UKANGEL
Champagne Girls Rule!
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2002
- Messages
- 2,808
Directed by:
Angel (Mandy) Control freak, veteran of 14 trips, organizer extraordinaire
Chunkster20uk (Mark) also a control freak, and chief driver
Produced (& financed) by:
Dad Grandpa Clampet lovable, impatient & grumpy
Mum Grandma Clampet also loveable, much more patient and not so grumpy (but very hard of hearing)
Choreography:
Isobelle (Izzy) age 12, already a Diva
Chief Jester:
Elliott age 14, a lovable 6ft 4inch streak of lightning
..and starring..
Becky 19 my dd, beautiful, talented, takes after her Mum
Paul 22 - Beckys bf, no idea what hes let himself in for .
Tracey my little sis, hates planning, and being told what to do
Chris BIL see above
Jess 17 chief mourner, pining for her bf back in Swindon
All the holidaymakers have done Disney before, sis & family just once in 2001, for Mum & Dad its their 4th visit in 6 years, Paul was here 10 years ago and Mark, Becky and I have racked up nearly 30 trips between us ..
Friday 19th October
After an awful nights sleep Im awake at 4 am and its freezing. Thats it, no more sleep now. Up at 6.30 and all packed away. Phone Becky and sis to make sure theyre all awake and getting up. By 7 am were all in reception waiting for the shuttle to the airport, Becky with her hair straighteners in her hand while they cool down! At 10 past 7 a small bus arrives there are around 40 people waiting with suitcases and hand luggage I cant believe we all manage to get on the bus. I even manage to snag a seat. Its 20 minutes to Gatwick, luckily theres not too much traffic or it would take longer.
After we unload ourselves and the luggage we have crossed fingers and toes as we head toward the TCD desk. Due to the PO strike TCD have decided we can only pick up our tickets on the morning of our flight here at the airport, and were not at all confident theyll be there. However, Im worrying unduly and Dad soon has all the tickets in his hot sweaty palms by 7.45 am ..11 flight tickets, 11 vouchers for Early check in at Lake Buena Vista, 11 vouchers for Disney tickets, 2 car hire vouchers (Mark and I have our ours separately), one voucher for the villa ..yep, all there! Marvellous! (Its only later I found out from Pam Truesdpr that they managed to pick up their tickets the night before after all!) Rally the troops and march them over to XL airways check in, straight through to the Sunshine First queue, if you please! Its a little complicated here as were travelling in 2 parties: Mark & I, and my parents are flying Sunshine First (we paid for upgrades), and the rest of the Clampets in Sunshine Upper. Soon sorted though, we have seats 3 A & C, and Mum & Dad are in front of us, rest of Clampet gang have back rows of Sunshine Upper and 1 seat over the aisle, so thats fine. Im sure at this point that everyone in the queue behind us is thinking, oh please, dont let them be sitting near us and I surreptitiously peer round in case I can spot Pam (Truesdpr) from the DIBB whos travelling on the same flight. Shes obviously slunk away if shes seen us though, and I dont blame her! What a rabble! I can only apologise, its very hard keeping 11 excitable people in check! Especially when they include 2 experts, (also control freaks), 1 obsessive, several stroppy teenagers, 1 less than mobile lady with a hearing problem, and 2 wandering have no ideas .if you get the picture!
Cases all offloaded (told you it wouldnt be overweight Mark!), lovely Gold First Class labels attached, were free to pop to Travelex and pick up our money now. Becky & Paul do the same while the rest of the gang decide to head through security and meet us on the other side. First mistake. BIL has all this groups boarding passes and flight tickets including Becky & Pauls! I run quicker than Ive ever done before (this is not a pretty sight or a regular occurrence I can assure you) and manage to call to Chris just before he passes through the point of no-return (or security if you will) and he passes over the tickets phew!! That would have been awkward! Bloomin novices!
