Ruthie25
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2004
- Messages
- 105
We managed to sleep until a respectable 6am, then showered, pottered and packed for the day.... then off to IHOP across the road for our first breakfast in the US..... and it was Gurt Lush (I spent two years living in Somerset, some of the language has rubbed off!) We were 15 minutes late to pick up our car from the Hertz booth next door, and didn't think it would be a problem, but the agent was about to give up on us and leave... the moral of the story is that if you are picking up a car from an off-site office, be on time as the agent often has numerous locations to serve. The paperwork was completed quickly, with no upsell or insurance waffle which I had been worried about. The car we were given was a Chevrolet Sonic, was severely love-bugged, but included GPS for no charge, so I was glad that we hadn't shelled out on a new one for ourselves, or hired one. For us, picking up the hire car locally the day after arrival worked well. Our transfer from the airport was only £20, and we saved nearly a day's hire fire and the on-airport charges. But as I mentioned, you have to be on time!
At last we were finally off to Walt Disney World, a first time ever event for Richard, and the first visit for me since 1987. Epcot was our chosen park, and we managed to arrive before rope drop. The ticket booth area was practically deserted (the majority of people must buy tickets in advance), and our 3 day Magic Your Way were quickly purchased from a lovely lady, who was very interested in hearing our thoughts on Disneyland Paris. With a First Visit button for Richard, and a I'm Celebrating (Richard's first visit) button for me, we set off for the park. Like the rest of the visitors, we made our way straight to Soarin' and managed to get on within the 20 minute time advertised. The front row was great, and we did really enjoy the ride...although can't imagine spending two hours queuing for it!
Living with the Land was next, as it had no queue at all. This was the only point during the whole trip that I actually had a feeling of having been to WDW before... it did seem vaguely familiar to be in the green houses.
Nemo's domain was next, The Seas with Nemo and Friends was underwhelming, but Turtle Talk with Crush was enjoyable... one of our favourite attractions at DLP is Stich Live, and this attraction was similar. Not quite Awesome, Dude, but we did intend to try it again.
We had noticed an FP+ point nearby, so went to arrange our FP+ for that day (the disadvantage of buying our tickets at the gate, we had no opportunity to arrange these in advance.) As expected there were very limited time slots for Soarin, so we ended up with one from 7.40pm 8.40pm with slots also booked for Turtle Talk, and something else that I can't remember (the guy didn't seem to want me to book only 2 FP's).
At this point we decided to Sunscreen up, and head for the World Showcase. things started to go wrong. My eyes started streaming. Then my nose. I felt dizzy. My vision was blurry. Despite sunglasses, I felt like the sun was so bright it was going to burn my eyes out. Assuming that I had got sun lotion in my eyes I waited it out, hoping that it would eventually clear and I would feel better. No such luck. I remembered back to our day in Houston in 2013... when my eyes started streaming and I felt like I was about to pass out. Oops. I do not do well in the heat.
I soldiered on, not wanting to waste a minute, or our £ lots spent on tickets. Starting in Canada, we enjoyed the air-con cooling as we watched the film, which left me feeling a little sick and disorientated. We wandered around the Showcase until we reached America, and agreed on a quick lunch then go back to the hotel for a rest. Steak from a counter service restaurant? Our hopes were not high, but we actually thought it was as good as you would get from a pub in the UK, with the broccoli a nice addition in the land that vegetables forgot.
We soon exited the park, and drove back to the hotel for a nice snooze. Rested, we decided to head back to the park for the evening to utilise our FP+ for Soarin, and for Illuminations. Golden Corral was our chosen venue for a quick dinner, Richard was pleased with the choice, I was less impressed, but it filled a hole. After a quick trip to Walgreens for eye drops, we drove back to Epcot.
Too late for our chat with Crush, we headed straight for Soarin', where we waited for half an hour, even with our FP+. The ride itself was fine, front row seats again, but coming out I felt really rough, and at one point I had to sit on the floor as I felt like I was about to black out. Eyes were streaming, the lights were bright. No sunscreen to blame this time, no sunshine. After a brief rest, and putting in the eye drops, we continued to the World Showcase for Illuminations. But I was too upset and felt awful so we decided to head home immediately. The drive home was one of the most horrible of my life.....
my eyes were trying to close and as much as I tried to keep them open I thought at a few moments that I was going to end up driving off the road. I really regretted not having added Richard as an additional driver on the car. Even though I intended to do all the driving (having driven on the other side of the road on our last two trips to DLP) it would have been better for him to have been able to drive in emergency situations, such as this.
