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.
Friday August 19th 2005
I awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed like most of us do our first morning bang on 2am,then again at 3am,and finally at 5am when I admited defeat and got up and started getting ready in the bathroom, as not to wake Vicki, one thing I do have to say about the bathrooms are, like the All Stars they are very small, I do suggest that you DO close the bathroom door before sitting on the loo,and NOT after as my poor toes will confirm :blush
For the first time ever I had set an alarm call for us at 7am,because it was early morning at The Magic Kingdom and I really wanted to be there early to suprise Karen and Family. Now on our previous 3 visits our first day was always to be Animal Kingdom as about 2pm the jeg lag normally catches up with us, but my plans had changed ever since I had a conversation with Karen about her plan to do the Family Magic Tour on this very day at MK at 9.45. So instantly I knew that I had to suprise them by turning up to meet them. Although I had ribbed Karen for many months that I would be in the crowds somewhere taking photos of her Hopping down main street(which apprently you have to do on this tour) im sure she thought with the crowds that would be there I either would'nt find them or that my plans would change and I would not turn up.(yeah right)
Vicki woke at 7 with the hilarous alarm call from Mickey and Stitch and after getting ready we made our way over to the food court for breakfast, we both had the Pop Platter which was a large waffle with Bacon and Sausage and a drink.
We caught the 7.55 bus to MK and knew we would not make the rope drop but it did'nt matter. Our first suprise of the day was how quiet it was, I had read on the boards that the parks with early/late openings tended to be the busiest, but this was the quietest I have ever seen them and this proved to be the same for all the parks on early/late opening throughout our stay, so I highly reccomend it.
Now I had no idea what route Karen would take, so first stop was at Guest Relations to ask, and was told that the familes meet in the small building next door 15 mins before the tour began, so we had plenty of time to explore the park first, we also picked up a Happy Birthday badge for Vicki as it was only her birthday 2 days previous and that was what we were celebrating.
We took a leisurly stroll down main street, the weather was very hot, with not a cloud in the sky. The castle looked fabulous and we stopped and had a couple of photos taken and picked up our photopass.
Vicki then persuded me to get a fastpass for Space Mountain that we could use later, but when we got there, there was no queue whatsoever, so we walked right on. They were only loading one side (on the right). What a great way to start a day, superb,we walked out and thought, well, theres no queue lets have another go, so we did. We then went over to Tomorrowland Transit Authority of which we have never been on before, so I thought it might be a good idea to have a go to catch our breath after Space Mountain. I didnt know what a great relaxing ride this was, we had wonderful views of the castle and the inside of Space Mountain.
We then had our very first go ever on Buzz, now I had every intention of scoring high here, thanks to all the tips I had picked up from the boards and guess what,I was rubbish!!
I scored a pathetic 2,200, Vicki scored over 50,000, we had a great laugh and I was determined I would be back.
Well time was getting on so I thought we had better make our way back to the front of the park to suprise Karen and what better way than to jump on a Horse Drawn Trolley, we boarded and were the only ones on there as Neddy as we called him trotted along. Well what a laugh, most people were walking up main street while the driver of the trolley kept ringing the bell and shouting out "Birthday Girl on board", I felt like I was in a parade and Vicki could have died with embarassement, as everyone was laughing and shouting out Happy Birthday.
Right, now to suprise Karen, I had a very vague idea of what she looked like through photos on the boards, and I knew she also knew what I looked like from photos but I did'nt want her to see us before I had found them, so Vic and I sat on a little bench in between Guest Services and the start of the tour area each with a park map covering our faces and peeping over the top.
Within 2 mins I had spotted my prey,as Karen passed with the girls, I wanted to make sure it was her before jumping out on some poor unsuspecting family who would not have a clue it who we were and run the risk of being evicted from the park 
So when she passed again, I was so convinced, it was time to go in for the kill. We walked in behind them and said "Excuse me Madame I dont see much Hopping going on".(Praying all the time I had the right family). I think they were as shocked to see us as I was to have found them. After squeels of delight(mainly from me) that we had finally met, it was time to capture the moment on camera which a very kind cast member did for us.
We had a pleasent few mins of getting to know who's who and catching up on what they had been doing since they arrived. Karen and Jon are fantastic people and their 2 girls Amber and Erin are adorable. The time had come for them to start their tour and we said our goodbyes and said we would see them later at the Trails End.
Vic and I then went over to City Hall and had some fun taking more photos.
We then made our way back to the hotel for a bit of lunch and a swim before getting ready to go to Andy's cabin. When we got back to the room we noticed our first Towel sculputure, which was a dolly we called Dori for the rest of the holidays. How the mousekeepers do this amaze's me.
We then made our way over to Andys cabin, wearing our wonderful Crusin Castaways Tshirts with our names on that Andy had very kindly made for us. After getting there and the introductions, there was Andy, his dear wife Hazel their daughter Angelina and Andys dear mum Vi we had a lovely cool drink and took some snaps to remind us of each other. What a wonderful family they are and Vicki and Angelina got on really well,they are the same age, which is what Andy and I were hoping so that they would each have a friend on the cruise next year.
