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#963353 by Kraken
13 Feb 2024, 15:44
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We did OLCI last night when we returned from dinner, somewhat worse for wear due to “final night drinks” meaning sampling a lot of margaritas. Did the normal final day routine of Islands of Adventure (via Uber I hasten to add), Mythos, then back to accommodation to shower+change & head out to MCO.

As a brief aside, based on our experiences this time of Universal, we are in no hurry whatsoever to return there. The best 4 days of the holiday were the ones that involved Busch Gardens & SeaWorld. Suffice it to say a certain Universal ride should be renamed VelociFarce. I will be taking this up with Universal when back in the UK.

Made our way to MCO and quickly checked in at the UC desks. Flying Club status mentioned at check-in by the agent & there must be a customer service survey on the way / they know they are being mystery shopped, as the agent reminded us of her name “if you are asked” several times. [Additional note from the Sky Club… have just looked at our boarding passes and the agent has even written a “safe travels” message with her name on the back of them, so must be customer service survey / appraisal time].

Security was a breeze – walked straight up to the TSA Pre boarding pass & passport checker, then straight to an X-ray machine, no queues at all. The train to the satellite terminal was all but empty too. In fact empty seems to be the order of the day – the satellite terminal is ultra-quiet. We were the only customers in Duty Free & for reasons unknown, they are not retaining alcohol purchases for collection at the boarding gate today. Headed up to the Sky Club, which is also empty – I reckon there are under 30 people in here. In 20+ years of travelling to/from Orlando (in Upper since 2006 with Sky Club access) I have never seen the airport this quiet. 19:29 and G-VSXY has just landed, so in good time for an on-time departure all being well.

Got a seat change at boarding (at about 21:00) due to a defective seat table. So now in 4A. Managed a brief visit to the flight deck (am racking up most of the A333’s). Flight time to MAN is about 7h30m.

Everything uneventful on the ground and pushed back 7mins early. A bit bumpy on the initial climb, but have had far worse. Crew have been round for starter & drinks orders (main course pre-ordered). No use of passengers name, despite them having the tablet device with them on the tray. MCO ground staff win hands down on customer service so far.

Following the drink & food orders being taken, one word describes the service. Slow. There seems to be no attempt to roll out the drinks by an “order chit at a time” to a few seats like on the outbound. Crisps? In your dreams.

The drinks eventually arrived followed by dinner. We’d pre-ordered the BBQ chicken & both selected the crab cakes to start. One word pretty much describes both courses – crap. The chicken main course was actually chargrilled chicken with spiced potato wedges, the potato wedges being the best bit. Virgin slightly redeemed themselves on the dessert front, as the chocolate caramel mousse tart was pretty good.

Time for some sleep now – managed a few hours. Was awake 2hrs out of MAN so had breakfast – the full cooked option I have to admit, despite my body telling me it was about 4am & “did I really want to be eating now?” the breakfast + pain au chocolat was very good. Only slight complaint is the bacon is the fatty US style, but I guess that is the norm in the USA / from a US caterer.

After breakfast has been served the cabin was prepared for landing & we landed at MAN 40mins early. Had a bit of a scenic taxi to stand (including backtracking on the runway due to taxiway reconstruction works). Was through the E-Gates in no time and the bags were off pretty quick. We were landside at 11am (so 5mins ahead of scheduled arrival time).

So all in all an OK flight – certainly nothing to write home about, especially on the food front (dessert & breakfast excepted). The crew were OK, but nothing stellar. Only thing to note is one of the stewards had aftershave on that was beyond over-powering – you could certainly tell when he had walked down the A side aisle.

Time to start planning the next Orlando trip now… back in December we said “we won’t be back soon” – and we were 8 weeks later.
#963359 by Murraymint
14 Feb 2024, 09:43
Thanks for the TR Kraken. It would seem that the food review improvement didn’t last long :-(

I was interested in your comments around Universal. We are annual pass holders (it’s actually better value with a renewal discount and only going to Florida once a year than buying a 2 week pass - even better if we’re lucky enough to get a bonus few months which covers us for 2 years). Anyway, did the ride break down or was it very busy? We’re wondering about changing strategy around park visits.
#963361 by Kraken
14 Feb 2024, 13:46
VelociFarce was down completely for the first 3 days with no estimated fix date. On day 3 it was testing all day. Universal only got it fixed so quick as Intamin (manufacturer) guys were working down Universal Blvd on Epic Universe.

When it did reopen it was on reduced trains with blocked off rows. 85min advertised wait time - was 125mins in reality. The ride did go down for about 5mins but this does not create an additional 40mins wait. (I’ve operated Nemesis at Alton Towers so know how things work).

We most likely won’t do Universal on next trip - just get the SeaWorld / Busch / Aquatica ticket that is amazing value compared to Universal and includes parking.

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