Are we still doing these? January Trip Summary

[Mo&Chris]

This was our third attempt at this trip, following cancellations in May 2020, and January 2021. With the arrival of the omicron variant before Christmas, we did wonder if it would happen, if it should happen, but took the decision that we would be just as much at risk going to gigs at First Direct - which we’re back to doing regularly - and we needed a holiday, so if the borders were open, we were going!

OUTBOUND TRAVEL AND TESTING

As ever, we stayed over the night before at the Radisson Blu at Manchester Airport. En route, we stopped off at the Randox drive thru test centre for our pre-flight tests. The tests were quick and easy, and we had the results within an hour. The hardest thing was finding the way in and out the test centre, as there appears to be a number of road changes that haven’t updated onto our satnav yet!

At the Radisson, there were a couple of minor issues, but as ever the important thing for us was how they dealt with them - in both cases it was well handled. Firstly, our accessible room wasn’t quite ready yet. So, our luggage was stored, and we were escorted to the bar for a complimentary drink while we waited. Secondly, we realised when we woke up way too hot at 2am that the room ac wasn’t working right! It was too late to do anything about, but we mentioned it in passing at check out so they could look into it for future guests, and promptly got a discount off the room rate!

We had dinner at the Collage restaurant, which was fab and included a free glass of bubbly since it was New Year’s Eve!

I know there are cheaper hotels at the airport, but for service and location, you can’t beat it!

We headed to check in for opening the following morning, our outbound flight was the 10:05 Virgin flight, sitting in Premium Economy. This would be the first time we flew with Chris’s wheelchair and prosthetic leg - in fact the first time since his amputation - so we wanted to leave plenty of time. Check in took a little longer than normal as, despite having registered it ahead of time, they still needed to ask questions and take details about the chair. On the plus side, they changed our seats to bulkhead seats, which made things easier for getting in and out with the prosthetic!

We used the new look Escape Lounge, where we had a decent breakfast, and a view over the runways. Wasn’t much to see as it was mostly dark, mind you, but would be good later in the day or year.

The new T2 still feels like a work in progress, in fact our gate was back in the old section. Once got there, the gate staff were great about taking his chair and getting us on board.

The flight itself was peaceful and uneventful and the staff were brilliant.

Landing at MCO, we had to wait on his chair coming back up. It was the last one to arrive, to the point one of the flight crew was getting antsy about it. It arrived a few minutes later, but I’m so glad she was on our side if anything happened!
MCO has also had something of a face lift since we were last here, most noticeably that there are a lot of self-scan machines in immigration, which they were pushing people to. I didn’t get us use them as we were sent to the accessible lane, but just a heads up. The immigration hall seemed fairly quiet when we got there, and I didn’t think we were *that* late getting down there!

Car rental was from Hertz, via Andy at DFCH. The guy at the desk did try and upsell us on insurances, which we declined. We got a Honda Passport - Chris has posted details in the car hire forum - but it’s a beast of a car! It also includes Android Auto (and the Apple equivalent, if that’s your preference) which we both love!

We also got the Visitors Toll Pass which cost $10 refundable deposit, and about $40 in total over the 3 weeks.

ACCOMMODATIONS

As always, we stayed in a condo in Windsor Hills which we love. The traffic on that end of the 192 has definitely increased, however there are a lot more resorts popping up, most noticeably Margaritaville, which would explain it, as well as the massive Walmart at the top of North Old Lake Wilson Road. About half way through the trip, we saw them putting up a new set of lights at the junction between North Old Lake Wilson Road and Livingston Road - they were still not operational when we left, but just a heads up.

PARKS AND ACTIVITIES

We had 14 day Ultimate tickets, and as a result, we decided to have our first few days non-park, with our first park day on 7th. We visited Kennedy on one coast, and the Big Bend power station Manatee viewing area on the other, detouring down to Yoders, in Sarasota, for a fantastic meal.

We also booked tickets to see Puddles Pity Party - we'd booked tickets on our first attempt, with a road trip to Georgia. This time was a lot closer to home, in Orlando, but well worth the wait!

One of the reasons we picked this time of year was due to a lot of places reporting that early January was a quiet time. Now yes, there was a runDisney event on 7th and 8th, but even after that, I swear it’s busier than when we normally go in May! Maybe this is in response to park reservations, or because it’s the anniversary celebrations, I don’t know. It did seem to die down a bit towards the end of the trip, but still wasn’t what I’d call quiet.

