To WDW from the UK! December 2008 About This Page:

[Silvercat]

WHO :
Carolyn – Disney Obsessive, 9th trip to WDW

WHEN :
Monday 01 December – Monday 08 December 2008

TRAVEL METHOD :
Train / aeroplane / coach

ACCOMMODATION :
Buena Vista Suites Hotel

PLANNING :
There was very little actual planning of this trip, as it came about like this. Earlier this year, an email was circulated round my place of work stating that the company I work for had been sponsoring a charity for handicapped and terminally ill children, and consequently this charity had offered some volunteer places to staff members to accompany the charity and 40 families on a dying wish holiday to Florida in December 2008. I applied for one of the volunteer places, and about two months later received a letter from the charity to let me know I had been accepted, and that out of the two weeks available, my choice of the first week had been allocated to me. Yay! I’m going to Florida!!

I attended a training weekend in London at the beginning of November, which was really helpful, and at that point I was also introduced to my fellow volunteers. They were a lovely group of people, all ages and backgrounds, and all of whom had one main goal in common – to help to make the families’ time in Florida a magical and memorable experience. There would be 20 of us going each week, and we were told that we would not be assigned to just one family per volunteer, but would rotate amongst them and would also be assigned to other duties, as well. This helped to allay my fears that I would become too ‘attached’ emotionally to any one particular family. After a very intense but informative weekend, we all said our goodbyes and looked forward to meeting up again at Gatwick airport in London!

A week or so later, we received a provisional rota and itinerary by email, but we had already been asked that we treat this as a ‘work in progress’ document and had been warned that things could change on a daily basis, dependent on the families’ requirements of us. I was not therefore able to plan much of my time in Florida, as each day would very much depend on circumstances beyond my control. However, the rota did show that on the Wednesday I was due a day off, so I planned that, providing nothing changed and I did in fact GET this day off, I would go to at least one Disney park on that day, even if it meant getting there by taxi and buying a one day entry ticket myself.

I also planned on doing as much Christmas gift shopping as I had time for, even if it meant getting taxis to Wal-Mart and Downtown Disney late at night, once I had finished work. My family and most of my friends are all very Disney-fied, and I made a big list of gifts I could get for them for Christmas from this trip. Apart from the usual Disney gifts, this also included things like boxes of Reece’s Puffs cereal, Cheetos, Ranch dressing, Ghirardelli’s chocolate buttons, lemonade powder etc, none of which is available in the UK!

I deliberately packed very light, knowing what the weather would probably be like for the duration of my stay, and managed to get all my clothes etc into half of a medium sized suitcase. I then put this suitcase inside a much larger one, and had a piece of hand luggage that was like a large holdall on wheels, also containing very little at all! This meant that I could maximise the amount of space I had available to bring back the shopping I wanted to get. We were flying with Virgin Airlines, who allowed us two quite large suitcases each, with a maximum weight of 44lbs per case. My usual trick on visits to the USA is to keep buying stuff without really taking into consideration how to get things back to the UK, and it isn’t until the day before I leave that I realise I can’t fit it all in, and end up having to buy another case or bag – I have managed to do this on every single one of my previous trips to the USA! However, this time I knew I had to be more careful.

So - the itinerary sent to me ran as follows : Monday – arrival day; Tuesday – Animal Kingdom; Wednesday – Magic Kingdom and Epcot; Thursday – Disney’s Hollywood Studios; Friday – Universal Studios; Saturday – Universal Islands of Adventure; Sunday – Sea World; Monday – return to the UK.

DAY MINUS ONE – SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER
I travelled to Gatwick airport by train, as the charity wanted us to begin check-in the next morning at 8.30 a.m., and therefore needed us all there in plenty of time. They requested that we all travel to Gatwick on the Sunday, and they had booked (and paid for) rooms at the Gatwick Hilton Hotel for us all. This would also give us the chance to meet some of the families in advance, too, as some of them were also staying at the Hilton overnight.

We unpacked, grabbed sandwiches etc from shops at the airport, and after meeting some of the families, and being given our finalised (but still flexible!) rotas and lanyards with the word “Volunteer” and details of our charity on them, we settled down to try and get some sleep! We were sharing rooms in pairs, with the person we would be sharing with in America. Fortunately, I was sharing with a woman I work with, so at least I knew the person I was paired up with! We were mostly working different shifts though, so unfortunately I wouldn’t be spending much time with her, which was a shame.

DAY ONE – MONDAY 01 DECEMBER
We were up with the lark this morning, grabbed some breakfast at the hotel, repacked our bags, and set off to the check-in area. We had already been warned that there was considerable media interest in this event, a camera crew from ITV would be covering the entire week’s trip, and there were other newspaper reporters lurking around waiting for us. The event had been quite high profile due to a couple of the children being featured on local news programmes, and one of the families on the trip had commissioned a documentary to be made by the BBC and coverage in the Daily Mail newspaper, so we were aware that we may be filmed and/or photographed. However, we had all been briefed on how to react to the press due to data protection policies, and also to be wary in case of breaching the privacy of any of the families, so we all just acted as though we were unaware of the press attention, and checked in as normal. Virgin airlines were very good, they had cordoned off several check-in desks just for us, and they did all they could to ensure check-in went as smoothly as possible. They also had a couple of girls from their press department wandering around and giving soft toys to the children, which was lovely.

The volunteers were all assigned a family each to assist with check-in and boarding, which we all enjoyed, as we were there to be as helpful as possible. It took quite a while to check everyone in, but then we had about an hour free before we had to head for the gate, so I spent the time browsing around the shops at the airport and ringing home to assure (again!) my other half that I would not be having a lovely time at Disney without him!!

Boarding and the actual flight itself was very smooth and uneventful, and we landed at Orlando International Airport at 5.30 p.m. As we walked through to customs after collecting our luggage, I suddenly became aware that the music playing quietly in the background of the customs hall was the Epcot Illuminations music!

When we finally emerged into my favourite airport in the world, all the children were very excited to be there, despite being tired from the long flight! We were met by some volunteers from the place the children and their families would be staying at, which was a specially built village called “Give Kids the World”, who got luggage trolleys for everyone and showed us to the waiting buses. After a small amount of hassle reclaiming the luggage that seemed to take forever to come down a moving belt from upstairs, we boarded the buses and set off for the kids’ village.

Wow. What an amazing place “Give Kids the World” is. All of our families were overwhelmed by the place, which is mainly staffed by volunteers. Each family had their own little private villa, with their family name on a bunny nameplate in front of it. The facilities were just incredible – an ice-cream parlour, food hall, cinema, chapel, merry-go-round, play areas, two pools that were wheelchair accessible, and beautiful grounds. Of course, the whole place was decked out for the holidays, with most of the villas having Christmas trees, and tinsel everywhere! There were welcome packs for the families in the villas containing snacks and toys for the children, and the facilities to borrow video cameras, DVD films for the kids, and to have digital photos downloaded to CD. There was even the chance to sign up to have the Mayor, (or his wife!), of the village tuck the children into bed at night! Every day when the families were out, the ‘wish fairy’ visited the villas with more presents and goodies. The children could also make a ‘wish pillow’. Without exception, every member of staff we met at this village was totally dedicated to what they do, and were all friendly, helpful, fun, and informative. There was just so much for the families to do there, they could probably have done with a week just spent in the village!

Once we had got the families settled into their villas, we volunteers and charity staff boarded the buses again and were taken to our accommodation, the Buena Vista Suites, about a 10 minute journey away. Our hotel was lovely – the rooms were plenty big enough, although because of all the dark furniture they did look a little gloomy. There was a separate bedroom and lounge area, with an enormous flatscreen TV in both, and a microwave, fridge, and filter coffee maker in the lounge. Everywhere was clean, and the beds were the most comfortable hotel beds I have ever experienced! We explored our rooms and unpacked, then had a group meeting in the foyer, where we were given our individual ‘information’ packs, which included park tickets, updated rota / itinerary etc. I immediately spotted the first problem – the itinerary stated that on the Wednesday we would be going to both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, but the Disney entry tickets we had been given were single day, single park tickets – not park hoppers! The charity we had gone with had not done this trip before, and were unaware of the complexities of Disney park entry tickets! It was therefore decided that we would have to skip Epcot, and just attend the Magic Kingdom on that day. (This decision was not popular with a couple of the families when they discovered this the next day, however, as they had older children who were very keen on going to Epcot, but had to be told that as they had park hopper passes, they could indeed go to Epcot, but wouldn’t have the support of the volunteers if they did, as we would not be able to get into the park with them.)

