Poohshoney
<font color=6666CC>Ya-ya sister!<br><font color=gr
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2001
Carol (40, British) dangerously Disney obsessed.
Roland (35, German) puts up with me somehow.
Mickey our beanie, on his first trip `home´.
Monday, 22 April 2002
We groaned ourselves awake when the alarm went off. It wasnt easy, despite the excitement, but the excellent shower helped. Breakfast prior to seven a.m. meant helping yourself from an extensive cold selection. We appreciated the peace and quiet (we once stayed at a place that `guaranteed a smile every morning´. Our host turned out to be a drunk, still smiling from the night before). We couldnt have faced a full English that early anyway. The taxi driver was waiting for us when we staggered out so off we went.
Check-in was a dream friendly and efficient. And I think we got as close as weve ever been to a free upgrade. I was psyching myself up to ask for one but I blew it by asking for an address for customer services so I could praise Stuart, et al. Well, I could hardly ask for an upgrade then, could I - my motives might have been misunderstood. But then William suddenly started hammering on his computer. Your flights fully booked. And he sounded disappointed. I reckon if it hadnt have been, wed have been laughing all the way to the gate.
And now, oh joy, the shops - let me at em! I know other people go mad for the cheap electrical goods and duty free but that wasnt what we were after living abroad, theres things you miss. We looked at everything but saved the best till last -Smiths and Boots! Sad isnt it. Books and magazines for me, chocolate and sweets for Roland, logic problems for us both. Bliss!
The time passed slowly but peacefully. I tried working out who all the `stars´ were featured in my magazines - its amazing how quickly things change. Roland watched the world go by. We went to our gate as soon as we could, amazed at how many people there were -we thought a Monday would be quiet. The UK security people took Roland very seriously. He got lots of close questioning, pattings down and his shoes swabbed. The bloke was very good he explained to us exactly what he was doing and why. Then all three of us stood round the machine, waiting for the result. Funny isnt it? Even when you know youve not been anywhere near explosives, you immediately start thinking of ways you might have. Sighs of relief negative result.
We were pleased to be flying BA because of their seat back TVs. Wed had them with Virgin and couldnt imagine such a long flight without them. Turn your imaginations on no seat back tellys. The plane looked and felt as if it was nearing the end of its useful life but as it was the only criticism we had, we cant complain. The service was very good, the food was definitely edible and we got more sleep without the TVs, which was good. And we were well stocked up on things to pass the time! We did try watching a film with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt but it was a poor quality screen with people wandering about between it and us. And what we could see was boring. The second film was Oceans Eleven. I might have watched that but it had long started before we noticed. Why dont they tell you?
Roland always has the window seat, me the middle. The man on the aisle was on his own and very chatty. He said hed been going to Florida for ten years, visiting friends who lived there, and he knew everything there was to know. Great lets do a little obsessing! Hmmm, how can I put it? Lets just say hed never heard of Fantasmic. I could quote more but that just about sums it up really. Having wowed him with my knowledge, he agreed that I probably knew more about WDW than anyone else whod never been.
The flight was uneventful though a bit too turbulent for my liking. (Sign of things to come.) We had a fantastic view of the Bermudas from the plane. It looked so beautiful. And we caught sight of Kennedy Space Centre.
The joy of landing in Florida was spoilt by the woman in front of us whacking her daughter across the face for a triviality. We were so shocked we were immobile. The woman continued as if nothing had happened, her husband just looked embarrassed, didnt say a word. As the little girl didnt cry, we assumed it was a regular occurrence.
We eventually all piled off the plane and headed through immigration, etc. We chose the longest queue as always, and did the first leg of the MCO-hokey cokey. You put your suitcase in, you take your suitcase out . Then off to the next lot of security where Roland was third-degreed again. Well, we thought smugly, you wont find anything. But they swabbed his rucksack straps as well this time! And the man wasnt nearly as friendly as the one in London when he disappeared behind his machine, looking solemn. I was torn between worrying about Roland being carted off and the delay in getting to our suitcases - I'd read horror stories of peoples suitcases disappearing before they got there. Time dragged but eventually we got the go ahead and we raced off to the monorail and baggage claim, just in time to catch Rolands suitcase before it disappeared back through the curtain. Relief. But wheres mine? We waited. And we waited. Wed put them on together And we waited. I was convinced it had been stolen and was getting very distraught (another nasty D word). The number of cases coming out dwindled to next to nothing and was mostly reruns. 25 minutes later the miracle finally happened - I thought it was a mirage, then couldnt stop hugging Roland when it wasnt. It was my suitcase! We were both weak at the knees. Whys it always my suitcase?!
