Dream Maiden Voyage Trip Report, A Dream Come True = Completed

[Pinky166]

Cast:

Me (Claire) – 35 year old, Disney nut that loves a bit of retail therapy and the occasional cocktail or two.

Lee – 36 year old, NOT a Disney nut or a cocktail drinker.....but he is an AWESOME shopper!!!!

Saturday 22nd January 2011:


After spending most of the night trying to get to sleep I finally fell asleep around 5.30am and was awoken by the alarm at 8am……oh well I guess I’ll have an extra two bags (under my eyes) to check in at Gatwick! There was no hesitation about getting up this morning, we jumped up out of bed raring to go. Lee chucked on some clothes and took the dogs for a walk across the field whilst I showered and got ready, once Lee returned he also showered. We put the last of the essentials into the case and loaded the car with our luggage and the dogs and set off for my parents house as they would be taking care of the pups whilst we are away. Believe me when I say the dogs look forward to our holidays just as much as Lee and I as they are thoroughly spoilt rotten by my parents. We had a cup of tea and soon said our (in my case tearful) goodbyes to the dogs and my parents.

As we drove off we soon realised that we had yet to eat anything and decided that due to the remodelling at Gatwick South Terminal and current lack of eateries that we would stop off at our local Ask for lunch. I didn’t fancy any of the starters but Lee opted for his favourite Garlic King Prawns, followed by Roast Leg of Duck, finished off with Chocolate & Hazelnut Torte all washed down with a couple of Peroni’s. I opted for my usual Chicken & Mushroom risotto, followed by Banoffee Pie & a large Pinot Grigio.

Suitably fed I drove to Gatwick. Thankfully the M25 was very clear, we had no hold ups whatsoever. We parked up at the Hilton and checked in, after dropping our hand luggage in our room and our cases at the bell desk.


Our room:

We got back in the car and made our way to the long stay car park, where we opted to upgrade (£25) to have the meet & greet service on our return – which turned out to be a very wise move (that will become obvious by the end of the report) we got the courtesy bus back to the terminal, collected our cases from the Bell desk and went through to the terminal for Twilight check in. We were checked in within minutes and free of our bags so had a walk around the terminal – nothing much to see due to the remodelling work – so we stocked up in Marks & Spencers with some wine, crisps & sandwiches for later.

We also bought a Gingerbread Latte each from Costa coffee in the hotel lobby and went back to the room, where we chilled out with our wine and snacks whilst watching Saturday night tv and using the wifi internet access.



Sunday 23rd January 2011:


We woke about 6am, I slept fairly well all things considered. We got dressed & went down to the Garden restaurant for breakfast (included in the booking), it was buffet style and we both had sausage, bacon & eggs, orange juice & tea. After brekkie we went back to our room and back to bed for an hour well there was no point in heading over to the terminal too early.

We got up (again) and showered, then left our room about 10am and walked across to the terminal. We were straight through security without much delay and I was soon sipping the free Baileys samples in the middle of the terminal…..well I’m officially on holiday now! We spent ages in World of Duty free whilst I tried to find a new perfume but gave up after a while, all I got was a headache from smelling them all. I bought a baguette from Pret a manger to take on the plane for later (as I don’t do plane food ), we also stocked up on magazines from WHSmith’s and then headed to our gate #13. As soon as we arrived at the gate they started boarding, Premium Economy was called within a minute or two so we were soon settled in our seats (79 A+C upstairs) and sipping Champagne.

We took off on time and were soon being served dinner. I stuck with my trusted Ham & Cheese Baguette, Lee opted for Prawn Cocktail, Beef Stew & Sticky Toffee Pudding. (Sorry for the lack of photos but our camera was stored away by the air stewardess in my bag that was too big to go in the overhead locker). The flight passed very slowly, it actually took 9 hours 40 mins due to 120mph head winds which resulted in quite a lot of turbulence. Lee watched several films & I attempted to watch Megamind a few times but got bored so ended up just reading and listening to my ipod – mainly the DIS Unplugged podcasts as I’d stored them up for a few weeks for the journey.

