After the long 11 month period in which our holiday to Orlando had been booked, the day had finally arrived. 

We got up at 05:30am and made our last preparations for the two week stay. At about 06:10 we (me and my dad) were dropped off at the train station by my uncle. My uncle, auntie, mum and sister were all getting to the airport by car.

The train arrived two minutes late, and it was a slam door train, neither of which is unusual in this part of the world  . The train journey took us past Christ's Hospital, Horsham, Littlehaven, Faygate, Ifield, Crawley, Three Bridges and then Gatwick Airport. We had to wait for the rest of the group to come from the BCP parking and we ended up waiting half an hour for them. Oh well, i could see the early morning 26L flight path. Included was 2 Air France Embraer 145's, an Air Gabon B747 and the usual selection of BA flights.

When the BCP coach pulled up in the dropoff area, we went down to help with the bags, and then proceeded up the ramp to the terminal. We turned left and headed down to zone A where there was a nice long line on check in desks, and not a very big line of passengers. Just what we wanted.

Our actual check in took quite a while, maybe 15 minutes. Our seats were 36A/B/C and 37A/B/C. I already knew that i was in 36A because i knew there was no window in 37A. The check in attendants told us that the flight had picked up a 30 minute delay. After check-in we were all feeling a bit peckish so we headed into the Gatwick village and took a seat at the New York Italian restaurant of "Frankie & Benny's." I had a lovely cheeseburger and fries with a diet pepsi.



My plate was clean, except for a bit of parsely, and me, smelling it and thinking its tasteless shoved it in my mouth, then it came up about 10 seconds later in a small puddle of puke .

I went to have a look and see if the skyview was open this early (08:30). It was and i had the whole place to myself. It was kinda nippy out there so i decided to go back down.

There was quite a big queue forming going throught the security checkpoint, so we decided to play it safe and join the queue. It didn't take long and within 5 minutes we were airside. I went up to the viewing area upstairs while the others went shopping. While viewing i saw a Meridiana A319 pushing back, which was a first for me. Also VS B744 G-VGAL was lining up at about 09:30, which is too early to be one of the schedule flights. Then, when i saw it rotate about where a Dash 8 would be rotating i could see it was off to Heathrow.

Our gate was flashing. "Board Gate 33." We were in no hurry because departure was still an hour away, and that was if it was on time, which it wasn't. I looked over to Gate 33 in the Satellite and G-VROY "Pretty Woman" was sitting there. After we met up with the others we went onto the satellite monorail thing and went over to the satellite. The following half an hour was pretty uneventful, except for getting a hot chocolate nothing else happened. At 11:05 boarding was started, boarding passengers in wheelchairs and passengers with infants under 2 first, then Upper Class, then Premium Economy then finally economy, starting as ever from the back.

Date: April 5th 2004
Sched. departure time: 11:15
Actual departure time: 11:55
Flight Number: VS027
Aircraft: B747-443
Registration: G-VROY "Pretty Woman"

Once onboard, i placed my bag under the seat in front of us, got my camera out and turned my phone off (for the first time in 4 and a half months ). Next to us was a Novair A330-200:



Our seat was right over the wing, which was bad for photography and spotting, but good for noise as there isn't much here.

Soon enough everybody was onboard, and the jetway was released from the side of the aircraft



Imediately after, an Air France EMB-145 pulled into the North Terminal



As i watched, the brakes were released and we started a backwards movement. The safety video came on, but i'd seen it all before, so i didn't really pay much attention to it. I was just looking out my window



The engines came into life and we stayed stationary for a couple of minutes before everntually moving towards the runway. We passed G-VLIP of which i saw about 9 hours later in Orlando. It followed us all the way there. As we turned out of the satellite area we passed a few of the morning regulars and i just had to snap them - Didn't come out very well though




Then we passed Thomas Cook's G-JMAA, a B757-300 with the new .com titles on it



We passed the "dark side" of the South Terminal, which thanks to building works can now only be really seen in an airside area.



Another view of G-JMAA



We waited in the queue for 26L about 5 minutes, in which time the cabin crew were told to take their seats for departure and this little fella trundled by after an arrival.



