Monday, February 28, 2011

Venturing to Disney

Backstory- I bought my flight (at a mighty good deal) to Orlando around Christmastime, and didn't look much at the itinerary until I was getting all my information ready to leave. Thursday at work B reminded me to print out my boarding pass so I could check in quicker for our Friday morning flight. Turns out I accidently booked my flight to Orlando to leave February 11, not Feb 25- I think I booked my flight after registering for the R n R New Orleans half, and the 11th is the day we were planning on leaving (at least thats the excuse I'm going with) My original $99 departure flight turned into a whopping $268 flight after I got it all fixed.
**sidenote, I've heard some horror stories from others about mixing up flights and the companies not being able to do much to help out, Southwest customer service is AMAZING**
The flight on the 11th had me getting in around 1:30est whereas my new flight gave me an hour, so thats a plus.
I've never flown Southwest before, so I had no idea that you get to choose your seats- As I'm making my way toward the back of my plane I realized there were at least 20 different ladies wearing tiaras- how awesome it that?!?! The flight attendant noticed and once she found out why, made all the princesses and 'hidden princesses' (ppl still running but not wearing crowns) stand up- the rest of the plane clapped. This sparked conversation between me and the gentlemen I sat next to- can you believe he had never heard of the concept of running a half marathon in each state?!?! Silly non- runner hehe.
The short plane ride was spent listening to the flight attendants tell jokes, sang happy birthday to all the birthday travelers (must be a southwest theme to be interactive with their passengers?!?!),  and attempt to read "The girl with the dragon tattoo" (little success there)
When I land I texted B so her and her 'rents can come get me- they both arrived at 11:40. We grab lunch and head to our resort. B and I really lucked out- when we decided on racing in Disney, her parents made the decision to use one of their time shares and let us stay with them.
Arrive at Holiday Inn Orange Lake Resort and while B's parents were checking in- we wanted to check out the beach!
I adore palm trees

I could get used to this sight
thought it was neat that the pool was that close to the water
Naturally as soon as we were able, we changed into our suits and headed down to the pool to enjoy some sunshine and cocktails!
First cocktail, 'Florida sunrise'- dont remember whats in it, but it was delicious!

Gorgeous view! 
There were two outdoor hot tubs at our particular pool, had to wait till some people decided to leave, but once we were able to go in, it was exactly what we needed. It's been awhile since I've been in a hot tub that was actually hot AND had great powerful jets

Hot tub was intense after a bit, tried out the pool and it was a little cold, so we opted to get another drink and check out some of the shops surrounding the pool.
2nd cocktail- 'Bomb pops'- extremely sweet and tart, so it was a struggle to finish

B has a fascination with pirates


We have an inside joke that you're not officially a real runner until you wear a hat (neither of us wear hats)- we saw these foam visors and decided that you're not officially old until you own and wear a patterned visor. The shops looked more exciting from the outside, than from within, so we decided to call it a day at the pool and head to grocery store so we can shop for food for the week.
This is the amazing view leaving pool area and heading to our villa. 
After grocery shopping and eating dinner we're all pretty tired from being up so early, so we go to bed so we can head to expo and animal kingdom the following day!

2 comments:

  1. Love where you were staying! Looks beautiful!!

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  2. Man, you sure know how to travel. Great pics!
    At Disney a few years ago, I drank Mango Margaritas (okay, fell in love with Mango Margaritas) at the poolside bar.

    Can't wait to read your race report!

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