We eventually landed about 5.45pm local time, thankfully we were one of the first off the plane and through immigration. Lee went off to collect the luggage whilst I made my way to the Hertz desk to collect the hire car keys. Lee caught up with me just as I was finished at the desk and we made our way to the car park and loaded up the white Toyota Yaris, pointed it in the direction of the Royal Pacific Resort and off we went.

We unloaded the car & checked in, where we were given an upgrade to a partial park view room, a great start to the holiday.

We were feeling quite tired and very hungry so we decided to go & get some food before we unpacked, we went to Jake’s American Bar. I started with Chicken Quesadilla then had a Cheese & Bacon Burger but it was way too big & I only ate about half, Lee had Sweet & Spicy Buffalo Wings to start and BBQ Rack of Ribs for main, again he struggled to eat it as the portions were so big….we always forget with our first meal just how big the portions are. I had a couple of Joanna’s Pina Colada cocktails (Rum, Banana Schnapps & Coconut), Lee had Coke. We paid the bill = $70 + tip and went back to the room, quickly unpacked a few clothes etc for the next few nights and crawled into bed about 10pm.


Next up – Islands of Adventure & a spot of shopping!​

 

[Pinky166]

Monday 24th January 2011 – Islands of Adventure and a little bit of retail therapy.


We both slept fairly well, I was wide awake at 6am and Lee woke around an hour later. I made some coffee from the in room facilities….which as always was a waste of time as it tasted nasty! I came out of the bathroom to discover Lee laying on the floor doing his stretches……..he was limbering up ready to go for a run! Nutter! Oh well, I’ll just get back in bed then.

Lee returned about an hour later so we showered and got ready and had a walk around the resort, here is the park view from our room:

The resort:

Once we had explored most of the resort we took the water taxi over to Citywalk:

We stopped off at Cinnabon and shared a Caramel PecanBon – which was very yummy!

Citywalk was very busy, in fact the busiest I have ever seen it. We walked across to Islands of Adventure and went on Spiderman, it had been a few years since we were last at IOA and Spidey was just as good as we remembered.

We decided to head around to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as it was getting extremely busy in the park, we must have seen at least ten large Brazilian tour groups already from walking from Citywalk to Marvel Island!! Well as you can imagine WWoHP was crazy busy!

Continued below........
​

 

[Pinky166]

We had a look around but the queues were so long to get in all the shops let alone the rides, we had the early entry perk as we were staying onsite so we decided that we would leave it and get up early tomorrow and doing everything then when hopefully it wouldn’t be anywhere near as busy. We were feeling quite hungry by now so we went into the Three Broomsticks to see how busy it was in there, well to our surprise there wasn’t a queue. I had the Shepherds Pie which is served with a Salad, Lee went for the Rotisserie Chicken, Potatoes & Corn on the Cob (again no food porn pic, we must have forgotten - but I promise I do have loads) Lee had water & I had a Butterbeer….which was very nice but very sweet.

As we were leaving Lee took a few pics inside the restaurant and one of the cast members who was cleaning tables came over to him and dragged him off on a tour of the restaurant showing him all the different areas and what to take photos of, she was very sweet but I won’t bore you with all the pics as there were lots.

After lunch we had a look in Honeydukes sweet shop but soon gave up as you could barely move, it was very hot today and Lee had forgotten to put sun cream on this morning so we decided to head back to the resort. On the way we looked in the shops at Citywalk and I bought a lovely bracelet. We got the water taxi back and took a few more pics on the way back to the room.

Lee fancied a nap…..I can’t take him anywhere!

We chilled out in the cool air conditioned room for about an hour before deciding to go to the Florida Mall for a bit of retail therapy. I bought a few eye shadows in Sephora, a few bits for upcoming Secret Exchanges from the Disney Store and some peanut butter M&M’s from M&M World. I was intending to walk straight past the Pandora shop as there haven’t been any new one’s released for a while but Lee suggested we have a look anyway…..what a mistake that turned out to be – I left the shop 6 charms richer & Lee’s credit card a lot poorer! Ooops!

It was time for dinner but we didn’t fancy any of the options at F-Mall, I had been desperate to try the Cheesecake Factory on our last few trips but we never seemed to fit it in so we decided to drive over to the Mall @ Millenia. Unfortunately we didn’t have our camera with us at the mall so no food porn but I had Spaghetti Carbonara & Lee had Rib Eye Steak, everything was fab but we were too full for dessert so we got some to go, I took pics of the cheesecake when back in the room.

