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#926405 by Kraken
20 Sep 2016, 14:57
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We had done OLCI the night before the flight and went to a deserted Disney Springs to drop the bags the following morning. The VS check-in area was deserted, as was Disney Springs in general. OK, it was only 10am, but we have never seen it this quiet. Bags were dropped in no time & lounge invite issued (yes, I know we should have asked for the vouchers instead but we both forgot – note to self for when we return in November!)

Had a cracking morning & early afternoon at an equally empty SeaWorld riding & re-riding the rollercoasters. Everything was walk-on & there was only a 1 train wait for front row seats if you wanted them. We then returned to where we had been staying to use their pool changing facilities to shower & change so we could arrive at MCO fresh (it is very humid today & we needed to freshen up / wash the suncream off).

Got to MCO and through the TSA checkpoint in under 5mins. Train to the airside terminal and duty free shopping done. Ladybird is awaiting us at Gate 81 for a little later – time to head up to the Sky Club.

The Sky Club as not over busy – very easy to find seats together next to the window. The 4pm afternoon storm arrived, some 45mins late and we’re currently sat by the window watching some pretty good lightning. Needless to say, the airport is currently closed so there are a few delayed Delta flights – one has been sat on the ramp since we arrived in the lounge waiting to be marshaled into the gate. Plenty of time for ours to be delayed too if the storm does not blow through. What is far more concerning is the group of about 10 with UC boarding passes & of the 10 or so, 4 are shall we say “lively” under 5yr olds. One of the flights back to the UK has the potential to be a flying kindergarten in Upper Class – the thoughts “Please, let it be Gatwick” come to mind. Given that the Gatwick flight departs 1h20m after the Manchester one… I think we’re going to be unlucky. After about an hour, we saw the Delta flight move onto stand, so the airport was open again.

Boarding was a disorganized shambles at best. The lounge put out the UC boarding call, so down to gate 81 we went, only to find they were still dealing with special needs passengers. They still scanned our boarding passes and we waited about 10mins in the jetbridge while passengers were transferring themselves from wheelchairs onto the aircraft. The UC cabin soon filled up and we are breathing a sigh of relief, only one of the two families that made up the group of 10 [above] are onboard. We’re in 7A/K and the family are at the back of the cabin and seem to have given the little darlings 11A/K. It’s worth noting that the two children concerned were the “less lively” of the 4 in the lounge. Fingers crossed! Dinner & after takeoff drink orders have been taken on the ground – the current menu (September cycle) is as below;

Starters
Butternut soup
Lobster Timbale
Apple and blue cheese salad (v)

Mains
Beef fillet
Teryaki salmon
Vegetable & potato bake (v)
Grilled chicken salad

Pudding
Almond pumpkin orange sponge
Opera cake

Cheese
Goats cheese bathed in red wine
Camembert le Chatelain
Point Reyes Blue

The First Officer who is flying us home announced the [expected] delay to departure as the aircraft could not refuel during the storm. Currently it’s a 7h19m flight back to Manchester on a route pretty much the reverse of the outbound (see previous TR). We taxied about 25mins late and there was no sign of the other Virgin plane to form the flight back to Gatwick, so no way is that going on time (it’s due off the ground in a little under 50mins & has not even arrived yet). Took off on the southerly runway and flew through lots of storm clouds. The crew were not released from their seats until 30,000ft – the passengers had to wait a further 7,000ft – we were now 200 miles from Orlando and leaving Florida near St Augustine, where we flew through yet more storm clouds and at one point you could hear the rain lashing the front of the plane.

The pre-ordered champagne has been delivered, along with something Virgin dare to call “crisps” – 100% bland, very odd colours and zero flavour. They are going back. I will enquire what flavour they claim to be so we know never to buy that one – the offending flavour is Sweet Potato and Beetroot. The offending crisps were replaced with some cracked pepper normal potato crisps – a 100% improvement.

The seatbelt sign had been off for all of 15mins at most before it was back on. The weather radar had clearly correctly picked up some fun ahead, as we bumped round a fair bit for 10mins or so, before the flight smoothed out.

We both went for the Apple & blue cheese salad (nice but the blue cheese was somewhat sharp), followed by the beef (very good for an ex-US meal on Virgin) and finally the Opera cake. We’re big fans of Opera cake and always buy them when in France – these were nothing like what you would get from a French patisserie, but not that bad, as we both cleared the plates.

