Back off oor holibags.

[AndyP & Lenore]

Warning: A bit of a holiday blog thing going on here... read only if you're really bored, or really interested in Orlando and flights.:computer:

Just back today from a week in Orlando.:cool: Jet lagged to hell and back, and I'm suffering from man-flu which I probably picked up on the flight out which was full of angry Mancurians having their failed XL holiday flights saved by Virgin for ramped up prices. In fact when we got to the gate at Manchester Airport they seemed pleased to tell us they were just about to sell our seats on. I reminded them their system should show us as a connection coming in on a flybe flight. "So what. If you're not here in time we'll sell your seats" Charming. Flight out was on a 20 year old 747 with torn seats, partially working movie system and the usual dour Virgin trolley dollys with a permanent "if you can't be bothered upgrading to premium plus I can't be bothered serving you" look on their face. In contrast our flights back were with Continental from Orlando to Newark to Edinburgh. As it happens it was the exact same plane, just "refreshed" for the onward journey. The staff were extremely polite, had a sense of humour stuffed us with drinks, although the food was the usual cr@p. But best of all, it was a split new plane - only 20 miles on the clock, or so it seemed - with a terrific seat back entertainment system. On offer was 20 movies, about 15 TV shows, CD Albums, all with pause, rewind, fast-forward controls. The LCD screen was touch-screen so no awkward controls stuck down near your ass. There was also a selection of games. Continental service from EDI to the USA is top of our list for our next USA trip.

Orlando:

Did the usual parks. Only had 7 days out there and we'd planned on one day for shopping, so only time for 6 parks. And Lenore being Lenore we ended up doing Seaworld twice. So we did Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Disney's Hollywood Studios (Formerly MGM Studios), Seaworld and Epcot. Loved them all, and anyone who has done Orlando before will know why, anyone who hasn't - you should go, you'll love it.:cool:

One tour which really stood out was "Disaster Studios" in Universal Studios. The final part of this tour is the old "Earthquake - The Big One" ride. But they have changed the lead up and the reason behind why the ride exists. Some parts are similar to Earthquake, in that at the beginning an "assistant director" gets some "volunteers" to play parts in sections of a movie being shot in the studio just now. It's the next section that absolutely amazed me. We're ushered into a fairly darkened room with a stage set with some props including a table in the middle of the room. There is then an interaction between the "assistant director" and "Frank Kincaid" - the director and owner of Disaster Studios. Kincaid is played by Christopher Walken and is "shown" on stage in a very lifelike 3D image, which walks behind and in front of the props and assistant director on the stage. It's normally pretty difficult to pull the wool over my eyes, but on this occasion, I am stumped. If anyone heads off to Orlando sometime soo, have a good look at this - you will be stunned. The tour ends with a ride on the same San Francisco subway train with the usual high thrills at the end. Simple, but effective stuff. The trip back to the station is then filled with a trailer for the movie which was being shot using the volunteers in the previous stage.

Saw the fireworks at Epcot for the first time - awesome.:cool:

And I rode Journey to Atlantis for the first time too.:moonie: Not a roller coaster fan in any way at all:Whistle:, so took a bit of courage plucking, but went for it in the end. Cool ride. That huge plummet is scary. I know it's not exactly The Hulk, but holy jessssey peeeps - I came over all sickly just standing under it at IOA.:laugh:

Anyway, just thought I'd share my ramblings.

Off to catch up on a billion posts - you guys have been busy.

A.:thumbs up:

[zimbo]

You jammy b@*****s, I LOVE Orlando, was there last year in June, the best holiday ever!!! I want to go back so badly...

How about an NMS trip to Orlando, get a 10 person villa or less if needed, rent a couple of MPVs then we hit the parks!!! :Whistle: then before the holiday ends have a couple of days shopping... :thumbs up::cool:

[euan]

Good write up there Andy. I've never been to Orlando (actually, for all the travels I've never been to the States) but would love to head over and see the parks sometime, tied in with a bit of golf - the chances of me getting the wife to agree are slim though!

Airlines are all the same these days, best I've been with was Singapore on the way back from Oz - if you like that style of food your happy! Though noodles at 6am is a bit harsh... I always thought Virgin were better than your experience though.

[Gismo]

Continental service from EDI to the USA is top of our list for our next USA tripGlad to hear that, going through Newark from Edinburgh for crimbo and new year :thumbs up:

Glad to hear you had a good time, ok Craig :rolleyes: we can relax now :computer: the gaffer's back :shut up:

[mini saltire]

You been away... Just kidding, welcome back :smilewinkgrin:.

Sounds like a great holiday. I went but it was 25 years ago :blush:

[Scottie]

sounds like a fun trip.

