florida sun
Mrs Christopher Eccleston wannabe!
- Joined
- May 2, 2004
- Messages
- 17,635
Players
Me: Sue 43 Born Worrier and Trip Leader.
DD: Vicki 15 2nd In Command, But the Real Leader according to her.
Thursday 18th August
My Mother In Law who I am still very very close to dispite my divorce picked us up at 5am for the 20 min journey to Cardiff Airport. Now as we had premium seating we did'nt really need to be there until 7am, but as the worrier I am, I still wanted to get there early to ensure Vicki and I were seated together. MIL went to park the car and Vic and I entered the airport, at that time in the morning I thought it would be fairly quiet, how wrong I was.There were about 8 check in desks open for our flight, but they had the queue forming in one big long snake as they do in Sanford. There must have been 200+ people there already, I looked to see if there was a premium gold check in and yes there was, the first check in we looked at and not a soul in the queue. I felt really guilty walking striaght up and checking in, all in a matter of 10 mins. We were given seats 3 J and K right hand side of the plane, window and ailse seat, sounded great.We were so quick that we had to wait for a little while for my MIL to return from the car park.
We then went upstairs for a coffee and a bite to eat.
We were only sat down for about an hour when we were called into departures, so hugs and kisses all around as we left a very tearful mother in law behind insisting on waving to us and shouting out have a nice time long after we entered departures im sure
On the way through I took a snap of the Monarch plane, not sure if it was ours but I think so.
In departures Vic and I had a look around the duty free, which is not the biggest I have to say, but anyway I came away with a Bottle of Vodka, Vicki bought some playing cards as she is very much into Poker at the moment and swore she would teach me to play it before we returned. I wanted to try and get some perfume called Diesal Green, as they only sell it in Cardiff at Christmas
but they did not have it, so I was hoping I could get it over there.We picked up some mags and a couple of books from the paper shop and sat waiting patiently to be called.
We then heard the annoucement to go to gate 8, after preboarding family's with children under 2 and the disabled, rows 1-7 were called next, so off we went. Well my first impression of Monarch's Premium Gold was dissapointing,although the seats were larger with more leg room they were very shabby indeed, now believe me, Im no snob, but it looked worse than a squat, the carpet was filthy there were some seats that had all the material ripped and it did'nt help when I sat in my seat and later pulled off 2 sticky sweets that must have been there before me, that had firmly attached themselves to my trousers,not to worry I'll pull them off when I need to suck a sweet on take off(just kidding).
The stewerdess then came around with either a drink of orange juice or water, I was looking for the Vodka and Coke, but apperently that would come later, so orange juice for now it was. .We also had a rather nice pack on our seats that I forgot to mention with Socks,Eye Mask, Face Cream ,Toothbrush and Toothpaste and various other bits and pieces.
We had a very smooth take off...well so I am informed by Vicki as I spent most of it with the pillow over my face, not keen on taking off you see
When I hear the first ping telling the cabin staff that they can commence their duties, then I come out from hiding and not a moment before.
We spent a very uneventful hour watching the seatback tv's which was great, lots of programmes to choose from, including Hitch, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Vicar of Dibley and many others to numerous to mention. Vicki also spent some time playing on her new DS gameboy that she had for her birthday the day before.
Now at the risk of I may offend any of you who have just eaten, I have toned down the next bit considerably, but we had 2 young boys behind us about 9 and 12 who did not travel well at all, they were both ill one after the other for about 3 hours, I did feel sorry for them, so I asked their mother would she like a ginger capsual(which I swear by) to calm their stomachs, which she gratefully took,unfortunatley it did not work for the poor eldest boy who continued to be sick right the way through the flight.
Moving on, the food was very good I have to say, I had beef and Vicki wanted Chicken,she actually ended up with the beef as well, but in fairness it was very good, I remember also having some sort of snack about an hour or so before we landed, which was very good,and after 3 Vodka and Diet Cokes still managed to fill out my Visa Waiver form correctly.
We landed at Sanford with no issues and went striaght through the finger print and photo process no problem, we were however the only 2 out of a group of about 30 people to be asked to take our luggage and go back and put it all through the scanners, I must look like a smuggler
After checking out our shuttle we were told to go to coach number 2 around the corner, dragging all our luggage we headed off only to find buses numbered 3, 4 and 5 no number 2 , so back around we go and the man behind the counter looks at me a bit wierd and says yes you get on bus number 4 which is bus number 2 in the row, now I know I've had 3 vodkas,but hey I must have been having a senior moment, did'nt realise he meant the second bus. Not to worry , Hip Hip Hooray, we're on our way.
