First Stop ~ Disney’s Pop Century Resort

It was anything but easy getting her but, we made it!  Phew!!

Thursday they were calling for large amounts of rain that would likely induce flooding plus freezing rain and high winds which led us to switch things up and leave home at noon rather than 5:00 as originally planned.  We were SO glad we did as the weather turned nasty just as we arrived in Buffalo around 3:00.  We were thankful to be making the 3 hour drive in the daylight with dry roads rather than in the dark with heavy rain and high winds!

After checking into our hotel we went across the street to the Olive Garden for supper.

Thursday night I went online to check us in (after forgetting to do it in the morning – now I remember why I put a reminder in my calendar!!) and our boarding passes said something to the effect of, ‘all boarding passes numbers have been distributed.  Please see gate attendant for further instructions.’  Yikes!!  The Southwest phone number would not work from our hotel and I hadn’t got a US roaming plan for my cell so I knew a trip to the airport was in order to find out what was happening with our tickets if I hoped to get any sleep.  I stepped outside to get the car although by that time a boat would have been another good option!   I was able to speak with a SWA representative who looked up our flight and said that all should be okay.  We were within the group of the last 15 to check-in and they always issue boarding passes like this.  The flight was not oversold so we should be just fine to board in the morning.  That was great news!

I returned to the hotel to share the good news and found Hannah had moved from our bed and was snuggled comfortably in with Nana.  So cute!  (We now travel with Hannah’s sleeping bag and pillow since she is allergic to the detergent most hotels use.  Even last night I had to give her Benadryl as  she was itchy.  Poor pet!  So thankful Disney has hypoallergenic bedding upon request in both their hotels and on the cruise.  Great service!)

The alarm went off early at 5am Friday morning and we were off to the airport.  As predicted by the agent last night we were assigned boarding passes as soon as we got to the gate.  They were late numbers but due to Hannah still being 4 for another 6 days we were able to board early with the families.  We boarded at 8:30 as anticipated for our 8:55am flight and then…we sat.  There was bad weather down in FL so we were delayed about and hour and a quarter.  We had the option to deplane but decided to sit tight.  Hannah showed herself to be the amazing traveller she is and took this all in stride and played with her LeapPad.

After a second extension of our delay we got off the plane for about 40 mins. but then reboarded and eventually made it to FL about 2 1/4 hours later than expected.  Given the number of delays around us we were thankful it was only that long and that we’d made it safely to Orlando!!

We took the Magical Express to our favourite Disney resort, Pop Century.  After a very late lunch we made our way to Downtown Disney for a couple hours of shopping and oh yah, caramel, peanut apples.  Yummo!!

After enjoying some of this apple it was time for bed after a long day.  Tomorrow is one that promises to be filled with tons of fun!  Even though this picture hides it, Hannah (and Mommy!) are beyond excited  to be starting our cruise tomorrow!!

Next post – Cruising with Mickey!!!