Just back this morning!

[ali5on]

Hi everyone,
Landed at Manchester at 7.00am this morning so am trying to stay awake now and fight the effects of jet lag. What better way than a fix of the DIS forum! Just got back from 14 nights at Lake Berkley resort and 3 nights at the Alden Hotel at St Petes Beach. What can I say.... FANTASTIC!!!! Managed to fit in 4 Disney parks plus Typhoon lagoon, Blizzard Beach and Disney Quest. Also both Universal parks and Seaworld - and it was supposed to be more leisurely being our second trip! The three days at St Petes was a good idea to relax at the end (although we did manage a quick visit to Universal yesterday before we flew home!) For those about to travel, the weather broke on Monday night and we had the first real rain of our stay, on Tuesday night there was a small tornado just up the coast from St Petes.
I will hopefully be more coherent in the next few days and will answer any questions anyone may have. (Toni, thanks for your message, I will be in touch regarding Lake Berkley soon)
Finally, thanks to everyone on this board, the tips and info I acquired from you and from Simon's book really helped in making the holiday just about as perfect as possible!

Ali

 

[natalielongstaff]

sounds like you had a great time, welcome back

 

[tony64]

Welcome Back
I know it's no concilation but at least you can sleep in our own bed tonight.

 

[Cyrano]

Welcome back. See you brought the good weather with you

Reid

 

[Miffy2003]

Welcome home! Sounds like a lovely trip

 

[shellbell]

Welcome home hope you had a great holiday

Michelle

 

[ely3857]

Welcome home! Hope the unpacking & washing doesnt depress you too much!



Jodie

 

[mushumadness]

hiya glad u had a good time

my sister got back this morning too on the 7am virgin flight into manchester i bet you were on the same plane

 

[squitty]

Welcome Home...sounds like you had a great time.

 

[we*luv*orlando!!]

Welcome back....how time flies Glad to hear you had a great time, look forward to hearing from you

Toni

 

[KayleeUK]

Glad you had a great time

 

[Rain]

Welcome back

 

[ali5on]

Thanks for all your kind comments. I'm feeling a bit brighter today after a good night's sleep in my own bed. Have spent the day emptying the suitcases and doing load after load of washing and watching it getting dry then wet again on the washing line! (It would dry in 5 minutes in that lovely Florida sunshine!)
I've obviously been thinking a great deal about our holiday today and here is a short list of the highs and lows -
Highs
Soarin' at Epcot (went on 4 times in all - fantastic)
Stroking the dolphins at Seaworld (we didn't manage to get to SW on our first trip)
Spectromagic (again, missed on first visit)
The Lion King show - I just love it
Seeing my DD's face as she watched Cinderellabration in front of the beautifully decorated castle
Short queues at most parks
Staying in a house instead of hotel.
.....I could go on
Lows
Getting as far as the tram in the MGM car park at 8.45am ready for opening time and realising my DH had forgotton the tickets! ("I took them out of my wallet so they would be safe!")
Getting as far as the Seaworld car park one week later and realising my DH had forgotton the tickets!!!!
Going home

Ali

 

[slinky101]

hi, we got back this morning so I know how you feel! I have just posted my highlights and had forgotten about cinderellabration, my 9yr old DD thinks she is toooo old for most characters now but she loved cinderellabration, both DD's just sat mesmerised at it, it was great.
we loved soarin too, we would,ve loved to do it again but we went on memorial day and standby wait was 120 mins. even though you know its a simulator, you can't help picking your feet up to avoid hitting the trees when you fly over them!
going to watch our camcorder footage now!

 

[ali5on]

even though you know its a simulator, you can't help picking your feet up to avoid hitting the trees when you fly over them!

I know just what you mean! We were lucky enough to be in the front row the first time we rode, which is by far the best place. The other 3 times we were placed in the second row and I found it slightly distracting to see a row of dangling feet above our heads!

Ali

 

[MsPennieLane]

Welcome home, sounds like you had an amazing time I look forward to reading all about it.

Anz

 

[Mumof2]

Hi Welcome back. Loved yours and slinky 101's description of soarin. We rode this last year in DCA and loved it. We went on three times - like you, we kept lifting our feet and now DD (5) keeps saying that she wants to do it as soon as she gets to EPCOT.

Cinderellabration sounds fantastic - I cant wait to see it.

Also I would have killed DH if he had forgotten our tickets . But hey these wee things give you something to reminisce about years later (oh yeah and to cast up when ever we do something wrong )

Glad you had a brilliant time.

 

[patsy13]

Hi we landed at 7am too on 2nd June we were on the Virgin flight we had a wondeful time we were on the Disney Wonder 4 day cruise first then 2 weeks at the Wyndham Palace opposite downtown Disney we had a great time i agree with you about Soarin what a ride it was fantastic even though the first time we went on it the wait was 90 minutes and no available fast passes but it was well worth the wait i am just getting over the jetlag all thewashing is done and cases back in the loft can't wait till we go back again i am glad you had a great time

 

[ali5on]

Its great to be able to share my thoughts with you all on the boards. I'm so eager to tell my friends all about our experiences but those who haven't been to Orlando, quickly glaze over when I launch into our park strategies, top 10 favorite rides etc! Some friends just couldn't understand why we would want to return to Orlando as we had been before!
Mum of 2 - Regarding DH forgetting tickets TWICE, yes I'm saving that one to use against him many, many times for years to come!!
Ali

 

[Mumof2]

I know what you mean about people glazing over. My lot are doing that now when I talk about the plans I have made.

At least we can all share the excitement