fizz13
<font color=33cc99>Dreams about being stuck on Spa
- Joined
- May 6, 2004
- Messages
- 5,791
FOR PHOTO ALBUM,claire's summer fling album ]
Hi everybody
Well i've had a couple of days to recover, do my washing, get the food in and have a bit of a tidy, just what you want to do after a holiday but necessary none the less. And amongst my necessary tasks is a trip report for you lovely people as i know you have all been waiting for my fabbie report...you haven't?...Well you know that you're gonna read it anyway 
Now some of you will have read the pre-trip already but for those that haven't I'm gonna give you the highlights from my website copied and pasted here and then I'll go from there. Photos will have to be viewed at my site seeing as my copy and paste won't highlight (the image covers my edit feature so I can't use it) but i'll get to those later. Oh yes, I thought I would post it all on one thread to make it easier to find for you and me, but will update the title as I go. Now have you got a cup of tea? A biccie or your choice of snack? have you Sky+ what you want? Oh good, now you have no excuse not to read
Lets go......
PRE-TRIP HIGHLIGHTS (for full edition go to website in sig.)
NAGGING THOUGHTS
Well who would think that I'd be planning two disney world trips in a year? This is an unexpected thrill of seismic proportions quite honestly. This means 2 lots of park hours, dining ADRs, attractions to fit in, hotel choices, the possibilities are endless. First lets consider how this came about.
A few months ago, I was presented with a monetary opportunity, Well James and me had been discussing what to do in August while our 3 angels were being taken camping by my in-laws. Our first thought was to hit the family shack in Tenerife but deemed this boring. We looked at deals online and nothing appealed, I'm a city explorer with a hankering for the Ufitzi or Vatican City, while James would like a beer on a sunlounger thank you very much! Flights to most of the carribean were sold out already, and I started hunting around the good ol USA for a beach/ city compromise. LA was good (and Disneyland is there of course) but I didn't like the hotels on offer. Las Vegas is just beyond hot in August...anyway I could go on but we all know where this booking is going to end up. Now please bear in mind that James was completely oblivious to my sudden wealth so he answered questions thinking that it was me speaking hypothetically. the poor fool, he thought he was safe in saying that yes, given the opportunity, going to WDW without the kids would be great. he liked the keeping our own schedule, no cranky mood swings, whizzing around the park at first light to get back for a beer and a swim all afternoon, yes he could see the benefits.
Now hands up, who thinks that sounds like permission to book? he really was so positive.
Yes, my brain went into overdrive!! Now seeing as money is no object here, what would my fantasy vacation be?
Well, first I booked flights with BA with premium economy for the trip out. then i viewed my resort options. Now I don't know how many of you peruse the resorts board but there are some pretty fabbie pictures over there, and many a reference to a Mr.Tikiman's website. If you didn't love the Polynesian before, this site will convert you. I quickly booked 6 nights garden view with dining plan and 1 day base tickets.
Now dining plan obviously leads to dining choices
which happens to be one of my favourite things to do. i was already in my 180 days so did not hold out hope of getting everything i desired. well call me Tinkerbell but yes I got everything I wanted: San Angel Inn, hollywood Brown derby, le Cellier, california Grill, Spoodles, and closer to the time I booked Ohana, Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare for breakfasts.
I found me some bargains for gatwick parking, the Sofitel in gatwick North for the night before and booked me a towncar with FLTours. It was all looking good until......me and James hit crisis point. It wasn't one event and certainly no one did anything to the other, it was just a realisation that we were living with a best friend instead of a romantic partner, and when you have 3 small kids its easy to forget sometimes that you have a relationship at all. we were 18 and 20 when we met, pregnant after 3 months, married after 2 years, and quickly had 2 more kids. 9 years later and we are different people obviously, it would be wrong for me to still act 18 and have the same dreams and thoughts on the world. maybe some of you are nodding your head. Anyway, we have been struggling to adjust to who we have become for a while, but enough was enough.....well james didn't go anywhere as he really had no where to go and we have been muddling along ever since. i gave him the choice about the holiday and he really wanted to go and tell you the truth, it was fine. We have no problem being friends when you take the romantic relationship away. we decided to see what would happen, maybe we would find a spark across some tiki torches
Ok, enough of the pre-stuff, lets get on with the show 
Hi everybody
Well i've had a couple of days to recover, do my washing, get the food in and have a bit of a tidy, just what you want to do after a holiday but necessary none the less. And amongst my necessary tasks is a trip report for you lovely people as i know you have all been waiting for my fabbie report...you haven't?...Well you know that you're gonna read it anyway Now some of you will have read the pre-trip already but for those that haven't I'm gonna give you the highlights from my website copied and pasted here and then I'll go from there. Photos will have to be viewed at my site seeing as my copy and paste won't highlight (the image covers my edit feature so I can't use it) but i'll get to those later. Oh yes, I thought I would post it all on one thread to make it easier to find for you and me, but will update the title as I go. Now have you got a cup of tea? A biccie or your choice of snack? have you Sky+ what you want? Oh good, now you have no excuse not to read
Lets go......PRE-TRIP HIGHLIGHTS (for full edition go to website in sig.)
