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Well I have finally got round to starting a report of our trip! http://disney-forums.com/forums/images/smilies/yes.gif
It'll take me a while to write it as unlike our trip in 2006, I never wrote it back at the hotel every evening!
There are also no photos yet as I have to start the mamoth task of cropping and resizing them as required!
Happy reading guys...
ORLANDO, FLORIDA 2008.
Sat 20th & Sun 21st September – Travelling.
The day had finally arrived and after a two-year wait and 18 months in the planning, we were back on our travels again to Orlando Florida!! We didn’t actually fly until the next day but we are stayed at the Radisson Hotel within Manchester Airport saving us getting up at the crack of dawn for our Trans-Atlantic Flight!
The morning of the trip to the airport, I took the cats to the Cattery and once back home Ann and I began to pack. It was then just a case of waiting for my Dad to arrive as he was taking us to the Airport. He dully arrived and we loaded his car up and headed off to the station. We only had a short wait before we were boarding our train and on the 90 minute journey to Manchester Airport.
Once checked in at the hotel, we had a wonder around before getting a bite to eat and watched some TV before settling down for the night. Our room overlooked the airport and we could also watch the planes land and take off!
Flight day was finally here! We were up at 7.30am and took our bags down to the check-in desks which were to go into the hold of the plane. Once we were all checked in, it was back to the hotel for some breakfast. I didn’t eat a lot as I’d been feeling unwell for a few days and my stomach was still ‘off’. Once breakfast was over it was back to the room to freshen up and then time to check out.
We left the hotel and headed straight for passport control and security checks and we were soon ‘Airside’. Our flight was to be delayed by some 40 minutes – but that wasn’t too much of a problem. The time past quickly and it wasn’t long before we were in the air and off to Orlando. It was a smooth flight with no problems and as always we were well looked after by the Virgin Atlantic Cabin Crew!
After landing in Orlando, it was off the plane and through Immigration before collecting our bags and heading off to find the right stand for our transport to The Beach Club. We were soon on our way after waiting for a few more people to turn up and before we knew it, we were looking at familiar sights along the route. After 20 minutes or so and dropping some people off at The Swan, we were pulling into The Beach Club – Our home for the next three weeks!!
The staff were very helpful and we were soon checked in and off to find our room – 4573 – in the maze of corridors! We found the room OK and were amazed by its size, its decor and the view we had from our balcony. We began the task of unpacking and sorting ourselves out before resting for an hour.
We then took a stroll over to The Boardwalk (getting lost in the hotel along the way!) with the idea of eating at The ESPN Club. My stomach was still off and it was also busy being a Sunday Night so we went for plan B and bought some food from the Market within the BC.
It was then time to chill out and get some rest before our adventures began for real!!...
ORLANDO, FLORIDA 2008.
Monday 22nd September – Day 1.
We both had a great night’s sleep in the Queen Size bed which was in the room and were ready and raring to go! I was also feeling 100% better which helped! After a call from Melissa, we were out of the room and our way to DTD a little after 09.30am. We started in DTD’s West Side working our way towards Market Place and pass Ragland Road where we had to collect some vouchers.
While we were walking towards PI near Magnetron we were approached by some CMs and handed a pair of YOAMD Mickey Ears each - what a way to start our trip!
After looking around the stores in Market Place we met up with V (MiniV) for lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. It was great to see her again – even if she was envious of our ‘ears! After having something to eat, V drove us back to the BC as she wanted to look round and see our room before heading over to The Studios. By this time this time the sun which we were enjoying had disappeared behind some dark looking clouds! (The Studios had evening EMH).
It was a little after 2.30pm we were in The Studios and we first grabbed a PhotoPass guy and had our picture taken in front of the hat. It was a case of deciding what to do first. We headed over to Toy Story Mania – but the queue was long and all the FPs had gone for the day! Instead we headed back and did the GMR followed by ToT and RnRC. The heavens had opened by now and it was coming down pretty heavily. Heading back towards TSM it only had a queue time of 45 minutes so we decided to wait. It was great waiting as we got a chance to look and enjoy the queuing area.
