Fly on Friday the 13th?? Yep, we`ll turn superstition into 23 nights of fun!! A Sept/Oct 2024 TR

[Deb1993]

Looking forward to reading about your trip!!

 

[disneyseniors]

Glad you made it home, and in record time too! You sure dodged the bullet with the hurricane coming into Florida on Wednesday. Good timing Eagerly awaiting your TR.

 

[kbelle8995]

Glad you are home. Hurricane Milton is going to be very bad.

 

[schumigirl]

Looking forward to reading about your trip!!

Thanks!!

I can`t wait to start it

 

[schumigirl]

Glad you made it home, and in record time too! You sure dodged the bullet with the hurricane coming into Florida on Wednesday. Good timing Eagerly awaiting your TR.

Thanks Ruth, sheer dumb luck with the dates this time.

We were lucky with Helene not making much of an impact on Orlando, all we got was an evening of rain while we were in Strong Water, this one looks very different.

Hoping to maybe start by the weekend or early next week at the latest!

 

[schumigirl]

Glad you are home. Hurricane Milton is going to be very bad.

Thanks kbelle, we were very happy to get out safely before there was any impact, but it is going to be a very bad one. Obviously concerned about everyone over there in the path.

Hope you and your family are going to be safe too!!!

 

[schumigirl]

​

Woke up an hour ago asking Tom which hotel we were in! Annoying as we stayed up till midnight thinking we’d be really tired, seems not after just over 3hrs.

Think we snoozed too much during the day!

Camomile tea might help, failing that…….night time cold meds!

 

[schumigirl]

Well hello again, and a very warm welcome back!!!

It feels such a long time since I started this way back whenever and now it`s autumn with some very cool temps here, right now our mornings are around 38F which is a big change from orlando, but today our weather is glorious sunshine, albeit a little chilly!! But, time to get started on this one, jet lag has gone, it only took a week, so no excuses now.

I do hope you enjoy it and it`s always lovely to have you all along for the memories!!!





TRAVEL DAY

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH



Usually our travel day, we are normally tired as we have barely slept, but this morning we both said we`d had an amazing sleep so although we may not have looked very refreshed, we felt it. We`d had such a good day yesterday, we went with Kyle to the Mercedes dealership to pick up his new car, absolutely beautiful and well deserved for him, we enjoyed some time back at our home admiring it, then we all had Chinese takeout before he headed home. We would facetime him a couple of times if it worked out with his schedule.

We got packed up, doesn`t take long really, we had put a few bits in last night and then we did sit up a little later than planned, but slept like babies when we did go to bed.

I`m always up first so got showered and dressed before organising my last minute toiletries and someone else`s too!!! He is very organised usually, but always forgets something, but he worries about the passports and all the serious issues, so I can find the time to check he has all he needs....perfect partnership again!!! I also remember to take my birthday cards that had been sent to me, I`ll open them in Orlando once we`re in the hotel.

I was making us croissants for breakfast this morning and our last pot of home brewed real tea for a while so we savoured that and looked to see that our car service would be here soon, they are never late and as predicted they were here about 15 minutes early.

It takes about three hours or so to get up to Manchester and the drive was incident free which is always good and the weather was decent for a change, it rains a lot in Manchester!

We chat all the way up with the lady who has driven us for years, she is so nice, very reliable and we talk about everything under the sun, usually food gets in there somehow. But today she tells us that out of all the people they take to the airport before a trip, and there are a lot of airport runs, but she says we are the couple that gets most excited and vocal about our trips, she said she can feel the excitement from us. And she`s right, we do love our time away together, it is nice to be just the two of us now, but we did alway enjoy our family vacations with the three of us when Kyle came with us, just a little bit different.

Arrived at the Radisson at the airport just after midday which was perfectly timed for lunch.











You are dropped off on the lower level where all the conferences are held and we`re glad it hasn`t started raining yet till we get inside.

We took the elevator up to third floor and the place was deserted today, no one at all at check in which is ideal. There used to be a dedicated Executive level check in area on the 9th floor, but Covid stopped that with staffing levels, so it`s all on the main desk now which is fine as you used to have to wait as the upstairs desk wasn`t always fully manned.

As check in is 3pm, we don`t expect the room to be ready, we planned to drop off luggage and go for lunch, but the lady tells us as we are premier members (didn`t know that) we have an early check in, so our room is ready and we can go straight up, they have also given us an airport view, not the most scenic I admit, but we do like it. It used to just be a request if you wanted that view, but like most companies, they realised folks will pay for it, so it is now an extra charge that we tend not to bother with as we have the lounge where we can watch the comings and goings of the airport.

The Executive Lounge is on the 9th floor and every room on this floor has access to it, for all there are a lot of rooms on here, we have only ever found it to be excessively busy one time way back in 2017, usually it`s fairly peaceful. ​

It`s a few years since this hotel had a refurb, but it still looks in good condition, but always immaculately clean which is so important in a hotel room.

Beds are super comfy!!! ​

The not so lovely view, but it looks so pretty when it`s dark and all the runway lights are twinkling outside, but right now, it just looks grey!

We do differ with the drapes here, I would have them wide open so I can see the lights during the night as I do wake up a few times when we`re here, but Tom would have the room in complete darkness, we do compromise.....a little.

