MsPennieLane
<font color=660099>Self-confessed Disney addict<br
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2003
- Messages
- 904
Saturday 31st Jan
Were up early to finish sorting things out. We have our usual brekkie at Everything Pop. Check out time is 11am so hubby sorts the bill out while I get the camcorder out and film a few bits. I also use the camcorder to film the 7 Must Sees as WDW as I love it and it shows all the rides, so if Im feeling blue I can watch it sad case! Were off just after 11. Hubby loads up the car and we have a last wander round Pop Century, taking piccies of all the years and icons.
70s staircase
70s area
Petals - the 60's pool bar
60s area
Hourglass Lake and Generation Gap Bridge which leads to the other Pop Century buildings
the other Pop Century buildings - not sure why they stopped working on it
the back entrance to Classics Hall
the Pop Century luggage carts
We then start our journey to Sanford Airport. Im not really sad at leaving, I just want to get home as by now Im missing the pets. We had a wonderful holiday but Ive had enough now. Were within 10 miles of the airport and driving up Lake Mary Boulevard when we start noticing places to eat. Im getting peckish and am wondering if there is a Chilis. My eagle eye is out everywhere and hubby asks me what Im looking for. Nothing I reply. And I spot it a lovely Chilis and were near the turning. I start eeking and pointing and hubby just makes the turning. What a send off a lovely last Chilis. Yeah I know I had one last night but so what? We go in and nab our table before tucking into our lovely boneless shanghai wings for the last time. We have a burger each with no chips and some drinks. Im a happy bunny as we continue our drive to the airport. I'm intrigued by the drive thru bank over the road - I've never seen one before.
I hate flying so my nerves start. We leave our lovely car behind at Dollar and head into the terminal building.
The Sunshine First queue only has one couple in it so we queue patiently. Theres a woman near us rummaging through her bags and Andy says looks like she cant find her tickets. Then its our turn. After a minute of the attendant faffing round, she finally looks at our tickets. She then informs us that our flight isnt leaving until tomorrow now. What?? Our flight is still at Gatwick due to technical faults. Again. Apparently it took off then had to turn around soon after take off and go back to Gatwick. Were being put up in a hotel until tomorrow. Im in shock. Were given a minute to go through our bags to get what we need before checking it in ready for tomorrow. Were told a coach will be along in about 10-15 minutes. We find what we want and we then wander off to the Travel City welcome desk to find out where to catch the coach. Were not the only ones wandering round and a family are told to wait by Customs. Wheres that they ask? Somewhere outside, youll find it how bloody helpful!!
So after a few minutes, theres a queue of people building up behind us. 10 minutes later, a coach pulls up and we manage to get on it. A Travel City rep is walking round the coach handing out phonecards. He hands us one and carries on. We notice him giving one each to the gay couple sat behind us. Andy nabs him and asks how long the phonecards last. 5 minutes!! Bloody insult or what? Andy tells the guy that it wont be enough as we have a few calls to make to sort stuff out so is it possible that we could have another. No, he snaps at us and says that there are 440 + people on this flight. But you just gave 2 to the gay couple behind us I pipe up. He blatantly ignores me and walks away. How rude can you get! Were soon on our way and were told were being taken to the Radisson Twin Towers by Universal. Once were on our way, I start crying and dont stop until were there. I guess its frustration and that fact that I cant wait to get home. So we get there and are directed to reception. Were given a room key and 2 vouchers, one for dinner and one for breakfast. There are 17 floors in the place but luckily were only on the 2nd floor. We find our room and its quite plush and its definitely better than what we expected.
We dump our bag and have a look around. The hotel looks really nice with a few posh shops. We find the food court and restaurant and theres also a bar. We find phones and decide we need a phonecard so buy a $20 one at the gift shop. We phone home and let both sets of parents know whats happening. We watch a little TV in our room and head down to dinner about 6.30. Its a buffet were told, great we think. We got up and .oh. All there is laid out is rice, lumpy mash, soggy veg, chewy beef and not so nice looking chicken. And thats it. The food is vile and cold. I cant understand why the other non Travel City guests dont eat here, unless theyve been whisked off somewhere else to eat. I figure this feast has been put together for us. Andy spots the dessert table great we think, well make up for the dire food. Nope the desserts are frozen solid! So all those nice gateaus and cheesecakes, we cant dig into them at all. Disgruntled, we leave and go upstairs. Im feeling crummy about not getting home and we decide to stay in our room rather than go to the bar downstairs. There are some good films on the box so were in good company. We have on idea where we are so hubby goes down to ask if theres a 7-11 nearby. The queue at the reception desk is huge, some people from our flight are still arriving! Theres a woman dressed like a stewardess so Andy approaches her. It turns out she is staying at our hotel and Travel City have given her the info and not sent anyone themselves. She doesnt even work for them! Chickens! So despite promises that someone will meet us at the hotel, were told that someone will come in the morning. The poor woman knows nowt except that well be picked up by coach at 10.30 the next morning. Shes handing out letters and its full of stuff we already know. It shouldve been given to us at the airport but theyve been given to this woman to hand out at the hotel instead. Charming! Hubby brings it up to me and says that there is a store near the pub over the road. Apparently air crews stay at this hotel all the time and they drink in the pub over the road rather than the hotel bar says it all really. Hubby wants beer so he goes for a wander. 10 minutes later hes back with a 6 pack of beer.
