40?...Face?...Bovvered? - Day 1

[Guest]

THE SMALL PRINT: When we decided to do Trippies for this most recent holiday the old man (Sweeney Todd) and I couldn't agree on whose Dibb name to post under - I won! We also couldn't agree on content parameters for each report as we both have different styles of writing; I tend to be short and snappy and he tends to suffer from verbal diahhroea – yes, I do mean he goes on a bit and talks a load of sh**e! Anyway, we (well I) decided the best way was to do a day each. Since it was HIS birthday trip I let him start with Day 1 - therefore he gets to do the odd days and I get the evens!
This is our first time writing trippies so please bear with us.
Enjoy!



Cast

Brian – aka Sweeney Todd. 39 at the start, 40 by the end!
Himself, the man, the legend, there’s a film out about him don’t ya know?
Husband, father, workaholic.
Loves planning, Florida, Minerva Mouse, food, Hull City, coaster nut, the original gadgetman

Sue – aka Soozi. 43 on the trip but now 44
Wife, mother
Put-upon, bag holder, etc etc
Loves Florida and everything that goes with it. Was desperate to get away and spend QT with family

Rosie. 14 (turned 15 on trip)
Daughter, sister
Brainiac, Alternative, lover of all things Japanese, Karate, Manga, Anime, wannabe Harajuku dweller

Rowan. 12
Daughter, sister
Girly-girl, owner of the Worlds Biggest Pet Lip, the original Kevin the surly teen.
Loves Tigger, music and all things pink

Sam. 12
Son, brother
Twin of above, little swine, winds his twin up like a top.
Lover of gadgets (see Father above) computers, Hull City, his electric guitar, Dad’s coaster buddy. Hates school

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DAY ONE - Friday 1st Feb 2008 - Departure & arrival
(Today's instalment written by Sweeney Todd):


AM

Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep, beep beep……
“What the hell is that?” Sweeney opens an eyelid and spies the alarm clock that shows a time of 3.30 am. Yes - THREE THIRTY AM ! I’ve never been up that early since Sue’s waters broke nearly fifteen years ago! I was very tempted to knock it onto snooze but thoughts of missing that big white bird was playing on my mind. Never mind that I didn’t get to bed until almost midnight and could hardly sleep a wink! My own fault though – all that last minute double checking of flight bags and setting up the HDD recorder for the next month. Then, when everyone else was ready to retire at 10pm I remembered that I had forgotten to do the Mousekeeping envelopes. “Just take some plain envelopes,” says the missus. Yes, that would have been easier but, being a fussy get, the urge to mess about on the ‘puter and print some off was too great!

After loading the car we got on the road by 4.45 and were on our way to Manchester airport, stopping briefly at a local Asda for fuel (other supermarket fuels available!) The weather was fine when leaving Hull (it was forecast snow) but by the time we got past Leeds the sleet started to come down and it was as windy as it comes. Getting over the Pennines was a nightmare in head winds with the motor sometimes struggling to get above 45mph (I was a tad concerned also that the roofbox may get ripped off and end up beneath a following truck!) Heavy traffic on the M60 was determined to delay us further.

We finally got to the Airparks Gold/Q-Park car park at 7.20 only to be told that we had to go further down the road to the next one. That we duly did and checked in only then to be told that we our parking space was reserved in the other car park – yes, we returned to the original car park!
After unloading the car we waited in the bus stand for the next bus to arrive; it came about ten minutes later. (Now, we only paid £64 for Airparks Gold parking having been sold on its proximity to the airport and value for money. About a week before our trip I read some poor reviews and wondered if we had made a mistake). After disembarking from the bus at the travel exchange and making the journey on foot to T2 for what seemed like a mile I then firmly regretted my frugal choice.

We got checked in by 9am and was happy that the seats we had selected and I had confirmed at OLCI were still ours – 60A to C and 61A & C.

Going through security we were delayed slightly by Sue getting felt up, I mean systematically searched according to guidelines, by the female security officer!
Once we were airside nobody was particularly hungry so we made do with snacks from the Food Village – bacon banjo for Sue, piece of cake each for me and the kids and drinks. That cost the thick end of £16.

