The First Trip 1993 – Day One - Travel Day 10th September 1993

[Laner]

So, on Friday 10th September 1993 we were all ready to go on the trip of a lifetime. I had to look up what day it was and it seems strange that we flew on a Friday, but Friday it was, as the photos I have are dated. Our friends had come up to us in St Helens the previous day, as we were travelling from Manchester and in the interim 4 months or so I had gathered as much information together about the parks, restaurants, shows and what else we could do whilst we there. I had amassed a huge collection of travel brochures (remember no internet) and had cobbled together what would be called a loose itinerary now from these. The holiday was going to be mainly theme parks mixed with a bit of shopping and a couple of days away from the parks.

My dad had offered to take us to the airport, so we crammed all the cases and ourselves into his car and headed off to Manchester Airport which was a 30 minute journey from where we lived at the time. Terminal 2 had just opened, although the place looked like a building site, so we were dropped off and headed into the brand new terminal and Air 2000 had its own check in area and desks in a downstairs bit of the main check in area. We were quickly through bag drop and we headed straight to passport control and x-ray and were through to airside quickly as the terminal was practically deserted. I don’t think they were operating at full capacity yet, so there was only a small number of flights stationed there at that point in time. There wasn’t the plethora of shops and places to eat that there was now, so it was over to the airport’s restaurant/cafe and we grabbed some food. One of the worries before we went was that my friend’s partner was a vegetarian and in 1993 that was a relatively unusual thing. The image of the US was all big steak restaurants, but we didn’t need to worry and she always found something to eat whilst we were there and we always made sure we went somewhere where which catered for vegetarians. However, I remember that Manchester Airport catering hadn’t quite got there yet so, I recall her having beans on toast whilst we tucked into a full English. We had a drink at a bar to relax and waited for the flight to come up on the board.

We were all excited to be going to the US for the first time and we chatted about what we wanted to see and experience. Little did I know that over the next 25 years that I would have two roles in my career that involved trans-atlantic flights multiple times per year and I estimate I have probably flown to North America over 100 times now for leisure and business. The one thing I was nervous of was that I was designated driver and the thought of driving in another country, on the other side of the road and in an automatic car which I had never driven before, was all running through my mind. In hindsight and as far as my memory goes, I don’t recall it being any big deal, but I think that at that time driving in Florida was a lot easier and a lot more relaxed. When we go now it has definitely changed and the roads are crowded and drivers are very aggressive and fast, particularly on the I4 where it seems there are many accidents daily.

As I mentioned, the new terminal was practically deserted and as we sat in the bar just finishing our second lot of drinks, our flight was called on time. We headed to the gate, showed our passports, went down some stairs and walked across the tarmac to the plane, as I don’t recall any air bridges. It was quite a large plane and there was a long, high set of steps to climb onto the aircraft and the configuration was 3 and 3 seats. Here is an Air 2000 photo I found – it isn’t us by the way.

We got settled and hunkered down for the flight, my wife tightly gripping my hand for take off and landing, which she still does to this day. The TV’s were overhead every three seats, so you all got to watch the same film and I remember taking a few books with me as well. The flight must have gone okay as I can’t recall much else apart from the fact that we flew across the North Atlantic towards Canada and then down the Eastern Seaboard which I think was and still is a standard route for smaller aircraft. At one point we were low enough that the Captain announced that we were flying over New York and if you looked down you could see the city and make out various landmarks, unfortunately we were on the other side of the plane. I had also nipped to the toilet mid-flight and they were inviting people into the cockpit to meet the pilots, so whilst I was there I did that. Amazing to be looking out of the front of the plane as it travelled through the air, but obviously those days are long behind us now for health and safety reasons and the issues around hijacking. I was stood there with a big idiotic grin on my face whilst the pilots fussed over two kids who had gone for the tour as well. I remember we seemed to go out to sea again as we approached Florida and then crossed over the coast probably somewhere near Cape Canaveral as we felt that is what we were looking down on and then took a straight line into Orlando Airport.

We landed in Orlando and were one of the first off the plane as we were two rows back from the doors. We got through passport control reasonably quickly but made a mental note for any future trips that the officers don’t do conversation and to be ready for any weird questions that they might ask. I remember them asking how much money we had with us, the address of where we were staying and why had we decided to come to the US for a holiday? Questions that you don’t get asked when you travel to Europe and I resisted the urge to ask why they wanted to know such stuff. We also had to fill in a number of forms on the plane – visa waiver forms, customs forms and another form that I can’t remember what it was for. We handed these over at various points as well and one of them was stamped and stapled to a page in our passports which I found strange, but no complaints from me as long as they let us in.

