A Very British Trip Report - Oct 2006 - Day 2

[Hilary]

I’ve got a good feeling about this holiday.

Me too, and I'm only reading about it

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Just a couple of photos of the villa. I'm leaving the real photography type stuff to Matt, he's the expert.

villa front

bathroom

Kev

 

[Miffy2003]

Looking forward to your reports as always, Kev. The villa looks out of this world!

 

[Boss Hogg]

I'm leaving the real photography type stuff to Matt, he's the expert.

A confession is about due from me. For some reason I have very few pictures of the villa I am afraid. My most humble apologies

 

[UKDEB]

Next up is Cars. Now I have enjoyed all the Pixar films, but I don’t think this is one of their best. It’s entertaining enough but it is a bit of a clichéd story. Didn’t Michael J. Fox play a very similar role in Doc Hollywood?

The first of my (many ) disagreements with Kev this trip. I loved Cars and am peeved to discover that we were 2 days too early flying home to catch the US release on DVD. We can't buy it here for another 3 weeks. Doc Hollywood is one of my favourite films and I enjoyed Cars way more than I expected. Being a recent fan of both Country music and Larry the Cable Guy didn't hurt.

It is interesting to see the difference in the time it takes our two parties to get through the airport as Deb and Matt disembark first on PE and we are in the very rear of the plane. We both make it through to the car hire desks in a similar time. The hold up doesn’t seem to be at Immigration, but rather in the time it takes to pick up your luggage.

Kev and I had a bet about the likely difference in getting through the airport. I have to say that I was amazed that there was acutally very little in it. I'd always convinced myself that flying PE helped our passage no end, and a nightmare 2 hour stint following our Economy flights in April did nothing to alter that opinion. Matt and I had a few unlucky breaks this time - although we were first through Immigration, our bags were slow coming off (quite a few Economy passengers had their bags and were through Customs ahead of us), we were held up at the car hire desk (our USRentaCar reservation wasn't recorded on Alamo's system so, even with the 'Direct to Road' option, we were at the desk for 20 minutes rather than the 5 we'd expected) and we abandoned our usual tried and tested method (Matt goes for the car whilst I go for the bags) in a bid to get our whole party away as quickly as possible. In reality, though, I think we could only ever have had a maximum of about 20 minutes head-start. If we got what we paid for with PE (i.e. our bags offloaded ahead of Economy), then it would be a different story. To be fair, this is the first time at MCO that this hasn't happened - usually our bags are off very quickly. Ironically, on the way home, we sailed through Gatwick and had collected our luggage before most other passengers had left the plane (we were first off and they then had to close the doors due to a problem with the jetway). Normally, the baggage handlers at Gatwick show absolutely no interest in the UC/PE priority.

 

[jockey]

Debbie, I know what you mean about PE, we have had a few instances when our bags have came off well after Econ passengers. It doesn't bother me too much until I get to the car hire desk then we have to wait aapprox 45mins!

The villa looks lovely, shame you don't have more pics Matt

 

[Olaf]

Kevin,

I saw your mug in the shownotes at Mousetunes, ( http://www.mousetunes.com/shownotes/mousetunes_110506.php ) and headed over here to take a gander at your trip report. Excellent as usual. What did you think of Ragland Road? I have ressies there in December. Planning a dinner with the family (locals). Darling sister-in-law is less than thrilled with my choice of venues. Please tell me it's a winner.

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Hi Steph

I had mixed impressions of Raglan Road. We were not in the best place to enjoy the entertainment as we were in a little annex and it felt a bit out of the way. The singer sounded quite good and I would think the atmosphere in here later in the evening would be very good.

The food was ok, but I wouldn't rave about it like some do. That's not to say it was bad, just not tremendously better than other places.

I think you'll have a good time, especially if you are there later in the evening. We certainly enjoyed the DIS Meet.

Kev

 

[mandymouse]

Now Kev - if you had really wanted to get your hair, nails and make-up done, then I'm sure we would've had a whip round for you

I look forward to your reports from the Park

 

[Boss Hogg]

Now Kev - if you had really wanted to get your hair, nails and make-up done, then I'm sure we would've had a whip round for you

I for one, would certainly have paid to see that!!

 

[squitty]

Villa looks amazing

Another great report.

 

[florida sun]

Brilliant Kev, Fab Villa, looking forward to reading more

 

[UKANGEL]

fab photos of the villa...not at all jealous.......

 

[Slimey_snake]

Another excellent report...I am off work this week (sick) so this is really cheering me up. Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[arieljasmine]

Thanks for sharing, Kev. The villa looks and sounds amazing, especially the whirlpool bath.

ArielJasmine

 

[KayleeUK]

Lovely villa - great pick Deb