Hiyas all 
Well, This will be a short trip report, as I am still jet lagged, but want to get the essentials down while they are still pretty fresh<g>.
Who:
Me - Heidi, 31, Orlando Newbie, but US veteran.
Mum - Joy, <ahem, they don't ask real ladies this question do they??), Been to Orlando 10 years ago, US veteran.
Dates:
24th June - 4th July
Where:
Best Western International Plaza
24th June
Okies, we stayed at Le Meridien at gatwick on the 24th, so we could play in the spa the night before and also so I could get my legs waxed (yeouch!). Nice hotel, great spa, nice therapists. Had dinner that night at Garfunkels, and then off for a nice early night (yeah right). We enquired at the BA desk that night about seat availability for our flight the next day, and they told us they had reserved us 2 seats together - nice going BA!
25th June
Got to the terminal nice and early, so I could start my shopping and eating early<g>. I am a great flyer, but for some reason I get nervous tummy before I fly out - probably excitement, so need to eat early before I get on the flight. That out of the way, we get on the plane, which was very full, and are off about 20 minutes late. Flight was fine - time flew past, and I had my Harry Potter book which helped the time go quick.
I hate MCO! We landed at 2.30, but didn't get out of the place until about 4.30, as the second baggage claim took ages. Jumped on the shuttle the nice Travel City Direct lady directed us to and off we went.
Check in went fine at the hotel, and we were soon off to room 1433 - 4th Floor facing the pool, and a king suite - that is, two rooms, two beds, with two tv's fridge and microwave. Nice room - air conditioning was a bit loud - but that wasn't going to be a problem.
Unpacked, had a shower, and popped over to Friendly's - The restaurant is next door to the hotel and luckily we loved it! The desserts are to die for!
Quick wander round the hotel and gift shop, and a stop at the nearby supermarket and we were sorted with drinks etc, and ready to call it a night.
Thursday 25th June
I managed to sleep until 6.30 am! Quite a record for me! I think the 3 Tylenol PM's I had the night before helped, but I woke up feeling great, and ready to hit breakfast and then Seaworld.
Stopped by a Visitors Centre, and bought 2 14 day passes for the Trolley for $10, and we were set.
Breakfasted and shuttled to reach Seaworld for 9am opening - got our pass for the day sorted out at the Discovery Cove check in desk, and we were off!
Did all the normal things in Seaworld, cried at shamu, got wet on Journey to Atlantic (0 min wait when we went on it), saw the shire horses, had a nice brew to cool down, and also saw the cat show, which was good as one of the cats they feature is a Bengal, and we have one so it was nice to see another one advertising this great breed.
Bought a water cooler water bottle which would be the buy of the holiday, and we had a hot dog, and wimped out at about 4pm.
We did the rescue Tour which was great, and very interesting.
Back to Friendly's, bit of a walk round (much to my feet's disgust), and then collapsed into bed.
Friday 27th
MGM Day! Breakfast at Friendly's (the breakfasts are fabby - we tried Ponderosa one morning can't remember which - but hated it, once you have eaten a buffet at Vegas most other buffets don't cut it.).
Anyway off on the shuttle to the TTC, jumped on a bus from there to MGM, and off we went!
I had been teasing my mum for a couple of weeks that as soon as we got to a Disney park there was a pressie Ihad to buyher, she is a big Furby fan, and I knew she would Love a Pal Mickey. I popped into the Darkroom at the entrance, and sent her off to the other part of the shop and told her I would find her ina few minutes. Mickey took a few minutes to be activated and my mum loved him! More about him as we go along...
We carried on up to the Tower Of Terror, all the time Mickey telling terrible but funny jokes, and being lots of fun. The wait for ToT was officially about 15 minutes, but we were in there quicker. Mickey wasn't too happy in the line, and told us he didn't want to go on, and asked us to hug him really tight which we did! The ride itself is great, and I loved it! Mickey told us as we left that he didn't want to go on it again, but was glad we were with him!
We had lunch at the Sci Fi Diner, I had pasta which was fabby, and Mum had a huge ham sarnie. We had those big cocktails which come with the glowing ice cubes. it was a nice sit down, and we had gone to the place on spec, and had gotten in after a 5 minute wait. We were going to get a fastpass to WWTBAM, but managed to get into a show about 2 mins before it started, so that was great timing as well!
We did the Muppet show and the backlot tour and the Indiana jones Stunt show (incidentally, Mickey told us that this show was the last one of the day to start and told us how to get to it!), I really enjoyed the Muppet show!
