What To Do Between Meals In Orlando
The Crew
Ken 49
Barbara 34 (BTW we've heard all the Ken/Barbie jokes
Daniel 10
Connor 9
Rachel 5
1 - Starting Out
Imagine getting up at 5.00 am before a long journey and the only thing on your mind is coffee. Now imagine there's no milk. How come. There was milk last night before you went to bed. Plenty. Surely a child, waking in the night, thirsty wouldn't pass over Lilt, Pepsi, orange juice and Holsten Pils just to get at three inches of milk. Still there's nothing like starting off the day with a nice cup of freshly boiled water.
One and a half hours later we waved goodbye to our car at Carminder (£62 - 17 days - very efficient) were shuttled to the airport (Manchester) and were checked in by 8.00am. We ordered 22 quidsworth of the worst breakfast food I've ever seen, pushed it around the plates for 20 minutes then had a mooch round the shops.
Virgin called us all down to the gate to tell us the plane was broken and there would be a three hour delay. The plane needed a part and the nearest Kwik-Fit was 20 miles awayor something. They gave us each a £10 voucher so we went for a drink at that little pub they have on the airside. The drinks came to £7.65. The bartender offered us crisps because he couldn't give change. He offered us crisps instead of money. These vouchers. Someone is doing OK out of these vouchers believe me. What is this no change rule all about? Do you think the retailer only got £7.65 for my £10.00 voucher. What if a delayed party of two fancy a drink and later on a sandwich or another drink. They have to either pay £10.00 each time or sit with a table full of drinks going flat/warm/cold. The guy in the queue before me ordered 4 pints of Grolsch. It came to £10.60. I paid for them with a voucher and 60p and the guy gave me a tenner. Sweet.
About half an hour before boarding a cloud of locusts, each one holding a Virgin voucher descended on the little self service snackbar and stripped it bare. Even at airport prices you can get a lot of crisps, pop and chocolate for £4000.
Daniel (now alias Milky) and I joined the melee at the end and managed to get some coffee. With the "change" from the voucher I paid for an old lady's tray of food. She was pleased if a little startled.I gave the other 2 vouchers to a family in the Burger King Queue. I thought if you have to eat Burger King you should at least get paid for it.
At the gate the stewadesses gave the kids backpacks full of stuff. The backpacks are good quality and they will use them at home and for school. It was my first Virgin flight and I was impressed with the seat back TVs allowing you to watch whatever you want. The boys soon got the hang of all the Nintendo games and that kept them occupied the whole flight. I had a little go but every time I tried to shoot the cannon thing or whatever it was I ended up calling the flight attendant. Whilst this was funny for everyone the first dozen or so times I had to agree with the staff that I may be better off watching a movie. I never eat Airline food so I had a sandwich an dsome grapes I had brought but everyone else said the food was fine.
We landed and were soon through the double baggage thing and immigration etc. The Hertz depot is not on the airport so I was mislead by Choiceair. We caught the shuttle to the depot and I handed over my voucher. The clerk and I played the extras game and for a while I was holding my own. Then he nonchalantly asked how many was in my party. My guard was down and I said 5, secure in the knowledge that my reserved car was a full size, category D. He went on the attack. " Category D sir is a sporty two door sir and only seats four". I countered straight away with the choice air confirmation clearly stating that a D was a fullsize car. I had underestimated my opponent. He ignored my papers and instead pointed to his picture cards. And there, under Cat D, in full technicolor, was a sporty two door. The full size was Cat E. Choiceair had indeed got it wrong. He offered to upgrade me to a full size for a special price of $8 a day plus taxes. I said that I had booked a car big enough for five and paid all fees and that what was what I wanted. I said it wasn't my fault. He said it wasn't Hertz' fault. We both decided to stare silently into space for a while and I must say he was pretty good at it, but, well, I do it all the time and he eventually broke. "I could give you one of these for no extra cost" he said indicating a picture of a 4x4. "It seats 5" he said. I took it. I'd won! He tried to play the insurance game but I could see his heart wasn't really in it and I walked out of the office with exactly the same number of dollars that I'd gone in with. AWLLRIIIIGHT!
When I got a better look at the car the next day I wasn't so sure I'd won. It was a Kia Sportage. A 4x4 sure but not one of those big nasty ones. I was going to go back and demand a fullsize but I resented the demands on my time and my temper so we ended up keeping it. Anyhow it had Noo Yawk plates so at least we wouldn't get robbed.
The car promptly got lost and gave us a tour round the airport (both terminals). It then went vaugely south mostly on the correct side of the road, and eventually stumbled onto US highway 192. Hurrah. We travelled East for 20 minutes and after doing a U-turn and going west for 21 minutes we pulled onto the drive of our rented home in Montego Bay.
We through the luggage into the bedrooms and ourselves into the showers and in 10 minutes we were cruisin' down I192.Before the delay I had promised the kids golf and they wouldn't let me out of it. Because we needed to eat we played "speed golf" at Congo River. The lady in charge was amazed we were so quick. So was I considering it cost $40 plus. We had a late late dinner at Perkins. The food was hot, tasty and plentiful. We did a midnight mini shop at Walmart just before all the weirdos get there and dived straight into bed. In bed at the villa - not in bed at Walmart. Oh you know what I mean. I promised everyone a lay-in until 7.00am.
To be continued...
