A Whole New World - First Time at WDW - The DIS Discussion Forums

joolz1910 · 12-12-2012, 08:31 AM

Well, it's ONE MONTH since we travelled home and I can only just bring myself to write this trip report. I want to be back there so much! This was the 'holiday-of-a-lifetime' for us and supposed to be a 'one-off'. Needless to say, we have already started saving for our next 'one-off'

The family:
Me - Juliette, part-time teacher and Disney fan
DH - Kev, likes Disney but doesn't love it
DD (12) - Olivia, teenager: need I say more?
DD (8) - Jess, slightly crazy, says she is not very girly
DD (5) Emilia - shy and (as we would discover) scared of characters. Princess fan.

Disclaimer - to my horror, I have lost my holiday notes so I going to write this from spreadsheets and memory!

28th October

The Premier Inn

We travelled up to Manchester on the Sunday evening as we were staying at the Premier Inn FT before our flight the following morning. Olivia knew that we were going to WDW as she has anxiety disorder. Jessica and Emilia were oblivious! We had told them that we were staying in Manchester and going to Legoland the following day. I told them that we would probably stay a few days and go shopping etc. This did not go down well as they both wanted to be home for Halloween as we always go Trick or Treating. *evil Mum laugh*

The Premier Inn was lovely - no problems.

29th October

Those of you who are my friends on Facebook will know that I had planned a big 'reveal' this morning before we headed over to the airport.
Things did not quite go according to plan.

I gave the girls a home-made boarding pass with their names and the date - 29th October and told tham that I had finally booked a holiday to WDW and that the boarding pass bore the date. Once the news had sunk in (slowly) I made the fatal error of saying 'We are going to Disney World to see MICKEY MOUSE! Emilia is terrified of characters so immediately declared that she didn't want to go.

She kept up this protest for most of the flight. Not quite the tears of joy and gratitude I had hoped for.

Don't worry, her Disney-resistance didn't last as she asks me almost every day if we can go back (that's my girl

)

I will try to post the video of this anti-climax later, once I've worked out how to do it!

The Airport

We went over to the airport and checked in. We had a little look around the shops and then headed to Frankie and Benny's for breakfast. I had scrambled eggs on toast, Kev had a full English breakfast, Emilia and Olivia had the kids' breakfast and Jess had a bowl of cereal. The girls had juice and Kev and I had coffee. The bill was around £35. I would have much preferred to eat at the Premier Inn but the flight was early, so we decided against it. F&B's was OK, but nothing to shout about.

The plane

I had arranged for us to pre-board because of Olivia's problems with crowds and had requested the bulkhead seats. We had been assigned 4 bulkhead seats and one aisle seat. They were great and I was relieved as Olivia coped really well as a result of this pre-planning. The IFE was really good, although I had problems watching anything as I was surrounded by my kids fussing and fidgeting - Kev cleverly opted for the aisle seat and managed to watch several films...

The food was as expected - pretty grim. I had the veggie option which was a rather wet pasta dish.

Getting there

Once we had arrived at MCO, we navigated our way to immigration. I forgot to mention that Gordon Banks was on our plane. We kept passing him in the immigration queue and (god bless him) he smiled at everyone. Olivia lasted about 40 minutes in the queue before she started to have a panic attack. I spoke to one of the officials who escorted us to the front, and we went through quickly. I was really relieved and grateful for this.

We finally found the Magical Express and boarded the bus. The little film made me want to cry. I could not believe that we were FINALLY on American soil and (more importantly) on our way to DISNEY WORLD!!!

Arriving

When the ME pulled up outside OKW, I immediately knew I had made the right choice. I loved this place! It is beautiful and tranquil. We checked in with the friendly CM's and headed for our room. I had asked for a top floor room in the Turtle Pond area. I was a little bit disappointed to see that we were on the ground floor but the room was well appointed, overlooking a small lake.

The one bed villas are enormous! All of the girls tried to make a claim on the master bedroom with the superking size bed. The open-plan living room and kitchen was spacious and well-equipped. The shower was big enough for all of us to fit in - don't worry, we didn't attempt this

- and the jacuzzi bath was fabulous.

I hadn't told Olivia that the restaurant was named after her...

After dumping our stuff, we decided to head to DTD and grab a bite to eat. We caught the boat at the marina and took made our way to DTD. With hindsight, this might have been a bit ambitious for our first night as we were all tired.

Wolfgang Puck Express

Our first meal but not the first time that Kev would declare that the free DDP was 'superb'. Thanks to my fellow Disers for recommending this place! We all went for pizzas / pasta. Kev had a huge slice of cheesecake and I had the creme brulee. The food was plentiful and delicious. I think the bill came to around $84. We both felt rather pleased with ourselves for having the free DDP and decided straight away that it would save us a small fortune.

