Okay, I'll give this a go. I hope its not too boring for y'all.
Me 34 (Convinced I'm 24)
DW 25 (My driver)
DD 4 (the family Disney Princess)
DS 3 (Spider-boy/Sith, depending on mood)
Monday 27 February 2006
It's all set. Disney tickets (hopefully) waiting for me at hotel after being sent back to Maple Leaf by some bright spark at the Royal Mail. A friend is picking us up at 7.30 to take me to Victoria for the Gatwick Express for my 11.15 flight. Seats pre booked. Everything else in place...
Its 12am and I try to check in online for my flight later in the morning. But the Virgin website is playing not working properly. I surf for a while and look over the dis and get a few fond farewells from kind folk here. At around 1.30am I give up on Virgin and pop off to bed.
Up at 6am. Very excited. I make the call to my friend who needs to arrive earlier as I now need to be at the airport earlier as I could not check in online. I ring and ring and ring. No answer. Have a shower, dress and call again. No answer. I call his mobile as well. No answer. Slight uneasy feeling... Everyone is now washed and dressed. I make another call. It finally is answered! I say I need to be at Gatwick NOW and ask why he didn't answer. "Oh, my phone isn't working. It just rings but makes no noise and I didn't hear the mobile!" Grrr!!
My ride arrives at 7.30 and we rush off to Victoria. Say our good byes and grab the Gatwick Express. Its coming up to 9am as we arrive and I start to get a little concerned we'll face long queues. To my surprise there was nobody else around. We also got our seats I booked. We hand over the bags. No reported delays. I start to calm down.
We head off to McDonalds for coffee. I am way too excited to eat, but play it Steve McQueen cool to hide the butterflies.
The flight was great. This may be very sad, but the first thing I do is see which films are on during my flight. They are the same as mentioned on the Virgin site. Very smooth ride. The person in front kept their chair up and nobody in seat behind me. I got a load of stickers, lucky bags and colouring books to keep the kids happy. This worked well as they mixed them with the kids channels. I watch Walk The Line, which was pretty good and Flightplan (an odd choice considering what happens to the plane during the film!) which was average.
An easy touchdown and we hit customs. To my surprise, the customs man has a big warm smile. Of course I filled in the visa wavier forms wrong, and thought I would have to go back to the plane for a new one, but he said just go to the side and cross out the mistakes. "Just come back to the front of the queue." After doing this I got a look from a woman who thought I was pushing in. Quickly explained the reason but she looked very put out!
I then went to the other side as the guy who served me was still busy. Again this other customs guy was very happy looking. He even cracked a joke about a Scottish man he called English. I was just happy to get through. All going well so far.Its a great feeling when you are passing the airport, passing the Universal, Disney KSC shops.
Then things start to fall apart....
We head over to Dollar for the car. I cannot drive. My wife can. She is the named driver and we already have insurance in her name.
Dollar say they need $1500 to cover.I knew this was coming. I hand over credit card, but am told this has to be in the drivers name. (I didn't see THAT coming!) My wife does not have a credit card... Another option would be to hand over $1500 cash. I have $2k cash, but there is no way I am handing over THAT much! My only other option (after a 10 minute discussion) would be to buy their insurance. Again not with my credit card, but cash...
This all feels SO wrong... I consider forgetting the car altogether as we have never used one and never needed one. Quick chat with DW and we opt for their insurance at $431.17 cash. (I make a note to put my driving test to the top of my "to-do" list when we get home).
We pick up the car, a nice dodge Stratus or something and the guy gives DW a quick run down. She's a bit nervous as we take off. I have very detailed instructions on how to get to I-drive printed off from great site which has drivers point of view photos and directions. We drive off and I play navigator. I'm happy its still bright at 17.30. We leave the airport when disaster strikes. I tell DW to take the wrong exit! We took EXIT 11 instead of 1B. We are going in the wrong direction. She then panics and hits the roof. Normally a very calm girl turns into She-Hulk. I have no idea what to do but try to keep her calm. "Head back to the airport, keep turning right!" After what felt like 9 hours (10 minutes tops in real time!) we are back to the exit sign and make correct exit and are on the 528.
Phew!
DW is uptight as we hit the first toll. Of course we arrive at a booth with nobody there and I have not enough change. It was a comedy moment as I started throwing all the coins in the dish, British ones mainly, I had hoping it would be okay but nothing happened. DW starts to panic as there is a SUV behind her and shouts to a woman in a booth across the lanes she has not change. The woman just says drive on. Very nice of her.
We then set off and the drive goes smoothly taking the second toll no problem and take the correct exit for I-drive. Once we are reach I-drive we all settle. DS and DD find the Wonder Works upside-down house amazing as we pass it. A few more minutes we are at the Holiday Inn International and check in. Thankfully the Disney tickets are waiting there for me which means I can now start to relax. After unpacking I want to hit Universal City Walk, but nobody else seems up for it. We head over to Ponderosa for dinner. We really need to use buffets as DS has limited patience. (Waiter delays do not go down well with him). After eating its back to the hotel for a bit of Sponge bob before everyone is ready for bed at 8pm. I hold off until 9pm as I really wanted to see "24", but decide sleep was needed and closed my eyes for what I thought would be a nine hour rest.. But that wasn't to be, exactly.....
Next time: CRT @ MK
(I would be greatful for honest comments. I don't want to bore people and can cut back if people think it would be better. I won't get offended, honest!)
