Happy Anni-birth-aversary...A 33 night Celebration & HHN too.....SF & RPR September 2022 TR

[saskdw]

I detest seeing people being rude to TM`s. There`s never any excuse to yell or get annoyed at them, they`re doing their job to the best of their ability. We have seen folks be rude to staff far too often.

We sometimes think we live in a parallel universe, we never encounter rude or uninterested TM`s and I`m always a little bewildered when folks say the TM at Universal are terrible or "not like at Disney" In some cases it might say more about some folks attitude to TM`s than the TM`s themselves.

It's like the people who yell at the kid working at a gas station for minimum wage because the price of gas is too high. Like they have anything to do with that. Lol.

I'm a firm believer that it's how people interact with the TM's that can lead to a good or bad experience. If you treat people with respect 95% of the time you get that respect back. Some people bring the rudeness or bad service on themselves IMO.

 

[schumigirl]

It's like the people who yell at the kid working at a gas station for minimum wage because the price of gas is too high. Like they have anything to do with that. Lol.

I'm a firm believer that it's how people interact with the TM's that can lead to a good or bad experience. If you treat people with respect 95% of the time you get that respect back. Some people bring the rudeness or bad service on themselves IMO.

I completely agree.

When you hear folks complaining about how they`ve been treated, I do think depending on how they describe what happened, I will think yep, you may just have asked for a sharp tone back.

But, of course they don`t see it that way, it`s easy to dismiss TM`s as rude when they don`t tell some folks what they want to hear. I hate to hear folks being rude to staff anywhere.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

You had a fabulous last full day! And of course lots of sadness to be leaving. I love that photo with the club lounge staff. You all look so happy

I could never wait until the last day to pack. Good for you, with plenty of time to get it done and postponing the inevitable

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

What a wonderful trip from start to finish! I’ve loved reading along

 

[schumigirl]

You had a fabulous last full day! And of course lots of sadness to be leaving. I love that photo with the club lounge staff. You all look so happy

I could never wait until the last day to pack. Good for you, with plenty of time to get it done and postponing the inevitable

Yes, as we don`t leave the hotel till mid afternoon so we have plenty of time and for some reason we never do the parks last day, but we might change that habit in May as our flight home isn`t till something ridiculous like 10.30pm!!! That`s too long to just hang around.

I know some folks think it`s ridiculous I get upset leaving, but we do have such an attachment to everyone we know and the hotel itself of course, we`ve been staying there a long time, so it`s only natural to make attachments.

But, yes, airport and travel coming up soon......

 

[schumigirl]

What a wonderful trip from start to finish! I’ve loved reading along

Thank you...not long to go now, it`s taken a ridiculous amount of time to finish this one!! Far too long even for a five week trip.......

 

[DisGhost]

Thank you...not long to go now, it`s taken a ridiculous amount of time to finish this one!! Far too long even for a five week trip.......

Yeah I'm almost up to my next trip (18th-21st, yes I know it's a busy time but we are used to it!) and we already have our plans for Strong Water on the 19th.... and here I've been reading this ever since we got back from our December trip lol.

 

[schumigirl]

Yeah I'm almost up to my next trip (18th-21st, yes I know it's a busy time but we are used to it!) and we already have our plans for Strong Water on the 19th.... and here I've been reading this ever since we got back from our December trip lol.

Busy or not, you`ll have a great time I`m sure!!

I`m excited to hear about your trip, especially Strong Water.......they are just the best in there!!! The 18th is just over 2 weeks away now........

 

[schumigirl]

We hate leaving, who doesn`t. That journey to the airport is the most miserable feeling knowing we`re leaving this gorgeous sunshine and heading back to a very cool UK.

Folks think we`re a bit odd though as we love the flight, so we do look forward to that part of the journey despite knowing we`re heading home. But, the journey to the airport is as fast as always and I always have the desire to blow a raspberry as we approach the airport!! I refrain today as we are in the Uber.

This was our first time not dropping off a rental car and it`s kind of handy being dropped right at the gates. We get our luggage in and head left to where we know the VA drop off point is and we head to one part only to be told this was economy and PE was over the other side, a 30 second walk and we found it. Or should I say we heard it.......

