Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report! THIS SECTION COMPLETED 4/12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report! THIS SECTION COMPLETED 4/12
Well, as we're home now, it's time to get this trip report started. The pre-trip report, complete with live updates as we went is available here, which will give you an insight into our plans and a general idea of how things went. However, full details of everything coming up in due course, although it may take a while...
Thursday 19 February – part one: it’s compact and bijou!
We were up sickening early, and by sickeningly early, I mean about 5:30am, a lot earlier than our usual surfacing time of more like 6:20am, but there was method in our madness. We still both had one day of work left before we headed off, and we both wanted to be into work early to clear everything before we finished. We’d done something similar yesterday, and it had been a huge help, so we figured we’d take the same approach again today. After all, the earlier we could get home, the more time it would give us to finish the final bits of the packing off.
I did a final check on Accuweather, then printed off my spreadsheet which has our daily plans, plus a summary of the weather for each day. It’s always interesting to see how closely (or not as the case may be ) the original forecast corresponds to what we actually get on the day, particularly as the vacation goes on, as at this stage, I’m still getting forecasts for two weeks’ time.
This will make you laugh – the only one of the other theme parks we’re visiting that has hours up for the day we’re visiting is LEGOLAND. Still nothing beyond Saturday (yes, as in two days’ time! ) from Universal and nothing for the start of March for either Busch Gardens Tampa or SeaWorld Orlando. Gosh, this makes me so glad for Disney publicising everything so far ahead.
Once all that was done, I headed into work, and I had a fine day, having polished most of the things off that I needed to do yesterday. I know Mark had a hectic day, but I think he just about managed to get everything done that he had to.
At work, someone described me as “bouncy” and that was probably a good description! I ended up going in wearing jeans and a long sleeved Walt Disney World top, and the amount of people who commented on it. One person said to me “only a week to go” and I quickly corrected her and said “ a day!”
About 1:00pm, I got a phone call from a work colleague, who’s American. I had asked her if she wanted anything from the States, as last time she went, she’d stocked up on my favourite Bath and Body Works products for me. I picked up the phone with the words “you’re a bit late getting your order in” and she just laughed and asked how soon I’d be leaving. I told her about three hours, so she was cutting it fine!
Just before I was due to head home, I heard the rain belting down on the roof, and sure enough, it was miserable and now tipping with rain. That made for a fun journey home, as everyone immediately panicked and slowed up. It wasn’t pleasant to drive in, but it’s also fairly normal over here. It wasn’t torrential or at the point where you can only see a few metres beyond the car.
I got home, and was the first one back, so I set about doing the remaining tidying up. Trust me, we’ve learnt from bitter experience, never leave your house in a state. Firstly, it’s horrible to come home to, and secondly, if someone’s looking after your house (as they are for us), it doesn’t give the best impression.
When Mark got back, we finished off a few bits, then we got the rest of the packing done. I managed to sneak some time online, and my goodness, things had gone crazy, ever since I’d posted on Facebook that we’re off tomorrow. I heard from the sister of a good friend of mine, who I’ve lost touch with recently, and it turns out they’re in Disney right now. I gave her our cell phone number, and hopefully we might see them, as it would be lovely to catch up with them again.
Two other people it would be lovely to catch up with again are Deb (as in Deb Wills) and Linda, and Linda messaged me, asking how long we’d be out there for. I gave her the details, and our cell phone number, so again, hopefully we’ll get together. It’s quite funny, as I’ve messaged them a couple of times, with no response, and a mutual friend was down with them a couple of weeks ago, and told me they were saying how much they wanted to get together with us again, so I hope it works out.
There were other people asking when we’d be in Disney on Facebook, and when we were going home. Some people we’ll sadly just miss, whereas others we might get to see, which would be lovely. It sounds like there’ll be a lot of Disney fans down there over the next couple of weeks.
