Out of Control – Yet another cunning plan.

 

Out of Control – Yet another cunning plan.

7^th September.

A good night’s sleep for once, I was going to say I felt refreshed but I didn’t, I was in pain with my knees (they felt destroyed) I struggled up to have a shower, once cleansed I took painkillers and used painkilling gel on my knees, my supports groaned as I pulled them on for another days work, a slow hobble for a light breakfast and then off to be the first in line for the bus as we went to yet another (Disney) park and again we were going to use the bus, the wife will be getting a reputation, lol, we got there with plenty of time to spare, as we stood in the early bird queue we met a lovely family, husband, wife and three kids, one with the same issues as the grandson, we were soon ushered through the gates (we only stood for about 20 minutes, unfortunately about 19.30 minutes too long).

I felt the wife was willing me to go quicker (I couldn’t)we were still at the ride (something to do with Avatar don’t ask I don’t know simply I don’t care) at the front of the queue, I took the wife’s bag and her stick, and told her where I was going to be sat (please take note because the wife didn’t) and off she hobbled, I then sat down in the spot I said I was going to sit as the park got steadily busier and the ride now had a huge queue, me I sat and watched all the freaks (I say that in a good way) I put my sunglasses on as it got brighter and drank my water, and I continued to people watch, all the while there was a steady stream of people coming from the ride but I didn’t see the wife, then I noticed a member of the park team with someone obviously searching for somebody (you can see where this going can’t you) methodically working their way through the crowd, yes it  was the wife with the cast member, I hadn’t moved an inch, but I was happy to see that wife was distressed at not being able to see me, again I will make the statement that I hadn’t moved a muscle, once we were over the hump and the wife was calmer, we decided to sit a little longer so the wife could refresh herself, we sat and talked to a couple from Sunderland, who were really nice (who knew) we sat chatting for around about 45 minutes and slowly meandered through the park.

Again, we were going to do two parks, so we caught the bus back to our room had a small rest then headed out again, we were again hopeful of a better afternoon we didn’t really have much hope! We entered our second park of the day and we could see straight away it was going to go to rat shit, the queues were huge, this was by far the busiest park we had been into, we were soon at each other’s ankles biting as we went, I was now in full spiteful mode, my knees weren’t helping, I’m ok when I’m on the move (well kind of) but if I have to stand in one place the agony is unbelievable,  we were both crippled we were both thirsty and to be honest we both wanted to kill the whole world, some of the rides that the wife was hoping to go on had anywhere between 45 to 90 minute waiting times, even she didn’t want to do those times, finally we decided to go on the test track, I thought I could handle a simple go around a circuit, “erm that’s not what it does” “Oh Fuck” then after about a 20 minute stand I then was shoved into a car/buggy, I couldn’t find the seat belt, I knew I wasn’t going to like this, and for once I was right I absolutely hated it, as soon as it took off my ears popped and thankfully I was deaf, that didn’t stop the sensation of wanting to vomit, why the hell did I agree to this, I was way off the beam now I was glad to stumbled (I did find the seat belt just before it hurtled off into space like a bloody rocket) out of the bloody thing , it was official the afternoon was shot before this fiasco but was officially totally scuppered, I was using a stick at this point it wasn’t helping at all, we headed back to the bus to take us back to our lodgings.

I wasn’t happy that we had argued (although I’m surprised that it actually took so long) it had to happen, we both said things that we regretted ( I hope we both regretted them) it felt like the old angry me was just below the surface, the one that really doesn’t give a rats ass and damn the consequences, so let’s draw a veil over that portion of the afternoon and leave it at that, we surrendered to food, snackettes, painkillers, and drifted off in an air condition prison cell, tomorrow back in the car and Universal Studios, hopefully tomorrow will be better it couldn’t get any worse than this afternoon got!         Could it?

These Colours Don’t Run! – Yet another Cunning Plan.

 

These Colours Don’t Run! – Yet another Cunning Plan.

6^th September.

