Pollin' pollin' pollin'...

[nopseud]

Poll time!

Since people expressed interest in Alton Towers and Chatsworth, we're now moving on to the inevitable poll :-) If we get this sorted out quickly, I can add these in to the price for the accommodation etc, which will be easier for everyone.

Alton Towers will cost somewhere between £15 and £25 for entry, depending on whether a discount code I've found still works.

Chatsworth will be £10.35, or £9.25 if there are more than 15 of us.

I thought I'd also check for interest in afternoon tea at Chatsworth. Booking on-line in advance gets a 10% discount and we'll be guaranteed to be able to get into the restaurant together. It isn't cheap, but I'm pretty sure it will be fantastic, and what could be more English than afternoon tea? Anyway, this is an optional extra for the day, so fill in the poll and let me know.

Traditional Afternoon Tea - £13.45
Home-made dainty finger sandwiches of smoked salmon, ham and wholegrain mustard, and free-range egg mayonnaise with leaf spinach
Freshly baked sultana scone with preserve and clotted cream
Mixed berry mousse
The best chocolate brownie
Baby elephant's foot meringue
Choose from a pot of carefully selected leaf teas

Cavendish Afternoon Tea - £15.75
Enjoy the Traditional Afternoon Tea above with a glass of rose wine.

Devonshire Afternoon Tea - £19.30
A glass of Chatsworth own label Champagne
Home-made dainty finger sandwiches of smoked salmon, ham and wholegrain mustard, and free-range egg mayonnaise with leaf spinach
Freshly baked sultana scone with preserve and clotted cream
Crayfish cocktail
Mixed berry mousse
The best chocolate brownie
Baby elephant's foot meringue
Choose from a pot of carefully selected leaf teas

Finally, transport. We're hiring a slightly less spacious mini-bus this time round, which means that we'll need to lay on a bit of extra transport during the week. If you're coming by car, and are willing to help ferry people to Chatsworth etc, would you please tick the appropriate ticky box in the poll? We'll be asking £5 from non-drivers, to be split for petrol etc.

Also, if you want collection from Standsted, please ticky the box, so I can get a final, definitive number. Standsted minibus fare will be £20.

Please fill in the poll even if you're saying no, so that we can be sure everyone's seen it.

[Poll #1380294]

Comments

[pensnest]

I can't quite decide on the Alton Towers front - as a rollercoaster and thrill ride hater, I'm not sure whether I'll have much to do there, but I'll have to investigate the website further, and consult Beast. (Beast, incidentally, will come to Chatsworth and have tea, and I'll have to ask him about Alton Towers.) I'm quite happy to take a group to Alton Towers and then take a different group elsewhere, if several people opt out of that trip but want to wander.

[rikes]

I was thinking about the same thing - I only like some rollercoasters and none of the scary stuff - but there seems to be a gorgeous garden and an aquarium, too.

[nopseud]

You'll have to try Air! It's my favourite rollercoaster out of all the ones I've ever been on. It's really smooth and nice, and it's like being able to fly. The first thing I do when I go to Alton Towers is RUN through the park to get to Air, and go on it as many times as I can before too many people show up and you have to queue.

[nopseud]

Did he decide about AT?

[pensnest]

I think we will both say yes to Alton Towers, there appears to be plenty we can do there without throwing up. ;-)

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

I'm not totally positive on these, but I think they'd be a blast...whirly/spinning rides DESTROY me for the next 8-12 hours after, but roller coasters are fine, as long as they don't throw me about so much that my bad hip is thrown out of whack.

I think I'm actually coming in early to Heathrow and shall need to crash at Chez Pen Thursday night, but I'm still getting all my ducks in a row for that. If I end up flying in to Heathrow at some early hour and transiting to Stansted I would need pick up, but it doesn't look like that option is going to work out. (Also, trying to get myself from one airport to another in the space of a few hours when I'll probably already be schedule-knackered does NOT APPEAL, so I'm hoping to do otherwise anyway. *g*)

[nopseud]

There are a few of the big rides at AT which might be okay -- there's Air, which is more of a flying thing rather than a throwing-around thing, and there's Oblivion, which is a vertical-drop rollercoaster which is pretty smooth (and awesome!). And there are gardens and a new aquarium (which I'm really excited about, because the Sea Life Centre people do good aquariums). One thing, though, is that the AT site is quite large, and it isn't all that flat, so there's always a lot of walking involved.

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

I can walk, I just can't stand in one place for long without my hip locking up, which means long lines could be bad, but it's doable. I'll just be suffering more later, but since AT is Wednesday and there's no daytrip Thursday, that's fine. Or if there IS a trip Thursday, I probably won't be taking it. ;)

[pensnest]

I am picking up chalcopyrite from Heathrow sometime on Thursday, so that would be fine with me. :-)

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

YAY!

I shall pester you for timing details in a week or so, when I look at flight specifics.


Thanks, Pen!

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Okay, I have a flight!

