Our Magical WDW Adventure -24 Days of Food and Fun-Updated 3/8 -Come Join Us

I LOVE America's Next Top Model and So You Think You Can Dance!!! :thumbsup2

Who is your favorite Top Model this season?

I think were probably on a different season over here, at the moment were on the one with Chantel, Brandy, Jenah and Selicia (sp??) - cycle 9 I think. Its down to the final four so only two more episodes to go, unfortunately I'm working tomorrow night when its on so will have to catch it on replay. I dont really have a favorite this time to be honest, they are all kind of majorly vain or mean, that said it would probably have to be Selicia, although I did like Heather and Lisa. I used to watch them religiously, and then watch the replays of old series all the time too, I must have seen the one with Niama and Katlyn about 20 times. However I managed to miss the last 4 or so episodes of last series so I'm trying to keep up this time. I did love season 7 with Melrose and CariDee, although I think Melrose should have won. I kind of miss Janice Dickinson, she made it funny, she was so mean. Oh and is it just me or do you think Nigel Barker is kind of hot? :confused3

I'm more into SYTYCD at the moment. I only caught it from last season, the one where Benji wins, and it got me hooked straight away. They are all so amazing, especially Heidi. At the moment were on the final 12 of the next season, and find out tonight who makes the top 10 - at the moment I love Lacey, although unfortunately I found out by accident who wins, so no surprises there :confused:

Dont know if you get it in America but Britain's Next Top Model is really good too.
 
I think were probably on a different season over here, at the moment were on the one with Chantel, Brandy, Jenah and Selicia (sp??) - cycle 9 I think. Its down to the final four so only two more episodes to go, unfortunately I'm working tomorrow night when its on so will have to catch it on replay. I dont really have a favorite this time to be honest, they are all kind of majorly vain or mean, that said it would probably have to be Selicia, although I did like Heather and Lisa. I used to watch them religiously, and then watch the replays of old series all the time too, I must have seen the one with Niama and Katlyn about 20 times. However I managed to miss the last 4 or so episodes of last series so I'm trying to keep up this time. I did love season 7 with Melrose and CariDee, although I think Melrose should have won. I kind of miss Janice Dickinson, she made it funny, she was so mean. Oh and is it just me or do you think Nigel Barker is kind of hot? :confused3

I'm more into SYTYCD at the moment. I only caught it from last season, the one where Benji wins, and it got me hooked straight away. They are all so amazing, especially Heidi. At the moment were on the final 12 of the next season, and find out tonight who makes the top 10 - at the moment I love Lacey, although unfortunately I found out by accident who wins, so no surprises there :confused:

Dont know if you get it in America but Britain's Next Top Model is really good too.

Yeah, that's last season's Top Model. I thought it was a pretty good season, although I thought they were all kind of self absorbed, espcially Brandy (Did NOT like her!)

Sorry you found out who wins on SYTYCD :( I was happy with the winner.

No Britain's Top Model here... :sad2:

Have you seen the woman that posted in my trip report? Her avatar is of her and her husband and he looks EXACTLY like Nigel Barker!!
 
I kind of guessed you were a Friends fan with all of your posts being named "The One with..." ;)
 
I must say that I absolutely love your TR!!! You've gone in to such wonderful detail about everything.

Your pictures of Cornwall and in Paris are simply amazing! I've always wanted to go to London, but I seriously doubt it will ever happen. Actually I would love to take a guided tour/trip all over Europe!!

So what does a typical trip to the US and WDW cost? I've always been curious to know how so many people from the UK are able to come to the US all the time.
 

Yeah, that's last season's Top Model. I thought it was a pretty good season, although I thought they were all kind of self absorbed, espcially Brandy (Did NOT like her!)

Sorry you found out who wins on SYTYCD :( I was happy with the winner.

No Britain's Top Model here... :sad2:

Have you seen the woman that posted in my trip report? Her avatar is of her and her husband and he looks EXACTLY like Nigel Barker!!

Oh yes Brandy is pretty self-absorbed and mean too. Chantel is majorly self-absorbed, she always says things about how she is so good and is confident as she can't do anything wrong... its like "Come on, have a bit of modesty" :sad2:

Britains Top Model is good, not as much as ANTM, no Nigel :sad2:. Still lots of fights but its surprising how different the girls act from the American girls.

