arieliwish
I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty,
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2005
- Messages
- 1,108
Hi guys, we're here and loving it!
Stayed at Premier Inn Manchester airport Sat night and considering it was a last minute booking, we couldn't fault it. Kids had two sofa bed type things but they were full size so all had a good sleep.
Sunday
Flights with Delta were fine, crew and food were excellent, no complaints at all. We'd requested wheelchair for DH so I pushed him through Manchester and got straight through security with him, very easy. Breakfast at Frankie & Benny's was lovely and we bought a few duty free things. All staff we encountered at the airport were friendly, which isn't how I remember them at all lol!
On arrival at Atlanta there was a wheelchair and young man waiting to collect DH and he whisked us through the airport and immigration. We had about a 15 minute wait for our immigration man but not bad as the main queue was quite big. Our immigration man was very serious with me and DH but once he got to the kids he was lovely and funny, quite a relief really! We then had two hours to kill in the airport so sat watching the NFL game on the tv'. The plane was late coming to the gate so it did get quite busy as there were loads of people on standby lists for the fight, something I've never seen before. Again on landing DH had a wheelchair waiting and a lovely guy swiftly got us through to the DME, the airport was quiet.
Finally arrived at Old Key West around 11pm (4am UK time!) and were disappointed to find we'd been allocated building 39 with a second floor room. I had emailed twice to request ground floor for DH and his hired motorised scooter. The man went away for a long time and then came back with room 2016 for us. We're on Millers road just after the bus stop and our patio looks onto the pool. It has a large accessible shower instead of bath. We couldn't do much more than collapse into bed! Garden Grocer had left our stuff at bell services as well as our Apple Scooter.
Monday
Woke at half 4 but felt terrible to forced myself back to sleep until 6.30. The plan for today would be to head to Epcot early but we were all exhausted so changed plans (first day!) Had a nice breakfast in Olivia's which we paid oop for, came to $54.98 plus tip. We had a look in the shop where I bought US benadryl and clear eyes, always have to buy these here! We got our refillable mugs and then DS and I got the Alamo shuttle to collect our car. Our driver chatted our heads off, he was from Montserrat and had family in Birmingham. Hi to the couple from Leicester/Newcastle who were also on the bus. At Alamo the guy did try to get us to upgrade to a bigger vehicle but we declined. I had added everything when I booked so there was nothing else for him to add. I thought we'd get a jeep suv but we got a silver Ford Explorer and it is MASSIVE! It has extra seats in the boot but they easily folded flat so we could get DH motorised scooter in - it is heavy to lift by the way, but we managed. Went back to OKW to collect DH and DD and headed to Epcot. Used our blue badge on the mirror and were waived through to the disabled parking. Oh and I hired a tomtom from ebay and it is fantastic, no worrying about which lane to be in and it reminds you to keep driving on the right hand side!
We all love Epcot, there's just something special about it, maybe it's because I remember it opening as a 13 year old and just being amazed by it (prob from Newsround reports of it!). We got our photopass card here and hired a locker for the back pack I was meant to leave in the car. Had a walk through innovations and then did Ellen's thing, we were slightly disappointed it didn't seem to have been updated since our last visit 8 years ago, surprising considering energy and the whole eco thing has changed so much. We did Mission space green ride so DH could do it with us. Last time it was just me and DD as DS was too small and DH couldn't due to his stroke etc. It was good and still exciting/scary as I'd forgotten how enclosed you actually are. And another note for anyone - motorised scooters can go in the regular queue for most rides and are parked up close to the ride itself. If this isn't possible then usually the scooter parking is close by. They don't allow pushchairs through at all though. There is certainly more disabled access than last time we were here and it wasn't bad then! Heavy rain and thunder around early afternoon but it eased off enough for us to walk about in it, warm rain - what's not to like?!
We got fastpasses for Test Track and Soarin and had lunch in sunshine seasons, our first use of the DDP. Got sandwiches which were huge, we would have shared two between 4 of us if we had known, and had to have a dessert which we didn't want, but got 4 cookies to take away. We also got small drinks (lemonade was fab, still not sparkling) and our server asked if we wanted to change them to large. Mm. We then did Figment and the Nemo ride which were a lot of fun and had a while looking at the fish and manatees and headed over to Mousegear and spent an awfully long time in there! The kids bought new lightweight lanyards and pins (thought they wouldn't bother with these this time as they're 18 and 15 but they're loving it!) and a Mickey baseball cap for DS. We also did the Land boat ride and enjoyed it again.