The Crew
Ken 49
Barbara 34 (BTW we've heard all the Ken/Barbie jokes
Daniel 10
Connor 9
Rachel 5
1 - Starting Out
Imagine getting up at 5.00 am before a long journey and the only thing on your mind is coffee. Now imagine there's no milk. How come. There was milk last night before you went to bed. Plenty. Surely a child, waking in the night, thirsty wouldn't pass over Lilt, Pepsi, orange juice and Holsten Pils just to get at three inches of milk. Still there's nothing like starting off the day with a nice cup of freshly boiled water.
One and a half hours later we waved goodbye to our car at Carminder (£62 - 17 days - very efficient) were shuttled to the airport (Manchester) and were checked in by 8.00am. We ordered 22 quidsworth of the worst breakfast food I've ever seen, pushed it around the plates for 20 minutes then had a mooch round the shops.
Virgin called us all down to the gate to tell us the plane was broken and there would be a three hour delay. The plane needed a part and the nearest Kwik-Fit was 20 miles awayor something. They gave us each a £10 voucher so we went for a drink at that little pub they have on the airside. The drinks came to £7.65. The bartender offered us crisps because he couldn't give change. He offered us crisps instead of money. These vouchers. Someone is doing OK out of these vouchers believe me. What is this no change rule all about? Do you think the retailer only got £7.65 for my £10.00 voucher. What if a delayed party of two fancy a drink and later on a sandwich or another drink. They have to either pay £10.00 each time or sit with a table full of drinks going flat/warm/cold. The guy in the queue before me ordered 4 pints of Grolsch. It came to £10.60. I paid for them with a voucher and 60p and the guy gave me a tenner. Sweet.
About half an hour before boarding a cloud of locusts, each one holding a Virgin voucher descended on the little self service snackbar and stripped it bare. Even at airport prices you can get a lot of crisps, pop and chocolate for £4000.
Daniel (now alias Milky) and I joined the melee at the end and managed to get some coffee. With the "change" from the voucher I paid for an old lady's tray of food. She was pleased if a little startled.I gave the other 2 vouchers to a family in the Burger King Queue. I thought if you have to eat Burger King you should at least get paid for it.
At the gate the stewadesses gave the kids backpacks full of stuff. The backpacks are good quality and they will use them at home and for school. It was my first Virgin flight and I was impressed with the seat back TVs allowing you to watch whatever you want. The boys soon got the hang of all the Nintendo games and that kept them occupied the whole flight. I had a little go but every time I tried to shoot the cannon thing or whatever it was I ended up calling the flight attendant. Whilst this was funny for everyone the first dozen or so times I had to agree with the staff that I may be better off watching a movie. I never eat Airline food so I had a sandwich an dsome grapes I had brought but everyone else said the food was fine.
We landed and were soon through the double baggage thing and immigration etc. The Hertz depot is not on the airport so I was mislead by Choiceair. We caught the shuttle to the depot and I handed over my voucher. The clerk and I played the extras game and for a while I was holding my own. Then he nonchalantly asked how many was in my party. My guard was down and I said 5, secure in the knowledge that my reserved car was a full size, category D. He went on the attack. " Category D sir is a sporty two door sir and only seats four". I countered straight away with the choice air confirmation clearly stating that a D was a fullsize car. I had underestimated my opponent. He ignored my papers and instead pointed to his picture cards. And there, under Cat D, in full technicolor, was a sporty two door. The full size was Cat E. Choiceair had indeed got it wrong. He offered to upgrade me to a full size for a special price of $8 a day plus taxes. I said that I had booked a car big enough for five and paid all fees and that what was what I wanted. I said it wasn't my fault. He said it wasn't Hertz' fault. We both decided to stare silently into space for a while and I must say he was pretty good at it, but, well, I do it all the time and he eventually broke. "I could give you one of these for no extra cost" he said indicating a picture of a 4x4. "It seats 5" he said. I took it. I'd won! He tried to play the insurance game but I could see his heart wasn't really in it and I walked out of the office with exactly the same number of dollars that I'd gone in with. AWLLRIIIIGHT!
When I got a better look at the car the next day I wasn't so sure I'd won. It was a Kia Sportage. A 4x4 sure but not one of those big nasty ones. I was going to go back and demand a fullsize but I resented the demands on my time and my temper so we ended up keeping it. Anyhow it had Noo Yawk plates so at least we wouldn't get robbed.
The car promptly got lost and gave us a tour round the airport (both terminals). It then went vaugely south mostly on the correct side of the road, and eventually stumbled onto US highway 192. Hurrah. We travelled East for 20 minutes and after doing a U-turn and going west for 21 minutes we pulled onto the drive of our rented home in Montego Bay.
We through the luggage into the bedrooms and ourselves into the showers and in 10 minutes we were cruisin' down I192.Before the delay I had promised the kids golf and they wouldn't let me out of it. Because we needed to eat we played "speed golf" at Congo River. The lady in charge was amazed we were so quick. So was I considering it cost $40 plus. We had a late late dinner at Perkins. The food was hot, tasty and plentiful. We did a midnight mini shop at Walmart just before all the weirdos get there and dived straight into bed. In bed at the villa - not in bed at Walmart. Oh you know what I mean. I promised everyone a lay-in until 7.00am.
To be continued...
One of the funniest trip reports I have read. I cant wait for the rest.
......and I cheered when I read that you'd won the argument with the Hertz guy! Way to go!!!!!!!!!
