Hurry up and Wait...

Day: 3
Date: 20/07/08
Event: To Orlando

Despite having all the ingredients of a very dreary day, it has been fun!

It started at 6:13 am, when the little girls I was sharing a room with woke up and wanted to know when they had to wake up. (6:30) We were flying out at 10, but since it was an international flight, which requires checking in 2 hours early, and we were an admittedly large group, we were leaving the Hotel/Terminal at 7:30. Enough time to check in, get through customs, and catch some breakfast. Right?

Well, that might have worked had we been travelling any airline other than Air Canada.

We arrive at the international check-in and are told that we have to use the self-serve. Told rudely, I might say. It gets halfway through the our 12 personal ticket-group and dies. Twice. Daddy heads over the line F, which declares in pretty lights over the desk that it is "self service assistance." However, as he approaches the desk the lady behind it declares that she can't help and walks away.

...

After a short verbal skirmish with another lady, behind the Oversized-Baggage counter, we enter the check-in line. Approximately 35 minute after entering the line, we arrive at a desk. !0 minutes there and we have out boarding passes. Yes, the whole rigmarole was solely to get out boarding passes and have out luggage approved. At was about at this point that I remember what I learned last Christmas, which is that time ceases to have meaning while traveling, You enter a supra-state wherein colours and textures are abnormally fascinating, shameless gawking at other passengers is par for the course and the world outside the airport swindles into comparative insignificance. And all it takes to achieve this state is belligerent airport employees and a wait of an hour or more. No drugs required at all! :P

Anyhow, we got out of check-in and slid neatly into the line for customs. That went smoothly, and it was on to drop off the luggage and enter the line for security. Apparently with American Security you have to take off your shoes as a matter of course. There were no hassles, but security remains a surreal experience. Not the least if you happen to glance at the next line over (always a bad idea) and Mr. Anarchy has tried to go through security wearing studded leather, and consequently, after putting all offending clothing items through the scanner, is wearing very little while being patted down. And it's all normal. Weird. *shudders*

Anyhow, we made it through , and made our gate with a whole 5 minutes to spare! Yay us!

Three hours later, we land in Orlando. There is another monorail to the other terminal, where lives the baggage claim. I am pleased :) So we take it over to the other terminal, and wait for our baggage. Thankfully I do not have a watch to stress over, but it was a long time before our five lovely bags came down the conveyor.

Next objective; get to our hotel. There is a shuttle, but it seems to cost $90 per person. (90*12=1080?) Let's consider alternative transport! Daddy goes off to arrange this, while we wait. An undefined amount of time later, we hire two cab vans and speed off to the resort. Finally, the end of the line! Only not quite.

It seems that our rooms were not ready. (at this point it was 3 in the afternoon, local time) Okay, that's fine, we'll just take a tired party of 12,, which has eaten only on the plane, if they were not sleeping, on a walk. This has all the potential to be very unpleasant. But there might be gators in that pond! There are palm trees on the side of the road! And look, a lizard! And another one! The crisis does not materialize

Just as were were all lined up to try and dash across the road, the cellphone rang; our rooms were ready. So we trundle back and collapse inside the AC. Fraulein and I have our own room, nicknamed the Peach Hut. The hotel is actually a resort, with tennis courts, pool, spa, and "sundry amenities." We're living the high life! (Although, I think that the Toronto Hotel was nicer, but that's just me)

Tomorrow is Disney!