mkingdon
Obsessed...and admits it!!
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2002
- Messages
- 408
Previously on this tour...
Introduction
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven 30th August 2007
I am a simple man (keep your comments to yourself…this is a serious bit), from a simple (slightly upper) working class family from a northern town.
As a young boy I would rise before dawn to polish the cobbles of our street, before walking the whippet to the paper shop. As the sun rose I would start my pre school shift at ‘mill, before going to school in the hand me down clothes of my fourteen brothers and sisters. You had to be up early to get some clothes that weren’t from one of my sisters!!
After school, a tea of dripping and dust would keep me going on my next shift at ‘mill, before finally getting to bed ten minutes after I got up for the next day.
Times were ‘ard.
There may be a slight amount of poetic licence in there, but here is the point. Growing up, we went to Disney…as “day visitors” and looked on with envy at those “rich people” who stayed on site. On the odd occasion we took the ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom (a serious planning flaw that I took up with my parents years later) I would look on the Grand Floridian as some sort of mecca, visited by the rich and famous of the day…you know…Stu Francis, Christopher Biggins, that sort!!
Never did I think all those years ago, that I would be taking my kids to WDW so many times, and doing so many fabulous things….and even in recent years, staying off site in villas, I longed to stay at places like the Boardwalk.
So today was the day all this would come true. Today we are leaving Vero to book into the Boardwalk for the last four nights of our holiday. This is only possible due to –
1. Our friends Steve and Di who foolishly let us have their DVC points for a pittance
2. My incredible work ethic, natural talent and meteoric rise through the ranks at work (ahem)
3. and last but not least those two very close friends….
Valerie Visa, and Michael Mastercard. Thanks Guys…I owe you….a lot.
Now, leaving the Florida version of A Christmas Carol behind ….back to the events of the day.
I can truly say that last night was one of the worst night’s sleep I have ever not had…if you know what I mean.
Seriously, I must have only snatched about 5 or 6 hours or so….horrible. So I rise in not great shape at around 9. It takes us all a while to get ready (watch how that changes once we’re back near a theme park), and the women folk are off to the water after breakfast in the room.
I fall on my sword….(a common hazard for one built like myself, and it bloody hurts) and volunteer to stay in the room and get the packing done. It is a nightmare and seems to take forever, with new stuff to pack appearing just as I think I’m almost done. Finally it is done at around 10.30, and I take all the luggage (apart from shower stuff and new clothes for the journey back) to the car.
Ryan and Rosie handle those for us, and are spared the mornings at in the car doing nothing.
I join Louise on the beach, and there is absolutely no-one in the sea at all. This is strange at this time of day. I cast my eyes out to sea, and see, the sea, you see……
Sorry, I see that the waves are enormous today and nobody is brave enough to give that a go. I sit and watch the waves for a bit, but I can’t relax. I imagine my lack of sleep was for the same reason….the lack of camera is bugging me.
One of my more endearing character traits is that if something is broken, I can’t rest until I fix it…which normally involves me breaking it more in an attempt to fix it. So I announce to Louise that I’m off to try and get the camera fixed.
She gives me that "yes dear, here we go again dear" look as I leave.
I have a plan that involves taking it to bits, removing and sand and or water that is causing the issue and put it all back together. What could possibly go wrong?
Just over the bridge from Vero is a CVS Pharmacy and eventually I find a tiny enough screwdriver to attempt the dissection. So there I am sat in the car, in the CVS car park, trying to unscrew stuff. It isn’t going well, as I only get one out, which then falls on the floor. I turn the air blue for a while, and decide I should try plan B.
Having no plan B, I drive North up the US1 for a bit trying to find a Walmart, as they are likely to have a camera shop bit who may be able to help. Ten minutes later a Walmart appears like an oasis in the desert.
It takes me longer to walk round it than to drive to it, and after asking several members of staff I end up at the hardware counter. I show him my screws, and he pulls something out from under the counter. He tells me I am welcome to use his “toolkit” as long as if I break anything, he cannot be responsible.
I wonder if this is some kind of “George Michael in a toilet code” and look around for the sign of any banjo….I decide to give it a go, and proceed to take my camera to pieces in the middle of Walmart.
I blow it, rattle it about, shake it and nothing happens (oh, I did this joke yesterday….rats), so I resign myself to having a truly broken camera.
I have no option than to buy another. After ten minutes browsing their limited collection, I buy a fairly cheap replacement for about $90, that I note would have cost me £100 back home. My existing SD Card and rechargeable batteries fit it too, so we’re up and running again, and I feel a whole lot better.
Back at the car, I unwrap everything, throw the instructions out of the window, and start to play.
There we go…who needs the manual?
As I drive back to Vero I snap away…
You will notice that photos now have a timestamp. Not that I couldn’t work out how to turn that off or anything. I just prefer it that way!!
I’m considering publishing a collection of “photos from a car”.
Back at Vero, I decide to try out the flash and stuff….
The camera seems acceptable for the next few days.
As I wander by the pool on the way to the beach, I spy the girls in the pool, and try the zoomy thing.
Back at the beach, the sea is no calmer, and no more full of people.
Back at the beds, a couple Disney folk turn up on quad bikes, and it turns out they are the turtle people. Not Donnatello and Leonardo...but the conservation folk.
They walk up to a nest right behind our beds and start to dig it up. This seems strange as anyone found breaking wind near a turtle nest is shot on sight at Vero, so we wander over.
Turns out that the turtles all hatched a couple of nights ago, and they have come to count the shells.
In typical Disney fashion they proceed to give a talk to the gathered crowd that explains that they record the number of egg cases etc to keep a track of the population.
