Day 1
  The Hunts go on Holiday - The Sequel 27/07/2000-to-10/08/2000

This is our second trip to Walt Disney World Florida staying off-site at Westgate Vacation Villas in Kissimmee, having stayed last year at the Quality Inn Plaza on International Drive.
We had also visited Disneyland Paris again this year on a three-day jaunt without the kids, staying in the Hotel Cheyenne in May 2000 - our third trip, having been there previously on Christmas Day 1997, and spending five days in the Sequoia Lodge May 1998.

Family members:-
Ron-Civil Servant (Author, Driver, Ex-Pirate now all round good guy)
San-Teacher (Editor and Official Trip Toilet Tester)
Rachel-Aged 17 (Teenager with a Strange Hat)
Peter-Aged 15 (Sulky Teenager and Official Food Finisher Off-er)
Beth-Aged 6 (Mad about Disney, and now Daredevil Roller Coaster Girl)

I started writing this trip report whilst half watching 'Shakespeare in Love' on Sky Movies and was inspired by Martin Clunes' pantaloons.

Day 1-Thursday 27th July 2000

The saying 'forewarned is forearmed' is definitely relevant to a WDW holiday, so the tips we have picked up on the Dis-Boards were a great help in our planning, but nothing beats first hand experience, i.e., last years trip, which had a huge influence on our plans for this year.
Staying at a hotel last time was comfortable, with adequate facilities, but we ended up either having to eat out, or forgetting to eat at all until we were too tired to enjoy it. This was one of the reasons that we chose an apartment with a kitchen this year, which was as I'm sure you are all aware, upgraded to a Villa.
Another reason was that San wanted a washing machine because last year she spent hours in the laundry room, whilst the kids and me were playing in the pool. This year she didn't want to miss out whilst doing Wifey things.

