The crew:
Me (Andy): 38. Chief Organizer.
Maz: 3#. Wife, Controller of the money.
Jade: 13 oldest daughter.
Kirstie: 11. Youngest daughter.
Syd: 40, Brother in law, recently converted to Disney.
Cath: 3#, Sister in law
Edith: 6#. Syds mum.
The day before
I finished work a day before everyone else, which allowed me to make sure that I had got every thing in place. This was to be our first trip as DVC members let alone going this time of year and we had organized it all ourselves with the help of my new friends on the Dis so one last ring and E-mail around was called for! Virgin confirmed the flight times and the seat numbers and Tiffany Town car confirmed they would be at the airport to greet us. When the family arrived home we packed the car and departed for the Gatwick Hilton. The M25 was its usual self and this only added to my enthusiasm for starting the holiday this way and not because of the free parking, it was just a shame that the twilight checkin had been stopped as we had been looking forward to using it. Still we would be stress free and not tired come tomorrow morning.
Day 1 Nov 30th
Having had a reasonable nights sleep (can you tell we are getting excited) we were up and out the hotel for 7.45, so a quick route march to the Virgin checkin area only to be greeted by what looked like every one in the airport using the line we wanted! As it happens Virgin had an additional flight put on to Barbados and because of the extra security checks we were all being put through the same line. Just over an hour later and we had cleared checkin now for some breakfast. After walking around the whole place we decided to eat at the Village Inn, Full English breakfast all round with a BIG mug of Tea. As we were on the 11.15 flight We sat at the gate and waited to board when there is an announcement about a slight technical fault, they let us board just after 11.00 and we finally took off about 1 hour late.
The Virgin service was Ok in my opinion but I will try to prebook our food next time as this was a real problem for a lot of people around us, we had 3 choices Chicken, Pasta or Fish sorry when they got too us we had 2 choices Pasta or Fish. Still it was something to chase round the tray for 20mins, As I was not driving this trip I had a couple of beers, they had also run out of Coke by the ½ way point. The flight was a dream other than that. We arrived at 4.30 just under an hour late and I was worried that the transport would not be there getting through customs was a nightmare questions and oh yes more questions still it has to be done! As we came down the escalator I looked all around for our driver and yes there he was larger than life complete with a sign Fellows family Uk, what a relief his name was Humberto and well he went and got the van we retrieved our luggage from the carrousel. The van was as clean and as good looking as the limo parked next to it a credit to Tiffany. The trip to Wilderness Lodge took about 35mins and Humberto gave us lots of info along the way. We arrived by 6pm and it was just getting dark we arranged the pick up time and said goodbye to our driver, the luggage was retrieved by bell services and we checked in. This is where we were greeted for the first time with a BIG Welcome Home, my grin was as big as the front desk (LOL) checking in was painless as well in no time we had our room keys LOS passes and credit put on Mazs card so off to the room with a hop and a skip we go. We had 1501 and the others had 1509 (To set the seen) Syd is the one who questioned our purchase last year. Normally when we arrive all we want to do is collapse and sleep but as it was so early only 7pm we decided to explore the resort. Well where do I start the Villas are wonderful so relaxed rocking chairs everywhere and a Xmas tree in the centre, the health club looked good too. Outside there is a pool area for DVC members Hidden springs pool and spa, after a short walk you are into the main lodge area again with pool, spa and the Geyser with the boat dock and beach area. In the main lodge there was the most magnificent Xmas tree 42 feet tall having checked out the area we had tea in the roaring forks café from here we went to watch the Geyser and down to the beach front to watch the nightly water pageant. It was at this point I new we had made the right decision when we joined the DVC and went to bed a little choked and very smug with myself.
Andy F
Me (Andy): 38. Chief Organizer.
Maz: 3#. Wife, Controller of the money.
Jade: 13 oldest daughter.
Kirstie: 11. Youngest daughter.
Syd: 40, Brother in law, recently converted to Disney.
Cath: 3#, Sister in law
Edith: 6#. Syds mum.
The day before
I finished work a day before everyone else, which allowed me to make sure that I had got every thing in place. This was to be our first trip as DVC members let alone going this time of year and we had organized it all ourselves with the help of my new friends on the Dis so one last ring and E-mail around was called for! Virgin confirmed the flight times and the seat numbers and Tiffany Town car confirmed they would be at the airport to greet us. When the family arrived home we packed the car and departed for the Gatwick Hilton. The M25 was its usual self and this only added to my enthusiasm for starting the holiday this way and not because of the free parking, it was just a shame that the twilight checkin had been stopped as we had been looking forward to using it. Still we would be stress free and not tired come tomorrow morning.
Day 1 Nov 30th
Having had a reasonable nights sleep (can you tell we are getting excited) we were up and out the hotel for 7.45, so a quick route march to the Virgin checkin area only to be greeted by what looked like every one in the airport using the line we wanted! As it happens Virgin had an additional flight put on to Barbados and because of the extra security checks we were all being put through the same line. Just over an hour later and we had cleared checkin now for some breakfast. After walking around the whole place we decided to eat at the Village Inn, Full English breakfast all round with a BIG mug of Tea. As we were on the 11.15 flight We sat at the gate and waited to board when there is an announcement about a slight technical fault, they let us board just after 11.00 and we finally took off about 1 hour late.
The Virgin service was Ok in my opinion but I will try to prebook our food next time as this was a real problem for a lot of people around us, we had 3 choices Chicken, Pasta or Fish sorry when they got too us we had 2 choices Pasta or Fish. Still it was something to chase round the tray for 20mins, As I was not driving this trip I had a couple of beers, they had also run out of Coke by the ½ way point. The flight was a dream other than that. We arrived at 4.30 just under an hour late and I was worried that the transport would not be there getting through customs was a nightmare questions and oh yes more questions still it has to be done! As we came down the escalator I looked all around for our driver and yes there he was larger than life complete with a sign Fellows family Uk, what a relief his name was Humberto and well he went and got the van we retrieved our luggage from the carrousel. The van was as clean and as good looking as the limo parked next to it a credit to Tiffany. The trip to Wilderness Lodge took about 35mins and Humberto gave us lots of info along the way. We arrived by 6pm and it was just getting dark we arranged the pick up time and said goodbye to our driver, the luggage was retrieved by bell services and we checked in. This is where we were greeted for the first time with a BIG Welcome Home, my grin was as big as the front desk (LOL) checking in was painless as well in no time we had our room keys LOS passes and credit put on Mazs card so off to the room with a hop and a skip we go. We had 1501 and the others had 1509 (To set the seen) Syd is the one who questioned our purchase last year. Normally when we arrive all we want to do is collapse and sleep but as it was so early only 7pm we decided to explore the resort. Well where do I start the Villas are wonderful so relaxed rocking chairs everywhere and a Xmas tree in the centre, the health club looked good too. Outside there is a pool area for DVC members Hidden springs pool and spa, after a short walk you are into the main lodge area again with pool, spa and the Geyser with the boat dock and beach area. In the main lodge there was the most magnificent Xmas tree 42 feet tall having checked out the area we had tea in the roaring forks café from here we went to watch the Geyser and down to the beach front to watch the nightly water pageant. It was at this point I new we had made the right decision when we joined the DVC and went to bed a little choked and very smug with myself.
Andy F
