KayleeUK
Still here.....
- Joined
- Oct 9, 1999
- Messages
- 23,260
Cast Alan (32 yr) 5th trip to WDW.
Kaylee (30 yr) 4th trip to WDW.
Resorts Gatwick Hilton, Disneys Wilderness Lodge Villas, Hard Rock Hotel, Disneys Beach Club Villas and Disneys Boardwalk Villas.
Dates 25th April 11th May 2005.
Day Zero
Today is the Day!!!!! We are off to Gatwick start our long awaited trip to WDW . First we have a few things to do though ..
Top of the list is dropping our 3 cats at the cattery.
Day One
We stayed last night at the Gatwick Hilton as we didnt fancy travelling all the way up from Devon on the day of the flight. The Hilton was fine the same as always, the reason we book this is the proximity to the Terminal. A quick stroll in the morning and you are there ideal. Yesterday we did Twilight Check-in with Virgin and managed to get the Exit seats yeah!!!! Lots of leg room for Alan.
Today we had breakfast at Starbucks in the terminal, I love the Cheese and Marmite pannini and it wasnt too busy here either, we were able to have a leisurely breakfast. We made our way onward to the duty free shopping and stocked up on one or two (or three) perfume and aftershaves. Soon it was boarding time and we were on our way. We watched a couple of films (Closer, Elektra and Lemony Snickett) as well as me napping and Alan playing on his Playstation Portable. Alan kindly woke me up so I wouldnt miss out on the afternoon ice cream.
The flight was fine and soon we were off the plane and lined up in immigration, obviously with the new security checks this took a lot longer that usual. But it was a sign of things to come for the holiday, every line we joined was the longest!!
This is the first time we are driving in the US, on all previous trips we have always had a town car collect us and stayed on Disney property so there wasnt a necessity to have a car. So the plan was to go and pick up the car and stop by a supermarket to pick up some essentials and then head to VWL. Well the plan didnt quite work out. We walked over to Dollar to pick up the car it was a Cheeroke Jeep absolutely massive!! When we finally established how to open the boot, after many pressing of buttons the luggage was in and off we went.
Alan was getting used to driving an automatic so we had a few jumpy starts, once out the airport we realised that the roads were huge and we saw a sign for WDW so going to the supermarket went right out the window. I believe Alan was a little nervous about driving I would have been terrified!! It was easy enough to get to WDW and then we headed to the Magic Kingdom area and off to our first ever stay at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge.
We are DVC members and our home resort is at the Boardwalk, but this year we decided to try out a few of the resorts. The approach to the Lodge is amazing, it is so grand and I loved the bears crossing sign and the paw prints in the road. We valet parked the car as Alan wasnt keen on parking the monster truck LOL! We checked in and was given a room right at the end of the villas overlooking the woods at the back. There was a parcel waiting for me a birthday present from my good friend I met here on the DIS, Carolyn. We arranged for bell services to bring the bags to the room and we went to explore. We have visited the Lodge before for dinner at Artist Pointe way back in 2000, and if you have read my trip reports for that time you will see that my first impression of the Lodge was dark, cold and dingy. Well havent times changed because now I love it. We walked out to the villas and to our room, we were staying in a studio and the decoration and theming was wonderful. Soon our luggage arrived, this trip I really found it hard to settle in any of our resorts due to the many changes so we didnt really unpack properly, but put a few things away. I was naughty and opened my birthday present early from my friend. She had sent me some wonderful things including a personalised Sorcerer Mickey, a personalised Cinderella pin.
We showered and changed and then headed out for dinner, tonight we were dining at Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort. Luckily there is a boat from the WL to the Contemporary so we walked around the pool and out to the dock to catch the boat and it wasnt long before one turned up. It is a small boat but of all the times we got it, it was never full. It is a lovely way to travel at WDW, in no time at all we arrived at the Contemporary Resort, we walked around the pools and took the escalator up to Chef Mickeys, we had a PS so it wasnt long before we were seated. This is one of our favourite meals, Alan managed 5 plates of buffet food what a piggy. My favourite food here is the Mickey Ravioli yum!! After dinner we wandered around the shops and then headed back down to catch the boat back to the Lodge, I think we waited about 20 minutes for one to arrive but it was nice sitting out on the dock. We got back to the resort and picked up a refillable mug in Roaring Forks, although Alan didnt think I really needed one for our four day stay, but I must admit I do like to collect them.
