Our Magical WDW Adventure -24 Days of Food and Fun-Updated 3/8 -Come Join Us

[ariel2007]

Pilot

So after what has seemed like literally forever, we are finally going back to the Magical Walt Disney World :tinker: . In reality it has been about 17 months (not that I have been counting the days or anything), but that 17 months has been the most depressing and frustrating time ever. That was until August last year when eventually it was decided we were definitely going back...and nothing or no-one could stop us :cheer2:

So with 8 whole months to wait I began thinking of ways to pass the time, and thats when I decided to do a trippie, well a pre-trippie anyway. I have read so many brilliant trip reports and pre trip-reports that I thought I would give it a go. The idea for the titles may not be original (and they are far from it), however they are fun to think of and will give you a sneak peak of what is to come, and what will be in the reports is truly original .

Anyway, enough of the waffle, on with the show.... :happytv:



The One With The Cast

Me, Ariel, 22 http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/arielpic.gif


A major lover of all things Disney / Florida / America.

A typical girly-girl who loves the usual girly related things – shopping, clothes, jewellery, anything pink, sparkly and pretty.

My favourite movie of all time is The Little Mermaid and my favourite Disney character is Ariel.

I have been watching and loving Disney movies since I was born thanks to my wonderful Mum, sparking what some may call a ‘mild’ (term used very loosely) Disney obsession. What started as watching the odd Disney movie and having the odd Disney teddy slowly grew into um, we’ll call it a Disney inspired lifestyle, complete with a whole Disney room and regular trips to the Disney Store (and no trip would be without a souvenir would it). And since my first visit to Disneyland Paris (then Euro Disney) aged 9, I have become not only a Disney obsessive, but a Disney theme park obsessive. Now life would not be complete without an annual trip to Disney, and all the fun that goes into planning and waiting for the trip to come.

Here's me:
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Disney Boyfriend, Robin Hood, Nick, 23 http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/robinhoodpic.gif

Loves Disney of course, Robin Hood being his favourite film. Can sometimes be heard singing the Mickey Mouse March when he thinks no-one is listening.

Loves typical boy things – cars, Top Gear, anything gadgetty, computer games and most sport – both playing and watching, especially Cricket, Rugby and golf. Luckily went to a posh school so got to play a lot of sport at school which took him to some amazing places including Australia, South Africa and Barcelona.

Here's Nick:
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We met on our first day at university and have been together ever since. We have now been together for over 4 years and during that time have done some amazing things together. We have so much in common, we love the same things, share a lot of the same passions and have the same dreams and aspirations in life. From the moment we met we were completely comfortable with each other and have great fun planning our future.
Despite having a lot in common we have quite opposite personalities, I am a bit of a worrier, very particular and organised (Nick swears I have OCD but I find nothing wrong with colour-coding my wardrobe and having specific places for my DVD’s) as opposed to Nick who is so laid-back and takes everything as it comes…if it ever does. We therefore balance each other out perfectly which means we live, work and play together without killing each other in the process. It is also great because it means I get to make most of the decisions…like where we go on holiday!!

One of our main passions is travelling and we’ve visited some amazing places together including Thailand and Cuba. We loving reading about the countries, planning the trips and experiencing the culture, the countryside and especially the food and drink.

We also love going to the theatre and have seen some brilliant shows including 4 different Cirque du Soliel’s, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Chicago and our particular favourite, We Will Rock You.

Here is a few pictures of us:

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Coming Up Next....The One With Our Disney History

[winkers]

When in may will you be there? I'l be there April 29-May 6th.

[ariel2007]

When in may will you be there? I'l be there April 29-May 6th.

Hey, my first ever subscriber, I'm so excited :cheer2: Hope some more can join us soon

We're there from 28th April - 21st May and cant wait

[ariel2007]

The One With Our Disney History

Now that you have met the cast, its only right we re-live with you our previous Disney trips, in classic fairytale style...

Once upon a time there was a beautiful Queen who had 2 little princesses. The Queen liked to treat the 2 little Princesses by showing them magical Disney films and buying them small Disney gifts, starting a little Disney obsession in the smallest princess. Therefore when the magical Euro Disney first opened in 1992 the 2 Princesses begged the wonderful Queen and the boring old King to take them to this magical land of fairies, pirates and wondrous creatures. The Queen and King promised that in 1993 there wish would be granted ~ much to the Princesses delight.

But like in every good fairytale disaster struck and the boring old King left the beautiful Queen and the 2 Princesses, and their dream of visiting the wonderful and magical Euro Disney was left in pieces.

However, True to fairytale tradition a handsome and wonderful Knight came riding in on his beautiful black stallion to save the day. In 1994 The beautiful Queen and wonderful Knight took the 2 Princesses and the Knights young son to the magical World of Dreams, the most magical and wondrous surprise the young children had ever encountered.

Fortunately this was just the beginning of the magical adventures the young Princesses and young Knight would enjoy to this magical place, full of dreams and wishes.

And, of course, They all lived Happily Ever After.

So like the story tells in 1994 my wonderful Mum and step-dad took my older sister, myself and my younger step-brother to Euro Disney as a surprise. They told us some story about going to visit my Step-dad’s brother who worked on a ferry as a chef, except when we got on the ferry began to move. My Mum told us to all bet where we thought were going and the person who came closest would win a pound (talk about big money). Not knowing many places abroad, or perhaps it was my Disney-intuition, I said Paris. The journey down to Paris took a while but as soon as we close and started seeing the signs for Euro Disney I twigged and nudged my sister. When we eventually arrived and drove under the large wooden Davy Crockett Ranch sign, surrounded by trees and empty fields we were most disappointed. What we didn’t know was The Davy Crockett Ranch was a Disney resort. When we finally arrived at the park we were all so excited and couldn’t believe we were finally there, the place we had dreamed about going since it was first announced. My Mum and Step-dad had done such a good job keeping this a secret and were so excited to see our reaction, which of course was sheer amazement. We all instantly fell in love with the place and were so sad when it was time to leave.

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Luckily we got to visit a few times over the next few years, one of the most memorable trips was for my 16th birthday in 2001. This was my little sisters first trip to Disney (although I had made sure she had been brought up on Disney films) and it was just as amazing to see her reaction to everything as it was to actually be there.

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1995

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2001 - my baby sisters 1st visit to Disney

In 1998 I was lucky enough to have my first visit to WDW. My Dad (yes the boring King) decided to take my older sister and I along with his girlfriend and her 8 year old daughter to Florida to visit his sister who had just moved to Fort Lauderdale (her husbands in the Navy). We went for 2 weeks, spending 1 in Fort Lauderdale at my aunties house and the other on I-drive. Within a week we managed to visit Magic Kingdom, Epcot (on the 4th of July), Animal Kingdom (which had recently opened), Universal Studio’s, Seaworld, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon all in 7 days. I instantly fell in love with Disney World, Orlando and America in general, and I still have magical memories of that first sight of Cinderella’s castle as we floated across Seven Sea’s Lagoon, the beautiful grandeur of the Grand Floridian, imagining all the rich people inside, so lucky to stay there, and the Crystal Palace, sitting outside and seeing all those lucky children inside meeting some of my favourite characters. Unfortunately my Dad wasn’t the organised type which meant we were rarely at a park before 11am and due to lack of funds and lack of liking good-food all our meals were either in the form of a large ponderosa breakfast to keep us going till tea, then KFC, McDonalds or fries. Although the holiday was magical and was the kind of holiday I thought only rich people could only ever afford, I really missed my Mum and baby sister and wished they were there to enjoy it too.

Fast-forward to 2004 and Mum and my Step-dad mention the possibility of going to Colorado skiing in January 2005. After picking up a load of brochures and pricing up options I decide to price up Walt Disney World, never dreaming we would actually be able to go there. However thanks to some great prices from First Choice which included staying onsite and a bit of sweet talking my parents (who didn’t actually take much convincing) we booked up to go for 2 weeks in January 2005, staying at the All Star Movies (my Mum, Step-dad, little sister and I). The trip was amazing, and it was even more amazing to be sharing it all with my parents and little sister. The first glance at the Cinderella castle as we floated across the Seven Sea’s Lagoon was as magical as the first time, and instead of sitting outside the Crystal Palace watching all the lucky people inside, I was actually one of those lucky people ( and I will stay in the Grand Floridian one day soon). We hadn’t done much planning (apart from reading the Brit Guide from front to back many times) and had booked no ADR’s. Fortunately for us this was fine for this time of year. The holiday was everything we had dreamed it to be and so much more and we had so many magical moments and memories. Unfortunately though it had to end all too soon.

As soon as we got back we started planning on our next trip to WDW, however this time Nick was coming for his first ever trip to Disney (and America) and it was going to be a big one. Due to various school / university / work commitments we had to go in the summer holidays but this did mean that it would coincide with my 21st birthday, both my little sister and Step-dad’s birthdays and would be just after Nick and my graduation. Therefore we decided to go for a month, spending 2 weeks in Port Orleans, 1 week in Animal Kingdom Lodge and the final week in Miami. This time we planned, planned, planned, and planned some more, made lots of ADR’s, lots of plans and were much more prepared. Again we had the best holiday ever and added many more magical memories to the collection. Unfortunately this time when we got back we knew we wouldn’t be going back for some time.

Here are some of my favorite pics:

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However for New Year 2006 we were able to visit Disneyland Paris again (this time with Nick as well who had now joined us in becoming a Disney park fanatic) and spent a few days there enjoying the Christmas atmosphere, the outdoor ice-skating and wonderful Tinkerbell dinner show.

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For my birthday this year Nick took me to Disneyland Paris again (our first Disney trip just the two of us), staying 2 nights in Disney’s lovely Newport Bay hotel. I had a wonderful birthday and Nick spoilt me loads but the more time we spent there, the more I missed WDW.

In August 2008 it’s my Mum’s 50th birthday and she mentioned visiting New York. So we began looking at prices which is when I mentioned that maybe WDW could be an option, especially since it would be during the free DDP time. However after some careful considerations it was decided that New York would be a better option for my Mum’s birthday (my older sister didn’t want to come if we went to WDW and my Mum wanted her there too), which left me upset at the thought of another year away from WDW. Luckily, Nick came to the rescue and proposed that we went just the two of us, saying he too was desperate to go back (it only took one holiday to convert him). We began talking about it, planning it and double checking that Mum definitely couldn’t go for her birthday and that she wouldn’t mind us going. With that sorted we decided to go for it, just the two of us…and so this Magical WDW adventure began.

Coming Up...The One With The Forgotten Cast Member
and
The One Where we started Planning

[ariel2007]

Ok so I introduced Nick and myself but there is one more member of the cast you need to meet. He has a real sense of adventure, loves traveling the world and has come with us on all our trips...and of course will be joining us on this one.

Here he is, the one and only Piggles:

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Relaxing in the Bahama's

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Playing Poker in France

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Eating at Annettes Diner, Disneyland Paris

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His favorite place...Ohana

He cant wait to ride Sheikra, get his picture on Splash Mountain and drink more cocktails in Ohana. Keep an eye out for him, he could pop up at any time or any place....

[Hollywoodhaha]

Love it :wizard:

Your very pretty too

[ariel2007]

Love it :wizard:

Your very pretty too

Thank you hun, thats so sweet :cutie:

[ariel2007]

So we had finally decided to take the plunge and go just the two of us. Ok that was Step 1 completed. Now for step 2, the planning, how hard can this be, all we have to do is choose a time of year, choose how long to go for, choose where to stay, who to book through, who to fly with, where to fly from and too, which parks to visit, which park passes to buy, any other activities, which restaurants we want to eat at……… ok maybe this will take some work, but where to start.

When would we go?
We were pretty much free to go any time so wanted to go when there would be low crowds but also nice weather. Therefore we narrowed it down to May or October. Although October would be a great option since we could have gone to the Food and Wine Festival and took part in the various Halloween parties / activities in the parks we felt it would be a bit too close to when we go to New York at the end of August and plus we couldn’t wait that long. So it was decided, we would go in early May, that way avoiding the May UK holidays and any other holidays.


Where would we stay?
A major consideration for us after we decided to go was deciding where to stay. We both knew we wanted to stay onsite due to the benefits, but which hotel to chose was a whole other story, and also whether we would stay there the whole time.

When we thought about going for Mum’s birthday we had decided to go for 3 weeks, looking at 2 weeks in a Disney hotel and then 1 week in a villa. Now I had never really wanted to stay in a villa as I loved staying onsite and the benefits it brought but lots of friends and people on here began to make it sound appealing, especially the thought of our own pool. The more I looked at the villas the more I wanted to stay in one. As for a Disney hotel, as we wanted to get the free DDP we would have to stay in a moderate resort, which was perfect for me. However I had initially said to Nick when we were first thinking about going back that I wouldn’t mind staying at the All Stars if it meant going back to Disney again, so of course he took me up on this.

Now it was just the two of us it looked like it would be the All Stars. However the more I looked at the Disney brochures the more I wanted to stay in a moderate resort again. I began researching them and came down to a choice of 2, Caribbean Beach or Coronado Springs (we had stayed at Port Orleans last time and wanted to try somewhere different). Initially I really liked the look of the Caribbean Beach but the more I read about Coronado Springs the more I wanted to stay there. I priced 14 nights there including park passes, comparing it to the All Stars and put the idea to Nick in my most convincing manner. After a bit more convincing he agreed, wahoo were staying at Coronado Springs :cheer2:

We thought about spending the third week offsite, therefore doing all the offsite parks during this week. However the All Stars seemed the most reasonable option. That was until we learnt that a friend owned a villa in Florida and we could get it for a discount, perfect. I know many people love the space and comfort of villas so we would get to try this and stay onsite too, the best of both worlds :woohoo:

Now that was decided I had two more things to fit in. When we thought about going back with Mum I looked into staying at one of the Universal hotels as so many people go on about the Universal Express benefits, and fell in love with the Royal Pacific. I decided if we went I would pay for us all to stay there for one night as their Christmas present, although ideally I would have liked to stay for 2 nights. Now that it was just the two of us to pay for we could afford to stay for 2 nights, brilliant this meant less rushing to and from hotels.
Secondly, as we were going to be there for Mum’s 50th I was trying to think of some special things to do on her birthday and came up with 2 ideas. One was to stay in the Polynesian hotel (which we all loved when we visited) as a surprise and go to Ohana for tea, and the second was to eat at the Yachtsman Steakhouse and stay at the Yacht or Beach Club. However with it being just the two of us, we (well I mean I) decided we would do both.


Who would we fly with?
Now we had looked at various packages with various companies but after pricing everything up and due to wanting to stay in a villa and on-site we decided to book it all separately. So we began looking at various flights and prices and we decided Virgin Atlantic would be our best option. They flew from Gatwick which is only 60-90 minutes away, the service and amenities are good and the prices weren’t too bad. We had originally looked at going from the 1st-22nd May but it was cheaper to fly on the 30th so that was decided.

Where would we eat?
Now dining is a big part of the holiday for us and we both love the Disney restaurants. As soon as we started thinking about going back I started thinking about the restaurants we would eat at. Here is my initial list

Definites:
Ohana
Le Cellier
California Grill
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Whispering Canyon
Beaches and Cream
Coral Reef
Kona Café (breakfast)
Hop-dee-doo Musical Revue
Maya Grill (breakfast)
Garden View Lounge – afternoon tea
1900 Park Fayre

Maybes:
House of Blues
Fultons Crabhouse
Chef Mickey’s
Rainforest Cafe
Crystal Palace
Cinderella’s Royal Table
Sci Fi diner
Hollywood Brown Derby
Boma (breakfast and tea)


So by now we had decided when we were going, who we were flying with, where we were staying and ideas of where we wanted to eat. With this sorted I began to formulate a basic itinerary to make sure we could fit in everything we wanted to do and so we knew when to book the hotels etc for.
Now with a basic plan done we were almost ready to book, right? Wrong!!
Every time I looked at the plan I was unhappy :confused3 . Firstly there was only 2 free-ish days for all the following: rest time, resort time, shopping time, time for other activities i.e. mini-golf, DisneyQuest, boating, Ripleys etc. Secondly we would be paying for the villa for 2 days when we would not be there. So what do we do…Cut out some activities, No :sad2: . Cut out the Royal Pacific, No :sad2: . I know lets add 2 more days....

Queue Nick: “We’re not adding anymore days”
Me: “But why not”
Nick: “Cause it will cost more”

Brief interlude in conversation whilst I research some convincing prices

Me: “But see it wont cost anymore…well not much”
Nick: “But its already gone from 2 to 3 weeks”
Me: “But it will give us more free time”
Nick: “Yes…(begins to weaken)…but 3 weeks is fine”

Ok time to bring out the big guns pixiedust:

Me: “But it means we will have time for mini-golf and…the segway tour”

Fast-forward 5 seconds

Nick: “Oh why not, lets do it”

Horray, 23 nights it is :cheer2: .


So now we had pretty much planned everything we wanted to book/do etc… and it was erm…August. I was just so excited, we could finally get on with booking things and have the definite knowledge we were going again. We decided that at the beginning of each month we would have a Disney/America day when we would watch a Disney film, eat American food and book things for the holiday.

Coming Next... The One With What We've Booked

[ariel2007]

And so the initial planning had been done and it was now time to start booking. September came and we had our first Disney day, we popped Cars into the DVD player, had a lovely dinner of steak, fries and onion rings and started booking, it was so exciting....

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(BTW this was our first time watching Cars, bad for a Disney fanatic I know :sad2: , but we both loved it)

We did the same at the beginning of October, November and December and by the time Christmas came pretty much everything was booked :cheer2:

So in brief here is our holiday -

Dates: Monday April 28th - Wednesday 21st May 2008

Sunday April 27th - Stay overnight at Gatwick Hilton

Monday April 28th - Fly from London Gatwick - Orlando International with Virgin Atlantic

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Monday April 28th - Monday May 5th - Star Villa, Glenbrook

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We are really looking forward to trying a villa for the first time, especially since there are four bedrooms and two bathrooms for the two of us (meaning plenty of place to store all our souvenirs :thumbsup2 ). It will also be great to come home from a long day at the parks and jump into our own pool. I will post some more pic's later

Monday May 5th - Wednesday May 7th - Royal Pacific Resort, Water View Room

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We have walked through this resort and loved the tropical atmosphere and theming. The main reason for booking however was those all important front-of-line passes, we're so looking froward to getting our hands on these

Wednesday 7th May - Wednesday 21st May (yes 2 whole weeks) - Disney's Coronado Springs

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This is the day we finally arrive home and spend our first night at Disney ::MickeyMo . I have looked at so many pictures of Coronado Springs and love all the theming so cant wait to see it all in reality. And of course just being surrounded by all the Disney magic :tink:

Saturday May 10th - 1 night at the Polynesian Resort, Castle View

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We both LOVE the Polynesian and have dream't of staying here forever. We cant wait to be able to drink cocktails in Ohana, walk along the beach and then watch Wishes from our own room...this is definately one of the things I am most excited about.

Saturday May 17th - 1 night at the Yacht Club, Water view

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We have never been here so cant wait to see somewhere new and also be able to walk to Epcot and watch Illuminations

Oh and to get us from A - B we booked a little car..

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Now this is what Nick is most excited about of the whole trip. He loves cars, loves driving, and loves Mustangs so we knew we just had to book one (we just have to keep our fingers crossed that they dont run out of Mustangs else it may be the end of the world :sad2: )

[winkers]

Wow! It sounds like an amazing trip! You are going to have so much fun!

[ariel2007]

From previous visits we already knew which parks we wanted to visit (all of them) and which tickets would work out best for us. Then with the help of all you guys out there and your wonderful trippies and information we added some other special tours, excursions and dinner shows. Here is a peak at what we have booked -

Tickets
* Disney 14 day Ultimate Ticket
* Universal 2 day, 2 park Ticket
* Discovery Cove Plus with 14 days Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Aquatica

Excursions and Tours
* Seaworld Shark Dive

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* Crystal River Manatee Swim

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* Epcot Segway Tour - Around the World at Epcot

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* Hot Air Balloon Trip

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Shows and Dinner Shows

* Seaworld Makahiki Luau Dinner Show

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* Disneys Hop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue

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* La Nouba

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We are also planning on visiting Kennedy Space Center for the first time, but have decided to buy the tickets there. We also hope to have some time to visit a few of the attractions along I-Drive like Ripleys.

Hopefully these should keep us busy for a few weeks....

Coming Next... The One With The Itinery A.K.A The One With All Those ADR's

[ariel2007]

Now this post could have many names - The One With The Itinerary is the most obvious and lets any readers I may have know exactly what they are getting. However, maybe a more appropriate title may be The One With All Those ADR's or maybe The One With All That Food, as as you will soon see we have made 19 ADR's in a period of 14 days and that is just Disney Dining. Add to that 9 days of Universal, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and various I-Drive/Orlando restaurants and that constitutes a whole lot of food popcorn:: .

So without further ado, here is my much researched, much changed and much polished itinerary, and just to make it slightly easier to spot all those many ADR's I have highlighted them in pink for you



Sunday 27th April
The day has finally arrived, the best day of the whole year :cheer2:
Say Good-bye to the kittens :cat: (I will introduce you soon), final checks then drive to Gatwick
Twilight Check-in then check in to Gatwick Hilton

Monday 28th April
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Check-out of Hilton, through customs and to Virgin Gatwick Clublounge to chill-out and have a nice relaxed breakie avec a glass of bubbly before our flight (oh and of course time for some duty free shopping).
Gatwick – Orlando International with Virgin Atlantic
Pick up car :car: (hopefully the Mustang) and drive to our Villa at Glenbrook.
Tea at Bahama Breeze then visit Walmart for a few essentials (and probably a lot of non-essentials too)
Chill in villa – unpack, swim, watch some classic American TV :happytv:
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Tuesday 29th April
Up early and drive to IHOP for our first holiday breakie and our first IHOP breakie.
Seaworld for day with lunch at Sharks Underwater Grill.
Leave Seaworld early afternoon and head to Mall at Millenia for some designer shopping (I know it’s a bit early for shopping but we both need to pick a few things up for Thursday and this will be our only chance)
Tea at The Cheesecake Factory -can’t wait for their delicious cheesecake

Wednesday 30th April
Busch Gardens for the whole day, lunch at Crown Colony - and despite Nick’s protests we will be riding Sheikra
Tea at Texas de Brazil - this restaurant sounds great, a huge buffet of salads and sides and skewers of meat cut tableside

Thursday 1st May
This is Nick and my 4 ½ year anniversary (not marriage, only dating) – I know its a bit strange but we wanted something to celebrate on this holiday and this seemed the perfect thing, especially since we quite often miss big occasions
Breakfast at Golden Corral
Seaworld for day – we have both the Shark Deep Dive and Makahiki Dinner Show booked for today to celebrate - Nick is a little apprehensive about swimming with Sharks but hopefully it will help him conquer his fear a little

Friday 2nd May
Aquatica for the day
Tea at Hooters - tacky – what more can I say?

Saturday 3rd May
Up early for our trip to the Crystal River for our Manatee Swim
Tea at Outback Steakhouse

Sunday 4th May
Free day – well our free days aren’t actually free or any less strenuous, but just don’t involve theme parks or excursions
Breakfast at Golden Corral
Shopping – Florida Mall / Prime Outlets / Premium Outlets
Congo River Golf and Ripley's - this will be our first chance in 3 holidays to spend some time on I-Drive
Takeaway in villa for tea and time to pack (crikey its been a week already:upsidedow )

Monday 5th May
Check out of villa and into Royal Pacific Resort
Breakfast at Island’s Dining Room
Day at Universal Studio’s
Tea at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville – I love Margarita’s
Shopping and chilling in CityWalk
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/rpr1.jpg

Tuesday 6th May
Day at Islands of Adventure
Lunch at Mythos - heard so many good reviews about this
Afternoon in hotel, chilling in pool, CityWalk
Tea at Tchoup Chop - this was one of my favourite restaurants from last time and we cant wait to go back

Wednesday 7th May
Check out of Royal Pacific and into Coronado Springs – at last we are home :tinker: :welcome: ::MickeyMo
Day in Downtown Disney – for shopping, lunch and hiring a boat
Check in to room and unpack, check out resort and pool
Tea at Maya Grill
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/coronadospringspool.jpg

Thursday 8th May
Our first Disney park day :donald: :mickeyjum
Up early and head to Epcot for Segway Tour
Morning in Future World
Lunch at Coral Reef
Back to CS for swim and to get ready for evening
Drive to Fort Wilderness for Hop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue dinner show (and a bit of resort snooping)


Friday 9th May
Discovery Cove – this is the day were both most looking forward too, I love Discovery Cove so much

Saturday 10th May
Magic Kingdom for morning
Afternoon tea at Garden View Lounge, Grand Floridian (and more resort snooping) – I wanted to try here last time but we didn’t get time so I made sure we had a reservation this time
Check in to Polynesian Resort for the night – Castle View Room
Tea and cocktails at Ohana – our other favourite restaurant
Wishes from room, pool or beach
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/polynesian.jpg

Sunday 11th May
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Free morning at the Polynesian – swimming, shopping, chilling
Possibly Parasailing and Personal Watercraft's at the Contemporary
Afternoon in Magic Kingdom
Tea at Crystal Palace and Wishes
Back to Coronado Springs – “bye Polynesian and castle view”

Monday 12th May
Breakfast at Maya Grill
Morning at resort
Afternoon/evening at MGM (emh)
Tea at Hollywood Brown Derby then Fantasmic

Tuesday 13th May
Blizzard Beach for day
Evening at Downtown Disney – shopping and tea at House of Blues
La Nouba – we love Cirque du Soliel, having seen 4 of their shows La Nouba still ranks top

Wednesday 14th May
Kennedy Space Centre


Thursday 15th May
Animal Kingdom for the day – our one and only day here so lots to do
Lunch at the Yak and Yeti - can’t wait to try this new restaurant
Tea at Jiko (and yes more resort snooping)

Friday 16th May
Up ridiculously early for our Hot Air Balloon Flight – I cant wait to see how everything looks from up above
Chilling day
Late lunch at Whispering Canyon
Evening at Magic Kingdom for the princess: PRINCESS AND pirate: PIRATE PARTY – yes we got tickets and I cannot wait to get all dressed up and savage my way through the park

Are you running out of steam yet ... cause I am just by looking at it all, oh well you only live once, and its only 23 days, I can sleep the rest of the year (oh damn I have work and stuff)

Saturday 17th May
Lazy morning – no doubt we will need it by now
Lunch at Beaches and Cream – I am definitely starving myself ready for the legendary Kitchen Sink (just obviously not on the holiday cause that would just be silly :rotfl2: )
Check in to the Yacht Club – waterview room
Tea at Yachtsman Steakhouse then watch Illuminations
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/yacht_club.jpg

Sunday 18th May
Breakfast at the Yacht Club Galley
Epcot World Showcase for the day – probably sampling several bevarages
Tea at Le Cellier then Illuminations – bring on the cheddar cheese soup :woohoo:

Monday 19th May
MGM for the day, probably lunch at the Sci Fi Diner although nothing is booked yet
Tea at California Grill (and resort snooping) – hopefully we will be able to get a window table for Wishes

Tuesday 20th May
Breakfast at 1900 Park Fayre
Magic Kingdom for the day, probably an afternoon break at Coronado Springs to pack
Tea at Ohana (again) – the perfect last night, a lovely dinner in a lovely setting, cocktails and Wishes from the beach
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/seaworlddinnershow.jpg

Wednesday 21st May
Departure day – but I don’t wanna go home :sad1:
Check out of Coronado Springs and do Downtown Disney check in
Morning at DisneyQuest, lunch and final shopping at Downtown Disney
Drive to airport, Nick’s last drive in the Mustang :drive:
Evening Flight back to Gatwick – Premium Economy

Thursday 22nd May
Arrive back to sunny England with only distant memories of our amazing holiday :sad1:


As you can see we are packing a lot in to a fairly short amount of time. Will we burn out? Probably, but not until we get back and then it doesn't matter. There is so much we want to do, we haven't even fitted half of it in now. And not knowing when we will be coming back again we want to fit as much in as is humanly possible.

The I-Drive/Orlando restaurants are not set in stone, we have so many new ones we want to try as well as some old favourites so I have just put in the ones we definitely want to do. We are also hoping to fit in:

Bahama Breeze
Cici's Pizza Buffet
Chili's
The Olive Garden
Longhorn Steakhouse
Fuddruckers

As for shopping we aren't really sure where to go as I have only been to Mall at Millenia before. We will definitely be visiting here but hope to try a few new, and maybe cheaper places, so any ideas would be welcome.

Coming Up Next... The One With The Oversized Villa and maybe meet the Cats

[ariel2007]

Finally after 3 trips to WDW we were going to try staying in a villa. Now I've got to admit this definitely wasn't my first choice of accommodation. Our last 2 trips (and Nick's only trip) had been spent staying onsite at Disney, first at the All Stars, then Port Orleans and Animal Kingdom Lodge. From this we had been totally spoilt by all the additional benefits like extra magic hours, the wonderful theming of the resorts and of course just being in the Disney magic 24-7. We also like the whole hotel experience whilst we are on holiday - having lots of amenities to hand, i.e restaurants, shops, bars etc, having daily maid service and not having to worry about cooking, cleaning, washing and other general boring everyday tasks (cause lets face it you don't get to be in Disney every day :sad2: ). When we got back from our last trip however, I started reading lots of trip reports and started looking into accommodation for if we were lucky enough to go back. The more I read, the more the idea of a villa started to appeal to me. Lots of space, a nice lounge to relax in and watch American TV, if we ever have time, a fridge and freezer that we could fill with all sorts of American junk food, and the main appeal, our very own pool. We both love swimming, especially on holiday, and there is nothing better than relaxing in your own pool at the end of a tiring day at the parks.
When we decided to go back we knew we would be spending 2 weeks in a Disney resort but needed to find somewhere for the third week. I started looking into villas but the price was just not practical for the 2 of us, especially when we could stay at the All Stars, right in the heart of the Disney magic for half the price. It was then we found out that a friend owned a villa in Florida and could give us a good deal. We looked at the website for the villa and it was perfect... it wasn't anything particularly posh and it was slightly further away from some of the attractions but it filled all the criteria we wanted... pool - check :thumbsup2 , lots of space - check :thumbsup2 , nice lounge - check :thumbsup2 , 4 bedrooms - what was that, 4 bedrooms? 4 bedrooms for the 2 of us :eek: . Now it may seem like a lot of space but believe me it will get used. On the messy scale Nick ranks Slightly - Very, Very and on the souvenir and shopping scale I rank Lots - Extremely Lots. So we will have loads of space to store all our goodies and we can nearly sleep in a different bed every night :rotfl:
The villa is also in the Glenbrook Resort which has a community pool and clubhouse too, I feel we may really enjoy our first villa experience and can honestly decide which works out better for us for future visits (of which hopefully there will be many).

Here are some pictures of our villa:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/glenbrook.jpg

Outside the villa
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/outsidevilla.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/outsidevilla2.jpg

Master Bedroom - our main bedroom
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villabed1.jpg

Master Bath
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villabath.jpg

Second Master Bedroom aka my closet
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villabedroom2.jpg

The Disney Bedroom
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villabedroom3.jpg

The 4th Bedroom - my souvenir room
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villabedroom4.jpg

The Lounge
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villalounge.jpg

Kitchen and Dining areas
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villakitchen.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villadining.jpg

The Pool
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/villapool.jpg

Our Own Gamesroom aka Nick's room
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/gamesroom.jpg

The Glenbrook Facilities
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/glenbrookhouse.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/glenbrookpool2.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/glenbrookpool.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/glenbrooktennis.jpg

[ariel2007]

Planning and booking a holiday so far in advance definitely has its advantages. You are well equipped with the knowledge of where is good to stay, who to book with and the best deals in regards to prices. You can pre-plan all the good things you want to do, all the places you want to dine and then can book it as soon as you hit those 180 or 90 day marks. However there is one MAJOR disadvantage to booking and planning so far in advance... you have what seems like forever to wait :( . Fortunately it was only 8 months from when we booked till when we go, and in-between there was Christmas which helped really pass the time. Lets face it, with all the extra hours at work to earn extra money for pressies, all the Christmas shopping, present wrapping, tree decorating, food making, Christmas parties, and just the general excitement of Christmas the month or so surrounding then just flew by :santa: . We also passed the time by booking certain things for the holiday each month, and having a Disney–America day which made us more and more excited with each month (well me anyway, Nick doesn’t get excited till the last minute usually, although I am trying to change this). We also managed to fit in some good mini-trips, shows and outings, most of which had some relation to Disney or our holiday.

OCTOBER:
Cirque Du Soliel – Delirium at the NEC with Orlandobaby and AndyJ – Nick and I are major Cirque fans and having heard they were in Birmingham couldn’t miss the chance to see them. The show was very good like usual, although probably the least favourite of the 4 we have seen. The music and visuals took centre stage with acrobatics and dancing taking second place, although what there was were very good.

Disney On Ice – A Disneyland Adventure featuring the Incredible’s - I love Ice-skating and have been to see Holiday on Ice several times, so when I heard there was a Disney show we booked tickets for my Mum, step-dad, little sister and ourselves. The show was brilliant and being based around different rides in Disneyland, coupled with classic Disney music really got us excited about our upcoming trip.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/incredibles.gif


NOVEMBER:
Mary Poppins - We celebrated our 4 year anniversary (dating) in November by going to see Mary Poppins in London. Being one of my favorite Disney films and a MAJOR fan of Dick Van **** I was a bit apprehensive of watching the show. However, it was totally brilliant, the set, music and choreography were first class and there were elements in the storyline that weren’t in the film which made it incomparable.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/095.jpg
This is what Nick brought me for our anniversary


DECEMBER:
Christmas – what more can I say. I made sure we visited the Disney store on several occasions when Christmas shopping and brought lots of lovely Disney decorations for our tree and house. I was hoping to get some things for our holiday for Christmas and luckily I did. Father Christmas brought me some nice toiletries for me to take and Nick brought me toiletries, a Disney pen, Disney nightwear, underwear, a lovely Disney dressing gown (not for the holiday) and some Disney teddies.


JANUARY:
Cirque Du Soliel - Varekai - I brought tickets for my Mum, step-dad and little sister for Christmas so we all went to watch it for Nick’s birthday in January. We started the day in style with champagne and orange juice and smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, followed by some lovely presents – I got him a new suitcase inside which had a new Ratatouille towel, a few Disney pins to trade, some sun screen, a leather wash bag with toiletries, top trumps and a few books (for the plane or by the pool), an Orlando pop-up map and some Tigger socks and boxers. We then made our way to London and went to the London Dungeon’s in the day which was very good but very scary, had tea at Hard Rock Cafe (where a lanyard and several pins were purchased) and then watched the show. Varekai was amazing, probably ranking second with Alegria (behind La Nouba). The set and costumes were amazing, so bright and colourful, the acts were phenomenal, so extraordinary, and like always the show was perfect. The thing that let it down slightly was the music, which wasn’t as strong or consistent as the other shows.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/069.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/071.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/076.jpg
Nick's Birthday pressies

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/090.jpg
His new Ratatouille towel

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/086.jpg
More pins

Works Christmas Party – Our works party was on the Dixie Queen boat in London. The party was brilliant with unlimited free booze, a lovely meal and good entertainment and an awards ceremony. The boat reminded me of the riverboats in Magic Kingdom, making me more excited.


FEBRUARY
Sound of Music – For valentines day Nick is taking me to see The Sound of Music, one of my all time favorite films and a show I have been wanting to see since it opened. We are planning on visiting the aquarium in the day and having tea in Hard Rock Cafe as it was so good on Nick’s birthday.

Mini-trip to Cornwall – Nick and I had a weeks holiday left to take so started looking into things we could do. I really fancied visiting a few theme parks as we both love them and it would be something to look forward to before our holiday. Unfortunately due to the time of year everything is still closed, we even looked into going to Universal’s Port Adventura in Spain but even that was closed. Just as we started residing ourselves to doing nothing my Mum asked us to join her, my step-dad, little sister, and grandparents for a week in Cornwall. My Mum’s best friend has a flat in a very small town in Cornwall which we used to visit regularly as children. The town is really small with 1 road which leads to a dead end, a small souvenir shop, surf shop, cafe, pub and roundhouse. However it is right on the beach with a lovely harbour (complete with lifeboat station), rock-pools and a lovely stretch of sand. The flat itself is quite small but is right on a cliff with lovely views across the bay. There are steps leading up a big hill just behind the flat which lead to a coastal path ending about 1 mile away in Lands End. There is not a lot to do in the area but it will be nice to have a relaxing family break, quiet walks along the cliffs and traditional pub dinners – quite different to our upcoming WDW trip.