Now, the biggie - Genie Plus and Lightning Lanes. We didn’t use either and I don’t feel it had a negative impact on the trip. We did say that we’d look at an Individual LL on our last HS day if necessary to ensure we did ROTR, but it wasn’t needed. As ever, we mostly did the parks in 3-4 hour bursts, and park hopped.

We didn’t rope drop either, and found we got more done in a few hours in the evening, than starting first thing. We got ROTR, Smugglers Run, Slinky Dog Dash and Mickey and Minnie’s down in about 3 ½ hours one evening.

After the long wait, I absolutely loved Galaxy's Edge. Was a bit busy to explore every nook and cranny, but the theming is amazing, right down to the sound of ships overhead. Rise of the Resistance was everything we dreamed of, and more, I don't think either of us stopped grinning for the rest of the day, and we got pilot seats on Smugglers Run, so I got to pull the lever to send us to hyperspace! As a Sims player, it was also fun to look at the matches and cross over between the real Galaxy's Edge, and the Sim version!

For accessibility, we did not get a DAS pass, as Chris’s issue is purely mobility, but found a few scenarios.

• Short standby line (<10-15 mins) we were just waved along the lightning lane (Living with the Land)
• Longer standby line (>10/15 mins) we were given a return time (Jungle Cruise)
• No accessibility issues and sent to join the standby line (ROTR)
• If the queue may present issues, we were sent straight to the lightning lane (Splash Mountain)

It definitely feels easier in a powered chair than an ECV, it’s more maneuverable.

The only dining reservation we booked was breakfast, well brunch, at Trattoria al Forno, which was excellent. Most of the time we ate in the parks we used Mobile Order at the quick serve places which was fast and convenient. Highlight foodwise was Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie at EPCOT, although that’s one place that could do with the addition of Mobile Order. Disappointment was Regal Eagle. Chris’s burger was just average theme park food, and my ribs were drier than I like and not the fall off the bone type I expected - probably not helped by the comparison of having had the most delicious ones at Cheddars Scratch kitchen a couple of days previously!

We had a great time, and there’s still magic to be found. Cast Members overall were happy and pleasant to be around. The biggest issue is that people seem to have forgotten how to people a lot of the time!

HOMEWARD BOUND

Biggest issue here was no Disney Springs check in! It should be back later in the year, but this is the first time we’ve had to check in at the airport, which was weird.

Handing the car back to Hertz was quick and easy, and you pass a drop off box for the Toll Pass as you go from the car parking to the terminals. We got checked in quickly and through security. I’ve heard a lot of nightmares about MCO security recently, but as we used the accessible lane, I can’t comment, only that it took us longer to put everything back in bags and get our shoes on that to get through!

We upgraded to Upper Class for the return trip, in the hope that the lie flat beds would help with jetlag. Maybe? I feel better than I normally do, but Chris seems to be worse. This got us access to the Delta Sky Lounge which was a chill place to relax for a couple of hours.

The flight home was also wonderfully uneventful. The biggest issue there was apparently they had trouble opening one of the cargo doors, which meant using one of the airport chairs to get Chris to the baggage hall to wait on his chair there. I think the delay was only about 10 minutes in the end, but we were told it could have been up to half an hour.

One drive home via Randox testing centre - our results arrived a few hours later, both negative - and home to unpack and sleep!

It will probably be a few years before we go back now, let them get all the work at EPCOT finished, but we will be back!

/Mo

[00swan]

Sounds like a fabulous trip - thanks for sharing

[KarenG]

What a great time you had!
Thanks for such an informative and interesting report

[iloveholidays1]

Thanks for posting 😀

[darbs]

Sounds like a wonderful trip!
Did you get the rapid antigen tests with randox for your outbound flight?

[Gryff]

Mo I did one on our trip in November and folks loved it too
I’ll do one I’m here now but mine are different as it’s last trip,and this trip mostly what us boring villa owners have had to do after nearly 2 years away I won’t bore you with the pool fence saga yet

[Florida1972]

Tanks for posting. We are going to use Randox for our pre departure test as well so good to know the result came through promptly 😊

[Sparksy72]

What a wonderful trip and Upper Class on the way back sounds fantastic! I’m off to Google Cheddar Scratch Kitchen, that’s a new one for me. 😁

[Twinkle-Dolphin]

Thanks for posting

[2point]

Thanks for sharing, sounds like a greta trip