The Holiday of a lifetime Part 2

[karl2000]

That's it we are off the ground, no turning back now [msnsmile2]. The flight was ok, we were changing at Chigaco and when we landed it was cold and raining, we had at least a couple of hours before our connecting flight to Orlando International. However by the time we got through 'border control' we had just about enough time to get something to eat before we met our next flight. Sorry for anyone who disagrees but I wasn't impressed with Chicago, not one friendly face anywhere [msnsad].
So the last leg of the journey before we landed at the place of dreams, again the flight was ok. We eventually got through passport control and went to get our suitcases.
Mine and Cherrell's suitcase...check
Beth's suitcase...check
The in-law's suitcase...not here [msnoo]
We filled in the relevant paperwork as it hadn't travelled with us and would be delivered the next day and then went to get our hire car.
After a few polite declines to additional upgrades blah blah blah we were in our car and heading out of the airport.
Now in hind sight our villa was fairly easy to get to (knowing the area after a couple of days), however when you've never been there before taking 4 hours to travel about 20 miles is a bit extreme, the directions we had were diabolical. We only hit upon the right area by chance, even after asking numerous people for directions (sat nav seemed a good idea about now). We were driving down this road when I noticed some shops on the right hand side and a garage on the left hand side, "I've seen this before, on google street, we are close". We pulled into the garage and the guy gave us directions to our villa about two miles away.
The villa was more than big enough for all of us, we unpacked, had a drink and went to bed ready for our two week adventure.

[SDJ]

Karl, was it you who was staying at Windwood Bay? It rings a bell I think!

Sandra

[karl2000]

Hi Sandra

Yes it was, in Davenport.

[SDJ]

I could have given you really good directions[msnwink][msnwink][msnwink]

Sandra

[Madabouttigger]

We have done that before and it is really annoying when you are tired after a flight. Google maps are amazing and thank goodness you had looked the villa up or you could still be driving around now. We now always take our Sat Nav with us, makes life so much easier.[msnwink]

[karl2000]

I could have done with that Sandra lol

[ellie]

My goodness, you must have been exhausted after 4 hours! You could have flown back to Chicago in the time it took to find your villa.

[msnwink]

Didn't your villa owner send you detailed instructions before you left the UK? Perhaps you should contact them and let them know about your experience so that they can make sure their directions are up-to-date and tell guests the easiest route. I would be horrified if my guests spent 4 hours driving round because I had not given them decent directions![msnoo]

Hope it didn't put you off too much. Now your adventure really starts!

[LiesaAnna]

keep it coming Karl, starting to really enjoy your trip xxx[msnsmile2]

[SDJ]

I will be at my villa in WWB from next Tuesday Karl. Which villa are you in?

Sandra

[E. Cosgrove]

I remember the first time we went to Orlando we stayed in a hotel[msnsad] and were given directions by the tour operator on how to get there. We must have been lucky as we drove straight there but I remeber people taking 2 and 3 hours to find the place and arriving in tears. This was long before the invention of sat navs or the easy drive down the 417.

Like Ellie, I try to make sure guests have really good directions with landmarks to look out for, thankfully we have never had any complaints.