Fun, flowers and firsts THREAD 2 OF 7 About This Page:

[poohmaine]

Great report, wonderful photos! Enjoying every chapter.

Very disappointed to read that the food is not "authentic" at Rose and Crown

[Colexis Mom]

Great update Cheryl That was a lot of characters, and some wonderful pictures as well. You need to hand the camera to Mark so you can get some character pictures too Looking forward to more

[desiab]

Cheryl,

We ate at the Rose & Crown on our last trip despite the mixed reviews and could find
no fault with the meal. I personally did not care for the sticky pudding, but was able
to switch for the chocolate trifle instead.

I just wanted to reiterate how much I am enjoying hearing about your trip. Please continue !

[luvnwdwgal]

I just love all your pictures Cheryl! Looking forward to the next installment!!

[MegglesMom]

Wow Cheryl, you read my mind! DH and I the Rose & Crown, but I wasn't sure if that was an accurate portrayal of UK food. Thanks for the clarifications!

[JenS]

I'm really enjoying your report AND the fabulous photos! I know it is a lot of work; but we really DO appreciate the exta effort.

I love the photo of you with Timone and Pumbaa - those 2 are my favorite characters (after Mickey of course)!

[chezp]

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I think I am going to be sad when Cheryl's trip report is complete!!!

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Don't worry that wont be for a long while yet!

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Maureen is right there guys - I hope you realise we're now on day 4 of this trip report and in total, there are 17 days - it's going to be a LONG time until this report is completed!

[buckysmom]

Cheryl,
wonderful addition! I really enjoyed the pics of Mark and the characters, since character stalking was the predominant theme of my last trip
Was very interested in your opinion of Rose and Crown, had wondered if you'd like it! Lunch sounds yummy,

[mom2my4dwarfs]

Another great installment. My pictures pale compared to yours at Epcot. I think I should have taken more.

[BritDisFan]

Another great update Cheryl, I love the pictures of Mark with the characters, he looks like he's having a lot of fun .

Karen

[ariel1]

another fabulous installment, and i'm loving the restaurant reviews as always!

[2princessmom]

love the update and the pictures! Can't wait for more!

[chezp]

Saturday 1 May – part four: “have you seen my wand?” and we learn Disney and first aid don’t necessarily mix…



On our way round to America, we spotted Pocahontus at the International Gateway, so we deviated down there to say hello to her. As we got nearer, I could see someone in pink, Aurora! I have never seen her in the pink dress, she's always been in blue, so that was a treat.





Three Princesses together!



The Fairy Godmother – minus wand!



As if that wasn't good enough, as I left Aurora, a voice said to me “have you seen my wand?”. Standing next to me was the Fairy Godmother. Boy did she give me a surprise! I quickly recovered and told her I hadn't seen her wand, but if she found it, perhaps she could wave some pixie dust over me so that I could stay at Disney forever!



On the way, I took a few more photos in France and also took the opportunity to browse round the perfume garden. I was fascinated to see some of the ingredients that go into the various perfumes. The individual ingredients sounded disgusting, but when combined, the final result was lovely.





The perfume garden in France



Morocco





Japan



America



Continued in next post...

[chezp]

We finally made it to America with the one final stop in Japan to see their gardens. We were told Scott was in and if we made our way straight over there, then he'd see us. We did that and stopped only once to try and get a photo of the two of us in front of the Mickey and Minnie topiaries in America, but unfortunately the woman who offered to take our photo pressed the wrong buttons and turned the camera off instead of taking a photo! Oh well, another day I guess.



The heat was very oppressive by now and I was gutted to see we'd missed the boat to the Boardwalk by a minute or two. I really could've done with a break from walking.









Our favourite resort



The Boardwalk



I think it's fair to say that we were cooked and fairly sweaty by the time we saw our DVC rep. It certainly wasn't a pretty sight. We purchased our 60 points with the option that we could get some more before closing the deal in a couple of weeks time when we got home, so we left happy. in fact, when we got home we decided to go for the 100 points, as they would only cost us $79 each, as opposed to the 60 points, which would cost $84 each. Just as well Scott gave us the opportunity to think things through before making a final decision!



On the way back, we saw a couple get married overlooking the view towards the Yacht and Beach Club. All I can say is I would not want to be that bride. She must have been baking in that dress and the area they were getting married in wasn't roped off or anything, so I could just imagine a kid gate crashing their big moment. I think if I could’ve got married at WDW (and believe me, we did want to), I would choose the waiting pavilions at either the Grand Floridian or the Yacht club, as they’re both a little more private.



By now, my ankles were again playing up, although the bites didn't hurt anywhere near as much as yesterday and the ankles didn't look quite as swollen as they did this morning. Despite that, we thought we'd go to the Odyssey Centre and get some advice at the First Aid centre. The nurse there gave me a couple of Band Aids, but her advice was just to go and see a doctor. Nothing else, not even a guess as to what might have bitten me or what medication I could take which was available over-the-counter.



The likelihood was that a visit to a doctor would cost a minimum of $100 (bear in mind here that we are not used to paying for our healthcare and certainly not to see a doctor) and we would probably have to claim that money back from the insurance company. We decided to give it another 24 hours and were told if we did not see a significant improvement in that time that we should go and see a doctor. We agreed and left a little disappointed. This is not the sort of thing we would expect from a First Aid centre at home, you would get a lot more advice. I guess it has something to do with compensation culture in the States however.



Next: Other people’s pain can be fun and “don’t get any ideas about buying that!”

[DopeyGirl]

I can't believe no one even took the time to even venture a guess at what might have bitten you!!!



It sounds to me like maybe bed bugs . . . literally. There really is such a thing!!! Here is a link to a very recent National Geographic article about it!!!



http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...3_bedbugs.html



Also I thought about chiggers too . . .



I also read something about skin irritants that might cause what looks like insect bites complete with the swelling and sores and all . . .



How is the ankle now? It is sounding so far like you had a great time and made the best of it despite the ankle and those icky bites!!!



Looking forward to the next part of the report!!!