28th September
We're leaving Orlando - tissues at the ready please
We woke early - there was still quite a bit of packing to
do and Thomas Cook (Condor) are very strict on both hold & cabin luggage
weights - it took a bit of time to reach the right allowance (23kg) for both
suitcases - we had to keep swapping things from one to the other but eventually
(after we'd also chucked a load of stuff away), we got it more or less
right.
The cabin luggage was a different matter - we were over
on both cases (allowance 6kg) but there was no chance of our moving anything between
them or even transferring it into the hold luggage......most of it was
prescription meds and/or electronic goods (tablets/kindles etc).
We decided we'd just have to pay the excess when we got
to the airport.
There were still a load of goodies in the fridge. T ate a couple of choccy bars but we couldn't
do much with the 8 cans of lager that were left. At around 10:15, I tried to help reduce our
rubbish by having one of those beers (and very nice it was too)........wellllllllllllll, we
were still on holiday and if I could drink bucks fizz at 07:00 on the CB, I
could certainly drink Coors Light mid morning (hic)
At exactly 11:00 we left the room to check out and get
our final bill (we wanted to make sure the room deductions had actually been
made......they had).
Just as we were walking out of the door, the manager saw
us and asked how my hand was (would you believe, still swollen) and we chatted
for a while about our stay.
During the conversation, I mentioned how awful his
behaviour had been that first morning - he totally agreed (that stunned me for
a second or two)....... adding that he knew his treatment of us - particularly
as we hadn't been confrontational or aggressive - was well below par.
When I said (in answer to his question) that, yes, it had
spoilt our first day somewhat, he got upset and I mean tears in the eyes upset
(honestly). He said he wouldn't have
wanted to do that to us for the world....he loved the Brits and missed them
visiting a much as they used to (apparently, South America is a becoming bigger
draw than Orlando). He apologised once
more and after a handshake (& a little hug) T & I left - happy to be on
friendly terms with everyone.
I must say, I don't believe the problems we had have
completely put me off booking the Best Western Plus in the future but I would
consider other hotels in that category first (which is a shame really because
for the price and - for us - the location, it was the perfect place to
stay).
We drove away with me (once again) saying goodbye to
everything...........the garage/mini mart, Westwood Boulevard, the Doubletree
Hotel (where we usually stay), the footprint of the long gone Wynfield Inn
(where we used to stay), International Drive, Sea World.
Byeeeeeee.........see-sooooooooooooooon.
I waved frantically to them all & then wiped my teary
eyes (to the sound of soulful violins playing in my head) as we headed to our final holiday destination.
(I wasn't teary eyed for long though.... after all, it wasn't a forever goodbye - we'll definitely be going back. For one thing, Dudley Do-right is missing me 😂)
(I wasn't teary eyed for long though.... after all, it wasn't a forever goodbye - we'll definitely be going back. For one thing, Dudley Do-right is missing me 😂)
We usually go to Orlando with Virgin Holidays and they
have a "special check-in" at Downtown Disney so we've always dropped
off our luggage there and spent the rest of our day having a walk around the
huge Disney store and the little specialist shops between Pleasure Island &
Disney Marketplace before having a late lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.
Apart from not being able to drop the luggage off, we
thought we'd do all that today too.
However, we hit a bit of a snag.......we couldn't find
Downtown Disney and with no mention of it on any of the road signs, we were completely
confused.....in the end, we decided that as it's near to Typhoon Lagoon, we'd
follow the signs to that water park and detour to Downtown from there.
We detoured and even though we knew we were in
the right place, we weren't where we wanted to be.......it was very befuddling.
About 10 minutes later we realised why we were totally, utterly and absolutely
puzzled, perplexed, bewildered and lost.....
Downtown Disney has been revamped, renovated and
renamed......it's now called Disney Springs!
Arrgghhhhh, more changes!
What have they done?
Don't like it (she says, stamping her foot and scowling)
Two horrible multi storey (but thankfully, free) car
parks have completely ruined the skyline and, if that wasn't bad enough they've
demolished Pleasure Island (the night club & restaurant part of the site)
and replaced it with a multitude of shops & boutiques - that's just plain wrong.