Yes I think the SYTYCD winner more than deserved it, she just isn't as memorable as some of the others, although she does have a link to Disney.
 
I kind of guessed you were a Friends fan with all of your posts being named "The One with..." ;)

Oh my gosh yes, I literally cried when I found out they were ending it, I put off watching the last episode for ages as I didn't want it to be over :sad1:. Its just not the same now with no more friends to lighten my day.
 
I must say that I absolutely love your TR!!! You've gone in to such wonderful detail about everything.

Your pictures of Cornwall and in Paris are simply amazing! I've always wanted to go to London, but I seriously doubt it will ever happen. Actually I would love to take a guided tour/trip all over Europe!!

So what does a typical trip to the US and WDW cost? I've always been curious to know how so many people from the UK are able to come to the US all the time.

Thanks, I was hoping at least one person would like it. Cornwall is great, I've been going there since I was born and still love it. I love traveling yet surprisingly I have probably been to more places outside of Europe than I have in Europe, I suppose coming from here it just doesn't seem as interesting as say Thailand.

Um as for a typical price I am not really sure, the price can vary drastically. When we went in 2005 we went as a package with First Choice and stayed at the All Star Movies for 2 weeks, with Car Hire it worked out about £2500 (around $5000) for 3 adults, 1 child. All our tickets probably came to around £1000 (around $2000) for 2 week Ultimate Disney, 4-Park Orlando Flexiticket, Discovery Cove, Arabian Nights Dinner Show and Naples and Everglades Tour. However the last time we went for a month, stayed at Port Orleans and Animal Kingdom Lodge, hired a 8-seater van, had more tickets and ate at a lot more full-service restaurants. I think we payed around £12000 ($24000) for five of us. This time... um... alot :rolleyes1. To be honest you can do it alot cheaper but we would prefer to wait a little bit longer and do everything we want and have a little bit more luxury :lovestruc
 
Ok tomorrow is my 3 week mark and of course as promised I will post my 2nd WDW mini-trippie type thing :confused3. But for now, as all I can think about is WDW and how excited I am. Nick and I discuss our holiday all the time, what we cant wait to do, where were most looking forward to going, the new things we want to try, the meals were most looking forward too etc. Here is what we discussed -

3 Things Were Most Excited About:
Nick:
Discovery Cove
Driving a mustang - for 3 weeks (he told me to put that :lmao:) :car:
Ohana

Me:
Discovery Cove
Staying at all the hotels - especially the Polynesian
Eating at lots of nice restaurants


3 Things Were Most Scared / Worried About:
Nick:
SeaWorld Shark Dive - he has always been scared of sharks but really wanted to do this
Manatee Swim
Sheikra - he doesn't really want to go on it but is going to for me
:love:
Me:
Manatee Swim - I don't know why, I really want to do it but keep having images of one squashing me :confused3
Segway Tour - I can just see me doing something really stupid like falling flat on my face
Coming Home
:sad1:


3 Restaurants we are most looking forward to:
Nick:

New ones - Red Lobster, California Grill, Jiko
Old favorites - Ohana (of course), Cheesecake Factory, Sharks Underwater Grill

Me:
New ones - California Grill, Le Cellier, Yachtsman Steakhouse
Old favorites - Ohana, Tchoup Chop, Sharks Underwater Grill


3 Things I'm Most Looking Forward to Trying:
Nick:
All he will say is Krispy Kreme ... and trying to drive a Mustang :lmao:
Me: Chedder cheese soup, Cookie Ice-cream sandwich, Tonga Toast

One Day Were Most Looking Forward To:
Nick: Discovery Cove
Me: Discovery Cove, followed closely by the day were staying at the Polynesian

Here is some other things we can't wait for - Staying at the Poly, Universal Front of Line passes, Aquatica, Makahiki Luau, Shopping, La Nouba, Arriving at Coronado Springs, going to Walmart, Golden Corral breakfasts, our own pool, watching American TV, hot air balloon ride, IHOP for the first time, staying at the Yacht Club, new rides, old rides, all rides, cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, margarita's, hiring a boat, mini-golf, Krispy Kreme, Kennedy Space Center, nice weather, Gatwick Club Lounge, going Around the World at Epcot, Hoop Dee Doo dinner show, generally being in Orlando, spending time together, not working...