L TO R -Hazel, Andy, Me, Vicki,Angelina.
We then made our way over to the Trails End for dinner and to meet other cruisers that will be onboard with us, who were also on holiday at WDW, one lady Tina had come all the way from New York with her mum just for this dis meet and was only staying for 2 days.(I know your quite poorly at the moment Tina so if you are reading this, Get Well soon) It was great to meet up with everybody, there was myself and Vicki, Karen ,Jon and Girls, Andy and Family, Ed,his wife and daughter, Barb and her son,Tina and her mum and Bev and her family.We all had a good chat outside whilst waiting for our tables. The food was very good, it was buffet style and they had loads of different things to suit everybody including Ribs, Soup, Pizza, Pasta's Veggies and lots of different desserts. Vicki wanted a chocolate Brownie which should have cost extra, but as she still had her birthday badge on, they very knidly brought it over to her with a candle in it while we all sang Happy Birthday. We had a fantastic few hours chatting and getting to know each other, and before long it was time to wish everybody goodbye.
top row- Me, Karen,Andy,Ed, Bottom row- Barb,Tina, Bev.
Vicki with her birthday brownie.
Andys mum Vi had kindly offered to drive Vicki and I to Walmart as we did not have a car, so that we could stock up on some essentails, so we all got in Vi's car and headed off to Walmart. Wow what a place, if my local Asda'a was as big as this I would be in there for about 4 days lol. Well a few $$$$ Later and stocked up on Pop, Breakfast bars and other essentails including that all essentail Angel DVD boxed set which Vicki just had to buy
, we were dropped off at the Pop, we said our fairwells and Thanked Vi very much for taking us.
Vi, Me, Vicki.
Now all we had to do was figure out how we were going to carry 5 full heavy bags of shopping, 6 large bottle of Coke and 24 Bottles of water to our room
, as we stuggling along, some young lads were passing and offered to help, but, as you do I said "No we are ok honest" but practacally begging with my eyes for them to ask again. "Ok then Bye" "Bye" I said almost crying with the pain of balancing the water on my shoulders, cokes under each arm and a carrier bag hanging from my mouth. 
After what seemed like 3 hours we made it to our room. 11.30pm time for bed, what a great day we had. Night night zzzzzzz.
Coming soon Day 3 : Epcot, Soarin and Dinner at Planet Hollywood.
Me: Sue 43 Born Worrier and Trip Leader.
DD: Vicki 15 2nd In Command, But the Real Leader according to her.
Friday August 19th 2005
I awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed like most of us do our first morning bang on 2am,then again at 3am,and finally at 5am when I admited defeat and got up and started getting ready in the bathroom, as not to wake Vicki, one thing I do have to say about the bathrooms are, like the All Stars they are very small, I do suggest that you DO close the bathroom door before sitting on the loo,and NOT after as my poor toes will confirm :blush
For the first time ever I had set an alarm call for us at 7am,because it was early morning at The Magic Kingdom and I really wanted to be there early to suprise Karen and Family. Now on our previous 3 visits our first day was always to be Animal Kingdom as about 2pm the jeg lag normally catches up with us, but my plans had changed ever since I had a conversation with Karen about her plan to do the Family Magic Tour on this very day at MK at 9.45. So instantly I knew that I had to suprise them by turning up to meet them. Although I had ribbed Karen for many months that I would be in the crowds somewhere taking photos of her Hopping down main street(which apprently you have to do on this tour) im sure she thought with the crowds that would be there I either would'nt find them or that my plans would change and I would not turn up.(yeah right)
Vicki woke at 7 with the hilarous alarm call from Mickey and Stitch and after getting ready we made our way over to the food court for breakfast, we both had the Pop Platter which was a large waffle with Bacon and Sausage and a drink.
We caught the 7.55 bus to MK and knew we would not make the rope drop but it did'nt matter. Our first suprise of the day was how quiet it was, I had read on the boards that the parks with early/late openings tended to be the busiest, but this was the quietest I have ever seen them and this proved to be the same for all the parks on early/late opening throughout our stay, so I highly reccomend it.
Now I had no idea what route Karen would take, so first stop was at Guest Relations to ask, and was told that the familes meet in the small building next door 15 mins before the tour began, so we had plenty of time to explore the park first, we also picked up a Happy Birthday badge for Vicki as it was only her birthday 2 days previous and that was what we were celebrating.
We took a leisurly stroll down main street, the weather was very hot, with not a cloud in the sky. The castle looked fabulous and we stopped and had a couple of photos taken and picked up our photopass.
Vicki then persuded me to get a fastpass for Space Mountain that we could use later, but when we got there, there was no queue whatsoever, so we walked right on. They were only loading one side (on the right). What a great way to start a day, superb,we walked out and thought, well, theres no queue lets have another go, so we did. We then went over to Tomorrowland Transit Authority of which we have never been on before, so I thought it might be a good idea to have a go to catch our breath after Space Mountain. I didnt know what a great relaxing ride this was, we had wonderful views of the castle and the inside of Space Mountain.