Onto Avis. Wed wanted onsite and as Avis was joint cheapest with Dollar anyway, Avis it was. Wed previously filled in a form with all relevant info, endearing us to the Avis lady no end. I was prepared for the upgrade spiel but it never came. She just asked if we wanted to bring it back empty and when we said no, she told us how she should have known her first husband was a wrong un when her mother didnt like him. But mother liked the second one we were pleased to hear. Just dont ask me how we got there! All joking aside, we were extremely impressed with all of Avis service and heartily recommend them.
Got the car, drove out - realised we were obvious tourists as we were the only ones observing the speed limits. We didnt care we didnt want a fine.
Isnt Florida flat? Why are the houses all such a horrible taupe? Is that a shopping mall? No, its a school. I did the navigating, which worked surprisingly well. It doesnt normally. I'd read that WDW signage was bad but we thought it was fine. And then we were there Caribbean Beach Resort!
Check in went brilliantly thanks to CM Nancy. And we were given twenty Disney dollars - it was a refund for all the phone calls I'd made, trying to sort the booking problems out. Thanks Disney!
We drove apprehensively to our room what would it be like??? It was perfect!!! I'd requested a quiet, top floor room and thats just what we got and more! We also got a courtyard view, corner room in what we thought was the prettiest village by far Jamaica! We couldnt believe our luck. The rooms were so nice - I even liked the green paint and I'd hated it in photos. We were VERY happy.
A quick shower, fresh clothing and then off on a food hunt. We were completely bowled over by CBR. The grounds, Parrot Cay, the lake, it was just SO lovely. The whole ambience was so welcoming, we felt right at home from the first moment.
We had a quick look at the shop but couldnt see the milk. Now my friend Nancy said there was milk so there had to be! Onto the food court it was the only thing at CBR we didnt like. Poor choice, bad system. I told a CM server my wrap order seven times and it still came out wrong. Though later CMs in the food court and shop were more efficient, they were sometimes indifferent or even rude. The refill stations were absolute chaos. But it didnt spoil CBR for us - we just avoided it as much as possible. After our wraps, we tried looking for milk again. And Nancy was right of course! We bought milk and cereals for next days breakfast in our room and toddled off to Jamaica.
This is a long trip report it was a long day. We had an `early night´ at 8:30 (2:30 a.m. back home). We were too tired even to go out again when we heard the Epcot fireworks, never mind go to a park. But we were there! We still couldnt believe our luck.
Next, Day 3 We enter the time warp.
Roland (35, German) puts up with me somehow.
Mickey our beanie, on his first trip `home´.
Monday, 22 April 2002
We groaned ourselves awake when the alarm went off. It wasnt easy, despite the excitement, but the excellent shower helped. Breakfast prior to seven a.m. meant helping yourself from an extensive cold selection. We appreciated the peace and quiet (we once stayed at a place that `guaranteed a smile every morning´. Our host turned out to be a drunk, still smiling from the night before). We couldnt have faced a full English that early anyway. The taxi driver was waiting for us when we staggered out so off we went.
Check-in was a dream friendly and efficient. And I think we got as close as weve ever been to a free upgrade. I was psyching myself up to ask for one but I blew it by asking for an address for customer services so I could praise Stuart, et al. Well, I could hardly ask for an upgrade then, could I - my motives might have been misunderstood. But then William suddenly started hammering on his computer. Your flights fully booked. And he sounded disappointed. I reckon if it hadnt have been, wed have been laughing all the way to the gate.
And now, oh joy, the shops - let me at em! I know other people go mad for the cheap electrical goods and duty free but that wasnt what we were after living abroad, theres things you miss. We looked at everything but saved the best till last -Smiths and Boots! Sad isnt it. Books and magazines for me, chocolate and sweets for Roland, logic problems for us both. Bliss!
The time passed slowly but peacefully. I tried working out who all the `stars´ were featured in my magazines - its amazing how quickly things change. Roland watched the world go by. We went to our gate as soon as we could, amazed at how many people there were -we thought a Monday would be quiet. The UK security people took Roland very seriously. He got lots of close questioning, pattings down and his shoes swabbed. The bloke was very good he explained to us exactly what he was doing and why. Then all three of us stood round the machine, waiting for the result. Funny isnt it? Even when you know youve not been anywhere near explosives, you immediately start thinking of ways you might have. Sighs of relief negative result.
We were pleased to be flying BA because of their seat back TVs. Wed had them with Virgin and couldnt imagine such a long flight without them. Turn your imaginations on no seat back tellys. The plane looked and felt as if it was nearing the end of its useful life but as it was the only criticism we had, we cant complain. The service was very good, the food was definitely edible and we got more sleep without the TVs, which was good. And we were well stocked up on things to pass the time! We did try watching a film with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt but it was a poor quality screen with people wandering about between it and us. And what we could see was boring. The second film was Oceans Eleven. I might have watched that but it had long started before we noticed. Why dont they tell you?