MARCH:
Mothers Day – As yet we have nothing planned but it will probably involve giving my Mum breakfast in bed, a nice picnic lunch and walk on the moors with my grandparents, ending with a nice meal at one of our favourite restaurants. As we are going to New York in August I am planning on getting my Mum something for that, probably a ticket for a Broadway show, although any other ideas would be very welcome.

Easter – It will probably be the same as usual with a breakfast of boiled eggs followed by an Easter egg hunt. My Mum normally cooks a nice roast lunch and my grandparents join us, before all going for a nice walk on the moors. For Easter I wanted to get everyone something for New York and decided I would probably get them all a ticket for a evening boat cruise. I am going to put them each in a gift bag inside which will also be a New York keyring, pen, postcard, some American chocolate.


APRIL
This is it... in 26 days time we will be finishing our packing and having a nice takeaway together on our last night at home (well for 25 nights). In 27 days time we will leaving for the airport and checking into the Gatwick Hilton. In 28 days time we will be on a plane to Orlando and finally our holiday will begin :grin:

To be honest with all of the above going on as well as several family and friends birthdays and other social events the last 6 months has gone pretty quickly. Saying that every other day I find myself bouncing off the walls, counting down the days until we finally get on that plane to Orlando...Oh well only 75 days, 17 hours, 8 minutes and 29 seconds to go....

[ariel2007]

I thought I should introduce to the other two members of our household. They aren't coming with us (unfortunately :( ) but they do have some connection to Disney....

So here is our babies

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/tigger.jpg
This is Tigger

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/scamp.jpg
and Scamp

Being a Disney fanatic I had to give them Disney names. Now Tigger was a very obvious choice - hes orange and stripy and if you look closely hes got black in his fur. He is also really bouncy and playful, just like Tigger :tiggerbou. For the other kitten we wanted another Disney name and as soon as we got to know his personality Scamp was an obvious choice.

We hadnt planned to get kittens but one of the cats on Nicks Dad's farm had four kittens and we fell in love with them. I used to visit them everyday but unfortunately the Mum had them in the middle of an open field in the coldest part of April and two of the kittens died. Now some of you may remember that at this point I posted on the Dibb as I didn't know what to do, I didnt want to leave the other two to die but I didnt have a clue about cats and they were only 2 weeks old at the time. I phoned Nick devastated to tell him and he ordered me to wait with them till he got home. Whilst I waited with them they followed me constantly meowing and one of them literally ran up me for a cuddle, they were so adorable. As soon as Nick got home we made the decision to take them in and along with their Mum took them home. The Mum, although a wild Cat loved staying with us, she loved the company and always wanted cuddles. Eventually when they were old enough we took her back to the farm, at which time she was beginning to want to go outdoors again.
Unfortunately from being outside the kittens got cat flu, Scamp was quite ill with it, he had problems with his eye constantly weeping and as he couldnt smell he wouldnt eat. We hand fed him milk for a while till he began lapping but he never went on to solid foods, although we tried everything. Then the day we were due to leave for Disneyland Paris in July he got really ill, he was disorientated, weak, he wasnt reacting to loud noises and he had toilet troubles. We took him straight to the vet, I held him the whole way on the 30 minute journey, and then for another 40 minutes at the vets, praying him to be strong and pull through. The vet had a look at him and whisked him straight away. It was very upsetting as I didnt have chance to say goodbye. They told us that they would do tests and that we should go home, it was so hard leaving him there. When we got home we were already 3 hours late leaving for our holiday and it was so hard leaving him behind not knowing if he would be ok. Nick took me back to the vet on the way so I could try and see him and they let me look at him through the glass, he was in a little cage asleep with a big bandage on his paw and a drip in it...he looked so delicate and I just wanted to pick him up and cuddle him. The whole journey to Disneyland was a mix between excitement and worry, as was the 3 days there (including my birthday). My little sister lit candles and prayed, and Nick phoned the vets about 6 times a day. What he didnt tell me is the vet had told him he thought Scamp was to little and weak to pull through :( . However, my strong little boy refused to give in and began to get better. Within a week the vets let him home and by the time Nick and I got back from our holiday he was fully recovered and had a whole new appetite to go with it :cat: .
Now, 7 months later we have two perfect little cats, both are so loving and love cuddles and kisses and lots of attention which is fine by us.

Here are some more pictures:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/babyscamp.jpg
Baby Scamp - just before he was ill

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0119.jpg
...And just after - doesnt he look better?

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/sophandscamp.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/sophandscamp2.jpg
Sophie with Scamp just after he got better

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/babytig.jpg
A little Tigger - bouncing about like usual

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/cuddles2.jpg
Cuddle time

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/tig.jpg
Their Disney blanket - a pressie from Disneyland Paris

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/hungry.jpg
...And Disney cat bowls

[ariel2007]

Yo ho, Yo ho, A Pirates life for Me... We came home from work today to find our Princess and Pirate Party Tickets waiting on the mat for us princess: pirate: . They are so cute:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/012.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/007.jpg
My Princess Ticket

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/010.jpg
Nick's Pirate Ticket

We just need to find something to wear to it now, were going to go and have a look at the Pirate costumes in a fancy dress shop when we have time, Nick wants to look like Jack Sparrow :d:

We also got a Orlando Vacation Planning Kit. I had forgotten that I had ordered it so it was a nice surprise.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/017.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/015.jpg

I wish the postman would bring me nice post like this everyday :grin:

[stagemomx3]

You and your boyfriend are so cute! It looks like you are having a lot of funny planning your fabulous trip. I'm totally jealous that you got to go see Mary Poppins though!

You've inspired me to go take pictures of our Pirates and Princess Party tickets to put in my pre trip report. :goodvibes

[mickeysmyboy]

I love your report!! Your pictures and stories are wonderful! Sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned!

[ariel2007]

You and your boyfriend are so cute! It looks like you are having a lot of funny planning your fabulous trip. I'm totally jealous that you got to go see Mary Poppins though!

You've inspired me to go take pictures of our Pirates and Princess Party tickets to put in my pre trip report. :goodvibes

Thanks, thats so sweet. Mary Poppins was brilliant, definitely glad we went to watch it before it ended in London. I really wanted to take my little sister to watch it as she would absolutely love it and luckily they are touring nearby so looks like we'll be going to watch it again in the summer :)

Are your tickets the same or do they do different ones too??

[ariel2007]

I love your report!! Your pictures and stories are wonderful! Sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned!

Thank you so much, I'm just glad I've got some readers.
The trouble is I keep trying to pass the time by planning, but that ends up to me booking more and more stuff, which in turn means more and more planning. At least its helping to pass the time a bit quicker, and were going to Cornwall in 2 days so that should keep us occupied for the next week. Then back to more planning again :)

[ariel2007]

Hey Guys, sorry I haven't been in for a week, I have been on holiday in Cornwall for the past week and couldn't get on the internet :sad2: . However, I did keep a mini-trippie which I will post when I get home tomorrow, and did get to play some Disney games and do a bit more planning :thumbsup2

[Taylor'sMom]

Sounds like you've got a great trip planned (I'm jealous you'll be on holiday for so long!!!!)

Love the "The one with..." titles in "Friends" style!

[stagemomx3]

. However, I did keep a mini-trippie which I will post when I get home tomorrow

Looking forward to it!

[Lemming_of_the_BDA]

Subscribing. I'm hoping to get inspired to write my own trip report when my sister and I go in May 2008. Looking forward to hearing more.

BTW your cats totally remind me of my own orange cat McCartney

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd286/kitschkoolaid/100_0066.jpg

Courtney

[earthfaries]

Hi :)

I'm subscribing!!! I've only read the first post, but I'm catching up:rotfl:

I will post as I go. I do have to say wonderful pictures though, and you guys are such a cute couple and look so happy together:goodvibes

[ariel2007]

Subscribing. I'm hoping to get inspired to write my own trip report when my sister and I go in May 2008. Looking forward to hearing more.

BTW your cats totally remind me of my own orange cat McCartney

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd286/kitschkoolaid/100_0066.jpg

Courtney

Go on, write a trip report, they are great fun to write and they are a great way to look back and see what you did. I decided to do a pre-trippie to try and pass the time and it is certainly helping, less than 2 months to go now :banana: .

McCartney's gorgeous, maybe he is the American cousin of our English cats. I love the name too, very different to the cat names you here over here.

[ariel2007]

Hi :)

I'm subscribing!!! I've only read the first post, but I'm catching up:rotfl:

I will post as I go. I do have to say wonderful pictures though, and you guys are such a cute couple and look so happy together:goodvibes

Thank you, thats really sweet. We are really happy together, our personalities fit together perfectly...and most importantly he loves Disney and loves to visit the parks :cheer2:

[ariel2007]

Looking forward to it!

The mini-trippie will be up in a bit - sorry its been so long, we got back on Monday, have worked like crazy everyday since and then had a 5 hour drive late last night after work back to my Mum's for English Mothers Day tomorrow.

Please keep reading and subscribing, its so great talking to you all:thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

As promised here is a mini-trippie of our holiday to Cornwall last week, with lots and lots of pictures.

The Cast:
My Mum and Step Dad (referred to as Dad as he is Sophie's Dad and is as good as to me too)
Sophie - my little sister (shes 11, often referred to as Soph)
My Grandparents
Honey - our Labrador (well Sophie's)
Nick and I

Monday 18th
Nick and I had work on Sunday so we traveled down to Mum’s house in Devon after work, arriving a little before 1am. So when Sophie came running in early on Monday morning to see if we were ready to go out we were not overly impressed. She let us sleep in a few hours and then we got up and ready and with Mum, Kate (my older sister) and Sophie we headed down to Plymouth. We walked along the Barbican, stopping to get some chips for lunch, then headed over to the Pavillions for ice-skating. We had a laugh, especially since Kate hadn’t been for years and hardly let go of the side, and Nick taught Sophie to skate backwards, she was very impressed, as were we. We ordered some pizza for tea from a local pizza cafe (the best pizza, coleslaw and garlic bread ever) and snuggled on the sofa with a glass of wine (obviously not Sophie) to watch Sophie’s new Ratatouille DVD I had brought her.

Tuesday 19th
Tuesday morning finally came round and we up early to get ready and get the cars packed up. A few hours later with 2 bulging car boots we were all ready to go, although by now we were all very tired again. Honey was raring to go and jumped straight in and we were finally away, Mum and Dad in one car, Nick, Soph and I in the other...just to get to the main road and find Sophie had forgotten Macy, her favourite dog. So Nick turned around, Sophie ran in and came out with her arms full of teddies, 9 in all. So we were off again, second time lucky, or not. We got 10 minutes down the road and Sophie realised Macy was missing, she searched and it just wasn’t there and started to get really upset. I tried to phone Kate at home to see if Soph had dropped her on the road but my phone decided to stop working, typical. After 10 minutes of trying to phone home and Mum I finally got through and Kate went and found Macy who was still on Sophie’s bed. Grandma and Grandad had only just left so turned round and went back to collect Macy.
After 45 minutes we crossed the Tamar Bridge and we were in Cornwall. We stopped shortly after at Cardinham Woods for a drink and snack and let Honey have a run. We drove on to Hayle, our favourite place in the world (not including WDW, of course), a smallish seaside town with the most gorgeous golden sandy beach. We drove through the town and picked up some tasty Cornish pasties and ate them by the river. One more stop at Tesco in Penzance, the last supermarket till Sennen, to pick up supplies for the next few days. 20 minutes later we finally arrived over the hill and got the most beautiful view down to Sennen Cove, the crashing waves on the rocks, the lovely beach, the boats in the harbour, the beautiful cliffs across the bay. Sennen Cove is a typical Cornish seaside town, but very small and beautiful. There is one road that comes down a big hill leading to a dead end, a small row of houses on one side, the sea on the other. There is one small shop, one local pub, 2 little cafes, a surf shop, surf school and cafe and a roundhouse gallery. The beach starts at one end with a small habour with fishing boats and a lifeboat station, lots of rock pools in the middle and then a nice sandy beach at the end. The flat where we were staying is right at the end of the road, the front patio leads to a cliff edge, the back patio looks up to a hill that leads to a coastal path.
Some pictures of Sennen:
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The flat belongs to my Mum’s best-friends parents and we have been staying there since we were babies, although the last time we visited was about 5 years ago, typically nothing had changed since. We unpacked the cars quickly and Sophie was reunited with Macy, then took a walk along the seafront and down to the beach. Honey was straight in the water, and Sophie and grandad were instantly up to their old tricks. Soph hid behind a rock, whilst Grandad told Dad she was up this huge hill by the beach. Dad walked half way up, almost giving himself a heart-attack as this was the most exercise he had done all year, to find Soph waiting at the bottom in fits of giggles. By the time we walked back up the beach the sky was dark, except the illuminating glow coming from the huge, bright moon.

The sun setting over the beach:
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The moon over the beach:
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We strolled back to the flat and sat round the roaring open fire before a lovely tea of home-cooked ham, jacket potatoes and salad. After tea we played games for a bit before bedtime.

Soph enjoying the lovely fire:
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Wednesday 20th
We were up early for a lovely cooked breakfast, then all quickly got ready and walked down to the harbour.

The view from the window and patio:
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Grandma and Grandad walked up the beach whilst the rest of us went to the rock-pools. We had great fun searching for fish and managed to catch 8 fish and 2 crabs.

Our catch:
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After a bit we returned the fish to where they came from and walked over to the beach to meet Grandma and Grandad. Soph joined Honey in the sea for a nice paddle
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We all walked back to the flat for a coffee and snack before our walk. We walked up the hill just above the flat, admiring the beautiful views over the beach and sea as we went:
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At the top we reached the watch tower where we had the most amazing view over Sennen one side, and over the cliffs and onto Lands End the other. We walked round the cliffs, stopping to see the huge ship-wreck marooned on the cliffs, getting some amazing views:
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Lands End in the distance:
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Continued Below...

[ariel2007]

When we got to Lands End we had a look around, Soph had a play in the park and then we got an ice-cream and sat on a bench overlooking the sea.

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We walked back to the flat and spent a bit of time relaxing, I sat next to the lovely warm fire with a stunning view out to sea reading a book (interspersed with looking at my Disney Passporter and going on my laptop).
Before tea we had a quick walk across the seafront and then came back to a delicious tea of Dad’s homemade lasagne, jacket potatoes and salad. After tea we sat a relaxed by the fire for a bit and then had a game of poker...which I actually won for once. Everyone went to bed, Nick and I were sleeping on a sofa-bed in the lounge till Dad went home on Friday and it was lovely going to bed with the fire still glowing and the distant sound of the waves against the cliffs sending us off to sleep.



Thursday 21st
We had a quick breakfast this morning and then Mum, Dad, Nick, Sophie and I jumped in the truck and drove to St Ives. We used to stay in Hayle every year and when there we would always spend a day at St Ives – it is such a beautiful, peaceful seaside town. Coming into St Ives we had the most beautiful views all across the bay and over to Hayle. We parked above Porthminster beach and walked across it and over to St Ives bay.

Porthminster beach with Hayle in the distance:
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Soph having fun on the beach with St Ives behin:
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We walked along the seafront, stopping in the lovely little gallery to admire the beautiful paintings, then got a traditional Cornish pasty and sat on the seafront overlooking the beach and boats.
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We walked back through the little cobbled town, looking in the surf shops and souvenir shops along the way.
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We then drove back, stopping to take pictures of St Micheals Mount and Cape Cornwall, and through Pendeen to see if the little tea shop we liked was open. Unfortunately it was closed for the season, like much of the other local shops and cafes.
Soph doing her HSM jump in front of St Micheal's Mount:
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Back at the flat we had some tea and biscuits and chilled out for a few hours before tea. Nick made his lovely Wagamama’s chicken chilli men dish, followed by tiramisu. In the evening we had margaritas and played poker, unfortunately I only came second tonight. Before bed we sat by the fire and toasted marshmallows, tasty but very sickly.


Friday 22nd
It was Dad’s last day today so Mum, Dad, Soph, Nick and I got up really early and walked to Cape Cornwall. The walk was about 6 miles, all round the coast and along the cliffs so we got great views of all the huge waves crashing against the rocks just below us.
Looking back to Sennen:
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Cape Cornwall in the very distance:
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Finally at Cape Cornwall:
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When we arrived at Cape Cornwall (after a bit of a detour as we lost the path) Grandma and Grandad were there to pick us up and we drove back to the flat for tea and biscuits. After a 10 minute rest we went down to the beach and did some rock-pooling, this time catching 2 huge fish, a shrimp, 3 crabs and a baby starfish. We brought some fish and chips from the local cafe for lunch which were delicious and then we said goodbye to Dad who had to go back home to work.
We drove over to Lands End to get some more pictures and then had a lazy afternoon sitting by the fire and playing games. For tea Mum made curry followed by strawberry cheesecake (not quite up to The Cheesecake Factory standard I’m afraid). After tea we played Disney Scene It which was great fun and then a few rounds of poker before an earlish night.


Saturday 23rd
Grandad and Mum were up early this morning so Mum could take Grandad on the walk to Cape Cornwall, so Nick and I made the most of it and had our first and only lie-in. Nick and Grandma went to pick them up from Cape Cornwall around 11ish so Soph and I played a few games of Disney Scene It. When everyone was back grandma cooked some sausages, jacket potatoes and salad for lunch and then we all drove over to Hayle. We drove to the holiday park which we used to stay at to show Nick how lovely it was and then parked further up the beach so we could walk along it. We walked through the dunes, its always such great fun to climb to the top of the big ones and then slide or roll all the way down.
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We then walked down to the beach which is 3 miles of golden sand.
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The sea was quite rough today and there were a few surfers out and the tide was coming in quite quickly so when we had walked half way up the beach we cut back through the dunes. We walked and walked and walked, up and down, up and down, but could not see our car. After about an hour of climbing up dunes and running down the other side we finally saw the carpark, by which time we were all totally shattered. On the drive back we detoured down to the Minack Theatre, an outside theatre built into a cliff edge, and walked down to the cliff which gave the most amazing view down to Porthcurnow beach.
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Grandma and Grandad had driven on so when we got back to the flat the fire was already roaring so we sat down and had a glass of wine before getting ready for dinner. For dinner Mum, Soph, Nick and I went to the local pub, The Old Success. Mum had BBQ ribs, Soph had lasagne and Nick and I had cod and chips, all of which was very nice. The atmosphere was very tradionally Cornish and cosy and there was lots of locals and a local band.
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After dinner we played a few games in the flat and toasted more marshmallows before our last sleep of the holiday.

Continued Below...

[ariel2007]

Sunday 24th
We were up early today as we were leaving after lunch and had to pack up the cars and get the flat cleaned up. After the cars were packed we chilled out for a bit and then had lunch before taking a final walk by the cliffs.
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Just as we were leaving it began to rain, the first rain of the holiday which was very lucky. It took about 2 hours to get back to Devon and when we got back Honey was already there waiting (she had come back in Grandma and Grandad’s car). We unpacked Mum and Sophie’s stuff and our overnight bag, we were staying at Mum’s overnight and driving home tomorrow morning. Dad came home and made us some tea which we ate whilst watching Dancing On Ice, So You Think You Can Dance? And Sophie’s favorite, Wild At Heart. It was very depressing, the last night of our holiday and back to work tomorrow. At least we have got Disney to look forward to in a few months :thumbsup2

[disneychard]

You look like you had a great time on your vacation.:yay: The pictures were beautiful.:)

[winkers]

The Pics are beautiful! I've always wanted to visit cornwall!

[ariel2007]

Thanks both, I took so many pictures, nearly as many as when we went to WDW for a month.

Winkers, if you come to England you have to visit Cornwall - it is so beautiful and has so many lovely beaches. I was born and brought up in Devon which is the next county to Cornwall and we used to go for Sunday drives with my grandparents every week, mostly to Cornwall. We also used to go on holiday there about twice a year, we all love it.

[Lemming_of_the_BDA]

I love pictures, I'm such a visual person. It so nice to see tons of pictures. It looks like a great time.

[ariel2007]

I love pictures, I'm such a visual person. It so nice to see tons of pictures. It looks like a great time.

I know what you mean, I am the same. I am always attracted to trippies with lots of pictures so thought I would put in lots of my own. Dont worry, there will be lots more to come :)

[BrittBritt]

You are officially much cooler than I am...You ride elephants, and you will be having tea at Hooters! :earseek:
Your PTR is a scream. Thanks for including so many pictures. You've won me over, and I'm now subscribing. :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

You are officially much cooler than I am...You ride elephants, and you will be having tea at Hooters! :earseek:
Your PTR is a scream. Thanks for including so many pictures. You've won me over, and I'm now subscribing. :thumbsup2

Yes another subscriber:banana: . :banana: I dont know about being cooler, but we have done some pretty amazing things - we also rode camels in Fuerteventura and dolphins in Cuba.

BTW I have read your pre-trippie and left a message for you on there too :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

So whats a girl to do when she has exhausted the possibilities of planning ... plan some more of course. So August we decided to go back and within a week I had pretty much planned what we would do for the holiday, by September all the major things were planned and I had a rough daily itinerary and then month by month till Christmas everything else was booked. So I had planned when we were going, where we would be staying, what we would be doing every day, where we would be eating ... I had looked through endless websites and spent every waking hour coming up with the Perfect plan that would encompass everything we wanted to do, fitted in an endless list of ADR's that we HAD to do, and gave us some time to fit in extra curricular activities like pool time, relaxation time and maybe if possible, a bit of sleep. So within 5 years (OK slight exaggeration) I had just about the Perfect plan , now what do I do for the next 7 months :confused: ??? My first option was to hibernate for the next 7 months and dream of all the wonderful things we would be doing. Although this sounded like a really good option I worried that my alarm may not go off in time and I couldnt have that. So option 2, option 2, what can option 2 be? And this is when it happened... "Ah my naive little child" a small voice replied "If you have even a minute of spare time in your plan then you have simply not planned enough". Now I dont know if I have my own version of Jimney Crickett sitting on my shoulder guiding me on this Disney voyage or if I had simply drunk one to many frozen margaritas whilst pretending to be in WS again . However, I decided to listen to Jimney, of Fred as I think I'll call him, and plan some more ("Ah poor naive child, you have caught the planning bug" came a voice from my other shoulder), doh ! So the next day I had one shining new copy of the Unofficial Guide to Disney in my hands. Within a week I was done and ready for the next installment, perfect timing for the new edition of the Brit Guide. Unfortunately due to stupid, trivial things like work and everyday life I didnt read it half as quick as I would have liked but by christmas I was done and on to the Unofficial Guides, Beyond Disney. Nearing the end and fearing I would simply forget everything I had read if I didnt continue on my quest for total Disney World Knowledge, Nick presented me with a copy of the Eyewitness Travel's Walt Disney World Resort And Orlando Book. Then the day arrived, early February, only 2 months late, the holy bible arrived, in the form of the Deluxe Edition of the Passporter. The lovely tan leather case held together everything I needed for a successful trip to the world, horray
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I even had a little planning helper:
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Now since I have included them in the trippie and I know people always want to know which guide book to buy I thought I would do a quick review of them all:

The Brit Guide, Simon and Susan Veness:
The only book we used for our last 2 trips and probably the most informative overall. A great book for first timers as it includes information on everything from arriving in Florida, accomodations, car hire, travel companies, information on all the parks including the rides, shows, restaurants etc (WDW, Universal, Seaworld, Busch Gardens, Kennedy Space Centre and the smaller parks), additional activites/attractions, dining and entertainment. It is broken down into easy to read chapters and includes some great Brit tips invaluable for first timers.

The Unofficial Guide - to Walt Disney World and Beyond Disney
These books are great for people who have been before and those looking for something more to do when there. The book gives detailed descriptions of rides, shows and dining, giving ratings and includes touring plans to help save queing. Very informative, and detailed, making it better for those who have been before, and slightly more biased towards the American market.

Eyewitness Guide, Walt Disney World Resort and Orlando
Basic information, lots of glossy pictures.

Passporters Walt Disney World - Deluxe Edition
This is more than just a travel guide - it is also a planner, organizer, journal and keepsake full of great, useful information and places to record your own
holiday plans. Contains great maps, a detailed ride/attraction section with reviews, average wait times, ride type etc, accommodation section with maps and room information, important phone numbers and other useful information. The deluxe edition comes in a leather case with room for important documents, a pen and a place to record a daily holiday journey with space to keep receipts etc.
The bible a.k.a The Deluxe Passporter
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I am glad I read them all, they all contain the same basic information but each has something different and unique that makes it worthwhile.

Of course the books weren't my only planning source, the internet played a major role in my obsessive planning and researching. Luckily for christmas Nick brought me a lovely new shimmery blue Sony Vaio laptop, perfect to do all my planning on:
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So of course I continually checked all the official websites, particularly keeping an eye on park hours and special events. I also frequently read through all the theme park menu's, its quite a hard job picking out what I am going to eat everyday, and then having to wait another 7 months to actually get it whilst eating rabbit food and lettuce. However, my main obsession was the Disney forums, reading through all the sections and the brilliant trip-reports and pre-trippies didnt only help pass the time and give me someone (well quite a few someone's :grouphug: ) to share my plans, obsessions and questions with but helped me learn things and get great tips that I would otherwise be ignorant too. Although I haven't really changed any of my plans (after all it did take me 5 years to plan ) it did really help me answer a few questions I had, add some special additions and generally feel prepared. This is what I have added or changed to my initial plans:

* The Princess and Pirate Party (instead of visiting a beach) princess: pirate:
* Jiko for tea - yes another ADR
* Yak and Yeti for lunch -and another
* Parasailing - which then led to renting Jet skis
* The Adventurer's Club / Comedy Club
* Congo River Golf
* Florida Mall, Premium Outlets, Prime Outlets

So any spare minute or mealtime we may have had on the original plan was now filled with something else, oh well its not everyday you go to the most Magical place on earth pixiedust:

So now its less than 2 months till we go, all I have left to do is re-read each guide book another 10 times, read every trip report and pre-trippie I can, start getting a bit creative (and maybe finish the last scrapbook), oh and work ... that hibernation is beginning to sound good again ;)

[disneychard]

Looks like your going to have a great vacation in wdw. :yay: :yay:

[winkers]

Wow! I thought I had alot of guide books! You are the Queen!:worship:

I'm planning a trip to England next spring. It was sopposed to be this May, but after some unfortunate events on my trip to disney last year, we decided to do it again this year.

Right now the plan is to fly into London and then spend 2 weeks driving around. I plan to visit Wales also, most of my ancestors came from there and I love doing geneology so I plan to visit the villages they were from.

[ariel2007]

Wow! I thought I had alot of guide books! You are the Queen!:worship:

I'm planning a trip to England next spring. It was sopposed to be this May, but after some unfortunate events on my trip to disney last year, we decided to do it again this year.

Right now the plan is to fly into London and then spend 2 weeks driving around. I plan to visit Wales also, most of my ancestors came from there and I love doing geneology so I plan to visit the villages they were from.

You should definitely spend some time in London, there is so much to see and do there, I could easily spend a week there and still not have done everything I wanted. I went to university in Wales, in the capital Cardiff which is great. There is loads of good shops, restaurants and quite often good concerts or sports matches. I didnt really see that much outside of Cardiff, apart from around the Swansea area which has some lovely beaches. I'm sure you will have a fab trip and if you need any help or ideas don't hesitate to ask :thumbsup2

[AlohaAnnie]

I have really enjoyed reading your PTR. I have also enjoyed meeting your family.

I love the photos of your trip, beautiful sea photos.

I would love to visit London and many other places across the sea from America.

I am looking forward to more from you :banana:

[ariel2007]

I have really enjoyed reading your PTR. I have also enjoyed meeting your family.

I love the photos of your trip, beautiful sea photos.

I would love to visit London and many other places across the sea from America.

I am looking forward to more from you :banana:

Thanks, thats really kind. You should definitely visit London, I love it, there is so much to see and do. We love traveling and are forever planning where our next vacation will be, I couldn't get through the year without having a vacation or two planned. Luckily we will also be going to New York in August and were also planning on a holiday for Nick's birthday in January, although we havent decided where yet as there are a few good options :thumbsup2

Should get some more up soon. Nick's going on a works trip for Sunday and Monday so I'm having a girly night with some friends tomorrow and then nothing planned for Monday so probably lots of posting :woohoo:

[ariel2007]

So I have been a bit naughty/lazy/boring recently and haven't updated you all on our holiday plans since our mini-trip to Cornwall so thought it was about time I got my backside into gear and added some more for my lovely readers. Now since we first booked our holiday - well actually before then, probably around the time we just got back from our last visit - I started thinking about all the things I wanted buy whilst we are in Florida. Last time we went we took 1 half full case out each, coming back we all had 2 rather stuffed-full cases full of all sorts of souvenirs, clothes and various other items. The problem is I love to shop at the best of times, and I can literally spend several hours in the Disney Store and would happily buy everything in there, so put me in Disney World for over 3 weeks and big things are gunna happen. I am, unfortunately for my bank balance, a collector. It began with one thing, and then another and another, and then I would go to Disney and buy say 4 beanies and suddenly that was it, I collected them too. Fortunately enough I don't really collect anything non-Disney-related (except one thing which connects back to Disney so its ok), so I can spend all my money, and use up all the space in my house on more Disney related items :) . So here they are, the collections I have and intend to add too, and some ideas for new ones maybe:

Shot Glasses
I started to collect shot glasses on Nick and my first holiday together to Fuerteventura. I brought a country one and then one for each major town or place we went to. It was then decided that this would become a collection and each country I went to I would get shot glasses for. Luckily we traveled a bit so my collection grew pretty quickly, that was until we went to Disney and my collection shot through the roof. My initial idea was to get one for each park we visited, one for any hotel we stayed in (and I am only allowed to get them for the resorts we stay in, not just the ones we visit, hence meaning I have to stay in every resort so I can complete my collection - do you like my thinking ;) ), one with the year on, and one for any dinner shows or restaurants that have them. On my 2005 trip I brought a few, mainly one for each park, one for the resort and a few odd ones I liked. Then fast-forward to our 2006 trip and having already brought one from all the parks I thought it would just be a case of getting one for each hotel we stayed in and the dinner shows. The result however was 24 new shot glasses - all of which were individually wrapped and brought back in my hand luggage. Nick was not particularly impressed when he saw I had brought another one, then another one ... but hey, like I say, its not every day you get to go to WDW (my new excuse for everything ;) ). So this time I shouldn't have that many to get - so far I can think of Coronado Springs, Polynesian, Yacht Club, Royal Pacific, Jimmy Buffets, Aquatica, Kennedy Space Centre, and a 2008 one. You'll just have to wait till I get back to see how many I actually get ...

Here is my collection:
My worldwide ones (a small collection compared to the Disney ones - hopefully one that will increase substantially over the next few years)
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00759.jpg

And my Disney collection
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/007-1.jpg

Some of my favourites
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00776.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00769.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00768.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00773.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/033.jpg

Pins
Obviously not an original collection, well far from it, but one that I love and cant wait to extend, drastically. During our 2005 trip we first saw the pins but only Sophie brought 2. However on our 2006 trip I did the unthinkable and on the first day brought my first pin, closely followed by Nick. The next day we went mad and brought quite a few and from there on our collection grew and grew. Luckily (or unluckily as some may see it), Nick shares in this passion and we loved collected them whilst we were out there - neither of us collected any particular range or theme, we got ones for any resorts we visited, ones for all the parks, ones with the year on and all the Mickey characters and then ones with our favorite characters and rides. When we got home one of our main priorities was to display the pins so we and everyone else could see them everyday. Here is the result:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/043.jpg

Mickey and Friends
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/052.jpg

Parks and rides
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/050.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/051.jpg

We also brought some from Universal and then lots or DLP from our recent 2 visits - although these haven't yet been displayed.
During our upcoming visit we obviously plan to get lots more, see I have convinced myself they are perfect souvenirs due to there size and weight, money obviously never came into this equation. At the moment our plans are to get ones for the resorts, ones for all our favorite rides, I want princess ones and then there are quite a few I have seen on the net.

Fridge Magnets
This is another recent collection that started on our 2006 trip. My Mum has always collected magnets and after our 2005 visit I was constantly admiring her collection that brightened up her fridge, and infact kitchen. So I thought I would follow in her footsteps and I think our 2006 trip became a competition to see who could get the most, I think I won for that trip but she wins overall. Here is our fridge currently:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00777.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00778.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00779.jpg

Our mini fridge:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/042.jpg


Walt Disney Classic Collection
This is a fairly new collection, and unfortunately due to my liking of expensive holidays still a fairly small collection. I fell in love with the Classic collection whilst at DLP in 2006/2007 and fortunately having the amazing boyfriend I do, Nick signed me up to join the club soon after. He brought me a few and then for my birthday his Gran brought me 2, Nick brought me 2 (including the very expensive but amazing Ursula) and a further 1 from DLP on my birthday visit. At the moment I haven't got many of a particular film although I really want to collect The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Toy Story. I am hoping that we will be able to add to collection during our holiday but I know I cant go mad as I have to try and get them back safely (along with all the shot glasses and any other breakables). Heres my collection so far:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/001.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/039.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00790.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00783.jpg

With my Little Mermaid jewelery boxes
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00781.jpg

Beanies and teddies
Being a big Winnie-the-Pooh fan I brought a few teddies and beanies from WDW, DLP and then the Disney Store. Then every time I went to the Disney Store I would get another beanie (quite often Tigger) and soon had more than I have room for (51 to be exact). Then in 2005 I brought a few Mickey Mouse and friends beanies which were topped up in 2006 and planned to be topped up again this time. I particularly want a safari Donald and Mickey (I have Minnie and Pluto), TOT and Star Wars Goofy, and a Donald and Minnie. As for teddies I have lots of Winnie-the-Pooh ones, all the Mickey characters (except Daisy), a Little Mermaid and Jungle Book collection and a few others. I really want a Daisy Duck, Pegasus, and I have seen a really cute Lady and Tramp in someones trip report I want. Unfortunately no pictures of these at the moment but should get some soon.

I also try to collect a shot glass, pin and fridge magnet from each Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe we visit (a great excuse to visit all of them). Here is some of my collection:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00762-1.jpg

[ariel2007]

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/036.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00761.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00786.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00785.jpg

A couple of Las Vegas HR pins brought back from 2 very kind friends
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00789.jpg

In addition I have a collection of postcards, much like the shot glasses - one from every country and town we have been to, and one from every Disney Park and resort we have visited.
I also get as many souvenir glasses as I can bring home, so will probably be bringing back a few too.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/035.jpg

So I think that is all the current collections we are planning on adding to, however I am (worryingly) sure that we will probably start another one, or two. And then there all the other souvenirs, clothes, shoes, jewelery, sunglasses etc we plan on buying ... I suppose with that in mind I should really spend a little less time on here and a little more time working to pay for all these goodies ... nah thats no fun is it?!?

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00753-1.jpg
Tigger hiding any evidence of further Disney shopping

[ariel2007]

I was tempted to post a picture of a giant apple and write about that but then realized that that just wasn't interesting :sad2: . So instead I decided to enlighten you on our other vacation plans. Yes we are having two big vacations this year, its a great year for us :banana:.

Background to the trip
As you might remember our Disney holiday came out of plans for my Mum's 50th birthday. In August my lovely Mum is 50 and we all decided we wanted to do something extra special and having all wanted to visit New York for some time we decided this is what we would do. We started looking at Virgin Holidays and saw they did 2-center holidays with New York and the Caribbean so started looking into that. However when we saw the prices something hit me, it would be just as cheap to go to Orlando for a few weeks plus it would be in the free dining plan time, it seemed perfect :cloud9:. Mum, Dad and Soph were all as desperate (well nearly) as me to go back and loved the idea, especially the free dining. So we started planning and came up with some plans and ideas of what we wanted to do, where we wanted to stay, eat etc ... and then we hit a brick wall :eek:. My older sister Kate, who never wants to come on holiday with us but does this time, announced she didn't want to go to WDW and wouldn't come if we did. WHAT? :confused:, Who in their right mind doesn't want to go to WDW, sometimes I really don't think we are related :sad2:. Well Mum wanted us all to be there as it was her birthday so WDW went out the window. So back to plan 1, New York. Now although we were all sad not to be going to WDW it worked out quite well for Nick and I cause now we get to go to WDW and New York :cheer2:.

