Another Bloomin Holider (Part One) - Days 1 & 2

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Another Bloomin Holider (Part One) – A Personal Countdown The Prequel

The Main Event

FRIDER

Drove to Manchester to stay at the Bewley (ex Holider Inn) and it was very nice too.
Met Ian and Lor around 8ish and had drinks in our room- with chocolates too. Ian took our car home and will bring it back to meet us off the plane in two weeks time.
Can’t remember what we did after that, but Julie’ll have been in charge of the telly , so it’ll have had summat to do with Nickleodeon. They slept and I tossed and turned- which is usual the night before holiders/Christmas Day (delete as appropriate)

SATDY

Was up at 6 and didn't need to check in till 8.30 but were still nearly late. They couldn’t be hurried….
“even though we have 2 ½ hours it will soon go with four of us fightin for bathroom time” – Gaz said we could share his allocation between us!
I had to repack one of the bags coz we’d lost summat and by the time I got the case belts on – I never know which way to do those – and rushed us all down in the lift we had very little time to spare.
We could have stopped for breakfast. They wouldn’t have known if we were there or not.
‘Check In Manchester’ was chaotic - took 90 minutes from enterin Check In Hall to goin through to the Departure Lounge - leavin no time for brekkie or even a pint.
They had flights for Orlando, Calgari and somewhere in Austria
All usin the same desks – no organization at all. The poor folk flyin to Austria – all boots, long socks and ski bags – were ‘lost’ in the mass at the 12 or so desks and had to stand and wait their turn even while their own flight was bein called for ‘last boarders’.
I’d have been a tad stressed if it had been me.
I WAS stressed, of course, just not as much as I’d have been if I was goin to Austria – mind I think I’d have looked alright in them boots and socks!
Once we got to the check-in desk that wasn’t the end of it. Any canvas bags had to be taken to another delivery point- with one line formed from all the other 12 as everyone seemed to have summat of a canvas or odd-shaped nature- The Calgarians and Austrians had their ski-packs and us Floridians had our holdalls for ‘bring-back booty’ and pushchairs for them that wouldn’t let us sleep there or back.
To add to the occasion, we were told our plane had been changed – “oh,what a surprise”- due to a collison at Sanford last week and the new plane wasn’t capable of flyin non-stop so we would be delayed 45 minutes refeullin at Gander. At least it wasn’t the cargo plane we expected and the audio and TV equipment worked. Still not seat-back TVs but it all worked which is a first for us. It was a VC10, apparently –which I thought was a World War 2 plane, but it turned out to be a very nice aircraft and was a little more comfortable than we’re used to on the cargo plane, so that was nice too.
The flight was uneventful (yer’ll already be cheerin ,I know) and we got there in better time than anticipated.
We had an easy passage through Immigration and Extra Baggage check and, coz V had booked this trip as a fly drive, I was ‘saved’ from the never endin Airtours line to collect yer car voucher. Coz we had the voucher already, I was able to walk all the way there meself, without any help or annoyance from the lovely Time Share Lady. It was like getting a whole extra day to me holider.
Steppin off the plane to drivin out the gate - 35 minutes.
Result or what?!

The plan was to drop the luggage off at Fat Towers before drivin on to ASMu for our first night.
(V wanted to see Spectro and Tapestry of Dreams and I was worried about drivin back on unfamiliar roads after dark when dog tired, so we booked into ASMu and had the added bonus of early entry at Magic Kingdom first morning to look forward to).
But because of the delayed arrival and Sanford bein further from WDW than I remembered – it always is, which is why I’m always nearly late for the flight home – we decided to bypass FT and head straight for Mickey – well yer would wouldn’t yer?

Got to ASMu 5.30ish and checked in - Country Fayre Block 6, down the bottom of the resort.
No time for anything to eat as we had to get to Magic Kingdom to activate our APs and get in before Spectro at 7pm.
We just missed the 6pm bus to MK but the next didn't get away till 6.35.
This wasn’t a good start to the holider. Me plan for the first night needed precision timin and the Transport was supposed to be every 20 minutes. Course the buses have obviously become one of the first casualties of cutbacks, and every half hour isn’t bad, but it was annoyin to watch three buses come in for MGM while we waited. Surely those that make these decisions should be aware that more buses are needed at MK the night of a limited event parade like Spectro – especially when I’m standin on the bloomin queue!

