Let The Memories Continue!- Day 0
The long awaited day has finally arrived!
Due to ZA’s hectic work schedule, we scrambled to complete our packing and finally finished this morning. To reduce the waiting anxiety, we had a play date for Ashley arranged.
Soon, it was time for us to head to the airport. I tried to book a Maxi Cab to no success and tried again with Prime to get either a Freed or Wish and was not successful too. I gave up and dialed Comfort for a normal taxi and the request was met within seconds. We had a Sonata and there was no way that the 3 luggage could fit in the trunk. The taxi driver agreed for one luggage in front while the 4 of us squeezed in the backseat.
As we were early, checking in was a breeze and we headed over to the newly renovated food court for supper. We spent some time for at the playground and trying out the Osim uSqueeze before proceeding to the departure gate. Here, we caught a glimpse of the new 787 Dreamliner which we were about to board.
The take off was punctual and smooth. Since it was way past bed time, we knocked out almost immediately once snack was served.
We arrived at the newly opened state of the art Hamad International Airport, the replacement for the former Qatar International Airport. The sprawling terminal is equipped with high end shopping and free wifi and several interesting choice of artwork like the gigantic bear which sits in the middle of the airport and a sculpture playground.
After clearing the extremely tedious TSA checks (this time, we were told to empty the contents of our hand carry bags for inspection), we boarded the plane for our next leg of journey which was a dreadful 16 hour flight. This time round, Ashley slept much lesser compared to our flight to New York last year and hence fussed more. As put simply by Ashley, the journey was boring but the destination was awesome. There was also a long wait for our next meal which we did not encounter last year. Apart from that, the flight was smooth and we finally landed at Miami International Airport 45 minutes before our scheduled arrival.
The custom clearance was prompt as there were many counters and took us less than 30 minutes. We did not wait long for our luggage and immediately headed over to Hertz to pick up our rental car. (ZA : Hertz #1 Gold Club is good. The cars are all ready and we did not even need to go to the counter, just head to the garage and get to the assigned car and drive) .
We were initially assigned the Nissan Altima but it could not fit in our luggage no matter which configuration we tried. ZA then requested for a change and we were given the Chevrolet Impala LTZ Limited Edition and it fit! (ZA : V6 engine !)
Ashley was thrilled as the car had a sunroof. It was also the first time that our rental car came with leather seats.
After ZA familiarised himself with the car, we set off for Orlando which is a 3 hour drive. We soon arrived at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and the check in was also prompt as we have already done it online. Our Magic Bands were there waiting for us!
As the Cafe Rix was still open, we picked up our Refillable Mugs and filled them with our choice drinks.
Using Magic Band, Ashley unlocked the door and a cosy room greeted us. We unpacked our luggage, took the much needed shower and called it a night.
