PRE-TRIP REPORT
OCTOBER 2000
Well,
well, well. Here we go again. Less than 10 months after our last
visit we are girding our loins (and a fine set of loins I have
too) for another trip to Florida.
Without any more preamble let's get straight in with the who's
and where's and why's.
Firstly (and quite rightly so) there's me: Kev. A fertile and
quite lovely 42 years of age. In many countries of the world I
would be deified. Or is that certified, I'm never quite sure
which the doctor said it was.
Now some of you may have read previous trip reports of mine and
so will find my constant self praise to be a little boring but
this is my trip report and it makes me happy, so you will have to
live with it. I can assure you that the truth is much less
wholesome and appetising than my happy little fantasy world.
Tammy, my wife of 14 years and not much longer if she doesn't
submit to my every request for regular trips to WDW. To be
serious for a moment, we are one very lucky couple. These days it
seems like nearly everyone we know has either split up or
divorced. Perhaps we are the strange ones as I cannot possibly
envisage a time when we will not be together. Sloppy I know, but
just add 'romantic' to my ever growing list of qualities.
India, 9 until November. Bright, energetic and happy. Most of the
time. Historically she is better behaved than her younger sister
but recently has taken to sulking more often when she can't get
her own way. Here was I hoping that her happy demeanour would rub
off on her sister and it turns out the other way round. Sigh,
life is just not fair sometimes. Don't worry a week or two in the
dungeon with the rats will soon put her right.
You may get the impression that I don't cherish my children but
nothing could be further from the truth. I love my little ratbags
with the same intensity of feeling that I get from being in WDW
and we all know that no man could give more than this.
Georgia, 6 at the moment but will have her 7th birthday while we
are in Florida. Georgia's temperament has improved over the last
couple of years. I suppose that there is a sort of equalisation
process going on with my two children. My main fear is when they
are both teenagers and I am going to be stuck in the house with
three moaning, whining women. Can I come and live at your house
then please?
Georgia really is a pretty little thing except that she has just
lost a front tooth and now does a passable impression of Goofy.
Not that this worried her in the least, just another opportunity
for the tooth fairy to deliver her financial payload. Mercenary
little madam.
This will be the first trip that we have planned where we have
not had to consider what to do with poor old Duke the dog as he
died a couple of weeks before our last holiday. His ashes are
buried in the back garden and he is doing an excellent job of
fertilising a flower planted in his honour. Ironic really when
you consider that he spent half his life attempting to kill all
the plants with his never ending water supply.
When I go I have asked Tammy to scatter my ashes over the heaving
bosom of a well endowed topless model. Tam does not seem too keen
on this for some reason, come to think of it, I don't suppose the
topless model would appreciate it much either. Hang on a minute,
WDW should be in there somewhere as well.......... got it.... I
will have my ashes scattered over the heaving bosom of a well
endowed topless model while she is drinking a large beer and
watching Reflections of Earth from next to the boat dock in front
of Italy. Now if I could just find way to watch while all this
happened...........
Right, now the introductions are out of the way, I will get down
to the business at hand. Some of you may have been wondering
about why this is going to be a semi-Disney trip. Well, maybe a
more accurate description would be a semi-WDW trip report. We are
going to make use of our newly acquired DVC membership for the
first time and so will be splitting our time between WDW and Vero
Beach. The plans are roughly as follows:
Thursday 12th October fly into MCO using a Delta flight via
Cincinnati. (Thank goodness for spell checker because I never
would have spelt that right otherwise). This is obviously not an
ideal way to travel with children as it adds a considerable time
to your journey, but beggers can't be choosers and all the direct
flights were booked by the time our plans were finalised. My
strategy is to look disgusted if my children start to play up on
the flights and hope that Tam takes all the blame from the other
passengers. Failing that I will just lock myself in the loo for 8
hours.
Upon arrival we will travel to the Delta Orlando Resort on
International Drive for the night. As we are not landing until
7:00 pm it is not worth using up our DVC points when we will
probably crash out as soon as we arrive.
Friday 13th October book into the Boardwalk Villas for 3 nights
in a standard view studio. Now this is the part that I am REALLY
looking forward to. One of the main reasons that we bought into
the DVC is that we would be highly unlikely to pay the fantastic
prices to stay anywhere like this for a single trip. I looked on
the DVC site the other day and the rate for a room the same as
ours would be £230 a night including taxes! Makes me think we
got a positive bargain! Pamper me, cosset me, wrap me up and
smother me in luxury, I deserve it.
We intend to take the first day slowly and relax around the pools
in both the Boardwalk and Yacht and Beach Club. In the evening we
are hoping to meet up with Trish and Kev who we met when they
organised a RADP meet on New Year's Eve last year. If you think
that I am lucky, they have just moved to Florida and so will have
access to WDW on a regular basis. The latest thoughts are to meet
in Beaches 'n Cream for a burger and huge dessert.
The next day will be spent at Universal and Islands of Adventure
as we have one day left of a multi-day passport. The main aim
will be to ride Men in Black as it was not open last time we
went. Spiderman is also a must do for Georgia as she missed out
on this last time.
Our last day at the Boardwalk will be spent in MGM Studios,
primarily to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster and to see Fantasmic!
Monday 16th sees us move on to Disney's Vero Beach Resort,
staying in an Inn Room for 7 nights. Now here is where we take a
real departure from all of our previous holidays to Orlando as we
will not be rushing about the theme parks but setting a much more
leisurely pace. Relaxation, good food, swimming, bike riding,
walking and sight seeing will be the order of the day. Everything
that I have read about this resort has been very positive so I am
hoping for a great time.
Georgia will have her 7th birthday while we are here, so I will
be interested to see if the CM's will do anything out of the
ordinary for her. I do not think that it is fair to expect
anything, but it will be nice if it does. George has been asking
everyone for money for her birthday so will be looking to do some
hefty shopping.
Monday 23rd, back to the Boardwalk Villas in a preferred view
room for 4 nights. Tammy fully expects to drop into the Belz mall
on our way back from Vero Beach for a spot of retail therapy. I
am hoping for an act of God to destroy it before we arrive, but
will probably have to grit my teeth like a good husband and spend
a few precious vacation hours doing something that I could do any
day of the week at home. Bitter? Me? How could you think such a
thing?
Two of the last three days will be spent in Epcot for the Food
and Wine Festival. this will also give us another opportunity to
sample the wonderful Tapestry of Nations and Reflections of
Earth. The girls are more excited about this than anything else.
To tell the truth so are Tammy and I.
Now the more observant of you may have noticed that only 3 WDW
days are included in this itinerary. This may seem a little sad
at first glance but the more I visit the more I enjoy just BEING
there. We no longer have to rush around and try to do everything,
taking our time, relaxing and just soaking up the atmosphere of
being in the World are what it's all about for us. I will be
interested to see how I feel about Vero Beach as it will
undoubtedly have the Disney stamp of quality, but will it have
the magic for me? We shall see.
Well, that's about it for now. I can't help but think that I am
missing something out. I've got this nagging feeling that
something very important has been omitted. Hang about while I get
a drink and think about it. That's it! BEER!!!! I'm sure that
those of you that have read my trip reports before are well aware
of my well earned reputation as a clean living, fine, upstanding
young (?) man. However, purely in the interests of you, my
friend, I will endeavour to sample the beer products throughout
the World and beyond, with no feeling for my personal well being
or ability to walk in a straight line. My report will be full (as
will be my stomach) and as complete as I can possibly make it.
What a saint I am.