Finally we started moving, all the way onto the runway. It wasn't to be a rolling take off today:

Past the smaller gates:


Onto the runway we go:


Once we were lined up we stopped, then immediately started moving again. Then the engines were put into about half throttle, before pounding on the gas and giving the lady all she got. Unfortunately it was a pretty smooth and uneventful departure. Waved goodbye to the car park as we hurled into the air



We were thankful to be leaving a very cloudy and mirky London, heading of to the sunshine





The clouds provided us with the turbulance and the odd screaming kid here and there, but it was soon passed and we were out into the sunshine. Today's route was going to take us south towards Cornwall, but before we get to the coast we wil be turning off to the north to avoid the jetstream. However, today we were taking a more direct route. Our estimated flight time was little over 8.5hrs, which isn't bad. Our cruising altitude will start off at 33,000ft but will increase to 37,000ft as we reach the Canadian coast

I settled into a bag of Penn State Worcester Sauce mini pretzels and a can of diet virgin cola. Then i watched the news which was recorded earlier.



G-VROY has then "Nova" IFE system and so i wasn't hoping for much, especially after experience V : port for myself last year. The outbound films for today were:

1. Mona Lisa Smile
2. 21 Grams
3. School of Rock
4. Welcome to the Jungle
5. Cheaper by the dozen
6. Something's gotta give
7. Looney Tunes: Back in Action

I watched School of Rock, featuring Jack Black. It was a great film, so good i had to take a picture of it 



During the film our meal came round. Mine was a chicken and mash meal with beetroot. Also included was a Flake yoghurt, cheese and biscuits and some pasta thing. It was quite a good meal, but could have been a lot better



Time flew quickly on this flight. I had a little kip and before i knew it we were over the coast of Nova Scotia. Our route took us wide of New York (9/11 related?) and down through North Carolina , South Carolina and Georgia before we aprroached the Floridian coast. While passing by Georgia we got our second meal of the day. It was a Cheese and roasted vegetable roll. It was nice...once the vegetables were taken out. Also came a Chocolate Chip muffin. I had two because my sister didn't like hers.



When we reached the coast of eastern Florida we descended at a rapid rate until we got to about 19,000ft. This is where we flew over the Daytona Coast.



Our approach took us through many turns




After one final right turn, we were on approach for runway 35R. The appoach took us over swamp lands and a lot of water and woodland. As we hit the runway the spoilers were deployed and the reverse thrust kicked in. The aircraft slowed down pretty quickly and soon enough we were off the runway





A Southwest Airlines B737-700 was on approach behind us as we taxied to the terminals across roads, rivers and past people.





Any A.netters here?  



As we taxied into the terminal area we passed G-VIIR (which you can just see here - sorry bout the sun reflections)



We parked in Gate 85 near to a Thomas Cook B767



As we got into the gate we waited about a minute for the seatbelt sign to go off and the engines to shut down. Some people were inpatient and rushed off before we'd even stopped. I asked a flight attendant if i could go upstairs and see the cockpit, but she said no because they had a tight schedule to get it off again (because of the small delay) and they needed to get everybody off as soon as possible so the ground crew could begin their work. Which is a fair point, since the aircraft was due to be going off as VS028 in just over two hours from then, and two hours isn't long to turn a B747-400 around. I said goodbye to the flight attendants as i walked out the door onto the air bridge. We walked up the airbridge and then walked down through the quiet "corridor" until we came to customs. We had to wait about 5 minutes to go through, but as soon as we had we went to get our luggage (for the first time). The luggage took a while to come out, but after about 10 minutes the first sets of bags came up, but it was another ten minutes before we had all of ours. Once we had done that we went up and had to put our bags onto another conveyor which took them to the main terminal area (pointless or what).

After we'd passed through another security checkpoint, we got onto the transit system which took us to the main terminal. I was surprised to see how close some of the Delta Connection Embraer's were to the transit, we basically passed right over them.

The transit took about two minutes and as soon as we were in the main part of the terminal we went to the (second) baggage reclaim, but i think our bags got lost as we had to wait 20 minutes before they came through, by this time it was gone 5:00pm. Once we had our luggage we went over to the Virgin Holidays Dollar car rental place to find huge queue. I just sat down and put my feet up. At about 5:15pm we had our car and drove off to our home for the next two weeks in the "Bahama Bay Resort."


Here's what I thought about the flight:

Seats Position: 6/10 - Window seat, but wing restricted view
Seat comfort: 8/10 - I'm about 5ft 6 and I was able to stretch my legs fully
Flight Attendants: 9/10 - I had no trouble with them at all, great work guys
First Meal: 5/10 - Wasn't too bad, the yoghurt was nice  
Second Meal: 7/10 - Wouldn't exactly regard it as a meal, but it was nice nonetheless
Entertainment: 6/10 - The map didn't work properly - for the first four hours or so, there was no map, just the purple screen showing altitude, speed etc. Then the map came on but it always stayed in the same zoom (where it usually changes size). The films weren't bad, but i expected more of them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the two week stay in Florida we visited Sea World, Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens, Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios. We went into Universal Studios after we went to the Hard Rock Cafe because they had open the new unopened "Revenge of the Mummy" ride for a "Technical Rehearsal." We didn't go to Epcot because we been there 4 times before and it's rubbish now. We didn't have time to go to Animal Kingdom.