I'm scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at 11:30am on Thursday, May 7th, at Terminal 3, so that's plenty of time for me to get through Customs and Baggage Claim and FIND chalcopyrite's arrival area (as long as we communicate WHERE THAT WILL BE, which we all utterly failed at last year, Hee.) There's the potential problem of England's late-morning/early-afternoon being exactly when I normally sleep, but I'll see about trying to force myself to sleep or at least rest on the plane. Of course, on my "normal" schedule, I'm most active from about 8pm-8/9am the next day on English time, so adjusting may be a bit ridiculous, regardless. OTOH, I'll be totally awake for fetching Noora & Rikka, unless "Thursday at midnight" means Wednesday-into-Thursday midnight, not Thursday-into-Friday? 'Cause then they'd already be at Chez Pen when we arrive from Heathrow...but it'll be FUN, regardless! SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK LESS SPARKLY!!! *faceplants at tea-time*

See Y'all Soon!

[chalcopyrite.livejournal.com]

I'll email you again closer to CS zero-hour, but the scribbled back of the envelope says my flight's getting in to Heathrow at 15.55. :)

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Mine gets in at 11:30, so I'll be there a few hours before you, even if there's minor delays...what terminal do you arrive at? I arrive at Terminal 3, but I'll have plenty of time to find where to wait for you and/or Pen.

[chalcopyrite.livejournal.com]

I'm getting in to Terminal 1. Between us, I bet we can find a meeting point -- The heathrow website says there are even Official Meeting Points, if we feel like being official (might be safer *wryg*)! I'll be the one (one of the ones, you never know) wearing cat ears.

Pen, where do you want us to be?

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Ah-hahahahaaa, cat-ears!

(My nickname is CatBoy, and I'll be looking for the girl with the cat ears, heeee...)

Okay, you've got the cat ears and Pen has her sparkly tiara; I feel as if I should wear something fun and identifying on my head. A Jack Sparrow hat, perhaps? Possibly a nuisance to transport, but hey, it makes which color bandanna to wear easy -a pirate!red one!! *g*

And official? Who wants to be official? Bring On the Anarchy, I say! Although, I'm actually more of a ninja than a pirate, and organized social structures are much easier to ninj in than anarchic chaos, heh. I think I'll just find Terminal One's arrival area. ;D)

[chalcopyrite.livejournal.com]

Well, if you don't have anything entertaining on your head, you'll see me before I see you, which is entirely ninja-appropriate! *g*

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Commence ninjing??

Hah! As if I ever stop! Hell, I accidentally sneak up on people all the damn time. I'll just wear the red bandanna, and say "Boo!" immediately behind the first cat-eared girl I see, heh...

[saba1789.livejournal.com]

I want to do EVERYTHING! :DDD Tea at Chatsworth sounds ridiculously awesome ZOMG! Why am I already SO VERY EXCITED?! Gosh, I can't wait! CAAAAAAAAAMP! *gets out the valium*

[nopseud]

SOOOOOOOOOOON! Very soon!

[bubbleforest.livejournal.com]

Just to make sure we're not stranded, fadedsouls and I can still get picked up at Birmingham airport, yes? :D

[nopseud]

Hee! Yep, don't worry, you're on my personal to-do hit. :-)

[fadedsouls.livejournal.com]

We would of course have been quite all right... (or ended up in Wales and had no idea how we got there....)

Also, wickedly excited for both AT and tea!!!! Although I do love roller coasters, you may have to drag me up in them as I seem to have gotten nervous in my old age...

[ihearthings-ii.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, I can't decide between the traditional and Devonshire tea!!

[nopseud]

Did you decide in the end? I'm making the bookings today.

[ihearthings-ii.livejournal.com]

champaaaaaaagne!

[nopseud]

Hic!

[ihearthings-ii.livejournal.com]

hic hic hurrah!

[chalcopyrite.livejournal.com]

I'm really not a rollercoaster/ride fan, so I think I will skip AT.

I'm not coming in through Stansted, but I will be on the bus and going *back* to Stansted, so I tickied that box. Yes? (Thank you, Pen!)

[msktrnanny.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid my poll answers are not very helpful. Chatsworth looks amazing. Building, gardens, nice! Alton Towers looks like fun, but given how many fantastic amusement parks we have here in the states and the price I think that's the best place to cut costs for me. also... is there no other 'tea' option? I would LOVE to do a group tea, but frankly won't eat 1/3 of what's listed and it is costly. I'd be happy with tea, scone and clotted cream. If that's somehow an option, please count me in!

Transport wise I'd be coming into Heathrow. I'd need assistance in which train/s to take in to which station/s.

[nopseud]

If you can get to Heathrow on Thursday, then I think Pen is doing a pickup run. It's probably best to get in touch with her directly to find out when, etc.

Looking at the Chatsworth menu on line, tea and scones is £5. I can't book that in advance, but I should think that there'll be plenty of space mid-week in May, though.

[msktrnanny.livejournal.com]

tea and scones is all this american needs!

will confer with Pen about the rest.

[pensnest]

I'm picking up two people from Heathrow on the Thursday, but if you're arriving on Friday I don't think I'll be able to help.

[msktrnanny.livejournal.com]

I'm working on flights. I'll be in touch as soon as it's settled out. :-D

[rikes]

Ho hum. Unless you have already booked something, I'd like to cancel for Alton Towers. I've been thinking about it, and while I do like most rollercoasters, I find the whole experience a bit stressful (I don't know why! They're supposed to be fun and relaxing!) and I'd rather not have that on CS. :)

[nopseud]

No problem at all! You're just in time. :-)