Mark & Mark's 2003 Report From The World June 14-July5 About This Page:

[markb]

Mark & Mark's 2003 Trip Report:

The Cast:
Mark B, 35, 3rd trip to WDW.
Mark, my fiancé, 33, first trip to WDW, first flight too.
Lloyd, 33, my Brother. 2nd visit to WDW
Jay, Lloyds boyfriend, 2nd trip to WDW too.

Dates: From 14th June to 28th June for Lloyd & Jay and
14th June to 5th July for Mark and myself

Lodgings: A friends villa in Chatham Park Kissimmee (just off 192 at mile marker 13)

Special Mission: Keys to the Kingdom tour [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

I started off making notes day by day, but as time went on I ended up keeping till receipts etc. in the Passporter to help me remember what we did. (bad move) We took lots of photos and over 2 ½ hours of video. Also Mark has a far better memory than me and will no doubt correct me as I go along! Next time I'm writing the report as we go, [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img] much easier on the memory [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Part 1
Saturday 14th July 2003

Alarm went of at some ungodly hour (about 5 am I think). We'd finally finished packing at about 8pm last night. It was the usual arrangement, enough clothes to half fill one suit case carefully divided between two cases so we had room for all the purchases we'd no doubt make in Florida. So, at the appointed hour we got up, showered and dressed. I packed the car with the 2 cases and 2 rucksacks, while mark checked the windows were closed, all the electric's were off apart from the fridge (which we forgot to empty, but that's another story) and generally tried not to get too excited, yeah right! We reached my brothers house about 20 minutes later, and met him and Jay walking into the carpark. It turns out they'd been ready for a while and were watching out the window for us. So off we set for Copthorn, West Sussex. My Aunt lives near Gatwick and had kindly offered to look after both the cars on her drive for us.

We arrived at her house in time to get a lift to the airport with her partner John. He works at Gatwick, and was more than happy to drop us off.

Mark had paid for him and I to fly Premi-air Gold (My Travels version of first class) so, when we arrived at the airport, we left Lloyd and Jay to join the end of the cattle class check in queue and went over to our check-in desk and formed a queue by ourselves Five minutes later we'd checked in, been given our seats and were waiting for the other two. Jay decided, as there were upgrades available, to pay the extra to go first class too. I complained to the staff that we'd paid extra to sit away from them, but they still let them upgrade [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] After they'd checked in we had a wander around the duty free shops. Mark bought a personal CD player (having decided not to borrow mine), and a Dead Or Alive CD. That boy has very dodgy taste in music.

This was Mark's first time at an airport so we made sure we had a coffee and a snack in the café that overlooks the runway. I'm not sure if it was what he was expecting or not, but he sat there happily watching the planes come in and take off. He was surprised though by the way you can see 2 or 3 planes all on final approach in a line behind the one that's landing. Anyway, in no time at all our flight was being called.

Premi-air Gold passengers get to board first, so off we went to the gate. I don't know about Mark, but I was getting excited already and we were still 10 or so hours away from Florida. We found our rather comfy padded leather seats, stowed our rucksacks and settled in for the flight. We were in row 7 G&J. Mark had the window seat and I had the aisle seat. Lloyd and Jay were in row 4 A&B, far enough away that we could pretend we didn't know them [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
The in-flight entertainment was great. I watched the Wild Thornberry Movie, Chicago (twice), Friends and loads of other stuff. I also spent quite a while looking at the map screen. It displayed our position, height, airspeed etc, all fascinating to an anorak like me. So, after 9 hours and 25 minutes we landed at Sanford Airport in sunny Florida.

Anyone who hasn't flown into Sanford should give it a go. It's only about 15 to 20 minutes further away than Orlando International. We were through a very busy Immigration check in half an hour or so, collected our luggage and off to the Dollar stand to collect the car in less than an hour total. Mark and I had originally intended to come alone, hence we had only hired a 2 door compact car. Since Lloyd and Jay had decided to come along also, Lloyd was going to pay for an upgrade to a 4 door car. We sorted this out with a very nice and helpful Dollar lady. She upgraded us to a Dodge Intrepid

but only charged Lloyd for a Cavalier (the next class down). Lloyd signed the credit card slip and off we went to find the car. At the time Lloyd remarked that he didn't notice how much he was being charged. When he got his statement it was £236, not such a bargain after all.