If theres anything you would like to know let me know...
 
Yes 3 weeks to go today :cheer2: ... and you know what that means, time for Part Two of my Disney World reminiscing. Last week I remembered all the great things we did and all the magical memories of my first trip back in 1998, however it was all based off memory and I had no pictures to illustrate the holiday for you. Well Part One may have been my first ever trip to Disney World but my second holiday to WDW was the most memorable and has some of my most magical memories ever. You see this was Mum, Dad (well step-dad) and Sophie’s first trip to WDW (and America) and I was so excited to be going back and to be sharing everything with them. So here is Part Two...


WHEN: January 22nd-February 5th 2005 - 2 weeks
WHO: Me (19), Mum, Dad (well Step-dad), Sophie (8 at the time)
WHERE: All Star Movie Resort

THE BACK STORY:
I never thought we would be able to go to WDW, Mum was terrified of flying and therefore we only ever went on holiday to places we could get to by ferry. However one day in 2004 whilst I was hard at work at University Mum phoned me and told me that they fancied going on a big holiday, the first thought being skiing in either Colorado or Canada. So being the compulsive researcher / planner I am I started looking into prices, where to go /stay etc. When I saw the prices though I realised that we could probably get to WDW for not much more, somewhere I had wanted to return to for years. So we got some brochures and found a really good deal with First Choice, 2 weeks in January staying ONSITE at the All Star Movies. Yes you read it, onsite, not in a basic motel 25 minutes from Disney, but actually within the Disney gates ::MickeyMo ::MinnieMo . At this point Mum got really caught up in the moment and agreed this would be a great idea, Dad was easy to convince, he had always wanted to go to America and loved Disney so was right behind us. It was strange because after the first holiday with Dad I didn’t really think that I would get to go back until I was all grown up with my own kids. I thought only rich people got to go more than once, and obviously only rich people got to stay onsite. Wrong, by summer 2004 we were booked to go, I was so excited, I instantly got the Brit Guide and started researching, it was all Mum and I would talk about when she phoned me at uni. Whenever I was home we would take Honey for a walk and discuss all the things we wanted to do, all the rides we were going to go on... all the while Sophie had no idea. We decided to keep it a secret from her until closer to the time, luckily for us she is always in her own little world, we could talk about it right next to her and she would twig. Eventually a few months before we were going Mum cooked a lovely tea and over dessert we presented Sophie with a fun quiz. The quiz asked her questions about her favourite things, whether she would like to see a killer whale and go on safari, and where she would most like to go on holiday... luckily for us she put Disney World. And so we told her, she was soooooo excited, at first she didn’t believe it and then she screamed and screamed. We all sat down and watched the WDW planning DVD, just like I had done the first time, and got excited knowing in a few short months we would be there.

THE PLANNING:
Now we had done more planning than my first trip, although that wasn’t hard, but we still didn’t know that much about Disney World. We read the Brit Guide, watched the planning DVD and got a basic grasp but made no plan and made no ADR’s (to be honest we didn’t even really know about them). We knew the parks we wanted to visit, we had 2 week Ultimate Tickets for WDW, 7 day Orlando Flexitickets, we had booked Discovery Cove with Busch Gardens, Cirque du Soliel, Arabian Nights Dinner Show and a trip to the Everglades and Naples. We had read about the restaurants and had some ideas of where we wanted to eat but that was as far as our knowledge extended.
Now I know this wasn’t my first trip but it was my first trip with Mum, Dad and Sophie (the true Disney lovers), and there was so many places or things we had missed before. Luckily the time went really fast and before we knew it it was January and was time to go.

THE TRIP:
So Thursday night we had a nice pre-trip Chinese together, then Friday morning we packed up the car and drove to Gatwick airport. We checked in to the Gatwick Travelodge where we would be spending the night, we had a great family room which overlooked the runway, perfect :) . We had tea at a lovely old fashioned pub nearby and then had an early night ready for our trip in the morning. Saturday morning we were up early to drop off the car, then back to the airport to check-in. We had a nice breakfast at a little cafe overlooking the runway then before we knew it we were boarding our lovely First Choice plane to Disney. The flight was great and we arrived in Sanford at 4pm raring to get onto Florida tarmac. We drove to our hotel, driving under the Disney gates for the first time was just magical :tinker: . We arrived at the All Stars and as soon as we got out of the car we knew we had arrived, it just had that Disney feel, smell, magic :mickeyjum :goofy: :donald: . At check in we could hardly contain our excitement, especially when the lady handed us our room cards. We were located in the Dalmation block, perfect for Sophie who loves the dalmations. The room was great, we loved being surrounded by the Disney magic all the time. We wondered to the food court, got some refillable mugs and our first taste of pink lemonade, then Sophie braved the chill and had her first Florida swim. Once we prised Sophie away from the pool we explored I-Drive for a bit so they could get an idea of the area and some sense of bearings. Then bed for our first nights sleep in Florida.