Anyway, we got to MK by 6:50ish but couldn’t go straight in coz we had to activate our Annual Passes. This was relatively efficient and speedy – but didn’t seem like it at the time as the seconds ticked by.
Through bag check and queued at the turnstiles to try our skill at the ‘guess who’s finger this is’ game and finally entered MK at 7.05. Spectro had started so I rushed V up Main St to get ahead of the Parade. If she didn’t get to see the start of the parade - the Fanfare and Mickey Floats, then she’d have to come back to see it next Satdy and I want to go see David Lee Roth at Universal. Besides, it would be a waste of a night to see the same thing twice, for the sake of a bit of speed walkin.
We caught up and got ahead of the parade. I found V a place where she could see and turned her towards the Clowns Float – I love it when a plan comes together.
Once we’d seen Mickey go by, I eased her back down Main St to watch the end of the parade from the corner of the Railway Station. That way she saw some of the floats twice (albeit on the run) and I was back in position for a quick getaway to the Monorail as soon as Jimminy Cricket tof’d his hat at uz. Then it was off to EPCOT to watch the final Tapestry parade. V was allowed to breath again at this point and looked all the better for it.
We got there in good time, as planned, as ToD’s passed through Italy. A leisurely trot into World Show Case, and turned left towards Mexico. We took our favourite spot in between Norway and Mexico and went to buy Margaritas to drink while we waited for ToDs to come passed.
After a little while the music seemed to be getting quieter not louder and it turned out it was goin in the opposite direction so we watched it from a distance instead. I’d assumed it started and finished at the same point each show but of course the route would be dictated by where it finished last, so me plan was always a 50:50 chance. Oh well, we saw it so that still counts as plan on course in my book.
The kids went off to do Test Track and I had another Margarita.
Reflections was better, louder and hotter than ever - it was already a balmy night (best and hottest weather we've had so far) and we went back to ASMu for a well deserved tea and a pint. It was 3am UK Time when we got back, and I'd had them up since 6.30am. Funny how yer can stay up for hours yer first night.
We had a feast of cheeseburger an chilli fries for me and the Boy and grilled chicken sarni and cheesy fries for The Girls - and a couple of Buds for Dad.
I think it was 11.30 (4.30am UK) when I fell asleep.

362MVC-029S-thumb.JPG

"and this is only the first night!"


SUNDER
Gave meself a lie in and didn't get up till 4.47.
Pottered about and went for our coffees around 6ish (V had packed our refillable mugs in the overnight bag).
Got the kids motivated by suggestin an early mornin dip instead of a shower and spent a pleasant 20 minutes wanderin a part of ASMu we hadn’t seen before and added to me never-endin collection of borin video footage.
Didn’t dare be late for the bus today after last night and we were first in line for the 7am MK Shuttle and one of the first at the baggage desks for 7:20. When Early Entry was ‘regular’ they used to open the gates at 7:30 but now it’s 7:55 strict. A whole 25 minutes robbed from me mornin. By the time the gates opened there was quite a queue. The advantage of ‘proper’ Early Entry – before it was stopped and brought back under Disney Sufferance – was that those of us capable of getting up really early got the park to themselves for the first half hour at least. As we sped up Main Street – I allow walkin coz I think them that run are a bit sad – there seemed to be an awful lot of people alongside us and it occurred there would be queues for the first rides. As that’s summat I’ve never had to put up with, I was a bit ‘down’ that the magic of EE had gone.
Not to worry little lad, as always, the Magic works as we walked through The Castle and there were no lines at any of the rides. Can only guess most had gone to Tomorrowland and good riddance to them. We walked straight onto Pooh and then Snow White and I couldn’t believe I’d been so miserable and not looking forward to this a few weeks ago.
This is what’s it’s all about. Not the rides themselves but just bein here and all that goes with it.
After Peter Pan with the Kids we let them go their own way till 9. There was no way we were gonna get them to do IASW with us an’all - was hard enough getting our Gaz on the ‘Holy Trinity’.
Me and V did Buzz (figured we could do IASW any time) and the kids did The Speedway before we met up again to do Frontierland.
We'd hoped V would do Thunder Mountain with us - I’d promised to take her on the front carriage, but she didn’t dare.
Did Thunder then Splash with the Kids then we split up again.
Me and V did Pirates and The Tikki Room, then Haunted Mansion and Small World. I’ll try to get Julie to do her own trippy to see what they got up to.
I finally talked V onto Alien Encounter on the basis of it’ll soon be gone forever. Not sure if she enjoyed it or not - will let her tell that an'all. I’ll miss Alien (and Skippy) but not the longest and most tedious wait for any ride in Orlando.
We sat in the Hub garden and listened to the Cinderalla's Surprise Thingy at The Castle (V’d seen it last year and we were startin to wilt in the heat) and waited to meet the kids as arranged.
We were all dyin to see Dave’s Villa and had done just about everything we wanted to do by now. The Park was getting busy, it was hotter than we’re comfortable in (which was a nice surprise but wearin) and we were getting hungry.
So it was back to ASMu by 1 to collect the car and Sizzlers for lunch before finally headin for Fat Towers.
We found it easily, thanks to Dave's brill route and piccies pack, and were all pleased, impressed and gob-smacked at its splendour.
Headed to Albertsons for groceries and booze and Walmart to spend money like there's no tomorrer.
3 hours and $300 later - that's a lot to me - I took them home, hopin that's all the shoppin they'll need to do this holider - apart from the Nike and Levi shops for me and The Boy, coz we didn't get owt today.

