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Monday, March 01, 2010

GPS Take Me To Disney

I’ve mentioned the virtues of having a good reliable GPS in the vehicle many times. It has performed miracles in my travels many times. But not for Disney!

Our lodging was about six miles from Disney, in fact I had noticed such a sign the day before. But when you have GPS, why pay attention to signs. Program it and be on your faultless way.

No Street Numbers

The one problem I found on this series of trips is that places like Disney, the Kennedy Space Center and others do not have street numbers for destinations. So how can you program your GPS to get there? POI (Points of Interest) I thought. Sure enough, on my menu of POI’s I see Disney Magic Kingdom. I select that and off we go into the wild blue yonder – literally.

It seemed we were being taken in an unusual direction or two through the orange groves, but I though wow, these things are really good, we are missing all the traffic. Finally a few Disney signs, and although I had been to nearby Epcot last year, nothing looked familiar.

More miles, an expanse of rolling green grass and trees and one recognizable item, the mono rail track. I knew we had to be on the right track. (Pun intended.)

Service Vehicles Only

We come to a street with a sign “Service Vehicles Only!” There’s no place to turn around, so I guess we are a service vehicle, temporarily at least. Things were fine until we arrive at an automated gate, and on the other side are protruding car trap ramps. That brings a quick end to this journey.

The military would call it an about turn as we retreat in the direction we just arrived from. More miles, another road, and we end up near Disney, but on the other side of a small chain fence. Looks like we are in an area where buses stop although there are no buses present. Had there been a place to park we probably could have just gone in and wandered around. No one seemed to care.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask

I think I know why men don’t like asking for directions. Crossing the fence by foot and asking some people didn’t help much. “You gotta go around and go in the main gate,” was the standard reply. We knew that if we could find where-ziz-it.

After driving about 25 miles back and forth over the same Disney territory, the temperament was getting a little hotter than the outside temperature. The GPS was about to be programmed for Panama City Beach, followed by Nova Scotia, no return, don’t pass go.

Finally after following some buses and traffic we managed to manually find the main gate to Disney. I think the pioneers called it dead reckoning or something.

Think that is the end of the story? Don’t kid yourself! This is one dilly of a day, it couldn’t end here.

Going To The Dogs

With the main gate in site, I stay in the right hand lane, stop to pay $14. for parking and cruise on in. Doh! At the last minute I realize I am still in the right hand lane when I should have moved over one to the left. Too late, too much traffic, we are off to the dog kennels.

Another half hour of driving around and there is just no possible way to get back to the other lanes on the other side. We can see the main gate 100ft. away, but the streets suddenly turn one way, turn left, no entry, go back, do not pass go!

There are purple signs up the ying yang explaining all the exciting things that await one who finds their way in. But no direction signs to the parking area. After covering the same three square mile territory at least three times I decided to follow a purple sign that said Polynesian Village.

Parking Left And I Almost Did Too

And there it was. 1st sign Polynesian Village, 2nd sign Kennels, 3rd sign Visitor Parking Left, all spaced about a block apart. I was thinking that all along. Visitor parking had definitely left. Seems to me the visitor parking sign should be included with the first one. Then again if you were going to the doggy drop off I suppose you would want that one first.

At any rate, we are in. A ten minute ride on the motorized mule train to the mono rail, and a 10 min ride on the mono got us to the main gate.

Let the fun begin – or had it already, a few hours ago?

You Are Here

One final thought: If there are any Disney people reading this, how about putting the GPS coordinates on your maps and brochures. Many motels do this, you should too. Time to get modern.

Coming Soon: Kennedy Space Center

-=One Day At A Time=-