Some hotel pictures:
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Look who it is???

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In our room

Now I’m not going to write a full account for every day as I don’t want to bore you. I just thought it would be nice to write about our first day to set the scene a little and show you how magical it really was. However I will enlighten you with the basics of what we did each day and add a few pictures along the way.

Day 2 – MGM
This was our first time at MGM and we absolutely loved it.
We started the day with pastries for breakfast from Starring Rolls Cafe which we ate outside whilst people watching.
We managed to fit in nearly all the rides except the Studio’s Backlot Tour and the parade. Our favourite rides were Tower of Terror (only Dad and I did this) and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We also watched Fantasmic which was amazing, although it was absolutely freezing by this time, something we weren’t expecting.
We had dinner in the Sci Fi Cafe which was absolutely amazing – we all loved the theming and atmosphere and the food was really good too – a great first meal at Disney.
For tea we got a few pizza’s from Domino’s on I-Drive.

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Fantasmic


Day 3 – Universal Studio’s
We had our first breakfast at Ponderosa, which everyone loved (and brought back some good memories of my first time).
We did loads of rides at Universal, it was my first time riding Shrek, Jimmy Neutron, The Mummy and Men In Black – all of which were great. It was pretty chilly though, I had to invest in some gloves – quite different to my last visit where we were practically keeling over from heat exhaustion. We had a quick lunch in Mel’s Diner.
After Universal we went to Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping and tea at Bongo’s Cuban Cafe which was very good.

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Day 4 – Animal Kingdom
Mum had mentioned the night before about Donald’s Breakfastosaurus and had managed to get us a booking for the next morning. It was our first character breakfast and it was brilliant, the attentive and funny service, the yummy food (our first try of Krispy Kreme), and the great character interaction.
We had a great day at AK, this was one of the places I was most excited about as Sophie loves animals so much so knew she would love it, she has always dreamed about going on safari more than anything. Of course the park was a big hit for everyone, especially the amazing Lion King Show and the safari, and I finally got to ride Dinosaur. The Pocohontas show, Tarzan Rocks, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur and Primevil Whirl were all knew to me too.
For tea we went to Rainforest cafe, bad and slow service unfortunately but yummy food.

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Day 5 – Magic Kingdom

We managed to do loads of rides, the 3 mountains being some of our favourite rides. Philharmagic, Tom Sawyer Island, Carousel of Progress , Indy Cars, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch and Tomorrowland Transit Authority were all new to me.
We had lunch at Cosmic Rays and Mum and I managed to get a reservation for, the one and only Crystal Palace. Remember this was the restaurant I looked longingly into on my first trip, watching all those lucky children having tea with my favourite characters. It was a surprise for Sophie, and went down very well, we all loved the whole experience and it was everything I had imagined it to be and more.

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Ok, this is finally it... we get to GO IN the Crystal Palace:
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Day 6 – Blizzard Beach
We spent the morning relaxing by the pool and then after lunch at the hotel we went to Blizzard Beach. I didn’t remember much from my first trip except seeing Summit Plummit, so everything seemed new. We did all the slides and yes, Dad and I braved Summit Plummit, twice.
In the evening we went to watch Cirque du Soliel which was absolutely amazing.


