The first day

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Today, I start the adventure of my lifetime: 120+ days away from home, seeing the real world, but starting in a fantasy world.

The first stop of my adventure is a long-awaited trip to DisneyWorld in Florida. I left Queen Creek at 7:30am to catch a 10:40 SWA flight out of PHX.

With the partial government showdown affecting TSA I wanted to arrive a bit early in anticipation of a long line to get through security. My worries were for naught as, when I arrived at the TSA security checkpoint, there were only two people in line ahead of me. Total wait time: 30 seconds.

After an uneventful 4-hour flight I landed in Orlando where the presence of Disney could be felt almost immediately.

I used DisneyWorld’s free “Magical Express” bus service to arrive at my resort for the week. Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is a fancy Spanish colonial-style hotel complex surrounding a beautiful lake.

Disney has tried to automate the check-in process so that one can go directly from the airport to their room with no stops for check-in or keys. For me, this system did not live up to the hype. I received a text message that my room was not yet ready, and that I would receive another text message when it was. A couple of hours later, following no new text message, I decided to visit the registration desk. As it turns out, my room was available all along. The system was not working properly, at least not for my reservation. In order to appease me, I was given a $50 credit on my bill. That made me a lot happier!

Since it was now already 7:00pm, I decided to have some dinner and retire. I found this sports bar in the hotel lobby complex and had some very nice fish and chips, as well as a local IPA beer called “Reef Donkey.” I’m told that the name refers to some kind of a local fish. Anyway, the beer was tasty and not fishy at all.

So ends the first day. More tomorrow.