Panic over, money all collected, were back in the security queue, stuffing our bits and pieces into small plastic bags (Mark decides my Ziplocs are too big) .not as painful as it sounds though! Ive given dire warnings to all the novices in the party about whats allowed and not allowed and several phone calls have flown back and forward from Swindon to Reading on this subject ..yes, mascara must be go in there, no not eye shadow, yes lip gloss, no not the jelly beans etc etc It must have paid off as theres no problem with our lot (at least not on the way out anyway!!!!!) Paul is stopped and patted down as he looks a very shady character indeed, but they dont get out the plastic gloves so hes ok.
Head over to Yates for breakfast but its a bad choice this time. Its looking very grubby today and after a wait of 15 minutes at the bar and being ignored my sister has enough and they strop off to find somewhere else to eat. Weve ordered ours ok, but then wait over 40 minutes for our food! Ridiculous! Becky and Paul have found bagels somewhere else, so eventually were all fed anyway (or is that fed up?)
By the time we go back downstairs its 10 am and we just have time to pop in to Duty Free, where a lady tries to convince me her perfume is much cheaper here than in the states .. I dont think so love. We do buy a bottle of Vodka and one of Bacardi for £15 (for the 2) as were staying in a villa and sis enjoys a tipple or 2 (I am teetotal you understand .not!). Pop in to the Harrods shop to pick up some gifts for a friend Im meeting from a US board and were all set, which is just as well as there are massive queues everywhere, in Boots and Smiths especially. Its not much fun! Glance up at the board and suddenly realize theyre showing our gate number already. Takes a little while to rally the troops together (and this is just the first day), and to prise the parents out of Duty Free, just as we have 8 together we lose 2, then gain 1, then lose someone else ..you get the picture right? Eventually we have a count up ...is that 12 now? Have we gained one? No just the 11, lets head for gate 25 then.
As we reach the gate we find were already being boarded, and as were in First Class and Sunshine Upper we can go straight on. Nice! Ive been so nervous of this flight as we usually fly with Virgin, but so far so good. As we hand in our boarding passes both Paul and I are stopped by security and have to have our hand luggage thoroughly searched hes definitely looking very dodgy today maybe I am too! Im soon on my way though, but poor Paul is there for ages and we get very nervous as by the time were sat in our comfy SF seats hes still not onboard! They eventually give in and let him on, poor lad, and we breathe a sigh of relief panic over! Goodbye to rest of the Clampets for the next 9 hours (apart from Ma & Pa that is)
Sunshine First is very roomy and were very impressed by the width of the seats. Theres loads of leg room too which is just as well as I havent yet had time to put on my very sexy flight socks and this is not a maneuver I could pull off in Economy! I check out the little amenity bag which holds all the usual useful and useless things, the headphones, and the magazines I like to see whats included! Then I settle down in my window seat and look around. Notice the smiley lady a couple of rows back and realise it must be Pam from the DIBB. Say our hellos to her and her family, theyre in the very last row of SF (there are just 22 seats), just in front of the curtain leading to Economy, reading to trip up any unsuspecting marauders I think. Its lovely to meet a fellow Dibber what fun!
Champagne is offered and drunk, and a refill too yummy! Look through the menu, which for lunch includes (for starters) Tandoori chicken with a feta, corn and chick pea salad and mango dressing or Pea & yoghurt bavarois with minted olive oil and tomato salsa. I choose the pea and yoghurt thing but it tastes a little too minty and strange to me, not horrible though. The main courses are braised short rib of beef, Cajun fillet of salmon or vegetable skewers and I opt for the latter, although I have to pull off the mushrooms as Im allergic to them. Warm rolls, apricot, apple and amaretto tart & white chocolate sauce, cheese & crackers, coffee & chocolates completes the meal and it was nt bad at all, for airline food.
Anyway, thats a little later and Ive gotten carried away with the food details we seem to wait forever for some people to board. From our seats we can see people heading for the aircraft and some just saunter along without a care in the world .cant they see I want to get to Florida? Still, just after noon were pulling away from the stand, and only a little late we take off around 12.30. So far so good TCD!