I open them back up fully once he`s asleep!!
​

The coffee machine we never use, it is nice having water in the room, I did notice the fridge is no longer empty but they have it set up as a mini bar again with very overpriced miniatures that we won`t touch. I`m going to guess with the lounge next door where everything is complimentary, they won`t make much off the mini bar in the rooms.
​

The closet holds items such as the iron and board, extra towels, robes, slippers and the mini safe which we do utilise.
​

A hotel bathroom is never usually much to get excited about and this one is no different, however they have now included the dreaded communal hand wash, shampoo and shower gel which I abhor. We knew they were coming as the fittings were in place last November when we last stayed, so it wasn`t a surprise. It looks cheap and I know that`s why they do it, it`s cheaper than the little individual plastic bottles, but they`re not for me. ​

We headed down for lunch, I was as is usual, quite hungry by now, so we said we`d stop by the lounge on the way down as it`s usually empty this time of day, it`s nice for pictures of the lounge without anyone else in it.

This is outside the lounge and used to be where the executive lounge check in desk used to be, not sure I`ve ever seen anyone sit here but I`m sure they do at some point. ​

It was quiet, there were a couple of convention people in, something we don`t usually see here, but only three of them so we snapped some pictures and you could see them think we were a little soft in the head doing it, but who cares what anyone else thinks. Convention people do get a special mention later in the TR!!!! They know who they are

During the day they have little snacks and soft drinks available including teas and coffee as well as juices and potato chips.....crisps to us!

There is no alcohol out till 5pm and last few years they have strenuously enforced a no children after 5pm rule, which is nice as not every parent stops their kids running around, it is a shame though if your kids are well behaved and you want to enjoy the lounge. I will say we have never once seen any bad adult behaviour through alcohol in here despite it being help yourself.

The lounge has plenty of seating of different kinds, high tops, individual seats for the solo or those who like to just kinda be on their own and the main seats are sofa style, which....not going to lie, they are not the comfiest and the cushions are dreadful!! We always put them on the other chair till we leave, but it is a nice place to spend some time on the evening before a trip.

Our trip starts as soon as we get here, this is our tradition and one we enjoy and it`s always to the Little M Bar in the lobby.

This is one of two food options here and the only one open at lunchtime, it`s perfect of us as it has sandwiches, pizza, a few hot dishes and salads.

It is a reasonably sized bar and plenty of seating, and the staff here are usually very nice, very friendly and very efficient. They have a lot of Polish staff in this hotel and I can see why.

Our first tradition of each trip is to start with a bottle of fizz, that`s the first thing we do and we toast to another amazing trip, we never know what`s in front of us, but always hope for an amazing time.

Tom orders his usual favourite sandwich, Club, this one is a little different, they must have changed it slightly, but he still enjoys it and there was a lot of chicken on it which is never a complaint.

I opted for their chicken caesar salad, which came with a poached egg, which I do love, except this egg was almost hard boiled, so I passed on it, but the salad was lovely with the freshest tasting dressing.

We sit and chat for a time after lunch which was lovely, then decide to head back to the lounge and have a cuppa and do the online check in for our flight tomorrow.

This is one of our favourite times as the whole trip is all in front of us.




More to follow

 

[disneyseniors]

Hey, I'm first for once I love reading your trip reports! It gets me in the spirit for our trip in 3 weeks!!! I like the idea of your stay before the trip. We are staying overnight in Minneapolis the day before our trip, as our house is 4 1/2 hours from Minneapolis. It's nice to get a good night's sleep (hopefully) and not have to hurry to get to the airport. Love the number of lovely pictures you always include in your TR's

 

[schumigirl]

Hey, I'm first for once I love reading your trip reports! It gets me in the spirit for our trip in 3 weeks!!! I like the idea of your stay before the trip. We are staying overnight in Minneapolis the day before our trip, as our house is 4 1/2 hours from Minneapolis. It's nice to get a good night's sleep (hopefully) and not have to hurry to get to the airport. Love the number of lovely pictures you always include in your TR's

lol.....make sure you have a comfy chair!!

Thank you Ruth, and yes, your trip is so close now. Your son will be getting excited for the trip too. Is this his first time in a long time going to Universal? I forget what you said before about him and Universal.

I am a big advocate of staying overnight at the airport, especially when you live a distance away, you never know what can happen on the roads if you left middle of the night to get there in the morning, too stressful for us!! A nice evening in the hotel is the perfect way to start a trip.

And thank you again, glad you`re still along for this one

 

[macraven]

Well I would have been first on the new trip report if I hadn’t been posting to her minutes ago

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Woohoo! And we are off! I really am loving your new hair, very flattering

Once the bubbly comes out it is a trip

Thank you for sharing your adventures; I know we are all excited and ready for the Fun

 

[I-4Bound]

Hooray! Let’s go!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m in, excited to hear all about it!

 

[keishashadow]

Ckg in from Florida

 

[schumigirl]

Well I would have been first on the new trip report if I hadn’t been posting to her minutes ago

lol....I was reading it before I could let you know I had posted on here!!

 

[schumigirl]

Woohoo! And we are off! I really am loving your new hair, very flattering

Once the bubbly comes out it is a trip

Thank you for sharing your adventures; I know we are all excited and ready for the Fun

Oh thanks Maria, I spent so long thinking about getting the chop with the hair, then wished I had done it years ago lol.....

Yep, bubbly always signifies a nice celebration...or a Thursday

Glad you`re still along Maria

 

[schumigirl]

Hooray! Let’s go!

Yabba dabba doo......nice to see you Andrea!!

Going to try and finish this one in record time....well, that`s the plan!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

I’m in, excited to hear all about it!

Glad to see you Caroline and I do plan to wander over to catch yours soon, been lax in catching up.

One of these visits we`ll manage a meet up, this trip`s dates were unfortunate for us, but hope you had a wonderful trip too!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Ckg in from Florida

Yahooooooo......

I was hoping you`d pop by for a visit.....enjoy that heat and sunshine