MsPennieLane
<font color=660099>Self-confessed Disney addict<br
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2003
- Messages
- 904
Saturday 17th Jan
Up at 7am, we shower and dress and were then dropped off at Gatwick South Terminal by 9.40am. No traffic at all so were there in no time. Get to Zone D and were happy to find Sunshine First and Sunshine Upper have dedicated check-in. The queue is huge for economy so its pretty cool. Were checked in and off in search of breakfast within 10 minutes. We bypass Maccy Ds hoping for something a bit more substantial. We spot Frankie & Bennys, which is one of our fave restaurants. Although weve never had brekkie there before we decide to try them. And were very glad we did. The food was lovely. Andy had a breakfast burger with an egg and I opt for a fry up. Cant remember the name of what I had at the mo but it was 2 sausages, 2 eggs, hash browns, baked beans, mushrooms and bacon. I give hubby one of my eggs and both hash browns as Im not too keen on them. With 2 drinks and an order of toast, it comes to about £16, not bad I thought. Very yummy and highly recommended.
From here, we wander round the shops then park our bums in some comfy seats. Were due to be called to our gate about 11.45 and take off at 1pm. By 12.30 were still sat there and the time has been moved to 1.30. Five minutes later, its changed to 3pm. Hmm. In the 21 years its been since I first went on a plane this is my first delay. Were finally called to our gate and its absolute bedlam. Everyone just stands round the gate so when sunshine first and sunshine upper are called, nobody can get through. Weve given dirty looks and tutted as we go through. Its a stampede and they even had stewards having to hold people back to let us through! Ive never seen anything like it before and am left open mouthed. We finally get on the plane and turn left heading right to the front. Cha-ching! Never travelled or seen first class before and were stunned as are most of the other Sunshine First passengers. The first 10 minutes on board are spent taking pictures of the amount of room we all have and everyones generally really excited. Im so impressed we can both stretch our legs out in front of us. Result! And we dont have to disturb each other if we want to get up as there is plenty of room to get past. There are only 22 seats here so there is a lot of room. We have seats 3A & 3B.
Within 10 minutes, were offered a choice of champagne of Bucks Fizz so we both have a Bucks Fizz to celebrate.
Take off is ok, even though I hate it and it usually takes me about 5-10 minutes in the air before I calm down Andy knows to leave me alone during this time or risk getting his head bitten off! We have a typically gay steward and a lovely stewardess looking after us. After a few minutes in the air, they come round with ikkle pots of Pringles yum. Drinks are plentiful, were all given bottles of spring water and we never have to ask for a drink. At one point when were asked what we want and we say diet coke, they bring us 3 cans each. Nice. The entertainments quite good not as good as Virgins but thats the only thing. Everything going outbound is equal to Virgin or a bit better. We have 3 films Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy, Tomb Raider 2 and Calendar Girls with Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. There are also 10 audio channels. Some bright spark had pushed hubbys headphone socket all the way in so he couldnt listen to anything but thankfully the engineer came to the rescue with a double headphone pin for my socket. About an hour or so into the flight, were served lunch. We have a starter of prawn cocktail and a bread roll. Hubby hates prawns so they take his away but dont bring him anything else. In hindsight, we shouldve asked for some more rolls for him but we didnt think of it at the time. The main meal is either chicken supreme or sirloin steak. I go for the steak and hubby has chicken. My steak is so soft I can pull it apart with a plastic knife and fork so Im pretty impressed. It comes with onions, mange tout and garlic potatoes. Hubbys chicken comes with small potatoes and mange tout which he hates so I get all his mange tout and I swap him some garlic potato. Dessert is a lovely banoffee style cheesecake. Were then offered cheese and biscuits with port mmm! Say no to the port but tuck into the cheese and biscuits and grapes. 3 different cheeses and 2 of them are scrummy. A while later were offered ice cream, then fun size choccies like smarties, aero, milky bar etc. For the remainder of the journey, the drinks are plentiful but we drink them out of diet pepsi cans. Two hours before landing, were served afternoon tea which consists of a hot ciabatta filled with chicken, peppers and onions (or a plain veggie version) followed by a scone with jam and clotted cream. I dont sleep a wink unfortunately so the last hour or so Im yawning like mad and truly fed up.