We had the Fantasmic Dinner Package, and had opted for the Brown Derby - again no wait, and the Cobb Salad is terrific! Did a few bits and pieces of shopping, and messed about a bit until we went into the Fantasmic Theatre at 8 - It rained until and past 9, heavily, but the show went on, and it was great to see how different it is from the show I saw in LA in 96.
Cabbed it back for $26, and collapsed into bed.
Saturday 28th
Discovery Cove.
What can you say about this place? I loved it, the Dolphin Interaction was great, Tyler, talked to me so much the trainers commented on it, said they hadn't seen him interact with someone so much for a long time. Loved the Lazy river, learnt to snorkel, my mum who is a very nervous swimmer (she cant be anywhere her feet can't touch the floor), was fine once she had a life jacket as well as the vest - she was so chuffed she could get a prescription snorkel mask, and we genrally relaxed, had fun, and spent way too much money. I ended up buying the video, and the 5 photo cd, as the interaction had been so unusual. Was it expensive? Yes, as we had to buy water shoes (but boy are they comfy!), and some drinks as it was so hot, but I would do it again in a second.
Home via the hotel shuttle, Friendly's for a divine dinner and a sundae, and then off to bed, safe in the knowledge that Sunday was a day off to go shopping.....
Sunday 29th
Florida Mall
We had a lie in til 9am - How decadent! Caught the 42 lynx bus from opposite the hotel to the Florida Mall, took a while, but who cares, it was air conditioned, and we got to see new places.
Got to the Mall about 12, ate at Ruby Tuesday's, abused the credit card to the tune of approx $300 - It was sale day at Burdines <ggg> (I filled my extra suitcase with everything I bought), came home exhausted, ate, showered, and realised that shopping was more tiring that doing the parks!
Monday 30th
MK Day!
Got to the park nice and early, but boy was it busy! managed to do Pirates of the Carribean, and Haunted Mansion, had some early lunch at The Liberty Tree Tavern (again no ressies), it was a nice lunch, even if we were a little rushed. The plan was to people watch and have fun in the park until Spectro, and then go home (I am a huge fan of the Electric Light Parade - fell in love with it in LA in 96), anyways, it was too busy, and there was a huge downpour (we ended up on the TTA for about 15 minutes, watching people get very wet), Mickey was very informative, telling us where things were and lots of little snippets of info, but we were wet and tired, and the crowds just weren't giving in, so we headed home about 5ish, afetr my mum bought me a nice citizen watch that was reduced from $165 to $81 - Nice!
Home, dinner, and collapse into bed - we are such party animals you see.
Tuesday 1st
La Nouba Day!
We are big Cirque fans - Fell in love with them when we went to see "O" in Las vegas last year, and also saw Saltimbanco at the Albert Hall this Feb, so we had to go to when we were in Orlando!
Nice late breakfast, and caught the 12.45 shuttle to TTC, from there we got the monorail to the Grand Floridian (nice place - I could stay there in a heartbeat!), and then got the resort bus to DD. Had a wander around the shops and then decided on Wolfgang Puck Cafe for lunch/dinner before the show. I have wanted to eat at a Pucks for ages, they have one in vegas, but I am usually too busy gambling to get there<g>. had Sushi sampler to start, mum had crab cakes, then we both had the grilled salmon and garlic mash (yummy), then I had the creme brulee sampler and mum had the white choccie cheesecake, we had cappucinos, and soft drinks, and the bill was a whopping $97! it was really good food though, so I don't mind
Our seats for cirque were really good, and the show was great, I won't spoil any details for you, but it's definitely worth seeing (I still don't rate it as good as "O", but that is an exceptional show). Bought some goodies from the Cirque shop, and then spent a huge amount of money on Blues Brothers merchandise at the HOB's shop - nice stuff in there!
Cab home - $19, nice driver, we got talking to him, and he said that it's basically the Brits keeping the cab drivers in business as the tourists still are very much down from events since 911.
Wednesday 2nd July
EPCOT!
I love Epcot! Mickey told us lots of ways to say hello and other phrases in each language of worlds in the Showcase, and also kept telling us where the best place to watch Illuminations,a nd said he would remind us when it was getting close to the time to start finding a spot.
We had a fabulous meal at the Marrakesh Restaurant in Morrocco, we had the Royal feast, and it was bloomin lovely! The Belly Dancer was good fun as well!
