BONZO
<font color=660066>Has been known to go off topic!
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2001
- Messages
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The Hopping Mad Easter Tour - 2004
Shaun - 40 something If its high fat, high sugar Ill eat it
Alison - 30 something 'If its not Atkins I wont eat it
Alexandra - 10 Can we play mini-golf? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?
Laura - 8 'If Im tall enough Ill ride it'
Sunday 18th April 2004
The alarm went off at the crack of dawn this morning - ok about 7:30 then, but the troops were very difficult to get up - especially Laura. Maybe it was something to do with it being our last day
We had a chat about what to do on our last morning - and we all decided that wed like to do Splash Mountain again - especially as it had broken down last night! So we dressed and showered and walked over to MK - this is a short but not very picturesque stroll but it only takes about 10 mins to the front gate. Into the park, past security by 8:15 and straight over to Space Mountain - woo hoo! Only a 10 min wait! Had our last go on that - it really makes such a difference now the whole family do some of the big rides together - its just not quite the same when you have to baby swap.
We took a look at Astro Orbiter which also had a short wait and decided to have a go for the first time this holiday. Oh boy this is another slow loader! That over with and Alison turning a nice shade of green (she hates rides that just turn in circles!) we went onto TTA (WEDway for the oldies like us!) which we all love.
Walked over to Splash Mountain and just wait the stated 15 min before we get the The Laughin Place for the last time. Well, that's all the "must-do" things done for the last time. On the way out the girls decided they wanted to do Carousel Of Progress again which was fair enough as we all like it.
We slowly walked out of the Magic Kingdom - getting a bit choked up as we went as were just not sure when well come back to Florida again.
Time for breakfast now (it was about 10.15 by this point) so we took the monorail back to the Contemporary and had breakfast at the Concourse Steakhouse where we had: -
Alison: Breakfast Quesadilla (sp), coffee
Laura: Kids platter, milk
Alexandra: Kids platter and extra Mickey Waffles, orange juice
Me: 4 large pancakes and side of bacon, coffee
Cost: Approx $44 - not cheap but good quality food excellent service and there's something about the monorail going overhead while you are eating.
Back to our room for the last bit of packing - Alison is getting a dab hand at this by now!
and all completed by 12:25. Alison had arranged for late checkout at 1:00 previously so no rush. Packed up the car and went to Downtown Disney for check-in outside the Cirque du Soleil building. There were about 4 families in front of us so we didnt have too long to wait - and we even got our reserved seats!
After discussion with the girls about what theyd like to do for the rest of the day (juices were another theme park a water park or to relax back at the hotel) we drove back to the Contemporary by about 1:15 and decided to hang at the pool feeling a bit like "pool hoppers".
We snacked on crisps and various other snack items left over from the previous 3 weeks for lunch and I bought a frozen Strawberry Daiquiri and Margarita from the poolside bar - ah, bliss! Just imagine - lounging around the Contemporary pool, Bay Lake in the background - white sandy beach, monorail going through the hotel with a cocktail! What could be better??
Finally we decided we just had to make a move, so we showered and changed and said our final goodbyes to the Contemporary and left at about 5:15 and headed for the airport via McDonald's on the way. (Well, we werent sure if the plane food would be up to much!!)
Checked the car in at the airport and the guy said that we were owed a refund of $20 and that we needed to go to the desk. After queuing for a bit in the main queue I realised that I should've been in the returns queue! Doh!
Anyway, money duly credited back to the Credit Card we wandered into the terminal and decided to head over to the departures gate as time was getting a little short. (I think it was about 7.15pm by this time). We went through security (no queues at all) and headed for the departures lounge.
As we walked through, the Hunt children came running up to us saying, It feels like weve been here all day - where have you been?
Well, Bob likes to be early wherever he goes - so they left Blizzard Beach at 3.10pm to go to the airport ..the flight was at 8.25pm - and theyd done Downtown Disney check in in the morning!! LOL
So yes - the poor kids probably did feel like theyd been there all day!! Funny to think that we didnt even get out of the pool until 5pm!
Boarded the plane at 7:45 and pretty much took off on time. It was the usual long dull journey back. Laura fell asleep as soon as dinner was served and only woke up after we had stopped at the stand at Gatwick! Poor Alexandra finds it very hard to sleep on a plane - but finally managed to get comfy with her head on her arms on the fold down table - well, until the person in front reclined their seat without checking behind them first!! Is it just me who always checks behind them first to make sure that its a good time (if at all) to recline? Grrr!
Alison was even unluckier - as soon as the seatbelt signs went off the person in front of her reclined instantly - and that was it for the whole journey!! And Alison's TV wasn't working so after a while (a very long while - despite lots of prompting!) the cabin crew bought her a portable DVD player from Upper Class. Woo hoo! Only got the choice of one DVD though - but never mind, at least she could pause it whenever she wanted.
Overall the Virgin "experience" was poor on the return journey. The plane wasnt clean (they had to call cleaners onto the plane for some of the seats), there were no sick bags/magazines/safety instructions in any of the seat pockets, the crew were just plain sloppy - spilling drinks and food in one case, and generally very inattentive.
Anyway, rant over and poor Alexandra, who hadn't slept a wink, was sick on landing. It took what seemed like an eternity to get off the plane and we had to queue for about 20 minutes to get the monorail back to the main terminal. We arrived at the carousel to find that the handling staff had kindly removed our luggage from it (obviously wed been too long!)
We met Alison's dad at about 10:30 and home by 11:20.
Weather today: Perfect - hot and sunny for lots of swimming and relaxing
Plan for tomorrow: Unpack, get into UK time and type up Trip Reports!
