This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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This had been originally planned for the end of November to coincide with thanksgiving and a big birthday but was postponed due to this terrible cold / bug that seems to have felled almost everyone I know and have spoken to.
A month of blocked noses, sore heads and coughing did little to rekindle my enthusiasm to get booking again and when Christmas arrived and there seemed little opportunity’s, it was kinda written off for the next few months.
However, a few days off around Christmas meant plenty of time to have a look at flights, accommodation and cars etc but when everything was priced on the 26th December at around £3k per person (using miles for Upper) it was again put on the back burner.
G’s were available in and out of Atlanta, however no DVC accommodation was available, the price of Hilton’s were getting stupid with their “resort fees” added in, Delta wanted $600 to fly from ATL to MCO and back, BA was nearly £400 at short notice for the shuttles and even the car was nearly £500 so that was that. We won’t be going.
Or would we.
Friday 28th December dawned, a kind of non day between Christmas and New Year and in a moment of weakness the iPad was agin directed to the Virgin page and low and behold and angel appeared. Well not really but seats out of Gatwick into Orlando appeared on the3rd Jan. Disney vacation club was showing a few days but nothing that would really fit but let’s hold the seats and see.
Flights held VS15 LGW to MCO 3rd Jan, VS104 ATL to LHR 10th Jan
Sunday 30th arrived and 5 nights at Disney’s Old Key West in a one bedroom villa suddenly came together. Next Hertz came to the party with a GMC Yukon (otherwise known as a tank) appeared at £247 prepaid, all in for a week
and Delta became not too bad with just a one way needed between MCO and ATLThat just left BA, EDI to LGW and LHR back to EDI, eye popping at over £380 in economy and £440 in Club Europe ( giving you the extra baggage allowance )
The use of some Avios to bring down to BA price and all that was needed was a night in Gatwick and a couple of nights in a Hilton before moving to Disney.
Sunday 30th evening arrived and everything was booked. Thank goodness for TripIt - a great app that lets you input everything and let’s you see your plans in date order. There used to be a vflyer TripIt group but like a few things, it seems to have fell by the wayside.
Hogmany - Monday 31st dawned and everything was in place to fly down to Gatwick for a weeks holiday ..... in 2 days time. Lol
The BA flight was the last of the day, I do t know what’s happening to EDI to LGW flights with BA but they are in extremely short supply and very poorly timed of late so it was around 10pm that we arrived into the Sofitel. ( the BA lounge in Edinburgh must be one of the most depressing places every - there seems to be more energy in a cupboard ! )
The next morning meant the very short walk to check in which seemed quite busy. We were taken at premium, given nothing, told nothing about security or lounges but knew what to do. You can’t help wondering if that had been the first time travelling in Upper it would have been very underwhelming.
The Clubhouse was busy but service, as always was first class and all too soon, there was just around a dozen of us left for the 15
Boarding was underway when we arrived at the gate with over 400 on today’s flight.
The food was good. I had the soup, very nice, the coffee rubbed steak, good once I’d scraped the orange stuff off the top and skipped dessert and went for the cheese and biscuits.
Wi-fi was about iffy this time and seemed to need signing back in multiple times and the film choice wasn’t too great which meant the flight seemed to really take 9 hours.
Service was great with the crew kept really busy with what seemed like a lot of first time Upper fliers. Couldnt work the seat / bed or the IFE but eventually it was time for afternoon tea and the now new ( on the Gatwick routes anyways) quick bites started to appear. Looked like the majority wanted the burger and the traditional sandwiches / scones seems to be a thing of the past.
Landing was quick and into the hall only took a few minutes but after June’s trip, I was expecting a bit of a mess.
How wrong could I have been !
A beautiful new shiny arrival / baggage reclaim hall.
Global entry was incredible. 4 machines with an attendant. “Just press the blue button on the screen and look into the camera” “ OK sir, that’s you done, just take the receipt to the officer down there” Eh ? “ What about inserting my passport ?” “ Nope, it’s all done for you. Facial recognition”
Wow.
Took under 2 mins and we were waiting on the bags. They appeared very quickly and you now turn left when leaving the hall, walk a few steps round the corner to a new escalator which brings you up to the left hand side of the train. All very quick.
Minutes later, we were collecting the tank and onwards to the Hilton at Disney’s Springs which took a little longer than usual with the traffic, even on the toll road, which is now $1.75. I wonder how many people manage to drop quarters when they are handing over their money. Lol.
The rest of the trip went great. Fantastic weather in the high 70’s low 80’s and pretty quiet after the New Years travellers had departed.
The one back straightener was the prices. I’ve noticed it’s been getting more and more expensive with the poor exchange rate and price rises in Orlando. Coupled with the dreaded resort fees and now parking fees, it’s not the value for money trip it used to be.
Was pricing a pair of trainers for someone. The sticker price was $129.99 and when you add the tax on then convert to pounds, it comes out around £114. Wow. When you think that a year or so ago, that was around £86 it begins to dawn that it’s really quite an expensive place now.
However a week in the sun was gratefully received to recharge the batteries and there was not a cough, sneeze or sore head in sight.
Thanks for reading
David