So now you know the background to the trip let me introduce the cast:

Mum and Dad
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00393.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00258-1.jpg

I'll start with Mum as this trip is for her. She will be 50 is August and I think she looks damn good for her age - ever since she had Sophie she just seems to get younger and younger. She is an amazing Mum, she is so loving and caring and has always put us kids first but is also a great friend and great fun to hang out with. She loves Disney and has major Disney depression ever since our last trip, she also loves the US despite initially being skeptical about going there, so much so she wants to spend all our holidays there. She loves great food, going to see great shows and visiting great places. She likes to help plan our trips but leaves all the major decisions to me.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00265.jpg

Dad - is 48, 49 in July (Mum has a toy-boy). He is actually only Sophie's real Dad but has been with Mum for 16 years and has been more than a dad to Kate and I and I absolutely love him to pieces. He is slightly crazy, but in a good way, and is so much fun to be around. He works every waking minute to be able to pay for our amazing trips and nothing is ever too much for him. He loves Disney and is always talking about moving to America, he loves every thing about the country and cant wait to go back. He is really laid back and leaves all the decisions to Mum and I - might be something to do with living in a house full of women for 15 years :rolleyes: .
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00261.jpg

My 2 sisters:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00256-Copy.jpg

Katie - my older sister, she is 25 and will be 26 when we go. Being only 3 years different in age we have always been really close, when we were younger we used to play together all the time and as we grew our friendship blossomed and she is now one of my best friends. We can talk about anything and often chat all night, she is my main party buddy and we have some of the best and most fun camping trips. She is the party girl of the family and although loves her family to bits prefers to spend her money on partying than joining us on our amazing holidays - which works out quite well as she doesn't do Disney :sad2:, likes completely different things and can often cause arguments with Dad or Soph . She has recently become a vegetarian and is dreading missing out on New York steaks. She is quite disorganized and hates planning so leaves that to Mum and I.

Sophie - my baby sister, she is actually 11 (12 by the time we go) but will always be my baby. We are really close and I miss her so much when were not together. I love to spoil her and she is an angel child who deserves to be spoiled so it works out well. She is a lovely child, she is very well mannered
and polite, she is kind-hearted and has lots of friends as a result, she tries hard at everything she does although sometimes finds things hard and grows into a more beautiful young lady every day. She loves her family and is a Mummys girl, Daddys girl, Grandad's girl but most importantly My girl :love: . She is quite young for her age and doesn't want to grow up, something not that common in children her age, meaning she still has that lovely innocence children have. Her main passion is animals, from the day she was born she has had an obsession with all animals, initially she wanted to be an animal when she grew up but after figuring it wasn't really possible she decided she wants to either be a killer-whale trainer or be like Rosie Trevanion in Wild at Heart. She loves our holidays especially Disney and is happy-go-lucky with any plans we make.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00395-Copy.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00378.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00240.jpg

Nick and I - well you already know us and know we love to travel and love America and this trip is a long time waiting to happen. Just to remind you what we look like here we are:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00259.jpg

And finally our little traveling friend who cant wait to climb the Empire State and eat New York Steaks
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0022.jpg


Like I said Mum, Dad, Sophie, Nick and I have been on holiday together quite a bit and work really well together as a group. We all love the same things (mainly Disney), and our personalities work really well together - Paul and Nick are really laid back and love to let us plan and Mum and I love to plan (and Sophie just sits there in dream world :cloud9: ). Nick gets on really well with them all - Paul loves to have another bloke around and someone to play golf with and Sophie just loves him to bits. This will be a bit of an experiment when it comes to adding Kate into the equation as she has quite different ideas on what she wants to do/see/visit/eat etc, so fingers crossed we will all come back alive :confused3 .

Next up - How much can we fit into 6 days - The Planning

[ariel2007]

The Plans:

We haven't yet booked anything as we are still unsure on a few details but at the moment here are our plans:

Where: New York
Dates: August 23rd - 29th 2008 - 6 nights / 7 days

We haven't yet booked the hotel or flights although we are hoping on flying
with Virgin Atlantic again. As for a hotel we are looking for something located near Times Square / Broadway so we have the freedom to walk to some of the major sights.

Things to do / Places to visit:
- Bus tour
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/bus.jpg

- Empire State Building
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/EmpireStateBld.jpg

- Statue of Liberty
- Ellis Island
- Top of the Rock - the Rockefeller Centre - preferably at sunset
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/topoftherock.jpg

- New York harbor Cruise
- Helicopter trip
- Museum of Natural History
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Naturalhistory.jpg

- Central Park - boating lake, Central Park Zoo, movie nights with picnic
- Sunday Brunch at the Rainbow Room
- Shopping at Fao Swartz, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and The Disney Store (got to get Disney in there somewhere)
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WorldOf_Disney.jpg

- Mum, Dad, Soph, Nick and I will be watching The Lion King on Broadway (I got Mum a ticket for Mothers Day)
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Lion-King-Broadway-Landscap.jpg

-Nick, Soph and I will be watching The Little Mermaid on Broadway, Mum and Kate will be watching Chicago and Dad has a choice
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/215px-The_Little_Mermaid_Musical_Pl.jpg

- Yankee's game

So thats the basic idea of what we want to do, I know it seems a lot in quite a short space of time but we want to do as much as possible as we don't know when we will be back. We have also had to incorporate things for 6 different people which is kind of hard. As for restaurants we have so far agreed on The Rainbow Room for Sunday Brunch, Hard Rock Cafe, a chinese in China Town, Italian in Little Italy, Planet Hollywood (probably just for a snack and cocktail) and Tavern on the Green - Kate is now a vegetarian and doesn't like chain restaurants like Hard Rock so we have had to compromise a little bit.

So thats all the plans we have made for now but I will update you along the way, hopefully we will get the flights and hotels booked soon so we can get on with booking show tickets and attraction tickets.

Any comments or idea's from those in the know would be very much appreciated :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

:cool1: Morning guys, hope everyones good today? Ok now I need some help from you wonderfully creative and inspiring lot in regards to easter. As we are going to New York in August I thought I would get family things for that before we go. I got Mum a ticket for the Lion King for Mother's Day and will be doing the same for Dad for his Birthday in July. For easter I have decided to make Mum, Dad, Kate and Soph a New York inspired gift bag each as I'm sure they will get enough easter eggs and wanted to do something more original. My friend recently visited New York so I got her to pick me up some postcards, pens, keyrings and chocolate and I will be getting them each a ticket for a habour cruise. I want to get some nice gift bags and decorate them in a New York / American style but am not quite sure how to do this so would love some ideas :thumbsup2

I also need some ideas of what to get Nick, I want it to be something that either relates to Disney or would be something for him to take with us, trouble is it was his birthday recently and I already got him most things he needs so its hard :sad2:
We are also spending easter day just the two of us which will be the first time I wont be with Mum and Soph :sad1: . Therefore I need some great ideas and inspiration of what Nick and I can do to make it a fun and memorable easter - I would love to hear what you guys do :thumbsup2

Come on faithful readers, give me some ideas of what I can do.

[ariel2007]

So I have already enlightened you all with our holiday plans for New York and our Magical Vacation to Walt Disney World (which is the main reason I am writing this after all) but there is one more holiday we have planned for this year. I thought I would share it with you to try and help me pass these last 40 days, 7 hours and 33 minutes...
So where do you go when you live in Europe, have already been to WDW this year, NEED another Disney fix but don't quite have the time or funds for another Magical WDW Adventure... Disneyland Paris of course :cheer2: . Now I have already been to DLP 6 times, 2 of those times have been within the last 18months (and Nick's first visits). The first was for 4 nights over New Year's Eve 2006/07 with Mum, Dad and Soph in which we had a fantastic time at the parks, ice-skating in front of the New York, New York Hotel and watching the amzing Tinkerbell Dinner show. The most recent visit was for my birthday in July last year when Nick treated me to 2 nights at the lovely Newport Bay Hotel. It was our first Disney holiday just the 2 of us and we had a fantastic time touring the parks, eating in some wonderful restaurants, chilling by the pool and shopping in the Disney Village. It was this trip that really got my mind set that we just HAD to go back to WDW, and as you have it shortly after we returned (after a further 2 weeks with the rest of my family in Brittany, France, most of which was spent planning and contriving plans to convince Nick and Mum) we booked our WDW Adventure.
Since Mum, Dad and Soph weren't coming to WDW and were having MAJOR withdrawl symptoms from not visiting Disney in 12 months we all had a chat and came to the conclusion that we would add in a visit to Disneyland Paris in 2008 :mickeyjum :donald: :goofy: :tigger:. We needed to pick a time of year to go, a time that Sophie wouldn't miss too much school, a time that wouldn't be too cold or wet (like New Year), a time that wasn't too close to our New York vacation in August or our WDW Adventure in May. Then we thought of the perfect time, in the last few years Nick and I had worked Halloween meaning it had been boring and I didn't get to have fun trick or treating and dressing up with Soph. I was always jealous of all the people who got to go to WDW and attend all the Halloween festivities so this seemed an ideal alternative. So we would get to spend Halloween in Disneyland Paris and the next day (1st November) would be Nick and my 5 year dating anniversary, even more ideal. So it was decided, Halloween 2008 would be spent at DLP :cheer2: .

After the dates were decided we wrote down some dieas of what we wanted to do whilst there. Obviously we would spend a day or so in the Disneyland Park itself and a half day or so in Disney Studio's (which is still relatively small and doesn't take much time). We also really wanted to see some of Paris itself. Now we had been 4 times as a family but had never actually seen or explored Paris itself, not even the Eiffel Tower. Nick and I decided we couldn't miss the opportunity to see the Eiffel Tower whilst we were in Paris for my birthday so spent a night at a hotel near the Eiffel Tower and took the lift to the top of the tower. It was great to have finally been up the Eiffel Tower after so many trips to France, and Paris itself, and the trip up and views at the top were amazing. However, we had still not seen even a small bit of Paris and saw in a Disney brochure that they did a tour of Paris from Disney itself. The tour visits all the main sites and includes a stop at the Eiffel Tower with the opportunity to go up it and a River Seine Boat trip which we had really wanted to do but couldn't fit in. We always like to do proper tours as they give you a real insight into the place and all the interesting facts and tales that you wouldn't get if you were by yourself. So that was decided we would do the Paris tour one day too. We also needed to fit in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in the Disney Village and a few nice restaurants Nick and I wanted Mum and Dad to try. Nothing is definite as of yet but here is our basic plan:

Thursday 30th Oct:
Ferry from Dover to Calais
Check in at Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch
Afternoon at swimming pool
Wild West Dinner Show

Friday 31st - Halloween:
Disneyland Park for the day
Dinner at Walt's American Diner or Lucky Nugget Saloon

Saturday 1st Nov - Nick and my 5 year anniversary:
Disneyland Park for the day
Lunch at Rainforest Cafe in the Disney Village
Tea at The Steakhouse, Disney Village

Sunday 2nd:
Paris Tour
Tea in the Disney Village

Monday 3rd:
Disney Studio's for the morning
Lunch ???
Late ferry home :sad1:

So that is all we have got for now, hopefully soon we will get it booked and can book our ADR's (or DLP equivalent). But for now it is only 40 days, 6 hours and 52 minutes :cheer2:

[ariel2007]

Well I have just returned home from a looonnnnnggggg day of shopping. I am shattered now but managed to buy half of Lakeside Mall so am well stocked up for holiday clothes :banana: ....Nick wasn't so impressed however as he traipsed round after me carrying my bags and nodding in agreement at the 50th black dress I showed him ("they all look the same") :sad2: . I was nice and let him buy me lunch though ;) . Unfortunately (or fortunately, depends how you see it :confused3 ) there are still a few holiday items I need to get which means I will have to go shopping again... never a good thing for my credit card :sad2:. I also need to get Nicks easter pressie and some supplies to make Mum, Dad's, Kates and Sophie's, a task that is proving to be quite hard.

Anyway after my last post I thought I would post some pictures from when we went on the Eiffel Tower in August, hope you enjoy popcorn::

The Workmanship of the tower
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0262.jpg

Going up the tower in the lift
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0269.jpg

View from the 2nd Floor
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0270.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0274.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0271.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0272.jpg

View from the top of the tower
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0283.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0284.jpg

The tower at night - the view from outside our hotel (I know its not great but the lights were flashing)
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0291-Copy.jpg

The view of the tower from our hotel
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/Paris/IMG_0303.jpg

I cant remember what all the landmarks are called as there were so many, but the views were amazing and despite taking around 4 hours to get to the top and back down it was a great experience and would recommend it to anyone

[DisneyFan83]

I love your PTR- it's so much fun to read & creative! We'll be in Disney around the same time, so I'm definitely subscribing :thumbsup2 And I love how all of your titles are like the title of episodes of FRIENDS! Have fun!

[BrittBritt]

Beautiful pictures. I went to Paris in the eighth grade, and I loved every minute of it. We stayed near the Tower, but for some reason, never went to the top. :confused3 I don't remember why not... The Disneyland Paris plans sound great. Make sure you post lots of details about that trip as well. It would be so neat to compare it to WDW here.

[ariel2007]

I love your PTR- it's so much fun to read & creative! We'll be in Disney around the same time, so I'm definitely subscribing :thumbsup2 And I love how all of your titles are like the title of episodes of FRIENDS! Have fun!

Yes I'm so glad to have another subscriber, I began to think people had stopped reading :sad1: . Would be great if we bumped into you at WDW, hope you have a fab time too :thumbsup2

I would love to say the Friends titles were original but I got the idea off another trippie. However I thought they would be fun and being a big friends fan thought it would be perfect :woohoo:

Thanks for reading, I love having some subscribers to chat too.

[ariel2007]

Beautiful pictures. I went to Paris in the eighth grade, and I loved every minute of it. We stayed near the Tower, but for some reason, never went to the top. :confused3 I don't remember why not... The Disneyland Paris plans sound great. Make sure you post lots of details about that trip as well. It would be so neat to compare it to WDW here.

Thanks. Oh you are soooo lucky getting to go to Paris with your school, that is so cool :cool2: . I know what you mean about the tower though, this was our 6th visit to Paris, about 15th to France but still our first time to see and go up it. Glad I did though, it was so cool.

I will keep you updated about DLP too, however there isn't really much comparison between that and WDW, they are so different in so many ways.

[ariel2007]

Oh no, I've got it already and I've got it bad... the dreaded shopping bug, and I'm not even on holiday yet :sad2: . On Wednesday Nick and I decided to go to Lakeside shopping mall to do a bit of shopping for the holiday, to be fair I did need a few new things - a bikini, beach bag, a sundress, a few nice outfits for our nice meals, and a few new tops. Well the first shop I went in to I practically tried on everything but only brought 1 top :rolleyes: so I thought it was going to be a slow day. Bypassing another shop I saw a nice dress in the window, so I went in and ended up coming out with 2 :confused: . After that I just couldn't stop - in the next shop I brought a top, then a bikini, jewelery and hair accessories, then a sun-dress, 2 tops and a necklas, then trousers a top and more jewelery :scared1: , this really wasn't good for my credit card :sad2: . I even fitted in a visit to The Disney Store, although I didn't buy anything for myself, only a few Easter gifts (now that is restraint :rotfl: ).

One of the tops I brought needed to be taken back so on Thursday we popped to a local town before work. Now this should have been a simple task of going in and swapping the top but half an hour later I emerged with 6 new tops, ekk :scared1: . I also didn't manage to get the beach bag I wanted so went to Accessorize to get it, did they have the bag? No :sad2: . Did I buy anything? Of course, £65 lighter and with another new sun-dress and some more jewelery I must be finished.

So today I go to another local Accessorize to get the bag, again they didn't have it but I did get a new jacket, did I need it? I don't know, but I liked it :confused3 . So now I have given my credit card a real bashing and I still haven't got the beach bag, which means, yes more shopping :scared:

[TrueEeyore]

Hey!! Count me in! I'm laughing at you and your shopping! You sound like me! :lmao:

Your mom doesn't look like she's going to be 50, she looks GREAT for her age!!

Your little sister is adorable! I've always wanted a little sister, but I'm the baby of the family....That has it's advantages too :rotfl:

My brother collects shot glasses like you. We usually bring him one back from wherever we go. You have ALOT of fridge magnets! Just the way I like it :thumbsup2

I love all of your pictures, especially the ones from the Eiffel Tower! I don't know if I could go up there, I'm scared of heights :scared:

You and your boyfriend are adorable together. I can't wait to read about your trip! :banana:

[ariel2007]

Hey!! Count me in! I'm laughing at you and your shopping! You sound like me! :lmao:

Your mom doesn't look like she's going to be 50, she looks GREAT for her age!!

Your little sister is adorable! I've always wanted a little sister, but I'm the baby of the family....That has it's advantages too :rotfl:

My brother collects shot glasses like you. We usually bring him one back from wherever we go. You have ALOT of fridge magnets! Just the way I like it :thumbsup2

I love all of your pictures, especially the ones from the Eiffel Tower! I don't know if I could go up there, I'm scared of heights :scared:

You and your boyfriend are adorable together. I can't wait to read about your trip! :banana:

Yes, glad to see you over here :cool1:

Thanks about my Mum, I think she looks great for her age and would love it if I looked like that when I was 50. Its funny as every year she gets older she actually seems to look and act younger. My grandparents are quite the smae, very active and young at heart so I'm hoping I get their good genes too :)

I was quite lucky growing up cause my little sister wasn't born till I was 11 so I was the baby till then so got spoilt. I am still my Dad's baby (Soph and I have different Dad's) so get spoilt there too and my older sister spoils me so I get it good from all sides ;) . It was quite a surprise when Mum told us she was pregnant, I had prayed since I was about 3 for a little sister and just as I was giving up hope Mum surprise us all, it was the most magical moment of my life :cloud9: .

The Eiffel Tower is really cool and one of those things you just 'have' to do once. You dont have to go right to the top, there is a first floor, second floor and then the top which is really high. The views are so worth it though.

Hopefully I will be able to deliver a good trip report, although I may be a little depressed from having to leave Disney. I'm sure Nick will have to literally drag me onto the plane :sad1:

[ariel2007]

Firstly HAPPY EASTER to everyone for yesterday, I hope everyone had a great day, I'll fill you in on what we did in a minute. Well I would have posted this installment earlier but we didn't get home from work until about 10.15pm, then Nick made some tea whilst I got sidetracked by America's Next Top Model and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. However I'm being a good girlfriend now and letting him watch the cricket (snooze) whilst I play on my lappie :thumbsup2 .

First up I thought I'd post a piccie of my shopping from the last few days just to prove I wasn't exaggerating about how serious my shopoholic ways have got in the last week.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00801.jpg
Yes that is a Disney Shop bag you see in the corner

Now back to our Easter day. It was my first ever easter without being with all my family which I was quite sad about so Nick promised to try and make up for it. Our day started with waking up to snow outside, and not just a little bit of snow we usually see but a thick blanket of snow in our garden. It was a great start, I love snow :lovestruc.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00794.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00795.jpg

Nick and I decided to get each other something for the holiday instead of chocolate eggs which I never eat (last year I still had mine in October :confused3). So I brought him a pair of white and blue Hawaiian shorts for one of our tropical meals which was wrapped up with a flower lay and a leaflet I had made for Seaworld's Makahiki Dinner Show which we would be doing on our anniversary.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00792.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00796.jpg

Nick brought me a brilliant suitcase which matched the one I had brought him for his birthday, and inside were some toiletries for our holiday and a easter Me-to-You bear and a couple of mini chicks (not real of course).
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00802.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00805.jpg

He also brought me a few other bits for our holiday. The best towel... its so bright we will never lose our placehttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00806.jpge

And a lovely Tinkerbell passport cover
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00808.jpg

I had hidden lots of eggs for Nick so we had an easter egg hunt and then it was time for a traditional easter breakfast of boiled egg and soilders. We had thought about going to play mini-golf for a few hours but due to the snow those plans were stopped. Instead we had a lovely lazy day, watching Disney films (Mulan and Hercules as Nick had never seen them :eek:) and catching up with some of our favorite programmes. I think our kittens were glad to have us home for the day, Tigger even got to put his paws and nose in the snow :cat: . In the evening Nick cooked a lovely Easter roast and we continued with our Easter film and TV marathon. It was a very lazy day, but a great change of pace to the usual rushing of every other day. Unfortunately it was back to work today, but guess what....

ONLY 5 WEEKS TILL WE GO ON OUR MAGICAL WDW ADVENTURE :cheer2:

[ariel2007]

With all the planning, researching, Dis-ing and chatting we have done for this holiday we have come up with some idea’s of things to do when were in the parks, a list or rides/shows/attractions we cannot miss for anything and certain snacks or meal items we HAVE to try.

TOP RIDES
Top 3 rides for each park (under no circumstances can these be missed – even for an earthquake) – we are really lucky as Nick and I generally like all the same things, which makes life so much easier :love: . We were talking about our top rides for each park and they were nearly all the same:

Magic Kingdom – there’s actually 7 for this as there are so many good rides
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Thunder Mountain
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin - I'm sure we will be going on this multiple times like we did in DLP. Of course I always get the best score ...:laughing:

MGM: (I will always call it this):
Tower of Terror
Rock n' Rollercoaster
Nick: Muppets 3D ~ Me: Voyage of the Little Mermaid (Nick hasn't yet had the pleasure of going on this so cannot fairly choose, else of course he would choose it ;) )

Epcot:
Test Track
Soarin
World Showcase in general

Animal Kingdom:
Expedition Everest
Kilimanjaro Safari
Festival of the Lion King
(although Dinosaur is a very close call too)

Universal Studio's:
Shrek 4D
The Mummy
Nick: The Blues Brothers show ~ Me: Men In Black (unfortunately Nick didn't get to ride this last time so is really looking forward to going on it, especially as we are big MIB fans and he love Buzz Lightyear)

Islands of Adventure:
Ripsaw Rapids
Bilge Rat Barges
Nick: Spiderman ~ Me: The Hulk

Seaworld:
Kraken
Journey to Atlantis
Sea Lions Tonight - now this is a sore subject for Nick, this was his absolute favorite attraction from our last visit and he always talks about it. He was really looking forward to seeing it and had planned to watch it a few times... until we found that it is only on in Peak season, which it isn't. Needless to say he was most disappointed and even muttered something about no point in going anymore :sad2: . And despite not being in the top 3 we couldn't go to Seaworld and miss seeing the Killer Whale show - after all it is what you associate Seaworld with.

Busch Gardens:
My absolute favorite: Sheikra, Nick: Montu
Rhino Rally
Congo River Rapids


TRYING NEW THINGS
Snacks or meal items we HAVE to try - as mentioned by you wonderful lot:
- Cheddar Cheese Soup - Le Cellier
- Tonga Toast - Kona Cafe
- Mickey Ice-cream bar :mickeybar
- Ice-cream cookie sandwich - Main Street Bakery
- Norwegian School Bread - Norway, WS
- Pecanbon - from Cinnabon, Islands of Adventure
- Chocolate covered apple - Goofy's Candy Company
- Kungaloosh - Adventurers Club
- The Kitchen Sink - Beaches and Cream
- Key lime pie - anywhere

Some of the things we have tried last time due to recommendations:
- Strawberry Soup, 1900 Park Fayre - 7/10, very nice but still strange having cold soup
- Funnel Cake, Blizzard Beach - 9/10, delicious but very filling
- Dole Whip, Magic Kingdom - 6/10, very nice and refreshing
- Breakfast Pizza, Donald's Breakfastosaurus, AK - 5/10, mot very memorable

If anyone can think of any other delicious snacks that we MUST try then please tell me as I don't want to miss out on anything yummy :sad2:


OUR DISNEY QUESTS
Nick and I had been discussing all our favorite things and things I had found out from all the books and forums I had been looking at and cam up with some things or 'Quests' as we have decided to call them to do.

- Drink Around the World at Epcot - now Nick and I aren't particularly big drinkers, we like the odd glass of wine, and on holidays Nick enjoys his beer and I love my cocktails (of which I hope there will be money on this trip), however, we heard about this little 'challenge' you may call it and it sounded great. Now we both love traveling, experiencing different cultures and their food and drink, and we both love the World Showcase, seeing all the different architechture, all the different shops and restaurants so this sounded perfect. I have already tried a margarita from Mexico (I love frozen margaritas, especially flavored ones) and can't wait to try lots of other yummy drinks :drinking1. Nick isn't sure if he is going to do it as he normally drives but he has the option to leave the car at the Yacht Club and we will get the bus or a cab home and then collect the car after visited MGM the next day. If he does it we will mostly share one drink at each country as we might not make it to Le Cellier. I'm not entirely sure yet what the best options are, last time I only had the margarita. I have been trying to research what each country does but haven't got that far, heres my idea's so far:

Mexico: Fiesta margarita - what else?
Norway: ??
China: Plum Wine (me), Tsing Tao (Nick)
Germany: German White Wine sampler
Italy: Italian Margarita
USA: ??
Japan: Plum Wine
Morocco: Tangerine Daiquiri
France: ??
UK: Shandy
Canada: Blue Glow-tini (at Le Cellier)

So any idea's what to have in the other countries, what are the best drinks??

Our Second Quest is the Philharmagic Quest. Nick and I both love Philharmagic and have agreed we will going on it several times. Baring that in mind we decided that we would make it so we could only buy anything Donald related when we saw the show. We may make it Philharmagic themed merchandise instead, depending whether they have enough different things.

Our third quest is more of a tradition (something you will see I am quite big on). The first time I went with Mum, Dad and Sophie in January 2005 we ate at the San Angel Inn in the WS and I brought a Mexico shot glass and Mexican themed Donald. So I decided then every time we went to WDW we would eat in a different WS restaurant (and only 1 a trip) and I would get the co-ordinated shot glass and plush (this means we have to start going more frequently so I can get all 11 :thumbsup2 . So my mission is to get a Canadian shot glass and plush.


So all our plans have been laid... but will our plans be followed... we have less than 5 weeks to wait and then we will know...

Will we ride all our top rides?

Who will win Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin?

Will we try all our 'Must try' snacks and what will we think of them?

Will we complete Drink Around the World at Epcot? And will we both still be standing? :rotfl:

How much Donald merchandise will we end up with?

Will Nick ride the 'dreaded' Sheikra?

Will we have enough room in our suitcases to bring back everything we buy?

How many shot glasses will I return with?

Will we finish the legendary 'Kitchen Sink'?

Will this be the most Magical WDW Adventure EVER?

[ariel2007]

Come on lurkers, come and join in, I feel like I'm talking to myself half the time :sad1: . I need more friends....:grouphug:

[TrueEeyore]

I love all of the Easter gifts you got!! How sweet of your DBF to get them for you. I love that towel!! So cute!!

Your plans look really good and I love how you have traditions...We have a couple that we follow as well. I hope you get to get everything done!!! Looks like a blast, take me with you! :lmao:

Great updates :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

I love all of the Easter gifts you got!! How sweet of your DBF to get them for you. I love that towel!! So cute!!

Your plans look really good and I love how you have traditions...We have a couple that we follow as well. I hope you get to get everything done!!! Looks like a blast, take me with you! :lmao:

Great updates :thumbsup2

Thanks, I'm sure we will be so tired and need another vacation by the end of the 23 nights but I'm sure it will be amazing.

Yes the pressies were cool, he can be really thoughtful sometimes, he remembers things I told him when we first started dating over 4 years ago and every now again surprises me with them :love:

I am really a sucker for traditions - my family have so many cause if we do something once or twice then thats it, I have made it a new tradition and then we have to do it every year... for life:goodvibes . It is lovely having traditions though and can't wait to pass some onto my own children, especially ones that involve Disney :cutie:

[wdwgirl03]

Come on lurkers, come and join in, I feel like I'm talking to myself half the time :sad1: . I need more friends....:grouphug:

OK, I'm here! :wave2: I LOOOOOOVED the pictures of your collections! I know what you mean about spending hours in the stores...I could shop all day! But lately I've been trying to not buy so much in WDW. LOL! I have a shot glass collection too...but I only have 4. :rolleyes: :p Oh yeah, and I collect pins too (like everyone else does!).

Sounds like you have an amazing trip planned! I'm going to be there from May 14-May 19 and am sooooo excited (even though I was just there in January!).

[ariel2007]

OK, I'm here! :wave2: I LOOOOOOVED the pictures of your collections! I know what you mean about spending hours in the stores...I could shop all day! But lately I've been trying to not buy so much in WDW. LOL! I have a shot glass collection too...but I only have 4. :rolleyes: :p Oh yeah, and I collect pins too (like everyone else does!).

Sounds like you have an amazing trip planned! I'm going to be there from May 14-May 19 and am sooooo excited (even though I was just there in January!).

Oh yes I'm so glad you joined me :cheer2: . And your there for some of the same time we are, we may even bump into each other. I can't believe you were only there in January, I'm lucky if I get to go every 2 years, let alone twice in one year :sad2: .

See my shot glass collection started very slowly to begin, but its amazing how many places actually sell them, nearly everywhere has them nowadays. And a fellow Pinaholic... welcome :woohoo:

[DisneyFan83]

I enjoy reading your plans- they're so much fun! I saw your list of foods to try and you definitely have to try the Cheddar Cheese Soup at Le Cellier! I am not a soup person, but it's wonderful :goodvibes I get hungry just thinking about it! Also, if you've never had it, try the Spicy Cheese Pretzel at the Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland at MK- I always have to get a few of those each trip! Can't wait to hear more plans :thumbsup2

[wdwgirl03]

Oh yes I'm so glad you joined me :cheer2: . And your there for some of the same time we are, we may even bump into each other. I can't believe you were only there in January, I'm lucky if I get to go every 2 years, let alone twice in one year :sad2: .

Yeah, maybe we will! The only reason we're going again so soon is because our original flight got cancelled on our last trip so they gave us free vouchers for another flight...we couldn't let those go to waste! And with our DVC points the hotel is "free" too (more like already paid for with membership!). We used to go every 2 years but lately we've been going more often...it's kind of pathetic that I don't know how I ever survived going every other year. :rolleyes:

Anyway...our trips will be here so soon! :goodvibes :cool1: We're probably going to go to the Pirate and Princess Party on the 16th as well. :)

[ariel2007]

Yeah, maybe we will! The only reason we're going again so soon is because our original flight got cancelled on our last trip so they gave us free vouchers for another flight...we couldn't let those go to waste! And with our DVC points the hotel is "free" too (more like already paid for with membership!). We used to go every 2 years but lately we've been going more often...it's kind of pathetic that I don't know how I ever survived going every other year. :rolleyes:

Anyway...our trips will be here so soon! :goodvibes :cool1: We're probably going to go to the Pirate and Princess Party on the 16th as well. :)

Wow DVC members, how lucky :banana: , I'm hoping to convince Nick on our next trip to join and that way were almost guaranteed to go every 2 years or more. Shame about your flight on your last trip but glad they sorted it out for you. We were pretty unlucky as on our last trip (summer 2006) the holiday company we used cancelled our first Disney hotel and we ended up in one we didnt want and then spent the rest of the holiday trying to get them to sort it out. They really were not helpful and didn't want to accept any blame although there was no-one else to blame. They also messed up a few other things and needles to say we wont be using them again any time soon :sad2:

Hope you have a great holiday too :thumbsup2

[wdwgirl03]

Wow DVC members, how lucky :banana: , I'm hoping to convince Nick on our next trip to join and that way were almost guaranteed to go every 2 years or more. Shame about your flight on your last trip but glad they sorted it out for you. We were pretty unlucky as on our last trip (summer 2006) the holiday company we used cancelled our first Disney hotel and we ended up in one we didnt want and then spent the rest of the holiday trying to get them to sort it out. They really were not helpful and didn't want to accept any blame although there was no-one else to blame. They also messed up a few other things and needles to say we wont be using them again any time soon :sad2:

Hope you have a great holiday too :thumbsup2

Ohhhh, I hope you can convince him...DVC is awesome! I'm so excited about AKL...I think I read on here you've stayed there before (or maybe it was in another trippie...sorry if it wasn't you!)...how did you like it? I've visited it before and thought it was pretty cool so to finally get to actually stay there is like a dream!

[ariel2007]

Yes we stayed there in August 2006. It was little sister's birthday and she is a major animal lover so we decided to stay there for our 3rd week at Disney. The hotel is amazing, especially the lobby, its just so beautiful, especially at sunset. There is so many lovely things about the place, flamingo's by the pool, the open fire-pit, the lovely restaurants and shop, and then theres the animals :lovestruc . I'm sure you will have an amazing time there, we can't wait to go back to go to Jiko, just a shame we couldn't fit Boma in as well as it has a lovely breakfast and dinner buffet.

[ariel2007]

Today it is officially 4 weeks till we leave for our Magical WDW Adventure, to say I'm excited is an understatement :mickeyjum :donald: :goofy: :tigger:. In honour of this momentous occasion I decided to do some of my favorite things... get a Starbucks, go shopping, get a Subway for lunch and then go home and watch some of my favorite programmes whilst Nick cooks a lovely tea of steak and chips (it always reminds me of America - probably cause 2 of my 3 favorite meals last time happened to be steak). And yes, you read it right, I did do MORE shopping :sad2: . In my defense it wasn't planned, it just kind of happened :rolleyes1 .
Anyway back to the 4 week mark... the other night I needed a Disney fix so we decided to watch the WDW planning DVD. Now I don't know if this is normal for a Disney fanatic or it's just me being a highly sensitive nutter, but everytime I watch it I get goosebumps and tearful, but for a good reason, I just love it, love it, love it :love: . Watching it started making me think about my past trips and how wonderful they were, all the memories came flooding back. So I thought that every Monday, since thats the day we go (4 weeks today remember :woohoo: ), I would recall for you our past trips starting with my first trip back in 1998, so here is the first installment...

WHEN: June-July 1998 - 2 weeks
WHO: Me (12), My older sister Kate (15), My Dad, Dad's Girlfriend Vanessa, Vanessa's daughter Nina (6) - My Aunt, Aunt's husband, Cousins Jack (5), Charlotte (3) and Patrick (9months)
WHERE: Days Inn Lakeside (Orlando) and Fort Lauderdale

THE BACK STORY:
My Aunt's husband is in the Royal Navy and was offered a 3 year transfer to Fort Lauderdale, which of course he took. So in 1997 my Aunt, Uncle and my 3 cousins moved across the pond to the wonderful Florida. My Dad almost straight away decided that we would go and visit and whilst we were there visit WDW too :cheer2: , this was to be Kate and my first and only holiday with my Dad since my parents split up, at least it was a good one :rolleyes: . So the trip was booked, 1 week at Disney World followed by one week staying with my Aunt in Fort Lauderdale. Of course I was mega excited, Kate and I had already been to Disneyland Paris twice but this was our first trip to America and our first trip to WDW (everyone else was Disney virgins). Not much was done in the way of planning, Dad got the WDW planning DVD which I watched about 100 times but that was about it :sad2: .

THE TRIP:
The night before our trip we drove up to my Aunt's house in Reading where we spent the night as it is much closer to Gatwick airport. We had McDonald's for tea and watched a bit of TV before an early night for a very early start. The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to drive to the airport, checked in, breakfast at McDonalds and then boarded our Calendonian flight to Orlando Sanford. The plane was quite different to the First Choice or Virgin ones we are used to now but for our first long haul flight we knew no different so it was all a great adventure. The flight was good, nice staff and food, shame I got really travel sick at the end but nothing major :sick: . I still remember now that feeling as we first stepped off the plane, the heat was so powerful like nothing before. I thought it was just the heat from the planes engines, little did I know this is what it would be like for the next 2 weeks. I also remember first stepping on the grass whilst waiting for our hire car, discovering it was all bouncy and soft. The journey from Sanford to International Drive consisted of us 3 girls alligator watching, our mission was not accomplished. We checked in to Days Inn Lakeside somewhere off International Drive, a very basic hotel, nothing like the lovely Disney hotels we have stayed in since, but did the job. We explored I-Drive stopping at a little mall near FAO Swartz where we had our first (and definatley not last) taste of Bourbon chicken :lovestruc . We had a quick swim before bed, followed by soda and cheeto's and then our first nights sleep in America... wahoo we were finally there :cheer2:.

Now I'm not entirely sure what we exactly did for the week we were at Disney but most of our days followed the same routine - up late, lazed around the room whilst Vanessa spent 2 hours getting ready :confused:, breakfast at Ponderosa (except the 1st morning when we went to Denny's and I had my 1st American breakfast of waffles with strawberry sauce and cherry lemonade, yummy :lovestruc), arrive at theme park / waterpark by late morning, tea on I-Drive, back to themepark, swim at hotel usually sometime after 1am.