I bought a Kimono and Obi, as well as a nice fan and a small geisha style purse from Japan, as I have a works do this year with a Oriental theme, and I am really pleased with it, as it's proved very difficult to find this kind of stuff over here, so I was really chuffed to find it here, as well as getting a lesson on how to wear a kimono and Obi from the nice saleswoman!
Found a nice spot for Illuminations, sort of aligned with france, but close to UK, rigt by the waterside. We got there at 8, and we sat on the wall for an hour, and had a great view! illuminations is really brilliant, I loved it, and mum said it had changed loads from when she last saw it.
I was very naughty in Epcot and bought myself a really lovely Lulu Guinness handbag from the UK shop, it was $175 - a really big bargain as to what it would cost over here.
Caught the 10.15pm EPCOT shuttle home to the hotel and collapsed in bed!
Thursday 3rd July
Last full day!
Frankly we were knackered today, and decided to go to Pointe Orlando to do some shopping, we did far too much (dropped another $200 dollars<g>), pigged out at Starbucks and Johnny Rockets, and got caught in a fantastic thunderstorm, so we cabbed it back the three blocks ($3.75!), and started packing, before having a fantastic dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango - I fell in love with that place!
Friday 4th July
Went to breakfast and then had to buy an extra suitcase (I know!). Checked out of hotel for 1pm, but had to wait around for 3 hours for the shuttle - a good excuse for an extra sundae at Friendly's!
Shuttle came to take us to Sanford - checked into Sunshine 1st no problem, we had 40kg allowance each, but I am sure we were over (we checked 5 suitcases for goodness sakes!), but nothing was said and we were not charged anything. Paid $20 each to use the Guest House, really nice place, and the net access was very handy for my mum, so she could find out all about the goings and comings on Big Brother!
Flight home was great - there was 3 other people in Sunshine 1st so we had the run of the seating, the food was great, the seats were realy comfy, and it was so nice to be able to move around really easily.
As it was Independance day, we saw loads of firework displays from the air as we flew accross the coast, and that was so pretty!
Gatwick was manic as usual, but our bags came out really quickly.
Overall:
MGM was my favourite park, I really loved the ambience of the place. MK was my least favourite, but that was probably because it was so busy the day we went.
Rent a Pal Mickey - they are fabby, you will end up buying one!
Food was wonderful, and shopping was awesome!
We had a great time!
Thanks for reading this far!
Heid
xx
Well, This will be a short trip report, as I am still jet lagged, but want to get the essentials down while they are still pretty fresh<g>.
Who:
Me - Heidi, 31, Orlando Newbie, but US veteran.
Mum - Joy, <ahem, they don't ask real ladies this question do they??), Been to Orlando 10 years ago, US veteran.
Dates:
24th June - 4th July
Where:
Best Western International Plaza
24th June
Okies, we stayed at Le Meridien at gatwick on the 24th, so we could play in the spa the night before and also so I could get my legs waxed (yeouch!). Nice hotel, great spa, nice therapists. Had dinner that night at Garfunkels, and then off for a nice early night (yeah right). We enquired at the BA desk that night about seat availability for our flight the next day, and they told us they had reserved us 2 seats together - nice going BA!
25th June
Got to the terminal nice and early, so I could start my shopping and eating early<g>. I am a great flyer, but for some reason I get nervous tummy before I fly out - probably excitement, so need to eat early before I get on the flight. That out of the way, we get on the plane, which was very full, and are off about 20 minutes late. Flight was fine - time flew past, and I had my Harry Potter book which helped the time go quick.
I hate MCO! We landed at 2.30, but didn't get out of the place until about 4.30, as the second baggage claim took ages. Jumped on the shuttle the nice Travel City Direct lady directed us to and off we went.
Check in went fine at the hotel, and we were soon off to room 1433 - 4th Floor facing the pool, and a king suite - that is, two rooms, two beds, with two tv's fridge and microwave. Nice room - air conditioning was a bit loud - but that wasn't going to be a problem.
Unpacked, had a shower, and popped over to Friendly's - The restaurant is next door to the hotel and luckily we loved it! The desserts are to die for!
Quick wander round the hotel and gift shop, and a stop at the nearby supermarket and we were sorted with drinks etc, and ready to call it a night.
Thursday 25th June
I managed to sleep until 6.30 am! Quite a record for me! I think the 3 Tylenol PM's I had the night before helped, but I woke up feeling great, and ready to hit breakfast and then Seaworld.
Stopped by a Visitors Centre, and bought 2 14 day passes for the Trolley for $10, and we were set.
Breakfasted and shuttled to reach Seaworld for 9am opening - got our pass for the day sorted out at the Discovery Cove check in desk, and we were off!
