DAY 2 - THURS 17th SEPT
A brief reminder of
the people involved.
Me, Kevin, 40, charming, handsome, intelligent, witty,
just downright wonderful really. Oh, who am I kidding,
you all know the truth by now.
Tammy, 34, babe, blonde, bright, bubbly (that's an awful
lot of 'B's) and my wife.
India, 7 (nearly 8) happy, clever, talkative and eager to
try anything.
Georgia, 4 (nearly 5) pretty, stubborn, shy, beautiful
smile, filthy temper.
I wake up at 5:30 mostly due to a bad shoulder that I
have had for some time. I would like to say that it is a
sports injury, old war wound or something equally macho,
unfortunately it is due to excessive computer use both at
work and at home.
I get up and walk around the hotel for an hour then
return to the room at 6:30 when everyone else gets up.
Shuttle bus to airport. We check in 3 hours before the
flight. An attempt by me to get them to take Georgia in
the hold with the other luggage is thwarted. Curses!
After breakfast we go through to the departure lounge
where the annual holiday ritual in the duty free shop
takes place. The testing of the fragrances. Tammy tries
so many she gets a headache and forgets which one she
likes best, while I have such a variety of smells on me
that flies drop dead as I pass. After choosing something
or other we board the Caledonian DC10 at 10:00 and
eventually take off at 11:00, half an hour late.
5 mins after take off Georgia asks 'Are we at Disneyworld
yet?' This does not bode well.
We have 3 films on the plane Deep Impact (which Tammy and
I have already seen) Hercules (hooray!) and Shooting Fish
which really help to pass the time.
The food is also very good. We get a main meal, an ice
cream to eat while watching the films and a cream tea
with scone, jam and clotted cream.
I think I could recommend Caledonian to anyone.
After all my fears the girls are actually very good on
the flight.
We arrive at Sanford in a storm and the last few minutes
of the flight are a little bumpy. I can tell this not
only from the movement of the plane but also by the shade
of white that Tammy's knuckles have turned.
We disembark on to a bus in the pouring rain and the
short sprint from the plane leaves us soaked.
Customs is the next hurdle and we wait in a queue for 1
¼ hours. Thanks a lot Sanford. By the time get through
customs we have no trouble retrieving the luggage, in
fact mine has started to gather dust!
Car collection is another time consuming process and we
finally clear the airport at 5:00.
Enough moaning. We are off down the Greenway which is
fine and takes us straight into Disneyworld , after a few
tolls. The only thing I miss about coming down I4 or 192
is that there are no wonderful signs to tell us we have
arrived.
Drive passed the new McDonalds (hmm...very strange
looking place) and into the All Star Music.
Check-in is very smooth and we are allocated a room in
Calypso, 2nd floor, courtyard view just as we requested.
Thank you Disney.
If you want to be close to the food hall, shop and bus
stops then this is the building for you.
Our room was fine for the whole holiday, we had
absolutely no problem with noise.
Unpack, then straight on the bus to Epcot. I don't know
if I mentioned it but we have length of stay passes.
It is, of course, still raining and I am beginning to
wonder if we have made the right decision as Georgia
falls asleep on the bus.
India is very excited and Georgia wakes up as we exit the
bus and make our way to the main gate. Our first close up
view of Spaceship Earth is, as always, stunning. It is an
amazing sight at night as you look up at this huge
purple, shining ball hanging above you.
No lines, we can't resist, we're on!
The girls enjoy it, except Georgia is not keen on the men
with the funny faces. We eventually work out that she
means the audioanimatronic actors with the tragic masks.
Outside to briefly watch the dancing fountain. Two
beautiful views within 15 mins, not bad eh? Now, I don't
care what you all think, this is MY fountain and India
will challenge anyone who says it isn't.
We get something to eat in the Electric Umbrella. By the
way, I will probably not mention what we actually eat
unless it is an exceptional meal. Too many hot dogs
otherwise.
We leave at 8:30 to avoid the crowds.
The girls have now been up since 6:30 UK time and it is
now the equivalent of 2:00 am. Neither has complained
very much, it must be the excitement. On the way back to
the room we stop to buy the refillable mugs, excellent
value for money, especially if you are staying 2 weeks.
The girls are in bed at 10:00. Someone must hit them over
the head while I am in the loo (sorry, bathroom) because
when I come back out they are out to the world.
Except for the weather and the delays at Sanford airport
an excellent start to the holiday.
