DMC
29-09-2003, 20:19
Dear All
Having just come back following our 10th visit in 6 years to Orlando, I thought I would post my 'Trip Report', whilst it is still fresh in the memory.
This time, rather than going direct to Orlando, we flew with Virgin to Las Vegas for 3 days. This was our first trip to LV and it was great fun, if a little more expensive than Orlando
But still we had a great time, which I won't go into now, as this forum is for Florida / Orlando not Las Vegas.
Anyway we arrived in Orlando mid week having caught the 'red eye' from Las Vegas to Orlando, via Atlanta. We flew with Delta and on the whole found them helpful.
The only issue we had was that we found out only when we were at LV Aiport, that Delta did in fact have a direct flight to Orlando, rather than via Atlanta, which left 45 mins before our own filght :( But this moan is more the fault of our travel agent, rather than Delta, as we did request a direct flight but were told that they didn't do one.
Also whilst we were offered free drinks etc, Delta did charge $5.00 per person for 'headsets', if you wanted to watch the in flight film, which seemed rather mean. :( But as it was an overnight filght, it wasn't much of a problem.
So having landed, we checked into our usual Hotel, the Rosen Plaza on International Drive ( opp The Pointe ) - I have to say that this was the best stay that we had had at the Rosen, there were very few childern around ( what with there being no school holiday's etc ) and we managed to get a good nights sleep almost every night.
On the whole the weather was good, only a couple of cloudy days and the odd thunderstorm but nothing that spoilt any of our plans - the temps were late 80' and early 90's on some days.
Anyway, we kept away from all the Theme Parks ( saving those for our return visit next year )- we spent the early mornings in the Hotel Gym, then is was time for Breakfast, followed by a few hours sun bathing by the pool with a good book. [8D]
In the early afternoon, it was off shopping and as usual the old credit card took a severe bashing ( with part of the bill waiting for me when I got home on Saturday :( ) How do they process these things so quickly !!!
The good only thing was that the exchnage rate they gave me was an excellant at $1.61 :)
As usual the Premium Outlet Mall took most of our money with Nike / Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger benefiting most, with a few other designer stores thrown in for good measure.
Bargain of the holiday, goes to my wife who managed to buy a pair of Ralph Lauren Leather Trousers, originally priced at $895.00 for $29.99 :D
Visits were also undertaken to Florida Mall / The Belz ( which has gone down hill over the last years or so ) and Mall of The Mellenia ( we had the biggest slice of cheesecake ever at the Cheese Cake Factory ):D( Heaven knows how many calories it contained!!!! )
For eating out, being creatures of habit, we spent every night eating at the Olive Garden on I'Drive - as usual the food was fisrt class and as reasonable as ever.
Since we spent alot of time in the Olive Garden, during our last holiday in May, several of the staff recognised us and by our 3rd visit, the Manager was on first name terms with us and nothing was too much trouble.
In fact on our last night, they refused to accept payment and gave us a full 3 course meal and drinks free :D:D:D- so Sonny, our regular waiter, got a big tip that night.
So a big thank you goes out to Clint / CJ / Anne and Sonny, from the I'Drive, Olive Garden, for all their help during our stay.
As with all good things, the holiday came to an end, we had a slight panic, as both the cases were as full as ever but they seemed alot heavier than normal - don't ask me how we did it but when the cases were weighed in at the Airport - both weighed in at spot on 32kg.
Thank goodness they did weigh the hand luggae, as we would have been in trouble !!!
We also noticed that they have made various changes at Orlando Airport, with the removal of the central Disney Shop
Having just come back following our 10th visit in 6 years to Orlando, I thought I would post my 'Trip Report', whilst it is still fresh in the memory.
This time, rather than going direct to Orlando, we flew with Virgin to Las Vegas for 3 days. This was our first trip to LV and it was great fun, if a little more expensive than Orlando
But still we had a great time, which I won't go into now, as this forum is for Florida / Orlando not Las Vegas.
Anyway we arrived in Orlando mid week having caught the 'red eye' from Las Vegas to Orlando, via Atlanta. We flew with Delta and on the whole found them helpful.
The only issue we had was that we found out only when we were at LV Aiport, that Delta did in fact have a direct flight to Orlando, rather than via Atlanta, which left 45 mins before our own filght :( But this moan is more the fault of our travel agent, rather than Delta, as we did request a direct flight but were told that they didn't do one.
Also whilst we were offered free drinks etc, Delta did charge $5.00 per person for 'headsets', if you wanted to watch the in flight film, which seemed rather mean. :( But as it was an overnight filght, it wasn't much of a problem.
So having landed, we checked into our usual Hotel, the Rosen Plaza on International Drive ( opp The Pointe ) - I have to say that this was the best stay that we had had at the Rosen, there were very few childern around ( what with there being no school holiday's etc ) and we managed to get a good nights sleep almost every night.
On the whole the weather was good, only a couple of cloudy days and the odd thunderstorm but nothing that spoilt any of our plans - the temps were late 80' and early 90's on some days.
Anyway, we kept away from all the Theme Parks ( saving those for our return visit next year )- we spent the early mornings in the Hotel Gym, then is was time for Breakfast, followed by a few hours sun bathing by the pool with a good book. [8D]
In the early afternoon, it was off shopping and as usual the old credit card took a severe bashing ( with part of the bill waiting for me when I got home on Saturday :( ) How do they process these things so quickly !!!
The good only thing was that the exchnage rate they gave me was an excellant at $1.61 :)
As usual the Premium Outlet Mall took most of our money with Nike / Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger benefiting most, with a few other designer stores thrown in for good measure.
Bargain of the holiday, goes to my wife who managed to buy a pair of Ralph Lauren Leather Trousers, originally priced at $895.00 for $29.99 :D
Visits were also undertaken to Florida Mall / The Belz ( which has gone down hill over the last years or so ) and Mall of The Mellenia ( we had the biggest slice of cheesecake ever at the Cheese Cake Factory ):D( Heaven knows how many calories it contained!!!! )
For eating out, being creatures of habit, we spent every night eating at the Olive Garden on I'Drive - as usual the food was fisrt class and as reasonable as ever.
Since we spent alot of time in the Olive Garden, during our last holiday in May, several of the staff recognised us and by our 3rd visit, the Manager was on first name terms with us and nothing was too much trouble.
In fact on our last night, they refused to accept payment and gave us a full 3 course meal and drinks free :D:D:D- so Sonny, our regular waiter, got a big tip that night.
So a big thank you goes out to Clint / CJ / Anne and Sonny, from the I'Drive, Olive Garden, for all their help during our stay.
As with all good things, the holiday came to an end, we had a slight panic, as both the cases were as full as ever but they seemed alot heavier than normal - don't ask me how we did it but when the cases were weighed in at the Airport - both weighed in at spot on 32kg.
Thank goodness they did weigh the hand luggae, as we would have been in trouble !!!
We also noticed that they have made various changes at Orlando Airport, with the removal of the central Disney Shop