After TSM we parted company with V but knew we would see her a few times before the end of our trip. Ann and I had a snack at the Backlot counter before heading on over to MV3D. Luckily by now the rain had stopped. After walking around a little taking photos and looking in the shops, we rode ToT and RnRC again. There were two showings of Fantasmic that night and we left the 8pm people to dry the benches for us while we enjoyed the rides before we sat down to watch the 9.30pm showing. Fantasmic is as good as ever and probably my favourite nighttimes’ show!
After the show we had another walk around taking more photos before heading for the Friendship and the boat ride back to the BC. In the hotel we bought some milk and breakfast stuff before heading on up to our room and calling it a night.
There we go - It's a start!!!
No for ome lunch and to decide what to do next - photos or more writing?....
Great start! I wouldn't mind seeing some pics!
OK! I'll write up our second day (Epcot) and then get stuck in on some photos!
ORLANDO, FLORIDA 2008.
Tuesday 23rd September – Day 2.
Today was Epcot and it had early morning EMH. I was at the International Gateway entrance for 8am and was soon in the park. Since we had 3 weeks to enjoy ourselves, I took the opportunity to walk round Future World and take loads of photos and video footage. A little after 9.30am I made my way back and met up with Ann.
We first went to the Imagination Pavilion and riding Journey into Imagination followed by Honey I shrunk the Audience. It was then onto The Land Pavilion where we first got FPs to ride Soarin’ later. This was followed by The Circle of Life and Living with the Land ride. It was then onto The Seas Pavilion where we first rode Nemo before looking at the fishes in the tanks. The queue time for Crush was long – even though the park wasn’t that busy – and so we gave that a miss.
Our lunch ADR was over at Tutto Italia (Italy) and so we headed off to WSC and caught the boat across to Germany and walked the short distance to Italy. The food was excellent and we both had the lasagne followed by some scrumptious desert! In order to let our food settle, we popped next door to the American Pavilion and watched The American Adventure – a show we both love.
It was now back over to Future World and we made our way to the front of the park – via Mouse Gear and The Art of Disney Store. After having a few photos taken we went to look for our legacy we left in 2006 which was easy to find! We then went on to ride SSE which we did twice! For me personally I don’t like all the changes – Dame Judy Dench is not the best narrator and for some of the ride now there are large areas of black where once before there was something to look at. Having said that, I do like the interaction part of the ride.... We emailed several of our photos back to ourselves!!
Once finished ‘playing’ we headed over to Ellen’s Energy Adventure followed by Mission: SPACE and Test Track – rides which FPs were not needed for either! (Ann didn’t ride Mission: SPACE). Time was marching on and we headed back over to the Electric Umbrella for a snack to eat before making our way through Mouse Gear and back towards the World Showcase for that evening’s performance of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. The globe in the show has been through a recent refurb and looks even better than ever with the display very clear and bright now! The show is always a good way to end the night!
After IllumiNations it was a short walk back to the BC and once back in our room we had a coffee and settled down for the evening. It was yet another great day which was only spoilt by the weather being dull and overcast!
I agree I didn't like the big black areas in SSE. I thought it was only like that because I saw it during the preview. It's sad to hear that it's still like it. Can't wait to read and see more Rich!
Thanks Adam!
Now I'm out of here to sort some photos! TTFN!
Deja vu! Deja vu! :lol:
Sounds great so far except for that pesky Florida weather, hope it turned out better for you both. I'm like Ann, I won't ride Mission Space either:dizzy:
Rich, you're back, Yeah, love the trip report so far. Sounds like you all had a great start to the trip. Cannot wait to read more and see more photos, altough I have looked at you photopass photos, and they are great. Someone did an amazing job with borders and embellishments, looks lovely. (don't know whether to be happy you are back or sad your trip is over).
Great start Rich!!!
enjoyed reading so far, looking forward to the next episode. x
love the report so far, cant wait to see some photos