Dinner was in Garden Grill which was very busy. Our server was the most full on one we've ever had, replacing drinks before we'd finished and bringing more steak and potatoes when we really didn't want to eat much after the sandwiches earlier. He did bring a big bottle of Perrier which he said he could add to the DDP for us so I was happy with that. The steak and mash were to die for by the way, the turkey was good too but I didn't like the fish. I think it was because DD said it would be the fish in the tank farm we had just seen on the Land ride.
I'm not sure if it is but it put me off!
Next Test Track and DH scooter got right through. However as we got to the front of the line the ride broke down and they did a full evacuation. We didn't find out what happened but we did hear people saying they'd had to climb down from the track. We were all given fastpasses with 31st Aug expiry date, and a cm got DH and his scooter in the lifts and helped him out, very good service and he was given a hard time by a lot of people in the queue, mainly south americans I'd like to point out. So we went to Soarin, which even with the fastpass was about half an hour wait. I had forgotten how good this was, and also how breathtaking when it scoops you up to the screen. Fantastic. Incredible. When we came out Test Track was back online so we went on it, had a bit to wait in fastpass but not too bad. We had already made our cars on our kttw card and DD asked the cm at the entrance to the design room if we could use our cars instead of make new ones, and said we'd been evacuated. He said 'oh you guys got evacuated? No, come straight through to the ride' - he opened the doors and took us to the front of the queue and on to the next car, bypassing the design room altogether, and we'd been quite happy to just stand and wait! The test sequence is more intense than the old ride, but great. BUT as our car got to the launch tunnel the ride stopped again! We sat for around 10 mins and thought we'd be taken off but we finally got going. I have to say sitting at the launch tunnel waiting is NOT good for my nerves lol! But the ride is fantastic, super fast and crazy! Loved it. It was then after 9 so we left the park and came back to the room to crash.
DH scooter played up a few times, mainly on inclines, we joked he was too heavy, but it won't charge now so called Apple Scooter and hopefully they'll contact us when they open at 8am.
Woke before 6 this morning and had intended to do MK but we've changed plans again and are going to DTD first and then MK later as we have BOG reservation for 4.35pm. Might go for a swim shortly.
I think that's everything for now, feels like we've done so much already!
Stayed at Premier Inn Manchester airport Sat night and considering it was a last minute booking, we couldn't fault it. Kids had two sofa bed type things but they were full size so all had a good sleep.
Sunday
Flights with Delta were fine, crew and food were excellent, no complaints at all. We'd requested wheelchair for DH so I pushed him through Manchester and got straight through security with him, very easy. Breakfast at Frankie & Benny's was lovely and we bought a few duty free things. All staff we encountered at the airport were friendly, which isn't how I remember them at all lol!
On arrival at Atlanta there was a wheelchair and young man waiting to collect DH and he whisked us through the airport and immigration. We had about a 15 minute wait for our immigration man but not bad as the main queue was quite big. Our immigration man was very serious with me and DH but once he got to the kids he was lovely and funny, quite a relief really! We then had two hours to kill in the airport so sat watching the NFL game on the tv'. The plane was late coming to the gate so it did get quite busy as there were loads of people on standby lists for the fight, something I've never seen before. Again on landing DH had a wheelchair waiting and a lovely guy swiftly got us through to the DME, the airport was quiet.
Finally arrived at Old Key West around 11pm (4am UK time!) and were disappointed to find we'd been allocated building 39 with a second floor room. I had emailed twice to request ground floor for DH and his hired motorised scooter. The man went away for a long time and then came back with room 2016 for us. We're on Millers road just after the bus stop and our patio looks onto the pool. It has a large accessible shower instead of bath. We couldn't do much more than collapse into bed! Garden Grocer had left our stuff at bell services as well as our Apple Scooter.
Monday
Woke at half 4 but felt terrible to forced myself back to sleep until 6.30. The plan for today would be to head to Epcot early but we were all exhausted so changed plans (first day!) Had a nice breakfast in Olivia's which we paid oop for, came to $54.98 plus tip. We had a look in the shop where I bought US benadryl and clear eyes, always have to buy these here! We got our refillable mugs and then DS and I got the Alamo shuttle to collect our car. Our driver chatted our heads off, he was from Montserrat and had family in Birmingham. Hi to the couple from Leicester/Newcastle who were also on the bus. At Alamo the guy did try to get us to upgrade to a bigger vehicle but we declined. I had added everything when I booked so there was nothing else for him to add. I thought we'd get a jeep suv but we got a silver Ford Explorer and it is MASSIVE! It has extra seats in the boot but they easily folded flat so we could get DH motorised scooter in - it is heavy to lift by the way, but we managed. Went back to OKW to collect DH and DD and headed to Epcot. Used our blue badge on the mirror and were waived through to the disabled parking. Oh and I hired a tomtom from ebay and it is fantastic, no worrying about which lane to be in and it reminds you to keep driving on the right hand side!