The captain on the flight is retiring after this one and keeps chatting to us about Young Jay whos co-piloting today I have visions of some teenager on his first outing he certainly sounds very young! Hope he knows how to fly! The flight is pretty good though; drinks are plentiful in SF .as much champagne as you like, wine, spirits, beer etc. We dont go mad though as Mark and Dad have to drive the other end, and I dont want to get too dehydrated. Our individual DVD players are good, with films that include Sunshine, Pirates 3, Harry Potter, 1492 and something else, plus TV & music channels. I just find it a little cumbersome to have to have the table out all the time with that resting on it. Also, Marks seat has a problem in that his table is broken and wont pull out properly so he has to spend the flight with the TV screen perched in his hand or on our arm rest. My foot rest is also broken and we realise how old this plane is as we look around no wonder theyre retiring this lot! Theres lots of space, the crew are pretty attentive but the plane is very old and shabby with lots of things ripped and broken. When I go to the loo I notice this even more, one of the doors seems to be falling to pieces and towards the end of the flight none of the 4 loos reachable from SF are working great!!!
After lunch we have an interloper in SF who has snuck in from SU. My sister pops down to make sure were all ok and is told off and asked to leave by the crew ..were all very embarrassed but hey! Were the Clampets on holiday what can I say? She didnt cause as much disruption as the small girl running up and down the aisle the whole flight GRRRRRRRRR!!! She was sat at the very front of the cabin with her parents and sister and had loads of room to play there but preferred to run around instead. I know its very hard for kids to keep still that long but as usual the parents seemed to just ignore it. Great!
I have a word with a nice crew member and pop up to say hello to dd and make sure shes ok upstairs. Shes in the back row next to Paul and her cousin Izzy, theyre fine but it looks very claustrophobic and cramped compared to SF. I wish we were all travelling together.
Green waiver forms next, where dad, a man who has traveled all over the world many times manages to muck up the forms several times before theyre right. Not as bad as the poor woman opposite who ends up in tears as she asks for 6th lot of forms while her husband just carries on reading the newspaper!
Captain advises there are storms ahead so were taking the long way round, and boy was he right. Seems to take forever to come in over Sanford, and the descent was even longer with Young Jay making a good enough landing in the rain at around 4.30. Glad the stairs are brought up tot eh door right by First Class as itll be easier to get off. Pam & DH nip out first, hurrah for them! Were soon off too and as usual Dad rushes ahead leaving Mum to lug her bag behind. The immigration officer is the friendliest weve ever encountered, has a chat with us and tells us itll be light til 7 ish so our drive should be ok to the villa. Good! The 4 of us are soon through to the luggage belt and our cases are already there waiting great service thank you. By the time the rest of the Clampets arrive we have collected everyones cases for them too ..only problem is we seem to have lost Paul again! What is it about that boy? Hes very harmless, honest!
Dads in a hurry to queue for the villa details so some of us head for TCD desk/Dollar (just opposite the airport exit) while sis and Becky wait for Paul. Mark, Dad & Chris then go to sort out the cars (Ive given Mark my DL so I dont think I need to be there) and the rest of us wait outside the Dollar office. Paul eventually turns up, hed been stuck behind a family who had no idea what they were doing. First lesson of this holiday NEVER get in the queue Paul chooses!
Picking up the cars proves to take a while not because of a queue as its dead, but Dad and Chris allow themselves to be persuaded into taking out AAA protection. Novices! Mark gets a great result when he asks about upgrades (Ive given him dire warnings about trying the $20 trick). He gets a convertible for just $150 extra would have cost us lots more than that if wed booked it in UK with Airline Network etc. (Costed it all before we went) Wave goodbye to Pam & Bill who are off in their car (well, actually they take the wrong car apparently but Ill leave her to tell you all about that!)
Cars sorted its apparently time for a big family conflab. We have a 12 seater bus (from then on known as Big Red), and a small car in case parents or sis want to go off on their own at times. Mark & I have also taken the convertible as we know well be wanting time on our own. After much debate its decided Dad will drive the bus with Mum, Becky & Paul (who have mobile phones in case they get all lost) and Elliott straight to the villa. Chris & I will take Izzy and do the same (I also have my phone), and Mark (also with his phone) will drive sis and Jess to supermarket for a few basics, then on to the villa. This seems a good plan as each car has a phone, a map and people who have been before ..what could go wrong? (cue the hysterical laughter)
As we leave the car park were supposed to follow dad in Big Red ..which we think we are, except its a different red bus .not Dad good start! Figure it out and Dad pulls in behind us instead, ok thats fine the pressures on me to navigate but I can cope, with Mapmans help of course. Off we go then. Manage fine til the roads split into 417 South/North and we head South and Dad turns North behind us ..WHY??? I still have no idea, hes flashing us and waving but we know were right .Im sure we are anyway! I try calling Becky & Paul but neither of their phones has a service yet great, that worked well then!