Wow, possibly the best night’s sleep I have had since we were away, just over 6 hours, a little more than normal for me but what a difference it has made, I had a lie in, well kind of, woo hoo, the wife was in better shape as well, hopefully this is the start of something (or have I just jinxed myself) off to the food court for the usual breakfast me and my western omelette and tatter tots and the wife waffles with extra bacon, yum yum! Back to the room to look our best and then to the car as today its all about Universal Studios, I’m sure we have got this!

We don’t need google today we know where we are going although we are aware that a lot more has sprung up around the park, we got there as the parks opening, but damn its $30 to park the bloody car (WTF) the last time we were here it was $6! We parked in our spot and wandered in towards the park, there’s a security layer before you even get to the park itself, even the security guards get screened, the entrance is still the same it just seems like its “BIGGER” or am I just getting old, don’t bother I know the answer, we go to the ticket booth the lovely Ed helps us, and is great like a lot of the staff in the parks even in they are pissed off they don’t show it, it does make a difference when we go there.

Harry Potter is the order of the day but I am going to try one or two of the gentler rides I cant do anything that will screw with my middle ear, it renders me deaf and I feel incredibly nauseous, we soon meander (that’s my way saying we were slow) up to the Harry Potter  plot and I grab a seat while the wife goes off, its not full yet simply because it’s quite early, I find a seat that’s a little shaded and do what I seem to do best and that’s watch all the brilliant freaks who are out in the park, a few peeps come and go but after about ten minutes there’s a rather unhappy looking chap who parks his butt and looks me up and down as if he doesn’t trust me, I don’t care one of us will be long gone before too soon, or so I thought, this guy (about my age but wasn’t European) kept giving me the evil eye(to an extent I wasn’t really watching him that much) soon his family/friends/rent a crowd, turned up and all the bags he was looking after went to the right individuals , until the small children saw another ride and they wanted to go on that, the rest of the party stayed.

It was at this point an English chap wandered up to me and asked if I knew what the waiting time was for the ride that wife had disappeared off on, I replied that I thought it was around 15 minutes, he thanked me and wandered off to join the queue, at this point my swarthy friend decided to speak to me, “ inglese” I responded with a cheer smile and said that I was indeed English, to which he grimaced and replied “Malvinas” to which I replied “Falklands” “Malvinas” a little louder “Falklands” I replied in best polite but firm voice, he stood up and almost (and I mean almost) shouted “Malvinas” at this point his party were looking a little disturbed they had come to have a good time not to charge over Goose Green! At this point I had had enough and in my best RSM voice I replied still sitting down(I couldn’t have stood even if I had wanted to) “Falklands, you outnumbered us then and you outnumber me now but I won’t back down, so do what your troops back in the day and surrender, I served, so bugger off” the rest of his party herded him away and they avoided my gaze, he wandered off muttering to himself while the women of his party scolded him, the whole thing lasted no more than about 45 seconds, he wasn’t bothering me and I wasn’t bothering him, I have no idea  what his beef was but I had stood my ground and was all the happier for it, about 5 minutes later two of the biggest (and I do mean big) of the parks security team came around the corner, looking for me by the looks of it, and asked me if I had been having issues with a group (great this were I get me and the wife kicked out of the park in under an hour) I told them about the discussion, and they replied ”don’t worry someone reported them to us and we kicked them all out” erm ok “Did you serve?” I did I replied “SEMPER FI” they replied and it made me chuckle, I do like how the Americans are grateful for everyone in their military, its 42 years since I served but I still felt an immense amount of pride!

The wife turned up as they were walking away and wondered why I had a grin on my face, I don’t think she was too happy, but hey we didn’t get kicked out so all is good in the hood, we explored more Harry Potter World, she had another go another ride (tame was her opinion) and we decided to try and get an early(ish) lunch, we ended up in the Three Broomsticks, were there was an early assignation attempt as the seats are for people smaller than me, as I fell backwards from a height, I wasn’t impressed, but I was when I realised it wasn’t just me that it was happening to, an Asian lady who sat next to us actually disappeared under the table, I was also disappointed that there was only non-alcoholic cider being served (I didn’t mind) but it should have said on the menu, the grub was ok, if not a tad generic, but it filled a hole, off we went for more Harry Potter shenanigans, and eventually ended up on the King Kong ride, which I enjoyed,, my knees by this time were starting to suffer, I was worried about he wife, yet it’s me who struggled from the get go of the holiday!  The fact that I have been averaging 27000 steps I knew I was going to crash and burn sooner rather than later.

