Out of my depth - report from WDW 1st timer.

Gazotron

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
32
Not sure how to start or where!

I didn't do a pre-trip report so I guess a little background info. would be a good place to begin.

My name is Gary and I'm 41 years old, I am also father to Bryony who is 12 and Fraser who is 10 (they will figure a fair bit in this report, so more on them later). We have just returned from our 1st trip to WDW (August 5th to 17th), and I would like to do a report on this trip. I am not starting out with the intention of this being an epic, but you guys on the disboards were a great help to me in planning the trip :thanks: and I just want to let you know how things went, so here goes.

Day 1
Things started well and a friend dropped us off at the airport in plenty of time for the flight to Orlando. We had already checked in on-line before we left home and were through the bag drop pretty quickly, but worse was to follow.

The flight was delayed for over 2 hours and when we got to the departure gate we found out that the plane we were on had no working entertainment system :sad1: . This was major disappointment, especially for the children who had never flown long distance before and were looking forward to the movies and games. The prospect of an eight and a half hour flight with no entertainment was not a pleasant one. Also lurking at the back of my mind was the journey to our hotel in Orlando. We had booked a hire car which we were picking up at the airport and, never having driven in the US before :drive: , I was a little anxious about finding the hotel. Now it was looking increasingly likely that I would have to do it in the dark. :scared1:

In the event the flight wasn't as bad as expected and it passed pretty quickly. The crew did their best and put on a drawing competition for the kids and a family quiz which everyone could take part in. :thumbsup2

We arrived in Orlando around 7.00pm and the light was already beginning to fade. I remained hopeful that we could get through passport control/customs, get our luggage, pick up the car and get out before dark but it wasn't to be.

It was gone 9.00pm by the time I had picked up the car and was heading out on to the roads. My DD had the directions for the hotel, which she was trying to read in the dark in the back of the car (we couldn't find an interior light) but she managed to use the lights from the roadside and around half an hour later we were pulling into the carpark at the Marriott Village LBV, which was to our base for the next 12 nights whew!!!!! :grouphug:

We were tired and hungry but sooooooo excited about finally arriving at our hotel and being on the verge of our WDW adventure. :yay:

We checked in, dumped our luggage in the room and headed down to the food court to see what was available. We could not believe the heat at 10pm and wondered what it was going to be like during the day (we were to find that out soon enough). :sunny:

A pretty unhealthy (but enjoyable) hot dog and fries then bed, to be lulled to sleep by a droning AC unit. How am I going to be able to sleep through this?

Day 2 and Epcot to follow. Tune in to find out what happens when we turn up to collect the tickets without any photo ID. Oh, and we bump into someone we know at Epcot. :crazy2: Also have pics to accompany, and hopefully enhance, my ramblings. :wave2:
 
Great start! Can't wait to hear about running into someone you know at Epcot. That happens to me quite often, but it's never anyone I really WANT to see! Always someone I'd rather avoid...
 
Wow! What a trip. I can't imagine flying without entertainment, wait, I can't imagine flying!! I'm a road girl.

Have you ever been to Disney? Sounds like you made it to the hotel alright! Can't wait for more adventures!!
 

Day 2
Our first full day and boy are we excited :banana: . Despite the long, exhausting journey and late night, getting up is no problem this morning, something Bryony and Fraser, will not be able to say as the holiday progresses.

We head down for breakfast (buffet style, included in the cost) around 7ish and are not disappointed. They have everything we could want for breakfast, along with a few things we don’t. (Just what is sausage, biscuit and gravy anyway?) :confused:

It’s not too busy yet in the breakfast room (another thing we wont be able to say in the days to come) and we fill up with fruit juice, coffee, oatmeal, toast, donuts and yoghurt. A great start to the day, and we pick up a couple of bananas on the way out - they’ll do for a snack later. :idea:

Time for a quick shower ( a term totally alien to both B and F), pack a bag and off we go.

I should mention at this point that I put a fair amount of planning into this holiday. :surfweb: Certainly much more than with any other holiday we’ve ever been on. I knew that failing to plan for a holiday to WDW was almost certainly, as they say, planning to fail. Not least in terms of importance was the schedule I had drawn up for where we were going on each day. That would be the same schedule I couldn’t find as I was rifling through my paperwork on the way to the airport right? The same schedule I had inexplicably failed to check was with me and had left at home? Yup, that’s the one. Of all the things to forget! :guilty:

However because I had spent so much time on the schedule I had, without realising, committed it to memory. Monday 6th August, it’s Epcot of course.

Within 15 minutes of leaving the hotel we are passing under the “Welcome to Disney” signs, through the parking tolls and into the car park. I am immediately impressed by how organised it all seems. We have a short wait for a tram and are then deposited in front of Epcot. We are finally, actually, really here. It’s nearly 10am and later than I wanted to be but not a bad effort at all in my reckoning. Now where’s that ticket receipt?, no it’s not with the schedule silly! :rolleyes1 , it’s in the bag.

