Watch Out Orlando, Here Come the Girls!!! Day 1

[Pinky166]

Cast:

Me: Claire (a.k.a Pinky166) 30 something. Loves all things Disney; shopping; sipping cocktails & spending lots of $$$'s...

Her: Karen (a.k.a CustardTart) 40 something. Loves all things Disney; shopping; sipping cocktails & spending lots of $$$'s...


See the common theme???? Well, stay tuned as there's plenty of that to come during the next 10 days. Let me start by explaining that we are going to both be writing alternate days, with the other person adding comments (Bad Mother style). I will be commenting in Pink (naturally) & Karen in Purple. Anyway let's get on with the show.... After all it's taken us long enough to get this party started!!!



Saturday 5th June 2010

Day 1: A Few Tears & Plenty of Kirs...


Well my day began at 4.15am! I woke up very excited but also a little nervous, having never gone away on my own for one night let alone 10 without my hubby before. I was soon showered, dressed & ready to go, I said a tearful goodbye to my two doggies whilst hubby packed my cases in the car. It was 6am and I was finally on the road to Gatwick, the roads were very clear and I arrived thirty minutes ahead of our agreed meeting time. I sobbed like a baby as I said goodbye to hubby at the drop off point and headed in to the terminal with my luggage, I spent a good 15 minutes trying to compose myself, then hubby phoned me to make sure I was ok.....which set me off crying again!


The alarm in Taylor Towers was set for 6am and, for once, I was fairly organised and the pre-airport preamble went smoothly - even if I did keep looking at my stay-at-home husband and sighing... Before setting off, I said goodbye to my sleeping youngest son and think I heard him mumble "safe trip, Ma," but that could have just been a 'leave me alone' groan...


Ms Tart arrived around 8.15am, although she was now crying after saying goodbye to her hubby, which of course set me off again! :rollseyes: We quickly pulled ourselves together & after lots of hugs, kisses & squeals of delight we headed to BA Club World check in. Check in was a breeze & we headed straight through security, stopping briefly in WHSmith on route to the BA lounge. We made ourselves comfy on some sofa's, it was still very early so we stuck to coffee, hot chocolate & water along with some danish pastries.


The BA lounge is quite nice but the VA Clubhouse it ain't and, if the VA/BA fares had been the same price, I'm sure we would have opted to fly VA... Isn't that right, Claire???
Most definately!!!! But we did get a good deal with the BA Sale prices.....


We chatted away and, within what seemed like only twenty minutes but was in fact 2 hours, they announced we were to start boarding at Gate 63.


We sat in our pre-booked seats - 10 A & B and were immediately asked if we would like a glass of Champagne?? Well of course we would, it's past 10am now you know!!! So with a big "Cheers" & "Here's to the first of many!" our holiday officially began....... Suddenly our husbands were a distant memory.
Yeah, what were their names again???





Here are the Club World seats:







The seats were comfy enough but the configuration was decidedly odd - for example, I had to step over another person's footstool (and therefore his feet) when I got up to go to the toilet. I had the window seat and it was slightly claustrophobic BUT the cabin crew came round with champagne very quickly and I won't lie - that eased the pain...


We were pleased to see the Club World cabin was fairly empty, in fact I think there were only three or four other people and they were over the other side. We sat chatting for hours, drinking many Kir Royales.......

Ms Tart:




Ms Pinky:




We were served dinner but it was not that great to be honest and that is not just me being picky (which as some of you will know I am very picky ) as Karen wasn't impressed either....however I did remember to take photo's.


Side salad & bread roll:






Karen's main course, which resembled some kind of dried up fish with snot on top! It totally did!!!





My main course, beef fillet which was OK but the pots & veg were cold & raw:





Dessert was strawberries & cream, which were lovely. We continued chatting & drinking Kir Royales for a few more hours before deciding to try & have a small nap before landing....
OMG, we totally chattered our heads off and it was quite a while before our mouths needed a rest and we settled down to read, listen to iPods or whatever. I'm not sure if it was my imagination, but I think I heard the faint ripple of applause from our fellow passengers...



I don't think either of us managed more than an hour nap before we were woken up for afternoon tea, served with a scone with jam & cream. We landed at 3.30pm just ahead of schedule and were straight off the plane & first through immigration. We collected our cases & were on our way, we managed to beat the queue at the Dollar desk & were heading for the car park to pick up the beast (SUV) within what must have been the quickest time for plane to car that either of us had ever experienced!




Continued below....

