Well, here it is - the long awaited, oft delayed, much anticipated THIRD WDW trip report for 2014! I'll start out, as usual, with a real downer of a paragraph that you should all skip if you don't want to be depressed. To recap - out of work for the first part of the year, new job in April that I completely hate, and anxiety and depression the likes of which I've never experienced before. I'm a happy guy, and this is completely unlike me, but I can't seem to shake it. So at the end of June I got the word that work was so slow that we had a mandatory week off, no pay (!). On Friday June 27th I had a job interview that I was really looking forward to. I was tentatively planning to start my drive to WDW right after the interview - kind of a celebration of getting a new job (and more importantly, telling the current job to SHOVE IT!). Sadly, I didn't get the gig (overqualified - can you dig it?). As I drove home, I had a real dilemma - scrap the trip to Florida and spend the week bummed out on my couch, or go ahead anyway. Guess which one I chose.
Friday and Saturday, 6/27 & 6/28 -
I had planned on 2 1/2 days to make the drive, with arrival mid-Sunday morning. But I guess I was feeling better than I thought, and when I approached my 2nd planned stop in Gainesville (about 1 1/2 hours north of WDW) I just kept on going, arriving on property around 7pm. Here I made my first big mistake. I should have called the reservation line and extended my trip by a day. Instead I just drove on in to the Pop Century, where they had to book me a room at FULL PRICE for the one night. And since this was a separate rez, I would have to hit the front desk the next morning, rebook, perhaps change rooms, and get a new wristband. Ah well, at least I could start my vaca.
It was too late to hit the parks, so I tried something I've long wanted to do - see if I could get up to the California Grill's bar without a rez. This turned out to be crazy easy. The Contemporary parking guard let me right in, and when I checked in at the CG counter on the third floor, they sent me right up. Stepping off of the elevator onto the 15th floor and that incredible view was totally surreal after a 2 day drive - LET THE VACATION BEGIN!
I found out that you can order from the full menu here, so I had me some tasty sushi in the Spicy Kazan Roll -
I got there right before sunset, so I was able to enjoy some incredible views -
I then took a drink out to the balcony and enjoyed the MK's fireworks show. A really great way to start this strange vacation!
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One too many trips - A WDW Trip Report 6-14
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