I walk up to a vacant ticket booth and expectantly hand over the receipt? Do you have your photo ID asks the smiling girl inside. Cue rising panic - photo ID - that means passport or driving licence and I’ve left them both back at the hotel, nooooooooo! :mad: I don’t have any photo ID I say, however I do have the credit card that I purchased the tickets with, I offer hopefully.

I don’t know if she took pity on me and the kids or what, but, telling us for future reference that we really need photo ID, she hands over the tickets and we’re in business - thanks to the ticket girl who didn’t stick to the letter of the law but applied a bit of common sense and compassion.;)

We pick up a map and daily schedule on entering and pause for a couple of pictures.

We try and get our bearings then head off to find the ride I had been most looking forward to - Soarin'. We locate "The Land" and, seeing as the stand by queue is already 45 minutes we grab some fastpasses (did my homework you see) and head off to "The Seas" . We ride The Seas with Nemo, a nice gentle ride but I have to say that the bit where you get caught up in the waves left me feeling a little bit queasy. We then have a short wait until Turtle Talk with Crush, we all loved this show, it's so cleverly done and very funny. Crush asked one kid what his favourite food was, to which he replied "Chicken Fingers", the look on Crush's face was priceless.

We head back to "the Land" and here's where it gets weird. We decide to ride Living with the Land and are in line, I look up and there coming down the next row are our friends from back in the UK :faint: We knew they were out in Florida and had planned to get in touch and meet up, but we hadn't got that far yet. Now I get freaked out by these things, what are the chances of being in the same park on the same day and riding the same ride at the same time? I dunno but we were glad to see each other. We spent some time together, then went our separate ways, arranging to meet up later in the week.

Still reeling from the shock, we ride Soarin'. Well Fraser and I did, Bryony ducked out at the last minute, really surprised me that did. I knew that neither of them sould be up for WDW's few more extreme rides but this was not in that category. We loved it and at the end of our hols, it was still our favourite ride. :woohoo:

We then have noodles with chicken and vegetables from Sunshine Seasons, very nice, and much more than we can eat (another recurring theme from the holiday).

After lunch we are already flagging, and the heat was taking it's toll. We spend some time in the air conditioned comfort of Innoventions, not really my favourite place as I didn't come to WDW to play video games and stay indoors, but B & F liked it and it's their holiday as well after all. I am aware that I don't want to push things too much on our first day so we take the easy option of Journey into Imagination with Figment (not long to wait and not too impressed) then head for the exit around 3.30pm, leaving Mission Space and Test Track for another day.

The rest of the day is fairly uneventful. Spend time by the pool, then grab dinner at the Golden Corral located next to the hotel, that place sure is great value. First rootbeer of the holidays as well, I love that stuff.:love: B&F say it tastes like mouthwash. :sick:

Then back to the hotel and fall into bed at the end of a great first day at WDW. This heat is going to take some getting used to and we're going to have to be careful of getting sunburnt, but we're up and running. There goes that AC again :headache:

Next time the schedule goes to pot on day 3 and we hit the MK on day 4 (complete with holey shorts).

Hope this isn't too wordy, still feel like I'm trying to find the right balance. Also want to add some pictures but seem to have that option, any ideas anyone?

Anyway until next time :wave2:
 
Oh my! I am signing on for this adventure! Can't wait to hear all the details.:cheer2:
 
Great trip report so far! I hope you became more acclimated to the heat. We are going to be at WDW next month and I am worried about the heat. We live in NW Ohio and while we have had some hot days I am afraid it is probably not quite as hot as Florida.

Can't wait to read the rest of your report!:)
 
it sounds like a fun trip. i do have one question though, how do you pronounce that name, Bryony?? it sounds so unique.
 
Fun report. I travel a lot from TX to London and with no entertainment system that would make for a long flight. Was it on BA?
 
Great trip report so far! I hope you became more acclimated to the heat. We are going to be at WDW next month and I am worried about the heat.

Thanks. We never really got used to heat in Florida but just coped better with it as the holiday went on. It may well have cooled down by next month, I'm sure you'll be fine. :)

it sounds like a fun trip. i do have one question though, how do you pronounce that name, Bryony?? it sounds so unique.

There certainly aren't too many Bryonys around, she is the only one at her school and we don't know any others. It's pronounced Bry (as in high) on (opposite of off) y (rhyming with tee).

Fun report. I travel a lot from TX to London and with no entertainment system that would make for a long flight. Was it on BA?

No it was with Virgin Atlantic. The reason was that the plane we were originally going to fly on had a problem so they had to find a substitute, unfortunately it had a broken entertainment system. It was that or have the flight cancelled and lose a day of our holiday - a no brainer!
 
Got the photo thing sorted. Here are a few from our first ever day at WDW:

Epcot Icon
P1010897.jpg


B & F Arrive
P1010899-1.jpg


My Favourite
P1010903.jpg


We must have been too excited and I didn't take too many on the first day.:yay: Did get better though. :thumbsup2
 
Love the pictures! Your children are too cute! :) They both look very happy to be there too. Can't wait for the rest of your report. :)
 











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