The second slight problem was the locations of the information points that we would be setting up for the families, in each park, every day. This would consist of 2 or 3 volunteers staying in a designated place for the duration of the park visit, just in case families needed assistance, information, or a volunteer for the day after having turned down the chance to have one initially. However, at the recommendation of Disney, Universal, or Sea World, and without actually knowing the parks, the charity had selected well-known landmarks in each park, each of which was either too sketchy to be of use, or was impractical for some reason. For example, in Disney’s Hollywood Studios the place picked was ‘by the Tower of Terror’. However, anyone who knows this area knows that a) this is too far out of the way to be central, and b) it is a very small, crowded area, where it would be almost impossible to settle a group of people for the day and have them easily reachable by families. Therefore, I suggested alternatives for each Disney park – Animal Kingdom was the Tree of Life, I told them to be more specific as the TOL was very big and could take quite a while to walk around, looking for our information point; Magic Kingdom information point was originally the Castle, I made them be more specific and move to one side of the front of the Castle, due to them being in the way of the show that goes on several times a day on the stage there; Epcot was going to be Test Track, but that park had had to be dropped; Hollywood Studios was Tower of Terror, I suggested near the Hat. Several volunteers asked “what hat?” and I told them they would know it when they saw it!

Once the meeting was over, a small group of us took our lives in our hands and braved the dash across the 6 lane freeway outside the front of the hotel, to get to a CVS centre opposite. Once there, I purchased a 6 pack of bottled water to keep in the fridge, a couple of bottles of Starbucks iced coffee, a couple of sachets of lemonade powder, and a bottle of Minute Maid Lemonade. I also got my first packet of Cheetos – yay! We all had a good look round this small supermarket, and others followed my example and picked up packs of water. I noticed they had Heath bars, which are a favourite of my mum’s and not available in many places, so I got a couple of bars for her. Some people also picked up sandwiches, but I was too tired to be hungry.

On my visit to WDW in 2001, I had purchased a Mickey head carabina water bottle holder, which I clipped onto the strap of my shoulder bag and kept a bottle of water in. I took it with me this time, and it was invaluable. It meant that I didn’t have to buy water wherever I went, as I could keep filling up my original bottle at the water fountains, adding sugar-free lemonade powder when I got fed up with the taste of just water. By the end of the week, three other volunteers had bought one as they thought it was such a good idea!

The group then hurtled back over the road to the hotel, where we all retired to our rooms, tired but happy. I had a shower, said goodnight to my roommate, and fell into bed completely exhausted at about 10.30 p.m., although my body was insisting it was 3.30 a.m. and I had been up for nearly 24 hours!!

DAY TWO – TUESDAY 02 DECEMBER

Plan – Animal Kingdom
My duty today was the early morning one. This involved meeting the charity staff member in the hotel foyer at 8.30 a.m. to be taken to GKTW (Give Kids the World) village, to assist with giving the families their daily ‘information pack’ and ensuring they had everything they needed for the day. I was then free from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., during which time I could accompany the families to the Animal Kingdom if I wanted to, but wander around there on my own all day. I then had to return to GKTW at around 5.00 p.m. to settle the families back in, and see if they had any issues from the day.

Actual
I got up at 7.00 a.m., washed and dressed, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I was usually able to spot another volunteer in the breakfast room to share a table with – we had very distinctive coloured polo shirts advertising the charity! The buffet was just okay, nothing special, and a little limited in choice and variety. I had scrambled eggs, pancakes, maple syrup, coffee, orange juice, and some strawberry yogurt. I would have liked some bacon, but that didn’t appear until nearly the end of the week! There was also the option of having an individually made omelette or toasted bagel, but I don’t much like either, so didn’t bother with those.

Weather today was occasional cloud, but bright and sunny, if a little colder than I was used to at this time of the year in Florida.

After breakfast I went and sat in the foyer, admiring the lovely gingerbread village that was set up for the holiday season, and waited for my lovely charity staff member to come along and collect me. She did, and we set off in the hire car for the village.

Upon arrival at the village, I hung around waiting to be helpful, and was soon chatting with some of the families who were coming in to meet us and collect their information packs. We all went through to a conference room for a welcome meeting, which was extremely useful as it gave us lots of information about the village and its facilities.

After much thought, I had decided last night that I wouldn’t go to Animal Kingdom today with the families, but would instead go to Downtown Disney to do as much shopping there as I could. I do love Animal Kingdom, but with only a limited amount of time to spend getting things done this week, it is the one park I felt I could afford to miss on this occasion. Therefore, once my work at the village was done, I was intending to grab a taxi and head on out of there. However, my lovely staff member offered to give me a lift there, as she said she was intending to visit the nearby bank anyway!

We left the village, and headed briefly back to our hotel, so she could pick up her paperwork and I could change into a lighter top, and then we set off for DTD. Oh, she was such good company, and we really enjoyed the 10 minute journey to DTD together.

Once there, and with my list clutched in my sweaty little hand, I waved goodbye to my lovely staff member, and set off for a slow walk through Westside. I stopped briefly in Virgin Megastore to check if they had anything by Ryan Roxy, but they didn’t, so I nipped round the corner to Goofy’s Candy Store and bought some peanut butter fudge to nibble on whilst I was shopping! From there I wandered slowly through Pleasure Island, taking photos as I went of the boarded up nightclubs and bars, which is sad. I don’t know a single person so far who has been in favour of closing these and opening more ‘retail opportunities’!

I took loads of pictures of the new T-Rex Restaurant, stepping inside for a while to have a look round. It is an extremely impressive place, the outside and decorations are amazing!

As I had a large amount of shopping to get from World of Disney, I decided to walk as far round the far side of Downtown as I could, then work my way back, so I didn’t have to lug lots of shopping round with me all day! Therefore, I headed for the Christmas shop. A work colleague had asked me to pick up a box of Disney Princess Christmas decorations from there, so I was looking for that, plus some kind of Mickey decoration for both my daughter and myself. I found all three quite easily! From there, I had a quick look around the Pin Trading Station and Once Upon A Toy, but didn’t get anything, although I did get a complete stranger to take my photo, (using my camera, of course!), with a statue of Cinderella, outside. I was unaware that the Hanes T-Shirt shop had opened at DTD recently, or I would have paid a visit to that!

Next I went round the back of the stores to a) find an ATM, and b) find the Swarovski Crystal store that one of the volunteers wanted to visit at some point – I wanted to make sure I knew exactly where it was, so I could tell her. From there I went into Ghirardelli’s, picking up my free chocolate square as I went in – crispy mint milk chocolate – yummy! I bought four large tubs of chocolate buttons, a couple of bags of peanut butter squares, some assorted bars of different flavoured chocolate, and a bag of raspberry cream squares – almost all of which were Christmas presents for friends and family.

I then staggered into the World of Disney, avoiding the spitting Stitch as I went. Ooh – where to start? I got so much stuff from here, from t-shirts and pins to a new Tinker Bell watch for myself, (my first Disney watch!), a jigsaw for my sister, fridge magnets, a photo frame, a Grumpy cap for my boss, etc etc! In all, I spent nearly $300 in there – but that was a huge chunk of my Christmas shopping done, so I was really quite pleased.

By this time I was hungry and exhausted, so I left WOD and went to the Earl of Sandwich, a place I had seen before but never eaten at. I was pleased with the choice offered, and settled for The Original 1762 – hot beef, cheddar cheese & horseradish on a gorgeous made-on-the-premises bread roll. I was served really quickly, and took my sandwich outside to enjoy it.

By now it was almost time to leave, so after a final slow stroll through the lovely DTD Marketplace, I exited the area and headed for a taxi. The journey back to the hotel only took 10 minutes, and the really nice taxi driver even helped me unload my bags! Cost was just under $10, and I gave him a $5 tip as I was in such a good mood!

After unloading all my shopping into a corner of my hotel bedroom, (hmm – this is sounding familiar, didn’t I do this last year??), I went back downstairs to meet my lovely charity staff member for our journey back to GKTW. However, we got there about an hour before the families were due back from AK, so she suggested we take a small side trip and pop up to Wal-Mart, 5 minutes up the road, to have a look round. Ooh – more shopping opportunities!