Check our route is ok at the first toll, yes sir, straight on to Disney phew! I knew I was right really! By this time were caught up with Mark & sis and have phoned them to tell them whats happened. Were all a little worried about the Clampet van as Dad gets very stressed at the best of times he also has a thing about always wanting to drive on the I4 for some reason on a Friday in rush hour its gotta be a bad idea tho. We can only hope they find their way now, as theres not much we can do. As were now not following the man with the directions to the villa were in trouble tho, but luckily Tracey also has details of the villa so were able to get them from her. Its at Solana, on the US27, a gated community, which Im not ecstatic about but well see when we get there.
Have another comedy moment when I realise we have no change for the tolls just bills (my mistake this time!) and its exact coins only as we leave the 417 oops! Luckily my sister is behind us and nips out and throws some change in for us .lucky theres nobody behind! Very funny!
Onto Osceola, Sherbeth Road, 192 and then the 27. Its chucking down with rain and thundery now. Its hard to see where were going and getting dark, really not what we wanted on our arrival, but turns out to be the story of the holiday really weather-wise. Mark has stopped at Winn Dixie on the 192 for provisions (beer etc) so were on our own. Its very hard to find the place as Im not familiar with this neck of the woods at all, but we manage to spot it in time to pull across the highway, thanks mainly to Steves map (beer for you Steve next time we meet). Tracey has given us the codes and house number so the nice man lets us in the gates. After some fumbling about by the front door (its pitch black so we cant see the key pad to input the code take a torch next time!), were in, first ones to arrive hurrah!
OK now, my impressions of the villa .
It looks good from the outside, 2 storey, large and imposing as youd expect from a place thatll sleep 12. After a look round I find:
6 bedrooms (good!) 1 grd flr master with double shower/massive bath (thatll be the parents then), 2 master king ensuites (ours, & siss), 2 double ensuites (Becky & Pauls, and Elliotts) and one twin (no bathroom but can share Elliotts next door). Its a pretty good set up really for us, good job there wasnt another child though, with 5 double beds it would be difficult! The bathrooms apart from parents are pretty small and basic but fine. Its not wonderfully clean though, and very lacking in what I expected from an Executive Villa. Only 3 of the bedrooms have TVs, and ours is so minute and stuck up on top of a very tall chest so I cant see it unless I stand up near it! There are only 6 glasses, 5 mugs .and 10 chairs in the house, no BBQ, no hot tub, a small pool which is fine, no storage of any kind in the girls room, much to their disgust, no extras at all no games room, no playstation, no CD player its very, very basic!
Im not happy. The pool has 2 loungers and some plastic chairs, but at least the pool looks clean which is good. We knew we probably wouldnt have room to sit down at the same dinner table but we did expect to have chairs to sit on! This is not good enough when you pay extra for an Executive Villa black mark to TCD!
Were still worried about Mum & Dad now, but just after Mark arrives with the shopping (and my sis) Big Red ambles into view with the rest of the Clampets onboard all looking very stressed and wrung out. Paul is looking extremely traumatized and I think he wishes he could go home right now after that journey! The story later emerges over plenty of alcohol. A long and sorry tale of shouting, wrong directions, swearing, trauma and Dad not being able to find the lights so driving along in the dark refusing to pull over!!!! Just another Clampet day out then really.
Poor dad is sat down with a beer, Paul is fed beers intravenously and the rest of us swim and try and relax, with beers, chips & dip to help. We manage to last til 10 pm which is good for us. I feel really sorry for dad as I think driving the van is too much for him really, I wish Id insisted on the 2 7-seaters after all as I tried to! Big hugs all round and lets move on ..tomorrow were off to Boma for breakfast, and Animal Kingdom.