We finally land at Sanford Airport at 7.30pm US time. Hurrah! Two hours later than scheduled and its pitch black but never mind. We go straight to immigration where we pick the wrong queue and end up behind 2 people who have to be fingerprinted and have eyes scans. Sigh. Then its on to baggage claim. We get our 2 cases pretty quick so were on to customs. We get pulled over and Im a bit alarmed by the officers rather fetching blue disposable gloves! He has a rummage through both cases and Im not too keen in having my undies riffled through but what can you do. Were finally off to Dollar. I wait outside for hubby who gets the rep from hell, who tries the hard sell of upgrading. He tries to get hubby to upgrade to a convertible, saying well only have to pay one extra class, and weve got the basic economy so well be really cramped etc. Hubby sticks to his guns and the guy gets a bit disgruntled and finally chucks the key at him. Were both sure this is why we ended up getting charged for a full tank of fuel when the last time, we werent. Anyways, its just as well hubby refused the upgrade as the guy had lied about our car. We get to B25 and do a double-take. This is no economy car its a Dodge Stratus, 2 door sporty model complete with tail fin! Yikes! We look at each other and burst out laughing.
Were out of the airport within 40 minutes result! Its going smoothly a little too smoothly for my liking. Hubby enquired at the Dollar desk about the quickest route. Travel City and Dollar recommend the 417 in their directions but we spot the I4 and wonder if thats as quick as it looks. The dollar dude says take the I4 if you want, its quicker so we go to. We take the I4 turning. Ah. Nobody mentioned a toll booth. Especially an unmanned one that only has a Change 50c line or some sunshine card line. We only have notes. Bugger. We sit and ponder for a few minutes and I start to panic. Hubby parks and walks back up and sees they take card so we go back to the booth only to find it wont accept any of our cards. Hubby decides the only way out of this mess is to reverse back up the road as going through without paying the toll has a $100 fine and we dont want to chance it. Luckily hubby is able to reverse back up as theres no traffic and we end up heading down the 417. Panic mode over. Bit peeved but hey ho, these things happen. Mental note: in future save some coinage! 50 minutes later, were driving under the Walt Disney World sign then following signs to Pop Century as I remembered it comes under the Epcot Resort Area, yay me! We park up and head for check-in. Within 5 minutes were done. We have our snazzy credit cards for everything to do with our stay, which I think are so cool. We head straight back to the car and drive round to park up. Were in the 90s building and are in room 8239. We can use either the 70s or 90s car park. We opt for the 70s as its really close. The parking area is pretty full but we manage to find a space after a bit of driving round. The only problem with this car is getting out of it as youre so low to the ground. We head straight for our room just to see where we are. We are both in awe of the place. So much thought has gone into it. There are icons placed around and on the buildings. Our staircase is a huge mobile phone. Were on the 2nd floor which isnt a long walk.
As opposed to back home we are actually on the 2nd floor there is no ground floor, its the 1st floor for ground then 2nd etc. Great, only one flight of stairs. We find our room and we fall in love with it. Its charming. Lovely official bedspreads, Mickey bath and facial soaps, Mickey shampoo its great.
Theres a lovely collage on the wall of the 90s Disney films.
We get the cases from the car and find the lifts to come back in. We also find the drink machines and the ice machine. Each floor has a soda machine and an ice machine and the first floor has a snack machine too. We dump the cases and sit down. I put the TV on to have a nose and I stumble across the Top 7 Must See Things at WDW while hubby has a much needed *** outside. It still hasnt sunk in that were actually here and were staying on site. Hubby comes back in to find me crying but I reassure him its because Im happy and a little overwhelmed. By now its gone 10pm and were starving. Technically its already gone 3am for us so weve been awake for 20 hours. Hubby is shattered and doesnt want to drive anymore so we head down to the food court for a nose. Its humungous! Its called Everything Pop. First off, youve got a huge shop which leads through to the Food Court and bar. We have a quick look through the menu for the Classic Concoctions bar mmm strawberry daiquiris! Were dismayed to find most of the food outlets are closing until breakfast at 6am except one. It serves individual sized pizzas or large takeaway ones, salads, meatball subs, veggie lasagne and parmesan crusted chicken. We find it hard to decide but in the end opt for a large pizza with onions, sausage, pepperoni and ham on it. I fancy some salad so grab a chicken Caesar. Were given this device that vibrates when our food is ready snazzy! I grab a Pop Century refillable mug for $11.99 and hubbys eyes light up when he spots someone with a 6 pack of beer. He finds some and we pay using our snazzy credit card thingy and find somewhere to sit. 10 minutes later, our pager goes off telling us our pizza is ready. Its delicious and we end up taking 3 slices back to our room (but it got thrown away the next day). Its nearing midnight when we head back to our room. We finally collapse into bed at 12.45am.
