Let The Memories Begin! – Day 0

Day 0

We decided to set off for airport early and started calling to book a maxi-cab as we have 3 luggage with us. Quite sure they cannot fit into a normal cab. After several attempts with no maxi-cab available, we gave up and booked a normal cab. We managed to get a Sonata. Still no luck to fit them in the trunk despite the driver trying various combinations. In the end, we put 2 luggage in the trunk, 1 at the front seat and all 4 of us sat at the back.

 

 

We reached Changi Airport Terminal 3 around 10.30pm and proceeded to check-in counter 8. The procedure was a breeze as we have already did our seat assignment during flight booking. We went for supper at Killiney Coffee and Ashley spent some time at the playground. Soon after we proceeded to the departure gate. It was not opened yet as the aircraft has just arrived at Singapore and even the crew were still waiting. The boarding was delayed by 20 minutes and we finally took off at 2.30am.

As this is our first time flying with Qatar Airways, we do not know what to expect. Soon after we were seated, the stewardess brought a Spongebob Bag souvenir for Ashley and then Jarod too. Ashley was delighted as the brother gladly gave the bag to her. We found the seats harder than the other aircrafts, apart from that, we are pleased with the service and the food. The child meal for Ashley was served in a Spongebob lunch box. It has an interesting mix of a main, a bag of chips, a Kit Kat bar, croissant with strawberry jam, a juice and a bag of gummy bear. This is rather appealing to Ashley as compared to the child meal served on SQ.

We reached Doha International Airport at 4.45am local time. This airport does not have the aerobridge and landed on the tarmac. We have to take a bus to the main terminal, went through security check and proceeded to the transit area for US bound flights. The airport is not as bad as we have imagined as we read many negative reviews about this airport. We have to go through another round of security check at the departure gate and this time, we have to remove shoes as well. The flight was delayed as there was a patient on stretcher and has to be attended to before we can board. Once again, we have to board a bus to the tarmac and board the aircraft from there.

The flight to New York finally departed at 8.45am (40 minutes late). The flight time s about 14 hours. Fortunately, Ashley slept through this leg most of the time and did not kick up a fuss. The rest of the time was spent playing some games on Ipad and watching some movies and TV programmes, All of us managed to get some sleep which is good. We arrived at JFK at 3pm local time. There was no queue at the immigration and we crossed it in no time. The current procedure requires both a picture of us taken and finger prints of all 10 fingers scanned. We proceeded to the carousel to wait for our luggage. It was a long time before our luggage reached us. We did not complain as we are glad that they arrived safely with us. We landed at Terminal 8 and had to take the skytrain to Terminal 5 to catch our onward flight to Orlando.

After we checked in our luggage, we had to go through the TSA screening at the departure gate. We grabbed a quick dinner at JFK and the food was not that good. The boarding on JetBlue was very smooth and the flight departed on time at 6.30pm. Once we boarded, Ashley fell asleep almost immediately and I was drifting between sleep too. I woke up and was served a drink and snack. The service was very good considering that JetBlue is a budget airline.

We finally arrived at Orlando International Airport at 9pm. We picked up our luggage, this time the wait was much shorter and proceeded to Hertz counter. We were assigned our car to be picked up at lot 71. On our way there, we each guessed what car and colour we would get. When we reached there, there was no car in sight! ZA had to go back to the Hertz office to sort it out. He was told that our car,a Kia Optima was ‘stolen’ from us and we would get another car. We were given the choice of Camry or Avenger. ZA chose the Avenger as Camry sounded boring to us and since we are in USA, we should drive a US car. However, the Avenger proved too small for us and he quickly changed it to the Camry. It is a white Camry and Ashley had guessed the colour correctly.

After ZA familiarised himself with the car, we finally made our way to Drury with the help of our pre-purchased Garmin GPA. Jarod also helped with the navigation. The staff at Drury was really good and our check-in completed within minutes. We also got our preferred room no 821. We had requested for this room which faces the lake and according to some TripAdvisor tips, it boasts view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks. This is the view from our room.

Drury is much better than I have expected. The room is simple but nice and the bed were really comfortable. After a much needed shower, we drifted off to dreamland!