PS - although thats it for the trip reports well be posting a summary report tomorrow, with our overall thoughts - plus highlights, lowlights etc.
Shaun - 40 something If its high fat, high sugar Ill eat it
Alison - 30 something 'If its not Atkins I wont eat it
Alexandra - 10 Can we play mini-golf? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?
Laura - 8 'If Im tall enough Ill ride it'
Sunday 18th April 2004
The alarm went off at the crack of dawn this morning - ok about 7:30 then, but the troops were very difficult to get up - especially Laura. Maybe it was something to do with it being our last day
We had a chat about what to do on our last morning - and we all decided that wed like to do Splash Mountain again - especially as it had broken down last night! So we dressed and showered and walked over to MK - this is a short but not very picturesque stroll but it only takes about 10 mins to the front gate. Into the park, past security by 8:15 and straight over to Space Mountain - woo hoo! Only a 10 min wait! Had our last go on that - it really makes such a difference now the whole family do some of the big rides together - its just not quite the same when you have to baby swap.
We took a look at Astro Orbiter which also had a short wait and decided to have a go for the first time this holiday. Oh boy this is another slow loader! That over with and Alison turning a nice shade of green (she hates rides that just turn in circles!) we went onto TTA (WEDway for the oldies like us!) which we all love.
Walked over to Splash Mountain and just wait the stated 15 min before we get the The Laughin Place for the last time. Well, that's all the "must-do" things done for the last time. On the way out the girls decided they wanted to do Carousel Of Progress again which was fair enough as we all like it.
We slowly walked out of the Magic Kingdom - getting a bit choked up as we went as were just not sure when well come back to Florida again.
Time for breakfast now (it was about 10.15 by this point) so we took the monorail back to the Contemporary and had breakfast at the Concourse Steakhouse where we had: -
Alison: Breakfast Quesadilla (sp), coffee
Laura: Kids platter, milk
Alexandra: Kids platter and extra Mickey Waffles, orange juice
Me: 4 large pancakes and side of bacon, coffee
Cost: Approx $44 - not cheap but good quality food excellent service and there's something about the monorail going overhead while you are eating.
Back to our room for the last bit of packing - Alison is getting a dab hand at this by now!
and all completed by 12:25. Alison had arranged for late checkout at 1:00 previously so no rush. Packed up the car and went to Downtown Disney for check-in outside the Cirque du Soleil building. There were about 4 families in front of us so we didnt have too long to wait - and we even got our reserved seats!
After discussion with the girls about what theyd like to do for the rest of the day (juices were another theme park a water park or to relax back at the hotel) we drove back to the Contemporary by about 1:15 and decided to hang at the pool feeling a bit like "pool hoppers".
We snacked on crisps and various other snack items left over from the previous 3 weeks for lunch and I bought a frozen Strawberry Daiquiri and Margarita from the poolside bar - ah, bliss! Just imagine - lounging around the Contemporary pool, Bay Lake in the background - white sandy beach, monorail going through the hotel with a cocktail! What could be better??
Finally we decided we just had to make a move, so we showered and changed and said our final goodbyes to the Contemporary and left at about 5:15 and headed for the airport via McDonald's on the way. (Well, we werent sure if the plane food would be up to much!!)
Checked the car in at the airport and the guy said that we were owed a refund of $20 and that we needed to go to the desk. After queuing for a bit in the main queue I realised that I should've been in the returns queue! Doh!
Anyway, money duly credited back to the Credit Card we wandered into the terminal and decided to head over to the departures gate as time was getting a little short. (I think it was about 7.15pm by this time). We went through security (no queues at all) and headed for the departures lounge.
As we walked through, the Hunt children came running up to us saying, It feels like weve been here all day - where have you been?
Well, Bob likes to be early wherever he goes - so they left Blizzard Beach at 3.10pm to go to the airport ..the flight was at 8.25pm - and theyd done Downtown Disney check in in the morning!! LOL
So yes - the poor kids probably did feel like theyd been there all day!! Funny to think that we didnt even get out of the pool until 5pm!
Boarded the plane at 7:45 and pretty much took off on time. It was the usual long dull journey back. Laura fell asleep as soon as dinner was served and only woke up after we had stopped at the stand at Gatwick! Poor Alexandra finds it very hard to sleep on a plane - but finally managed to get comfy with her head on her arms on the fold down table - well, until the person in front reclined their seat without checking behind them first!! Is it just me who always checks behind them first to make sure that its a good time (if at all) to recline? Grrr!
Alison was even unluckier - as soon as the seatbelt signs went off the person in front of her reclined instantly - and that was it for the whole journey!! And Alison's TV wasn't working so after a while (a very long while - despite lots of prompting!) the cabin crew bought her a portable DVD player from Upper Class. Woo hoo! Only got the choice of one DVD though - but never mind, at least she could pause it whenever she wanted.
Overall the Virgin "experience" was poor on the return journey. The plane wasnt clean (they had to call cleaners onto the plane for some of the seats), there were no sick bags/magazines/safety instructions in any of the seat pockets, the crew were just plain sloppy - spilling drinks and food in one case, and generally very inattentive.
Anyway, rant over and poor Alexandra, who hadn't slept a wink, was sick on landing. It took what seemed like an eternity to get off the plane and we had to queue for about 20 minutes to get the monorail back to the main terminal. We arrived at the carousel to find that the handling staff had kindly removed our luggage from it (obviously wed been too long!)
We met Alison's dad at about 10:30 and home by 11:20.
Weather today: Perfect - hot and sunny for lots of swimming and relaxing
Plan for tomorrow: Unpack, get into UK time and type up Trip Reports!
PS - although thats it for the trip reports well be posting a summary report tomorrow, with our overall thoughts - plus highlights, lowlights etc.
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