The cast:
Paul, 37 years young - a fully paid-up Disneyaholic
Helen, younger in years and looks - the most organised member of the family
Ryan, 5 months old - a Disney fan in the making
Up at about 6am wow is it dark outside and were washed, dressed and out the door by 7.15am. Very little traffic on the roads, even on the M25 and we arrive at Gatwick on the stroke of 8am, just as wed planned.
Were making use of Executive Parkings meet and greet service for this trip, and have been told to simply pull up at Departures drop-off point and they will meet us. No-one is around, so we wait for 5 mins before phoning the office. Apparently the guy who is meeting us was dropping off at the North Terminal and the people there phoned in too early he has been hanging around whilst they wait for their luggage. Anyhow, hes on his way across now and will be with us shortly. Good as their word, 5 mins later hes there and were off into the terminal.
A quick glance across to the Virgin desk shows that the queues arent too long, although we still believe twilight check-in was well worth it and would use it again whenever possible. McDonalds breakfasts to stop the rumbling in the tummy and its through passport control for us. Browse in the shops for a while and buy an extra couple of travel adaptors (you can never have too many!), then set off for the gate, via the mini-shuttle train.
Boarding is meant to start fairly soon but there is little sign of movement, and we find a comfy seat away from the bunch of people who are jostling to get into pole position for boarding. There are about 150 people in all I guess standing around the aisle leading to the plane, and they havent even started boarding first class yet.
After about 30 mins or so of this there is finally a call for those people with small children to make their way forward and we squeeze through the crowd with boarding cards and passports in hand. By this time Ryan has been placed into his Baby Bjorn harness and is attracting lots of attention from the other passengers. He smiles at everyone he meets and even manages an occasional movement with his arm that could pass for a wave its like travelling with royalty, only without the and what do you do?
We eventually take off about 45 mins late, which isnt bad considering the delay in boarding. Helen feeds Ryan as we climb, as wed read that this helps babies to equalise the pressure in their ears. This seems to work well and hes soon wowing the crowds across the aisle with his trademark smile. As we level out the steward brings us a skycot which sits on a shelf attached to the bulkhead. Ryan settles in for a snooze and we have a short rest as well, although watching the movies isnt really possible with the skycot in place, as the tv screens need to come up out of the armrests.
We somehow managed to be the last people on board served with their in-flight meal, so ended up with a choice of chicken or chicken. Hmmm, let me see what shall we have chicken perhaps?
The flight goes fairly quickly and we make up most of the time lost at takeoff, although the dark clouds as we land at MCO look ominous. Never mind though, the pilot tells us that its 80 degrees outside, so its going to be warm rain at worst.
Immigration is straightforward and we proceed through to baggage reclaim. First couple of bags arrive quickly, but the last one takes forever, as does the stroller and car seat. It doesnt help that they arrive on different carousels. Never mind, it gives the customs queue a chance to die down I guess.
Huge lines to get through the security screening process Fastpass would certainly be welcome here! I know the authorities need to take care but the whole thing could be some much better organised. No-one is really sure what they should remove or when and this, of course, slows the whole thing down. For the most part it seems to alternate between shoes, belts, shoes and belts, or nothing at all. (Thats removing nothing at all I mean, not you know).
Reclaim bags a second time (much quicker), pick up car from Dollar (no queue at all at the Virgin/Dollar desk) and were out into the warmth of the parking garage. Weve been allocated a Mitsubishi Gallant which has a fairly big trunk and will suit us fine. The Dollar porter does a great job with the bags and earns his $5 and after checking out where everything is were heading out of the airport towards WDW.
Stop off at Publix near the Premium Outlets for some supplies en route to the Boardwalk, and spend about $95 on diapers, formula, drinks, snacks, cereal and so on. The store has loads of choice and is far better value than Goodings at the Crossroads.
Finally check in at the Boardwalk at about 6.30pm (11.30pm UK time yawn!), and are allocated studio 3006 facing the Swan hotel with a nice view of the Tower of Terror. Its a long walk from the elevators, but very little passing traffic would mean less noise for Ryan. All the rooms at the BW have pack n play cribs in the closet but we asked for a full-size unit at check-in and housekeeping appeared with this about 15 mins later, complete with sheets. Ryan seemed to be much happier in this than the pack n play and slept very soundly throughout the holiday.
We unpacked the essentials and Helen nipped off to grab some take-away pizza from Spoodles whilst I logged-on via the laptop to post my final classroom submissions. Finally got to bed at about 11pm a long old day, but very worthwhile as we are finally home at the BW.
