Day 15 Friday 16th April 2010 It all goes downhill from here.
We were up early, to finish packing, have breakfast, and check out, then take the hire car to Downtown Disney to the
Virgin Atlantic Bag Drop desks as early as we could manage, which was around 8.30am. We had been texted by friends and family back home over the previous couple of days, and warned about airport disruption in the UK from an Icelandic volcano, so we werent sure what was happening, but thought we should follow normal plans just in case.
We had planned on dropping bags, and taking in some of our favourite bits of the parks before we had to leave to take the hire car back to the airport, but this wasnt to happen. Bag drop was closed, because all flights were cancelled back to the UK, as all the UK airspace was affected by the ash cloud. The girls at the Bag Drop were as helpful as they could be, but they didnt really know any more than that. One of them said to us that they hoped to get an update around 11am, so we trundled our cases back to the car, then mooched around Downtown Disney for the morning. Our enthusiasm for heading back to the parks had vanished. However, we treated ourselves to ice-creams and sundaes at Ghirardellis after buying the last of the souvenirs, then headed back to the girls at the Bag Drop to see if theyd had any more news. Most people there were being told to contact their Virgin rep, or head back to their hotels to see if they could book back in again, but as we were on the Glasgow flight, we were told quietly to head to the airport, as our flight might actually be the only one leaving that day.
With that news, the decision was taken just to go to the airport there and then, as wed probably get more detailed information from the folks at the check in desks. So... all piled into the hire car, and maps out to head for the airport. We didnt get lost, we had change for all the tolls, and we even managed to follow the signs for the rental car parking OK, so we were in the terminal building at 1pm, before the check in desks opened! We found a couple of members of Virgin staff, and just checked again if they thought the Glasgow plane would be leaving, as all the information screens were showing all flights cancelled. They said they thought so, but that the check in staff would be out to the desks soon.
We waited around a bit more, then joined the queue for the check in desks when the staff came out. It turned out that the Glasgow plane WAS leaving, but some of the check in staff didnt know this, and were trying to re-book people onto other flights. But it wasnt long before we had our bags taken from us, passports checked, and boarding cards issued. Which meant we had a LONG wait for the plane! We checked out the shops, walked around a while in the airport (MCO is actually rather lovely, as airports go), had some drinks and snacks from Starbucks, then found some seats in the atrium and watched the world go by (and checked the departures board regularly), while the DSs played on their portable games units, until it was time to go through security and off to the gate.
No issues through security, found the gate no problem, and were called for boarding around 45 minutes before departure as usual. On to the plane, everyone seated, cabin crew did their checks, and then we sat there... and sat there...and sat there... 40 minutes later the Captain made an announcement - he had just received his weather reports for the flight plan, and he was sorry to say that the window in the ash cloud had closed again, and without somewhere clear to land, he wasnt going to take off, so the flight was now cancelled and wed all have to get off the plane again and collect our luggage!
Oh dear... Oh well, nothing for it, we need to get our bags, speak to the staff at the baggage reclaim, and find somewhere for the night. Maybe wed get away tomorrow.
The staff handed out lists of hotel phone numbers, and said to keep all receipts, and up to a certain cost per night, the accommodation would be refunded. There was also a letter with two phone numbers, one for Virgin Atlantic customers, and one for Virgin Holidays customers, which unfortunately was a UK number. No chance of getting anyone there at 10pm Orlando time. So we called a hotel, they sent a shuttle bus for us, and another large group of around 8 people, and off we went. This very long day isnt over yet!
The guy behind check in at the hotel knew what had happened, and what rate we needed, and was helpfully trying to allocate us rooms. It wasnt until he went to hand us the keys that we realised hed given us smoking rooms... I didnt think you could even book rooms like that any more, so it hadnt crossed my mind to specify! The other big group (who turned out to be one family) had the same issue. So he very helpfully called around a couple of other hotels nearby, and arranged for us to go to one of them, on the same special rate. In the minibus again, and another check in, and again, the guy was very friendly and helpful. So we had a room for two nights (just in case) at the AmeriSuites near the airport.
We staggered to the room, ordered pizza, which took an AGE to come, while we called the Virgin Atlantic number to try to sort flights for the next day. We were on hold for over an hour before someone answered, but they re-booked us onto the flight at the same time the next day, assuming it wasnt cancelled too. We crashed out in bed after 1am... Rather unhappy people, but glad to have a bed for the night, and hoping that our flight would leave the next day...
I know when the ash cloud happened , we joked saying 'we wouldn't mind being stuck in Florida'. In reality though, it must have been soul destroying not knowing when you were getting home or where you were sleeping that night.