NAGGING THOUGHTS
Well who would think that I'd be planning two disney world trips in a year? This is an unexpected thrill of seismic proportions quite honestly. This means 2 lots of park hours, dining ADRs, attractions to fit in, hotel choices, the possibilities are endless. First lets consider how this came about.
A few months ago, I was presented with a monetary opportunity, Well James and me had been discussing what to do in August while our 3 angels were being taken camping by my in-laws. Our first thought was to hit the family shack in Tenerife but deemed this boring. We looked at deals online and nothing appealed, I'm a city explorer with a hankering for the Ufitzi or Vatican City, while James would like a beer on a sunlounger thank you very much! Flights to most of the carribean were sold out already, and I started hunting around the good ol USA for a beach/ city compromise. LA was good (and Disneyland is there of course) but I didn't like the hotels on offer. Las Vegas is just beyond hot in August...anyway I could go on but we all know where this booking is going to end up. Now please bear in mind that James was completely oblivious to my sudden wealth so he answered questions thinking that it was me speaking hypothetically. the poor fool, he thought he was safe in saying that yes, given the opportunity, going to WDW without the kids would be great. he liked the keeping our own schedule, no cranky mood swings, whizzing around the park at first light to get back for a beer and a swim all afternoon, yes he could see the benefits.
Now hands up, who thinks that sounds like permission to book? he really was so positive.
Yes, my brain went into overdrive!! Now seeing as money is no object here, what would my fantasy vacation be?
Well, first I booked flights with BA with premium economy for the trip out. then i viewed my resort options. Now I don't know how many of you peruse the resorts board but there are some pretty fabbie pictures over there, and many a reference to a Mr.Tikiman's website. If you didn't love the Polynesian before, this site will convert you. I quickly booked 6 nights garden view with dining plan and 1 day base tickets.
Now dining plan obviously leads to dining choices
which happens to be one of my favourite things to do. i was already in my 180 days so did not hold out hope of getting everything i desired. well call me Tinkerbell but yes I got everything I wanted: San Angel Inn, hollywood Brown derby, le Cellier, california Grill, Spoodles, and closer to the time I booked Ohana, Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare for breakfasts.I found me some bargains for gatwick parking, the Sofitel in gatwick North for the night before and booked me a towncar with FLTours. It was all looking good until......me and James hit crisis point. It wasn't one event and certainly no one did anything to the other, it was just a realisation that we were living with a best friend instead of a romantic partner, and when you have 3 small kids its easy to forget sometimes that you have a relationship at all. we were 18 and 20 when we met, pregnant after 3 months, married after 2 years, and quickly had 2 more kids. 9 years later and we are different people obviously, it would be wrong for me to still act 18 and have the same dreams and thoughts on the world. maybe some of you are nodding your head. Anyway, we have been struggling to adjust to who we have become for a while, but enough was enough.....well james didn't go anywhere as he really had no where to go and we have been muddling along ever since. i gave him the choice about the holiday and he really wanted to go and tell you the truth, it was fine. We have no problem being friends when you take the romantic relationship away. we decided to see what would happen, maybe we would find a spark across some tiki torches
Ok, enough of the pre-stuff, lets get on with the show 
So about 10pm I bid a sad farewell to my besties and we get in the car for our 1 hour trek to gatwick. Checked into the Sofitel first and to our suprise are given an upgrade to an executive room 
We went straight through and had a look at the board. it was now about 10am so were expecting a gate pretty soon.
Watched R.V., had a chicken dinner, a glass of wine, read half my Terri Hatcher and tried not to complusively watch that map thingie on my TV. Why do they do it? I swear the thing moves slower than real time, the plane doesn't move at all, it tortures you with "one billion hours till landing" and I still had to check the thing! Oh yes, the delay was due to a fault on our original plane, so they had pulled this one out of the hangar and done a rush prep job to get it to standard. to their credit, i never would have known. 
The entrance to the Poly was everything I hoped for, a little piece of paradise with its beautiful fountains and foilage, an "Aloha" to all and our baggage whisked away, and best of all, no line to check in. Tina found us on the computer and saw my requests: Samoa or Rarotonga (both close to the Great Ceremonial House), non-smoking (we are smokers but i didn't want my room to smell, and we never smoke in the house at home) and a balcony. well I got 2 out of 3, Rapa Nui 3rd floor, which was actually fine as it meant we were right next door to the TTC, so could get monorail direct to Epcot or Magic Kingdom, as well as anywhere else we wanted to go 
....
Your there 
Think about it before you pounce 
this was the first time i get to really enjoy the attraction as i normally have a child on my lap or a child that I'm watching the reaction of so it was great to see the effects properly. What a movie!
Caroline 