Now I'm not quite sure how we did it but in 6 short days we managed to visit Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Seaworld, Universal Studio's, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and River Country. We didnt get to do MGM because Dad thought we didn't need to visit both MGM and Universal as they were both movie themed parks, silly, silly man :sad2:. Island's of Adventure was still being built, it was great seeing the Hulk there towering over Universal although we were disappointed we didn't get to visit IOA. Universal was quite different then, there was no CityWalk and we had to drive from the Universal carpark to the front of Hard Rock Cafe. Although I dont remember exactly what we did, here is what I remember about the parks:

Magic Kingdom - We all loved MK, from the second we boarded the ferry across the lagoon and first saw the castle I knew we were somewhere special. I also have distinct memories of first seeing the Grand Floridian hotel and thinking how beautiful it looked sparkling in the sunlight, this was the kind of place only rich people stayed right :confused3. I remember first walking down Main Street, so excited and happy to be there. The rides I remember going on were Thunder Mountain, Small World, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. Now Splash Mountain was new to Kate and I as they don't have it in DLP and I absolutely loved it, as I did all of Frontierland, it just has so much atmosphere. I remember walking round MK in the dark as the park slowly got quieter, watching the lucky children in the Crystal Palace getting to have tea with Pooh and Tigger and thinking how lucky and rich they must be, getting fries from Casey's for tea (one of our only meals in the park), Nina buying one of those fake dog leads from the stall outside Haunted mansion then walking round the park with it as people petted and commented on her dog. I remember waiting to ride Space Mountain and seeing the carts illuminated whizzing by, then running up the escalator after Space Mountain so fast Nina and I broke her dog lead and Dad having to run all the way back over to Haunted Mansion to get another one, then riding the monorail back after a long tiring day.

Animal Kingdom - Animal Kingdom was very new at this point and had a completely different atmosphere to the other parks. We went on Kilimanjaro Safaris, Tough to Be A Bug, took the train to the Conservation Station and queued for an hour to get on Countdown to Extinction (now Dinosaur) before it get closed just as we went to go on due to bad weather :sad1:. I remember our first trip on the safari, this was the first time we had ever done anything like this, it was so exciting to be this close to such beautiful wild animals, and the whole poacher story and wobbly bridge was just brilliant. I remember walking round the Tree of Life in awe of such beauty and creativity, and the brilliant show inside with those naughty bugs exiting at the end ;), a little boat ride that took us down the river, the train to the Conservation Station and the luggage at the station and the top of the train making me feel I had actually gone on Safari. And I remember queuing to get pizza in Pizzafari as the floor flooded from all the torrential rain.

Epcot - Dad decided we would go to Epcot on 4th of July to catch the fireworks as he had heard they were best here. We rode Spaceship Earth, visited the Living Sea's, and walked around World Showcase before we nearly died of heat exhaustion. Unfortunately due to the heat and the fact that it hadn't rained for weeks (this was obviously before AK and at the time there were lots of bush fires) the fireworks were cancelled. I remember going inside Club Cool's igloo and discovering the free drinks, sitting outside in the moonlight eating pizza and goofing around with Vanessa and Nina whilst Kate and Dad went to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience, I remember getting the lift thing down to the Living seas and buying a lovely dolphin bracelet, seeing the beautiful dolphins for the first time ever, I remember walking round World Showcase, buying my gorgeous Japanese Minnie Mouse, catching the friendship boat across WS lagoon, Dad buying us jacket potatoes from England in WS... typical English, and sitting on the grass trying to get out of the sun.

Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, River Country - In blizzard Beach I remember going on Teamboat Springs, the Toboggan Racers, having Snow cones, and going round the lazy river.
In Typhoon Lagoon I remember snorkeling with the sharks, an amazing experience, although Nina almost drowned me when she started kicking her legs :sad2:, me and Vanessa racing down these two slides and finding at the bottom she had lost her bikini top and sunglasses :lmao:, and the huge waves in the pool crashing us around.
In River Country I remember the lovely homely feeling of the place, it was much smaller and more intimate and right by the lake. I remember we went on a great slide that stopped and then you fell the rest of the way into the water, although it did feel a bit like a belly-flop, the zip-line, the lovely pool which you could sit in and look out across the lake, the lovely sandy beach.

Seaworld - We of course watched the Shamu show, a truely memorable experience, went on Wild Artic, visited the dolphins, sharks and manatees, saw Clyde and Seamore and went on Journey to Atlantis. I remember Nina and I sitting in Shamu's Splash Zone, getting soaked head to toe and having to dry our t-shirts on Nina's kart, eating nacho's as we watched Shamu and churros in the Kids Zone.

Universal Studio's -We went on Twister, Jaws, ET, Animal Planet Live and Terminator. I remember the flying cow in Twister and the coke products in the shop after, I remember laughing hysterically at the monkey in the towel in Animal Planet, walking through the I Love Lucy exhibit and bits from Terminator. I remember the endless elevators to the parks and driving round to Hard Rock so my Dad could get a beer mat (no nice tea for us :sad2:).

Like I said before my Dad did very little planning so due to this and his lack of taste for good food our daily meals consisted of a Ponderosa brunch, which was admittedly very good and quite a new experience for us, a few snacks and then either fries or pizza if we were in a park (well actually only 3 times), or a take out tea (I remember taking a KFC back to our hotel, having pizza in Maccy D's and playing in the play bit and Bourbon chicken at the mall). I also remember going in the pool late at night after a long, hot day at the park. The hotel had 3 pools so we changed every night and it was great fun coming home from a park, going in the pool for an hour, then back to room for cheetos and soda before bed.

The week in Orlando was magical but over way to soon. Luckily we had another week in Fort Lauderdale. My Aunt's house was in a gated community with 3 great swimming pools and a few hot tubs which were lovely to sit in in the evening surrounded by friendly little lizards. Whilst we were there we visited Fort Lauderdale beach where Nina and I got bitten by some watery bug things. A little waterpark called C.J Beach or something like that, it had a strange set up with a lake style swimming pool on one side and another area with a few waterslides. It was great fun but we got chucked out as there was a storm. I remember after we got changed we decided to wait for the rain to ease off so we wouldn't get soaked going to the car but it got heavier and heavier until we had to stand on the benches as the water rose. We also visited Sawgrass Mills mall and I brought Sophie (who was 18 months old) loads of toys and clothes from the toy shop and outlet Disney store. This week we ate lots of Bourbon chicken burgers and had a chinese takeaway. We also babysat my cousins whilst Dad, Vanessa, my Aunt and Uncle went to see Armageddon at the cinema. Fort Lauderdale was great, my Aunt's house and the pools were lovely, we visited some great places and got to see another part of Florida.

This was the only holiday to Florida however that I really wanted to come home at the end of it. As magical as the holiday was, and although I had an amazing time I really missed Mum and Sophie and often wished it was them I was with, after all they are the true Disney lovers, Dad and the others just saw it as a great holiday, not a dream like me. After we got back I didn't really think much about WDW for years, I had had an amazing time but never thought I would get to go back, Disneyland Paris would have to do from now on... or would it :confused3... tune in next week to see (oh and there will be pics next week, promise)

[stagemomx3]

:love: Love all the pictures. Seriously I thought I was a planner, but girl you totally out do me on that!

[TrueEeyore]

Love the trip down memory lane!! I don't know how you remember all of that. I wouldn't have remembered what we did on our January trip if I hadn't been taking notes! :lmao:

[ariel2007]

:love: Love all the pictures. Seriously I thought I was a planner, but girl you totally out do me on that!

Thanks. I am a total planning freak, I plan everything and usually months in advance. Thats why I started my pre-trippie cause everything was planned way before we even booked the holiday so there wasn't much more to do.

[ariel2007]

Love the trip down memory lane!! I don't know how you remember all of that. I wouldn't have remembered what we did on our January trip if I hadn't been taking notes! :lmao:

I know its weird, when it comes to holidays, especially Disney I seem to remember lots of things, even strange random little details like the lovely bedroom us girls stayed in at my Aunts and eating fries from Caseys whilst we waited for the parade. I also have strong memories of our first ever abroad holiday to Greece when I was only 3. I always get images of when we first stepped off the bus, me pushing Kate in the swimming pool without her armbands on :lmao: and catching the little rowing boat over to this island for dinner... oh and Lizzy our pet lizard. I also remember so much about our first few trips to Disneyland Paris, the first being in 1994 :lovestruc . Its crazy :confused3

[ariel2007]

Oh dear, I just realized that my photo's had deleted off my pre-trippie. I had moved some into new files in Photobucket and it deleted them so I had to find all the photos I used before and put them all back in again :sad2: . And I was in the middle of writing a new post too, so that got deleted :sad1:

[ariel2007]

Since I've been posting my pre-trippie for a while now, and haven't really given much information about myself, apart from the fact that I love and am completely obsessed with Disney, I thought I would tell you a bit about myself, my favorite things, places etc. I like to know a bit about the people when I'm reading their trippies so thought I would do this for you lot. So here is my favorite things...

Random
Colour: Pink
Animal: Cat, dolphin :cat:
Food: Crisps, most mexican food
Drink: Frozen Margarita
Hobbie: Travelling, Dis-sing

Entertainment
Film: The Sound of Music, Little Mermaid
TV Programmes: CSI - all but if I had to choose one it would be Vegas, the original and best, Friends, Will and Grace
Reality TV: So You Think You Can Dance, America's Next Top Model
Friends Character I'd most like to be: Rachel - she is just gorgeous :cutie:
Actor: Dick Van ****, Ben Stiller
Actress: Julie Andrews, Kirsten Dunst
Idols: Walt Disney, Julie Andrews, Dick Van ****, Angela Lansbury


Disney
Film: The Little Mermaid
Character: Ariel
Park: Magic Kingdom - the heart of the magic
Ride: That is impossible to choose one, the 3 mountains, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion are probably my tops :hmghost:
Hotel: Polynesian
Restaurant: Ohana
First Disney ride: Thunder Mountain then Peter Pan at DLP
First Disney experience: My mum brought me up on Disney films but I can always remember her friend giving me The Little Mermaid for a christmas present. I also had a Mickey that would read a book and his eyes and mouth moved... he was so cool. :smickey:
Disney Ambition: To stay at every Disney hotel and visit every worldwide Disney park by the time I'm 30. Oh and to meet my idols (unfortunately I wont be able to meet Walt :sad2: )

Favorite place: WDW of course, or home
Favorite place, other that Disney or home: Cuba - beautiful country
Top 5 places I'd like to visit: Mexico, Jamaica, Maldives, Rio de Janerio, USA (all)

Most treasured possession: My family, my photo collection
Favorite Disney Souvenir: My shot glass collection

[stagemomx3]

Drink: Frozen Margarita

TV Programmes: CSI - all but if I had to choose one it would be Vegas,


:thumbsup2 CSI is the best, well Vegas and Miami I don't watch New York.

[DisneyFan83]

Thanks for posting info about your favorite things- I love reading stuff like that! And I of course agree with you that Friends is the BEST ever! :thumbsup2

[TrueEeyore]

I LOVE America's Next Top Model and So You Think You Can Dance!!! :thumbsup2

Who is your favorite Top Model this season?

[ariel2007]

I LOVE America's Next Top Model and So You Think You Can Dance!!! :thumbsup2

Who is your favorite Top Model this season?

I think were probably on a different season over here, at the moment were on the one with Chantel, Brandy, Jenah and Selicia (sp??) - cycle 9 I think. Its down to the final four so only two more episodes to go, unfortunately I'm working tomorrow night when its on so will have to catch it on replay. I dont really have a favorite this time to be honest, they are all kind of majorly vain or mean, that said it would probably have to be Selicia, although I did like Heather and Lisa. I used to watch them religiously, and then watch the replays of old series all the time too, I must have seen the one with Niama and Katlyn about 20 times. However I managed to miss the last 4 or so episodes of last series so I'm trying to keep up this time. I did love season 7 with Melrose and CariDee, although I think Melrose should have won. I kind of miss Janice Dickinson, she made it funny, she was so mean. Oh and is it just me or do you think Nigel Barker is kind of hot? :confused3

I'm more into SYTYCD at the moment. I only caught it from last season, the one where Benji wins, and it got me hooked straight away. They are all so amazing, especially Heidi. At the moment were on the final 12 of the next season, and find out tonight who makes the top 10 - at the moment I love Lacey, although unfortunately I found out by accident who wins, so no surprises there :confused:

Dont know if you get it in America but Britain's Next Top Model is really good too.

[TrueEeyore]

I think were probably on a different season over here, at the moment were on the one with Chantel, Brandy, Jenah and Selicia (sp??) - cycle 9 I think. Its down to the final four so only two more episodes to go, unfortunately I'm working tomorrow night when its on so will have to catch it on replay. I dont really have a favorite this time to be honest, they are all kind of majorly vain or mean, that said it would probably have to be Selicia, although I did like Heather and Lisa. I used to watch them religiously, and then watch the replays of old series all the time too, I must have seen the one with Niama and Katlyn about 20 times. However I managed to miss the last 4 or so episodes of last series so I'm trying to keep up this time. I did love season 7 with Melrose and CariDee, although I think Melrose should have won. I kind of miss Janice Dickinson, she made it funny, she was so mean. Oh and is it just me or do you think Nigel Barker is kind of hot? :confused3

I'm more into SYTYCD at the moment. I only caught it from last season, the one where Benji wins, and it got me hooked straight away. They are all so amazing, especially Heidi. At the moment were on the final 12 of the next season, and find out tonight who makes the top 10 - at the moment I love Lacey, although unfortunately I found out by accident who wins, so no surprises there :confused:

Dont know if you get it in America but Britain's Next Top Model is really good too.

Yeah, that's last season's Top Model. I thought it was a pretty good season, although I thought they were all kind of self absorbed, espcially Brandy (Did NOT like her!)

Sorry you found out who wins on SYTYCD :( I was happy with the winner.

No Britain's Top Model here... :sad2:

Have you seen the woman that posted in my trip report? Her avatar is of her and her husband and he looks EXACTLY like Nigel Barker!!

[wdwgirl03]

I kind of guessed you were a Friends fan with all of your posts being named "The One with..." ;)

[caa1277]

I must say that I absolutely love your TR!!! You've gone in to such wonderful detail about everything.

Your pictures of Cornwall and in Paris are simply amazing! I've always wanted to go to London, but I seriously doubt it will ever happen. Actually I would love to take a guided tour/trip all over Europe!!

So what does a typical trip to the US and WDW cost? I've always been curious to know how so many people from the UK are able to come to the US all the time.

[ariel2007]

Yeah, that's last season's Top Model. I thought it was a pretty good season, although I thought they were all kind of self absorbed, espcially Brandy (Did NOT like her!)

Sorry you found out who wins on SYTYCD :( I was happy with the winner.

No Britain's Top Model here... :sad2:

Have you seen the woman that posted in my trip report? Her avatar is of her and her husband and he looks EXACTLY like Nigel Barker!!

Oh yes Brandy is pretty self-absorbed and mean too. Chantel is majorly self-absorbed, she always says things about how she is so good and is confident as she can't do anything wrong... its like "Come on, have a bit of modesty" :sad2:

Britains Top Model is good, not as much as ANTM, no Nigel :sad2:. Still lots of fights but its surprising how different the girls act from the American girls.

Yes I think the SYTYCD winner more than deserved it, she just isn't as memorable as some of the others, although she does have a link to Disney.

[ariel2007]

I kind of guessed you were a Friends fan with all of your posts being named "The One with..." ;)

Oh my gosh yes, I literally cried when I found out they were ending it, I put off watching the last episode for ages as I didn't want it to be over :sad1:. Its just not the same now with no more friends to lighten my day.

[ariel2007]

I must say that I absolutely love your TR!!! You've gone in to such wonderful detail about everything.

Your pictures of Cornwall and in Paris are simply amazing! I've always wanted to go to London, but I seriously doubt it will ever happen. Actually I would love to take a guided tour/trip all over Europe!!

So what does a typical trip to the US and WDW cost? I've always been curious to know how so many people from the UK are able to come to the US all the time.

Thanks, I was hoping at least one person would like it. Cornwall is great, I've been going there since I was born and still love it. I love traveling yet surprisingly I have probably been to more places outside of Europe than I have in Europe, I suppose coming from here it just doesn't seem as interesting as say Thailand.

Um as for a typical price I am not really sure, the price can vary drastically. When we went in 2005 we went as a package with First Choice and stayed at the All Star Movies for 2 weeks, with Car Hire it worked out about £2500 (around $5000) for 3 adults, 1 child. All our tickets probably came to around £1000 (around $2000) for 2 week Ultimate Disney, 4-Park Orlando Flexiticket, Discovery Cove, Arabian Nights Dinner Show and Naples and Everglades Tour. However the last time we went for a month, stayed at Port Orleans and Animal Kingdom Lodge, hired a 8-seater van, had more tickets and ate at a lot more full-service restaurants. I think we payed around £12000 ($24000) for five of us. This time... um... alot :rolleyes1. To be honest you can do it alot cheaper but we would prefer to wait a little bit longer and do everything we want and have a little bit more luxury :lovestruc

[ariel2007]

Ok tomorrow is my 3 week mark and of course as promised I will post my 2nd WDW mini-trippie type thing :confused3. But for now, as all I can think about is WDW and how excited I am. Nick and I discuss our holiday all the time, what we cant wait to do, where were most looking forward to going, the new things we want to try, the meals were most looking forward too etc. Here is what we discussed -

3 Things Were Most Excited About:
Nick:
Discovery Cove
Driving a mustang - for 3 weeks (he told me to put that :lmao:) :car:
Ohana
Me:
Discovery Cove
Staying at all the hotels - especially the Polynesian
Eating at lots of nice restaurants

3 Things Were Most Scared / Worried About:
Nick:
SeaWorld Shark Dive - he has always been scared of sharks but really wanted to do this
Manatee Swim
Sheikra - he doesn't really want to go on it but is going to for me :love:
Me:
Manatee Swim - I don't know why, I really want to do it but keep having images of one squashing me :confused3
Segway Tour - I can just see me doing something really stupid like falling flat on my face
Coming Home :sad1:


3 Restaurants we are most looking forward to:
Nick:
New ones - Red Lobster, California Grill, Jiko
Old favorites - Ohana (of course), Cheesecake Factory, Sharks Underwater Grill
Me:
New ones - California Grill, Le Cellier, Yachtsman Steakhouse
Old favorites - Ohana, Tchoup Chop, Sharks Underwater Grill

3 Things I'm Most Looking Forward to Trying:
Nick: All he will say is Krispy Kreme ... and trying to drive a Mustang :lmao:
Me: Chedder cheese soup, Cookie Ice-cream sandwich, Tonga Toast

One Day Were Most Looking Forward To:
Nick: Discovery Cove
Me: Discovery Cove, followed closely by the day were staying at the Polynesian

Here is some other things we can't wait for - Staying at the Poly, Universal Front of Line passes, Aquatica, Makahiki Luau, Shopping, La Nouba, Arriving at Coronado Springs, going to Walmart, Golden Corral breakfasts, our own pool, watching American TV, hot air balloon ride, IHOP for the first time, staying at the Yacht Club, new rides, old rides, all rides, cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, margarita's, hiring a boat, mini-golf, Krispy Kreme, Kennedy Space Center, nice weather, Gatwick Club Lounge, going Around the World at Epcot, Hoop Dee Doo dinner show, generally being in Orlando, spending time together, not working...

If theres anything you would like to know let me know...

[ariel2007]

Yes 3 weeks to go today :cheer2: ... and you know what that means, time for Part Two of my Disney World reminiscing. Last week I remembered all the great things we did and all the magical memories of my first trip back in 1998, however it was all based off memory and I had no pictures to illustrate the holiday for you. Well Part One may have been my first ever trip to Disney World but my second holiday to WDW was the most memorable and has some of my most magical memories ever. You see this was Mum, Dad (well step-dad) and Sophie’s first trip to WDW (and America) and I was so excited to be going back and to be sharing everything with them. So here is Part Two...


WHEN: January 22nd-February 5th 2005 - 2 weeks
WHO: Me (19), Mum, Dad (well Step-dad), Sophie (8 at the time)
WHERE: All Star Movie Resort

THE BACK STORY:
I never thought we would be able to go to WDW, Mum was terrified of flying and therefore we only ever went on holiday to places we could get to by ferry. However one day in 2004 whilst I was hard at work at University Mum phoned me and told me that they fancied going on a big holiday, the first thought being skiing in either Colorado or Canada. So being the compulsive researcher / planner I am I started looking into prices, where to go /stay etc. When I saw the prices though I realised that we could probably get to WDW for not much more, somewhere I had wanted to return to for years. So we got some brochures and found a really good deal with First Choice, 2 weeks in January staying ONSITE at the All Star Movies. Yes you read it, onsite, not in a basic motel 25 minutes from Disney, but actually within the Disney gates ::MickeyMo ::MinnieMo . At this point Mum got really caught up in the moment and agreed this would be a great idea, Dad was easy to convince, he had always wanted to go to America and loved Disney so was right behind us. It was strange because after the first holiday with Dad I didn’t really think that I would get to go back until I was all grown up with my own kids. I thought only rich people got to go more than once, and obviously only rich people got to stay onsite. Wrong, by summer 2004 we were booked to go, I was so excited, I instantly got the Brit Guide and started researching, it was all Mum and I would talk about when she phoned me at uni. Whenever I was home we would take Honey for a walk and discuss all the things we wanted to do, all the rides we were going to go on... all the while Sophie had no idea. We decided to keep it a secret from her until closer to the time, luckily for us she is always in her own little world, we could talk about it right next to her and she would twig. Eventually a few months before we were going Mum cooked a lovely tea and over dessert we presented Sophie with a fun quiz. The quiz asked her questions about her favourite things, whether she would like to see a killer whale and go on safari, and where she would most like to go on holiday... luckily for us she put Disney World. And so we told her, she was soooooo excited, at first she didn’t believe it and then she screamed and screamed. We all sat down and watched the WDW planning DVD, just like I had done the first time, and got excited knowing in a few short months we would be there.

THE PLANNING:
Now we had done more planning than my first trip, although that wasn’t hard, but we still didn’t know that much about Disney World. We read the Brit Guide, watched the planning DVD and got a basic grasp but made no plan and made no ADR’s (to be honest we didn’t even really know about them). We knew the parks we wanted to visit, we had 2 week Ultimate Tickets for WDW, 7 day Orlando Flexitickets, we had booked Discovery Cove with Busch Gardens, Cirque du Soliel, Arabian Nights Dinner Show and a trip to the Everglades and Naples. We had read about the restaurants and had some ideas of where we wanted to eat but that was as far as our knowledge extended.
Now I know this wasn’t my first trip but it was my first trip with Mum, Dad and Sophie (the true Disney lovers), and there was so many places or things we had missed before. Luckily the time went really fast and before we knew it it was January and was time to go.

THE TRIP:
So Thursday night we had a nice pre-trip Chinese together, then Friday morning we packed up the car and drove to Gatwick airport. We checked in to the Gatwick Travelodge where we would be spending the night, we had a great family room which overlooked the runway, perfect :) . We had tea at a lovely old fashioned pub nearby and then had an early night ready for our trip in the morning. Saturday morning we were up early to drop off the car, then back to the airport to check-in. We had a nice breakfast at a little cafe overlooking the runway then before we knew it we were boarding our lovely First Choice plane to Disney. The flight was great and we arrived in Sanford at 4pm raring to get onto Florida tarmac. We drove to our hotel, driving under the Disney gates for the first time was just magical :tinker: . We arrived at the All Stars and as soon as we got out of the car we knew we had arrived, it just had that Disney feel, smell, magic :mickeyjum :goofy: :donald: . At check in we could hardly contain our excitement, especially when the lady handed us our room cards. We were located in the Dalmation block, perfect for Sophie who loves the dalmations. The room was great, we loved being surrounded by the Disney magic all the time. We wondered to the food court, got some refillable mugs and our first taste of pink lemonade, then Sophie braved the chill and had her first Florida swim. Once we prised Sophie away from the pool we explored I-Drive for a bit so they could get an idea of the area and some sense of bearings. Then bed for our first nights sleep in Florida.

Some hotel pictures:
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Look who it is???

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In our room

Now I’m not going to write a full account for every day as I don’t want to bore you. I just thought it would be nice to write about our first day to set the scene a little and show you how magical it really was. However I will enlighten you with the basics of what we did each day and add a few pictures along the way.

Day 2 – MGM
This was our first time at MGM and we absolutely loved it.
We started the day with pastries for breakfast from Starring Rolls Cafe which we ate outside whilst people watching.
We managed to fit in nearly all the rides except the Studio’s Backlot Tour and the parade. Our favourite rides were Tower of Terror (only Dad and I did this) and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We also watched Fantasmic which was amazing, although it was absolutely freezing by this time, something we weren’t expecting.
We had dinner in the Sci Fi Cafe which was absolutely amazing – we all loved the theming and atmosphere and the food was really good too – a great first meal at Disney.
For tea we got a few pizza’s from Domino’s on I-Drive.

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Fantasmic


Day 3 – Universal Studio’s
We had our first breakfast at Ponderosa, which everyone loved (and brought back some good memories of my first time).
We did loads of rides at Universal, it was my first time riding Shrek, Jimmy Neutron, The Mummy and Men In Black – all of which were great. It was pretty chilly though, I had to invest in some gloves – quite different to my last visit where we were practically keeling over from heat exhaustion. We had a quick lunch in Mel’s Diner.
After Universal we went to Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping and tea at Bongo’s Cuban Cafe which was very good.

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Day 4 – Animal Kingdom
Mum had mentioned the night before about Donald’s Breakfastosaurus and had managed to get us a booking for the next morning. It was our first character breakfast and it was brilliant, the attentive and funny service, the yummy food (our first try of Krispy Kreme), and the great character interaction.
We had a great day at AK, this was one of the places I was most excited about as Sophie loves animals so much so knew she would love it, she has always dreamed about going on safari more than anything. Of course the park was a big hit for everyone, especially the amazing Lion King Show and the safari, and I finally got to ride Dinosaur. The Pocohontas show, Tarzan Rocks, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur and Primevil Whirl were all knew to me too.
For tea we went to Rainforest cafe, bad and slow service unfortunately but yummy food.

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[ariel2007]

Day 5 – Magic Kingdom
We managed to do loads of rides, the 3 mountains being some of our favourite rides. Philharmagic, Tom Sawyer Island, Carousel of Progress , Indy Cars, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch and Tomorrowland Transit Authority were all new to me.
We had lunch at Cosmic Rays and Mum and I managed to get a reservation for, the one and only Crystal Palace. Remember this was the restaurant I looked longingly into on my first trip, watching all those lucky children having tea with my favourite characters. It was a surprise for Sophie, and went down very well, we all loved the whole experience and it was everything I had imagined it to be and more.

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Ok, this is finally it... we get to GO IN the Crystal Palace:
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Day 6 – Blizzard Beach
We spent the morning relaxing by the pool and then after lunch at the hotel we went to Blizzard Beach. I didn’t remember much from my first trip except seeing Summit Plummit, so everything seemed new. We did all the slides and yes, Dad and I braved Summit Plummit, twice.
In the evening we went to watch Cirque du Soliel which was absolutely amazing.


Day 7 – Everglades trip
We did an excursion to the Everglades and were picked up by coach early having breakfast on the way. The park had animal enclosures and a nature trail which we checked out and then we went on a swamp buggy tour. We got to see ostriches, buffalo, bison and wild pigs as well as learning about the area. We had lunch in the park (included) and then went on the airboats which were great fun and we got to see lots of alligators. We then drove to Naples where we did a boat cruise and amazingly got to see lots of dolphins which was great. The whole trip was great and very different to the hustle and bustle of the themeparks and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

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Day 8 – Island of Adventure
Breakfast was at Ponderosa again, we loved this place.
Islands of Adventure was a first for all of us and we all loved it – the rides and theming are so good. We did nearly all the rides except Bilge Rat Barges which was closed. Dad and I rode The Hulk, Dr Doom’s Freefall, and both Duelling Dragons.
In the evening we went to the Arabian Nights dinner show – both the food and show were very good and it was a new experience for us all. Sophie especially loved it because of the horses.

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Sunset over Universal

These aren't great pictures as my old camera really wasn't good in the dark, but these are at Arabian Nights:
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Day 9 – Epcot
Another Ponderosa breakfast
We spent the morning in Epcot’s Future World, most of the rides were new for me too. When we went to The Living Sea’s I began to have images of seeing dolphins, but didn’t say anything as I thought I was making it up. Sure enough the next minute there were two cheeky little dolphins swimming about. We did the World Showcase and had tea at the San Angel Inn which was lovely. We ended the evening with Illuminations – I finally got to see it.

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[ariel2007]

Day 10 – Seaworld
We tried Black Angus for breakfast today – it wasn’t as good.
We all loved Seaworld, Sophie had always loved Killer Whales and dolphins and wants to be a Whale trainer so today was a dream come true for her (well another). We got to feed the dolphins, and watch the Shamu show, Sophie’s face was an image I will never forget. That morning we had also managed to get seats for Dine With Shamu, we all absolutely loved this experience, especially Sophie who was in awe.

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Day 11 – Discovery Cove
Today was the day, finally one of my lifelong dreams was about to come true, we were going to swim with Dolphins. Throughout the week we had gotten to see dolphins from the boat, then see them right in front of us in a tank, then feed them in Seaworld and now we were actually swimming with them. Today was a total surprise for Sophie, even after we got there she didn’t really get where we were or what we were doing. We had a great morning snorkelling, feeding the rays etc, and then it was time. It was only Sophie and I doing the dolphin swim and even in the briefing she still didn’t know what we were doing. As we entered the water her face was an absolute picture, she was so happy, as was I, I was getting to fulfil one of my lifelong dreams and with my bestest friend and baby sister. The experience was everything I thought it would be and more, dolphins are just so gorgeous and amazing. The rest of the day in the park was brilliant too, and I will have memories that I will cherish forever.

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Day 12 – Busch Gardens
A first for all of us, today was Busch Gardens. We all loved the park, the mix of animals and rides were amazing, and to see Sheikra in the building stages was awesome. I also got to be navigator on Rhino Rally which was funny as I’m quite shy.
Lunch was at Crown Colony, we had a lovely family style meal overlooking the animals.

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Day 13 – Shopping and Wet n’ Wild
After a Ponderosa breakfast we went to Mall at Millenia to do some shopping.
We went to Wet n’ Wild which was good fun but very different to the Disney parks and not somewhere we would return in a hurry.
We had tea at China Jade, a great Chinese buffet.
We went to Downtown Disney to do some more shopping.


Day 14 – Last Day :sad1:
Today was our last day so we decided to do Seaworld in the morning and Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. We redid our favourites in Seaworld then headed over to MK which was packed (well in comparison to the other crowds). After doing some of our favourite rides again, ending with our first ever ride at DLP, Thunder Mountain, we drove to Chili’s on I-Drive for tea. Chili’s was somewhere I was desperate to try being a Mexican food lover, and it did not disappoint.

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Departure Day:sad1:
We had a last swim in the Fantasia pool then a drink in the food court before leaving All Star’s for the last time. Sophie and I had tried to stay by running out of the airport before we checked in but Mum caught us and made us leave. We had some lunch at the airport and then it was time to fly back to England.

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Packing to go home... how will we fit it all in :confused3

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Paul and one of my favorite people

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Sophie after a hard day at the parks


Well our dream holiday was finally over, we all loved every minute of it and will have so many amazing memories to cherish forever. It was all the more magical to be sharing it with my closest family and true Disney lovers. So much of it was new even for me, Busch Gardens, Wet n’ Wild which we passed nearly everyday the first time, Islands of Adventure which we saw being built, MGM which will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first park we visited :lovestruc . There were so many new rides, all of which we loved. Our favourite things were:

Discovery Cove – everything was just amazing about this place, and fulfilling a dream was amazing
Cirque du Soleil – the most amazing show I have ever seen, truly unique
Breakfastosaurus – our first character meal and an amazing one at that
Crystal Palace – another dream finally realised
Everglades and Naples Trip – a lovely change of pace and a great tour
Sci fi Diner – great food, such a unique setting and atmosphere
Dine with Shamu – great food, great to see Killer Whales that close
Sophie’s reaction to everything, she was the perfect age to be able to ride everything she wanted to and appreciate everything

Before the trip we saw it as a once in a lifetime holiday, however as soon as we got back we knew we just had to go back. As soon as we were home again Disney depression set in, so we got lots of brochures and every time we were together all we could talk about was when we were going, where we were going to stay, what were we going to do...so tune in for Part Three and see what we did do...

[racefanof88]

Hey, my first ever subscriber, I'm so excited :cheer2: Hope some more can join us soon
e're there from 28th April - 21st May and cant wait
I am coming out of lurksville...................LOL. Subscribing and totally enjoying.

Me and my family will be there May 3- May 8th. Maybe we will run into each other. It seems that alot of us will be down there then.

Your pictures are wonderful and your family is very lovely. I am enjoying your pre-trip and getting to see all the pictures of your vacations. My DD would love to visit England someday. She really enjoys one of the shows on the BBC The Mighty Boosh? Anyway, I look forward to your next post.

[ariel2007]

I am coming out of lurksville...................LOL. Subscribing and totally enjoying.

Me and my family will be there May 3- May 8th. Maybe we will run into each other. It seems that alot of us will be down there then.

Your pictures are wonderful and your family is very lovely. I am enjoying your pre-trip and getting to see all the pictures of your vacations. My DD would love to visit England someday. She really enjoys one of the shows on the BBC The Mighty Boosh? Anyway, I look forward to your next post.

Congratulations, you took the hard step and came out to join us, now there is no going back :lmao:

Oh more people there at the same time, where are you staying? I'm hoping that its only us Dis lot there else it may be majorly busy and we dont want that do we?:sad2:

There are a lot of lovely places in England, luckily I was brought up in a really lovely place and we holidayed to Cornwall (the place in the pics) every year. But it isn't half as varied and interesting as the US, I hope I get to visit all over the US, its definitely one of my aims.

I'm hoping I've got some more lurkers out there and there going to come and join us soon too :thumbsup2. Come on lurkers, dont be shy....

[TrueEeyore]

Love all the pictures...You had ALOT of stuff!! :eek: How did you bring all of that home?

[ariel2007]

Love all the pictures...You had ALOT of stuff!! :eek: How did you bring all of that home?

I know. And it all managed to squeeze into 4 cases, luckily most of it was small and squashable. Last time we went out with 5 and came back with 10 cases, we had about 3 times as much stuff as you saw in that piccie, including one large cuddly polar bear that Nick brought me from Seaworld :lovestruc. Soph and I kept asking her if we could get huge teddies and she kept saying "No way"... then when I saw it Mum was like "Your not getting that you wont get it back", Nick just decided we would get an extra case to fit it in... Soph ended up with a slightly smaller one too :rotfl: . The worst things to bring back are breakables, and as I collect shot glasses I ended up with a lot. I had to carry them all in my hand luggage so they wouldn't get broken... all 24 of them :lmao:. I'm going prepared this time and taking 2 cases out with me....

[retiredkid]

I am sooooo enjoying this report. You are a very entertaining writer.
You have a lovely family and its so nice to see one that enjoys being together.
thanks for sharing.

[ariel2007]

Well its 14.15 over here, I have just sat down with a cup of coffee to watch Neighbours and Diagnosis Murder and realised that it is now non-stop till my holiday. Today and tommorrow are my last and only free days till we go in just under 3 weeks. Nick and I are working Thursday to Monday, then Monday night my Mum, Dad and Sophie are coming up to stay for a few days. Now usually when they are here it is non-stop, we already have some plans like visiting London one day (we always go there when they come up), Nick and Paul are going to play golf and we may go to Bluewater Mall as Mum has never been there. Obviously with so much going on when they are here I will probably have very little time for holiday related activities. And then when they leave on Friday morning Nick and I are working everyday till and including the next Friday. That leaves just Saturday free before we leave for Gatwick airport to stay at the Hilton overnight. I only realised this last night so went into major panic mode and started thinking about all the things I need to do. So I thought making a list of all the things I need to do may help and then I know what needs to be done and can do bits each day when I've got time:

THINGS TO DO:
Make sure all tickets / confirmations are printed out - make 2 copies with 1 in holiday folder to take, 1 in holiday folder for home
Make a list of all adresses we will need for sat nav
Make final shopping list and get final items
Make packing list - start making sure everything is washed and ironed :laundy:
Tidy house - before and after Mum's visit (they tend to make ALOT of mess, especially if they bring Honey up :dogdance: )
Finish final plan and print it out
Make a list of songs to download and put onto the IPOD
Decide how we are going to change our money


Thats all I can think of for now, if anyone can think of anything else that needs to be done please let me know :thumbsup2


Here is my list of tickets and confirmations that I need to make sure we have or have printed out and put into our holiday folders. I have also printed off a list of them so I can double check they are all there before we leave:

Gatwick Hilton vouchers
Virgin Clublounge - still waiting for the ticket
Virgin Atlantic Tickets - still waiting for, I hope these arrive soon :confused:
Car Hire Voucher
Royal Pacific confirmation email
Coronado Springs ticket
Polynesian ticket
Yacht Club ticket
Disney Recreation vouchers
Princess and Pirate Party tickets
Cirque du Soliel tickets
Universal tickets
Discovery Cove confirmation
Seaworld shark dive and makahiki luau confirmation letter
Manatee swim confirmation letter
Sammy Duvall watersports confirmation email
Bluewater Balloons confirmation email
List of ADR confirmation numbers - 1 to keep in the car, 1 for the room
Tchoup Chop confirmation email


FINAL SHOPPING LIST:

Sony memory cards
Spare Camera batteries
Laptop case



Flip flops
Trousers
Waterproof jacket (for all those water rides)
Sunglasses



Notebook
First aid kit
Aftersun
Paracetomol, travel sick tablets etc
Hairspray and leave-in conditioning spray


Well I think that is all I have left to get, but knowing me I will probably end up buying more clothes, a girl can never have too many dresses now can she :confused3.