We headed back to the villa with full stomachs and tired kids, looking forward to our early breakfast the next morning at Crystal Palace.

I sort of hoped that Emilia's character-phobia could be cured with a bit of aversion therapy. Hmmm.

Tinkerbell1989 · 12-12-2012, 10:25 AM

A great start Jules!

Sorry that the reveal didn't go as planned, that's kids for you! However, they make up for it, because they are beautiful girls!

Can't wait to hear more!
Steffi x

scottish mum · 12-12-2012, 11:32 AM

Woohoo, you've started. Looking forward to reading all about it

joolz1910 · 12-12-2012, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell1989

A great start Jules!

Sorry that the reveal didn't go as planned, that's kids for you! However, they make up for it, because they are beautiful girls!

Can't wait to hear more!
Steffi x

Thank you - I think they are beautiful too.

I am going to try to get the first week done before Christmas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottish mum

Woohoo, you've started. Looking forward to reading all about it

Thanks Natalie. I'm hoping my photo pass CD comes so I can use some of the photos from that.

Wills Mom · 12-13-2012, 12:58 PM

Fantastic start! Can't wait to read the rest

Sorry to hear the reveal didn't go as planned but from the sounds of it Emilia can't wait to go back so all ended up well

jen_uk · 12-15-2012, 01:03 PM

Fab start!

bee86 · 12-15-2012, 05:23 PM

Sounds amazing so far! Can't wait to read more

Chilly · 12-16-2012, 02:58 PM

Glad to see your doing a TR. Very cute kids.

jockey · 12-20-2012, 11:52 PM

Great report

Cyrano · 12-22-2012, 07:11 PM

I am not reading this in order, but never the less enjoying your reports

joolz1910 · 12-23-2012, 02:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyrano

I am not reading this in order, but never the less enjoying your reports

Ha ha, that's OK. I'm writing this from memory, so it's probably not in the right order anyway. I should have kept it all in one thread.

Nubbedy · 12-26-2012, 10:43 AM

Shame the reveal didn't go quite as planned. Look forward to reading more.

1andrea · 01-11-2013, 12:26 PM

Great first installments, looking forward to reading the rest! We stayed at OKW from the 13th Oct to the 30th and loved it!

And I have a 12 year old called Olivia who has a photo in the exact same pose!

joolz1910 · 01-11-2013, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1andrea

Great first installments, looking forward to reading the rest! We stayed at OKW from the 13th Oct to the 30th and loved it!

And I have a 12 year old called Olivia who has a photo in the exact same pose!

It's a small world after all.

Ware Bears · 03-18-2013, 05:23 AM

Been meaning to read this for months! So glad Olivia managed the journey OK. Now off to start on your adventure.