The bag drop was almost deserted bar one family who were not happy at all and making everyone around aware of that. I think they were looking for seats together despite not booking them, but they also wanted specific seats for some reason. They began yelling at the staff, and the lady to her credit kept calm and I did laugh almost out loud when the irate woman yelled they had paid a fortune for these flights......the VA politely said and we thank you for that......lol.....she kept going as we got called forward to see the other lady. At that point the VA woman who was being yelled at came over towards where we were and I said I was so sorry she got yelled at like that, she said that was nothing, she`d had worse!! We got chatting and she asked which seats we had, I told her we had the two front seats of PE.

We try for the back two seats first, failing that the front two seats are our next favourite......she groaned as she said, oh that`s the seats they want and you`ve been so sweet!! She asked if we wanted to move, I said we`d rather not, but at the end of the day, airlines can and will move you for some reason or another. She said she felt bad as we had been so nice, but would try work it so we didn`t have to move.

We asked if our Global Entry numbers were on the ticket, which meant we got TSA Precheck, there had been one occasion where it wasn`t and we had to go through the regular line and it was a long line that day, so now we always check. It had been added and Precheck was on the ticket. That was something we had to do when we got back was renew our Global Entry, we still had a year, but we wanted it doing as soon as possible.

The staff there do an amazing job and trying to keep everyone happy can`t be easy. We had a gut feeling we`d be moved to different seats as they were yelling disability. We thanked them and moved off quickly as all three of our cases were all a tiny little bit over, but they hadn`t said anything so we were ok, no charges this time.

We headed through to the shops and had a quick wander all the time thinking we were going to get shafted to seats that wouldn`t have been ones we`d have chosen.....it was annoying as we carefully choose and book well in advance for that very reason, but there`s not much you can do really.

It was later in the afternoon now, and we headed up to the Hyatt where we were going to grab something to eat, but before that we were planning to Facetime Kyle. So upstairs we found a quiet corner away from the restaurant area and we got to chat to him for a while, it would be good to see him when we got home, we had missed him a lot of course. We chatted for about half an hour then headed over to the bar area.....it doesn`t open till 5pm in the open area, but the restaurant was open all day.

My favourite flag.......

McCoys is their everyday restaurant that has a lovely menu for daytime, in the evenings they offer sushi as well, but we`re always gone by then so we`ve never been able to try it. It`s a nice little place, never overly busy and staff are usually ok.

We got a table near the grill today and could also see the Sushi chef prep for the evening which we did enjoy while we studied the menu.

To be honest we weren`t overly hungry, lunch had been ok, but we quite enjoy plane food......yep another weird thing apparently according to our friends, but we`ve never had anything dreadful yet. But, we ordered a crawfish chowder and a small plate of their meatballs in a spicy bbq sauce, we would share those and I had wine, Tom had a beer.

Their Crawfish Chowder is beautiful. This is what Jake`s should taste like......it`s everything a chowder should be...although I`ve never been to Boston (yet) this is what I imagine real chowder tastes like.

The meatballs were also lovely, although they were a little too crumbly of a texture for me, I told Tom mine were better.......

We sat a little while as it`s nice and quiet up here in the restaurant, but eventually we went down to go through with our passports. The TSA Pre check line was non existant, and we got a lovely man today who was very nice, some can be quite distant, but this guy was very human. Going through without having to empty out laptops, cameras and removing shoes is wonderful.....it`s a much quicker process and easier. Although I did have to get searched manually today, no idea why as I went through the scanner. But, two minutes later we are heading on to the smallest train in the world to get to our gates.

Timing is everything and we had timed it so we wouldn`t be sitting at the gate area too long, so we popped into Duty Free and armed ourselves up with rum, pineapple vodka, coconut vodka and something else I forget now......we`ll pick those up when we get on the plane.

We buy some water and muffins as although we like the food on the plane, breakfast can be horrible or kind of ok, so we cover ourselves just in case. We plonked ourselves down near the gate and awaited the dreaded call of our names to make ourselves known to staff. Toom was ready to politely argue our case for not moving.......