Off we went, and when we got there we meandered around the clothes – I had already decided not to get my big shop from there just yet, as I planned to return later in the week. However, I did manage to get a really lovely pink top and pink Disney ’08 t-shirt for myself, a sleeveless Christmas waistcoat for my mum, a sweatshirt and t-shirt for my DB, and a soft, teddy-bear fleece jacket for my daughter with Mickey on it.

Eventually, back to GKTW we went, only to find the coach with the families on had arrived about 10 minutes ago, and they were all so tired that they all went straight into their villas without waiting to talk to any of us! We hung around for 15 mins or so just in case, then gave up and went back to Buena Vista Suites.

My lovely staff member went into dinner, but I wasn’t quite ready to eat yet, so decided to change into my swimsuit and check out the hotel’s hot tub. Wow. It was fantastic! I was the only person in there, and was able to spend an hour just relaxing in the hot water, whilst letting the jets play over my poor, tired feet! I loved it, it was so relaxing.

After an hour, I was beginning to feel hungry, (not to mention wrinkly!), so I went back to my room, showered, dressed, and went down to the foyer in time for the daily debriefing meeting, which was informative and helpful, whilst being a lot of fun, for half an hour. The volunteers were all bonding really, really well, and all seemed to be enjoying the duties we had been given. They were a lovely bunch of people, and all of us LOVED the charity staff members, who were just really sweet and friendly and were available for hugs whenever necessary.

When that was over, I went through to the restaurant for dinner. The dinners at the hotel weren’t bad, very large and substantial, but again the choice didn’t vary at all and there wasn’t a lot of different meals to choose from. I had a very good steak with a jacket potato and salad, which was nice. I also opted for a cold Corona beer – I don’t drink a great deal of alcohol, but sometimes a beer just feels necessary! After dinner and a lot of fun banter with a large group of volunteers, I headed up for bed, tired but happy.

DAY THREE – WEDNESDAY 03 DECEMBER

Plan
The itinerary showed today as a day off for me!

Actual
Right – who’s a clever girl then? The observant amongst you may have spotted that I did not go to the Animal Kingdom yesterday, despite having a ticket for it. Ergo, and also having a ticket for one Disney park today, I could use yesterday’s ticket and today’s, and go to both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot!! I have never before done both these parks in one day, and in addition to this, today would be my only opportunity to visit these parks this year, so I knew I had to make the most of it.

The families were going horse riding at GKTW this morning, and then going to the Magic Kingdom at midday, with the volunteers going straight to the MK at around 11.00 a.m. However, a couple of the volunteers, who were working with families today, expressed an interest in going to the park earlier, so they could experience some of the attractions before having to work. One of the volunteers in particular, let’s call her Sophie to protect her identity, was very keen on doing this, as she ‘got’ Disney as much as I do, but she had only been to Disneyland Paris before, and was very excited to be going to WDW.

So, I got up at 6.00 a.m., washed and dressed, got water from the fridge, and went down to breakfast. I had the same as yesterday – scrambled eggs, pancakes, maple syrup, strawberry yogurt, coffee and orange juice. I was out in the foyer by 7.50 a.m., and Sophie and one other volunteer joined me, to catch the 8.00 a.m. bus to the Magic Kingdom. Our hotel offered this free bus service to the Disney parks, plus DTD in the evenings – I didn’t know hotels did this, and was very pleased to discover it, as this was the first time I had been to Florida without a hire car.

We got on the bus together, all excited to be going to a Disney park! We were slightly held up on our journey by some Osceola turkeys, who were wandering about the road, looking rather unperturbed considering it was early December and TURKEY TIME!! About 15 minutes later, the bus arrived at MK and we headed for the bag check and turnstiles, after which we were held in the area in front of the train station. There were quite a lot of people waiting, but we weren’t crammed in nose to nose.

At 8.45 a.m. the park opening show in the train station began, and shortly afterwards Mickey, Minnie and friends arrived on the train. It was a lovely show, and I hadn’t seen it before, so it soon had me filling up with tears – of joy, just to be there. Sophie was also tearful, and we linked arms to watch the show – it was a lovely moment. (The other volunteer with us just looked at us with a smile on her face, and shook her head – she didn’t get it!)

Anyway, once we were let into the park we split up, with the other two going off to do some rides before being on duty, so I just took my time and walked slowly around the entranceway, taking lots of photos as I went. The Christmas decorations were gorgeous, as always, but the big tree wasn’t there yet – the area where it normally is was set up ready for the filming of the special parade a week later, and even Roy & Minnie’s bench had been moved to one side! As I approached the barber shop to take a photo, I saw Chip & Dale there, so took the opportunity to photograph them too! The weather today was sunny and dry, and quite a lot warmer than yesterday, which was nice.

I rounded the corner onto Main Street, and – saw the castle for the first time in just over a year. You know how I am feeling right now.

I had a plan in my head as to what I wanted to get done today, so I strolled slowly up Main Street, taking in the dedicated windows as I went, looking at everything, and generally absorbing the atmosphere. The park wasn’t too crowded, and I was able to ask a very nice stranger to take my picture with the Partners statue, with no-one else around me.

After my photo experience, I turned left at the hub and headed towards Adventureland. I tried, oh how I tried, to walk slowly and continue absorbing the atmosphere, but the lure of Pirates was too much, and eventually I broke into a rapid walk, verging on a trot, and made a bee-line for – arrrrrr! Pirates of the Caribbean!! Despite the 5 minute wait time advertised, this was a straight walk-on, and I enjoyed it very, very much!

Out of there and turning left again, I went into Frontierland and made for Big Thunder Mountain. I took a photo of Splash Mountain, but was too chicken to go on that one alone!! Goofy was goofing around on the bridge by the big drop, and I snapped his picture too, although he didn’t notice me! At BTM, which was showing a 5 minute wait time, I picked up a Fast Pass for 30 mins later, and then went on the ride twice in a row with no wait at all, then a further once with about 10 minutes wait, then used my Fast Pass for a fourth ride. Each time I asked the Cast Member if I could wait for the very back row in the last carriage, as this goes a bit faster than the other carriages, and each time I was allowed to do this. BTM is my favourite ride in the Magic Kingdom, and was closed last year for most of my trip to WDW in October, so I was making the most of it this time! On exiting for the final time, I found the hidden Tinker Bell, and took her photo. (Okay – confession time. I had found her easily last year, but this time had struggled, and finally a nearby Cast Member, who took me by surprise as I hadn’t seen him standing there, pointed to her and said, “there she is!”)

I felt the need for a Mickey ice cream bar then, so picked one up on my way out of Frontierland and wandered towards Liberty Square, where I sat down for a few minutes to enjoy my ice cream and watch the world go by. Suitably refreshed, I did the thing of asking a stranger to take my photo again, and posed dramatically in the stocks – the picture is very funny, I look as though I am questioning someone’s decision to place me in there! Next I went to the Haunted Mansion, which was once again showing a 5 minute wait but was a straight walk-on. In fact, I didn’t even have time to study the gravestones, as as I approached the big doors a Cast Member was beckoning me in! I love the improvements they have made to this ride, the ghostly footsteps are great!

Out of there and turning left again, under the bridge and round the corner to Fantasyland and It’s A Small World. No wait time advertised, walked straight on. Five minutes of happy singing later, and I was off and picking up a Fast Pass for Peter Pan’s Flight, which was showing a wait time of 30 minutes but a FP return time of about an hour. I used my time to take in Mickey’s Philharmagic after a 5 minute wait, and then walked around Arial’s Grotto taking pictures and absorbing yet more atmosphere. I also had my picture taken whilst in the animal cage there! I checked out the little shops there, and bought a couple of pins and a gorgeous silver linked bracelet for me, with a charm on it that has my initial on one side and Mickey’s head outline on the other! My FP time opened up then, so I went on Peter Pan. (Love the ride, but can never understand the mad queues!!).

It was now about 11.30 a.m., and I was feeling a bit peckish, so I thought I would head to Casey’s for lunch, as I had a craving for corn dog bites. I cut through the castle, and on the other side bumped into a couple of our volunteers who were setting up the information point for the day. They were both wearing Minnie ears!! I chatted with them for a few minutes, waved to another group of volunteers who were approaching, then headed over to Casey’s, where I got an order of corn dog bites, fries, and a large coffee. I took them outside and sat at a table near the mass of begging birds!