We then had our very first go ever on Buzz, now I had every intention of scoring high here, thanks to all the tips I had picked up from the boards and guess what,I was rubbish!!
I scored a pathetic 2,200, Vicki scored over 50,000, we had a great laugh and I was determined I would be back.Well time was getting on so I thought we had better make our way back to the front of the park to suprise Karen and what better way than to jump on a Horse Drawn Trolley, we boarded and were the only ones on there as Neddy as we called him trotted along. Well what a laugh, most people were walking up main street while the driver of the trolley kept ringing the bell and shouting out "Birthday Girl on board", I felt like I was in a parade and Vicki could have died with embarassement, as everyone was laughing and shouting out Happy Birthday.
Right, now to suprise Karen, I had a very vague idea of what she looked like through photos on the boards, and I knew she also knew what I looked like from photos but I did'nt want her to see us before I had found them, so Vic and I sat on a little bench in between Guest Services and the start of the tour area each with a park map covering our faces and peeping over the top.
Within 2 mins I had spotted my prey,as Karen passed with the girls, I wanted to make sure it was her before jumping out on some poor unsuspecting family who would not have a clue it who we were and run the risk of being evicted from the park So when she passed again, I was so convinced, it was time to go in for the kill. We walked in behind them and said "Excuse me Madame I dont see much Hopping going on".(Praying all the time I had the right family). I think they were as shocked to see us as I was to have found them. After squeels of delight(mainly from me) that we had finally met, it was time to capture the moment on camera which a very kind cast member did for us.
We had a pleasent few mins of getting to know who's who and catching up on what they had been doing since they arrived. Karen and Jon are fantastic people and their 2 girls Amber and Erin are adorable. The time had come for them to start their tour and we said our goodbyes and said we would see them later at the Trails End.
Vic and I then went over to City Hall and had some fun taking more photos.
We then made our way back to the hotel for a bit of lunch and a swim before getting ready to go to Andy's cabin. When we got back to the room we noticed our first Towel sculputure, which was a dolly we called Dori for the rest of the holidays. How the mousekeepers do this amaze's me.
We then made our way over to Andys cabin, wearing our wonderful Crusin Castaways Tshirts with our names on that Andy had very kindly made for us. After getting there and the introductions, there was Andy, his dear wife Hazel their daughter Angelina and Andys dear mum Vi we had a lovely cool drink and took some snaps to remind us of each other. What a wonderful family they are and Vicki and Angelina got on really well,they are the same age, which is what Andy and I were hoping so that they would each have a friend on the cruise next year.
L TO R -Hazel, Andy, Me, Vicki,Angelina.
We then made our way over to the Trails End for dinner and to meet other cruisers that will be onboard with us, who were also on holiday at WDW, one lady Tina had come all the way from New York with her mum just for this dis meet and was only staying for 2 days.(I know your quite poorly at the moment Tina so if you are reading this, Get Well soon) It was great to meet up with everybody, there was myself and Vicki, Karen ,Jon and Girls, Andy and Family, Ed,his wife and daughter, Barb and her son,Tina and her mum and Bev and her family.We all had a good chat outside whilst waiting for our tables. The food was very good, it was buffet style and they had loads of different things to suit everybody including Ribs, Soup, Pizza, Pasta's Veggies and lots of different desserts. Vicki wanted a chocolate Brownie which should have cost extra, but as she still had her birthday badge on, they very knidly brought it over to her with a candle in it while we all sang Happy Birthday. We had a fantastic few hours chatting and getting to know each other, and before long it was time to wish everybody goodbye.
top row- Me, Karen,Andy,Ed, Bottom row- Barb,Tina, Bev.
Vicki with her birthday brownie.
Andys mum Vi had kindly offered to drive Vicki and I to Walmart as we did not have a car, so that we could stock up on some essentails, so we all got in Vi's car and headed off to Walmart. Wow what a place, if my local Asda'a was as big as this I would be in there for about 4 days lol. Well a few $$$$ Later and stocked up on Pop, Breakfast bars and other essentails including that all essentail Angel DVD boxed set which Vicki just had to buy
, we were dropped off at the Pop, we said our fairwells and Thanked Vi very much for taking us.
Vi, Me, Vicki.
Now all we had to do was figure out how we were going to carry 5 full heavy bags of shopping, 6 large bottle of Coke and 24 Bottles of water to our room
, as we stuggling along, some young lads were passing and offered to help, but, as you do I said "No we are ok honest" but practacally begging with my eyes for them to ask again. "Ok then Bye" "Bye" I said almost crying with the pain of balancing the water on my shoulders, cokes under each arm and a carrier bag hanging from my mouth. After what seemed like 3 hours we made it to our room. 11.30pm time for bed, what a great day we had. Night night zzzzzzz.
Coming soon Day 3 : Epcot, Soarin and Dinner at Planet Hollywood.
