I hope I finish this one....Trip Report!!***updated 04/09/08***

[Morgstar]

Dav2205,

Thought id voice an opinion or two as my DGF did the international Programme before we met. We now go back at least once a year and she regularly meets up for weekends with the people she met over there.

First of all, whilst it might seem cool to work on one of the attractions im not sure how much you can request them and the great majority of Brits working out there are in the uk Pavillion or in a resort. I know friends of my DGF who have managed to get another Visa and go back out and they have been placed on attraction or in resorts because it is very unusual to allow you to work in the UK Pavillion twice rather then them requesting it.

Also from what i know you really want to be a server or in the bar in the rose and crown because thats where all the money is, TIPS!

I know that the servers earn enough to go out every night and take short trips. Where as others struggled to make ends meet while enjoying a great lifestyle. My DGF was a server and she always goes on that she has never been as well off as she was in disney.

I can tell you that if you do make it out there you will really enjoy yourself and make friends for life form all over the UK.

Good luck with getting a place on the programme.

 

[Minniespal]

Great start ~ Looking forward to reading more

 

[Tammy Stringer]

What an interesting pre-trip report - loads of great detail.

Can't wait to hear if your DSF actually buys into the whole Disney thing - ears, Tshirt etc., before you leave - have you tried hypnotism

Tammy

 

[arieljasmine]

Loved reading your thoughts on the college program - I love Muppets 3D too! I think it definitely has the best pre-show - sometimes I am the only person laughing Lots of luck with your application.

Laur's

 

[Dav2205]

Thanks for all the feedback folks .

Dav2205,

Thought id voice an opinion or two as my DGF did the international Programme before we met. We now go back at least once a year and she regularly meets up for weekends with the people she met over there.

First of all, whilst it might seem cool to work on one of the attractions im not sure how much you can request them and the great majority of Brits working out there are in the uk Pavillion or in a resort. I know friends of my DGF who have managed to get another Visa and go back out and they have been placed on attraction or in resorts because it is very unusual to allow you to work in the UK Pavillion twice rather then them requesting it.

Also from what i know you really want to be a server or in the bar in the rose and crown because thats where all the money is, TIPS!

I know that the servers earn enough to go out every night and take short trips. Where as others struggled to make ends meet while enjoying a great lifestyle. My DGF was a server and she always goes on that she has never been as well off as she was in disney.

I can tell you that if you do make it out there you will really enjoy yourself and make friends for life form all over the UK.

Good luck with getting a place on the programme.

Thanks very much Morgstar, some great info there .

To be honest, I don't really care where I'd end up because well I'm at Walt Disney World for Pete's sake ! I wish just thinking of what would make it quite simply the best experience ever, and to me that would be attractions. The differences in pay does make me think about applying for server work though, I'll definitely put it down as one of my other choices if I get the option .

***Short Update - for I have a spare 20minutes and can't seem to sleep ***

I'm off University til a week on Monday, then it's nearing exam time once again . Can't believe after these exams I'm halfway through my course, scary stuff!


The next few months are going to fly by methinks. My last exam is on the 30th of June, then I head to Spain with 15(!) friends for two weeks from 19th June to 3rd July. Got T in the Park 11th-13th then only 6 weeks or so till I get to go 'home' to WDW .

I was talking to my mum earlier, and she's a little disappointed we didn't hang back and book free dining through the American WDW site. Main reasons for this are -

- We stayed at AKL last year and we absolutely ADORE the resort but couldn't seem to book it on the UK offer?
- I'm assuming the weak dollar may have made it slightly cheaper than normal.

Anyways there's no use crying over it, we're going to POFQ so I'm hardly going to complain . I love this resort because it just seems more intimate than some of the other moderates, probably due to it's size. I really enjoyed my brief stay at CSR a few years ago but found it rather daunting in size at times.

I think I'm going to write something more in depth tomorrow, possibly at work . I work as a call centre rep for Virgin Media part time at the weekends, which can be rather soul destroying at times and lord knows the DIS can help me through the day!