I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch, and didn’t share any with the birds – sorry guys, you need to fend for yourselves a little!

After that, I walked directly across Main Street, alongside the ice cream parlour, towards Tomorrowland, via a rest room break! I picked up a Fast Pass for Space Mountain, showing a 30 minute wait but FP return of just over an hour, and went into the Carousel of Progress. I love this show! When I came out, I queued up with all the kids and had my photo taken with Buzz Lightyear – my superhero!!

Then I headed to the TTA/Peoplemover, and enjoyed a bit of a rest as I was taken around Tomorrowland, (“paging Mr Morrow, Mr Tom Morrow, your party from Saturn has arrived, please give them a ring” – ooh, I really need to get out more …..). When the train got back to the starting point, there was no-one waiting to get on, so I asked if I could stay put and go around again, and was told ‘of course!’.

After my second trip, it was time for Space Mountain – ON MY OWN for the first time EVER!! What can I say – I did it, I shrieked a bit, but I did it!

My projected timings for the day were going really well, and I now had time for a complete trip around the park on the WDW Railroad train, so I took the quiet little shortcut from Space Mountain to Toontown – there was no-one else on this walkway! Just as I reached the train station, a train was pulling out, but another one came along within 5 minutes and I boarded the Walter E Disney express. However, at the next stop, Main Street, there was an announcement that the train would be stopped there for the next 15 minutes or so for the parade, which crosses the train’s tracks at some point, so I decided to leave at that point. I very nearly stayed for the parade, but it was very delayed in starting, and as the time was 3.15 p.m. it was time for me to bid ‘goodbye’ to the beautiful, gorgeous, magical Magic Kingdom for another year, and move on.

I got a monorail to the TTC, then got onto the Epcot monorail, bagging a place in the driver’s carriage! Through bag check and the turnstiles, using my second one-day ticket.

My first stop was Spaceship Earth, which had been closed for the whole of my last visit for its big refurbishment. Walked on, no wait. Hmm. I very much like the first half of this, apart from the fact that they have removed the “the theatre was born” line, which I loved. I also spotted my first ever hidden Mickey, (okay, I don’t usually remember to look for these everywhere!), in the artist scene, where the paint pots have been moved. However, I am not sure about the top and the second half. The top bit is lovely, with the earth and some stars to look at, but the spaceship and astronauts have gone; the second half, whilst mildly amusing, does, I think, have limited repeat value, and if you don’t ‘play the game’ on the screen, there is absolutely nothing else to look at. No gorgeous and evocative music, no streams of stars twinkling their way past over and over again, no tableaux of the future to watch …… I do agree this ride was in need of a major overhaul, I’m just not entirely sure I like what they’ve done with it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind change at all, particularly when change is needed, but I am not always pleased with the results!

Anyway, I left there and walked round to the Land pavilion. Soarin’ was showing as a 40 minute wait, with Fast Pass return times of 8.15-9.15 p.m. (It was by now about 4.30 p.m.) I have a policy of not waiting for more than 20 minutes for a ride if possible, but for Soarin’ I will make an exception – so I picked up a FP and then joined the queue. The 40 minutes goes fairly quickly anyway, what with the wall games to play, (or watch other people playing, which is much more fun!), and people around you to chat to, and in what seemed like a fairly short time I was wending my way towards the boarding area. I was seated in the second row, towards the end of the row, and took great glee in joining a young lady in winding up her DB about how high this ride went, the fact that it did loops and turned upside down, and had lots of fast drops!! The ride was, as always, absolutely amazing, and this remains one of my favourite Disney rides ever, especially as they have paid tribute to the much loved and missed Horizons.

I left Soarin’ and purchased some ride pins, for myself and for Christmas presents, and then went to Living with the Land, which not only was a walk-on, but didn’t even have anyone else in the queue! I got onto the front row of a mostly empty boat, and off we set. I don’t mind the recorded commentary on this ride, as it isn’t that different to what the Cast Members used to say each time. I really love seeing the different vegetables and fruit that they grow in there, it is so interesting! I love the pumpkins that are ‘earning their ears’!

My next stop was Journey into Your Imagination, which I hadn’t done for several years. I wonder why? Dear god, I had forgotten how dismal this ride actually is. My imagination must be truly dire!! Bring back more Figment, and the Dreamfinder, I say.

A quick trip to Club Cool for a swig of Vegibeta, (yum – tastes like apricots!), and whilst in there I picked up a Cherry Coke lip salve for my sister, who loves Cherry Coke!

When I got outside again, I stood and watched the Lights of Winter light show for a little while. It is so lovely, but trying to photograph it is a nightmare!

I then went across to Test Track, avoiding Mission Space as this is also a ride I don’t particularly want to do on my own, reasoning it is more fun with a partner. TT was showing a wait time of 40 minutes, but I headed for the Single Rider line, which not only had no-one in it at all, but no-one at the top of the walkway. The Cast Member beckoned me through, and sent me straight through an open briefing room without stopping! I came out the other side, walked round one turn of the queue section, and straight into a line to board the next vehicle. I tried not to look too smug as I streamed past all the poor souls in the normal queue. I was seated on the right hand side of the car, in the second row. My DB absolutely LOVES this ride, so I went on it three times in a row, each time doing exactly the same thing – walking straight on, (and the second and third times sitting in the front row) – in tribute to him. Funny thing, he didn’t seem to see it like this at all when I told him about it, he just grunted and pulled this odd kind of jealous face ……..

I came out of TT for the last time, having checked out the car exhibition and picked up a t-shirt that said ‘Test Track Pit Crew’ for DB, and on impulse headed for the Universe of Energy. However, I got there at 7.05 p.m. and it had closed! Ah well, there is always next time.

Hunger stuck again at this point, so I went to the Electric Umbrella for chicken nuggets (where did the chicken strips go??), fries, and coffee. Very tasty indeed, and just what I needed.

I still had a little time before my Soarin’ window opened, so I decided to give Spaceship Earth another chance. Hmm again. Oh well, I’m sure someone must love it, and I may grow to love it too eventually. I’m sure my DB will be interested in this new version when he sees it.

Okay, Soarin’ FP window now open – off I go! Straight through the FP line, wended my way to the boarding area. Yay – got the first row!! Lovely.

By now it was 8.50 p.m., and under the illusion that Illuminations began at 9.00 p.m., I went under the light arch and turned left, to find a place to watch the firework show from. I found a nice place along the fence, just past China, and wondered why the torches weren’t lit yet. At 9.15 p.m. I asked someone I was standing by what was going on, and they said the show wasn’t due to begin until 9.30! Which was a little worrying, as the last bus to my hotel left Epcot at 10.15 p.m., and the bus stop was miles away – way past all the Disney buses! I decided to stay put and hope for the best. Illuminations duly began at 9.30, and was so beautiful – it makes me cry every time I see it. There was an extra bit at the end for Christmas, done to the tune of Let There Be Peace On Earth, which was also beautiful. All full of love and peace, I began to walk very quickly to the exit, turned left, went past all the Disney buses, and finally found my Mears bus stop. I got there at 10.05 p.m.!! My bus came along on time, and soon I was back at the hotel. I had missed the daily debrief, but met a couple of volunteers in the lobby and they gave me the rundown, so that was okay. Up to the room for shower and bed, I was completely exhausted, having been on my feet that day for 16 hours!!

DAY FOUR – THURSDAY 04 DECEMBER

Plan
The itinerary showed today as a day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and my duty was to be on Family Assistance for the day.

Actual
Another sunny day, not quite as warm as yesterday, and certainly cooler than I have experienced before at this time of year in Florida, but still a darn sight warmer than in the UK, where it is apparently snowing!!

Up at 7.00 a.m. then, washed and dressed, got water from the fridge, and went down to breakfast. I had yet more of the same – scrambled eggs, no pancakes but tried the waffles, (which were unfortunately quite dry and hard), maple syrup, strawberry yogurt, coffee and orange juice. I was out in the foyer by 8.30 a.m. with the rest of the volunteers, and we boarded the bus that was taking us to HS. (The plans were always that we would arrive at the parks about 30-45 mins before the families were due, in order to orientate ourselves, pick up park maps, set up the information point, and generally be ready for when they arrived. In reality this never used to take long to do, and we usually had about half an hour free before the families arrived during which time we could, (with the blessing of the charity staff), race off to a shop or onto a ride, etc.)