So we're home at Fat Towers, drinkin Bud, talkin to you and got Pizza in the oven for supper.

It doesn't get much better than this.


Dave Robinson for UKDIS and DIBB reporting from a much better place.

www.fattowers.com for them that wants to see where we are
(Mods, this isn’t an advert as Dave no longer rents out but let me know if yer need it deletin)



Family Summary

Bewley Hotel ; Dave 8 ; Valerie 10 ; Gaz 8 ; Julie 7
Manchester Airport D3 ;V1 ;G4 ;J2
Sanford Arrivals D7 ;V9 ;G6 ;J5
Arrivin at AllStars D10 ;V10 ;G9 ;J10
AllStars 6am start D9 ;V10 ;G10 ;J9
Reduced WDW Buses D4 ;V1 ;G1 ;J2

AP Collection D5 ;V4 ;G2 ;J3
Spectro Magic D8 ;V10 ;G6 ;J9
Early Entry D10 ;V10 ;G7 ;J 8

Pooh D7 ;V9 ;G2 ;J9
Snow White D6 ;V8 ;G2 ;J7
Peter Pan D7 ;V9 ;G2 ;J4
Speedway G3 ;J3
Space Mountain G8 ;J10
BTMR D7 G6 ;J7
Splash D8 G7 ;J8
Buzz D6 ;V10;G6 ;J8
Pirates D7 ;V7
IASW D7 ;V7
Tikki Room D6 ;V6
Haunted mansion D6 ;V8 ;G5 ;J3
Alien Encounter D7 ;V7
Cinderlla’s Surprise D7 ;V8 J9

Sizzler’s Lunch D7 ;V8 ;G7 ;J8

First Impressions D10 ;V10 ;G10 ;J10
Of FatTowers


Julie’s Bit at the end

For those who don’t know me, I’m Spottys 13 year old daughter (Pluto from the previous Dis UK) and I’m going to give my own opinions of our holiday and to give you a the insight of a teenager’s perfect holiday. I am also going to give you the part of the story my dad missed out.

Friday – there’s not much to add except - yes I did have control of the telly and I did watch Nickelodeon while Dad surprisingly drank beer. We also played the chocolate version of Weakest Link.

