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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