We also played Mini Golf at Congo River on I-Drive, Pirates Adventure on 192 and Putting Edge (Glow in the dark mini golf  ) just of I-Drive.

On the 15th April we went to Lakeland Linder Rgnl. Airport for the Sun n Fun 2004 airshow. Here are some of the pictures i took at the airshow:







Does Anybody know what Aircraft the following three pics are of???
























I also went to Kissimmee airport one day.

Also in Florida i got to swim with the Manatees in Crystal River, see the Daytona race track (and go on the simulators and stuff inside), went on an airboat ride to see the alligators and went on a small boat to see the dolphins and "pelican island" not far from Daytona Beach.

Unfortunately all this had to come to an end

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

On April 19th i got about 10:00 and we had to rush because we were supposed to be out at 10:00. We took our bags to Downtown Disney to check them in (handy). During our check in i found out that we had the same seats as last time (but on the opposite side), which was a shame because we had reserved seats 41/42 and they were by the flaps and would have given a better view. Oh well, at least we had a window seat. After we had checked in we spent six hours at Sea World.

So at about 5:00pm we left Sea World and headed for Orlando International. The drive took about 20 minutes and soon enough i could see the end of 36R and 36L (i think). Queueing for 36L was an American Airlines B757-200 and a British Airways B777-200 (G-VIIP). We pulled off the highway and went into the main part of the airport where, while going around the road we saw the two Virgin Atlantic B747-400's. My dad parked the car in Dollar rent-a-car place and we dragged our hand luggage wearily into the Terminal. Our luggage had been taken care of at Downtown Disney so we didn't have to go through the hassle of checking in.

By this time it was about 18:30 so we had a brief look around the shops and my sister and I went into the arcade to play air hockey and that basketball game thing (which I was rubbish at - my top score was 37 ). At about 19:00 we met back in the lounge and our flight was calling for boarding, so we went through the security check and got onto the transit to gates 70-99. We passed over about 6 Delta Connection Embraer aircraft again.

Once we were in the terminal again, we sat down to get a cup of coffee, as boarding hadn't actually started but the "gathering people to the gate" had. Boarding wouldn't begin for another half an hour. Of course i went straight ahead to gate 83 to see what aircraft we had. I couldn't see very clearly but after standing on a seat i thought i could see G-VROS, however the wing was blocking half of it out. I went over to the gate and stood on a chair there and saw the name "English Rose" so yes it was G-VROS.

To pass the time i had a look around the whole terminal. I saw 4 Song B757's (New York JFK, New York LGA, Los Angeles and Las Vegas) as well as two Delta B767-300's (one was to Atlanta and i think the other one was too but im not 100% on that one). Also there was a Midwest Express to Milwaukee and a couple more Delta's but i can't remember where they were going. After I had finished my hot cocoa and my parents, sister, uncle and aunt had finished theirs were proceded to the gate area. I sat down and looked at the people opposite, who seemed familiar. I made out those were the people we saw on the Manatee trip  .

Boarding was on time, the usual procedure, handicapped passengers and passengers with infants under 2, first, premium econemy then economy starting from the back. I was one of the last to board as i was quite far forward in economy.

Date: Monday 19th April 2004
Sched. Departure time: 20:25
Actual Departure time: 20:28
Flight Number: VS016
Aircraft: B747-443
Registration: G-VROS "English Rose"

I took my seat in 36K as the sky was almost black. Once everybody was seated the doors were closed. I saw an Icelandair B757-200 and a Delta Connection Embraer 135 taxi past us. We pushed back and the safety video was shown. Because it was dark and i didn't really know my way around MCO that well i'm not positive as to what runway we were taxiing to, however i think it was 36L. I know we passed a bit of water on the way and went over a road. Once we reached the end of the runway i saw a couple of UPS B757-200's then the engines spooled up slightly as we turned a 90 degree turn to the hold point and then as we turned onto the runway the engines spooled up even more and before we were even straightened out we were in full throttle. The departure was very quick and after about 15-20 seconds we were off the ground and quickly made a slight turn to the left.

About 2 minutes into the flight the captain came onto the PA and told us about our routing. Basically it was the same as the outbound flight however we would be going slightly more southerly so we got a big tailwind from the gulfstream. We would be approaching London over the Cornwall area and going straight across the south coast. Our altitude was going to start out at 33,000 then increase to 37,000 as we left the coast of the USA and then around mid-Atlantic we would be cruising at 39,000ft.

