And so it begins - Updated with Photopass Pics Post 189 - 04/01/2010

[tinks_1989]

i hope to see you and dizzy bear some where in the WDW

 

[Oconoc]

Have a great great holiday Kenny, Elaine, Bradley & Taylor, look forward to seeing the vids We only have 30 more days to wait then it will be our first ever trip there, thanks for the help with our planning buddy.

Seeing Michelles face when her final suprise is sprung will be worth it.

Right off to search for tickets and prices!

Shaun

 

[wayneg]

Welcome to DISboards Shaun

 

[Pegasus928]

Hi guys.

Well here we are after a good nights sleep and raring to go to MK.

The flight over was the usual long and drawn out affair. We got checked in with no problems and was through security by 7am. We had a reservation at Frankie and Bennys for 7.30 but the person on front desk had no knowledge of this - going as far as to say that they don't actually take reservations, so we're not sure what went wrong there. Anyway we were told there was a 30 minute wait for a table - which turned out to be an exaggeration as we were seated, ordered and breakfast in front of us within 15 minutes

After that DW wanted to have a look in Dixons. 20 minutes and a few hundred pounds lighter (she wanted the new iPod Touch 3G 64GB) we were headed to the departure gate.

We had rows 30/31 on the plane so were off in a shot once we landed. We took the advice on here and went straight to the right hand lanes. These were practically empty and we were next in line as soon as we got there. We did notice that others behind us were being called forward to the US nationals desks once they had dealt with all the US citizens.

(We were also warned about mobile phones as the previous flight had had 17 mobiles confiscated due to them being switched on and used whilst in the immigration area. We also witnessed someone having a camera taken off them as they had decided to ignore the many warnings and took a family photo while waiting in the queue)

Getting the luggage, sorting the car hire and the drive to the villa were all quick and uneventful and we were at DTD by 6pm.

We collected our park tickets, had a bite to eat at Earl of Sandwich and after a quick look around headed off to Walmart to stock up on villa essentials.

I haven't sorted out any pictures yet as we have been busy getting sorted since getting up at 5am. We are now leaving for a nice leisurely drive to MK to get there for opening.

I will try to make the next one more entertaining and fill it with plenty of pics once we have some to post

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Glad you had a safe flight and thanks for the update .... look forward to more

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Glad you had a good flight - looking forwward to reading more - where are you staying?

 

[joolz1910]

Hi Kenny, I hope you all have a great time at MK. Looking forward to the updates!

 

[Netty]

Glad you all had a good flight, is it still boiling hot??? how is Dizzy coping!
have a great day in MK

 

[Oconoc]

Welcome to DISboards Shaun

Thank you. Looking forwrd to the information swapping and gathering. I have my own experts (Kenny & Elaine) but am always happy for more information.

I don't think my wife will see this before we go, at least I hope not, *** I still have a big suprise for her on route to WDW.

 

[Pegasus928]

Hi All

Thanks for the replies so far and I will do my best to keep up over the next couple of weeks - and answer any questions that you may have along the way.

Yes - it is still hot here. Personally I don't mind it at all. One advantage of being in the Middle East for the last 2 years is that I feel acclimatised to the heat. Mum is struggling with it though - and the humidity is a bit of a killer, but on the whole the group managed to keep going yesterday and didn't complain too much (apart from DS that is - but as an ASD/ADHD teenager he would find something to complain about if I gave him $100 to spend on anything he liked )

Yesterdays plan didn't quite work out as we wanted to. We got to TTC at around 8.10 hoping to get the monorail to MK and stake out a good spot for the opening ceremony. Unfortunately (and this was the first bit of bad planning on my part) it was an EMH - so there were CMs at TTC not letting anyone through the gates until 8.45. We toyed with the idea of going to Epcot instead, but Sis wanted to see the castle on her first day so we hung around and waited for the gates to open.