So now I'm off to try and sort out all the confirmations and tickets, hopefully I will be done in time for ANTM 8pm :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

I am sooooo enjoying this report. You are a very entertaining writer.
You have a lovely family and its so nice to see one that enjoys being together.
thanks for sharing.

Thanks very much, I was worried about writing this as I thought no-one would read it or find it interesting. But I was just too exciting and had too many ideas and plans to keep to myself and it has been great fun to write :banana:.

Yes I am lucky to have such a great family, and we love going on holiday together. My mum, grandparents and aunt and uncle all live in the same smallish town (and my dad and his family all live within 10 miles), and see each other all the time. Nearly every holiday we have been on my Grandparents have come too, the only ones they haven't was Orlando as my Grandma wont fly... and I think a boat might take a bit long :rotfl:. It was great going to France with them last summer, its so nice all spending time together, they are so much fun.

[hlrababy]

I love all your pictures!!! I really, really like SeaWorld!!!

Sophie looks like a little ham in the pictures!! So cute!!:goodvibes

[ariel2007]

I love all your pictures!!! I really, really like SeaWorld!!!

Sophie looks like a little ham in the pictures!! So cute!!:goodvibes

Thanks, glad you joined us.

Yes Seaworld is brilliant, it has such a great atmosphere. Being from England you don't really get much opportunity to see killer whales so Seaworld is ideal, they are just so beautiful.

Looking back at those pictures Sophie looks so much younger, I never really realised it before, she seems to have grown up so quickly. She coped amazingly well on that trip, we did so much and she just kept going and never moaned once. She is a little angel princess:. She is so funny, she is always in her own little world, dressing up as various animals, Disney or film characters and acting out her own interpretation of film scenes. Luckily she is still in the really innocent stage where everything is good with the world and the worst things she knows about is when Hannah Montana tells her dad she hates him :rotfl:

[disneydusted]

Hi Ariel!
I just found your pretrippie! You are going to love Disney in May, so beautiful! It will be fun to read your trip report when you get back. :surfweb:
I have to say that the picture of your 2 cats hugging is so adorable! They look so sweet! I enjoyed your Cornwall pictures, but I have to ask you a very strange American question... what in the world is a jacket potato? :sad2: I am guessing it is a baked potato??? :laughing: Anyway, keep up the writing!

[ariel2007]

Hi Ariel!
I just found your pretrippie! You are going to love Disney in May, so beautiful! It will be fun to read your trip report when you get back. :surfweb:
I have to say that the picture of your 2 cats hugging is so adorable! They look so sweet! I enjoyed your Cornwall pictures, but I have to ask you a very strange American question... what in the world is a jacket potato? :sad2: I am guessing it is a baked potato??? :laughing: Anyway, keep up the writing!

Heya, glad you joined. We spent a while choosing the time of year we were going to go and when we booked it I didnt even realise it was the Flower Festival at Epcot so can't wait to see that.

Yes Tigger and Scamp are so cute. As I write now they are both sitting there, Scamps curled up on Nick talking away to him about ANTM :rotfl: And yes you were right about the jacket potato, its a baked potato. I forget that some things are called different names, like when we had fish and chips I guess I should have said fish and fries and in my favorite foods I should have said potato chips. I will have to remember that for my trip report :thumbsup2

[DisneyFan83]

Wow, you really do have so many confirmations and tickets to keep up with! You must be really organized! I'm really enjoying your pics on here too! :goodvibes

[ariel2007]

Well I haven't managed to sort out all the tickets and confirmations yet, I got distracted by Friends and then ANTM and now we are sitting down with a glass of wine watching How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days... I love that film :lovestruc. I did manage to print out the list of all the tickets and confirmations I need though. I have also ordered 2 new memory cards and 2 new batteries for my camera so I'm getting there :thumbsup2.

As I was watching ANTM I decided to try my hand at making some itinerary cards for each day of our holiday... they are looking quite good so far, even if I do say so myself.

I am now going to start my finish my shopping and packing lists, see you soon

[racefanof88]

Congratulations, you took the hard step and came out to join us, now there is no going back :lmao:

Oh more people there at the same time, where are you staying? I'm hoping that its only us Dis lot there else it may be majorly busy and we dont want that do we?:sad2:

There are a lot of lovely places in England, luckily I was brought up in a really lovely place and we holidayed to Cornwall (the place in the pics) every year. But it isn't half as varied and interesting as the US, I hope I get to visit all over the US, its definitely one of my aims.

I'm hoping I've got some more lurkers out there and there going to come and join us soon too :thumbsup2. Come on lurkers, dont be shy....


We are staying at ASMu. I am so excited about this trip and so impatient. It it hard to sit still :Pinkbounc <<<<<<<<<<<<me off the walls....:rotfl: Lots of us Disers:thumbsup2. I too wish it were only us Disers. :wizard:<<<If only he could make that wish come true :lmao:

Looking forward to getting the trip started.

[ariel2007]

We are staying at ASMu. I am so excited about this trip and so impatient. It it hard to sit still :Pinkbounc <<<<<<<<<<<<me off the walls....:rotfl: Lots of us Disers:thumbsup2. I too wish it were only us Disers. :wizard:<<<If only he could make that wish come true :lmao:

Looking forward to getting the trip started.

Well not long now for either of us. I am the same, bouncing off the walls all the time :jumping1:. I'm not very patient at the best of times, let alone with Disney World. And your staying onsite too... we loved ASM so sure your going to have a fab time.

[disneydusted]

Heya, glad you joined. We spent a while choosing the time of year we were going to go and when we booked it I didnt even realise it was the Flower Festival at Epcot so can't wait to see that.

Yes Tigger and Scamp are so cute. As I write now they are both sitting there, Scamps curled up on Nick talking away to him about ANTM :rotfl: And yes you were right about the jacket potato, its a baked potato. I forget that some things are called different names, like when we had fish and chips I guess I should have said fish and fries and in my favorite foods I should have said potato chips. I will have to remember that for my trip report :thumbsup2

You are so funny about the potatoes! I have a friend from Australia and sometimes we just look at eachother wondering what the other said! :confused3 Same language different meanings! :rotfl: We have been at Disney the past two years in May and just loved it. The crowds weren't too bad, we used the fastpasses a lot. The gardens at Epcot were just amazing. I guess it was all amazing, everything is so perfectly kept at Disney. We had a good laugh going over the International Gateway back to the Boardwalk one night, there were the loudest bullfrogs singing their hearts out, spring must have been in the air!

[ariel2007]

You are so funny about the potatoes! I have a friend from Australia and sometimes we just look at eachother wondering what the other said! :confused3 Same language different meanings! :rotfl:

The first time we went Soph and I thought the term restroom was so funny. We would always joke around about "oh I need the restroom now", "Are you ok, you look like you need the restroom". Then when we got back to England we had it so in our heads we couldn't get out of using the term, people would look at us really strangely :rotfl: .

Glad to hear May is good, I was beginning to worry. We will be walking back to the Yacht club via the International Gateway so will keep an eye out for those bull frogs.

[ariel2007]

Now since I am trying to get everything sorted for our trip and I'm trying to get all the paperwork and tickets organized I thought I would get them sorted into a holiday file. Now I have brought 2 lovely Mickey Mouse files and cant choose which one to use. The first file I saw and loved so brought it straight away. However it is a very hard material and therefore is quite inflexible when trying to fit into my hand luggage. I decided to look for another one and found one, very similar but its plastic and more lightweight. So which one do I use:

The first file
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0130.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0131.jpg


Or the second

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0129.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0128.jpg

[wdwgirl03]

Ahh both of the file folders are so cute! I want one! LOL.

[ariel2007]

Ahh both of the file folders are so cute! I want one! LOL.

Yes there both really cool, thats why I can't choose :confused3. I have a diary and photo box to match the first one, they were 3 for 2 so it would have been rude not to get them all ;).

I'm sure you have plenty of cool folders over there to make up for the 2 we have over here... its quite hard to find Disney stuff outside of the Disney Store.

[TrueEeyore]

I like the brown one the most! :thumbsup2

[stagemomx3]

I like the brown one best.

[ariel2007]

I like the brown one the most! :thumbsup2

I like the brown one best.

Thanks guys, I do love the brown one, but it is kind of heavy so I'm not sure :confused3

Anyway I'm doing quite well with my To Do list, yesterday I managed to sort out all our confirmations and tickets, type up a packing list and even manage to persuade Nick to make some Mousekeeping envelopes... and believe me he is taking the job very seriously :cool1:

[stagemomx3]

even manage to persuade Nick to make some Mousekeeping envelopes... and believe me he is taking the job very seriously :cool1:

:thumbsup2 Pictures when he is done please.

[ariel2007]

:thumbsup2 Pictures when he is done please.

Yes definatly. He's so funny doing them, when he finishes one he shows me and then says "Oh its rubbish isn't it". The thing is they are actually good, surprising as he has not done or been interested in doing anything like this before. Last night when I was trying to sort everything else he kept bugging me asking me what he could do (believe me he is never normally this helpful :sad2:), so I gave him a job to make a sign for the car folder to separate certain things. So he did and then looked so pleased with himself so I put him on the Mousekeeping job. I dont know how long his interest will last though :rotfl:

[hlrababy]

Hey girl!!

I just now got caught up!! I can't believe you will be going soon!!!!!:cool1:

[retiredkid]

I also prefer the brown one, but understand the problem it poses for travel.
Why not use the white one for your carry on, and for use throughout the actual trip(s) The brown one can hold much more stuff, maybe from multiple trips, to keep menus/momentos/souvenirs etc that you wont keep for scrapbooking or crafts, but would like to keep none-the-less.

They are both very cute, btw.

[ariel2007]

Hey girl!!

I just now got caught up!! I can't believe you will be going soon!!!!!:cool1:

Heya, glad your caught up, I cant believe its less than 3 weeks now :banana: . The time has gone pretty quickly thinking about it, I started at 10 months and now its only 2 1/2 weeks :thumbsup2

I also prefer the brown one, but understand the problem it poses for travel.
Why not use the white one for your carry on, and for use throughout the actual trip(s) The brown one can hold much more stuff, maybe from multiple trips, to keep menus/momentos/souvenirs etc that you wont keep for scrapbooking or crafts, but would like to keep none-the-less.

They are both very cute, btw.

Thanks I think thats a good idea. I always have loads of bits and bobs left over which I cant bring myself to chuck away but don't really have anywhere to put. It can be my holiday keepsake folder and over the years I can keep all my WDW bits in. When I get chance I will post a picture of my photo box, its for all the spare photo's that dont go in my albums.

[disneydusted]

Hi Ariel,
What a smart idea having this accordian folder, I wish we had done that! I brought a pocket folder and it was so stuffed by the time we went home it was hard to close! :eek: It was great to have all of those little things to make the scrap books more fun to look at.
By the way, I asked my Aussie friend if she knew what a jacket potato was and she looked at me with a funny face as if I had asked her something quite obvious. She said of course! Our American friend who was with us said, what is that??! We all had a great laugh over the whole thing. Thank you for this new term! :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

Hi Ariel,
What a smart idea having this accordian folder, I wish we had done that! I brought a pocket folder and it was so stuffed by the time we went home it was hard to close! :eek: It was great to have all of those little things to make the scrap books more fun to look at.
By the way, I asked my Aussie friend if she knew what a jacket potato was and she looked at me with a funny face as if I had asked her something quite obvious. She said of course! Our American friend who was with us said, what is that??! We all had a great laugh over the whole thing. Thank you for this new term! :thumbsup2

I would love to say the file was my idea but I have to give the credit to my Mum. She brought one for all our tickets and things when we went in 2006, she got a plain black one and decorated it with Disney stickers, it was really useful to be able to just pick the things we needed out quickly. This time unfortunately I haven't got Mum there to look after all the important things so I have to be the responsible one :confused3, I hate responsibility :sad2:

Jacket potatoes are quite common over here, its quite a staple food. I just saw a brochure the other day, it was all about different jacket potato units for retailers... I was quite tempted by one :lmao:. Its quite funny you asking your aussie friend... its so easy to forget the slight differences between countries that otherwise seem quite similar :rotfl:

[ariel2007]

Mum, Dad and Sophie are coming up to stay tomorrow and as I haven't seen them since before Easter I have got there Easter pressies to give them. Now when we decided to go to New York for Mum's birthday I decided that instead of buying them things for their birthdays, easter, mothers/fathers day etc that they will either watch once, or in mums case pick out and then change once she has it :sad2: I would buy them something to do with New York, something useful. For mothers day I gave Mum a ticket to watch the Lion King on Broaway, she loved it and said she couldn't have wished for a nicer present :lovestruc. For Easter I planned their presents way in advance, my friend went to New York in January and I got her to pick some pens, postcards, keyrings and chocolate, I also visited a candy shop in London that sells American candy to stock up. I had planned to make some gift bags up to put the things in, I really wanted red, white and blue bags but couldn't find them anywhere, after searching for ages I found some red ones with stars on and decorated them with blue ribbon and bows, red, white and blue tissue paper and there names in silver letters. I also made them each a ticket for a New York City sunset cruise - I say made because we have not yet booked the holiday so I don't want to book the actual tickets until thats done. I also printed off some envelopes with the American flag and stars on to put them in. Here is the results:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0174.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0157.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0166.jpg

And heres the contents:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0144.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0137.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0139.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0140.jpg

I also brought Sophie Enchanted as none of us have seen it yet and can watch it together when they come up. And I got Mum some great London fridge magnets from the Disney Store (although I'm tempted t keep these myself :confused3)
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0175.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0178.jpg
(Sorry about the photo, its really dark)

As yet we haven't made many plans. They will be up to mine in the evening tomorrow so will probably get a pizza for tea. We are going to go to London, probably on Wednesday, and are going to the London Aquarium and probably go to Wagamama's for lunch. Other than that all we have planned is to watch a few movies and Nick and Dad are going to play golf while Mum, Soph and I go shopping.


Now with it being Mum's 50th in August (remember the reason were going to New York) I want to get her something really special but just can't figure out what :confused3. I thought about getting her something from Tiffany's, as jewellery is always special, espcially if its Tiffanys :lovestruc. Heres some of the things I have seen that I think she may like:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/tiffanynecklas.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/tiffanyring2.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/tiffanyring1.jpg

However I don't know if she would appreciate it that much, I mean it is quite a lot of money for what it is and although personally I would love to get something from there, I don't know if, being older and not really aware of Tiffany's, she would.

So my next thought was something Disney related, as she loves Disney. Swarovski started doing a Disney range and have a few things I think she would like:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/mickeymouse.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/minniemouse.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/tinkerbell.jpg

Now at the moment I am really unsure and without actually asking her I don't know how to find out what she would really like. I am going to leave it for now and see if anything jumps out at Disney, I really want to see if they have a nice crystal castle or cinderella slipper in my price range. Or maybe a picture, I have seen a few I think she may like:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/picture.jpg

So I need your help. Mum's, what would you really like from one of your children on a special birthday (come on tell the truth ;))? Or as a childr what have you brought/would buy your Mum on a special birthday... please give me some ideas and advice :cutie:

I will leave you with this picture, its one of Nicks artistic creations
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0132.jpg

[retiredkid]

how organized and creative you are, Ariel. And what a good daughter.
I took DD and DSIL to WDW in Sept. She gave me the Swarovski Mickey Mouse figurine as a thank you and I think of our very special trip every time I look at it.

[stagemomx3]

Wow I'm impressed with the Easter presents. You are so thoughtful and creative! :love:

[racefanof88]

Long time no post, sorry, I have been working and started my own pre-trippie. Anyway, as a mother, and close to your mothers age, I think she would know what Tiffany's is..............lol and my choice, again as a mother, would be the necklace with the heart.

I love the stuff you have for your NY trip. I have never been to NY and one day I would really love to go. My father was from NY but, I was a late in life child and by the time I came along, his parents had retired to Florida. So, I never have had the opportunity to go. I will some day.

Are you going to decorate you LGMH? I have done one of mine(see my PTR.......lol) Post pics when you do.

[disneydusted]

I have to agree with racefanof88, I like the Tiffany's heart necklace. It's always nice to get something like that from your daughter. Hummm, maybe I should get my mom one! You are funny about the American candy. When we were in Epcot I was so excited to get to the England Pavillion and buy this Cadbury bar that is like thin wavy chocolate layers. So good! By the way, is tea dinner? I thought tea was in the afternoon.... or is that high tea? Love the red,white and blue bags you put together!

[retiredkid]

I have to agree with racefanof88, I like the Tiffany's heart necklace. It's always nice to get something like that from your daughter. Hummm, maybe I should get my mom one! You are funny about the American candy. When we were in Epcot I was so excited to get to the England Pavillion and buy this Cadbury bar that is like thin wavy chocolate layers. So good! By the way, is tea dinner? I thought tea was in the afternoon.... or is that high tea? Love the red,white and blue bags you put together!



oooooo, I think you're talking about Cadbury Flakes. They are sooooooo gooood. We crumble them over vanilla ice cream for a really decadent treat.

[BrittBritt]

Those gift bags are so thoughtful. I love the pens and the magnets.
Since I'm not a "mum", I don't really know what I'd like to receive for my 50th. I do think that jewelry is rather nice. I love the Tink necklace---that would be my choice (for my own self I mean)!

[TrueEeyore]

You're so creative! I love the gift bags, very American ;)

I think your Mom would love anything you get her. You're putting alot of thought into it and it's coming from your heart. She will know that when she sees it. Good luck deciding!

[ariel2007]

Yes 3 weeks to go today :donald: ... and you know what that means, time for Part Two of my Disney World reminiscing. Last week I remembered all the great things we did and all the magical memories of my second trip in 2005. Well Part One may have been my first ever trip to Disney World, Part two was my second holiday to WDW but Mum, Dad and Sophie's first, therefore the most memorable and has some of my most magical memories ever. Part three however was Nick's first trip and was the first 'planned' WDW holiday, therefore we did more, ate more and made a lot more magical memories. So here is Part Three...

WHEN: July 18th – August 15th 2006 – 4 weeks
WHO: Me (20 – 21 on hols), Mum, Dad, Sophie (9 – 10 on hols), Nick (22)
WHERE: Port Orleans Riverside, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Newport Beach Hotel (Miami)

The Back Story:
As soon as we were home from our last trip Disney depression set in, so we got lots of brochures and every time we were together all we could talk about
was when we were going, where we were going to stay, what were we going to do. Within a few months we decided our exact plans and finally got our dream trip booked – 2 weeks at Port Orleans Riverside, 1 week at Animal Kingdom Lodge and our final week in Miami. Then it was time to start the real planning.

The Planning:
Well previously our only planning aid had been the WDW planning DVD and The Brits Guide. This time however, was going to be different, we wanted to go all out. So I started reading Disney forums and learning about all the extra things to do, tips, menus, all the useful things that make our holidays extra special. I told Mum about everything I had learnt and we discussed ADR’s and other restaurants we wanted to visit as well as ideas of what to do in Miami. At 180 days out we booked our ADR’s, it felt great knowing we would be eating in some great places. We also purchased tickets for Discovery Cove (on my Birthday) with 2 weeks for Seaworld and Busch Gardens, Dine With Shamu, 3 week Ultimate Disney tickets, 2 week Universal tickets, Pirates Dinner Show, Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show, and Cirque du Soleil – wow thats a lot of tickets. Well other than spending hours daily relooking at menus, re-reading the Brit Guides and re-reading forums, all our planning was pretty much done.

Pre Trip Run Up:
The run up to our holiday was a pretty busy time for Nick and I. We had finished uni officially at the beginning of June so spent the next few weeks working our backsides off for our holiday spends. At the same time we began to pack up all our furniture and clothes as we were moving from Cardiff to Essex. The first week of July we moved up to Essex, we literally just had to dump most of our stuff in our new house as we only had a few days and had to visit Nicks family before we went on holiday. We then had to drive back to Cardiff on the Monday and it was completely non-stop from there. On Tuesday we went out for a meal and then to a club to celebrate my birthday with my best friend from Uni and her husband. On Wednesday we had a full day of fun with our best mates from work, lunch at TGI’s, boating on the lake, cinema to watch POTC 2, Hard Rock for cocktails and then off for a lovely meal. Thursday my Mum and Kate (my older sister) came up and we had a bbq and finished packing up the last few bits in our house. Friday was my graduation so it was a long day. The ceremony was very long, it was great to go up and get my certificate but it was a lot of sitting around. After we went to TGI’s for lunch (again... Mum and Kate had never been before, can you believe it) and went home to get ready. We had booked Nick and my favourite Chinese restaurant for the evening and had a lovely meal. After we went and met my best friend and her family in a club and had a great time. The next day we were up early to drive to Mum’s in Devon... in a very packed car. On Sunday we finished our final packing for the holiday, I had had to be so organised to keep a case with my holiday stuff separate from all our other stuff when moving. Sunday night we had our traditional pre-trip Chinese and finally got to chill out a little.
Finally Monday morning arrived, now I always think of the day before we fly as the first day of the holiday as we always drive up to Gatwick and stay the night before. So after Dad had done his final job we did our final checks and drove to the airport. After lots of travelling we finally arrived at the airport where we did Twilight check-in and then headed off to Frankie and Benny’s for a lovely tea. It was then back to the hotel and to bed ready for tomorrow.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC00650.jpg
Outside Frankie and Benny's

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC00660.jpg
Our airport hotel

Again I will only do a brief summary of each day and of course include some pictures for you all, if there is anything more anyone would like to know please feel free to ask.

The Trip
Day 1
We were up early and to the airport early for breakfast. We had time to do lots of shopping and then it was time for our flight. It was our first flight with Virgin and quite a good trip and soon we were setting down on Florida tarmac... yes we were home again. We were then off in our 8 seater van to Port Orleans Riverside... fast forward 30 minutes and we arrive under those magical Disney gates, I take a minute to remind everyone we are actually here again... or in Nicks case for the first time. We arrive at POR, go to check in, um why is check in taking so long? The girl at check in looks very worried as she tells us that she cant find our reservation. Her manager comes over to help and informs us our travel company has CANCELLED our dream holiday. What... how can it be cancelled, we booked through a TA not because we wanted to spend extra money for exactly the same trip for the hell of it, but because we wanted to have the security that everything would be booked correctly. So you can understand we were pretty upset that the moment we had been dreaming of and working our backsides off for 18 months had been ruined :sad1: . The Disney lady was really helpful and got straight on the phone to our travel company and tried to find us another room. Well neither worked... POR was fully booked and our travel company could offer no explanation or help at this point, great. It was at this point we imagined ourselves having to find some cockroach motel in the suburbs of North Carolina to stay in for $500 a night, after all it was peak season. The nice Disney lady told us she could get us a room in POFQ and then move us to POR when one came available... big thumbs up to Disney for their help, who knows what we would have done without them (cockroach motel anyone?). So off to POFQ we went, checked in and collapsed into our room. We decided we were not going to let this ruin our dream holiday so pulled ourselves together and went to POR for our ADR at Boatwrights. After a lovely tea we crashed straight into bed after a very long and tiring day.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC00666.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC00675.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC00692.jpg
Port Orleans French Quarter a.k.a the wrong hotel

Day 2 – Downtown Disney
We were up early and raring to go on our first proper day in Orlando. We were off to Downtown Disney for our travel company welcome meeting... and boy did we have some questions for them starting with How The Hell Could They Cancel Our Holiday? The reply we got was about as informative as the person on the phone the night before, he thought it was quite funny and told us that POFQ was really good too, but lucky us we got a free Hard Rock voucher (as does everyone who goes to those we-will-try-and –sell-you-any-tickets-we-can-meetings). Well now I don’t want to ruin the rest of this mini-trippie by keep talking about our stupid Travel company, they did that enough to our holiday, but after the meeting they put us on to a woman in head office. She took over our case and for the rest of our 4 week holiday she kept ringing us and making us ring her in order to get answers. Of course this was extremely disruptive to our holiday, but we tried to ignore it as much as we could and get on enjoying ourselves.
After the meeting we did some shopping at DTD and then hired a boat from the marina. After a lovely sail up past Old Key West and up to POR and POFQ on a beautiful day we stopped for a delicious lunch at Rainforest Cafe.
Back to the hotel for a swim and then out to Walmart for some shopping.
Tea from POFQ food court then bed.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/12.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/10.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/68-1.jpg
Dad shopping

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/71.jpg
Outside Rainforest Cafe

Our boat trip:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/bt1.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/52.jpg


Day 3 – Islands of Adventure
Our first official theme park day, and Nicks first Florida theme park and more importantly his first Ponderosa.
Off to Islands of Adventure where we had a great day despite the large South American tour groups. And I finally got to ride Bilge Rat Barges which was great.
We had an early meal at Hard Rock, very good, and then back to finish off at IOA.
We did some shopping in City Walk then headed back for a swim before bed.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/240.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/262.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/IMG_0051.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/235.jpg

Day 4 – Magic Kingdom
Today I was so excited, it was our first Disney day and we were starting at the park of dreams. And of course this was Nick’s first ever Disney park, so it was extra special.
We started our first Disney day on a high with breakfast at 1900 Park Fayre, we were very impressed with both the food and character interaction, it was a great surprise for Sophie. And Nick loved his first character meal. We had a look around the Grand Floridian, the resort was simply beautiful. It was so great to be in it after remembering seeing it on my first trip and dreaming about staying there but thinking only rich people could ever go in it... now we were here, it was everything I thought it would be. Now I just need to stay there, well maybe next time hey.
Onto Magic Kingdom via the ferry so we could get that magical entrance to the park. We had a great day and got all the rides done. We had a break mid-afternoon so we could move to POR, and we were finally at the resort we were suppose to be at all along.
We had a swim and then back to MK for EMH’s. We had tea from Cosmic Rays, did some rides and then home for bed after a very long day.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01025.jpg
Catching the ferry to MK

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01038-1.jpg

Breakfast at 1900 Park Fayre:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01121-1.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01155-1.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01144.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01131.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01164.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01135-2.jpg
Sophie and her idol - she was in awe of Alice all day, all holiday in fact

[ariel2007]

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/y-1.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/Copyofcat5.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01055.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01087.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01193.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01197.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/main.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/cool.jpg


Day 5 – Animal Kingdom
We had breakfast at Breakfastosaurus as we loved it last time. It was good as always although the service lacked a little.
Animal Kingdom was great and we got to ride Expedition Everest twice. It was great riding it as last time they had just put the flag at the top of the structure.
We left late afternoon and drove to I-Drive for tea at China Jade. A quick stop off at DTD to get Dad some birthday presents and then bed.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/361.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/359.jpg

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http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/343.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01413.jpg

Our safari guide:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/truck.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/from.jpg


Day 6 – Universal Studios & Dad’s Birthday
When we got up and gave Dad his birthday presents which he loved. Then onto Ponderosa for breakfast.
We had a great day at Universal and even managed to fit in a Starbucks whilst we watched the Blues Brothers show.
In the evening we went to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. Everything about the experience was great – the food, the show, the pre show, the only thing that sucked was that I was still 20 for another 3 days so no free wine or beer for me.
Dad had a great day, as did we all.
Outside Dixie Stampede:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/61q.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/58q.jpg


Day 7 – MGM
We got to MGM late morning and spent a lovely day there. We had lunch at ABC Commissary and after the parade had tea at Hollywood and Vine – good food but little atmosphere.
We watched the amazing Fantasmic and then it was time for a bit of shopping before back to POR for bed.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01483-1.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/CopyofDSC01555-1.jpg


Day 8 – Seaworld
Today was Nick’s 1st visit to Seaworld, 1st time seeing a killer whale and one of all of our favourite parks (especially Soph the wannabe whale trainer). So we spent the morning visiting some of the animal enclosures, saw Blue Horizon’s for the 1st time (which I was really looking forward too) and finally got to go up on the Sky Tower.
We had lunch at Sharks Underwater Grill – both the food and atmosphere were amazing, definatley one of my favourite meals.
More shows after lunch including the new Believe and then time to head off to the Boardwalk for tea.
An early night all round for our special day tomorrow :cheer2: .
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01991-1.jpg

Sharks Underwater Grill:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC01910.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/ee2.jpg


A polar bear being fed right by us at Wild Artic:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC03001.jpg

[ariel2007]

Day 9 – Discovery Cove & My 21st Birthday
An early morning and we were at Discovery Cove before 8am. After a lovely breakfast we spent a few hours in the coral reef snorkelling with the fish, snorkelling round the tropical river and enjoying the new all-inclusive aspect of DC. At 10.20 it was time for our dolphin swim, and it was Mum and Dad’s 1st time swimming with dolphins. The experience was amazing again, so many magical memories, especially at the end when the dolphin brought me a bouy and sung Happy Birthday. As I got out the water I was greeted by a lady who gave me a DC gift bag and explained I could choose a free photo and that we had a reserved table for lunch. What a great surprise... thank you Mum.
Lunch was great and after I was brought a gorgeous cake and the steel band sung happy birthday, I felt so special.
The rest of the afternoon was spent snorkelling and enjoying the lovely wine coolers.
After lots of shopping we left DC and headed to the Polynesian for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show. We had front row seats and despite a thunder storm the show went on. The food was great, the atmosphere magical and show brilliant. Oh and yummy cocktails. As we left Wishes started which we watched from the Poly beach, a lovely end to the day.
It was then present time and I got some lovely gifts, lots of jewellery and Disney related items... it was the best 21st Birthday I could ever wish for, truly memorable.
Discovery Cove:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/en7.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/rp1.jpg

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http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/ba3.jpg
The Beach and pool

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Coral Reef

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/rl7-Copy3.jpg
Ray Lagoon

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/ap8.jpg
Aviary

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/IMG_0234.jpg

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Dolphin Interaction

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/lg10.jpg
The steel band

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Spirit of Aloha Dinner show:
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Day 10 – Epcot
We had a lie-in and started the day off with some birthday cake and potato chips for brunch.
We got to Epcot early afternoon and toured the World Showcase stopping in each country to have a nosy in the shops and do any rides or films.
We stopped in Morocco for tea at Restaurant Marrakesh – it was a bit disappointing and we wouldn’t rush back.
We watched the brilliant Illuminations and then took advantage of some EMH’s riding both the Living Land and Journey Into The Imagination with Figment for the first time, all the other rides had hour long waits so it was home to bed.
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Day 11 – Universal Studio’s and IOA
Breakfast was at Golden Corral for the first time, we were very impressed.
We started at IOA and did some rides we had missed before and redid favourites.
Across to US again doing rides we missed and stopped for lunch in Mel’s Diner.
For tea we went to Tchoup Chop in the Royal Pacific. I was very excited about this place and was not disappointed – delicious food and great atmosphere, a definite favourite.
We stopped for shopping in CityWalk then back for a swim before bed.

[ariel2007]

Day 12 – Free Day and Cirque du Soleil
What a free day? After a well needed lie-in we caught the boat to POFQ for a swim and sunbathe and generally just chilled out.
We went to DTD and stopped for tea in Bongos – very good again.
It was then time for La Nouba, and again this show did not disappoint. It is truly amazing and worth every penny.
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Bongo's

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Day 13 – Epcot
Morning EMH’s at Epcot so we took advantage and rode Soarin, Test Track and the others did Mission Space.
We had lunch at Garden Grill – lovely themed restaurant, nice food, great character interaction and a bit different.
We finished off the rest of the rides in Future World before heading back to POR for a swim.
For tea we went to Ohana at the Poly. This was another restaurant I had been really looking forward to and again became a definite favourite. The food was delicious and I just love everything about the Poly .
Nick and I watched the electrical water pageant from the beach and then back home to bed.
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My new ride

Garden Grill:
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Ohana:
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Day 14 – Typhoon Lagoon
Morning EMH’s at Typhoon Lagoon – it gave us a great head start on the crowds and we managed to do a lot before they came. We spent the morning at TL, in the pool, lazy river and on the slides.
For tea we went to Bahama Breeze – I had been dying to get here and loved it, especially the cocktails.
A long trip to Walmart to get supplies for Sophie’s birthday and then back to POR for bed.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/DSC02842.jpg

Since we left POR the next day I will show my pictures of there now:
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POFQ pool

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[ariel2007]

Day 15 – Sophie’s Birthday and Dine With Shamu
Today was Sophie’s 10th birthday and she was so excited to be spending it in Florida. After lots of lovely pressies (I gave her the Alice dress she had been longing for) we went to Boatwrights for a lovely breakfast and then drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we would be spending the next week.
We had a swim and then got ready for Seaworld.
Straight to Dine With Shamu – we loved this again, great food and a very magical and unique atmosphere, Sophie especially loved it (she got brought her 2nd cake of the day and was made to feel very special).
We watched a few shows, did a few rides and exhibits and watched Mystify before home to AKL for Sophie’s 3rd cake of the day and then bed.
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She finally got her Alice dress

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POR lobby and a card from Cinderella

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Boatwrights and cake 1

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Arriving at AKL

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Exploring

Seaworld:
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Dine With Shamu:
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Cake 2

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Day 16 – MGM
The boys went to play golf early at Disney’s Palm Course whilst Mum, Soph and I had a lazy morning round the pool.
Early afternoon we met at MGM where we fitted in a few rides before dinner at Sci Fi Diner – which was great again, its so unique.
A few more rides and then back to AKL to bed.
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Day 17 – Busch Gardens
An early start for our only day at the great Busch Gardens.
We did some rides, Dad and I went on Sheikra – twice, it was well worth the 18months wait and Dad was navigator on Rhino Ralley, so funny. We went to Edge of Africa for our Serengeti Safari, a surprise for Sophie who absolutely loves Giraffes. The safari was amazing – we got to feed a few giraffes and a wildebeest and we drove through the enclosure learning facts about the animals.
We had lunch at Crown Colony, a lovely family style meal overlooking the Serengeti.
In the afternoon we did the remaining rides and only left when we got chucked out at closing.
We stopped for tea at Chili’s, lovely and very reasonably priced.
Back to AKL for a bit of TV before bed.
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Sophie on her first upside down coaster

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Paul navigating Rhino Ralley - so funny

Serengeti Safari:
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Day 18 – Magic Kingdom
Morning was spent by the pool and looking at all the lovely animals at AKL – this hotel is gorgeous, and Sophie loved being so close to the animals.
Late afternoon we went to MK, we did a few rides and then it was time for tea at Liberty Tree Tavern. The food was delicious and the theming was lovely.
After tea we did some more rides, Nick and I rode Philharmagic three times, and then it was EMH’s. Even at 11.45 Peter Pan had a wait of 45minutes, and fastpasses were over an hour within 10 minutes.
We stayed for a bit then home to bed.
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Day 19 – Animal Kingdom and Pirates Dinner Show
EMH’s at Animal Kingdom and straight to Expedition Everest – we rode this twice and it was brilliant. We did all the rides and then headed to Downtown Disney for lunch at Earl of Sandwich. We did lots of shopping and then back to AKL to get ready.
In the evening we went to Pirates Dinner Show – now none of us were impressed with this, the food was average, the pre-show was very long and boring and the show itself was confusing. However, if you like Pirates I can see its appeal.

