Just an up date on recent posts

We traveled with Travel City Direct. from Manchester.

they were 5 mins ahead on take off. 27 mins ahead on landing going out. Got 2 different 747%26#39;s none of which had seat back TV%26#39;s in any part of the aircraft. and the films were pretty dull what I saw of them. All on bulk head screens and tv%26#39;s on ceiling. there was no seat back TV%26#39;s on upstairs either. Except for the most expensive seats up front upstairs%26amp;downstairs all seem to have the same sort of seat. pitch although the 4 seats seats in the middle did have an inch%26amp; a half to two inches more room than those on the side in some cabins. I suppose this depended how long the individual cabin was. We were on the 3 at the side which did have more room then any of the economy seats I have had with My Travel, Thompson%26#39;s. Monarch , JMC and all of the americian carriers we have used previously.

Our return flight was bang on time leaving and 50 mins early , 7Hrs10 min. flying time , Due to picking up the jet stream just north of New York. and you could tell it was batting on. That%26#39;s a average of nearly 600mph.

The service from cabin staff was good, polite, and we weren%26#39;t charged any soft drinks or water. Food was simple good english food , Bangers %26amp; mash , Chicken or Beef. Good but not fancy.

Dollar car rental. Because we traveled TDC and our car voucher was with TDC . Paid in full they did ';NOT'; asked for a credit card.

(I had my letter ready and waiting ) .

They do have an ';Express Check In service'; at Sanford , but you cannot use it if your package has been organised by one of the tour operators. Because as a organised tour operator package we as customers have received the car rental at a much lower rate than those booking directly with the rental company , or other car rental agencies. And this certainly applied in my case.

They offered me a free up grade if I bought one, up-grade. (2 Grades total) But I declined that offer, And changed my car at a different rental location the following day, where they gave me a better car,(an up grade)..

We went to 3 places places previously not visited Wekiva Springs. Fantasy of Flight, %26amp; and Sanford Seminole Mall.

Wekiva Springs visited twice. Wonderful place , at the springs end is a swimming hole which is not that deep in crystal blue water . We didn%26#39;t swim but nearly took an involuntary dip when we hired a canoe. In the narrow stretches of the river people many inexperienced on the water were charging about. We were about to take a glancing blow by one of theses show offs .But I told my son who was in the front to lean into the impact just before contact of the other canoe. Needless to say it was them who got the unintended dip. Second time we went took the fishing rods and fished from the canoe. Thankfully we did not catch a 30 pound or, or we would have taken a swim.

Fantasy of Flight was a good day . under publicised and under visited. Wonderful experience both for kids(5-6 and above) and adults Absolutely filled with classic vintage aircraft some of which was bought in from Britain Went on a bombing raid in a B17 bomber. Sat in first class in a Sunderland flying boat one of only 2 still flyable in the world. Walked among P51 Mustang%26#39;s, Spitfires, Tempest, Catalina%26#39;s, Super Constellation. Invader and may others. And had our photo took with the owner a Mr Kermit Weeks who has some what of a passion for flying and aircraft but only has a sixth of a'; Billion dollars'; a year to do it on .

And for the Imelda Marcos fans who are into shoes and bags the Seminole mall at Sanford would be all their dreams come true.

Never seen so many shoes and bags in one shop. we only went into one of the 3 sections of this double deck mall. we only had an hour and a half before we needed to be at the airport. We probably needed a day and a half.

For you guys out there taking the ladies there regulations are that you buy a pair of hand cuffs and remove All plastic cards for the females body.

We got some wonderful accommodation in Orlando , Santa Maria resort in Fort Myers Beach, was ';Fab'; a real swish resort with its own boat docks if you happen to arrive on that mode of transport , and we only paid 拢60 a night , and it was like a mansion. But the one Night at St Petes made up for this. As I drove back from our evening meal and parked the car in front of our room me and the wife found our self in the middle of a drugs raid. We had only just got out the car when we were surrounded by armed police going to the room next door. soon as the door was opened they snatched the woman and hand cuffed her , Then read the man his rights and bundled both of them off and spent the rest of the night stripping the room out. By morning there was nothing left in the room.

Our biggest disappointment was with our car storage at Manchester;

This was with ';Airparks';.

We was flying from terminal 2. but they dropped us ';ALL'; at terminal 3.

There were no trolleys. we had to carry our bags from T2 to T3 down the conveyor walkway which must be a good third of a mile.

the walk walkways were not working.

On return we did get a trolley, and the walkways were working.

Whilst Airparks claim the dispatch a bus every 20 min this was far from the case.

We got to the T3 pick up point a 10;00am, At 10;10 am a guy stood next to me phoned the company and told them there were 50 of us waiting to be picked up. He was told there would be a bus there in 5 mins which would load us all. Which none of us believed. the first bus arrived 25 mins after the phone call was made. it already has some passengers on it, And could only load 27 Max. And this woman who took the call at the depot would know that.

Which by this time left 38 still waiting. the second bus arrives 23 mins after the other departed which we got on. We got to the Airparks depot a11;20am before I got my car keys it was 11;30.

I complained to the company who insisted we had missed the buses they had sent. And would not accept out tale of events.