Well...........I mean to say!! It's not like Orlando needs another shopping centre!
It was annoyingly like home from home - if I wanted to
visit L'Occitane, Pandora Jewellery or Zara, I'd take myself over to Liverpool
(just 15 mins by train or car!). Now, let's
be honest, just cos those shops are in Disney "Springs" doesn't make
them special.
Pfffffttttttt.
Honestly.
Discovering the Rainforest Cafe was still there was a bit
of a bonus - our walk around Downtown Disney of old may have been thwarted but
our plans for lunch were still a go.
We both ordered the mojo ribs, steak and shrimp trio
which was very nice but far too much, we left loads - not only a waste of food
but a waste of money.
For drinks, T ordered coke and I had a Coors Lite which
came in a Rainforest Cafe pint glass along with a long box wrapped in a plastic
bag........it turned out that by ordering a draught beer, I automatically got
one of those glasses to take home with me.
Whoopeeeee do......just what we needed - something else
to increase the weight of our hand luggage, ha ha (we decided to keep it but if
push came to shove, that would be the first thing we'd chuck out if we needed
to get rid of anything at the airport).
We arrived at MCO nearly 4 hours before our 18:05 flight
- good job we did - the queue at check-in was unbelievably long and it took us
ages to get through.
Our careful packing (and contribution to Orlando's
landfill sites!) paid off, the hold luggage was spot on weight-wise and even
though the hand luggage was over, we didn't have to pay any extra - the clerk just
checked that we did only have (mostly) meds & electronics in them and let
the charge go.
Once we'd gotten passed security, we found a bar that was
reasonably close to our gate, found ourselves a couple of stools and bought a
couple of drinks, staying there until it was nearly time to board. At 17:30, we walked to the gate only to discover
the plane was going to be delayed AND that, unlike most every other airline in
the universe, Thomas Cook board passengers from back to front.
Would you believe it, for only the second time in our
lives we were near the front of the plane and yet we were going to have to wait
for 4/5ths of it to be filled before we could get to our seats.
More pfffffttttttts.
We eventually got on board.......it was a bit scary to
find white smoke coming out of the overhead vents (turned out to be the
air-con system) and a bit annoying to find the fortune we'd paid to sit
together (£150) was because we'd been given seats with extra leg room.
We'd never have picked them ourselves but being unable to
access our booking via the Thomas Cook/Condor website (see 10/5 on pre hol
section of the blog) meant that we had to take what Condor had been prepared to
offer us.
I've since checked and 2 normal seats, depending on their
location, would have cost either £40 or £60 in total so I do feel a bit robbed..........
but I'll know to book direct next time!
The flight was actually very good - we got fed for free,
watered at a cost (cos we wanted alcoholic water) and were able to watch TV
(again, at a cost because we wanted the good stuff).
We took off about 40 minutes late but still managed to
get to Manchester ¾ hour early.
That must have been one damn good tail wind.
29th September
Once we got through arrivals, it took us about half an hour to find our taxi driver (he said he'd been stood there for ages - errrrr yeah OK.......maybe we didn't see him outside the only WH Smiths in the vicinity cos he was wearing his invisibility cloak!).
Within 30 seconds of finding Mr Taxi Man, we'd managed to
lose him in the crowds as we walked out of the terminal - we stood around
waiting for a while & I tried phoning the booking office but their phones
were down (I found a text a few days later advising me of the fault and giving
me an emergency number to ring!) and he did ring my phone but it had decided to
play up again so his call went straight to voicemail (it could only happen to
us, ha ha). Eventually - after we'd
panicked for about 15 minutes - we all got together again, got in the car
and we were home in Pongoland at around 8:45.
Home - after 24 nights away.........unbelievable.
Q. And how were
those 24 nights?
A. Absolutely
fantastic (admittedly not everything went to plan but so what, it all got
sorted in the end).
Q. If we could
re-wind time and do the whole thing over again with no changes (except for the
first night in the Best Western), would we?
A. You betcha
In a
heartbeat.
Without a
moment's hesitation.
And isn't that just marvellous.