Finally safely home, we headed to bed, in the hope that the following day would go much smoother. Stay tuned to find out the verdict!
At last we were finally off to Walt Disney World, a first time ever event for Richard, and the first visit for me since 1987. Epcot was our chosen park, and we managed to arrive before rope drop. The ticket booth area was practically deserted (the majority of people must buy tickets in advance), and our 3 day Magic Your Way were quickly purchased from a lovely lady, who was very interested in hearing our thoughts on Disneyland Paris. With a First Visit button for Richard, and a I'm Celebrating (Richard's first visit) button for me, we set off for the park. Like the rest of the visitors, we made our way straight to Soarin' and managed to get on within the 20 minute time advertised. The front row was great, and we did really enjoy the ride...although can't imagine spending two hours queuing for it!
Living with the Land was next, as it had no queue at all. This was the only point during the whole trip that I actually had a feeling of having been to WDW before... it did seem vaguely familiar to be in the green houses.
Nemo's domain was next, The Seas with Nemo and Friends was underwhelming, but Turtle Talk with Crush was enjoyable... one of our favourite attractions at DLP is Stich Live, and this attraction was similar. Not quite Awesome, Dude, but we did intend to try it again.
We had noticed an FP+ point nearby, so went to arrange our FP+ for that day (the disadvantage of buying our tickets at the gate, we had no opportunity to arrange these in advance.) As expected there were very limited time slots for Soarin, so we ended up with one from 7.40pm 8.40pm with slots also booked for Turtle Talk, and something else that I can't remember (the guy didn't seem to want me to book only 2 FP's).
At this point we decided to Sunscreen up, and head for the World Showcase. things started to go wrong. My eyes started streaming. Then my nose. I felt dizzy. My vision was blurry. Despite sunglasses, I felt like the sun was so bright it was going to burn my eyes out. Assuming that I had got sun lotion in my eyes I waited it out, hoping that it would eventually clear and I would feel better. No such luck. I remembered back to our day in Houston in 2013... when my eyes started streaming and I felt like I was about to pass out. Oops. I do not do well in the heat.
I soldiered on, not wanting to waste a minute, or our £ lots spent on tickets. Starting in Canada, we enjoyed the air-con cooling as we watched the film, which left me feeling a little sick and disorientated. We wandered around the Showcase until we reached America, and agreed on a quick lunch then go back to the hotel for a rest. Steak from a counter service restaurant? Our hopes were not high, but we actually thought it was as good as you would get from a pub in the UK, with the broccoli a nice addition in the land that vegetables forgot.
We soon exited the park, and drove back to the hotel for a nice snooze. Rested, we decided to head back to the park for the evening to utilise our FP+ for Soarin, and for Illuminations. Golden Corral was our chosen venue for a quick dinner, Richard was pleased with the choice, I was less impressed, but it filled a hole. After a quick trip to Walgreens for eye drops, we drove back to Epcot.
Too late for our chat with Crush, we headed straight for Soarin', where we waited for half an hour, even with our FP+. The ride itself was fine, front row seats again, but coming out I felt really rough, and at one point I had to sit on the floor as I felt like I was about to black out. Eyes were streaming, the lights were bright. No sunscreen to blame this time, no sunshine. After a brief rest, and putting in the eye drops, we continued to the World Showcase for Illuminations. But I was too upset and felt awful so we decided to head home immediately. The drive home was one of the most horrible of my life.....
my eyes were trying to close and as much as I tried to keep them open I thought at a few moments that I was going to end up driving off the road. I really regretted not having added Richard as an additional driver on the car. Even though I intended to do all the driving (having driven on the other side of the road on our last two trips to DLP) it would have been better for him to have been able to drive in emergency situations, such as this.Finally safely home, we headed to bed, in the hope that the following day would go much smoother. Stay tuned to find out the verdict!