[Pinky166]

Karen wanted to pop into the Florida Mall to buy an iPad - who was I to argue with the prospect of shopping as soon as we set foot on American soil!? So I pointed the car in the direction of F'Mall & off we went!!! Unfortunately they were out of stock Booo!!!! but we were able to reserve one from the next delivery. Yay!!!!!!! They would email to let us know when it arrived, so with that sorted - what next???? Surely it would be to rush to Bay Lake Tower & check in asap???


Well, no actually, we headed to Publix to stock up on the wine! Yes people, we have our priorites right!!!! And the huge responsibility to furnish our very own concierge lounge!!!





We finally arrived at Bay Lake Towers albeit a few hundred $$$'s lighter! Whilst the bell boys unloaded our luggage & Publix goodies, we went into the Contemporary to check in - which was very fast and efficient as Karen had checked us in online the day before. We were told that a parcel was waiting for us & the guy asked of we wanted to take it now, so off he went to retrieve it from out the back. He arrived with this beautiful gift basket:





Which was a total surprise, it had a card attached which read "Wishing you both an early Happy Birthday & hope you have a fantastic holiday, love from Lee" (My DH) I got a little choked up. We were both very impressed that it contained two bottles of Rosa Regale along with two wine glasses, two packs of Ghirardeli chocolate squares & a pink rose.

That was so amazing - I'm still very much in awe of the Mad Hatter's thoughtfulness…



We headed over to BLT and up to the 9th floor, to our lovely home for the next 9 nights, 7904:









The pull out bed which Karen was supposed to have for the first 4 nights & then we swap halfway through...... Despite my arguing, this never happened, so I had the beautiful bedroom for the entire stay. Once we were settled, it seemed too much faff. Oh and I couldn't face moving your shopping!!!!







Karen's bathroom:






My bedroom:










My bathroom with view of Bay Lake:









Our view from the balcony, it was starting to get dark:










I was so thrilled when I went out on the balcony to discover our partial view of the Magic Kingdom. Karen had spent some time researching what lake view rooms also had a view of MK and requested certain room numbers.
That was probably the single most efficient act I have ever performed in my life - so happy it paid off...


We waited for our luggage to arrive and once it had, decided to walk over to Magic Kingdom to buy our Annual Passes and my Tables in Wonderland card. We had an early breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace in the morning and would need them for entry to the park so thought it best to get them sorted asap.


We were starting to feel tired now so decided to head back to our room, order some room service and unpacked. We both had a burger and fries, along with a bottle of wine we bought from Publix.
Mmmm - love that 1st night room service tradition!! Oh and I ate both of our dill pickles - can't get enough of those huge, floppy green things...


Once we had finished, we said goodnight, I had a shower & was in bed just before 10pm. Although I hadn't taken into account the rude awakening at 10pm!!!!! Otherwise known as the Summer Nightastic Fireworks!!! Geez they sounded like they were being let of from the room next door, you could feel the vibrations through the bed.
I wear earplugs and they even penetrated those!!!



However it wasn't long before I was back in the land of nod……. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.



Coming soon: Day 2 which will be bought to you by Ms Tart. No pressure then...?

[mandymouse]

Brilliant start girls, and lovely photos too

What a lovely gift from Mr Mad Hatter as well, how thoughtful

Great views from your room too, I can't wait for your next installment

[Marks281172]

Lovely photos... i had that beef meal in BA Club class on a work trip to Chicago last month.. have to say mine looked in a slightly better state though

[HFC1969]

Man... and to think we complain about a 2 hour flight..

Awesome pics!!

[jjk]

greast start, what a lovely gift basket, cant wait to read more

[Muscateer]

Never keen on airport goodbyes. I even cry when I am waiting on someone at the airport and you see everyone else arriving and meeting their loved ones.

What a great start to your hols. The Kir Royales looked good. A lovely gift on arrival too. Great photos. Looking forward to Day 2

[Jordanblackpool]

Great first day, loving the banter between you both!

[scottish mum]

Great start, looking forward to reading more

[suzycute]

Great start to your trippie! Love your pics!
We stayed in almost the same room, except a few floors down last September - great view!

[wickesy]

Great start and what a nice surprise for you both when you arrived. The room looks great and I will definitely be trying to get one for the trip after next.

[jockey]

Great start I can't wait for more

[buzz for boys]

Fantatstic start and wow what a view !!! Looks like you were close enough to touch space mountain :-)

[ely3857]

Fab day 1, looking forward to the rest.

[Chilly]

Brilliant day 1