We woke to the alarm at 3.00 am to do some last bits of panicking, I mean packing. When I went in to wake Beth, she jumped up, which is unusual for her, and shouted "Is it time to go?"
After setting the timer for the lights and making sure we had a front door key for our return, we waited in anticipation for our mini-bus which was due to arrive at 4.15, to take us to Manchester Airport. It eventually turned up at 4.36, by which time San says I looked quite pale. San took her first dose of 'Rescue' for the flight and after loading our VERY heavy cases we were off. During the journey to the airport Beth was buzzing and kept on saying "Are we there yet?" just to annoy everybody!
We arrived in Manchester at about 5.30 and the Monarch Check-in desks were already really busy, checking in flights to Turkey. We joined the queue and checked in, having made sure that we weren't being sent to Turkey. With Monarch, all flights seem to check in at the same set of desks.
Checking in was really easy, apart from being told that my hand luggage was 6Kg too heavy, (You're telling me), We just told the nice lady that it contained drinks and food that we were going to eat before we boarded and that did the trick. We managed to get the seats we wanted three in a row with a window seat and Peter across the aisle and Rachel had her own window seat behind us.
Bearing in mind that this was the day after Concorde had crashed, there were no Men in Black airport security this year, as Monarch is a British airline, unlike the vigorous safety checks carried out by American Trans Air. It seems that the Americans are far more security conscious than us Brits.
Our flight MON142 wasn't set to take off until 8.45, so after San had been to the toilet, we headed for the viewing gallery, so we could watch the planes taking off.
Our wait in the airport wasn't as expensive as last year as we were well-armed drinks and sandwiches (ham sandwiches for breakfast!).
It was soon time to go through Passport Control to the Departure Lounge, where San went to the toilet again, (can you see a pattern developing here?)
I then had to sit on the floor in the middle of the busy Departure Lounge and play with Beth and her assortment of Disney character figures. At least I got Meg! San, by this time had stretched out on the comfy seats and was snoring her head off.
When we woke her up for boarding at about 8.10 she asked "Have I been asleep? I never go asleep in the airport". The Departure Lounge was now so busy, there were people waiting for our seats. At least they were warm!
As we boarded the plane, Peter got a great surprise. It turned out that his best friend's Uncle was the Flight Deck Co-Ordinator, or Co-Pilot to you and me. His friend had asked him to keep an eye out for Peter and having spotted his name on the passenger list, he invited Peter to join him in the cockpit for take-off and later again for landing. We weren't invited though, the jammy sod. San had visions of the scene in Airplane where the little boy sits on the Captain's knee!
We told Beth that Peter had gone to fly the plane, as he had been practising the week before on a Flight Simulator game. When we were pushed back from the gate, Beth thought it was hilarious and that Peter was going backwards by mistake!
The flight seemed really long, as there was no stop for re-fuelling. The in-flight entertainment consisted of The Angry Beavers, The Simpsons, 3rd Rock from the Sun and some film with that guy from the X-files David Duchovny. It was something about a heart transplant, which wasn't that memorable as a quick survey around the living room proves, as no one can remember the name of the film. I cannot remember what else was on, but it was some British comedy crap like Dad's Army, and a documentary about roller coasters.
Last year Beth slept for most of the flight, this time she hardly even blinked, but she was very good. She kept herself amused by reading to herself, chuckling away at the funny bits in her comics, then San and I took it in turns to colour in with her and do sticker books. The in-flight headsets were free on the Monarch flight, as was the kids' pack that Beth was given which kept her amused for quite a while. I don't remember much more about the flight so I must have slept at some point, (I remember waking up with my head on the back of the seat in front of me). We drank lots of water on the flight to keep hydrated, and I even got the visa waiver forms right at the first attempt.
Before we landed, we had to throw the our remaining sausage rolls and ham sandwiches away, as you are not allowed to take meat into the USA, but we had eaten enough of them anyway, and the food we were given on the plane was OK.
Peter was escorted back to the cockpit by the Totty air-stewardess for our final approach and landing. He later told us that the tower had warned our pilot of a turtle on the runway moving North at one mile an hour! Beth does not like the landing as it really hurts her ears, the thing that seemed to work best to relieve this was to have her suck on a bottle of water, with one of those sports caps. This seemed to help a little as she hid her head between two pillows.
Sanford Airport is SO small compared to Orlando International, it is comparable with Liverpool Airport. We must have landed, collected our luggage, cleared Immigration and Customs, collected the van, and been out of the airport in less than 30-minutes.
I think we landed about 20 minutes early, it should have been 1.10 PM. We were the first of four jumbo jets due to land at Sanford that afternoon, so when we got to the Dollar desk it was completely empty. It took only five minutes to complete the formalities and we were off, (well nearly). I had to pay $37.45 for fuel this time. Last year this was included in the price of our car hire. I will be querying this with our holiday company.
Whilst I was sorting out the car, San checked out the toilets at Sanford. Apparently they were like infant school toilets with gaps either side of the door and not much privacy, (should that be privvy-cy?).
When we left the air-conditioned comfort of the airport buildings to cross the road to the Dollar car park, we were hit by a wall of humid Florida heat. MMM, lovely!
After loading our luggage into the huge boot of our seven seater Chrysler Voyager, I climbed in, on the correct side this time and re-acquainted myself with the van. After studying the display, I couldn't find the read out that told you what position the 'gear' stick was, i.e., P N R 1 2 3, etc, so I had to ask one of the Dollar Rep's to show me where it was. When I eventually found one that spoke English, she switched on the engine and pointed to a digital read out showing the 'gear' positions. This was definitely different to last year and once again I had been rescued by a woman.
We left the airport along Lake Mary Boulevard and joined the 417 Greeneway South towards Orlando. The drive along the Greeneway was a far more relaxing introduction to life on the other side of the road than the mad drive from Orlando International, as it was almost empty, as opposed to the busy four-lane highway of the Beeline Expressway.
We managed not to get lost and after driving for about an hour, we came across the signs for the 192. As we came off the 417 we took a chance and turned left, assuming this would be West. Good choice!
San was absolutely horrified when she saw the 192 area where our villa was, especially after staying in the 'posh' bit of International Drive last year. The roadworks were right outside our resort entrance opposite McDonalds. There were no pavements, just huge orange drums marking the roadworks for as far as the eye could see. The hotels along the roadside all looked tacky and old.
We found the turn off to our resort, Westgate Vacation Villas, right next to a 76 petrol station, down a bumpy 'cart track' next to the Masters Inn. As we approached the Westgate, it was like a jewel in the Oasis. Clean, modern apartments, surrounded by lush greenery and fountains.
Check in only took a couple of minutes and we were given a bottle of wine to welcome us. The resort was huge, so big that Randi, our Guest Services Rep had to show us the way to our villa number UU5 in a golf cart, and of course Beth had to ride on it with her. There was also a little train running around the resort to take you to the Deli or the Clubhouse, etc. San compared it to a very posh Butlins.
The villa was a palace with an entrance hall leading to an open plan living area with a huge 46" TV and a leather corner settee that folded down into a double bed. A breakfast bar separated this from the fully equipped kitchen with a microwave, cooker, walk in fridge, dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer. There was a screened patio area with access from the living room and the master bedroom, a second bedroom with two double beds, its own TV and its own bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and shower.
The master bedroom also had a large in-room Jacuzzi, its own TV and a shower cubicle with an en-suite toilet. There were mirrors all over the place that must have been borrowed from Blackpool Pleasure Beach's Fun House, because they gave me strange views of parts of my body that I had forgotten existed, and I'm sure both San and I are much slimmer than they made us look.
The best thing about the resort is that it was only about a four-minute drive to the Magic Kingdom, three to MGM Studios.
We decided to unpack quickly and get to know the villa. As I opened the patio door from the master bedroom, the handle fell off and the door refused to close as it had come off its track. We had to call Maintenance to fix the door, which resulted in the first of many visits from George the maintenance man who appeared within minutes, and was finished within seconds.
We then decided to try to find the nearest Publix, which was supposed to be close to our resort. We parked the van and were walking towards the petrol station, on a grass verge Along the 192, (you could tell we were English because we were walking), when some MAD woman came running up to me and said, "This might sound really strange, but are you Ron?" San thought I was being accosted by a pretty young stranger, as she hadn't recognised Carron from the UK Dis-Boards!
Carron and John were actually staying at the Masters Inn and she had recognised me from our DLP photo, and of course Peter and me had Liverpool shirts on.
We gave up our search for Publix, which turned out to be a further five minutes down the 192, and just got the basics from the nearest tourist price supermarket Kings. When we returned to the villa, we went to the nearest of the resort's ten pools for a few hours to play/swim and relax in the very HOT hot tub. After that we jumped in the Jacuzzi to wash off the chlorine and went to the on-site Pizza Hut and ordered a huge pizza and some very spicy buffalo wings for tea. San was amused - she didn't know that buffaloes had wings!
Whilst our pizza was being cooked, we went to the on-site supermarket to buy the butter we had forgotten earlier, whilst Beth took Peter to check out the Children's Playground. He was suitably impressed!
After watching some TV, The Simpsons and 3rd Rock from the Sun again, whilst eating our pizza, we climbed into our extra large bed at about 10 O'clock in preparation for our first full day which was to include breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table.
The end of a very long day, but a relaxing start to the proceedings.