And we had only sat down about 10 minutes when we heard the tannoy ask us to head to the check in desk for some information.......drat!!!!

A gentleman from VA approached us and explained they had a situation and they were trying to resolve it to everyone`s convenience......Tom said yes, we saw the family concerned be very rude to your staff at check in.......he looked a little embarrassed and then said, we do have to move you to accommodate someone else, but............

We`re moving you to UPPER CLASS!!!!!!

​

Now this was different!!!!! No way were we going to argue this one......Upper Class would be lovely!!! And what a surprise.....we half expected to be punted back to economy.......but to be honest, this wasn`t our original flight, we had changed onto this one due to the hurricane, so we were glad to be on a plane at all. It would have been annoying though if it had happened as they had allocated us the same seats that we had on the flight last week.

We thanked this young man profusely and went back to our seats grinning like the Joker in Batman!!! The man opposite us had heard us wonder if they`d move us.......and he asked what happened so we told him.....instead of saying how lovely.....he said....oh yeah that`s happened to us loads of times.....and completely dismissed it.....lol......the green eyed monster is easy to spot.

I remember once mentioning a new car we had bought, someone said oh yeah there`s loads of them around here......lol.....it was funny as that particular car hadn`t been released in the USA yet. But, to this man we just said that`s nice. If anyone has ever watched Mrs Brown`s Boys, they`ll know what we meant with "That`s nice"

It wasn`t too long till they started boarding, wheelchairs and special needs first, of which this family were part of that group, but we were next to be boarded and Tom stopped off to pick up our bottles from Duty Free as I scampered, yes, I darn well scampered down that airbridge to get on that plane tonight.......I`ll fully admit to being excited.

Cabin Crew on VA are always lovely.....we`ve never experienced anything negative with any of them and tonight was no different, they were lovely. One lady asked me once I was in if I knew where my seat was, I said yes and found we were right at the front of the plane. I got my things stowed away and was asked if I`d like champagne, which of course the answer was yes.

And I had my camera at the ready for this one!!!! I will say however, the lighting in the cabin is not the best for pictures so they`re not the brightest we have ever taken, that pinky purple lighting that was supposed to be a sensory pleasure was something our cameras don`t like! It is lovely though, the cabin is very cosy.

I hadn`t even asked if our seats were together, I just assumed, but they were. There is a privacy wall you can put between you and the next person if you didn`t know them, but I think we`d be ok!

This was mine and Tom was to the right here.....

Tom looks as happy as anyone can be.......we just love flying to be honest but this was nice.

I glanced through the open curtain to PE where we usually are and we did see two of those family members in what would have been our seats.....lol.....

The champagne really did flow on this flight! The most senior member of the CC came around and introduced herself to everyone personally, which is a nice touch and we asked her to call us Carole and Tom instead of Mr & Mrs....it`s always a preference with us folks use our first name.

The seats were very comfortable and slide forward into the gap to become a bed later, I did look forward to that, but for now we would just enjoy the experience. Premium is nice too, and we`ve never had any complaints about any of the cabins we`ve flown in with Virgin.

We had a couple of glasses of champagne before we took off.....and we didn`t sit long once the plane was loaded, we pulled back almost on time tonight and it was a very smooth take off and we sadly thought, well, that`s another trip over as we headed into the darkness. We could just see the last of the lights from the windows either side of us, it was strange being in the middle of the aircraft, but we were perfectly happy. It wasn`t long till we over the ocean and completely dark out the windows. Looking at the skymap on my lovely bigger than usual tv screen, we would be flying straight over the Atlantic first over Bermuda which I always smile at the thought of because as a child the Bermuda Triangle was something that terrified me.......now I don`t even give it a thought to be honest as we`ve flown over it so many times.

Once we levelled off Cabin Crew came round with our menu`s for dinner tonight. We always have a choice in meals on our planes, but this was nice and we were very glad we hadn`t eaten too much at the airport hotel now.

Tom and I both opted for the grilled prawns (shrimp) and the chicken which sounded lovely.

They do always have some ok wines for our flights, and tonight was no different, we stuck to champagne and white wine for this flight tonight.

We certainly had plenty of room in Upper Class.....

