Day 2
I had woken up a good hour before the alarm went off, but managed to get back to sleep. When the alarm did go off, we got up and got ready. Graham had already reorganised his suitcase in the evening and I did mine while he got ready. Once we were both done, we took our stuff and went down to the Club Lounge for breakfast. Graham had some Fruit with Granola washed down with Coffee and Orange Juice. I am not really a breakfast eater at the best of times and being excited about going on holiday did not help either. However, they had some Mini Bagels and I had one of those with Salami and Pastrami. Even though they were so small, I did struggle to finish them. I had some coffee and could not resist the J2O Glitterberry.
After breakfast, we went to check out. There seemed to be a long line, but it turned out that most people were not actually waiting for the front desk, but were there to sign in for a conference at a table opposite. In the end there was one person in front of me. Check out was smooth and we did not have to wait long for the airport shuttle. Before we knew it, we were at the terminal. I had done online check in the day before and the baggage drop was very smooth. My suitcase was about 1.5kg over, but nothing was said about this. Graham had weight to spare so we could easily have added a couple of things to his case if this had been necessary. We had our hand luggage weighed and tagged and then we were released with our boarding cards. Security was the emptiest that I have ever seen it and to our surprise none of our hand luggage went down the channel for manual inspection. Graham had his telescope and I had a serious zoom lens in my hand luggage, but they obviously both passed muster.
Once we were through security, we did some shopping. Graham wanted a book for the flight and he did manage to find one, but it was the size of a house brick. I wanted a couple of the Christmas sets from MAC Cosmetics. I managed to get the one with the eyeliner, paint pot and mascara that I had been after, but the mini lip gloss set had been sold out. I was still happy with my haul. Graham also spotted something he wanted to buy. He got a new monopod for his telescope and camera as his old one did not survive our Alaska trip.
Once we both finished our shopping, we found our departure gate and made ourselves comfortable. I was hoping to use the free WiFi with my iPad for a bit, but this proved to be absolutely useless. So I decided to use my iPhone instead. The screen is smaller, but it was very quick with 4G and I have a very generous data allowance. I caught up with my emails, various forums and Facebook. Graham read his new book in the meantime. Soon it was time to board. The boarding process went quite smoothly. I was seriously impressed when I stepped onboard. They have completely renovated the plane we were on and the seats looked very comfortable. We had a lovely surprise. I had reserved the seats right at the back of the aircraft where there are just two seats together and nobody behind. Normally this means that those seats also have minimal recline as they usually have the toilets right behind. This time round, there was the emergency exit behind, which meant that the seats fully reclined. We probably had the best seats in economy.
They also have a new entertainment system. It is infinitely better than what they used to have, but still not even in the same ballpark as the one my employer has. There were plenty of films, but most of them were quite old. There was really only one film that I wanted to watch. The entertainment system now starts to work as soon as they have shown the safety video, but they ask that you use the headphones that they provide until you are at cruising altitude. I was flicking around the channels to see what was available, but waited to watch the film I wanted to see until I could use my own headphones. I opted to watch The Internship, which was seriously funny. I got interrupted a few times. First they brought drinks and pretzels. Graham had some orange juice and I had Coke. They they started the food service. They do this in two parts now. First they serve the starter and main course and once that is cleared, they bring the dessert and hot drinks. I really liked how this was done and the food was pretty nice, too. Graham had a Mixed Salad with Apples and Raisins, a Bread Roll and Sausages and Mash with Peas and Carrots. I have to be careful with yeast so the Bread Roll was out and the salad was too fancy for my liking. So I just had the main course, for which I had chosen Butter Chicken with Rice and Peas. This was utterly delicious. We both had some white wine to wash it down. For dessert, we had Key Lime Pie washed down with coffee.
When my film was over, I was a little lost as what to do next. In the end I decided to watch an episode of a soap I used to love, but for some reason stopped watching: Emmerdale. I managed to watch 11 episodes and I definitely have to make the effort to watch this again. At some stage they brought around Fab Ice Lollies. I never had one of those before, but rather liked it.