On my one and only visit to the US I researched fights planes airlines to see who had the best safety record.:blush::blush: prior to me booking :blush:

I chose Continental like you the plane seemed brand new so I was happy could never ever do what you done just there to many hours in the sky for me.:frown:

[AndyP & Lenore]

Good write up there Andy. I've never been to Orlando (actually, for all the travels I've never been to the States) but would love to head over and see the parks sometime, tied in with a bit of golf - the chances of me getting the wife to agree are slim though!

Airlines are all the same these days, best I've been with was Singapore on the way back from Oz - if you like that style of food your happy! Though noodles at 6am is a bit harsh... I always thought Virgin were better than your experience though.

Cheers euan. Orlando really is an absolute gem for OTT entertainment and "Amercanism", if you know what I mean.

And the pace is cool too. The roads are waaay easier to navigate than even in the UK. Speed limits are kept down and Oralndo itself is such a tourism hot-spot, the majority of the cars on the road are other tourists who have no idea where they are going either.

In our flights to the US over the past 7 years we have flown:

KLM/Northwest: Rubbish. Old planes and very poor "we dont care" service. Flown two trips to the US with them - never again.
Virgin: Marginally less rubisher than KLM/Northwest. Flown two trips to the US with them - never again.
BA: Excellent. All leather seating, plenty leg room and good trolley dollys. - Flown one trip with them - would deffo book again.
Continental: Excellent - flown one trip would deffo book again.
United: Cream of the crop. I swear we came off that flight half a stone heavier than when we got on. Flown one trip, would deffo book again.

A wee while ago Craig D and I were chatting Orlando, and he suggested we look at travelcitydirect.com. He swore by them. Good service and reasonable price to upgrade to premium economy. Shame they've went to the wall.

A.

[AndyP & Lenore]

sounds like a fun trip.

On my one and only visit to the US I researched fights planes airlines to see who had the best safety record.:blush::blush: prior to me booking :blush:

I chose Continental like you the plane seemed brand new so I was happy could never ever do what you done just there to many hours in the sky for me.:frown:

Flying out was the worst bit. 1 Hr down to Manchester on a flimsy leggo built Embrear with 2 tiny little 2-stroke engines cable tied to the polystyrene wings. Then 9 hours with the second worst airline in the world - Virgin.

Coming back was fine. Two trips in (exactly the same) brand new 757-200. 3hours Orlando to Newark, then 6hrs 45 from Newark to Edinburgh. It breaks the journey up a bit.:thumbs up:

A.:D

[bigcoyote]

The wife & I flew into Miami on Continental for our cruise -- great airline!!!


One web site to check -- www.getawaytoday.com

I use them for all my California trips ( Disneyland, etc..) they seem to have the best hotel / ticket prices of anyone.

Last trip we stayed at the Disney Grand Californian Hotel ( inside Disneys California Adventure Park ) -- we got a smokin deal on the room & 5 day passes ( good for Disneyland & Calif. Adventure ).

Glad to hear you all had a good time!!!!

[AndyP & Lenore]

One web site to check -- www.getawaytoday.com



Cheers, I'll stick them in favourites. We'll be heading out again probably next September so will be looking for a good deal again then.:thumbs up:

A.:D

[Ferengo]

Sounds awesome. I'd love to go there but have an extreme fear of flying :frown:. Glad you liked it.

[Craig]

Glad to hear you had a good time, ok Craig :rolleyes: we can relax now :computer: the gaffer's back :shut up:

thank god for that - I had to buy a new laptop just to keep up-to-date. :eyes up::thumbs up:

[Craig]

Yeah as Andy has said I have been out to Orlando/Gulf Coast about 5 times . :thumbs up:

went everytime with Travel City Direct and always had great service. In the earlier days we flew with ATA (American Trans Air) via Gander in Newfoundland, they went into Orlando International. This broke up the journey as AndyP says, but the down side was that the planes were rather old (DC10's from memory). More recently they had their own 747's and we used to pay the extra £99 which got you upstairs in the jumbo, only about 30 people in the area and also more leg room and baggage allowance (always handy coming back from Florida :thumbs up:) ). They then flew into Sanford Orlando, which meant a longer drive to your accomodation. It's a real shame they have gone to the wall as they had a huge setup in Orlando and did really good deals on tickets etc. :frown:

It will be a long time before we are back in Florida due to Jude not being able to do the long trip...

[AndyP & Lenore]

Sounds awesome. I'd love to go there but have an extreme fear of flying :frown:. Glad you liked it.

I don't mind flying. But I hate landing. There's just something unnatural about 300tonnes of aluminium and fibre glass coming into contact with Earth at 300mph on three little pirelli runflats.:thud:

A.:D

[stephgolding]

Glad to hear you guys had a great holiday - im off on Friday morning flying from Edinburgh - Newark - Orlando! Also, im glad you have a good write up on Continental Airlines as this is who i am flying with :D
Im not too sure what parks we are doing this year, did a few last year and they were great! i loved the hulk, although for my first proper rollercoaster at 9 in the morning just after breakfast wasnt such a good idea!
This year i think we will spend some more time shopping and hopefully go to discovery cove so i can swim with dolphins!