Till then,adios!

 

[jockey]

Your plans look great

 

[natalielongstaff]

I think I'm going to write something more in depth tomorrow, possibly at work . I work as a call centre rep for Virgin Media part time at the weekends, which can be rather soul destroying at times and lord knows the DIS can help me through the day!

Till then,adios!

we are with Virgin, the call centre staff ive spoken too are very helpful

im really enjoying your trippie

 

[jtlover]

Your trip sounds great - you are going to love Jiko - it was our best meal and the service there is the best on wdw site!

 

[mandymouse]

Your plans sound great, have fun with the rest of your planning

 

[Dav2205]

Has it been over a month already? Jeezo, time sure flies. Sorry I've been neglecting this, had a mound of Uni exams which are thankfully almost out the way now .

Got my 20th birthday on Thursday, exciting and scary at the same time. Fells like I'll be a proper adult, but I don't think I'm ready yet .

I don't know how much this is going to have to do with my trip in August, I'lltry to think of something to put in.

Basically a few friends and I managed to get a cheap holiday to Paris for August 4th-6th, so you know what that means? Yes, Disneyland Paris! It's been a good few years since I was there, WDS was just open and looking very sparse and I hear it's already much improved so I'm looking forward to seeing what the changes are like. I also prefer some of the DLP versions of rides, namely Pirates, so it should be fun to compare them especially when I'm going to both so soon after each other.

Just thought of something to write about,

Favourite Attractions!

Me - Picking a favourite attraction at WDW is like asking me to pick my favourite flavour of ice cream , and I'm afraid there's three that I just can't choose between. Two are at MK, one at DHS. Can you guess what they are?

The first is a common choice, Splash Mountain. I realise that there are more thrilling water rides in Florida (at IOA for example), but none of them have the character of Splash. It's theming is fantastic, it tells a story, and has a good drop with a fantastic view at the top, especially at night! I also like it because while I usually get wet on it, I won't normally get soaked to the skin .

Next is at MK also, probably not such a typical choice. I'm talking bout Mickey's Philharmagic. When I first experienced this in summer 06 I really didn't know what to expect as I hadn't read up on it at all. I was actually apprehensive before I went in, as I thought it may be something based at small children given it's placement in the park. Oh how wrong I was, this attraction is Disney at it's very best and is a great nostalgia trip in the process. It has songs from all my favourite Disney films in there. I feel it is missing a few (Jungle Book anyone?), but they did a great job and it's a great addition to MK.

And the final, from DHS -

I don't know if this really counts but Fantasmic for me is the perfect way to end a perfect day at WDW. IMO none of the other night time schows quite measure up. I get a shiver down my spine every time I see Sorcerer Mickey atop the rock near the end of the show. It's just, bliss!

That'll do for now, I need to quiz my family on their favourites!

I'm also thinking on buying a guide book. Any recommendations?

 

[irongirlof12]

great trip planned. we did free DDP and loved it.

good luck with the job thing...is it too early to put down DD11's name as she is desperate to work in WDW.

have fun in DLP.

 

[arieljasmine]

Thanks for the update, sounds like you have a great trip planned to DLRP. We are off there next month and haven't visited for nearly five years, so can't wait to see how it has changed.

As for guidebooks (I have loads!) I think these ones are really good, depends what sort of thing you are looking for:

A Brit's Guide to Orlando - Simon Veness (great take on things from British point of view)

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - Bob Sehlinger (very informative and never fails to make me laugh)

Birnbaum's Walt Disney World (the official take with detailed ride descriptions and great pics)

Passporter Guide to Walt Disney World (this is great for planning as it has loads of sections to fill in and places to keep notes whilst on your trip)

Hope this helps

Laur's

 

[Shazzie B]

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - Bob Sehlinger (very informative and never fails to make me laugh)

I'd recommend this one too, lots of great tips and info even for experienced Disney fans. Good luck in your exams and have a fantastic holiday-I'm sure DSF will enjoy it We're eating at Le Cellier too on 24th August-my DS favorite, DD loves the Chocolate 'Moose'. Might see you there!

