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Perfect service from the team expecially Richard Stumph, who went over and above for us two seniors. A big thank you .
Patrick sorted everything to his usual high standards and professionalism
Thanks Nadia and the team again. Always brilliant and professional.
I would like to take the time to especially thank Jarvis who booked the flights for 9 people. Some with different return flights. Marvellous work and a big thank you. Of course our organisation will definitely be using you again and again and will recommend you to our friends and family.
Excellent service again.
All sorted as usual and good communication
Jonathan Greaves was such a help to us and arranged everything we asked for. We flew Virgin and Delta and we found Virgin to be superior for premium economy. We had a wonderful holiday and would definitely use DialAFlight again
Try to find a different rental car company at reasonable price please.
Used DialAFlight on many occasions and have never been disappointed. Contact before, during and after our trip is polite and non invasive.
Kennedy is a wonderful successor to Marcus who looked after us for probably 10 years. I look forward to working with her in future
Our first time with Virgin Premier - would do it again.
Russell and Mason were both very helpful and handled any queries I had promptly and very well. Customer service was excellent and gave me real peace of mind both before we went and during our holiday. Everything went to plan. A great family holiday had by all.
Jackson Cowton was absolutely brilliant in sorting our flights and hotel stay. We call him every time we want to go away. He’s AMAZING.
Excellent service from Travis as always. Totally reliable and friendly at all times. Would and have recommended friends and family.
Excellent service from Callum as always
Have booked through Saf more than once and will do again. Excellent service from first call - very helpful and the best price all round. Great customer service
Had an issue but it was all sorted pronto. Excellent service
All top drawer service yet again from Tristan Chatburn.
Spent time looking at flights and different airports to find most economical route. Great communication.
As always excellent service
Everything was smooth - the only issue was the car hire was poor
Superb service as always. I would not go anywhere else when arranging flights and car hire. We very much appreciated the call before departure, nice personal touch. Darren was outstanding.
Unfortunately Virgin downgraded two members of our family on our return flight. We are waiting to hear back from them but it definitely put a negative feeling at the end of a lovely holiday
Dexter handled all that was needed as usual so thank him on our behalf
I have used Roy since 2004 - I always recommend him to friends and family as he always does a great job
Good prices and everything worked out without an issue.
They are the best
Some of this flight might be intense, but trust your guide and be brave.' The words of warning came from Dr Jackie Ogden as our group gathered in the Link Chamber of the Pandora Conservation Initiative. We had already been through the Genetic Matching Room and been decontaminated for micro-parasites, and were being given the final sequence of instructions before being let loose on the alien planet.
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
With the final motivational message of 'Rise to the challenge!' we were swooping off across the otherworldly terrain and lush foliage of Pandora on the back of a Mountain Banshee, the gigantic dragon-like beast from Alpha Centauri that eats people for breakfast.
Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on your level of bravery - all this excitement was purely man-made. Or, we should say more accurately, Disneymade. Because we were in the Animal Kingdom theme park in the heart of Walt Disney World, Orlando.
A WHOLE NEW WORLD
Pandora: The World Of Avatar is the latest attraction built by the House of Mouse - with the help of film-maker James Cameron - in its vast Florida resort. It has taken seven years to complete.
While some Disney die-hards doubted the wisdom of such an obvious film franchise being successfully shoe-horned into this most naturalistic of parks, the end result is a 12-acre immersive environment that is so packed with features and special effects it would take a small book rather than one article to list them all.
It starts with the Floating Mountains that seemingly hover over the area - gigantic, 156ft-tall rockworks that are complete creatures and waterfalls – and continues through a junglelike panorama of immense complexity, studded with the bioluminescent plants from the 2009 movie that are all recreated in amazingly painstaking detail. They include some examples that react to touch and movement using specially developed sensors.
Cleverly hidden among the alien terrain - which mixes artificial plants with real ones from Hawaii and Africa - are two contrasting rides that take the story of Avatar into the future, 100 years after the war between Earth's Resource Development Administration and the indigenous Na'vi people.
RIDE OF YOUR LIFE
The Na'vi River Journey is a meandering boat ride through the Pandoran jungle, usingwith vegetation, a mix of animatronics and screen projections to create a stunningly realistic series of encounters with the flora, fauna and people. It takes an ecofriendly approach, highlighting conservation principles and real-world issues such as habitat destruction.
After this the action intensifies - Avatar Flight Of Passage kicks things up several notches with the aforementioned simulator ride in the company of Dr Ogden. Sitting astride a kind of stationary bike (and equipped with 3-D glasses), riders seemingly dive, twist and turn in through a long whirl over Pandora, taking in the sights and sounds that made the film such a visual extravaganza.
There also ought to be a special award for the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse with its neon blue a there is such a thing as alien looking food, this is it.
Even James Cameron was apparently initially surprised at the huge scale of Disney's plans when they approached him with the idea of Avatar Lane. He said: 'I thought we were going to be talking about creating an attraction. Disney’s vision when they came to me was to create a land.'
ART & ENGINEERING
It has been reported that the area cost up to 500-million dollars to complete. It features music composed by the late James Horner and Simon Franglen, based on the original score from Avatar.
The final word, though, deserves to come from Disney's Zsolt Hormay: 'We had to use a lot of experts to help us with the technology. It needed a lot of different skills. It melds art and engineering. It is like finishing a painting, only in three dimensions - and with a lot of engineering.'
First published in the Mail on Sunday - January 2018
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