i'm bored - can you tell?
We settle down to watch the Matrix and by the end of it, Im starving. I notice a menu for Pizza Hut Express at the food court and off we go for some. As we leave the room, were astounded by the amount of pizza hut boxes everywhere, just dumped outside peoples rooms. Looks like everyones had the same idea then, were laughing all the way downstairs about it. Theres even people eating it in the food court while we wait for ours. Its divine and much needed. By 12.30 Ive had enough so its off to bed not before setting the alarm so we dont miss the coach.
Sunday 1st Feb
Were up at 8 and shower before going for breakfast. Were dubious after last nights fiasco but go anyway. Theres cereal and bread with a toaster. Theres also fried food which I dont fancy but I go look anyway. Yuk is all I can say. The scrambled egg is cold and the sausages and bacon are sitting in their own grease. It looks nasty. I settle for cereal and 2 slices of bread. Hubby has toast. At 10am, we leave our room and go to the lobby to wait. Its full of passengers from our flight. Again, no one from Travel City shows up its disgraceful! Coaches start arriving so we start to queue up. Were head counted and then go to the coaches. The driver of our coach is English and hes put a Cliff Richard in Concert video on for us. Talk about torture as if we havent been through enough! Were soon at Sanford and were straight through to the terminal. We go through security and show our passports and were given lunch vouchers for a huge $7 each. Woopee not!
Weve got bookings for the Guest House so off we go to find it. Its shut. Great. We go to the snack bar and ask and the woman rings round, then tells us to give them 10 minutes. Half an hour later, it finally opens. Were given wristbands so we can come and go. We dump our luggage then get a much needed drink. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets starts on the big screen, yay. I watch a bit then check mail. The 3 PCs are all so slow, plus their browser is Netscape which is pure crap! We cant check our Freeserve mail as it doesnt support Netscape. We head off for food half hour later. The $7 doesnt go far at the snack bar. The burgers alone without chips are nearly $5. The only food is burgers, chicken burgers, chicken selects, onion rings and chips. There are a few salads in a fridge and a couple of rolls and thats your lot. Andy gets some money out so we can get more than what weve been allowed for. Fed and watered, we find a phone so I can ring my mum and let her know when were taking off. Im absolutely crapping myself by this time and dreading the flight. We go into the Duty Free shop and spy the biggest bottle of JD Ive ever seen in my life. Its 3 litres! We know we can only get 1 litre each so we buy the 2 litre bottle for my brother, who is a huge JD fan. At $33 it works out the same as a 70cl bottle in the UK. There are no fags for him though so we hope theyll sell B&H on the flight, as thats the only thing hes actually asked us to bring back for him.
We go back to the Guest House and catch the end of Harry Potter. Then a film called Kate & Leopold comes on not interested. We spend a bit of time online then get bored. I explore the paper shop in the terminal and buy a couple of magazines to read. Back at the Guest House, My Big Fat Greek Wedding starts I love this film and settle down to watch. Half an hour in, were told were boarding typical! We go to the gate and they call rows 1-5 which is sunshine first then 45-75 which we dont quite understand. Again, everyones pushing and shoving to get through. It takes ages to get to security and all our bags are searched. We have the family from hell in front of us who fight and squabble all the way and we want to deck them. Thank god theyre not in our section! Eventually, we get on board. No bottles of water await us this time but after 10 minutes we are asked if wed like champagne or bucks fizz and we both opt for just orange juice. Im even more nervous than before. Were 20 minutes late leaving. Our films this time are The Italian Job, Charlies Angels 2 and Freaky Friday. Except no Freaky Friday. We go through all the channels and its just not there. I watch Charlies Angels 2, then I find Calendar Girls starting so I watch that, before watching Charlies Angels 2 again. Dinner is a potato salad starter, with either beef or chicken then cheesecake for pud. Cheese and biscuits are offered again. I dont sleep a wink the entire flight as Im still crapping myself and the turbulence is terrible. Everyone else sleeps so I get no service. Luckily I have a bottle of pop as I dont see a hostess for hours. An hour and a half before landing, its breakfast time. And its dire. Fruit salad and a croissant, yucky orange juice and yoghurt. Pah. By the time we land at 7.38, Im in tears with relief. Our baggage is quite quick, despite a 5 minute wait to find out where to get it from. We walk through customs and 2 men are sat there as if theyre waiting for someone. Well it werent us thank god. My mums waiting for us at arrivals and shes tearful so Im tearful and we blub. Shed been up all night panicking coz she could tell I was crapping myself about the flight. Finally its off to Mums and Im relieved to be home.