Roland always has the window seat, me the middle. The man on the aisle was on his own and very chatty. He said hed been going to Florida for ten years, visiting friends who lived there, and he knew everything there was to know. Great lets do a little obsessing! Hmmm, how can I put it? Lets just say hed never heard of Fantasmic. I could quote more but that just about sums it up really. Having wowed him with my knowledge, he agreed that I probably knew more about WDW than anyone else whod never been.
The flight was uneventful though a bit too turbulent for my liking. (Sign of things to come.) We had a fantastic view of the Bermudas from the plane. It looked so beautiful. And we caught sight of Kennedy Space Centre.
The joy of landing in Florida was spoilt by the woman in front of us whacking her daughter across the face for a triviality. We were so shocked we were immobile. The woman continued as if nothing had happened, her husband just looked embarrassed, didnt say a word. As the little girl didnt cry, we assumed it was a regular occurrence.
We eventually all piled off the plane and headed through immigration, etc. We chose the longest queue as always, and did the first leg of the MCO-hokey cokey. You put your suitcase in, you take your suitcase out . Then off to the next lot of security where Roland was third-degreed again. Well, we thought smugly, you wont find anything. But they swabbed his rucksack straps as well this time! And the man wasnt nearly as friendly as the one in London when he disappeared behind his machine, looking solemn. I was torn between worrying about Roland being carted off and the delay in getting to our suitcases - I'd read horror stories of peoples suitcases disappearing before they got there. Time dragged but eventually we got the go ahead and we raced off to the monorail and baggage claim, just in time to catch Rolands suitcase before it disappeared back through the curtain. Relief. But wheres mine? We waited. And we waited. Wed put them on together And we waited. I was convinced it had been stolen and was getting very distraught (another nasty D word). The number of cases coming out dwindled to next to nothing and was mostly reruns. 25 minutes later the miracle finally happened - I thought it was a mirage, then couldnt stop hugging Roland when it wasnt. It was my suitcase! We were both weak at the knees. Whys it always my suitcase?!
Onto Avis. Wed wanted onsite and as Avis was joint cheapest with Dollar anyway, Avis it was. Wed previously filled in a form with all relevant info, endearing us to the Avis lady no end. I was prepared for the upgrade spiel but it never came. She just asked if we wanted to bring it back empty and when we said no, she told us how she should have known her first husband was a wrong un when her mother didnt like him. But mother liked the second one we were pleased to hear. Just dont ask me how we got there! All joking aside, we were extremely impressed with all of Avis service and heartily recommend them.
Got the car, drove out - realised we were obvious tourists as we were the only ones observing the speed limits. We didnt care we didnt want a fine.
Isnt Florida flat? Why are the houses all such a horrible taupe? Is that a shopping mall? No, its a school. I did the navigating, which worked surprisingly well. It doesnt normally. I'd read that WDW signage was bad but we thought it was fine. And then we were there Caribbean Beach Resort!
Check in went brilliantly thanks to CM Nancy. And we were given twenty Disney dollars - it was a refund for all the phone calls I'd made, trying to sort the booking problems out. Thanks Disney!
We drove apprehensively to our room what would it be like??? It was perfect!!! I'd requested a quiet, top floor room and thats just what we got and more! We also got a courtyard view, corner room in what we thought was the prettiest village by far Jamaica! We couldnt believe our luck. The rooms were so nice - I even liked the green paint and I'd hated it in photos. We were VERY happy.
A quick shower, fresh clothing and then off on a food hunt. We were completely bowled over by CBR. The grounds, Parrot Cay, the lake, it was just SO lovely. The whole ambience was so welcoming, we felt right at home from the first moment.
We had a quick look at the shop but couldnt see the milk. Now my friend Nancy said there was milk so there had to be! Onto the food court it was the only thing at CBR we didnt like. Poor choice, bad system. I told a CM server my wrap order seven times and it still came out wrong. Though later CMs in the food court and shop were more efficient, they were sometimes indifferent or even rude. The refill stations were absolute chaos. But it didnt spoil CBR for us - we just avoided it as much as possible. After our wraps, we tried looking for milk again. And Nancy was right of course! We bought milk and cereals for next days breakfast in our room and toddled off to Jamaica.
This is a long trip report it was a long day. We had an `early night´ at 8:30 (2:30 a.m. back home). We were too tired even to go out again when we heard the Epcot fireworks, never mind go to a park. But we were there! We still couldnt believe our luck.
Next, Day 3 We enter the time warp.