To bed and a restless sleep! :wavey:
(sorry it's so long!)
Angel (Mandy) Control freak, veteran of 14 trips, organizer extraordinaire
Chunkster20uk (Mark) also a control freak, and chief driver
Produced (& financed) by:
Dad Grandpa Clampet lovable, impatient & grumpy
Mum Grandma Clampet also loveable, much more patient and not so grumpy (but very hard of hearing)
Choreography:
Isobelle (Izzy) age 12, already a Diva
Chief Jester:
Elliott age 14, a lovable 6ft 4inch streak of lightning
..and starring..
Becky 19 my dd, beautiful, talented, takes after her Mum
Paul 22 - Beckys bf, no idea what hes let himself in for .
Tracey my little sis, hates planning, and being told what to do
Chris BIL see above
Jess 17 chief mourner, pining for her bf back in Swindon
All the holidaymakers have done Disney before, sis & family just once in 2001, for Mum & Dad its their 4th visit in 6 years, Paul was here 10 years ago and Mark, Becky and I have racked up nearly 30 trips between us ..
Friday 19th October
After an awful nights sleep Im awake at 4 am and its freezing. Thats it, no more sleep now. Up at 6.30 and all packed away. Phone Becky and sis to make sure theyre all awake and getting up. By 7 am were all in reception waiting for the shuttle to the airport, Becky with her hair straighteners in her hand while they cool down! At 10 past 7 a small bus arrives there are around 40 people waiting with suitcases and hand luggage I cant believe we all manage to get on the bus. I even manage to snag a seat. Its 20 minutes to Gatwick, luckily theres not too much traffic or it would take longer.
After we unload ourselves and the luggage we have crossed fingers and toes as we head toward the TCD desk. Due to the PO strike TCD have decided we can only pick up our tickets on the morning of our flight here at the airport, and were not at all confident theyll be there. However, Im worrying unduly and Dad soon has all the tickets in his hot sweaty palms by 7.45 am ..11 flight tickets, 11 vouchers for Early check in at Lake Buena Vista, 11 vouchers for Disney tickets, 2 car hire vouchers (Mark and I have our ours separately), one voucher for the villa ..yep, all there! Marvellous! (Its only later I found out from Pam Truesdpr that they managed to pick up their tickets the night before after all!) Rally the troops and march them over to XL airways check in, straight through to the Sunshine First queue, if you please! Its a little complicated here as were travelling in 2 parties: Mark & I, and my parents are flying Sunshine First (we paid for upgrades), and the rest of the Clampets in Sunshine Upper. Soon sorted though, we have seats 3 A & C, and Mum & Dad are in front of us, rest of Clampet gang have back rows of Sunshine Upper and 1 seat over the aisle, so thats fine. Im sure at this point that everyone in the queue behind us is thinking, oh please, dont let them be sitting near us and I surreptitiously peer round in case I can spot Pam (Truesdpr) from the DIBB whos travelling on the same flight. Shes obviously slunk away if shes seen us though, and I dont blame her! What a rabble! I can only apologise, its very hard keeping 11 excitable people in check! Especially when they include 2 experts, (also control freaks), 1 obsessive, several stroppy teenagers, 1 less than mobile lady with a hearing problem, and 2 wandering have no ideas .if you get the picture!
Cases all offloaded (told you it wouldnt be overweight Mark!), lovely Gold First Class labels attached, were free to pop to Travelex and pick up our money now. Becky & Paul do the same while the rest of the gang decide to head through security and meet us on the other side. First mistake. BIL has all this groups boarding passes and flight tickets including Becky & Pauls! I run quicker than Ive ever done before (this is not a pretty sight or a regular occurrence I can assure you) and manage to call to Chris just before he passes through the point of no-return (or security if you will) and he passes over the tickets phew!! That would have been awkward! Bloomin novices!
Panic over, money all collected, were back in the security queue, stuffing our bits and pieces into small plastic bags (Mark decides my Ziplocs are too big) .not as painful as it sounds though! Ive given dire warnings to all the novices in the party about whats allowed and not allowed and several phone calls have flown back and forward from Swindon to Reading on this subject ..yes, mascara must be go in there, no not eye shadow, yes lip gloss, no not the jelly beans etc etc It must have paid off as theres no problem with our lot (at least not on the way out anyway!!!!!) Paul is stopped and patted down as he looks a very shady character indeed, but they dont get out the plastic gloves so hes ok.
