Mandymouse's Fantastic Fantasy Cruise .. and then another one (COMPLETE)

[mandymouse]

Castmembers



Mandy 49 (& reaching 50 disgracefully) & Paul 48 (always reminding me how much further from 50 he is)

Itinerary

Apr 17th ~ Stay overnight in Manchester
18th ~ Fly to Orlando/Check-in at Pop Century
19th ~ DHS/Epcot
20th ~ Disney Fantasy
27th ~ Disembark Fantasy /then get back on again (Yay ! )
May 4th ~ Disembark for real /Epcot/Fly home

Wednesday 17th April '13

Finally the day had arrived, we were GOING ON HOLIDAY TODAY! Well almost, as tonight we were heading up to Manchester

It was going to be a mad day today. I was up at 5.30am. I had a cup of tea (I really can't function till I've had that first cuppa), then after a quick check on Facebook and my emails, I popped to Asda to get some shopping in for the girls. Once all the food and alcohol (they're so their mothers' daughters lol) had been put away, I then headed over to Coventry to take my mum shopping. Next up was my hair appointment, closely followed by my nail appointment



The afternoon was spent finishing off the packing and tidying up, then after many hugs with the girls, around 6.45pm we headed up the M6 to Manchester



We had booked a room at the Premier Inn at the Trafford Centre for a change. It only cost £29 in the Premier Inn sale, and we thought it would be nice to spend the evening before at our favourite champagne bar at the Trafford Centre

We arrived around 8.15pm after an uneventful drive, and once we had dropped off our luggage in our room, a drinkypoo or two called us







After a couple of drinks, we went back to the room and were off to the land of nod around 10.30pm

Tomorrow ~ Orlando, Here we come !

[mandymouse]

Thursday 18th April

I set the alarm for 6am, but woke around 5 and dozed for a while. I got up, showered and got ready, Paul got up a little while later, and once packed, we left just after 6.30

It was really windy and pouring with rain too, and I really didn't want to have to wear my mac, thankfully being partly Geordie (where the lasses will go out in next to nothing in 3 foot of snow) I manned up and just wore my cardy over my top and cropped jeans

The journey to the airport only took 20 mins, and we parked in the Terminal 2 car park which we had previously booked through BCP car parking for £78, and as we approached the barrier, the camera recognised our car registration number and a token was dispensed from the machine

We parked and crossed over to the Terminal, where the Virgin desk had just opened (7am). We were first in the line, and within minutes were heading up the escalator to security (which was a breeze) and through to airside

First stop was Frankie & Benny's for breakfast. I ordered a Bucks Fizz and an omelette, and Paul had a New England full English breakfast and we both had a cup of tea. The breakfast was lovely and came to £21.65 with a 20% discount voucher we found on the Manchester Airport website









After brekkie we had a mooch around the shops, we didn't see much, and I just bought a ring from Accessorize. We went to our departure gate to see Beauty Queen return, then we went to the bar for a drink around 9 (because you just have to, don't you ? )









We returned to the gate within an hour, and the boarding of Premium Economy had began, our rows were called 1/2 an hour later and the plane departed a few minutes late (just after 11)



The captain announced that the flight would take 8 hours & 45 minutes, and once the seat belt signs had been switched off, the cabin crew came round with the drinks trolley. I had a Bacardi & diet Pepsi and Paul had a lager, which we had with a mini bag of pretzels



I checked out the inflight magazine, and there looked a good choice of movies, Argo, Skyfall, The Bourne Legacy, The Hobbit, The Sweeney, Les Mis and Zero Dark Thirty to name a few. I watched The Sweeney first, and quite enjoyed it





During the movie dinner was served, the choices were Bangers & Mash, Chicken Korma and Aubergine Parmigiana. I enjoyed my Bangers & Mash, but Paul found the Chicken Korma to be too coconuty and we both washed it down with a diet Pepsi

Next I watched The Bourne Legacy, which I have seen several times (and unlike most people, I enjoy), though while it was on I read a magazine and made a start on my trip report. As the movie started, the cabin crew brought round Gu zesty lemon desserts, but we didn't fancy it



I watched an episode of Miranda (hilarious), and after a while we were given an ice lolly. Next I watched Zero Dark Thirty which was pretty good and lasted a good few hours too. An hour before landing we were offered an afternoon tea of cheese & pickle finger sandwich with a banana toffee cupcake, but we passed on these too

