BudgieMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2013
- Messages
- 2,724
So, we are back from our very first trip, and that means it is time to start our trip report! If you want to know a bit more about the planning of this trip and how it came about, check out my PTR (specifically the second post).
Anyway, after 342 days of waiting, 18th August FINALLY rolled around, which meant it was finally time for our first visit to WDW! It was not only our first visit to WDW, but to any Disney park (nope, we haven't done Disneyland Paris), so this was a big deal.
The taxi collected us at 8.30, and we caught the first train to Gatwick Airport (out local train station is around an hour away by direct train, so that's nice and handy for us.
Soon we were at Gatwick, our bags had been dropped after a minimal wait, and security was cleared... we always give ourselves lots of extra time, so there was quite a bit of time waiting around at Gatwick, during which I read my book, and we had some sandwiches from Boots. Eventually, we were called to our gate, and off we went...
Once more there was more waiting around, which my husband filled by eyeing up the planes, and grabbing some shots of ours. He can always be relied upon for things like that (in fact, he took more photos this holiday than I did!)
Once we were boarded, it finally felt real- I was finally on my way to meet Mickey!! EEEK! Lunch was lovely (Chicken with mushrooms and mini roast potatoes, and a tasty fruity mousse dessert) and we enjoyed our last "proper" cup of tea for a little while. I'm not fussy with food, so I don't have a problem with what I'm fed on planes in general, but both of our US bound trips with BA I have noticed the food is not so good on the return leg (someone needs to tell the American food suppliers that you cannot make a decent cup of tea with creamer!)
A fellow passenger grabbed a photo for us, which was our first together of our trip. Already we had more decent photos of the two of us than our week in NYC!
Unfortunately, the BA 777 World Traveler cabins desperately need updating. The IFE didn't work properly for me, and it took three resets before I could use it. In the end, the picture quality and sound quality (or lack therefore) were so bad that after I finished Muppets Most Wanted, I switched to my old iPod classic (with a tiny screen) and watched series one of Gavin and Stacey... bad that it was better quality, despite the tiny screen, huh?
Our "afternoon tea" was a Coronation Chicken sandwich and kitkat, which was fine, although I wish there had been a choice of sandwiches (I suspect there was a veggie option, but as I'm not a veggie and hadn't ordered veggie food, I didn't want to risk leaving someone who "needed" it without.
Once we landed at MCO, we were pretty near the beginning of the queue at immigration (DH didn't want to use the kiosk for whatever reason, despite being eligible), and we breezed through immigration without too much questioning. Baggage claim didn't take too long, and we were soon in the queue for customs, which we again breezed through.
Check in for DME was easy, though as we were the second family on the bus, we waited a while before we could depart. While we waited, we grabbed a DME selfie... don't we both look tired? It's about midnight UK time at this point, and we'd usually both be in bed by now!
When we finally arrived at SSR around 8pm, there was a queue to check in. After a wait, the Concierge called us over and she checked us in. She was lovely (called Jessica, I think) and really friendly and helpful. She sent us off to bell services to get someone to take us to our room, and soon we were scooting off on one of their buggies to our room.
When we opened our room (both Magic Bands worked first time, which was a sign of what was to come- no problems all week!) and figured out where the light switches were, we realised Jessica had sprinkled some pixie dust on us, and upgraded our Studio to a One Bedroom Villa! Eeek! I was so excited!
I only took one photo of the room all week (because it was too untidy after we arrived to take nice photos of!)... I squealed at our towel Mickey!
We talked about heading over to MK to see Wishes, but neither of us could be bothered. Instead, we walked back to the Carriage House, grabbed some bread, butter and jam for breakfasts, a quick Mickey crispie treat for me (I was hungry!), and an autograph book and picked up our resort mugs (which we filled with hot chocolate to take to our room).
My first ever Mickey treat! YUM!
After that, it was time for bed, as we were both exhausted, and excited to begin our first day in WDW!
Anyway, after 342 days of waiting, 18th August FINALLY rolled around, which meant it was finally time for our first visit to WDW! It was not only our first visit to WDW, but to any Disney park (nope, we haven't done Disneyland Paris), so this was a big deal.
The taxi collected us at 8.30, and we caught the first train to Gatwick Airport (out local train station is around an hour away by direct train, so that's nice and handy for us.
Soon we were at Gatwick, our bags had been dropped after a minimal wait, and security was cleared... we always give ourselves lots of extra time, so there was quite a bit of time waiting around at Gatwick, during which I read my book, and we had some sandwiches from Boots. Eventually, we were called to our gate, and off we went...
Once more there was more waiting around, which my husband filled by eyeing up the planes, and grabbing some shots of ours. He can always be relied upon for things like that (in fact, he took more photos this holiday than I did!)
Once we were boarded, it finally felt real- I was finally on my way to meet Mickey!! EEEK! Lunch was lovely (Chicken with mushrooms and mini roast potatoes, and a tasty fruity mousse dessert) and we enjoyed our last "proper" cup of tea for a little while. I'm not fussy with food, so I don't have a problem with what I'm fed on planes in general, but both of our US bound trips with BA I have noticed the food is not so good on the return leg (someone needs to tell the American food suppliers that you cannot make a decent cup of tea with creamer!)
A fellow passenger grabbed a photo for us, which was our first together of our trip. Already we had more decent photos of the two of us than our week in NYC!
Unfortunately, the BA 777 World Traveler cabins desperately need updating. The IFE didn't work properly for me, and it took three resets before I could use it. In the end, the picture quality and sound quality (or lack therefore) were so bad that after I finished Muppets Most Wanted, I switched to my old iPod classic (with a tiny screen) and watched series one of Gavin and Stacey... bad that it was better quality, despite the tiny screen, huh?
Our "afternoon tea" was a Coronation Chicken sandwich and kitkat, which was fine, although I wish there had been a choice of sandwiches (I suspect there was a veggie option, but as I'm not a veggie and hadn't ordered veggie food, I didn't want to risk leaving someone who "needed" it without.
Once we landed at MCO, we were pretty near the beginning of the queue at immigration (DH didn't want to use the kiosk for whatever reason, despite being eligible), and we breezed through immigration without too much questioning. Baggage claim didn't take too long, and we were soon in the queue for customs, which we again breezed through.
Check in for DME was easy, though as we were the second family on the bus, we waited a while before we could depart. While we waited, we grabbed a DME selfie... don't we both look tired? It's about midnight UK time at this point, and we'd usually both be in bed by now!
When we finally arrived at SSR around 8pm, there was a queue to check in. After a wait, the Concierge called us over and she checked us in. She was lovely (called Jessica, I think) and really friendly and helpful. She sent us off to bell services to get someone to take us to our room, and soon we were scooting off on one of their buggies to our room.
When we opened our room (both Magic Bands worked first time, which was a sign of what was to come- no problems all week!) and figured out where the light switches were, we realised Jessica had sprinkled some pixie dust on us, and upgraded our Studio to a One Bedroom Villa! Eeek! I was so excited!
I only took one photo of the room all week (because it was too untidy after we arrived to take nice photos of!)... I squealed at our towel Mickey!
We talked about heading over to MK to see Wishes, but neither of us could be bothered. Instead, we walked back to the Carriage House, grabbed some bread, butter and jam for breakfasts, a quick Mickey crispie treat for me (I was hungry!), and an autograph book and picked up our resort mugs (which we filled with hot chocolate to take to our room).
My first ever Mickey treat! YUM!
After that, it was time for bed, as we were both exhausted, and excited to begin our first day in WDW!