I admired my legroom while Tom had already found a movie to watch and had slid down his seat already and was sipping champagne as he did so....lol.....I would find something to watch in a little while, but being completely honest, I love the skymap!! It gives you not only time to destination, but how long you`ve been in the air, height, outside temperature and many other little details. It gives you all sorts of camera views from the plane, although with this being a night flight the cameras weren`t much use tonight. But, it might be a little geeky but we love it.

The seat is cosy but spacious, and I loved the little shelf, well decent sized shelf that held our glasses of wine and for some reason its always a little bag of pretzels.....something I loathe with a passion!!! It`s like how I would imagine eating a twig would be like!!

The CC appeared and we brought our extra large tables which kind of surrounded you as you sat, it was very spacious.....Tom brought his chair back up and we had our table set for us.

Our food arived, with more wine or champagne.....this looked delicious, and it was absolutely beautiful. The shrimp were large so 3 was more than enough and they were very tasty indeed.

There was a nice little break between courses, and more wine.......then they brought the main and it was surprisingly nice......the chicken was tender and sauce was tasty and the sweet potato was almost like a souffle, it was very light indeed.

This dish was lovely, both of us enjoyed it.

I wasn`t sure about dessert tonight, but our lovely CC lady said it was lovely, so we both opted to have the vanilla cheesecake and my goodness I was glad we did as it was gorgeous!!! We both love cheesecake anyway so this was perfect.

Day to day I don`t eat a lot of cheese, but I do love a cheeseboard or if it`s part of a Charcuterie board, so I was very tempted to have the cheese plate on offer tonight, although I did leave the Blue cheese to the side, not something I ever eat in any form. But the other cheeses were very nice, and Brie is my favourite cheese so I knew I`d enjoy that one.

And they were all nice. And more champagne or wine was also offered too along with a brandy or port that I declined, but I think Tom chose a port.

Well, that was quite the little feast we had tonight!!! This really had been a lovely meal and copious amounts of wine were offered and rarely refused, so I think now I was ready to slide the seat down and head for some sleep.

They offered you some sleep pajamas which we both declined, but we did accept the lovely duvet to cover us up. It was quite funny, Tom had fallen asleep without one, when the CC lady brought mine, she asked if my husband wanted one to cover him, I said yes as he`d get cold, so she went around and covered him ever so gently with it and tucked him in a little, but he woke up to see this lady tuck him in and almost jumped four feet in the air!!! I think he had been out for the count!!

I had taken some screen shots of the skymap before I went off for some sleep......

And as there was no one wandering around I grabbed a backward shot of the small Upper Class cabin before settling down to hopefully sleep.

The bed slips down easily and you can fiddle with positions and so on, I just went flat and I had plenty of room, I leaned over to tell Tom who obviously already knew this as he was again out for the count!!! Don`t think he`d appreciate me waking him to tell him I was comfy. So I pulled the duvet over me and don`t even remember falling asleep and wasn`t aware of any movement or sounds around the cabin till it was time for breakfast.

I have no clue how long we slept, but it was a good one. I had just come out of my slumber when one of the CC asked me immediately what I wanted for breakfast......I was barely awake and had no clue what I asked for, I`d have preferred to have visited the bathroom first to be honest!! I knew I asked for tea, and I like my tea boiling hot, so the bathroom would have to wait as she appeared with it before I could blink.

Still half asleep, I did remember to take a picture of the food and it was very nice.....a small roll with bacon, cinammon roll and some fruit.

I think Tom ended up with two rolls with bacon......I think he smiles the right way!!!

After breakfast I did get to visit the bathroom, and I did like in the upper class bathrooms there was a window and as it was now light it was nice being able to look out, however maybe not so much once we had come to a stop at the airport waiting for the airbridge!!!

I came back to my seat and Tom was just behind me, we sat down and one of the lovely CC who had been taking care of us handed us a parcel, I got to open it and there was a bottle of wine and a card inside.....

Neither of us had mentioned our anniversary to anyone on the aircraft, so we have no idea how they knew?? And when we asked she just smiled and said a little minion told them......well, that wasn`t a clue at all!!

