„Did you feel pressured to provide only EXCELLENT ratings?“

[dizneeat]

I am here!!!

Ann! So glad you made it!

I'm joining in! I may be lurking more than commenting but I'm here!

So happy to see you here, Yuki!
No problem with the lurking - that is what I am mostly do on yours.

I love your TRs!! they get me through some super dull days at work so can't wait

Thank you so much for joining us again.
It's great to know that our adventures make for a fun read during not so fun work days.

Thank-you Karin!!! I'm excited for your new TR! They are always amazing

Yeah! Jeanette! So happy that you are here as well. It would not be the same without a resort changer.

 

[dizneeat]

Hoping I don't fall behind like I do on all my TR subscriptions

We all fall behind on some of our subscriptions sometimes, Jeanette. Real life sometimes just gets in the way.

Looking forward to your newest report. I don't know how you keep it all straight between TR and PTR - you must have a lot of notes at home!

Great to have you again!
Well, since you asked I do not take any notes at all. I have my plans to hold on to and I just carry my camera everywhere - I can assure you, having all the pics helps tremendously.

subbing and going back to read!!!

Yeah! Rosie is here!

All caught up and ready for the TR to begin !!!!!!!

Rosie, your wish is my command! Just finishing off the responses and then we will be off and on our way to the US.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin! Of course I couldn't miss joining in for another great Disney trip!

Hi Roni!
Great to know you are onboard as well.

Hi Karin....Can't wait to read your new trip report!!

Welcome, Elaine!
I am so happy for you to join. Maybe that way we can lure all of you to go to Disney when we are there as well.

I'm here! Can't wait to read your report!

I can't believe we are on page 3 already and you're just getting started!

Yeah, Nancy!
I am so happy to see you here too!
Yeah, page 3 already - no idea how that happened.

hi Karin! Thanks for the PM, so excited to follow along on another of your amazing reports

Welcome!
So excited you decided to join.

 

[dizneeat]

Okay, it's time to get THAT party started .........



oh, and don't tell me lateron that you were not prepared! There is A LOT of food involved.



Day 1, February 15

Here we go again ……….. - Part 1

4.30am …….. the alarm rings ……… do we really need to get up at that ungodly hour? YES!!!!!!!!!

Today’s the day we are going on vacation.

Well, we did not quite get up at 4.30, we were so tired so we reset the alarm for 5am and decided to skip breakfast to make up for lost time and added on another half hour of sleep.
At 5am we finally got up and got ready, checked the house if everything was unplugged and then after locking up we rolled our luggage to the car and off we went at 5.45.
The airport is about a 20 minute drive away and when we arrived we parked right outside the departure hall in the short term parking spots, took our luggage and headed for baggage drop off. We were shocked to see HOW full of people the area was, but were relieved instantly when we saw that most people were in line for a charter flight. We headed to the regular check in desk, which was free, handed over our luggage and were told that they would be sent priority as the long distance flight had been upgraded to Business class. Luggage on its way we went back to the car and drove over to the long term lot, found a convenient spot, grabbed our carry-ons and off we went to the departure hall.
We had been cutting it a bit close, so once we had stopped at the ATM to get some more money we headed to the security check and within 5 minutes we were through and strolling through the duty free shop. A few minutes later we went over to our gate and waited for them to start boarding.



And soon enough they scanned the tickets and we were able to walk over to the waiting aircraft.



We found our seats, stowed our carry-ons and sat down and within 10 minutes we were on our way.



Once we had reached cruising altitude, the flight attendants started handing out





Pickup cookie bars. They are shortcrust cookies sandwiched together with chocolate – yummy! I think we both had water to drink with it and really enjoyed our breakfast on board. And shortly after we had finished our chocolate filled goodie we were approaching Frankfurt International airport.









We taxied for quite some time,



then got off the plane at an outside location, got on a bus and a few minutes later we were on our way to the terminal.
We had quite some time between flights, so we were in no hurry and slowly strolled through the area, then checked if our departure area had changed and finally made our way over to that part of the terminal. We looked for the Business Lounge, showed our tickets and in no time went up the elevator to the lounge. And were shocked. It was FULL!
There were such a lot of people up there. We were lucky, we found some empty seats in a rather quiet area, parked our luggage in the corner and got comfortable.
Since we had not had a real breakfast yet, we took turns hitting the buffet. Tom got himself some



coffee and some Diet Coke for me,



some ham and Parma ham, some cheese and cucumber slices and some rolls. When it was my turn I went and got some



really tasty herb flavoured curd, some ham and cheese and some rolls as well. We sat there in our comfy chairs, enjoyed our yummy breakfast and checked our mail as the lounge offers free internet.
After a while Tom went to get some more drinks,



more Diet Coke for me and a beer for himself and mentioned that they had just brought some scrambled egg out and that it looked really nice. So off he went to get some for both of us. He returned with





two small plates full of the yummy scrambled egg which was seasoned with herbs and had some additional tomato and a slice of nice fresh bread. It was quickly gobbled down and now we finally put our main focus on the news and mail.
Given our experience from the last time we flew business, where we had a 6 hour delay on top of a 6 hour layover, Tom checked his text messages on a very regular basis, but nothing came in.
After a while we started reading and Tom went to get us some new drinks and then picked up some nibbles,



Wasabi coated peanuts and a Pretzel mix and a very fruity drink. Tom read his Touring Plans chat, while I stuck with the DISboards. And while we were sitting there and getting up to speed on what was new on those boards, a Lufthansa employee came by to offer everyone some muesli bars.