Up at 7am, we shower and dress and were then dropped off at Gatwick South Terminal by 9.40am. No traffic at all so were there in no time. Get to Zone D and were happy to find Sunshine First and Sunshine Upper have dedicated check-in. The queue is huge for economy so its pretty cool. Were checked in and off in search of breakfast within 10 minutes. We bypass Maccy Ds hoping for something a bit more substantial. We spot Frankie & Bennys, which is one of our fave restaurants. Although weve never had brekkie there before we decide to try them. And were very glad we did. The food was lovely. Andy had a breakfast burger with an egg and I opt for a fry up. Cant remember the name of what I had at the mo but it was 2 sausages, 2 eggs, hash browns, baked beans, mushrooms and bacon. I give hubby one of my eggs and both hash browns as Im not too keen on them. With 2 drinks and an order of toast, it comes to about £16, not bad I thought. Very yummy and highly recommended.
From here, we wander round the shops then park our bums in some comfy seats. Were due to be called to our gate about 11.45 and take off at 1pm. By 12.30 were still sat there and the time has been moved to 1.30. Five minutes later, its changed to 3pm. Hmm. In the 21 years its been since I first went on a plane this is my first delay. Were finally called to our gate and its absolute bedlam. Everyone just stands round the gate so when sunshine first and sunshine upper are called, nobody can get through. Weve given dirty looks and tutted as we go through. Its a stampede and they even had stewards having to hold people back to let us through! Ive never seen anything like it before and am left open mouthed. We finally get on the plane and turn left heading right to the front. Cha-ching! Never travelled or seen first class before and were stunned as are most of the other Sunshine First passengers. The first 10 minutes on board are spent taking pictures of the amount of room we all have and everyones generally really excited. Im so impressed we can both stretch our legs out in front of us. Result! And we dont have to disturb each other if we want to get up as there is plenty of room to get past. There are only 22 seats here so there is a lot of room. We have seats 3A & 3B.
Within 10 minutes, were offered a choice of champagne of Bucks Fizz so we both have a Bucks Fizz to celebrate.
Take off is ok, even though I hate it and it usually takes me about 5-10 minutes in the air before I calm down Andy knows to leave me alone during this time or risk getting his head bitten off! We have a typically gay steward and a lovely stewardess looking after us. After a few minutes in the air, they come round with ikkle pots of Pringles yum. Drinks are plentiful, were all given bottles of spring water and we never have to ask for a drink. At one point when were asked what we want and we say diet coke, they bring us 3 cans each. Nice. The entertainments quite good not as good as Virgins but thats the only thing. Everything going outbound is equal to Virgin or a bit better. We have 3 films Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy, Tomb Raider 2 and Calendar Girls with Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. There are also 10 audio channels. Some bright spark had pushed hubbys headphone socket all the way in so he couldnt listen to anything but thankfully the engineer came to the rescue with a double headphone pin for my socket. About an hour or so into the flight, were served lunch. We have a starter of prawn cocktail and a bread roll. Hubby hates prawns so they take his away but dont bring him anything else. In hindsight, we shouldve asked for some more rolls for him but we didnt think of it at the time. The main meal is either chicken supreme or sirloin steak. I go for the steak and hubby has chicken. My steak is so soft I can pull it apart with a plastic knife and fork so Im pretty impressed. It comes with onions, mange tout and garlic potatoes. Hubbys chicken comes with small potatoes and mange tout which he hates so I get all his mange tout and I swap him some garlic potato. Dessert is a lovely banoffee style cheesecake. Were then offered cheese and biscuits with port mmm! Say no to the port but tuck into the cheese and biscuits and grapes. 3 different cheeses and 2 of them are scrummy. A while later were offered ice cream, then fun size choccies like smarties, aero, milky bar etc. For the remainder of the journey, the drinks are plentiful but we drink them out of diet pepsi cans. Two hours before landing, were served afternoon tea which consists of a hot ciabatta filled with chicken, peppers and onions (or a plain veggie version) followed by a scone with jam and clotted cream. I dont sleep a wink unfortunately so the last hour or so Im yawning like mad and truly fed up.
