Latte Lover
<font color=green> in charge of the credit cards a
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2003
- Messages
- 1,335
Saturday 23rd August 2008
We are:
Tony, (DH) age 44 - in charge of driving, collecting coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, running to get fast passes and generally stressing. This is his ninth trip.
Theresa (me), age 43 - in charge of the credit cards and plotting quickest routes to the shopping malls. This is my tenth trip.
Maddie (DD), age 19 - jointly in charge of where we eat, shop and play this trip. This is her seventh trip.
Callum (DS) age 18 - in charge of himself. This is his seventh trip.
We were all up by 4am this morning to get an early start. Tilly the dog and Poppy the cat were already at the kennels/cattery and Steve McQueen the fish was at Cals friends house so we only had ourselves to get ready.
We were away by 4.30 and arrived at Gatwick at 5.15. Maple Manor Parking greeted us and took the car away for the fortnight. We looked at the flight boards as we entered the building and were puzzled as our flight wasnt listed, but as we were so early we werent really worried. We located the Monach check-in desk and joined the short queue. When we reached the desk, we were greeted with the words Youre not going to like me very much and the clerk went on to explain there would be a 10 HOUR DELAY!!!
Monach had arranged for us to have complimentary breakfast and lunch at The Hilton but that didnt make up for the fact that we would be arriving very late and would have to find our accommodation in the dark.
Breakfast wasnt scheduled until 9.30 so we went to Starbucks and Burger King for coffees and milkshakes and Maddie had a big chocolate muffin to fill the gap before breakfast.
Had a wander around the shops, bought a pile of mags and newspapers and couldnt resist buying a box of 12 (yes 12) Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
We sat around the airport for the next couple of hours before making our way to The Hiliton.
We all had a big plateful of the full English (it was a help yourself buffet) plus croissants and jam, coffee and juices. Quite nice.
Unfortunately, we all had to leave the dining room after breakfast though and go back to the airport until lunch. It would have been nice to have had the room for a base for the day. We sat around again, eating our doughnuts for another few hours until lunch at 2.30.
Lunch at the Hilton was really very good chicken, salmon, pasta, new potatoes, rolls, salad and a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. Better than breakfast. Again, we had to leave after lunch.
We werent allowed to go through security to Airside until 4pm and we were finally boarded and were taking off by 7.30 pm.
The flight was fine. Films shown were Fools Gold and 21. Dinner was cottage pie, apple crumble, biscuits and cheese. Breakfast was served at 3am English time cornflakes, cereal bar, muffin and juice. Not that we needed it, after all that we had eaten today. Maddie had eaten the most - 7 cakes, a hamburger, a milkshake, a bag of pick n mix and two big meals at the Hilton!
We touched down at Sanford at 11.15 pm US time, 9 hours late. We were through security, customs and luggage pick-up very quickly, picked up our hire car and were soon away. However, the problems were not over yet. When we reached the office for the Villa management company to pick up our keys, the lock-up box was empty! Luckily, we had been given an emergency number to phone if there were problems and several phone calls later we were told the office had moved. By this time it was 1.30 am. We drove to the new address, picked up our keys and instructions on how to get to our accommodation and were soon on our way.
We stopped at a drive-through McDonalds on the way as Maddie and Cal wanted some real food after so much sugar all day. They were actually feeling ill after so much sweet stuff and they said the burgers tasted amazing!
We reached the condo at Terrace Ridge at 2 am. Its near Champions Gate, off Old Lake Wilson Road. We dashed around the place for half an hour, all tiredness forgotten, looking at everything.
It was really lovely. We finally went to bed, having been awake for 28 hours, and after deciding we would have a lie-in tomorrow instead of going to Animal Kingdom as planned.
We are:
Tony, (DH) age 44 - in charge of driving, collecting coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, running to get fast passes and generally stressing. This is his ninth trip.
Theresa (me), age 43 - in charge of the credit cards and plotting quickest routes to the shopping malls. This is my tenth trip.
Maddie (DD), age 19 - jointly in charge of where we eat, shop and play this trip. This is her seventh trip.
Callum (DS) age 18 - in charge of himself. This is his seventh trip.
We were all up by 4am this morning to get an early start. Tilly the dog and Poppy the cat were already at the kennels/cattery and Steve McQueen the fish was at Cals friends house so we only had ourselves to get ready.
We were away by 4.30 and arrived at Gatwick at 5.15. Maple Manor Parking greeted us and took the car away for the fortnight. We looked at the flight boards as we entered the building and were puzzled as our flight wasnt listed, but as we were so early we werent really worried. We located the Monach check-in desk and joined the short queue. When we reached the desk, we were greeted with the words Youre not going to like me very much and the clerk went on to explain there would be a 10 HOUR DELAY!!!
Monach had arranged for us to have complimentary breakfast and lunch at The Hilton but that didnt make up for the fact that we would be arriving very late and would have to find our accommodation in the dark.
Breakfast wasnt scheduled until 9.30 so we went to Starbucks and Burger King for coffees and milkshakes and Maddie had a big chocolate muffin to fill the gap before breakfast.
Had a wander around the shops, bought a pile of mags and newspapers and couldnt resist buying a box of 12 (yes 12) Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
We sat around the airport for the next couple of hours before making our way to The Hiliton.
We all had a big plateful of the full English (it was a help yourself buffet) plus croissants and jam, coffee and juices. Quite nice.
Unfortunately, we all had to leave the dining room after breakfast though and go back to the airport until lunch. It would have been nice to have had the room for a base for the day. We sat around again, eating our doughnuts for another few hours until lunch at 2.30.
Lunch at the Hilton was really very good chicken, salmon, pasta, new potatoes, rolls, salad and a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. Better than breakfast. Again, we had to leave after lunch.
We werent allowed to go through security to Airside until 4pm and we were finally boarded and were taking off by 7.30 pm.
The flight was fine. Films shown were Fools Gold and 21. Dinner was cottage pie, apple crumble, biscuits and cheese. Breakfast was served at 3am English time cornflakes, cereal bar, muffin and juice. Not that we needed it, after all that we had eaten today. Maddie had eaten the most - 7 cakes, a hamburger, a milkshake, a bag of pick n mix and two big meals at the Hilton!
We touched down at Sanford at 11.15 pm US time, 9 hours late. We were through security, customs and luggage pick-up very quickly, picked up our hire car and were soon away. However, the problems were not over yet. When we reached the office for the Villa management company to pick up our keys, the lock-up box was empty! Luckily, we had been given an emergency number to phone if there were problems and several phone calls later we were told the office had moved. By this time it was 1.30 am. We drove to the new address, picked up our keys and instructions on how to get to our accommodation and were soon on our way.
We stopped at a drive-through McDonalds on the way as Maddie and Cal wanted some real food after so much sugar all day. They were actually feeling ill after so much sweet stuff and they said the burgers tasted amazing!
We reached the condo at Terrace Ridge at 2 am. Its near Champions Gate, off Old Lake Wilson Road. We dashed around the place for half an hour, all tiredness forgotten, looking at everything.
It was really lovely. We finally went to bed, having been awake for 28 hours, and after deciding we would have a lie-in tomorrow instead of going to Animal Kingdom as planned.
.Those Krispy Kremes looked divine.The villa looks lovely.Can't wait to read more.x.
your villa looks amazing. shame about the delay.