I watched Miranda again and not long later we began our descent. We landed at 3pm, but we're held back on the plane for 10 minutes as we had caught Immigration between shifts and they weren't ready for us. Thankfully we disembarked 15 minutes later and were through to Immigration before the Gatwick flight. We were called forward in no time and our luggage arrived quickly too, in fact we picked up our car at 3.45pm and were heading to Best Buys by the Florida Mall where Paul had ordered some gadget or other

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[mandymouse]

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With new gadget in hand, we then set off towards the Pop Century. The check-in was empty, and within no time we were heading to our room (#6222) in building 6. Once we had dropped the luggage in our room, we went to the foodcourt where I had beef & brocolli and Paul had cheeseburger and fries













Once fed we got back in the car and drove to DownTown Disney. We had a good mooch around the shops, and due to our lack of time in WDW, we did some souvenir shopping. We left DTD and drove to Wal-Mart next where we stocked up in our usual supplies of suntan lotion, batteries, water & Club biscuits

Paul then wanted a quick wander around the Premium Outlets, but he didn't find what he was after, so our final stop for the night was watching Wishes from the beach at The Polynesian Resort

















We were both flagging by now and our legs were aching too, but after enjoying the fireworks we headed back to the Pop, and I was asleep in minutes

Tomorrow ~ Our first & last full day in WDW

[mandymouse]

Friday 19th April

Like clockwork and as happens every holiday on the first morning, I was awake at 5am, I managed to doze off for another couple of hours and got up at 7.15. I got showered, changed and chatted to the girls on WhatsApp and we left at 8.30 for Disney Hollywood Studios. It was a lovely morning and it was due to reach a high of 88F (yay! )

We had to buy 2 single day park hopper passes first, then we were able to enter the park. First stop was a Fastpass for Tower of Terror, then we joined the line for RockNRollerCoaster. Once we had checked out Steven Tyler's new hat, we rode the ride again. Next we rode Tower of Terror (love this ride), then we rode it again with our FP's. We had some fruit cups and orange juice to tie us over till lunch and then rode Star Tours

























As we had a very busy day ahead of us, we exited the park via the shops, got back in the car and set off for the Mall at Millenia. First stop was lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, we ate here for the first time on our last trip and absolutely loved it. This time I didn't make the mistake of ordering their mahoosive main version of their Shepherd's Pie, instead we started by sharing some Buffalo Wings, we both had the lunch size Shepherd's Pie, and we finished off by sharing a Key Lime & Mango Cheesecake, all washed down with several diet cokes, it was all delicious, and I think it roughly came to $70 including a tip, this place has definitely become a firm favourite of ours and we will be back again









We had a good look around the shops, though didn't buy anything, then we called into Best Buys, sadly we had to give the Krispy Kreme shop a miss as we were so full and still had a reservation at Tutto Italia that evening

We next drove down to the Florida Mall where I bought a t-shirt then we headed back to the room. We were still stuffed from our delish lunch, and we knew we wouldn't be able to give a meal at Tutto Italia justice, so we cancelled our reservation, and after chatting with the girls back home, we caught the bus to Epcot

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[mandymouse]

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The Flower & Garden Festival was on, so we wandered around taking photos of the fab topiaries, then we headed for World Showcase

















Due to our lack of time in WDW, my only 'must do' this trip was to try a Spiced Rum Dole Whip at the F&G Festival, and I must say, it didn't disappoint







Next stop was the UK, where we had a couple of lagers and ciders and sat on the steps watching the British Revolution



We continued round World Showcase, which was really busy, due we think to the Village People performing in the US pavilion. We next stopped in Italy where I enjoyed a couple of Rosa Regales, and Paul had some Moretti's. We could hear the concert and the Village People were going to end with YMCA, so I wandered up to take a pic and take part :rotfl:











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[mandymouse]

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At the entrance to World Showcase there was a cool topiary of Monsters Inc, and Paul wanted to take some photos of IllumiNations from there, as ever I enjoyed my favourite firework show at WDW, and as it finished we quickly exited the park















As we really wanted to see the Cars area at the Art of Animation Resort, we caught the bus there and had a good look round, it looked amazing, what great theming, any Cars fan (like Paul) would love to stay there



















We then crossed the bridge over to the Pop Century and enjoyed a couple of Captain Mai Tais and shared some chicken and pasta before heading to bed



Tomorrow ~ Disney Fantasy Baby!

