TimNDansMom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2000
This trip (Nov. 14-21) was a bit of a surprise. In August, I was complaining to my friend that I had missed so much in July, because it was so hot and my two sonâÂÂs (13 & 15 ý) didnâÂÂt want to do much and she came up with the plan to look after the boys, so that DH and I could go back. They would be in school most of the time and for the weekend involved, I asked my brother to come down and spend the two days with them to give my friend a bit of a break (she has 3 boys of her own). To clinch the idea I waived the âÂÂgolf carrotâ in front of DH. He had been talking about golfing at âÂÂWorld Woodsâ over in Brooksville and there was a golf package special on. Everything fell into place as I booked our flight (Canada3000 online) Dixie Landings through CRO and National Car Rental (online). DH booked his golf package for three days. I had park hopper passes left over from the summer, so we were all set.
We dropped the kids off around 7pm on Monday, Nov. 13 at my friendâÂÂs house. I had taken all their âÂÂstuffâ over during the day and set everything up for them. She had given them one of her sonâÂÂs bedroom and since she has three bathrooms, they also had their own! It was a perfect set-up and I knew they would be comfortable. She also loves to bake, so they were in for some real treats, too.
Then, we were on our way. DH and I had no trouble driving to Toronto and checking into The Regal Constellation for the night. We were told where to parkâÂÂhad to go through a gate/security where we got a ticket to put on the dash and the desk clerk had given me a voucher to âÂÂhideâ in the glove box. After taking our luggage to our room, we went downstairs for a snack before turning in for the night. (A note here: I was told to reconfirm our flight 6-12 hours before-hand, but I wasnâÂÂt able to do this until the next morning unless I wanted to stay up past midnight, because the automated system, that they must have on after hours, only gave me MondayâÂÂs flights. I did reconfirm before we left the hotel, early the next morning and actually spoke to a âÂÂliveâ agent.) We had a 6:40am flight, so weâÂÂd have to be up early. I think we managed to get about 3 ý hours sleep.
We were down in the hotelâÂÂs lobby by 4am. We had a short wait for the shuttle to take us to the airport, which dropped us off at the appropriate door for Canada3000 (Terminal 3). The Conquest Tour booth (although I booked through C3000's website, it was Conquest who sold the ticket) was right where I was told it was, so I picked up the tickets, went across the isle to the C3000 check-in and got our seat assignments. DH had to take his golf clubs to a separate section, but everything went very smoothly. Now, we had some time to kill, so we went for a coffee/tea/pastry.
The flight left almost on time and was quite smooth. I watched âÂÂAugust in New Yorkâ with Richard Gere and Winona Ryder, which I enjoyed. We were served a âÂÂmini- breakfastâÂÂ, which wasnâÂÂt too bad. We arrived on time, but boy did it ever take a long time to get out of Orlando Airport! You have to pick up your luggage twice! We finally got to the National Car Rental counter, there were no line-ups. I just handed over my computer print-out and we got our carâÂÂno problem. However, DH decided to buy the CDW insurance because it included theft, rather than rely on our Gold M/C coverage and I wasnâÂÂt too happy about that! (IâÂÂve since seen the M/C bill online!
I couldnâÂÂt believe we were finally there! Just DH and myself! It was a very strange feeling after almost 16 years with a kid or two! It didnâÂÂt take long for that feeling that âÂÂsomething was missingâ to disappear, though, as I turned my thoughts to what lay before me.
Julie
off-site '86,'87
DXL July 00
DXL November 00
DXL 200?
[This message was edited by TimNDansMom on 12-04-00 at 10:59 AM.]
[This message was edited by TimNDansMom on 12-05-00 at 04:27 PM.]
We dropped the kids off around 7pm on Monday, Nov. 13 at my friendâÂÂs house. I had taken all their âÂÂstuffâ over during the day and set everything up for them. She had given them one of her sonâÂÂs bedroom and since she has three bathrooms, they also had their own! It was a perfect set-up and I knew they would be comfortable. She also loves to bake, so they were in for some real treats, too.
Then, we were on our way. DH and I had no trouble driving to Toronto and checking into The Regal Constellation for the night. We were told where to parkâÂÂhad to go through a gate/security where we got a ticket to put on the dash and the desk clerk had given me a voucher to âÂÂhideâ in the glove box. After taking our luggage to our room, we went downstairs for a snack before turning in for the night. (A note here: I was told to reconfirm our flight 6-12 hours before-hand, but I wasnâÂÂt able to do this until the next morning unless I wanted to stay up past midnight, because the automated system, that they must have on after hours, only gave me MondayâÂÂs flights. I did reconfirm before we left the hotel, early the next morning and actually spoke to a âÂÂliveâ agent.) We had a 6:40am flight, so weâÂÂd have to be up early. I think we managed to get about 3 ý hours sleep.
We were down in the hotelâÂÂs lobby by 4am. We had a short wait for the shuttle to take us to the airport, which dropped us off at the appropriate door for Canada3000 (Terminal 3). The Conquest Tour booth (although I booked through C3000's website, it was Conquest who sold the ticket) was right where I was told it was, so I picked up the tickets, went across the isle to the C3000 check-in and got our seat assignments. DH had to take his golf clubs to a separate section, but everything went very smoothly. Now, we had some time to kill, so we went for a coffee/tea/pastry.
The flight left almost on time and was quite smooth. I watched âÂÂAugust in New Yorkâ with Richard Gere and Winona Ryder, which I enjoyed. We were served a âÂÂmini- breakfastâÂÂ, which wasnâÂÂt too bad. We arrived on time, but boy did it ever take a long time to get out of Orlando Airport! You have to pick up your luggage twice! We finally got to the National Car Rental counter, there were no line-ups. I just handed over my computer print-out and we got our carâÂÂno problem. However, DH decided to buy the CDW insurance because it included theft, rather than rely on our Gold M/C coverage and I wasnâÂÂt too happy about that! (IâÂÂve since seen the M/C bill online!
I couldnâÂÂt believe we were finally there! Just DH and myself! It was a very strange feeling after almost 16 years with a kid or two! It didnâÂÂt take long for that feeling that âÂÂsomething was missingâ to disappear, though, as I turned my thoughts to what lay before me.
Julie
off-site '86,'87
DXL July 00
DXL November 00
DXL 200?
[This message was edited by TimNDansMom on 12-04-00 at 10:59 AM.]
[This message was edited by TimNDansMom on 12-05-00 at 04:27 PM.]