As the day went on I got slower and slower, and I’m not ashamed to admit I was using a stick to get around, I should look for a vet once we leave the park see if they will put me down, we had done enough and did the slow walk back to the car, but the time we got there I could barely get my butt in the car, on the drive back we were in heavy traffic and about a mile up the road I could see a plume of smoke, oh a fire, and I’m not even at work, sure enough it was a bus fire all under control by the time we passed it and got on our merry way, I was more concerned as to how I was going to get out of the car at the other end, more than the bus on fire! I hope that’s not a sign for when we get back on Disney transport to go to one of their parks, (Animal Kingdom), tonight’s going to be a lazy night as my knees are truly battered, when I get home, I must try and talk to a Dr about my knees (yeah right).

No Time to Lose – Yet Another Cunning Plan.

 

No Time to Lose – Yet Another Cunning Plan.

5^th September.

Dammit awake just after 12.00, WTF is actually going on with my body clock, sod it, I turned back over and screwed my eyes shut, praying, I finally slipped off to sleep (unheard of) I was still up and awake and padding around the room at around 04.30, but I had actually had around 6 full hours of sleep and I didn’t actually feel too bad, the wife arose and we got ready and we headed out for a small breakfast, as we had a bus too catch, that’s right the car was staying put, and we were going to sample the delights of the Disney bus service, I know the wife actually on a bus, this was going to be fun, but our first actual day in a park, what could go wrong?

Of course we got there and I caused us technical difficulties straight away, as my band for going in the parks didn’t work, (technology grrrr) we were early birds so we had to do a little waiting, thankfully the technology got sorted, actually it didn’t and we had to come back, more on this later, thankfully the staff as always are lovely, I know it’s the job, but the staff here deserve a medal for how good they are, no matter what the issue is, back home you would a stroppy teenager, here you had an adult who was there to actually help, then off to star wars world, land, Planet or whatever! this is where my holiday gets a tad pedestrian as I can’t actually do many rides because of an inner ear issue, again more of this later on.

So my day mainly consist lots of walking, standing, waiting or as in this case sitting and waiting, this isn’t a complaint, I’m aware of my difficulties and am more than happy to sit and people watch (one of my favourite pastimes) after the wife returned from the first ride I was in dire need of something to sustain me as my diabetes was having a pop at me for not having my standard breakfast, as we were in star wars world/planet/land whatever, it was something with a funny name, basically it was a sausage in an omelette in a kind of a wrap, it was just what the Dr ordered, it perked me up for the next part of the adventure, then onwards to the second ride of the day, again me sitting pretty, twiddling my thumbs, people watching, trust me I am happy, because all of the best freaks are here!

Then it was time to hit the shops (mainly for the air conditioning honest) when I discovered something that we didn’t know about, “Meet a Wookie” I mentioned it to the wife and she was off like a shot, I struggled to keep up with her, the queue wasn’t massive, the bloody Wookie was and I do indeed have the footage and I honestly thought there was going to be a complaint and a restraining order! As it happens the footage will come in handy if I need to start divorce proceedings, the first time we ever came to Disney I have a picture of her meeting a Wookie and she is the happiest person in the park, this was times ten on the happiness factor for her, to me it’s a person in a suit, whatever floats your boat I suppose, but that 38 second video will be kept by the lawyers lol!

We then headed back to Guest services to resolve the ongoing issue with my band once and for all by the lovely Amy, my youngest would be great in the job, then off for some human food, otherwise known as lunch then back to our room to change as we had an hour to kill before we could switch parks (the wife had the parks planned like it was an invasion of some small country) the second park  of the day was disappointing, mainly because my knees were suffering, oh and the wife got a mild dose of sunstroke, that kind of took the shine the afternoon, we struggled to get her back to the bus station, just a little, we headed back to our room about 17.30, the bus was lovely, just as well as the wife wasn’t well enough to drive, I put the wife to bed and I sat and read for a while, whilst enjoying some snackettes, I finally decided to hit the hay myself as I was tired (and in just a little pain) I was in bed for 21.00 but awake at 03.00 (not jetlag as I was always refreshed after sleeping), thankfully yet again I was able to turn over and drift off, it wasn’t as a deep a sleep as before, but I was happy to have been able to snooze again!