When we got to HS we walked towards the Hat in order to find a place to set up the information point, and quickly settled ourselves on some benches near to Dinosaur Gertie’s Ice Cream Parlour. We then had a phone call to say the families would be at least another hour or so, so alone or in small groups we nipped off to do some stuff before they got there. I went round to the Great Movie Ride (walk-on), as I love this ride, although I am convinced they only do the Gangster version now! Afterwards, I went back to the information point, and then myself and Sophie went to the shops along Hollywood Boulevard as she was looking for a glass for her brother. After we purchased what she wanted, we again returned to the information point, by which time we had all seen the High School Musical presentation in front of the hat 4 times!! The families began to arrive shortly after that, and I waited to see who I was allocated to. However, that particular family, having decided they wanted the services of a volunteer, then changed their minds and said they would manage on their own for the day. I therefore suggested, as no-one else needed me, that I go off for a couple of hours, come back to the info point in case they had changed their minds again, then if I wasn’t needed could go off again for another couple of hours, and keep working the day like that. It was agreed that this was a good idea, so off I went.

My first stop was Star Tours, to pick up a Fast Pass, as the wait time was shown as being 20 minutes. That done, I motored on round to Muppets 3D, where I bumped into another couple of volunteers, so we all sat together (no wait time, apart from the film before the show). They hadn’t seen this before, and we all really enjoyed it. Part of my enjoyment came from sharing this experience with a newbie, I must admit. After the Muppets, we split up and I went back to Star Tours, unfortunately getting the back row, which makes me a bit queasy, but I still enjoyed it.

I then went to the Backlot Express for lunch, and had chicken nuggets, fries, and gorgeous, lovely, icy cold chocolate milk! I sat outside, round the back, and watched the ‘extras’ in the Indiana Jones show coming in and out of a side door, and getting changed whilst I ate!

Back to info point, still not needed, so I collected Sophie who was also not needed for a bit, and we headed over to the Backlot Tour together (10 minutes wait), which again was made all the more enjoyable by having a newbie with me, (I made her sit on the ‘wet’ side - teehee!). Sophie was worried she may be needed again soon, so we went back and whilst at the info point we saw the Block Party Bash parade, which was very good – lively, loud, lots of fun. At this point I asked the charity staff if I needed to go back with them at 5.00 p.m., which was the time the families were leaving, or could I stay at the park later and then get the bus back to the hotel? They told me it was fine to stay, so I then took Sophie on the Great Movie Ride (walk-on), which she loved (though got the Gangster again!), and then she went back to the info point and I dashed over to catch the 4.10 p.m. show of Lights, Motors, Action!, which is a really great show – sort of ballet with cars!

By the time I came out of there, everyone from my group had left, apart from about 4 or 5 volunteers who were doing the same as me and staying on, although they intended to get a taxi back rather than the bus. (Sidenote : by this day, two of the volunteers had begun voluntarily holding hands, having been accidentally put on duty together each day – where is this going, I wondered?) I had a brief wander around One Man’s Dream, but didn’t stay for the film as I wanted to catch some of the Osborne Family Lights before Fantasmic. The lights were really lovely, but I really miss being able to walk through all the houses that used to be there. The lights are just confined to one street, now. Also, I didn’t have the 3D glasses that some resort guests had, so I have no idea what they were seeing! The snow was lovely, though.

After about 15 minutes of looking at the lights, I retraced my steps and walked up Pixar Place, past the humungous amount of people still trying to get into Toy Story Midway Mania, (which I was saving for a future trip, as DB would NEVER forgive me if I went on that without him!), and went to get a Fast Pass for my daughter’s favourite ride, Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster. I had no intention of using it, but wanted to give it to her for Christmas. I also bought her a set of R & R C drumsticks while I was there! I picked up a Minnie’s Frozen Strawberry ice bar from a nearby cart, and sat on a bench in Sunset Boulevard to enjoy it, again watching the world go by.

At around 7.15 p.m., I bought a hot pretzel from one of the stalls behind me, and then made my way up to the Fantasmic viewing stadium and found myself a seat on the end of a bench on the right hand side. I was so tired at this point, that I found myself weaving as I walked – apologies to anyone I weaved in front of! I finished my pretzel whilst waiting for the show to begin, and it was a really great show, I enjoyed it a lot.

I left with the hoards of other people, and sat on a bench on Sunset again for 10 minutes or so to let the crowds disperse a little, then made my way out towards the exit. I stopped off at Sid Cahuga’s to pick up a couple of lovely pictures of Walt, called ‘Vision’, which shows Walt and Mickey superimposed on the building site that became Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom.

I finally left as the park was closing, and got my bus back to the hotel in time for the briefing meeting, but too tired for anything else to eat! I did make the dash across to CVS again for more water and iced coffee, though. Shower, bed – ah!

DAY FIVE – FRIDAY 05 DECEMBER

Plan
The itinerary showed today as a day at Universal Studios, and my duty was to be on Family Assistance for the day.

Actual
Up at 7.00 a.m. again, usual breakfast (pancakes were back, plus crispy bacon for the first time - yay!), then into the lobby for 8.30 a.m. Followed everyone onto the bus, and off we went to Universal Studios. Another bright and sunny day, and it is definitely warming up!

On our arrival at the Studios, we gathered round the charity staff to be told which families we had been assigned to assist that day, after which we all trooped through the car park and towards the entrance, through City Walk. City Walk looked fun, I hadn’t been there before, as the last time I was at Universal was over 10 years ago, before City Walk and the Islands of Adventure were built. There were some interesting looking shops, but we didn’t have time to explore them as we were heading for the entrance to the Studios to meet the families. We did stop very briefly to take some very posed photos with a bunch of Nascar cars! However, when we got to the bridge just before the Studios entrance, we got a phone call to say the families were going to a different entrance, as a character ‘meet & greet’ had been set up for them. Therefore, we walked to the right and just around the corner, and found the coaches just arriving.

We helped the families off the coaches, then took them into a roped off area at the back of some buildings, where several characters were waiting for us. We met Woody Woodpecker, a very tall moose that I think was called Bullwinkle, (sidenote : I said to one of the volunteers, “who is the moose?”, she replied, “who? Where?” thinking I was referring to a person!!), Curious George, and – incredibly – Scooby Doo and Shaggy!! I had my photo taken with Scooby Doo and Shaggy!! The characters were just fantastic with the kids, they interacted with them loads, and much fun was had by all for about half an hour.

After that we moved off towards the park, and once inside we were all supposed to go to a shady benched area near the ET ride. However, some of the families immediately set off to enjoy the park, so we were left a bit confused as to where our designated families had gone! Most of the volunteers, and all of the charity staff, congregated at the designated information point, and we were told that the families had gone off for a look round, and would come back to the info point if and when they needed us. I immediately began nagging to go on the ET ride, which only had a 5 minute wait time posted, but was (quite rightly) told to hang on for 10 mins or so, to see if my family was coming back for me.

Anyway, 10 minutes later, and probably fed up with my nagging, I was given the all clear to visit ET! I had forgotten how much fun this ride is, as it had been a long, long time since I had done this one, but I loved it! Having helped ET return to his home planet, and having had him thank me PERSONALLY by name, I was so overwhelmed I went straight round and back on it again! After this, I went back to the info point to see what was happening. No sign of my family yet, so I agreed to go off and explore on my own for a couple of hours or so, then come back again. Sophie also came with me, as her family had gone off on their own as well. As we left and headed off to explore the park, we were joined by a third volunteer, (let’s call her Mara), who was supposed to be working with me today.

We left the ET area and turned right, strolling along and just enjoying the views. The Simpsons area looked like fun, I loved the way this had been themed and even the shop there was called the Kwik-E-Mart! The ride was a simulator though, and I didn’t fancy this much, so we continued on till we got to the Men in Black ride. This looked good, only had a 10 minute wait, so we stashed our bags in the (free for 30 mins) lockers to the side, and in we went.

This was great fun! Sort of like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin but much darker and more menacing. Unfortunately, I was a bad person – because I knew what I was doing due to numerous trips on the Buzz ride, I took complete advantage and blew my opposition out of the water!! I knew where to aim, I knew to look in unusual places for higher scoring targets and not just go for the big one in front of you, I knew to hold down the fire button continuously as you swing round, etc. etc. We had no control over the vehicle, and occasionally it spun round a bit too much for my liking, particularly at the end when they are ‘wiping’ your memory, but otherwise it was really good fun! Mara scored around 5,500 points, Sophie got around 11,500, and I got a whopping 117,800 points!! I did a happy little victory dance in celebration of me as we left. I think Mara may have been a bad loser as she was muttering about it being a pointless exercise, waste of time, stupid children’s game, etc. Tee hee!