Did all the normal things in Seaworld, cried at shamu, got wet on Journey to Atlantic (0 min wait when we went on it), saw the shire horses, had a nice brew to cool down, and also saw the cat show, which was good as one of the cats they feature is a Bengal, and we have one so it was nice to see another one advertising this great breed.
Bought a water cooler water bottle which would be the buy of the holiday, and we had a hot dog, and wimped out at about 4pm.
We did the rescue Tour which was great, and very interesting.
Back to Friendly's, bit of a walk round (much to my feet's disgust), and then collapsed into bed.
Friday 27th
MGM Day! Breakfast at Friendly's (the breakfasts are fabby - we tried Ponderosa one morning can't remember which - but hated it, once you have eaten a buffet at Vegas most other buffets don't cut it.).
Anyway off on the shuttle to the TTC, jumped on a bus from there to MGM, and off we went!
I had been teasing my mum for a couple of weeks that as soon as we got to a Disney park there was a pressie Ihad to buyher, she is a big Furby fan, and I knew she would Love a Pal Mickey. I popped into the Darkroom at the entrance, and sent her off to the other part of the shop and told her I would find her ina few minutes. Mickey took a few minutes to be activated and my mum loved him! More about him as we go along...
We carried on up to the Tower Of Terror, all the time Mickey telling terrible but funny jokes, and being lots of fun. The wait for ToT was officially about 15 minutes, but we were in there quicker. Mickey wasn't too happy in the line, and told us he didn't want to go on, and asked us to hug him really tight which we did! The ride itself is great, and I loved it! Mickey told us as we left that he didn't want to go on it again, but was glad we were with him!
We had lunch at the Sci Fi Diner, I had pasta which was fabby, and Mum had a huge ham sarnie. We had those big cocktails which come with the glowing ice cubes. it was a nice sit down, and we had gone to the place on spec, and had gotten in after a 5 minute wait. We were going to get a fastpass to WWTBAM, but managed to get into a show about 2 mins before it started, so that was great timing as well!
We did the Muppet show and the backlot tour and the Indiana jones Stunt show (incidentally, Mickey told us that this show was the last one of the day to start and told us how to get to it!), I really enjoyed the Muppet show!
We had the Fantasmic Dinner Package, and had opted for the Brown Derby - again no wait, and the Cobb Salad is terrific! Did a few bits and pieces of shopping, and messed about a bit until we went into the Fantasmic Theatre at 8 - It rained until and past 9, heavily, but the show went on, and it was great to see how different it is from the show I saw in LA in 96.
Cabbed it back for $26, and collapsed into bed.
Saturday 28th
Discovery Cove.
What can you say about this place? I loved it, the Dolphin Interaction was great, Tyler, talked to me so much the trainers commented on it, said they hadn't seen him interact with someone so much for a long time. Loved the Lazy river, learnt to snorkel, my mum who is a very nervous swimmer (she cant be anywhere her feet can't touch the floor), was fine once she had a life jacket as well as the vest - she was so chuffed she could get a prescription snorkel mask, and we genrally relaxed, had fun, and spent way too much money. I ended up buying the video, and the 5 photo cd, as the interaction had been so unusual. Was it expensive? Yes, as we had to buy water shoes (but boy are they comfy!), and some drinks as it was so hot, but I would do it again in a second.
Home via the hotel shuttle, Friendly's for a divine dinner and a sundae, and then off to bed, safe in the knowledge that Sunday was a day off to go shopping.....
Sunday 29th
Florida Mall
We had a lie in til 9am - How decadent! Caught the 42 lynx bus from opposite the hotel to the Florida Mall, took a while, but who cares, it was air conditioned, and we got to see new places.
Got to the Mall about 12, ate at Ruby Tuesday's, abused the credit card to the tune of approx $300 - It was sale day at Burdines <ggg> (I filled my extra suitcase with everything I bought), came home exhausted, ate, showered, and realised that shopping was more tiring that doing the parks!
Monday 30th
MK Day!
Got to the park nice and early, but boy was it busy! managed to do Pirates of the Carribean, and Haunted Mansion, had some early lunch at The Liberty Tree Tavern (again no ressies), it was a nice lunch, even if we were a little rushed. The plan was to people watch and have fun in the park until Spectro, and then go home (I am a huge fan of the Electric Light Parade - fell in love with it in LA in 96), anyways, it was too busy, and there was a huge downpour (we ended up on the TTA for about 15 minutes, watching people get very wet), Mickey was very informative, telling us where things were and lots of little snippets of info, but we were wet and tired, and the crowds just weren't giving in, so we headed home about 5ish, afetr my mum bought me a nice citizen watch that was reduced from $165 to $81 - Nice!