But, it was very kind of them regardless.

That last 45 minutes goes past so quickly, and looking out of what we could see of the weather, it looked miserable. The Captain gave us an update and yes, it was cold and heavy rain ahead for us.

A smooth landing and then when the seatbelt sign went off we unbuckled from the nice comfy seat and got our hand luggage out of the overhead bins and waited only a few moments for the airbridge to be attached and after thanking the CC profusely and making sure we got their names for a complimentary email we headed out to feel that cool air of England.

Then we had the usual 25 mile hike to passport control.....it really is crazy that VA, one of the biggest airlines park their planes at the furthest spot they can. It is a long walk and when we get there it takes seconds to get through as it`s automated, unless you have an issue, you don`t speak to anyone anymore.

We head down to the carousels to wait for our luggage. I nip to the bathroom and Tom waits for it to start, by the time I got back, it still hadn`t started.

40 minutes later, it did start up and everyone got very excited. Usually our luggage is among the first off, and most aren`t through passport control so we get away before it`s too busy. Not today.....every passenger was waiting and as is usual they all let their kids play on the carousel and in the areas where folks will be lifting cases off.....it would be so much easier if they kept kids back out the way, but they don`t.

One suitcase and a golf bag came out......and nothing else. Nothing. Then it stopped again. My head by now was splitting and everyone was getting irritable, and what really annoyed everyone was there was not a single person to come out and explain the delay. I think that would have helped folks understand, but they didn`t. Eventually after 90 minutes the luggage did start to appear and our 3 were altogether for the first time and among the first to appear....we just wanted out of here!

Our car service was already waiting for us, I had managed to txt them to let them know the luggage was delayed, they said it was fine, but to let us know they couldn`t pick us up at the usual spot outside the Radisson. The hotel in their wisdom had decided to only allow registered cars to come and do pick ups, for which they pay for the right to do so.....of course. So we had to walk all the way down to the train station, go outside, cross the road and walk back almost towards the airport to a car park that allowed a five minute pick up....with 3 heavy suitcases, 2 hand luggage, a bag of 4 large liquor bottles and a box with a bottle of wine!!

But we managed it.

We stepped outside and it was freezing cold and pouring with rain....I had on sandals and a light hoodie over my dress. At this point I burst out laughing as we were soaked with wet feet and we still had to walk the length of a large car park. Our driver saw us and moved forward and got us early, I gratefully climbed into the back of the vehicle and was so glad she had the heating on!!!

Before I knew it, we had both fallen asleep, it takes around 3 hours plus for us to get back home and we both slept for most of it, only waking up when we were about 20 minutes from home.

Once inside we turned the heat up, it had been set not too high, but the house felt cool, then emptied out all the suitcases on the floor of the laundry room......that made me sigh!!! But, first load on and then we made a cup of tea.....usually we go to bed for a few hours, but it was after 3pm now, so we`d stay up and try to stay awake as long as we could.

Kyle appeared about 6ish, we all had the biggest hugs after such a long time, we had missed each other a lot so in that respect I was glad to be home. So, we told him we were ordering Chinese, of course he would enjoy that and we did, it was very nice. I think we lasted till around 10pm before our eyes just kept closing, so time for bed, but I was quite happy I had managed to get most of the washing done.....sad case that I am.......tomorrow I`d get them all dried. But, for tonight, we needed to sleep.



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So, that was another trip over and done with, it was the most wonderful trip with so many highlights and then even more.

We caught up with old and new friends which was a complete highlight, spending time with Matt and Rob was one of the best things, we loved every second we spent with them and I think we laughed the most with them this trip, they are two of the nicest guys you could ever meet and we miss them although we do keep in touch which is nice.

Our hotel friends are very special to us, we have made many lovely friendships over our 24 trips to Orlando.....one who is very good at Math told us we are now at almost 400 nights staying between RPR and Sapphire Falls.....not too bad at all.....I think our May visit will take us over that magical 400 nights. Add in the 50 nights I`ve spent in New York and that`s a lot of time spent in two of the most beautiful areas in the world.