12-12-2012, 08:31 AM	#1
joolz1910 I would have gone down to reception in my robe and slippers I can't decide if it's sweet or sinister Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 5,125	A Whole New World - First Time at WDW Well, it's ONE MONTH since we travelled home and I can only just bring myself to write this trip report. I want to be back there so much! This was the 'holiday-of-a-lifetime' for us and supposed to be a 'one-off'. Needless to say, we have already started saving for our next 'one-off' The family: Me - Juliette, part-time teacher and Disney fan DH - Kev, likes Disney but doesn't love it DD (12) - Olivia, teenager: need I say more? DD (8) - Jess, slightly crazy, says she is not very girly DD (5) Emilia - shy and (as we would discover) scared of characters. Princess fan. Disclaimer - to my horror, I have lost my holiday notes so I going to write this from spreadsheets and memory! 28th October The Premier Inn We travelled up to Manchester on the Sunday evening as we were staying at the Premier Inn FT before our flight the following morning. Olivia knew that we were going to WDW as she has anxiety disorder. Jessica and Emilia were oblivious! We had told them that we were staying in Manchester and going to Legoland the following day. I told them that we would probably stay a few days and go shopping etc. This did not go down well as they both wanted to be home for Halloween as we always go Trick or Treating. evil Mum laugh The Premier Inn was lovely - no problems. 29th October Those of you who are my friends on Facebook will know that I had planned a big 'reveal' this morning before we headed over to the airport. Things did not quite go according to plan. I gave the girls a home-made boarding pass with their names and the date - 29th October and told tham that I had finally booked a holiday to WDW and that the boarding pass bore the date. Once the news had sunk in (slowly) I made the fatal error of saying 'We are going to Disney World to see MICKEY MOUSE! Emilia is terrified of characters so immediately declared that she didn't want to go. She kept up this protest for most of the flight. Not quite the tears of joy and gratitude I had hoped for. Don't worry, her Disney-resistance didn't last as she asks me almost every day if we can go back (that's my girl) I will try to post the video of this anti-climax later, once I've worked out how to do it! The Airport We went over to the airport and checked in. We had a little look around the shops and then headed to Frankie and Benny's for breakfast. I had scrambled eggs on toast, Kev had a full English breakfast, Emilia and Olivia had the kids' breakfast and Jess had a bowl of cereal. The girls had juice and Kev and I had coffee. The bill was around £35. I would have much preferred to eat at the Premier Inn but the flight was early, so we decided against it. F&B's was OK, but nothing to shout about. The plane I had arranged for us to pre-board because of Olivia's problems with crowds and had requested the bulkhead seats. We had been assigned 4 bulkhead seats and one aisle seat. They were great and I was relieved as Olivia coped really well as a result of this pre-planning. The IFE was really good, although I had problems watching anything as I was surrounded by my kids fussing and fidgeting - Kev cleverly opted for the aisle seat and managed to watch several films... The food was as expected - pretty grim. I had the veggie option which was a rather wet pasta dish. Getting there Once we had arrived at MCO, we navigated our way to immigration. I forgot to mention that Gordon Banks was on our plane. We kept passing him in the immigration queue and (god bless him) he smiled at everyone. Olivia lasted about 40 minutes in the queue before she started to have a panic attack. I spoke to one of the officials who escorted us to the front, and we went through quickly. I was really relieved and grateful for this. We finally found the Magical Express and boarded the bus. The little film made me want to cry. I could not believe that we were FINALLY on American soil and (more importantly) on our way to DISNEY WORLD!!! Arriving When the ME pulled up outside OKW, I immediately knew I had made the right choice. I loved this place! It is beautiful and tranquil. We checked in with the friendly CM's and headed for our room. I had asked for a top floor room in the Turtle Pond area. I was a little bit disappointed to see that we were on the ground floor but the room was well appointed, overlooking a small lake. The one bed villas are enormous! All of the girls tried to make a claim on the master bedroom with the superking size bed. The open-plan living room and kitchen was spacious and well-equipped. The shower was big enough for all of us to fit in - don't worry, we didn't attempt this - and the jacuzzi bath was fabulous. I hadn't told Olivia that the restaurant was named after her... After dumping our stuff, we decided to head to DTD and grab a bite to eat. We caught the boat at the marina and took made our way to DTD. With hindsight, this might have been a bit ambitious for our first night as we were all tired. Wolfgang Puck Express Our first meal but not the first time that Kev would declare that the free DDP was 'superb'. Thanks to my fellow Disers for recommending this place! We all went for pizzas / pasta. Kev had a huge slice of cheesecake and I had the creme brulee. The food was plentiful and delicious. I think the bill came to around $84. We both felt rather pleased with ourselves for having the free DDP and decided straight away that it would save us a small fortune. We headed back to the villa with full stomachs and tired kids, looking forward to our early breakfast the next morning at Crystal Palace. I sort of hoped that Emilia's character-phobia could be cured with a bit of aversion therapy. Hmmm. __________________ Juliette x 1997 Disneyland, California (offsite) 2005 DLRP (Santa Fe) 2009 DLRP (DLH)'Just Like we Dreamed it...at the DLH' 2011 DLP (Cheyenne) 2012 OKW at WDW 'A Whole New World' Last edited by joolz1910; 12-12-2012 at 08:52 AM.

12-12-2012, 10:25 AM	#2
Tinkerbell1989 DIS Veteran Join Date: May 2010 Location: Taunton, United Kingdom Posts: 726	A great start Jules! Sorry that the reveal didn't go as planned, that's kids for you! However, they make up for it, because they are beautiful girls! Can't wait to hear more! Steffi x __________________ We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing 'Finally got my own way!'...October 2012 TR Playing 'I Spy' in Disney... December 2010 TR Our Youtube Channel DLRP August 2004 DLRP June 2008 WDW October 2000 WDW April 2003 WDW December 2006 WDW December 2010 WDW CSR October 2012 WDW December 2013

12-12-2012, 11:32 AM	#3
scottish mum We still have 2 posties in shorts I'm still learning how to work it Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,985	Woohoo, you've started. Looking forward to reading all about it __________________ Natalie DH ME DS 15 DS 11 DD 8 allstar movies 2000, 2002,2005,2006,2007 Disneyland Paris 1994, 1997, 2004, 2009 fort wilderness cabins september 2008 Beach Club October 2010

