Saturday 27 October - Departure Day
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in
Andrew (5 ½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater
Well the day I have been waiting for for over 12 months for has finally arrived and we are all packed and ready to go (almost). My friend Kath arrives at 6.00 am as arranged - isnt she an absolute gem - and I am ashamed to say that we keep her waiting for 30 minutes while we do all those last minute running around things that seem to take forever. Finally we are off and arrive at Manchester Airport just before 7.00 am. As we are pulling in to the dropping off point there is a strange sound like glass shattering. It IS glass shattering, poor Kath says look at my drivers window. It had completely disappeared. She had been lowering the window as the car was steaming up and it must have caught on something inside and bang, gone. After reassuring us that she would be OK and not to wait with her we reluctantly head into Terminal 2 after huge hugs all round.
Queued at the Virgin check in desk for about 30 minutes and then into the airport to wait for our 10.30 am flight. Bought a couple of sandwiches and sausage rolls to take onto the plane just in case the food was awful. We knew Andrew would at least eat the sausage rolls if nothing else.
Our plane was Wild Thing and took off right on time to beautiful clear blue skies. We had got the two rows of two seats almost at the back of the plane that we had requested and these were great, a lot easier to get up and walk around back here. The views all the way over the Welsh coast and Ireland were stunning, not a cloud in sight. I hope this is a taste of things to come.
The movies on the flight were great. I watched Shrek which I hadnt seen before and the children watched Tomb Raider. Brian attempted to fill in the Visa waiver forms and I left him to it - well he hadnt done anything else to prepare for this holiday!! The food was OK - children had chicken nuggets, curly fries and beans which even Andrew could manage, I had vegetable risotto and Brian had garlic chicken. I then watched Bridget Jones Diary again and found it just as funny as I had at the cinema, the children watched Dr Doolittle 2 and Brian had more attempts at the Visa Waiver forms!!
By then we were travelling over land again and once again there wasnt a cloud in the sky so had great views over Newfoundland and New York.
Got a snack of a yummy Chicken and Mango wrap but I found it strange that they had no plain sandwiches for the children. Good job we had stocked up on the sausage rolls then. By now we could see from the Skymap that we were getting very close to Florida so it was back to looking out of the windows. The first thing we saw was a very long stretch of beach, would that have been Daytona?, and then we spotted Kennedy. That did it for me - I knew I was almost there and I struggled to hold back the tears. Brian was still trying to fill in the visa forms!!
It was a very smooth flight and we landed right on time, I think it was about 2.30 local time. No problems with the visa forms (shouldnt be, it took 9 hours to fill them in - LOL!!) and we were straight through. Found the double baggage claim a lot easier than I was expecting and was then met by a Virgin rep who thrust a piece of paper in my hand giving me the time for our welcome meeting at Downtown Disney tomorrow morning (9.30 am). I had no intentions of attending the welcome meeting but knew we had to go to see the Virgin Rep there to exchange our Virgin Adventure Passport voucher for tickets so just took the paper off her and said nothing.
Next off to find the Alamo rental car shuttle. I knew from advice on this site that the Alamo rental place was not situated at the airport but was a short bus ride away so I was prepared for that. I did wonder, however, how many people who had been persuaded by Thomas Cook to change from Dollar who Virgin use to Alamo because they say it is a better deal are told this because we certainly werent. Some people could be in for a bit of a surprise when they land expecting to pick up their car from the airport. The service was very efficient, there was a bus waiting outside the airport so we got straight on, and 30 minutes Brian was holding the keys of a Toyota Carolla automatic in his sweaty palms.
This is the bit he wasnt looking forward to. He has never driven abroad before and never driven an automatic so it took him a while to pluck up the courage to do a few rounds of the parking lot before setting off on the real roads. I do have to say for anyone scared of driving over there that once he had got used to the car he found it an absolute doddle and we used the car every day while on holiday. Im really glad we did after seeing the huge queues at the Disney and Downtown Disney Resort bus stops when we were leaving the parks. Is it always like this, or have they drastically reduced the number and frequency of their buses?
Found the hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, Hotel Plaza Boulevard, very easily and checked in. We had a room on the 12th floor of the tower and I was hoping for a view of Downtown Disney but when we walked in we had a lovely view of the I4. The noise from this road, even at 4.30 on a Saturday afternoon, was absolutely deafening and very surprisingly the patio doors to the balcony were only single glazed. If you can imagine sleeping in a tent on the hard shoulder of the M6 you will get a good idea of the noise levels. We decided to see how it went and if we couldnt put up with it ask to be moved because the room itself was fine - very clean and surprisingly spacious - but right then we were itching to be off somewhere so couldnt be bothered.
We decided to have a stroll to Downtown Disney and had a very pleasant 5 minute walk along what appear to be newly constructed footpaths. Got a quick bite to eat at McDonalds and a stroll around the shops. The boys were very taken with the Lego store and the play area outside. Mum and Dad were very taken with Ghirardellis and got a take out coffee and some chocolates to much on the way back to the hotel.
Tucked up in bed by 10.00 pm absolutely exhausted. Straight off to sleep despite the road noise and dreaming of the adventures to come.
Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in
Andrew (5 ½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater
Well the day I have been waiting for for over 12 months for has finally arrived and we are all packed and ready to go (almost). My friend Kath arrives at 6.00 am as arranged - isnt she an absolute gem - and I am ashamed to say that we keep her waiting for 30 minutes while we do all those last minute running around things that seem to take forever. Finally we are off and arrive at Manchester Airport just before 7.00 am. As we are pulling in to the dropping off point there is a strange sound like glass shattering. It IS glass shattering, poor Kath says look at my drivers window. It had completely disappeared. She had been lowering the window as the car was steaming up and it must have caught on something inside and bang, gone. After reassuring us that she would be OK and not to wait with her we reluctantly head into Terminal 2 after huge hugs all round.
Queued at the Virgin check in desk for about 30 minutes and then into the airport to wait for our 10.30 am flight. Bought a couple of sandwiches and sausage rolls to take onto the plane just in case the food was awful. We knew Andrew would at least eat the sausage rolls if nothing else.
Our plane was Wild Thing and took off right on time to beautiful clear blue skies. We had got the two rows of two seats almost at the back of the plane that we had requested and these were great, a lot easier to get up and walk around back here. The views all the way over the Welsh coast and Ireland were stunning, not a cloud in sight. I hope this is a taste of things to come.
The movies on the flight were great. I watched Shrek which I hadnt seen before and the children watched Tomb Raider. Brian attempted to fill in the Visa waiver forms and I left him to it - well he hadnt done anything else to prepare for this holiday!! The food was OK - children had chicken nuggets, curly fries and beans which even Andrew could manage, I had vegetable risotto and Brian had garlic chicken. I then watched Bridget Jones Diary again and found it just as funny as I had at the cinema, the children watched Dr Doolittle 2 and Brian had more attempts at the Visa Waiver forms!!
By then we were travelling over land again and once again there wasnt a cloud in the sky so had great views over Newfoundland and New York.
Got a snack of a yummy Chicken and Mango wrap but I found it strange that they had no plain sandwiches for the children. Good job we had stocked up on the sausage rolls then. By now we could see from the Skymap that we were getting very close to Florida so it was back to looking out of the windows. The first thing we saw was a very long stretch of beach, would that have been Daytona?, and then we spotted Kennedy. That did it for me - I knew I was almost there and I struggled to hold back the tears. Brian was still trying to fill in the visa forms!!
It was a very smooth flight and we landed right on time, I think it was about 2.30 local time. No problems with the visa forms (shouldnt be, it took 9 hours to fill them in - LOL!!) and we were straight through. Found the double baggage claim a lot easier than I was expecting and was then met by a Virgin rep who thrust a piece of paper in my hand giving me the time for our welcome meeting at Downtown Disney tomorrow morning (9.30 am). I had no intentions of attending the welcome meeting but knew we had to go to see the Virgin Rep there to exchange our Virgin Adventure Passport voucher for tickets so just took the paper off her and said nothing.
Next off to find the Alamo rental car shuttle. I knew from advice on this site that the Alamo rental place was not situated at the airport but was a short bus ride away so I was prepared for that. I did wonder, however, how many people who had been persuaded by Thomas Cook to change from Dollar who Virgin use to Alamo because they say it is a better deal are told this because we certainly werent. Some people could be in for a bit of a surprise when they land expecting to pick up their car from the airport. The service was very efficient, there was a bus waiting outside the airport so we got straight on, and 30 minutes Brian was holding the keys of a Toyota Carolla automatic in his sweaty palms.
This is the bit he wasnt looking forward to. He has never driven abroad before and never driven an automatic so it took him a while to pluck up the courage to do a few rounds of the parking lot before setting off on the real roads. I do have to say for anyone scared of driving over there that once he had got used to the car he found it an absolute doddle and we used the car every day while on holiday. Im really glad we did after seeing the huge queues at the Disney and Downtown Disney Resort bus stops when we were leaving the parks. Is it always like this, or have they drastically reduced the number and frequency of their buses?
Found the hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, Hotel Plaza Boulevard, very easily and checked in. We had a room on the 12th floor of the tower and I was hoping for a view of Downtown Disney but when we walked in we had a lovely view of the I4. The noise from this road, even at 4.30 on a Saturday afternoon, was absolutely deafening and very surprisingly the patio doors to the balcony were only single glazed. If you can imagine sleeping in a tent on the hard shoulder of the M6 you will get a good idea of the noise levels. We decided to see how it went and if we couldnt put up with it ask to be moved because the room itself was fine - very clean and surprisingly spacious - but right then we were itching to be off somewhere so couldnt be bothered.
We decided to have a stroll to Downtown Disney and had a very pleasant 5 minute walk along what appear to be newly constructed footpaths. Got a quick bite to eat at McDonalds and a stroll around the shops. The boys were very taken with the Lego store and the play area outside. Mum and Dad were very taken with Ghirardellis and got a take out coffee and some chocolates to much on the way back to the hotel.
Tucked up in bed by 10.00 pm absolutely exhausted. Straight off to sleep despite the road noise and dreaming of the adventures to come.
Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom
