It started three weeks ago. With recent events, I decided that I needed to visit my Happy Place.

So I called my travel agent and booked a trip. Once you get a Disney confirmation #, you have to go online and plan your trip. Usually this is done 180 days in advance, but I only had three weeks.

Make that 10 days. There was a problem with my reservation and for 5 days I was on the phone with Disney Guest Services. They couldn’t fix my problem.

Since professionally I ran a similar web site (Disney almost signed a contract with us. They decided to pull it on-house at the last minute. The site became My Disney Experience. The one I was having trouble with), I decided to troubleshoot it on my own. On the 6th day, I discovered that someone else’ credit card was linked to my profile. The site worked much better with my card.

That wasn’t the end of it. Disney was doing site upgrades, and one day my restaurant reservations disappeared. They came back but then my park reservations disappeared. They came back but my hotel reservations disappeared.

Finally, it settled down. The day came to fly to Orlando.

Great start! Awoke at 2am. Had set alarm early so that I’d be cogent when my ride arrived. Staggered into kitchen to start my coffee and then retrieved my phone. There were several alerts from JetBlue. My 6:10 am flight was delayed until 7:40 am! I quickly dismissed the idea of going back to sleep for an hour.

Of course, I was picked out of TSA line for a pat down.

Just returned from a relief trip in the airport. Who designs airports anyway? Exiting the Men’s Room, I turned right... Only some brilliant person decided that the wall to the right should be a wall to ceiling mirror, which perfectly reflected the corridor - to the left. Rubbing my nose while staggering to the real exit, it had hit me - literally - that the exit was just a reflection.

Oh my! Two of the huge-ly-est people I’ve ever seen just squeezed in the two empty seats beside me in the airline gate. Yikes!

JetBlue just sent me another alert. DELAYED again. I groaned so loud, people turned to look. When I read the alert, it announced that we were actually scheduled twenty minutes earlier before the first delay. Yahoo!

So, I finally arrive at Walt Disney World at 11:30... the original estimate was 8:30 Then, the park bus was delayed a half hour... I had a lunch reservation at 12:20! I got seated at 12:35. My first order was a beer. Let’s see what happens from here on in.

 

Move to Florida. It makes the excursions to Orlando far easier and cheaper.

Oh, and Floridians never go to Orlando.

 

Have fun! Hope the rest of the trip works out OK.

 

With your luck I wouldn't ride the rides
Brzrkr

 

Move to Florida. It makes the excursions to Orlando far easier and cheaper.

Oh, and Floridians never go to Orlando.

Right! And all the time I lived in Southeast Michigan; I went to Greenfield village and the Henry ford Museum exactly twice in 48 years.

 

I grew up in an East LA suburb and watched the opening of the one and only Disneyland on my aunt's TV (we didn't have Internet then, not even TV). So, I naively volunteered to help pay for one of my daughters' family trips to Disney World, Orlando, recently. Well, actually not too bad, but definitely not an E ticket. We used to barter those in HS like Bitcoins are bartered today.

 

Move to Florida. It makes the excursions to Orlando far easier and cheaper.

Oh, and Floridians never go to Orlando.

No one goes there anymore. It is too crowded.

 

Move to Florida. It makes the excursions to Orlando far easier and cheaper.

Oh, and Floridians never go to Orlando.

Other than the parks, Orlando is a desolate hole. I think I would put a gun to my head if I had to live there.

 

Well, I’ll never come in June again. I did last year, a couple weeks earlier, and it wasn’t crowded and it wasn’t hot.

But the kids are out of school this week. My favorite time is the last two weeks of January. It’s cool. No crowds. I hear the middle two weeks of September are good, too.

 

+1 for January.

Last time at WDW was Jan trip. Weather was great and crowds were low.
If you're a VET, Shades Of Green is great hotel inside the park with easy walking to transportation.

https://www.shadesofgreen.org/
https://www.shadesofgreen.org/accommodations/special-offers/monthly-specials/salute-our-veterans

 

Ok, waiting for a bus back to the hotel. So far, I’ve been up 22.5 hours. The nightclub at the hotel closes at 2am. I might stop for a beer or two.