Head over to Yates for breakfast but its a bad choice this time. Its looking very grubby today and after a wait of 15 minutes at the bar and being ignored my sister has enough and they strop off to find somewhere else to eat. Weve ordered ours ok, but then wait over 40 minutes for our food! Ridiculous! Becky and Paul have found bagels somewhere else, so eventually were all fed anyway (or is that fed up?)
By the time we go back downstairs its 10 am and we just have time to pop in to Duty Free, where a lady tries to convince me her perfume is much cheaper here than in the states .. I dont think so love. We do buy a bottle of Vodka and one of Bacardi for £15 (for the 2) as were staying in a villa and sis enjoys a tipple or 2 (I am teetotal you understand .not!). Pop in to the Harrods shop to pick up some gifts for a friend Im meeting from a US board and were all set, which is just as well as there are massive queues everywhere, in Boots and Smiths especially. Its not much fun! Glance up at the board and suddenly realize theyre showing our gate number already. Takes a little while to rally the troops together (and this is just the first day), and to prise the parents out of Duty Free, just as we have 8 together we lose 2, then gain 1, then lose someone else ..you get the picture right? Eventually we have a count up ...is that 12 now? Have we gained one? No just the 11, lets head for gate 25 then.
As we reach the gate we find were already being boarded, and as were in First Class and Sunshine Upper we can go straight on. Nice! Ive been so nervous of this flight as we usually fly with Virgin, but so far so good. As we hand in our boarding passes both Paul and I are stopped by security and have to have our hand luggage thoroughly searched hes definitely looking very dodgy today maybe I am too! Im soon on my way though, but poor Paul is there for ages and we get very nervous as by the time were sat in our comfy SF seats hes still not onboard! They eventually give in and let him on, poor lad, and we breathe a sigh of relief panic over! Goodbye to rest of the Clampets for the next 9 hours (apart from Ma & Pa that is)
Sunshine First is very roomy and were very impressed by the width of the seats. Theres loads of leg room too which is just as well as I havent yet had time to put on my very sexy flight socks and this is not a maneuver I could pull off in Economy! I check out the little amenity bag which holds all the usual useful and useless things, the headphones, and the magazines I like to see whats included! Then I settle down in my window seat and look around. Notice the smiley lady a couple of rows back and realise it must be Pam from the DIBB. Say our hellos to her and her family, theyre in the very last row of SF (there are just 22 seats), just in front of the curtain leading to Economy, reading to trip up any unsuspecting marauders I think. Its lovely to meet a fellow Dibber what fun!
Champagne is offered and drunk, and a refill too yummy! Look through the menu, which for lunch includes (for starters) Tandoori chicken with a feta, corn and chick pea salad and mango dressing or Pea & yoghurt bavarois with minted olive oil and tomato salsa. I choose the pea and yoghurt thing but it tastes a little too minty and strange to me, not horrible though. The main courses are braised short rib of beef, Cajun fillet of salmon or vegetable skewers and I opt for the latter, although I have to pull off the mushrooms as Im allergic to them. Warm rolls, apricot, apple and amaretto tart & white chocolate sauce, cheese & crackers, coffee & chocolates completes the meal and it was nt bad at all, for airline food.
Anyway, thats a little later and Ive gotten carried away with the food details we seem to wait forever for some people to board. From our seats we can see people heading for the aircraft and some just saunter along without a care in the world .cant they see I want to get to Florida? Still, just after noon were pulling away from the stand, and only a little late we take off around 12.30. So far so good TCD!
