Juggler
New Member
So we had two weeks of fun.
13th Sept. (DAY 1) Arrived at Orlando Airport after an eight and a half hour flight from the UK... Got our bags and headed off to Immigrations. Never seen anything like it in my life. They had a dog sniffing round us. Drug sniffer I thought... boy was I wrong. Fruit sniffing dog! We don't have those in the UK. It went crazy when it got to one family and it turned out the little girl had an apple in the bottom of her bag. Very clever!
Got to the metal detectors and the security chap told me to put my jacket and rucksack on the x-ray machine, then walk through the scanner... I was not on the ball after the flight and following the security guards instruction to the letter like a sheep. The scanner alarm rang. In my pocket I had my house keys, keys for our luggage, mobile phone, watch, money, etc. He never told me to empty my pockets!!! So security took me to one side and wanted to know why I had tried to get all this through security...."he said my jacket and bag... that what he got!" I was with them for about 20 minutes and I have to say they are very nice people and did apologise for the delay. As I pointed out hey what's 20 minutes of a two week vacation, not a problem. My wife was really worried as she had already gone through and didn't know what was happening to me. Turns out she was only worried because I had all the travellers cheques... ain't love wonderful! :lol
Arrived at the Dolphin Hotel. A bit nervous about it as I'd had very mixed reviews. Turned out ok thought. Very expensive! But I'm from Yorkshire in the UK and we are known for being tight with money.
We had a drink at the bar in the lobby... 3 Southern Comforts with Sprite and a Jack D for me. The Bill $33... Plus tip..... HOW MUCH! May be it's me but I thought that was expensive even for a hotel. They have lots of restaurants which we found very expensive too. Although I can recommend "TUBBIES BUFFERTERIA" as a cheaper option.
(DAY 2) Off to MGM. MY GOD! The place was nearly empty!! Did Tower of Terror, first time in about 5 years. Boy have they changed that ride! It was great. Then on to the rock and roll coaster, my first time on this. Again ace. All this in about the first 20 minutes in the park we had no queue! Did the rest, Indy, Star Wars, Back Lot Tour, etc. Noticed quite a few changes since my last visit nearly 2 years ago.
(DAY 3) Typhoon Lagoon. Quite a few people and very hot! Despite my best attempts to not getting sunburnt, I got sunburnt! My friend got really burnt!
(DAY 4) Free shopping trip provided by our travel company.... Billed as a day of rest... they have to be joking!!!
(Day 5) As my friend was still recovering from his day in the sun we got a taxi to Belz Mall at the top of I Drive. Lots of money spent! Down I drive to the Mercado Mall. When I first vacationed in Orland we stayed near the MM and it used to be a nice place to walk round with some interesting shops and a nice friendly atmosphere. Most of the shops are empty. Very sad to see it like this. I guess Point Orlando has taken most of the trade... But I don't like PO as it's expensive.
I've probably put you to sleep after all that... so I'll do the rest later if anyone is interested.
13th Sept. (DAY 1) Arrived at Orlando Airport after an eight and a half hour flight from the UK... Got our bags and headed off to Immigrations. Never seen anything like it in my life. They had a dog sniffing round us. Drug sniffer I thought... boy was I wrong. Fruit sniffing dog! We don't have those in the UK. It went crazy when it got to one family and it turned out the little girl had an apple in the bottom of her bag. Very clever!
Got to the metal detectors and the security chap told me to put my jacket and rucksack on the x-ray machine, then walk through the scanner... I was not on the ball after the flight and following the security guards instruction to the letter like a sheep. The scanner alarm rang. In my pocket I had my house keys, keys for our luggage, mobile phone, watch, money, etc. He never told me to empty my pockets!!! So security took me to one side and wanted to know why I had tried to get all this through security...."he said my jacket and bag... that what he got!" I was with them for about 20 minutes and I have to say they are very nice people and did apologise for the delay. As I pointed out hey what's 20 minutes of a two week vacation, not a problem. My wife was really worried as she had already gone through and didn't know what was happening to me. Turns out she was only worried because I had all the travellers cheques... ain't love wonderful! :lol
Arrived at the Dolphin Hotel. A bit nervous about it as I'd had very mixed reviews. Turned out ok thought. Very expensive! But I'm from Yorkshire in the UK and we are known for being tight with money.
We had a drink at the bar in the lobby... 3 Southern Comforts with Sprite and a Jack D for me. The Bill $33... Plus tip..... HOW MUCH! May be it's me but I thought that was expensive even for a hotel. They have lots of restaurants which we found very expensive too. Although I can recommend "TUBBIES BUFFERTERIA" as a cheaper option.
(DAY 2) Off to MGM. MY GOD! The place was nearly empty!! Did Tower of Terror, first time in about 5 years. Boy have they changed that ride! It was great. Then on to the rock and roll coaster, my first time on this. Again ace. All this in about the first 20 minutes in the park we had no queue! Did the rest, Indy, Star Wars, Back Lot Tour, etc. Noticed quite a few changes since my last visit nearly 2 years ago.
(DAY 3) Typhoon Lagoon. Quite a few people and very hot! Despite my best attempts to not getting sunburnt, I got sunburnt! My friend got really burnt!
(DAY 4) Free shopping trip provided by our travel company.... Billed as a day of rest... they have to be joking!!!
(Day 5) As my friend was still recovering from his day in the sun we got a taxi to Belz Mall at the top of I Drive. Lots of money spent! Down I drive to the Mercado Mall. When I first vacationed in Orland we stayed near the MM and it used to be a nice place to walk round with some interesting shops and a nice friendly atmosphere. Most of the shops are empty. Very sad to see it like this. I guess Point Orlando has taken most of the trade... But I don't like PO as it's expensive.
I've probably put you to sleep after all that... so I'll do the rest later if anyone is interested.
