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We took a few photos, in no particular order, pertaining to the logistical side of the Disney trip: i.e. transportation, accomodations, and of course, shopping! 
The trip did get off to a rocky start. At the airport here at home, my wheelchair supposedly set off the bomb-sniffing machine (I say "supposedly" because the very same wheelchair made it through security in Orlando just fine). Even though they had just searched and cleared our carry-on bags, because of the alarm they insisted upon checking them again. What an alarm from the wheelchair had to do with our bags, I haven't the foggiest idea. But anyway, they ripped our bags open again, dropping and scattering our belongings all over the place, and in the process a very important envelope was left out of our bags when they repacked them. The envelope contained all of our reservation paperwork for everything in Florida.
When we realized the envelope was missing after we boarded the plane, our flight attendant called the security checkpoint. They confirmed they had the envelope, but there was no possible way anyone could get off their butt and bring it to the plane in the next five minutes (it is a pretty small airport, in case you're wondering, and maybe a one-to-two minute walk from security to the gate). Never mind that it was their incompetence that got the envelope lost in the first place. Apparently nothing is the TSA's problem. They told us they would put it on the next plane, which only left us wondering how we would obtain it, since we would already be long gone from the airport by the time it arrived. Fortunately, we were assured by others on the plane that Disney would be able to retrieve all of our reservations just from our names. The only thing we might have to worry about was Discovery Cove (I was reasonably sure that DC would have reservations on file electronically as well, but our reservation letter was also supposed to serve as admission to Sea World).
Now, none of this has anything to do with Disney, specifically, except that it was Disney employees we asked for help once we got to Orlando, in claiming the envelope when it arrived and getting it to us in our room. I was rather surprised that no one seemed to have run into a similar situation before, but they assured us they would do everything they could to try to get it for us. When a day or two went by without a word about it, we assumed either they never looked for it, the airline lost it, or the TSA never even bothered to put it on the next plane. So we were pleasantly surprised when we came back to the room on Thursday night, the night before we were to go to Sea World and Discovery Cove, to find a package from Disney's Magical Express, with the envelope inside.
As I mentioned before, we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside resort, which is a Louisiana bayou themed resort and not to be confused with Port Orleans French Quarter, which is next door and has more of a Mardi Gras theme. The resort is huge and confusing, and the map they gave us was useless. It took until literally the last day for us to find our way between the main building, where the lobby, bar, and restaurants are, and our building at the very back of the resort, without having to stop and figure out where we were. We had requested a room with a king size bed, rather than two full beds, because there was no way the two of us could fit comfortably in a full, and we certainly weren't going to sleep separately all week. I had read somewhere (I wish I could recall where) that all king rooms were wheelchair accessible, so imagine our surprise when we found our room and it was on the second floor, with no elevators. Chris had to carry my chair up and down the stairs every day, but it was usually only once a day so it wasn't too bad. The stairs themselves were so nice and shallow that I was able to get up and down them myself with no problem (except when I was drunk thanks to those crazy Disney bartenders!). It was an okay place to stay, but for next time we have our eye on the Polynesian.
The main method of transportation around Disney World is their bus system. Transit authorities all over could learn a thing or two from Disney! The bus system is non-confusing and pretty damn efficient, with exception of one night when there seemed to be a shortage of buses running from Downtown Disney back to the Riverside, yet countless empty and unassigned buses driving right on by the huge line of people waiting to go "home". Every single bus is wheelchair accessible, which is a very good thing, but it would have been nice if the drivers were better trained at how to use the tie-down systems. I don't think a single one of them knew that you aren't supposed to run the lap belt over the top of the armrests (crushed spleen, anyone?), despite very clear instructions stating so that were posted next to the belt on every single bus. Those instructions also say that the belt needs only be used at the request of the passenger, but many drivers insisted upon it and did not give a choice. Despite its flaws, though, the bus system made it very easy to get around an area we were not at all familiar with, and I don't know how many city bus systems you can say that about.
There are also a couple of other transportation options in certain areas of WDW. There are water taxis which run between Downtown Disney and the two Port Orleans resorts. And if you're in the Magic Kingdom area, you can take the monorail between the three or four resorts in that area and the Magic Kingdom park. When riding the monorail from the resorts, you actually have to get off and switch trains at the Transportation & Ticket Center, to get to the park. And there, you have another option. Instead of hopping on another smelly monorail, you can instead take a ferry the rest of the way to the park. We of course sampled all of these transportation options during our stay.
One of our goals with this trip was to get the majority of our Christmas shopping done and make it a true Disney Christmas. On Tuesday morning we met up with our friend Laura's dad, who lives down there and works for Disney, and took advantage of his employee discount in the World of Disney store at Downtown Disney. We did a good chunk of our shopping there and saved a ton of money. We also did some shopping here and there while at the parks and in the resort shops. The coolest thing about this, is you don't have to carry everything you buy around with you for the rest of the day. At any store anywhere in Disney World, as long as you're staying at a Disney resort, you can have all of your purchases delivered to your room, free of charge. This really helped, especially that day with Laura's dad, because I literally had stuff stacked up on my lap up to my eyeballs by the time we checked out. We also went back to Downtown Disney on Saturday before our flight, bought a few more last minute items, and took a few pictures of the giant Lego sculptures outside the Lego store.
Next and final installment: Sea World and Discovery Cove!
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