Because it was dark i took no pictures until the approach, except for the one i took of the meal.

Soon after the seat belt signs had been switched off a news update was shown that had been recorded from earlier. After that, the entertainment was switched on. Our movie listings for this flight were:

1. Big Fish
2. Freaky Friday
3. Kill Bill vol. 1
4. Gothika
5. Stuck on you
6. Under the Tuscan Sun
7. Good Boy!

I watched Kill Bill and really enjoyed it, it was really good, although it was a bit odd and i didn't like how they make you wait for volume 2, after she kills that O'Ren woman and after that other woman says that the woman's baby was still alive. I'll have to see the second one sometime when it comes out on video/DVD.

During the film we got our dinner. Mine was chicken and mash (again) although it had green beens instead of beetroot which was ok because the green beens didn't have juice that made the rest of the meal disgusting (even though i still hate green beens - and the mash was awful). Also with the meal came some weird cake, salad, a roll and cheese and biscuits and a small chunk of Dairy Milk. I also got a Diet Coke.



After watching Kill Bill i (finally) fell asleep, it was very uncomfortable and i kept jostling around. I don't know what happened while i was asleep but when i woke up it was light, we were about half an hour away from Lands End and breakfast was being served. I didn't take a picture of the breakfast because it was quite frankly the worst breakfast i've ever been served on a plane. It was a disgusting pastry with some small fruit bits. That was it. My aunt who is vegetarian got a banana and some grape fruit slices. I think i got a better breakfast on BA when i flew LGW-CDG and that was just meant for a snack. Nevermind, i wasn't all that hungry anyway.

View across the wing as we approach the English coast


As we got over land we started our descent and our trek across the south coast of England. Straight away the seat belt signs were turned on, although there were still people waiting for the toilet for another 5 minutes. Our approach would simply take us out, past the airport and then we would turn in from the east for a 26L arrival.





We passed over the green countryside, something that tells you that this is England. We flew over the M23 and followed the road leading off it. Suddenly aircraft were in sight (and a few surprises too) and we passed over the runway. Touchdown was smooth and almost unnoticable as was the reverse thrust and the slowdown. After a long roll we turned off the runway to the right.




As we vacated the runway a cabin crew member came onto the PA and said welcome to Gatwick, we hope you enjoyed your flight etc etc etc etc. Everybody shreiked when he said the temperature outside was 5 degrees celcius  . We taxiied parallel to the two runways and past a lot of aircraft until we got into the gate we departed from, gate 33.





The first surprise for me was that MyTravel A330 G-MLJL had the "My" painted on the tail. Is this a sign of the money rolling in for MyTravel? The second surprise was Continental's Peter Max B777-200 (which is seen quite often at Gatwick I surpose). The third surprise was on the other side of the satellite. It was a Northwest DC-10 in new colours (the first?!?). I thought it looked beautiful. Shame i couldn't get a picture.

So anyway, after we had disembarked the aircraft, we got straight onto the transit and i tried to get another look of the Northwest DC-10, but everybody gave me a funny look  . Once into the main part of the South Terminal we went through customs and to the baggage reclaim where we got our bags after about 10 minutes. Some of our cases had been broken in to by security and had blue tags on them, but the padlocks were gone. Once we were in the arrivals hall we made our way to the coach drop off and pickup and got on the BCP bus (I went home by car this time), which took us to the BCP car park by the end of 8R. When we got there, I saw 5 heavies take off consecutively (Monarch A330, US Airways A330, MyTravel A330, Virgin Atlantic B747-400 and British Airways B777-200) which was quite cool for where we were. We got in the car and headed home. The holiday was over  .

Here's what I thought about the flight:

Seats Position: 6/10 - Same as last time
Seat comfort: 6/10 - Not easy when you're trying to sleep. Well it is economy...
Flight Attendants: 9/10 - I had no trouble with them at all again
First Meal: 5/10 - Nothing to cheer about, the mash potato was manky
Second Meal: 2/10 - More of a snack than a meal, pastry was gross as was the fruit. The orange juice was frozen
Entertainment: 7/10 - The map worked properly this time which was good, but, except Kill Bill, the films weren't as good this time

Overall: Both flights went very fast, the second with the help of a couple of hours sleep. The Flight Attendants were kind and pleasant, although the meals weren't very pleasing. A good experience with Virgin Atlantic and i recommend them to anybody as a good, well structured airline .

Please leave a comment or something

Thanks
-Stephen