 

[LORNA ANN]

I Love Carousel Of Progress And Have Never Missed It On A Trip Unless It Has Been Closed I KNOW ITS A LITTLE CHEESEY BUT I LOVE ALL THAT DAYS GONE BY STUFF! We Have Been Going Every Yr For 10 Yrs Sometimes Twice A Year . Love Disney So Much We Became Dvc Members 2005 !

 

[Lizzybear]

Sounds like a great trip you have planned.. We really liked POFQ and the CG is a great place for dinner, get a window seat if you can
I sympathise on the call centre thing, my bf works in one and some of the calls he tells me about make ME want to bang my head on the nearest hard surface!!

 

[Dav2205]

So I'm back, and apologies are in order for not updating this at all in a good few months! Anyway, I'm here not with my TR, and will do it asap while it is all fresh in my mind.

We're not really a family that takes lots of photos, but I'll update with what we have when DSD has uploaded them from the camera.

So here goes....

Day 1 (Saturday 23rd August) - Flight and Arrival Night

I must preface that I was in zombie mode for the majority of this day, due to me not being able to say no to a pub night with my friends the night before we travelled. So getting in at 2 and then getting up at 5 meant that I was in daze mode for most of the day.

As I was saying, we were up and out by 6:30 onto one of those Park Safe things near Glasgow Airport which was painless and then onto check-in in the shed that is Terminal 2. Check-in was quick and simple, and we then made our way through to the airport to 'enjoy' probably the most expensive breakfast known to man. Seriously, like £7 and they don't even substitute if you don't like something, come on. I know I know, captive audience and all that.

We were unsure of what to expect for the flight, because we'd never travelled with Thomas Cook before. The previous year we flew with MyTravel who had since become part of Thomas Cook (I think ), but hoped that we would have a different plane as last years was very old. Luckily we had, and for the first time on a long haul flight I didn't feel like I was crammed in (I'm 6 feet tall with LONG legs), and we had seat back TV's and the flight left on time. I'll also say that the food was pretty decent, and we ended up arriving early. So big thumbs up for Thomas Cook Airline .

Warning - Tangent - I couldn't help but notice that the flyGlobespan flights were delayed for at least 9 hours both going and coming back from Orlando on the dates we travelled. Is there something going on with them? We used them in 2006 when they were really good value but over the years the prices have gone up and the service seems to have gone down. Glad we chose not to book with them this year.

Tangent over

Back to the main TR. We were through the joy of US Immigration and out the baggage hall at Sanford by ~3:30pm. We were greeted by our driver from Tiffany Town Cars who I must say were WONDERFUL to deal with. We have had bad experiences in the past with various bus companies picking us up at excruciatingly early times (Last year we were picked up at 10am for a 6pm flight!) and it was a joy this year to be able to choose when we wanted picked up.

We arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter about 5pm, as a torrential Thunder Storm had slowed down traffic making the journey much longer. I must say, having stayed at the Coronado Springs and seen the Carribean Beach and POR resorts, POFQ is definitely my favourite Moderate resort. There's just something so vast about the others they would mean knowing our luck we would be stuck miles away from anything, which wasn't an issue in POFQ as we were given a room in building 6 (just a few minutes walk from the main building, pool and the boat launch).

After a quick unpack and freshen up we were off to Downtown Disney. As this was our first bus ride I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here -

The bus service this year was for the most part a complete and utter shambles. There wasn't nearly enough buses to cater for the amount of people either going to or coming back from the parks at anything but the quietest times of day. Also the bus allocation was ridiculously inconsistent, for example while waiting for a bus to DTD one night, in the 45 minutes we waited (It was aroung 7pm) - We saw 1 MK bus, 2 HS and 7(!) EPCOT buses. Now this wouldn't bother me if the EPCOT buses were all packed, but 4 or 5 were totally empty. Disney need to reevaulate their bus system, although I will say I never noticed issues like this in previous years so I don't know if it's a recent thing or we were just unlucky.