We collected our stuff from the lockers, and continued our journey round the park. We were looking for the Jaws ride, which I had confidently assured my fellow volunteers was merely a short boat ride, with a rubber shark that pops out of the water at you going ‘doiiiinnnnnggg’ as the rubber vibrates, and was not at all scary. We all took each other’s photos with our heads in the big shark hanging up, then looked for the ride. We missed it the first time, don’t ask me how, and had to back-track to find it. We got in the queue, which was when I noticed it had a 25 minute wait time posted – I was a bit worried about this, as we would be close to our return time after this, and I didn’t want to be late getting back to the info point in case we were needed. Anyway, we decided to stay put and finish the ride.

The wait time was pretty accurate, but as we got to the boarding area Mara chickened out, as she was convinced that the warnings she had read were going to be completely true and she would get soaked. She left by the side exit, and Sophie and I boarded the boat, laughing at how silly this rubber shark was going to look. Hmm. When the very REALISTIC animatronic shark, covered in dripping blood, shot unexpectedly out of the water just beside us, we screamed and clutched at each other like a pair of teenage girls!! I don’t remember it being that real looking before! Gasping and laughing, we got off the ride at the end and told Mara she had missed a lot of fun. We were a tiny bit splashed, but nowhere near as wet as she had thought we would be. I know that they have to put these warnings up, but you don’t often get as wet as they say you will. We really did have fun together on that ride, Sophie was just such lovely company!

When we left that ride, we bumped into some of the other volunteers and their families, and we stopped to chat with them for a while. A lovely young lady had just won a giant cuddly toy on the basketball game in the Amity Midway, and she gave it to me for one family’s little girl. The kindness of strangers is a lovely thing to behold, and was very much appreciated by the little girl. The volunteer with that family, let’s call him Paul, tried to pretend he had won her the toy, but she saw straight through him and wasn’t falling for that one! Paul mentioned that mine and Mara’s family were looking for us, and had last been seen by the Disaster Movie ride a few minutes before, so we went off in search of them, Sophie tagging along too.

We couldn’t find the family anywhere, so decided to go on the Disaster Movie ride to see if they were already in there. Ah, I remember this one, it used to be called Earthquake! It was good fun, and we enjoyed it, but by now were a bit worried that we were needed and couldn’t find the people who needed us! The trouble was, the parks are all so big that communication was impossible without mobile phones or radios, and we had neither. We therefore decided to grab an ice-cream from Captain Quint’s Boardwalk Snacks, and head back to the information point.

I got an ice cream called The Dig It, which was a sundae in a cup with vanilla ice-cream, Reece’s Pieces, hot fudge sauce, and whipped cream. It was gorgeous! Sophie and Mara both had soft serve ice cream cones.

We ate them whilst walking back the way we had come, to the info point, and reported in there. They hadn’t heard that our family was looking for us, so we hung around for a bit to see if they would turn up. After 20 minutes they hadn’t, so we nipped round the corner and went on ET together.

Another 15 minutes later there was still no sign of them, so Sophie went off to explore the shops near the entrance, and I left on my own to go to the Terminator 3D show. On the way there, I saw a Marilyn Monroe character, and as she is a particular favourite of mine, I went over to meet her. She was lovely! We chatted for a minute or two, she posed with me for a couple of photos, then I blew her a kiss and left.

The Terminator 3D show had a 5 minute wait time, so in I went. I enjoyed this show a lot, it is very good, and once again I had forgotten how good it was! Afterwards, I walked slowly back towards ET, taking pictures and having a good look around. Unfortunately, it was nearly time for us to leave the park, so I didn’t get chance to explore the New York or Production Central areas, both of which had rides or shows I really wanted to see, but I know I will be back at some point. My DB hasn’t been to Universal at all, so we will visit together the next time we go to Florida.

Time for one more ride on ET, and by this time I have to confess that the novelty of having ET say my name had worn off and I had resorted to giving a false name, just for a joke. I told the cast member my name was Marilyn, and ET duly thanked ‘Marilyn’ for helping him get back to his planet! (Another set of 3 volunteers had told the CM their names were Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but I lacked the courage to quite go this far!) On my way out of the ride I picked up a gorgeous cuddly ET, dressed in a nightshirt and cap, and lying on a big yellow star for my mum for Christmas.

We then left the park, meeting up with the families to help them board their coaches, and I finally found my family so I took the opportunity to apologise for not having found them before when they needed me! They were lovely about it, and told me it was their fault and not to worry, but I still felt guilty about it even though I did my best to track them down.

Our bus took us back to our hotel, and I decided to have another go in the hot tub before dinner and the debrief. I also wanted to have an experimental pack, bearing in mind my tendency to over-shop when in America! Headed for the hot tub first. Ooh, it was just as lovely as last time! This time there were two of the paramedics in there when I arrived, but they left after 10 minutes and I had the pool to myself again. After about 45 minutes, I left there and went back to my room for a shower, then went downstairs for dinner. Some of the volunteers were talking about having a collection amongst us and getting small gifts for the charity staff, to thank them for being so kind and lovely to us, and for letting us be part of this event, so we decided to pass the word around and all have a think about what to get them. I had the idea of individual pins, but thought I would see what others came up with before suggesting it. Foodwise that night, I ended up with steak again, but this time had fries and a Sprite with it.

We met up in the foyer for the debrief, and then I went upstairs to do this dreaded experimental pack. It actually went better than I thought, I mostly filled up the large suitcase with what I had bought so far, but that still left me some room about 3 inches deep across the top of that case, plus about half of the smaller case, and all the room in the hand luggage bag. Phew! I finally went to bed, once again tired but happy with how the day had gone.

DAY SIX – SATURDAY 06 DECEMBER

Plan
The itinerary showed today as a day at Universal Islands of Adventure, and my duty was to be on the Information Point for the day.

Actual
Up at 7.00 a.m. again, usual breakfast (bacon had disappeared again though - boo!), then into the lobby for 8.30 a.m. Followed everyone onto the bus, and off we went to Universal Islands of Adventure. Our bus driver was different each day, and today’s was particularly chatty and friendly. Once again, bright and sunny today, and downright hot, although there had clearly been some rain during the night.

We disembarked at IOA, and walked through the Port of Entry, which had some interesting looking shops and lovely theming. Some of the volunteers went off to meet up with their families for the day. We turned right at the crossroads and went towards Seuss Landing, which was the information point set up location for today. Seuss Landing was all decked out for Grinchmas, and the decorations were really gorgeous, all bright and oversized. I have to admit, I’m not overly familiar with Universal characters, so a lot of this was new to me.

We found a shady place to gather and sit opposite The Cat in the Hat ride, and I went into a nearby shop to blag some plastic bags for us to sit on, as the seats were damp. There were 5 of us on the information point today, and we decided to work in shifts of 2 people doing 2 hours on, 2 hours off, with the third person rotating between us, as it wasn’t necessary for all 5 of us to be there at once. I opted to be the third person, and volunteered to take the first shift as two hours on duty. Therefore, two of the guys went off to have fun, and we sat around looking helpful and alert for 2 hours. We didn’t have anything to do during that 2 hours, no-one came up and asked us for help or information, so I was quite glad to stretch my legs when it was my turn for the 2 hours off. The other two girls came back, and they had paid for Express Passes ($20 for something Disney does free of charge!!). One of the girls, let’s call her Naomi, lent me her pass (which is probably illegal or something) as she said that without being funny, she doubted we would go on the same sorts of rides and therefore I could use it for the ‘safe’ rides I would be going on! I would have been mortally offended, had it not been completely true!

Anyway, I set off on my own and promptly used it to go on The Cat in the Hat ride, which was very close to us. This is a bit like Pooh’s Hunny Pots in the Magic Kingdom, and is a nice ride, if a little too bumpy and spinny for me. Apart from that, I liked it. From there I walked round towards the rest of Seuss Landing, bypassing One Fish Two Fish as it looked very busy, and went on the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, which was fun. There were lots of characters dressed as Sneetches walking around, and their make-up was incredible – you couldn’t see where the nose pieces joined their own skin!