After the experience weve had, we wont be using Travel City Direct again. Their planes are old and from what Ive heard and read since being home, the delays due to technical problems arent that unusual. Since we've been home, they have stopped using EAL and are now using Excel planes or Air Atlanta. Im a nervous flyer as it is so all this technical crap just makes me worse. The other thing that irritated us is the fact that apart from the rude rep with the phonecards, Travel City never sent a rep to us as they promised, instead asking some woman to talk to us who didnt even work for them. Its terrible, and their 5 minute phonecard was a total insult. I did complain to them but they had the audacity to calls us liars and said everybody was happy and basically we were just after money from them, which is rubbish! We did get £40 compensation from our travel insurance which is better than a poke in the eye. Despite this, we had a wicked holiday. I'm still a nervous flyer but I intend to stock up on sleeping pills next time and try to sleep through the whole thing! I am also tempted to do the Fear of Flying course that Virgin do to see if that helps me.
High points:
Pop Century except for the crowds!
Boma
Popeye & Blutos Bilge Rat Barges
The Hard Rock Hotel words fail me still!
Low points:
The delays
Being sick after Spidey
Disney being too crowded.
Hope you've enjoyed reading these and seeing our pics as much as I've enjoyed posting them.
Were up early to finish sorting things out. We have our usual brekkie at Everything Pop. Check out time is 11am so hubby sorts the bill out while I get the camcorder out and film a few bits. I also use the camcorder to film the 7 Must Sees as WDW as I love it and it shows all the rides, so if Im feeling blue I can watch it sad case! Were off just after 11. Hubby loads up the car and we have a last wander round Pop Century, taking piccies of all the years and icons.
70s staircase
70s area
Petals - the 60's pool bar
60s area
Hourglass Lake and Generation Gap Bridge which leads to the other Pop Century buildings
the other Pop Century buildings - not sure why they stopped working on it
the back entrance to Classics Hall
the Pop Century luggage carts
We then start our journey to Sanford Airport. Im not really sad at leaving, I just want to get home as by now Im missing the pets. We had a wonderful holiday but Ive had enough now. Were within 10 miles of the airport and driving up Lake Mary Boulevard when we start noticing places to eat. Im getting peckish and am wondering if there is a Chilis. My eagle eye is out everywhere and hubby asks me what Im looking for. Nothing I reply. And I spot it a lovely Chilis and were near the turning. I start eeking and pointing and hubby just makes the turning. What a send off a lovely last Chilis. Yeah I know I had one last night but so what? We go in and nab our table before tucking into our lovely boneless shanghai wings for the last time. We have a burger each with no chips and some drinks. Im a happy bunny as we continue our drive to the airport. I'm intrigued by the drive thru bank over the road - I've never seen one before.
I hate flying so my nerves start. We leave our lovely car behind at Dollar and head into the terminal building.
The Sunshine First queue only has one couple in it so we queue patiently. Theres a woman near us rummaging through her bags and Andy says looks like she cant find her tickets. Then its our turn. After a minute of the attendant faffing round, she finally looks at our tickets. She then informs us that our flight isnt leaving until tomorrow now. What?? Our flight is still at Gatwick due to technical faults. Again. Apparently it took off then had to turn around soon after take off and go back to Gatwick. Were being put up in a hotel until tomorrow. Im in shock. Were given a minute to go through our bags to get what we need before checking it in ready for tomorrow. Were told a coach will be along in about 10-15 minutes. We find what we want and we then wander off to the Travel City welcome desk to find out where to catch the coach. Were not the only ones wandering round and a family are told to wait by Customs. Wheres that they ask? Somewhere outside, youll find it how bloody helpful!!