We picked the cases up and we were immediately told to put them on another conveyor and we were told that we would see them on the other side of the airport. Up some stairs and onto the airport monorail, something that I had never seen before at an airport and I excitedly told people when we got back that it was like being on a ride as soon as you got there! We got off at the other end, had our passports checked again and then into the large hall at MCO with the palm trees. This just blew us away and I remember thinking how tired we were, but you could feel the heat and just the excitement of being there just picked us up again. We were finally here. We found the right conveyor for the bags, but nothing had appeared, so the rest of the group waited for the cases and I went to sort the car out. I can’t remember what company we used as it was booked as part of the package with the travel agents, but I remember it being painless and I just took the car that was part of the package we had booked. I found the rest of our crew, who had the cases by this point and we headed downstairs on the lift to the garage as I had been directed.

As we came out of the airport to cross the road to the garage, we had our first taste of the heat, obviously mixed with the smell of aviation fuel, but it felt glorious and warm and humid. Later on when we were at the hotel, I remember the smell of the air which was different than the UK. We went into the garage and there was a little desk in what felt like the underground level and a guy looked at our paperwork and signaled to one of the most massive human beings I have ever seen in my life. He was probably about 6 ft 8 and built like a bodybuilder. He took the cases and put one under each arm and carried the other two in each hand by the handles. It wasn’t too far to walk and we stopped in front of a green car – couldn’t tell you what make or model. You can see the “mean green machine” in the photo below and the “magnificent” hotel/motel we stayed in. The hotel is still there on the 192, right next to Bonefish Grill and is now called Quality Inn and Suites Kissimmee By The Lake. He offered to show me the cars controls which I took him up on as I was nervous about the drive, I tipped him $5 and with that he was gone and we were left to get on the road.

I started the car, played around with various aircon levers and buttons, made sure I knew what the pedals and brakes were and with that I reversed out of the space and inched through the garage at about 5 mph. Remember 1993, so no sat nav and we didn’t have a map, apart from the map in the Lonely Planet Guide, so my friend navigated from that all the way to Kissimmee and we didn’t get lost at all. The toll booths were interesting to navigate and were 50c from memory, but we only had notes from the foreign exchange in the UK, so we had to pay at the booths. We kept a collection of coins on the car after that. We later picked up free maps from petrol stations and the magazine/newspaper bins that you used to see at the side of the road or at restaurants. When we got to the hotel, we were underwhelmed to say the least, but we decided it was just somewhere to lay your head and we would be out all day. Looking back now, there is no way in a million years would I stay in a place like that ever again where the doors opened straight onto the parking lot, but it did us fine. I Googled it to have a look at it now and it looks as though they have done a lot of refurbishment work.

When we got to the room however, there was a two inch gap under the door and they couldn’t move us because they were full, so we slept with a towel wedged under the door gap each night.

It was quite late by this point and I remember we walked a couple of blocks down and grabbed a pizza at a restaurant (can’t remember which one) because we knew there would be a vegetarian option. We didn’t think anything of walking to the restaurant but it quickly became clear that nobody walks, even short distances so for the rest of the trip we just drove. When we got back, we got into the pool to chill out and plan for the next day, before heading off to bed to start the adventure properly the next morning.

[Gev]

Brilliant! Brings back so many memories. Our first time was in 23rd September 1993, so not far behind you. We stayed at what was then the Comfort Inn LBV and we flew out with Monarch. I know we had to land at Bangor, Maine, to refuel. Looking forward to the next instalment!

[juless77]

Oooo great. Trip report to read Thankyou

[JudeB]

Excellent! Brings back great memories of our first trip. So much has changed in the intervening 25 years!

[MarionG]

Our first trip was 24th April 1993 for 3 weeks. We flew from Gatwick with Virgin Atlantic. I remember there was a smoking section at the back of the plane (Yuk). We stayed in a villa that a man whose son went to our sons school owned on Loma Linda. We thought it was fantastic having our own pool. The green car looks very much like the car we had. It was a Dodge Intrepid. We have now been 17 times in total, the first 9 was with my Mum as well until she passed away. Our son was 7 the first trip and continued to accompany us until 2014 when he was 28...

[mickeyspal]

Oh that wonderful Florida smell of kerosene and humidity . Our first hotel was on the 192 ,holiday inn main gate east , we hired a basic car but they had none so gave us a sporty red camero instead

[Laner]

I can't remember smoking on the plane but it must have been a thing as it would have been on all flights I guess. Marion, I will take your word for it that the car was a Dodge!

[Disneycraft]

Wonderful memories! The smoking section of a plane you can’t even imagine now . Our hotel was the Marriott,we walked in and there was a massive cockroach in the bath I burst into tears and said I wanted to go home

[Laner]

Ha ha - wait for our cockroach story a bit later into the holiday!

[Nimbus]

"we flew across the North Atlantic towards Canada and then down the Eastern Seaboard which I think was and still is a standard route for smaller aircraft".

That's the route many aircraft will take because that's the shortest route. It's a straight line from the UK to Florida. It doesn't appear like that on a map because maps give a distorted view of things. If you drew a straight line from Manchester to Orlando on a globe then it would go towards Canada and then down the Eastern Seaboard.