11/09/04
The Plan
A relaxed flight in premium economy. Check into hotel mid afternoon. Evening at Disney Quest and meal at the Cheese Cake Factory.
Reality
The week before we were due to leave my dads company car broke down, which caused undue stress. Would the courtesy car be big enough to carry our cases to the airport? Luckily it all fitted and we arrived with plenty of time before the flight. Manchester airport is not the best place to spend 3 hours and the flight time of 10:25 meant that the bar wasnt even open. After a massively overpriced breakfast we started to fill in our green immigration forms. How hard is it to get these right? Thinking that we had got these right we moved through to departures and waited for our flight. The flight was uneventful and we relaxed drinking champagne and watching films. Due to having to drive at the other end I couldnt enjoy the full Virgin hospitality (I would make up for it on the way home though) and after a very pleasant meal I settled down to watch the films until we arrived in Orlando.
On arriving at Orlando the walkway to the terminal failed which resulted in us spending another half hour on the plane. Due to being in premium economy we were first off the plane, which meant first through customs, as it was relatively quiet the customs official let us fill in our forms again due to missing out an entire section. We were first through customs and first to baggage reclaim where our bags should have been first off (due to premium economy). After an hour at the premium economy carousel my sisters case had still not appeared we then moved on to the normal carousel and still no case. We then contacted a Virgin representative and were told to go through customs and contact Virgin on the other side. On getting to the main terminal we had to wait half an hour for my case to arrive (on getting to our room we found that my case had been searched and our travel adaptor was missing) and then we went to Virgin left luggage and eventually learnt that my sisters case was on its way to the main terminal after under going extra customs checks.
We were about three hours behind by the time we reached the car hire company. I would recommend that people pre pay the insurance as it was double the price in the terminal. After paying for the extra insurance and car upgrade (and being £500 down) we were on our way. As soon as we exited the terminal the heavens opened. On finding our car we were shown around by a very helpful guy who we couldnt get rid of. We later felt guilty as it was obvious he was waiting for a tip. We then saw the guy on our second day whilst at Epcot and had to hide.
Right so there I was sitting on the wrong side of the car not knowing where I was going and not able to see the end of the bonnet due to the rain. Its the only time that 15mph seems to be at least twice as fasts as I should be traveling. As we reach World Disney World the rain eases and we find Port Orleans without getting lost. On checking in we find we have the dream maker package which includes leave a legacy at Epcot and one round of miniature golf. When we get to the room it is the most perfect water view room (1848) you could imagine with views of the Sassagoula River and the fishing hole.
After a brief change it was time to get on with the holiday and onto the boat to Downtown Disney. During our trip in 2002 we didnt have tickets to Disney Quest, so we especially looked forward to it this time. All I can say is at least we have been there once, very underwhelming. Having said that my boss said that his teenage sons thought it was the highlight of their trip. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory more to do with our two weeks plan rather than being hungry. Again this was very disappointing compared to the rest of the holiday. We caught the launch back to the resort and had a well deserved nights sleep.
The Plan
A relaxed flight in premium economy. Check into hotel mid afternoon. Evening at Disney Quest and meal at the Cheese Cake Factory.
Reality
The week before we were due to leave my dads company car broke down, which caused undue stress. Would the courtesy car be big enough to carry our cases to the airport? Luckily it all fitted and we arrived with plenty of time before the flight. Manchester airport is not the best place to spend 3 hours and the flight time of 10:25 meant that the bar wasnt even open. After a massively overpriced breakfast we started to fill in our green immigration forms. How hard is it to get these right? Thinking that we had got these right we moved through to departures and waited for our flight. The flight was uneventful and we relaxed drinking champagne and watching films. Due to having to drive at the other end I couldnt enjoy the full Virgin hospitality (I would make up for it on the way home though) and after a very pleasant meal I settled down to watch the films until we arrived in Orlando.
On arriving at Orlando the walkway to the terminal failed which resulted in us spending another half hour on the plane. Due to being in premium economy we were first off the plane, which meant first through customs, as it was relatively quiet the customs official let us fill in our forms again due to missing out an entire section. We were first through customs and first to baggage reclaim where our bags should have been first off (due to premium economy). After an hour at the premium economy carousel my sisters case had still not appeared we then moved on to the normal carousel and still no case. We then contacted a Virgin representative and were told to go through customs and contact Virgin on the other side. On getting to the main terminal we had to wait half an hour for my case to arrive (on getting to our room we found that my case had been searched and our travel adaptor was missing) and then we went to Virgin left luggage and eventually learnt that my sisters case was on its way to the main terminal after under going extra customs checks.
We were about three hours behind by the time we reached the car hire company. I would recommend that people pre pay the insurance as it was double the price in the terminal. After paying for the extra insurance and car upgrade (and being £500 down) we were on our way. As soon as we exited the terminal the heavens opened. On finding our car we were shown around by a very helpful guy who we couldnt get rid of. We later felt guilty as it was obvious he was waiting for a tip. We then saw the guy on our second day whilst at Epcot and had to hide.
Right so there I was sitting on the wrong side of the car not knowing where I was going and not able to see the end of the bonnet due to the rain. Its the only time that 15mph seems to be at least twice as fasts as I should be traveling. As we reach World Disney World the rain eases and we find Port Orleans without getting lost. On checking in we find we have the dream maker package which includes leave a legacy at Epcot and one round of miniature golf. When we get to the room it is the most perfect water view room (1848) you could imagine with views of the Sassagoula River and the fishing hole.
After a brief change it was time to get on with the holiday and onto the boat to Downtown Disney. During our trip in 2002 we didnt have tickets to Disney Quest, so we especially looked forward to it this time. All I can say is at least we have been there once, very underwhelming. Having said that my boss said that his teenage sons thought it was the highlight of their trip. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory more to do with our two weeks plan rather than being hungry. Again this was very disappointing compared to the rest of the holiday. We caught the launch back to the resort and had a well deserved nights sleep.
