dlpmikki
10-30-2007, 01:38 PM
Sunday 21st October
We go to the Magic Kingdom, arriving about 10am. We get lots of pictures. :D Mikki has developed a desire to take pictures of weather vanes for some reason. :confused: We watch Mickey’s Philharmagic (where they are having some trouble with the House Lights) and the Monsters Inc Laughter Show (where the acts are not quite the same as when we went with Intercot). The man picked on for most pictures was in the group just ahead of us. ;)
We have Strawberry Swirls at the Enchanted Grove before working our way out of the park. As Andrew looks for a table to eat the swirls, he notices two have litter from previous customers on them. He starts to ponder whether Disney’s cleaning standards are slipping? Not really, within a minute they have been cleared away. :)
The humans then go to the Marketplace for lunch and final shopping. Cap’n Jack’s is one of their favourites at lunchtime. The views are lovely; the food is good and somehow it has managed to avoid a recent makeover with excessive theming. Today, it’s only surprise is to tell Mikki and Andrew there will be a 20 to 30 minute wait and seat Andrew after barely 10. Mikki has gone to the shop to post postcards. Yes, they were a little late sending them. What have they been doing all the time?
After lunch, it’s a last look round other shops and then into Ghiradelli to stock up with gifts for friends back home. One year, we took Andrew’s mother some of Ghiradelli’s chocolate cherries for Christmas and now she looks forward to them.
Now we have everything for packing so can go home and start filling the suitcases (and the Owner’s Locker box).
There’s just one other thing to mention. Mikki went at the time she had been told to collect her package from yesterday and was told it had not arrived. She was told they sometimes take two days. That would be difficult as we leave tomorrow. Mikki planned various alternatives – like demanding Disney give her replacement pins. So there was relief when the package was delivered to the room at 9.00 pm.
We go to Hospitality House to see if Visa are accepting our Citibank Cards here before problems arise overnight. Sure enough, it is refused but since we have not been changing to the room much, a small travellers’ check covers it. It does look like there is a general problem with the way hotels are treating this card: it has worked well everywhere else. We will take it up with Citibank again. :(
Monday 22nd October
We are leaving today. Mikki has decided that she will not use Virgin Atlantic’s check-in at Downtown Disney this time. Apart from saving the $10 charge, Mikki reckons we could be just as quick at the airport since Premium Economy has a separate check-in line. Also we have the car to return to the airport so it should not be inconvenient moving the cases.
So, we clear the room; leave the luggage with Bell Services (including a very full box to go to Owners Locker) and decide which park to see for the last time. It will be the Studios. When we get there, however, Mikki decides the wait for Rock and Roller Coaster is too long. The line for Great Movie Ride says it is shorter – but wait a minute, how come it is filling all the inside space and coming out the side door of the building?
We decide to have lunch at Mama Melrose. They give us one of 2 small tables next to the kitchen. There are so many servers walking past us (and so many other empty tables) that after a while Andrew starts wondering if any will stop to take our order. Pretty soon, however, several of the other tables are pushed together and filled by large parties. We end up pretty happy with our location. The humans each have one of the flatbreads and decide it is a good memory to end the trip with.
After lunch, we leave the park, collect our luggage and drive to the airport. We are very glad we do not have to wait in Virgin Atlantic’s ordinary Economy check-in line. We actually lose 2 places in the line to check in because nobody has come to ask us the security questions. There is an interesting experience as the check-in agent gets on the telephone to discuss our seating. It seems we are being moved. No (Meeooww) not upgraded but to a row by the emergency exit. “Yes, they will be OK with that”, says the agent without asking anyone. Well yes, it’s fine by us (better legroom) but is it fine with the airline if they expect passengers in the exit row to do anything? Andrew has poor vision and is within the legal definition of blind. Eventually, we find ourselves on the very front row of the cabin (also good legroom).
Passing through airport security is also quite quick. The humans decide to eat at the Outback Express. They enjoy the meal enough that they do not bother with the dinner on the aeroplane. It may be that they are tired by the end of a trip but for some reason they always find the menus on the way back to the UK less attractive than on the way out. They listen to music and manage to sleep a bit on the plane.