Sleep was difficult simply due to the body-clock. By the time you actually feel tired (i.e. Midnight for us) it’s 5am in Manchester, so almost wakey-wakey time for breakfast. We both flipped the seats into beds [DIY – no offer of help from crew to anyone to flip seats to beds] and got a little snooze of sorts though – will still sleep for 10hrs solid tonight waking up in the same position as when your head hit the pillow though. We did get some noise from the “little darlings” during the night part of the flight too – and the parents were not overly bothered about trying to keep them quiet either. I have no problems with children of any age in any class, but IMO the parents should do what they can to keep the children quiet.

About 80mins out of Manchester the UC Cabin started to wake itself up – no wake-up from the crew even if you’d asked for it today. Passengers were putting their tables out to indicate they were ready for breakfast. No pre-orders had been taken, so everything was prepared fresh – or as fresh as it can be at 20,000ft. We both went for customized Full English breakfasts (i.e. with the bits we don’t like left off) and they were good, considering they had been cooked many hours earlier & reheated). Only thing worthy of note is that the crew member on the A side was setting up tables with those naff cardboard doily’s that you get with the afternoon tea service. Crew member on the K side was using the proper UC “tablecloth”.

Landed at Manchester early, but then the taxi to stand proved to be eventful. Our actual stand was free, but a Monarch aircraft was occupying an adjacent stand & needed to depart before we could go to stand (the stands at Manchester are way too close for wide-body aircraft). Monarch started to push-back then snapped a tow-bar, so it was all hands on deck for their ground handlers to find another tow-bar pronto. After about 10mins they had found one, pushed-back and we were on stand.

As to the UK Border Agency – avoid the E-Gates that they plug like anything with the plague. The MAN airport ground staff were trying to send everyone who qualified for E-Gate use through this immigration line. You could clearly see from the speed the line was not moving & the next to zero queue for the normal desks, the latter was your better option. A bit of ducking under tensa-barriers was done to avoid delays. Once in the baggage hall, the bags were through within a few minutes and ours were well within the first 20 out.

So once again, another good Virgin flight. The crew on this flight were not as good as the outbound flight, but part of that could be down to the fact it was an overnight flight – i.e. let your customers sleep / more minimal interaction. Certainly nothing wrong with the flight & the food (original crisps excepted!), for an ex-US flight, was pretty good too.

Just under 7 weeks to go until our next sojourn to Orlando & can’t wait!
#926412 by buns
20 Sep 2016, 17:53
Thanks for the detailed TR

I was very keen to see the outcome of your bags that you checked in at Disney Springs - hitherto, we have found that our bags had been last off, so it was good to see you fared better.

The Delta Sky Club is set in a time warp. Whilst it is a haven of peace and quiet in a very busy airport (and better than the MCO Club IMHO) the decor has not changed in ten years and Mrs Buns and I will still have our usual routine of a bite to eat in the Outback before retiring to the Delta facility.

BTW we have the same opinion about the crisps - although Mrs B likes the coloured ones!

Thanks once again

buns
#926415 by tomthumb
20 Sep 2016, 18:33
Nice TR and I am fully behind you re small kids.
#926418 by David
20 Sep 2016, 20:10
Hi James. Great TR, glad you had an enjoyable time inOrlando.

We were on the inbound plane from Gatwick which was around 2.5 hours late.

Landed into a terrific thunderstorm but quickly through and on to Saratoga Springs.

The return menu looks good. I was pleasantly surprised by the outbound one.

Roll on the next one.

David
#926419 by TimCrawley
20 Sep 2016, 20:36
Most enjoyable read, thanks for posting, sounds like you had better luck on the delays than the LGW passengers (and they had the 2 noisier kids too, poor souls) ....

..... and finally an answer on what those awful crisps probably were on the MBJ flight (after they had already gassed me with the over-lavendered towels on boarding).
#926423 by Kraken
21 Sep 2016, 00:08
TimCrawley wrote:..... and finally an answer on what those awful crisps probably were on the MBJ flight (after they had already gassed me with the over-lavendered towels on boarding).


Aah yes, I forgot to mention the hot towels - they were pretty vile too. Go back to the "normal" hot towels that most airlines use, i.e. the "nuclear lemon" scent. Much nicer and does not leave an odd whiff lingering for a few hours.
#926510 by Kraken
23 Sep 2016, 17:36
I believe you can forego the Delta Sky Club and request vouchers to be used at an airside food outlet (e.g. Outback) instead. Unsure what the voucher value is - but it's no more than $20 per head for sure.
#926592 by Nevil30
26 Sep 2016, 09:05
Thanks Kraken I thought that was what you were going to say.

This time as we also have a Priority Pass we actually went into the Club lounge instead of the Delta one so it is interesting to see we could have done that and received vouchers to eat at Outback. :cool:
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