12-13-2012, 12:58 PM	#5
Wills Mom DIS Veteran Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Ireland Posts: 1,439	Fantastic start! Can't wait to read the rest Sorry to hear the reveal didn't go as planned but from the sounds of it Emilia can't wait to go back so all ended up well __________________ Me (30) DH (31) DS (1) Sammy the Spitz (5) UK Spending Game#14 Christmas 2005:Holiday Inn I-Drive 14 nights August 2006:New Yorker Hotel NYC 4 nights/POP 3 nights February 2007:Glenbrook Villa 14 nights February 2008:Trafalgar Village Villa 18 nights February 2009:Highlands Reserve Villa 12 nights May 2010 Honeymoon:Crowne Plaza 1 night/1st RCCL 4 nights/Buena Vista Palace 3 nights/AKL 4 nights/Rosen Plaza I-Drive 3 nights/Bellagio Las Vegas 4 nights May 2013 Glenbrook Villa 17 nights

12-15-2012, 01:03 PM	#6
jen_uk Eurovision Nut !! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: South East Posts: 7,589	Fab start! __________________ My dis buddy is Carolfoy

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12-15-2012, 05:23 PM	#7
bee86 Mouseketeer Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ireland Posts: 403	Sounds amazing so far! Can't wait to read more __________________ Eva 2008 CBR and Doubletree Castle international drive

12-16-2012, 02:58 PM	#8
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Essex, England Posts: 12,620	Glad to see your doing a TR. Very cute kids. __________________ Claire 2012 May Alternative West Coast & DCL Alaska 2011 Mar/Apr Disneyland via a road trip 2010 Sept/Oct WDW POFQ 2009 Dec/2010 Jan DFTW WDW GF, Poly & AKL + DCL Wonder 2008 Jul Engaged DLRP Santa Fe 2007 Sept WDW Pop 2006 Sept WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite

12-20-2012, 11:52 PM	#9
jockey Repeat after me....I LOVE CROC's, I LOVE CROC's, I LOVE CROC's!!!!!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 7,270	Great report

12-22-2012, 07:11 PM	#10
Cyrano Disney VIP Anyone for haggis Aren't we all a cagey lot Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: 6,800Km from our happy place Posts: 30,606	I am not reading this in order, but never the less enjoying your reports __________________ Reid Theme Park Attractions & Strategies board 4th - 25th July 2013 2 weeks OKW/ 1 week RPR Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion.

12-26-2012, 10:43 AM	#12
Nubbedy I was born without a 'Hidden-Mickey-spotting' gene ºoº Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sunny Wales! Posts: 2,085	Shame the reveal didn't go quite as planned. Look forward to reading more. __________________ Sara My Disbuddy is kristieuk Disney World - July 2006 (ASMo), Aug 2007 (ASMo), Apr 2008 (Pop), Aug 2009 (POFQ), Aug 2010 (POFQ), Oct 2011 (POFQ) Aug 2012 (POFQ) Disneyland Paris - Jan 2007 (NY), Oct 2008 (Ch), Feb 2010 (Ch), Feb 2011 (Ch), Aug 2011 (SL) Feb 2012 (Ch) Dec 2012 (Ch) Feb 2013 (Ch)

01-11-2013, 12:26 PM	#13
1andrea DIS Veteran Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Liverpool, England Posts: 886	Great first installments, looking forward to reading the rest! We stayed at OKW from the 13th Oct to the 30th and loved it! And I have a 12 year old called Olivia who has a photo in the exact same pose! __________________ 2005 January DLRP 3 Nights Dream Castle 2005 May/June 14 Nights Swan and Dolphin and 7 Nights Clearwater 2006 May/ June 10 Nights All Stars Movies and 10 Nights Jamaica 2007 June 14 Nights Saratoga Springs 2008 May/June 21 Nights Beach Club Villas, Hard Rock Hotel and Wilderness Lodge Villas December 16 Nights Polynesian, Portofino Bay and Grand Floridian 2009 March DLRP 3 Nights Sequoia Lodge 2009 May/ June 22 Nights Port Orleans Riverside, Hard Rock Hotel and Animal Kingdom Lodge 2010 May/ June 26 Nights Bay Lake Tower, Hard Rock Hotel and Boardwalk Villas url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/] [/url] [/url]

03-18-2013, 05:23 AM	#15
Ware Bears Elvis Fan Fridge Magnet hoarder Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: England's Sunny South Coast Posts: 26,568	Been meaning to read this for months! So glad Olivia managed the journey OK. Now off to start on your adventure. __________________ Elaine WDW Holiday Inn Nikki Bird Easter 2004 DLP Explorers August 2005 DLP Explorers Christmas 2005 DLP Explorers August 2006 WDW Comfort Suites Maingate East/Grand Plaza, St Pete Beach Easter 2007 DLP Explorers Halloween 2007 DLP Explorers August 2008 WDW Comfort Suites Maingate East/Disney Wonder/Yacht Club Christmas 2009 New Year 2010 DLP Disneyland Hotel May 2011 DLP Newport Bay Club August 2012 Moderator Disneyland Paris

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