I carried on round the park, and entered The Lost Continent. I spotted something called Poseidon’s Fury, which look amazing, and went up to the entrance to see if I could work out what the attraction actually consisted of. A cast member told me it was a show, so I went in. I walked through a fantastic queue area, like going into a giant undersea chamber, with skeletons, treasure, darkness, and fire torches everywhere. It was brilliant! I followed the archaeologist guide through each chamber while he defeated the baddie, and exited at the end without realising I had been walking through this attraction for 20 minutes! This was excellent, and I really enjoyed the show.

As I was approaching the Jurassic Park area, I walked over a bridge that had an inaccessible area on the far right had side of it, on the other side of the water. It looked like a castle of some kind, but the signs on the side of the bridge gave it away – they said “Coming 2010 – Harry Potter!” or something like that. Aha, that is where the new Harry Potter section is going to be, is it?!! Fantastic, can’t wait. The castle thing is obviously Hogwarts, or part of it.

Anyway, I went into a ride called Jurassic Park River Adventure, and it wasn’t until I was about to board that I realised it wasn’t a river rapids ride like I thought, but more of a Splash Mountain thing with a big drop – I quickly apologised to the cast member and made a fast exit! As I left there, I picked up a hotdog from a vendor, although it was very small and vastly overpriced, in my opinion. It was okay, just okay.

After Jurassic Park I whisked through Toon Lagoon, (where I would have liked to have gone on Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, but didn’t have the time as I was due back on duty soon, so I carried on through Marvel Super Hero Island and back round to Seuss Landing. There was now only 1½ hours before we were due to leave the park, so we split the remaining time into 45 mins each and I gave Naomi back her Express Pass, and sent her off to enjoy her last stint around the park.

Unfortunately she picked the Hulk ride to go on, which took her over an hour, so by the time she got back I only had half an hour to myself again. I went on the High in the Sky Train Ride again, as I had really liked it last time and it was quite close, then I picked up a peanut butter cookie from Snookers & Snookers Sweet Candy Cookers, and went outside. Where – I ran into the Cat in the Hat!! He was fab, really cute, and I got my photo taken with him! That was the highlight of my day.

By the time I was done with him and had eaten my cookie, it was time to get back to the info point and meet up with everyone so we could leave the park. I had always maintained that the IOA was full of big roller coasters and not somewhere I wanted to go to, so I had been pleasantly surprised by how much I had enjoyed myself there today. I am really pleased I had to go there today, as I probably wouldn’t have known otherwise that I could have a good time there. I shall return, with DB in tow, to have a more leisurely look round at some point in the future.

On our journey back to the hotel, several of the volunteers were talking about going to Downtown Disney tonight, as no-one else had been there yet, other than me. In the end, 13 of us decided to go there, mostly volunteers but also a couple of charity staff members, and we agreed to get the bus from the hotel, although the return times for that bus were not very convenient to us, being later than we would have liked, and meaning we would miss the debrief meeting. We got back to the hotel, raced upstairs to freshen up and get changed, then met in the foyer again. In the meantime, Paul had talked to the driver of our bus, who had agreed that if we gave him a tip, he would take us to DTD and pick us up again 3 hours later, getting us back well before our briefing meeting! Brilliant. We had a whip round and all put $10 each, which is less than we would have paid to get a taxi, piled into the bus, and set off for DTD.

We were dropped of by the bus driver at the back of the Cirque du Soleil, then Sophie and I split off from the rest of the group and I began showing her around. She was entranced! She had never seen anything like it, as the Disney Village in Disneyland Paris is tiny compared to DTD! It was so much fun, showing her each shop in turn, and she bought loads of stuff, including a Swarovski Bambi from the Arribas Brothers shop, and a ton of stuff from World of Disney. It was a really great evening, we had fun and laughed a lot, and really enjoyed each other’s company. While she explored the Kitchen Shop, I picked up another of “The Original 1762” sandwiches and a coffee from the Earl of Sandwich. We discussed the idea of getting gifts for the charity staff, and I suggested to her my idea of getting pins for them. Sophie thought it was a great idea, and we decided to discuss it with the other volunteers when we met up with them later.

We walked slowly back through towards the end of Westside, and spotted the rest of our group all having a beer at a really nice open air bar, with a live musician. We conferred with them, carefully avoiding the attention of the charity staff, about the pins, and they all agreed it was a good idea, so Sophie, myself, and – let’s call her Sally, went into the shop at DisneyQuest and picked up three really nice pins – all just general Walt Disney World, 2008 dated pins. We bought one each, then I took responsibility of taking care of them and getting the money off everyone.

We all then went back to the car park to get on the bus, and went back to the hotel. After the briefing meeting, I spread the word about the pins, and people began to give me donations – we worked out that if everyone put $2 each, it would cover the cost. I also went over the road to CVS and got three different Disney postcards for us all to sign. Back to the hotel, got some surreptitious signatures, and finally showered and went to bed.

DAY SEVEN – SUNDAY 07 DECEMBER

Plan
The itinerary showed today as a day at SeaWorld, and my duty was to be on Family Assistance for the day.

Actual
Up at 7.00 a.m. again, usual breakfast (bacon had reappeared again - yay!), then into the lobby for 8.30 a.m. Followed everyone onto the bus, and off we went to SeaWorld. When we got there, I was told who my family was for the day, (they consisted of 2 parents and a little girl), and that they were going to meet us just inside the entrance.

We picked up park maps, and I found my family; I also had Sally working with me today. We had a look at the map, and the family told me that as I had been there before, they would just follow my recommendations with what to see and do. I knew that the little girl would really love seeing the shows and interacting with some of the animals, so we set off clockwise around the park to the first attraction – Turtle Point.

After looking at the turtles for a bit, we headed for the sting rays. Unfortunately, we didn’t realise at the time that the little girl, let’s call her Imogen, could have fed the sting rays free of charge, as because she was wearing her ‘wish button’, (a badge from GKTW with her name on it), that entitled her to free feedings and interaction with the animals. Therefore, we just stroked them and then moved on to the next attraction.

The next place we went to was Dolphin Cove, where a cast member spotted Imogen’s wish button and shepherded us into a private area where we could get ‘up close and personal’ with the dolphins. It was so lovely watching her little face as she dropped fish into the water for them, then stroked their heads. Her mum and dad also got to stroke the dolphins, but when the cast member asked me if I wanted to touch them, I told her I was only a volunteer and the experience was for Imogen. However, she insisted it was okay for me to touch them too, so I did, and it was an amazing feeling!

We had just missed a show at Blue Horizon, so we walked round to the Journey to Atlantis ride, not to go on it but just to watch the poor souls plummeting to earth down the big water drop! Imogen loved watching this, and we stayed there for quite some time, but then she said she was hungry, so we set off to look for a nice place to eat. We ended up at Mama’s Kitchen Healthy Alternatives, which I had visited the previous year and to be honest wasn’t the best place to eat, but Imogen needs to eat regularly because of her condition, so we dived in and I made the best of it. I had a rather soggy pan-seared chicken breast sandwich, with some really tasty sweet potato chips, coffee, and a bag of Cheetos.

After lunch we walked through the Penguin Encounter, which was fun, and then we were in time to go to Clyde & Seamore’s show, so we went into the stadium and found some good seats. I love the mime in this show, he is amazing, really funny, and he made Imogen laugh A LOT, the way he was mimicking people and directing them the wrong way, etc. The show itself was great, very funny, and Imogen really enjoyed it.

By the time we came out of there, we once again had just missed the dolphin show, so instead we went to Shark Encounter, but Imogen is afraid of the dark and she didn’t like the moving walkway under the water as it was crowded and noisy, so we didn’t hang around there much. She was getting tired by now, and we had a short break while her mum fetched some water for her. There wasn’t much more we could do here, the trouble being that the shows were at set times and were such a long walk from each other that you had to almost go straight from one show to the other, without time to look at anything else inbetween. Imogen was keen to see the Shamu show though, so we checked the timings and discovered there was a show starting shortly. Therefore, we made our way into the Believe stadium and got Imogen seated in the disabled viewing area. Sally and myself sat a bit further down the stadium, in the ‘wet zone’, although I was pretty sure we were too high up to actually GET wet.

The show itself is really beautiful, and really showcases the elegance yet power of the whales. I loved watching the interaction with the keepers, and tried to take as many pictures as I could, although a lot of them seemed to consist of mere splashes in the water, where seconds before a whale had been! I kept turning round to watch Imogen during the show, because she was clearly loving this show, and seeing her little face all lit up and laughing was just so heart-warming. It made me feel so glad to have been a part of this experience.