We found the car with no problems and were soon on the road south to Kissimmee. As we'd been to the villa before we were there in no time. The first surprise was finding a For Sale sign on the front lawn [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Our friend has owned the villa since 1991 and we didn't realise he was selling up. Our hope is that he is going to buy another villa in Kissimmee somewhere else. After the initial shock and a quick fight with the front door locks we were in. Mark and Jay had never seen the villa and fell in love with it instantly. To me it felt like coming home. We dumped the bags in the bedrooms, had a quick look round and then it was off to Wal-mart for supplies.

The Wal-mart on 192 is huge. Lloyd and I had told Mark how big it was, but he was still amazed. We wandered up and down the aisles picking up the essentials of life:

2 pizzas
2 quarts of Icecream
2 litres of Coke
2 litres of Diet Coke
12 bottles of Bud Light
and a huge bag of crisps (chips).

It always amazes me how long it takes to get out of Wal-Mart. The check out staff seem to work in slow motion! We queued for about 20 minutes, in the UK it would have taken 5 [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

After picking up all the leaflets and voucher books we could carry we set off home.

That's it for pt 1 so far. More to follow.

[markb]

Mark & Mark's 2003 Trip Report:

Part 2
Sunday 15th July 2003

After the late night and the flight out, nobody woke up until gone 9 am today. We'd decided to take things easy this trip, no alarm setting, no Commando Raids etc. I didn't even make a proper itinerary. I'd planned out which parks we wanted to visit and which days to avoid which parks. We'd made a list of things we wanted to do while we were there, but apart from that it was decided on a day by day basis. We always visit the Magic Kingdom on the first day, so that was where we went. We arrived at the car park at about 11:02 (I keep all the parking tickets, how sad is that [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) paid our $7 and set of to find a parking space. I was surprised how far into the parking lot we got. As the park had been open for hours, and it was the busiest day in the MK, we were surprisingly close to the gates. Not close enough to walk though [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] After parking the car, and trying to remember where we'd parked (more on this subject later, eh Mark) we wandered up the poles to wait for a tram to the Ticket and Transportation Centre gates. Mark had never seen the trams and I told him to watch his head as he got in. The first time I got into a tram I brained myself :lol The tram arrived just as we got to the poles so we were off to the TTC in no time. By this time it was getting really hot already, so on the way in we decided to do some rides, get a fastpass or 2 and then hit Wal-Mart in a couple of hours. Take the groceries home, and have a rest until 5 ish, then go back to the park and use the Fastpasses. That's the joy of being close enough to the parks you can take a break in the hottest part of the day and go back later. Unfortunately, we're too far from Universal Studios to do this. After this years events though, I'd happily not go back to USF and spend the days in the Disney parks instead.

We arrived at the TTC and set off to the Monorail platform for the ride to the Magic Kingdom. This was about the only time we went to MK on the monorail. The rest of the time we rode the ferry instead. It takes about the same amount of time, but it's so much easier to get on. The Monorail station in the mornings always remind me of the rush-hour at home [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] When we arrived at the MK station, the increased security was easy to see. There was a new barrier system outside, before the turnstiles where Disney Security where searching every bag. Luckily we didn't have any, so we went over to the ticket booths to check how many days Lloyd and Jay had left on the tickets that my Mum had given them. It turned out that they only had one day each. Mark and I had bought the 10 day hopper passes before we left, so we were OK.

As we went through the turnstiles and under the station it was like coming home. I said to Mark
"See, it's just like Disneyland Paris. Sounds the same even looks the same, apart from the castle".
He said
"Yeah, it does, apart from the heat!"
We walked slowly down Main St. USA absorbing the atmosphere and just enjoying the Disney Magic. It was like a dream come true, we'd made it. I had always said to Mark that I wanted the person I loved more than anything in the world to go to the place I loved more than anything in the world with me, and now it was happening [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

We visited the tip board to find out the wait times. Most of them were OK, apart from the usual, Space, Thunder and Splash Mountains were all 45-60 minutes. So was Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear. We got Fastpasses for Splash Mountain and went off into the park to ride something with a short queue. Another tip here, on the bottom of the Fastpass is the time that you can get another ticket. Our FP's were for 4/5 hours later, but the time we could get another pass was only 1 or 2 hours away, so we ended up with 2 Fastpasses for later in the day. We went over and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, a favourite of ours from DLP. We were both disappointed by the WDW version. I'd forgotten how much shorter it is. It's a Small World is just as good/bad as DLP, but shorter too I think? Mark, Lloyd and Jay went on the teacups. I hate spinning rides as they make me feel sick. I'm glad I skipped this one as the three lunatics almost managed to get the teacup to take off they span it so fast!

