Oh dear, more secret Oakley fans! I thought I was the only one... Oakley Inc. tightly control the prices on their eyewear range, so you won't find anybody offering discounts from the recommended price (not legally anyway). However, the Oakley shop in Islands of Adventure (but not the one in City Walk) offers 10% discount to Universal annual passholders. Oakley sunglasses in the UK cost the same in £££s as they do in $$$s (i.e. the same glasses will cost £120 in UK but 'only' $120 in the US). I was so excited when I found out I could get a discount I bought two pairs: Wiretap and Half-Jackets, bringing my collection to four pairs. I kept telling myself (and Jane) "just think of the money I saved compared to buying in the UK". As you can see, I have an irrational affection for Oakley sunglasses!
I didn't see any National Guardsmen at MCO, although there was plenty of armed security around. I thought the level of security when boarding the plane was sensible, but I fail to understand why I had to go through two metal detectors, one pat-down search and have my baggage x-rayed twice when exiting the plane and the airport. One image which sticks in my mind was the elderly man who was told to sit on a chair, remove his shoes and then raise his legs so that the guard could waive a metal detector wand around his stockinged feet. Bizzare!
We flew with BA this time. The plane landed on time and didn't crash, which are my two principal criteria when evaluating flights. Service was pretty much the same as our recent flights with Virgin, although I did miss the Downtown Disney check-in facility. We used BA's telephone check-in facility at Gatwick before we flew to Orlando, which saved some time and a long queue before we flew. We were allocated the particular seats we had requested for both legs of the journey.
We really loved the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The hotel and its facilities were very impressive, and we spent a great deal of time just staring at the animals. It was a great experience to have a giraffe snuffling around a tree just a few dozen feet from your balcony. We had requested a room on the second floor overlooking the main savannah, and were pleased that this is exactly what we got. It was a good holiday for our special requests being met: we also had a room in the Toy Story section of the All Star Movies as per our request.
Regards
Rob
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(gosh, that went quickly!)