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Day 20 – Celebration
We spent the morning doing a DVC tour (all I can say is ‘WOW) and then headed to Celebration. We looked round the town and had lunch at Main Street Cafe – very nice and great style.
We spent the afternoon by the pool chilling out.
We went to Boma for tea – we loved the buffet, it had a great choice and great quality.
We sat by the fire-pit outside for a bit and did some animal spotting with the special night-goggles, AKL is magical at night.
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Day 21 – Blizzard Beach
EMH’s at Blizzard Beach so we did most of the slides again before the crowds. We spent the day swimming and riding the slides, with a lunch stop at Lottawotta Lodge.
After an afternoon break we went to Chef Mickey’s for tea. This was our first time at the Contemporary and we had previously thought it looked to clinical. However we loved it, its so cool and different. Chef Mickey’s was great. The food was lovely, the characters were so much fun and it had a great atmosphere. A great last dinner at Disney.
Home to pack before bed and our last sleep at WDW.
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Blizzard Beach

Chef Mickeys:
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[ariel2007]

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Day 22 – Off to Miami
An early start, Nick and I had breakfast at Boma whilst the others had a last
swim at AKL.
The drive to Miami was around 4 hours and pretty boring, it was sad to be saying goodbye to WDW but it was exciting to be seeing somewhere else in Florida.
We got to our hotel, The Newport Beachside Hotel, and after a brief mess-up with our booking, again (come on what is it with us and people messing up our bookings) we were in our 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite on the top floor of the hotel with a balcony and great view over the pool and ocean. We looked round the hotel, unpacked and then went for tea in the hotels Italian restaurant – it was Mexican night and was both cheap and tasty.
A brief bit of shopping and then back to the hotel for a spa before bed.
The hotel:

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The pool

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The beach


Day 23 – Shopping
We had breakfast in the hotel cafe, it had a lovely view over the pool and beach.
We booked some trips for the week and then went to Sawgrass Mills Mall – of course stopping at The Disney Outlet store.
Tea was at The Cheesecake Factory, we all loved it, both the food and cheesecake was really good.
After a bit more shopping and a stop at Walmart it was back to the hotel for a swim and walk on the beach before bed.
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Hotel cafe


Day 24 – Florida Keys
We started the long trip down to the Florida Keys, driving through all the islands on the way down. Our first stop was St Annes Beach and then on to Baiha Honda National Park where we spent a few hours snorkelling and exploring. It was gorgeous here, white sand beaches, turquoise water, palm trees and a beautiful sunny day.
We got an ice-cream and then continued down to Key West. We had a drive round, stopped at the Southernmost Point for some pictures and then headed to TGI’s for tea. Tea was okay, nothing special but filled the gap.
The drive back was very long, and even longer due to a 2 hour hold-up. Straight to bed when we got back.
Bahai Honda:
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Key West's Southernmost Point
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Day 25 – Bahama’s
A very early start as we got a transfer to Port Everglades for our Bahama’s Cruise. After all the formalities we boarded the ship and went straight to the lovely buffet breakfast they laid on.
The next few hours we spent by the pool, sunbathing and drinking yummy cocktails. We had another lovely buffet lunch and a few rounds of Bingo and then finally docked.
We got a taxi to Port Lucaya, the nearest beach. We spent a few hours sunbathing and snorkelling on the gorgeous beach and then had a look around the little town. We spent a few minutes in the casino getting some cocktails and then it was time to go back to the boat.
Back on board we spent some more time by the pool sipping cocktails before tea. We then went to the lounge where there was an entertainer and Bingo. We finally docked about 11pm but it was a good hour before we got off the boat.
Unfortunately there was a major mess-up with the transfer back and after 90minutes of being abused by the stupid transfer company we had to spend $50 to get back to the hotel. A very long day.
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Day 26 – Miami Tour
Today we went on a Miami tour, first touring by bus which gave us a chance to see all the major sights and learn about the history and cultures of Miami.
It was then onto a boat for a great trip seeing all the gorgeous houses.
We had an hour to look around Bayside Marketplace so did some shopping and grabbed a Starbucks then our guide picked us up and took us back to the hotel – this trip was great, it was a great way to learn about Miami and see some great places.
After a bit of relaxation time we went to The Olive Garden for tea – great value and nice food.
A walk on the beach and then bed.
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[ariel2007]

Day 27 – The Everglades
We drove to Billy Swamp Safari in the Everglades, it was lovely driving through Big Cypress Reserve, it was so quiet and beautiful.
At Billy Swamp we went on the airboat ride. This time however we got stranded and started to get surrounded by alligators. Our guide shock his feed bucket and loads of wild boar came running and went into the water to eat alongside the alligators – it was an amazing experience
We then went on the swamp buggy, it was great seeing all the animals again.
We had lunch in the cafe there – very good and different.
On the drive back we stopped a few times to do some shopping and then went to Bahama Breeze for tea.
Entering Big Cypress Reserve:
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Swamp Buggy:
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Airboat:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202006/AIR11.jpg


Day 28 – Last Day
Today was our last day so we spent the day packing, chilling by the pool and swimming in the sea.
We got a pizza for lunch and then had tea in the hotel restaurant.
We had a final moonlight walk along the beach and then it was time for our final sleep in the US


Day 29 – Departure Day
We had a final swim in the pool and sea and then went back to the room to get ready.
We left midday and drove to the airport, had some tea and waited for our flight.
The flight back was fairly good, although we were all very sad to be leaving America.
We got back to London at around 8am, collected our luggage and car and then drove home.


Well our 2nd dream holiday was finally over, we all loved every minute of it and will have so many more amazing memories to cherish forever. It was great re-visiting everywhere and trying new places, restaurants and doing new trips, and was great to be sharing the experience with Nick. He loved America and more importantly loved Disney World. This time was slightly different as everything was more planned, and it worked great, it helped make our holiday extra special. Our favourite things this time were:

Discovery Cove – this place is as amazing the 2nd time as it was the 1st.
My birthday – it was great to be spending it in America and with all my favourite people, it was even better to be spending it at Discovery Cove. The birthday package my Mum booked was amazing and and made me feel really special. The dinner show was equally great. I will always remember my birthday as it was so magical and special.
Sophie’s Birthday – how many cakes does one child need? And the look on her face when she finally got her Alice dress
The restaurants – we loved nearly every one of them, Tchoup Chop, Ohana and Sharks Underwater Grill being my favourites
Character meals – all had tasty food and fab character interaction, my favourite would probably have to be 1900 Park Fayre
Riding Sheikra – I had waited 18 months for this and was not disappointed
Sharing it with Nick – it was great to have another first timer, and one who really loved it
New surprises – The first trip with Mum had been a surprise for Sophie and then when we were there Discovery Cove, Dine With Shamu, Crystal Palace and Breakfastosaurus were all surprises for her too. This time she new about the holiday and DC and Dine With Shamu so we had a new challenge of finding new surprises. 1900 Park Fayre and the Serengeti Safari were both surprises and she loved them.
Serengeti Safari – Sophie was amazed by this and we all loved feeding the giraffes
Sophie riding her first rollercoaster – she rode Scorpian in Busch Gardens and loved it – she now has the coaster bug
Seeing new hotels – I finally got to visit the Grand Floridian (absolutely beautiful) as well as the Polynesian, Contemporary, Boardwalk and Saratoga Springs. I love the Polynesian, cant wait to stay there.
Animal Kingdom Lodge – wow what a beautiful hotel
Miami – it was great to see another part of Florida and we managed to do so much

So thats it, a reminiscent rundown of my past WDW trips. Each one of them was special and unique in their own way and I have so many amazing and magical memories. So its only 2 weeks to go, 2 weeks till I have another amazing trip and make some more magical memories. Tune in next week for a complete rundown of the trip...

[DisneyFan83]

Not much longer until your next trip!!! :cheer2:

[ariel2007]

how organized and creative you are, Ariel. And what a good daughter.
I took DD and DSIL to WDW in Sept. She gave me the Swarovski Mickey Mouse figurine as a thank you and I think of our very special trip every time I look at it.
Thank you. I've got to admit I am majorly organised, I plan everything way in advance else I freak out :rotfl:. I do love the Swarovski Mickey, I would quite like the Mickey and Minnie myself. How lovely your DD and DSIL brought you one, I can imagine it being very special.

Wow I'm impressed with the Easter presents. You are so thoughtful and creative! :love:
Thanks. I do love being creative but am one of these people who envisage these amazing things that I want to create but when it comes to the hands on part it doesn't work out quite how I wanted :sad2:

Long time no post, sorry, I have been working and started my own pre-trippie. Anyway, as a mother, and close to your mothers age, I think she would know what Tiffany's is..............lol and my choice, again as a mother, would be the necklace with the heart.

I love the stuff you have for your NY trip. I have never been to NY and one day I would really love to go. My father was from NY but, I was a late in life child and by the time I came along, his parents had retired to Florida. So, I never have had the opportunity to go. I will some day.

Are you going to decorate you LGMH? I have done one of mine(see my PTR.......lol) Post pics when you do.
Ok I forgive you... but dont let it happen again :thumbsup2. I do love the Tiffanys things but I just keep thinking about how I could get a lovely white gold ring or necklas for less than a silver one in Tiffanys. I don't know if she would appreciate the value :confused3

Well at least your parents live in the gorgeous Florida. I will definately post a trippie of New York and include loads of pictures for you. Hope you get to go one day soon.

I have to agree with racefanof88, I like the Tiffany's heart necklace. It's always nice to get something like that from your daughter. Hummm, maybe I should get my mom one! You are funny about the American candy. When we were in Epcot I was so excited to get to the England Pavillion and buy this Cadbury bar that is like thin wavy chocolate layers. So good! By the way, is tea dinner? I thought tea was in the afternoon.... or is that high tea? Love the red,white and blue bags you put together!
He he, I find American food so fascinating, especially sweets and chocolate, or candy as you call it :rotfl:. And yes tea is dinner, confusing yes, I should really try and remember these differences when I write my trippie :thumbsup2. Tea is also a hot drink, or high tea as you mentioned is called afternoon tea, although its not very common any more.

I am quite happy how the bags turned out, it took me ages to find and make them.

oooooo, I think you're talking about Cadbury Flakes. They are sooooooo gooood. We crumble them over vanilla ice cream for a really decadent treat.
Yes flakes are good, I got a flake egg for easter

Those gift bags are so thoughtful. I love the pens and the magnets.
Since I'm not a "mum", I don't really know what I'd like to receive for my 50th. I do think that jewelry is rather nice. I love the Tink necklace---that would be my choice (for my own self I mean)!
Hey long time, no speak. Hope you had a good road trip :thumbsup2.

Yes the Tink necklas is so cute, quite tempted for one for me too. I haven't seen it in person though, only on the computer, so need to go into a shop and see it for real.

The pens and keyrings were luckily really nice, my friend did a good job. Now I just need to find some for myself when were there :woohoo:

You're so creative! I love the gift bags, very American ;)

I think your Mom would love anything you get her. You're putting alot of thought into it and it's coming from your heart. She will know that when she sees it. Good luck deciding!

Thanks. Yes she would love anything but want her to have something really special, that she wouldn't get any other birthday. She hasn't got much nice jewelery so at the moment that is my thought :confused3

[ariel2007]

Not much longer until your next trip!!! :cheer2:

I know, I'm so excited :cheer2:. Not long till yours either hey :woohoo:

[disneydusted]

WOW! I am super impressed by your trip you just posted! You guys sure know how to have fun, everyone is full of smiles in the pictures. I'm sorry about your reservations getting cancelled, that was crazy! :scared1: You had such a good attitude about it, I'm glad it didn't ruin the vacation. It's great that you can come to the US for such a long time.
I didn't know the Flakes came in an egg shape.... now if could only find them here! :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

Since its not long till I go now and its pretty quiet around here tonight I thought I would enlighten you on my WDW shopping list. Now as you may be able to tell I love to shop :lovestruc, I especially love to shop at WDW and end up buying a large number of souvenirs. Now since my trip was booked around 10 months out and I have been bouncing off the walls ever since I decided to have a look on the net and see if I could find pictures of Disney merchandise so I can get an idea of some of the things I want to buy. Now this is by no means anywhere near the sum total of what I want to get, but here is a random selection of what I'm hoping to purchase:

I really want a clock for the spare bedroom and saw a few really nice ones last time. Here is a couple I have seen that I really like:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/clock2.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/clock.jpg


Some pins, obviously I will purchasing a fair few of these to add to my collection:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/pin5.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/pin4.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/pin6.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/pin2.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/pin7.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/pin3.jpg


Were planning on stocking up on a few ariel toppers as our last one got eaten by birds :sad2:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/mickey.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/inclesam.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/footie.jpg

And some I have seen for Mum and Soph:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/jungle.jpg


And a cuddly (I'm sure I will get lots of these)
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/darthgoofy.jpg


Thats some of what I have found for now, lets see how much I actually bring back :thumbsup2

[retiredkid]

My word, what a lot of work you did on that last post. FANTASTIC read!!!
This is for sure one of my favourite TRs. Cannot wait for the upcoming trip.

[wdwgirl03]

I bought that Steamboat Willie pin on my last trip. hehe :teeth:

[ariel2007]

My word, what a lot of work you did on that last post. FANTASTIC read!!!
This is for sure one of my favourite TRs. Cannot wait for the upcoming trip.
Ah Thank you so much, thats so cool :cheer2:. I was hoping at least one person would read and enjoy it so I guess I haven't done bad for my first report :thumbsup2 . The Reminiscing Part 3 kept me up till 3.30am, but I couldn't stop as I would have lost it so had to keep going, I was pretty tired yesterday morning.
Will hopefully post some more in the next few days, and guess what only 12 more sleeps :woohoo:

I bought that Steamboat Willie pin on my last trip. hehe :teeth:
I love the Steamboat Willie pin, its so cool. I love all the Steamboat Willie stuff, probably as its where it all started :lovestruc

[ariel2007]

Well its been a hectic few days here, Mum, Dad and Sophie left this morning and I had to go straight to work, then come home and tidy the house up a bit before I could sit down and catch up on things. I thought I would post a mini-trippie and some photos of our last few days, and yes there is lots to do with Disney :thumbsup2.

Monday
Mum, Dad and Sophie arrived on Monday night. We had a quick catch up and I gave them there New York gift bags which they all loved. Sophie gave me and Nick the most wonderful Disney collage
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0322.jpg

We had some pizza for tea it was time for bed.

Tuesday:
Tuesday we had a lazy day, in the afternoon we went to a nearby shopping centre for a bit. I was quite good and only brought a few hair things from Claires, although Sophie bugged me the whole time to get her a Hannah Montana wig :lmao:. We had a Starbucks and headed home for tea. We watched Cars as none of them had seen it before - they loved it to.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0001.jpg

Wednesday:
Today was our London day - every time they come up to stay we go to London for a day and do a different attraction and sometimes see a show. This time we were going to the London Aquarium, somewhere Nick and I had been meaning to go for ages.
We caught the tube to London, on the way we gave Dad a lovely makeover, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures but he looked really pretty :cutie:.
We had lunch in a Chinese noodle bar on the waterfront then went to the Aquarium. The aquarium was good, it had a huge shark tank, rays that you could stroke (although they never came near the sides) and lots of tropical fish. It was cool and strange being there - cool because we knew that shortly Nick and I would be swimming with sharks like that and feeding rays. Strange because after going to WDW, Seaworld and Discovery Cove its hard to appreciate somewhere small like this as much. Heres some photo's of the aquarium:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0206.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0210.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0211.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0209.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0295.jpg
How cool are these jellyfish... unless of course you meet them in the ocean :sad2:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0304.jpg
Can you spot it??

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0238.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0221.jpg
This cute little fella loved to suck onto the glass and have his picture taken

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0021.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0009.jpg
In 13 days we will be swimming with these :scared1:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0265.jpg
Watch out behind you pig

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0026.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0033.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0029.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0277.jpg
Nemo...

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0318.jpg
... And Dory

[ariel2007]

After the Aquarium we walked along by the river as we headed over to Buckingham Palace
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0202.jpg
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from outside the Aquarium

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0040.jpg
And up close

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0201.jpg
A close up of the London Eye

We walked through St James Park, it was so pretty, I can't believe I have never been here before (well I did when I was a baby). There is a river running through the middle and there were Pelicans and swans on the water. We also met some rather friendly squirrels
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0066.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0054.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0053.jpg

The view from St James Park:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0070.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0072.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0068-1.jpg

And in front of the palace:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0086.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0090.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0104.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0084.jpg

Buckingham Palace:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0107.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0098.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0129-1.jpg
A London bus

We went to Harrods to have a look around and of course, a Krispy Kreme :lovestruc
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0142.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0138.jpg
We saw this cool display in the tea and chocolate section... some traces of Disney here....

And here...
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0152.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0151.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0149.jpg
The teddys on the toy floor

Oh and I want one of these, it was so cool
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0154.jpg

By this time we were very tired so we caught the tube back again, Sophie however was full of energy:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0164.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0161.jpg
Her Top Model pose

[ariel2007]

Thursday:
Late morning we drove to Lakeside, a huge nearby shopping center. We started with lunch at Wagamama's - this is a Japanese chain restaurant and the food is so good and fresh, and its a different experience. We took some pictures on the Boardwalk and then headed off to shop
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0020.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0016.jpg

Of course we had to look in here:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0021-1.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0024.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0025.jpg

I was a really good girl though and didn't buy anything, Nick however brought me a cute little Mickey purse for our holiday :goodvibes
We then moved on to Bluewater Mall, another huge mall nearby. This time I did part with some cash and got a gorgeous pair of flip flops, a pair of shoes and Mum brought me a gorgeous dress all for my holiday. After all that shopping we needed a rest, and look what we came across
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0040-1.jpg

Sophie had fun
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0041.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0042.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0044.jpg
I want this one

I also managed to see the Swarovski Disney jewelery for real
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0026-1.jpg
The Disney jewelery collection

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0027.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0031.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0029-1.jpg
I love all these, they are so gorgeous

And the figurines:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0034.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0036.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0037-1.jpg

We went and got a Krispy Kreme (2 in 2 days) and then drove home picking up some tea on the way back.
Once home we played Disney Scene It, I won again, good job else I would never live it down :rotfl:

They then left this morning and its back to reality for a week before our holiday. I have so much to do and so little time, so I better get on with it...

Just thought I would add these cause they are so cute
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0004.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_0012.jpg

[retiredkid]

great little mini-trippie. Aquarium looks fantastic. You never seem to get too far away from Disney:laughing: Love the jewelry.

getting close!!

[disneydusted]

Pelicans in London!! Who knew!?! :confused3 That was a surprise! You all are such great trip takers... and now Disney coming soon! :banana:

[ariel2007]

great little mini-trippie. Aquarium looks fantastic. You never seem to get too far away from Disney:laughing: Love the jewelry.

getting close!!
I know, I'm so excited, I can't believe its come so quickly :goodvibes

Yes the aquarium was good, it was a good run up to Seaworld and Epcot. And I can always incorporate Disney in anything :thumbsup2


Pelicans in London!! Who knew!?! :confused3 That was a surprise! You all are such great trip takers... and now Disney coming soon! :banana:
He he we were so shocked to see the pelicans, we saw these big white birds and no-one believed me when I said it was pelicans, but it was. It was certainly an unexpected sight :confused3.

[ariel2007]

We got all our villa details through today - it contained a list of all the details i.e. check in / out times, addresses, villa codes etc and then some maps of the villa, Glenbrook and the management company. Its beginning to seem really real now :tink:

[chcmama]

We are going to be there the same time, we are going April 25-May9. I haven't read your whole PTR, but I looked at your trip to London. My brother was stationed in England with the Air Force and Wagamama's was one of my niece's favorite places to eat. We were hoping to visit them before they got sent somewhere else but we never got to, my parents did though. Not too long until we all get to go. :woohoo: I look forward to reading your Trip report after you get back.

[BrittBritt]

I loved reading about your previous trip. Thank you so much for taking the time to post all of those pics. You all look like you had a blast! It was neat to see how much older Miss Sophie looks now!

I can't believe you have one week left! It will fly by!

Silly question, but does the queen actually live in Buckingham Palace?
And, do you care if Prince William gets engaged to Kate Middleton? I think if I lived in England, I would be OBSESSED with the royals!

[ariel2007]

We are going to be there the same time, we are going April 25-May9. I haven't read your whole PTR, but I looked at your trip to London. My brother was stationed in England with the Air Force and Wagamama's was one of my niece's favorite places to eat. We were hoping to visit them before they got sent somewhere else but we never got to, my parents did though. Not too long until we all get to go. :woohoo: I look forward to reading your Trip report after you get back.
Shame you never got to visit England, and try Wagamama's, its great :goodvibes. And yes not long now, we may even bump into each other.

I loved reading about your previous trip. Thank you so much for taking the time to post all of those pics. You all look like you had a blast! It was neat to see how much older Miss Sophie looks now!

I can't believe you have one week left! It will fly by!

Silly question, but does the queen actually live in Buckingham Palace?
And, do you care if Prince William gets engaged to Kate Middleton? I think if I lived in England, I would be OBSESSED with the royals!
What you said about Sophie is exactly what I said to Mum, she looks so much older even in the pictures from our 2005 trip to our 2006 trip, she seems to be growing up so fast. The thing is though she is still quite young mentally - I dont mean shes thick but she still plays with toys, loves dressing up and really doesn't want to grow up, quite unusual for kids her age :confused:. She is also really little compared to other kids her age but she still seems big to me as it seems like yesterday she was little, watching teletubies and crying for her dummy.

The queen mainly lives at Buckingham Palace but also at Windsor Castle, Sandringham House or Balmoral (in Scotland). I actually saw the queen once which was quite cool. No I dont really mind if William and Kate get married, she seems quite down to earth and sweet... although if he fancies coming my way I wouldn't say no :rotfl:

[chcmama]

How old is Sophie? My dd will be 11 in May and she loves to dress up too, she also is small for her age. I do notice that kids that have older siblings tend to act older sooner than the oldest. Although in your case she is probably more like an only child since their is such a big age gap. That would be fun if our paths crossed.

[ariel2007]

How old is Sophie? My dd will be 11 in May and she loves to dress up too, she also is small for her age. I do notice that kids that have older siblings tend to act older sooner than the oldest. Although in your case she is probably more like an only child since their is such a big age gap. That would be fun if our paths crossed.

Sophie's 11, but she is definitely the baby of the family. She doesn't have any interest of wearing make-up, looking fashionable or having boyfriends, she hates alcohol (something kids of her age begin to get interested in over here), and hates swearing. She hates me saying she looks grown up or older, she says she wants to be younger again :confused3.
If you get chance to look the rest of my trippie you will see loads of photos of her, lots in Disney throughout the last few trips and she looks so much younger.
I will keep an eye out for you :thumbsup2

[disneydusted]

It is getting close!!! :cool1: You are going to have so much fun! Eat a frozen chocolate Mickey head for me! Maybe even a Dole Whip! Or a chocolate crossiant from the bakery in MGM (Hollywood Studios!) Can you tell I am wishing I was there?? :rolleyes1 I hope all of the last minute plans are coming together..... smooth flights and all of that. :thumbsup2 Have a great trip! I will be looking forward to hearing about it! :goodvibes

[retiredkid]

oooooooooooooooooooooo:goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes

I'm excited for you!!!!

[ariel2007]

AKA...The One With A Bit of Plane Spotting, Some Pampering and A Whole Lot of Packing
Well its been a really long week, but its finally here :banana: . I finished my last shift at work last night, driving home was great, not only had a just finished my last shift for a month but the sun was still shining, it was a lovely evening and as I drove home I got to see lots of planes. Today has been a gorgeous sunny day and also been a long day so far. This morning I drove to the town where I work which means driving by Stansted airport, I love driving past here everyday seeing all the planes, its even better the closer the holiday gets knowing in a few days I'll be on one on the way to the most magical place ever. I had my hair and nails done and then it was home to finish printing off our plans, putting tunes onto our Ipod and cd's.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00012.jpg
Our overall plan

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00010.jpg
My planning notebook

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00013.jpg
My important folder

I looked everywhere for a notebook to take, I just wanted a small lightweight one that would fit in my backpack so I can make notes. The last 2 times I brought 3 pack Disney Princess and Winnie the Pooh ones for Soph, Mum and I but this time nothing... I literally looked everywhere. So I brought the only one I could find and decorated it...
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00008.jpg

Oh and Nicks Mousekeeping envelopes as promised:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00003.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00004.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00005.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00002.jpg
For the Polynesian and Yacht Club

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00001.jpg
And Royal Pacific

And then it was time for... the dreaded packing. It wasn't to bad, although it took me forever just taking off the tags of all my new clothes, I didn't realize just how much I had. I managed to squeeze everything in, just... lucky we have a spare case to take too.

Heres some of my new things and packing:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01502-1.jpg
My GHD Mark 4 travel set

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01512.jpg
Inside

[ariel2007]

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01522.jpg
My hair stuff

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01592.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01612.jpg
Wash bag and wash stuff

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01652.jpg
My make-up

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01672.jpg
As you can see I love YSL make-up

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01642.jpg
Mini products for my hand luggage

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01702.jpg
New accessorize jewelery

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01712.jpg

And a bit of Disney:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01722.jpg
The purse Nick brought me to take

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/IMG_01732.jpg
My Tink t-shirt

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/DSC00015.jpg
Tink p-j's

Now that everythings done, Nicks off to get an Indian takeaway for tea, i'm going to open a bottle of wine and then its time to relax... and have our final sleep at home for the next 25 nights :banana:

[retiredkid]

Aren't you bringing any clothes???? J/K:laughing:

You are so prepared, I can't think that this holiday will be anything but fantastic!!!

Have a safe flight, a wonderful holiday, and keep safe.

[ariel2007]

Aren't you bringing any clothes???? J/K:laughing:

You are so prepared, I can't think that this holiday will be anything but fantastic!!!

Have a safe flight, a wonderful holiday, and keep safe.

Thanks so much, I am just so excited now :banana:
I think I have slightly too much luggage, just hope I've got enough room to bring all my souvenirs back :thumbsup2

[disneydusted]

Have a happy, happy time! :cheer2: I'm so excited for you guys! Take lots of notes, lots of pictures and eat lots of the American food you love! :laughing: Maybe even a baked potato! ;) I'll be checking to see when you get back to fill us all in.... happy travels!!

[wdwgirl03]

Have a wonderful trip!!! Maybe I'll see ya there. hehe

[TrueEeyore]

Have a WONDERFUL and MAGICAL time!!!!!!!!!!!!! :banana: :woohoo: :dance3: :yay: :wizard: princess: :cheer2: :hug:

[ariel2007]

Hello from the Hilton :thumbsup2 . We are now chilling, watching TV with a bottle of wine. We dropped the car off with Gatwick valet parking, very easy and convenient. Twilight check-in was also very quick and we got the seats we had pre-booked online, result :cheer2: . We had a lovely, if a little expensive tea at Franky and Bennies, followed by some cocktails in the Hilton bar. Hopefully we will get an earlish night as we have a long day ahead tomorrow, I cant believe in 24 hours we will finally be there :donald: :tigger: :mickeyjum

[retiredkid]

Oh, Ariel. I'm so jealous!!. And I'm so happy to see that you may be posting live. Do try to keep us up on it just a little. Save the big stuff for the report, of course. But otherwise, don't give us a second thought. ;) Just enjoy!!

[ariel2007]

Oh, Ariel. I'm so jealous!!. And I'm so happy to see that you may be posting live. Do try to keep us up on it just a little. Save the big stuff for the report, of course. But otherwise, don't give us a second thought. ;) Just enjoy!!

Thanks, I'm just glad I've had time too :goodvibes.
I was hoping to check in a few times but looking at our hectic itinerary I don't think it will be that often. And don't worry all the good stuff will be saved, although hopefully I will be able to give you all a sneak preview :banana:

[DisneyFan83]

Thanks, I'm just glad I've had time too :goodvibes.
I was hoping to check in a few times but looking at our hectic itinerary I don't think it will be that often. And don't worry all the good stuff will be saved, although hopefully I will be able to give you all a sneak preview :banana:

Have a wonderful time! Can't wait to hear more! :goodvibes

[ariel2007]

Hello from Virgin clublounge :thumbsup2 .
Well after a bit of a restless night and a very early start we are now sitting in the Virgin Clublounge drinking champagne and watching the planes. I have already had a pedicure and a nice breakfast, I could definitely get used to this :cloud9:
At the moment the flight is on time so fingers crossed it will stay that way... I just cant wait to get there now, I literally jumping off the walls
Speak to you all on the other side of the pond :banana:

[caa1277]

Have a safe trip and a wonderful time!!!! Take lots and lots of pictures!!!!

:banana: :banana: :dance3: :dance3: :cheer2: :dance3: :dance3: :banana: :banana:

[disneydusted]

OOOO Ariel!!! I am thinking that you might be here on this side of the Atlantic! And that would mean that you just might be settled in?? It was great to read your "on the way" posts... have a wonderful time! I am sooooo jealous! :banana:

[TrueEeyore]

Hope you're having a GREAT time!!!!!!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana:

[ariel2007]

Hey guys, well were here and having a great time so far.
The flight was good, unfortunately immigration took forever. We then had to wait in a queue for 90 minutes to get our hire car, only to find out that they had no Mustang convertables... luckily they upgraded us to a normal one so Nick was more than happy. Oh and then we were greeted with rain :sad2:

The villa is very nice although the pool heating isn't working at the moment and its just too cold without it. The weather started a little grim, it was dull yesterday morning but the afternoon and today have been really warm and sunny.

The first night we changed our plans and went to Chili's as its just down the road. The food was really good, the cocktails were even better :thumbsup2 .

Yesterday we went to Seaworld and it was really quiet. We managed to do everything we wanted with no queue, although the shows filled up over 30 minutes beforehand. We had lunch at Sharks Underwater Grill which was really good, a great table and amazing food.
In the afternoon we went to the Mall at Millenia and I emerged holding a little blue box with a white ribbon....oh and some Oakleys and more make-up :cloud9: . Tea was at the cheesecake factory and again was really good, although we had to take the cheesecake to go and still haven't fitted it in yet. We missed IHOP too as we didn't think we would be able to fit in all that food.

Today we have been to Busch Gardens and it has been great. It was so quiet we didn't queue at all, not even for 1 minute. We got all the rides we wanted to do done by 12, it was so nice doing everything at a relaxed pace without having to worry about the queues.
We had lunch at the Crown Colony which was really good, and great value.
Were now chilling out at the villa before heading to Texas De Brazil for tea.

Tomorrow we have Golden Corral for breakfast and then the Shark Dive and Makahiki Luau at Seaworld... wish us luck

Oh and we have managed to fit in Walmart and Starbuck's twice already :lmao:

Hope everyone is ok, hopefully I will get chance to check in again in the next few days.
Bye for now

[retiredkid]

What a fabulous time you are having!!! :goodvibes Just great without any queues.:thumbsup2

And the food sounds great. I'm in for the long run here, so whenever you get a chance in your busy schedule, I'll be ready for your posts. I think you should go into business as a Travel Agent.

[disneydusted]

Well how fun was this??! Finding your post from Florida already! I'm glad your lines weren't long and you could get right onto rides. Hopefully your pool heater will get fixed so you can enjoy it.
Don't you love flying into Florida and getting greeted by the beautiful palm trees? I don't know why they get me grinning when I am there... maybe because we can't grow them here?? :confused3
Glad to hear you have your mustang! :banana: Not the convertible but still a mustang! Quite American! You'll look like a local! :thumbsup2
I'll be checking in...... enjoy it down there!! :woohoo:

[lmillercrew]

subscribing so I don't lose your pre-trippie.

[hlrababy]

Hey just checking in!!!

[disneydusted]

I was wondering where you were in your trip and I am thinking that this is your last day! :sad2: I hope you guys had a great time, hopefully it will be warm when you get home. Looking forward to seeing all of your pictures and hearing about the fun... :surfweb:

[TrueEeyore]

I'm so looking forward to reading all about your trip. I know you will have great details and pictures! Not sure exactly when you come home, but have a safe trip back!

[ariel2007]

Hey everyone. Well were home safe and feeling the depression setting in already :sad1: The one consolation was it was great to see our cats again, they seemed happy to see us too.

Our flight back was great, PE is definitely the way to go, so much more room and storage space, and real china and cutlery. Unfortunately there was a bit of a delay but we made most of it up on the way back.
We had an amazing holiday full of amazing experiences, maybe not enough rest and sleep but it was definitely worth it. I will write a full trip report when we our unpacked and settled back in, although my parents and Sophie are coming up next week so it may take a bit longer. Anyway here our our highs and lows:

LOWS
Not many really and nothing major
* Ohana was a bit of a let down - although its still really good it didn't live up till last time
* Disney service - in general it was great but it seems to be slipping in some area's and we did experience some rude and grumpy servers
* Our parasailing getting cancelled due to winds and not being able to fit it in again
* Parking at Coronado Springs - everyone, cast members and conventioners were parking in the guest lot although they had there own parking too. I saw people struggling to their cars at the back of the lots with luggage and kids whilst cast members were parked right near the front
* Coming home :cry:

HIGHS
So many but here are the main ones
* Staying at the Polynesian - a beautiful resort, great service and so convenient. And we had the most magnificent view, it was perfect
* Staying at the Yacht Club - another great resort, great location, great pool and another great view
* Our Illuminations Cruise - I booked it as a surprise for Nick and it was brilliant, and he got me a white chocolate Mickey with strawberries
* Discovery Cove - amazing like usual
* The Royal Pacific - a lovely resort and it great being able to walk to City Walk. And those Front of Line passes were so cool
* Seaworld Shark Dive and Crystal River Manatee swim- both so cool
* Hot air balloon ride - an amazing experience
* The Blue Man Group - amazing, so creative, funny and different
* La Nouba - amazing as usual
* Hoop-dee-doo Musical Revue - brilliant show, great food, great table
* The Princess and Pirate Party - it was really good, the crowds were so low and the parade and fireworks were fabulous
* Wishes - I have never realized how amazing they are, we saw them 4 times from 4 different views
* Great restaurants - we had some great food, our top ones off hand were old favorites Sharks Underwater Grill, Tchoup Chop and the Cheesecake Factory, and some great new ones including Texas de Brazil, Yachtsman Steakhouse, California Grill and Le Cellier
* Great weather - it was so hot and sunny nearly the whole time. We had a bit of rain on the first evening and then none again until 3 days before we came home
* Great crowds - the longest we waited was 20 minutes, even the bigs rides had short waits (except Peter Pan which was an hour as usual)
* The mustang - Nick absolutely loved it and didn't want to leave it
* The segway tour - it was really good, Nick now wants one
I think thats all but there was so many amazing things its hard to name them all


Thanks for joining me everyone and for all your nice words :thumbsup2

[retiredkid]

Yay!! :cool1: A 'quikkie' update. :thumbsup2 Sounds like you had a fabulous time!! Can't wait to read all about it......although sounds like it's gonna be a lotta writing for you. :surfweb:
All the more for us to read.popcorn:: We love your writing style, as you well know. :worship:
Glad you are all home safe and sound.

[wdwgirl03]

I know how you feel, we got back Monday and I am going through Disney withdrawl. :sad2:

I'm excited to hear about your trip!

[stagemomx3]

Welcome Home!

[ariel2007]

Thanks guys, I will definitely write a trippie, I kept a journal on my computer and its over 32,000 words, thats nearly twice my dissertation.

[lmillercrew]

Yay! You're back. I read your ENTIRE ptr, so I can't wait to find out about the trip. Glad you made it back safely.:) :guilty:

[VroomVroomLightning]

Welcome Home! Can't wait to hear all about it!

[TrueEeyore]

I already told you, but I'll tell you again...Welcome home!! (Although I'm sure you'd much rather be back in Disney!)
I can't WAIT to see pictures of all of these things!!!! I hope you took alot :rolleyes1

[ariel2007]

I already told you, but I'll tell you again...Welcome home!! (Although I'm sure you'd much rather be back in Disney!)
I can't WAIT to see pictures of all of these things!!!! I hope you took alot :rolleyes1

Thanks hun. Yes of course we both want to be back there but it was good to see our cats, we really missed them :grouphug:.

And yes I took a few pictures, I had filled a 4gb and 2gb memory card by the 2nd week. I had to keep deleting photo's so I had room to take more :confused3

[TrueEeyore]

Thanks hun. Yes of course we both want to be back there but it was good to see our cats, we really missed them :grouphug:.

And yes I took a few pictures, I had filled a 4gb and 2gb memory card by the 2nd week. I had to keep deleting photo's so I had room to take more :confused3

That sucks that you had to delete pictures. :headache:

When do we get an update? :hyper:

[ariel2007]

Hey guys, hopefully it wont be too long before I start posting my trippies but I am back at work tomorrow, Sunday and Monday and then Mum, Dad and Sophie are coming up to stay on Tuesday for a few days. I have been trying to get all our suitcases unpacked, the huge pile of washing started (doesn't help we have ran out of washing powder) and all our souvenirs and goodies sorted but it seems to be taking forever ... did I mention how much we brought?