Saturday – Gaz and me were unbelievably bored waiting in the massive check in queues.
When we finally got on the plane I thought the wait was definitely worth it when they told us Harry Potter 2 (my favourite film) was one of the films on the plane. We went through all the boring safety stuff and took off. We had been in the air about 20 mins when we were told that they weren’t going to show Harry Potter. For most of the flight I listened to my c.d and played on my gameboy and Gaz did the same.
As usual I didn’t like the meals on the plane and instead stuffed my face with Pringles.
When we landed we rushed through immigration, got the car and were on our way.
When we got to ASMu we dumped our bags and ran for the bus.
We got to MK and collected our APs. We ran up through Main St. to watch Mickey and then ran to watch the end missing all the middle floats out. We then rushed to catch a monorail to Epcot and got a space near the frozen margarita stand to watch Tapestry parade, which actually we didn’t see, like dad said because it was moving in the opposite direction than what we thought. When I told Dad this he replied “never mind I’ll get a Margarita.”
We had an hour to waste so Gaz and me asked for money and got $20 from Dad and went to get something to eat but instead kept the money for another day and went on Test Track.
About 5 mins before Reflections started I women ask my mam whether her two small kids could stand in front of her and of course she said yes. The women turned out to be a CM and she gave my Mam 4 V.I.P tickets for Test Track.
Reflections started and it was much better then I remembered.
We went back to ASMu and had some food and went to bed.

Sunday – we woke up and got ready and were on the bus for 7 a.m where we all did fantasyland together and then Gaz and me wasted the rest of the time in a queue for Speedway. We then met up with Mam and Dad and did BTMR and Splash then me and Gaz went away ($30 richer so we were able to buy drinks and ice creams) to do Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, buzz and transit authority. We then went shopping for food and drink and then we went to my favorite shop WALMART and when we came out the shop I had loads of new outfits. We went to FatTowers where we watched TV, ate burnt pizza and went to bed.
 
Blimey what a busy first day!! But what a shame you sort of missed ToD :(

Great to read Julie's view of the holiday too. I like your ploy of asking your Dad for money for grub but then saving it up for another!! :)

Astrid
 
<b>"........This is what’s it’s all about. Not the rides themselves but just bein here and all that goes with it"</b> ............. :) :) :)

'nuff said :)


Not lost your touch then Dave and very nice to see your report Julie - thank you :) !
 
<font size=10>ARE YOU MAD?!</font>

Don't answer that - I already know the answer! ;) I'm exhausted just reading about your first evening - Spectro <i>and</i> IllumiNations!

leavin no time for brekkie or even a pint

Matt's confused. He reckons you must mean "leavin no time for a pint or even brekkie". Now I know why you and Matt get on so well!

Great to get Julie's take on it. I too like to hear about you fleecing your Dad out of money! You go girl! You've obviously inherited his humour and flair for writing. OK, I know that's complimenting Dave, but, hey, everyone's got their good points. ;)

Why am I not surprised to hear that your spot for IllumiNations happened to be near the frozen Margarita stand?!
 

Crikey! I got tired just reading it.

Great start to the report Dave. Er... you are going to finish this one aren't you?

Well done Julie! Actually, I enjoyed your part better than your Dad's, but don't tell him or he'll never buy me a beer again.

Kev
 
Great report Dave.

What a lot fitted in to 1st two days!!!!!!!!!!

looking forwqrd to next installments, keep them coming, please.

Sue




:earsboy: :earsgirl: :earsboy:
 
Great report as ever - took my breath away just chasing round in me thoughts! LOL

Lovely to hear Julie's perspective. Great work Julie, keep it up!

Looking forward to more.

:D :D :D
 
Great start Dave. Good to see you fitted so much in on your first night;) thats how a holiday should be done, who needs sleep;) :teeth:
Look forward to the rest of your adventures and hope Julie adds her thoughts onto the rest of your reports too. :)
 
Great report, as everyone said I am tired after reading it ;)

Great to hear Julies take on everything too.

On to the next....

Kaylee
 
Geez Spotty, no wonder your kids looked as if they'd been hit with a mac truck. ;) Sleep, everyone needs it.
 
I feel like I was there with you, Dave. Me little legs are tired out after all the queuing and running in MK - like you say, you just feel at home when you're there - best feeling in the world.

Loved Julie's view - and the family scores on the doors were a great bonus, too.

Off to read some more:D :D
 
I love trip reports - keep them coming!!!!!
 
Thanks for the fab report - luv reading them!!!
 





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