mandymouse
Bahama Mama Time !!
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
- Messages
- 72,440
Castmembers
Mandy (me), Paul (hubby) & Becky (DD16)
Christmas Day '09
Wow ! What a day ! I was up early, and I started to take down the Christmas decorations and cards. Eventually everyone else got up and we opened our presents. We then took our tree down
By lunch time all signs of Christmas were gone, but then it was time for me to get on with dinner. We had dinner around 3pm and once all the washing up was done, we got on with the packing.
My aim was to have everything done by 6pm so I could settle down and watch Dr. Who and then we'd leave for the airport around 7pm. After much faffing around, big hugs, kisses and a few tears, we left Kerry and headed off to Manchester Airport around 7.30pm
Tonight we were staying at the SAS Radisson, and it was a first for us. We checked in just after 9pm and went to our room. The room was lovely, much more luxurious than the Travelodge that we usually use (not that I would knock the good old cheap and cheerful Travelodge). We dropped off our cases and went to explore. We wandered along the walkway that linked the hotel to the terminal (which was desserted), then we walked back and had a quick drink, a Bailey's for me, well it was Christmas Day
then we headed off for bed
Saturday 26th December '09
We were up around 6.45am and heard about the attempted terrorist attack on a US plane the previous day on the TV
We left the hotel, and it was great to just leave our car there, and know that it would be waiting for us when we landed. I'm sure we'd stay here again if there was only 2 or 3 of us, but probably not if there was 4 of us as we would have to have two rooms. We arrived at the terminal around 7.30am and as we had already done on-line check in the day before, we just had to drop our bags off
Once through security, we went to Frankie & Benny's for breakfast. This was a first for us too, but after seeing Tony & Theresa's photos, we thought we'd give it a go. Well it was lovely. I had an omelette, Becky had a traditional breakfast and Paul had a Big Breakfast. We really enjoyed it and it was nice to have a decent cup of tea before our flight
We also decided that we weren't going to put up with the dreadful food on the flight, so we picked up a pack of sandwiches, bag of crisps and a drink each before heading to our gate
Our flight was due to take off at 10.25am, and at 9.30am the boarding began (yay !!). All seemed to be going well until we noticed that the Upper Class, Premium Economy and passengers at the back of the plane were taking ages to board. It was then announced that due to restrictions imposed but the US that morning, boarding was going to take longer (Noooo !!)
We finally got to board at 11.30am (we were the last group to board) after having our hand luggage opened and checked, and we were 'patted down', and we taxi-ed away at 12 noon
When we took off, the pilot announced that due to the restrictions, the Skymap wouldn't be working, he couldn't tell us how long the flight would take or which route we were taking (although Paul had found out on his i-phone that we were due to land at 4pm and the supposed route we were taking
)
It felt like a very long and boring flight today, and I guess the delay didn't help. Anyway I watched 'Up' (nice film) and Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, and when the food was being served, we really enjoyed our sandwiches. Later in the flight we were given a choc-ice and about an hour and a half before landing a sandwich and cookie were offered.
After our final snack, it was announced that in 20 minutes (which turned out to be an hour before we landed) that all hand luggage, blankets, pillows, infact everything had to be stowed in the overhead lockers. Also, all rubbish had to be picked up and removed, the TV's would be turned off and the seat belt signs would be turned on, so no-one could use the toilets
As you can imagine, that last hour felt very long, and I felt so sorry for those travelling with little children that were crying
Anyway our flight lasted exactly 9 hours and we landed at 4pm (what a surprise
)
We were off the plane really quickly, and there was hardly anyone at Immigration, and even though we had to wait a while for our cases, we still had gone through Immigration, picked up our cases, sorted out our rental car and were driving out of Orlando International an hour after landing
After an uneventful 1/2 hour drive, we arrived at the Pop Century. The lobby was really quiet and we were quickly checked in and the CM gave me a button for my upcoming birthday
We were allocated a ground floor room in the 90's building (block 8), a great location near the Computer Pool (which we had requested), and once we were unpacked, we left Becky in the room to chill, while Paul & I popped to DownTown Disney to pick up our 14 day passes and then onto Wal-Mart to pick up the usual supplies (Lays chips, Mountain Dew, water and a cooler box).
