After many years of ranting on about the virtues of Virgin and sunny Florida, a few of us where sitting round the bar and discussing the makings of a 'boys only' trip to Vegas. Yes, I know, this is where it gets a little complicated [;)]
The theory was to be a long the lines of : Upper Class to Vegas either via lax or las - the reason being the lack of Z's on the vegas flight, followed by a few days in one of the 5 stars ie the Bellagio and the subsequent loss of many hundreds of dollars at the tables.
The practice actually turned out vastly different.
After spending hours [}:)] slaving away at the computer looking for 5 or maybe 6 seats at a palatable price, I took the decision that it was all going to be too expensive, and why don't we try out sunny Orlando with a couple of days in the Bahamas.
With Z's coming up at around 1500 compared to 2250 to las / lax and accomodation sorted by yours truly courtesy of my timeshare at Disneys Vacation Club, it would be a much more manageable trip cost wise as well as knowing exactly where to go and what to do in the few days we would be there - sorted.
So after dwindling down to 4 of us, the plan would be shuttle down from Edinburgh to lgw - overnight in the Hilton - 2 of us out on the VS027 and the other 2 on the VS015. Car hire by Dollar, onward to the Hilton at WDW for the first night and then to Disney. (more about this later on)
I was on the 027, which has got to be my favorite flight for timing. After a fantastic breakfast in the clubhouse and a few glasses of refreshments, two of us headed to gate 31 at 9.40 - boarding time 9.45.
As we arrived, pre boarding of the buggy brigade had started, we found the priority sign lying against the wall, so we just strolled up and through with the minimum of fuss.
There was one other passenger on board when we arrived, but I knew we were expecting a pretty full house with expert flyer showing 4 free J's. After chatting to the crew, it became clear that it would be the max of 14, so a couple of op-ups at the gate or check in must have taken place.
A couple of firsts on this flight was the figure of crew and passengers mentioned - this being 407 - so only a few spaces throughout and the crew in Upper being introduced with one of them being called the 'chef'. Don't know if this was a bit of humour or if this is maybe a change for the better.
The food was very nice - soup being very hot, unlike a few of the last trip reports where it has been lukewarm, and the bangers and mash very tasty. Skipped the cheese and went straight to the ice cream which was vey nice, washed down with a few glasses of champagne. As a side note, found this thing with alcohol and altitude a bit strange. Including the clubhouse, must have had over a bottle and a half, before I switched to soft drinks half way through the flight (being the driver) and didn't really feel as though I had had a drink [?]
Anyho, the rest of the flight was superb, plane had odessey so helped with the long flight, crew were very good throughout, especially after me knocking a drink over my forms at the bar - anyone else have trouble with these or is it just me. Had thought I was doing well having filled mine in and then checking everyone elses in the clubhouse - only to double check them in the plane and find that I had yesterdays date on mine [B)] then you start to get a bit paranoid and make constant mistakes on the replacements [:D]
Immigration was a breeze however, although I had been expecting a bit of a grilling seeing this was my 5th trip to Orlando in 13 months, but had a great officer who seemed very pleased to hear I was here for some sunshine and shopping and that we were trying to bolster his economy. He even asked if I had a small case inside the large one to try and make sure his taxes don't rise next year. Wonders will never cease - a human immigration officer [:)]
Onwards to the carhire desk and dollar. I had booked a luxury size car through airline network - always find them to be around the cheapest - for 140 for 7 days which wasn't too bad, but had been upgraded to a town car by the time we arrived. Already feeling like a bit of a taxi driver for the next week, I asked for upgrade prices, and was given a deal of $15 a day for a Lincoln Navigator.
So with around 190 for a car the size of the Star Trek Enterprise, but with slightly more buttons, but decidedly less seats we headed off to check in at the Hilton to then return to the airport to pick up the other two off the VS015 which was around a hour late.
The Hilton makes a great first night base (being around 80 for a room), which lets us get to our 2 bedroomed villa in Saratoga Springs at WDW early in the morning enabling us to get our choice of view hopefully.The fact the its just across the road from Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island, along with the fact that Saratoga is just a 5 min walk from the same probably means a few sore heads in the coming mornings.
All travelers have given 10 out of 10 for there first VA experience, which is nice to hear - as well as a few miles for me, and it goes without saying that we are all missing our respective girlfiends / wifes already [}:)]. The only problem being that if this is enjoyed - the bank balance could be emptied with another boys trip to Vegas [:w].
Hope it wasn't too boring for you
thanks
David
