Zawadi
09-15-2012, 05:24 AM
Cast: Me & DW
We'll here we are at London Gatwick waiting for our 11:20 flight to Orlando. This trip was started in October 2011 when we got an early booking discount with Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. For our trips to WDW we now tend to book the flight direct with the airline and the hotel with Disney. We always book the flight first as you always have a greater choice when it comes where to stay. A couple of weeks later British Airways announced a sale with a massive reduction on Club World aka Business Class fares. We did the sums and switching to BA, paying Virgin's cancellation fee and upgrading our Yacht Club room to a water view we would still save money. WOW!
Durning the past 10 months, we have been planning this amongst me being made redundant, and luckily finding a new position very quickly, and going on a 7 night cruise on the Norwegian Epic. Some of you might have read that trip report on the Vacations Outside Florida thread.
So back to the present. Yesterday, Sept 14, we finalised the packing, tidied the house and were collected by a chauffeur to take us to the Hilton @ Gatwick. It was a good job that we weren't going for a flight as we got stuck in the aftermath of a road traffic accident. We finally arrived at the Hilton, had a light dinner then relaxed for the evening, in the bar. We only had one drink each but just watched the world go by.
So today, we were up at 06:30, showered and had the inclusive buffet breakfast by 08:15 after which we returned to the room to put the last few items, DW's GHD hair straighteners (which we left out to cool down as we had breakfast) in the cases. It was then under a 10 minute walk into Gatwick's South Terminal to get the Monorail, how I was wishing that it was one of Disney's!, to the North Terminal. Since we had already checked in online we could have gone straight to a Bag Drop, each had a long line of travellers. However, there was no line for the Club World check in so we went there instead. Got rid of the cases and headed off for security where, as usual, we got stuck behind travellers who hadn't read the Gels & Liquids rules. After security a quick visit to Duty Free use the sample bottles to top up the "smellies" then up to the BA Terraces Lounge. As I have previously said, our flight is due to leave at 11:20, and we're due in Orlando at 15:25 where we'll meet a Quicksilver chauffeur to take us to the Yacht Club. After dropping the bags off it will be off to the Magic Kingdom until midnight to try and get over the -5 hour jet lag.
So what's install for the next two weeks? *The highlights will be...
New restaurant: Tokyo Dining. *Back to Citricos, Jiko & Sanaa.
Tours: Behind the Steam Trains & Wild Africa Trek
Meeting some fellow intercotters. We just happen to be all in WDW at the same time, accruing some 8000 miles between us to get there.
A bit of non-Disney (shock, horror) to see Hogsmead @ Universal Studios.
And above all ENJOY THE MAGIC
We'll here we are at London Gatwick waiting for our 11:20 flight to Orlando. This trip was started in October 2011 when we got an early booking discount with Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. For our trips to WDW we now tend to book the flight direct with the airline and the hotel with Disney. We always book the flight first as you always have a greater choice when it comes where to stay. A couple of weeks later British Airways announced a sale with a massive reduction on Club World aka Business Class fares. We did the sums and switching to BA, paying Virgin's cancellation fee and upgrading our Yacht Club room to a water view we would still save money. WOW!
Durning the past 10 months, we have been planning this amongst me being made redundant, and luckily finding a new position very quickly, and going on a 7 night cruise on the Norwegian Epic. Some of you might have read that trip report on the Vacations Outside Florida thread.
So back to the present. Yesterday, Sept 14, we finalised the packing, tidied the house and were collected by a chauffeur to take us to the Hilton @ Gatwick. It was a good job that we weren't going for a flight as we got stuck in the aftermath of a road traffic accident. We finally arrived at the Hilton, had a light dinner then relaxed for the evening, in the bar. We only had one drink each but just watched the world go by.
So today, we were up at 06:30, showered and had the inclusive buffet breakfast by 08:15 after which we returned to the room to put the last few items, DW's GHD hair straighteners (which we left out to cool down as we had breakfast) in the cases. It was then under a 10 minute walk into Gatwick's South Terminal to get the Monorail, how I was wishing that it was one of Disney's!, to the North Terminal. Since we had already checked in online we could have gone straight to a Bag Drop, each had a long line of travellers. However, there was no line for the Club World check in so we went there instead. Got rid of the cases and headed off for security where, as usual, we got stuck behind travellers who hadn't read the Gels & Liquids rules. After security a quick visit to Duty Free use the sample bottles to top up the "smellies" then up to the BA Terraces Lounge. As I have previously said, our flight is due to leave at 11:20, and we're due in Orlando at 15:25 where we'll meet a Quicksilver chauffeur to take us to the Yacht Club. After dropping the bags off it will be off to the Magic Kingdom until midnight to try and get over the -5 hour jet lag.
So what's install for the next two weeks? *The highlights will be...
New restaurant: Tokyo Dining. *Back to Citricos, Jiko & Sanaa.
Tours: Behind the Steam Trains & Wild Africa Trek
Meeting some fellow intercotters. We just happen to be all in WDW at the same time, accruing some 8000 miles between us to get there.
A bit of non-Disney (shock, horror) to see Hogsmead @ Universal Studios.
And above all ENJOY THE MAGIC