Day 2, Mission Space: The final frontier
Paul, 37 years young - a fully paid-up Disneyaholic
Helen, younger in years and looks - the most organised member of the family
Ryan, 5 months old - a Disney fan in the making
Up at about 6am wow is it dark outside and were washed, dressed and out the door by 7.15am. Very little traffic on the roads, even on the M25 and we arrive at Gatwick on the stroke of 8am, just as wed planned.
Were making use of Executive Parkings meet and greet service for this trip, and have been told to simply pull up at Departures drop-off point and they will meet us. No-one is around, so we wait for 5 mins before phoning the office. Apparently the guy who is meeting us was dropping off at the North Terminal and the people there phoned in too early he has been hanging around whilst they wait for their luggage. Anyhow, hes on his way across now and will be with us shortly. Good as their word, 5 mins later hes there and were off into the terminal.
A quick glance across to the Virgin desk shows that the queues arent too long, although we still believe twilight check-in was well worth it and would use it again whenever possible. McDonalds breakfasts to stop the rumbling in the tummy and its through passport control for us. Browse in the shops for a while and buy an extra couple of travel adaptors (you can never have too many!), then set off for the gate, via the mini-shuttle train.
Boarding is meant to start fairly soon but there is little sign of movement, and we find a comfy seat away from the bunch of people who are jostling to get into pole position for boarding. There are about 150 people in all I guess standing around the aisle leading to the plane, and they havent even started boarding first class yet.
After about 30 mins or so of this there is finally a call for those people with small children to make their way forward and we squeeze through the crowd with boarding cards and passports in hand. By this time Ryan has been placed into his Baby Bjorn harness and is attracting lots of attention from the other passengers. He smiles at everyone he meets and even manages an occasional movement with his arm that could pass for a wave its like travelling with royalty, only without the and what do you do?
We eventually take off about 45 mins late, which isnt bad considering the delay in boarding. Helen feeds Ryan as we climb, as wed read that this helps babies to equalise the pressure in their ears. This seems to work well and hes soon wowing the crowds across the aisle with his trademark smile. As we level out the steward brings us a skycot which sits on a shelf attached to the bulkhead. Ryan settles in for a snooze and we have a short rest as well, although watching the movies isnt really possible with the skycot in place, as the tv screens need to come up out of the armrests.
We somehow managed to be the last people on board served with their in-flight meal, so ended up with a choice of chicken or chicken. Hmmm, let me see what shall we have chicken perhaps?
The flight goes fairly quickly and we make up most of the time lost at takeoff, although the dark clouds as we land at MCO look ominous. Never mind though, the pilot tells us that its 80 degrees outside, so its going to be warm rain at worst.
Immigration is straightforward and we proceed through to baggage reclaim. First couple of bags arrive quickly, but the last one takes forever, as does the stroller and car seat. It doesnt help that they arrive on different carousels. Never mind, it gives the customs queue a chance to die down I guess.
Huge lines to get through the security screening process Fastpass would certainly be welcome here! I know the authorities need to take care but the whole thing could be some much better organised. No-one is really sure what they should remove or when and this, of course, slows the whole thing down. For the most part it seems to alternate between shoes, belts, shoes and belts, or nothing at all. (Thats removing nothing at all I mean, not you know).
Reclaim bags a second time (much quicker), pick up car from Dollar (no queue at all at the Virgin/Dollar desk) and were out into the warmth of the parking garage. Weve been allocated a Mitsubishi Gallant which has a fairly big trunk and will suit us fine. The Dollar porter does a great job with the bags and earns his $5 and after checking out where everything is were heading out of the airport towards WDW.
Stop off at Publix near the Premium Outlets for some supplies en route to the Boardwalk, and spend about $95 on diapers, formula, drinks, snacks, cereal and so on. The store has loads of choice and is far better value than Goodings at the Crossroads.
Finally check in at the Boardwalk at about 6.30pm (11.30pm UK time yawn!), and are allocated studio 3006 facing the Swan hotel with a nice view of the Tower of Terror. Its a long walk from the elevators, but very little passing traffic would mean less noise for Ryan. All the rooms at the BW have pack n play cribs in the closet but we asked for a full-size unit at check-in and housekeeping appeared with this about 15 mins later, complete with sheets. Ryan seemed to be much happier in this than the pack n play and slept very soundly throughout the holiday.
We unpacked the essentials and Helen nipped off to grab some take-away pizza from Spoodles whilst I logged-on via the laptop to post my final classroom submissions. Finally got to bed at about 11pm a long old day, but very worthwhile as we are finally home at the BW.
Day 2, Mission Space: The final frontier