Rant over .

Our first choice for dinner was RFC, but as is usual down there the wait time was about 2 hours and we were ravenous so gave it a miss. I tried to convince the folks House of Blues would be a good option but as we were going there for the Gospel Brunch in the morning we ended up at Planet Hollywood instead. This place gets a bad rep but we've always found the food to be fine. Being the first night and we were all hungry, we ordered a starter each. BIG MISTAKE .

DM got the Parmesan Spinach Dip, DSD the Potato Skins, DB the Chicken Wings and myself the Chicken Tenders. For mains DM and DSD got the Classic Cheeseburger, DB got the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger and myself the Chicken Fajitas.

As I said above, we found the food to be fine verging on pretty good at points, and it achieved what it needed in that it filled a big hole in our stomachs after a long day of travelling .

Last port of call that night was to the "Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory" or the POFQ food court to you and I. One of my aims this holiday was to try the Beignets, and without really knowing what to expect I used the first Snack credit to get half a dozen. From what I can tell they were simply deep fried pastry with lots and lots of icing sugar? But at the end of the day, they were amazing. The USA can sure do brilliant pastries .

After that it was back to the room for some King of Queens before bed with our refillable mugs. We had a big day planned for Sunday...

Next - House of Blues Gospel Brunch and Epcot with Le Cellier Dinner (Finally)

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Luvin' it so far . I can't wait to hear about the Gospel Brunch as it's something I've wanted to do for a few years and was hoping to schedule in for next years trip.

 

[arieljasmine]

Great start to your report. I love that first night feeling with all the holiday stretched out in front of you. I am looking forward to hearing about the Gospel Brunch too, something we have always been meaning to get around too.

Laur's

 

[raph_b]

£7 for breakfast?!!? I hate airports! lol

Looking forward to the Le Cellier review....

 

[Dav2205]

Day 2 - Gospel Brunch and Epcot

We had booked the 10:30 seating for the Gospel Brunch which I think suited the whole family as it meant we got to get up a wee bit later than we normally would here (by that I mean we got up at 8:30 , it's usually around 7am).

After getting ready we headed to the bus stop for Downtown Disney at around 9:30. I can't be the only one in thinking that the Downtown Disney buses come with alarming irregularity, I started to wonder if they're on lower priority to the park buses. Anyway. I digest. We got to the House of Blues about 10:15 and collected our tickets. DTD is so very peaceful in the morning .

The HOB Gospel Brunch is held in the 'Dance Hall' at HOB, so not in the normal restaurant. It is quite pricy @ $33.50 for adults and $17.25 for kids, and bear in mind that you may be sat at a table with other families so if that's not your bag you may want to rethink this. If that doesn't bother you though, you are in for a treat because the Gospel Brunch is FANTASTIC . I'm probably the least religious person you'll meet but while there was obviously religious undertones to the songs it was never uncomfortable and the music is just so fun and upbeat that it's never an issue. The band and the singers were all great, and they had us all up on our feet clapping our hands and dancing about like madmen (which was funny as my family are quite restrained! ). Then there was the food which may have been the best buffet food I've ever tasted. The selection was great (you can see all the items on allears if you want, far too much to list here ). I stuffed myself and still ended up missing out two or three of the stations, and the food was all great. I especially recommend you try the chicken, it was so tasty and tender. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

My recommendation is if you haven't done the Gospel Brunch before I urge you to do it. In all the show last 45 mins to an hour and started about 11:00 so you have half an hour to get some food and get settled before the show starts. You can still go and get food and juice while the show is taking place as well.

We wanted to give DSD his first experience on the monorail, so took the rather convulted route of Bus from DTD > Contemporary > Monorail to TTC > Monorail to EPCOT. We weren't in much of a rush so this was a nice route to take, and I love how you get to see into the park before you even got off the monorail .