We settled down for the evening looking forward to our first full day at the world.
Kaylee (30 yr) 4th trip to WDW.
Resorts Gatwick Hilton, Disneys Wilderness Lodge Villas, Hard Rock Hotel, Disneys Beach Club Villas and Disneys Boardwalk Villas.
Dates 25th April 11th May 2005.
Day Zero
Today is the Day!!!!! We are off to Gatwick start our long awaited trip to WDW . First we have a few things to do though ..
Top of the list is dropping our 3 cats at the cattery.
Day One
We stayed last night at the Gatwick Hilton as we didnt fancy travelling all the way up from Devon on the day of the flight. The Hilton was fine the same as always, the reason we book this is the proximity to the Terminal. A quick stroll in the morning and you are there ideal. Yesterday we did Twilight Check-in with Virgin and managed to get the Exit seats yeah!!!! Lots of leg room for Alan.
Today we had breakfast at Starbucks in the terminal, I love the Cheese and Marmite pannini and it wasnt too busy here either, we were able to have a leisurely breakfast. We made our way onward to the duty free shopping and stocked up on one or two (or three) perfume and aftershaves. Soon it was boarding time and we were on our way. We watched a couple of films (Closer, Elektra and Lemony Snickett) as well as me napping and Alan playing on his Playstation Portable. Alan kindly woke me up so I wouldnt miss out on the afternoon ice cream.
The flight was fine and soon we were off the plane and lined up in immigration, obviously with the new security checks this took a lot longer that usual. But it was a sign of things to come for the holiday, every line we joined was the longest!!
This is the first time we are driving in the US, on all previous trips we have always had a town car collect us and stayed on Disney property so there wasnt a necessity to have a car. So the plan was to go and pick up the car and stop by a supermarket to pick up some essentials and then head to VWL. Well the plan didnt quite work out. We walked over to Dollar to pick up the car it was a Cheeroke Jeep absolutely massive!! When we finally established how to open the boot, after many pressing of buttons the luggage was in and off we went.
Alan was getting used to driving an automatic so we had a few jumpy starts, once out the airport we realised that the roads were huge and we saw a sign for WDW so going to the supermarket went right out the window. I believe Alan was a little nervous about driving I would have been terrified!! It was easy enough to get to WDW and then we headed to the Magic Kingdom area and off to our first ever stay at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge.
We are DVC members and our home resort is at the Boardwalk, but this year we decided to try out a few of the resorts. The approach to the Lodge is amazing, it is so grand and I loved the bears crossing sign and the paw prints in the road. We valet parked the car as Alan wasnt keen on parking the monster truck LOL! We checked in and was given a room right at the end of the villas overlooking the woods at the back. There was a parcel waiting for me a birthday present from my good friend I met here on the DIS, Carolyn. We arranged for bell services to bring the bags to the room and we went to explore. We have visited the Lodge before for dinner at Artist Pointe way back in 2000, and if you have read my trip reports for that time you will see that my first impression of the Lodge was dark, cold and dingy. Well havent times changed because now I love it. We walked out to the villas and to our room, we were staying in a studio and the decoration and theming was wonderful. Soon our luggage arrived, this trip I really found it hard to settle in any of our resorts due to the many changes so we didnt really unpack properly, but put a few things away. I was naughty and opened my birthday present early from my friend. She had sent me some wonderful things including a personalised Sorcerer Mickey, a personalised Cinderella pin.
We showered and changed and then headed out for dinner, tonight we were dining at Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort. Luckily there is a boat from the WL to the Contemporary so we walked around the pool and out to the dock to catch the boat and it wasnt long before one turned up. It is a small boat but of all the times we got it, it was never full. It is a lovely way to travel at WDW, in no time at all we arrived at the Contemporary Resort, we walked around the pools and took the escalator up to Chef Mickeys, we had a PS so it wasnt long before we were seated. This is one of our favourite meals, Alan managed 5 plates of buffet food what a piggy. My favourite food here is the Mickey Ravioli yum!! After dinner we wandered around the shops and then headed back down to catch the boat back to the Lodge, I think we waited about 20 minutes for one to arrive but it was nice sitting out on the dock. We got back to the resort and picked up a refillable mug in Roaring Forks, although Alan didnt think I really needed one for our four day stay, but I must admit I do like to collect them.
We settled down for the evening looking forward to our first full day at the world.
It is very daunting for the first few days driving on the American roads.