As the time approached for the parade, we made our way to Adventure Land. The heat was almost unbearable in the open, but Mark is a huge fan of the parades and this would be the first WDW parade he'd seen so we grinned and bore it. After the Parade we joined the throng and headed off to the gates and back to the car and our second trip to Wal-Mart in 2 days [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] After buying more essentials like
Tea (?),
coffee,
sweets,
a 3l bottle of wine,
bread,
marmalade,
more coke,
OJ,
some pink coloured juice that tasted OK but looked awful
and about 10 T-shirts,
we headed home again. By now it was 5:30 and we decided to skip the pool and go back to MK for a couple of hours. Lloyd asked what time the park closed. I told him 8, and that it could be a nice early night to get over the flight, OR we could hop over to Epcot and watch Illuminations. After seconds of thought Epcot won! So, after riding Splash Mountain with our Fastpasses and having a look in the shops we set of to the TTC to beat the rush to get to Epcot.

This was the first time I'd ridden the Monorail into Epcot. I love the way you get a tour of Future World before you enter the station. Spaceship Earth looked amazing as we rode past. I think Mark was surprised by how large it is. We walked down the ramp from the station and over to the turnstiles. We now encountered a problem that would occur almost every time Mark entered a Disney Park. If you have an "Extended Stay" pass Disney require you to have your fingers scanned by the turnstiles as proof of ID. It's easy enough to do. You simply make a peace sign and insert it into the scanner on top of the turnstile. I did it, and was let into the park again. Mark did it, and failed. The machine said he was a different person than he was this morning when he had his first scan at MK! After 3 attempts the Cast Member bypassed the system and let him in anyway. So after that short delay we walked at a pace to World Showcase. Just as we got to the entrance the voice-over started and the torches were blow out. We snagged quite a good spot to the left of the shop. We could see all the fireworks, but to see the globe we had to look under the awning covering the Friendship Dock. Illuminations is amazing. I've seen it four times now, and it just gets better and better. Mark said it was the best Firework show he'd ever seen, let alone all the fire effects, lasers, fountains and globe.

After the show we wandered off to the monorail station to get a train back to the TTC and home.

In part 3 we discover just how low Universal will go to make a buck.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Mark [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img] I agree with Walmart, it took us forever to get out of there too [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Looking forward to the next installment!!

[markb]

Part 3
Monday 16th July 2003

Another late start today. We all woke at 9:30 ish, so we didn't get to the park until 11:30. We paid our $8 and parked the car. After walking the 2 miles to the park gates we were already hot and thirsty. Luckily when I bought the Passporter from the web site I got a free bottle strap. I'd seen these in previous years, but never thought they were any use. Now that we've got one and used it just about every day in the parks I don't know how we survived without it! It is so handy. Lloyd and Jay even bought one in MK they liked ours so much.

Another great tip I picked up before we left was a lifesaver too. When we were in Wal-Mart we bought a case of 500ml bottles of water. It cost about $2.50 I think for 12 bottles. We froze 6 and put 6 in the fridge. Each morning we were in a park we would get 2 chilled bottles for the straps, and put 2 frozen bottles into a small cool bag in the boot of the car. By the time we left the park at lunchtime the bottles were half water half ice. So we all had a freezing cold drink for the drive home. We then put the bottles back in the boot for the evening ride home, by which time they were thawed but still very cold. It also works out a lot cheaper to take your own water into the parks too. If you want to you can even top the bottles up from the drinking fountains too, which we did on a few occasions.

