Disney Feast West&East Day 14: Travelling "home" to OKW

[WileyCoyote]

So today is the today that we leave the West Coast to start our 3 weeks in Florida - we are really very lucky and whilst we have had an amazing two weeks , we are all looking forward to the next three even more

Our West Coast Wonderland adventures can be found here

Disney Feast West & East INDEX

Today we check out of the Custom Hotel which is 4 * rated and frankly 0* service.

We are up at 6 and out at 7 – it appears they serve breakfast at the hotel but we didn’t know and no-one told us so we didn’t factor in any time – the hotel goes even further down in my estimation.

We get to the Airport in record time and Andy drops us at the Delta terminal while he goes to give back the hire car. Connor is fantastic at helping me sort the check in and the weigh in.

We are perplexed to find the cases are somehow all a couple of kilos over so we all end up with pairs of shoes in our hand luggage. I am sure the airlines fix their scales . We pay the $25 for each case and its all completed fairly painlessly. Andy gets back around 0800 and is full of praise for the Alamo service . Security is pretty painless too – they must have thought we had a shoe fetish when they scanned our bags but we whizz through and stop for a McDonalds breakfast.

Before we know it we are boarding at 0920 – right at the back of the plane but in reasonable seats. Apparently we are away at 0940 , which is pretty good for a 1000 flight !

We get some snacks at 11 and again at 1 and soft drinks/tea /coffee which I hadn’t expected on a domestic flight.


Its not an exciting flight, so there is plenty of this going on





But then we hit some pretty rough turbulence which does cause people to fall over and apparently there is much screaming and Jamie allegedly saying very loudly “ are we going to crash” just as it all went quiet.

Of course I missed all this as I had my headphones on, eyes closed, gripping the seat in front because as we all know, if you cant see it or hear it , then “it” is just not happening.

When not gripping the seat for dear life, I take advantage of the fact that there is nothing else to do and write up my West Coast notes in my new Disney journal. And I watch the film “the Lucky One “ with eye candy Zac Effron. Except I didn’t get the airline headsets so I literally just watch it with no sound. Good thing it was a romance and easy to work out what was going on .

Andy tells me that during the turbulence he rescued a heavily pregnant lady from falling in the aisle. Connor and Nick are very distressed that their boxes of goldfish crackers went into orbit and are now all over the seat and floor. I am simply glad we are still in the air and not re-enacting the air crash debris scene from War of the Worlds that we recently saw at Universal . I’m sure it wasn’t that bad really – it just felt like it. It carries on being choppy for a bit and when the pilot said that it was a bit gusty at MCO, he certainly wasn’t wrong.

We are all pleased to be off and even better a bit early at 1720 rather than 1800. It was only a 4 ½ hour flight but somehow we have lost a lot more time and explaining time zones to the boys becomes quite repetitive. As we are at the back of the plane we are slow off and so don’t get into bag claim till 1810. No customs though which is good. The bags are also slow off and we are not setting off to DME until 1830. It is so well organised and I am very excited to be getting on DME – I know, its only a bus, but its still exciting as its our first time.







We get to see POR and POFQ on the way and they look lovely so that gets me even more excited although by now I am also getting anxious. I have lived this bit of the holiday so many times in my mind while planning it , I am praying it will live up to my expectations and everyone elses.

At last we arrive at OKW at 1930 and the “welcome home” really does feel like that. The reception staff are outstanding. We get allocated block 18 , which I am at first disappointed with as I had requested the Turtle Pond Area but as it turns out, Millers Road worked just fine for us. We get the golf buggy to the room and the boys have to wait a few minutes just so I can walk in and appreciate how lovely it all is before they sprawl themselves everywhere.

[WileyCoyote]

We have a view over the Golf Course







Dont ask - the balloons from reception went down really well -and these two are teenagers !



We don’t unpack – we have time to do that tomorrow. We head straight out to get a bus to DTD for some dinner. Its very warm and muggy , so different to the dry Los Angeles heat. A bus comes pretty quickly ( luring us into a false sense of security, this never happened again) and we are dropped off in Marketplace. I am full of big smiles, its just so nice to be here again.

We head to WPE , there is a bit of a queue but it moves quickly enough. We have the worlds most miserable server though and when I ask for a bottle of wine to be charged to our room key, she charges the whole meal ( $126). I tell her that’s not right and she throws a major strop and tells me “I have to wait for the manager”. Oh dear , our first use of DDP and already its gone horribly wrong. But the manager is fine and understands the problem immediately. He sends us off to sit down while he cancels the transaction and does it all again – phew, 5 CS credits used and only $19 charged to the room. He says the server is “highly strung” – well, that’s one way to describe her.


The food is fantastic – we are hungry and there is plenty of it. Andy is amazed this is only a “lunch” credit in his view. We have spaghetti with meatballs, the rotisserie chicken and mash and 3 pizzas, followed by cheesecake, crème brulee and 3 brownies. The boys have sodas and Andy and I share the wine. It’s a great meal and the Disney magic is definitely rubbing off on all of us ( maybe it was the wine, I cant be sure, hic, )

Sorry food pics a bit rubbish - not sure why so much glare on them













We take a look in Goofy’s Candy Store and the Christmas store. Never too early for Christmas in my books.

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Connor and Nick get wet running through the fountains and we are all very happy indeed to be here. Especially Jamie , as arrival in Florida must mean its his birthday .


We get back to OKW around 10pm. I unpack the boys cases and get them sorted and of course most exciting, I make use of the laundry room. We all just settle in and relax – the bed is enormous and super comfy. No more living out of a suitcase – hurrah.


SatNav Sabotage count – nil , amazingly it got us to the airport first time and we didn’t leave it in the hire car
Shopping Count – still poor, but soon to be rectified now we are in Florida
DDP Count – 5 CS credits , value in $106 ( excludes the wine )

[Ariel's Mum]

That turbulence must have been scary. We're staying at OKW next year a really looking forward to it

[scotsprincess]

Great pics of your room etc

[Guest]

Getting excited at last now after reading your report! Really looking forward to trying WPE for the first time too. Countdown at 20 days - not long now.

[mick]

You sound really happy to be in Florida

[Gill635]

I didn't realise how quick the flight from LAX to MCO was! Shall have to look into that, my Nephew is dying to go to LA


xx

[ginger ninja]

Great start to the east coast, room looks lovely (was there a single sleeper chair in the living area?) giving me ideas for our next trip

[KarenG]

What a fantastic villa

Now get on with the shopping

[Kellea]

You stayed in the same room as us !
Brings back lots of happy memories, I loved the millers road area of OKW and will be requesting it when we go back in August x