The following events took place on Monday September 6, 2010:
After an extensive packing effort the night before Paula and I left our house and headed south on interstate 65 about 4AM central time.
The first couple hundred miles we'd traveled together before. Most recently when we went to see James graduate from basic training in the army.
The first couple hundred miles we'd traveled together before. Most recently when we went to see James graduate from basic training in the army.
Once we passed Atlanta we were driving a portion of I-75 we had never been on before. We drove south through the heart of Georgia; a long 300 mile stretch until we finally reached the Florida state line.
Heave rain we greeted us as we drove down the Florida turnpike. From what I was to learn this type of afternoon storm is typical in the Sunshine state. The spray in the air and the glare on the windshield made driving a bit slow. The concentration required to drive safely wasn't the way I would have wanted 750 mile road trip to end but it turned out okay.
We kept going and soon our GPS guided us toward our Disney hotel, Pop Century. It's a resort based on pop culture of the 20th century decades: the 50's through the 90's.
We pulled up to the guard shack and gave our names and showed our driver's licenses to the security guard. He lifted the gate for us to enter the resort area.
The rain had slowed a bit but hadn't stopped as we parked in the parking lot near the resort's main building called "Everything Pop". It's a combination check-in area, resort store, food court and arcade under one roof.
We stood in line to check in less than 5 minutes. A young female cast member (aka: employee)named Melissa, who was "earning her ears (Disney term for being "in training") helped us. We ordered refrigerator to be brought to our room (no it doesn't come with a value resort room) for the length of our stay ($10 a night extra thank you very much!). We were given our card keys and a map directing us to room 1453 on the 4th floor of the 1950's building. We drove to the 50's parking area, got out and found our room.
Upon opening that door and entering that room I was no longer tired from the long drive. I was energized with excitement. I couldn't believe I was actually back at Disney World again. It was so surreal. I was very emotional but did my best to hold back the tears of joy.
After a couple of trips to the car, going up and down the elevator (it needed air conditioning or at least a fan) we had the car unloaded. People watching us must have thought we planning on staying for a month or longer.
We unpacked our suitcases and stocked the fridge, which arrived shortly after we did. It was filled with breakfast foods and drinks we brought with us. Paula took the time to review the information about the room and the resort that we were given at check-in. This included some info on just how our free quick-service dinning plan worked.
Because we were tired from the long drive we decided to go to the resort food court for dinner rather than try to do to Downtown Disney for dinner as we had planned. We rode down the elevator and instead of walking toward the parking lot side of the buildings we took the inside path toward Everything Pop. That's when I experienced my first really real magical "I'm in Disney World" moment.
It was almost like an orchestra played "When You Wish Upon A Star" in my mind when we stepped out into the common area between our building and the 60's building where the bowling pin shaped pool was. After just a few steps off the elevator we were standing next to a statue of the "Lady" the female dog from "Lady & The Tramp". The Tramp statue, just as tall, was on the other side of the common area next to the other building.
At the far end of the bowling pin pool was a 4-story tall jukebox. Right there in the night under the lights we were fully emerged in the World of Disney. It was awesome...but it was just the beginning.
In "Everything Pop" we got ourselves something to eat. The food court had 4 stations with different menus to choose from. We used our dining plan to get an entree, a dessert and a drink. We also got our refillable drink mugs. We could use them to get as much coffee, tea, or soft drinks as we wanted from the food court area during our stay.
We finished our dinner which was not bad for what it was (I don't remember what we had) and then looked around Everything Pop. We browsed in the gift shop/store to see what souvenirs initially caught our eye. We also scouted out things that were on our "must buy" list so we could purchase them any time during our stay. We found water balls (aka: snow globes), picture frames, mouse ear hats, shirts and more. I was excited because I had planned on buying mouse ears and wearing them in the Magic Kingdom. I ended up deciding not to though.
We checked out the arcade and were happy when we found pinball machines there. We planned on going in and playing one night but never got the time. While Paula sat in the check-in lobby area and rested I took pictures of all the pop culture memorabilia hanging on the walls.
There was all kinds of stuff from the 5 decades that themed Pop Century. The range of things included just about everything from the Howdy Doody TV show to the first home computers. I took lots of pictures.
We had been given a handicap room which means there was a handheld shower head with lots of different settings. That might not sound like it's even worth mentioning but that night and every day during our stay it helped relax and rejuvenate. This worked well to get us ready to go back to the parks for our evening tours and to help us unwind enough to fall asleep fast at night. It was so relaxing to feel that hot water on the massage setting hit my tired aching muscles after a day in one of the theme parks.
I reviewed our plans for going to Universal Studios the next day before turning down the bed covers and crawling in for a much anticipated good night's sleep. We were going to start off our vacation by going to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. That was a belated birthday present to Paula from me.
While our visits to the Disney theme parks wouldn't start until Wednesday; Monday night we fell asleep on a very comfortable mattress nestled in the atmosphere and reality of Walt Disney World. I knew from what had happened just since our arrival that this was going to be a great vacation.
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