Three men and a lady visit the mouse - Day 1 Getting there

[pandv_2000]

Ok two of the men are a bit small and some would say I'm no lady but this is my title and I'm sticking with it.

I was quite good this year and I took a notebook to write up my TR every day so hopefully I should be able to actually finish this report.

The cast is me, Vicky, forever 21, DH, Paul and our two boys, Dylan 7 and Charlie 4 months.

20/10

Picked Dylan up from school and headed to Leeds to collect Paul. I made good timing but Leeds to Manchester was a nightmare made worse by the fact I was cramped in the front of the car due to having a suitcase behind me. Every time Paul broke I bumped my head off the ceiling. We checked into the Travelodge which I got for the bargain price of £19, grabbed some food and went straight back to the room to sleep. Charlie had other ideas. He wasn't tired as he'd slept in the car but Dylan was even worse. We managed to get Charlie off to sleep eventually but Dylan woke every hour during the night asking if he could get up. Of course when the alarm went off there was no waking him!

21/10

We were up bright and early and headed to the airport to check in. We flew with US Airways via Philly. There were no delays and the flights were uneventful. We were practically first in line for immigration which was useful because the airline hadn't given immigration Charlie's details but had given them mine twice. Luckily the guy who was on the desk was really helpful and managed to process everything ok. When we arrived at MCO there was no sign of our brand new pushchair which we had purchased specifically for this trip. We went to baggage services who took our contact details and offered us a loan - they tried to give us the grubbiest tiniest pushchair imaginable which I don't even think was suitable for a doll. Anyway we needed something lie-flat because Charlie is still so small so we declined. Luckily I have a wrap on me so I can carry him but I have a feeling we will both be ridiculously hot tomorrow. I'm just hoping it turns up tomorrow or we're going to have to buy one.

We picked up our rental car from Hertz. We got a GMC Arcadia for the bargain price of £267 earlier in the year when Hertz had a glitch on their website. I've never driven anything this big before and it's dark now so I kindly let Paul drive us to the hotel

We checked into the HRH and were given a first floor room. This is supposedly for convenience but as I don't like lifts I feel like all I'm doing is going up and down stairs. I love the room and am probably just being a grump due to the pushchair situation.

We headed over to City Walk for food and decided to try Bubba Gumps. I felt really rushed here. They brought the main course before we had finished our starters and IMO it was expensive for what it was - to me it was no better than TGI Fridays but double the price.

We walked back to the hotel throught the gardens and past the pool. Paul felt something big hit his leg - when we looked it was a huge frog which was now sitting on the path looking rather dazed from thew impact. It's now 11:10pm and Dylan is asleep. Charlie doesn't know what to do. He's obviously tired but fighting it so I'm having a cuppa then sleep. We want an early start to take advantage of early entry to HP tomorrow.

Not many pics from today but here are a couple of the room. Sorry about the first one - the light is bad and for some reason the camera was set to take jpegs so I don't know how to correct it!



Next up - Harry Potter and will our pushchair turn up or will I be carrying a baby around with me for the next two weeks?

 

[SusanEllen]

Weren't you faithful to your TR notes? Must have been difficult with small boys in tow as well as the travel and transfers. I'll be looking for your next report.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Well at least you made it - even without the pushchair (not good I know).

The car deal seems to have worked great - I'm glad to read as we go soon and I also booked using the deal (thanks to Wayne)

I hope the bite wasn't too bad - never heard of a frog taking a chunk goodvibes

 

[pandv_2000]

Well at least you made it - even without the pushchair (not good I know).

The car deal seems to have worked great - I'm glad to read as we go soon and I also booked using the deal (thanks to Wayne)

I hope the bite wasn't too bad - never heard of a frog taking a chunk goodvibes

Oh no don't worry - it just jumped at his leg and hit him - it didn't bite.

The car deal was great and worked out wonderfully for us - we also used the Meteor meet and greet thanks to Wayne which was fantastic too.

 

[jen_uk]

Great start, hope the pushchair turned up

 

[Tinks1984]

Great start, really enjoyed reading about it.

I hope the kids managed to get on the correct time for you soon and that the pram shows up real soon!

 

[Jets fan]

Great first day, looking forward to more

Tina

 

[mark&sue]

we always find in the USA that the mains come before the starter is finished so now we always make sure we order the starters first and then when they bring the starter order the main.

Great start


susan

 

[SusanEllen]

we always find in the USA that the mains come before the starter is finished so now we always make sure we order the starters first and then when they bring the starter order the main.
susan

Good suggestion, Susan. I think this rushed service is a product of crowded vacation venues and don't think you'd find this compressed service quite so prevalent elsewhere in the US. It must be a difficult job for a resort area restaurant trying to clear tables in order to accommodate crowds of people waiting to be seated without making the people currently seated feel rushed. I've read more than once in reports on this Board that the writers were so offended by this rushed feeling they refused to leave a tip for the server (who depends on tips as most US restaurants don't even pay the very low minimum wage). I always wonder if that doesn't cause a bit of an attitude and lowered expectations for a decent tip on the part of the server the next time they hear a similar accent from a diner.