Day 7 – Everglades trip
We did an excursion to the Everglades and were picked up by coach early having breakfast on the way. The park had animal enclosures and a nature trail which we checked out and then we went on a swamp buggy tour. We got to see ostriches, buffalo, bison and wild pigs as well as learning about the area. We had lunch in the park (included) and then went on the airboats which were great fun and we got to see lots of alligators. We then drove to Naples where we did a boat cruise and amazingly got to see lots of dolphins which was great. The whole trip was great and very different to the hustle and bustle of the themeparks and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

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Day 8 – Island of Adventure
Breakfast was at Ponderosa again, we loved this place.
Islands of Adventure was a first for all of us and we all loved it – the rides and theming are so good. We did nearly all the rides except Bilge Rat Barges which was closed. Dad and I rode The Hulk, Dr Doom’s Freefall, and both Duelling Dragons.
In the evening we went to the Arabian Nights dinner show – both the food and show were very good and it was a new experience for us all. Sophie especially loved it because of the horses.

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Sunset over Universal

These aren't great pictures as my old camera really wasn't good in the dark, but these are at Arabian Nights:
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Day 9 – Epcot
Another Ponderosa breakfast
We spent the morning in Epcot’s Future World, most of the rides were new for me too. When we went to The Living Sea’s I began to have images of seeing dolphins, but didn’t say anything as I thought I was making it up. Sure enough the next minute there were two cheeky little dolphins swimming about. We did the World Showcase and had tea at the San Angel Inn which was lovely. We ended the evening with Illuminations – I finally got to see it.

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Day 10 – Seaworld
We tried Black Angus for breakfast today – it wasn’t as good.
We all loved Seaworld, Sophie had always loved Killer Whales and dolphins and wants to be a Whale trainer so today was a dream come true for her (well another). We got to feed the dolphins, and watch the Shamu show, Sophie’s face was an image I will never forget. That morning we had also managed to get seats for Dine With Shamu, we all absolutely loved this experience, especially Sophie who was in awe.

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Day 11 – Discovery Cove
Today was the day, finally one of my lifelong dreams was about to come true, we were going to swim with Dolphins. Throughout the week we had gotten to see dolphins from the boat, then see them right in front of us in a tank, then feed them in Seaworld and now we were actually swimming with them. Today was a total surprise for Sophie, even after we got there she didn’t really get where we were or what we were doing. We had a great morning snorkelling, feeding the rays etc, and then it was time. It was only Sophie and I doing the dolphin swim and even in the briefing she still didn’t know what we were doing. As we entered the water her face was an absolute picture, she was so happy, as was I, I was getting to fulfil one of my lifelong dreams and with my bestest friend and baby sister. The experience was everything I thought it would be and more, dolphins are just so gorgeous and amazing. The rest of the day in the park was brilliant too, and I will have memories that I will cherish forever.

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Day 12 – Busch Gardens
A first for all of us, today was Busch Gardens. We all loved the park, the mix of animals and rides were amazing, and to see Sheikra in the building stages was awesome. I also got to be navigator on Rhino Rally which was funny as I’m quite shy.
Lunch was at Crown Colony, we had a lovely family style meal overlooking the animals.

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Day 13 – Shopping and Wet n’ Wild
After a Ponderosa breakfast we went to Mall at Millenia to do some shopping.
We went to Wet n’ Wild which was good fun but very different to the Disney parks and not somewhere we would return in a hurry.
We had tea at China Jade, a great Chinese buffet.
We went to Downtown Disney to do some more shopping.


Day 14 – Last Day :sad1:
Today was our last day so we decided to do Seaworld in the morning and Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. We redid our favourites in Seaworld then headed over to MK which was packed (well in comparison to the other crowds). After doing some of our favourite rides again, ending with our first ever ride at DLP, Thunder Mountain, we drove to Chili’s on I-Drive for tea. Chili’s was somewhere I was desperate to try being a Mexican food lover, and it did not disappoint.

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Departure Day:sad1:
We had a last swim in the Fantasia pool then a drink in the food court before leaving All Star’s for the last time. Sophie and I had tried to stay by running out of the airport before we checked in but Mum caught us and made us leave. We had some lunch at the airport and then it was time to fly back to England.