I was speaking to her dad a bit later, and he said they are going to try and return to Florida in the near future, Imogen’s health permitting, as she had loved it so much that they wanted to bring her back again.

Anyway, by the time this show had finished, we didn’t have time to go to the Arctic experience, so we unfortunately had to pass on the polar bears. We were due to meet up with the rest of the group at 4.30 p.m. near the Sea Harbour Pavilions, so we made our way over there, to find nearly all the group already there and waiting.

I cadged a lift in the bus going back to GKTW, rather than going to my hotel, as I wanted to go to Wal-Mart for my shopping trip tonight, and asked the driver if he would mind dropping me off at Wal-Mart, as he had to pass it on his way to the village. He said no problem, and when he had turned right at the traffic lights, he pulled over to the side for a few seconds, just long enough for me to hop off the bus and head into the supermarket car park!

Two of the other volunteers offered to meet me in there after they had accompanied the families back to GKTW, so I set off round Wal-Mart with my shopping trolley, list, and a determined look on my face. After a solid hour of shopping, my two partners in crime turned up, and we shopped some more together! I managed to get everything on my list, which was great, but it did amount to a rather worrying 8 carrier bags worth of ‘stuff’ to get back home – I’m sure it will all fit in the suitcases. (Fingers crossed!)

We asked a very nice lady at the Customer Services desk to call a taxi for us, which she did, and we all went back to the Buena Vista Suites for our final debrief meeting and packing.

At the last debrief meeting, we presented the charity staff members with the pins and postcards we had got for them, (two of them cried!), and we all hugged each other and exchanged email addresses. By now, the two volunteers who had been holding hands earlier in the week looked inseparable, and I vowed to find out the state of play tomorrow, before we all departed for home!!

We went upstairs to pack, and I finished off some of the nibbles left in my room – iced coffee, a bit of leftover fudge, some Cheetos etc. Fortunately, very, very fortunately, everything fitted in my suitcases without my having to sit on them to get them closed – phew! Although they were so heavy, I could hardly lift them …… Shower and bed, for the final time in this lovely hotel.

DAY EIGHT – MONDAY 08 DECEMBER

Plan
This was the day we were to check out of the hotel, travel by bus to GKTW, assist the families to get everything together, then all of us would go to the airport together about mid-afternoon.

Actual
Up slightly later today, as we didn’t have to meet up until 9.30 a.m., had usual breakfast, then back upstairs to finish final packing and leave the room. I took lots of photos to remind myself of that amazing bed, then went downstairs, checked out, and joined my fellow volunteers in the foyer.

We all boarded the bus and were taken to GKTW, where we were told that we would be unable to have any free food as this was only available to the families, but that for $1 we could purchase a token for a hot dog and chips, or an ice cream and drink. The majority of us purchased two tokens, wanting to ensure we ate something before having to go to the airport. We then just hung around the village, chatting to each other and the families. I grilled one of the ‘lovebirds’ who told me she and he had kissed, and exchanged email addresses and telephone numbers. Because they lived a couple of hundred miles away from each other, they were going to just ‘see how things went’, so I could only hope that love would conquer all and they would find happiness together – I’m such an old romantic!

The CEO of the charity arrived at the village and gave a speech, thanking us for our help, and giving the families certificates of merit for the kids, then we had group photos taken, which was great fun. Some of the families then went off for a final swim, while some of us volunteers headed for the food court. I had a really nice hot dog, some potato salad, and a packet of Cheetos. Then came ice cream – ooh dear. This is where our sanity and adult sensibility went out of the window – for example, I had a scoop each of cookies ‘n cream and fudge butter pecan ice creams, topped with strawberries in syrup, cream, cherries, and Reece’s Pieces. I also got some pink lemonade. After about 30 minutes, the area was littered with bloated volunteers, lounging around with ice cream around their mouths, muttering “I feel sick!”. We were told that under no circumstances were we to be sick on the buses!!

I wandered over to one of the pool areas, and sat with Sophie for about an hour, chatting and watching the families having fun in the pool. One of the fathers thought it was very funny to splash any volunteers that got too close to the pool, including myself at one point. Oh ha ha. We got our own back by floating his trainers in the pool, which he had to rescue in a panic before they sank – ha!

At about 3.00 p.m., we all went over to the buses, said goodbye to the GKTW staff, and finally began to make our sad way to the airport. We had been allocated to the families that we came out with to help with check-in and boarding, and it was really nice to see ‘my’ family again, as I hadn’t had much chance to catch up with them all week. Check-in was rather frenetic, to be honest, and didn’t seem as smooth as it had in Birmingham. The airport staff seemed to just want to get us checked through as fast as possible, and therefore when I heaved my huge and heavy suitcases onto the weighing machine, they just stuck boarding labels on them and sent them on their way to the aeroplane, rather than taking a sharp intake of breath and telling me they were overweight! To be fair, they may not have actually been overweight, this could have just been my perception, but I will never know now, will I?!

Back over to the departure gates via the monorail, and we sat and waited to board. Again, this did not go as smoothly as it had coming out, as the airline staff seemed to think that they could get everyone boarded onto the plane in just 20 minutes! It took an hour just to get our families on, never mind the rest of the passengers! Therefore, we were eventually nearly two hours late taking off, time which we never really made up. After some surreptitious seat juggling amongst us volunteers so the two lovebirds could sit together, we began the long flight home, trying desperately to sleep as this was an overnight flight.

At the other end, I had to yell goodbye to everyone and just race out of there, as my dad was meeting me at the airport to take me home, and he had to drive a long way to get there, take me home, then go to work at around 4.00 p.m., and we were already 2 hours late landing. A couple of the other volunteers had connecting flights too, and they unfortunately missed them, but were able to get later flights home.

I grabbed my luggage, belted out of the airport as fast as I could, and met my dad – what a welcome sight at the end of a very, very long day! The trip home was uneventful, and I finally arrived home safely just after lunchtime, tired but happy.

SUMMARY

Weather – colder than I had previously experienced at this time of the year in Florida, but even so it was still a lot warmer than the UK, so I was able to wear summer clothing and go home with a nice bit of colour to my skin.

Crowd levels (and therefore, wait times) – lower than I was expecting, which was a big bonus as I only had limited amounts of time to visit the parks. Most rides and shows were either a minimal wait or a straight walk-on, although the only two rides with big queues were Soarin’ and Toy Story Mania.

Cast members – lovely, nicer than I remember them being last year. They were fantastic with the kids, making a big fuss of them without making it a big deal.

General / Random Thoughts – I wished I could have done more for the families, I felt that my volunteer work input wasn’t quite enough to make me feel worthwhile and helpful. The charity staff members did make me feel really helpful though, as my knowledge of the USA and the Disney parks did seem invaluable at times. I suppose I only did as much as I could really, and the families couldn’t be forced to have a volunteer if they didn’t want one! At least I was there JUST IN CASE all the time, and maybe that was enough.

I managed to get loads of photos of myself in various places around the parks, and this was really easy to achieve – I just picked some random stranger who looked approachable, and politely asked them if they would mind taking my picture. Not once was I refused, or treated with anything other than complete courtesy and friendliness. This happened in the Disney parks, Downtown Disney, and the Universal Studios parks. Thank you to the kind people I asked and who happily complied with my requests.

I also got lots of pictures of the holiday decorations, which was lovely. I love Florida all year round, but at Christmas it is something really special, and it was good to get photos to share with my family, even if they couldn’t be there with me.

Finally, I loved working for this charity, and would not hesitate to volunteer to work with them again. The work they do for disabled and terminally ill children is amazing, and I will continue to support them as much as I can. This type of holiday is just one of the things they do, they support these children and their families in so many other ways, and I am so happy to have been involved with them in 2008.

[skateycat]

what a great, unselfish thing for us all to consider doing. thanks for your thoughts on this wonderful trip!

[MGW]

Fantastic trip! What a wonderful thing to be able to do! Thanks so much for sharing!

[vfair]

Thank you for sharing this with us. What a wonderful experience.

[Bert & Sully]

Thank you for your report.

[Colexis Mom]

What a great time you had! How great of you to volunteer at GTKW! Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

[Cam22]

What a neat trip! for sharing with us!