Red Velvet Cheesecake (sorry, I started eating it before remembering to take a pic)

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cheesecake (I ate this one the next day as Lee wasn’t keen, but he doesn’t really like cheesecake anyway)

We went back to the resort and crashed out about 10.30pm.


Coming soon – Round Two of WWoHP, Universal Studios, more shopping & Port Canaveral.
(BTW - I am going to continue on one thread rather than individual posts, so look out for updates )
​

 

[Tammy Stringer]

Lovely photos Claire - love the look of that Cinnabon and also the second cheesecake - yummy.

Can't wait to read more

Tam

 

[mandymouse]

Cast:

Me (Claire) – 35 year old, Disney nut that loves a bit of retail therapy and the occasional cocktail or two.

Hmm, I hope this trippy is going to be more accurate than that opening sentence Claire

What a great start and fab photos too. I can't believe how busy WWoHP still is. The Royal Pacific looks gorgeous, I've just shown my DD your photos as she is thinking of staying at Universal for one night

I can't wait for your next update

 

[disney_princess_85]

You've started your report!

The Hilton looks very nice, as does your view at RPR.

Can't wait for more.

 

[Linda67]

Wondeful photos Claire

We loved our stay of the Royal Pacific Resort and your photos are bring back lovely memories

 

[strawberry blonde]

Great start Claire

The Royal Pacific looks lovely but if we did a Universal hotel, I think the boys would choose the Hard Rock as they both love their music

Looking forward to more

 

[tony64]

Great start Claire,
I love the look of that cinnabon and the cheesecakes

I really want one of these.

 

[BethEJo]

Claire....are you a vampire?! You don't have a reflection.....

​

Great trippie so far! Loving all the pics - they're fab

 

[Pinky166]

Thanks for reading everyone.

Hmm, I hope this trippy is going to be more accurate than that opening sentence Claire

What a great start and fab photos too. I can't believe how busy WWoHP still is. The Royal Pacific looks gorgeous, I've just shown my DD your photos as she is thinking of staying at Universal for one night

I can't wait for your next update

Hey missus - I can promise you I am 35, I know I look good for my age but i'll show you my birth certificate to prove it.

It was crazy busy at IOA. I was surprised by it too. Lee kept laughing at me as I kept complaining along the lines of "How dare it be this busy".

Great start Claire

The Royal Pacific looks lovely but if we did a Universal hotel, I think the boys would choose the Hard Rock as they both love their music

Looking forward to more

Thanks, I did like the Royal Pacific Resort but tbh I prefer the Hard Rock and Portofino more.

Claire....are you a vampire?! You don't have a reflection.....




Great trippie so far! Loving all the pics - they're fab

Well Lee took that photo, so that explains a lot of things to me.

 

[wickesy]

Yaayy, I've been really looking forward to this one. Great pics Claire but can I ask you to do me a favour - please don't post any more perfect photos of Cinnabons, I really want one now but there's no way of getting one at this time of night.

 

[irongirlof12]

I have been waiting sooooooo long for you to start this. love the photo's of RPR I really fancy staying there one day.great start. I was drooling from the mention of gingerbread lattes...and that is before you left the country

 

[jjk]

great start and fab piccies

 

[Sapper383]

Yay, I was hoping you would write a trippie........great start

 

[Ware Bears]

Lovely photos

 

[Tinks1984]

Ah, great start Claire Lots of fab photo's and great start!

 

[Pinky166]

Thank you all for your lovely comments.

Yaayy, I've been really looking forward to this one. Great pics Claire but can I ask you to do me a favour - please don't post any more perfect photos of Cinnabons, I really want one now but there's no way of getting one at this time of night.

Sorry David, if it's any consolation to you that Cinnabon photo makes me hungry everytime I look at it too.....I can promise no more Cinnabon photos though, but instead I have pics of lots of other nice goodies.

I have been waiting sooooooo long for you to start this. love the photo's of RPR I really fancy staying there one day.great start. I was drooling from the mention of gingerbread lattes...and that is before you left the country

Thanks Andrea, I Gingerbread latte's.

