linda.s
18-10-2004, 20:06
OK, so here it is, the start of our trip reports! Enjoy!
Day 1
Stayed at the Skylane Hotel at Horley, cheap and cheerful, reasonable meal, and small and not too comfy rooms, but who sleeps the night before travelling to Florida anyway??? Was cheaper to stay here and park the car than it was just to park the car at the airport, so that was a bonus!
Up at 5am, ready for the 6am coach to the airport. We were all very weary, and the driver was very happy considering the time, and I told him so too! We might have been going off to Florida, but that's no excuse for bouncing around and laughing loudly - far too cheerful for 6am!!! lol (As you can tell, I am not a morning person!) 6.30am check in was reasonably quick, then off to the lounge to wait for our flight - I was starting to cheer up at this point, so went off to spend money in the Next sale! Flight was delayed for 45 mins, as the gates wouldn't close properly at the terminal, but finally took off, and had an uneventful flight, apart from the stewards waking us every 10 mins with food, drinks or flipping green cards to fill in (I was still a little grumpy!) Food and service was very good with Monarch, considering that this was a budget flight. Not much room, but all in all a reasonable experience.
Arrived at Sanford and immigration queue was enormous! Took about an hour to get through, as they had started the photo's and fingerprinting the day before. Collected the luggage, and I got scanned by the agriculture dept....... Customs lady was not nice [msneek]- She scanned my small case and demanded 'What's in the jar?' I was hot, tired and still ratty, and tried very hard not to be rude back, but I did look a bit blank, so she demanded again, but louder 'What's in the jar?' I had to answer that I had absolutely no idea until she opened the case, she was talking about the case with all our toiletries etc in, it was full of [bad language filtered out] jars! Turns out she was referring to the Carte Noir coffee, and we were soon on our way........ To another queue! Alamo was stuffed to the gills! So I sat outside and smoked myself stupid (not hard!) and hubby queued. Finally got our Jeep after about an hour, and we finally set off for Cypress Pointe - Luckily we were going with friends that have a better memory and sense of direction than us, so we followed them and got there without any problems. We all registered at Cypress Pointe, as they were staying with us tonight before going on to Orange Lake Country Club the following day. We had intended to go to the Old Town tonight, but the queue's had taken their toll, so we went off to Sizzlers, then crashed out for the night!
Day 2
Majority vote saw us head off to Typhoon Lagoon today. Now, this is not my idea of fun - I hate waterparks, so I grin and bear it, but hubby and kids love them! Went into the wave machine, and grazed my left knee on the floor, and ended up with sunburnt feet too! So I sat and read, and they frolicked about in the surf and rides........ I did go on the lazy river with my friend, but that was the extent of my exertion that day! Back to the condo for a wash and brush up, then off to Orange Lake with our friends to check in there, as we might be staying over for a night or two. Nice resort, but rooms not as good as Cypress Pointe. Loads of activities and golf courses though! Once sorted out, we made our way over to the Old Town, and we were all a bit disappointed that we didn't make the Saturday night car displays - Oh well, maybe next time! Had a good meal in Brannigans - Great steak for me, and hubby had a chicken carbonara, with another thumbs up - service was good too! Tiredness set in again, so back to the condo for some rest, and a jacuzzi!
Perfect weather for Typhoon Lagoon.............. (Small pics!)
http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/linda.s/2004101816248_typlag.jpg
http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/linda.s/2004101816313_typlag1.jpg
Link to part 2
http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=1488
Day 1
Stayed at the Skylane Hotel at Horley, cheap and cheerful, reasonable meal, and small and not too comfy rooms, but who sleeps the night before travelling to Florida anyway??? Was cheaper to stay here and park the car than it was just to park the car at the airport, so that was a bonus!
Up at 5am, ready for the 6am coach to the airport. We were all very weary, and the driver was very happy considering the time, and I told him so too! We might have been going off to Florida, but that's no excuse for bouncing around and laughing loudly - far too cheerful for 6am!!! lol (As you can tell, I am not a morning person!) 6.30am check in was reasonably quick, then off to the lounge to wait for our flight - I was starting to cheer up at this point, so went off to spend money in the Next sale! Flight was delayed for 45 mins, as the gates wouldn't close properly at the terminal, but finally took off, and had an uneventful flight, apart from the stewards waking us every 10 mins with food, drinks or flipping green cards to fill in (I was still a little grumpy!) Food and service was very good with Monarch, considering that this was a budget flight. Not much room, but all in all a reasonable experience.
Arrived at Sanford and immigration queue was enormous! Took about an hour to get through, as they had started the photo's and fingerprinting the day before. Collected the luggage, and I got scanned by the agriculture dept....... Customs lady was not nice [msneek]- She scanned my small case and demanded 'What's in the jar?' I was hot, tired and still ratty, and tried very hard not to be rude back, but I did look a bit blank, so she demanded again, but louder 'What's in the jar?' I had to answer that I had absolutely no idea until she opened the case, she was talking about the case with all our toiletries etc in, it was full of [bad language filtered out] jars! Turns out she was referring to the Carte Noir coffee, and we were soon on our way........ To another queue! Alamo was stuffed to the gills! So I sat outside and smoked myself stupid (not hard!) and hubby queued. Finally got our Jeep after about an hour, and we finally set off for Cypress Pointe - Luckily we were going with friends that have a better memory and sense of direction than us, so we followed them and got there without any problems. We all registered at Cypress Pointe, as they were staying with us tonight before going on to Orange Lake Country Club the following day. We had intended to go to the Old Town tonight, but the queue's had taken their toll, so we went off to Sizzlers, then crashed out for the night!
Day 2
Majority vote saw us head off to Typhoon Lagoon today. Now, this is not my idea of fun - I hate waterparks, so I grin and bear it, but hubby and kids love them! Went into the wave machine, and grazed my left knee on the floor, and ended up with sunburnt feet too! So I sat and read, and they frolicked about in the surf and rides........ I did go on the lazy river with my friend, but that was the extent of my exertion that day! Back to the condo for a wash and brush up, then off to Orange Lake with our friends to check in there, as we might be staying over for a night or two. Nice resort, but rooms not as good as Cypress Pointe. Loads of activities and golf courses though! Once sorted out, we made our way over to the Old Town, and we were all a bit disappointed that we didn't make the Saturday night car displays - Oh well, maybe next time! Had a good meal in Brannigans - Great steak for me, and hubby had a chicken carbonara, with another thumbs up - service was good too! Tiredness set in again, so back to the condo for some rest, and a jacuzzi!
Perfect weather for Typhoon Lagoon.............. (Small pics!)
http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/linda.s/2004101816248_typlag.jpg
http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/linda.s/2004101816313_typlag1.jpg
Link to part 2
http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=1488