After a very pleasant hour journey and my favorite part of going through the welcome to Walt Disney World Arch, which always gets me so excited, we drop off a family at the Carribean Beach and another at the Port Orleans Riverside and then we were at the Pop, yippee, my goodness its huge, and I mean Huge, I thought the allstars was big until I seen this,after tipping the driver, In we go. Now I dont know if it was because we landed a lot earlier than we have in the past, but reception and check in was empty, so I walk striaght up to check in and In a matter of moments we are given our card to our room, Block 1,50's Building, Lady out the front,top floor, Ideal, we could'nt have asked for better, just 2 mins walk from the food court and the buses, result.
The room was great, with 2 double beds, large TV, Ironing Board,Iron,and hairdryer, there was a small table with 2 chairs and plenty of storage space, for anyone who has stayed at the All Stars this was very similar.
After unpacking I made a quick phone call to Andy(Varnadah Man)and his family,from the cruise boards threads, they were staying at the Wilderness Lodge Cabins for 5 days and we were meeting up with him and his dear family the following night, along with Karen and family and other dissers who are our same cruise next year. We have been in touch for a few months before this holiday and it was very exciting to put a voice to a name that I had been coresponding with for such a long time. We make arrangements for Vic and I to meet them at their cabin at 4pm the following afternoon,before our meal at The Trials End. After a quick chat on the phone we decided to have a little walk over to the food court to get our refillable mugs and a snack to eat. On looking out over the railing when we got outside, I said to Vic "Look Vic this is fantastic and there's Patch", Oh yes mum she replied, from that Great Disney Classic "Lady and the Patch"
"That's Tramp silly". Maybe I should stay clear of any more drinks for tonight then. 
After a quick walk around we were shattered, had a quick shower and watched a bit of TV, Vicki squeeling in delight as it had the Disney Channel and they were showing an episode of Full House which she loves. I vaguely remember seeing the clock saying 10pm and fell into a deep slumber dreaming of our following day at Magic Kingdom. Night night.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
To Follow soon: Day 2, Hunting out the Goviers at Magic Kingdom and a meeting of Friends.
I am sorry the photos are not the best, I had my camera on the wrong mega pixcel for these.
Sue
Me: Sue 43 Born Worrier and Trip Leader.
DD: Vicki 15 2nd In Command, But the Real Leader according to her.
Thursday 18th August
My Mother In Law who I am still very very close to dispite my divorce picked us up at 5am for the 20 min journey to Cardiff Airport. Now as we had premium seating we did'nt really need to be there until 7am, but as the worrier I am, I still wanted to get there early to ensure Vicki and I were seated together. MIL went to park the car and Vic and I entered the airport, at that time in the morning I thought it would be fairly quiet, how wrong I was.There were about 8 check in desks open for our flight, but they had the queue forming in one big long snake as they do in Sanford. There must have been 200+ people there already, I looked to see if there was a premium gold check in and yes there was, the first check in we looked at and not a soul in the queue. I felt really guilty walking striaght up and checking in, all in a matter of 10 mins. We were given seats 3 J and K right hand side of the plane, window and ailse seat, sounded great.We were so quick that we had to wait for a little while for my MIL to return from the car park.
We then went upstairs for a coffee and a bite to eat.
We were only sat down for about an hour when we were called into departures, so hugs and kisses all around as we left a very tearful mother in law behind insisting on waving to us and shouting out have a nice time long after we entered departures im sure
On the way through I took a snap of the Monarch plane, not sure if it was ours but I think so.
In departures Vic and I had a look around the duty free, which is not the biggest I have to say, but anyway I came away with a Bottle of Vodka, Vicki bought some playing cards as she is very much into Poker at the moment and swore she would teach me to play it before we returned. I wanted to try and get some perfume called Diesal Green, as they only sell it in Cardiff at Christmas
but they did not have it, so I was hoping I could get it over there.We picked up some mags and a couple of books from the paper shop and sat waiting patiently to be called. We then heard the annoucement to go to gate 8, after preboarding family's with children under 2 and the disabled, rows 1-7 were called next, so off we went. Well my first impression of Monarch's Premium Gold was dissapointing,although the seats were larger with more leg room they were very shabby indeed, now believe me, Im no snob, but it looked worse than a squat, the carpet was filthy there were some seats that had all the material ripped and it did'nt help when I sat in my seat and later pulled off 2 sticky sweets that must have been there before me, that had firmly attached themselves to my trousers,not to worry I'll pull them off when I need to suck a sweet on take off(just kidding).