We all love Epcot, there's just something special about it, maybe it's because I remember it opening as a 13 year old and just being amazed by it (prob from Newsround reports of it!). We got our photopass card here and hired a locker for the back pack I was meant to leave in the car. Had a walk through innovations and then did Ellen's thing, we were slightly disappointed it didn't seem to have been updated since our last visit 8 years ago, surprising considering energy and the whole eco thing has changed so much. We did Mission space green ride so DH could do it with us. Last time it was just me and DD as DS was too small and DH couldn't due to his stroke etc. It was good and still exciting/scary as I'd forgotten how enclosed you actually are. And another note for anyone - motorised scooters can go in the regular queue for most rides and are parked up close to the ride itself. If this isn't possible then usually the scooter parking is close by. They don't allow pushchairs through at all though. There is certainly more disabled access than last time we were here and it wasn't bad then! Heavy rain and thunder around early afternoon but it eased off enough for us to walk about in it, warm rain - what's not to like?!
We got fastpasses for Test Track and Soarin and had lunch in sunshine seasons, our first use of the DDP. Got sandwiches which were huge, we would have shared two between 4 of us if we had known, and had to have a dessert which we didn't want, but got 4 cookies to take away. We also got small drinks (lemonade was fab, still not sparkling) and our server asked if we wanted to change them to large. Mm. We then did Figment and the Nemo ride which were a lot of fun and had a while looking at the fish and manatees and headed over to Mousegear and spent an awfully long time in there! The kids bought new lightweight lanyards and pins (thought they wouldn't bother with these this time as they're 18 and 15 but they're loving it!) and a Mickey baseball cap for DS. We also did the Land boat ride and enjoyed it again.
Dinner was in Garden Grill which was very busy. Our server was the most full on one we've ever had, replacing drinks before we'd finished and bringing more steak and potatoes when we really didn't want to eat much after the sandwiches earlier. He did bring a big bottle of Perrier which he said he could add to the DDP for us so I was happy with that. The steak and mash were to die for by the way, the turkey was good too but I didn't like the fish. I think it was because DD said it would be the fish in the tank farm we had just seen on the Land ride.
I'm not sure if it is but it put me off!Next Test Track and DH scooter got right through. However as we got to the front of the line the ride broke down and they did a full evacuation. We didn't find out what happened but we did hear people saying they'd had to climb down from the track. We were all given fastpasses with 31st Aug expiry date, and a cm got DH and his scooter in the lifts and helped him out, very good service and he was given a hard time by a lot of people in the queue, mainly south americans I'd like to point out. So we went to Soarin, which even with the fastpass was about half an hour wait. I had forgotten how good this was, and also how breathtaking when it scoops you up to the screen. Fantastic. Incredible. When we came out Test Track was back online so we went on it, had a bit to wait in fastpass but not too bad. We had already made our cars on our kttw card and DD asked the cm at the entrance to the design room if we could use our cars instead of make new ones, and said we'd been evacuated. He said 'oh you guys got evacuated? No, come straight through to the ride' - he opened the doors and took us to the front of the queue and on to the next car, bypassing the design room altogether, and we'd been quite happy to just stand and wait! The test sequence is more intense than the old ride, but great. BUT as our car got to the launch tunnel the ride stopped again! We sat for around 10 mins and thought we'd be taken off but we finally got going. I have to say sitting at the launch tunnel waiting is NOT good for my nerves lol! But the ride is fantastic, super fast and crazy! Loved it. It was then after 9 so we left the park and came back to the room to crash.
DH scooter played up a few times, mainly on inclines, we joked he was too heavy, but it won't charge now so called Apple Scooter and hopefully they'll contact us when they open at 8am.
Woke before 6 this morning and had intended to do MK but we've changed plans again and are going to DTD first and then MK later as we have BOG reservation for 4.35pm. Might go for a swim shortly.
I think that's everything for now, feels like we've done so much already!
I'm impressed you managed to go back to sleep on your first morning, I can never manage to do that.
Have a great day tomorrow, we're finding NY as tiring as WDW, but like you I was awake from 2am so that hasn't helped