Afterwards Sue and the girls visited the duty free shop while I sat closer to the gate where our Virgin taxi, “English Rose”, was waiting for us. I was bemused by all the folk clamouring to be first on the aircraft despite boarding still being fifteen minutes away. I remained relaxed, drinking my coffee safe in the knowledge that after UC, PE and special assistance we would be called to board. When it came to the back rows being called Sue and the girls had returned and we tried to make our way past the rugby scrum of folk who were still waiting for their rows to be called. PEOPLE – it won’t leave without you!


PM

About an hour and a half after take off (10.45) the lunch service started. Rosie and I got our veggie meals first. Veg Korma, salad, fresh fruit, dried fruit & nuts, bread roll and water:

Despite the slightly burnt bit it was really nice!


Sue had beef ‘n ale stew, salad, bread roll and Gü chocolate dessert:

Although it does look like a school dinner she said it was “dead nice too!”


The sarnies we had for tea later were a different story. Cheese ‘n pickle & Humous for Rosie and I…

...while the others had ham and mustard. The bread was quite dry and only the cookie saved the day. Rosie donated hers to me while she reverted a butty bought at the airport.

The Captain had earlier told us our route was straight across the Atlantic rather than up ‘n over as on previous trips. The flight was fairly uneventful and free of turbulence – apart from one point when the aircraft dropped what seemed like thirty feet and one of the cabin crew literally left the floor and landed on her knees. Luckily she was ok and laughed it off but it did look like it hurt. Good job our seatbelts were fastened!

We landed at MCO at 2.50pm and were off the plane by 3.05pm.
We waited as usual until all the other eager beavers had rushed off and we disembarked at our leisure. When walking down the corridor thingy (I don't know the name of that ting that connects the plane to the terminal) a TSA officer walked past us with her Cocker spaniel, which immediately did a u-turn and started sniffing Rowan’s carry-on. Turns out it was trained to sniff out fruit ‘n veg and so on. The officer asked if there was any fruit or produce in the bag - ther had been but it had all been scoffed. A quick search of it confirmed our negative response. It is a good job on our return that there were no dogs trained to sniff out excess DS games – if so Rowan would have been in for it!

After passing through immigration (going to the right still works!) we collected our checked luggage and made our way out of the hall. We were confronted by a TSA officer requesting we placed our bags on another belt. No problem as we were intending to do the double bag drop anyway. Whilst boarding the monorail we noticed loads of folk still struggling with cases, perhaps thinking it would be easier now double bag drop is not obligatory. When we arrived at the main terminal we made our way directly to the Crocs shop to get kitted out. We all got a pair despite Rosie’s initial resistance…


I wish though that I hadn’t bothered, as you will read later!


While Sue paid for our new footwear ($196 including jibbitz) Rosie, Sam and I went to collect the cases from the carousel. By the time we had joined the fairly short queue for Alamo, Sue and Rowan joined us.
When called to the desk I handed over my booking form to Aziz. He went through the rigmarole of trying to sell us extra insurance, which we declined. He then pointed to a picture of the car we were to be given – a 7 seat mini van. We had booked and paid for a 7 seat 4x4 through US Rentacar at a cost of £156 for 7 days. However, the afternoon before we left the UK they phoned me to say that my booking number had changed; the rep issued me with a new one and I later printed the confirmation off. I told Aziz that we had booked a full size 4x4; he couldn’t grasp the concept of a 4x4 so I told him we had booked a full size SUV and were expecting an extended Chevy Trailblazer or similar. He asked how many of us there were and then told us that five people plus luggage would not fit in their SUV as they only had five seats, whilst pointing to a picture of a regular size Trailblazer. I again told him that we had booked an extended 7 seat SUV and that was what I wanted. He said that our booking was for a 7 seat mini van and that I could go for the 5 seat SUV or upgrade to a 7 seat SUV at extra cost. That is when I played my trump card...
...Luckily I had all the paperwork from the original booking and presented it to him. I explained to him calmly (even though I was now almost at ten thousand feet) that we had booked our vehicle back in July and that the company called us the day before to give us a new booking reference. I gave him all the original paperwork and he said he would go and speak with a manager. Now, that is when my world fell out of my aarse! …
…When he had gone I realised he still had my credit card in his hand! I am usually very particular about not letting cards out of my sight but with all the shenanigans I was caught off guard. All I could think about was charges on my card for a large screen tv, Bose hi-fi equipment and a first class return ticket to Egypt!
While our ever so helpful Alamo rep was gone we noticed that both sets of English folk either side of us were also having problems with their relevant Alamo reps trying it on to upgrade them and flog them loads of unnecessary insurances; one was sticking to his guns and the other was backing down.
When Aziz returned he said that his manager said we were to be upgraded free of charge to a 7 seat extended SUV. Wow!...free of charge you say? Or am I just getting what I paid for?
When signing the paperwork we carefully made sure there were no other add ons.

