Lizzybear
03-26-2008, 10:21 AM
September 13th 2007 (Day 1)
After a restless (too excited!!) night we were both up and about at 5am and we got ready for our 7am shuttle. It arrived promptly and whisked us off to T2 in no time. We did bag drop in a jiffy, whizzed through security and did a little retail therapy as Steve wanted a camera. He also got me a cute little Paddington toy and I got us both books for the plane. We also registered for the Iris recognition thingy, only us and another couple so i'm guessing it's not very well known (also the place looked closed!) By now we were flagging so it was time for Starbucks! Caramel macchiato with extra espresso shot for me with fruit and a pain au chocolat and a cinnamon swirl for Steve before we headed towards the gate. More making a show of myself with the compulsory plane piccies:
http://a238.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/93/l_236f640be3ebf1633b68f11570c168a5.jpg
Yay plane!
Boarding was on time and both suitably medicated with Sturgeron (which I have to say worked a treat, no nausea here!) we made our way to our seats at the back. We'd definitely get one of the sets of two again, the extra 'bit' at the side near the window was handy for chucking stuff and giving you a bit of extra space. Excitement had definitely set in now:
http://a870.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/26/l_ccc795ea2b8dbe0442e99f70fcd5a47d.jpg
Steve was excited...
http://a818.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/l_0b5bfa947b122d53de78170cbf504909.jpg
I was very very excited...
http://a354.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/82/l_4b8c8d72e3a2a5de664fd40a0e5076f1.jpg
I'm pretty sure Paddington was excited too but he's a man of few words
http://a159.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/l_3a0f0ad179f02a9fae481f4c455b012e.jpg
Gratuitous couply picture!
Me and Steve had both requested the veggie option for dinner and we found this fine: Chickpea curry, salad and fresh and dried fruit. I'm not sure we'd ask for it again though as the normal meal had a veggie option anyway, weird!
http://a774.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/77/l_f9108f3650eb7b495de2b67e6b8fb2b5.jpg
Another of my totally unappetising food pics
As is the way with longhaul flights, boredom soon set in:
http://a214.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/22/l_a7e5ae86e1822b5668a4d610ebef703d.jpg
I'll let this picture speak for itself
http://a985.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/81/l_c91f1531f7503b2792866dba3d263dc0.jpg
Are we there yet?!
I honestly couldn't tell you any of the films that were on aside from Sherrybaby, my attention span for anything during a flight is pretty much zero! Eventually we started to descend, major excitement now!! We were among the last off due to being at the back of the plane but it didn't seem to make much difference at immigration, plenty of desks open but quite a slow moving queue as they seemed to be pretty much grilling everyone in depth. Soon it was our turn, quite a scary experience if i'm honest and I think we were both glad when it was over! Bags collected and then dropped and then collected again, we headed to the car hire desk. The queue for this was excrutiatingly long as by now we were starting to get sick of the airport and desperate to get on with our holiday! Finally it was my turn.. No pressure to upgrade which I was surprised at (I was all steeled and ready to refuse!) but it turned out that we'd got the automatic one from a Kia Rio to a Dodge Caliber that i'd heard always happens. I was quite nervous at this point as i've never driven abroad or in an automatic before but I took my time and I soon got used to it and wondered what i'd been so worried about. Our satnav worked fine and we stopped off at Publix for some snacks then headed to Port Orleans French Quarter, arriving at 6. Steve was totally fascinated by all the American things on the way, you know how it is on your first trip!
After checking in we dragged our cases upstairs and unpacked, a combination of adrenaline and pro-plus meant neither of us felt particularly tired and I reckon if we hadn't needed our tickets for the last day we could easily have attempted a park! Back to the room: Very nice, cute decor, first impressions of it and the resort in general were very good and we both have a feeling we're going to really enjoy our stay.
http://a978.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/105/l_913ba14c06320f6c3b9e69b4a5ff1849.jpg
Snackies!
http://a942.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/26/l_2945f4e62a86bfff262be9a6a5dff765.jpg
This little guy was waiting to greet us
We headed out for a swim but for some reason the pool was closed for maintenance so instead we grabbed some dinner at the food court: Cheese pizza and chocolate cake for Steve and potroast with a marshmallow Mickey for me. This was our first use of the dining plan and we found it really easy once we got to know what we were allowed, it wasn't always very clear on menus. When we'd finished dinner we headed back to room and were in bed by 9:30, lightweights!
