The alarm goes off at 5.00 am and I shower and dress before waking the boys, who moan and groan but shake themselves into action eventually and we are at the Virgin check-in desks at just before 6.00am - but we are not the first
Oh well, there's only 3 groups ahead and it doesn't take long to get past the man asking all the security questions and to the desk where we get the seats I pre-reserved (a row backing onto an exit so we can recline our seats without being a pain to the people behind us - I am so considerate )
Having disposed of the bags, my arms slowly return to their normal length and we head back to McDonalds (yes there is a theme developing here) and the kids have some breakfast. I abstain as I want to avail myself of the free continental breakfast served in the hotel executive lounge - there is something about the word free that makes it irresistible - and it is very nice; cereal, pastries, ham, cheese, smoked salmon, fruit, coffee and juice.
A wander round the shops but decide to leave purchases until we go through to the departure lounge. Mistake. The Gameboy Color game that DS2 wanted isn't sold there. Avoid a tantrum by buying him a game he wants that he can play on his brothers Gameboy Advance and extracting a promise from DS1 that he will not abuse this new power he has over his brother
A few more purchases and it's just a case of killing time until we are called to our gate - which finally happens around 10.00. Travel to the satellite with TV personality John Stapleton (Who's he ask the kids) who it turns out is resisting the temptations of Florida and flying out to Barbados - tough life.
Boarding goes quite smoothly once I explain to the boys that you have to wait for your row to be called and there is no point charging over to the queue. Settle into our seats and sort out all the things we will need during the flight. Co-pilot (a very laid back guy from Barbados) tells us our slot is 11.55 and because of headwinds our flight time will be 9 and a half hours
We make our take-off slot and the flight doesn't seem like quite the lifetime I was expecting it to be. Watch a couple of films - 'Bandits' with Bruce Willis and 'Hearts in Atlantis' with Anthony Hopkins - eat my garlic chicken (yuk) and my cheese and coleslaw sandwich (nice). Kids watch 'Atlantis' and eat very little of their meals but demolish all the snacks I brought with us because of this.
Service is good and crew are very pleasant. Even the people sitting in front didn't recline their seats during the journey - there must be a God.
Eventually, after filling in seemingly endless visa waiver forms (I don't want to be sent to the back of the queue) and watching the little plane on the skymap (moral: a watched plane never moves) my ears start feeling odd and the plane is descending.
Weather in Orlando is warm and we breeze through immigration, collect our bags, go through customs, are relieved of our bags, onto the shuttle and collect our bags again. Find the Virgin desk and we are directed to the parking bay where we find the Mears shuttle as I elected not to have a car.
Short journey to the hotel and the first tip of the holiday - I am determined to get this right, don't want to be seen as a stingy Brit. Check-in goes smoothly and our bags are wheeled to our room and the hotel guy tells us a bit about the hotel and its location. Another tip.
First impressions. The room is clean and comfortable, with a fridge, microwave, coffee maker and VCR. I think it must be due a refurbishment as it looks a bit tired but for 3 lads it will do fine.
I unpack and we go back down to reception and pick up some replacement flextickets from a helpful guy at guest services. Then it is across the road to Wendy's for something to eat. I like Wendy's and the kids loved it. If I had known then how many more times I would see the inside of it maybe we would have gone somewhere else, but it did make my life easier and at least they sell salads. Back to the hotel where we watched a bit of a James Bond film on TV and finally hit the sack around 9.30. Shattered.
Oh well, there's only 3 groups ahead and it doesn't take long to get past the man asking all the security questions and to the desk where we get the seats I pre-reserved (a row backing onto an exit so we can recline our seats without being a pain to the people behind us - I am so considerate )
Having disposed of the bags, my arms slowly return to their normal length and we head back to McDonalds (yes there is a theme developing here) and the kids have some breakfast. I abstain as I want to avail myself of the free continental breakfast served in the hotel executive lounge - there is something about the word free that makes it irresistible - and it is very nice; cereal, pastries, ham, cheese, smoked salmon, fruit, coffee and juice.
A wander round the shops but decide to leave purchases until we go through to the departure lounge. Mistake. The Gameboy Color game that DS2 wanted isn't sold there. Avoid a tantrum by buying him a game he wants that he can play on his brothers Gameboy Advance and extracting a promise from DS1 that he will not abuse this new power he has over his brother
A few more purchases and it's just a case of killing time until we are called to our gate - which finally happens around 10.00. Travel to the satellite with TV personality John Stapleton (Who's he ask the kids) who it turns out is resisting the temptations of Florida and flying out to Barbados - tough life.
Boarding goes quite smoothly once I explain to the boys that you have to wait for your row to be called and there is no point charging over to the queue. Settle into our seats and sort out all the things we will need during the flight. Co-pilot (a very laid back guy from Barbados) tells us our slot is 11.55 and because of headwinds our flight time will be 9 and a half hours
We make our take-off slot and the flight doesn't seem like quite the lifetime I was expecting it to be. Watch a couple of films - 'Bandits' with Bruce Willis and 'Hearts in Atlantis' with Anthony Hopkins - eat my garlic chicken (yuk) and my cheese and coleslaw sandwich (nice). Kids watch 'Atlantis' and eat very little of their meals but demolish all the snacks I brought with us because of this.
Service is good and crew are very pleasant. Even the people sitting in front didn't recline their seats during the journey - there must be a God.
Eventually, after filling in seemingly endless visa waiver forms (I don't want to be sent to the back of the queue) and watching the little plane on the skymap (moral: a watched plane never moves) my ears start feeling odd and the plane is descending.
Weather in Orlando is warm and we breeze through immigration, collect our bags, go through customs, are relieved of our bags, onto the shuttle and collect our bags again. Find the Virgin desk and we are directed to the parking bay where we find the Mears shuttle as I elected not to have a car.
Short journey to the hotel and the first tip of the holiday - I am determined to get this right, don't want to be seen as a stingy Brit. Check-in goes smoothly and our bags are wheeled to our room and the hotel guy tells us a bit about the hotel and its location. Another tip.
First impressions. The room is clean and comfortable, with a fridge, microwave, coffee maker and VCR. I think it must be due a refurbishment as it looks a bit tired but for 3 lads it will do fine.
I unpack and we go back down to reception and pick up some replacement flextickets from a helpful guy at guest services. Then it is across the road to Wendy's for something to eat. I like Wendy's and the kids loved it. If I had known then how many more times I would see the inside of it maybe we would have gone somewhere else, but it did make my life easier and at least they sell salads. Back to the hotel where we watched a bit of a James Bond film on TV and finally hit the sack around 9.30. Shattered.