This holiday wasn’t going to be conducted at a sprint but as a marathon, which is just as well as my knees were shot at this point, I was really starting to worry as I didn’t want to let the wife down, however we were doing on average 29000 staps a day something was going to give and by the looks of  it, it was going to be me, anyway tomorrow we were back in the car as we were going to Universal Studios, and again as I drifted off to sleep what on earth could go possibly go wrong, it’s not like I could start a war…….or could I?

Kick Out the Jams – Another Cunning Plan.

 

Kick Out the Jams – Yet Another Cunning Plan.

4^th September.

If this was some kind of dissertation for an exam it would/should be called “The Continuing Perpetual Sleep Deprivation Plan” or as this blog shall be known, “Kick out the Jams” or actually just me, I was woken quite rudely from my slumbers by the wife trying to kick start a bloody motorcycle, or rather simply kicking the crap out of me, she was simply having a bad dream, rather than me simply having a short night’s sleep, Me I was on a roll of short nights sleeping pattern, I normally average around 5/6 hours sleep the last 6 days I have averaged 3 to 4 hours and it was taking its toll on me, at this rate I will be pulling the Z bed down for safety, the problem is once awake I cant for some stupid reason simply turn over and go to sleep, the wife can (damn how I envy her).

Once more I sat in the dark recess of our room having a snackette for breakfast planning the blog and playing games until the queen of the dark arises, she was full of sorrow for the distress she had caused me, that didn’t resolve my issue, but I was grateful of the apology (maybe tonight…..fingers crossed) then off for breakfast (well actually my second breakfast, honest I’m no hobbit) as I was slightly tired we opted for the same thing as the previous day, and again it was lovely,  to be honest I couldn’t be arsed to see what the other eateries were offering I found something I liked and I intended to stick with it.

Back to the room to be medicated and strapped up (well just my knees) and we were off to the shops, huzzah there was money to be spent, we gathered our resources and headed to what was going to be a hot car as there had been no cover when we arrived back last night, we opened the car doors to a sheer blast of heat started the engine and got the AC working, we were soon inside and so chiiiiiiilllllled! The temperature would reach the high 30’s  I’m English I’m not designed for temps in double figures, we set sail to our destination, things had changed in the years since we were last here things kind of looked the same, but at the same time they didn’t, the roads were now a lot bigger and there were even more toll roads, the wife is super confident now she has her bearings, today was to test her resolve and the usage of Google maps was something we had never done in the USA before, here goes!

Google maps whilst helpful wasn’t perfect, we missed a turn simply because it was a complicated junction it sent us straight on and as we drove, we both went “we should have turned there” we then had a detour of 14 miles to bring us back to where we needed to be, thankfully we were both wide awake and scanning the horizon it was a very stress full 14 miles but it had to be done, me attempting to be helpful and the wife telling me “to shut the f*** up” and then we took at the second attempt the junction, this time it was masterfully taken, with only a few curse words of thanks. It had been 14 miles of massive roads and then just a small amount of distress between the pilot and navigator(is it this one…..i don’t know) thankfully we arrived at our destination without any further issues, a rather large external mall which had been recommended because of the Disney retail store, to say we were disappointed would be an understatement, decidedly underwhelmed and my knees were once again kicking in we decided to have some food, we settled on a five guys burger in one of the food courts, which again was underwhelming and the staff were super helpful (NOT).