We made our way down to the Alamo pick up where I handed over the paperwork to Dudley. Now, this is where messing about at the desk upstairs for 20 minutes and being stubborn paid off…….
”Sorry,” says Dudley, “we haven’t got any of your type of vehicle ready. How about a free upgrade to a premium SUV?”
“Does it have 7 seats?”
“It sure does!”
“Ok then,” says I, silently shouting, “YEEESSS” and imagining punching the air.
He left us waiting and returned a minute later in a gleaming red GMC Acadia SLT



As you progress through these trippies I may wax lyrical about this motor but it really was AWESOME!


We were originally intending to pick up the Disney tickets from Undercovertourist but our delay with Aziz put paid to that. Instead we headed on to DTD to pick up my AP and buy the DDE card.
During our journey from the airport to DTD our English TomTom guide Kate appeared to be having problems with the pronunciations so whilst at DTD I changed it over to our American guide Susan. OMG – what was I thinking? Now I was going to be stuck in a car with TWO Susans barking orders at me! (I’ll pay for that last comment! )

Now with the assistance of Susan we drove onward to the villa at Calabay Parc via the Publix at Berry Town Centre. I knew the way already but I just wanted to play with Susan and try and outfox her – she wasn’t having any of it and each time quickly planned new routes.
We arrived at the villa just after 6.30pm and on the final leg I allowed Susan to guide me in through the main gates rather than using our normal approach via Four Corners Boulevard.
The villa we were staying in belongs to our friends and this is our third visit to it. As usual it was spotless with the a/c just at the right level and the pool being gloriously warm. We had been given their key so no need to mess about with the keypad box and we also had access to their secure cupboard – that was great for keeping valuables in and later storing gear during our hotel week.

After unpacking of sorts, Sam and I went to the Chinese To Go takeaway that is on the row of shops next to the nearby Walgreens (US27). We usually have our first night meal from the Chinese at Berry Town Centre but our friends recommended this one so we went with that….won’t again though! I had Shrimp Gung Po while Sue had Five Flavoured Pork; we shared a Veg Lo Mein and the kids, who weren’t very hungry, shared a load of rice and noodles. Total price of $34 for an adequate meal that was slightly on the greasy side with vegetables that didn’t seem as fresh as those from the other one.

Everyone starting nodding off about 9ish so off to bed.



NB – Don’t worry folks! Day 2 will be shorter as Sue will be writing it!


Tomorrow... MK



Regards,

Sweeney


Trip Report INDEX here

[janeywaney]

What a brilliant report can't wait to read more!

[Guest]

I've been looking forward to these

Great start

[Guest]

Great start. Awesome car and nifty footwear!

[TinkTatoo]

What a great start - looking forward to reading more

[Guest]

WOOHOO! patiently awaiting day 2
great start ... nice motor

[BarryandCaron]

Brilliant start, can't wait for the rest now.

We've booked a 4x4 7 seater through USRentacar, I hope we get one the same as yours.

Caron

[Sindysam]

Fab report, looking forward to reading more.

[Sue]

Yayyyyyyy - the trippies have commenced

Great start guys and looking forward to the rest.

Fab motor B - I can feel a call to Val coming on... Val, oh Val?

I want one of them please

[mapman]

Excellent . . I hope the next one isn't too short I love all the little details

Fantastic motor too !