rhysd2
Let's have popcorn and dippin' dots
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2004
- Messages
- 868
Well I promised I'd write something up till i can get home and get my hands on my notes so here you go.
Day 1 Saturday October 30th.
Got up at 4am for drive to gatwick. Ugh hellishly tired. luckily my parents had volenteered to drive us so we didnt have to leave our car at the airport.
Loaded everything into the car and set off. then boom we hit a wall of fog that lasts us till half way to london. 5 feet visibility at best. not the best starts as it slowed us down but we were at the check-in desk by 8:30am
long line. Dangit. i had hoped getting here early would mean i avoided a line and that the flight was quiet. ah well. took about 25 mins to check in. Then we went and got a nice cooked brekfast in the wetherspoons. Said good bye to the 'rents, and made our way through security.
at which point jessicas eyes light up because theres a whole bunch of shops in duty free including a large perfume section. So we trapse around the various shops for a while. And i buy her a bottle of hugo deep red, and some star perfume by tommy hillfiger as a early birthday gift.
we then find out the flights delayed an hour due to a fault with a part on the plane. fine no problem. we get water for the flight from wh smiths and sit down. and 5 minutes later they call us to the lounge to wait. 30 minutes later we borded.
The plane was ok amenities wise. no seat back tv's but GREAT leg room. however we find they have sat us accross the isle from each other. Not happy at all i find the head stewardess and ask to be reseated. she apologises profusly, stating that the planes VERY full but she will see what she can do. Just before take off she returns apologising saying there isnt two seats together however if we want to go on the upper economy section the isle there is tiny and we would be close together in two isle seats up there. we agree and move up and its a much better arrangement. meant we could actually chat to each other, play cards etc.
the flight was uneventful, 2 rubbish movies, avg food, good drinks service though.
landing was smooth and only 30 minutes late despite the hour delay on take off.
i RUSHED off the plane and ran past people to ensure i didnt get stuck in immigration for too long, especially after hearing horror stories of 2 hour long lines with their new security checking systems.
i was the first through and it took no longer than 30 seconds. very nice. by this time jessica had made it through the US citizens section and we went to get our luggage............. which took forever to get off the plane. i've flown through sanford twice before and both times they were slow then so im used to it by now, but boy is it frustrating.
we then make our way to the desk to find out where our shuttle is and make our way there. we walk outside and WHAM the heat hits us like a freight train. they are having unseasonably hot weather and even though its 6pm its still about 89 degrees.
the coach ride was slow and boring though thankfully we were the first drop off.
Then we walk in the doors of the crowne plaza universal.... one word. WOW. the hotel is amazing. very elegant and posh looking. very very nice staff. just all round great. its also only about a 300-500m walk from i-drive. and to top it off my mum has emailed ahead and mentioned we're on our honeymoon. so we get upgraded to a junior suite for free!
so we go upstairs, freshen up and head out to i-drive. walking past poppeyes, the wyndham and down to the meccado. the meccado itself was very busy. lots of people there but store wise the place is now like a cross between a dump and a ghost town. 60% of the lots are empty now and the majority of the ones that do have something in them arent very nice.
by this time poor jessica is getting very tired(bless her she doesnt travel so well) so we decide to go eat. as we're walking back we wander past charleys and decide to go in. but of course being a saturday there was a 45 min wait. at this point we're both now tired but we decide ah what the heck and sit at the bar for a drink. 5 mins later the buzzer goes and we're at a table. lucky, except by now we both feel like hell so we elect not to stay and have a bad memory of the place. so we apologised paid for the drinks and left. they were very very understanding.
On the way back we snagged some supplies for the room(cheetos, mnt dew) and stopped in poppeyes for a light dinner. ahhhh poppeyes.
then its back to the room to relax, watch tv, and last till midnight to adjust to the time zone.... ahh comfy bed but we did survive till midnight hehe.
Oh one side note. we opened the cases to unpack when we got back to the room. to find they were full of confetti!!!!!!!!!!!! a suprise honeymoon trick by my parents. it was funny the next day but after a 8 hour flight i could have killed them.