We said we’d head off to Gatwick just before 6:00pm, and we were pretty much on target, even if we did have a couple of minor crises on the way. The first was when I realised I’d managed to leave my back-up camera out of my hand luggage, and my “proper” new one was in my hand luggage. That quickly rectified, then we had another problem. Try as we might, we just couldn’t get the three suitcases and two pieces of carry-on luggage to fit in the boot (trunk) of the car. In the end, we left the hand luggage on the back seat, and it went in that way.
We set off, and now the rain really was coming down a lot harder. Now it was what I’d call torrential, and it was sweeping in right towards us. Let’s just say I was very glad we were going the way we were, as there were terrible delays going the other way, but even so, with the weather, it really wasn’t pleasant for Mark at all. When we got to Gatwick, he told me he was very relieved that drive was over. Hopefully we won’t have another one like that this trip.
We headed for McDonald’s, as that’s where we’d agreed to have dinner. We’d got increasingly more disappointed with the options at the terminal, as often they’re overpriced and while the food is Ok, it is annoying to have to pay so much for it. This worked fine, and Mark, being my knight in shining armour headed out into the rain to get some food for us, while I guarded the bags.
When he got back, I got a shot through the windscreen to try and give you an idea of how bad the weather was…
Here’s a photo of what I had to eat…
Mark’s was similar, oh except he had a Big Mac to my Fillet o’ fish and he had orange juice to my milkshake.
When we were done eating, we phoned the valet parking company. They asked if we were 10 to 15 minutes out from the airport, and Mark told them where we were, and the guy said “oh right round the corner”. At this point, I will say I have never seen such a busy McDonald’s car park in my life. Literally as soon as someone left, a car took the space. I guess a lot of people park here who are picking up friends or family, and presumably some of the taxis and valet parking companies use this as well?
We headed over there, and the guy was waiting for us, and checked the car very thoroughly, even asking if it was Ok if he took some photos of the car. Fine by me, it means you’re a good reputable company that’s likely to take care of her – we have used them before, and they were very good then as well.
The car left in safe hands, we headed off with the cases and hand luggage. The only issue we had was that the case with my hand luggage on top of it kept capsizing, as the case didn’t have much weight to it, and in truth, I think my hand luggage weighed more.
Finally, we made it into the terminal, and headed over to Virgin Atlantic to check in our bags and get our boarding passes. We probably waited about two minutes, then we were seen, and our luggage was despatched, to hopefully be reunited with us in Orlando. As you can see, the Upper Class area they have here was very quiet:
Virgin wasn’t exactly packed…
… but EasyJet was totally deserted.
We headed across the terminal to find the BLOC Hotel, not quite sure where it was, but following the signs, we found it. It had a bit of an odd entrance to it downstairs…
… but upstairs, the reception area, while tiny, was very stylish.
We were handed our room keys, and were told we were on floor seven. I couldn’t resist asking what this area used to be previously, and I was told that it used to be offices. Well, all I can say is that given, when we got out of the lifts, you could either turn left, turn right or go straight ahead (we were straight ahead), it wasn’t exactly a small hotel, so I don’t know how many offices used to be here.
It was certainly a compact and bijou room, as we found out when we opened the door…
The bathroom, while small, certainly packs a lot into it:
It was tough to get a photo out of the window, but I did my best, and when I focused in on it, it turns out to be the Sofitel Hotel over at the North Terminal.
Given that the rooms don’t take up much space, I thought they still had a lot of room in them. They’re perfect for a one night stay, and I think the idea works brilliantly at an airport.
We settled down to catch up on emails and on Facebook and the boards, while having the live episode of the EastEnders 30th anniversary special on. We never watch it (it’s one of the UK’s most watched soap operas), but we had to watch it, given it was a live special, revealing who had actually killed one of the characters last April – and you did read that right, that’s how long they’ve made the plot last for!