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Packing to go home... how will we fit it all in :confused3

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Paul and one of my favorite people

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Sophie after a hard day at the parks


Well our dream holiday was finally over, we all loved every minute of it and will have so many amazing memories to cherish forever. It was all the more magical to be sharing it with my closest family and true Disney lovers. So much of it was new even for me, Busch Gardens, Wet n’ Wild which we passed nearly everyday the first time, Islands of Adventure which we saw being built, MGM which will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first park we visited :lovestruc . There were so many new rides, all of which we loved. Our favourite things were:

Discovery Cove – everything was just amazing about this place, and fulfilling a dream was amazing
Cirque du Soleil – the most amazing show I have ever seen, truly unique
Breakfastosaurus – our first character meal and an amazing one at that
Crystal Palace – another dream finally realised
Everglades and Naples Trip – a lovely change of pace and a great tour
Sci fi Diner – great food, such a unique setting and atmosphere
Dine with Shamu – great food, great to see Killer Whales that close
Sophie’s reaction to everything, she was the perfect age to be able to ride everything she wanted to and appreciate everything

Before the trip we saw it as a once in a lifetime holiday, however as soon as we got back we knew we just had to go back. As soon as we were home again Disney depression set in, so we got lots of brochures and every time we were together all we could talk about was when we were going, where we were going to stay, what were we going to do...so tune in for Part Three and see what we did do...
 
Hey, my first ever subscriber, I'm so excited :cheer2: Hope some more can join us soon
e're there from 28th April - 21st May and cant wait
I am coming out of lurksville...................LOL. Subscribing and totally enjoying.

Me and my family will be there May 3- May 8th. Maybe we will run into each other. It seems that alot of us will be down there then.

Your pictures are wonderful and your family is very lovely. I am enjoying your pre-trip and getting to see all the pictures of your vacations. My DD would love to visit England someday. She really enjoys one of the shows on the BBC The Mighty Boosh? Anyway, I look forward to your next post.
 
I am coming out of lurksville...................LOL. Subscribing and totally enjoying.

Me and my family will be there May 3- May 8th. Maybe we will run into each other. It seems that alot of us will be down there then.

Your pictures are wonderful and your family is very lovely. I am enjoying your pre-trip and getting to see all the pictures of your vacations. My DD would love to visit England someday. She really enjoys one of the shows on the BBC The Mighty Boosh? Anyway, I look forward to your next post.

Congratulations, you took the hard step and came out to join us, now there is no going back :lmao:

Oh more people there at the same time, where are you staying? I'm hoping that its only us Dis lot there else it may be majorly busy and we dont want that do we?:sad2:

There are a lot of lovely places in England, luckily I was brought up in a really lovely place and we holidayed to Cornwall (the place in the pics) every year. But it isn't half as varied and interesting as the US, I hope I get to visit all over the US, its definitely one of my aims.

I'm hoping I've got some more lurkers out there and there going to come and join us soon too :thumbsup2. Come on lurkers, dont be shy....
 
Love all the pictures...You had ALOT of stuff!! :eek: How did you bring all of that home?
 
Love all the pictures...You had ALOT of stuff!! :eek: How did you bring all of that home?

I know. And it all managed to squeeze into 4 cases, luckily most of it was small and squashable. Last time we went out with 5 and came back with 10 cases, we had about 3 times as much stuff as you saw in that piccie, including one large cuddly polar bear that Nick brought me from Seaworld :lovestruc. Soph and I kept asking her if we could get huge teddies and she kept saying "No way"... then when I saw it Mum was like "Your not getting that you wont get it back", Nick just decided we would get an extra case to fit it in... Soph ended up with a slightly smaller one too :rotfl: . The worst things to bring back are breakables, and as I collect shot glasses I ended up with a lot. I had to carry them all in my hand luggage so they wouldn't get broken... all 24 of them :lmao:. I'm going prepared this time and taking 2 cases out with me....
 
I am sooooo enjoying this report. You are a very entertaining writer.
You have a lovely family and its so nice to see one that enjoys being together.
thanks for sharing.
 
Well its 14.15 over here, I have just sat down with a cup of coffee to watch Neighbours and Diagnosis Murder and realised that it is now non-stop till my holiday. Today and tommorrow are my last and only free days till we go in just under 3 weeks. Nick and I are working Thursday to Monday, then Monday night my Mum, Dad and Sophie are coming up to stay for a few days. Now usually when they are here it is non-stop, we already have some plans like visiting London one day (we always go there when they come up), Nick and Paul are going to play golf and we may go to Bluewater Mall as Mum has never been there. Obviously with so much going on when they are here I will probably have very little time for holiday related activities. And then when they leave on Friday morning Nick and I are working everyday till and including the next Friday. That leaves just Saturday free before we leave for Gatwick airport to stay at the Hilton overnight. I only realised this last night so went into major panic mode and started thinking about all the things I need to do. So I thought making a list of all the things I need to do may help and then I know what needs to be done and can do bits each day when I've got time:

