Stalzer/Obele Family Blog

After departing the plane in Orlando, we had to go through immigration. As always, we got the slowest queue. We waited for about 45  until it was our turn for “What is the purpose of your trip?” Interesting enough, the immigration officer spoke quite well german. Max and Felix were really getting tired.

Going to the baggage claim, we expected our suitcases to be travelling lonely around the belt. However, we still had to wait for our luggage. Then came the food and health inspection. After having passed this final control, we had to place our suitcases again on a belt, where they were shipped to the main terminal. I am really 100% sure, the lady told me belt 27 in the main terminal.

After riding the monorail train to the main terminal, we went to belt 27 and …. nothing.

After a couple minutes, it was announced, that the suitcases would be on belt 32. For those of you unfamiliar with Orlando airport - Belt 32 is exactly at the other end of the baggage claim.

Also, we had our first experience of the Orlando Disney “Ripoff” - We got a luggage cart for US$ 3 !!! And they refund 25 cents upon return. I always thought Stuttgart is crazy in asking for a 1 EUR deposit for the baggage cart - but 3 US$ !!!! Incredible

Next was getting the rental car. And to our surprise, the only line was in front of “Alamo” (Alamo is a partner of the ADAC, so a lot of germans - as expected on a flight with Condor - choose this company). Fortunately, we got the car from “Budget” - no line.

We reserved a “Luxury SUV” and we got a Ford Explorer. The car waited for us on the other side of the terminal and we was a real positiv surprise.

The car is…. big. Everything is big. The doors are big, you have to get up high, the seats are big and comfortable.

The gearshift lever is the mother of all gear shift lever. You really have something in your hands.

Almost half of the flight is behind us. We are currently 100 miles south of greenland (Visibility is 30 miles at most - so no luck in seeing greenland). Another 6 hourse to go…. We already had the “Beef or Pasta” lunch/dinner/whatever. The boys are watching a DVD. Helga and I are sitting behind the boys on the paperwork.

Helga is filling in the forms for the US and I (guess what) am blogging.

The airplane is packed. Seats are tight - I wish somebody would invent beaming….

A short compilation of pictures

We stayed in our room in the Sheraton up until approx. 13:00 and went over to the airport. We went through security uneventfully (They were just impressed with our new Tablet PC - “Where is the keyboard, it must be in your backpack”) and got to the gate.

After having the passports inspected, answered the questions “Did you pack your bags yourself? Did other, unauthorized persons have access to your bags”, we waited another hour until boarding in the Pre-boarding room. Finally, all Pax’s were asked to board the airplane. We found our seats very quickly and got settled in.

Then - 14:45 arrived and …. nothing. Finally, the Pilot got on the Intercom and announced: “Two passengers didn’t show up, so we have to remove the bagagge from them… GRGRGRGRG”

Next, we had another experience of airport efficiency - How many people do you need to find two suitcases? For a hint, look at these pictures

Max and I were sitting in row 36 and Helga and Felix in Row 37. In Row 35 was the only couple, which needed to put their Seats into the full back-reclined position (”Why me????”)

After take-of, Helga and I had a Campari-Orange to get into the vcacation mode, however another 9:30 hours of flight (total was 10:30) didn’t really help. After the typical “Beef or Pasta” lunch, the boys enjoyed a movie (”Land before our time - the great day of the fliers”) in our private entertainment system