The “Whips, Dips, Hips and Chips” tour – day 1

[BONZO]

The “Whips, Dips, Hips and Chips” tour – day 1

16th August 2007

The Cast:
Me – Shaun 40 something ~ chief snorer
DW – Alison 40 something ~ chief planner
DD – Alexandra 14 ~ daredevil with attitude
DD – Laura 12 ~ coupon queen

We had our alarms set for 5.30 to grab a slice of toast just in case there wasn’t time for breakfast at Gatwick although we were sure there would be as we’d left plenty of travelling time (famous last words eh?) Alison’s dad came and picked us up early and we set off at about 06:30 via the M25. I thought ok, it is mid-week but it’s still school holidays so the traffic should be ok, but once again the M25 bites back For those of you familiar with this neck of the woods it’s the section just past the A21 turn off and towards Clacketts Lane – traffic just ground to milk float pace!

Poor Alison was sitting up front constantly checking her watch and getting understandably very anxious about the situation :angry:


Finally arrived at about 07:50 (it’d only taken us 35 minutes in yesterday evening’s rush hour – and 1 hour 20 in this morning’s!).

We had to go back to the Premium Star Class desk to collect our boarding cards ~ rows 8 & 9 seats A and B (2 behind the other 2 in a 2-3-2 configuration). Unfortunately we decided against the breakfast with Alison’s Dad as there was quite a queue at security so McDonald's will just have to wait. As it turned out we went through quite quickly and would have had time for breakfast after all - yippee!

Having said that, for the second year running that shady looking Alison gets pulled over for a full bag check. She wouldn’t have minded but she had to re-pack everything that had been previously neatly organised as the official got everything out, swabbed the bag for explosives/drugs etc and then put everything back in higgledy piggledy! It wouldn't have bothered me much as that's the usual disorganised state my bag is in, but for super organised Alison? It's a big no no with her tardis like bag.

We wanted something to eat and luckily for us we had Alexandra as our “personal shopper” as she’d spent hours airside on a significant delay outbound on her school trip to Italy. Most of the eateries were heaving so we settled on bacon bagels and hot drinks at PIP, nothing fancy just about adequate really. This meant the other great British institition, the big fry up with double cholestorol would have to wait

Shortly we were called to our gate and from there we were called first as priority passengers and then had the worlds longest bus journey to the far side of the airport probably close to Heathrow from the distance we travelled.

First impression of the aircraft was that it was small (Boeing 767), instead of the Jumbos that we are used to travelling on. It even only had one engine on each wing! I mean, how can that get over to America? I gues that as long as it gets us there in comfort and on time, that’s all we need. We settled into our seats with a nice glass of rose wine (or OJ for those that didn’t fancy alcohol at 9.30am! ) and the “mood lighting” was switched on for our comfort. We were very impressed with the leg room - almost as good as BA World Traveller Plus (which we travelled last May to New York) which is the same as Virgin PE I think. We each had an amenity pack consisting of socks, eye mask, moisturiser, lip balm and foot refresher cream. I sincerley hoped that Alison wouldn't get these potions mixed up again in the future.

Fancy food menus were handed out for us to peruse then all of a sudden - disaster struck!

It’s the “Houston we have a problem” moment that no one wants to hear.

What could it be?

Option (a) - All of the alcohol had run out
Option (b) - Only vegetarain food on board
Option (c) - A technical problem

Yup - Option (c)


We were informed that one of the 5 back up cockpit radios was faulty which meant the crew could not fly as this was a US Air legal requirement and therefore they had a couple of options: -

1. Repair the radio
2. Replace the radio
3. Fly an alternative route
4. Abandon the plane

Bizarrely there was no peasant revolt from the passengers but a loud sigh and typical British acceptance that such things happen.

Several engineers arrived on the aircraft with new bits of kit but no luck. The Captain kept us up to date all the time with what they were doing and all their options etc – we were impressed with them as well as the stewards/stewardesses who wandered around chatting to everyone. Eventually at 11.25 the captain announced that they couldn’t repair the radio, the replacement handset wouldn’t work properly either, and if we flew the alternative route we’d have to land somewhere else and refuel en route which would take longer than the final option. Luckily First Choice had a standby aircraft at Gatwick so they just had to get it into place, fuel it and transfer the luggage/on board meals etc over and we could use that. Phew! We were getting concerned that we’d need to go back home and return the next day!

We were taken off the plane at 11:25 and bussed back to the terminal and each given £5 food vouchers to spend airside. Once again we asked Alexandra to make an informed choice and settled on Lloyds No1 bar for burger and chips (first of this trip!), baguettes, wraps and drinks including some odd Czechoslovakian beer for me.

Time elapsed and we were called to the gate again and we re-boarded the plane again at 13:45. It was another 767 so didn’t feel any different to the last plane. The plane pulled back off the stand (to a small cheer from the passengers), went about 10 metres then stopped

Would you believe that pre-flight checks now showed there was a fault with a generator? Now we all thought this flight was fated and we’d end up on the set of Lost at this rate. Not long after “white van man” with a comprehensive toolbox arrived to save the day although it was touch and go as the staff were due to go “out of hours” and were within their rights to call the flight off. Apparently the crew had a chat and decided that as we’d all been understanding about the delays and not moaned or kicked up a fuss they would fly today.