We then decided to head to Kissimmee, where all of our adventures had originally started way back in the day, and to be honest even when we came across the big orange (and believe me its big) we were unsure as everything did look different, we hit the flea market which is kind of cool but not, if you get my drift, its good ……but not! It’s also now loaded with food trucks which I wish we had of waited for, but the wife said I wouldn’t have made it in the state I was in, once we had bought what we came for we decided to head to Walmart, where finally I found a selection of vinyl, we had come for some supplies (as I had munched through the snackette supplies) it wasn’t a large selection but I was able to buy myself a Queen album in coloured vinyl and A Nightmare before Christmas picture disc for my brother, who we texted to see if he had it , to say he was frothing at the mouth would be an understatement, supplies (and vinyl) bought we headed back to the room as we really did need some respite the distances walked and the heat had well and truly kicked our butts, once rested we made cunning plans and checked the bus times as tomorrow was to be the assault on our first park, and the car was going to stay put, we then had a mooch in the shop, didn’t buy anything but we simply had a mooch.

 We then decided to have a look and see what was available for our evening meal later on, and then I was gobsmacked as my fave American meal was on the menu and I certainly didn’t want to wait, Meatloaf and not the singer, I was like a dog at broth because I love meatloaf, pointless making it at home as I would be the only one eating it (hang on that’s not a ba…..) no I would be the size of a bigger house, and for the first time on this holiday there was vegetables (Yum yum) the wife had chicken and it looked nice just not as nice as my meatloaf, I would suffer later on, but I didn’t care it was simply divine!

Back to our camp for the night where the wife watched Robin Williams play a blue genie and she did every single damn line (as if she was his own personal prompter) me I tried to read and listen to tunes, resting my knees as best as I could, and to prep some notes for the blog, tomorrow was going to be busy with a capital B!

March of the Black Queen – Yet another Cunning Plan.

 

March of the Black Queen – Yet another Cunning Plan.

3^rd September.

God bless the land of the Pop Tart!

What a surprise I awoke at 04.30 with Tonsilitis (the air conditioning on the plane and then the room doesn’t help), I got up and gargled with mouthwash, I know it will get better during the day. I sat in the dark awaiting my Queen to rise from her slumbers, today is the day we start to melt the credit card! Once the Queen was awake, we made ourselves respectable and headed to the food court for our first breakfast of the jaunt, the wife had waffles with extra bacon (if you really want to call it bacon) I had a Western Omelette (Eggs, Ham & Cheese with a smattering of Peppers) with Tater Tots a solid 9/10, mine won, I’m not a fan of what the Americans call pancakes the wife loves them, just not for me thank you’ it’s a personal thing!

We decided to have a jaunt off to the Florida Mall, a place we have visited regularly visited on previous holidays to the sunshine state, first we needed to find a Publix (like a Tesco just bigger) for some supplies for snacks and the like for when we are in the room on an evening chilling, we do like a little snackette, we decided to browse, and soon I was in heaven I was in Pop Tart land, whereas at home we are lucky to get a couple of flavours, the USA has over twenty, I was a good boy I bought two standard boxes of them, Blueberry (my choice) & Raspberry (the wife’s choice) although I’m not sure if she got any, and yes I love them cold lets not go there! Supplies bought we returned to the room at Disney and then headed back on the open road.

 It’s a Sunday morning so traffic was reasonably light and the wife was a lot more comfortable driving on the freeways, it has been over 15 years since we were last here, its has changed quite a bit, we got there a little early and found a spot in the shade, well it’s under a tree that’s as good as we were going to get, and the day was only going to get hotter, we sat in our air conditioned box and people watched while we waited it’s a great hobby and I recommend it, as its great to get a view of the actual human condition) , we entered through the Sears entrance and not a lot has changed the big department stores are always empty, I have no idea how they survive, lots of good little shops (no record shops), and the food court has changed dramatically its now HUGE with a capital H, it looks good but we decided to move on as we couldn’t decide where to go, this was the beginning of some poor spots on various days as a combination of excessive heat and my diabetes had me bouncing from time to time, by the time we left I was starting to sink, I needed food, we headed to Disney Springs ( formerly known as Prince, I mean Downtown Disney) and its now three times the size!

