Queenie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2005
- Messages
- 3,144
Today we officially begin our honeymoon so we’re up early to finish the last bits of packing and catch our shuttle to the airport. For breakfast we both wolf down as much wedding cake as possible, we don’t want it going to waste. Scott hides some bits in bags and puts them in the boot before moving the car down to the secure parking area and handing over the keys as they will be bringing the car to the airport for us in two weeks time. Before he leaves it, he checks the mileage, heard one too many horror stories about that! We make the shuttle bus in time and ride up to Gatwick where the bus drops everyone off. Once it’s gone we all realise this is arrivals, not departures – great, must be a new driver today. So we grab the bags and walk over to departures where we get checked in smoothly.
We decide to head straight through security in case of any delays. We needn’t have worried; we have never got through so fast, less than 5 minutes! After the farce heading to DLP a few weeks previously where Scott had to take every battery charger and piece of electrical equipment out and have it swabbed for explosives, we’re expecting problems but we’re just waved through without a second glance. Ok, fine by us.
We have time to kill in the airport so I go to Boots as they’re doing 3 for 2 on number 7 and I still have a very clear mental image of the colours the makeup girls used on me for the wedding. I manage to get some new bits that seem accurate to the wedding palette and use my Advantage Card to buy them, on my return Scott comments that the spending has started and we haven’t even left England yet! I give mum a ring to say goodbye and let her know everything’s ok, I also promise to let her know as soon as we’ve got through the airport at the other end. Before our flight is called, we wander around and buy some food and drinks for the plane as Scott has a major aversion to airplane food.
Our flight is called on time and we head over to our gate to await boarding. There’s another couple wearing “just married” t-shirts down there so we’re not the only ones. It takes a while for us to get boarded and once we’re seated there’s an announcement that because of a light not working upstairs we’ll be delayed until they can get it fixed. There’s a bit of a grumble audible but most people just use the time to make final phone calls and faff about organising their 2 square feet of space for the trip. It doesn’t take long and we take off only about half an hour late, not a problem in my books.
The flight is uneventful, the only bad part being that my seatback TV doesn’t have any audio so I have to switch with Scott in order to watch anything. The new Indiana Jones movie is showing so I watch that in silence as I’ve already seen it more than enough times to understand the plot. In my opinion the food is ok and the journey not too dull.
Eventually we begin our decent and I hit a bit of luck as I’m on the right side of the plane to get some amazing views of Kennedy Space Centre. It looks so tiny from way up in the air and I even spot what appears to be a shuttle sitting on a launch pad.
Soon enough we’re on the ground and at the gate. As we’re sat right at the back, it takes a long time for us to get off the plane and we are right at the back of the queue for immigration. It takes forever to get through but finally we get through and the official congratulates us after seeing my t-shirt. We find our bags and make our way down to the Dollar desk via the monorail, first ride of the trip! Scott gets the car sorted while I text mum to let her know we’ve arrived safely. We go and find our car, a white Dodge Charger, the make Scott wanted if not the colour, and set off for the Wilderness Lodge.
We leave the airport in sunshine but as we drive down the toll roads towards Disney the heavens open and we’re caught in a torrential downpour which turns into a huge storm. What a great welcome!
We make it to the Lodge and we unload the car into the lobby where I wait with it as Scott parks the car and runs back to try and avoid getting drowned. Once he’s back I get us checked in where we’re congratulated and handed our Just Married badges. We walk down the covered path to the lobby building and find our villa which is one floor up. After going up the lift, we spot a little frog mountaineering its way up the side of the building despite the pouring rain!
We drop our cases and bags off and have a good look around the room, remembering for once to photograph and video it BEFORE we cover it in our stuff.
We’re both hungry so we decide to head out for dinner now. Not sure what we fancy so Golden Corral is the best bet as we can pick and choose from lots. Scott goes to get the car and it’s sounding not so great, an odd thumping noise we heard on the drive from the airport is still there and sounds more noticeable. We drive down to Golden Corral near the Orlando Premium Outlets and have a good meal. On the way back the car sounds even worse and Scott decides it will have to get replaced in the morning.
Back at the Lodge we have a good look around the hotel. We get our refillable mugs from Roaring Forks and have a look around the gift shop, buying a couple of small bits including Lodge pins and a magnet to attach our schedule to the villa fridge. We enjoy sitting in the lobby with drinks for a while watching people coming in, obviously having spent long days in the parks. We walk over and spend a while looking around the villa lobby too, my dad was hugely into steam trains and I wish I could take him and show him all the photos and memorabilia on the walls.