So after a few minutes, theres a queue of people building up behind us. 10 minutes later, a coach pulls up and we manage to get on it. A Travel City rep is walking round the coach handing out phonecards. He hands us one and carries on. We notice him giving one each to the gay couple sat behind us. Andy nabs him and asks how long the phonecards last. 5 minutes!! Bloody insult or what? Andy tells the guy that it wont be enough as we have a few calls to make to sort stuff out so is it possible that we could have another. No, he snaps at us and says that there are 440 + people on this flight. But you just gave 2 to the gay couple behind us I pipe up. He blatantly ignores me and walks away. How rude can you get! Were soon on our way and were told were being taken to the Radisson Twin Towers by Universal. Once were on our way, I start crying and dont stop until were there. I guess its frustration and that fact that I cant wait to get home. So we get there and are directed to reception. Were given a room key and 2 vouchers, one for dinner and one for breakfast. There are 17 floors in the place but luckily were only on the 2nd floor. We find our room and its quite plush and its definitely better than what we expected.
We dump our bag and have a look around. The hotel looks really nice with a few posh shops. We find the food court and restaurant and theres also a bar. We find phones and decide we need a phonecard so buy a $20 one at the gift shop. We phone home and let both sets of parents know whats happening. We watch a little TV in our room and head down to dinner about 6.30. Its a buffet were told, great we think. We got up and .oh. All there is laid out is rice, lumpy mash, soggy veg, chewy beef and not so nice looking chicken. And thats it. The food is vile and cold. I cant understand why the other non Travel City guests dont eat here, unless theyve been whisked off somewhere else to eat. I figure this feast has been put together for us. Andy spots the dessert table great we think, well make up for the dire food. Nope the desserts are frozen solid! So all those nice gateaus and cheesecakes, we cant dig into them at all. Disgruntled, we leave and go upstairs. Im feeling crummy about not getting home and we decide to stay in our room rather than go to the bar downstairs. There are some good films on the box so were in good company. We have on idea where we are so hubby goes down to ask if theres a 7-11 nearby. The queue at the reception desk is huge, some people from our flight are still arriving! Theres a woman dressed like a stewardess so Andy approaches her. It turns out she is staying at our hotel and Travel City have given her the info and not sent anyone themselves. She doesnt even work for them! Chickens! So despite promises that someone will meet us at the hotel, were told that someone will come in the morning. The poor woman knows nowt except that well be picked up by coach at 10.30 the next morning. Shes handing out letters and its full of stuff we already know. It shouldve been given to us at the airport but theyve been given to this woman to hand out at the hotel instead. Charming! Hubby brings it up to me and says that there is a store near the pub over the road. Apparently air crews stay at this hotel all the time and they drink in the pub over the road rather than the hotel bar says it all really. Hubby wants beer so he goes for a wander. 10 minutes later hes back with a 6 pack of beer.
i'm bored - can you tell?
We settle down to watch the Matrix and by the end of it, Im starving. I notice a menu for Pizza Hut Express at the food court and off we go for some. As we leave the room, were astounded by the amount of pizza hut boxes everywhere, just dumped outside peoples rooms. Looks like everyones had the same idea then, were laughing all the way downstairs about it. Theres even people eating it in the food court while we wait for ours. Its divine and much needed. By 12.30 Ive had enough so its off to bed not before setting the alarm so we dont miss the coach.
Sunday 1st Feb
Were up at 8 and shower before going for breakfast. Were dubious after last nights fiasco but go anyway. Theres cereal and bread with a toaster. Theres also fried food which I dont fancy but I go look anyway. Yuk is all I can say. The scrambled egg is cold and the sausages and bacon are sitting in their own grease. It looks nasty. I settle for cereal and 2 slices of bread. Hubby has toast. At 10am, we leave our room and go to the lobby to wait. Its full of passengers from our flight. Again, no one from Travel City shows up its disgraceful! Coaches start arriving so we start to queue up. Were head counted and then go to the coaches. The driver of our coach is English and hes put a Cliff Richard in Concert video on for us. Talk about torture as if we havent been through enough! Were soon at Sanford and were straight through to the terminal. We go through security and show our passports and were given lunch vouchers for a huge $7 each. Woopee not!