We were a little disorientated because there was now a number of Multi story car parks and larger surface car parks, we eventually found a spot, thankfully something easily recognisable, so we wouldn’t lose the car (as if) I was also starting to suffer with my knees, I was wearing shorts and my supports would have looked out of sorts with the image I was projecting (LOL I hope I can find a vet that might put me down) and was getting less responsive we simply didn’t realise how much bigger the place was, we finally settled at Planet Hollywood, thinking that we might have to wait a while, we didn’t we got straight in and sent to the third floor (there’s four) and were soon perusing the menu, The food was nice I had a pulled pork sandwich with fires and the wife had…..i have no idea as I was so engrossed in my own delight, as we left I bought a couple of cool t-shirts (watch this space there’s going to a recurring theme) I was replenished after the food but getting slower with each step, the 10 days were going to be a bigger struggle than I had realised. We headed back to the car (with many lands in Disney Springs still be visited and conquered) but took small respites in shops where I could sit for a minute and saviour their air conditioning (the tonsilitis was starting to ebb away) more Disney shops and the House of Blues another T – Shirt purchased (I told you didn’t I) I slowly hobbled back to the car (we didn’t get lost….honest) and had a slow drive back to base, I had a little snooze, I do that when I’m at home, but my body clock is so out of whack I really needed it, I’m not suffering because of it, I’m just a little out of sorts.

I awoke at 18.00 hours and we needed food, back to the food court where I had a meatball marinara sandwich which was ok (6/10) again I was told at the time what the wife had, it looked nice, but I needed substance so concentrated on mine, plus I didn’t want to slop, and that was that we meandered back to the room for a quiet evening, trying to recover and get sense of normality because of the body clock thing, tomorrow we have a busy day ahead its Labour day (a big bank holiday) so we will avoid Disney (and hopefully the big crowds we have a cunning plan)  and go elsewhere in the world, so the intention tonight is to watch The Incredibles movie/s (Woman where’s my super suit) a couple of great movies , well I like them, they appeal to our sense of humour (Jack Jack). Tomorrow I will wear both knee supports even though I’m wearing shorts, lots of people do it, so I’m simply going to go with the flow, otherwise I might as well just stay in the room for the next 9 days, and I sure as hell do not intend to do that, onwards is the order of the day!

Other than our health issues (we both different ones, damn when did we both get so old?) I can deal with my (fingers crossed) issues, the thing that’s kicking my butt is my body clock being slightly out, its not jet lag, I sleep for limited length of time anyway, waking up even earlier in the night could be a bit distracting, lets see how it goes!

No More Lies – Airport - Yet another cunning stunt.

 

No More Lies – Yet another cunning stunt.

 

1^st September.

Yet again I was up early, actually I was up even earlier than any of the previous mornings! So, I did what I do best I mooched around the house with some headphones on gazing into space listening to music and then listened to just a little bit more music, I felt like running through the house banging a drum, but I needed the bride of Dracula to be in a good mood and rested as she as always is the designated driver. By the time I got to The Electric Boys absolutely every chore (downstairs) had been done, I had even prepped the breakfast, I was like a coiled spring, well more like a slinky but you get the picture!

I had my breakfast (two Kit Kats just in case you need to know) and a mug of tea, by this time I was sat watching the news, well it was on in the background however I’m not so sure I was actually paying due care and attention to anything but the weather, finally she who must be obeyed was awake,  while she had her breakfast I busied myself upstairs beds stripped bathroom polished to within an inch of its life all that was left to do was to put bleach down the loo’s , she was just about ready.

We had a couple of bits of last-minute packing, mainly for the hand luggage we then just had to throw the baggage into the car and were under starters orders, we set off and decided to travel to Manchester using Google Maps (WTF) talk about the long way there, the holiday would have been over if we had followed it to the letter of its instructions, let’s just say it was the scenic route, just a bit! Even though we took matters into our own hands and it was a pleasant drive (just not the way we expected) we could have flown to New York in the time that it took us, we definitely won’t be going home on the same route!