Good news though I have began to upload my photo's to photobucket, the bad news is I have millions, I had used my 4gb and 2gb cards by the second week so I have a lot of pictures to sort through. I did keep a daily diary that I just need to edit, in all it totaled around 35,000 words, I bet your all wishing you hadn't asked me to do one now :sad2: .

[TrueEeyore]

Hey guys, hopefully it wont be too long before I start posting my trippies but I am back at work tomorrow, Sunday and Monday and then Mum, Dad and Sophie are coming up to stay on Tuesday for a few days. I have been trying to get all our suitcases unpacked, the huge pile of washing started (doesn't help we have ran out of washing powder) and all our souvenirs and goodies sorted but it seems to be taking forever ... did I mention how much we brought?

Good news though I have began to upload my photo's to photobucket, the bad news is I have millions, I had used my 4gb and 2gb cards by the second week so I have a lot of pictures to sort through. I did keep a daily diary that I just need to edit, in all it totaled around 35,000 words, I bet your all wishing you hadn't asked me to do one now :sad2: .

No way, I'm glad you decided to do one and that you have so much information for us! :thumbsup2
I just hope it doesn't take TOO long, but I'll be here no matter when you start. I know once you get everything sorted out that you will start updating.

Have a great time with your family next week!!!

[retiredkid]

:rolleyes1 waiting patiently. I'll be here whenever you get the chance.

[stagemomx3]

I'm here but I can't promise I'm waiting patiently. :goodvibes

[lmillercrew]

waiting.... I'm excited to hear what souvies you bought. I love seeing peoples' goodies and treats.:goodvibes

[disneydusted]

Welcome home!! I just logged on and saw you had written quite a bit. Can't wait to hear it all and see your pictures!

[ariel2007]

No way, I'm glad you decided to do one and that you have so much information for us! :thumbsup2
I just hope it doesn't take TOO long, but I'll be here no matter when you start. I know once you get everything sorted out that you will start updating.

Have a great time with your family next week!!!
Thanks hun, I'm glad you'll be there :hug:. Hopefully it wont be too long :thumbsup2

:rolleyes1 waiting patiently. I'll be here whenever you get the chance.
Thanks, I'll try and make it soon I promise. The thing is I dont want to start it and then leave a massive gap before I post any more, I know that can get frustrating and I dont want to do that to you guys :)

I'm here but I can't promise I'm waiting patiently. :goodvibes
He he now worries :lmao:

waiting.... I'm excited to hear what souvies you bought. I love seeing peoples' goodies and treats.:goodvibes
Me too, thats why I thought I would take lots of pictures of them too... and believe me theres quite a few :woohoo:

Welcome home!! I just logged on and saw you had written quite a bit. Can't wait to hear it all and see your pictures!
Hiya glad you have joined me again. Promise it will be up asap :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

Well I'm slowly getting there on uploading the photos except twice I have spent an hour or so uploading some for it to cancel itself just before the end... its so frustrating :furious:. At least I will have lots of photos to post for you though, although I cant promise they will be good :confused3.

I am just trying to upload some more now whilst waiting for Mum, Dad and Soph to turn up. They always take forever, I hate sitting and waiting for them to come. Me, Scamp and Tigger are just watching Neighbours, I cant believe how much of it I have missed. Oh and Mum is bringing up Honey (the dog) - the trouble is the cats are terrified of her, especially Tigger. Last time she came it took him months to stop looking for her every time a door opened. I don't know where to put Honey to sleep, somewhere that isn't going to bother Scamp and Tigger?

Oh and the weather :(, this time last week we were in gorgeous sunny Florida and now we our stuck inside whilst outside it is pouring with rain. We were planning on having a BBQ with Mum but if it stays like this that will be out the question. We are also stuck with what to do if it keeps raining... any ideas?

[retiredkid]

pixiedust: some pixie dust for the pictures to download smoothly and swiftly
pixiedust: that the :cat::cat: and :dog2: get along and poor ol' tigger is fine with it all
more pixiedust: that the weather changes for you. :beach:

[lmillercrew]

ooohhh I hope that those picture fairies work their magic soon or you might feel like this guy:badpc: and then we'll all feel like this :(

[ariel2007]

pixiedust: some pixie dust for the pictures to download smoothly and swiftly
pixiedust: that the :cat::cat: and :dog2: get along and poor ol' tigger is fine with it all
more pixiedust: that the weather changes for you. :beach:
Thanks, I have been trying to download some more all day but it keeps uploading 75% and then stopping so I have to cancel and start again :scared1:. But do not fear I will get them uploaded whatever it takes ::yes::

So far so good with the cats and dog. Tigger freaked out majorly at first and hisses at her if she comes too close. Poor thing she is such a big softy, she is more scared off him than he is. Scamp however quite likes her and keeps walking up to her. They keep touching noses and kissing each other its so cute :lovestruc

ooohhh I hope that those picture fairies work their magic soon or you might feel like this guy:badpc: and then we'll all feel like this :(

He he lets hope so, I have started to upload them 1 at a time now :furious:

[hlrababy]

Welcome home!!! I can't wait to hear all about it!!!!:goodvibes

[ariel2007]

Welcome home!!! I can't wait to hear all about it!!!!:goodvibes

Thanks :thumbsup2

[disneydusted]

Glad to hear at least one of the cats and the dog are doing ok together. Hopefully the photo bucket is cooperating for you today. :thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

Glad to hear at least one of the cats and the dog are doing ok together. Hopefully the photo bucket is cooperating for you today. :thumbsup2

It has been going a little better with photobucket but I am only able to do 3 at a time at the moment which, as you can imagine, is taking forever :(

[TrueEeyore]

You don't have enough pictures up to give us at least the first day? Pleeeeeeeeeeease? :rolleyes1

[disneydusted]

Yes, yes! Put up the first day! We are waiting...... :cool1:

[lmillercrew]

Oh please Oh please Oh please????????? Give us a bone here.

[ariel2007]

Sorry guys, don't mean to keep you waiting :(. The good news is I've uploaded lots of photos now, I'm up to day 12 so about half way through. I've got 3 days off (including today) so hopefully will be able to finally spend some time getting them uploaded and sorting out my trippie. Saying that I have still got things to sort from the holiday, we brought so much stuff and its now finding the room to put it. And tomorrow Nick and I are going out for a friends birthday which should be fun, I might even get some photos for you ;)

[ariel2007]

Since I haven't finished uploading my photo's for my trip report yet and I don't want to keep you all waiting too long for another update I thought I would post something to keep you all going ::yes::. Well some of my most loyal followers may remember me posting about our MUST DO'S / MUST TRY'S and our DISNEYQUESTS back before we went (pg. 4). So lets see if we managed to get everything we wanted to do/try done/eaten :lmao:


TOP RIDES
These are our top 3 rides for each park which under no circumstances could be missed – even for an earthquake. We are really lucky as Nick and I generally like all the same things, which makes life so much easier :love:, it also meant we could get our favorite rides done first and redone again and again. So here are our favorite rides and whether we did them, a smiley face for if we did :) and a frown if we didnt :(

Magic Kingdom – there’s actually 7 for this as there are so many good rides
Splash Mountain :)
Space Mountain :)
Thunder Mountain :)
Mickey's PhilharMagic :)
Pirates of the Caribbean :)
Haunted Mansion :)
Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin :)

MGM: (I will always call it this):
Tower of Terror :)
Rock n' Rollercoaster :)
Nick: Muppets 3D :) ~ Me: Voyage of the Little Mermaid :)

Epcot:
Test Track :)
Soarin :)
World Showcase in general :)

Animal Kingdom:
Expedition Everest :)
Kilimanjaro Safari :)
Festival of the Lion King :)
(although Dinosaur is a very close call too)

[ariel2007]

Universal Studio's:
Shrek 4D :)
The Mummy :)
Nick: The Blues Brothers show :) ~ Me: Men In Black (Nick didn't get to ride this last time so this was his first ride) :)


Islands of Adventure:
Ripsaw Rapids :)
Bilge Rat Barges :)
Nick: Spiderman :) ~ Me: The Hulk :)

Seaworld:
Kraken :)
Journey to Atlantis :)
Sea Lions Tonight :( - A very sore subject for Nick :sad1:
And despite not being in the top 3 we couldn't go to Seaworld and miss seeing the Killer Whale show - after all it is what you associate Seaworld with :)

Busch Gardens:
My absolute favorite: Sheikra :) Nick: Montu :)
Rhino Rally :) / :(
Congo River Rapids :)

[ariel2007]

TRYING NEW THINGS
Snacks or meal items we had heard about (mostly from you guys) and HAD to try. Of course I will rate the ones we tried in my report:
- Cheddar Cheese Soup - Le Cellier :)
- Tonga Toast - Kona Cafe :)
- Mickey Ice-cream bar :mickeybar :)
- Ice-cream cookie sandwich - Main Street Bakery :( - unfortunately the only time we could fit one in they were closed :sad2:
- Norwegian School Bread - Norway, WS :( - it was raining at one point when we went to get one and then it was time for Illuminations and then it was closed :sad1:
- Pecanbon - from Cinnabon, Islands of Adventure :)
- Chocolate covered apple - Goofy's Candy Company :)
- Kungaloosh - Adventurers Club :( - we never managed to fit in a visit
- The Kitchen Sink - Beaches and Cream :confused3 - you will have to wait and see
- Key lime pie - anywhere :)

[ariel2007]

OUR DISNEY QUESTS
Now for those who don't know about our 'QUESTS' they came about when Nick and I had been discussing all our favorite things and things I had found out from all the books and forums. From this we came up with some things or 'Quests' as we have decided to call them to do whislt in the parks to make things a bit more exciting (if it could be anymore). Here was the Quests we came up with and then where you will find out about them in my trip report:

Drink Around the World at Epcot - now Nick and I aren't particularly big drinkers, we like the odd glass of wine, and on holidays Nick enjoys his beer and I love my cocktails (of which I hope there will be money on this trip), however, we heard about this little 'challenge' you may call it and it sounded great. Now we both love traveling, experiencing different cultures and their food and drink, and we both love the World Showcase, seeing all the different architechture, all the different shops and restaurants so this sounded perfect. I have already tried a margarita from Mexico (I love frozen margaritas, especially flavored ones) and can't wait to try lots of other yummy drinks :drinking1. Nick isn't sure if he is going to do it as he normally drives but he has the option to leave the car at the Yacht Club and we will get the bus or a cab home and then collect the car after visited MGM the next day. If he does it we will mostly share one drink at each country as we might not make it to Le Cellier. I'm not entirely sure yet what the best options are, last time I only had the margarita. I have been trying to research what each country does but haven't got that far, heres my idea's so far:

Mexico: Fiesta margarita - what else?
Norway: ??
China: Plum Wine (me), Tsing Tao (Nick)
Germany: German White Wine sampler
Italy: Italian Margarita
USA: ??
Japan: Plum Wine
Morocco: Tangerine Daiquiri
France: ??
UK: Shandy
Canada: Blue Glow-tini (at Le Cellier)

So any idea's what to have in the other countries, what are the best drinks??
So did we complete this quest? what drinks did we have? and were we still standing by the time we got to Canada :confused3. To find out it will be on Day 21 of my trip report

Our Second Quest is the Philharmagic Quest. Nick and I both love Philharmagic and have agreed we will going on it several times. Baring that in mind we decided that we would make it so we could only buy anything Donald related when we saw the show. We may make it Philharmagic themed merchandise instead, depending whether they have enough different things.
Of course we went on Philharmagic, nothing could stop us from going on that... but just how many times did we see it... or how many Philharmagic themed things did we buy :confused3 - you will have to wait till the end of the report to find out ::yes::

Our third quest is more of a tradition (something you will see I am quite big on). The first time I went with Mum, Dad and Sophie in January 2005 we ate at the San Angel Inn in the WS and I brought a Mexico shot glass and Mexican themed Donald. So I decided then every time we went to WDW we would eat in a different WS restaurant (and only 1 a trip) and I would get the co-ordinated shot glass and plush (this means we have to start going more frequently so I can get all 11 :thumbsup2 . So my mission is to get a Canadian shot glass and plush.
Did we manage to get the Canadian shot glass and plush - find out on Day 21 of my trip report


And finally these were the questions we asked....

Will we ride all our top rides?

Who will win Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin?

Will we try all our 'Must try' snacks and what will we think of them?

Will we complete Drink Around the World at Epcot? And will we both still be standing? :rotfl:

How much Donald merchandise will we end up with?

Will Nick ride the 'dreaded' Sheikra?

Will we have enough room in our suitcases to bring back everything we buy?

How many shot glasses will I return with?

Will we finish the legendary 'Kitchen Sink'?

Will this be the most Magical WDW Adventure EVER?

.... You will have to wait till the end of my trip report for the answers :goodvibes

[TrueEeyore]

Well now that you've TEASED us (evil woman!!) you MUST put up day one at least! You have 12 days of pictures uploaded, at least give us one day!!! :hyper: :hyper: I can't wait to know if you got everything done that you wanted!

[ariel2007]

Ok quick question, how do I get moved over to the trip reports bit?

[TrueEeyore]

Ok quick question, how do I get moved over to the trip reports bit?

Send a PM to OhMari, she'll move you. :thumbsup2

[disneydusted]

Hey! You've updated with many teasers!! I haven't been on for a few days, we've had some pretty bad storms here and have had our cable knocked out. Let us know when you move over to the trip report section.

[ariel2007]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been around for a few days I have been really busy with work and other boring things :worried:.

Firstly I want to thank you all for joining me on my pre-trippie. You guys really helped me past the time and make all that waiting bearable... and help me have some fun and make some friends along the way :grouphug:

And now the only thing left to do is share with you all my trip report. So grab some popcorn popcorn:: , pull up and chair and enjoy :goodvibes

WARNING: This report will be long, very long and I state now that I accept no responsibility for anyone missing work/important engagements/running errands due to lack of sleep/boredom :rotfl: . But hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I will enjoy sharing it with you, and dont worry there will be lots of pictures ::yes::

[ariel2007]

Hey everyone and welcome to my first ever trip report :wave: (well post-trip report anyway). Some of you may know me from my pre-trip report, for you guys thanks for waiting so long for me to post this :grin:. And for those who haven't read my trip report if you get chance it starts on page 1 :goodvibes


The day before the day before (and even the day before that)

Well our holiday had officially started on the Friday night after we finished our last shift at work for the next month. It felt so good driving home, it was early evening and the sun was still shining, the sky was so blue and clear and we saw lots of planes taking off as we drove past Stansted airport, it was so exciting :spin:. And it felt so good to be free from work, and of course knowing that in a few short days we would finally be off on holiday.

The Saturday was our final day to get everything packed and ready. In the morning I went and had a manicure and my hair done at a really nice salon in the town where I work. It was another gorgeous day and as I drove home with my music playing it really felt like all our hard work over the last few months had paid off, especially seeing all the planes taking off overhead again. When I got home we got all the stuff we wanted to take and suitcases out and took it all down to the lounge to pack and put Horton Hears A Who on (which of course reminded us of IOA). As I brought something new I had been putting it in a case ready and since most of the clothes I was taking were new I thought it shouldn’t take that long to pack, should it? ... Wrong :worried: . Because I had so many new things it took forever to take all the stupid labels out. And then I had to try to slim-line my packing as I knew I wouldn’t need everything I had packed and we wanted all the room we could to bring things home (as I knew there would be a lot). I managed to succeed in slim-lining my stuff and it all fitted nicely in one case, although we had split it in to two (we were taking 3 cases over as we knew we would need at least one more and planned to buy one more if we saw one/needed it).
So eventually we were all packed, including our hand luggage and a few things for tomorrow night at Gatwick. That was the hardest thing we would have to do between now and the 21st done, great :thumbsup2 . We then both double checked through all the tickets and documents, plans, itineraries etc to check we had everything we which was pretty painless but took a while. Once that was done it was finally time to relax. We went out and got an Indian takeaway for tea and went home to eat it with a nice bottle of wine. Then it was time for our final sleep in our own bed for the next 24 nights.

[retiredkid]

IT'S STARTED !!!!!!!!!!!!





:jumping1: :jumping1: :jumping1: :jumping1: :jumping1: :rainbow: :rainbow: :rainbow: :rainbow: :rainbow: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3:

[ariel2007]

Day 0 ~ The One Where We Party At The Hilton


When we got up today we were so excited, I just couldn't wait to get going and start the first part of the journey on our Magical WDW Adventure. We got showered and ready and then spent a bit of time with the cats before we had to leave. About 2pm we said a sad good-bye to the cats (I hated having to leave them for that long even though they were in good hands) and then checked and double checked we had everything. Then it was time to finally leave for our holiday, the one we had been planning for the last 10 months, we were so excited.

Here is us ready to go:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00818.jpg

We had a brief stop at McDonald's down the road from our house for lunch then on to Gatwick it was. Unfortunately it was a miserable day, all cloudy and raining, and it’s quite strange how something like that can have such an effect on your mood. However I was determined to get over it, so I put the IPOD on playing Disney tunes and sung along (as did Nick although he wouldn't admit it :rotfl2: ). We arrived at Gatwick valet parking just after 4pm, what perfect timing as it is exactly what time we had told them. The valet parking was so simple, we parked the car, filled out some paperwork and within 5 minutes we were done, so much easier than driving to an off-sight parking lot, having to get our 10 million bags into a packed transfer bus, and then drive for half an hour through rush hour traffic (you may think I’m being OTT but this is exactly what happened to us last time and that was after the 4 hour drive to the airport in a cramped car with no air con. in mid Summer heat, but before the 60 minute bus transfer from Heathrow where we left the car, to Gatwick where we were flying from :( ). We headed straight to departures for the Virgin Twilight Check-in. Check-in was easy, although I was quite unprepared as I tried to pull a suitcase, carry my hand luggage plus an overnight bag and my holiday folder and the zip lock bag I had just picked up, luckily Nick came to my aid as he always does and we were soon done and had our boarding cards in hand. To our amazement we actually got the seats we had booked online, Wahoo. All checked in we went over to Travelex to collect our dollars, although it took a while they let us have the dollars we had ordered for tomorrow too which was a great help. That done we headed to the Hilton to check in. We had a trainee checking us in who told us unfortunately the card we had put against the room had declined. Um, what card? Nick told her we hadn’t given her a card, she looked really confused and looked at the room card she had in her hand, opps :rolleyes2 . Oh well, she printed us another card and we were soon in our deluxe room. The room was really nice, it was big and the furnishings were modern and we could see the odd plane from our huge great window. We had a brief cup of coffee and then went back to the airport for tea.


This is the only picture I've got of the room. This is Nick in his 'relaxed' pose:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00820.jpg


We went to Frankie and Bennys for tea which is our pre-WDW tradition. We were seated straight away and there were plenty of tables but unfortunately the service was rather slow. We waited a while to order and choose the sharing platter to start which consisted of garlic bread, chicken strips and wings, potato skins, onion rings and bread sticks and a bottle of Chardonnay to drink. It took a while to come but was good but very filling, and I knew I would struggle with my meal even though I didn’t each much of it. For mains I had New York Chicken (chicken with cheese, bacon and barbeque sauce) and Nick had chicken and ribs. I have New York chicken nearly every time I go to Frankie and Bennys but its always disappointing in the one near our house. However it was really good here as was Nicks, but I was so full afterwards I could hardly move (God knows how I’m going to cope with American portions). The meal was really good but the service wasn’t great and really slow and it was expensive compared to what we would be paying in America.
Unfortunately I forgot to get any pictures of the food. I had my camera there and ready and told Nick I must not forget but by the time the starter came we were so hungry it slipped our minds. We remembered after we had eaten it and I told him I can't forget to take one of the mains, and what did we do... yep forgot :( . I did get one from outside though:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00826.jpg


After a lovely last dinner in the UK we headed to Krispy Kreme for dessert to take back to the room and then Marks and Spencers for a bottle of wine. It didn’t take long to get back to the Hilton, it’s such a convenient hotel especially if you are doing twilight check-in and planning on eating in the airport, it saved us having to get a bus back. At the Hilton we stopped at Amy’s bar in the lobby for a drink. Nick had a Mojito and I had a Long Island Iced Tea. The person who made the drinks was training and they were both really strong, mine was so strong I had to have more coke added but they remade it again and it was really good, which it should be at £20 for the two.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00833.jpg


Back at the room we organized the money we had picked up. Nick had a shower and once he came out there was a gift bag waiting for him on the bed. I had made up a blue gift bag which I had decorated with Mickey stickers, silver stars and red, white and blue ribbon and tissue paper. Inside was a Tigger flannel, some chocolate raisins and peanuts, cashew nuts, $20 and a $20 Starbucks card. Nick was very impressed, especially that he had $20 to spend all to himself.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00842.jpg


We then settled down with some wine, watched some TV and then time for bed.

[retiredkid]

Off to a great start!!!

Twenty pounds for two drinks??? Yikes. And I thought the airport hotel bar in Toronto was expensive.

Very nice.... beginning with gifts!! WTG:thumbsup2

[ariel2007]

Day 0 ~ The One Where We Finally Get There

We had both had a restless night, I don’t know if we were too excited but we both kept waking up every hour or so. At 5.45am I just couldn’t sleep anymore so went and had a shower. By the time I had finished Nick was up too. At 7.30am we checked out of the Hilton and made the 5 minute journey over to departures. Getting through security was much quicker and easier than I had thought it would be, although there is always someone who has forgotten to take out liquids and then holds up the line whilst they search through every corner of their bag to find the bottle of water and moisturizer and mascara and lip gloss etc etc. Once through security we had a look around Duty free, I had made a mental note of all the things I wanted to buy beforehand, all of which were either make-up or perfume. We went to the big duty free shop and parted with the first of our cash, I brought a double pack of YSL Touche Eclait, a YSL blusher, a double sided Lancome mascara and Lacoste Dream of Pink perfume.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00850.jpg


It was then time to check into the Virgin Club Lounge, something I was really excited about. At the Club Lounge we were greeted at reception and told about the facilities. In the center were chairs and tables and on one side a huge great window overlooking the planes. At one end of there was the bar area which was set up with fruit, cereals, pastries and juice and the other was the salon which did complimentary treatments, and then there was an area with computers and internet access, all of which was included. We got some comfy chairs overlooking the runway, there were lots of big Virgin planes just outside, it was a great view.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00853.jpg


The salon:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00854.jpg


The bar area:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00852.jpg


Our server came and explained the menu to us, Nick got a latte, I had a mimosa and we both had the Frequent Flyer special which was a BLT ciabatta, all of which was very nice.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00861.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00849.jpg


Piggles inspecting the menu whilst making some important last minute calls:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00870.jpg


At 9am I went to the salon and had a pedicure done which was very nice. I joined Nick again and we got a few more drinks, an orange juice for him with a pain au chocolate, and I Bellini and bowl of fruit for me. I did a quick bit of browsing on the net, caught up with my emails and then it was time to head for our departure gate. The Club Lounge was definitely worth the money, it was so much nicer relaxing with a nice quiet breakfast, cocktails and treatments before our long flight rather than the usual scrum of departures.

At the gate we had a short wait, our fault really for being too pessimistic and not waiting for them to call us at the Club Lounge. Before long however we were boarding, our plane was Virginia Plane, the seats seemed a lot smaller this time and unfortunately we had no proper window. We got settled and soon took off a few minutes late, it was slightly bumpy but we were soon in the clouds and on our way to the most magical place on earth :tinkani:. We both settled down to watch some films, I watched St Trinians first which was ok but it kept me entertained none-the-less. Nick watched I Am Legend which he really enjoyed, I really wanted to watch it when it first came out at the cinema but really wasn’t in the mood to concentrate on it on the plane, I was too excited for a start. During the films drinks and snacks were brought round. After the films we both watched a bit of Little Britain and by that time it was time for lunch. It was the usual trays of plane food, Nick had chicken and mushroom and I had steak and ale for our hot dish, mine was good (I really don’t mind plane food), Nick said his was ok. We got the usual bread roll, cheese and crackers, pasta salad and a yummy chocolate pudding (which Nick couldn’t eat cause it was orange flavored which he hates).

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00875.jpg


The rest of the flight seemed to go quite slow, every time I went to watch something it had already started so I gave up trying and had a quick nap (quite unusual for me to sleep outbound), read my magazine and filled in the visa forms for us both.


At least Piggles kept himself amused:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00886.jpg


And enjoyed his mid-afternoon snack:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00887.jpg


I did keep checking back regularly at the little checker thing on the TV to see where we were and how long we had left, maybe thats why it seemed to take so long


3/4 the way there:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00885.jpg


A little closer:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00884.jpg


Almost there:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00892.jpg


Of course we were really excited:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00896.jpg


Eventually at 3ish we started to fly over Florida and see land, it was so exciting

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00902.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00906.jpg

At 3.30pm (Florida time) we landed, we were both so excited and relieved to finally be here. We were let off the plane pretty quickly but unfortunately there were big queues in immigration and Nick picked the wrong one (I told him to go for the one next to the US line and sure enough the people in that line got called over and went through way before us) – by this point I was just itching to get through and out into the warm Florida air. Finally through immigration we collected our bags and made our way via the monorail to the Budget Car Hire place. The queues for all the other car hire desks were minimal with just a few people at each, however Budget’s queue was huge, there were probably about 30 people in front of us and only 3 people on check-in. After a very long and frustrating wait (about 90minutes) it was finally our turn, only he couldn’t find our booking, and when he finally did it was in the other terminal (which is not what we had booked). Then Nick’s credit card wouldn’t work. I nearly had a heart attack then and there, they tried it again, tried his other card but no luck. By this point I was really panicking as if we couldn’t get the car we would be completely stuck. Then as a last resort we tried my visa electron and sure enough, despite not working hardly anywhere else, it worked, result... Or not. We then hit another wall, there were no Mustang convertibles like we had booked and this is what Nick had been looking forward to most. After explaining that we had specifically called U.S Rent-a-car, the company we had booked it through, to ask if it would definitely be a Mustang, and were told there would be no problem getting one (when in fact it is one of 6 convertibles they use and the bloke said the chance of getting a mustang is very, very small) he upgraded us to a normal mustang. Phew, at least Nick was happy.
We went to Budgets forecourt and found our Mustang, a lovely shiny red one. Nick instantly fell in love with it, he was so excited to drive it and had been one of the things he had most been looking forward to.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00910.jpg


We loaded our luggage into the Mustang (which we named Sally for obvious reasons), and then we were on our way out of the airport. Nick loved driving the Mustang instantly, he was smiling from ear to ear the whole way to the villa, it was so cute.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00911.jpg


It was great driving past the lakes, seeing all the theme park signs, the restaurants and fast food places, it didn’t seem real at first, we couldn’t believe we were actually here at last. We then passed Seaworld and Aquatica and then DTD, we were literally bouncing off the walls at this point, I had the video camera in one hand and my other camera in the other trying to capture everything as we drove along. It seemed like forever getting to our villa, we seemed to have driven past all the parks and tourist areas and going to the middle of nowhere. Eventually we saw the sign for Glenbrook and after a brief wrong turn or two we found our villa. It had started raining when we had started driving and it still hadn’t stopped so we had to dash inside quickly. We had a look around the villa, it was very spacious and nicely decorated. There was a lobby room with a sofa and table and chairs, then a laundry room. This was all fairly open plan leading to an open plan living room and kitchen with dining table and breakfast bar. In one direction a corridor led to the two double bedrooms (1 Mickey Mouse themed, the other tropical themed), and one of the masters complete with big bathroom. There was also a further toilet. The lounge led out to the pool, as did the second master bedroom, which we choose. It had a lovely big bathroom which also led onto the pool area. We didn’t get chance to go out to the pool at this point as it was raining pretty hard, a bit disappointing after waiting all this time to see it, then again I’m sure we could wait a few more hours.
Some villa pictures (the outside ones weren't from the first night as it was pouring with rain):

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01220.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01222.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01600.jpg



Continued below....

[ariel2007]

.... Continued from above.

The lobby room (not sure what its proper name is):

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00920.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00918.jpg


The kitchen / living room:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00922.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00928.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00929.jpg


The two single rooms and second master bedroom:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00924.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00923.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00925.jpg


Our bedroom:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00932.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00935.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00936.jpg


Our initial view out to the pool from the lounge:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00930.jpg


We freshened up, we needed it after a 9 hour flight. We had originally planned to go to Red Lobster for tea on our first night which we were really excited about. However we had originally planned to take sat nav. but at the last minute couldn’t so had no idea where the nearest Red Lobster was. We were quite tired, it was raining and we seemed to be a lot further out than we thought so we decided to go to Chili’s (which we had on our reserve list as its one of my favorites but one we have done twice before) as it was just down the road and right next to Walmart. When we got there there was a 10 minute wait for a table so we went to the bar for a drink, I had a tropical sunset margarita which was really good and Nick had a Miller Lite.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00940.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00942.jpg


We were seated before we even got the drinks, there was only one person at the bar and it was pretty busy as there was some sort of game on. We ordered the Awesome Blossom to start as we have heard so many good reviews. We also got a lemonade for me and sprite for Nick. The Awesome Blossom didn’t take long and was really delicious, It is really moorish and the dip it comes with was really good. I’m very glad we tried it, although we couldn't even eat half, and definitely would have it again.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00941.jpg


For mains Nick had a Southwest Big Mouth Burger and I had the steak fajitas. Both were delicious although far too much us. I also had a Presidente Margarita which came in a Chili’s margarita shaker, it was really good and there was lots of it, and it was much cheaper than the ones in the Hilton.


My steak fajitas:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00945.jpg


Nicks Southwest Big Mouth Burger (the pictures covered with smoke from my fajitas):

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00944.jpg


And my Presidente Margarita complete with margarita shaker:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00943.jpg


The whole meal was lovely and the service was typically great, the best part was the bill, $55 which was so good compared to last night. It was so nice sitting there in Chili’s, as we sipped on our beer and cocktails there was such a nice feeling knowing we were finally there and that our holiday had actually started for real, and the fact we had been on the go all day. This coupled with the great food and price was the perfect way to start our holiday, and hopefully an indication of what was to come.

After we paid the bill we waddled over to Walmart which was just across the road. The rain had now stopped and the air was really warm and had that lovely Florida smell.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00948.jpg


Neither of us had much energy left to look around the whole store tonight so we headed straight for the food and drink section after a quick peek at the Disney goodies. We stocked up on ice-cream, cookies, crisps, soda, Starbucks frappes, water and coffee. I also got my first 3 fridge magnets, uh oh, would this be a sign of things to come too.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00952.jpg

The result of our Walmart shop, you may be able to tell we got slightly carried away:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00950.jpg


Back to the villa, it was now warm and dark outside and all the trees that lined the entrance to Glenbrook were lit up with clear lights and looked really pretty. We got to the villa, put all the shopping away and then I jumped in the pool, well crept in as it was freezing, despite asking for pool heating. I was straight back out again and unpacked my case. I got my stuff ready for Seaworld tomorrow, put the cameras on to charge and Nick had some ice-cream whilst we watched American TV.

It was then time for bed after a very long but very exciting day :cloud9: .

[wdwgirl03]

Yay, you started your TR!!! Love the magnets...very cute. I can't wait to hear all about Sea World-we went there too!

[stagemomx3]

:cool1: Whoo hooo the trip report has started! What a long first day. I love all the food porn!

[ariel2007]

Day 1 ~ The One With Whales, Dolphins and a Whole Lot of Cheesecake

Yay, today was officially our first full day in Florida and also our first official theme park day. And of course we had chosen one of our favorites to start the holiday off to a high, the wonderful SeaWorld. Our original plan for today was to get up really early and go to IHOP for breakfast and then get to SeaWorld for opening as we really weren’t sure what the crowds were going to be like during our holiday.
However due to being absolutely exhausted from all the previous days traveling and the fact we were planning on an early lunch at Sharks Underwater Grill we skipped IHOP and opted for an extra hour in bed. After a good nights sleep we were up at 7, luckily the time difference doesn’t affect us on the way out as we are always up till late anyway so we slept well until the alarm went off. For a minute as I rolled over and turned the alarm off and snuggled back under the covers I nearly forgot where I was, and then I realized we were finally there and jumped out of bed like a bat out of hell (sorry, that was the only thing that came into my head as it was one of our holiday songs). Well anyway I jumped out of bed, got showered and dressed as quick as I could and had a coffee (and maybe an Oreo or two) before leaving the villa just after 8. After a brief drive in the wrong direction we were soon back on track and heading to SeaWorld. The drive was much quicker and simpler today and we were soon driving past DTD and all the signs to Disney World, it was so exciting seeing it all and knowing we would be surrounded by all this magic for the next 3 weeks.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00956.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00961.jpg


Just before 9 we got to the park, paid for preferred parking and then went and got our tickets from guest services. We had a booked the Discovery Cove package which included two weeks at SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens and as we were doing Discovery Cove last we had to take the confirmation to guest services to get our tickets every time we went to those parks which was a bit of a pain. Anyway due to skipping IHOP we were both pretty hungry so though we would get some breakfast first. I know that the point of getting to the parks for opening is to ride the big rides before the queues build up but we were both really hungry and I just wanted to take it slow and relax for our first day. The Cypress Bakery was just inside the gates so we got a cinnamon roll and strawberries with chocolate sauce to share, Nick had a coffee and I had a orange juice.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00969.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00967.jpg


We sat outside and had a nice relaxed breakfast whilst doing a bit of people watching and then strolled over to Kraken. Kraken had virtually no queue so we went for the front row, waiting about 3 minutes to get on. It was officially our first ride and first rollercoaster of the holiday and it was absolutely brilliant, we have done it before but it was so exciting to be doing our first ride and also riding the front. So as soon as we finished we went straight back on, with no queue at all. We then went on Journey to Atlantis, this had even less queue, the boat in front went with just 2 people in and the one before had none at all. We stupidly went in the front of our boat and got drenched. The first big drop just got us a bit wet but the little drop absolutely soaked us, we were both dripping when we came off.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00995.jpg


We walked over to Sharks Underwater Grill and booked a table for lunch, this is one of the restaurants I had most been looking forward to as it was one of my top three last time we went. With our table booked for 12pm we went and visited Pacific Point to see the sea lions something we hadn’t done before. I brought some food and fed them, boy does that fish stink and those birds that hand around there are quite scary.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00979.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00985.jpg


We went over to the 11am Blue Horizons and despite arriving just after 10.30 the place was already packed and we ended up right at the top in the left corner behind a post, not a great view. Despite the rubbish view the show was very good, better than we both remembered and even Nick really enjoyed it. The show is so colorful, it is quite amazing how they combine acrobatics, whales, dolphins, birds and a whole lot of color, even if the story is a little bit tacky.

Some pictures from Blue Horizon's:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC00998.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01001.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01008.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01011.jpg



The strange whales - we never really noticed these last time :confused2

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01052.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01055.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01076.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01074.jpg


When it had finished we didn’t have much time to do anything before our lunch reservation so we went to the Shark Encounter. As we walked through we saw the cage that you go in for the shark dive, Nick was beginning to get really nervous as he is really scared of sharks but really wanted to do the dive. The shark tunnel was cool, although we hardly saw the Sawfish which were very active last time.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01080.jpg


Uh Oh... Do we think someone is nervous Nick...?

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01088.jpg


We checked in for our lunch reservation and after a 20 minute wait we were seated right next to the tank on a great table. I love Sharks Underwater Grill, the cave theming is great and I love the atmosphere in there.


Outside Sharks:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01143.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01092.jpg


Our server took our order and brought us some yummy warm bread rolls, they were kind of spicy and different to last time but were really good. To drink Nick had a sprite and I had a Sharks Fin cocktail which was bud, blue curaco and sweet and sours, it was nice but very strong and had a slightly weird taste, I probably wouldn’t chose it again. For mains Nick had the Crab Cakes with wasabi slaw and I had the filet mignon in demi-glace with gouda cheese, fried yucca cake and vegetables. Both were the same as we had last time and both were as good as we remembered, the steak was cooked perfectly and the yucca cake was really tasty, even the vegetables were good. We both loved it all.

Our food:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01108.jpg


Nick's crab cakes:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01117.jpg

My steak:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01118.jpg


Some pictures from our table:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01111.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01137.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01109.jpg



Continued below...