On the way back to the Pop, we called in at McDonalds (near the All Star Resorts) for some burgers, and after whopping them down we got Becky a take-out
We got back to the room, put everything away and I was in bed by 9.30pm
Roll on our first full day in Walt Disney World
Mandy (me), Paul (hubby) & Becky (DD16)
Christmas Day '09
Wow ! What a day ! I was up early, and I started to take down the Christmas decorations and cards. Eventually everyone else got up and we opened our presents. We then took our tree down
By lunch time all signs of Christmas were gone, but then it was time for me to get on with dinner. We had dinner around 3pm and once all the washing up was done, we got on with the packing.My aim was to have everything done by 6pm so I could settle down and watch Dr. Who and then we'd leave for the airport around 7pm. After much faffing around, big hugs, kisses and a few tears, we left Kerry and headed off to Manchester Airport around 7.30pm
Tonight we were staying at the SAS Radisson, and it was a first for us. We checked in just after 9pm and went to our room. The room was lovely, much more luxurious than the Travelodge that we usually use (not that I would knock the good old cheap and cheerful Travelodge). We dropped off our cases and went to explore. We wandered along the walkway that linked the hotel to the terminal (which was desserted), then we walked back and had a quick drink, a Bailey's for me, well it was Christmas Day
Saturday 26th December '09
We were up around 6.45am and heard about the attempted terrorist attack on a US plane the previous day on the TV
We left the hotel, and it was great to just leave our car there, and know that it would be waiting for us when we landed. I'm sure we'd stay here again if there was only 2 or 3 of us, but probably not if there was 4 of us as we would have to have two rooms. We arrived at the terminal around 7.30am and as we had already done on-line check in the day before, we just had to drop our bags off
Once through security, we went to Frankie & Benny's for breakfast. This was a first for us too, but after seeing Tony & Theresa's photos, we thought we'd give it a go. Well it was lovely. I had an omelette, Becky had a traditional breakfast and Paul had a Big Breakfast. We really enjoyed it and it was nice to have a decent cup of tea before our flight
We also decided that we weren't going to put up with the dreadful food on the flight, so we picked up a pack of sandwiches, bag of crisps and a drink each before heading to our gate
Our flight was due to take off at 10.25am, and at 9.30am the boarding began (yay !!). All seemed to be going well until we noticed that the Upper Class, Premium Economy and passengers at the back of the plane were taking ages to board. It was then announced that due to restrictions imposed but the US that morning, boarding was going to take longer (Noooo !!)
We finally got to board at 11.30am (we were the last group to board) after having our hand luggage opened and checked, and we were 'patted down', and we taxi-ed away at 12 noon
When we took off, the pilot announced that due to the restrictions, the Skymap wouldn't be working, he couldn't tell us how long the flight would take or which route we were taking (although Paul had found out on his i-phone that we were due to land at 4pm and the supposed route we were taking
)It felt like a very long and boring flight today, and I guess the delay didn't help. Anyway I watched 'Up' (nice film) and Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, and when the food was being served, we really enjoyed our sandwiches. Later in the flight we were given a choc-ice and about an hour and a half before landing a sandwich and cookie were offered.
After our final snack, it was announced that in 20 minutes (which turned out to be an hour before we landed) that all hand luggage, blankets, pillows, infact everything had to be stowed in the overhead lockers. Also, all rubbish had to be picked up and removed, the TV's would be turned off and the seat belt signs would be turned on, so no-one could use the toilets
As you can imagine, that last hour felt very long, and I felt so sorry for those travelling with little children that were crying
Anyway our flight lasted exactly 9 hours and we landed at 4pm (what a surprise
)We were off the plane really quickly, and there was hardly anyone at Immigration, and even though we had to wait a while for our cases, we still had gone through Immigration, picked up our cases, sorted out our rental car and were driving out of Orlando International an hour after landing
After an uneventful 1/2 hour drive, we arrived at the Pop Century. The lobby was really quiet and we were quickly checked in and the CM gave me a button for my upcoming birthday
We were allocated a ground floor room in the 90's building (block 8), a great location near the Computer Pool (which we had requested), and once we were unpacked, we left Becky in the room to chill, while Paul & I popped to DownTown Disney to pick up our 14 day passes and then onto Wal-Mart to pick up the usual supplies (Lays chips, Mountain Dew, water and a cooler box).
On the way back to the Pop, we called in at McDonalds (near the All Star Resorts) for some burgers, and after whopping them down we got Becky a take-out
We got back to the room, put everything away and I was in bed by 9.30pm
Roll on our first full day in Walt Disney World
