Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

On Sunday, the morning after our wedding, The Gryphon and I had to get up at an ungodly hour in order to make it to the Philadelphia Airport and catch our plan to Orlando for our honeymoon.

We had arranged to take an airport shuttle from the hotel, so we got up with enough time to get showers, get dressed, grab our luggage and be in the lobby by 7:15.

This didn't leave time for breakfast, which we agreed we'd have at the airport.

Before we left the room, I got a picture of myself in the mirror of the dining section of our suite, all ready to go.

We weren't the only ones to get up at what The Gryphon turned "Oh My God O'clock", and two other people were in the shuttle when we boarded: a gentlemen in his 50s or 60s and a petite woman in her 40s, who was calling her airline to find out which gate she needed to go to.

The shuttle stopped at a couple other hotels along the way to the airport, and the woman struck up a conversation with us. When she heard we were headed for Orlando, she advised us to wear a brimmed hat and drink plenty of water. Of course, neither of us had packed such hats, so we'd have to pick them up once we got there.

She also asked us what we did for a living and, upon learning that I wrote poetry, she admitted she'd never really appreciated or understood poetry. I suggested she start with Maya Angelou, a contemporary poet who's very accessible and whose books can be found on the shelves nearly everywhere. Much like back in my younger days, when I read every Rod McKuen book I could find after seeing him read while on a family vacation in Chautauqua, New York.

She surprised me, then, by revealing that she teaches high school English! While she lamented her students' lack of English skills, I wondered how someone ends up as an English teacher if they don't particularly like a large portion of English literature. But I didn't want to lecture her. Instead, we got into a discussion of some classic poets and I suggested she'd be more likely to enjoy Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson to more wordy poets like Walt Whitman.

I told her that it's a common misunderstanding that poems are esoteric and that you need to have a master's degree to understand it. In much the same way, people are intimidating by ordering wine because they think only a few people with specified knowledge are permitted to order it. This is not the case with poetry any more than with Pinot Noir.

Before she exited, I told her about Wild Violet and gave her my card. Hopefully, she'll check it out. As she left, she wished us a happy marriage. The other passengers did likewise, wishing us well, when we disembarked.

I had not boarded a plane since about 1994 and had no idea what the new security regulations would require, so I followed The Gryphon's example. First, he took care of our luggage, registering it curbside. He'd already fastened the yellow luggage tags that marked them for the Disney Magical Express, a service offered to those staying on the Disney property. If you use their service, they collect your luggage from the airport and deliver it to your room. It can be several hours before it arrives, so they advise you bring anything you might need in that time in your carry-on luggage.

They checked our IDs and our tickets, then affixed the airline's tags on our bags and whisked them away.

Next we had to go through security, which wasn't too bad. We encountered a fairly short line. Since The Gryphon had told me I'd have to remove my shoes, I'd worn a pair of slip-on moccasins. He, however, had to wear sneakers since he doesn't have any slip-on shoes or loafers. While he flies more than I, he still only flies a couple times a year.

We had to remove all electronic items from our carry-ons and set them in a plastic tray. I'd previously put them all in a plastic bag, not because I knew about the security regs but because I figured it would keep them all together. So for me, this was easy. I placed my camera next to them, along with my shoes and overcoat, and ran my bag through the scanner independently.

Then we walked through the metal detector and were cleared to collect our items. Easy.

We had a short time before our plane was due to take off, so we found a place where we could get some oatmeal for breakfast, along with bananas and coffee. Then we made our way toward our gate with AirTran Airways.

Fortunately, The Gryphon checked in with someone to find out if our flight was on time, because he learned they'd already boarded. We made it into our seats just in time. We had seats in business class, having upgraded since they didn't have regular seats together. It was a bit more comfortable, The Gryphon said, with larger seats.

I was not feeling 100 percent, in part because we'd had hardly any sleep. Not only did we go to bed late and rise early, but I also woke up on my own long before the alarm and slept only fitfully after that. Of course, we couldn't touch our oatmeal or coffee until the ascent, so I was hungry and tired.

When the plane leveled off, we could eat our lukewarm breakfast, which hit the spot.

Our flight attendants were friendly and colorful: a petite blonde woman with bright eyeshadow that, instead of looking tacky, looked like something from the stage. And a soft-spoken African-American man who had a very calming way about him. He made a child stop crying by going up to her and say, "I have a cookie!" and producing a package of cookies. She was quiet for the rest of the flight. Their comforting presence was a big help to me, after not flying for so many years, and I told them so when we landed.

The flight was only two and a half hours, and I slept for much of it. The flight attendants brought us drinks and snacks, which made the time go faster.

On the descent, I started to feel nauseous, so I breathed deeply and focused on the sound of the air conditioning, which sounded like a waterfall. I don't typically have this sort of problem with flying, so I attributed it to my less than stellar physical condition.

Once landed, we followed the signs to a shuttle that took us to the main airport, where we would find the Disney Magical Express which would take us to our resort on the Disney property. Sure enough, we soon saw Disney employees — or cast members, as they're called — wearing colorful, nautical style outfits that looked very Disney. One even wore a Mickey Mouse glove as he directed us to the waiting area.