Day 2 coming up in a few mins......

 

[Pinky166]

Tuesday 25th January 2011 – WWoHP, Universal Studios, more shopping & Port Canaveral.


We were awake on and off from 4.30am but eventually we gave in and got up about six. Lee went down to the Café in the lobby and got two Hot Chocolates and some fruit for breakfast which we ate in the room. Once we had showered and dressed we packed our belongings and took our cases down to the lobby where we stored them until later. We checked out of the resort and got the water taxi over to Citywalk, as we approached the entrance to Island of Adventure we were pleased to see that there were only about 30 people waiting. We waited only for a few minutes before the gates were opened and we were allowed in after they checked our resort keys and park tickets, we were all directed straight through the park to WWoHP.

We went straight to Forbidden Journey where we spent ages walking through the queue as it is so well done, we let everyone pass us as we were taking our time and taking photos.

When we got to the front I went through the exit and Lee went on to the ride, I was unsure if I would do this ride since hearing about the spiders part – being petrified of spiders I opted out, although now looking back at it I regret that and really wish I had forced myself to go on it. Oh well there is always the next trip. Lee absolutely loved it and went straight back on as there was no wait whatsoever. I waited in the shop, they have some fab merchandise but it is very over priced in my opinion – although I did cave in and buy a Christmas tree decoration. Afterwards we went on Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge, both had no queue.

Once we had finished on the rides we waited to go into Olivanders – the wand shop, we were at the front of the queue but because they only let people in every seven minutes or so due to the “show” we had to wait a few minutes. Once inside they picked out two brothers to choose their wands, I won’t say what happens for those that have not been yet but we thought it was great fun. We were then shown straight through into the shops, we had a good look around but didn’t buy anything.

As we exited the row of shops it was getting busier, it was now 9.15 and the regular park guests were beginning to arrive which was perfect timing as we had done everything we wanted to do. We grabbed a Butterbeer to share on the way out and walked over to Universal Studios.

The only reason we were heading to Universal Studios is so Lee could go on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, he choose Limp Bizkit “Rollin” as his track and enjoyed the ride.

We had a quick walk around the park it was absolutely dead and some of the ridesweren't even open. We went on Men in Black where as usual with these types of rides Lee wooped my backside…..he found it hysterical that even the elderly couple in the front of our vehicle even managed to kick my behind. Yeah, yeah whatever!!!!

We stopped at the bakery for a coffee and banana muffin each then left the park and got the water taxi back to Royal Pacific Resort. We picked up the car and I drove to Prime Outlets, Lee bought some running gear from Nike and I bought some smellies from Bath & Body Works and also some bits and pieces from the Disney outlet. Once we had finished our shopping we were feeling hungry and decided on a scrummy burger from Five Guys….they make the nicest burgers! YUM! After lunch we drove back to Royal Pacific Resort and collected our luggage then drove to Port Canaveral, more specifically the Radisson Resort. It had been a lovely sunny morning but on the drive to the Port it had got very dark and windy with the odd rain shower. We soon arrived and checked in, we drove around to our room and unloaded the car then chilled out in the room for a while.

The plan was to drive down towards Cocoa Pier a bit later and have dinner in Fishlips but it was really raining hard and the wind was picking up, as we were flicking through the tv channels it appeared that the whole of central Florida was under Tornado warnings and it was heading towards us at on the east coast. They were reporting 70 mph winds & 2” hail stones we ended up eating in the hotel restaurant rather than risk driving anywhere and i’m so glad we did as by the time we left the restaurant it was even worse with thunder and lightning added to the mix. Dinner wasn’t great but it was ok, I had Chicken Quesadillas and Fries, Lee had some BBQ Buffalo Wings to start and Grouper with Rice for main. We walked back to the room under a sheltered walk way but it was pretty scary as the lightning was so close! We were soon tucked up in bed about 10pm - although we both knew I wouldn’t get much sleep as I was so excited for tomorrow……..



Coming soon – The day I have been waiting for for SO long – The DREAM! ​

 

[darthtatty]

great trip report. Cant wait to read more.xx

Fab photos as always.xxx