We found the hotel and then discovered that the car park was built in the 60’s and it wasn’t designed for modern cars, we got into one slot but would never have gotten out, you actually would have struggle to get a sheet of paper down either side, eventually we found a spot nobody else wanted and slung it in it, took our bags down to reception, thankfully the staff were nice and pleasant, the hotel had definitely seen better days (down at the heel probably best describes it). The room was ok and we freshened ourselves up to go and have some tea  as we had payed for a three course nosh up, well guess what, we did eat, just not a lot, starters was soup of the day (tomato) the main was pork chop and cold veg, and I didn’t fancy any pudding (I’m sweet enough) but the wife fancied some cheese cake, well a brick more like as it was still frozen, to say it wasn’t a success would be an understatement, we retreated to the room to read for a  little and to rest after the loooooooooong  journey down.

At some point, a lot earlier than the wife would normally suggest we decided to hit the hay, no sooner had our heads hit the pillows, we both wondered if the car was safe, we both couldn’t settle so after 20 seconds of panic I decided to get dressed and head down to check, through the warzone that was the ground floor of the hotel, people who were pissed but needed to be early the next day, I’m so glad that I came down to check as we had left a window down as I had been directing the wife into the slot, window fully engaged, which was a drama as I had never started the car before and wasn’t sure if the car would fly off the car park to the street below like something out of a fast and furious script, crisis averted by the expert tutelage of the wife I was soon back in the room, once again in bed and I was soon fast a sleep dreaming of a holiday that literally was just around the corner!

Airport – Yet another cunning stunt.

2^nd September.

Only three hours sleep I should have warned the world I was fragile and I could get just a tad grumpy!

Overall for the hotel, I would give the staff a 7 /10 the food 2/10 and the hotel and parking 4/10, it did the trick, if we do this again, we need another cunning plan, we avoided breakfast, purely on the performance of the evening meal, we were soon outside ( I was wishing I had bought some chocolate) awaiting our trusty chariot to take us to the airport, the driver was like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh that was until we slung a fiver into his hand, it certainly cheered him up and his thanks was quite effusive.

At the airport well it soon descended into chaos, the check in was fine but the security was simply bedlam, Thankfully before we descended into the seven rings of hell we decided to grab a breakfast and thankfully it was lovely, it wasn’t cheap but it set me up ready for the flight, then we entered what could only be described as hell, the staff were fine but the number of foreign passengers who had a lot of banned items in their luggage and they simply couldn’t understand why they were being taken off them, erm the food processor looks like a bloody bomb, food stuffs, a family with a tub of some cream (origin unknown) was simply all they could fit into the bag, erm that will a hell no then. Honestly, they were educated people just as mad as a box of frogs and their children were brain dead, they had to be told everything three times and they got really upset when half a water buffalo was denied (only kidding) actually I’m not sure that I was, we finally got through and waited to be called, boarding as usual was a ghastly nightmare.

We thought our baggage for the plane was big until we discovered everybody else were bringing small suitcases on as a carry on (you could have fitted me into one of them) the whole process was held up by over 30 minutes and we still don’t know why, people crowding in the tunnel to the plane I was a happy camper once I was in my seat, there were a large amount of weirdo’s on the plane me and the wife were the most normal on the plane…..Honest! thankfully the flight went relatively smoothly the food out was quite nice (for airplane food) the pick of the bunch was a chicken and rice, even the wife enjoyed it, I had intended to read but I simply wasn’t in the mood so I sat and watched old classic films including “Casablanca”  it was one of the better flights I have endured.

We landed at a new airport (at least for us) we usually land at Sanford and then it’s a 30 minute drive to our destination this was a 90 minute drive and boy has everything just got BIGGER, thankfully the airport was navigated very quickly the rental car was a little bit of a hitch as it wouldn’t take our credit card (a frequent occurrence on this trip, more of that later)but once sorted we were on the road in our Nissan Altima, it was lovely and comfortable and we endured the 90 minute drive with just a little consternation as it had been 16 years since wife had drove on the highways of Florida!

We arrived at the Disney resort of our choice (Movie All Stars ) its (not) cheap and cheerful the staff were super friendly we bought our tickets for the parks using the credit card that had been refused (go figure) I didn’t care this was a holiday to try and lift the wife’s spirits and I didn’t care what it actually cost ( I could regret that last statement), we had a little smooch about and then some food at the resorts food court(chicken and chips it was delicious) and then headed back to our room for an early night (it’s been a very long day) lets just hope I don’t wake up on English time!