We'd bought our USF tickets before we left home too, so we skipped the ticket boot queue and headed straight into the parks. On the way in I saw something about Universal Express tickets, but took no notice as we'd used them before so knew how it worked. We wanted to start the day with a thrill ride so we went to the Hulk. The queue time was about 45 minutes so we thought we'd get Express passes. But when we got to the machines they were closed. A sign above them said that all the passes had been issued for the day. I mentioned to the others about seeing the Express pass sign at the entrance so we went to find out what it was about. It turns out the Universal now restrict the number of passes that the machines issue. They then sell books of them for $15 per person! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] You get 1 pass per ride, that can be used once, just like a normal Express pass. I would quite happily explained to them where they could put their books, but Mark wanted to ride everything, as it was his first visit. Personally, I think this is disgusting. Having paid for entry to the park you then have to pay extra to get on the rides! I'm going to send an e-mail to them to tell them so. I'm still angry about it now, and it was 5 weeks ago now.

So $60 later the 4 of us went back to the Hulk. I'd not ridden this before. I love RnR and Duelling Dragons so I was really excited. The launch is amazing, just like RnR, but up hill. It just keeps accelerating, until you leave the launch tunnel and straight into a zero G roll [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Wow! My only regret is that we didn't buy the on-ride photo. After Hulk we walked round to Spiderman. Another favourite of mine. The 3D is so good, the first time we rode it in 2000 I even put my hands up to save myself when you [edit, sorry almost spoilt it then] lets just say it's convincing. Mark loved Spiderman too, but I knew he would. We ended up riding it 3 times that day.

Lloyd wanted to ride Dr Doom at this point. I explained to him in frank language what he could do. He managed to talk Mark and Jay into riding it though. When they came out Lloyd was ginning from ear to ear, as was Mark. Jay on the other hand was calling Lloyd all the names he could think of. I'm not sure if he enjoyed it though [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Next up was Duelling Dragons. Mark was looking forward to these coasters. He's a coaster nut like me, and Lloyd had told him about the 3 meeting points on the ride, and the part of ice where you nearly hit the wall. We rode Ice first, then Fire. And he wasn't disappointed. By now it was mid afternoon and we were all hungry. We decided to eat in the Enchanted Oak. The food in here was great. Proper steak burgers with fresh lettuce, tomato and huge pickles. I couldn't finish mine, so Mark helped, bless him [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] The amount he eats he should weigh 40 stone, swine!

After eating we went off to find Jurassic Park. I hate water rides like this and Splash Mountain. No idea why, I just do. I offered to hold the bottles etc. while the other 3 loons rode it, including the 85 foot drop in the dark, that my brother had forgotten about :lol when they got off they were all wet, so we decided to ride Popeye & Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges next. This ride is so fun. You get totally soaked to the skin. As we neared the loading dock I untied my boots and the others took their trainers off ready to put them in the centre tub to keep them dry. We struck rally lucky here. The boat that we got into was the wheelchair one, so it doesn't have a centre tub. They wheel out a huge plastic box for you to put your things in. We loaded all the shoes, boots, caps, wallets, maps and car keys into it [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Mark loved every minute of this ride, as did the rest of us. We got off totally soaked. It was as if we'd showered with our clothes on!

We decided to do the Poseidon show next. Last time we were quite impressed with parts of this, but we left feeling that it could be better. This year we were amazed how it had changed. It's so much better now. More like part Fantasmic part Indiana Jones. If you've done this show, you'll know what I mean. To go from one part and another you walk through a tunnel of moving water. As the door opened and the water started to spray up, the host told us to hurry into the next room. Mark looked at me and said "No?" I just grinned and said "oh yes" [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] the finale is much better too now. Lots more action and explosions [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

We wandered into Seus Landing next. Last year I rode Cat In The Hat with everyone else. They all loved it, but I got off feeling really sick. I hate rides that spin, like this one, or the teacups. This year I didn't ride, even though Mark took the mickey.

It was now 7:30, and time to head home. We walked the 2 miles back to the car and set off back down I4 and back to the villa. After a quick shower we went out to dinner at the Ponderosa.

In the next part, Epcot, my favourite park.

[tikibird]

Hi Mark! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

So happy you have decided to share your trip with us! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

I'm so jealous that you got to fly first class, and your adventures sound wonderful so far (except for the $15 express tickets at Universal - don't like that all ALL either! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] ).

Looking forward to your next installment!

[DisneyNutMary]

Great start Mark, I can't wait to read more.

I totally agree with you about the express passes. The charge an arm and a leg to get into the park, then they want to charge more!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Six Flags does that too, and I hate going there because of it!