THINGS TO DO:
  • Make sure all tickets / confirmations are printed out - make 2 copies with 1 in holiday folder to take, 1 in holiday folder for home
  • Make a list of all adresses we will need for sat nav
  • Make final shopping list and get final items
  • Make packing list - start making sure everything is washed and ironed :laundy:
  • Tidy house - before and after Mum's visit (they tend to make ALOT of mess, especially if they bring Honey up :dogdance: )
  • Finish final plan and print it out
  • Make a list of songs to download and put onto the IPOD
  • Decide how we are going to change our money

Thats all I can think of for now, if anyone can think of anything else that needs to be done please let me know :thumbsup2


Here is my list of tickets and confirmations that I need to make sure we have or have printed out and put into our holiday folders. I have also printed off a list of them so I can double check they are all there before we leave:

  • [*] Gatwick Hilton vouchers
    [*] Virgin Clublounge - still waiting for the ticket
    [*] Virgin Atlantic Tickets - still waiting for, I hope these arrive soon :confused:

    [*] Car Hire Voucher
    [*] Royal Pacific confirmation email
    [*] Coronado Springs ticket
    [*] Polynesian ticket
    [*] Yacht Club ticket

    [*]Disney Recreation vouchers
    [*] Princess and Pirate Party tickets
    [*] Cirque du Soliel tickets
    [*] Universal tickets

    [*]Discovery Cove confirmation
    [*] Seaworld shark dive and makahiki luau confirmation letter
    [*] Manatee swim confirmation letter
    [*] Sammy Duvall watersports confirmation email
    [*] Bluewater Balloons confirmation email

    [*]List of ADR confirmation numbers - 1 to keep in the car, 1 for the room
    [*] Tchoup Chop confirmation email

FINAL SHOPPING LIST:
  • Sony memory cards
  • Spare Camera batteries
  • Laptop case

  • Flip flops
  • Trousers
  • Waterproof jacket (for all those water rides)
  • Sunglasses

  • Notebook
  • First aid kit
  • Aftersun
  • Paracetomol, travel sick tablets etc
  • Hairspray and leave-in conditioning spray

Well I think that is all I have left to get, but knowing me I will probably end up buying more clothes, a girl can never have too many dresses now can she :confused3.

So now I'm off to try and sort out all the confirmations and tickets, hopefully I will be done in time for ANTM 8pm :thumbsup2
 
I am sooooo enjoying this report. You are a very entertaining writer.
You have a lovely family and its so nice to see one that enjoys being together.
thanks for sharing.

Thanks very much, I was worried about writing this as I thought no-one would read it or find it interesting. But I was just too exciting and had too many ideas and plans to keep to myself and it has been great fun to write :banana:.

Yes I am lucky to have such a great family, and we love going on holiday together. My mum, grandparents and aunt and uncle all live in the same smallish town (and my dad and his family all live within 10 miles), and see each other all the time. Nearly every holiday we have been on my Grandparents have come too, the only ones they haven't was Orlando as my Grandma wont fly... and I think a boat might take a bit long :rotfl:. It was great going to France with them last summer, its so nice all spending time together, they are so much fun.
 
I love all your pictures!!! I really, really like SeaWorld!!!

Sophie looks like a little ham in the pictures!! So cute!!:goodvibes
 
I love all your pictures!!! I really, really like SeaWorld!!!

Sophie looks like a little ham in the pictures!! So cute!!:goodvibes

Thanks, glad you joined us.

Yes Seaworld is brilliant, it has such a great atmosphere. Being from England you don't really get much opportunity to see killer whales so Seaworld is ideal, they are just so beautiful.

Looking back at those pictures Sophie looks so much younger, I never really realised it before, she seems to have grown up so quickly. She coped amazingly well on that trip, we did so much and she just kept going and never moaned once. She is a little angel princess:. She is so funny, she is always in her own little world, dressing up as various animals, Disney or film characters and acting out her own interpretation of film scenes. Luckily she is still in the really innocent stage where everything is good with the world and the worst things she knows about is when Hannah Montana tells her dad she hates him :rotfl:
 














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