Morning Everyone!
So a lot has happened since my last post – I’m now in America living in my new apartment! I’ll try to do this in order as best I can.
To start things of Jen and I were ready to depart Brisbane International Airport at 11:15am. That was until we got delayed for an hour; Air New Zealand gave us refreshment vouchers which we used at the Coffee Club. We then got delayed again, and again, summing up to be around a 3 hour delay. By that stage we were just eager to get on the plane and get started. I then remembered how much I disliked long hour flights. Sure enough the Brisbane to New Zealand was one three hours, realising I had another 12ish hour flight ahead of me; I wasn’t looking forward to it. We got into New Zealand with enough time to jump on the internet and then make our way over to our gate. At least this flight wasn’t delayed.
To start things of Jen and I were ready to depart Brisbane International Airport at 11:15am. That was until we got delayed for an hour; Air New Zealand gave us refreshment vouchers which we used at the Coffee Club. We then got delayed again, and again, summing up to be around a 3 hour delay. By that stage we were just eager to get on the plane and get started. I then remembered how much I disliked long hour flights. Sure enough the Brisbane to New Zealand was one three hours, realising I had another 12ish hour flight ahead of me; I wasn’t looking forward to it. We got into New Zealand with enough time to jump on the internet and then make our way over to our gate. At least this flight wasn’t delayed.
I managed to sleep on and off on the plane to Los Angeles, but I think that just made me even more exhausted. We arrived in LA and had to make our way from terminal 2 to terminal 5. It was pretty straight forward when we found the street that allowed us to get there. Once we checked in to our Delta flight, we had a whole bunch of waiting to do. Over 6 hours left of waiting. We were originally departing from terminal 6 which we hung around. It had barely anything there since it’s going through renovations. We then found a tunnel which connected terminal 6 and terminal 5, and we didn’t have to go through security again thank goodness! We then had dinner/lunch and McDonald’s (a good way to start our America trip) where I ordered a small drink. Yeah, their smallest is Australia’s large. But an upside is – they have Dr Pepper to choose from!
After waiting and waiting and waiting, we headed over to our gate, only to find the flight listed on the screen above the gate was not ours… We then got in contact with another ICP who was on the same flight and told us it was at Terminal 5 gate 51. After going through that tunnel again we got to the gate and waited some more. That was where I met Anna, Ashleigh and Sharleen; they were on our flight and were at the same apartment as us. After our 4 or so hour flight to Orlando we met up and caught a taxi to the Holiday Inn that we were all staying at. And, they were staying just 2 doors down from ours!
Once we all dumped our bags and FINALLY got a shower we all met up and decided to walk to Walmart. I thought it’d be still a bit chilly out so I wore my coat. Once you’re in the sun for a few minutes, it heats up – fast. So that was thrown over my bag quickly. Our walk was about 4ish kilometres from the hotel, and we had to walk along a highway to get there with ending footpaths and huge intersections. We eventually got there after being asked a couple times if we were lost and on one occasion if we needed a lift, which we politely declined.
Walmart is HUGE. I knew it was big, but it’s massive. At least the one we went to was! Bigger than the Bunnings Wearhouse down the road from my house in Brisbane. And it had everything in there. It’s like a massive version of our Pick ‘n Pay. We got a few items, mainly towels and a thing of Pringles (which is $1.69 here where as in Australia, for the big box it’s at least $3.50). We were smart and didn’t walk back. We got a taxi back to the hotel. Since we were all tired and hungry we went to Applebees, which was beside our hotel, it even had a connecting walkway inside, and had lunch. Afterwards we went back upstairs and I slept from 2-6pm. We all then went back downstairs to Applebees for dinner.
The next day we went to one of the Orlando Premium Outlets (which happens to be near Patterson Court and Chatham Square) and bought a few items. From there we went to Florida Mall and did some more shopping, I got my prepaid phone sim and bedding. That night we all went out to dinner again.
Check In Day
We all met up outside our rooms and struggled downstairs to check out of the apartment. Afterwards Anna and Ashleigh walked to Vista Way, whilst Sharleen, Jen, and I waited for one of the hotel’s private taxis. After waiting for almost an hour, we got a taxi and headed straight for Vista Way with about 5 minutes to spare before 12pm. I checked in and found out I was in Patterson Court in the same apartment as Jen. Disney then had transportation that would take us to our buildings so we weren’t lugging our suitcases around looking for our building number. Once we unloaded our again to get last few bed items and some groceries to tie us over for a few days. We had our first experience on the Disney Transportation and once we were done came back to our apartment to unpack.
Other than that we ate, showered and went straight to bed, and then heard one of the other roommates come inside so I went out to introduce myself. It’s fairly quiet in our apartment, which I don’t mind. It means I’ll get more sleep since I wake up at every noise. Speaking of which these beds make so much noise, I woke up every time I moved and they are extremely uncomfortable.
Today we’ve just tried to catch up on some sleep, especially since yesterday we were all exhausted. I think later we’re heading back to Walmart to get some stuff for the bathroom and a few more groceries. I also have to learn how to use this oven. It looks very confusing.
Until next time!~
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