Me 34 (Convinced I'm 24)
DW 25 (My driver)
DD 4 (the family Disney Princess)
DS 3 (Spider-boy/Sith, depending on mood)
Monday 27 February 2006
It's all set. Disney tickets (hopefully) waiting for me at hotel after being sent back to Maple Leaf by some bright spark at the Royal Mail. A friend is picking us up at 7.30 to take me to Victoria for the Gatwick Express for my 11.15 flight. Seats pre booked. Everything else in place...
Its 12am and I try to check in online for my flight later in the morning. But the Virgin website is playing not working properly. I surf for a while and look over the dis and get a few fond farewells from kind folk here. At around 1.30am I give up on Virgin and pop off to bed.
Up at 6am. Very excited. I make the call to my friend who needs to arrive earlier as I now need to be at the airport earlier as I could not check in online. I ring and ring and ring. No answer. Have a shower, dress and call again. No answer. I call his mobile as well. No answer. Slight uneasy feeling... Everyone is now washed and dressed. I make another call. It finally is answered! I say I need to be at Gatwick NOW and ask why he didn't answer. "Oh, my phone isn't working. It just rings but makes no noise and I didn't hear the mobile!" Grrr!!
My ride arrives at 7.30 and we rush off to Victoria. Say our good byes and grab the Gatwick Express. Its coming up to 9am as we arrive and I start to get a little concerned we'll face long queues. To my surprise there was nobody else around. We also got our seats I booked. We hand over the bags. No reported delays. I start to calm down.
We head off to McDonalds for coffee. I am way too excited to eat, but play it Steve McQueen cool to hide the butterflies.
The flight was great. This may be very sad, but the first thing I do is see which films are on during my flight. They are the same as mentioned on the Virgin site. Very smooth ride. The person in front kept their chair up and nobody in seat behind me. I got a load of stickers, lucky bags and colouring books to keep the kids happy. This worked well as they mixed them with the kids channels. I watch Walk The Line, which was pretty good and Flightplan (an odd choice considering what happens to the plane during the film!) which was average.
An easy touchdown and we hit customs. To my surprise, the customs man has a big warm smile. Of course I filled in the visa wavier forms wrong, and thought I would have to go back to the plane for a new one, but he said just go to the side and cross out the mistakes. "Just come back to the front of the queue." After doing this I got a look from a woman who thought I was pushing in. Quickly explained the reason but she looked very put out!
I then went to the other side as the guy who served me was still busy. Again this other customs guy was very happy looking. He even cracked a joke about a Scottish man he called English. I was just happy to get through. All going well so far.Its a great feeling when you are passing the airport, passing the Universal, Disney KSC shops.
Then things start to fall apart....
We head over to Dollar for the car. I cannot drive. My wife can. She is the named driver and we already have insurance in her name.
Dollar say they need $1500 to cover.I knew this was coming. I hand over credit card, but am told this has to be in the drivers name. (I didn't see THAT coming!) My wife does not have a credit card... Another option would be to hand over $1500 cash. I have $2k cash, but there is no way I am handing over THAT much! My only other option (after a 10 minute discussion) would be to buy their insurance. Again not with my credit card, but cash...
This all feels SO wrong... I consider forgetting the car altogether as we have never used one and never needed one. Quick chat with DW and we opt for their insurance at $431.17 cash. (I make a note to put my driving test to the top of my "to-do" list when we get home).
We pick up the car, a nice dodge Stratus or something and the guy gives DW a quick run down. She's a bit nervous as we take off. I have very detailed instructions on how to get to I-drive printed off from great site which has drivers point of view photos and directions. We drive off and I play navigator. I'm happy its still bright at 17.30. We leave the airport when disaster strikes. I tell DW to take the wrong exit! We took EXIT 11 instead of 1B. We are going in the wrong direction. She then panics and hits the roof. Normally a very calm girl turns into She-Hulk. I have no idea what to do but try to keep her calm. "Head back to the airport, keep turning right!" After what felt like 9 hours (10 minutes tops in real time!) we are back to the exit sign and make correct exit and are on the 528.
Phew!
DW is uptight as we hit the first toll. Of course we arrive at a booth with nobody there and I have not enough change. It was a comedy moment as I started throwing all the coins in the dish, British ones mainly, I had hoping it would be okay but nothing happened. DW starts to panic as there is a SUV behind her and shouts to a woman in a booth across the lanes she has not change. The woman just says drive on. Very nice of her.
We then set off and the drive goes smoothly taking the second toll no problem and take the correct exit for I-drive. Once we are reach I-drive we all settle. DS and DD find the Wonder Works upside-down house amazing as we pass it. A few more minutes we are at the Holiday Inn International and check in. Thankfully the Disney tickets are waiting there for me which means I can now start to relax. After unpacking I want to hit Universal City Walk, but nobody else seems up for it. We head over to Ponderosa for dinner. We really need to use buffets as DS has limited patience. (Waiter delays do not go down well with him). After eating its back to the hotel for a bit of Sponge bob before everyone is ready for bed at 8pm. I hold off until 9pm as I really wanted to see "24", but decide sleep was needed and closed my eyes for what I thought would be a nine hour rest.. But that wasn't to be, exactly.....
Next time: CRT @ MK
(I would be greatful for honest comments. I don't want to bore people and can cut back if people think it would be better. I won't get offended, honest!)
) although the ones at Sanford always seem friendlier.
Looking forward to the rest of your report 