Weve got bookings for the Guest House so off we go to find it. Its shut. Great. We go to the snack bar and ask and the woman rings round, then tells us to give them 10 minutes. Half an hour later, it finally opens. Were given wristbands so we can come and go. We dump our luggage then get a much needed drink. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets starts on the big screen, yay. I watch a bit then check mail. The 3 PCs are all so slow, plus their browser is Netscape which is pure crap! We cant check our Freeserve mail as it doesnt support Netscape. We head off for food half hour later. The $7 doesnt go far at the snack bar. The burgers alone without chips are nearly $5. The only food is burgers, chicken burgers, chicken selects, onion rings and chips. There are a few salads in a fridge and a couple of rolls and thats your lot. Andy gets some money out so we can get more than what weve been allowed for. Fed and watered, we find a phone so I can ring my mum and let her know when were taking off. Im absolutely crapping myself by this time and dreading the flight. We go into the Duty Free shop and spy the biggest bottle of JD Ive ever seen in my life. Its 3 litres! We know we can only get 1 litre each so we buy the 2 litre bottle for my brother, who is a huge JD fan. At $33 it works out the same as a 70cl bottle in the UK. There are no fags for him though so we hope theyll sell B&H on the flight, as thats the only thing hes actually asked us to bring back for him.
We go back to the Guest House and catch the end of Harry Potter. Then a film called Kate & Leopold comes on not interested. We spend a bit of time online then get bored. I explore the paper shop in the terminal and buy a couple of magazines to read. Back at the Guest House, My Big Fat Greek Wedding starts I love this film and settle down to watch. Half an hour in, were told were boarding typical! We go to the gate and they call rows 1-5 which is sunshine first then 45-75 which we dont quite understand. Again, everyones pushing and shoving to get through. It takes ages to get to security and all our bags are searched. We have the family from hell in front of us who fight and squabble all the way and we want to deck them. Thank god theyre not in our section! Eventually, we get on board. No bottles of water await us this time but after 10 minutes we are asked if wed like champagne or bucks fizz and we both opt for just orange juice. Im even more nervous than before. Were 20 minutes late leaving. Our films this time are The Italian Job, Charlies Angels 2 and Freaky Friday. Except no Freaky Friday. We go through all the channels and its just not there. I watch Charlies Angels 2, then I find Calendar Girls starting so I watch that, before watching Charlies Angels 2 again. Dinner is a potato salad starter, with either beef or chicken then cheesecake for pud. Cheese and biscuits are offered again. I dont sleep a wink the entire flight as Im still crapping myself and the turbulence is terrible. Everyone else sleeps so I get no service. Luckily I have a bottle of pop as I dont see a hostess for hours. An hour and a half before landing, its breakfast time. And its dire. Fruit salad and a croissant, yucky orange juice and yoghurt. Pah. By the time we land at 7.38, Im in tears with relief. Our baggage is quite quick, despite a 5 minute wait to find out where to get it from. We walk through customs and 2 men are sat there as if theyre waiting for someone. Well it werent us thank god. My mums waiting for us at arrivals and shes tearful so Im tearful and we blub. Shed been up all night panicking coz she could tell I was crapping myself about the flight. Finally its off to Mums and Im relieved to be home.
After the experience weve had, we wont be using Travel City Direct again. Their planes are old and from what Ive heard and read since being home, the delays due to technical problems arent that unusual. Since we've been home, they have stopped using EAL and are now using Excel planes or Air Atlanta. Im a nervous flyer as it is so all this technical crap just makes me worse. The other thing that irritated us is the fact that apart from the rude rep with the phonecards, Travel City never sent a rep to us as they promised, instead asking some woman to talk to us who didnt even work for them. Its terrible, and their 5 minute phonecard was a total insult. I did complain to them but they had the audacity to calls us liars and said everybody was happy and basically we were just after money from them, which is rubbish! We did get £40 compensation from our travel insurance which is better than a poke in the eye. Despite this, we had a wicked holiday. I'm still a nervous flyer but I intend to stock up on sleeping pills next time and try to sleep through the whole thing! I am also tempted to do the Fear of Flying course that Virgin do to see if that helps me.
High points:
Pop Century except for the crowds!
Boma
Popeye & Blutos Bilge Rat Barges
The Hard Rock Hotel words fail me still!
Low points:
The delays
Being sick after Spidey
Disney being too crowded.
Hope you've enjoyed reading these and seeing our pics as much as I've enjoyed posting them.
We're flying with Virgin, Premium Economy this time and we're staying at Pop Century again, we loved it that much. We're staying for 2 weeks. I've never been for Christmas before so am really looking forward to it 
When we went in 2003 it was his first longhaul flight and by the end of it he was swearing never again, but then he fell in love with Florida and he was hooked. Am hoping to go to Mickey's Christmas Party and see the Osbourne Lights. I know it'll be busy but it'll be sooo worth it. Who knows we may bump into each other 
