. (Which I did less than a month ago!)  And that's pretty much it.

I have no real plan once I get there.  We have set up tentative days for parks.  I have made 3 late lunch reservations for sit down restaurants only because of my food allergies.  (I am PRAYING that Disney is still on the ball with that.)  Other than that...this one-time crazy planner (I always had detailed spreadsheets) has NOTHING planned.  I'm clueless when it comes to lighting lanes or virtual queues.  I'm hoping to experience some "new" things (in 8 years there's a lot of new) and I know I'll probably miss out on a lot, but...(I am not into thrill rides for the most part, which could be a plus).  I do hope to get to Star Wars Land and do...something.  (I don't even know what there is to do?)  I do want to walk around Word Showcase and try out new (to me) attractions.  And if I could be "that guy" on the Monsters Laugh Floor I'd be really happy.

No plans.   ME!  No plans! ME?  What is going on here?  (What isn’t going on here?)

However, I do have anxiety. (When don't I?)  Particularly about flying.  (I was NEVER really good with that.)  So if anyone has any tips or tricks for a nervous woman flying on her own, I'm up for it.  Or for getting from a terminal at MCO to my luggage carousel and then to the Mears shuttle area....Or how to be patient about getting to my destination.  Or about ANYTHING related to travel and Disney...this is YOUR chance.  There are three days left and apprehension is building.

I’m  completely serious, if you have advice, hand it on over.  There’s not much time.  Be gentle.  Be kind.  This lady’s had one hell of a summer and needs to have a vacation that has very little stress and a ton of fun.  GO!  



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