Woohoo only Wednesday and Thursday left at work!

Anyways i will stop rambling on. Glad you had a great time!

:thumbs up:

[AndyP & Lenore]

Thats cool Steph, you'll love it. When did you go last year? In the past we've been at the end of April, and the beginning of June. The parks were always pretty quiet. But September beats the lot. The parks were very quiet. The longest we had to wait for a ride or attraction was 40 mins - and that was just because Jaws had bitten through the side of two of the boats at Universal so they were undergoing maintenance - otherwise the wait for everything was no more than 20 mins. Oh, apart from The Simpsons ride at Universal - 90mins!!! and Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios - 75mins. Didn't do either because of the wait times. Both of these rides are split new causing the wait times, so I figured I'd wait until they new-ness wears off and do them next year.

A.:D

[zimbo]

Both of these rides are split new causing the wait times, so I figured I'd wait until they new-ness wears off and do them next year.

A.:D

Well if you guys need a baggage handler come chauffer then let me know, I'm up for the job... :thumbs up: :D

[stephgolding]

I went end of August start of September last year so we are slightly later going this year.
Seen the start of a tornado/hurricane last year went to Naples for a few days when we were in Florida and it was amazing!

Got my dollars today so im a happy bunny! just need to get my case packed tonight and offski tomorrow night for my flight on Friday morning. Im so excited.

Where about did you stay this year?

[AndyP & Lenore]

I went end of August start of September last year so we are slightly later going this year.
Seen the start of a tornado/hurricane last year went to Naples for a few days when we were in Florida and it was amazing!

Got my dollars today so im a happy bunny! just need to get my case packed tonight and offski tomorrow night for my flight on Friday morning. Im so excited.

Where about did you stay this year?

We stayed at the Peabody this year, it was really nice.

Peabody Orlando (http://www.peabodyorlando.com/)

[euan]

I don't mind flying. But I hate landing. There's just something unnatural about 300tonnes of aluminium and fibre glass coming into contact with Earth at 300mph on three little pirelli runflats.:thud:

A.:D

Actually, what would REALLY freak you out is if you ever go to the Science Museum in London, where in the flight section they have a section that was cut out from a big plane (think it's an old jumbo). It's scary to see just what is around you on the plane!

[stephgolding]

We stayed at the Peabody this year, it was really nice.

Peabody Orlando (http://www.peabodyorlando.com/)


Wow. that looks really nice. Last year i stayed in Cyprus Pointe and this year we are staying at Bahama Bay Resort, in Davenport.

1 more sleep :) haha im sooo excited!

[Smurf]

Another Orlando fan here!! :thumbs up::thumbs up::smilewinkgrin:

Have been 3 times so far, once on a package with Virgin, and thought they were fine. We were there over 9/11 (and a "tropical storm" - just a tad too slow to be a hurricane) and they coped with everything quite well.

Flew Continental and American Airlines the other two times I think, and had no complaints about them either.

Have stayed in a Disney hotel twice (which is wicked, the best way to do it if you're only doing Disney), and on International Drive the other time (which is better for Universal, IOA, Seaworld etc).

Always went the last two weeks in September. Warm weather, and absolutely NO lines, other than the odd new thing as Andy said.

DESPERATE DESPERATE DESPERATE to go back again, but finances are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too tight just now. :argh::argh: Hoping that the house selling market will pick up just enough for me to sell my flat, then I might have a chance of getting there relatively soon :smilewinkgrin: Plans are afoot...

[RyanK]

Awesome...nice review. I can feel for you about being on dated planes, it sucks eh!

Next time you go to Florida, be sure to tour the state :thumbs up: A must is Key West, the southern most point of the US. Was an awesome place and reminded me of a small carribean village. Also be sure to go to Miami and naples. All are great...just a change and gets you away from the bustle of Orlando for a while.

I was at the Peabody a few years back and they did a duck parade through the lobby of the hotel avery few days. Do they still do this? Was well funny :laugh:

[AndyP & Lenore]

Awesome...nice review. I can feel for you about being on dated planes, it sucks eh!

Next time you go to Florida, be sure to tour the state :thumbs up: A must is Key West, the southern most point of the US. Was an awesome place and reminded me of a small carribean village. Also be sure to go to Miami and naples. All are great...just a change and gets you away from the bustle of Orlando for a while.

I was at the Peabody a few years back and they did a duck parade through the lobby of the hotel avery few days. Do they still do this? Was well funny :laugh:

Yeah, they still do the duck parade but we never saw it as we were always out of the hotel by 9am and on our way to the parks.:D

[Bumble]

great to hear ya had a good time!