Once inside the excitement began - especially for the newbies with us. Pluto, Daisy, Pinocchio (sp?) and Chip n Dale were all around the Town Hall so we stopped and got a few pics. We also caught Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Jessie and Lilo + Stitch. Most of these are on the Photopass card but I did manage to take a couple with our own camera.

Considering it was an EMH day we were quite pleased with how low the crowds were. We looked down Main Street and it was reasonably empty and most of the rides we went on were all walk ons
The only exception to this was Splash Mountain (due to the heat I suspect) - but even then we were on and off within 30 minutes.

After taking in some of the sights and doing a couple of rides we stopped for a snack and turkey legs were on the radar

We watched the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade at 11am. Me and DD decided to get in the spirit of it and join in with all the dancing. I dread to think what the video of that looks like as I am not the best dancer in the world but DD told me afterwards that she wasn't at all embarrassed by me - which was nice

We decided to leave the park at around 2 as we had a reservation at T-Rex for 4pm. We had hoped to get into Build-a-Dino before dinner but it took us longer to get out of the park than we thought. Not because of the crowds but because the newbies (and the rest of us too if I'm 100% honest) were still in ooooh and aaaah mode at everything we saw on route. We also bumped into the Mayor of Main Street so stopped and had a chat and some pics with him.

By the time we got to T-Rex we were too late to do BaD, but managed to get in a little earlier than our reservation time. Everyone was impressed by this place and the kids amongst us loved the theming and the meteor showers. Keeping them sat still for long enought to eat was the biggest problem we had here.


"Don't look behind you Grandma"

Nachos starter

The chicken pot pie - it looked a lot bigger in real life.

The Boneyard Buffet. Me and DW shared this - but it was the first day

Once dinner was done BaD took a bit of a hammering from all of us (Dizzy needed a new pair of shoes ) then it was a look around the World of Disney before getting back to the villa for an evening of swimming and chilling.

 

[Pegasus928]

Today is Epcot and we have a reservation at the Biergarten.

I will come on again and update - probably about the same time tomorrow if I get up at the same time. I was up at about 5.30 today and had an hour of peace and quiet before anyone else got up - but now everyone else is up so I had better get off.

Here is a couple more random pics

Breakfast at Frankie and Bennys - Manchester T2

One excited nephew on his first flight

Then it all got a bit much

On the monorail at MCO

The villa pool yesterday morning

Main Street MK

DS driving the boat on Jungle Cruise

Thanks for reading up to this point and for those of you that want to know how Dizzy got on during his first trip you can find his pics Here

 

[wayneg]

Thanks for update, great pics.
Have fun in Epcot

 

[Cochise]

epcot too for us today, hope you get loads in before the rain later

 

[T16GEM]

Fab pics Kenny!
The kids look like they are having a great time! I love the one of them on the pirate ship!

Looking forward to more!

 

[strawberry blonde]

Love the photos of Dizzy. He's certainly having a ball. Make sure he drinks plenty in the heat .... must be hot with all that fur.

 

[scottishgirl87]

Loving the photos of you and Dizzy's adventure

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Really enjoying your updates - thank you Love the picture of your nephew awake then tired out from the excitement on the plane and your son driving the boat Dizzy with the characters is just brill !!

 

[Tinks1984]

Great updates Kenny! Looks like fun so far!

I'm following Dizzy, so I'll be sure to keep checking his pictures!

 

[katiec]

Lovely to read all about your trip - if only DH didnt want to do the bathroom next year i'd have booked again by now

Lovin the pics too

 

[Shazzie B]

I love live trip reports; we back at WDW in a years time so will be watching your photos for weather & crowd levels. I'm at work and can't see Dizzy's photos (must be because he's 'bear'). I'll catch up with him later at home-can't wait to see the new shoes!. MY DD's 'Cassie' tours with us too.

Teenagers- don't you just love them! DD had her cervical cancer injection last week and one of the listed side effects was 'mood swings' - like we're going to notice the difference!!

You all look like you're having a great time, enjoy the rest of it and keep those updates coming.