About an hour before we landed in Orlando, they brought around a snack. Unfortunately it was a Cheese and Pickle Sandwich, which I won't eat and a Banana and Toffee Cupcake, which I can't eat as I am allergic to bananas. Graham was only too happy to have mine, too. On the whole, the flight was very pleasant and seemed to pass quickly. We both agreed that this was a much more positive experience than the flights we took with Virgin Atlantic in 2011. Having the refurbished plane helped, but they really seem to have improved the service a notch. I wonder if this is the influence from Delta.
I had been a little concerned about clearing immigration at Orlando. I have been thoroughly spoiled by flying indirect and taking care of the formalities in Atlanta where the process is ultra efficient. I also remembered the mess that this was in 2011. To give them credit, this was very soon after they changed to the single line system. This time round it was fine. Because we were right at the back of the aircraft, we were one of the last people off the plane. When we got to immigration, the line looked impressive, but it moved quickly. There was some confusion as to what desk we should go to. We were sent to one desk by the person organising the front of the line and then were sent to another desk by the person near to the original desk. We probably benefitted from this as the people already at the desk where we were then sent to were nearly done. We were asked a number of questions again like what our plans were; when we had last been to the USA; what we did back home and how much money we had on us. We must have given the right answers as our passports and customs forms were stamped and we were told to have fun.
Once we were through immigration, we hit a snag. Even though we were one of the last peopler through immigration from our flight, the luggage had not started to arrive. We took turns going to the bathroom and once we were both back, it still took a good ten minutes until the first suitcases arrived. Ours took their time and eventually turned ups on the carousel that was used for Premium Economy and Upper Class. Fortunately Graham had turned round just as our suitcases were approaching. They came both together. The line for customs again looked quite long, but was moving quickly. We had considered putting our luggage back on the band and collect it at the main terminal, but the line for this was huge so we took our luggage with us on the the train.
When we got to the terminal, the moment of truth had arrived. For the first time, I had got myself a US Pay As You Go Sim Card. I was not entirely sure if this would work. I had booked our transfers to the hotel through Supershuttle and this works a bit different in Orlando than in the other cities were we have used them. On the confirmation it stated to call them once you had your luggage and the driver would then meet you at the bottom of the escalator coming down from the baggage hall. So having access to a mobile phone made this easier. I called them and was advised to head out to one of the shuttle pick up spaces outside the terminal. I was told that the driver would be with us within 15 to 20 minutes. I was fine with that. Even though the sun had already gone down by the time we got outside, it was beautifully warm. I expected the van to just pull up to the pick up space that we had told to wait at, but 20 minutes after I made the call, he approached us by foot carrying an iPad with my name on. He advised us that he was waiting for one further person and asked us if we were OK to wait for 5 minutes. We were fine with this. About 5 minutes later the other person arrived and we were off. We headed back inside the terminal building and towards the area where the Mears desk is. I never realised that there is something behind this. I am still not sure what the purpose of this structure is, but our van was parked near the entrance. Our luggage was loaded and we were on our way. I wish I had my camera ready. As we were driving to the exit, we drove part beautiful metalwork with Disney characters.
It turned out that the other person was heading for our hotel as well so there were no stops on the way. This made the trip very smooth. When we got to the hotel, there was also nobody in front of us at check in. So this process did not take very long. We were also presented with a lovely warm Chocolate Chip and Walnut Cookie each. As Graham can't eat chocolate, I got two. Our room was at the opposite side of the hotel from where we always stayed on previous visits. The distinct advantage of that was that our building was virtually next to the walkway to Seaworld. It was a bit of a hike from the lobby, but that was OK. We headed for the room. It was only about 19:00, but we were both ready for bed. I had one of the cookies while Graham got ready and it was absolutely delicious. Once I had my cookie, I got ready for bed, too and I was asleep just as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Bummer you couldn't eat either of the snacks, but bonus that you could enjoy the cookie later. I have never heard of a cheese and pickle sandwich?