Needless to say that we did pick one up,



chocolate for me and



strawberry for Tom. We were stuffing ourselves silly while waiting and surfing the boards. Then the DISboards went down as every day and I started reading along with Tom, going over my plans again and visited the restroom. About an hour later, around 11.30 Tom went to the bathroom anld came back with the news, that while walking by the buffet he had noticed they had changed to the lunch offerings.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[alpinemouse]

Thank you! now....



Realy hard

 

[pas130]

shortbread with chocolate, yes please. Business class, yay!! It's like airport club level, and I would totally be stuffing myself too!! Great start Karin!

 

[JKSWonder]

Hi Karin! I'm on board...well, not literally. Figuratively on board. I wish I wish literally on board!

Glad to see that your flights seem to be going better this time....hope it stayed that way for you! And that does seem like one great buffet in the business class lounge.

And I'm dying to hear your thoughts on fastpass plus. We have the 7 day Fantasy cruise this August followed by five days at WDW and our first experience with fastpass plus.

 

[Leshaface]

I'm here and ready to catch up!

 

[Leshaface]

Karin, I knew you cruised a lot, but had no IDEA you've been on 13 cruises in 6 years!! You are truly amazing!

I know you're a school teacher, but is your schedule very flexible for you to go on vacation a lot?

Geez, you said there was going to be a lot of food in this TR but I had no idea it would start so soon!

 

[jenseib]

I love how you spend your time in the lounge and that Tom keeps up to date on the offerings!

 

[basketlacey]

Yay! I'm here! Great start so far! So did you stay for lunch?

 

[RGirl]

Well, your travel day is certainly off to a tasty start!!!!

 

[disney67]

Such a really magical start love the Pick Me Up bar and the photos from the plane . the food pictures look like i want to eat now and those eggs look so good
and OMG you guys have no luck with delays ?? well bring on lunch ?

 

[annmarieda]

And shortly after we had finished our chocolate filled goodie we were approaching Frankfurt International airport.

What nice pictures of the city.

Then the DISboards went down as every day and I started reading along with Tom, going over my plans again and visited the restroom. About an hour later, around 11.30 Tom went to the bathroom anld came back with the news, that while walking by the buffet he had noticed they had changed to the lunch offerings.

 

[mickeystoontown]

It looks like your trip is off to a great start! Lots of good things to nibble on while waiting too.

 

[jordansmama]

I'm in- sounds like a great start to your trip. Can't wait to hear about the rest of it!!

 

[dizneeat]

Thank you! now....



Realy hard

Me too! But thankfully it's only 55 more days until Italy!

shortbread with chocolate, yes please. Business class, yay!! It's like airport club level, and I would totally be stuffing myself too!! Great start Karin!

When we went in August we had a 7 hour layover and a 6 hour delay on top of it - we got to try a whole day's menu in the lounge.
I have to add that the food is pretty good, so stuffing oneself is pretty easy.

Hi Karin! I'm on board...well, not literally. Figuratively on board. I wish I wish literally on board!

Glad to see that your flights seem to be going better this time....hope it stayed that way for you! And that does seem like one great buffet in the business class lounge.

And I'm dying to hear your thoughts on fastpass plus. We have the 7 day Fantasy cruise this August followed by five days at WDW and our first experience with fastpass plus.

Great to have you joining us as well.
Yes, this time we were luckier, no 6 hour delay - on the other hand, that delay brought us €1200 in compensation.
And the buffet was really nice this time around as well, even though we didn't get to try a full day's worth.

To be honest and not to take anything away, we loved FP+! We were able to hit 4 parks in 1 full and two half days and were able to get on all of our favourite rides, plus a few extras. It was awesome. Worked like clockwork for us.

I'm here and ready to catch up!

Yeah! Great to have you here, Lesha!

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, I knew you cruised a lot, but had no IDEA you've been on 13 cruises in 6 years!! You are truly amazing!

Yes, we really have been bitten by the cruise bug. I have to admit that most of these cruises were Bahamian ones and we go back to back a lot.

I know you're a school teacher, but is your schedule very flexible for you to go on vacation a lot?

Our school schedule is set in stone. But we have a lot of holidays. There are 9 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week for half term, 10 days for Easter and a lot of catholic holidays which are still observed. Those holidays very often are on a Thursday, so Friday is usually a "window" day and we get those off as well. But no extra vacation that is flexible. This is why we can only travel for one week for half term.
And flying long distance takes two days out of that as well. But at least we are in a really nice and warm climate, and most of all, we can enjoy one of the beautiful Disney ships.

Geez, you said there was going to be a lot of food in this TR but I had no idea it would start so soon!

Yip, you can never have too many food pics and be warned - there is A WHOLE LOT more to come on just that one day.

I love how you spend your time in the lounge and that Tom keeps up to date on the offerings!

Nothing better than a comfy chair in the lounge! And with nibbling so much we both needed to wash our hands from time to time. Now, the bathroom was right on the other side of the lounge and to get there you had to cut through the buffet area. Needless to say we needed to check up on any new additions.

Yay! I'm here! Great start so far! So did you stay for lunch?

Welcome! Great that you decided to join us.
Yes, we did stay for lunch, not that they would not feed us on the plane too!

Well, your travel day is certainly off to a tasty start!!!!

And it stayed that way. But what else can you do when you have a 6 hour layover.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

Dizneet- I love your trip reports and travel adventures.

I told my husband I wanted to be you when I grow up!

 

[jedijill]

And you're off! The Lounge food looks really tasty! Business Class really is the best way to fly.

Jill in CO