I may have taken too many photos here, but I’ve just got a new camera so it is allowed.
Continued....
Introduction
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven 30th August 2007
I am a simple man (keep your comments to yourself…this is a serious bit), from a simple (slightly upper) working class family from a northern town.
As a young boy I would rise before dawn to polish the cobbles of our street, before walking the whippet to the paper shop. As the sun rose I would start my pre school shift at ‘mill, before going to school in the hand me down clothes of my fourteen brothers and sisters. You had to be up early to get some clothes that weren’t from one of my sisters!!
After school, a tea of dripping and dust would keep me going on my next shift at ‘mill, before finally getting to bed ten minutes after I got up for the next day.
Times were ‘ard.
There may be a slight amount of poetic licence in there, but here is the point. Growing up, we went to Disney…as “day visitors” and looked on with envy at those “rich people” who stayed on site. On the odd occasion we took the ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom (a serious planning flaw that I took up with my parents years later) I would look on the Grand Floridian as some sort of mecca, visited by the rich and famous of the day…you know…Stu Francis, Christopher Biggins, that sort!!
Never did I think all those years ago, that I would be taking my kids to WDW so many times, and doing so many fabulous things….and even in recent years, staying off site in villas, I longed to stay at places like the Boardwalk.
So today was the day all this would come true. Today we are leaving Vero to book into the Boardwalk for the last four nights of our holiday. This is only possible due to –
1. Our friends Steve and Di who foolishly let us have their DVC points for a pittance
2. My incredible work ethic, natural talent and meteoric rise through the ranks at work (ahem)
3. and last but not least those two very close friends….
Valerie Visa, and Michael Mastercard. Thanks Guys…I owe you….a lot.
Now, leaving the Florida version of A Christmas Carol behind ….back to the events of the day.
I can truly say that last night was one of the worst night’s sleep I have ever not had…if you know what I mean.
Seriously, I must have only snatched about 5 or 6 hours or so….horrible. So I rise in not great shape at around 9. It takes us all a while to get ready (watch how that changes once we’re back near a theme park), and the women folk are off to the water after breakfast in the room.
I fall on my sword….(a common hazard for one built like myself, and it bloody hurts) and volunteer to stay in the room and get the packing done. It is a nightmare and seems to take forever, with new stuff to pack appearing just as I think I’m almost done. Finally it is done at around 10.30, and I take all the luggage (apart from shower stuff and new clothes for the journey back) to the car.
Ryan and Rosie handle those for us, and are spared the mornings at in the car doing nothing.
I join Louise on the beach, and there is absolutely no-one in the sea at all. This is strange at this time of day. I cast my eyes out to sea, and see, the sea, you see……
Sorry, I see that the waves are enormous today and nobody is brave enough to give that a go. I sit and watch the waves for a bit, but I can’t relax. I imagine my lack of sleep was for the same reason….the lack of camera is bugging me.
One of my more endearing character traits is that if something is broken, I can’t rest until I fix it…which normally involves me breaking it more in an attempt to fix it. So I announce to Louise that I’m off to try and get the camera fixed.
She gives me that "yes dear, here we go again dear" look as I leave.
I have a plan that involves taking it to bits, removing and sand and or water that is causing the issue and put it all back together. What could possibly go wrong?
Just over the bridge from Vero is a CVS Pharmacy and eventually I find a tiny enough screwdriver to attempt the dissection. So there I am sat in the car, in the CVS car park, trying to unscrew stuff. It isn’t going well, as I only get one out, which then falls on the floor. I turn the air blue for a while, and decide I should try plan B.
Having no plan B, I drive North up the US1 for a bit trying to find a Walmart, as they are likely to have a camera shop bit who may be able to help. Ten minutes later a Walmart appears like an oasis in the desert.
It takes me longer to walk round it than to drive to it, and after asking several members of staff I end up at the hardware counter. I show him my screws, and he pulls something out from under the counter. He tells me I am welcome to use his “toolkit” as long as if I break anything, he cannot be responsible.
I wonder if this is some kind of “George Michael in a toilet code” and look around for the sign of any banjo….I decide to give it a go, and proceed to take my camera to pieces in the middle of Walmart.
I blow it, rattle it about, shake it and nothing happens (oh, I did this joke yesterday….rats), so I resign myself to having a truly broken camera.
I have no option than to buy another. After ten minutes browsing their limited collection, I buy a fairly cheap replacement for about $90, that I note would have cost me £100 back home. My existing SD Card and rechargeable batteries fit it too, so we’re up and running again, and I feel a whole lot better.
Back at the car, I unwrap everything, throw the instructions out of the window, and start to play.
There we go…who needs the manual?
As I drive back to Vero I snap away…
You will notice that photos now have a timestamp. Not that I couldn’t work out how to turn that off or anything. I just prefer it that way!!
I’m considering publishing a collection of “photos from a car”.
Back at Vero, I decide to try out the flash and stuff….
The camera seems acceptable for the next few days.
As I wander by the pool on the way to the beach, I spy the girls in the pool, and try the zoomy thing.
Back at the beach, the sea is no calmer, and no more full of people.
Back at the beds, a couple Disney folk turn up on quad bikes, and it turns out they are the turtle people. Not Donnatello and Leonardo...but the conservation folk.
They walk up to a nest right behind our beds and start to dig it up. This seems strange as anyone found breaking wind near a turtle nest is shot on sight at Vero, so we wander over.
Turns out that the turtles all hatched a couple of nights ago, and they have come to count the shells.
In typical Disney fashion they proceed to give a talk to the gathered crowd that explains that they record the number of egg cases etc to keep a track of the population.
I may have taken too many photos here, but I’ve just got a new camera so it is allowed.
Continued....
