Turf and Surf - Day 1 - Lateness, Lounges and Lego

[Guest]

Day 1 – 29/2/16 – Lateness, Lounges and Lego

So, having had a brilliant night’s sleep we awaken to a really frosty morning. A Full English breakfast in the restaurant gets us going and we are ready to head to Gatwick’s North Terminal. We are flying with British Airways. Normally a shuttle runs to the airport but as there are only two of us they have arranged a taxi. We have Fast Track for security and we are through it in under five minutes. Never been through so quick. I think they have had this area re-fitted because it looks very modern. We head for the lounges. Now as BA and Virgin are in the throws of changing terminals in November the BA lounge is closed and we have been directed to the No 1 lounge. This is heaving and the young man on the desk tells us we can use the My lounge instead.

This is smaller but has plenty of available sofas and armchairs on to which to collapse, which we do. Boarding will be in about 45 minutes so we have time for coffees and pastries. Coffee? Any resemblance to “Coffea Arabica” is purely coincidental. You can see the beans on top of the machine but what comes out into the cup is some turgid dishwater – it’s ghastly. I opt instead for a glass of wine. Darrin catches up on some work emails.

Our flight is called and we head to gate 53. We go through the desks and are told to sit at the far end (near the boarding gate). At the required time we go down a ramp, over the sky bridge and into our seats. We were able to get the two seats – 3E & 3F that face the bulkhead where a sky cot shelf is located. This means we have two little exits and won’t have to climb over sleeping bodies on the way to the toilet or the Club Kitchen during the flight. So bags in overhead lockers we get ourselves comfy as the champagne arrives.

We are due to fly at 11:35 a.m. but this isn’t going to happen. Thanks to a Virgin plane, the main runway has been doused in oil / fuel and nothing is going out or coming in to Gatwick. 23 landing flights get diverted and we sit for two and a half hours whilst clear up operations are put in force. Within the first twenty minutes the incident has made the BBC news:

bbc/news/uk-england-sussex-35687998

Thankfully, the champagne does the rounds again. We get chatting to S******, who along with her colleagues, H**** and S*****, all work for Lego. Soon we are discussing how much some of the older models are worth and when I tell them I have the Statue of Liberty (now going for close on $10,000 on Ebay when it originally cost $200) they are quite intrigued. I also tell them about my involvement with the DIBBcast and soon business cards and emails are being exchanged. These 3 ladies work in marketing and travel all over the world.

Finally, at just after 2p.m. - two and a half hours after our original take off time, we are given clearance and a small cheer erupts around the plane.

Now, I was asked (on the DIBB) if travelling backwards on a plane is any different to travelling forwards.

Apart from take - off where you tend to lean forward I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference. Once those window shades are pulled down you wouldn’t know what path you were taking. Pre meal drinkies are served and I have a whisky whilst Darrin has gin.

Lunch starts with pear and Cropwell Bishop cheese for me and Antipasta for Darrin.

We both follow this with filet steak with all the trimmings:

Key Lime pie followed for dessert. I settle down for a nap whist Darrin does some work on his laptop but I only manage about two hours. I watch “Bridge of Spies” and you can see exactly why Mark Rylance got an Oscar but I feel Tom Hanks should have had one too. Darrin chooses Hotel Transylvania 2. The plane didn’t go over Newfoundland as normal but seemed to head for New York and then follow the coast down to Florida.

We landed at around 7p.m. local time. Unfortunately, so did the Virgin flight. It was a marathon to see who could get to the Immigration Hall first. We did the up and up down bit and eventually reach the grumpiest woman in all of Orlando who decides who does the self check kiosks and who doesn’t. Congeniality bypass methinks. We get selected for kiosks – by the way, they have installed more – there are about 20 of them now. In view of the “Big Black Cross” incident on our last visit here I allow Darrin to go first. He does his bit and sells his soul to CBP (Border Security) then it’s my turn. I do the functions but will it read my right hand digits – no way! Eventually the print out emerges – Darrin has been cleared. I have the black spot of Blind Pugh – the dreaded cross. I have to see one of the officers and eventually I get clearance. Seems it was because I have recently got a new ESTA and passport. To be fair he was quite pleasant, wished us a good vacation etc.

Now we have the car to collect from Avis. We do their preferred service so you go straight to the garage. No sell up situations for us at the desks! Darrin checks in and within two minutes we are loading baggage into a Mitsubishi Outlander. We didn’t want a huge vehicle this time as we are staying on property and will only use it for shopping and our run to Port Canaveral later next week.
We take the south exit from the airport and soon encounter that new junction that they have built. In fact, a whole section of the SR 417 looks to be newly laid. A couple of tolls and we are soon at Junction 3 for World Drive. Straight up to the Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower. As we get out of the car the Wishes fireworks are just starting. No music where we are, just almighty explosions that shake the monorail pylons to their core!

By the time we have checked in, got “MagicBands” and a birthday button for Darrin and dragged our cases to our room – Studio #7232, it’s well gone 9: 20p.m. (EST). Nice view of the Contemporary Resort, especially when its lit at night:

The Studio:

And its kitchenette:

We have been on the go for 19 hours. Despite that, we are hungry and so head for the Top of the World lounge on floor 16.

You reach this by a special elevator to which the Cast Members have a special “key”. It’s pretty quiet in there. The firework watchers have gone to their rooms so we are soon served – Long Island teas with pork sliders for me and a cheese selection platter for Darrin. We follow this with two more Long islands. When the bill arrives we realise that Kyle, our server, has only charged us for one round of drinks. We think it only fair to point this out and as a result he only charges us for one of the extra drinks and tells Darrin the other is on the house for D’s birthday! (He was wearing his Birthday button).
We retire to bed at 11 absolutely shattered and are asleep within minutes.




Index: http://DIBB.in/11368522

[Steve.S]

great start to your holiday,pics are good,you flying 1st class?,looks great,hope you have a blast

[floridasarah]

What a fantastic travel day, Oh but to have those seats

Looking forward to the rest.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Steve.S

great start to your holiday,pics are good,you flying 1st class?,looks great,hope you have a blast

See more...

Flew Club World. Gatwick to Orlando BA doesn't have First Class.

[Steve.S]

Originally Posted by geoffa

Flew Club World. Gatwick to Orlando BA doesn't have First Class.

See more...

seats look fab.

[Pussycat Doll]

Looks great Geoffa, can't wait to fly Club and compare to UC. Lovely room you have. Pussycat

[abiknox]

Lovely first day, I would love to fly in luxury one day but I daren't even look at the prices.

We took that route this time too & thought it was strange we didn't pass over Canada.

Shame about the delay on take off.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Nice start to the report Geoff. I remember reading about the delays at LGW due to the fuel spill. Sad you missed Wishes from the TOTW Lounge though.
Nice food on the flight!

[JudyC]

I'm going to enjoy reading your report as always. No Florida for us for a couple of years, so I'll enjoy it through some trip reports

[Eeyore rocks]

Except for the delay, great travel day...I bet the Lego ladies were interesting to talk to.

Thanks for sharing.