But, we love the folks from the hotel and one of the most magical evenings for us was the special anniversary meal Fernando and Chef Carlos organised between them for us......we were so surprised and it was very emotional to know they had gone to so much effort just for us, it was the best meal of our whole trip and we`ll never forget what they did for us.

Strong Water for us is the best bar/restaurant in the whole of UOR and probably Orlando itself. Fernando and his wonderful team all help make your time there perfect.

Getting a cocktail named after me was an absolute highlight!!!! I couldn`t believe when they told us it was going ahead and had been personally approved by Mr Beiderman and all the top execs from various departments. Carole`s Punch is selling well and it is gorgeous even if I say so myself. Anthony is a gem and really knows his stuff when it comes to mixing various ingredients and he created an amazing cocktail for me and I`m so happy it made the menu!!! The day Fernando emailed the menu for us to see was thrilling.

Spending our 30th Wedding Anniversary in our favourite place was special. We always planned to celebrate doing something, but to do it the way we did it was perfect.

Getting my lovely bangle from Tiffany is something special too. I think it is my favourite piece, after the rings I got for our 25th.....but it`s close!!! Friends ask Tom what he got for our anniversary......his answer is......the bill!!!! True......lol......I`m worth it, or so he keeps telling me. Love that man!!!!

We enjoyed many lovely restaurants and visited some lovely places both near and far from Orlando, we also enjoyed a Haunted House in Mount Dora and that was a lot of fun.

Meeting up with Keishashadow and her mister twice, once in Strong Water for an evening and for one of the best evenings in a theme park! We went to Howl o Scream with them and it was an absolute blast!!! We had such fun and we were so impressed with their event and of course spending time with them is always a lot of fun, they are the nicest couple.

We met up with macraven which is always a pleasure, I wished we could have made the meetup with Nashville Trio, macraven and keisha, but that was the couple of days Tom was poorly.

We ran into Monykalyn which was nice as we hadn`t seen her for a few years, we managed to do a house with her and her family.

Meeting up with our newest friend who we met in May, D...she is the very glamorous lady with the Johnny Depp tattoo and her hair has the most gorgeous purple colour through it......we met and discovered we have so many similarities, now we keep in touch and plan to meet up in May again, we keep in touch by email too which is lovely. We met up with her and her husband for a lunch and then D came back on her own and we had a lovely dinner the night before my birthday, she is a lovely lady and has a fabulous sense of humour.

We caught up very briefly with Luke and Neil, friends we had made last year after meeting at the bar in Strong Water, again, we wished we could have spent more time with them too.

Spending time with the lovely TM in the hotel......what can we say I haven`t already said. They are simply the best, the Club staff are wonderful and Alex especially this trip was amazing and we loved every second of the time we spent with her and the others too. We are very lucky to have forged such friendships with so many lovely people all through both hotels.

HHN was a little bit of a disappointment this year. The houses overall were good, but we`ve seen better and the crowds were just awful, the worst we`ve ever seen in all the years we`ve been visiting. And that`s one of the reasons we won`t be visiting in September this year, it took the shine off the event for us. We did enjoy some of the nights we were there, some of the houses were fabulous, but overall, it wasn`t what it should be.

Spending 33 nights in Orlando was wonderful. The extra nights of course were due to the hurricane, and the hotel were marvellous at dealing with it for guests. I doubt we`ll ever spend so long in the one trip again, but I`m glad we did it, we loved every second of it.

We are always so grateful to 3 very special folks, Raymond, Marian and Andrea.

Looking back we are so grateful we got to spend more time with our beautiful Lindsey and her lovely boyfriend Devin. The times we were with them or just Lindsey on her own were so very special, we loved every second we spent with them and being honest we`ll treasure every second of those wonderful memories.

Our next trip is April 30th till May 20th, we`ll be at RP for that whole trip as our son Kyle is making the trip with us......several of his friends have asked to come with us......they really, really want to come along....lol.....

But, once again I want to thank each and every one of you for reading along whether you commented or not. I hope some of this might help someone in their planning or gives ideas for other things to do offsite, we do enjoy our little excursions to many places that have nothing to do with any parks.

I have loved reading your comments along the way, it really is a pleasure to converse in those little boxes from our homes miles apart but connected by a love of all things Orlando and beyond.

