So Heathrow Airport decided that due to showers to the south of the airport that they were staggering the departing flights on 01/09/2025. The flight was completely boarded at least 45 minutes before the scheduled departure of 14:30. Heathrow didn’t allow VS129 to push back until 15:00 and then we waited in line for another half an hour before being allowed to take off.  Not the best start to our Florida holiday. We arrived only 10 minutes late so did make up most of the lost time but it was still after 20:00 hrs that we got to passport control. 

We used the MPC Mobile Passport Control system and submitted our photos as we waited to deplane and this time we were directed to the Global Entry line but annoyingly MPC were ignored until ALL of the Global Entry line had gone through. There was a delay with one desk so we decided that we should move into the International arrivals line that was emptying quickly. In fact we ended up being the last customers to get through even with the highly lauded MPC. I do miss having my passport stamped though.

There are two airport trains to get to the car rental station. The first is from Terminal F to the main terminal and then a second one a further level up that goes to the economy parking and then to the car rental facility.

Something I didn’t know was that there are different parts of Florida that are an hour different from the rest of the state. Our phones in Kissimmee both showed that the local time was 5 hours behind BST and yet my Kindle Fire only showed us being 4 hours behind. 

So Florida in the western part of the state and cities such as Pensacola observe Central Time and Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville observe Eastern time. 

The drive from Tampa to Kissimmee was just over an hour and we finally arrived at our Celebration accommodation about 22:00. Check in was easy and all the extras that were included with Virgin Holidays were confirmed such as the resort fee of $25 per booking per day and $24 per booking car parking per day so there was nothing to complain about. 

The Delta by Marriott Celebration used to be the Grand Orlando Resort and is located opposite the entrance to the beautiful town of Celebration. The reception area was large and open and all the accommodation blocks are in other buildings. The rooms were large and had full length windows, a table with two chairs, large flat screen t.v and importantly a full sized under counter fridge. The bathroom needed a refresh to be honest but it was all good. There was free water, coffee etc. We did work out that we could get a room refresh but too often we had to request this service or the room would have been ignored. Housekeeping did come at strange hours and it was never in the morning!

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There were two large pools with a rock formation between the two that provided a waterfall on one side and a quiet area on the other. The buildings that surrounded the pool areas were joined by covered walkways and all led to the main reception area. 

It was going to be a great location to spend our 9 nights in the Central Florida area.