V-Flyer

After a fantastic 2 weeks in Orlando it was time to fly home, checked our luggage in at downtown Disney then back to the royal Pacific universal for some last sunbathing and a couple of the boys favourite rides. Headed to the airport at 5pm as only a 30 mins drive from universal area, a very stormy sky was forming which I knew from experience flying out could prove a delay, dropped rental car off at Alamo which there staff are miles away from Disney/ universal staff and very unwelcoming. Headed straight through to security which had some very long lines but still had plenty of time for our 19-35pm departure.
Gate 82 was ours and with G-VROS ENGLISH ROSE waiting which pleased us as with LADYBIRDS troubles last week, impressive sight with 4 Virgin 747's at the other 3 gates, Manchester gatwick(vs28) and Glasgow, then the storms started as black as sky's as I've every seen in Orlando, boarding was meant to be 6-30pm for UC and PE but that passed and nothing said it was like being in a football crowd with 4 Virgins 747's 1 Lufthansa 747 and 1 British airways 777 all delayed. 8pm came and ground said we would start boarding at 8-30pm, that came and went, 9pm and something I hadn't seen before the captain came out to apologise and wasn't the weather causing the delay but the catering staff having just changed to a new provider a lot of there workers were downing tools in dispute, so not virgins fault, started boarding 9-45pm and pushed back 10-10pm and in the air 10-20pm which was very quick. We had the same seats in PE 5 seats in row 19 the best in PE for me with nobody behind you, toilet a slight problem if your a light sleeper as right next to you , curtain across all through the flight so no economy passengers were using the toilet. Flight time of 7 hours 50 mins due to strong tail winds, 15 mins into the flight we had our bout of heavy turbulence which lasted for about 30 mins very uncomfortable with lightning everywhere outside, calmed down for a while but not smooth, dinner arrived with 3 good choice beef stew chicken curry and a vegetarian pasta not that anybody wanted food with all the turbulence around, tried to get my head down for a few hours luckily enough all the rest of my family fell asleep, another bout of heavy turbulence about 3 hours into the flight which for the first time I even looked for the sick bag. Breakfast came scrambled egg sausages and hash browns ok but not great, coming into land my 5 year old awoke looking a bit green he was sick into the bag though, once we touched down I looked for a stewardess and to hand the bag to, a young steward asked if I needed anything I said what shall I do with this he said very rudely I don't want it just chuck it on the ground the cleaners are paid to sort that out, very disappointed with steward not Virgin at all. All in all a very good holiday and flights with a couple of niggles. Sorry if it's along report.

I had the same re a sick bag a couple of years ago no one wanted to take I was in PE
On another note how was the royal Pacific I am staying there in August

Your going to love the royal Pacific universal I've stayed there a few times with my wife and 4 boys and it's the best lay back hotel and a great place for families, great restaurants jakes which serves American style, islands which has s Far East flavour and eat all you can wok feast which you must go to we went 3 times, our little ones don't eat that sort of food but they will serve them pizza burgers nuggets etc plus on a Thursday night characters come to your table and spend more time than the parks my boys last Thursday played naughts and crosses with scooby do and shaggy. The real bonus is the fast passes you'll get staying onsite your never wait more than 10mins for instance Spider-Man regular wait last week was always 60 mins you'll wait 10mins max, early entry to Harry Potter is a must also as waits for both rides can be 2 hours, get there for 8am and you'll wait about 20mins max, lots of rides done them back to the lovely pool with waiter service no extra charge and tips built in. Hope this gets your excited? I'm already jealous

Thanks for the TR

Hope the bad weather on this occasion has not put your boys off flying again.

Thanks for the insight into the Royal Pacific

buns

Thank you for your TR. What a shame you had such a long delay and then a bumpy ride to round off your holiday.
Not a good reaction, Virgin, to a polite request about a sick bag !

I travelled on the VS74 on 5th June. Same problem with the catering, 2hrs 45min delay, then another 20min in Manchester waiting for a gate. Did you actually travel on the 5th arrive on the 6th? as your trip report sound like it was the same i.e storms and Glasgow flight etc.

Yep we traveled back on the 5 th must had the same experience as us very busy gates I'm guessing catering problem not virgins fault I'm guessing. The vs74 seemed to take a different route to us, was it as turbalant as our flight?

Thanks for the TR - and another vote for the Loews Royal Pacific here - A great hotel, with walking access to the parks, lovely restaurants and pool etc.

Thanks for the TR.

There are some very strict rules about crew handling any type of bodily fluid. Sick bags are to be disposed of in the toilet bin. Shame the crew weren't polite about it though.

Thanks for the trip report.

The catering quality ex-MCO is a perennial issue, even worse now they're holding up flights.

Quick question about DD check-in, have the new multi-story car parks changed any of the arrangements? Is it still in front of Cirque and can you get your car close by?

Fuzzy14 wrote:Thanks for the trip report.

The catering quality ex-MCO is a perennial issue, even worse now they're holding up flights.

Quick question about DD check-in, have the new multi-story car parks changed any of the arrangements? Is it still in front of Cirque and can you get your car close by?

The Disney "Parking Police" will still try to direct you to the multi-storey garage - if you so much as dare to try and enter the left lane (to go near Cirque) they will block you, until you lower the window to advise them you want Virgin check-in. This is signposted as handicapped parking only.

A few years back, a good friend of my Dad's tipped his in-flight meal into a sick-bag (not on Virgin) and carried it off the flight with him. The steward/ess at the aircraft door offered to take the bag off him & he replied "it's alright, I feel like eating this now"... cue a steward/ess going green very quickly.

DTD check in the same as always. You just have to stay in the left lane, the right lane goes to the multi-storey. There is usually a person checking people going left.