After a short wait, we boarded the Magical Express, singing The Who's "Magic Bus" as we did. The bus driver asked where we were heading, and we told him Port Orleans - Riverside. Then we got to sit back and watch a video about the Disney parks until we arrived.

Our resort was one of the midrange hotels, so it was a little more sophisticated than the budget hotels aimed at families. Port Orleans - Riverside borrowed its architecture, landscape and uniforms from 1880s New Orleans, including an artificial waterway called the Sassagoula River, with a functioning boat service that carries guests to Downtown Disney, a shopping and entertainment area.

Riverside Mill, a food court at Port Orleans - Riverside,
with a functioning water wheel

View from the bridge over the Sassagoula River

An egret in mid-flight over the Sassagoula River

Magnolia Terrace, where we stayed

When we checked in, the cast member who helped us gave us "Just Married" pins. We discovered that, when we wore them, both cast members and guests wished us congratulations, and some did extra nice things for us, besides.

After we'd settled in, we took a bus to Downtown Disney and then flagged a cab to get some necessities from a grocery store. We wanted to eat breakfast in the room and pack a lunch each day, to counterpoint the expense restaurants where we had reservations at night.

In the grocery store, we picked up cereal, shelf-stable milk (since we wanted to make sure it survived the trip back to the hotel in the heat), bread, peanut butter, jelly, Kashi bars and apples. We also bought a little backpack that could be used to carry our lunches and the ponchos we'd been advised to bring, this being the rainy season in Orlando. Frequently, you encounter bursts of rain, which typically pass quickly.

Since the grocery store wasn't far from Downtown Disney, we walked back to it, and I snapped a photo of The Gryphon in front of the sign that welcomes visitors to the Disney property.

We spotted a lot of little brown lizards dashing across the sidewalk, but they were too small and fast for me to photograph properly.

When we returned to the room, our luggage had been delivered, which made us very happy because it meant that we could change into nicer outfits to get dinner. After a nap, The Gryphon suggested we take a bus to Epcot Center and then a monorail to the transportation center, where we could switch lines for a monorail that would take us past all the Disney hotels.

The night was already falling by the time we got to the transportation center, and from outside the gates of Epcot Center, I caught my first glimpse of the famous geodesic sphere, lit with colorful lights. In front of the sphere are the information kiosks and ticket stations at the entrance.

We passed by many key sights, and could glimpse Cinderella's castle in the distance. Most of my photos from the monorail didn't turn out, though, because it was dark and we were moving.

The Gryphon had visited Disney World a couple times before with family, so he suggested we get out at the Contemporary Hotel and eat at one of their casual restaurants. He thought that I would enjoy the architecture, since I'd done so much research on Space Age design in preparation for our retrofuturistic wedding reception. He was right: the building features a huge atrium of terraces, with a high glass ceiling. Space Age architecture at its finest.

Before we looked for a restaurant, we stopped in the gift store at my urging. I'd been suffering from purse problems all day, as the purse I'd chosen to take on the plane had a loose latch that kept opening up. Then, as we'd been heading out for the evening, I discovered that my brand new wristlet purse was flawed. The handle pulled irreparably apart, and the zipper burst open from a relatively small amount of items stowed inside.

Disney, fortunately, offers a wide array of merchandise, and after looking at what the store had to offer, I chose a black hobo bag with a sequined Tinkerbell. While it's the sort of whimsical purse I rarely carry anymore, it was perfect for my purposes. It lasted faithfully through an entire week of rides, rain and fairly rough wear. And while I probably won't be using it very often back home, I got my money's worth while in Orlando.

The woman behind the counter was very helpful and even told us about some things we should try to do while we were at Disney. She advised us to pick up a schedule of special events for any park we visited so we could find out when things like parades or performances would take place.

We chose to eat at the Concourse Steakhouse, although we were prepared for the fact that we might have to wait for a while. They told us it would be a 20-minute wait, but amusingly, we had scarcely even started walking away from the counter when our beeper started flashing that a table was ready.

In this sense, we had a lot better luck than a guy who was speaking to the hostess as we arrived. He was complaining that someone had told him, when he was there earlier in the evening, that he'd only have a five-minute wait if he came back later. He was upset they were still saying 20 minutes. As it was, though, he was seated shortly after us. I noticed that he was wearing a convention style name tag and figured he was in town for business.

We found the food to be very tasty. I had a pasta dish with crab, which I enjoyed. After dinner, the waitress surprised us with complimentary champagne, with strawberries on the rim, because of our Just Married pins. All in all, we found it a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere with food a cut above your typical steakhouse.

Although we were tired, we stopped in the bar and each ordered one drink. I got a fun mixed drink: a martini with a souvenir glowing ice cube.

Before we turned in, we made some plans for the next day, when we would visit Magic Kingdom.

More Musings on Alyce's honeymoon:

Honeymoon Index

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

October 2007 Index

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