This one was fine, the food in Club Europe was a little suspect with the choices being a little outwith my tastes.
The problem started after landing in Heathrow and finding the baggage reclaim actually took longer than the actual flight down. Am guessing the heat had something to do with it as this continued to have an impact on the day.
After many announcements including a few that reminded everyone to check the baggage tags before taking a bag, to which someone shouted “it would actually be nice to see some baggage tags” they eventually arrived. An hour and 20 mins after landing.
Usually we book the Sofitel as it’s literally a few steps from domestic arrivals but when finding out the price was over £500 for a basic room for 1 night, and the issues you have with the early morning Orlando flight (Heathrow express doesn’t start till 5.30 so by the time you get checked in and into the clubhouse, it’s nearly time to board at 7am for the 8am departure) we decided to try the Hilton Garden Inn Terminal 2 / 3
Onwards to the Heathrow express and discovered, due to the weather, it wasn’t running and were told to use the underground. Back up then across then down again and after confirming it does actually go to terminal 3 ( a few times) we boarded what could have become a mystery tour.
Very little info on what stops there was but turns out Term 2/3 is the first stop so thankfully we didn’t end up in the middle of London.
The Hilton is pretty easy to find, through the carpark and it’s there. Hilton’s digital key meant straight to the room with a runway view which was pretty good. The view of Virgins drive through checkin was even better being directly in front of us - it looks a much bigger building than you think.
Alarms set for stupid o’clock and an early bed. 4am showers and after a very quick 6 or 7 minute stroll, we were at checkin. Beckoned to a desk that was kinda hidden behind a pillar and in a few mins were scanning the boarding pass at the magic lift. Security was extremely quick and we were actually standing outside the clubhouse before it had opened.
A few mins past and the shutters soon squealed up and we were into an empty clubhouse. The new seats behind the glass are very nice and a quick wonder round shows the work that has been done to increase capacity doesn’t seem to have had any detriment.
Breakfast, coffee and the obligatory glass of champagne and yes, it was time to wonder to the gate and board. (Are the glasses getting smaller ?)
Boarding had started before we had arrived but was very quick using 2 jet bridges and we were soon settled in to Beauty Queen. The same plane as last time. Seat was still in a good condition with no chunks missing or scratches anywhere. I still like this seat. Love you can recline to takeoff , love the lie flat bed and the overall comfiness. If I want to look out the window at clouds, I can easily swivel round for a few mins but other than the journey to the runway, once you’ve seen one cloud …….
This crew were on point and were very very good. Service was faultless throughout the flight. The food was very good, I had the Sticky Korean gochujang chicken (10 out of 10) and the pre booked chicken burger on a brioche bun with wedges. (An 8 out of 10 as the bun was a little large and a little dry). Couldn’t face dessert or cheese as I was absolutely stuffed. The cherry pie ice cream was lovely after a while and afternoon tea ( the meat version ) just topped up the stomach before landing.
While I’ve thought the some portions have been a little stingy in the past, certainly for my choices, there was plenty of food on the plates (dare I say, maybe a little too much).
I purchase the wifi package, hopefully for the last time, and it worked well throughout the flight unlike the “old” Wi-Fi on the A350’s which in my experience was just not worth the money.
The IFE seemed to have had a little interface upgrade as it was a little different to previous flights. It didn’t show any new releases and to be honest, the selection was a little poor, especially for a kiddy heavy flight heading to see the mouse. I did watch Nuremberg ( def not for the young ones ) which was very good and zootropolis 2 which was ok.
Seatbelt lights came on a few times but wasn’t too bad at all and it was soon time to get tidied up and ready for landing.
I took the opportunity while taxing to set up a visitor toll pass via the app which was very easy to do. You get a qr code which you scan on the machine which gives you a tag to hang on the rear view mirror and all you do is edit the details to put the reg of the car into it before you leave the rental area.
Immigration was very quick, they’ve change global entry again, and it’s back to no passport, just look at the screen and off you go to the officer, who says, “David? “ yup, that’s me, “your good to go”
We were waiting on the bags for only a few mins and were soon on the monorail listening to “Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer” for what might be the last time. Terminal C will be interesting.
I think we were at Saratoga Springs before 2pm, the room was ready and we were soon showered and off to Publix to see how much they were going to charge this year.
Saratoga for 13 nights then the last 5 at Hilton’s Tuscany village.
A very solid trip so far, but can’t wait to try starlink and hopefully an A330-900 soon, oh and if anyone’s on their way across here, the heat is unbelievable.
Edited to add, High 5 bonus posted the day after landing and miles booster the day after that. Plenty of miles for another trip, if you can find any inbound flights that aren’t hundreds of thousands of miles
Thanks for reading
David.
Last edited by David on 29 Jun 2026, 01:16, edited 1 time in total.
