We boarded our Airbus A320 and took our seats in row two and got settled. As everyone was boarding, the flight attendant took drink orders and of course to go with the theme, they do not carry champagne so we could not have mimosas. We had screw drivers instead and that will get you kick started for a journey, it if it is nine in the morning. The flight was mostly uneventful, except for the fact that for about three of the three and a half hour flight the seat belt sign was on meaning all visit to the bathroom involved severe risk to life and limb.
The excitement started to build as we got closer and closer to Orlando and as we made our final approach I searched out the window for Disney World and sure enough I made out Spaceship Earth and the Contemporary and Bay Lake. I took a few photos and before I know it we were on the ground. As soon as we hit the main terminal Becca and I split up to save time and she went to wait for out bags while I got the rental car. This worked out great except for the fact that the bags were very slow to arrive.
Less than two hours after the wheels touched down in Orlando we arrived on Disney property. Our first stop was to the hotel for our first night, the Doubletree at Downtown Disney. The building was not very much to look at as the architecture was straight out of the 1970’s and looked dated. The inside is much nicer as they obviously have done a refurbishment and except for a kind of mildew type smell inside was quite nice. The staff was very friendly and we got checked in pretty quick. We parked the car, which is $7 a day, and took our luggage up to our seventh floor two room suite. The room was very nice and although the décor was not to my taste, it was clean and sizeable. The first room had a kitchenette with a small fridge, microwave, and coffee maker, a table with four chairs, a sofa, and a flat screen television. Past some sliding doors was the bedroom where a nice big king size bed sits with another flat screen television and a closet and bathroom. For $79 a night this was an excellent value and worked out perfect for our situation. I would not want to stay here for a whole trip as I really like Disney themed hotels and immersion, but this is a great budget alternative if you can get a good rate.
After dropping off our bags and settling in a bit (like two minutes) we left to get our annual passes from Epcot. Everything went very quickly and once we had those tickets in our hand and turned around and saw Spaceship Earth right there in the front of the park just staring at us, we had to head in and take in our first ride. We enjoyed every second of our trip through the history of communication aboard our time travel vehicle and after sending our goofy picture home via e-mail at the exit, we made our way to Downtown Disney as we had 8:00PM reservations at the Irish Pub Raglan Road. We walked around enjoying the ambiance and live music at Downtown Disney until our reservation time.
This was our first time eating at Raglan Road and was excited to try it as we have just recently moved back to the states after three years living in England. We traveled around Ireland for two weeks during our time overseas and were pleasantly surprised to see the amount of detail was put into creating this Irish environment. They had some live music as a family of about 10 siblings performed a bunch of traditional Irish music and dance and it really added to the ambiance. We had a strong nostalgia for our time in Ireland. They had two beers we both enjoyed while in Ireland, Smithwicks for Becca and Magners for me. The food was also outstanding. I had the Shepherd’s pie while Becca had beef stew. Both were very flavorful and did not disappoint.
After we forced ourselves out of Raglan Road so we could head to our traditional start of a Disney World dessert place, Goofy’s Candy Company. We stopped in the World of Disney retail shop and browsed until the hordes of people caused enough discomfort to warrant our exit. At Goofy’s they have this set-up where you can pick a pretzel rod, rice krispy treat, or marshmallow and then add toppings and they make it right there. You fill our a piece of paper, drop it off and let them work their candy making magic. Becca and I both got marshmallow with chocolate (white for here and dark for me) with reesie piecies all over them and then a sprinkle of chocolate on top. Yummy!!
After our sugar come wore off, we walked around the Art of Disney shop dreaming about all the stuff we wanted if independent wealth ever found its way to us. We then drove to Walgreens to pick up some stuff for our home away from home as the next day we would be checking into Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
It was a long but magical day and we look forward to sharing all our adventures with those who will listen. I will post some picture on this blog tomorrow as I get the pictures uploaded. We have 16 more days of magical adventures ahead so stay tuned because there will be much more to report on. See ya real soon.
- Dan
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