It all starts on friday 2 oct 09 at 6am i arrive at my passengers home address and im greeted by 3 very smiley but anxious faces for they are unaware of the magical weekend that awaits them .
I am 1 of the drivers on this years magical taxi tour to disneyland paris which is a charity run by the worshipful company of hackney carriage drivers , it takes children suffering from a wide range of illnesses on a whirlwind weekend trip to paris in a convoy of over 100 london taxis .
Im not quite sure who`s more excited the family or me but one things for certain we are on our way , as we leave to make our way to canary wharf`s east winter gardens the daylight is just breaking and the city is beginning to awaken canary wharf have laid on the big breakfast so everybody is well fed for the journey , london taxis international have provided spending money for the children and the marriot hotel have provided packed lunches for the journey . When we arrive we are greeted by balloons and the sound of the band of the blues and royals the city of london police outriders , the ambulances , the paramedics , the aa , the gendarmerie of france ( they have travelled over to escort us back to paris ) and the lord mayor of london . As we sit down and tuck into our breakfast the various speeches take place the volunteers dish up eggs and bacon or cereal and fruit one thing is very apparent the excitement is off the scale as minnie mouse is doing the rounds the children can hardly contain themselves . The order to load up is given and within 10 minutes we are off the lord mayor has cut the ribbon and 100s of wellwishers line the exit to wave us off , the emotion is staggering , londoners are some of the kindest most caring people in the world . Every taxi is sounding its horn , some musical some just loud but we are off next stop dover . As we snake our way along the a13 the police are stopping the traffic for the convoy to pass and not a single motorist shows any impatience they just smile and wave and considering the convoy is over 3 miles long they will be waiting a while but i think they understand what is going on and that nobody deserves their patience more then these children . Arrival at dover im asked the same question over and over are we there yet and i answer every single one , the ferry awaits us all laid on and paid for by p&o ferries one of the sponsors the captain welcomes us aboard and we depart next stop calais . Arrival in calais we disembark and after gathering everyone together we are off once again the french are very accomadating and show great patience as we pass each junction after a fuel stop enroute we arrive at disney land my passengers are sat in a stunned silence not quite believing the magnitude of the day and i start to see the magic of disney taking its effect . This is the culmination of a tremendous effort of only 8 people on the commitee who voluteer along with all the helpers , medical support , the police and the aa everyone gives there time for free . We get settled into our rooms and we have the evening to take a rest for tomorrow is going to be a very very exciting day .
7 am 3 oct 09 everybody is awake i dont think many children got a good nights sleep too much excitement and after a hearty breakfast we make our way to the park , i am delighted to see everyone`s face filled with smiles and anticipation at the possibility of what awaits them we file in through the turnstiles and are greeted by the passing halloween parade its only 9-30 am and already the magic is working , we get a map and the children decide the days events , and believe me they are not leaving anything out form buzz lightyear to the tower of terror . After many hair raising rides we finally make it back to main street just in time for the disney parade BREATHTAKING is all i can say the children are mesmorised as character after character passes by on specially made floats music blaring a brilliant end to a brilliant day , the children look shattered but unbeknown to them there is more in store for the organisers have arranged a gala dinner and disco in one of the hotels so we head back to change into our finest clothes for tonight events . We arrive at the hotel and are served a feast of chicken nuggets and smiley faces followed by choclate cake a real kids delight then the disco starts followed by guest appearances by the disney vips mickey , minnie , goofy , pluto , chip n dale , donald and daisy every child gets an autograph and a picture along with some lucky ones getting to boogey on the dance floor with there favourite characters this has truly been one amazing day and the work that this charity does is mind blowing these children have been on the trip of a lifetime im sure they won`t forget it in a hurry i know i won`t
9 am 4 oct 09 departure day the long trip home listening to the children recount their favourite bits of the weekend one of lifes true delight`s , i feel very priviliged to have been involved in this trip its my forth year and im already looking forwards to next year when once more hopefully i get to see the magic of disney light up another childs eyes and bring a smile to another childs face
evreryone can join in with the trip if you log onto www.magicaltaxitour.com and make a small donation i can honestly tell you not one penny of your money is spent on salaries or entertaining it all goes towards making next years trip as spectacular as this years and bringing a ray of sunshine into the lives of those who really need it !