You are the nicest group of folks and I`m so glad you enjoyed reading along with this one, it was a very special trip for us indeed.

​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Beautiful end to a beautiful trip. This was a whirlwind and I’m so happy we were along for the ride.


Let us know when the PTR starts for the spring trip!



And most importantly:



Rest peacefully Lindsay I did not know her, but my theme park loving self always mourns for one of our own, and I know how much she meant to you both and so many others.

 

[schumigirl]

Beautiful end to a beautiful trip. This was a whirlwind and I’m so happy we were along for the ride.


Let us know when the PTR starts for the spring trip!



And most importantly:



Rest peacefully Lindsay I did not know her, but my theme park loving self always mourns for one of our own, and I know how much she meant to you both and so many others.

Thank you BH.......it was like a whirlwind at times, but we had so much fun!

And thank you for the lovely sentiment on Lindsey, she`ll never be forgotten for sure.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

What a fantastic trip you had and the upgrade to upper class was simply the cherry on top of the cake. I’d have been so tempted to go back and visit the rude people in your original seats to “thank” them for your move
I’ve only flown first class with Virgin once and like you I loved every minute of it. I do love their crew and we usually go premium economy but wow first class really is something special. Such a lovely anniversary gift
Like BH my heart aches for you at the loss of your lovely Lindsey. I feel like we all got to know her a little through your report and I’m so glad you have such precious photos and happy memories of the tiles you spent together

 

[jump00]

What a wonderful way to end your trip with First class seats! Thank you for another great read. Club level at RPR is truly the best! Did you ever get a chance to ride Hagrids (not sure if I missed it). It was our favourite ride last August! We are hoping they will offer “Express pass“ entry soon. We did do Velocicoaster……. Wow!
Looking forward to your next trip in April!
Brenda

 

[schumigirl]

What a fantastic trip you had and the upgrade to upper class was simply the cherry on top of the cake. I’d have been so tempted to go back and visit the rude people in your original seats to “thank” them for your move
I’ve only flown first class with Virgin once and like you I loved every minute of it. I do love their crew and we usually go premium economy but wow first class really is something special. Such a lovely anniversary gift
Like BH my heart aches for you at the loss of your lovely Lindsey. I feel like we all got to know her a little through your report and I’m so glad you have such precious photos and happy memories of the tiles you spent together

It really was an amazing trip, and the Upper Class upgrade was delightful. Well......funny you should mention that....I may have got a dig in somewhere when we were waiting for our luggage......or not.....there`s no proof......lol......

Several of our friends go Upper and said we`ll have to fly that way now we`ve done it. But, although Tom says I don`t know how to spell the word frugal I just don`t see the value in spending £9,000 on two flights for Upper. Other friends think we`re crazy spending the money we do on Premium, but we do like that and think it`s worth it. Each to their own....but yes, we did enjoy it.

Lindsey was so special. Thank you. We miss her every day and cherish the pictures and memories we have of her. I think everyone who saw her pictures on here would have adored her as we did, she was so full of life and we still struggle with how she died every day.

But, Thank you for your comments along the way, I`m so happy you enjoyed the TR and hope we`ll see you on the next one......

 

[schumigirl]

What a wonderful way to end your trip with First class seats! Thank you for another great read. Club level at RPR is truly the best! Did you ever get a chance to ride Hagrids (not sure if I missed it). It was our favourite ride last August! We are hoping they will offer “Express pass“ entry soon. We did do Velocicoaster……. Wow!
Looking forward to you next trip in April!
Brenda

We didn`t manage Hagrid`s this past trip, no way was I standing even 45 minutes for the ride. We did get to ride on previous trips and on the OI event, I`m glad you enjoyed it so much, it is a classic forever ride, one you want to do every trip. Yes EP would be lovely.......

The Club Staff at RP are a cut above, they know how to look after you and make everyone welcome.

Yep, it was a lovely way to end the trip, very unexpected and lovely.

Thank you for being along for the trip, it was always a pleasure to see you post along the way Brenda.....

 

[KathyM2]

Another great TR...thanks for sharing again!!