[mandymouse]

Saturday 20th April

Yay, it's Cruise Day!

I was up around 6.30am and once showered and changed, we packed up the few things we had unpacked. We left the Pop Century around 7.45 and headed for Port Canaveral. The hour journey was uneventful and it wasn't long before we could see the red funnels of the Disney Fantasy in the distance. We carried on towards Cocoa Beach, saw where we needed to return our rental car (Enterprise), and stopped at McDonalds for sausage & egg McMuffins. Next we had a mooch around Ron Jon's where I bought a couple of tops and Paul got a shirt and baseball cap









Once we were shopped out we popped back to Fishlips near the port to take a couple of photos, then dropped the car back at Enterprise









The people at Enterprise told us that the shuttle bus was unable to take us to the port for half an hour as there had been a security alert and DCL weren't allowing anyone to offload (not sure that was true, more likely they were running late, as there was no mention of it when we got there). Thankfully the half hour didn't drag and it wasn't long before we were on the bus heading to our ship

We arrived at the port around 10.50am, and over the next half an hour everything happened so quickly that I didn't have time to take it all in. We handed our luggage over to the porters and once we had shown our ID at the entrance to the terminal we were guided up the escalators to the security up there. Once through security we noticed that the terminal was already very busy, we looked for the non-US check-in line which was no longer there. We joined the main line which moved very quickly and within 5 minutes we were being checked in. As we are Platinum Castaway Club members we were given boarding number 1 (yay! ), and within minutes of receiving our Room Keys our number was called. I was in a bit of a flap as we hadn't had time to take any of the usual photos in the terminal or on the balcony, though Paul reminded me that we could do it next week when we re-boarded for the 2nd leg of our back-to-back cruises









Within no time we were boarding the ship and it was announced 'welcome aboard the Martindale family', yay ! we were home

Now when we had got up this morning it had been raining during the night and although it was looking brighter in Orlando, by the time we had got to Port Canaveral it had become more and more cloudy and windy, and sadly that was how the day was to remain.

Our usual first hour of lunch followed by cocktails while sunbathing was replaced with lunch (which consisted of a plate of everything for Paul from Cabanas and I had some tuna wraps and fruit from Flo's Cafe) and having a few drinkies in La Piazza and Bon Voyage.



On our way to La Piazza we found Donald Duck on his own, who was happy to have a few photos taken with us, and at one time helped me with my case :rotfl2:










Bahama Mama Time !



It was approaching 1.30 and the staterooms would be ready, so we headed to our room (# 8589, an inside stateroom with a virtual pothole) and we were pleased to see that 2 of our suitcases had already arrived too

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[mandymouse]

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We took some photos and unpacked, later on we went for a wander around the ship then at 4pm we went for the lifeboat drill at the Buena Vista Theatre, got to love being inside for that. We called back at our room and our final suitcase had arrived so we quickly unpacked it, then went up to the Sailaway Party on top deck









It was very breezy and cool too, but the party was in full swing and we waved to everyone at Fishlips (thanks Sue for capturing us on the webcam with our England flag - lol) and at the Jetty Park before heading to O'Gills for a cider & lager. We then wandered around the shops and I treated myself to a DCL Chamillia bead for my bracelet




I'm such a laydee with my pint glass - lol)







Before long it was time to get ready for dinner, we were on the late seating (8.15) which tonight was in the Enchanted Garden, we grabbed a couple of Bahama Mamas and we were shown to our table and we met out tablemates who were Terri & Jimmy from Florida and Stanley and Lisa from Oregon





We had a lovely meal and a nice chat too. Paul & I both started with the tomato soup, then I had Marjoram Chicken and Paul had the Prime Rib, to finish I had the sweet temptations and Paul had strawberry cheesecake, it was all very nice and it we didn't feel too stuffed either

We had a final Captain Mai Tai each, which must've been 90% alcohol :rotfl2:, then we headed for bed



Tomorrow ~ Day at Sea

[Kellea]

Fab , can't wait for more

[Cutiepie]

Fab start, looking forward to reading more