Eventually, I figured that putting the blind down over the window would be a good plan, but how? We looked and couldn’t see any buttons, until I eventually found this:
It’s a touch screen system just by the bed, and allows you to control most of the facilities in the room. Very cool! And here’s what it looks like with the blind down…
We watched some TV, well I did, while someone else managed a combination of snoring and laughing (don’t ask) and constantly complained about the state of their back. He said he’d tweaked it getting the suitcases out of the car. Oh boy, this is a good start to the trip… not!
The weather today was dry for most of the day, then it tipped with rain in the evening. The best thing today was knowing we’d be flying out in the morning and work was finished with for a fortnight. The worst thing today was the rain. The funniest thing today was our compact and bijou bedroom. Today we tried staying at the BLOC Hotel And the result was it’s a very convenient place to stay, and very cheap, and fine for what we paid for it. The most magical moment today was finding the cute reception for the BLOC hotel, very unique!
Yay!!! Great start to what sounds like a fun trip! Can't wait for more - especially your review on Trattoria al Forno - as my aunt (Luvsun) and I are eating there in May!!!
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Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report!
Great start! How crazy that the hours still weren't posted for those other parks! Disney does it SO much better (although WDW is much better than Disneyland, as I'm trying to plan my trip to DLR and those hours don't go out far at all). Your hotel room is adorable, and the control screen was very cool!
Nice start to the trip and glad things went well getting to the airport even with so much rain! I like your room even if it's quite small and looks quite modern and all the buttons to control all things within the room!
Still gotta catch up on your Live Report, but at least I caught this one right from the start!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Awesome start to your report. I'm glad you guys made it home safe and sound. I love your little room! Very cool. I sure hope Mark gets a good night's sleep between, snoring, laughing and back pain! That is an interesting combination!
Pretty good start to your trip, although you could have done without the rain and Marks back acting up.
I can totally see that hotel room previously being someone's office. Clever conversion though. And high tech!
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My goodness that was a mess of rain to start your vacation! Though it is tiny, your room looks very efficient and quite comfortable. So sorry Mark tweaked his back, and hope it doesn't continue to bother him.
I so despise driving in the rain! Glad y'all made it to the airport safely. The hotel room looks perfect for a short stay before a flight. Someone was very smart with this idea. Hope the rain goes away during the night.
Well that was quick LOL. Sorry the rain put a damper on the start of your trip The hotel room looks VERY tiny. I'm not sure how I would do with my claustrophobia , but for a few hours of sleep I might be able to suffer through.
You aren't letting any dust settle atpre you?! Not complaining - I'm excited to read the TR, especially since by the time it's done, it will be that much closer to our trip!
Love the hotel room - especially how hi-tech it seems!
Yay!!! Great start to what sounds like a fun trip! Can't wait for more - especially your review on Trattoria al Forno - as my aunt (Luvsun) and I are eating there in May!!!
Ok, a teaser here - you are going to love it, based on our experience. It was one of our favourites this trip.
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The pre-trip report, complete with live updates as we went is available 
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Pixie Dust
Still nothing beyond Saturday (yes, as in two days’ time! 
) from Universal and nothing for the start of March for either Busch Gardens Tampa or SeaWorld Orlando. Gosh, this makes me so glad for Disney publicising everything so far ahead. 
I ended up going in wearing jeans and a long sleeved Walt Disney World top, and the amount of people who commented on it. One person said to me “only a week to go” and I quickly corrected her and said “
a day!” 
This worked fine, and Mark, being my knight in shining armour headed out into the rain to get some food for us, while I guarded the bags. 
We looked and couldn’t see any buttons, until I eventually found this: 
(don’t ask) and constantly complained about the state of their back. He said he’d tweaked it getting the suitcases out of the car. 
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
Though it is tiny, your room looks very efficient and quite comfortable. So sorry Mark tweaked his back, and hope it doesn't continue to bother him. 
Mary - not enough trips!
The hotel room looks VERY tiny. I'm not sure how I would do with my claustrophobia , but for a few hours of sleep I might be able to suffer through.
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