The stewerdess then came around with either a drink of orange juice or water, I was looking for the Vodka and Coke, but apperently that would come later, so orange juice for now it was. .We also had a rather nice pack on our seats that I forgot to mention with Socks,Eye Mask, Face Cream ,Toothbrush and Toothpaste and various other bits and pieces.
We had a very smooth take off...well so I am informed by Vicki as I spent most of it with the pillow over my face, not keen on taking off you see
When I hear the first ping telling the cabin staff that they can commence their duties, then I come out from hiding and not a moment before. We spent a very uneventful hour watching the seatback tv's which was great, lots of programmes to choose from, including Hitch, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Vicar of Dibley and many others to numerous to mention. Vicki also spent some time playing on her new DS gameboy that she had for her birthday the day before.
Now at the risk of I may offend any of you who have just eaten, I have toned down the next bit considerably, but we had 2 young boys behind us about 9 and 12 who did not travel well at all, they were both ill one after the other for about 3 hours, I did feel sorry for them, so I asked their mother would she like a ginger capsual(which I swear by) to calm their stomachs, which she gratefully took,unfortunatley it did not work for the poor eldest boy who continued to be sick right the way through the flight.
Moving on, the food was very good I have to say, I had beef and Vicki wanted Chicken,she actually ended up with the beef as well, but in fairness it was very good, I remember also having some sort of snack about an hour or so before we landed, which was very good,and after 3 Vodka and Diet Cokes still managed to fill out my Visa Waiver form correctly.
We landed at Sanford with no issues and went striaght through the finger print and photo process no problem, we were however the only 2 out of a group of about 30 people to be asked to take our luggage and go back and put it all through the scanners, I must look like a smuggler
After checking out our shuttle we were told to go to coach number 2 around the corner, dragging all our luggage we headed off only to find buses numbered 3, 4 and 5 no number 2
, so back around we go and the man behind the counter looks at me a bit wierd and says yes you get on bus number 4 which is bus number 2 in the row, now I know I've had 3 vodkas,but hey I must have been having a senior moment, did'nt realise he meant the second bus. Not to worry , Hip Hip Hooray, we're on our way. After a very pleasant hour journey and my favorite part of going through the welcome to Walt Disney World Arch, which always gets me so excited, we drop off a family at the Carribean Beach and another at the Port Orleans Riverside and then we were at the Pop, yippee, my goodness its huge, and I mean Huge, I thought the allstars was big until I seen this,after tipping the driver, In we go. Now I dont know if it was because we landed a lot earlier than we have in the past, but reception and check in was empty, so I walk striaght up to check in and In a matter of moments we are given our card to our room, Block 1,50's Building, Lady out the front,top floor, Ideal, we could'nt have asked for better, just 2 mins walk from the food court and the buses, result.
The room was great, with 2 double beds, large TV, Ironing Board,Iron,and hairdryer, there was a small table with 2 chairs and plenty of storage space, for anyone who has stayed at the All Stars this was very similar.
After unpacking I made a quick phone call to Andy(Varnadah Man)and his family,from the cruise boards threads, they were staying at the Wilderness Lodge Cabins for 5 days and we were meeting up with him and his dear family the following night, along with Karen and family and other dissers who are our same cruise next year. We have been in touch for a few months before this holiday and it was very exciting to put a voice to a name that I had been coresponding with for such a long time. We make arrangements for Vic and I to meet them at their cabin at 4pm the following afternoon,before our meal at The Trials End. After a quick chat on the phone we decided to have a little walk over to the food court to get our refillable mugs and a snack to eat. On looking out over the railing when we got outside, I said to Vic "Look Vic this is fantastic and there's Patch", Oh yes mum she replied, from that Great Disney Classic "Lady and the Patch"
"That's Tramp silly". Maybe I should stay clear of any more drinks for tonight then.
After a quick walk around we were shattered, had a quick shower and watched a bit of TV, Vicki squeeling in delight as it had the Disney Channel and they were showing an episode of Full House which she loves. I vaguely remember seeing the clock saying 10pm and fell into a deep slumber dreaming of our following day at Magic Kingdom. Night night.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
To Follow soon: Day 2, Hunting out the Goviers at Magic Kingdom and a meeting of Friends.
I am sorry the photos are not the best, I had my camera on the wrong mega pixcel for these.
Sue
LOL's Patch....