Home, dinner, and collapse into bed - we are such party animals you see.
Tuesday 1st
La Nouba Day!
We are big Cirque fans - Fell in love with them when we went to see "O" in Las vegas last year, and also saw Saltimbanco at the Albert Hall this Feb, so we had to go to when we were in Orlando!
Nice late breakfast, and caught the 12.45 shuttle to TTC, from there we got the monorail to the Grand Floridian (nice place - I could stay there in a heartbeat!), and then got the resort bus to DD. Had a wander around the shops and then decided on Wolfgang Puck Cafe for lunch/dinner before the show. I have wanted to eat at a Pucks for ages, they have one in vegas, but I am usually too busy gambling to get there<g>. had Sushi sampler to start, mum had crab cakes, then we both had the grilled salmon and garlic mash (yummy), then I had the creme brulee sampler and mum had the white choccie cheesecake, we had cappucinos, and soft drinks, and the bill was a whopping $97! it was really good food though, so I don't mind
Our seats for cirque were really good, and the show was great, I won't spoil any details for you, but it's definitely worth seeing (I still don't rate it as good as "O", but that is an exceptional show). Bought some goodies from the Cirque shop, and then spent a huge amount of money on Blues Brothers merchandise at the HOB's shop - nice stuff in there!
Cab home - $19, nice driver, we got talking to him, and he said that it's basically the Brits keeping the cab drivers in business as the tourists still are very much down from events since 911.
Wednesday 2nd July
EPCOT!
I love Epcot! Mickey told us lots of ways to say hello and other phrases in each language of worlds in the Showcase, and also kept telling us where the best place to watch Illuminations,a nd said he would remind us when it was getting close to the time to start finding a spot.
We had a fabulous meal at the Marrakesh Restaurant in Morrocco, we had the Royal feast, and it was bloomin lovely! The Belly Dancer was good fun as well!
I bought a Kimono and Obi, as well as a nice fan and a small geisha style purse from Japan, as I have a works do this year with a Oriental theme, and I am really pleased with it, as it's proved very difficult to find this kind of stuff over here, so I was really chuffed to find it here, as well as getting a lesson on how to wear a kimono and Obi from the nice saleswoman!
Found a nice spot for Illuminations, sort of aligned with france, but close to UK, rigt by the waterside. We got there at 8, and we sat on the wall for an hour, and had a great view! illuminations is really brilliant, I loved it, and mum said it had changed loads from when she last saw it.
I was very naughty in Epcot and bought myself a really lovely Lulu Guinness handbag from the UK shop, it was $175 - a really big bargain as to what it would cost over here.
Caught the 10.15pm EPCOT shuttle home to the hotel and collapsed in bed!
Thursday 3rd July
Last full day!
Frankly we were knackered today, and decided to go to Pointe Orlando to do some shopping, we did far too much (dropped another $200 dollars<g>), pigged out at Starbucks and Johnny Rockets, and got caught in a fantastic thunderstorm, so we cabbed it back the three blocks ($3.75!), and started packing, before having a fantastic dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango - I fell in love with that place!
Friday 4th July
Went to breakfast and then had to buy an extra suitcase (I know!). Checked out of hotel for 1pm, but had to wait around for 3 hours for the shuttle - a good excuse for an extra sundae at Friendly's!
Shuttle came to take us to Sanford - checked into Sunshine 1st no problem, we had 40kg allowance each, but I am sure we were over (we checked 5 suitcases for goodness sakes!), but nothing was said and we were not charged anything. Paid $20 each to use the Guest House, really nice place, and the net access was very handy for my mum, so she could find out all about the goings and comings on Big Brother!
Flight home was great - there was 3 other people in Sunshine 1st so we had the run of the seating, the food was great, the seats were realy comfy, and it was so nice to be able to move around really easily.
As it was Independance day, we saw loads of firework displays from the air as we flew accross the coast, and that was so pretty!
Gatwick was manic as usual, but our bags came out really quickly.
Overall:
MGM was my favourite park, I really loved the ambience of the place. MK was my least favourite, but that was probably because it was so busy the day we went.
Rent a Pal Mickey - they are fabby, you will end up buying one!
Food was wonderful, and shopping was awesome!
We had a great time!
Thanks for reading this far!
Heid
xx