The driver of the first bus informed the depot of the number waiting but no action was taken. I pointed out to the supervisor that some 12-15 people were still waiting to be picked up and had been at the pick up point since 10;00am . There were 3 empty buses sat the depot along with their drivers and was still there 10 min later after we had found our car and loaded our bags.

I told the the desk clerk that I would ';NOT '; be using them again . If they cannot drop me off at the terminal of departure with out a third of a mile walk with bags , and cannot make a better pick up than they did.

I am also going to write an official letter of complaint of their service to their managing director.

We can always seem to get an eventful holiday, dont know how we do it.

Just an up date on recent posts

glad you had a good time

wekiwa was nice huh? it%26#39;s about 3 miles from my house...you should have gone swimming...cold h20...actually, the temp is the same year round, just feels colder or warmer depending on outside air temp

Just an up date on recent posts

Glad the flight was ok and you had a good time.

Had the problems you had at Manchester waiting to pick car up. We hadn%26#39;t been on a Florida trip, we were a group of 5 females who were left waiting for a bus to pick the car up after a long weekend away to Majorca. We were told because of the time we arrived back we would have to ring for a bus, as they weren%26#39;t as frequent after 11pm?!?! . We rang and the bus arrived over half hour later. Due to the amount of people waiting we didn%26#39;t get on the first bus, we had to wait for the next one which arrived 20mins later. Like you we won%26#39;t be using them again.

Just one question, how far from Sanford airport is the Seminole Mall?, our flight back home isn%26#39;t till 6.30pm. Just a back up idea incase of bad weather ;-)

XR 759,

Excellent post as ever.

Very interesting about Fantasy of Flight, have always driven past, may go in this time.

Where were you staying in St Pete?

The same thing happened to my brother-in-law in Orlando!!!

I can imagine you in the drugs bust Poacher. I bet you were leaning across the police car with the loud hailer.

'; Come out now with your hands up. Don%26#39;t try anything fancy - dude or you lady. By the way do you two know that you can fly direct to Cancun from Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster which is only 17 minutes from my doorstep. Something to think about as you stew in the can - losers. Book em Danno';

XR, I am looking for a place at the coast for 3 nights in July and the Santa Maria looks really nice.

Could you expand a bit on resort and surrounding amenities - can we walk to restuarants once the car is parked up? The resort quotes me 拢145 for 3 nights in a 2 bed overlooking the pool in July and being miserable, can I get it cheaper somewhere else?

TCD no longer accept bookings other than 7 or 14 nights whic makes it a bummer if you go for odd dates like we do.

Gordon,

They will book you onto other airlines for different periods though, we are going for 3 weeks in September and they gave us a good deal with MyTravel and we have upgraded, it may be worth giving them a ring, good luck.

XR wondered where you were :) good info for people who want theme park alternatives... glad you had an enjoyable time :)

Janlovesflorida; Seminole Mall at Sanford is 3 exits further up I-4 than lake Mary Boulevard where you would normaly turn off for the airport.

It is one exit past the 417 Greenway which will deliver you to the airport. If you come out of the mall onto I-4 go west and take the 417 its only 10-15 mins drive. because its the start of the 417 there is hardly any traffic on it.

Gordon; The rooms offered over looking the pool will also be nice , We got a 2 room one overlooking the boat docks very big we thought. There is a cluster of little shops that almost back onto the resort . There is 3-4 restaurants among them , most of the shops dont open till 10;00am as it is mainly a residential area except the CVS, drug store 24 hours. ,. We used one think it was called Sues Restaurant , its at the CVS end of the shops. it only opened from 8;am to 1;30pm but was nice. While it walkable the resort stands back from the road, so you have to walk out of the resort, round a boat hire/ sales and about 200yds down the road before you come to any of the shops/ restaurants. They stretch out another 200-300yds. and ther is plenty of car park area. But it is a lovely safe area to walk in. I would definitely book at that price.

Two more thing I didn%26#39;t mention in my post was we tried a different route from LBV Orlando to Fort Myers and we will use it again. we took the I-4 as far as Lakeland and then turned off at exit 41, onto 570 toll road this had hardly had any traffic on it. We then turn off this at exit 10 to Bartow. SR17. Fort Mead, Zolfo Springs, Arcadia to Punta Gorda . ther were very little traffic on this route, the 2-3 little places we went through we got through them in minutes . Not many traffic lights. From Punta Gorda we joined the I-75 which did have a lot of traffic,

But we made Fort Myers Beach in a few min over 3 hours without exceeding the speed limit anywhere.

It was the quickest, shortest, and easiest traffic free route we have ever done. to Fort Myers.

Another place we went to which was mentioned on another post was Honeymoon Island , north of Clearwater.

Very disappointing. the beach was crap. strewn with rocks , dumped concrete blocks, Tarmac road surfacing and othe debris , which had broken up into small pieces polluting the whole of the beach with its black looking rock with white rocks particles within it. Wouldn%26#39;t go again and would advise other not to waste their time and money going there.,

Vegas ; Yes i did know they fly there , also to the Caribbean. and some other place in that area but the place illudes me at present.

No I wasn%26#39;t on the loud hailer , dont need a megaphone to make my self heard. Was only an observer with no shooter.

XR, I think you mean to say that the mall exit (101) is 3 miles up from the airport exit (98) not 3 exits from the airport exit.