The captain on the flight is retiring after this one and keeps chatting to us about Young Jay whos co-piloting today I have visions of some teenager on his first outing he certainly sounds very young! Hope he knows how to fly! The flight is pretty good though; drinks are plentiful in SF .as much champagne as you like, wine, spirits, beer etc. We dont go mad though as Mark and Dad have to drive the other end, and I dont want to get too dehydrated. Our individual DVD players are good, with films that include Sunshine, Pirates 3, Harry Potter, 1492 and something else, plus TV & music channels. I just find it a little cumbersome to have to have the table out all the time with that resting on it. Also, Marks seat has a problem in that his table is broken and wont pull out properly so he has to spend the flight with the TV screen perched in his hand or on our arm rest. My foot rest is also broken and we realise how old this plane is as we look around no wonder theyre retiring this lot! Theres lots of space, the crew are pretty attentive but the plane is very old and shabby with lots of things ripped and broken. When I go to the loo I notice this even more, one of the doors seems to be falling to pieces and towards the end of the flight none of the 4 loos reachable from SF are working great!!!
After lunch we have an interloper in SF who has snuck in from SU. My sister pops down to make sure were all ok and is told off and asked to leave by the crew ..were all very embarrassed but hey! Were the Clampets on holiday what can I say? She didnt cause as much disruption as the small girl running up and down the aisle the whole flight GRRRRRRRRR!!! She was sat at the very front of the cabin with her parents and sister and had loads of room to play there but preferred to run around instead. I know its very hard for kids to keep still that long but as usual the parents seemed to just ignore it. Great!
I have a word with a nice crew member and pop up to say hello to dd and make sure shes ok upstairs. Shes in the back row next to Paul and her cousin Izzy, theyre fine but it looks very claustrophobic and cramped compared to SF. I wish we were all travelling together.
Green waiver forms next, where dad, a man who has traveled all over the world many times manages to muck up the forms several times before theyre right. Not as bad as the poor woman opposite who ends up in tears as she asks for 6th lot of forms while her husband just carries on reading the newspaper!
Captain advises there are storms ahead so were taking the long way round, and boy was he right. Seems to take forever to come in over Sanford, and the descent was even longer with Young Jay making a good enough landing in the rain at around 4.30. Glad the stairs are brought up tot eh door right by First Class as itll be easier to get off. Pam & DH nip out first, hurrah for them! Were soon off too and as usual Dad rushes ahead leaving Mum to lug her bag behind. The immigration officer is the friendliest weve ever encountered, has a chat with us and tells us itll be light til 7 ish so our drive should be ok to the villa. Good! The 4 of us are soon through to the luggage belt and our cases are already there waiting great service thank you. By the time the rest of the Clampets arrive we have collected everyones cases for them too ..only problem is we seem to have lost Paul again! What is it about that boy? Hes very harmless, honest!
Dads in a hurry to queue for the villa details so some of us head for TCD desk/Dollar (just opposite the airport exit) while sis and Becky wait for Paul. Mark, Dad & Chris then go to sort out the cars (Ive given Mark my DL so I dont think I need to be there) and the rest of us wait outside the Dollar office. Paul eventually turns up, hed been stuck behind a family who had no idea what they were doing. First lesson of this holiday NEVER get in the queue Paul chooses!
Picking up the cars proves to take a while not because of a queue as its dead, but Dad and Chris allow themselves to be persuaded into taking out AAA protection. Novices! Mark gets a great result when he asks about upgrades (Ive given him dire warnings about trying the $20 trick). He gets a convertible for just $150 extra would have cost us lots more than that if wed booked it in UK with Airline Network etc. (Costed it all before we went) Wave goodbye to Pam & Bill who are off in their car (well, actually they take the wrong car apparently but Ill leave her to tell you all about that!)
Cars sorted its apparently time for a big family conflab. We have a 12 seater bus (from then on known as Big Red), and a small car in case parents or sis want to go off on their own at times. Mark & I have also taken the convertible as we know well be wanting time on our own. After much debate its decided Dad will drive the bus with Mum, Becky & Paul (who have mobile phones in case they get all lost) and Elliott straight to the villa. Chris & I will take Izzy and do the same (I also have my phone), and Mark (also with his phone) will drive sis and Jess to supermarket for a few basics, then on to the villa. This seems a good plan as each car has a phone, a map and people who have been before ..what could go wrong? (cue the hysterical laughter)
As we leave the car park were supposed to follow dad in Big Red ..which we think we are, except its a different red bus .not Dad good start! Figure it out and Dad pulls in behind us instead, ok thats fine the pressures on me to navigate but I can cope, with Mapmans help of course. Off we go then. Manage fine til the roads split into 417 South/North and we head South and Dad turns North behind us ..WHY??? I still have no idea, hes flashing us and waving but we know were right .Im sure we are anyway! I try calling Becky & Paul but neither of their phones has a service yet great, that worked well then!