We finally took off at 15:00 to much cheering from everyone:

Brief breakdown (literally) is as follows: -

09:45 on board the plane
11:25 off plane
13:45 on board plane again
14:10 pulled away from stand
14:13 next breakdown
15:00 finally take off

Food and drinks (hurrah!) were promptly served up soon after take off. What I’ve not experienced before was a stewardess taking everyone’s orders for drinks and food on a notepad and then bringing them to you. No trolleys going up and down the aisle which was nice!



Lunch

Greek salad, with feta cheese and olives

Beef in herb sauce, roast potatoes, broccoli and carrots
Or
Chicken breast in mustard sauce, mashed potato, cauliflower and green beans
Or
Pasta in tomato, olive and pesto sauce

Warm fresh bread with butter

Black forest gateau

Mature cheese and crackers

Chocolates with tea or coffee

Ice cream for the film


Tea

Selection of sandwiches

Grapes

Fruit scone with cream and strawberry jam

Tea or Coffee

I have to say the food was very good and it was really nice having proper glasses to drink from and heavy cutlery (not metal as it’s not allowed but it is as close as possible).

The girls went up to the galley several times through the flight to ask for extra drinks which wasn’t a problem at all. The flight attendants were all really friendly – Alison chatted for quite a long time with a couple of them. I would've done having a thing for women in uniform but i've been warned off! - LOL

The flight was uneventful ~ I didn’t watch any films but played a few games on the console, read my newspaper and a book. Great stuff these seatback TV’s – much better than anything else I’ve experienced.



Seat back config in Star Class Premier


You could pause, fast forward and rewind the programmes which was a really useful facility. As a kind gesture, the crew made all the films available to everyone. Alison watched Music and Lyrics and a couple of TV programmes and played games and the girls watched various programmes, listened to music and played games.



Dodgy bag lady and Alexandra

We all got fairly tired as it had been a long day – with an early start. Things must have been bad for Alison as at one point I heard a yelp as she managed to put foot refresher balm on her lips instead of lip balm – she said her lips really hurt! She should have been grateful not to use that pile cream! – LOL

Finally landed at Sanford at 18:50 local time as it was getting dusky, ok some time later than expected but at least we had arrived. It was slightly bizarre landing at Sanford as it didn't have the 'smell' that Orlando International has...not a big deal but we do love that smell! First off the plane, through immigration (no queue here and the chap behind the desk was pleasant and efficient), the luggage was off first too and we walked through customs quickly and headed over to the car hire building.

Joined the queue for the Dollar car hire desks where people from the earlier TCD flight were still queuing. We had a 7 seater booked but still had the usual “do you want to upgrade?” type questions.

Desk Clerk: Would like to upgrade to an Escalade or Hummer with spinny wheel trims?

Me: I'm a middle-aged grumpy man with (nearly) 2 teenage daughters! - Do I look like a pimp or drug dealer?

Desk Clerk: I'll take that as a no then, how about Sat Nav?

Me: {Smugly} - No thanks I've got Steve Mapman's map!


Picked up the Town & Country wagon and drove off down the 417 at 19:55 armed with a bucket full of change for the various tolls on route. By now it was getting very dark but the driving was easy.

Finally arrived at Port Orleans at 20:55 and through to reception area where we were allocated Alligator Bayou room 1760, a good choice for us as we like a top floor (no noise from above) and not overlooking noisy pool area.

The room was as expected – 2 double beds, with a rollaway under one of the beds (useful for Laura as she’s quite a small 12 year old), a split bathroom area with 2 sinks and a hanging area behind a curtain and a small bathroom with a WC and bath in.







Couple of POR rooms in pristine condition before we unloaded all of our gear


Packed the valuables away in the safe and strolled over to the food court and had Cheese Pizza (Laura and Alison), Chicken tenders and fries (Alexandra), Garlic chicken salad (Me) – cost about $20, and picked up this year’s refillable mugs for $12 each.

Tired, we walked back to the room for some unpacking and crashed out at about 22:45pm, happy that we’d finally arrived despite it being slightly delayed.

zzzzzz

Pre trip drivel

[Guest]

Another great report. The hotel room looks lovely. Looking forward to the rest of the report.

[Guest]

The room looks lovely. Shame about the delay tho

[orlandosgr8]

Shame about the delay, nice to hear that people were understanding though. Your rooms look very nice

[Michelle]

Some start to the holiday that was.

Great photos

[Guest]

Shaun, I'd forgotten how entertaining your writing style is! What a frustrating start to your trip but glad you made it safely. Now let the fun begin...

Diane x

[Guest]

Hooray you finally got away! Poor Alison mistaking foot balm for lip balm

[TinkTatoo]

Shame about the delay but you got there in the end

[Jockey]

Great report!

[Guest]

Great report. Glad you got there the same day, despite the delay. The rooms at PO look fab.