 

It started three weeks ago. With recent events, I decided that I needed to visit my Happy Place.

So I called my travel agent and booked a trip. Once you get a Disney confirmation #, you have to go online and plan your trip. Usually this is done 180 days in advance, but I only had three weeks.

Make that 10 days. There was a problem with my reservation and for 5 days I was on the phone with Disney Guest Services. They couldn’t fix my problem.

Since professionally I ran a similar web site (Disney almost signed a contract with us. They decided to pull it on-house at the last minute. The site became My Disney Experience. The one I was having trouble with), I decided to troubleshoot it on my own. On the 6th day, I discovered that someone else’ credit card was linked to my profile. The site worked much better with my card.

That wasn’t the end of it. Disney was doing site upgrades, and one day my restaurant reservations disappeared. They came back but then my park reservations disappeared. They came back but my hotel reservations disappeared.

Finally, it settled down. The day came to fly to Orlando.

Great start! Awoke at 2am. Had set alarm early so that I’d be cogent when my ride arrived. Staggered into kitchen to start my coffee and then retrieved my phone. There were several alerts from JetBlue. My 6:10 am flight was delayed until 7:40 am! I quickly dismissed the idea of going back to sleep for an hour.

Of course, I was picked out of TSA line for a pat down.

Just returned from a relief trip in the airport. Who designs airports anyway? Exiting the Men’s Room, I turned right... Only some brilliant person decided that the wall to the right should be a wall to ceiling mirror, which perfectly reflected the corridor - to the left. Rubbing my nose while staggering to the real exit, it had hit me - literally - that the exit was just a reflection.

Oh my! Two of the huge-ly-est people I’ve ever seen just squeezed in the two empty seats beside me in the airline gate. Yikes!

JetBlue just sent me another alert. DELAYED again. I groaned so loud, people turned to look. When I read the alert, it announced that we were actually scheduled twenty minutes earlier before the first delay. Yahoo!

So, I finally arrive at Walt Disney World at 11:30... the original estimate was 8:30 Then, the park bus was delayed a half hour... I had a lunch reservation at 12:20! I got seated at 12:35. My first order was a beer. Let’s see what happens from here on in.

Rule #1 of travel (business and leisure) --- provide your own transportation! -- It's yet to fail me!

Very best regards
HP

 

Rule #1 of travel (business and leisure) --- provide your own transportation! -- It's yet to fail me!

Very best regards
HP

@Hypatia's Protege

Not at Disney!

Use of their internal transportation system is included in the not inexpensive lodging fees.

If you provide your own transportation, you pay to park wherever you go. At the hotel... At the varied destinations... So you end up paying twice.

In over a dozen times I’ve been to WDW, this was the first delay I encountered. There are multiple free transportation options. Buses, water transport, monorail, skyline (ski lift-like transportation) and even walking. And they’ve contracted with Lyft for a paid option when you absolutely, positively need to be someplace immediately. - Minnie Vans.

 

@Hypatia's Protege

Not at Disney!

Use of their internal transportation system is included in the not inexpensive lodging fees.

If you provide your own transportation, you pay to park wherever you go. At the hotel... At the varied destinations... So you end up paying twice.

In over a dozen times I’ve been to WDW, this was the first delay I encountered. There are multiple free transportation options. Buses, water transport, monorail, skyline (ski lift-like transportation) and even walking. And they’ve contracted with Lyft for a paid option when you absolutely, positively need to be someplace immediately. - Minnie Vans.

I loved taking the boat in the park from the transportation center.

Trip tips:
A cool thing Shades of Green is in addition to the Disney transportation they have their own fleet of buses for hotel residents.
https://www.militarydisneytips.com/Shades-of-Green/Shades-of-Green-Transport.html
https://www.shadesofgreen.org/experiences/bus-schedule

They don't provide transportation from Orlando airport so I paid for 1 night at the lowest cost resort so we could ride the Disney's Magical Express from the airport on arrival. The money saved at the SoG suite for the rest of the week easily covered this and other expenses.

https://www.militarydisneytips.com/...stays-walt-disney-world-resorts-shades-green/

I loved every second at the park.

OK, most of it.

Spoiler