DSA Airport very was very quiet and civilised as you can see from the check in area which was empty when we arrived to drop off our case, car seat and pushchair. There was free WiFi at the airport but it was very slow so if we go again, I must remember to download any reading materials for the flight before we leave home.
There was plenty of empty general seating in the airside lounge and a limited supply of eateries and shops, such as Wetherspoons, Costa Coffee and WH Smith. We had a coffee and a hot bacon butty at Costa Coffee and felt it was good value for what was an airport.
There are some air bridges at Doncaster Airport, but we didn't have one and had to walk a fair distance before we came to the steps to climb aboard. TUI were no doubt keeping their costs down on this unlikely route, so another time we might need to be prepared for rain.
Our 10.55 flight moved off the stand 4 minutes late at 10.59 with a projected flight time of 8 hours and 25 minutes. The seat belt signs were on for a good while after take off and James was not happy to be strapped in. He had tooth issues and a runny nose.
After a while we were offered drinks. I had red wine and orange juice (More than one at a time was allowed) while Elizabeth had a G and T and water. Seconds were then offered.
Lunch was inevitably chicken pasta with a chocolate pot dessert plus cheese and biscuits. Again drinks were offered (alcoholic or not) plus tea or coffee.
There were empty seats at the back and, as James was noisily resistant to going to sleep, a member of cabin crew suggested moving down there which E, C and J did. Then were left in peace and a number of people caught up on some sleep.
There is a USB socket for power and for connecting such as a
phone or tablet plus what looks like a two-pronged socket for audio/video?
Covid regulations on board apply as at the destination. That means that masks had to be worn on board on the outbound journey, but we're assuming not on the way back.
After the duty free service came and went we were offered afternoon tea, which was two small segment of baguette with very thing filling but thick bread followed by a scone with jam and clotted cream, but with only a tiny ice cream tub-type scoop to cut it on half. The results were inevitably interesting!
As usual it was a while until the air bridge was in place and the premium class passengers could leave. We were seated quite well back and so it was a bit longer again until the plebs were allowed to get off!
Very strangely, the next thing was to reclaim our bags from the carousel, rather than go through immigration first, which took quite some time. A TUI flight from Manchester was due to arrive in Melbourne 2 hours before us, but was delayed by - two hours - so arrived just before us adding to the general throng.
The immigration queue meant quite a long wait but we were finally officially in the US of A. We were directed to the Budget Car Hire desk and soon got our papers for our mid-size SUV, in this case a Chrysler Jeep.
We headed off southwards briefly then westwards. Now Melbourne is further away from the villa than Orlando Airport, but the going was steady to good. We saw a good deal of rural Florida and the occasional rather attractive minor community. We even encountered a roundabout, yes, a roundabout in the USA!
As we came towards familiar territory, we could see some 'weather' in the distance and as we came to ChampionsGate, the heavens opened in true Florida stye with heavy rain, squally winds and a generous measure of sheet lightning which then continued long after the rain had stopped.
We parked up at the villa, emptied the car as the rain eased and we had arrived. It was around 7pm local time.
Once we had our breath back, we were off for a take from our local McDonald's. It was nice to be reminded once again that the local one is poor and we found we had come home with no straws for the drinks or any sauces - argh!
One unusual thing about our flight is that we had a party of cheerleaders from Rotherham on board. They're taking part in a competition at the Disney Wide World of Sport complex on Saturday, so they obviously needed to get there in good time to prepare for that - and no doubt sample a few of the local theme parks!
And so to bed -
Looking forward to the full update when you get chance
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