WDW Marathon weekend with Team in Training! Day 1, January 7, 2010

Today started incredibly early. I had my alarm set for 3:30 and managed to get up as soon as it went off. Not bad since I didn't get to bed until 1. I quickly got dressed and through my last few items into my carry-on. I was checking a bag that would be filled with full-sized items that I planned on putting into my Owners Locker and lots of my Disney t-shirts that I don't normally wear at home. I originally packed several pairs of shorts but watching the forecast I pulled out all shorts but one pair and a pair of capris. My suitcase now contained a few sweaters and several shirts for layering.

I had two carry-ons. One was filled with my race gear and the other was my laptop/electronics bag. Luckily, the second bag can be classified as a purse (albeit a large purse) so I generally have no issues with the carry-on regulations.

I got my luggage out to my car and I was on my way just around 4 am. It was a nice and quick drive to the airport since no one was actually on the roads. I managed to take the correct exit to get to my affordable and reliable airport parking lot and I was at the check-in in no time. I found my coach, my roommate, and the TnT coordinator who was carrying our Magical Express information. I quickly got my yellow tag on and got in line. Another teammate was in line ahead of me too. We had plenty of time to check in and get through security.

After about 15 minutes of waiting in line, the agents started calling for all people who were checking into the Atlanta flight and pulling them out of line to check them in first. For the next 20-30 minutes, this went on, including checking in an entire wrestling team. We were all shocked that the wrestling team would show up less than 45 minutes before their flight AND still be allowed to check in. We all figured that by the time that this flight was all checked in, they would need to do the same thing with the Orlando flight.

We all eventually got checked in and made our way through security. I went through with my teammate, Mike. Thank goodness I was being a good Disney geek and wearing my Mickey Crocs. They are so quick and easy in security lines. We got to our gate and grabbed a light breakfast and soon it was time to board.

Our flight was quick and comfortable. I watched My Life in Ruins (I know, not a Disney movie) for part of the trip and finally finished playing my game (Azada). I snapped this picture when they announced that we were descending:



After landing, we quickly made our way over to Magical Express and got in line for our bus. We didn't have to wait long before we were on the bus. I grabbed the front seat (purely for the photo opportunities) and Mike joined me (poor guy, he had to listen to me ramble on about Disney for the whole ride). The rest of the team filled in the seats around us and then we were on our way. Soon enough we saw this:



Coronado Springs was the first stop (woohoo!). We all waited patiently for the stuff that was under the bus and then made our way inside. I was in a bit of a daze, but while we were waiting, I noticed that the Christmas decorations were still up.



The line was long, but it moved really fast. Once everyone was through, we made our way to our rooms in the Ranchos (?) section. Here's some pictures from the walk over:







We certainly took the long way to the room, and me and my roommate (Lane) took longer than the 15 minutes that our coach gave us to get settled in before heading out to the expo. We got ourselves organized and we headed to grab lunch at the Pepper Market before heading to the expo. I got a turkey sandwich. No picture of it. Here are pictures from the Pepper Market though:




I had been checking Twitter and Facebook and I saw the wdwalone (Amanda) was at the expo so I sent her a message that I was on my way and we should meet up. It was then that I realized that my waiver was back in the room...