This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
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Our two weeks had been fun, inspiring, exhausting and pretty darn brilliant. Highlight for me was seeing a pod of dolphins (if thats the correct collective noun) leaping in the sparkling waters of the Atlantic, just off the east coast. Ive watched dolphins larking about in Scotland a number of times, more precisely those sweet little porpoise that play in the Moray Firth but there was something particularly enchanting about their Floridian cousins - perhaps it was the blue sea, sunshine and holiday mood (me not the dolphins). Oh and I saw alligators and turtles in their natural habitat which was quite wonderful. Other highlights were the Tower of Terror, the Hulk Coaster, seeing a real life, high speed car chase (a Cadillac, about 500 police vehicles plus a helicopter) and fine meals at the California Grill (Disneys Contemporary Resort).
Anyway, all good things must come to an end and it was time to head for check-in at Downtown Disney. We toyed with hiring an articulated lorry to ferry our luggage from our hotel to Downtown but settled for a great big taxi instead. I was able to do my share of lugging cases and bags having by this time recovered from a nasty bout of hot lung. This little known condition (I invented it) comprises an annoying chesty cough interspersed with hot, firework-like sensations in the bronchioles. I had spent the two weeks of my holiday coughing my way round Orlandos theme parks and malls if you were in Orlando in July you may have heard me barking behind you in a queue somewhere. At SeaWorld I blended in with the sea lions so you maybe didnt notice!
We thought checking in Downtown was a real bonus. The Virgin check-in desks sit under a canopy just in front of the Cirque du Soleil. There were three vans lined up to receive checked in luggage; I assume one each for the Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow flights. I was amazed when we were allocated our pre booked seats as I was sure something would go wrong. We didnt have to queue and I guess check-in must have taken only about five minutes. Goody gum drops, six hours free to devote to shopping and eating at Disney (I swear my husband turned pale at this notion). Amazingly we did find some must have products that had obviously passed us by when scouring the other 200 odd Disney shops during the previous fortnight. Daughter and I bought the car a present a cute pink bobble thingy that goes on the aerial. It says Disney Princess on it and despite husbands protests the said bobble is now paying dividends in that we can find the car with ease in Tescos car park, Falkirk.
We didnt have a hire car but had opted for Virgin Holidays transportation both to and from MCO. We got picked-up at Downtown at around 5.30pm and whisked straight to the airport. On approach to the airport I could see four VS 744s at their respective gates; wonder what ones ours I mused? We got through security quickly before having a nose about duty free and some of the other shops. I was amused and actually slightly disconcerted to see Obama and McCain t-shirts on sale in what I would class as an American version of WH Smith I mean who buys em?
We wandered up to gate 80 and noted that the Glasgow flight was being operated by VTOP. Walking a bit further on we saw VAST pulling back and VROM and VGAL waiting for passengers to board. I got a good look at Virginia Plain and felt a bit sorry for her because she had a sore tail. In fact it looked as though someone had attacked her with a screw driver I wondered if I should alert the captain but guessed that hed noticed and decided that a few scratches wouldnt affect the airworthiness of Our Ginny (as I later affectionately named her). We hung about watching planes for a wee while before having a couple of drinks in an Aussie bar/restaurant near gate 80 - think it was an Outback Steakhouse. I had two cocktails and got slightly tipsy. Our flight was called and we returned to the gate for boarding.
We were in seats 60 a,b and c and sat in the usual order. We took off pretty much on time as I recall and I bade a final farewell to Florida. The night sky was absolutely spectacular. There was a storm bubbling away to our left; we saw huge columns of dark coloured clouds rising into the atmosphere. In fact they reminded me of the pictures of star nurseries taken by the Hubble telescope scaled down mind! There were flashes of lightening too. It was all quite breathtaking really.
We settled into the flight and started playing around with the IFE system. We thought the Odyssey system was quite good and appreciated the fact that we could play games etc. I decided to watch a film and plumped for the Escapist. Unfortunately I missed the first twenty minutes or so because one of my contact lenses had wandered off to the back of my eye. It felt as though it was heading for my frontal lobes. I spent ages trying to coax it out before resorting to poking around my eye with a tissue. Eventually the offending lens gave up the fight and popped out into my hand. By this time my eye was very uncomfortable and was streaming with tears. It did however give me the opportunity to invent another ailment please welcome red eye to the medical dictionary. I turned my attention back to the Escapist but had obviously missed a vital bit of the film because I hadnt a clue what was going on but Im prepared to concede that the cocktails at MCO played a part in this. The crew did a drinks run and food followed shortly afterwards. I cant remember what we were served but Im sure it was ok.
It was now time to try and have a sleep. The cabin lights were dimmed and I tried my best to get comfy. Hmmm. The seats seemed ok at first but after a while my bum started to get numb. No matter what I did I couldnt get comfortable. I ended up stuffing my pillow under my backside. It worked for a while but the discomfort started to seep back through (a bit like in the Princess and the Pea). I eventually gave up trying to sleep and had a go at the trivia quiz instead. That was good fun, exasperating, but good fun.
Round about Iceland, the crew started to get everyone roused. Daughter opened the window blind and the bright daylight dazzled us. How did that happen, it was pitch black a wee while ago? We were served the much maligned breakfast muffin. I thought it tasted quite nice but I guess the problem is the lack of ceremony with which it is served. Sort of McDonaldsesque in my view. Never mind we didnt fly economy for the haute cuisine. We landed back at Glasgow ahead of time which was good.
I am glad that Virgin will continue to operate out of Glasgow to MCO. Our flights with Virgin lived up to our high expectations. Ill be at Glasgow airport on 4th October to watch VS071 head back to Orlando.