Finally we head back to our room to get some rest, it’s been a long day and we have a very busy few weeks ahead of us.
We decide to head straight through security in case of any delays. We needn’t have worried; we have never got through so fast, less than 5 minutes! After the farce heading to DLP a few weeks previously where Scott had to take every battery charger and piece of electrical equipment out and have it swabbed for explosives, we’re expecting problems but we’re just waved through without a second glance. Ok, fine by us.
We have time to kill in the airport so I go to Boots as they’re doing 3 for 2 on number 7 and I still have a very clear mental image of the colours the makeup girls used on me for the wedding. I manage to get some new bits that seem accurate to the wedding palette and use my Advantage Card to buy them, on my return Scott comments that the spending has started and we haven’t even left England yet! I give mum a ring to say goodbye and let her know everything’s ok, I also promise to let her know as soon as we’ve got through the airport at the other end. Before our flight is called, we wander around and buy some food and drinks for the plane as Scott has a major aversion to airplane food.
Our flight is called on time and we head over to our gate to await boarding. There’s another couple wearing “just married” t-shirts down there so we’re not the only ones. It takes a while for us to get boarded and once we’re seated there’s an announcement that because of a light not working upstairs we’ll be delayed until they can get it fixed. There’s a bit of a grumble audible but most people just use the time to make final phone calls and faff about organising their 2 square feet of space for the trip. It doesn’t take long and we take off only about half an hour late, not a problem in my books.
The flight is uneventful, the only bad part being that my seatback TV doesn’t have any audio so I have to switch with Scott in order to watch anything. The new Indiana Jones movie is showing so I watch that in silence as I’ve already seen it more than enough times to understand the plot. In my opinion the food is ok and the journey not too dull.
Eventually we begin our decent and I hit a bit of luck as I’m on the right side of the plane to get some amazing views of Kennedy Space Centre. It looks so tiny from way up in the air and I even spot what appears to be a shuttle sitting on a launch pad.
Soon enough we’re on the ground and at the gate. As we’re sat right at the back, it takes a long time for us to get off the plane and we are right at the back of the queue for immigration. It takes forever to get through but finally we get through and the official congratulates us after seeing my t-shirt. We find our bags and make our way down to the Dollar desk via the monorail, first ride of the trip! Scott gets the car sorted while I text mum to let her know we’ve arrived safely. We go and find our car, a white Dodge Charger, the make Scott wanted if not the colour, and set off for the Wilderness Lodge.
We leave the airport in sunshine but as we drive down the toll roads towards Disney the heavens open and we’re caught in a torrential downpour which turns into a huge storm. What a great welcome!
We make it to the Lodge and we unload the car into the lobby where I wait with it as Scott parks the car and runs back to try and avoid getting drowned. Once he’s back I get us checked in where we’re congratulated and handed our Just Married badges. We walk down the covered path to the lobby building and find our villa which is one floor up. After going up the lift, we spot a little frog mountaineering its way up the side of the building despite the pouring rain!
We drop our cases and bags off and have a good look around the room, remembering for once to photograph and video it BEFORE we cover it in our stuff.
We’re both hungry so we decide to head out for dinner now. Not sure what we fancy so Golden Corral is the best bet as we can pick and choose from lots. Scott goes to get the car and it’s sounding not so great, an odd thumping noise we heard on the drive from the airport is still there and sounds more noticeable. We drive down to Golden Corral near the Orlando Premium Outlets and have a good meal. On the way back the car sounds even worse and Scott decides it will have to get replaced in the morning.
Back at the Lodge we have a good look around the hotel. We get our refillable mugs from Roaring Forks and have a look around the gift shop, buying a couple of small bits including Lodge pins and a magnet to attach our schedule to the villa fridge. We enjoy sitting in the lobby with drinks for a while watching people coming in, obviously having spent long days in the parks. We walk over and spend a while looking around the villa lobby too, my dad was hugely into steam trains and I wish I could take him and show him all the photos and memorabilia on the walls.
Finally we head back to our room to get some rest, it’s been a long day and we have a very busy few weeks ahead of us.
. your room looks amazing
can't wait for more
Cant wait for the rest x
