Public transport Disney style

One of the perks of my job is that I get to go, company paid, to an annual conference each spring, of professionals in my industry. It's a lot of fun to hear what challenges other people in similar jobs face, as well as it's always an interesting group of people and new ones to meet. As well as lots of free industry give-a-ways, which make it look like a 5 year old lives in my apartment when I first get back with the amount of free highlighters, light up bouncing balls, and cheap calculators that somehow come back with me.

This year's conference will be in Orlando, at a Disney conference center. I'm not a big Disney fan, but this is a billion times better than some past venues such as Houston and Reno.

One exciting notion of this whole trip (besides the opportunity to slip in a cheap side trip to Philly and stuff myself silly on Cheez-its) is the 'airport transfer' offered by the Resort.

Keep in mind that my usual trip is to arrive on a plane from Europe into Philly jetlagged and carrying 10 USD in coins for the Septa (Philly regional train) trip that deposits me a 5 min walk from Grandma's house. It's not such a grand trip as the Septa trains were not really made for luggage, even the airport train. So it involves hoisting a suitcase and camping backpack onto the train, stowing the backpack on the skinny overhead rack while a conductor is yelling at everyone who just got on to keep suitcases out of the aisle, hopping off in Center City, then going down the stairs as the escalator is inevitably broken, looking for the next regional local time, and then climbing the stairs with luggage to a differnt track, doing the same luggage stowage as previously, and then managing to get down the train stairs to disembark at my local destination and walking five to seven minutes to the house.

Contrast the above to the complimentary (with mighty expensive hotel room) Disney's Magical Express where I do not need to collect my luggage upon arrival, but instead they will whisk me to the hotel and luggage fairies will look for the magic tags in order to identify and later bring my luggage DIRECTLY TO MY ROOM. (Up to three hours later), but hey, that's a billion times nicer than having to wait for it, cart it into a place not designed for it, and then drag it all over a hotel I will inevitably be lost in, all while being jetlagged.

I may become a fan of Disney yet.