For the third year in a row, our summer vacation location was determined by where Madeline’s dance nationals were being held. In 2021, it was Orlando; last year, it was Nashville. This year we were back in Orlando, and I had the benefit of it being in the same hotel as before. I learned quite a bit two years ago, and I put it to good use this year.
Two years ago, I did not get a room at the host hotel, because I chose a hotel with a full kitchen. I thought with a full week of nationals, we’d want to be able to make our own meals. But it didn’t work out that way. The refrigerator became a holding place for leftovers that never got eaten, and I don’t think we used the oven at all. When I booked in 2021, I thought the kitchen hotel was an easy walk from the host hotel, but it wasn’t (it’s hard to walk 100 yards in the Florida humidity!), and we ended up taking a lot of ride shares. We really could have used a car in 2021.
This year, I was determined to stay at the host hotel. The email instructions about booking came in the middle of a work lunch, and I dropped everything and made my reservation! We also rented a car for the entire trip. And we planned a few days away after nationals to recover.
I like to fly early because (a) I don’t sleep well the day before a flight, regardless of its time, so I might as well get up early; (b) planes are more likely to be on time when they depart very early in the morning; and (c) it’s nice having a whole day to get acclimated to your new location. I also like direct flights, because who likes layovers and it seems harder to misplace luggage when you’re just getting it onto and off of one plane. We had a direct flight from Indianapolis to Orlando departing at 5:20 am on Saturday, June 24. That meant I woke up at 2 am, and Andrew and Madeline got up at 2:30.
We left our house at 3 am, which would get us to the airport around 3:30. Typically we only plan to arrive at the airport more like an hour before our flight, but we’ve been hearing neighbors say that lines have been long this summer. We had to take a detour on the way to the airport, because the exits onto the interstate we typically use were inexplicably blocked, but we still made good time and arrived a little after 3:30. Andrew dropped Madeline and me — and our carry-ons and four bags to check — at the Southwest counter and then went to park the van in long-term parking. The lines at the Southwest counter were insane! We stood in one short-ish line to get our luggage tags, and I grabbed Andrew’s too, after assessing the situation. I assumed that when he made it back to the terminal we’d still be in the very long line to drop our bags. And I was right. In all, we probably spent about half an hour dropping our bags.
I typically love to travel light, taking as small of a bag as possible. But that’s just not possible with 11 costumes, three pairs of dance shoes a hair bag, a makeup kit, garment bags, hangers, and various other dance needs. And the director advises us not to check our costumes — it would be really awful to arrive at nationals without your costumes! We put her costumes and shoes in a carry-on. We checked a small Dream Duffel to use in the dressing room, and it was filled with garment bags, hangers, our travel steamer, etc. And she had a suitcase filled with her regular clothes and accessories, so it was a lot. Andrew, as always, flew with a small suitcase and a shoulder bag. All in all, we checked five bags and took on the plane one carry-on and three personal items.
We have TSA pre-check, so security should have been quick. Except my sweet daughter hasn’t flown in a while and forgot the limit on liquids. She had a big bottle of spray sunceroon in her carry-on, plus a 4-ounce bottle of hair lightener. TSA pulled her bag and checked it, and they told her she could either check the entire bag or forfeit the items. She leftthe two things behind, and we headed toward the gate.
Our airport has a frozen yogurt vending machine/robot that is usually broken. This time it wasn’t, so Madeline asked for frozen yogurt for breakfast, and we obliged. Then when we got to the gate she saw that Starbucks was about to open, and we ended up getting that too. The flight boarded a litte early, and even though we had a boarding position in the B40’s (I checked in at 5:20 am on Friday but still got a late position), we were able to all three sit together. The flight even left the gate a little early, which was great!
A couple weeks before the trip I started watching Bridgerton, and I was one episode away from finishing Queen Charlotte when we boarded the trip. I’d thought to download the episode at home, and so when we took off I was all about my Netflix. I liked Bridgerton, but I could not get enough of Queen Charlotte! I was sitting on the plane with tears streaming down my face. The flight attendants probably thought I was insane.
Soon after the show ended, we started our approach into Orlando. We arrived early, which is like the best travel gift ever. The carousel to get our luggage was weirdly empty, and soon we were headed to the rental counter. A lot of airport rental companies these days will tell you to choose your car out of a general area, and that’s what they did this time. We had reserved a full-size car and chose a compact SUV for the extra luggage space. The drive to the hotel was not too bad (it was only 7:30 in the morning), and soon we were checking in!
My memory of the Orlando Hilton during Nationals was a wall of people all the time. But when we checked in, it was blissfully quiet. As soon as we got to our room I set up the Dream Duffel and unpacked and hung up the costumes, so the wrinkles would have some time to fall out before Madeline needed them. Fortunately, they all seemed to be there! Andrew and Madeline unpacked while I did that, and soon Andrew was in bed napping. When I finished the costumes I changed into a swimsuit, and Madeline and I went down to the hotel pool.
The hotel has a really nice large pool and a lazy river. We grabbed towels, claimed chairs, and relaxed in the sun. But soon the Florida sun made sitting miserable, and we got into the pool. Although it wasn’t very busy when we arrived around 9:00, it got steadily busier, and soon there were very few seats available. Since we’d been up before 3:00, we were really hungry by 10:00, and we grabbed a table as soon as the poolside restaurant, Tropics, opened for lunch. As soon as I ate I got really tired, so I went back to the room to unpack and then nap. When I woke up, I got the car and drove to a nearby Publix to buy us some groceries for the week.
At Publix, I was careful not too buy more perishable things than the room refrigerator could hold, but I bought a lot anyway: cheese and boiled eggs and bread and butter and protein shakes and Sprite and popcorn and Oreos and strawberries and carrots and ranch and some other things, too. I was able to carry everything from the car to the room except for two gallons of filtered water.
Madeline was still at the pool, and Andrew was down there, too, so I changed into a swimsuit and went down. Madeline was playing with some of her dance teammates. Andy had a place in the shade, and I enjoyed reading and floating in the lazy river. When we left we were ready for dinner. After 12 hours by the pool, Madeline was exhausted and didn’t want to go, so Andy and I went and ordered a pizza to go for her. By the time Andy got it to her, around 6:30, she was already asleep. We finished dinner and then went to the Universal desk to reserve seats on the morning bus to Universal, because we had plans to go to Volcano Bay all day Sunday!
It was still a little early to go to bed, so we walked down to the convention area. The competition was in the same ballroom as before, but they had it set up a little differently. Then we went to the lobby bar, where I ordered something they called an Old Florida Fashioned. It came with a cinnamon stick that had been set on fire. There was no open flame, but an ember burned at the end for a few minutes. It gave a really nice smoky scent that preceded my drink. After our drinks it was late enough that we felt it acceptable to get ready for bed. We were asleep by 9:00, but it had been a good first day!