Anniversary DCL Trip – Day 1

3:30am
We awake to the sound of “Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor…”
Bags were packed the night before, so we only needed to shower, add a couple items to a backpack, and head out the door. The airport is about 8 minutes from my home, so we were in by just after 4am.
I was surprised to see the Southwest counter open, we checked in at the kiosk and dropped our bags with no wait. TSA was not ready for passengers yet, so we had to wait a few minutes to go through security. We were at our gate by 4:15, and had to wait for Dunkin’ to open for some breakfast. My wife tackled that line, and had our sandwiches just a little bit. Starbucks, however, opened about 20 minutes late (opened 5:21 instead of the 5am they are supposed to), so we ended up eating cold bagel sandwiches with our coffee.
Our flight was on-time departing, and we sat next to another family headed on a Disney trip. We had a great flight discussing past trips. The plane touched down about 15 minutes early at MCO. We quickly snagged our luggage and picked up our rental. First stop: Disney’s Character Warehouse at Orlando Premium Outlets.
The drive to the outlets was not bad, and we made good time there. Boy was that place busy! I honestly was a little stressed out in there, the people were pretty aggressive and rude shopping. I did not have any luck finding souvenirs, but my wife bought a D&B handbag at a really good discount, and a shirt.
After the outlets, we made our way to Disney Springs. Wow! It is totally different. Different flow, different feel. Honestly, I do not like it. Even though it was not busy, it felt crowded, and there were more shops I was not interested in, than ones of interest.
We headed to WPE for lunch, first. It was a little late and we had 4pm HDD ADRs, so we decided to split an entree and dessert. I had to order the bacon wrapped meatloaf. The taste was just as I remembered it, but the portion was smaller than my last time there… and I’m pretty sure more expensive. We also had a slice of vanilla bean cheesecake, that was frozen when it came out. Slightly disappointing for so much anticipation. We lightly browsed WOD and a couple other shops before having to trek to the opposite end to retrieve our car (I miss the parking behind WOD ).
A short ride to Fort Wilderness and we arrived for Hoop Dee Doo. Our seats were fantastic, one table removed from stage-side. The show was fantastic as always. We were picked twice as part of it (once for where we were from, and once for celebrating an anniversary). DW was a bit embarrassed getting up and dancing. The food was good, but not as good as past trips. The ribs were not as tender as in the past, and tasted as if they just squirted BBQ sauce on them just before serving. The chicken was bland, slightly greasy, and reminded me of what you can purchase at the supermarket in the grab-n-go section. The cowboy beans were flavorless, and the corn looked like frozen microwaved (shriveled like raisins). The strawberry shortcake was awesome, though. We still enjoyed our meal, and out time there.
After HDD, we made a quick Walmart run for some last-second toiletries, and hit the road for Cocoa Beach.
The drive took about 2 hours, to avoid tolls we stuck to backroads. The ride was quiet and scenic, and we did not mind the peaceful drive. We arrived at the Sheraton Four Points just after 9. Checked in and headed up for a good night sleep. The room was huge, bed comfortable, and overall the hotel was nice. We called it a night around 10pm so we could be ready for the days ahead.