After a restless (too excited!!) night we were both up and about at 5am and we got ready for our 7am shuttle. It arrived promptly and whisked us off to T2 in no time. We did bag drop in a jiffy, whizzed through security and did a little retail therapy as Steve wanted a camera. He also got me a cute little Paddington toy and I got us both books for the plane. We also registered for the Iris recognition thingy, only us and another couple so i'm guessing it's not very well known (also the place looked closed!) By now we were flagging so it was time for Starbucks! Caramel macchiato with extra espresso shot for me with fruit and a pain au chocolat and a cinnamon swirl for Steve before we headed towards the gate. More making a show of myself with the compulsory plane piccies:
http://a238.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/93/l_236f640be3ebf1633b68f11570c168a5.jpg
Yay plane!
Boarding was on time and both suitably medicated with Sturgeron (which I have to say worked a treat, no nausea here!) we made our way to our seats at the back. We'd definitely get one of the sets of two again, the extra 'bit' at the side near the window was handy for chucking stuff and giving you a bit of extra space. Excitement had definitely set in now:
http://a870.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/26/l_ccc795ea2b8dbe0442e99f70fcd5a47d.jpg
Steve was excited...
http://a818.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/l_0b5bfa947b122d53de78170cbf504909.jpg
I was very very excited...
http://a354.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/82/l_4b8c8d72e3a2a5de664fd40a0e5076f1.jpg
I'm pretty sure Paddington was excited too but he's a man of few words
http://a159.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/l_3a0f0ad179f02a9fae481f4c455b012e.jpg
Gratuitous couply picture!
Me and Steve had both requested the veggie option for dinner and we found this fine: Chickpea curry, salad and fresh and dried fruit. I'm not sure we'd ask for it again though as the normal meal had a veggie option anyway, weird!
http://a774.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/77/l_f9108f3650eb7b495de2b67e6b8fb2b5.jpg
Another of my totally unappetising food pics
As is the way with longhaul flights, boredom soon set in:
http://a214.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/22/l_a7e5ae86e1822b5668a4d610ebef703d.jpg
I'll let this picture speak for itself
http://a985.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/81/l_c91f1531f7503b2792866dba3d263dc0.jpg
Are we there yet?!
I honestly couldn't tell you any of the films that were on aside from Sherrybaby, my attention span for anything during a flight is pretty much zero! Eventually we started to descend, major excitement now!! We were among the last off due to being at the back of the plane but it didn't seem to make much difference at immigration, plenty of desks open but quite a slow moving queue as they seemed to be pretty much grilling everyone in depth. Soon it was our turn, quite a scary experience if i'm honest and I think we were both glad when it was over! Bags collected and then dropped and then collected again, we headed to the car hire desk. The queue for this was excrutiatingly long as by now we were starting to get sick of the airport and desperate to get on with our holiday! Finally it was my turn.. No pressure to upgrade which I was surprised at (I was all steeled and ready to refuse!) but it turned out that we'd got the automatic one from a Kia Rio to a Dodge Caliber that i'd heard always happens. I was quite nervous at this point as i've never driven abroad or in an automatic before but I took my time and I soon got used to it and wondered what i'd been so worried about. Our satnav worked fine and we stopped off at Publix for some snacks then headed to Port Orleans French Quarter, arriving at 6. Steve was totally fascinated by all the American things on the way, you know how it is on your first trip!
After checking in we dragged our cases upstairs and unpacked, a combination of adrenaline and pro-plus meant neither of us felt particularly tired and I reckon if we hadn't needed our tickets for the last day we could easily have attempted a park! Back to the room: Very nice, cute decor, first impressions of it and the resort in general were very good and we both have a feeling we're going to really enjoy our stay.
http://a978.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/105/l_913ba14c06320f6c3b9e69b4a5ff1849.jpg
Snackies!
http://a942.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/26/l_2945f4e62a86bfff262be9a6a5dff765.jpg
This little guy was waiting to greet us
We headed out for a swim but for some reason the pool was closed for maintenance so instead we grabbed some dinner at the food court: Cheese pizza and chocolate cake for Steve and potroast with a marshmallow Mickey for me. This was our first use of the dining plan and we found it really easy once we got to know what we were allowed, it wasn't always very clear on menus. When we'd finished dinner we headed back to room and were in bed by 9:30, lightweights!