Glad to see you and happy to hear the London trip was such a success.....and he`s there till May if I remember correctly? Least he`ll see some nicer weather before he goes home, London does get quite a temperate climate.

Yes, he is there until end of May....so he will have time to enjoy the weather...and also be there for the coronation ( I think?) which will be something!! He also already has plans to go to Paris for a couple nights on the train!

But, Sal`s pizza is very good and worth a visit. They also do sandwiches, salads and plenty of snack choices although the potato chips they serve with the sandwiches are the worst I`ve ever tasted!! And we know our chips......

I remember their sandwiches being good. Too bad about the chips lol...

Tom looks as happy as anyone can be.......we just love flying to be honest but this was nice.

OMG now I'm really jealous lol. Having just done this flight to the UK in sardine class....it would be sooo nice to lie down flat on a plane...sigh...wish it wasn't so expensive!! I would be happy to lie on the floor lol I just can't sleep at all sitting up!

The bed slips down easily and you can fiddle with positions and so on, I just went flat

Amazing....one day!!

Thanks again for sharing all the details of your amazing trip!! When's the next one?

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Another magnificent TR comes to a glorious end! I love that you were upgraded due to the obnoxious people. I think that was good karma coming back to you

You really did so well with all the unexpected events. I’m glad things generally worked out and you had a wonderful time. I’m sad to see it end, but ready for your next adventure! We will just miss you, we come home the 27th.

I will say I do think one of the reasons things work out for you is you both have such a positive attitude. You are generally happy people and it shows

Looking forward to starting your next TR, and all the fun of seeing the things that delight you along the way

Bravo on finishing this extra-long tome!

 

[schumigirl]

Another great TR...thanks for sharing again!!


Yes, he is there until end of May....so he will have time to enjoy the weather...and also be there for the coronation ( I think?) which will be something!! He also already has plans to go to Paris for a couple nights on the train!

I remember their sandwiches being good. Too bad about the chips lol...

OMG now I'm really jealous lol. Having just done this flight to the UK in sardine class....it would be sooo nice to lie down flat on a plane...sigh...wish it wasn't so expensive!! I would be happy to lie on the floor lol I just can't sleep at all sitting up!

Amazing....one day!!

Thanks again for sharing all the details of your amazing trip!! When's the next one?

lol…..sardine class is about right! We’ve never flown pure economy, we’ve always had exit row or extra legroom when we couldn’t get Premium, but I agree, trying to sleep sitting upright is not easy and those economy seats are tight. Premium is a lot better as you can get a decent recline on a night flight when everyone reclines.

How lovely for him, it is so easy to get to Paris from London, hope he enjoys it. And yes, he’ll see the Coronation, London will be sparkling and vibrant when that happens. We’ll miss it as we’ll be in Orlando, but I will be watching.

We fly out on April 30th for 3 weeks, countdown is running!!

And thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, always good to see you, hope you’re doing well……

 

[schumigirl]

Another magnificent TR comes to a glorious end! I love that you were upgraded due to the obnoxious people. I think that was good karma coming back to you

You really did so well with all the unexpected events. I’m glad things generally worked out and you had a wonderful time. I’m sad to see it end, but ready for your next adventure! We will just miss you, we come home the 27th.

I will say I do think one of the reasons things work out for you is you both have such a positive attitude. You are generally happy people and it shows

Looking forward to starting your next TR, and all the fun of seeing the things that delight you along the way

Bravo on finishing this extra-long tome!

I agree, I think what you put out at times, you get it back. We were very grateful for the upgrade, it was lovely.

Having a positive attitude is certainly helpful in life for sure, there’s too much misery out there and we don‘t want to be part of that, I’d much rather just give a big smile

I think you just have to go with the flow, especially when it’s out of one’s control……life is easier that way……lol………

And we miss you by a few days, that’s a shame I’d have loved you to meet Kyle.

And a big thank you to you too Maria, I love how you enjoy these reports and always appreciate your lovely comments……

 

[disneyAndi14]

As always, enjoyed your trip report! I’m glad the extra days were perfect weather and flying home first class was a great extra since the annoying family took over your seats.
I will be excited to read your next one!