First port of call was as always Soarin to see if there was any fastpasses left (It was 1:30 at this point). Luckily there was, for 4:30-5:30. Perfect, as it gave us enough time to do Test Track, Spaceship Earth (none of us had experienced it since it was re-done) and have a wee browse in Innoventions. That's exactly what we did. The Test Track had a wait time of 40 minutes, and because we didn't have much else to do we just waited in the standby line. This was some kind of record for us because every other time we've went on Test Track it has broken down at some point . As always it was a fun ride, especially the last bit as it's great fun!

Our return time for Soarin was still a few hours away, so we had a quick browse around Innoventions which imo has seriously decreased in quality over the years. I remember from my very first trip in 1997 that it had all the latest video games and loads of fun stuff to do. Now it just seems to be a mixture of marketing for Disney's video games and educational things. This may appeal to others, but no so much to us so Innoventions took a lot less time to do than we anticipated . Spaceship Earth had been a 5 minute wait all day so after a relaxing Diet Coke or two (and a quick trip to Club Cool...got DM and DSD to try the Beverly I warned DB about it though. Some of those drinks are really really sweet! I kind of enjoyed the Fanta that was sugar cane and water though!) we headed over. I can't really remember what it was like before the change as I haven't been on it since my very first trip, but it was good fun and I found the humour quite quirky sometimes which certainly appeals to my sense of humour . Soarin was the last thing we had planned before we headed over to World Showcase, and I don't think I can say anything about Soarin that hasn't been said already, except that we all thought it was fantastic and it got two huge thumbs up DSD (The Disney sceptic).

By now it was around 5pm, which left us 3 hours before our 8:05 ADR at Le Cellier. The plan was to make our way leisurely around the countries, but as always it didn't really go to plan. It was that kind of weather where the rain seemed ominous, and the rest of the family were hungry so we made our way quickly to Lotus Blossom Cafe and DB got a counter service meal. DM and DSD had grabbed a snack from the Bakery in Norway and brought it with them. We sat there a bit (we chose China because we wanted to see the acrobats in the theatre, didn't want to be too far away if the heaven's opened! ), and the rain never really came to be so we went into the theatre to see the acrobats. From what I remember it was Chinese boys last time I saw them but this time it was girls. They were brilliant as always. Next we went to the always 'entertaining' American Adventure. We just love to laugh at the Scottish accents in it .

The rain had finally begun but thankfully the walk to Canada wasn't too far, and the rain was surprisingly light so with a quick stop at the pub in the UK we made our way to Le Cellier. We had only been there for lunch before and it was great so we greatly looked forward to our dinner. Our server (whose name I cannot remember! ) was attentive and knowledgable. Even though with the Free DDP we only got the entree + dessert, DM let us off the leash so we each had an appy as well . DM and myself both got the Tomato Stack which we had last year and loved it. DB had the Duck Two Ways, also as last year and thought it was great. DSD had soup, it wasn't the cheese soup but I can't remember exactly what it was . Said it was good though!

For Entree DB, DSD and myself had the Mushroom Filet Mignon. We all thought it was great. The flavours complimented each other perfectly and the steak was also cooked to perfection. DM had the New York Strip Steak which she also really enjoyed. For Dessert I had the Cheesecake, which was nice but a little unconventional (the biscuit was separate from the cake part if you know what I mean, I'm used to it being on the bottom of the cake ). DM and DSD both had the Creme Brulee which they both thought was lovely, and DB had the Smores and ate every bit which probably says all that's needed. We settled up the OOP amount and the tip and made our way back out of a very peaceful EPCOT (It was about 10pm and the park closed at 9) and made our way back to our hotel as we had an early start tomorrow for DHS.

Le Cellier was one of our favourites last year when we tried it for lunch, and after this meal it remained as one of our favourites. A great dining experience and well worth the 1TS credit .

Up next...Hollywood Studios, Sci Fi Cafe and Rain Rain Rain!!!

Just as a quick aside, I sent my application away for the International College Program for Summer 09. Apparently I'll hear back in 6-8 weeks, so all going well I'll be spending next June, July and August working at WDW .