Day 2 coming up
Day 1 Saturday October 30th.
Got up at 4am for drive to gatwick. Ugh hellishly tired. luckily my parents had volenteered to drive us so we didnt have to leave our car at the airport.
Loaded everything into the car and set off. then boom we hit a wall of fog that lasts us till half way to london. 5 feet visibility at best. not the best starts as it slowed us down but we were at the check-in desk by 8:30am
long line. Dangit. i had hoped getting here early would mean i avoided a line and that the flight was quiet. ah well. took about 25 mins to check in. Then we went and got a nice cooked brekfast in the wetherspoons. Said good bye to the 'rents, and made our way through security.
at which point jessicas eyes light up because theres a whole bunch of shops in duty free including a large perfume section. So we trapse around the various shops for a while. And i buy her a bottle of hugo deep red, and some star perfume by tommy hillfiger as a early birthday gift.
we then find out the flights delayed an hour due to a fault with a part on the plane. fine no problem. we get water for the flight from wh smiths and sit down. and 5 minutes later they call us to the lounge to wait. 30 minutes later we borded.
The plane was ok amenities wise. no seat back tv's but GREAT leg room. however we find they have sat us accross the isle from each other. Not happy at all i find the head stewardess and ask to be reseated. she apologises profusly, stating that the planes VERY full but she will see what she can do. Just before take off she returns apologising saying there isnt two seats together however if we want to go on the upper economy section the isle there is tiny and we would be close together in two isle seats up there. we agree and move up and its a much better arrangement. meant we could actually chat to each other, play cards etc.
the flight was uneventful, 2 rubbish movies, avg food, good drinks service though.
landing was smooth and only 30 minutes late despite the hour delay on take off.
i RUSHED off the plane and ran past people to ensure i didnt get stuck in immigration for too long, especially after hearing horror stories of 2 hour long lines with their new security checking systems.
i was the first through and it took no longer than 30 seconds. very nice. by this time jessica had made it through the US citizens section and we went to get our luggage............. which took forever to get off the plane. i've flown through sanford twice before and both times they were slow then so im used to it by now, but boy is it frustrating.
we then make our way to the desk to find out where our shuttle is and make our way there. we walk outside and WHAM the heat hits us like a freight train. they are having unseasonably hot weather and even though its 6pm its still about 89 degrees.
the coach ride was slow and boring though thankfully we were the first drop off.
Then we walk in the doors of the crowne plaza universal.... one word. WOW. the hotel is amazing. very elegant and posh looking. very very nice staff. just all round great. its also only about a 300-500m walk from i-drive. and to top it off my mum has emailed ahead and mentioned we're on our honeymoon. so we get upgraded to a junior suite for free!
so we go upstairs, freshen up and head out to i-drive. walking past poppeyes, the wyndham and down to the meccado. the meccado itself was very busy. lots of people there but store wise the place is now like a cross between a dump and a ghost town. 60% of the lots are empty now and the majority of the ones that do have something in them arent very nice.
by this time poor jessica is getting very tired(bless her she doesnt travel so well) so we decide to go eat. as we're walking back we wander past charleys and decide to go in. but of course being a saturday there was a 45 min wait. at this point we're both now tired but we decide ah what the heck and sit at the bar for a drink. 5 mins later the buzzer goes and we're at a table. lucky, except by now we both feel like hell so we elect not to stay and have a bad memory of the place. so we apologised paid for the drinks and left. they were very very understanding.
On the way back we snagged some supplies for the room(cheetos, mnt dew) and stopped in poppeyes for a light dinner. ahhhh poppeyes.
then its back to the room to relax, watch tv, and last till midnight to adjust to the time zone.... ahh comfy bed but we did survive till midnight hehe.
Oh one side note. we opened the cases to unpack when we got back to the room. to find they were full of confetti!!!!!!!!!!!! a suprise honeymoon trick by my parents. it was funny the next day but after a 8 hour flight i could have killed them.
Day 2 coming up
Off to a good start Rhys 
