Day 1 - We're outta here!

Kara: Good evening - is it really still the same day?  As all of you back in Indiana know, the forecast as of about 11:00 p.m. last night was for 4 - 8 inches of snow through Saturday morning.  That was to begin with freezing rain/ice/snow falling at around 3 a.m., and then changing over to snow with a one inch accumulation forecast for 8 a.m.  We went to bed last night with the plan that we'd get up this morning, drive to the airport at 8 a.m., leave the car at Indy Park and Ride and then go to the airport.  I think both of us just hoped to be there by 10.  We got up and got moving around 6:30 and left the house by 7:45.  There was not a fleck of snow or a drop of moisture yet.  We got to the Park and Ride without incident and then on to the airport.  Just as we got off the shuttle bus at the airport, the first flakes of snow began to fall.  It came down in a sort of snow globe manner for a while and didn't really get going until about 11. 

We had a nice breakfast in Cafe Patachou - my favorite restaurant!  We also ate lunch at Champs.  We boarded our flight without problem and I think this is where I'll let Gayle take over...

Gayle: Yep - you guessed it, I was lucky to get 5 hours of sleep again. Ugh. So I feel like roadkill. Our flight left late due to de-icing. I hoped to sleep, as I often can on planes, but on the other side of me was "Noisy Newspaper Norman",  who was constantly crinkling his newspaper. Grrr. Kara & I gave up & watched an episode of NCIS :) on the iPod Touch. We landed over a half hour late.

Being on a mission, we proceeded to Disney's Magical Express for our free transfers to the resort hotel. Normally there is a line of people at least 20 deep. In peak season this line can be closer to 100. Today? We were directed to skip the desk entirely and proceed directly to our bus! :)

It was in the mid-70s, 120% humidity (just ask our crazy hair) and pouring. And by pouring, I mean forget cats & dogs, it was all 101 Dalmations plus some!

Kara: We took the bus ride (not one of the better bus rides I've ever had - the guy wasn't a great driver) over to the resorts and realized we were going to be late meeting my aunt Idris and uncle Ron.  We exchanged several texts with them to set up a plan and they said it was no problem - they'd just wait for us at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  So, about an hour after we left the airport (maybe longer - I'm a bad judge of these things) we arrived at the lodge.  And here - let me say it for Ron and Gayle - it's very "dark".  Lots of dark woods, low light, etc.  Just like I like it - not like they like it.  Oh well.

We hopped in Ron and Idris's van and they drove us over to the Yacht and Beach Club for our dinner reservation.  Gayle was disappointed in the shopping and this - her favorite of all resorts.  They had no YBC specific apparel so she was unhappy but her credit card left unscathed.  We went to dinner at the Cape May Buffet - a seafood buffet - which was very good.  We enjoyed good food and good fellowship.

Ron and Idris brought us back to Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  We said our good byes and headed in to check in.  We got to our room right after 8:30.  Both of us have showered, arranged our bags for tomorrow so we can hopefully sleep in a little late while the Disney elves work their magic and make our bags magically disappear from this room and reappear in our stateroom on the ship. 

Note on the pillow in our room at Kidani Village

Since we arrived after dark we can only see what we think are outlines of some of the animals on the savannah (we paid a bit extra so I could get the savannah view room).  Hopefully we'll see more tomorrow morning before we check out and get on with our cruise.

Gayle: Yep the resort is dark, but this one was her pick. I still can't believe there was no new Beach Club gear for me to buy! Guess I'll just have to hold out hope for our return trip next month. We're super tired, so we're settling in to watch NUMB3RS and do some last minute prep for tomorrow.

Bell Service will pick up our bags from our room around 8am & we can stay in bed! :) They'll then take them straight to our stateroom on the ship, just like they did from IND to our hotel room tonight! Say what you want, this is CERTAINLY worth the Disney cost!

Hopefully we'll have some good photos to post tomorrow (Sat) or Sunday, when we arrive in Key West - better know as SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Go Colts!