Danauk
<font color=green>I would be sitting on the patio
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
- Messages
- 14,597
Day 13 2nd January - last minute things and the journey home
The cast:
Me (Karen) mad planner and disaholic
Pete, my husband, hates planning, goes along with what we happen to be doing
Andrew, best friend and Disney mad
Sue, best friend, married to Andrew, also Disney mad but doesnt often admit it (although admits it more these days!)
We got up at 8am and finished the packing, this turned out to be quite interesting as I had lots of room in the cases but one kept seeming to be a lot heavier than the others. So after a lot of moving things and repacking I was finally happy. Then we had to sort out the room bill and pack up the car (quite interesting with 4 adults, 6 suitcases, one guitar case and 4 sets of cabin luggage.) Once we were checked out we headed over to Epcot to take a few last pictures around the world showcase. We also decided to check out the China movie as we had not seen that. At lunch time we had completed our lap of the lake and so decided to have lunch in Chef de France. We were easily able to get a table without an ADR.
After lunch we decided to head back into future world where we rode spaceship earth without a wait. We then decided to head in to Innovations West as Andrew wanted to look around the future house (I loved the Jacuzzi bath with the built in TV and Pete liked the sound system for your TV that you could hide in the wall.)
By now it was 3pm and time to leave for the airport (although I really did not want to go.) We drove over to MCO and dropped the car off quite quickly and joined the line to check in. It took a while as there were 3 UK flights checking in at the same desk. Ours was the last flight and there were people behind us booked on the earlier flight so they kept being moved in front of us. Once we checked in we headed through security (again another wait) and then headed up to the Delta Club lounge for a relax. We were pleased that we were able to use the lounges in the airports as it made the waiting around more pleasant. At 7pm we headed down to the gate. As soon as we got there they announced a 35 minute delay. Apparently they hadnt got all the luggage on the flight yet so we had to wait. We were told boarding would begin at 7:40 instead of 7:05. However boarding began even later. We finally set off an hour late. The flight was quite bumpy but I managed to get some sleep. We landed at 9:40am UK time on the 3rd January but it took us an hour and 20 minutes to get our luggage as the hold door had frozen shut on the aeroplane and they couldnt get the luggage out! We finally got our cases and met our taxi driver who took us home. The journey home was quite quick and we were back at our house by 2pm. Although we had a long journey I actually felt quite good.
Overall we had had an amazing trip. I had been warned that the crowds would be awful, but I actually found them OK. I think as we had planned the trip well, took lots of breaks, didnt try to cram everything in and generally had a fun time it made an amazing Christmas and New Year, one I dont think we will beat for a long time.
The cast:
Me (Karen) mad planner and disaholic
Pete, my husband, hates planning, goes along with what we happen to be doing
Andrew, best friend and Disney mad
Sue, best friend, married to Andrew, also Disney mad but doesnt often admit it (although admits it more these days!)
We got up at 8am and finished the packing, this turned out to be quite interesting as I had lots of room in the cases but one kept seeming to be a lot heavier than the others. So after a lot of moving things and repacking I was finally happy. Then we had to sort out the room bill and pack up the car (quite interesting with 4 adults, 6 suitcases, one guitar case and 4 sets of cabin luggage.) Once we were checked out we headed over to Epcot to take a few last pictures around the world showcase. We also decided to check out the China movie as we had not seen that. At lunch time we had completed our lap of the lake and so decided to have lunch in Chef de France. We were easily able to get a table without an ADR.
After lunch we decided to head back into future world where we rode spaceship earth without a wait. We then decided to head in to Innovations West as Andrew wanted to look around the future house (I loved the Jacuzzi bath with the built in TV and Pete liked the sound system for your TV that you could hide in the wall.)
By now it was 3pm and time to leave for the airport (although I really did not want to go.) We drove over to MCO and dropped the car off quite quickly and joined the line to check in. It took a while as there were 3 UK flights checking in at the same desk. Ours was the last flight and there were people behind us booked on the earlier flight so they kept being moved in front of us. Once we checked in we headed through security (again another wait) and then headed up to the Delta Club lounge for a relax. We were pleased that we were able to use the lounges in the airports as it made the waiting around more pleasant. At 7pm we headed down to the gate. As soon as we got there they announced a 35 minute delay. Apparently they hadnt got all the luggage on the flight yet so we had to wait. We were told boarding would begin at 7:40 instead of 7:05. However boarding began even later. We finally set off an hour late. The flight was quite bumpy but I managed to get some sleep. We landed at 9:40am UK time on the 3rd January but it took us an hour and 20 minutes to get our luggage as the hold door had frozen shut on the aeroplane and they couldnt get the luggage out! We finally got our cases and met our taxi driver who took us home. The journey home was quite quick and we were back at our house by 2pm. Although we had a long journey I actually felt quite good.
Overall we had had an amazing trip. I had been warned that the crowds would be awful, but I actually found them OK. I think as we had planned the trip well, took lots of breaks, didnt try to cram everything in and generally had a fun time it made an amazing Christmas and New Year, one I dont think we will beat for a long time.
I know how long and how diligently you planned for it and it looks like all your hard work paid off.