Check our route is ok at the first toll, yes sir, straight on to Disney phew! I knew I was right really! By this time were caught up with Mark & sis and have phoned them to tell them whats happened. Were all a little worried about the Clampet van as Dad gets very stressed at the best of times he also has a thing about always wanting to drive on the I4 for some reason on a Friday in rush hour its gotta be a bad idea tho. We can only hope they find their way now, as theres not much we can do. As were now not following the man with the directions to the villa were in trouble tho, but luckily Tracey also has details of the villa so were able to get them from her. Its at Solana, on the US27, a gated community, which Im not ecstatic about but well see when we get there.
Have another comedy moment when I realise we have no change for the tolls just bills (my mistake this time!) and its exact coins only as we leave the 417 oops! Luckily my sister is behind us and nips out and throws some change in for us .lucky theres nobody behind! Very funny!
Onto Osceola, Sherbeth Road, 192 and then the 27. Its chucking down with rain and thundery now. Its hard to see where were going and getting dark, really not what we wanted on our arrival, but turns out to be the story of the holiday really weather-wise. Mark has stopped at Winn Dixie on the 192 for provisions (beer etc) so were on our own. Its very hard to find the place as Im not familiar with this neck of the woods at all, but we manage to spot it in time to pull across the highway, thanks mainly to Steves map (beer for you Steve next time we meet). Tracey has given us the codes and house number so the nice man lets us in the gates. After some fumbling about by the front door (its pitch black so we cant see the key pad to input the code take a torch next time!), were in, first ones to arrive hurrah!
OK now, my impressions of the villa .
It looks good from the outside, 2 storey, large and imposing as youd expect from a place thatll sleep 12. After a look round I find:
6 bedrooms (good!) 1 grd flr master with double shower/massive bath (thatll be the parents then), 2 master king ensuites (ours, & siss), 2 double ensuites (Becky & Pauls, and Elliotts) and one twin (no bathroom but can share Elliotts next door). Its a pretty good set up really for us, good job there wasnt another child though, with 5 double beds it would be difficult! The bathrooms apart from parents are pretty small and basic but fine. Its not wonderfully clean though, and very lacking in what I expected from an Executive Villa. Only 3 of the bedrooms have TVs, and ours is so minute and stuck up on top of a very tall chest so I cant see it unless I stand up near it! There are only 6 glasses, 5 mugs .and 10 chairs in the house, no BBQ, no hot tub, a small pool which is fine, no storage of any kind in the girls room, much to their disgust, no extras at all no games room, no playstation, no CD player its very, very basic!
Im not happy. The pool has 2 loungers and some plastic chairs, but at least the pool looks clean which is good. We knew we probably wouldnt have room to sit down at the same dinner table but we did expect to have chairs to sit on! This is not good enough when you pay extra for an Executive Villa black mark to TCD!
Were still worried about Mum & Dad now, but just after Mark arrives with the shopping (and my sis) Big Red ambles into view with the rest of the Clampets onboard all looking very stressed and wrung out. Paul is looking extremely traumatized and I think he wishes he could go home right now after that journey! The story later emerges over plenty of alcohol. A long and sorry tale of shouting, wrong directions, swearing, trauma and Dad not being able to find the lights so driving along in the dark refusing to pull over!!!! Just another Clampet day out then really.
Poor dad is sat down with a beer, Paul is fed beers intravenously and the rest of us swim and try and relax, with beers, chips & dip to help. We manage to last til 10 pm which is good for us. I feel really sorry for dad as I think driving the van is too much for him really, I wish Id insisted on the 2 7-seaters after all as I tried to! Big hugs all round and lets move on ..tomorrow were off to Boma for breakfast, and Animal Kingdom.
To bed and a restless sleep! :wavey:
(sorry it's so long!)
