Saratoga was, as usual, a fantastic resort within walking distance of Disneys Springs shopping, bars and restaurants. While the resort may not be to everyone’s tastes, it’s position in Walt Disneys 43 square miles takes a bit of beating.
Hilton’s Tuscany resort is also well placed for shopping and short journeys to Disney Springs, Seaworld, water parks and just a little further up idrive, universal. The room however wasn’t up to its usual standards being a corner room, kinda miss shaped and a little clonky. The resort charges and now an added charge for parking doesn’t help with the final bill.
Another observation before the main trip report starts was that the 4th of July and its 250 birthday all seemed a little underwhelming. Apart from extra fireworks at disney and literally a few flags dotted about the place, it all seemed flat if not a little depressing. Maybe a sign of the general fettle of our cousins across the pond.
So, Monday morning arrived, always the worst day of the holiday and it was time to try and suss out the final day of this trip. It kinda helped that for the first time since arriving, the weather was a little cooler and cloudy which meant the last few hours at the pool wasn’t happening. It’s always a balance between getting the last few hours of sunshine and ending up a sweaty mess before you travel.
Around half nine, we decided that a quick last trip to Walmart for milk duds and chocolate was the start, then actually back to Vineland outlets to buy a strap for the smaller case, just in case it decided to spill its guts between MCO and LHR. A quick visit to foxtail coffee hidden in Tommy Hilfiger for a last flat white it was around half eleven.
The plan was a quick drive to MCO to take time to suss out Virgins new home at Terminal C in plenty of time for a 15.50 departure. Down to the bottom of idrive, a quick turn left and you are on the toll road which is much quicker now without having to stop at toll booths. The visitor tag pass works really well and is very easy to use.
Terminal C is now the first terminal on approach to MCO making it so much easier than the madness of A/B. Just follow the blue signs and your at the car hire drop off within minutes. Hertz now has this fancy AI hoop thing you drive through which compares pickup photos to drop off photos and hopefully doesn’t see any difference.
The terminal itself is bright and airy, although there is literally nothing before security so the early arrival was unwarranted. Check in for virgin is huge and of course wasn’t opened although there was already a large queue. The staff seemed to be hiding in the corner waiting for the nod to open their desks but when they did move, checkin, for upper, was very quick.
Security with tsa pre was also quick and you are soon into the main body of the terminal. There’s the usual disney, universal and sea world shops and chick-fil-a , a shake shake and a pleather of other eateries including a wine bar George. It’s a little soulless but is bright and clean.
The lounge - when checking in, we were told to use a specific one, which I previously reported was a little difficult getting into as the only access was via a lift which was broken and so we wondered to the main lounge which has had many poor reviews - there is a specific thread if your unsure what the options are.
Eventually gave up on the premium plaza lounge, think BA galleries before their loyalty purge, and tried to get the lift to work on the other one. Success and although being compact it’s very nice. I do think it’s going to cause a lot of grief when they spilt flights between the 2 lounges. As we were the only ones on the VS92 that managed to get into that lounge, it was a little strange to be escorted through the terminal to the gate but still a very nice touch.
I know it was early days in terminal C but there’s still a bit of work to do on virgins part. An A4 piece of paper with a virgin logo on it isn’t really the best signage for the lounge.
Boarding had already started and all to soon, I was ensconced in 8k. I had preordered the toastie and soup as I’m never that impressed with the food leaving MCO. It’s maybe the fact your going home and your tired or just the fact that the food is never the greatest.
The flight itself was fine, quite quick if a little confusing at the end. Crew were great with a full cabin and worked extremely hard. Breakfast was served a couple of hours before landing and as usual, I stuck to tea as the chewing of the bacon roll never seems to finish.
Immigration was very quick, again, my passport worked first time so there has definitely been some software upgrade in the last few years as it never ever read properly and the bags were off on carousel 1 within a few mins.
Next stop was revivals and a shower and a proper breakfast.
This is where the confusion set in.
We left MCO at 15.50 US time and arrived at LHR at 05.00 UK time.
So sitting drinking my coffee and wondering why I was so tired I eventually realised we’d left MCO at 15.50, been served dinner at 17.30, served breakfast at 22.00 and landed at midnight. So we’d basically lost a nights sleep or had a few hours dozing.
Stumbled to the Heathrow express which was working this time and shortly at BA’s checkin at T5 around 8.00am. Through security very quick and onwards to a very quiet galleries lounge for the flight back to Edinburgh.
Never seen the takeoff and came to over the lakes before decent into Edinburgh.
In summary. 2 very good VS flights. Very good crew and plane/seats in excellent condition even if they the older A330-300’s. Considering the miles and £’s paid, it was very very good. If you are very flexible there are still some amazing deals. With the miles booster (x3) it was around 44,000 miles net and around £1350 each. An absolute bargain for June/July.
Thanks for reading
David
Last edited by David on 24 Jul 2026, 20:32, edited 1 time in total.