We go to the Magic Kingdom, arriving about 10am. We get lots of pictures. :D Mikki has developed a desire to take pictures of weather vanes for some reason. :confused: We watch Mickey’s Philharmagic (where they are having some trouble with the House Lights) and the Monsters Inc Laughter Show (where the acts are not quite the same as when we went with Intercot). The man picked on for most pictures was in the group just ahead of us. ;)
We have Strawberry Swirls at the Enchanted Grove before working our way out of the park. As Andrew looks for a table to eat the swirls, he notices two have litter from previous customers on them. He starts to ponder whether Disney’s cleaning standards are slipping? Not really, within a minute they have been cleared away. :)
The humans then go to the Marketplace for lunch and final shopping. Cap’n Jack’s is one of their favourites at lunchtime. The views are lovely; the food is good and somehow it has managed to avoid a recent makeover with excessive theming. Today, it’s only surprise is to tell Mikki and Andrew there will be a 20 to 30 minute wait and seat Andrew after barely 10. Mikki has gone to the shop to post postcards. Yes, they were a little late sending them. What have they been doing all the time?
After lunch, it’s a last look round other shops and then into Ghiradelli to stock up with gifts for friends back home. One year, we took Andrew’s mother some of Ghiradelli’s chocolate cherries for Christmas and now she looks forward to them.
Now we have everything for packing so can go home and start filling the suitcases (and the Owner’s Locker box).
There’s just one other thing to mention. Mikki went at the time she had been told to collect her package from yesterday and was told it had not arrived. She was told they sometimes take two days. That would be difficult as we leave tomorrow. Mikki planned various alternatives – like demanding Disney give her replacement pins. So there was relief when the package was delivered to the room at 9.00 pm.
We go to Hospitality House to see if Visa are accepting our Citibank Cards here before problems arise overnight. Sure enough, it is refused but since we have not been changing to the room much, a small travellers’ check covers it. It does look like there is a general problem with the way hotels are treating this card: it has worked well everywhere else. We will take it up with Citibank again. :(
Monday 22nd October
We are leaving today. Mikki has decided that she will not use Virgin Atlantic’s check-in at Downtown Disney this time. Apart from saving the $10 charge, Mikki reckons we could be just as quick at the airport since Premium Economy has a separate check-in line. Also we have the car to return to the airport so it should not be inconvenient moving the cases.
So, we clear the room; leave the luggage with Bell Services (including a very full box to go to Owners Locker) and decide which park to see for the last time. It will be the Studios. When we get there, however, Mikki decides the wait for Rock and Roller Coaster is too long. The line for Great Movie Ride says it is shorter – but wait a minute, how come it is filling all the inside space and coming out the side door of the building?
We decide to have lunch at Mama Melrose. They give us one of 2 small tables next to the kitchen. There are so many servers walking past us (and so many other empty tables) that after a while Andrew starts wondering if any will stop to take our order. Pretty soon, however, several of the other tables are pushed together and filled by large parties. We end up pretty happy with our location. The humans each have one of the flatbreads and decide it is a good memory to end the trip with.
After lunch, we leave the park, collect our luggage and drive to the airport. We are very glad we do not have to wait in Virgin Atlantic’s ordinary Economy check-in line. We actually lose 2 places in the line to check in because nobody has come to ask us the security questions. There is an interesting experience as the check-in agent gets on the telephone to discuss our seating. It seems we are being moved. No (Meeooww) not upgraded but to a row by the emergency exit. “Yes, they will be OK with that”, says the agent without asking anyone. Well yes, it’s fine by us (better legroom) but is it fine with the airline if they expect passengers in the exit row to do anything? Andrew has poor vision and is within the legal definition of blind. Eventually, we find ourselves on the very front row of the cabin (also good legroom).
Passing through airport security is also quite quick. The humans decide to eat at the Outback Express. They enjoy the meal enough that they do not bother with the dinner on the aeroplane. It may be that they are tired by the end of a trip but for some reason they always find the menus on the way back to the UK less attractive than on the way out. They listen to music and manage to sleep a bit on the plane.