We finally land at Sanford Airport at 7.30pm US time. Hurrah! Two hours later than scheduled and its pitch black but never mind. We go straight to immigration where we pick the wrong queue and end up behind 2 people who have to be fingerprinted and have eyes scans. Sigh. Then its on to baggage claim. We get our 2 cases pretty quick so were on to customs. We get pulled over and Im a bit alarmed by the officers rather fetching blue disposable gloves! He has a rummage through both cases and Im not too keen in having my undies riffled through but what can you do. Were finally off to Dollar. I wait outside for hubby who gets the rep from hell, who tries the hard sell of upgrading. He tries to get hubby to upgrade to a convertible, saying well only have to pay one extra class, and weve got the basic economy so well be really cramped etc. Hubby sticks to his guns and the guy gets a bit disgruntled and finally chucks the key at him. Were both sure this is why we ended up getting charged for a full tank of fuel when the last time, we werent. Anyways, its just as well hubby refused the upgrade as the guy had lied about our car. We get to B25 and do a double-take. This is no economy car its a Dodge Stratus, 2 door sporty model complete with tail fin! Yikes! We look at each other and burst out laughing.
Were out of the airport within 40 minutes result! Its going smoothly a little too smoothly for my liking. Hubby enquired at the Dollar desk about the quickest route. Travel City and Dollar recommend the 417 in their directions but we spot the I4 and wonder if thats as quick as it looks. The dollar dude says take the I4 if you want, its quicker so we go to. We take the I4 turning. Ah. Nobody mentioned a toll booth. Especially an unmanned one that only has a Change 50c line or some sunshine card line. We only have notes. Bugger. We sit and ponder for a few minutes and I start to panic. Hubby parks and walks back up and sees they take card so we go back to the booth only to find it wont accept any of our cards. Hubby decides the only way out of this mess is to reverse back up the road as going through without paying the toll has a $100 fine and we dont want to chance it. Luckily hubby is able to reverse back up as theres no traffic and we end up heading down the 417. Panic mode over. Bit peeved but hey ho, these things happen. Mental note: in future save some coinage! 50 minutes later, were driving under the Walt Disney World sign then following signs to Pop Century as I remembered it comes under the Epcot Resort Area, yay me! We park up and head for check-in. Within 5 minutes were done. We have our snazzy credit cards for everything to do with our stay, which I think are so cool. We head straight back to the car and drive round to park up. Were in the 90s building and are in room 8239. We can use either the 70s or 90s car park. We opt for the 70s as its really close. The parking area is pretty full but we manage to find a space after a bit of driving round. The only problem with this car is getting out of it as youre so low to the ground. We head straight for our room just to see where we are. We are both in awe of the place. So much thought has gone into it. There are icons placed around and on the buildings. Our staircase is a huge mobile phone. Were on the 2nd floor which isnt a long walk.
As opposed to back home we are actually on the 2nd floor there is no ground floor, its the 1st floor for ground then 2nd etc. Great, only one flight of stairs. We find our room and we fall in love with it. Its charming. Lovely official bedspreads, Mickey bath and facial soaps, Mickey shampoo its great.
Theres a lovely collage on the wall of the 90s Disney films.
We get the cases from the car and find the lifts to come back in. We also find the drink machines and the ice machine. Each floor has a soda machine and an ice machine and the first floor has a snack machine too. We dump the cases and sit down. I put the TV on to have a nose and I stumble across the Top 7 Must See Things at WDW while hubby has a much needed *** outside. It still hasnt sunk in that were actually here and were staying on site. Hubby comes back in to find me crying but I reassure him its because Im happy and a little overwhelmed. By now its gone 10pm and were starving. Technically its already gone 3am for us so weve been awake for 20 hours. Hubby is shattered and doesnt want to drive anymore so we head down to the food court for a nose. Its humungous! Its called Everything Pop. First off, youve got a huge shop which leads through to the Food Court and bar. We have a quick look through the menu for the Classic Concoctions bar mmm strawberry daiquiris! Were dismayed to find most of the food outlets are closing until breakfast at 6am except one. It serves individual sized pizzas or large takeaway ones, salads, meatball subs, veggie lasagne and parmesan crusted chicken. We find it hard to decide but in the end opt for a large pizza with onions, sausage, pepperoni and ham on it. I fancy some salad so grab a chicken Caesar. Were given this device that vibrates when our food is ready snazzy! I grab a Pop Century refillable mug for $11.99 and hubbys eyes light up when he spots someone with a 6 pack of beer. He finds some and we pay using our snazzy credit card thingy and find somewhere to sit. 10 minutes later, our pager goes off telling us our pizza is ready. Its delicious and we end up taking 3 slices back to our room (but it got thrown away the next day). Its nearing midnight when we head back to our room. We finally collapse into bed at 12.45am.
have you ever stayed at Disney for Christmas before? I haven't so am very excited!
