Monday, October 20, 2014

2014 Holiday Day 1 - Arrival & Downtown Disney

After a fairly uneventful journey (although we were delayed an hour on the tarmac due to a family being split up on the plane and no-one willing to help them out for a half hour) we touched down at Orlando airport onboard Virgin flight 27. The new automated arrivals machines sped things up and we were out of the airport and on the Disney Magical Express in about an hour. Which is pretty good going for Orlando.

The Disney Magical Express is much better than the buses arranged by Virgin Holidays. They have more people on them, and they seem to be run to a timetable. On the Virgin Holidays charter buses, you have to wait for all the families on the list. They may have taken a taxi or be stuck in customs, but you can be waiting a long time... Definitely an advantage of the package our travel agent booked us (a flydrive with Virgin Holidays and accommodation and tickets with Disney).

We got checked in OK to our usual Disney hotel - Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa - although they didn't seem to get our preference for the The Grandstand, instead putting us in The Carousel. Luckily we were able to switch rooms to be in our favoured location.

After briefly unpacking we went for a walk to find the new bridge that connects the resort with Downtown Disney. We went to the Lego store and picked up the $100 Disney gift card from one of the Disney stores' Information Desk (a perk of booking early). Matthew had a hotdog from one of the Marketplace vendors (which he said was very good) and then we headed back.

After settling in the for the night and turning the telly off we were surpised to hear thumping music coming from somewhere nearby. We are used to Saratoga Springs being a quiet resort, so hearing party music was a surprise. We phoned he front desk and they promised to send security. It was still going an hour later so we phoned again. Again, they said they'd sort it. I've no idea when it stopped, I last looked at the clock at 12:30am... Complaining to the Front Desk seemed to have little effect, which was disappointing. Hoping it won't happen again...

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