Birthdays, Disney and Dreams

Here i am - 3 days after getting home from our Disney trip and the washing machine is still giving it welly!!!

We had a great time. One of the reasons for going to Disney was because it was Peter's 21st birthday when we were away. We decided to celebrate in a way we knew Peter would enjoy - and it just had to be Disney!!!

Everything was packed, taxi booked and i just prayed that the flights would be ok - i didn't relish the thought of not being able to get there and then trying to explain to Peter. But good fortune was on our side!! Flights on time.
Mind you - we'd got to the gate and Louise texted - if the ghd straightners were still on offer, could i please get her a set and she'd give the money to me when we got back. Called her to say she was outta luck @ Glasgow, but i'd try @ Heathrow.
Duty Free @ H had them, i bought and asked about collect on return, so the woman filled out the forms. Sounds easy, but by now, you should know us well enough that we never take the easy way, if there is a harder way to do it!!!

Got to the hotel, checked in and went to the room - unpacked and went to the park to sort out the special assistance pass. No problems there and the staff said to come in on Peter's birthday and they'd give him a birthday badge.
So we went off, did a few rides then went for dinner.
When we got back to the hotel, we found that the staff had left toys for the boys, a letter welcoming us to the hotel and some chocolate! It turned out we were classed as VIP guests because of Peter!!!

Tuesday morning, we went for breakfast - we didn't need to book a time - we just needed to show up! After, we got ready to go to the park. unfortunatly, the shuttle buses were off - it was too icy. So we had to walk, slipping and sliding.
For all the weather was pants, it was the busiest day we've ever experienced @ the park. Add in that due to the icy conditions, most of the characters didn't appear and a few rides were off, it just made it seem so much busier than usual. We did do a load of rides, but were disappointed not to meet anyone. But i had to remind myself that often the times we meet most of them is when we're not actually LOOKING for them!! And we still had 2 more days, so i didn't really need to panic too much!!

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to have hot chocolate in the Bar. At the Sequoia Lodge, there is a large open log fire. The couches at the fire are highly prized and often people don't move from there. But as Matthew and Paul went to the bar, a family moved and Peter and i struck!!!  No one else had a chance - we'd waited years to get a seat by the fire!!

I would have put a photo in at this point, but i can't seem to get to where it is! And i'm not too sure what i did with the above paragraph!!!

Wednesday morning we went to our character breakfast - we met Micky, goofy, pluto and pinochio!! And then we headed to the Studio Park. Matthew went on Tower of Terror, while the rest of us froze and tried to decide what we would go on next!!! The Tour Tram, but at the bit where we're meant to get flooded on biblical proportions after the fire - nae water - the pipes had frozen!!

Did we say it was a touch cold?!?!?!!?!

We went off to the new Toy Story rides - Matthew went on the RC Racer ride - we opted out using our previous excuse - we're wimps!!! So we went on slinky's roller coaster!! Nice gentle little ride!!!

We decided to so on a hunt for characters. No ice to keep them indoors!!! We met Daisy Duck - we've never met her before. Chip and Dale were there too. After that we decided it was time to go and see some shows - Cinamagique, Stitch Live and Anamagique back to back with some food thrown in along the way!!! The best was stitch - the space police were def after us!!! We also saw part of the parade and got some photos. 

Headed back to the hotel and the bar - again!!!
THis time they had a quiz on - you had to name the disney film that the music came from. We totally wiped the floor with the competition on this one - or rather - Peter did!!! Only 1 question out of 20 we didn't know. It really did get to space police time - the guy HAD tp go and ask other people for the answers out of fairness, but i suspect he had a soft spot for Peter!!! So Peter won and he was given a Mickey Mouse toy!! Sensory heaven or what!!
Paul went over to tell the guys it was Peter's birthday the next day, so they wished him Happy Birthday and produced a Donald Duck toy for him!!!!

Would life get better?!?!?!?

Thursday mporning, more rides!!! Matthew wanted to go on Indiana Jones, but it broke down while he was waiting. Didn't even bother going back cos we knew it would be busy.
So off we went to do more in Fantasyland .Everybody who saw Peter's badge wished him happy birthday!! We knew Belle was going to be out. I didn't hold out much for meeting cinders, most times she did the Princess Lunch and @ 60€ a pop for lunch - most of which Peter wouldn't eat, we gave that a miss. So while we were waiting to meet Belle, i asked the Cast member if Cinderella was out. She was - just along the path!!! WIth the mice!!!!!

So Peter's birthday wish was granted - Cinderella!!! I found myself having a chat with a mouse. What has my life come to??? Asking Suzy how Gus Gus was and agreeing that he is indeed a bit crazy!!!!!
I've been watching too many Disney DVDs!!!!
I'll be convincing myself i can fly next!!

It was a good day and because all the shows were on and characters were out, it didn't feel like 43,000 people were in the park.

We'd booked a table fro dinner along with birthday cake. Dinner was nice - loads of pizza and pasta for Peter to much on and the cake - which we shared with the family at the next table. The little boy was lovely and thought Paul a bit crazy!!! He liked our photos and was thrilled to have some cake!

I didn't really want to come home.
Again our flights were good and the crews were good at helping us board early.
Now, this is where the saga of the ghds rears it's head!!
We were in transit, so we didn't go thru arrivals in Terminal 5. I went to the duty free shop to check where i was to pick them up.
"oh" says the girl,"you're meant to go to arrivals to get them"
I told her that we were transferring to anothet flight and actually, the gate was about to open and we didn't reallyvhave much time.
The manager came over top see what was wrong, the girl explained and he told her since there was little time, just to take a set off the shelf and they would get the original set back. HUGE sigh of relief!! Aside from the cost, my life would not have been worth living if i'd arrived home without said ghd's!! The girl said she totally understood - she'd be lost without them either!!!

We got to the gate and i checked that the pre board was still on the system. The guy said - just come thru, so i rounded up the troops and they checked everything and we sat down. The guy phoned down to the plane to say he had some VIPS. I was looking round to see who was there. The guy killed himself laughing as said - it's you - you're the vips tonight!!!!
The Cabin crew were great again - the fussed over Peter when they found out it had been his 21st and we'd been to Disney. They came rpound with the bar - i decided to go for a vodka - i felt i needed it!!! AND - they slipped me another one for later!!!!!!!

There are times i wish Willie Walsh would travel with us on BA flights. The staff are always really good with us and go that extra step to make sure our flights go smoothly. We've done several flights over the past 9 years or so with different airlines and we ALWAYS go back top BA - the care they take is great. So if anyone reading this knows Mr Walsh, send him our direction!!

So more dreams filled, memories made and a good time was had!!