[ariel2007]

... Continued from above.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01133.jpg


The shark dive tank with some poor, unsuspecting bait...I mean passengers:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01107.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01121.jpg


After a very nice meal and the purchase of a sharks tooth pin we strolled over to the Hospitality centre where we both got a free Rolling Rock and sat outside in the sun. We sat overlooking the waterfalls and flowers, it felt kind of tropical and was so nice to relax in the sun after all those weeks of rushing around, it is always these little unplanned moments of relaxation that help make holidays perfect.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01152.jpg


So after our little rest we went to the Shamu Stadium, brought a frozen lemonade and went to get some seats for Believe. Unfortunately due to forgetting to bring the waterproof case for the camera we couldn’t sit in the splash zone so had to sit in the second section, which despite having just opened was already nearly full so it was the back for us again. Whilst we waited I wrote my diary and by the time I finished the show was starting. The show was very good, I love the Shamu show, it is always so amazing to see the killer whales and all the amazing things they can do.

Some Believe pictures:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01154.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01157.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01172.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01177.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01181.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01184.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01186.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01189.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01201.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01205.jpg


After Believe we wondered over the boardwalk, did a bit of shopping and then made our way out of SeaWorld.

We drove back to the villa where the maintenance guy was trying to get the pool heating working, except it was missing a part and they only found that out now. By the time he left we were very hot so we grabbed a pepsi and went to go for a swim. Unfortunately the pool was just too cold without the heating so we got ourselves ready and headed out to Mall at Millenia for some shopping.

The mall was pretty easy to find, it was quite far from our villa, just past Universal. I had been here before the first time I came with Mum but Nick hadn’t and he loves going to malls - he is like Dad in the fact that whenever we go on holiday he gets this weird fascination with shopping and wants to go to any mall or shopping center there is, and when we get there does he buy anything, nope not one thing.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01225.jpg


Well we had a look around, they have some really good shops here, Macys, Bloomingdales, a good surf shop and gadget shop (Nick loves gadgets), and lots of upmarket shops like Tiffanys, Gucci etc. I brought some make-up in Macy’s, a Benefit mascara and a Clinique eyeliner, unfortunately the YSL Radiant Touch foundation I use was no cheaper here so I left that for duty free on the way back. We went into the Sunglass Hut, something we did a million times on this holiday, Nick brought us both some Oakleys, something he does every holiday we go on. We then went to Tiffany’s and I got a gorgeous necklace which I had been looking at beforehand on the internet. Nick also brought me a ring but I had to wait till our anniversary to have it, I’m sure I could wait a few more days if it meant getting a gorgeous Tiffany’s ring. It was really nice walking out of Tiffany’s carrying that lovely little blue bag containing two lovely little blue boxes, I could really get used to this.
After a few hours shopping we were getting really hungry so we went to the Cheesecake Factory for tea. This was another meal we were really excited about as it was another favorite from last time, and of course to get some of that delicious cheesecake. We were seated pretty quickly and our server was very friendly. I had a mango daiquiri to drink and Nick had a sprite, and we shared the Thai lettuce wraps to start which were ‘Chicken Strips, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Coconut Curry Noodles and Lettuce Leaves with Three Delicious Spicy Thai Sauces — Peanut, Sweet Red Chili and Tamarind-Cashew’. The wraps were delicious, the chicken, sauces and all the bits went really well together, the peanut sauce was especially nice, it was a very good choice and definitely something I would choose again.

I forgot to take a picture of the wraps, we were too hungry, but this is what they looked like :)
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/cheesecakelettucewraps.jpg


For mains we shared beef ribs and a double bacon cheeseburger both came with fries and onion rings. Both meals were delicious, the ribs were so tender they fell off the bone and they had no fat on at all but lots of meat, they were especially delicious. I also had a pomegranate margarita which was so yummy, I love margaritas and the pomegranate flavoring gave it extra flavor.

Some food and drink pictures:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01240.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01237.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01232-1.jpg


We were really stuffed after our meal, I knew after we had had the lettuce wraps that I was going to struggle but it was all so good. But we couldn’t miss the main part, the cheesecake. We brought 2 bits of cheesecake to go, one strawberry and one key lime, last time we brought really fussy ones and although they were delicious they kind of took the cheesecake taste away so we wanted ones that were a bit plainer this time.


Ready for this... Cheesecake pictures :grin::

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01242.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01263.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01264.jpg


Continued below...

[ariel2007]

.... Continued from above.

We then brought our first Starbucks of the holiday as it was right opposite and we just couldn’t resist, 2 caramel lattes to go please.
As we left Mall at Millenia it looked really nice, it was all lit up outside and they had a lighting feature in the entrance bit by the fountains. It still felt weird stepping outside into the dark and it being so warm, it was so nice.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01245.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01248.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01247.jpg


We stopped at Walmart on the way back to the villa, this time to have a proper look around. This store is so huge, they literally sell everything. We were quite good today though and limited ourselves to 2 Disney thermos cups which we brought so we could take coffee on-the-go in the mornings, Tink Spirit body butter and body lotion which had a delicious smell of mangos, a really cool Tinkerbell pen for Sophie (its a light-up pen with a Tinkerbell stamp on the top and a bubble blower in the middle) and some other essentials.

Back at the villa we chilled out for a while, Nick played pool as I wrote my diary and sorted our money and things ready for the next day. Then it was time for bed.

Todays purchases:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01268.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01267.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01271.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01250.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01262.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/tiffanys.jpg

[retiredkid]

Ariel, I've been posting and you've been updating!! :)
What a lot of writing you've done today. This is a wonderful TR and I'm in for the long haul.

I'm tired just reading about everything you guys did.
P.S. hope the pool heater gets turned on.

[ariel2007]

Ok as you might see I haven't quite got the hang of taking pictures of food yet. I forgot completely with the lettuce wraps at The Cheesecake Factory and as you saw I only remembered half way through with lunch at Sharks. It became a regular occurence on our holiday for us to start our meal only for me to shout at Nick to "Stop eating now, put that down" so I could take those all important pictures. He was not impressed as I did it for the hundreth time, luckily he has the patience of a saint :goodvibes

[ariel2007]

The One With Sheikra, The Scaredy Cat and The Sheriff

We had an early start today as we were going to Busch Gardens and wanted to be there for opening at 9.30am. We were up at 6.45am, showered and dressed and managed to be on the road just after 7.45am. The journey to Tampa was pretty straight forward, until Nick got pulled over by the sheriff that was :worried: . At first we didn’t know who the sheriff was pulling over, us or the car in front. The car in front pulled over and so we carried on, but then the policeman pointed at us with a very scary glare and told us to pull over. The policeman was speaking to the other driver whilst Nick and I sat there trying to work out what we had done wrong. He then came over and asked if Nick knew what “Yield to the flashing lights meant”, What? :confused: It turned out he had pulled us over cause he had been trying to pull the car in front over for speeding and Nick didn’t slow down quick enough after he cut right in front of us, apparently obstructing him from his job :confused3 .
Well with that drama over we carried on to Tampa, arriving just before 9am which was great timing. We hadn’t had breakfast as we didn’t want anything big due to the big rollercoasters which lay ahead for us. There was a McDonalds nearby so we stopped there and got 2 sausage and egg Mcmuffin meals for breakfast and then drove over to Busch Gardens and ate them in the car park. By the time we had finished it was opening time so we walked straight into the park with no queues.

Busch Gardens entrance:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01391.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01273.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01385.jpg


We got a locker as we had some spare clothes for after the water rides, last time we did them we got absolutely soaked and didn’t know if we would be going straight for dinner after the park. We headed straight to Montu and walked straight on the ride. Montu is such a brilliant coaster although I always come off a little dizzy, it’s definitely one of the best, second only to Sheikra at Busch Gardens. It was then time for the dreaded Sheikra, something I had really been looking forward to doing. However Nick refused to go on it last time, the only rollercoaster he wouldn’t do as he doesn’t particularly like heights and hates the fact it hangs over the edge. But since Paul wasn’t there to go on with me (we did it 3 times in a row last time we loved it so much), Nick, being the amazing boyfriend he is had agreed before the holiday that he would do it so I could ride (I’m too much of a wimp to do it alone). He had been absolutely dreading it since he agreed and kept going on about how scared he was, although this became a regular occurrence with quite a few of the thing we had booked or planned. Well he managed to conquer his fear and rode, although he was very quiet and slightly pale. We did have to sit in the back row which was a shame as I love the front row but I did get to sit on the end which is great. I would have loved to ride again, Nick was not convinced and for the next hour still complained about the ride even when I reminded him we had done it and it was over.

Sheikra:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01319.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01281.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01316.jpg

Will he do it???
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01283.jpg


Tidal Wave was close by and despite originally planning to do the water rides last we thought we may as well since we were right next to it. There was not a single person on the ride or anywhere near the ride for that matter, so we got a boat to ourselves. The ride hasn’t got much to look at, the odd hut and skull, the theming is quite good but there is no story or nothing really happens until the drop. Despite this it was nice just sitting there in the sun chilling out... and then we came to the drop. Did we get wet? Wet is the understatement of the year, we got absolutely soaked. We thought we may as well get the Congo River Rapids done as well since we were so wet already so we walked there via Jungla. I had been looking forward to seeing Jungla, its always great when there is something new. However I’ve got to admit I thought it was a bit of a disappointment, I was expecting there to be lots to see, lots of colour and new exhibits but it was quite small and not that jungley. There was a white tiger and tiger exhibit (just moved from where it was before), a small orangatan enclosure and then a small area with some rope bridges, climbing bits, water fountains and 2 small rides.

Some Jungla pictures:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01286.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01292.jpg

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http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01314.jpg

We rode the Wild Surge ride there but the rest was more for children so we moved on to the river rapids. Again we were straight on, typically with an English family, and again we got absolutely soaked, Nick and I definitely came off the wettest.
Slightly uncomfortable with how wet we now were, we made our way to Kumba and rode. This ride is good and very, very fast but it banged my head around slightly. We then grabbed a frozen lemonade and a spot in the sun and tried to dry off a bit.

We were getting hungry so we walked back to our locker, we planned to get the Sky train but it was having technical difficulties. I got changed in to some nice dry clothes and then we went to Crown Colony for lunch. We were seated straight away in a nice spot overlooking Montu and the Serengeti, very different to the long wait we had last time. We both ordered the Colonial Feast which is chicken or fish, mash or fries (we had both of each), vegetables, coleslaw, dressing (like cornbread), tartar sauce, relish and gravy. Our drinks (lemonade for me and pepsi for Nick) and bread rolls were brought out straight away and the rest shortly after. The food was delicious, I especially liked the coleslaw, and Nick the dressing (he ate about 2 bowls of it) but all of it was really good and tasty. We got seconds of the fish and chicken and we were absolutely stuffed when we finished.

Crown Colony:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01338.jpg


The view from our table:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01354.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01345.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01359.jpg


And the food:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01350.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01353.jpg


After paying the bill, which was so reasonable for the amount and quality of the food and the lovely setting, we made our way out and over to Rhino Rally. This ride always gives me strong memories of our first trip with Mum when I was picked to be the navigator. It was quite a funny ride as I am quite shy and hate being picked on so the driver kept asking me questions and I kept whispering answers and then looking out the window in hopes he wouldn’t ask me anything else... which of course he did. It was so funny and then American’s on the back of the bus kept cheering my name as I took the wrong turning and got everyone lost, uh oh. This time however the water part of the ride was down unfortunately but it was still good. The driver was quite funny and again there was absolutely no queue, probably a good thing as the ride was over really quickly without the water part.


Rhino Rally:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01379.jpg


Some Busch Gardens pictures:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01377.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01362.jpg

Continued below...

[ariel2007]

...Continued from above.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01382.jpg

We had now done everything we wanted to do, it was really hot so we decided to head back to the villa for a rest and swim. We had a quick look round the gift shops, there wasn’t very much we wanted (which is strange) but we brought a few things and then headed out.

On the drive back to the villa we spotted a 24hour Starbucks off one of the exits. We of course made a slight detour for our second Starbucks in 3 days. Nick got a coffee frappuccino and I had a caramel one which we had as we sat outside in the sun.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01393.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01395.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01396.jpg

We also spotted this which we thought was really cool:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01392.jpg


Back at the villa we had a rest. Nick caught up on the football and I phoned home and the company we booked our manatee swim with to find out our pick-up details. Our pool heating still hadn’t been fixed but we decided to take a dip anyway. We only stayed in for about 10 minutes because it was really cold, even during the hottest part of the day with the sun shining on us. We had a shower and got dressed and then headed out for dinner.
We had planned to go to Texas de Brazil which is on I-Drive, right past Wet n’ Wild and next to Prime Outlets. However when we got there we were told they were fully booked, we hadn’t realised how popular it was. We had passed a Red Lobster up the road so knew instantly where to go instead. We were seated straight away although it did take a while to get served. Nick had a pepsi and I had a Lobsterita cocktail. When it came we were both amazed, it was huge, and really delicious. Neither of us could manage a starter so we both went straight for mains. We both chose the Create Your Own Feast, Nick had garlic jumbo shrimp and crab linguini with fries and I had garlic jumbo shrimp and coconut shrimp with baked potato which was topped with butter and sour cream. We were also brought really nice cheese biscuits to start, they were so yummy but also very filling. The meal was very nice, the garlic shrimp was delicious, as was the baked potato, the coconut shrimp was good too but not quite what I was expecting. Nick was also impressed with his so overall a very good meal. The meal was also very reasonable, especially the cocktail at only $8, I would have had more if I had known.


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01416.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01413.jpg


Cheddar cheese biscuits:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01404.jpg


Nicks:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01408.jpg


Mine:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01406.jpg


And my delicious Lobsterita:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01401.jpg


Full to the brim we drove back to the villa. We drove along I-drive and got to see all the attractions, Wet n’ Wild, Universal, all the restaurants and gift shops, Wonderworks, Orange County Convention Centre, Disney, it was great to see it all lit up at night.
Back at the villa we chilled out for half an hour then had a well needed early night.


Some of todays purchases:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01417.jpg

[TrueEeyore]

LOVE LOVE LOVE the updates!!!!! I just want to keep on reading but there isn't anything else yet! I love your writing and all of your pictures, they're fabulous. Great food pictures too! :thumbsup2

I'm like this > :hyper: waiting for the next installment.

[SnoopyDancer]

I just found your trip report and have gotten caught up. I enjoyed reading it and loved your pictures...especially those taken in England. I have always wanted to visit, and one of these days I will. :)

I was intrigued by a book you bought your boyfriend for his birthday (or that was packed in his suitcase) about ants. It looked like a fun read. I would assume the answer to the title question is yes, but then you know what they say about assumptions...:lmao: Sorry, that was lame...

Anyhow, I can't wait to read more about your adventures. It won't be much longer until you're on your next trip to NYC. :woohoo:

Since your sister likes Hannah Montana, I thought I would share a story. My friend and her eight-year-old daughter were shopping at the Cool Springs Galleria in Tennessee when they saw Miley hanging out with a couple of her friends. The eight-year-old went up to say hi and was disappointed because Miley blew her off. In fairness to Miley, she was there with a boy. Perhaps, Miley wished she had an alter ego, so she could hang out without being noticed. Nevertheless, the eight-year-old still enjoys watching her show.

[MissMichelle]

this trippie is AWESOME!!! you have so much going on in each of your trips and the pictures are so much fun to see!

Can't wait to read more :)

[lmillercrew]

FANTASTIC TR!!! I am so excited and happy to be reading your report. I've been waiting a very long time. You are doing a great job and can't wait to read more. Can you explain Duty Free to me and how it work? We have traveled to Mexico and I've seen the duty free shops, but I thought it was only for alcohol and don't really get it. Anyway, hope to read more soon.

[ariel2007]

Thanks everyone for your kind words, glad your enjoying it :goodvibes

FANTASTIC TR!!! I am so excited and happy to be reading your report. I've been waiting a very long time. You are doing a great job and can't wait to read more. Can you explain Duty Free to me and how it work? We have traveled to Mexico and I've seen the duty free shops, but I thought it was only for alcohol and don't really get it. Anyway, hope to read more soon.

Duty free is generally shops, usually in the departure areas of airports, where national taxes are not applied to goods sold. Therefore things can be quite a bit cheaper. Most airport duty free shops sell brand name make-up, alcohol, perfume, sunglasses and jewelery. Bigger airports, like London Gatwick and Heathrow, have lots of shops like designer ones and surf shops which also sell duty free. ::yes::

[ariel2007]

Day 4 ~ The One Where We Celebrate With Sharks

Today was our 4 1/2 year dating anniversary so we wanted to make it extra special and had a great day planned. We had decided last night to switch our plans a little bit and go to IHOP for breakfast instead of Golden Corral. So we had a bit of a lie-in and didn’t get up till 9am. We felt much better for the extra hour or so in bed and got ready quickly and were out by 10am. We went to IHOP on the 192 for breakfast, we thought it would be quieter than the one on I-Drive, turns out we were wrong. It was pretty busy and we were met by 2 grumpy ladies who were quite abrupt and rude. Our server wasn’t any better, he seemed like he couldn’t be bothered and wasn’t at all friendly to us apart from when he brought us the bill. We had been looking forward to IHOP. Usually if we had breakfast out we would go to a buffet but thought it would be nice to try one with a menu and had driven past and heard about IHOP many times. I had looked up the menu on the internet and the breakfasts looked really good, I couldn’t wait to try it. We ordered our breakfast and were brought a pot of coffee to the table, always a great way to start the day. Our food took a bit longer than normal but luckily was very good. We both had the breakfast sampler which was 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage links, 2 ham strips and hash browns. Nick had his with the regular pancakes and I had mine with stuffed French toast with strawberry topping. The food was very good, both the sampler and the French toast were really yummy but very filling. The breakfast was a nice start to the day but suffered a bit due to the service, and it was quite expensive in comparison to the buffet breakfasts we usually had.

Waiting for breakfast:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01422.jpg

Nicks 'Breakfast sampler with pancakes:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01420.jpg

My Breakfast sampler with french toast and strawberry topping:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01419.jpg


After breakfast we headed to I-drive to play Congo River Golf. We had never played mini-golf in Orlando before and had seen so many course whilst driving along I-Drive and the 192. I had read about Congo River Golf though and it sounded really good, particularly the course next to The Sheraton. Round the front of the course near the front desk there are alligators which you can feed. The course itself is very well themed, there were palms trees and waterfalls everywhere so it felt really tropical and there were also crashed planes and trucks. The golf was really fun, and it was actually much closer than we thought it would be considering Nick’s a golfer and I have only played mini-golf about twice in my life. It was really nice chilling out playing, it was really sunny and hot which worked great with the tropical theme and the location is brilliant, you can see Wet n’ Wild, lots of restaurants and stores along I-Drive and IOA in the distance. They also have basketball hoops which you can play, there were some kids having great fun there.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01430.jpg

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http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01445.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01470.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01464.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01447.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01448.jpg


Once we finished our round of golf we grabbed a lemonade and headed to Seaworld. Once parked we went and checked in for our Shark Dive and the Makahiki Luau. We were given some paperwork to look over and sign and then the girl told us where to go for both our reservations. We browsed the shops and then headed over to Wild Arctic where we had to meet our guide. We had 30 minutes to spare so looked in the Wild Arctic shop and then sat in the sun and waited. We were soon met by our guide Lee and as he walked us to the prepping room he explained that he used to be a diver and SeaWorld had approached him and another guy some years ago and asked them to write a programme so guests could swim with the sharks. They thought SeaWorld were mad putting people with sharks but they designed the programme and now they have the Shark Deep Dive programme. Lee took us to a little classroom which had pictures of sharks all over the walls. He spent some time explaining everything about the programme to us including the tanks structure, how the helmets worked exactly and what we would be doing. He then showed us some pictures of the sharks we would be with and told us a little about them. He made sure we had no unanswered questions and made sure we were both excited, he also reassured us and told us they have a 100% safety record, phew. He showed us round the changing facilities which had showers, toilets, lockers and towels and then fitted us with wet suits, boots and gloves. We got changed and put our things in the lockers and then Lee gave us a bottle of water each. He then took us to the shark facility on a cart, we drove round the backstage areas, and although there wasn’t much to see it was still pretty cool. Once there we were both pretty nervous but really excited too, Lee had made sure we knew everything we needed to know about the programme and the sharks which made us much more relaxed. Lee then introduced us to Nicola, she would be in the water at the top, keeping an eye on us, along with Lee and another girl, Julie. Julie and Nicola were both shark experts and were in charge of looking after the sharks at Seaworld so they could answer any questions we had about the sharks and fish in the tank. Lee showed us the tank itself, where we would be going and gave us some facts about it, pointing out some of the sharks and what they were. There was a shallow pool at the top of the tank which is mainly for medical reasons, its where all the sharks get there yearly physicals and also where Julie and Nicola would be throughout our dive. It was then time to enter the pool, the water was really cold, good job we had wetsuits on. We had some pictures taken and then Nicola showed us the helmets, showed us how to communicate with each other and them, explained how we would get in the tank and what to do in emergencies. She asked who would go first, and Nick said me, yes thanks Nick. At this point I was really nervous and didn’t fancy being in the tank alone but knew Nick had been really scared beforehand so thought I would be nice to him. The helmet was lowered on to my shoulders, it was so heavy, it weighed 75lbs out of the water but is much lighter once you are under the water. I then had to kneel down at the edge of the shallow pool and then step down into the tank which was quite a bit lower in the water. At first I felt a bit wobbly and worried I wouldn’t be able to stay still but it was quite easy to stay down once I got used to it. Nick then entered and once he was in they shut the gate and we were off. The tank runs along a wire from one end of the tank to the other and then back again. The sharks, fish and sawfish swam all around, at first it was a bit scary but then it was really cool. I had been worried about getting water in the helmet as if you lean forward or turn your head it will fill with water, which will then empty when you move again. However I had no water in it and no ear pressure, everything was good. It was quite strange though as the handles on the tank were quite hard to actually reach, they looked closer than they were. The two small toothed sawfish they have in the tank were both on the bottom to begin which is why we probably couldn’t see them from Sharks Underwater Grill the other day. However they were soon swimming around together, Lee said this is very uncommon and we were lucky to see it. He had also told us before they are really endangered and there were only 1000 left, SeaWorld are trying to help save them and hope to have babies soon. Nick couldn’t really hear when I spoke to him but the girls at the top checked in every now and then to see if we were ok and they gave us information on the fish if we needed it. The water was pretty cold as my wetsuit was too big and the helmet was so heavy (15lb in the water) but it was truly an amazing experience and one I would love to do again. It was also cool to see all the people in the shark tunnel and Sharks Underwater Grill. It was kind of scary not looking behind the tank as the sharks kept disappearing back there and in some places it was quite dark, but it was good to sit on our knees and see everything swim past.
Eventually it was time for our dive to finish, it felt like we had been in the water for ages, we had lots of time to look around and see all the sharks and fish. Nick was pulled out to the shallow pool first and then me and they took our helmets off. They asked if we enjoyed it and had any questions and then we said thanks to the girls and Lee took us back to the prep room. He was really glad to hear we had a good time and gave us some more information about the dive, the sharks and the park.
We got showered and dressed, there was a woman from Canada in the changing room getting ready to do the dive. She asked me all about the dive and about Coronation Street which is apparently really popular in Canada!?! Once ready Lee gave us a Shark Deep Dive t-shirt and a really good shark book each. He kept chatting to us, making sure we had a good time and had no other questions. We were then back at Wild Artic and it was time to say goodbye to Lee. We are both really glad we did this tour as it was great. Lee was brilliant and gave us so much information about the programme, how it began, how it works, the sharks and fish, the park etc. The dive itself was really amazing, such a once in a lifetime experience. SeaWorld have done such a good job putting this programme together, everything was really good and the so professionally run, we would both definitely recommend it.

We went to the picture desk by Guest services to have a look at our photos. We brought a package with a few big ones and 2 keyrings as well as a shark mousemat which oyu can put photos in. They don’t really take many photos though, just a few with the helmets before we did the dive. We also filled out a questionnaire about the tour and Nick took our stuff back to the car whilst I looked in the shop.
We did some shopping and got a nice shark frame for our pictures and then went and visited the rays.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01485.jpg

Some SeaWorld pictures:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01479.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01481.jpg


It was now 5.30pm so we headed to the Seafire Inn in the Waterfront for the Makahiki Luau. Whilst we waited 3 men came along and did a short sketch with some boxes and a trolley cart, it was quite funny and kept us entertained whilst we waited.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01488.jpg

The Waterfront:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01476.jpg

Seafire Inn:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01491.jpg

We were then let in to the first part of the Seafire Inn, we were greeted with a ley, had a photo taken and then given a mai tai to drink whilst we sat outside in the sun. Just after 6pm we were taken into the theatre which was decorated like a seafront village with dolphin shadows on the walls and little lights hanging around the room. Our seats were great, right at the front in the middle, we were seated with a Dutch couple and an American family. There was a plate of salad with sweet bread for each person and jugs of iced tea and water on the tables. Our server came round and offered us other drinks, pepsi products were included but anything else was extra. I got a blue lagoon cocktail, I’m not sure what was in it but it was very good and came in a souvenir glass. Nick ordered a pepsi, along with most other people on our table but the server forgot to bring his. When she came back about 10 minutes later Nick mentioned it and she said she would get it, but then we didn’t see her until after she brought our dinner, minus Nicks drink again. Finally he got it about 40 minutes in to the show, not a great start. The show itself started with a woman telling a story and then some Polynesian dancing. There were some fire jugglers which were very good and a few dances before dinner was brought out. Dinner was ribs, chicken in sweet and sour sauce, mahi mahi in pina colada sauce, chicken fried rice and vegetables. The food was good, but nothing was amazing, the ribs were tasty but had hardly any meat on, the chicken was a bit dry and although I was glad I tried the mahi mahi it wasn’t to my taste. It was also a bit awkward sharing with the other couple. When we finished dinner there was some audience participation and then back to the dancing. Whilst the dancing was on a dessert of sponge with chocolate and peanut butter sauce was brought out which was very, very good. The show finished with more audience participation which was really funny and then it was time to go.

Some dinner show pictures:

The theatre:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01565.jpg

The salad and sweet bread:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01506.jpg

My Blue Lagoon:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01531.jpg

The food (sorry its not a great picture I got embarrassed taking it and wouldn't put the flash on):
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01532.jpg


Continued below...

[ariel2007]

... Continued from above.


The delicious dessert:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01557.jpg

The fire juggler:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01516.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01517.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01522.jpg

Some of the dancing:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01575.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01544.jpg

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http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01563.jpg

This little girl was so cute, she shock her bottom like Beyonce:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01567.jpg


The dinner show was good although the service lacked a little and the food wasn’t amazing. Nick wasn’t very impressed, he much preferred the Disney one (as did I) and the Dutch couple were not impressed at all. We were given review cards at the end and I saw they had rated it very poor. When she came to the table she would stand at the end by the American family and primarily address them. She would, as an afterthought talk to us but the Dutch couple were pretty much ignored, never offered more drinks, asked if they were ok etc. Despite this I enjoyed myself, I am glad we tried it although it wouldn’t be one we would go back to in the near future.


It was then time to say goodbye to SeaWorld which was very sad, we had had such a lovely day today and on our last visit, I couldn’t believe we wouldn’t be coming back again.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01580.jpg


We headed back to the car and on the way back to the villa we stopped at one of those massive gift shops. We were not impressed though, it was all overpriced and pretty rubbish. Nick was still hungry as we didn’t eat very much so we grabbed a pizza from Domino's and headed back to the villa.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01583.jpg

We had some pizza whilst we watched some TV and then it was time for bed after a lovely day.

Oh and as promised a picture of the gorgeous Tiffany's ring Nick brought me:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01825.jpg

[ariel2007]

Day 4 ~ The One With The Big Hooters

I had really been looking forward to today, we finally got to visit the park we had been hearing about for so long, Aquatica. We got up at 7.45am, got ready and Nick made us one of his speciality Oreo milkshakes for breakfast. We left just after 8.30am, stopping for petrol and a drink which was a bargain at $1.09 for a huge cup (I will never get over how cheap it is for these massive drinks). We arrived at Aquatica around 9.15am, it was quite busy but there was still plenty of parking.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0003.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0005.jpg


Now when we looked it had said it opened at 10am but we had heard reports it gets really busy so arrive about 9. Well we parked right near the entrance no problems, but the park was already open and people on the slides. It took forever to get through guest services with our DC passes, the normal ticket queue was straight through but the VIP one we had to use was taking forever. Once we finally got in we got a locker and some sunchairs (no problems there were loads left) and headed to the Dolphin Plunge slide.

At the entrance:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0006.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0101.jpg

The beach area:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0043.jpg

Some of the slides:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0046.jpg

The Dolphin Plunge:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0009.jpg

The queue for the Dolphin Plunge took a little under 30 minutes but it was cool to see the dolphins going round the pool, although you could see didn’t go near the slide much so we didn’t hold out much hope. When it came to our go Nick went down with another bloke and then me. The slide is pretty steep and dark and I started to panic a bit because I had water in my eyes. I got to the dolphin bit pretty quick but didn’t see anything. With that slide over, and a bit disappointed we didn’t see the dolphins we decided to skip the other slides as they all had huge queues and went in the lazy river.
The lazy river was really good but didn’t look much like the photos. The part where it looks like your swimming through an aquarium was just one smallish wall with some fish in. However there was a big window through to the dolphin slide area. The first time round we didn’t see the dolphins much but we went and got our camera from the locker and went back around. This time there were four commerson dolphins and they kept coming up to the glass and swimming past and playing. It was great to see them, they are so beautiful and graceful and quite different to the bottlenose dolphins. I stayed and got lots of pictures, I could watch the dolphins for hours they are so fascinating.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0016.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0036.jpg

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http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0024.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0022.jpg

Look how lucky this person was, I hope they had their eyes open:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0034.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0015.jpg


Nick had floated off so I went around again to find him and then we went in the main pool. It was quite warm in the main pool, it wasn’t that big but it was really nice. The waves soon came on which Nick loves, they were really cool, probably better than the ones at Typhoon Lagoon and not half as busy either. We stayed in the pool for a while and then decided to head out of the park for some lunch.

The main pool:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0060.jpg

Some of the cabanas:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0049.jpg

We went to the lockers to get dressed and brought a few souvenirs from the shop, although they didn’t really have that much at all. We went and watched the dolphins from the top of the pool, they were just getting fed and the trainers made them do some jumps. The dolphins seemed really friendly and are quite noisy too. Nick really liked the commerson dolphins, he always calls dolphins boring (strange boy) but he found these fascinating.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0084.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0088.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0098.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0090.jpg


We then headed back to the car just after 12.30. We both liked Aquatica, although it didn’t really live up to the hype and it was really busy so we didn’t manage to get much done it seems like a really good park and what we did do was very good. The theming is cool, so bright and colorful, the dolphins are amazing to watch but they could do with more sand and better gift shops, which will probably come in time.


Hungry we decided to head to the Hooters by CrossRoads. We had never been to Hooters before but decided to try it as you can’t come to America and not. When we got there were told we could sit anywhere, the theming seemed really cool and it had a nice atmosphere.
Our server came and took our drinks order, a pepsi for Nick and Margarita for me, it was a very good one too. We shared boneless wings in teriyaki sauce and ranch dip to start and then Nick had the BBQ burger and curly fries and I had the philly steak sandwich with potato salad. Both were good although very filling and I couldn’t eat even half of mine.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0102.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0108.jpg

Ok I have to admit I forgot to take a picture of the mains but here is our starter:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0109.jpg


We brought a Hooters shot glass and pin then went back to the car and headed for the villa.

Continued below...

[ariel2007]

...Continued from above.

Since we were right by Disney we decided to drive through the gates for the first time as I was just too excited. We went past DTD which seemed pretty busy and I got lots of pictures along the way.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0110.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0111.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0115.jpg

Coming out of Disney Nick got lost and we ended up driving round for a bit which was quite cool to see the sights. It was ok to because we spotted a Krispy Kreme and of course we couldn’t resist. We got a box of assorted donuts, they didn’t seem to have as much choice as last time but they all looked so yummy. We got some drinks too and finally found the right road back to the villa.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/IMG_0126.jpg

We got back to the villa around 2.30 and chilled out by the pool with a beer for a bit (well Hard Lemonade for me which was really good). We had a quick swim, the water was still pretty cold but it was so hot out we couldn’t resist. Refreshed we had a shower and got ready to go out.

We went to Ripleys Believe It Or Not first, we had been meaning to go there the last two times we had been but never had the time to do it. The museum was cool. There were lots of odd things, some things are really clever, some weird, and some just gross. There were 2 headed calves, pictures made of toast, cars made of matchsticks, torture devices, optical illusions and lots more. It was really interesting but the kind of place you only need to go once.

Some Ripleys pictures:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01603.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01613.jpg

The 2 headed calf:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01620.jpg

Mona Lisa made of toast:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01630.jpg

Part of the Berlin Wall:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01638.jpg

The rotating tunnel at the end:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01640.jpg


After an hour or so wondering round the museum we headed out and down to Bahama Breeze on I-drive. It was a 20 minute wait for a table so we grabbed a buzzer and went and got a cocktail from the outside bar. It was a lovely evening and there was a steel band playing, it was really nice and relaxing. I had a Bahamarita cocktail which was a frozen margarita with strawberry, kiwi and mango ices, it was so yummy, really sweet and refreshing. Nick had a mojito which he loved, I tasted it and it was really good too.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01645.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01646.jpg


After about 10-15 minutes our buzzer went off and we were seated inside in the lovely air-conditioning. We got a bbq chicken flatbread to start which was really nice. It was very big so I’m glad we shared it but had such a nice flavour to it. For mains I got a lite portion of the tequila chicken with cinnamon sweet potato mash instead of rice and Nick had the steak and chicken kabobs. Both were very good but I was so full after even with the smaller portion. I also had a fresh fruit mojito, mango flavoured which was very good.

BBQ chicken flatbread:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01657.jpg

Nicks Steak and Chicken kabobs:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01660.jpg

My Tequila chicken with sweet potato mash (lite portion):
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01659.jpg

My fresh mango mojito:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01658.jpg


We settled the bill and headed to Walmart for a few supplies. It was then home for a spot of TV and an early night.

Some of todays purchases:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01661.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01596.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/sammiekwidzinski/WDW%202008/DSC01597.jpg

[disneydusted]

Wow! Girl, you have beeen busy!!! I am away for 3 days and you've written a novel! I can't believe how much you and Nick did in such a short time.... all so much fun :thumbsup2
Ok, you have to tell the truth, did you two really eat all of that lovely American food you bought at Walmart? ;)
Love the ring! :cool1:
I had a good laugh at the "lobby room", I am thinking that must be the family room? Did you ever find out the "official" name?
Thanks for sharing with all of us!!

[KatInHat]

I am really enjoying your report. It sounds like you had a great time. Thank you for sharing. Can't wait to hear about the rest.

[VroomVroomLightning]

YAY for Hooter's lol...Whenever we go that is what I get to is the philly sandwich...I always eat it in two halves! I love your pictures of Aquatica it seems like a lot of fun!

[lmillercrew]

Thank you for explaining Duty Free. Looks like I'll be wandering into one of the shops in Mexico, in three weeks. You guys were really busy on your trip. Glad you were able to do all of things you wanted to do while in Orlando. Keep going. You're doing a great job on your trip report. That bbq flatbread looked delicious!

[ariel2007]

Wow! Girl, you have beeen busy!!! I am away for 3 days and you've written a novel! I can't believe how much you and Nick did in such a short time.... all so much fun :thumbsup2
Ok, you have to tell the truth, did you two really eat all of that lovely American food you bought at Walmart? ;)
Love the ring! :cool1:
I had a good laugh at the "lobby room", I am thinking that must be the family room? Did you ever find out the "official" name?
Thanks for sharing with all of us!!

Unfortunately it was a case of us getting over excited at Walmart and we didnt eat half of it. Although the ice-cream did make good milkshakes for breakfast ::yes::

No I still dont know what the room is, its not the main sitting area its just an area inside the front door with some sofas and a table and chairs :confused3

[ariel2007]

Thank you for explaining Duty Free. Looks like I'll be wandering into one of the shops in Mexico, in three weeks. You guys were really busy on your trip. Glad you were able to do all of things you wanted to do while in Orlando. Keep going. You're doing a great job on your trip report. That bbq flatbread looked delicious!

Thats ok, hope you manage to get some bargains in Mexico :thumbsup2. Where abouts in Mexico are you going?

[TrueEeyore]

No updates today?? :( Booooo! You make me want to go to SeaWorld one day! (I already wanted to go, but it's nice to actually see what they offer!)

Can't wait for the next update!

[lmillercrew]

Thats ok, hope you manage to get some bargains in Mexico :thumbsup2. Where abouts in Mexico are you going?

Playa del Carmen. Just south of Cancun. My DSIL owns a 3 bdrm condo right on the beach. It's beautiful there. You can see Cozumel from her balcony. Have you been? I thought I read somewhere in your TR that you and DBF have been to Mexico.